Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2012 02:58:47 -0400 (EDT)
From: ErastesTouch@aol.com
Subject: A Throw Away Kid, chapter 27

Throw Away Kid - by Erastes
Copyright 2012 by Erastes
Chapter 27 -- Something To Be Thankful For.

The next couple of weeks pretty much flew by.  In between taking the
boys to their many activities and making sure they did their schoolwork,
I spent some of my time looking at minivans and SUVs.  I figured we
needed another vehicle, one that could hold more passengers than the
Lexus, since we seemed to be hauling the boys' friends around with us
much of the time too.  Finally, I decided on a 2012 Chevy Traverse, an
SUV that seated 8 comfortably, and made the purchase.  Now, I just had
to wait a couple of days before I could pick it up.

It was also during this same time that the contractor finished adding my
new office on the first floor, so I had the boys help me move the office
furniture down from Steve's room, so he wouldn't be so crowded.  I was
happy that Steve now had the entire room for his use and I'd removed
the clutter for him, but in the process I also ended up with a place I
could work from at home again, so I would be able to spend more time
with the boys.  I think this actually worked out well for all of us, even
though I had to shell out the extra cash to have the room added on.

In addition to picking up the new SUV and moving into my new office at
home, I was also coming into the busy season for my business, so I had
plenty to do.  Even though my office manager had taken over many of
the daily tasks for me, getting ready for the holiday season was much
more than just a one-person job, so we were both buried in work.  For
that reason, the days leading up to the holidays were all basically a blur
of activity, but I did my best to leave enough free time so I could plan
for our own celebrations as well, because I expected the holidays to be a
very special time for us.  No matter how busy I was, I intended to
celebrate each of these special days with Bryce, Cam and Steve.

Even though most people wouldn't consider Halloween to be one of the
important holidays, I still wanted to make this year special for the boys.
Since they had never really had a chance to be kids and enjoy this
holiday the way it should be celebrated when you're young, I urged
each of them to select a costume and dress up, so I could take them out
trick-or-treating.  I was only going to take them to the homes of a few of
my friends and acquaintances, but it would provide the boys with an
opportunity to do this at least once in their lives.

Even though Steve, Cam and Bryce now considered themselves to be too
old for this type of activity, I insisted it would be good for them to do it
this one time and I promised we'd only be going to places where people
wouldn't give them a rough time about their age.  I just felt that since
they had missed out doing this type of thing when they were younger, I
wanted to give them a chance to participate and enjoy the traditions of
this semi-obscure celebration now, so they could do the same for their
own children, if they later had their own families.  I assured the boys
that I had explained this, in advance, to those whose homes I would be
taking them to, although it was a contrived explanation about why they
had been so deprived.

First of all, I told my friends and acquaintances whose homes we'd be
visiting that one of my sisters, Bryce's supposed mother, lived way out
in the country and never wanted to take him out.  It would have meant
that she would have to drive him all around the countryside to be able
to do this, since none of their neighbors lived close by.  Just to take him
to a few homes, she would have to do a tremendous amount of driving,
so she felt it would be easier and cheaper just to buy him some candy
and then they could just stay at home.

I then explained that my other sister had married a Jehovah's Witness
and he wouldn't allow his son and stepson to participate in any holidays
or celebrations of any nature, including birthdays.  The only holiday
they observed was the 'Memorial of Christ's Death,' which was a very
simple celebration that was observed around the same time as Easter
and the Jewish Passover.  The difference was that this wasn't celebrated
to same way modern Christian observe this event, because the family
merely remembered the 'Lord's Evening Meal,' or 'Last Supper,' by
duplicating the event.  They would merely hold a similar meal and eat
unleavened bread and consume small amounts of wine, but they did
nothing for the children, such as color eggs or give them Easter baskets
filled with candy.  The sole intent of this activity was to recognize
Christ's final meal with his disciples, which happened just prior to his
crucifixion and resurrection.

