adopt1

I Adopt A Son

A Story Set in the Brave New World of D.A.D.

and Told by a D.A.D.

Chapter One: Who I Am and Who Stuart is

My name is Michael Taylor, and I’ve always wanted a son of my own. I can’t remember a time when the instinct to ‘father’ has not been incredibly strong in me. Of course I know that this is part of my genetic encoding and all my training on the Island has been designed to encouraged that instinct, but I ought to tell you more about myself so you can understand why I was so eager to become Stuart’s father.

I’m thirty-eight years old, but because of the longevity treatments given to everyone at birth, I appear no older than someone in their very early twenties. I have thick brown hair and heavy eyebrows, a somewhat hawk-like nose and a wide full mouth. When I was in training at D.A.D., I had to take a lot of teasing about being good-looking, but I have to say that it had its advantages when I wanted company. So far I have not found someone with whom I would like to have a permanent relationship, but in our society it isn’t essential to have a permanent partner to parent. It is only essential that you have the right instincts and if you are a trained D.A.D.; you are encouraged to father.

My own parents were the D.A.D.s on the Island I was raised at. My biological parents were numbers on a test tube. Don’t think that it’s sad; it wasn’t at all. My surrogate D.A.D.s were wonderful. All boys raised on the Island were loved by all of the Men who worked, trained and taught there. All of us young ones were taken under the wing (and palm) of Big Brothers and D.A.D.s. My Big Brother was blond Erik; he was wonderful to me. Erik loved the water and taught me how to swim before I was five years old. I became such a ‘water-baby’ that Erik had to spank my bottom many times to keep me from sneaking out of the dome and swimming in the ocean without supervision. I still remember standing in front of Erik, he was sitting on a promontory on the beach, and crying and rubbing my very sore bottom. Erik was a big Big Brother and spankings with his large hand left a reminder that a boy carried around for several days.

"Why did you spank me Brother Erik?" I sobbed, tears rolling down my cheeks.

Big Brother Erik put me on his knee and rubbed my head. "You disobeyed me, Michael. It’s dangerous to swim in the ocean without me or a D.A.D.; what if any danger came or if you got a cramp?"

"I don’t get cramps," I said stubbornly. "And I’m not afraid of danger."

"But I told you not to do it!" Erik said simply. "And that’s enough reason."

"But I like to swim," I insisted.

Big Brother Erik sighed, unbuttoned my onepiece again, and put me back in his lap. I had not been spanked enough. Soon I was bawling and thrashing and promising to never do it again, but my Big Brother suspected that even with a plum-colored backside, which would make sitting painful for many days, I would

When Big Brother Erik realized that there was a streak of adventure in my little body that spanking couldn’t root out, his devotion lead him to an even more vigilant guardianship and many late night swimming sessions for both of us. Such is the strength of the Devotion in all men trained in the ways of D.A.D. Receiving such a special combination of Discipline and Devotion from the Men around me, is it any wonder that I wanted to emulate my role models and bring up a boy of my own?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Stuart was not, initially, what I had in mind. I had wanted a baby that I could nurture as only a D.A.D. can, but High Father John sent for me, shortly after I had completed adoption paperwork, and I met with him in his study.

"Michael, I’ve read your adoption papers, and I know that you want a boy-baby. It is not usually the way we do things on the Island, but it is not without precedent. However, I sent for you because I think that there is a more important mission you might choose to undertake."

I said nothing, but listened attentively as High Father explained.

"A boy has just joined us from North American," High Father said. "He is almost nineteen and he has been hurt."

"Hurt?"

"Yes, Michael, hurt! Not in his body, but in his mind and spirit. He is going to need a Father who will understand and nurture his true self. Unless we find someone who responds to this boy’s needs, he will continue to be hurt."

"And what are his needs?" I asked. My D.A.D. training, and own instincts, already had me interested in this case; I wondered why High Father sounded so pessimistic.

"The boy’s name is Stuart, and he will always be a boy!"

"I don’t understand," I said.

"I mean that he is not going to grow up," High Father John explained. "The longevity treatments have only caused three such cases, and Stuart is one of them; our labs are still searching for the reason. He began receiving treatments when he was five years old and it was apparent, almost immediately, that his development was much slower than other children who had received longevity therapy.

