Jack answered the door with a what looked like a pile of plastic in his hands…but it was in the form of some sort of robot. “What the heck is that!?” Nick forgot that asking such a question could garner a long dissertation.

Jack would not disappoint.

“One of those Toa-Kedia things I’ve told you about.”

“Ah…more Bionicles dudes, huh? These from your Christmas stash?”

“Some, yeah. I made him from the three Tahu, Pohatu and Onua.”

Yeah, Nick understood this…not. Looking to Liz for some guidance, he went back to Jack when all he got from her was a pair of shrugging shoulders and her back as she turned to continue her video game. “Don’t ask me…all I know is I step on those stupid pieces all the time. They hurt.”

“Yeah, and I’m steppin’ on Barbie shoes all the time…”

“Okay, okay…so does this guy have a name?”

“Akhami.” Jack started twisting the critter’s head around and posing him in different positions. Nick couldn’t get over all the different parts…and that they worked differently that they did with the original characters. Whoever developed this thing was a genius.

“So, what makes this guy so special?”

“He’s got lots and lots of strengths.”

Nick asked if he could look at it and Jack handed it over, keeping one eye on Nick and one on Liz’s game. She was beating him to a pulp.

“Wait, wait, wait…this dude’s got two heads on his hand!”

“No, it’s like laser guns or something.”

“But it looks like their heads! Krana or something, right?”

“Yeah, krana, but no…it’s not.”

Nick kept looking at the toy, posing it, pretending to shoot flames out of the other hand…that two headed thing freaked him out. This flame thrower dealy could have come in handy recently, however. He could think of one ass in particular he’d like to blow up.

“Have you found these guys on the internet?”

“Nope, just on an online game. You see them in it but you can never be them.”

“Aw, man…I’d like to shoot flames at someone…”

“Not with him you can’t. But you can with Tahu.”

“Ah…then I wanna be Tahu. Who are the bad guys they fight again?”

“They’re called Rahi.” Jack’s attention was waning…he needed to get back to his game and Nick was suddenly more enamored with these toys than he’d ever been…what the heck?

“What do they do that’s so bad anyway?”

“Destroy villages, blow up places.”

Now we’re getting somewhere. Destruction. Flame throw at those who destroy. Oh yeah. “Why do they destroy stuff?”

“Cuz this evil guy named Makuta told them to….he hates his brother.”

“Who’s his brother?”

Jack was officially annoyed now. Nick was driving him crazy with all of these questions and Liz was beating his best game. Someone was going to start throwing flames and it wasn’t going to be a Tahu. He took a deep breath, making sure Nick saw his frustration. “Some guy named Mata Nui…they named their island after him in order to remember him.”

“And that’s where everyone lives, right?”

“YES…God…can we stop? Liz is whoopin’ my butt!”

“Yeah, yeah…where’s Ben? Big day today.”

“Uh…dunno.”

After all of that and all Jack could offer was an ‘I dunno’? Wonderful. Nick put the toy on the couch and got up to investigate. He must be out back because other than the basement, there really weren’t any other places for him to hide. When he peeked down the hall, he had to smile. They’d started painting. And it looked great. The girls’ room was done and so was the bathroom. A new shower curtain finished that one up and Patty had even added finger towels for extra decoration.

Coming back into the room, he was surprised he hadn’t noticed it earlier. It had all been painted. The living room, dining room/boys’ room and maybe…

…he walked into the kitchen and couldn’t believe it. Not only had they painted the kitchen, but also the cabinetry and back door. In just a matter of days, this house had been totally transformed. He was planning on helping out, but with the mess at the courthouse a few days prior, it seemed everything got jumbled up from there…but they took matters into their own hands and did it themselves. And it looked great. The house would definitely sell now.

Nick heard the bounce of the basketball out back and stepped out, instantly catching the escaped ball. “Hey.”

“Hi…you ready?”

“Yep…just inside talking to Jack. The house looks great, Ben.”

“Yeah…me, Mom and Kitty did it all. Well, most of it. Guess who came over to help yesterday?”

“Who?”

“Erin’s dad…can you believe it? Guilt’s a wonderful thing.”

“That’s cool…you have a lot of ‘splainin’ to do, man.”

“Yeah, I know…lemme get my stuff and we’ll go, huh?”