I also advised the boys of these cover stories too, in case someone
commented to them about their upbringing, but each of the people I
dealt with seemed to accept my explanations and I doubted they would
be crass enough to mention anything of this nature.  In fact, I think it
also helped these people to become more comfortable with the idea
about why the boys would have wanted to come live with me, instead of
staying with their parents and dealing with family issues.  Therefore,
when we showed up at their homes on Halloween, they each made a big
deal out of welcoming us, as they gave the boys their 'treats' and did
their very best to see to it that the trio didn't feel out of place.  In the
end, the boys confessed they'd had a good time and were glad that I'd
urged them to do this, but they had also collected enough sweets to last
them for a couple of months.

The weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving were just as hectic,
especially for me.  I had merchandise coming in from suppliers and I
was frantically trying to make sure these things got redistributed to the
stores as quickly as possible, so those locations would be stocked up for
the Christmas-Hanukkah season.  My office manager was a huge help in
doing all of this, but it took both of us to make sure that each store had
every item it would need.  This was especially true when it came to
filling the quantities that we expected would be required for the sales
we'd be holding.  There would be a different sale each week, beginning
with Black Friday and continuing straight through until the day before
Christmas, so I wanted to make certain everything was in place before
each sale started.  Therefore, I was more than ready for a brief respite
when Thanksgiving weekend arrived.

This was another very special time for the boys and me, since we all felt
we had a great deal to be thankful for this year.  I had also invited Troy
and his father to join us, because we considered them to be part of our
family and none of us wanted them to spend this time alone.  As soon as
I informed Jim of the invitation, he stated that he wanted to help me fix
the meal, but since I'd been working so hard at the office, I really didn't
want to spend all of my time cooking.  I would rather use what precious
time I had to be enjoy my boys and our company, so instead of fixing a
big meal, I decided to make reservations at one of the finer restaurants
instead.  I made sure to tell Jim that we'd be dining out, and the reasons
why I preferred to do it this way, and I think he liked the idea of not
having to spend his time over a hot stove as well.  I also advised him
what attire would be suitable, so he and Troy would be dressed
appropriately when they arrived.

After the boys and I got dressed up, and before Jim and Troy showed
up at the house, we gathered in the family room.  Once the four of us
were assembled there, I asked each of the boys to take a moment and
share with us what he was thankful about from this past year.  After
thinking about my request for a minute or two, they agreed to do as I'd
requested and Bryce wanted to go first.

"I know the three of us will probably say pretty much the same thing,"
he began, while indicating that he was talking about Cam and Steve as
well, "but I'm sooooo thankful that I met Uncle Kyle and he agreed to
let me come here to live with him.  For the first time in my life, I feel
that I'm wanted and loved, so I don't have to worry about touching
things, watching how much I eat or worrying about how he's going to
react to everything I do.  I can be myself and have fun here, because I
know he'll still love me, even if I mess up and make a mistake every now
and then.  I was also really happy when he brought Cam and Steve here
to join us.

"Besides that, I'm really glad that he treats Troy and his father like
they're part of our family too, because I really love having them around
with us," Bryce continued.  "I'm also thankful that he's so good with
our friends and that he lets them come over so much.  They've each told
me they love the fact that they can come here to swim and he lets us
mess around with each other too, so I think they're all thankful for him,
nearly as much as we are.  Thank you for everything you do for us,
Uncle Kyle.  You're the bestest ever."

Needless to say, I was a little teary-eyed after hearing him say those
things, so I hugged and gave him a big kiss.  Then, Bryce sat in my lap,
as we turned to listen to Steve tell us the things he had to be thankful
for.

"I pretty much agree with Bryce, although I have a few more things to
add," he began.  "First of all, I'm thankful that I'm now with people I
really care about and love, but I'm also happy that we can do things
with each other without having to worry about having to do it or anyone
getting upset if we don't want to.  I'm also glad that I don't have to be
concerned about pleasing a bunch of other people that I don't really
know or care about, and that I don't have to watch everything I do.
Now, I just have to listen to what Uncle Kyle tells me and I know
everything else is going to be fine.  I'm just thankful I have this great
place to live now and that Cam and I were able to get out of that
detention center.  Until the lawyer came around and told us he had a
home for us to go to, I wasn't sure we were going to get out of there
anytime soon or that everything was going to work out as well as it did
for us.  Thank you, Uncle Kyle, since it only happened because of you.

