A Shepherd Afield Pt. 01

"I'm going to take a cold shower," he grumbled. He stepped outside and heard a squeak as he collided with a very red faced Lily. She'd obviously been listening at the door and her hand was inside her yoga pants. She yanked her hand out, looked wide eyed at his naked body then down at his hard and almost angry looking cock. She shrieked and ran upstairs. Trish burst out of the washroom to see Ben standing there naked and red faced as Lily scampered up the stairs.

"You're still hard?!?" Trish gasped.

"Excuse me," Ben said pushing past her into the wash room to take a quick shower. His clothes were on the counter. He locked the door on his way in so he was left alone. Once he was clean and he had relaxed down below he dried himself off and put his clothes back on. His underwear were still in the gym.

He opened the door and saw three very contrite looking redheads standing in the hall. The twins were dressed but still looked a little disheveled and wild eyed.

"Lisa, Lori, come here," he said and they moved to stand before him. He could see they were moving a little tenderly so he had caused them some pain. Again, as much as he wanted to he couldn't apologize for that as that's what they seemed to want.

"You did nothing wrong. You were both exquisite."

He saw them almost sag with relief. Smiles exploded across their faces and he was once again dazzled by their beauty. He reached out and touched their cheeks. They leaned into his touch and he was once more concerned with their attachment to him. He sighed. Truthfully, he was becoming overly attached to them as well. He dipped forward and gave each a tender kiss. They looked up at him with an almost feverish devotion and he had to look away. He focused on Trish.

"Thank you for suggesting the heavy bag. I think I'm going to pick up one for home."

"I'm so sorry-" she began but he held up his hand.

"No, it's fine. You tried to help me and... mostly succeeded." He looked towards the stairs with a worried look on his face.

"Lily wasn't here while I was standing by the door. But I had to use the wash room. I was in there for a while."

"Maybe I should speak with her," Ben said.

"No, I think I'd better do that," Trish replied.

He finally nodded. He went upstairs and the women followed. He walked Lisa and Lori home then made his way home. The lights were off at Gabriella's. He wanted her opinion about the idea of speaking with the reporter. He went in his front door and Lucy rushed to meet him in the foyer.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

He looked at her in surprise. "Yes, I'm fine. How is Tina?"

Lucy smiled. "Tina is sleeping."

"How are you doing?" Ben asked her.

"I'm better now that I know you are ok. You looked pretty upset when you left. I thought you and Trish were going to go find those jerks and beat them up."

"No, Trish took me to her place to punch a heavy bag in her gym," he said.

Lucy nodded and looked at him with a smile. For some reason he felt compelled to continue.

"Then she invited Lisa and Lori over to help me work off some tension."

Another nod.

"It didn't work."

Lucy's smile dropped. "You couldn't get erect?"

"No, I couldn't... finish."

"Oh! That must have been frustrating."

"Yes."

"Did you want to..."

Ben smiled. "No. It's fine. I had a cold shower. I'm good. Thanks though."

Lucy's smile was sweet and alluring at the same time. Ben pulled her against him for a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"Are we going to have dinner?"

Ben looked behind himself and saw Karen and Penny, Christopher on Penny's hip, standing in the door of the kitchen. "Did someone make dinner?"

"We bought the ingredients but we got home too late to make it and I'll need Tina to show me how," Karen said with a sad look.

"So we order in tonight. What would you like-"

"CHINESE!" Karen and Penny squealed. Lucy grinned and nodded.

"I swear they've become obsessed!" Ben grinned. "Go ahead and place the order. You know what I like."

Karen and Penny skipped back into the kitchen to phone in the order.

Ben looked down the hall but Lucy tugged him towards the living room. "Let her sleep. You'll see her soon enough."

He nodded thoughtfully and let Lucy lead him into the next room.

Chapter 3

Dominic Selleni was a big man. Physically big, big hearted, and he had a big voice which was currently deafening Ben's left ear. Dominic had Ben in a bear hug and was cheering loudly after hearing the news that Ben was going to be a father for the first time.

"BEN! THAT'S WONDERFUL NEWS!!!" he boomed. He release Ben and stepped back. "So that's why you're in a rush to do this renovation! You need a bigger home as your family is growing!"

