Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2012 02:27:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: ErastesTouch@aol.com
Subject: A Throw Away Kid, chapter 13

Throw Away Kid - by Erastes
Copyright 2012 by Erastes
Chapter 13 – Getting To Know You.

Since Bryce had confided in me and told me his life's story, I had
something I wanted to say to him.

"You're safe here, little man, and I'll do everything I can to keep you
here with me.  I'll also do my best to prevent anyone from harming you,
ever again."

That turned out to be just what Bryce needed to hear.  He felt he'd
finally found someone who really wanted him, not just wanted to get
something from him, and he ecstatically turned his head upward and
kissed me on the lips, at the same time stroking my package through my
swim trunks.  When he did that, I pulled back.

"You don't have t do that any more," I told him tenderly.  "You can put
those things behind you now."

"But I WANT to do it this time, not because I have to or because I need
more money," he insisted

"I know, but I would never take advantage of you like that," I replied.

"You wouldn't be taking advantage of me, I'd be taking advantage of
you," he said, with this innocent, almost angelic expression on his face.

"That's just in your eyes," I countered.  "The law doesn't see it the same
way you do."

"Why not?  I've had sex with enough men to know what I'm doing," he
insisted, "and I want to do it with you."

"But you're not old enough to make that decision," I pointed out.

"Well, I should be then," Bryce stated.  "I've been forced to do this
before, but now I WANT to do it.  Why shouldn't I be allowed, if it's
what I want this time?"

"Well, it's because of the way the law is written," I explained, "and it's
written that way to protect young boys like you from dirty old men."

"Well, it doesn't work!" he exclaimed.  "All it does is stop me from
doing it with someone I really love."

"Bryce, you can't be sure of that," I corrected.  "You haven't known me
long enough to be able to say that."

"I can too, and I am saying that," he said, defiantly.

With that he wrapped his arms around my neck, kissed me passionately
on the lips and then he pulled back, so he could look me in the eyes.

"See, I really do love you," he reiterated.

"Well, it's something we'll have to discuss later," I informed him,
sidestepping the issue for now, "but how about we take another dip in
the pool, before I fix us something to eat."

"Sounds good to me," he agreed.

Bryce bounded off of my lap and raced toward the water and I was
pleased that he seemed eager to take me up on this offer.

Now that I knew about Bryce's background, I had enough information
to contact my new lawyer to see if he could find a way for me to legally
take care of him.  I wasn't thinking of adoption, at least not yet, but I
certainly didn't want to have any problems with the law by hiding him
in my home either.  I really did want to help this kid, and even take care
of him, but I didn't want to put everything I'd worked so hard to get in
jeopardy.  I felt empathy for the boy and was even attracted to him, so I
didn't want to let him slip through my fingers or be abused again.

Actually I was still somewhat surprised that Bryce had opened up to me
so soon, but I surmised he'd done this because he saw me as his knight
in shining armor.  He'd been fantasizing about this imaginary figure
coming to rescue him for so long that he now saw me that way.  I was
also a bit amazed that I'd become so enamored with him and unable to
keep him out of both my conscious and unconscious thoughts.

There's no doubt that I think he's a cute kid and he seems to have a
good personality, regardless of what he's been through.  He's also not
ashamed of showing off his body, although I now also know the reason
for that too.  Even though he's had to use his body to survive, I did not
see him as an immoral person.  He did what he had to, when he had to,
but I'm not convinced he would have done any of those things if his
circumstances had been different.  He wasn't a bad kid and now I
wanted to see if I could give him a fresh start.

After we ate dinner, we watched television for a brief time and then he
made me keep my promise of letting him have his 'moonlight' swim.
There really wasn't a lot of moonlight tonight, but it was after dark
when I agreed to do this with him.  I told him to run upstairs and put
his swimsuit on and I'd turn on the underwater lights.  I thought he
might get a kick out of it if we only used those, and not have the glare of
the spotlights, which were attached to each corner of his house.

"Do I have to go put on my swimsuit, Uncle Kyle?" Bryce asked me,
giving me that little boy, pleading look.

"Why not?  What did you have in mind?" I wanted to know.

"Can't we just take our clothes off here and then go out and jump in?
There's no one around to see us," he pointed out.

"Well, I suppose we could, if you really want to do it," I agreed, "but
you don't have to do things like this to make me like you."

