Life Renewed - Revised

This chapter is a collaboration between ACFan & Jeff P.

---

Josh sat back, watching as his twin sons unconsciously integrated themselves into the team preparing to save the two android personalities that were in Willy/Johnny's head. The most amazing thing to him was how the boys were thinking ahead, planning for possibilities that he was sure most adult doctors would have discounted as unnecessary. Diagnostics on every station were being checked and then double-checked, ensuring the chance of a mechanical failure was reduced to the absolute minimum.

"Don't worry, Josh, they're professionals," Cory commented from his seat next to Josh.

"That's pretty obvious," Josh admitted. "My question is how the non-android boys learned so much about their android brothers?"

Cory grinned. "You should know that if a kid's interested in something, they absorb it like a sponge! Watch CJ and Chad; they're asking questions, and giving their opinions. All of these guys learned from Marc and Danny by working alongside of them, and in the process they asked questions that changed how things are done."

"What do you mean?" Josh asked.

"The procedure you're about to watch came from someone questioning if a transporter could assist in the procedure to repair an android. The guys ran with it, and now they have a procedure developed that would blow the minds of the people who originally gave birth to the androids."

"How long did that take?" Josh queried.

"I think they called it ready to go in a couple of days," Cory giggled. "They took their time to make sure everything worked like they planned."

"DAYS?" Josh exclaimed. "That kind of technology takes YEARS to develop!"

"Shhhhh, don't tell them that!" Cory laughed. "There's advantages to none of them knowing how to spell impossible."

---

"I don't get it," Johnny said as he looked at himself in the mirror one of the boys had handed him. "Why would they just change my hair color? Everything else looks the same," he finished as Marc slowly approached the biobed and sat on its edge.

"We'll fix it," Marc smiled. "Do you want your blond hair back?"

"Yeah," Johnny giggled. "I mean it's a cool color for...wait..." Stopping to think and hand Marc the mirror, Johnny tilted his head and laid back down, "...does this mean this Willy kid will be like my brother?"

"Yeah," Marc smiled, "Twin brother actually since you two mostly share the same DNA."

"Cool!" he said as he closed his eyes. "I was created first though so I'm the older brother!"

"And that's where it starts," Marc said to CJ as he walked past the biobed with a rolled-up cable, causing the boy to laugh.

"You're just jealous, just like my LITTLE brother!" Chad yelled from the other side of the room.

"STOP CALLING ME LITTLE!" CJ giggled.

"Oh my god!" Marc laughed. "You better not be like that with Willy when you finally meet him."

"But I was created first," Johnny said as CJ smiled and set the cable down.

"Having a twin is really kewl," CJ giggled, "Even if your bratty brother don't understand that being born first don't make him better!" After a pause, CJ turned to Marc and added, "Doc 'Tonio says most twins can talk in their heads like me and Chad; does that mean Willy and Johnny are gonna be able to do that too?"

Marc tilted his head, took Johnny's hand in his own, and smiled. "Honestly? I don't know. They will have almost identical DNA, and have shared the same 'space' for even longer than human twins share the same womb. It's just as possible for them to share the same connection, but they don't actually know each other." Marc tapped his chin, "Actually, at this point, Johnny knows about Willy, but Willy has no clue Johnny exists."

"I don't know about that Marc," Johnny replied as he closed his eyes and rubbed them. "I have some weird, kinda hazy memories of a big house with some loud scary lady. I think we almost already have some kind of connection. He may know who I am, even if he doesn't know who I am."

"Oh, he's making sense," Jerry chimed in. "Definitely your brother, Marc!" he laughed.

"Oh shut up!" Marc laughed. "I thought you guys were prepping the system for Johnny to migrate into?"

"Duh," Jerry laughed as he swapped the cable Johnny was still connected to with the one CJ brought in. "We need to do it soon, before Johnny starts actually feeling run down."

"What happens if we wait too long?" CJ asked, resting his elbows on the biobed near Johnny's left leg.

"Johnny has to choose to migrate. If he loses consciousness, well..., he has to move them both out of this brain for this to work."

"Oh," CJ frowned. "Don't forget to take Willy then," he said as Johnny smiled at him.

"I won't," Johnny replied, "I gotta meet him now."

"Marc?" Jerry stated. "You need to explain to him how to do this... Marc?" When Marc didn't respond, all three looked over and found Marc beginning to tear up. "KEVIN!" Jerry shouted.

Rushing around the console, Kevin found Marc quickly trying to hide his tears. "Uncle Marc, you're done here. Kiss Uncle Johnny; you need to let me take over. I can tell him how to do this."

"Uncle Johnny? I like that," Johnny smiled as Marc kissed his forehead and stood up. "I'll be fine Marc, I promise," he added before looking at CJ and stating "We both will be."

"You'd better, we want both of our brothers here to help us teach Uncle Marc to lighten up," CJ instructed, his grin giving away the seriousness of his implied threat.

"Instant big family," Johnny mumbled as he closed his eyes and smiled. "Okay, both of my brothers need to go finish their shakes so I can talk to my new nephew. This is so weird," he added with a giggle.

"Yes sir!" Marc laughed, then sniffled. "He's all yours Kevin," Marc finished as he led CJ back towards the open area in the room where the table and their melting shakes were.

"Okay, Johnny," Kevin said reaching the head of the bed. "How are you holding up?"

Looking around the room first, Johnny looked at Kevin and took a deep breath, "I'm scared. I don't want to go back to sleep forever."

"We won't let that happen," Kevin said as Jerry connected the new cable. "You hear me? We won't let anything go wrong."

"Okay," Johnny replied as he laid his head back down. "How do I do this?"

Kevin ruffled the smaller android's hair and thought for a moment, "When you are ready to do this, close your eyes. You know that black area that we see when we 'sleep'? You need to look for the connection to the computer and walk into it. It'll look like a blue spotlight in a black room. Picture all of you when you walk into it, and your consciousness will follow the connection to the space they have set up in the main system."

"How will I know when to come back?" Johnny frowned.

"That's easy," Kevin smiled. "When you leave your body intentionally, you will enter a dream-like state where you can do pretty much anything. When the connection is made to the new body, the computer will show you another spotlit area. Walk into it again and you'll be back in your own black area. Then you just open your eyes." Kevin stood up, looked at Jerry, and then nodded. "It may actually be fun, 'cause you're not being 'archived' like I was."

"Computer is in standby Kevin. Johnny; whenever you are ready, bro," Jerry stated as he stepped back. "We're all gonna be waiting for you."