Ben grinned at the man. Dominic was a doting grandfather for three kids and children meant the world to him. He had another surprise for the man. "Yes, but not exactly how you think. I'm not moving. My home has plenty of space for my needs except the spare rooms I used to have are currently being used by the girls I adopted when I was in France. They are going to live in the new build."

Dominic's face showed his confusion. "You're rebuilding the house for some kids? They can't live in it alone!"

Ben smiled. He knew this is where the story was going to go off the rails for his friend. "The girls are 24 years old. They were abducted by a white slaver when they were young. He kept them as pets. Playthings. He did horrible things to them. I'm helping them get their lives back. I signed them up for school and I'm getting them a place to live." Ben pointed to the house they were about to work on. "We'll see what they want to do once they get their secondary school diploma."

"Geezus Ben! People give a little money to charities to make themselves feel better. You go all out."

Ben saw Jayden approaching. "Speaking of going all out. Here comes the young man I spoke to you about. I'm hoping working on this project will turn him around too."

It wasn't even 8:30 yet but Jayden walked up with his white hardhat in his hands. Inside were gloves and safety glasses as Ben had suggested. His boots were brand new too. It looked like Rochelle got some advice on the rest of his outfit. It looked like he came right off the page of a catalog.

"Jayden, good morning! This is Dominic Selleni. Dominic this is Jayden King," Ben made the introductions.

The men shook hands and eyed one another. "Who's the site foreman?" Ben asked.

"Hector."

"He still have that badass mustache?" Ben asked with a grin.

"See! Ben thinks its badass!" said a voice behind them.

Ben turned with a grin then quickly acted frightened. "Holy crap! It's actually gotten bigger!" he exclaimed.

"Nah! It's still a sweet 'stache!" the man said stroking the minimal facial hair with pride.

Jayden stifled a snort.

"Who's this and what makes him think he can outdo such a proud achievement as this. Look at him! He's practically a baby! Peach fuzz!" Hector barked. Jayden glanced at Ben.

"Hector Ramirez, this is Jayden King. Jayden, that sounded like a challenge to me. If you think you can grow a better mustache you'll just have to try," Ben said with a raised eyebrow.

Jayden looked at Ben then a slow smile slipped onto his lips. He nodded. Then his face froze and his eyes went wide as he looked over Ben's shoulder.

Ben turned and he saw Karen approaching with Penny. They were carrying something in plastic containers.

"Good morning!" Karen said shyly. Her eyes kept slipping past Ben to focus on the young man.

"What have you brought us?" Ben asked.

"Cookies! We made them!" Penny blurted with a grin.

"Karen, Penny, this is Dominic Selleni, Hector Ramirez, and Jayden King. Guys, these are my daughters."

"Daughters?" Jayden gasped and Ben looked back at his incredulous look.

"Didn't your Mom tell you about Karen and Penny?" Ben asked looking the young man right in the eye.

"She- she said you had... more women living in your house." Jayden's voice tapered off as Karen looked at him with her light blue eyes. She smiled and he felt himself smiling in return automatically.

"Right, that's what you heard. Karen Shepherd and Penny Shepherd are my daughters and as any good father would," Ben nodded to Dominic who grinned widely, "I'll be watching out for their best interests."

Jayden's head snapped back to look at Ben who leaned in a little closer. "We'll talk about this later," Ben said quietly.

Karen handed the containers to Dominic and Penny handed hers to Ben then the ladies hurried over to Ashley's place to get a lift to school. Karen glanced over her shoulder a few times to look back at Jayden who was still frozen like a deer caught in the headlights.

"You did it all wrong! You adopted girls and moved past all the fun stuff of watching them grow to begin at the hard part of protecting them from boyfriends!" Dominic's laugh boomed out. Ben grimaced and his scar flared. Dominic's eyes went wide. "Crap! You can scare them away with that scar!"

"Ha. You are a million laughs Dominic," Ben said sourly as the man chuckled. He turned to Jayden who was still a little starry eyed. "Earth to Jayden! If you see any sign of those young men you are not to associate with you find one of us and let us know immediately."

Jayden nodded.

"The services are all shut off to the house. No power, water, or gas. We're going in to salvage the existing fixtures. Let us know when the excavation crew arrives.

Ben popped open the container and grabbed a few cookies. He offered the container to Jayden who grabbed three cookies as well. Ben left the container on the table Dominic set up beside his truck then they headed inside. He popped one of the cookies in his mouth and chewed the sweet treat with a smile on his face. He looked over at Jayden who was eating with a thoughtful expression. Ben had his tool box inside the front door. He picked it up and they walked through the house to the kitchen.