"I know.  I've already learned that, but this time I just think it would be
a neat thing to do," he reasoned.  "I've never gone swimming without
anything on before."

He gave me another wicked grin, like he knew this was his chance to do
something out of the ordinary.

"If that's your choice, then you can go skinny-dipping," I agreed.

"Is that what it's called, when you swim with no clothes on," he asked.

"I think most people would use that term and know what it means," I
concurred.

"And will you do it with me too?" he pressed.

"It's something that people would frown upon if they learned what I
was doing, but I don't see any harm of doing it here, in the privacy of
our home," I reasoned.  "After all, you did see me without any clothes
on earlier, so if that's what you want to do, I'll do it with you."

"Thanks, Uncle Kyle.  You're the best," he gushed.

With that Bryce jumped up and down for a minute, before he ran over
to me, threw his arms around my waist and asked me to bend down.  I
thought he was going to whisper something in my ear, but instead he
gave me a kiss, right on the lips.  It wasn't an erotic kiss, just the type a
child would give his parent, so that made it even more special to me.

"Hey, sport.  You don't have to call me Uncle Kyle when we're alone," I
pointed out.

"But I want to.  It makes me feel special when I do it," he answered.  "It
makes me feel like we're related and I really belong here."

"Ok, if it makes you feel good, then you can keep doing it if you want
to," I confirmed.

"Yeah, I really do," he shot back.

Having said that, Bryce began to remove his clothing, so I followed suit,
and soon we were splashing around in the pool, playfully interacting
with each other.  Bryce tried to dunk me a few times and even swam
below the surface of the water, figuring I wouldn't be able to find him.
He was playfully having fun, just like a young boy should, but when he
tired of that, he challenged me to a race.  We would swim the length of
the pool and back, but I insisted that we start and finish in the shallow
end, just in case Bryce got tired from the exertion or began cramping
up.  This way, he would most likely be in the shallow end when it
happened and could just stand up to get out of trouble.

I made it look as if I was really trying to beat him, but I let him win the
race.  You'd have thought he'd just won an Olympic gold medal by his
reaction, because he launched his body into the air, shouted joyfully and
held his arms up in victory.

"Ha, ha.  I whipped your butt, old man," he taunted me.

"You didn't whip me, but you did nose me out, little man," I conceded.
"I suppose you think you're pretty hot now, don't you?"

"Of course!" he exclaimed, and he was beaming as he said this.  "I'm
pretty good, aren't I?"

"You are pretty good, for a pipsqueak," I teased.

"I'm not a pipsqueak!" he objected, but then he hesitated and stared at
me.  "What's a pipsqueak anyway?"

"A pipsqueak is a small person," I informed him.

"Hey, I'm not small!" he stated loudly, flashing me a hurt expression.

"Well, you're no giant either," I pointed out, "but I didn't mean you
were tiny, just young and shorter than me."

"Ok, I'm smaller than you and I'm still young, although I'm almost a
teenager you know," he remarked, so I didn't think him a child.

"I know and I can see you're not a baby any longer," I confessed.
"Those hairs above your penis prove that."

I quickly realized I shouldn't have made this observation, because
Bryce immediately hopped up on the side of the pool and exposed his
groin to me.  Proudly, he displayed the thin band of coarse, curly hairs,
maybe a dozen strands in all, and looked at me playfully,

"You mean these?" he asked, pointing to that area.

I knew he was doing it for another reason too, because he was still
hoping to get me aroused sexually, but I didn't take the bait,

"Yes, those," I answered, and then I turned my back to him and swam
to the other end of the pool.

I heard a splash, as Bryce jumped back into the water and swam to
catch up to me.  When we reached the far end, he stopped me.

"Sorry.  I didn't mean to upset you by doing that," he explained and
apologized at the same time.

I felt badly.  I had unintentionally given him the wrong impression.

"Bryce, you didn't upset me," I explained.  "It's just that I know what
you want from me and I just can't do that."

"Why not?" he screeched, with a puzzled look on his face, which
indicated he really didn't understand.  "None of those other guys
worried about it."

"But I'm not one of those guys, am I?" I countered.  "I'll admit I'm
attracted to you, but I'm a boy lover, not a boy abuser.  I would have
trouble doing something like that with a boy who wasn't old enough to
understand what he's doing.  I'd also need to be sure it's being done
because HE wants to and NOT because he feels he owes it to me or
needs to do it to pay me back.  That's not the case here, is it?"