"Okay," Johnny said before taking a deep breath. "What happens to this body?"

"It goes into the transporter, gets totally upgraded, and then comes back here for you to move back into." Jerry smiled. "Then we restore your original configuration, generate the body again and you move into the new body, leaving Willy behind when you do."

"It's that easy?" Johnny questioned.

"It's that easy," Kevin smiled. "But you need to do it now. The longer you wait, the trickier this gets."

"Thanks, Kevin," Johnny replied as he smiled, took another deep breath, then closed his eyes.

Dead silence fell over the room as Kevin and Jerry watched the beginnings of the procedure.

"We got him!" Caleb yelled from the other side of the console, just as Danny and Noah rushed to the side of the biobed.

"Kevin, unplug the connector and close his access port, then stand back please," Danny instructed as the monitoring alarms began going off on the biobed.

"Initiating life support," Jerry stated while Noah rushed to undress Johnny and remove the pillow the little android's head rested on.

"He's stable," Jerry confirmed before helping Noah prep the little guy to be taken by the transporter. "Billy, Cory! Get ready to beam him off the table. We need to step back guys."

"Gotcha!" Kevin acknowledged as he and Noah cleared the area, joining the others at the table.

As Danny and Jerry moved outside the safety boundaries, Danny nodded his head. "Okay Billy, Energize!" While everyone watched, the body disappeared from view, setting off alarms on the biobed once again. "Let's put it in standby," Danny stated.

"Caleb?" CJ asked as he stared wide-eyed at the now-empty biobed showing on the screen, "What's gonna need done now?"

"Well," Caleb started as the chief engineer powered down the transporter, "Now we need to incorporate the new skeletal structure and a new, wait," Caleb leaned back in his chair, "Marc! We're using a new brain right?"

Marc smiled and nodded his head, "Yeah, I don't like how fast it used up its reserve power back at the house. I'd rather be safe."

"Okay, thanks!" he said as he looked at CJ, "and the new brain." he giggled. "Then we rematerialize the body, check it, and then tell Johnny to go back into it. Then we'll be ready to create the second body for Johnny so Willy can wake back up. Easy."

"Easy?" Cory scoffed., "You've been hanging out with these guys too long."

"You're just getting old, Cor," Caleb smirked. "Us young guys can think on our feet, so we ain't got no problem adapting to stuff. It's gonna go great, because we ain't gonna allow anything else."

"And you're a twerp, brat," Cory replied. "Just remember, if it wasn't for us 'old' guys, you young guys wouldn't be here!"

"How come you can talk to Cory like that?" CJ asked in shock.

"Because he's been through Hell with me," Cory explained. "You're gonna be there pretty soon too, you guys are playing a big part in something that most of the Clan couldn't even begin to understand. When you do something like this, it creates a bond between all of the guys involved."

"What the old guy just said is that we're all a special kinda brother now," Caleb stage-whispered.

"We'll see if you still call me old once I'm done dunking you a few dozen times," Cory stated with an evil grin. "Now get back to work, DOCTORS!"

After sticking his tongue out at Cory, Caleb winked at CJ and motioned toward the monitor, "Check this out, back in the OLD DAYS..." he said loudly as Cory was walking away, "...you would literally need to comb through the buffered information and decipher exactly what you need to adjust. It's almost like programming a replicator but using a live buffer."

"Oh, I'm sure that makes perfect sense to him now, Cal," Noah sniggered as he walked by and kissed him on the forehead.

"You try to do better, hon," Caleb giggled.

"Okay," Noah laughed and grabbed a piece of paper. "CJ? Take this piece of paper, and fold it in half twice." After smiling, CJ took the piece of paper and folded it as Noah said. "Great, now remember that me telling you what to do is what this computer does to Willy's body. Another computer had to tell it what the paper was made of, and how to manipulate it. So, Caleb is me and the paper is Willy."

"I wanna have some of the cookies that you two are eating, they make you goofy!" CJ stated with crossed eyes.

"I didn't think so." Caleb laughed. "This isn't going to make any more sense now, especially after that!." he said as he brought up the mapping of the skeletal makeup, then replaced it with the mapping that Cory had brought with him. Then, after verifying that CJ was still watching the screen, he incorporated the data back into the main file, adding the cellular mapping for a new brain to replace the old one. "Did you see what I just did?" Caleb asked seriously.

CJ smiled as he reasoned through what he just saw. "It's like building a puzzle. You told the computer what to change and how to do it. Once it knew where the pieces go, it put them together."

"No way!" Noah laughed. "You got that, but you didn't get the piece of paper?"

"I'll give you a piece of paper!" Caleb giggled as Noah kissed him on the cheek before leaving the area. "DORK!" Caleb snickered as he turned back toward the screen. "Okay CJ, now I just need the computer to do a test simulation, and we should be able to have the transporter build us a Willy.

"Build you a what?!?" Danny laughed as he walked by, snickering.

"NO BUILDING TOYS FOR YOU AND NOAH!" Billy added with a chuckle.

"Oh my god!" Caleb blushed. "There are kids in here guys! Jeesh!"

"Since when?" everyone over eighteen exclaimed at once.

"Weirdos..." Caleb muttered as he began the system's simulation on the new model. "This will only take a few minutes," he added, smiling as he noticed that CJ seemed to be amazed at what he was watching.

"It's putting him together really fast, bit by bit," CJ said in awe as Caleb got up out of his chair and let the smaller boy sit down. "How does it do it so fast?"

Caleb smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "It's following the instructions."

"Cool!" CJ said as Noah returned with his arms full of wires and equipment.

"I think he's getting it now babe," Noah whispered into Caleb's ear before sitting down next to Billy and getting to work on the patch cable that would be needed.

"What's that mean?" CJ asked pointing at the message that was flashing on the screen.

"Simulation completed," Caleb said as he looked through the technical readout. "Looks like the build doesn't have any anomalies or conflicts," he added with a smile. Raising his voice he shouted, "Can I get a second opinion here?"

Marc got up from his seat and walked over. After looking over the results, he commented "Wow, first try?"

"I know, right, you guys killed it with that chassis code." Caleb smiled. "Okay Billy, we check out here and have the image loaded in the buffer. It's all you."

"Already?" Billy asked as he turned in his seat. "You've definitely been hanging out with these androids too long."

"That's what I'm sayin'!" Cory yelled from the other side of the console.

"Whatever!" Caleb giggled. "C'mon CJ, let's go find a place to sit so we can watch Willy's body materialize."

