Chapter 4: Dinner with the Summerton’s

Date: September 27th, 2023 (Friday)

Location: Summerton residence, City of Ellington

Time: 7:15 PM (Local)

Laura waits until she no longer hears the kids before she addresses Amy. They needed to discuss the situation without the children and luckily her astute husband picked up on this.

“Is he a danger? The file is pretty thin. Not much information besides his first name and age.” She says after looking at her husband.

“I’m sure he isn’t. He’s been charming and polite the whole afternoon. I gave him a business card to reach me if any situations pop up. I also left one in the folder for you too.” Amy replies while looking them both in the eye.

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful; we are lucky to be chosen to foster him. I’m just looking out for my family.” Laura grabs Bradley’s hand after she says this

“I understand. Between us, the government is getting scared. Each year, less boys are being born and it’s starting to make people nervous. Scientists have been told to focus on this issue. That’s why my department was created. I hate to use the term; “valuable” when it comes to humans but well, that’s where we’re at.”

“He seems well adjusted for his situation.” Bradly observes while bringing a cup of tea to his lips.

“Yes, he’s surprisingly mature and very smart.” Amy agrees, but after a brief moment of thought she looks at the Summerton’s.

“One thing I did notice. He was fascinated by the radio on the ride over. He also kept looking at everything like it was his first time seeing it. I could tell he wanted to ask questions but he’s cautious enough to play his cards close to his chest. Very perceptive at his age. I think he’s led a sheltered life until now. Makes me wonder if he was being hidden away on purpose. I’ve already notified my superiors of this case and they are going to investigate further. They told me that Allen is my top priority for now until we get this figured out.”

“Hmm…. Well, we will gladly look after him and to be honest, we are hoping to be able to adopt Allen. Bradly and I stopped trying for a boy after Kayla was born. We’ll love him like he’s our own. He’s in safe hands.”

Amy was glad that the Summerton’s were already becoming protective of Allen. She accepted when they invited her to dinner. It would give her a chance to watch the family interact with Allen and see if it was a good fit.

“Here you are, new bro!” Kayla proclaims as she swings the bedroom door open. Allen stands in the doorway and takes in the bedroom. A queen-sized bed takes up the middle and a desk is positioned under a window. A dresser with a flat screened TV sits on top of it opposite of the foot of the bed. He walks in and also notes a closet next to the dresser and another door leads to a bathroom.

“You’re lucky, Valorie and I have to share the bathroom in the hallway. She’s 19 and at college right now and stays at the dorms during the week. She comes home every weekend though, so you’ll probably meet her tonight!”

Allen tries to follow along with her rapid-fire conversation while nodding his head.

“Can’t wait!” he says with a smile.

“Hold that!” Click* Kayla snaps a quick pic with her cellphone.

“What did you just do?” Allen asks with confusion.

“I took a pic of you to send to Valorie and Aiko with my cellphone, see?” Kayla holds her phone up and shows Allen a picture of himself smiling at the camera.

DING* DING* DING* Allen hears Kayla’s phone start chiming and she looks at the screen before running out of the room. Allen is left standing in his new room with his bag in his and a perplexed expression on his face.

“Any idea what that was about, Eve?”

“I believe a “cellphone” is this society’s version of your SPCD (sub-dermal personal communication device, implanted in the hand and acts like a holographic cellphone) She must have received notifications on her device after sending your “pic” and wanted privacy to address them.”

“I’m dirty, I’m going to check out their hygiene technology in the bathroom.” Allen says with a shake of his head.

Allen walks into the bathroom and looks around with curiosity.

“Okay, at least the toilet is a decent analog for ours. Sink seems simple enough.”

Allen spots towels hanging from a towel rack and closes the bathroom door.

Allen strips out of his clothes and boot inserts and then folds them neatly before placing them on the corner of the sink. He grabs a towel before wandering over to the shower curtain. After running his fingers over the material for a moment, he slides the curtain to the side and climbs in.

“Shower on.” Allen speaks into the air.

Nothing happens.

“Shower, on.”

Nothing again.

“Eve, I think the damned things broken.

“Maybe a different command?”

“Well, I’m not going to stand here all night like a stupid, naked idiot. I’m just going to ask the Summerton’s. Laura is a plumber for star’s sake!”

Allen wraps a towel around his waist and trudges down to the dining room. It’s a good thing that Kayla is in her room, texting up a storm about her new, cute-as-hell brother.

