Disclaimer: This is a work of complete fiction. It does not and will not exist outside the fantasy world.
© Matt Caper
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Chapter 19
On our way to get Pete from the police station in Amarillo, the five boys in the back chatted constantly, while I remained completely silent. I was battling my own emotions, which kept swinging back and forth between worry for Pete and anger from not being contacted by him until now. Ultimately, I knew I would be the best friend I could to him and concede to the fact that he was going through more than I could understand.
"Thinking about Pete?" Nicholas asked suddenly.
I nodded absently. "Yeah."
Then I was silent again. My mind was playing back all the good times we'd had with Pete, and I was completely lost in them. I didn't say another word the rest of the way.
Upon arriving, I led the pack into the police station and looked around frantically, until I located a huddled figure in the corner. I had to stare a few seconds before I was sure it was Pete; he was holding a blanket around his shoulders and hugged his knees to his chest. I rushed to him.
"Pete!" He looked up, and I gasped. "Oh my god!"
His face was severely bruised, complete with a black eye, half his lips swollen, and tear stains all over his cheeks. A look under his blanket revealed him dressed in pants too small for him and a t-shirt too large for his scrawny frame. I peered under his shirt, too, and saw bruised ribs, and I was betting there were more bruises I couldn't yet see.
When he saw me, he burst into tears. "I'm so sorry," he sobbed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"Shush, Pete. This isn't the time for apologies," I said. "Why aren't you in a hospital right now?"
"I can't afford a hospital. Please just take me home!"
"We're going home," I nodded. "But we're stopping by the ER when we get there. Landon, can you help me get him to the car?" Putting Pete between us, we supported him to the van. "Nicky, let Pete lie down in the seat and you sit with him. Eli, you sit up front with me, the rest of you sit in the back." I knew Nicholas would be able to comfort Pete the most in his own special way.
There was less chatter on the way back. Pete softly cried as he lay his head in Nicholas' lap, and Nicholas petted and kissed him now and then and spoke soft words of comfort. The others talked intermittently. An hour later, I was parking at the same damn ER I was becoming accustomed to visiting. For once, there wasn't much activity in there, and they were able to admit Pete almost immediately. I stayed with him and let the boys wait in the lobby.
Pete's nurse began asking him questions about what happened, which I was curious to know as well. "Things just got out of hand," Pete said. "I made Jack angry."
"Jack did this to you?!" I gasped.
"Who's Jack?" asked the nurse.
"He's the man I was living with," Pete replied. "I wrecked his car and put a big dent in it. I knew he would be pissed. He wanted me to pay for it, so I gave him all the money I'd been saving up. But he didn't know I even had that much money, and that made him madder. He accused me of trying to leave him and hit me. In the end, he tore off my clothes and kicked me out. They gave me these clothes at the station."
"Did you file a police report?" the nurse asked with little emotion. At the same time she issued him a hospital gown and instructed him to undress.
"No. They tried to get me to at the Amarillo station, but I was too scared. I just wanted to get away from there."
As he was wheeled to the x-ray room, I was burning with anger. Not toward Pete this time, but toward Jack. Plus, now that Pete had a hospital gown on, I could see there were indeed more bruises than I'd seen before. I wanted nothing more than to do to Jack what he'd done to a nineteen year old kid.
Back in the ER, while we waited for the doctor to show up with x-ray results, I held Pete's hand tenderly. "You big dummy," I said. "I still don't understand why you wouldn't stay here with people who love you. I've been really mad at you lately."
"I guess I don't understand, either," he whispered. "Are you still mad at me?"
"No," I said honestly, sighing. "I'm not mad anymore. I'm relieved you're back home. Just let us take care of you for a while, okay? You can get a job when you're better, but I really hope you'll just live with us for a long while."
Pete hung his head, nodding slowly.
"And stop doing that," I said, furrowing my brow.
"What?" he asked, looking up.
"Hanging your head, like you're ashamed. Don't be ashamed. Your situation here was bad, I get that. You did the best you could, apart from ignoring us. It's time to move on, now. You need to love yourself, because we love you."
He drew a broken, shaky breath. "I'll try."
I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I'm glad you're home," I said again. "You have lots to catch up on."
"You found a boyfriend yet?" he asked, managing a small smile.
I shook my head. "Not yet. I'm not too worried about it. I'll find someone someday. You'll find someone worthy of you one day, too."
He rolled his eyes. "I guess."
"Nuh-uh, no putting yourself down. You're worth your weight in gold, and you need to start believing that."
