Chapter 2

"Thanks for the update Joanne. I'll make the arrangements right now." Tim said, before hanging up the phone. He was about to make another phone call when his wife, Susanne, walked into the den.

"Hey sweetie, any news?" Sue, his wife of 20 years, asked. She was a fair skinned brunette, about 5'5", and possessed an outstanding body, with narrow hips, long legs, and breasts large for her frame. Even after 2 kids, her body still elicited a reaction out of Tim. Tim's eyes were drawn to her breasts, where he remembered fondly suckling on the night before. He shook his head, before answering.

"Well, apparently his foster family kept him in the basement, barely providing enough for him to survive. They also embezzled about thirty thousand dollars of his money, provided by the trust fund left from his family. He's been basically starving himself in order to buy clothing and school supplies." Tim sighed, before pounding his fist on the desk. "If I get my hands on those people..."

Sue interrupted him. "Tim, let's worry about that later. What can we do for him right now?"

"Well, I'm going to make a reservation at the Doubletree hotel for him, the one next to the Social Services office. They were going to take him back to the foster home to get the rest of his clothes, but from what I understand, all his clothes are from thrift stores. I was going to go down to the mall and pick up some clothing for him, and leave it at the hotel for him." Tim replied.

Sue thought for a moment before replying, "Why don't you leave the clothing for me? You know your tastes in fashion." She said, grinning at him.

"Oh! A mortal wound to my heart! How doth thou remarks impinge upon thine sensitive soul!" Tim was grinning as well, remembering an incident with his daughter, a dress he bought, and the abject look of despair on Danielle's face, right before Sue grabbed Danielle, the dress, and the car keys, saying 'We'll be right back!'

"What were you thinking, buying that dress? Sock-Hops haven't been in fashion for a while now." Sue laughed, remembering the same incident.

"I just thought it would look pretty on her." Tim defended himself.

"Well, it would have, if she grew up a few decades ago! But seriously, go take care of the hotel. What name will the room be under?"

"I'll put it under his name, John Michaels."

"'Kay. I'll be back in a few hours." Sue kissed Tim on the lips, before grabbing his car keys and his wallet."

"Hey! I still need a credit card for the hotel!" Tim yelled after her.

A silver card came flying through the doorway of the den, before landing on his lap. He laughed. "Love you too, hon."

Tim shook his head, grinning at his wife's antics, before picking up the phone and calling the hotel. He booked a largish suite, and made sure that John was told that room service was 'on the house.' He thought about it for a bit, before telling them to enable all pay-per- view movies, also on the house. 'That might help him take his mind off things, ' he thought, grinning. He thanked the person on the phone, before hanging up.

Then he called his wife, who was still on her way to the mall. "Hey hon, just wanted to ask you to add a few things to your shopping list. Get some shampoo and other toiletries for John. The stuff at the hotel is horrible."

"Sure sweetie. I was also thinking about getting him some silk underwear, too." Tim could swear he heard her devilish grin in her voice. "You know, just to make him more comfortable."

"Hehe... good idea. I was thinking, he might be there for a while. Why not pick up junior from school after you're done shopping for clothes, and pick up a 42" flat-panel plasma TV, and that new XBOX? Junior can pick out games for him, and at least that way he'll have things to do at the hotel. Maybe a laptop too, so he can surf the web. I'm pretty sure that they have wireless internet in the hotel room."

"Jeez, big spender today, huh?" Sue said. "You're gonna spoil him before he even steps foot in the house."

"Well, you know how rough he's had it in the past. I just want to make sure that he knows that he'll be cared for, if he decides to join our family. Besides, all this stuff can be put in his room if and when he decides to join us. Otherwise, we can donate it to the local school, or give it to one of our nieces or nephews."

"Ok, Mr. Hotshot. I'll pick up Brian later then. Why don't you think of some more stuff to spend our money on? Maybe you want me to pick up some lingerie for you as well."

"Haha, if you think that's a good idea, sure. I'm not sure how it'll benefit John, but I'm sure I'll benefit from it!" Tim said, laughing.

"You just might, if you're a very very good boy." Sue laughed. "Alright, I'm almost there. I'll call you when we get to the hotel."

"Ok hon, drive careful. Love 'ya."

"I'll show you how much I love you... later." She growled, before hanging up the phone.

Tim noodled around the den for a bit after that, before going to the kitchen, where the maid, Diedre was. "Hey Di. Just wondering if there was anything here in this huge kitchen to eat, or is it only for show?" He smiled at her.

"Sure, Mr. Johnson. What would you like?" She smiled at Tim.

"Well, something not too complicated. How about a club sandwich?"

"Sure, I'll bring it out to your office once it's done." She turned around to the fridge, before asking, "did you want anything to drink with that?"

"Sure, just some OJ will be fine, thanks." As Di started putting together his lunch, Tim stood there, admiring Di's fine figure. Although their relationship was strictly businesslike, the whole family had developed a very close friendship with Di. He couldn't help but appreciate her beauty, however. She was of Latino background, and quite cultivated in nature. She stood at five foot even, and was small in stature, with full hips and a modest bust. Her best feature was, at least to him, her skin tone. A smoky caramel color, rich and inviting.

Tim shook his head, before retreating back to his office. He was a happily married man, but sometimes, a man just has to window shop a bit. He did a little bit of office work, trying to rid his desk of some of the papers scattering around, before stopping when Diedre brought him his lunch.

"Thank you, Di."

She flashed him a radiant smile. "No problem at all, Mr. Johnson. I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything." She left the office.

While munching on the delicious sandwich that Di brought out for him, Tim thought of John's plight. He grabbed his Palm out of the cradle, and pulled up the number for one of his old college buddies, who now worked over at Davis and McCormick, Inc., a rather prominent law firm in the area. Quickly finishing the sandwich, he called Tony at the office, when a sultry voice answered.

"Davis and McCormick's. Mr. Settle's office. How may I help you?"

"Hello, is Mr. Settle in right now?" Tim asked.

"May I ask who's calling?"

"Could you tell him it's 'Icarus'?" Tim asked with a smirk evident in his voice

"Icarus?" Miss sultry voice asked.

"Yeah, don't worry. He'll understand." Tim told her.

"One second please." She put him on hold, and about a minute or so later, his friend picked up.

"Hey Tim! Long time no chat! Still flying high? Or did you get burned when the bubble burst?" Tony laughed, glad to hear from his old friend.

"Hey bud. Yeah, I got burned." Tim forced a depressed tone into his voice.

"Ouch. I'm sorry to hear that. You lose a lot?"

"Don't worry about it. If only I had waited a few days, I would have doubled the value of my profit from pulling all my stock off the market.

Tony was confused. 'Waited a few days?' He thought about that, before asking. "How much did you lose?"

"Lose? I didn't lose, rather, I made out quite well. I would have made out even more, but apparently I jumped the gun by a few days. Which I guess, is a good thing. Otherwise, the SEC would be breathing down my back for liquidating all my stock a day before the internet bubble burst." Tim laughed.

Tony laughed with him. "You ass. Guess this means you can finally afford to buy me that dinner you've owed me since college."

"Sure thing. Anywhere you like." Tim replied. "But, unfortunately, this isn't a social call."

"What's up? You in trouble?" Tony sounded concerned, but couldn't help adding, "Knock someone up that you shouldn't have?"

"Hell no. You know Sue would kill me before I had a chance to call you. It's actually about this kid that Sue and I want to adopt."