"Do you think I don't know what I'm doing or don't you think I really
want to do it because I love you?" he followed.

"Bryce, I have no question that you understand the mechanics of sex
and what it feels like," I confirmed, "it's just that if I did it with a boy, it
would be because we loved each other, not as a payment because he was
grateful for what I had done for him."

"But I do love you, Uncle Kyle.  I love you a lot," he stated, adamantly.
"Don't you love me?"

"Bryce, we've hardly had enough time to know each other, let alone
time to know if we love each other," I explained.  "I'm not sure why you
think you can say that already."

"I can, because I do love you.  I love you more than anyone else I've
ever known, except for maybe Cam and Steve," he offered, "but I know
I love you just as much as I love them."

"Bryce, don't you think it's more gratitude than love?" I asked.

"What's gratitude?" he wanted to know.

"That means you're thankful for the things I've done for you," I
explained.  "That's what I think you feel for me, not love."

"No, you're wrong, Uncle Kyle," he countered.  "I do appreciate what
you've done for me, but I know what love is and I do love you!"

"Bryce, it's too soon for you to know that," I reiterated.  "You don't
even know much about me.  Maybe I've got a temper and beat people
when I get mad at them."

"You could never do that, you're too nice," he insisted, while flashing
me a big smile after saying this.

"But you don't know that for sure," I countered.  "Maybe I drink a lot
and get mean when I get drunk."

"You haven't had any drinks since I've been here," he noted.

"Are you sure about that?" I pressed.

"Yeah, cuz I'd have smelled it on your breath," he replied.  "I've been
with drunks before too.  Didn't I tell you that?"

"You might have, but I don't remember exactly, but that's another
thing you can't be sure of," I repeated.  "And there's something else.
You can't be sure that I love you either."

"Yes, I can.  You wouldn't have done all these things for me or been so
nice to me if you didn't love me," he reasoned.

"Maybe, but how do you know that I'm not just doing it just because I
felt sorry for you?" I challenged.

"Uncle Kyle, why are you making this so tough?" he wanted to know.
"I know I love you and that you love me.  Can't we just leave it at that?"

"Ok, I can do that for now, but it still doesn't mean I'll have sex with
you.  Ok?" I asked to get him to agree.

Bryce looked disappointed.  It was possible that he thought he had won
the argument and convinced me to do it before I said that, especially
since I'd agreed to acknowledge that we loved each other for now.

"I guess, but I'm not happy about it and I think you're wrong," he
stated, defiantly.  "I know more than even older kids do before they
have sex with someone, so I should be able to decide that I want to have
sex with you too.  Since you don't want to do that, I'll drop it for now."

"Good, because I don't want to argue about this any longer," I agreed.
"Come here, you little scamp and let me give my nephew a big hug."

Bryce almost leapt into my arms, so I lifted him up and squeezed him as
hard as I could.  He hugged me back and made it a competition to see
who could hug the hardest.  After a couple of minutes we stopped and
both of us started laughing, and then he threw his arms around my
neck, pulled my head toward his and he kissed me hard.  I could feel his
small tongue licking my lips and trying to push its way inside my mouth,
but I kept my lips sealed tightly together and resisted his efforts.  I
could also feel his erection pushing into my belly.  I knew he would keep
trying to wear me down with this, but I felt I needed to stick to my guns.
Eventually, we went back into the house and dressed, but we didn't put
much on, basically just shorts, and then I asked Bryce if he knew how to
use a computer.

"I've used them at school and I can do some stuff on them," he
explained, "but I'm not as good at doing it as most kids my age, because
I never had one of my own and we don't get a lot of time to work on
them in class.'

"Well, how would you like to use mine?  Then I can help you if you have
a problem," I offered.  "You can start using it to keep yourself occupied
when I'm busy, either when I'm working at home or if I'm at the office,
and you can even play some games on it."

"That would be cool.  I'd like that," he agreed.

I took him to my office and questioned him about how much he already
knew and then filled in a few minor gaps in his knowledge.  Then, I
showed him how to access the pre-package games that came with the
computer, but I also saved some links to some other game sites for him,
so he could find them on his own later.  I also established his own login
and set the parental controls to limit his access.  Sure, I knew how much
he'd done and seen, but he was still a kid and I thought maybe I should
try to protect him as much as I could.  Maybe if I kept him from those
adult type things, then he might learn to enjoy just being a kid again.

