Jordan had kept Markie and Griff up half the night, telling and retelling them what Nicholas had said.

"It's like, I don't know, it's like I was supposed to meet him," Jordan kept murmuring. "Like fate or something."

"It's somethin', all right," Griff sighed, yawning. "How much does he want for the house, Jord? That's the main thing."

"No," Jordan wrinkled his nose and bit his bottom lip. "I kinda got all caught up in what he was saying."

Markie had listened to everything Jordan told them; about Nicholas; about Sam....the house, the love. She was sleepy enough, romantic enough to just have this feeling.........a feeling that maybe this really was gonna happen.

"Well, yeah, kinda today," Jordan looked at his watch. The hands were tickin' towards 3 A.M. "Griff, you'll go, won't ya?"

Griff rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't miss this for the world. Nobody but you, Jordan...nobody but you."

Griff laughed. "Nothing you do is ordinary. You can't even find a house like everybody else..........shit, no. You gotta have a house with like "love ghosts" in it." Jordan snorted and shoved at Griff's leg with his foot.

"Well, love ghosts or not, I can't wait to meet Nicholas," Markie smiled through a jaw crackin' yawn. "I'm going to bed. JD'll be up in four hours."

Jordan watched Markie look at Griff and Griff cut his eyes back at her. He watched them struggle, laughing to himself.

Jordan stood up, rolled his neck and grinned. "Guys, go to bed. Just don't keep me awake, K?"

"I......we...........Jordan what?" he laughed. "You should see your face. Griff, you've got three choices: bunk with me, try to fit on the sofa or take your chances with "Miss Priss" over there."

Griff grinned, "As much as I enjoyed you nearly strangling me last night, moaning "Danny", almost shoving me off the bed, and as much as I love trying to fit all 6'2 of me on that 5 foot sofa, I think I'll opt for Door #3."

Griff cocked his head, smiled a smile that no one in their right mind could have ignored. Markie sighed, did NOT look at Jordan, who was snickering and walked to her room, leaving the door slightly open.

Jordan didn't need to ask Griff. He knew that his best friend understood how much Markie meant to him. They had been hiding this for weeks and Jordan just wanted Griff to know he was totally okay with it.........not only okay, he couldn't have chosen anyone better suited to Markie and her moods, her love and her trusting heart.

"Night, Bud," Griff said as he hugged Jordan. "We'll do it today. Somehow, we'll get you your house."

"DADDDDDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYY", JD shrieked in his face, jumping up and down on the bed.

Jordan stuffed the pillow over his head and tried to catch the tail end of that dream. He and Danny had been flying in an airplane, a little one and, of course, Jordan knew how to fly and Dan kept walking out on the wings and calling to him to come out, that the wind felt good and Danny was naked cause you couldn't wear clothes to fly on Wednesday and the alligator kept thumping his tail on the popcorn machine and the popcorn kept flying around the cockpit which seemed to have macaroni glued to the windows. Just as Jordan let go of the controls and stripped off his clothes and Barry Manilow started singing 'Copacabana' in the background, he felt a little hand shake his arm.

"Silly Daddy, it's not naptime. I just upped myself. Mommy says we're going to meet somebody nice. Who, Daddy?"

Remembering yesterday's events, Jordan sat straight up in the bed. "Marks! You up?"

Markie appeared in the doorway. "Umm, the Tasmanian Devil Child woke me up at 5."

"Um......," Markie blushed. "We were playing three bears, Jordan. Like," she blushed, "Who's sleeping in my bed."

"Well, hmmm," Jordan tried not to laugh. "Um, was there a bear in your bed, JD?"

"Yes, we do. We need a house, JD. We're gonna go meet a very nice man who has a house we maybe can...............,"

"Yep. You go get dressed and we'll go see a man about a house." He grinned as JD shot out the door and sang down the hall, "Houses and beds and bears and meeeee!"

Jordan opened his arms and Markie folded down into them. "God, I'm happy for you, sweetie."

"Yeah, I know," Griff frowned. "But it needs to be all three of us, Jord. He needs to know I'm not trying to take your place."