"You mean Johnny, right?" CJ asked as he got up.

"Yeah, but it will be Willy's body once we build the other one." Caleb smiled and motioned to two open chairs at the table.

"Danny!" Jerry shouted from the base of the biobed.

"Yo!" Danny yelled, not seeing where the voice was coming from.

"Could you warn me when the pattern is in the buffer? I want to be ready to connect Johnny so he can migrate back and we can get him online as fast as possible."

"Okay," Danny said as he looked back at his display, "Hey, Jerry?"

"Yo!" Jerry shouted back.

"Johnny's pattern is in the buffer awaiting final sequence." Danny got out with a snicker.

Jerry stood up and just glared at Danny. "Why didn't you just say that then?" Danny simply shrugged his shoulders and turned back toward the display. "Big help... clown," Jerry laughed.

"Just power the biobed on and stand clear, shrimp," Danny laughed as he grabbed the cable and laid it out to be grabbed easily. Once he was satisfied that everything was ready, he shouted "We're ready in the replication chamber guys!" Turning his head, he added, "Jerry, stand clear."

"Powering up!" Billy shouted as the lights in the replication chamber turned red.

"It sounds like a regular transporter," Chad observed, raising his voice over the humming. "We got to take our first transporter ride yesterday!"

"That's really all that it is," Marc answered as he stood up from his seat and walked a little closer.

"C'mon back buddy," Noah whispered to himself as he watched the monitor that was aimed at the biobed. As he watched, the now-familiar body of Johnny appeared back on the table where it had last been seen. Soon the transporter whine just seemed to fall off, then the biobed alerted the staff that life support had automatically engaged. "I could do this all day; that thing is amazing," Noah commented to Billy, both smiling.

"Danny, he checks out. Basic functions are available. We need Johnny to take over now," Jerry said as he stood up and covered the small android's midsection with a large towel.

Calmly walking over to the table, Danny opened Johnny's access port and connected him to the computer. "Connected; status guys?"

"Image transferal in progress," Noah reported, "and in 3... 2... 1... imprint successfully migrated. It's all him now."

A couple of seconds passed with everyone holding their breath, then the biobed beeped and life support shut down. The group of doctors watching unconsciously sighed with relief as the little boy on the bed took his first breath. "There you go," Danny said with a smile, looking over toward Marc who was once again tearing up. "Cory, could you take over for me?"

"Sure, you okay bro?" Cory asked as he slipped in and began to disconnect the cable. His peripheral vision caught Danny's movement, and with a nod, he acknowledged that Danny was rushing to Marc, who was clearly getting overwhelmed.

"Talk to me," Danny whispered as he hugged Marc.

"I thought I was gonna lose him again," Marc sniffled. "I mean, I know this configuration is the best ever designed, but I just thought 'what if', and I couldn't think anything else."

"Marc?" a voice from the replication chamber shouted.

"What!?! What's wrong?" Marc gasped as he dragged Danny along with him into the room.

"Who took my clothes off?" Johnny asked with a grin. "You okay big bro? You look like crap."

"You have no idea," Marc laughed as he kissed the small android on the forehead. "Analysis Dr. Owens?"

"He's good." Jerry smiled. "You, on the other hand..."

"Better than good," Johnny laughed and cut Jerry off. "I saw Willy in the computer, and he says he's been able to see everything that I have. He wants his brothers, so we gotta get my body ready so I can give him this one."

"That works for me," Caleb grinned as he rushed back to the other side of the console. "Marc, I'm accessing your personal files for Johnny's original DNA sequencing."

"Thank you Caleb," Marc smiled as Noah came running over and waved at Johnny.

"That was awesome!" Noah almost bounced.

"You know what would be really awesome?" Johnny said with a smirk.

"Clothes?" Kevin finished for him as he pushed his way past the group with clothes for the little guy to put back on. "None of these clowns realize what it's like to be created and left to lie out here naked while they all pat each other on the back," he added with a laugh.

Johnny mouthed 'Thank-You' as he took the clothes, then quickly began to get dressed.

"Good to have you back, buddy," Kevin smiled.

"I swear, you fix them all up, and all they do is complain," Noah giggled.

"We'll install a complaint box next week," Danny laughed. "We'll have to assign someone to ignore it."

"You know what the best part of all this is, Johnny?" Jerry added, patting Johnny on the back. "You get to wake up cold and naked twice today."

"I didn't even think of that," Johnny groaned as he finished putting Willy's clothes back on. "How long before the new me is ready?"

"Caleb's working on you now," Noah smiled. "Blame him if you don't like something."

Jerry looked down at the biobed's display and smiled. "The bed says you should be okay to stand, Johnny."

"Thanks," Johnny said as he carefully stood up and tested the new legs, "This is kinda cool, I get to test it out before Willy does."

"You really got to talk to Willy?" Chad asked as he and CJ worked their way into the room.

"Yeah, it was cool. I didn't get to talk to him too long, but he told me that he's sorry he scared you guys. He really worries about you two."

"He had no family." CJ frowned.

"He's got a big family now," Johnny stated as he smiled and hugged the two boys. "So do I, now. I got my big brother back, and found a new twin brother with two other new brothers who are twins. I think we all won here."

"You're gonna like having a twin brother..." Chad stated as all three went to go sit down.

"Let's get ready for round two, guys," Kevin shouted as everyone started back to their self-assigned stations. "Marc, you want to find some clothes for Johnny? He only came with what Willy had on."

"Good call," Marc smiled before hugging Danny tighter and then turning to leave the room.

"Okay, whadda we gotta do to get our Willy back?" Chad asked seriously.

After the roar of laughter from everyone within earshot died down, Johnny pointed over to Caleb who was hard at work already. "We wait for Caleb to take the imprint for this body and turn it back into mine."

CJ headed over and looked over Caleb's shoulder. "Wow, Johnny's sure got a lot in his genes!"

"Good god," Danny mumbled as he walked by.

"Hey Danny, you woulda said it if you'd thought of it first!" Caleb accused as CJ realized what he had said and started giggling.

"You all saw what Willy has in his jeans a few minutes ago," Johnny said causing Jerry to choke on his drink.

"We'll see yours in a few minutes too." Caleb shot back, earning a groan from Johnny.

"But they're twins so we'll like, be seeing the same willy on Johnny as the willy that Johnny is holding for Willy!" Jerry got out, laughing all the way through it.