When it was time to go to sleep, we went upstairs to brush our teeth and
use the toilet.  After we'd done that, Bryce asked me if he could sleep
with me tonight, because he said he'd been alone long enough and
wanted some company.  I told him that would be all right for tonight,
although this wasn't to become a regular thing.  He flashed me a
devilish smile, which gave me the impression that he thought he'd won
another minor battle.  When we got up to my room, he began to take off
his shorts, so he could sleep nude, but I stopped him and explained we'd
both leave our shorts on, otherwise he'd have to sleep in his own room.
He pouted a bit, to let me know he wasn't exactly thrilled with my rule,
but he pulled his shorts back up and then climbed into bed with me.

I always sleep on the same side of the bed, even when I go to a motel,
and that's the right side of the bed, as you are lying on it.  Before long I
felt Bryce sidling against me and trying to get as close as he could.  My
first reaction was to tell him to move back to his own side of the bed, but
when I did that, I could tell he wasn't happy. Once he had moved away,
I could hear him sniffling and realized my request had really hurt his
feelings, so I reached my arm out, snaked it under his head and
shoulders and pulled his body against mine.  He was ecstatic when I did
this and threw his upper arm across my lower abdomen and I could
almost see him smiling in the dark.  I kissed him on the forehead and
wished him sweet dreams, and that's the way we fell asleep.

During the night I awoke, since I had to use the toilet, and Bryce was
still in that same position.  I had to try to push him on his back and pull
my arm out from under him, so I could get up to pee and while I was in
my private bathroom, I heard him call out my name.

"It's ok, Bryce.  I'm in the bathroom," I yelled back.

Within seconds, he was standing beside me at the toilet, unashamedly
doing the same thing.  I didn't say anything and let it slide this time, but
after we got back into bed, he automatically got into the same position
as before and we fell asleep again.

When I awoke the next morning, I was having a pleasant dream, where
I was having sex with a young man, although I couldn't actually make
out his face.  I may have subconsciously been thinking it was Bryce, but
I never could see the boy's face in the dream, but I sure was getting
aroused and feeling as if I were actually having sex with the lad.  It was
a very graphic and realistic dream, which left little to the imagination,
but as I approached my climax, literally, I awoke and realized that not
all of it had been a dream.  At that point, I could make out Bryce's form
under the sheets, and from the sensations I was experiencing, I knew he
was performing oral sex on me.  Before I had time to react, I was
blowing my load into his hot, young mouth, and from the feel of it, he
was drinking it all down.

Once I recovered from the orgasm and the shock, I threw back the
sheets, only to see Bryce lift his head and smile at me, with droplets of
cum running down his chin.

"I thought I'd made myself clear," I told him, somewhat annoyed by
what he had done.

"Are you mad at me?" he responded, and he looked as if he were about
to cry.  "I thought you'd like that."

"It has nothing to do with whether I liked it or not," I countered.  "It
has to do with the fact that you broke a rule I had set for us and one you
had agreed to.  Not only that, but you did it intentionally."

"You hate me now, don't you?" he stated, while looking as if his heart
was about ready to break.

I reached down by my waist and lifted his head up, so he was looking at
me.  I looked him in the eyes and decided to clear up the situation.

"Bryce, I don't hate you, but I am very disappointed that you've
already broken one of the few rules I've asked you to follow," I replied.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Kyle.  I really am," he apologized.  "Please don't hate
me or make me leave."

His lower lip was sticking way out and there were even tears in his eyes
now.  My heart was breaking seeing him like this.

"Bryce, I told you I don't hate you and I'd never ask you to leave, not
over something like this," I clarified, "but I do expect you to follow that
rule from now on.  If there comes a time when I think the rule should be
changed, I'll tell you, but until then I expect you to obey it."

"Ok, Uncle Kyle, I will," he agreed, but he still had this extremely sad
expression on his face.  "Can I have a hug?"

"Sure, come here, little man," I agreed.

He scrambled up the mattress and into my arms.  We hugged each other
and let our love flow through that embrace.  Maybe Bryce was right.
Maybe we did love each other already, but I wanted to make certain
that this was actually the case.  We stayed in that embrace for a couple
of minutes, because I wanted him to make the first move to separate.  I
waited for this to happen, but when I felt it had gone on long enough
and should end, I made a comment to prompt him into action.