"We'll take the kitchen sink, the taps, and the ceiling light fixture from this room. Be careful removing the items so they are in good enough condition to donate. You start with the light. There is a step ladder by the front door. Tools in the box."

Ben got to work on the sink and made quick work of disconnecting the taps and the sink mount from under the cabinet. He crawled out and saw Jayden was almost done with the light. He helped him bring it down safely then got him to help lift the sink out. They carried the stuff outside to put them in the back of Dominic's truck. Then they stopped to grab a few more cookies.

"Karen, she makes good cookies," Jayden said casually.

Ben looked over at Jayden and saw the curiosity burning in the young man.

"Did your Mom give you the back story for the girls?" Ben asked. Jayden shook his head. Ben imagined he stopped listening once he heard there were more women in his house. He walked back towards the house and Jayden followed. Ben stopped when they were in the foyer and looked Jayden in the eye.

"Karen and Penny were likely runaways when they were really young. We couldn't find any information about their abduction or the abduction of children who looked like them in the date ranges we worked out. The bastard who grabbed them abused them, kept them as playthings, forced them to undergo painful operations to change how they looked for his amusement. They didn't have a childhood and next year they were going to be murdered because he'd grown tired of them. They'd become 'too old' at 25."

Jayden's eyes were wide as he absorbed the story.

"I'm not telling you this because I want you to pity them. They don't need pity. What they need is patience, compassion, respect, and understanding. Penny is having an easier time picking up a new life. Karen is still trying to find her place. I'm hopeful," Ben sighed. "It's obvious you're attracted to Karen."

Jayden scowled as he expected Ben's harsh words.

"Do you think you're the man she needs in her life right now? Do you know how to be?" Ben asked gently instead.

The questions caught him off guard and he stared at Ben's back as the big man walked away. After a moment he followed and saw Ben had moved into the only bathroom in the house.

"We're going to take the taps, the sink, the toilet, the medicine cabinet, the light fixture, the door knobs, and I'm keeping this old cast iron soaker tub. I'm going to fix it up and put it back in the refurbished home. We'll need help carrying this out and from the look of that narrow doorway we may need to do a little demo to get it out."

They spent the better part of an hour removing the items and carrying them out to the truck before one of Dominic's workers informed them that the excavation team had arrived. Ben had just finished disconnecting the tub. He walked out side with Jayden who was looking a little tired.

The heavy equipment had arrived so it was time to take a break as the excavator made its way to the backyard.

Jayden was fidgeting and glancing at Ben. Finally Ben couldn't take it any longer.

"What?"

He paused. "What- what kind of man would I have to be?" he finally said.

Ben looked at Jayden with a serious expression. "Before you can answer that you have to ask yourself what kind of man have you been. Be brutally honest with yourself. If you can't be honest with yourself how can you be honest with others? Spend some time on that. When you have that answer come to speak with me. Tomorrow." He walked off to speak with Dominic.

"How goes it with the boy?" the contractor asked.

"Early days. He's been a good worker so far though," Ben admitted.

"Hey Ben! The guys want to know if you got the same caterers you had on the daycare job?" Hector called out.

"Never you mind the caterers. I don't need a team of fat sluggish workers!" Dominic called back. When Hector walked away to deliver the bad news Dominic turned to Ben. "Who did you get to make lunches?" he asked quietly.

"You'll just have to wait another hour to see," Ben grinned. "Is it safe for us to go back in yet?"

"Just as soon as the dump truck gets into the backyard, sure."

"I'll need some guys to help carry out the tub," Ben said.

"I'll ask Hector."

Ben walked back to Jayden who wasn't looking too happy. The truck was in so Ben gestured for him to follow.

He picked up a cordless reciprocating saw and a sledgehammer. Jayden's eyes lit up.

They made it back to the washroom and Ben handed Jayden the hammer. "I'm going to cut a notch out of the door frame and I'll need you to break it out into the hallway." That got a smile from the young man.

Ben use a power driver to remove the hinge screws and Jayden carried the door outside and returned to see Ben making short work of the door frame. He made four deep cuts, two to a side, then stood back.