"What the heck Marc? These are the people you're hanging out with now?" Johnny said with a grin. "Besides, I'm not holding Willy's willy for him, I'm just keeping it warm. Literally!" he got out as the group burst out in laughter again.

"But do you want to hold Willy's willy?" Danny sputtered.

"Ew, he's my brother," Johnny laughed.

"So?" CJ and Chad chorused.

"It'd be like holding my own... wait... I'm confused now," Johnny shrugged.

"Welcome to the world of being a twin," Chad giggled. "It won't get any better, I promise!"

"I share DNA with Danny," Marc smiled.

"Yeah, yer butt!" Jerry yelled as Danny fell over laughing.

"Yep," Caleb added, "Always remember that if you kiss Danny, you're kissing Marc's butt!"

With that said, almost everyone ran over and started kissing Danny. "Bunch of butt kissers!" Danny laughed. "Could we all focus here? I mean I think Willy would like Johnny to get out of him already."

"Could we just end this conversation? The more that you guys say, the worse it sounds." Johnny groaned as he shook his head.

"Oh!" Jerry laughed. "Since Marc created Johnny, that means there are triplets in the room, soon to be quadruplets."

"How do you figure that?" Danny stopped and asked him seriously.

"Simple," Jerry said as he slowly started stepping away from Marc, "Same DNA, You, Johnny, Willy... AND MARC'S BUTT!" he got out before breaking into a full sprint for the door.

"Get back here, TWERP!" Marc yelled as he chased him out of the room.

"Great, Marc chases off the help just as we are ready to extract Johnny from Willy," Caleb groused before turning to CJ and Chad. "Okay guys, since the clowns left the circus, those of us that actually are taking this seriously need to get to work. You guys have done great so far, this ain't gonna be any trouble for ya'."

Chad looked behind him to see who Caleb was talking to, then squeaked "Who, us?"

"Yes, DOCTORS," Caleb smiled. "You guys know a lot more than you think you do, Noah and I wouldn't let you help if you didn't understand this kinda stuff naturally. Chill; you're both gonna do just fine."

"True, which one of you has worked with the biobed before?" Noah asked.

"Umm, me, kinda. At the house we both did. But not much..." CJ said in just over a whisper.

"That works," Noah smiled. "CJ, you take my place over here with Caleb, and Chad and I will take over in the replication chamber."

"What if something goes wrong?" CJ asked hesitantly.

"We blame Danny, then you and I fix it," Caleb assured CJ with a smile.

"Works for me." Danny laughed. "So I get to sit this one out then?"

"Nice try Danny," Cory yelled as he grabbed another handful of popcorn from the tub on his lap. "Get to work, Grandpa!"

"Where did you get popcorn?!?" Danny laughed.

"Hey, you can't watch a circus without popcorn!" Cory giggled. "I haven't had this much fun since JJ took on the FBI!"

"Said the head monkey." Caleb interjected before motioning CJ to join himself and Billy at the controls.

"Bravo Cal." Danny laughed as he sat next to Cory and stole some of his popcorn. "You know this means Chad and CJ take over getting Willy his body back, right bro?" he said low enough to not be heard before stuffing a fist full into his mouth.

"Keep an eye on them, bro," Cory whispered. "Their sperm donor screwed with their heads pretty bad; they need all of the positive ego boosts they can get."

"Danny, are you two sitting this one out?" Noah asked as he and a worried-looking Chad walked past.

"I think so," Danny smiled. "I'd like our new doctors to be involved in this final part of the process, unless you have any objections, Mister Furst."

"No none," Johnny said as he grabbed one of the chairs and smiled when Danny winked at him. "Willy trusts them, so I do too."

"That settles that." Danny smiled grabbing another handful of popcorn as the door opened and Marc and Jerry entered, laughing and pushing another biobed. "Right on time," Danny said, jumping up and rushing over to whisper something to Marc.

"Oh, okay," Marc replied as he looked back at Jerry and winked, "Looks like Chad and CJ are taking the lead on this one, Doctor."

"Really? Cool!" Jerry smiled as he went back to pushing the bed. "Let's put this next to the other one. We should probably keep two in there anyway, there's enough room."

"True," Marc smiled. "The funny thing about all this is the fact that I've only dealt with two personalities in one brain twice before this. I hope this doesn't become a trend."

As Jerry and Marc worked the new biobed into place, Noah and Chad moved the other one over a little so there was enough room to get around both. Satisfied with its placement, Marc ruffled Chad's hair and nodded his approval to Noah. "You guys wanna prep Johnny?"

"We don't gotta take his clothes off again do we?" Chad asked, his eyes getting wide.

"Not this time, no," Johnny said as he hopped up on the other bed and reached back to open his access port. "You guys have clothes for me to put on when I wake up in my own body, right?"

"I knew I forgot something," Noah giggled, getting slapped in the back of the head by Marc as he walked by. "Over there on the counter, Johnny." he continued, rubbing the back of his head.

Marc walked around to the other side of the console, where Billy, Caleb and CJ looked extremely busy. "How's it going back here?"

Rubbing his eyes, Caleb sat back and gave Marc a frustrated smile. "It's being stubborn."

Looking at the screen, Marc tilted his head and got really silent for a moment. "Hmmm..." he muttered as he scratched his head, gaining CJ's attention. "You purged all DNA info and inserted the profile from my records, I can see it. But you did miss something."

"Yeah," Caleb replied. "But I'm not seeing it."

"I see why," Marc grinned. "When I mapped his DNA profile it was for the records, not for a profile to create his body from.

"No instructions?" CJ softly asked.

"No instructions! I should have thought of that, thanks CJ!" Caleb bounced as he began to tackle the keyboard. "I need the sequencing map, duh!"

"I was right?" CJ asked as he opened his eyes wide and looked at Marc.

"Yup, you were," Marc smiled. "This just proved that when we work as a team, the answers are easier to find."

"You bet!" Caleb smiled as he tapped away.

"Don't forget to run the simulation twice this time. Hardware is easier to replace than biologics." Marc smiled as he wandered back around to the replication chamber. "They'll be a few minutes still," he said as he walked over to Johnny, who was laying back on the bed, and began running his fingers through his hair. Noticing the look on Chad's face, Marc asked "Chad, you okay? You look deep in thought."

"We moved the bed," Chad stated as he squinted his eyes. "Ain't the transporter gonna think it's still in the middle, and make Johnny's new body where it's gonna fall?"