"What do you say, sport?" I began.  "Do you think we should go down
and get some breakfast?"

He pushed away from me now.

"Ok, that sounds like a good idea," he agreed.  "I am hungry."

We got out of bed and I readjusted my shorts the way they should have
been in the first place, and we walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Are you going to work today, Uncle Kyle?" Bryce asked.

"I was planning to," I replied.  "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, I guess not.  I'm used to being alone," he answered.

"I know and I feel badly that I have to leave you like this," I explained,
"but what if I promise to come home as soon as I can later?"

"You don't have to do that.  I'll be ok," he confirmed.

"I know, but I want to spend time with you too," I offered.  "Then, we'll
have the whole weekend together.  How does that sound?"

"Great!" he exclaimed, and he was beaming once again.

As we ate, I wrote down my office and cell phone numbers for him, in
case he needed anything, and then I went to get ready for work.  Bryce,
however, didn't leave my side.  He followed me to my bedroom and then
into my bathroom, where he watched me shave, brush my teeth and
shower.  Then, he followed me back into my room and watched me get
dressed.  I began to worry what he'd be like after I left.

"Are you sure you'll be ok, sport?" I asked, to make sure.

He didn't respond right away, but eventually he did.

"Yeah, I told you I'd be fine," he reiterated.

"Are you sure?" I repeated.  "I could try to change my schedule, so I
can stay home."

"No, that's fine, as long as you try to come home early," he suggested.
"I'll be ok until then, but I'll miss you."

"Well, I'll miss you too and I'll call you once in a while, just to see how
you're doing," I offered.

This brought a huge smile onto his face, which literally radiated his
show of approval to my proposal.

"Thanks, I'd like that," he finally confirmed.

When I got to work, I asked my secretary what was on my schedule and
she told me she'd kept it light, just in case my nephew needed more
time.  I thanked her for doing that and then we went over what was
planned.  I saw it wasn't too bad, so not only would I have time to go
home and join Bryce for lunch, but I'd also be able to quit around 3:00
and be with for him the rest of the day.  I thanked her again, and she
asked me how my nephew was doing, so I told her he might be staying
for a while.  She didn't pursue this further, sensing that I'd tell her if I
wanted her to know more, and I appreciated that too and told her so.

I called Bryce about an hour later, to see how he was doing, but I didn't
tell him I'd be home for lunch.  I wanted that to be a surprise.  He was
happy I called and told me all kinds of things, including stuff he'd done
on the computer.  He used one of the search engines I told him about to
look up things he was interested in and he thanked me for having taught
him about that.  When we said goodbye and I told him I'd talk to him
again later, but even I wasn't sure if it would be another phone call or
when I went home to eat.  It turned out to be another phone call, about
an hour later, and he answered the phone on the first ring.

"Were you waiting by the phone or something?" I joked with him.

"Not quite," he answered.  "I've just have been carrying the portable
phone with me, so I could answer it quickly when you called."

"Oh, I see.  I'm glad I kept that around then," I agreed.

We both had a little chuckle over that and before we hung up this time,
Bryce had a special message for me.

"I love you, Uncle Kyle.  I really, really do," he offered.

I was moved by this and could hear the love in his voice.  I also felt I
should respond, so as not to hurt his feelings.

"I love you more," I stated, feeling I had to outdo him.

"I love you mostest," he responded, after a short pause.

I heard him giggled hysterically after he'd said that, thinking I couldn't
do better.  I didn't even try, since I wanted him to feel that he'd won
another small battle, so I teased him instead.

"You're a rascal, aren't you?  You got me again," I teased.

"Yep, I did," he said, laughing some more.

"Ok, I'll talk to you later," I told him.  "Behave."

"I will," he confirmed.

I didn't call him again during the morning, but I drove home for lunch.
When he saw me, he came bolting out of the house and into my arms.

"Are you home for the rest of the day?" he wanted to know.

"No, little man, I just came home for lunch," I explained.  "I thought
you might like some company."

"You bet," he agreed.

I fixed us both some lunch and we talked while we ate, but then I had to
return to the office.  I told him I had a meeting I needed to attend and
then I explained that I'd come home as soon as I could.  He smiled at
me, knowing I was doing this just for him.