"The best part of all," Steve continued, "is that Uncle Kyle really wants
us here and he takes great care of us.  I'm not saying he doesn't get
anything in return," and Steve paused here to give me a wicked little
grin, "because we all try to give him as much love as we can and help
him out whenever he lets us, but he does far more for us that we do for
him.  He does all kinds of neat stuff with us and makes sure we get to do
things we've never been able to do before.  All I can say is that I'm
grateful that I came to live here and be with all of you, because it was
the best thing that ever happened to me."

When he finished, my eyes were tearing up even more than they had
been before and I knew we still had Cam to get through.  Now that
Steve came over to sit beside me, Cam stood up, looked at all of us and
then began to speak.

"I'm not sure what I can add to what the other two have already said,
but they're both right," he began.  "The day we came here to live with
Uncle Kyle was the best thing that ever happened to any of us and it will
always be the one thing we'll always be thankful for, not just this year.
Uncle Kyle, I love you and hope I can do something to pay you back for
all you've done for me, as well as the others."

He gave me a huge smile when he said this, which made me light up as
well.

"I'm also grateful that you are willing to drive us around to do all kinds
of different things," Cam continued.  "It's not just the places you take
us to have fun, but you also do it so we can participate in so many
different things at school.  You've let us do stuff with the drama club,
take us to the extra practices and rehearsals with the band and
orchestra, so we get good at playing our instruments, plus all of the
other things you take us to do with our friends.  You are totally
awesome and I love you more than I did my own parents, although I
hardly remember them any longer, but my love for you will never
change."

Wow!  Now the tears were actually running down my cheeks and all
three boys wrapped me up in a very emotional group hug.  Once this
ended and we'd shared that wonderfully tender moment, I was getting
ready to speak and tell them what I was thankful for when the doorbell
rang.  Before I had a chance to respond to it, Bryce ran over to answer
the door and Jim and Troy followed him inside.

"We were just telling each other what we were thankful for this year,"
Bryce told them, as he led them into the family room.  "Mostly it's just
been how thankful Cam, Steve and I are that we got to come live here
with Uncle Kyle and for all the great things he does for us, but we're
also thankful to have you guys as part of our family too."

"That's really very nice of you to say," Jim told him, after hearing
Bryce's last comment.

"Can I do that too?" Troy asked.  "I'd like to tell you what I'm thankful
for too."

"Sure, if you want to," I told him.

"Great, because I'd really would like to do that!" Troy replied.  "First
off, I'm really thankful for my pa.  It was really hard for me after my
ma died and I'm not sure I could have made it without him being there
to help me.  It's just been the two of us for quite a while and I'm really
grateful I have him.  We do lots of neat stuff together and I love having
the horses and the ranch, so I hope you guys will be able to come out
and spend some time with us again this summer.

"Even though I don't live here, I still think I have a pretty good idea
what you guys have been through before you came to live with Uncle
Kyle and how great you have it now," he added, looking over at the
other three boys.  "I'm also glad my pa ran across Uncle Kyle and
Bryce when they were on their bike trip and invited them to stop at our
place, so we could go riding together.  I really enjoyed the time I got to
spend with them when they stayed with us, but it also gave me a place to
stay when my pa has to take his trips out of town.  It was kind of rough
on me before, when I had to stay with others around where we live, but
I really enjoy it when I'm here with all of you and I hope we can get
together a lot more often in the future.  I really love all of you, almost as
much as I love my pa, and I'd really like to thank you for inviting us to
join you today too."

After saying this, Troy hugged his father first, and then he came over
and gave each of us a hug.  I could see his father was also touched by his
words, so after Troy finished hugging everyone, Jim asked if he could
speak next.