"Good question," Marc smiled. "The transporter targets that bed, not just the location. This way if the bed isn't in the exact same spot, the new unit will materialize in the right place at the right orientation. There's a transponder built into the bed that tells the transporter where it's at."

"Oh, cool!" Chad smiled.

"Neat machines," Johnny smiled. "Too bad we didn't have a bunch of these years ago."

"No kidding," Marc grinned.

"First simulation successful!" Caleb yelled.

"Great!" Marc replied, looking down at Johnny and plugging in the new communications cable to the back of his head. "You know what to do?"

"Yeah, this time only I migrate into the computer," Johnny nodded. "Give me a couple of minutes to talk to Willy; I'll tell him to wake right up when I leave."

"Okay," Marc smiled as he took a deep breath. "See you over on that table." As Marc kissed his brother on the forehead, Johnny closed his eyes.

---

Opening his eyes in the very familiar interface area, Johnny concentrated on Willy. Suddenly a white light appeared and there stood the likeness of Willy, who smiled wide and rushed up to the likeness of his new brother. "It's goin good?"

"It is," Johnny replied pulling his almost identical twin into a hug. "I gotta leave now though. My body will be ready in a few minutes, and if you wake up soon enough, you can see it happen."

"Cool!" Willy grinned. "But that means my body will be older than yours."

Johnny laughed and pointed as the blue light of the connection became visible. "But I was created first," he teased as he squeezed his brother once more before walking toward the blue light. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck LITTLE bro!" Willy giggled.

"Just wake up, LITTLE bro!" the blond version replied as he stepped into the blue light and seemed to simply vanish.

---

"He's ready," Willy said as he opened his eyes and smiled. "Hi, Marc."

"Hi there," Marc replied, unplugging the communications cable and allowing Willy to sit up and close his access port. "Not everyone gets to see their twin brother being born, again."

"Second simulation successful! Clear the biobed!" Caleb shouted as the transporter began its low humming once again and the lights switched to red.

"Stand clear guys, incoming." Marc raised his voice as the humming got louder.

Willy sat Indian-style on his biobed, watching intently so he wouldn't miss anything about his twin brother coming back to life.

As the humming became a louder, higher-pitched whine, everyone watched the shimmering become visible, quickly taking the form of a small boy. As soon as the boy's body became solid, the noise died off and the noises of the biobed became dominant. "This says life support is active Noah," Chad said with a smile as Willy hopped off of his biobed and walked up to look at the new body.

"Wow, he looks just like me. Just like he did in here." Willy said, looking at Chad and pointing to his head. As soon as he noticed a tear running down Chad's cheek, he rushed over and hugged Chad. "I'm okay, really," he tried to assure Chad.

 Pulling his android brother into a bone-crushing hug, Chad began to cry on Willy's shoulder. "We thought you was gonna die!" he cried as CJ ran around the console and joined the hug.

"No more scarin' us Willy, not like that!" CJ chastised before the three were one big knot.

"Life support terminated, Johnny's heart rate and blood pressure are normalizing." Noah said as Johnny opened his eyes.

"And it's STILL cold in here!" Johnny smiled, causing Marc to start laughing. "I get to keep this body for me this time, right?"

"Yeah, we made that one for you," Caleb giggled as he rounded the console and joined the group with Danny, Cory, and Billy following. "No returns."

"Nice," Johnny replied as Marc unplugged the communication cable from his port. Looking at the crying huddled group at the end of his bed, he smiled when he saw Willy looking up at him with puffy eyes and Johnny smiled. "Hi little bro."

Willy softly giggled as he wiped his eyes and smiled. "Hi, little bro. Get some clothes on, everyone can see us naked."

"Easy for you to say. I had to wake up like this twice. At least I dressed you before you woke up." Johnny got out as Noah handed him some clothes to put on.

While the group gathered to help Johnny pick what to wear out of the small pile, Danny and Cory walked back over to the table and sat down, both grabbing a fist full of popcorn. "Silver communicator bro. How you likin' it now?"

"Wouldn't trade it for the world, not on days like this anyway." Danny smiled as he stuffed his mouth.

Once the boys got settled in, Marc came over and joined Cory and Danny. Once Marc was seated, Cory tapped on Marc's shoulder. "Hey bro, do you realize you just gained ANOTHER parent? Since Johnny and Willy are twins, and Josh is adopting your little brother Willy, that makes Josh another dad to you. That also means CJ and Chad are your little brothers now, along with Willy and Johnny."

"Go away, Cory. You're giving me a headache," Marc laughed.

"You ain't getting rid of me that easy, bro," Cory stated with a smirk. "Now spill it, bro; I need to know how you're feeling about all this."

"I'm tired," Marc said as he watched the scurrying of the group shutting everything down. "I never thought I'd see him again. I lost hope of ever finding him years ago. Now I know why he was so hard to find."

Cory nodded as he read between the lines. "I thought so. You're off-duty today and tomorrow. Spend it with your four new brothers and your new dad; you and Danny could use a family-time break, and I'm sure Kevin would love to start spoiling his new nephews. Catch up with Johnny today; tomorrow all y'all can get together to check out the new bodies and get to know each other better."

"Actually," Marc sighed as he watched Johnny being led over to the larger pad of the transporter unit by Willy and sit down. "I'd like to take some time to fill my little brother in on what he just woke up to. That and he needs to get to know our older brother, who he knows of from history only."

Danny sat back and smiled as he watched the two brand new boys sit down and look each other over. "I never thought of that. He missed quite a bit then."

"So long as you're takin' a break. You ain't finishing the day working a normal shift. I'll come back and throw you both out of the hospital."

"Okay then," Danny laughed and pulled Marc into a hug, "Wanna go out to eat tonight? Just the three of us? I can have Noah take over here."

"Anything but Denny's!" Marc giggled.

As everyone else shuffled around putting equipment away and talking about what had just happened, Willy and Johnny sat and watched. "I'm sorry," Willy said in barely more than a whisper.

"Sorry for what?" Johnny giggled. "We just met, what could you be sorry for?"

"You been trapped in here," Willy tapped on the side of his head, "and your body got taken away so I could be here."

"That's not your fault." Johnny tilted his head and looked at his new brother, "besides, we're both here now."

Willy sighed and turned to face his brother, giggling when both seemed to have an itch on their noses at the exact same time and scratched it, mirroring each other. "Wow, that's a real thing I guess."

"Yeah, cool." Johnny smiled. "Don't sweat a little lost time bro. I'm happy I got extra brothers. That's all that matters now to me." Johnny offered.