The doctor interrupted us as he whisked in. "Good news!" he boomed. "No broken bones. I'm going to have the nurse put a wrap around your ribs that you should leave on for a few days. Don't do anymore walking than you have to until the swelling is down. Use lots of ice packs on those bruises. You should stay immobile for the next week, maybe even two. You can take Ibuprofen or Tylenol. I don't think you'll need anything stronger than that. Any questions?"
We had none, and he was gone as quickly as he had come. Both of us were in better spirits as we all left, even though he was still in considerable pain. I gave him something to take as soon as we got home and began setting him up in the extra bed in my room. Nicholas wasted no time helping out. He carefully undressed Pete, ordered Landon to fetch Pete something to drink, and helped his older friend settle comfortably in his new bed.
"Thanks, guys," Pete said bashfully. "I hate to be a bother like this."
"Oh pish posh," said Noah. "You're no bother."
Nicholas giggled. "You sounded like Granny, Noah." Then they both giggled together.
We helped Pete use the bathroom a short while later and got him fed, then returned him to bed. We made it clear we'd be waiting on him for every little thing he wanted, no matter how trivial. "I love you guys," he said. "I wish I'd come here a long time ago."
"Well, you're here now, that's what matters," Nicholas said wisely. He bent down and kissed Pete on the lips, reminding me of when I'd first met Pete. "Goodnight," said the boy, and he and Eli began their own nightly ritual of bathing together.
I followed Nicholas' example and kissed Pete goodnight. "Love you, Pete. I mean it about asking for stuff. We won't get irritated, I promise. Even if you need – I don't know – someone to massage your feet. I'll do it." I kissed him again and let him sleep, then crawled in my own bed and waited for the boys to join me.
When they did, we snuggled as usual. Pete was snoring softly, so we whispered to each other. "Are you still in love with Pete?" Nicholas wanted to know.
"No," I said immediately. "I love him very much, because he's my friend. That's all."
"Just wondered," he said, and closed his eyes. We said nothing else the rest of the night.
The day after Christmas, Will turned eighteen. We didn't spend a lot of money to celebrate, but we sure did have fun. Then by the end of January, there were several changes in our lives. Landon also turned eighteen and TJ turned fifteen. I couldn't believe how TJ was blossoming right before my eyes. For that matter, I couldn't believe my lovely Landon was practically a man now. He and Noah began helping out Dad a lot more when he got his casts off and began physical therapy, helping him get around the house and basically fetching things for him. Dad used it as an opportunity to teach Noah more woodworking, except now he could only speak most of the instructions and let Noah do it on his own. He also taught Landon how to repair different things in the home, for which I was grateful. I'd learned a lot from Dad about that stuff, but I was also crap at doing it successfully. Landon, it turned out, was much more efficient and accurate.
At the very end of January, Dad's company finally settled with the three employees who were permanently injured in the blast. I never knew the exact amount he received, but apparently it was one hefty sum. Mom and Dad immediately started building their house in the country. About three months later, they were moved in to their new place, and we were moved into the house, leaving Jake the guest house to himself. I shared the master bedroom with Nicholas and Eli, Pete and Will each had rooms to themselves, and Landon and Noah had their own room once again.
Pete was healing nicely, too, both physically and emotionally. I had worried he would leave again when he was better, but he agreed to stay. Community was good for him, and I think he recognized that. He eventually found a job at a nursing home. They even agreed to put him through school to be a nurse, if he worked for them a certain amount of time after he was certified. We all agreed he would be an excellent nurse.
Dane began hanging out with us again, too. Will and I came home one Friday evening and found him and TJ still there, even though they'd long finished their schoolwork for the day.
"Hiya, Dane. This is a nice surprise."
"Hi, Grey. Is it okay if I spend the night?"
"Of course it is. You know you don't have to ask."
He shrugged, blushing lightly.
"Is Sam coming, too?" Will asked. "We haven't seen him in forever."
Dane blushed even darker, unable to look anyone in the eye. "We broke up," he admitted.
Apparently no one was aware of that news. "Aww, what happened?" Noah asked.
Dane obviously didn't want to talk about it, and I understood why, after what he'd done to Will and TJ. "He's going out with someone else now. He sent me a text a couple days after Christmas and said he's going out with some guy named Brandon."
None of us really knew how to respond, until Will said, "I'm glad you're hanging with us again. We missed you."
"You're very kind to say so," he said with a smile.
"No, really," Will added. "It's more fun when you're here." Dane was touched by Will's genuineness, and so was I.