“Hey Laura! I think the shower’s broken. I’m trying to wash up and it’s not responding.” Allen says as he walks into the dining room with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

*PFFFFFFT* Bradly spits out his mouthful of tea when he spots Allen in nothing but a towel around his waist. Amy’s cup freezes halfway to her mouth when she spots Allen’s toned and well-muscled body. A small bit of drool leaks out the corner of her open mouth. Laura was leaning back in her chair and with a shout, falls backwards with flailing arms and legs.

“HONEY! You CANNOT walk around like that! Cover your chest!” Bradly exclaims as he rushes to Allen and proceeds to rewrap the towel around Allen’s chest.

“Huh?” Allen asks dumbly.

“This boy’s gonna drive me to early retirement.” Amy mutters under her breath.

“Come with me, Allen. We’ll get the shower sorted out.” Bradley drags Allen back upstairs.

“Sheltered you say?” Laura asks with a raised eyebrow once Allen and Bradly leave the room.

“This clinches it!” Amy responds with a grin.

“Are you checking out my new son?” Laura asks while crossing her arms.

“Was you?” Amy snaps back.

“We don’t talk about this. Ever. Again.” Laura says with her right hand out.

“Deal.” Amy shakes Laura’s hand.

“What did I do wrong, Bradly?” Allen asks once they are back in his room.

“Just Brad…. Or hopefully one day soon, dad. Anyways, boys shouldn’t expose their chests unless they plan on becoming intimate with their significant other or if they are alone.” Brad says with a fatherly smile.

Allen ponders this for a moment. Things were quite different here.

“So, what about women?”

“Oh, they can expose their chests all they want. Many progressive males think this is unfair.” Brad says casually.

Allen doesn’t bat an eye at this. The Alliance Navy has been fully coed for a while, so nudity was no big deal. Allen thinks back on Brad’s statement about hopefully becoming his father. His parents died when he was 18. It’d been 10 years since he had parental influences in his life. If he’s going to integrate and encourage the Summerton’s to adopt him, he could endear himself to them and try it out. Besides, it felt kind of nice to have parents again.

“Okay, we’ll try out mom and dad and see how it feels.” Allen says with a smile.

“EEK!” Brad crushes Allen in a hug while jumping up and down.

“Okay, okay, I can’t breathe!” Allen says while struggling for air.

“Sorry, sorry. I just got excited. So, what’s the problem with the shower?” Brad asks after releasing Allen from his hug.

“I climbed in and gave the “on” command, but nothing happened.”

Brad stands there for a moment to process what Allen just said with a blank look. It takes a moment for his brain to catch up.

“Command?” Brad asks.

“Yeah. I said, “shower on” like normal and nothing happened.” Allen states like it’s a normal thing.

“It’s ummm…. Manual. Yeah, you have to manually adjust with this nob. Turning it left will make it hotter and turning it right will make it colder. Just where did you grow up?” Brad says this last part while scratching an ear.

“Eve, I screwed up.” Allen says on internal comms.

“I’d say so, I look forward to watching you recover from this.”

Allen goes with the ace that’s been dealt to him.

“I don’t remember.” Allen says. He even adds a sniffle.

“LOW HANGING FRUIT!” Eve complains.

Brad makes his way back downstairs and rejoins the women drinking tea. His is cold so he goes into the kitchen and refreshes it. Once he settles into his seat, Brad sits there with his cup in his hand and a perplexed look while staring off into space.

“What’s wrong, babe? The shower okay?” Laura asks with a nudge of her shoulder.

“Y-yeah. Allen said that he gave the shower a command to turn on, but nothing happened. I explained that it was manual and showed him how to work it. He also didn’t realize that he was being indecent.”

Laura turns to Amy after Brad says this and asks, “Did you give our family a lab experiment?”

“HEY!” Brad shouts.

Amy snaps out of her musings to address Laura’s concerns.

“They ran tests on his blood at the hospital. It came back perfectly normal. I’ll add this to the report for my superiors. I promise you that he’s 100% Grade A, boy.”

“I’ll say he is! Where’s Allen? What did I miss?” Kayla announces as she hops back into a seat with her cellphone in her face.

Laura looks at Brad and Amy and shakes her head slowly.

“Allen’s taking a shower. You can grab him when dinner’s ready.” Brad tells Kayla.

“I’ll go check on him now!” Kayla attempts to rise out of her seat but a firm hand on her shoulder keeps her in place. Laura lowers Kayla’s cellphone with one finger on top while maintaining eye contact.

“Listen close, missy. Allen’s in a rough spot. You will treat him with the dignity he deserves. He will be joining you at school. He’s going to be your brother. That makes him family. We protect family. Got that?”

‘Yes, mother.” Kayla says with a gulp.

“Good.” Laura responds while leaning back into her chair.

“I’m going to check on dinner.” Brad says as he gets up.