"Do you even know how many years I've been in the body that shoulda been yours?" Willy sniffled. "and the things that happened to it over and over again… you'd hate me if you knew."

"You really think that?" Johnny asked letting his mouth hang open. "First, you didn't take that body. Some money greedy man in the place that I was built in took it. We were just lucky our mom was able to hide me in our brain so we could finally meet." Johnny leaned in and hugged his brother. "Don't be sorry that you are my brother. It's not your fault or mine. But it does make us really lucky to finally be here after all that bad stuff happened."

Trying to stifle his sniffles, Willy hugged his brother tighter. "I wish I knew our mom."

Johnny pushed his brother out to arm's length and looked Willy in the eyes and grinned. "Do you have dreams of a woman who looks kinda blurry, in a really bright room who is holding a clipboard and reading from it?"

Willy's eyes opened wide. "How do you know that?"

". . .and she looks down at you and says "It's too soon sweetie, go back to sleep.' And you just do?" Johnny smiled at Willy's expression. "I thought so." He continued, "Those are our memories from test activations, before our imprint was uploaded. We have 14 pre-config memories in our brain of Marc and Sharon, that's her name. A few of other doctors too. You do know her and as long as you were having those dreams, she was with you."

"I. . .I always wished that she was my mom when things got scary." Willy began to cry and buried his face into Johnny's shoulder.

Johnny smiled as Chad and CJ carefully approached while the rest of the room stopped what they were doing and watched. "We're family little brother, not like other people's family but we are and I'm not sorry that you had to use my body as long as we can be here separate together."

Willy giggled and loudly sniffled. "That don't make sense."

"That's why I'm the big brother." Johnny giggled.

"Psh. . . I got way more years, I'm the big brother." Willy smiled and both began to laugh.

"Johnny, are you comin home with us?" CJ asked.

"You can you know," Chad added.

Johnny smiled at both boys when Willy tilted his head and scowled. "He's stayin'. Marc's been lookin' for him for as long as I been alive."

"Yeah," Johnny smiled at his new brother, "I got some catchin' up to do but then I wanna get to know all my little brothers."

"Who you callin' little?" Willy giggled.

With a sigh, Johnny pointed at Willy before being tackled by all three boys, earning laughs from all the onlookers.

"I don't know how to thank you, guys." Josh said as he sat down next to Cory.

"You already did by giving them a home." Cory smiled as he stuffed some popcorn in his mouth.

"Yeah, and bringing someone back to me that I thought was gone forever." Marc sighed. "I think we're kinda even. Just take good care of them and they'll take good care of you."

"I think I can handle that." Josh smiled as he swiped some popcorn.

"I hope so," Cory laughed, "Cause your home will never be the same again."

"Yeah, I know." Josh sighed. "That's the best part." He finished as all four looked on and laughed as Kevin, Jerry, Noah, and Caleb joined their new family and turned the transporter pad into a pig pile of arms and legs. "I may need a bigger house."

"No that's okay," Billy raised his voice from the main console, "I can finish this on my own. Don't worry. . ."

"I'll go help him." Danny laughed, patting Josh's shoulder on the way by. "Welcome to the family Josh. Better buy a helmet."

---

Josh smiled as his three sons and he appeared outside their house. "Dad?" CJ and Chad said in unison, "Where's Willy's room gonna be?"

"For now, he'll have to share your room," Josh replied, "But I'm going to check on getting an addition to the house done, that way if he wants his own room he can have it. Besides, with all the brothers you guys just added, we're going to need extra rooms for when they visit."

"You don't have to add another room for me," Willy stated softly. "I can sleep on the couch if Chad and CJ don't want me in their room."

"You ain't sleepin' on no couch!" Chad insisted strongly. "You're our brother, you ain't gonna sleep like you're visiting someone."

"Yeah, you gotta start rememberin' you're our brother forever," CJ added just as strongly.

"I think that means that you're sharing the bedroom with your brothers, Willy," Josh chuckled. "Let's get inside, I think one of us needs to pee."

Willy's head spun so he could stare at Josh, his eyes asking the question he knew better than to verbalize.

Noticing Willy's look, Josh smiled. "Yes, I know all about the bond that's shared between Chad, CJ, you, and me, Willy. It's up to you, but your brothers seem to have decided that if one of us has to pee, it's a group pee."

Willy grinned, "Yeah, we used to do that too. Can I join you before I have to start making lunch?"

Josh motioned for Willy to take a position under his right arm as they started towards the front door. "Son, you have the same rights as your brothers. Anything I've told the twins it is okay to do, you're allowed to do it too. As far as lunch goes, you're not responsible for feeding this family, I am. If you want to help in the kitchen to have fun, or have something you want to teach your brothers to cook, let me know; otherwise, you're not the cook, housekeeper, butler, or anything else those assholes you stayed with before made you do. The best thing that you can do right now for you AND your brothers is to be a kid. All three of you need that, and I'm not going to let anything prevent you from doing it."

"Does that me you ain't ... I don't gotta let you ... you won't make me..." Willy whispered, barely loud enough to hear.

Josh stopped, and tilted Willy's head to look him in the eyes. "I am not, nor will I allow any other person, going to require you to perform sexual acts with me or any other adult. If you and your brothers do something, I approve as long as everyone involved wants to and all three of you agree to stop if anyone says no, stop, or if you can feel that they are uncomfortable. Remember, I'll feel it too, so there's no cheating allowed. The only person that can make the choice for you in that regard is you, Willy."

NOTE: The following scene could be disturbing to recent survivors of sexual abuse, due to showing what sexualization can do to a youth mentally. Please skip forward to the next scene break if you could be uncomfortable with this segment.

By that time, they had reached the master bathroom. Entry was interesting, as Josh had three boys attached to him because of how he'd ensured Willy was comfortable.

"You can cuddle Willy, Daddy! We'll help ya'!" Chad announced as four hands quickly dropped Josh's pants and boxers to his ankles. Seconds later, the twins had dropped theirs as well, and were watching Willy expectantly.

Feeling Willy tensing up, Josh softly stated "Willy, nudity does not always mean sex. Your brothers prefer it at times, so you're going to see it a lot. It's up to you if you want to join in."

While still nervous, Willy took the chance on the small amount of trust he was starting to feel towards Josh, and decided to match the other three. Seconds later, four streams of urine splashed in the toilet, causing relief to all four present.