“I’ll wait out in the truck.”

Nick pulled a piece of pizza out of the box and stuffed the corner of it into his mouth, barely wincing at the hot cheese. Chewing quickly, he chugged back a swallow of beer. “Damn…”

“They cook it, asshole…it’s hot.”

“Yeah, I noticed…” Going for a second, smaller bite, Nick finally asked…mouth still full, manners out the window. This was Ben for God’s sake. “So talk. The other day. From the beginning.”

“I didn’t do it, end of story.” Ben smiled cheesily and stuffed a huge bite into his mouth, also forgetting the burning. Men. So slow to learn sometimes. “Damn…”

“They cook it asshole…it’s hot.”

“Thank you…”

“So how long have you been seeing Erin?”

“A month.” Ben tried to look innocent, but all he could do was crack up. He’d pulled it off. They’d pulled it off. Even pulled it over Nick’s eyes. But…he had help.

“A month!? Ben…you said…you were gonna honor her dad’s wishes…”

“Yeah, well. Her mom didn’t honor his wishes. She didn’t like Steve from the beginning. So, she’d let Erin come get me whenever her dad wasn’t home. Even take us to the movies and stuff.”

“You little shit…” Nick was amazed. Ben had wowed the mom. Not quite as impressive as the dad, but some dad’s weren’t to be impressed.

“Thank you…I try.”

“Okay, so you’ve been sneaking around with Erin…while she’s still with Steve?”

“Well, sorta, yeah. I mean, he’d go over, but she really wasn’t interested. He was talking shit about her in school because she wouldn’t put out or anything.”

“For God’s sake…you’re in what? Seventh grade? She’d better not put out for anybody! Including you!”

“She doesn’t…don’t worry. I’m…I mean, I’m curious, but hell…that scares the shit outta me.”

“Keep it that way. Sex isn’t a game, man. No one wins when you play it like a game.”

Ben looked at his pizza and took a deep breath and a tentative bite. Much nicer. Smiling around his food, he looked to Nick’s piece letting him know it was safe to go back into the water.

“Ah, good…I’m hungry. So, if you were at Erin’s during the break in…how’d they get your name out of it all?”

“Steve. The fuckhead talked me up during his questioning. Said I helped…was a part of yours, the school…all the stuff we’d done before…and Miss Romero’s. So, they came to my house and I was running home from the store with Erin. It didn’t look good that I was outta breath and sweaty.”

“Naturally…is all that gonna come back to bite you in the ass?”

“Nope. They had record of all but your house. You didn’t press charges, so that means nothing to them and the other stuff had been taken care of.”

“True…so you’re free and clear?”

“Yup. Totally. Steve has to answer to it all though.”

They continued eating, not saying much for a time, Nick trying to process this all. After all this time, he really figured Steve had let it go. But he hadn’t. It made no sense.

“I thought they dropped the school thing too since you guys cleaned it up.”

“Well, they did, but I guess they’ll count it on his record since he re-offended. I dunno…it gets confusing.” At least Nick wasn’t the only one who thought so.

“Where is he now?”

“Home. Kind of house arrest. Hearing is next month. He’s goin’ to JD man…I’m sure of it.”

“What’s his daddy have to say, I wonder?”

“Who knows…hell, Daddy may not even know yet. When he’s home he’s drunk. And normally he’s not home.”

“Lookin’ for attention. Is that what all this is about for Steve?”

“I have no idea…it’s almost like he just wanted to get caught. Why the hell else would you break into someone’s house in broad daylight? Someone’s house that has security signs all over it no less.”

“Cuz you’re stupid?”

“He’s that alright. I can’t believe I considered him a friend.”

“He was someone you could be a shit with…he let you be rotten.”

“No kidding. And when it came crunch time…he was the biggest chicken of all. That’s probably why he had other guys with him again. He’d chicken out.”

“They caught the fourth guy, didn’t they?”

“Yeah…I guess Steve finally gave up the right name. Him or one of the other guys.”

Nick nodded, still processing, still debating the whole thing. What a mess. Rosalie hadn’t slept well since it happened. Neither had Solana, but she refused any company. The window was fixed, the crooks were caught and they’d be fine. Stubborn mule.

“What I can’t figure out is why Miss Romero?”

