Collectibles

.:.

4. Epilogue

It took them a bit of an effort, but they were finally able to calm the authorities and explain all that had gone down at the lodge as the result of a terrible misunderstanding. All accusations were formally dropped.

After five days, Paul was allowed to leave the hospital, which made some nurses rather unhappy and teary-eyed. Dwayne followed after two weeks, having awoken on the day after his surgery. David's injuries were more serious, so he was kept under for four days and needed to stay at the hospital for nearly a month – which he hated, of course. The stay and the visits of the boys drove the hospital staff mad – the (straight) males with exasperation, the (straight) females with other feelings.

David was severely disgruntled, but he did see that he had made several mistakes where Michael was concerned, and he and the boys agreed to take him back – if he still wanted to be one of them, that was. It turned out that he did. After that memorable night, they all agreed without words to tone it down a bit where drugs were concerned, relying mainly on weed and booze for the time being. It seemed safer to all of them.

Lucy was touched to tears by Max forgiving her sons for almost killing his boys – whom he introduced as some kind of wards to her. She visited them all several times at the hospital, causing some half funny, half embarrassing situations by her attempts at mothering them. She was almost instantly adopted by Paul though, who adored her cookies, yet told her he would like them even more if there were a little something in them to lighten his hospital-depressed mood. The next time, she actually brought him hash cookies – but that was when he had already been released and was staying at Max's.

It was then and through a slightly stoned Paul that she found out about Max and the boys. She had had a strange feeling about Max right from the start, as if he were too good to be true, and, sadly, it turned out that he was. The resulting talk she had with Paul and Marko, who was summoned by Paul for reinforcement, was awkward at best, but they assured her that they were neither exploited nor abused, and were, in fact, quite pleased with the arrangement. Additional and equally awkward conversations with Dwayne and David followed before Lucy eventually addressed Max himself on the matter.

It happened before Dwayne and David were back home again, both still forced to stay at the hospital. Max and Lucy were finally able to have a dinner without any interruption – it wasn't exactly as pleasant as planned though. Max was very uncomfortable when confronted by Lucy. She told him in no uncertain terms that he would deeply regret it if he ever put his paws anywhere near Sam. She also told him that Michael was technically of age and could make his own decisions, but that she would not tolerate him dropping out of high school to become somebody's boy toy. Highly embarrassed, Max apologized to her, and vowed to stay away from Sam, and, even more embarrassed, to not make advances to Michael before he had finished school. He then told her that he really did like her, and that he hoped that they could be friends. Lucy answered that they could, if he proved to her that he was worth her friendship, and promised not to lie to her again, at least not where important matters were concerned. Feeling very relieved, he promised.

Lucy and Max combined convinced Michael to finish high school – he had only a year left, after all. Maybe it helped that Max announced that he would buy him a new bike if he emerged from it with halfway decent grades – et honi soit qui mal y pense.*

Edgar and Alan were very upset to find themselves and their parents in the focus of several unpleasant authorities, not least the youth welfare office. As a result, the whole Frog family was forced to go to drug rehab. The brothers desperately needed both a legal guardian, since their parents lost custody because of their addiction, and someone to run the shop while they were unable to do so. Sam would have loved to, but couldn't, at least not full time, since he had to go to school. Michael might have, but only in the evenings too, and he didn't know much about comics.

Since the Frog brothers seemed so very desperate, Max had an idea he himself thought formidable. Lucy had told him that it wouldn't do to continue to spoil his boys like he was currently doing, and he secretly agreed. What would happen if they got older? They had almost no formal education, no legal profession ...

So Max came up with the plan to have his boys run the shop, taking turns in doing so. To his dismay, almost all of the people involved seemed to be appalled by the idea. But the Frogs had really no other options left, since they couldn't exactly pay decently for an employee, and with Max promising to add a bit to their wages, at least Marko and Dwayne finally agreed to try it out. After a few days, they were surprised to realize that they actually liked working at the store. They cajoled Paul into joining them, and with Michael and Sam helping out in the evenings, they could take turns and work shifts. That was the point where David caved and grudgingly fell into line, for he didn't like to be left out of anything, even if it was just running a measly comic shop.

As far as the guardianship for Edgar and Alan was concerned, Lucy agreed to apply for it. She didn't plan on taking the brothers in though, only on looking after them a bit and helping them with the paperwork. They were already fifteen and sixteen after all, and quite used to care for themselves. Since her chances as a single mother weren't that good, she wrote on the form that she was about to be married to one Maximilian Drake, who was, of course, none other than Max. She did not really intend to make him her husband, but thought that once she got the guardianship, the authorities likely wouldn't take it away from her only because that announced marriage never came to be. She was right.

Sam was warned by both Lucy and Michael to be a bit wary around Max, but it turned out that there was really no need for that, for Max stayed true to his promise. To everyone's surprise, and not least to his own, Sam actually turned out to be almost completely heterosexual in the end, and found himself a girlfriend at the age of fifteen.

Star and Laddie were very happy to stay with the Emersons on Lucy's invitation, but she and Michael never became a couple. She did reconcile with David and the boys though, and got herself a job at a small boutique on the Boardwalk.

Grandpa complained about all the company in his house, as was his custom. Nevertheless, he appeared to secretly enjoy all the new people hanging around. He and Paul found some common ground in their love for certain plants, while Dwayne shared his passion for old-timers. Marko loved to help with the horses. David however, though generally on good terms with Grandpa, refused to ever enter his taxidermy workshop (again).

After some time, Max was able to add Michael to his collection of fine boys – but he never got Sam. That, however, is another story …

.:.

The End.

.:.

* Ancient French for "Shame be to him who thinks evil of it."

AN: And they lived happily ever after ... ;-)

My thanks go to Rae Maxwell and EvilFalconOfDoom. Your reviews were a motivation as well as an inspiration to me. :-)