"I can't begin to tell you how important my son is to me and how
thankful I am to have him," he started out.  "I think having him around
also helped me when my wife died, so I think we're even on that count,
and I also value the time we get to spend together, whether it's as simple
as doing the chores together, spending time in the pond with each other
or competing at the horse shows.  He's never let me down and I'm very
proud of him.

"I would also like to add my support to what Troy said about running
across Kyle and Bryce this past summer," Jim continued.  "It not only
turned out to be a very enjoyable few days together, but it also gave us
some new friends.  I appreciate what you've done for us and for letting
Troy stay with you when I have to go away, but I'd like to ask another
favor of you, if you're willing."

He looked at me, with an unreadable expression on his face, but it
seemed as if he was waiting for my approval to continue.  Since I wasn't
sure what this was about, I merely nodded my head, to let him know he
could continue.

"I know this is a lot to ask," he stated next, "but since I see how good
you are with your boys and I realize how much they love you, I want to
ask you to do something for me.  I was wondering if I could list you in
my will as Troy's guardian, in case something should happen to me
before the government considers him old enough to take care of
himself?"

"Pa, are you sick or something?" Troy blurted out, as soon as he heard
what his father said.

It was obvious that he was concerned that his father might have been
keeping something from him, so he wanted to know the truth.

"No, son, this is just a precaution, not that I expect anything will happen
to me," he stated.  "It's just that you just never know when an accident
might happen at the ranch or when I'm on one of my trips, so I want to
make sure that you're taken care of, if something like that does happen
to me.  If Kyle would be so kind to agree, then I'll leave everything in a
trust for Troy, with Kyle listed as the trustee, so he'll be able to sell
parts of what I own, or all of it if need be, to cover the cost of taking
care of Troy until he comes of age.  If there's anything left over, then
Kyle can give Troy the rest of the money or property when he's old
enough to be on his own."

"Jim, I'd be honored to do this for you, but I'd never sell anything,
unless Troy wanted me too," I agreed.  "I'd be happy to cover the
expense of raising him, if something like that were to happen, but I
doubt we'll ever have to worry about it.  You're in great physical health
and will probably outlive us all."

"I'll agree that I don't have any current health issues and I'm in pretty
good shape, but I doubt I'll live longer than you youngsters," he
quipped.  "I do appreciate that you're willing to do this for us though.
It's been a concern of mine since my wife passed on, because there's no
one else I'd be willing to leave him with or trust that they'd treat him
fairly and not steal from him."

"Well you don't have to worry about that any longer and I'd be happy
to help out, although I doubt it will ever come to that," I agreed.

He came over and shook my hand after hearing me agree, and then he
wrapped me up in a massive bear hug.  He certainly had a powerful
grasp, so there was no doubt in my mind that he appreciated my offer to
do this for him.  I'll probably even have the bruises to prove it, since he
squeezed me quite hard.  Well it wasn't really that bad, but I definitely
knew I'd been hugged.

Now that the others had finished, I knew it was my turn to wrap this up
with my comments about what I was thankful for.  Before I started, I
quickly glanced around the room and looked at each of my boys, Troy
and Jim first, before I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to
speak.

"Until you three boys came into my life, I was totally caught up in the
materialistic quest for success and money.  I spent nearly all of my time
chasing the almighty dollar sign, thinking that was what the most
important thing to do," I began.  "Most people believe that in order to
be considered a success they must have a great job, make lots of money
and own many things.  Even though I now have done some of the things
I thought were so important and have enough money to last me the rest
of my life, even if I didn't work another day, I realize now that I wasn't
truly happy or a real success until I asked the three of you to come live
with me.

"I could have spent many years expanding my business and raking in
the cash," I continued, "but I would have been considerably poorer for
never knowing any of you, never having shared your love and never
understanding how important a family really is.  Now that I realize how
rewarding those types of relationships can be, I am far richer for having
shared your love and for being able to express the love I feel for each of
you in return.