Nicholas was sitting in the sun room, watching the birds flutter and peck at the corn on the ground when he heard the joyous sound of a child giggling. Turning his head, he watched Jordan walk through the open door followed by a beautiful girl, a very tall dark-haired young man and a bouncing ball of electric energy.

"This is Markie." Markie smiled and Nicholas wondered at how much alike she and Jordan looked...same eyes, same hair, same sunshine smile.

"Hello, Nicholas," she smiled and held out her hand and blushed when he bent his lips to her fingers.

"This is Griffin, my best friend." Griff gripped the older man's hand firmly and stepped back.

"It's wonderful to meet you, JD. I understand you found my house yesterday. What a clever young man." He held out his hand and JD walked over quietly and stood looking into his eyes.

"Prince Happiness lives in that house, yes? My Daddy loves him and my Daddy cries sometimes cause he can't .......................," Jordan took hold of his little shoulders.

"Shhh, JD. This nice man owns the house we found on the beach yesterday, remember?"

Nicholas ignored Jordan. "Yes, JD. I think maybe Prince Happiness lives in my house. Would you like to go see it?"

"Ohhhhh, yes. Daddy, can we? We can go?" JD wheeled around and gave his Daddy his best puppy dog eyes.

Markie slipped the small frame from the satchel in her hand. "It IS the same house, isn't it?"

Nicholas took the painting in his hands and ran his fingers over the raised paint. His eyes were wet and the three young people wanted to say something but stayed quiet.

JD broke the silence. "Prince Happiness has a chair like this." He ran his fingers over the narrow black tires. "Can't you get up?"

JD patted his hand gently and walked around behind the wheelchair. "No, I will push my new friend, Daddy," he said, when Jordan reached for the handles.

Jordan unlatched the brakes and watched as Nicholas began to roll the wheels, JD "guiding" the chair toward the door, talking to Nicholas as if they had always been the best of friends.

"My Mommy likes Griff. He's my Daddy's best friend. Well, wait, maybe not his really very best friend, cause that would be Prince Happiness, right? Hmmm, can you have 2 bestest friends? My Daddy says there are bears in our 'partment. Are there bears in the house? I kinda like bears but not so much."

Nicholas sighed. 'Sam, listen to him. Can you hear this little voice growing up in our house?'

The house was perfect, divided into two sections with a breezeway connecting them. One side had been a large open studio with huge bay windows for northern exposure, a loft when Sam had been too tired to find his way back to their bed and a kitchen for when he remembered to eat. The other side was an open area that served as a living room/dining room/kitchen with two bedrooms upstairs and one down. All paneled in blonde oak, the house was warm and loved.

Jordan walked quietly along the walls of the studio, his fingers touching the murals. "Sam painted all these."

Nicholas smiled. "He wanted to paint all the places we traveled. He was such a romantic soul. Each panel is a place we made love. See, ........here, Paris. And here, Venice. Here, Monterey." Nicholas touched each landscape, his eyes going far, far away as he wheeled himself slowly around the room.

The largest mural, the entire wall beside the huge bay window with the love seat, was of the house, the porch, the swing and two figures, one sitting, his feet gently pushing the swing stroking the hair of the other. The love poured out of the painting.

"We traveled a lot, Sam and I. He wanted to see the world and I just wanted to be with him. But, we always came back here and we loved it better than anywhere else in the world."

Jordan could hear JD laughing and Markie and Griff's soft conversation from the front porch as they watched the little boy run up and down the ramp.

"Yes, Jordan. I've always been crippled. Sam and I planned the house so I could get around and tend to him. He was so forgetful and needed a lot of taking care of." He reached out his hand and caught Jordan's. "Tell me about Danny."

Jordan sank to the floor beside the chair, feeling a certain deja vu, thinking of all the times he had knelt by Danny's chair. "Danny was in a wheelchair when I met him. He'd been in an automobile accident and his legs were paralyzed."

"No. I fell in love with his blue eyes, his curly hair, his beautiful smile and his loving heart."

"It's a long convoluted ugly story," Jordan said harshly. "Danny is too good, too innocent. I can't make him see."

"That.....that," Jordan stood up and paced, "That I don't care. I want him so bad it's killing me but he won't come home. He thinks that he's hurting me by being handicapped, by being...being gay. Just by loving me. He won't come home." Nicholas watched the tears run down Jordan's face.

