CHAPTER 229: ROOTS AND ROSES

Mr. Zack’s heart broke for the young man as Shepherd found out the truth about his life and that he had three children that had been stolen from him by a greedy corporation when he was too young to even think about having children. But there was one saving grace to the announcement—he couldn’t believe that the last child that he had birthed four months earlier was still at the 3 Bar Ranch, located in a secret area down underground, and that child was on his way home and would soon be in his arms.

"Okay boys, now I do have a surprise for you." Zack cleared his throat. "I’ve been placing young Genman couples together in a home so that they can learn how to live with each other and help each other out. The second bedroom is going to be occupied by someone else, but the first one is set up for you two boys and it’s been retrofitted to accommodate a bed for the child that shall arrive here soon. Now that everything here’s checked out and you’re still standing, and neither one of you are running for the door trying to escape, I would like to take you to the house that you’ll be sharing with your new roommate who will show up in a little while."

Eleck and Shepherd were still in shock—a house, a roommate and a four-month-old plus a fresh pregnancy all within 24 hours.

Shepherd looked at Eleck and quietly spoke. "I’ll understand if you decide this is too much to handle because I’m still in shock, and if you want to walk away, I don’t blame you. You can still have access to your son at any time because he will always be your son—you just can’t sign up for the instant family."

"As long as I’m with you we can handle anything together. So what if we get a family a little bit quicker—he’s your son so he’s also mine." Eleck’s voice was firm.

Zack shook his head and told the boys to go get dressed and meet them out front where his speeder would be waiting for them. Zack turned around and walked out because he needed to do some quick thinking and some fast traveling to get Brent to the house so that he was there waiting on Eleck and Shepherd when they arrived.

Zack had also received news that another child had been located, but he wasn’t so sure how well the dad was going to take the news. Clayton was having a hard enough time already with Roman—what would he be like with two children? Celeste had already been caught up to speed on the situation and was awaiting the delivery of the new baby.

---

Zack and Madison had no problem gathering up Brent with all of his stuff. They also picked up all of Eleck’s property from the dorm and headed on to the new house.

This house was special because it was next door to Homer and Clayton’s home. It had been empty, so it was one of the only ones that had not been finished on the outside. The inside had been totally refurbished and the square footage was increased by adding a nursery room and two private baths.

When Zack, Madison and Brent pulled up to the house, Brent just stared at the house. From the outside it looked like a piece of shit—the yard was ripped up, there were boards missing from the front porch, no front gate and the front fence was falling apart.

Zack chuckled. "Well, I heard it was a fixer-upper, but this may be a little bit much even for you two young men. But if you check with your neighbors, I’m sure they will be glad to help slap some paint on the walls, replace a few boards on the porch, and they might even have connections to get a few flowers like the other one next door has—you know that cute little yellow one trimmed in white with the red door and black shutters. With a little bit of spit, polish and shine and a lot of elbow grease, this place could be made into a nice home. Now you two young men get the stuff on the inside and I will talk to the neighbors, let them know that the new tenants are arriving today, and I need to inform them that they get a plus-one today also."

Zack walked next door and knocked on Homer’s door. Clayton answered and was very cordial to Mr. Z. He showed him to the new chair with the footstool under his legs and told him he’d be right back with some cool water. Celeste was holding Roman as the child was being gently rocked while he slept.

Clayton returned with a glass of cool water for Mr. Z. "You’ll have to pardon Homer—he is out in his greenhouse tending to his roses, having some personal time. Every man no matter how busy he is needs his personal time so that he can gather his thoughts. But I’m sure that he wouldn’t mind if you went outside to see him, Sir."

Zack took a deep breath. "What I have to tell him goes for both of you. Celeste will watch Roman for us, but I need both of you together when I tell you what I have to."

Clayton nodded and showed Mr. Zack to the rear door of the cabin. They took the path to the greenhouse. Clayton gently knocked on the front door of the greenhouse, not wanting to disturb Homer too much.

Homer opened the door with a smile and welcomed the two inside his sanctuary.

"Homer, you may want to help Clayton when I tell you—I have some news about his past." Zach started.

Homer had a worried look on his face and gently pulled Clayton to him, wrapping his arm around him in support.

"Clayton, you know what we talked about the other day and what happened to you before you arrived here on the Z1 after the raid."

Clayton looked at Mr. Z. "Yes Sir, Roman is my third child. I know I was in a program and I have two lost children that I’ll probably never be able to see."

Zack looked down and composed himself. "Last night there was a raid on a small unassuming ranch after I met a young man who is now here at the Z1—he had been sent here for breeding to one of our quality breeders. This ranch had a fake façade barn that was the front for a complex that was two stories underground. When they raided the place, they located this space and they were holding several young children, getting them ready for shipment to another complex. After records were seized and genetic material was compared for parental match up, we found a 10-and-a-half-month-old that matches your DNA."

Clayton stood there in silence as he gripped onto Homer’s hand so hard that it was causing Homer pain. He turned to Homer and wrapped his arms around his neck and gently sobbed.

Homer cleared his throat twice. "The boy—is he okay? And may I inquire where he is?"

"The young man is fine, very healthy. He’s a little bit stunted in his fine motor skills and speech because of inactivity, but other than that he’s great." Zack paused. "Angela is bringing him back to the Z1—he will arrive here within the hour. I just need to know if you’re going to be able to handle him, Clayton."

Clayton turned to Zach with tears streaming down his cheeks. "Sir, as long as he’s my baby I can handle him. Thanks to Celeste I know that we all stumble and sometimes we fall down, but it’s when we get up that we prove to everyone else how strong we are in life. I’m a Genman and I’m a dad of three wonderful boys. Now that my second born is coming home, the only thing that can make my life complete is getting this big lug here to marry me and finding my firstborn. I won’t rest until all three of our sons are under our roof being raised by us here on the Z1. I guarantee you this one thing—they better hope I never can get my hands around the neck of any of the greedy corporate pigs that stole my children because I will not be responsible for my actions. A dad will do anything to protect his young."

Clayton rushed to Mr. Z and hugged him as hard as he could without hurting him.

"Oh, before I forget—the house next door, the one that needs all the work done to the outside? New neighbors are moving in today and will start working on the outside to bring it up to standards of the neighborhood." Mr. Z remembered. "They’re a new couple—they have one that they have just conceived and he is in the same situation as you are, Clayton. They just found his last child—the boy is approximately four months old and was also located in the raid. His partner is one of the young men from the dormitory. Their roommate is also from the dormitory and is dating Lester and Francis’s boy Irvin—they will be joined soon as a couple and they all will live in the home under our couples’ program."

Homer looked around. "Well, it looks like I get to plant a few new rosebushes. But first we will get our son and meet them like a family—Father, Dad, the two boys and the all-important grandmother Celeste."

Clayton kissed Homer. "I’m going back to the house and wait on you. We will share this new wonderful news with mama Celeste together. Then we will tell her about the new couple next door—we shall deliver them a pair of rosebushes. I think they will be needing a red and a yellow rose bush."

Clayton walked back to the house with Zack. He wrapped his arm around Zack’s waist and thanked him for everything he had ever done for him. "I can never repay your generosity and love that you have shown all of us. We are truly blessed to be here at the Z1."

"It’s just another day in the life of the Z1." Z smiled and patted Clayton on his back.

____

Author’s Note: Please check out my new book, "Cinder-fella: The Untold Tale Of The Spare Prince [BL]"... Thank you!!!