“I dunno…I mean, you even thought he might get her. I guess it crossed his mind too. He couldn’t get Erin to cooperate. Couldn’t get me to…so he had to do the next best thing.”

“But why us? Why people that you lov-…” Suddenly it became clear. He was doing it to get back at Ben. Because Ben had found happiness and Steve couldn’t deal…how pathetic.

“Yep. He was doing it to get to me.”

“Kid’s got a lot of hatred in him, man.”

“Kinda sad. He has no reason for it. If anyone did, it should be me.”

“But you’re above that.”

“Well, now yeah. Anger takes too much energy. Happy’s much nicer.”

Nick sat back, full of pizza, and full of more questions. “What I wanna know is…you guys did shit before the school, right?”

“Right. Mostly just painting stuff.”

“How come you’re the only one who got punished for that?”

“Cuz Steve and Ron’s parents would buy off the administrators so they’d shut up. My mom couldn’t do that.”

“Everybody has to pay some time.”

“Yep. And I can’t wait to see him pay.”

“I’d rather see him grow up.”

“Yeah, well…that’d be nice too.”

Nick finished his beer and let out a loud belch. Ben followed…with his pop of course, and they looked to each other with huge grins. Satisfaction. Full tummies, a bright future and the bad guys were finally caught. Couldn’t get much better than that.

“Okay, you ready to head to the post office?”

“Yep…got my form.” Ben held up the envelope and a big grin. The last report. Done. Finalized and complete. He was a free man. They were free men.

Nick drove them to the nearest post office and even though it was dark, they made a big deal of their delivery. Nick held the mailbox open for Ben and Ben took Nick’s envelope, kissed them both and slid them into the slot. Nick closed the lid, re-opened it to make sure they’d gone down into the box and slammed it shut.

Looking to Ben, he smiled broadly and opened his arms out wide. Ben knew what to do…he took one leap and jumped up into them and held on for dear life. They’d done it. They’d really done it. One year. One little man became one big man. One young boy began the process of becoming one big man.

“I’m so proud of you, Ben…so damned proud.”

“Yeah, well…you didn’t do too bad either.” Mocking Nick but one more time, he almost laughed on his words. “‘Do you know who I AM!?’ You’ve come a long way too.”

Nick put Ben down and they got back into the truck, heading back for Nick’s house. Stupid movies, lots of snacks and too little sleep was on the agenda and they didn’t want to miss one more minute of it. After driving for a few miles, Nick had to ask. “Must you remember that night so clearly?”

“I figure one of us should…you were too trashed.”

“Great…so glad you have such fond memories of me.”

“Eh, neither of us were all that wonderful.”

“This is true. But we’re damned wonderful now, baby!”

Ben laughed and leaned up to punch the CD player on. They nodded their heads to the familiar beat, silently taking in the lyrics, now hitting them differently than they had the first time they shared the song.

What do I do to ignore them behind me?
Do I follow my instincts blindly?
Do I hide my pride from these bad dreams
And give in to sad thoughts that are maddening?
Do I sit here and try to stand it?
Or do I try to catch them red-handed?
Do I trust some and get fooled by phoniness,
Or do I trust nobody and live in loneliness?
Because I can't hold on when I'm stretched so thin
I make the right moves but I'm lost within
I put on my daily façade but then
I just end up getting hurt again
By myself (Myself)

As they pulled back into Nick’s driveway, Ben looked over to him and smiled. “That dude hasn’t quite figured it out yet, has he?”

“Nope…and here I thought he had…”

“Yeah, me too.”

They got out of the car and Nick waited for Ben to meet up with him before going inside. “I don’t think I wanna go at it by myself anymore.”

“Nope…me either. Never again.”

Nick awoke to find himself alone that morning. Not how he’d gone to bed. He’d had a scrawny kid curled up next to him only hours before. Where had he gone so early?

He stretched and scratched, focusing his eyes on the clock. Okay, so it wasn’t so early. Almost noon. How many movies had they watched last night anyway? Too damned many. They both had numb buns and numb heads by the time they’d called it a night. So, yeah. Noon was early, dammit.

Stumbling down the hall, Nick sniffed in the scent of freshly brewed coffee and moaned with anticipated satisfaction. The kid knew how to make a man smile in the morning. Pouring himself a cup, he headed out back, knowing full well that’s where he’d find the kid.