The meeting was with my realtor and I told him to start negotiating for
the building I found Bryce in.  Not only would it meet the needs of my
business, but it would always give me something to remember the first
time we met.  I told my realtor what I wanted the first offer to be and
then I told him the absolute highest I'd go.  I suggested he make
incremental adjustments to the initial offer, if it wasn't accepted, and he
said he understood and went to handle that matter for me.

After that meeting, I checked back with my secretary, to see if anything
else had popped up and she only had a few questions for me about
various situations that had arisen.  After we took care of those issues,
she had me sign a few papers and then told me she'd see me Monday
morning.  I thanked her for all of her help and emphasized how
invaluable she had become to me.  Then, I announced that I had decided
to give her even more responsibilities, along with a raise to compensate
for the increase in her workload.  She thanked me for that, but I insisted
she had earned it, and then I left to go home to see Bryce again.

Bryce was excited to see me and ran out to greet me nearly as soon as I
drove up.  He was even more excited when I told him the additional
news.

"Well, the rest of the day is ours, little man," I informed him.  "Is there
anything you'd like to do?"

"How about another swim?" he asked.

"Well, we could do that to start, but isn't there anything else you'd like
to do, like maybe go out to eat, see a movie or go shopping?" I pressed.

"You've already bought too much for me, Uncle Kyle," he objected.
"You don't need to spend any more money and a swim will be fun."

"Ok, let's go swimming again then," I agreed, "but you think about
what you want to do after that.  Ok?"

"Ok, Uncle Kyle, but can we swim without our swimsuits again?"

"I don't see why not, as long as you promise to behave," I agreed.

"I do," he confirmed.

Having said that, he quickly took off toward the pool and I did too, but I
followed him at a more leisurely pace.  He was already removing his
clothing and placing them on one of the lounge chairs, so I went over
and did the same thing.  Bryce stood there trying to urge me to go
faster, once he had finished disrobing.

"Go ahead and get in," I told him.  "I'll join you in a minute or two."

"But I want us to both run and jump in at the same time," he stated.

"Sure, sport, we can do that.  Whatever you want," I agreed.

As soon as I finished undressing, we held hands, ran across the short
expanse to the pool and then jumped into the air, landing feet first in
the water.  When we came back above the surface, Bryce was laughing
again and gave me one of those priceless smiles of his.

"That was fun, wasn't it, Uncle Kyle?"  He wanted my confirmation.

"Sure was, little man.  I'm glad you thought of that," I agreed.

As soon as I finished saying this, Bryce disappeared below the surface of
the water and swam past me.  I didn't pay much attention to what he
was doing, until I felt him trying to swim between my legs.  When he did
that, he made sure he reached up to cop a feel.  When he resurfaced, I
had something to say about that.

"I thought you promised to behave?" I challenged.

"I am!" he screeched back.

He actually looked confused and then I saw the light bulb of
understanding turn on in his head.

"I was only fooling around and didn't mean anything by it," he added.

"All right.  I guess I can let it slide this time, but no more sexual
touching," I insisted.

"Man, can't I have ANY fun?" he scoffed.

"Yes, but just not fun of that nature," I replied.

"But I wasn't trying to get you hard or anything, just teasing you by
grabbing you there.  Was that so bad?" he asked, sincerely confused.

"I guess not, as long as you weren't trying to start something, by doing
it, but let's keep our hands off those areas.  Deal?" I offered.

"Ok," he said, hesitantly.  "Deal."

We spent about an hour in the pool, racing and horsing around, and
then we got out and dried off.  After we'd done that, I suggested he put
on some nice clothes and then I'd take him out to dinner.  Even though
he argued about me not having to do that, I wasn't about to give in to
him this time and insisted that I didn't feel like cooking.  Eventually, he
relented and I took him out to one of my favorite places to eat.

The staff there knows me well, since I often bring business associates to
this establishment to wine and dine them, either as a reward for a fine
job or sometimes to make a deal with a supplier or prospective client.
I'm always treated well, the food is great and they go out of their way to
accommodate me, even on short notice.  I think that might have
something to do with the amount of money I spend there and the size of
the tips I leave.  Whatever the reason, we were promptly seated.

"Your business associates are getting younger these days, Mr. Loomis,"
the manager teased, when he came over to say hello.

"Yes, these wiz-kids are beginning to make me feel old," I joked back.