"Come here, son." Jordan reached for the hand that Nicholas held out. "He wants to come. You know that, don't you?"

"I just know exactly what he's thinking because I thought the same thing every time I saw Sam running along the shore, every time I had to watch him dance without me, every time he had to help me make love. I know your Danny. He wants to come home."

"I want to just go drag him here," Jordan let out a frustrated sigh as he ran his hand through his hair.

"No, because he has to want...................................." Jordan's eyes widened. "Nicholas, I can..............you'll let...............we can................????"

"Jordan, I want you to live in my house. You and your patchwork quilt family. I don't even begin to understand how JD is yours when Markie obviously loves Griffin but that little boy adores you. All I know is that you and Danny need to live in my house, our house, right Sam?"

"Oh, Nicholas," Jordan didn't even try to hide the tears. "I don't know how we can pay you as much as..........."

"Don't worry about that right now. You and Markie and Griffin will figure out how much you can afford to give me each month and it will be fair. I don't need much. Sam left me in good shape and I'm happy living at RestHaven." His eyes dimmed for a second but then the smile took back over.

JD came barreling into the studio, running over, screeching to a stop at Nicholas' toes. "Oh, Oh! There's walkyways everywhere. I can ride my BigWheel up and down, up and down!! Mommy says I can be a big boy and sleep up the stairs if I don't fall on my head." He looked very worried about falling on his head for a second and then twirled in circles, looking at the murals on the walls. "Oh, beeeeeutiful!!"

Jordan said quietly, as Markie and Griff walked in, "Nicholas is going to let us live in his house. His and Sam's house." Markie began to cry and Griff's arm slid protectively around her shoulders.

"Sam?" JD popped in. "Where be's Sam?" He looked around, expecting to see another person.

"Sam isn't here right now, JD. But he wants you to be happy. Would you like to live here?"

JD walked over to the wheelchair and climbed up into Nicholas' lap before anyone could grab him. Nicholas shooed Jordan's hands away. JD laid his soft blonde hair against the man's chest and sighed, "I want to live here, yes I do. I want to live here with Daddy and Mommy and........." He looked shyly at Griff out of the corner of his eye, "maybe Griff. But, I don't see Prince Happiness, Daddy. Will he come back?"

"AND...............," JD proclaimed loudly, his soft chubby hand reaching for Nicholas' older wrinkled one. "I want my best friend Niclas to live here too."

Jordan smiled, "You know, Joshua Daniel, I was just thinkin' the same thing. Nicholas, if you're gonna let us live here, the least we can do is bring you back home......to Sam."

The arguing over, the deal struck, the ridiculously small monthly payment agreed upon, four, no make that five heads began the task of fitting as much love, as much happiness into one house as they could.

No amount of talk would make Jordan live there yet. It was decided that Markie and Griff would have one of the upstairs bedrooms, JD the other (if he didn't fall on his head down the stairs) and Nicholas would be in his old room, his and Sam's, at the bottom of the stairs. Jordan would fix up the studio just like Danny would want it and let it stand, until Danny came home.

No amount of arguing would convince him to tell Danny about the house. He only agreed that they could say they, Markie, Griff and JD, had found a house to live in but not that it was on the water or that it was THE house.

"I don't want Dan to know about Nicholas until he meets him face to face," Jordan said softly. "If he wants to sit out there in Oregon on his stubborn butt, let him sit. I can't say anything more. I can't do anything more to make him come home. He has to want to on his own..........simply because he loves me."

Nicholas sat quietly out on the porch as the sun was setting. He could hear the "children's" excited voices as they investigated every nook and cranny. "Sam......I feel like I've been caught up in a whirlwind. But, for the first time since you left me, I feel alive." He could feel soft fingers stroke his cheek. "I'm coming home."

Daniel Trainor Session 9

Dan needs to build his self confidence. He's been pitied and waited on and catered to for 13 years. Even Jordan did too much. It's quite reasonable to see that he feels dependent but his life is in North Carolina and he needs to choose either a life devoid of the love he wants or a life full of the love he craves. No one will make the decision for him. Jordan is making him do it on his own. There must be a key........