"Even though you boys will eventually grow up and move on, I know I
shall always be much better off for having had you in my life," I added.
"I'm not saying that we won't always be a part of each other's world or
that we won't always stay in touch, but some day you'll probably have
families of your own, or at least have a special person to share your life
with, but for me, I shall always cherish the memories of our years
together and be thankful for all the great times we have shared, and will
continue to share, with each other."

I was a little choked up after saying this and took a short breather.
When I did, the boys all got up, walked over to where I was and
wrapped me up in another tremendous group hug.  I really could feel
their love flowing into me as they did this, and after we finished this
round of hugs, we broke apart.  We quickly readjusted our crumpled
clothing, which had gotten a little messed up from the round of
energetic embraces, and once they sat down again, I turned to Troy and
his father.

"I'm also thankful that Bryce and I ran into Jim and Troy when we
did," I added.  "They not only showed us a great time and have become
terrific friends, but they also proved to me that a simpler life can also be
rewarding, even though you may actually have to work a little harder at
it."  I joked, while grinning at Jim.

"I will always value their friendship and I would be happy and honored
to take care of Troy, if need be.  I also look forward to all of us spending
much more time together throughout the years and I know Bryce and I
are eager to spend more time with you on your ranch.  I'm certain Cam
and Steve will enjoy it just as much as the two of us did, so if we're
invited, we'd love to come out and spend a few days at the ranch with
you around county fair time next year."

"Of course you're invited," Jim confirmed, with Troy echoing his
agreement.

My three boys now went over and hugged each of them and I shook
Jim's hand again.  We truly were all family now and we'd developed a
great appreciation for each other.  When everything calmed down
again, I suggested that we needed to get going, if we wanted to get to the
restaurant in time for our reservation, so we went out and loaded into
the Chevy Traverse.

"When did you get this," Jim asked, as he got in the front seat beside
me.

"After Troy stayed with us the last time," I answered.  "I realized that I
was hauling the boys and their friends around a lot, so I knew we'd
need a bigger vehicle, because there just wasn't enough room in the car.
I still have the Lexus, which I drive to work and use when it's just the
boys and me, but this is the family vehicle, for when we have the boys'
friends with us and for occasions such as this."

Jim nodded his approval as he looked around, and I knew the boys
appreciated having the room, without any of them being required to sit
on someone else's lap.

The restaurant was packed, which I found a little odd, since I thought
more people would have been eating at home.  We had a wonderful
Thanksgiving meal, complete with most of the things we would have
enjoyed if we'd prepared a meal at home.  There was plenty of turkey,
mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, a green bean casserole and
dinner rolls.  I'd also ordered a large side dish of squash, which we then
passed around so anyone who wanted to could add a little of it to his
plate.

During the meal, we talked about many things, including what types of
activities the boys might like to try doing in the future and what we
could do to make to make things even better when we were all together,
but we also invited Jim and Troy to join us for Christmas and New
Year's too.  They agreed and Troy asked if they could spend the entire
time between the two holidays with us and I said we'd love it, if Jim and
he wanted to do that.

Jim then stated that he had animals that would need to be cared for, but
he'd come and spend the two holidays and a little extra time with us,
but he'd have to go home in between, because he didn't dare leave the
animals for more than just a few days at a time.  He also gave Troy
permission to stay for the entire time, if that's what he wanted to do,
and if we agreed that would be all right.  He also told me that it would
probably do his son good to spend the extra time with boys closer to his
own age, than to be stuck at home without much to do, except chores.

When I questioned Jim about whether he'd be able to take care of
everything at the ranch without Troy, he assured me he'd be able to
handle it.  He stated that he'd just take care of the things that needed to
be done immediately and then leave the rest of it until the following
weekend, when Troy would be back to help him get caught up again.
Since he didn't seem to have a problem with his son not going back to
help him for the week in between, I assured him that we'd love to have
Troy stay with us the entire time.