Allen finishes up his shower and dries himself off with a towel. He also notices that his clothes are gone and are replaced with a white t-shirt with the Summerton plumber business logo on the front and a pair of shorts. He slides the shorts and shirt on and to his dismay, the shorts are bit tight in the groin and rear areas, and the shirt is loose. He runs a comb through his short brown hair and uses the deodorant the hospital gave him. After he finishes, Allen hangs up his towel, turns off the light, and steps out of his bathroom. Allen hears a knock on the door, and he opens it to find Kayla waiting for him in the hallway.

“D-dinner’s ready.” She says shyly without looking at him.

“Good, I’m starved. They tried to feed me poison at the hospital!” Allen says as he motions her down the hallway.

“Poison?” she asks while scratching her ear.

“Yeah. It was this green, jiggly mass. Made by grinding up animal parts.” Allen says while following behind her.

“J-Jell-O?” she asks while looking over her shoulder.

“Yeah, that’s the stuff.” Allen says with a solemn nod.

“But I like Jell-O….” Kayla whispers to herself.

Dinner was a succulent pork roast with mashed potatoes and gravy with a side of corn. Allen happily consumed it while being on the lookout for poisonous foods with Eve’s help. Himself, the Summerton’s sans Valorie, and Amy thoroughly enjoyed themselves and conversation was light and fun. Allen sets back in his seat and pats his belly.

“That was good, nothing poisonous like at the hospital.” Allen says while letting his food settle.

Laura and Brad stop what they are doing and look at Amy. Amy brings her hand up to her face and mouths the word, “Jell-O” while trying not to giggle. They shake their heads and focus back on dinner. Dinner comes to an end and Amy makes her way to the foyer while Laura, Brad, and Allen see her off.

“Alright, that’s a night for me. Any problems, call me anytime. I’ll check on you again tomorrow to see how things are going. Don’t be afraid to wake me up if you have to.” With a wave, Amy heads to her car and drives off into the night.

“If it’s okay with you two, I’ve had a long day and I’m going to go rack out.” Allen says while fighting a yawn.

“We understand. By the way, no one’s asked your opinion on this, how do you feel about borrowing our last name?” Laura jokes.

“I think it’s great. I’m really appreciative.” Allen says with a smile.

“Good…. good, we hope you find a home with us here.” Laura says back.

“I appreciate the clothes too.” Allen fingers his shirt as he says this.

“The boy shorts are my old ones, and the shirt is Laura’s. I’ll take you to the mall tomorrow and we’ll buy you proper clothes. The outfit you were wearing earlier, I put in the wash.” Brad says while placing his arm around Laura’s waist.

“Sounds good, thanks for everything. Goodnight!” Allen turns and walks to his room.

“I feel like I’m talking to an adult.” Brad says as he stares at Allen’s retreating back.

“Yeah…. say, want to celebrate tonight?” Laura asks while wiggling her eyebrows at Brad.

“Why, did the view earlier get the blood flowing?” Brad says back with a smirk.

“Umm, uhh……” Laura fights to find correct words.

“It’s okay, I’ll take it!” Brad giggles as Laura chases him up the stairs.

Allen’s in his room when he hears running down the hall accompanied by loud giggles and the slamming of a bedroom door. Then a soft knock follows on his. Allen opens his door and finds Kayla standing in the hallway. She’s wearing pink girl briefs and a half shirt.

“They’re having sex.” She states plainly.

“Umm…. okay?” Allen doesn’t know what else to say. He’s more worried about laying down and talking to Eve to rehash the day.

“Well, my doors right there if you ever need anything!” Kayla points to a door diagonal from his.

“Appreciate it!” Allen smiles at her and she blushes.

“Okay, have a good night!” Kayla doesn’t give Allen a chance to respond as she rushes to her room and slams it closed.

“Eve, you still have her marked as a threat?”

“Yes, Allen.”

“Good.”

Allen closes and locks his door after staring at Kayla’s with a worried look. Yeah, not going to happen. Allen isn’t about to risk his home here. He walks over to his bed and strips off his shirt before laying down. He settles into his bed and closes his eyes.

“Eve, please set an alarm for 7:00 am local, can’t go soft here.”

“Yes, Allen.”

“Okay Eve. Let’s talk.”

“Good, we have a lot to talk about. Plans to make and girl’s hearts to break!”

“Not gonna happen! Too many irons in the fire. Girls aren’t a priority.”

“Aww, I’m the only girl for you!”

“We’ll go with that. Moving on….” Their conversation lasts deep into the night.

They say that man plans, and the gods laugh. Allen doesn’t fully appreciate his situation on a planet full of aggressive women and not enough men to go around.