‘By the time the boy was twenty-six, it was clear that he had stopped aging completely."

"Twenty-six, so he is a young man!" I asked for clarification.

"That was thirty years ago," High Father John quickly added. "Stuart appears to be a boy of twelve, but he has been alive for fifty-six years. His parents could not understand the nature of Stuart’s problem. They expected him to be a man in reality even if he looked like a boy."

"That isn’t unreasonable," I said.

"It was in Stuart’s case," High Father explained. "Stuart is never going to be a man. The effects of the longevity therapy have been devastating to this child...."

I noted how tenderly Father John referred to Stuart as a "child."

"Stuart is a boy on the brink of adolescence, he has experienced the awakening, but nothing else. There will never be anything else. He is a boy forever poised on the brink of manhood. His experiences add to his frustrations, because his learning continues to evolve, but his body and chemistry curtail how he experiences things and how he uses his information."

"D.A.D. training might help him," I suggested.

"D.A.D. training would be inappropriate for Stuart. It would push him toward a goal that he can never reach. Even the psychological aspects of our program would be inappropriate. The only counseling Stuart would benefit from would be geered toward acceptance of his eternal condition, esteem building, and the reassurance that there will always be a D.A.D. to take care of him.

‘Think, Michael, who can you imagine more in need of a strong, loving father than this unhappy Peter Pan?"

I thought for a moment and accepted the obvious; this was a boy who would always need a D.A.D. This was also a boy who would always be frustrated. I wanted to ask more about the boy’s sexual development, but didn’t. Perhaps High Father would tell me of his own volition.

He did not.

"Stuart is both a sad boy and an angry boy. He has moments when he asserts his long life experience and accumulated knowledge, but he can only assert them as a twelve year old might. He is extremely bright and intuitive, but it sometimes distances him from other people. He wants to be cuddled and he wants to be independent. Can you see why he is so needy."

"Yes, of course I can."

His own parents died ten years ago, but it might as well have been decades before that. They didn’t understand Stuart and they only added to his misery. They ultimately got fed up and abandoned him in spirit long before they passed away. Stuart has been alone for too long."

There was a terrible long silence.

"You want me to adopt this boy," I finally said.

"I do, but it has to be your choice. Your own longevity therapy would enable you to father Stuart for more than a hundred years, but inevitably he would pass to the hands of another D.A.D. You would have to prepare him for that."

"This is really a tragic case," I said.

"No!" High Father said angrily. "It is not tragic. Perhaps you aren’t the right Man if you think that. Stuart is a miracle and he needs to be treated that way. He needs a Father who will be a normal Father to him and provide him with the support and guidance to turn his life into something wonderful. It will take a man with the ability to combine a broad vision with the narrow needs of daily parenting.

‘Stuart may be long-lived, but he is a boy who desperately needs Discipline and Devotion. He has had neither, and it shows. It would be a mistake to treat him with awe; this boy needs a D.A.D. A strong, wise DAD."

"I would like to be with the boy," I said, and meant it, "is it possible for me to be appointed as his interim father, to make sure that we are a good match?"

"No!" High Father said immediately. "You know that isn’t possible. It would only hurt the boy more. Go away and think about this carefully, Michael. I would not have sent for you if your psychological profile didn’t suggest that you might be perfect for Stuart. Your fathering instincts are among the strongest I have ever perceived. You could be Stuart’s destined Father, but you have to reflect on it. Here....."

High Father opened a manilla envelope on his desk and took out a picture.

"......this is Stuart."

I looked at a boy with neatly combed brown hair. He had a narrow face and dark brown eyes that looked big behind glasses. Judging from the photograph, he wasn’t very big. He wasn’t smiling, but his face looked as though he could be as silly as he could be serious. He also looked deliciously boyish with a combination of sensitivity, intelligence and possible temperament that I found appealing.

I could see, right there on this boy’s face, the challenges of being his father. He would need a strong hand and he would reject a strong hand. He would need ego-building, but would often respond to it with cynicism. Something surged inside of me, and although I went off to convince High Father that I was going to reflect on this as he advised, I made my decision looking at the picture of my son.

(to be continued.....with much more DISCIPLINE)