The only times we saw Sam after that were when we were patrons of his parents' cafe. We always treated him warmly and invited him to spend time with us, but I guess he never felt the need for our company again. But as the self-designated protector of all the boys in our group, I secretly thought it was probably better if Sam wasn't around anymore. It was obvious he didn't care much about the feelings of others, at least not at this time in his young life. I hoped Dane and TJ would gain more character without Sam's influence to misguide them.
♂
At the end of April, I was twenty-one, Nicholas was fourteen, and Will and Landon had graduated high school via the homeschool curriculum. Unsurprisingly, Will and Dane were back together, while Pete, TJ, Nicholas and I were still single. TJ slept in the extra bed with Nicholas in my room when he stayed over, and Eli remained with me. Our new rooms were significantly larger than the guest house bedrooms, especially the master bedroom. I personally enjoyed the space a lot.
Before May and Summer was even underway yet, Nicholas and TJ sprang a whopper of a surprise on me. TJ was staying the night at our place, and we were getting ready for bed. Amidst idle conversation, Nicholas suddenly began serious talk.
"I have something I need to talk to you about," he began. I looked up suspiciously, pausing briefly before taking off my jeans. "Something important," he added.
"You're not pregnant, are you?" I quipped. "You're not showing."
He giggled, put at ease a bit. Whatever he had to say was obviously somewhat difficult. "No, but I'll take another test to find out. But seriously. Don't respond right away, because I want you to think about it first."
He obviously knew me too well. "The suspense is killing me. So spill it."
"Okay, so, um..." He wrung his hands together nervously. "There's this teen camp I want to go to this Summer. They teach lots of cool things there, but I mainly wanna go for the painting classes. But they have sports and tournaments and water activities, and all sorts of stuff. Um. I found out about it at the Center, so you probably know about it already."
I shrugged. I hadn't seen or heard anything about it. "No, guess not," I said. "Where is it?"
"Some camp in central Texas, like south of Austin somewhere. And, um, it costs a lot, but I already decided I would pay for it, `cause I want TJ to go, too."
"I see," I said thoughtfully. "How much is it?"
"It's two hundred and fifty dollars for one person."
"Damn!" I exclaimed. "Why so much?"
"Well, um," he stammered. "It sorta lasts all Summer long, `til the middle of August. It starts in the middle of May."
I stood there in my underwear, not moving, not even getting into bed, completely shocked. "Three months?" I whispered emphatically.
"I have to turn in the forms and money tomorrow. If you'll let me go, that is."
"Well, don't wait `til the last minute or anything!" I said sarcastically.
Nicholas came to me and gazed upon me with affectionate eyes. "I know, I'm sorry. I knew how you'd feel about me being gone so long. I don't like it that much either, but I wanna go really bad. It'll be lots of fun, and I could learn a lot about drawing and painting."
"You're really willing to pay five hundred dollars for you and TJ to go? That's a big chunk out of your savings."
Nicholas nodded adamantly. "Definitely. I don't wanna go alone, and TJ was excited when I told him about it."
Though my heart was in shambles, I appeared very calm and confident. "Of course you can go. I'll check out the reputation of this place, but otherwise it's your money and your decision."
TJ and Nicholas both broke into grins. "Really?" asked Nicholas. "I didn't expect you to say yes so easily."
"It sounds like a good opportunity for you. I can't stand in your way of that. You just have to promise me to send twenty letters a day." What the hell was I going to do without Nicholas all Summer long?!
The boys giggled, and Nicholas hugged and kissed me. "I know you're gonna worry, but you shouldn't. We'll take care of each other."
"You better!" I ordered. "I want you both back with no missing pieces."
I crawled in bed with Eli, who had watched the whole exchange but said nothing. That surprised me, since he did everything with Nicholas and TJ, and now he was going to be left alone, just like me. It took me forever to fall asleep that night, because I was already worrying about Nicholas' safety before he was even gone. And, sad though it was, I was wallowing a bit in self-pity, knowing I'd have to give up my favorite boy for a whole three damn months.
♂
Eli turned eleven in May, and Nicholas and TJ were able to celebrate with us. But almost immediately afterward, they were gone. I drove them to Amarillo, where a bus transported a large group of kids south. Landon, Noah and Eli rode with me, but I was in no mood for conversation. I was still deeply wallowing.
The next day, a Saturday, Eli and I were left all by our lonesome. Noah had yard work to do, Landon had garnered extra pizza delivery hours, and both Pete and Will were working. I wandered around the house aimlessly, not bothering to get dressed. Eli did the same, but followed me around for a while. Though once he figured out I was still no fun to be around, he started doing his own thing. All was eerily silent in the house, until lunch time.