He stepped out into the hall and gestured for Jayden to begin. "Knock out the sections between the cuts. Put your safety glasses on first."

Jayden's first swing was anticlimactic as the hammer bounced off. He looked at Ben with embarrassment.

"Not as easy as it looks, right? Take a secure grip on the hammer and swing as hard as you can. Don't aim for the surface. Aim through the wall, about four inches beyond. Keep your grip firm but not a death grip," Ben suggested.

Jayden nodded and took a deep breath. This time his swing went through the wall, across the hall, and embedded itself in the drywall there.

Ben grinned and Jayden's scowl wobbled as he struggled not to laugh.

"It's slightly euphoric to hit stuff with a big hammer isn't it," Ben remarked and Jayden nodded as his smile finally won. "Try again and this time just a little more death grip."

Jayden retrieved the hammer and managed to knock out the section of the doorjamb in one swing. Four workers showed up behind Ben and Jayden had it down now so he blew through the remaining section in just two swings. The guys cheered as they knew that demo was the best part of renovations! Jayden smiled at them then helped clear the debris from the hall.

It took all of them to carefully manoeuver the tub outside and carry it over to Ben's to put it in the garage. As they walked back they saw the gourmet food truck parking in front of the day care. A cheer went up from the crew who hustled over to the truck. A police cruiser followed the truck into the neighborhood. Ben waved them down and walked to the curb. Jayden hung back with a frown on his face.

"Good day officers. There's been no sign yet of the men Jayden is to avoid. We're all keeping an eye out." He received a nod for that. "If it's lunch time you can place an order at the food truck. It's covered." That earned him smiles and the driver shut off the engine as his partner called in. Ben nodded and continued on his way to the truck.

"You invited them to lunch?" Jayden hissed.

Ben frowned at him. "I think you're mistaking them for the enemy. I've dealt with more police than you have both here and overseas and I can say that while they're subject to the same human failings as anyone, I'd far rather have the law on my side. Showing respect and courtesy costs nothing and yields good will. We can all use a little more of that."

Jayden looked troubled as they reached the back of the line.

"Are you the crime you committed or are you Jayden King?" Ben asked him quietly.

Eyebrows went up as he looked at Ben. "I- I'm Jayden King."

"I think you're still discovering who that is," Ben said.

Jayden gave Ben an evaluating look. "Are you trying to be some kind of Zen Master?"

"Depends. Is it working? Are you thinking deep thoughts?" Ben smiled faintly.

Jayden turned away so Ben wouldn't see his smile but Ben recognized the motion for what it was and felt a little burst of satisfaction.

Lunch was incredible! Mexican burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos all with a gourmet flair. Delicious and filling! Ben got huge grins from the crew and Dominic lamented they were being spoiled rotten. This made the team cheer for Ben.

The excavation crew alternated through the lunch hour taking turns to keep the steady flow of trucks coming and going. Each driver gave his order so when they returned for the next load their food was waiting for them.

There was an embarrassing moment for Ben during lunch when Lisa and Lori came out of the daycare to speak with him. They were still worried about the state they'd left him in the previous day. Conversation amongst the crew quieted significantly as attention swung to the two beauties who walked up to Ben and gently pulled him aside to whisper their questions. He gave them assurances once more that they'd been wonderful and he was fine. Then he told them they could order lunch from the truck for themselves and the other staff if they liked. They squealed and jumped up to kiss him then looked very contrite as they saw his embarrassed scowl. They rushed back into the daycare and came out minutes later to place the orders. They apologized to Ben but were so nervous they'd fucked up they wouldn't leave until he gave them a kiss.

Ben dropped himself on a chair next to Dominic's truck and suffered the man's wide eyed smile. The crew was looking at him in a new light as well.

"These are NOT your daughters," Dominic said quietly.

"No," Ben growled and received a chuckle. Jayden watched his discomfort.

The dump truck driver called out to Dominic and indicated that was the last load. Now his crew could begin in earnest. He, Hector, Ben and Jayden walked into the backyard once the excavator made its way out. They looked at the plans once more and Ben explained how the new foundation would be integrated with the old and how it would support the two stories. An oversized deck with a six seater hot tub on it would extend beyond the new addition.

Once they confirmed the plan Ben and Jayden returned to their salvage job inside the house. They spent most of the afternoon removing bits of the house that would be donated to the community housing agency.