And he was right. Sitting poolside with his feet dangling in the cool water, Ben looked a little lost. Forlorn. Sad. It really didn’t make any sense. Everything seemed so bright for him now.

“’Mornin’…”

Ben turned hearing Nick’s voice and offered a weak smile. “Oh, hey.” He turned back and continued kicking his feet softly in the water. “Water’s still cold.”

“Yeah, probably…another few weeks…”

Ben nodded, focusing his attention on a ship far out into the gulf. He wondered where it had been…or where it was going. It was too far out to tell if it was coming in or going out. He kind of understood that confusion.

Nick joined him at the edge, sipping his coffee and dipping his feet into the water. “Ooh…yeah…still cool.”

They sat without words for a long time, only the sound of Nick sipping his coffee and the occasional seagull squawking interrupting their silence. The gulf water was so calm, it didn’t even add to the sound effects of the day.

Finally Ben couldn’t keep his questions inside any longer. With one big breath and one big blurt, he spilled all that had been running through his mind since his mid-morning bathroom trip. He hadn’t slept since.

“Am I ever gonna see you again or is this it?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Well…our year. It’s over. I just…I mean…you don’t have to…we don’t…” He sighed at his inability to complete another sentence. The last one had taken all of his energy to spit out. So, he just rephrased it. “Will I ever see you again?”

“I’d damned well hope so.”

“Oh…okay.”

“Why…don’t you want to? You wanna be done?”

“NO! No…I don’t. I…no. I was just afraid you might. Hanging out with a kid can’t be all that fun.”

“You have GOT to be kidding me, Ben.”

Ben finally looked to Nick like he’d lost his mind. “No…I’m not. You’ve sacrificed enough of your time to be with me.”

“You can’t tell me you think I’m doing this because I had to…not anymore.”

“Well, no. I mean…no. I just…aw, hell. I don’t know what to think.”

“I think you’ve been thinking too much.” Nick put down his mug and leaned back on his arms. How many times would he have to tell Ben? Of course, the kid had thirteen years of screwed up male relationships to heal up. He may have to keep telling him for a long time…he could do it.

“Well, there’s a change for you. Normally I don’t bother.”

“What the hell happened between last night and now?”

“I’m bad at night…my mind goes really weird.”

“Well, stop it would you!? I’m here, Ben. I’m not goin’ anywhere.” Nick stood up and grabbed Ben by the hand. “Come here.”

“What?”

“Come on…come with me.”

Nick dragged Ben into the house and pulled him down the hall towards his studio. But they didn’t turn in there. Or into his office. They stopped at the end of the hallway. At the picture.

Pointing to it, Nick asked, “What is this?”

“That’s our portrait.”

“Uh-huh…and what’d you call it? Why am I in it?”

“A family portrait. It wasn’t a family portrait unless you were in it.”

“Bingo. We’re family now, Ben. I don’t leave family. I’ve done it once to my real one…and I will never do it again...to either of them.”

“But…you have your real family…you don’t need us.”

“Yeah, I do. We’re a different kind of family and I’m not walking away from that. Ever.”

Ben nodded and looked up to the picture. It was a damned good one. He listened as Nick went on, wanting to drive his point home to the teen.

“I’m gonna be there for your high school graduation Ben. The day you get married, I’m gonna be there. When your first kid is born, I’m gonna be there. When he wins his first baseball championship, he’s gonna have to hug me first…before he even thinks about getting to you.”

“What if it’s a girl?” Ben couldn’t hide his look of orneriness, as much as he tried.

Nick thwapped him upside the head and ducked for the return attack. “Then I expect to do the same…she’ll be a stud just like you.”

Ben had to chuckle at that thought…him as a dad. Frightening. But Nick being there for it? It didn’t seem so frightening with that prospect. Nothing did.

He didn’t have to face life by himself. He didn’t have to go it alone. His real family was almost whole again. And he had a bonus. He had Nick. Miss Romero. People in his life that had helped him grow to be where he was and would continue to love him to where he needed to be.

And better yet? He had someone who would let him give the same in return. Let him love, let him care. He was trusted and he was trusting.

And it was the greatest feeling in the world.