I wandered into the kitchen to find Eli searching for food. I hadn't even thought of food until that moment. I'd forgotten to even make us breakfast. "You hungry?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
"Yes." He pulled from the fridge a package of hot dogs, cheese, mustard and ketchup, and spread them out on the counter.
"If you microwave those, it'll be faster," I mumbled. Normally, I would boil the hot dogs in water, but I didn't feel like eating, let alone cooking.
In silence, Eli packed a plate with wieners and shoved them in the microwave. I went to the fridge to search out some juice. As I stood there, thinking more about Nicholas than what kind of juice I wanted, I was suddenly yanked from my reverie by a loud and dangerous sounding crash. I ducked as sparks flew, followed by a barrage of cursing.
"Motherfucking piece of shit!" Eli yelled. "Goddamn ass licking cunt!"
I stared in horror at the scene before me. In his hands, Eli held a large meat-pounding mallet, with which he had apparently attacked the microwave, the door of which was now in pieces. Broken glass was scattered across the kitchen, and Eli was fuming. "What the hell?!" I cried.
"I couldn't get it to work!" Eli screamed, then pounded the machine yet again, causing more glass to shatter.
"Fucking stop!" I yelled. "Go to your room! NOW!"
Though his feet were bare, he stormed out without caution, but apparently somehow missed any sharp objects on the floor. I, however, carefully navigated around the glass. But then I heard another crash, causing me to go into high gear. What I found nearly sent me into a rage. Apparently on his way to the bedroom, Eli had stopped off in the livingroom and pushed the desktop monitor from the desk to the floor. Its screen was also now in pieces.
I went after Eli before he could do anymore damage. I retrieved the paddle from my closet and advanced on him. "I don't know what your problem is, Eli, but this is unacceptable! First, you're getting a spanking, then we'll talk about it." He glared at me, apparently unfazed, which made me even madder. "Bend over and grab your ankles."
"Fuck you," he spat.
With that, I'd had enough. I yanked down his briefs to his ankles, sat on the bed, and forced him over my lap. I hooked my leg over his ankles to secure his legs from raising and had him laying sort of diagonally over me, so that his upper body rested on the bed. Then, with the paddle, I began beating his bare ass. He screamed, cursed and cried, and I continued at least until he no longer cursed.
When I stopped, he lay limp over me, crying into the bedspread. I couldn't help crying a little, too, because I had thought he was past his acting out stage. "Sit up and let me hug you," I sniffed. He complied immediately, kicking off his underwear, and stood between my legs while latching on to me. After a few minutes, he still seemed unwilling to let go. "Let's just lay down for a bit," I suggested, and we stretched out over the covers and snuggled tightly.
Long after he stopped crying, we were still holding each other. I knew we were both hungry, but that was the least important worry at the time. "You wanna tell me why you're so angry?" I asked softly. "Is it because Nicholas is gone?"
"No," came his muffled response. His face was buried in my chest, and he didn't move.
I caressed him tenderly, somewhat frustrated with having to draw information from him. "Eli, you've been doing so well. You haven't had to be punished in a long time. You haven't had any outbursts in forever. If it's not Nicholas, then why in the world did you destroy the microwave and desktop computer? Those are coming out of your allowance, by the way."
Finally Eli pulled his head back and looked up at me. He was scowling a little. "You don't even care that I'm here," he accused.
"What? I do so!" I exclaimed, horrified he would make such a claim.
"You do not!" he challenged. "Ever since Nicky said he was leaving, you totally forgot about me. You ignore me all the time! And now he's gone, and you're not even taking care of me! I try to talk to you, but you only care about your precious Nicholas. You won't do anything with me, or talk to me, or anything! I even have to make my own food now! Even Landon doesn't have to make his own food! You suck! You don't even love me anymore!" Now he was crying again. So was I, for that matter.
"Oh my god," I muttered. I felt completely, utterly horrible. "Shit, Eli. I'm so, so sorry. I mean... God, I'm such a twat."
"You sure are!" he cried in a broken voice.
I drew a deep breath and wiped some tears away. "That's no excuse for destroying things in the house. You should have yelled at me for it before breaking things. But Eli, I can't tell you how sorry I am." I held him against me again and kissed all over his head. "I love you so much. Your biological parents' rights were taken away recently, and I'm about to be your legal dad. That'll make me the happiest person alive! I'm sorry I ignored you. You're right, I failed big time. If you hadn't broken things, you would've had the right to spank me."
He leaned back again, frowning. "I wanted you to spank me, because then you had to pay attention to me."