We finished off the meal with a slice of pie for dessert.  Bryce and I had
the traditional pumpkin pie, while the rest of them opted to go with the
apple, cherry or mincemeat pies instead.  Jim was the one who got the
mincemeat pie and I would venture to guess that none of the boys, other
than maybe Troy, had ever heard of it, let alone tried it before.

After we returned to the house, we laid around for a while, because we
all felt fairly stuffed from that big meal.  After a while, the boys began
to get bored, so they put in "The Godfather" DVD, since they felt Troy's
father might enjoy this more than some of the other choices we had.
When it started, we all got comfortable and settled in to watch it.

I believe each of us dozed off for at least part of the movie, although I
was fairly confident that I watched most of it.  I'm not sure about the
others though, because no one else was willing to admit as to how long
he had slept, but a couple of the boys even claimed that they had never
dozed off at all.  I didn't buy their stories, however, since I had seen
them with their eyes closed for an extended period at least once during
that time frame.  Not only that, but I'd also noticed theirs heads had
either drooped down on their chest or flopped back against the back of
whatever piece of furniture they were sitting in at the time, so their
claims did not ring true.

Once the movie ended, the boys challenged Jim and I to play 'Uno' with
them.  I was surprised that they'd seemed to develop a fondness for this
game after we'd played it when Troy stayed with us over the Columbus
Day weekend, but it was something we could all do together.  I think the
boys also liked playing it so they could get even with one of the others or
dump on one of us adults.  Since Jim was here, I knew they wouldn't be
able to all gang up on me this time, but they did arrange us at the table
so that Jim and I had a boy on either side of us.  I quickly surmised that
these pairs would take care of making our lives miserable during the
game, while we had to split our attention between them.

Jim was a good sport about it though, even though his son dumped on
him worse than Cam did, but then again, Bryce and Steve showed me
no mercy either.  In the end, Troy won this game, so the boys asked if
we'd be willing to play again.  Jim agreed, but only if we were allowed
to trade seats.  When the boys agreed to that stipulation, Jim asked me
to move over on the other side of Troy, so during the rematch, Jim got
his revenge on his son, with my help of course.  Not only that, but Jim
managed to win the game, because the other boys were laughing so hard
at what was happening to Troy that they forgot to guard against
someone else going out.  Regardless of who won, we'd all had an
enjoyable time.

In order accommodate our guests at bedtime, Bryce offered to sleep
with me, so Jim could use his room, and Steve asked Troy to share a
room with him.  Jim seemed fine with this arrangement, although I
could tell he felt badly about making Bryce give up his bed.  If only he
knew that Bryce hardly ever spent much time in that room anyway,
since he usually slept with me most of the time, or occasionally with one
of the other boys.

>From what I understood later, Cam also went down to join Troy and
Steve once the rest of us were in our rooms, and they ended up in a
triangle sucking each other off.  They didn't do more than that, because
Troy was concerned his father would overhear them and then figure out
what they were doing, since Troy got so vocal when engaged in anal sex.
It didn't seem to make a difference if he was the pitcher or catcher, but
something about the activity just caused him to make a lot of noise, so
the boys opted not to do that when Troy's father was with us.  At least
when he was giving someone oral sex at the same time he was having it
done to him, it seemed to quiet him down enough so that others
wouldn't know what he was up to.  Let's just say it seemed to mute his
energetic moans sufficiently that those in the neighboring rooms
weren't awakened by the noise.

The next morning, we got up, had breakfast and sat around for a while,
before the boys suggested we take a swim, since the pool is also heated.
Since Jim had seen the boys skinny-dipping at Bryce's birthday party,
and he had also been naked with Bryce in me in the pond at the ranch,
he wasn't surprised to see the boys shedding their clothing.  He also
didn't have a problem about joining in, but Cam and Steve got their
own surprise, since this was the first time they had seen Jim naked.

"Holy shit!" Steve exclaimed.  "Damn, Troy, now I know where you got
your big dick from."

Jim merely smiled as he got into the pool.  Once he was treading water,
he looked over at Steve and added a comment of his own.