"So, young man," the manager began, "Do you work for Mr. Loomis or
are you one of his suppliers or customers?"

"I'm his nephew," Bryce responded, puffing his chest out with pride.

"Oh, a relative and potential heir to the fortune?" the manager asked,
eyeing me.

"Well, you never know," I told him.  "He IS my favorite nephew."

This made Bryce's grin get even bigger and I thought the buttons were
going to pop right off his shirt.

The manager smiled at him and commented. "You're a very lucky
young man, so I hope you're nice to your uncle."

"Oh, I am," he said, smiling up at me.

"Very well, gentlemen," he stated.  "Enjoy your meal and I will check
back with you later."

We had been seated at a very lovely table for two, off to one side, but
still one of their better tables.  We took a second to look at the menus, to
see what he wanted, but Bryce looked up at me almost immediately, his
mouth agape.

"Uncle Kyle," he began, "these prices are way too much."

"Don't worry about the prices, little man.  Just order what you'd like,"
I urged him.

He looked up at me again, this time a little sheepishly.

"But I don't know what some of these things are," he confessed.

"Ok, maybe I can help you with that," I offered.  "Do you like steak?"

"I guess, but I've only had it a couple times," he admitted.

"Well, let me order one for you then.  I think you'll enjoy it," I stated.
"How do you like yours cooked?"

"Aren't they all cooked the same?" he asked, naively.

"Well, not quite," I told him.  "Have you ever had your meat cooked so
it was still slightly pink inside?"

"Isn't that bad for you?" he wondered.

"No, not if it's done properly," I explained.  "Would you be willing to
try it that way?"

"I don't know," he stated, skeptically.  "Is that how you eat your meat?"

"I do and I'll tell you what," I suggested.  "We'll order yours that way
too and if you don't like it that way, then we'll send it back to have it
cooked some more.  Will that meet with your approval?"

"Will they do that?" he wanted to know.

"Of course they will.  We're paying them for the service," I explained.

"Ok, I'll try it that way then," he agreed.

"Great!  Do you want a baked potato or steak fries to go with it?" I
asked next.

"What are steak fries?" he asked next.

"They're French fries, but wider and slightly thicker," I told him.

"I'll have those," he replied.

"And would you like soup or a salad to go with that?" I asked next.

"You don't have to order that too," he stated, thinking it cost extra.

"It comes with the meal," I informed him.

"Are you sure?"  I nodded in response.  "I'll have the soup then.  I'm
not very big on salad."

"Ok, soup it is," I agreed.  "The waiter can tell you what the choices are
for tonight and then you can select the one you want."

Since all of that had been decided, I ordered Filet Mignons for both of
us, although I had the baked potato and salad to go with it.  Bryce
wanted a soda to drink, but I talked him into having a glass of milk
instead, telling him he could have the soda afterward, and I had coffee.
While we ate, we talked about the meal, and he seemed to enjoy his
steak prepared medium-rare, and we talked about the restaurant in
general, as well as a bunch of other similar topics.

When the meal was over, I asked Bryce if he wanted dessert, but he said
he was full.  I did order him the soda I'd promised and I had an after
dinner drink.  When we finished those, I paid the bill, left the tip and
then we departed.  I drove from the restaurant over to the local movie
complex next, and when we were inside, I asked him to select the movie
he'd like to see.

"Uncle Kyle, you've already spent way too much money on me," he
insisted.  "We don't have to do anything else."

He was being sincere and seemed truly worried about my finances.

"Bryce, I have more than enough money," I tried to reassure him, "so
don't worry about the cost.  Just pick a movie, one that you want to see,
and that's what we'll go to."

"Are you sure?" he asked, to double-check.

"I'm sure," I reiterated.

He made his choice quickly and told me he'd seen it advertised on
television and thought it looked neat, so we went in, took our seats and
spent the next couple of hours wrapped up in the story.  While we
watched this horror film, Bryce made sure his knee was touching my leg
and then eventually he reached over and held my hand.  He hung onto it
until the movie ended, but I wasn't sure if he did it because he wanted to
be close to me or if he was scared.  Either way, I thought it would be
best not to ask.

On the way home, Bryce made a comment about our evening together.

"Thanks, Uncle Kyle.  That was a lot of fun and really special," he
announced.  "I had a great time."

"So did I, sport.  So did I," I agreed.


*  *  *  *  *  *

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