As expected, Josh was the last to finish. As he was shaking off the last drops, he could feel Willy's eyes locked onto his genitals. Going on a hunch, he commented "Willy, going by some things that you've said, there's a possibility that some parts of your personality profile might be biased. If you're anything like a human's personality, once that is in there it takes time to make it to where you can control it." After a pause to make sure Willy was listening, Josh added "I'm pretty sure I'm seeing in you what is seen in other youth survivors of abuse; they call it 'sexualization', which means that your brain is responding to things it knows instead of things appropriate for your age."

"So I'm broke?" Willy whispered.

"Not even close, son," Josh replied as he squeezed Willy's shoulder. "If your brothers are comfortable with helping, we can see just how bad you've been trained, and maybe even start to redirect it."

"Whadda we got to do, Daddy?" CJ asked, obviously for Chad as well.

"Your friend JJ was telling me about someone that he had to do something like this with," Josh began. "We'll only do this if YOU want to, but I was thinking that it might help Willy if I let him try to discover what an adult penis looks like in a situation that does not involve sex, kind of like I did for you. If those jerks that thought they owned him before messed with his head too much, he might try to turn it into things that you know I'm not comfortable doing. If that happens, IF we do this, one or both of you could take my place and let him put your weiner in his mouth and give you those feelings that you are still a little scared to enjoy. Please TRY not to share the feelings you're having with me though, that will mess up what we are trying to do."

"He's our brother now, we gotta help him!" Chad exclaimed. "C'mon Daddy, we'll do it."

Josh nodded, then switched his attention back to Willy. "Do you understand what I'm suggesting?"

Willy tilted his head. "Kinda."

Josh nodded. "Okay, what I'm planning is allowing you to check out an adult in a non-sexual situation. You can look, if you want you can even touch, but at no time are you to try to pleasure me. If at any time you start trying to give me pleasure, I'm going to step back and your brothers are going to step in to help you redirect those feelings to someone your own emotional age. I'll be watching to make sure none of the three of you are pushing someone into something they are not ready for, but I think you'll find that you're going to be a lot more comfortable with someone at the same stage of physical development as you."

Willy relaxed considerably, Josh's statements confirming to him that he wasn't going to be used as he had been before. "You won't be mad if I do stuff with CJ and Chad?"

"Nope," Josh smiled, "I'll be happy that they have a brother who can help them learn about their bodies appropriately. I think that if this works, all three of you will be better for it. Hopefully, your brothers can keep from sharing their orgasms with me; if not, I'll make sure that you don't see it."

Willy nodded. "That's okay, I know all about them doing that. I think I can tell if you have one because of them sharing. I'd like to try that though; I ain't never got to look at a soft adult."

After some discussion, they settled on Willy sitting on the closed toilet seat, with CJ on one side and Chad on the other. He spent a full two minutes looking, occasionally reaching out to move things or feel them. He then looked up at Josh and stated "You really mean it, you don't want me for sex stuff. Can I taste it anyway, please?"

Josh shook his head. "I think you'd like the taste of your brothers better, Willy. I wouldn't enjoy it and it wouldn't help you any."

"Thank you," Willy smiled before turning to CJ.

With Josh supervising, the three boys proceeded to engage in a friendly competition to see who could make who feel better. Once they were finally worn down, Josh found himself in the middle of a three-boy hug thanking him for keeping his word and supporting them. After a lively discussion, a compromise was finally reached about clothing; while the boys could go nude, out of respect for what Willy was dealing with Josh would put on shorts so that Willy wasn't being put under any stress.

This ends the scene that was noted above.

---

"Can we pick out your shorts, Daddy?" Chad asked as they migrated into the master bedroom.

"I guess so," Josh grinned as he went to open his underwear drawer. Willy stopped him, stating "If you ain't wearing underwear I can see you ain't stiff even if you got shorts on."

Josh nodded, closing the drawer. "You've got a good point. You need to remember that a male's penis getting stiff happens more just because it wants to than it does for doing sex stuff, so don't assume somebody who is stiff wants to do sex."

Willy nodded. "Thanks, my medical files brought that up as soon as you said it. That helps a lot... Dad?"

"I'd be honored if you want to call me Dad, just like it makes my day every time CJ or Chad says it," Josh stated with a smile.

That earned him another hug from all three boys, along with sloppy kisses to his cheeks. Once the hug broke, Josh finished getting ready and the new family headed out to decide what was for lunch.

Josh's attention was totally consumed by the three boys as they made their way down the hall; the twins have decided that they needed to plan out the next one hundred years of their lives, as they openly tossed out ideas of things they were sure Josh would take them to do.

"Guys," Josh chuckled at their latest idea, "I don't think I have any contacts that would get you a Federation Starship ride!"

"Just ask Cory!" a dusky-blond-haired nine-year-old stated as he popped in in front of them and immediately started giving hugs. After his sworn duty was done, the boy introduced himself. "Peter Lambert, Northeast Division Mikyvis and President of the Quantum Quality Quick Quonstruction Quorps!" he giggled. "While you were busy helping Willy, I had a crew come over and fix a couple of things really quick!"

Josh shook his head, trying to clear the smoke from his ears. "Could you repeat that in something that resembles English, Peter?"

"You'll see, c'mon!" Peter replied as he passed out warm cookies from the plate that appeared in his hand. "Uncle Mike called in a couple of favors after you called him 'Gorilla Butt', so I had some fun!"

"God help us," Josh muttered as he followed behind his sons, who were doing their best to wipe out the cookie supply as they walked with Peter.

Peter led them directly to the kitchen, where Josh received the first of many shocks, along with the second, third, and fourth. The first shock was that his kitchen had doubled in size, with all-new appliances and multiple refrigerators, as well as a replicator. The second, third, and fourth were sitting at the brand-new breakfast bar, only one of which was wearing clothes. "Phil?" Josh exclaimed.

"Damn Josh, the military life made you hotter than you were in high school!" the man chuckled as he adjusted his shorts. "How ya been, stud?"

"It depends on which hour you're asking about," Josh replied as he wrapped his arms around the three bodies trying to meld into him. "These three are my sons CJ, Chad, and Willy. We can discuss how they became my sons later, none of them need to hear it right now."

"Join the club," Phil replied as he wrapped his arms around the blond eleven-year-olds who had magically glued themselves to his side. "These are my sons Ashton and Ivo, and they've made this the best year of my life."

"While I'm glad to see you, how'd you end up in whoever's kitchen is where mine used to be?" Josh asked, ignoring the innocent smile on Peter's face.