"Comes with having good genes," he stated.  "You should have seen MY
father."

The boys could hardly believe someone could be bigger than that, but
Jim confirmed that his father had him by a couple of inches.  Suddenly,
we all felt sorry for Jim's mother, although both of Jim's parents had
been dead for a number of years.

We all had a good time doing this, even though the boys watched their
behavior and didn't grab, stroke or do anything else of that nature with
each other during this time.  Instead, they merely swam around, but
they did try to dunk Jim and me on occasion.  That was until Jim got
three of them wrapped up in his arms and pulled him to the bottom of
the pool with him.  When they came back up, the boys was coughing
and spluttering, because they hadn't expected him to do that, but they
were smart enough not to try to do it to him again.

After lunch, Jim said he had to go back to the ranch and take care of a
few things, but he told Troy he could stay with us, if he wanted, and
he'd return the following afternoon.  Jim then informed his son that
once he returned they would stay until Sunday afternoon, before they
would have to go back home.  After hearing that, Troy thanked his
father for allowing him to do this and confessed that he appreciated
being able to spend more time with us.  Jim then gave his son a hug and
told him to behave, before he went outside and got in his truck.  We all
went outside with him and waved goodbye as he drove off.

As soon as Jim had departed, the boys let me know that they wanted to
play basketball for a while.  Since there were five of us, I wasn't quite
sure how to make fair teams, but I eventually offered to take Cam and
play the three of them.  I think Bryce was a little hurt that I hadn't
picked him, but seeing he was the smallest I thought that would just be
too big of a disadvantage.  Instead, I picked the next to the smallest,
because I also knew Cam had a pretty decent outside shot.  The game
was fairly competitive, since both Steve and Troy both guarded me, but
we ended up losing the game when Bryce scored a bucket and lifted his
team to the score we'd agreed to stop at.

"Ha, that's what you get for not picking me to be on your team," he
barked, after getting in my face.

I was afraid he was upset with me for doing that, so I thought I'd better
explain.

"I only did it in an attempt to keep the teams fair," I explained.  "I
didn't think the biggest and smallest stood much of a chance against the
other three."

"We could have tried," Bryce insisted.

After hearing him say this, and knowing he had been hurt, I decided to
make a surprise announcement.

"Ok, rematch," I suggested, "but this time the teams will be Bryce and
me against the rest of you."

Bryce was thrilled with my decision and the others eagerly accepted the
challenge.  I'm sorry to admit it, but we got killed, because Bryce
couldn't shoot as well from the outside as Cam had.  When the game
ended, he came up to me again, but this time he was slightly more
subdued than he had been when he confronted me earlier.

"Ok, so you were right," he admitted, "but I still had fun, even if we got
slaughtered."

"You know what?" I countered.  "I did too."

That brought a smile to his face and he gave me a big hug.

After we went inside, we hurried through the family, took off what
meager clothing we had on and then jumped in the pool, so we could
cool off.  We stayed in the pool and relaxed for the next hour, as we
allowed the water to work its magic on our tired and overworked
muscles.  Although it certainly helped to some extent, I was still more
than a little stiff when we got out of the water.

After I took the boys out for dinner, they elected to watch a couple of
DVDs before we went to bed.  Since they all wanted to sit next to me and
there were four of them, I finally got them to agree to have two of them
sit beside me during the first movie and then they could switch for the
second one.

I was mildly surprised when the boys announced they wanted to watch
L.I.E. first.  The initials stood for Long Island Expressway, where the
action took place, but the story was about a teenager whose mother died
and his father sort of ignored him afterward.  The kid then hooks up
with a friend and they begin breaking into houses, until a guy named
Big John, who likes to have sex with younger guys, catches him.  The
main character is already questioning his sexuality and the friend he got
caught with is a hustler, so it made me wonder why the boys wanted to
watch this.

"We can understand what that kid is going through," Steve explained.
"It's not like we haven't been there too."