"It hurts like hell but it gets me up and movin', " Danny smiled. He had to depend on the wheelchair when he was tired but he was building more and more strength in his left leg and his arms and shoulders were powerful enough to use the canes. "Easy has to put some medicine on the places where the metal rubs into my leg cause I don't feel it til it bleeds, but I'm getting tougher."

"Yeah, my classes are about over. I have mostly practice now and of course always my own therapy and I graduate in May."

Danny sighed. "I guess I'll work here. Terry says he can get me a position as a swim therapist at the center."

"You are graduating from college. You are getting up out of your wheelchair. Life is good, Dan."

"So is right. Why, if life is good, are you sad?" Of course, knowing the answer already.

"How many times are you going to say what you want if you're not going to go get it?"

"Not since he called me in February. Easy talks to Griff and Markie. They have moved into a house."

"Daniel. You do know and you know if you picked up that phone, he'd be talking to you."

Danny groaned, "Okay..........yes, he's waiting for me......all right? I know that."

"Yes, but aren't you picturing that with Markie? She's got Griff now. If you lose him, it will be to another man. Do you want that, Dan? Jordan with another man?" Dr. Meadows watched that sink in. "I want you to think about that, Dan. Think hard. We always hear people say to let the one you love free, and if they love you, they'll come back. But Dan.....I don't think that means shove them out the door with no rope to hold on to."

"Dan, listen to yourself. What does Jordan control? All he wants is you. He has NO control. You hold all the strings. One of these days, he may decide that the strings are choking him. Be ready for that, Dan."

Griffin Langley and Markie Latham were married on April 13^th, the school spring break. Jordan Lawrence was best man and Joshua Daniel Lawrence handed his Mommy's hand to Griffin (he refused to give his Mommy away).

Claire drove up and stayed for two days, getting to know her grandson and spoiling both her boys.

Finally left on their own, the two bachelors ate junk, went to the beach all day, watched 'The Land That Time Forgot part 9' until JD got scared of the big growly dinosaurs.

JD sighed. "I wanted to go, Daddy. Mommy said "No, JD." I'm mad at Mommy." He rolled over on his tummy with a huge dramatic sigh. He peeked out from under his lashes to see if his Daddy was affected by his words. Jordan kept on eating Guacamole Doritos and stared at the screen waiting. JD never left his dramatic pauses go unheard.

Another huge sigh. "Daddy, most kids have one daddy. I have two. Am I a lucky kid?"

Jordan tried to keep from laughing out loud. "Yes, JD. You are the luckiest boy in the whole wide world. You have two daddies."

"Will you always be my first Daddy?" he asked, his big green eyes intent on Jordan's face.

"I will always be your first daddy, yes, JD. I was there when you were born, popping out looking like a wrinkly little screaming prune. You screamed so loud that..............."

"The nurse threw me to you, right Daddy?" JD laughed. He loved the story. "And you whispered in my ear, and I......................"

"Got so quiet and you smiled. You smiled at me JD and you had my heart forever."

Jordan bit his lip. He saw his father's face. "You love me, right Daddy?" he heard JD say it again.

"Put it to your ear, Dan. You can hear the ocean whisper. Congratulations on graduating and for getting the leg brace. I knew you could do it.
I'll always love you~
Jordan

Markie and Griff and JD moved into the "family" side of the house with JD's new bestest friend Nic, as JD had christened him. Markie and Griff went back to work, and JD to KinderCare. The little bus delivered him to the front door at 1:00 and Nicholas had lunch all ready for the two of them.

"Will you be my grandpa?" JD asked out of the blue one afternoon as they sat out on the front porch, the little boy running his Tonka trucks up and down the ramp.

Nicholas hadn't asked but knew there was some problem with parents. "Why do you ask, JD?"

"Becca, at school, she has a grandpa that makes her little birds out of wood. It's cool. Joby has 2 grandpa's. I don't have any." His face drew up in a frown.

"Oh, please. I want a grandpa soooooooooo much. You could make me little birds and take to the zoo like Bobby's grandpa."

"I'll ask your Mommy and Daddy and see what they think. Will that be all right?"