Phil grinned. "Last month, Mike Reynolds and I were tipping back a few cold ones while he told me about the Clan thing that Sammy had dragged him kicking and screaming into. I was working in the kitchen at a nearby school for employment at the time, and I asked Mike if he thought the Clan would check on a couple of kids I'd noticed some things about. I'd barely had time to explain what I thought I'd seen before about a dozen kids in uniform appeared next to our table. I found out later that Mike had a subvocal device of some kind, and despite how much he was bitching about the Clan, he called it in to them while I was still talking. When I was at work the next day, Mike came in using his Police authority to 'monitor' a situation which he conveniently couldn't discuss the details of with the school. Second lunch somehow had almost a dozen more kids than it was supposed to, which was confusing until I pointed out the two boys I was most worried about."

Phil paused long enough to kiss the tops of his son's heads, earning him an eye roll from each while they snuggled in closer. "Six kids got new families that day, and another dozen were the reason their family suddenly had some support they desperately needed. The school lost a Principal and two teachers; we'll get into that later. Before the day was over, these two became my sons; and due to me being the reason all hell broke loose in the school, the Clan put me under their protection. Sammy called me this morning, and said he thought you could use a hand due to the way you're growing your family. We talked it over some, and we agreed that your boys would benefit from some big brothers, while mine would enjoy doing things with little brothers. Since Peter was called in by Mike to do a little remodeling, we thought we'd float the idea of doing what other Clan families have done and merge our resources to support the boys."

Before Josh could speak, Peter interjected "Uncle Josh? Cory don't want you spending all your retirement money to raise your sons. You're a rare type of parent, just ask all three of your boys. More kids are gonna find you, especially with two of your sons being doctors. Just as soon as Marc thinks they're comfortable with the android side, Antonio will get them going on the biological side of medicine. I'll bet that they have a full MD before they're teens if 'Tonio does what he's planning."

"I'm still needing to adjust the house to having three boys who need room to play," Josh managed to slip in.

"Already handled; the guys are finishing the master suite right now!" Peter giggled. "You're gonna have spare rooms for a little while."

"I guess we'd better see them before these boys get stuck to us," Josh admitted, deciding that trying to sort out the mess would wait until such time as the boys were relaxed.

---

Thirty minutes later:

The tour had managed one thing; it had relaxed the boys enough to allow them to actually interact with each other. By the end of the tour, Ashton and Ivo were running with CJ, Chad, and Willy to check out the various new rooms ahead of their respective parents.

Now the two families were relaxing in the new entertainment room; Josh and Phil on a couch while the five boys were piled on top of each other in a huge beanbag chair watching cartoons. "Where were we when we were interrupted by a magical nine-year-old?" Josh asked as he got comfortable.

Phil smiled. "I was trying to explain what Mike plotted to help both of us. Mike says that you've got an understanding of abused kids that amazes him, especially since you weren't abused yourself. We both know that you can cook well enough to not poison yourself, but you have no experience with feeding kids. The Clan has a few families that have banded together to share supporting the emotional needs of the kids; in fact, the leaders of the Clan are members of one of the family groups. It doesn't matter if we get back together or find different partners, what's important is that the boys know that they can count on one of us still being here if something happens to the other one. The thing abused kids need the most is stability in an environment that they feel safe in."

Josh nodded. "When you put it that way, it makes sense. Nothing personal, but I'm still irritated about Peter moving you in before telling me."

"Mike explained Peter and the others like him to me," Phil explained. "They're evolved humans, that's why their eyes are purple. One of their skills is that they exist everywhere through Time and can move through it with just a thought. In Peter's case, he was about to die from cancer, but was saved by the first natural-born Mikyvis, who was able to transform him to be a Mikyvis thanks to Peter's original genetic makeup. Peter inherited a construction company, and he keeps them busy doing jobs for the Clan that saved his life. My guess is that he saw something that would have disrupted time somehow, so he decided to fix it by moving us in, which led to a better outcome. Mike says those boys have the gift of time, but the curse of possibly outliving all of our descendants, while not appearing to age a day."

"I guess that means Willy's going to have some familiar faces to hang out with," Josh observed. Noticing Phil's confused look, Josh explained "He's an android, and was just given all-new upgraded internals. After what I saw today, I agree with Dad even more that he's just as human as you and me. The first person that calls me his owner is going to be pissing their own teeth; he's a boy just like the other four boys he's cuddled with, and has the same physical and emotional needs they do." Josh paused, then looked over at the boys after concentrating for a moment. "Willy? Why don't you come over here and catch up on Dad cuddles while your brothers help Phil's sons?"

Willy got up and made his way over, his face transmitting his worry. As he arrived in front of Josh, he hung his head and asked "Was I doing something wrong?"

Josh reached out and gently lifted Willy's chin. "No, you were doing everything right, son. I could feel you getting uncomfortable, so I thought you'd like to take a break from the contact with new people."

"How'd you know it was me?"

"Because your worry feels different than your brothers," Josh explained. "That's a good thing, since you're a different person, and haven't been sharing your thoughts and emotions all your life like they have."

"But I'm not a person..." Willy started, only to be interrupted by Josh as he found himself being pulled onto Josh's lap.

"There'll be no more of that," Josh stated as he pulled Willy into a cuddle. "You're just as much of a person as everyone else in this room. You've even got a soul; you'd have to have one to pull off what you and your twin brother just did. Those bastards that you were forced to live with used you as a slave, but that's all over and I get to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Earlier today, I had the honor of watching your brothers as they stretched everything they knew to save the life of their friend so he could be their brother; I can tell you absolutely that there was not a single second that they lost their love for you. That kind of love is reserved for people, and that love is why I have a third son to teach to be a man. Your brain is still going to grow, even if your body doesn't; from what Phil just told me, you're not alone in the Clan with that attribute. There are other boys like you, boys who were born from biological parents, but will still live as long as or longer than you will. Also, you know what CJ and Chad have shared with us; do you really think they could share something so uniquely human as that with a non-human?"

"You really mean it," Willy whispered as he relaxed into Josh's arms. "Dad? I ... I think ... I dunno what I'm feeling, but ... I think it means I love you."

Josh gave Willy an extra squeeze as he replied "If you're feeling what I'm feeling, then you're right, because I absolutely love you, son."

For the first time in his life, Willy surrendered to his primal emotional needs and snuggled as tightly as he could into Josh's chest. Less than a minute later, he was softly snoring as he basked in the feeling of being held by an adult who loved him as a son.

---

To Be Continued...