I was surprised he had said this in front of Troy, so I looked over to see
Troy's reaction to this comment.

"It's okay," Troy told me.  "They each told me a little bit about what
they've been through, but I promised them I wouldn't tell my pa about
any of things they'd done."

This made me wonder when they'd told Troy this information, as well
as how much of it, but I also questioned why they'd decided to share
this information with him.  Since he had promised not to tell his father
any of the sordid details, depending on what they'd told him, then I
guessed there was no harm with him knowing.

"Are all guys like that named Big John?" Bryce asked.

"No, I'm sure that was just a coincidence," I offered.  "It is a pretty
common nickname for any large men named John.  Big John, Big John,
big, bad John."

That last part was my attempt to sing the chorus from the old Jimmy
Dean country song, "Big Bad John," from the early sixties.  I'd heard
my parents play it when I was younger, although it wasn't something
people my age or younger would most likely be familiar with.  The boys
looked at me oddly after I finished, so I quickly explained to them about
the song, before we got back to our discussion.

"I guess, but he wasn't as bad as our Big John," Cam observed.  "Even
so, I still wouldn't have wanted to be around him either."

I think the three of them all agreed with that comment, but then I
noticed this statement seemed to have left Troy a little confused.  He
may have been told some of their stories, but it looked as if they hadn't
told him everything, especially about their time at the farm.

"Who's Big John?" he asked.

"Just a guy we all ended up staying with for a while," Steve offered,
simply.

"I don't understand," Troy stated, confused.  "I know you all ran away
and had sex with men to make money so you could survive, but I
thought you still lived with your parents before you ran away and then
came here to live with your Uncle Kyle."

After looking at the boys and then at me, I finally felt I should explain
this to him.

"They stayed with Big John for a while after they left home and before
they came here to live with me," I offered.  "He wasn't related to them
and I'm not their blood uncle either.  It's kind of the same thing as you
calling me Uncle Kyle, but I offered to let them live here, so I could take
care of them and they wouldn't have to continue trying to survive on the
streets.  We tell everyone else they're my nephews, so we don't have to
answer a whole lot of questions about their past, but we aren't really
related."

He seemed to accept my explanation, and I guess it must have coincided
with what the boys had told him before, so I didn't add any further
details.

After the second movie ended, Troy announced that he wanted to sleep
with me, if that was ok with everyone else.  He soon found out that Cam
and Steve didn't mind, but Bryce wanted to stay with me too.  Troy had
no problem with that, so he got on one side of me, while Bryce slid in on
the other.  We didn't do anything sexual that evening and the two boys
merely cuddled with me, but I think we all definitely enjoyed being
close.

Saturday was a very laid back day and I let the boys spend the time
with each other.  Troy questioned them about the information I'd told
him the previous evening, so they told him a little bit more of their past.
I could see that Troy felt badly about everything they had been through,
even though he only knew a small fraction of it, and before long, he
came out to say something to me.

"I'm glad you took them in and let them live here," he confessed.  "I'm
also glad you treat them all so well.  They needed that after what
they've been through."

I kissed him on the forehead and thanked him for his concern.

Troy's father came back that afternoon, but we just spent our time
talking and Jim told Cam and Steve a little more about the ranch.  We
also discussed what we might do there, when we went to visit them next
summer.  Troy didn't say much, because I think he was still having a
difficult time trying to wrap his head around the information the boys
had told him about their lives before they came to live here with me.  He
did join in the conversation from time to time and managed not to slip
up and say anything about our earlier discussion in front of his father.  I
think Jim noticed his son's mood though and knew something was
distracting him, although Jim never came out and asked Troy about it.

After church the next morning, we took them out for brunch, before
coming back to the house and taking a final dip in the pool.  Once we
finished up there, I reminded them about our Christmas plans once
again and then we helped them load their things in the truck.  We were
all looking forward to our next time together and having them spend the
Christmas holiday with us too, and I think the boys were looking
forward to Troy spending his entire Christmas break with us, as we bid
them farewell until then.