Jordan pulled up at 3:30 to get JD just as he did every school day afternoon. The little shortstuff ran to the front door and hugged his leg. "Hi Daddy. Nic has a question for you, right Nic?"

"Jordan," Nicholas looked very seriously at the younger man. "JD has asked me, very formally, if I would be his grandpa. I told him I had to ask you."

Jordan stood, one set of green eyes begging him to say "Yes" and one set of blue twinkling with laughter.

"Hmm, that's a big job, JD. I don't know if Nicholas wants to take on all that responsibility."

JD ran over to Nicholas, raised those puppy eyes and let his bottom lip quiver. "Please Grandpa Nic."

Jordan tried to hold back a snort of laughter. "JD, stop that. Let Nicholas decide without "The Face"."

"Ohhhhhhhh, I have a grandpa. I have a grandpa." JD twirled around in circles and ran down to the end of the ramp and fell into the sand, leaping back up and running back to fall into Nicholas' lap. "Oh, you will be the best grandpa any boy ever had."

That night, after dinner, Griff and Jordan lugged a huge old chunk of driftwood up to a sheltered place on the sand at the bottom of the ramp. "Now, we've got a place to sit."

JD was sleepy, the nights were getting warmer. "Daddy, I have one Mommy, two Daddies, one Grandpa and one Grandmommie. I'm kinda happy."

"Well, we live in THE house. We did everything we were supposed to do. But, you don't live with me and I miss you, Daddy."

"I do. He makes my Daddy cry. He's mean." He stomped up the ramp and slammed the screen door. Markie followed him to put the sleepy boy to bed.

Griff sat out on the beach steps after Jordan drove home. He wanted a cigarette so bad he could taste it but Markie said she wouldn't kiss an ashtray so he craved in silence. Flipping open his cell, he punched in #2.

"Hi Ez."
"Anything new?"
"We gotta do somethin'. Jord can't live on dreams."
"Yeah, he needs a kick in the butt."
"I know you have. I don't know what else to suggest."
"Yeah, JD's all mad at Prince Happiness...you remember.."
"Yeah, the story Jord tells him about Dan."
"K....give Dan a hug."
"See ya soon."

Little ears listened at the window. Griff was just talking to somebody who knows mean ole Prince Happiness.

Danny decided he was going nuts. All he wanted to do was go home. This had been the longest summer of his life. He had a great job at the center. He and Ez had found an apartment close to Easy's job at the Referral Center for runaway kids and positive kids with nowhere else to turn. With his degree in business, Easy could have gone in a lot of directions but he wanted to pay forward for all the help he'd been given. Danny was so proud of his friend.

"When we go home, I'm gonna get on with the same outfit over on the east coast," Easy would say. "Anything to make people's lives a little smoother. I wish I'd had a number to call when I was sleepin' under that bridge."

Danny's brace was working well. He could maneuver pretty well with both canes and short distances with just one. He still used the wheelchair when he got tired. He knew that was the way his life would be.

Flipping the South Park calendar Markie had sent him for Christmas, Danny looked at September where he had circled the 4^th in red. Jordan's 25^th birthday. Only three weeks.

He kicked on his computer and keyed up MSN. He pulled up a blank hotmail e-mail screen and typed Kicker41@aol.com in the address box. He sat and stared at the screen wishing he could just type "Come get me" but he knew it wasn't that easy. Just hitting send wouldn't work this time.

"Nope, haven't seen it yet. Your Mommy and Griff went with Daddy to the movies?"

"Nooooooooooo. Mommy and Griff went to school. Daddy is at the movies with Nic."

Danny frowned. "JD just called on Griff's cell. He said that Jordan is at the movies...........with someone named Nick. Who the hell is Nick?" He slammed his phone down, jerked up out of the chair and wrestled himself into his brace. Easy watched, his eyes taking in the sudden frustration, the anger,the..................HOT DAMN...........why hadn't they thought of it before? Dang!! The jealousy. Easy didn't know who this Nick character was but thank God for him. His eyes twinkled.

"It's me. I think we've got ourselves a plan."
"Yeah, it's very evil."
"No, Jordan won't know."
Nah, can't talk now but I think we may be on our way home."

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Just Hit 'Send' - The Interim Years

by Grasshopper

Ch. 11