"Well, it worked. But next time, just come out and tell me what you're thinking. Even if you have to scream it out to get me to listen. Because you just wasted a few hundred dollars of your allowance."
"Sorry," he mumbled. "I couldn't think straight `cause I was so mad."
"Unfortunately, I can relate. The other boys have seen how stupid I can get. Hey, we've got a whole Summer to do stuff, just you and me. Why don't we go eat, and then we'll go do something fun. Whatever you want to do."
"Really?" he asked hopefully. "Even after what I just did?"
I nodded. "Yes, because I already spanked you for it. You've been punished, so it's over and done with. I don't believe in dragging it out. You have to help me clean up the mess first, then you'll give me money to go replace those two things. After that, I'll take you out to eat somewhere and whatever else you want to do."
"Yay!" he cried. "I love you, Grey. I'm sorry for being bad."
"I love you, too, kiddo. I'm sorry for being bad, too." I kissed my son on the lips briefly. "I have to shower. Can you start sweeping up the glass in the kitchen?"
"I wanna shower with you!" Eli exclaimed.
I laughed. "Okay, then. This Summer is all yours." We got up, and I shed my briefs. Eli ran into the master bath to the shower, which was quite large and separate from the tub, to start the spray. I happened to think of unplugging the broken machines and ran to do that quickly. When I returned and stepped into the shower, Eli physically turned me around and slapped my ass several times. Then he giggled.
"You still needed a spanking," he announced.
"Okay," I chuckled. "Feel better now?"
"Yep."
After cleaning up messes and buying a new appliance and computer monitor, Eli dragged me to a steakhouse, and then to the Youth Center to work off the food. In fact, nearly every day that Summer he dragged me somewhere when I wasn't working. He didn't necessarily remain at my side at all times, like Nicholas tended to do, but I couldn't drop him off somewhere or go do my own thing without him. He didn't allow that. Until, that is, he started making friends of his own.
Eli often had to go to work with me, when there was no one at the house to watch him. He had no issue with that, but he tended to get bored too easily. One day, however, he acquired somewhat of a following in an unconventional way. We were shooting hoops on one end of the basketball court, while three preteen boys were on the other end. Rambunctious as Eli was, it was practically inevitable that he accidentally hit one of the boys with his basketball.
"Sorry," said Eli, jogging up to them. "Can I have my ball?" One of the other boys had picked it up.
All three boys approached Eli threateningly. "Faggot, you hit Kyle in the head. We ain't giving you your ball back."
"Yeah," said Kyle and pushed Eli. "Punk. We're gonna kick your ass."
I stopped to watch this scene unfold, but none of them paid attention to me. "No, you're not," replied Eli curtly. "Push me again, and I'll rip your hands off."
The boys laughed, while Eli stood his ground, glaring. I sauntered over and spoke up. "You better not mess with him," I warned.
The boy in the middle of the three, who'd started the threats, scowled at me. "What're you gonna do about it?"
I snorted. "I don't have to do anything. Eli will beat all your asses on his own. I'll let him, too. He took down a seventeen year old just last year, when he was ten."
"That's right," said Eli, and he grabbed his ball from the kid. "Never use the word `faggot' in front of me again, too. I have gay brothers and a gay dad, and I don't let no one get away with using that word. I already apologized for hitting you, so back off."
He turned away and smirked at me. I was proud of him and gave him a thumbs up. But then the boy called Kyle had to go and mumble under his breath, but loud enough for us to hear. "Faggot."
Instantly Eli dropped the ball and rounded on the boys. Before Kyle knew what hit him, Eli kneed him in the groin. While Kyle was collapsing, the kid who'd picked up the ball grabbed Eli from behind, though not very effectively. Eli stumbled as he was pulled backward, but he had the presence of mind to elbow the kid in the stomach, and he, too, collapsed. He rounded on the third kid, who'd said nothing to this point. "You want a piece of me, too?" The boy shook his head and retreated.
"Let's go, Eli. Your work here is done." Outside, I let out the laughter that I'd been holding `til then. "Oh my god! You were awesome! I'm proud of you!"
"Really?" asked Eli in surprise. "Even though I beat up two kids?"
"Okay, so it wasn't ideal. Normally, I would say just walk away. But you did give them fair warning, and so did I. And they learned they can't treat you like that. So yeah, I'm proud of you. You didn't just start pounding on them from the beginning. You were very calm and collected. And holy shit, your moves! I thought I would have to intervene when that kid grabbed you. You rock!"
"That's what I learned in foster care. I got tired of getting beat up. First it was my parents, then it was other kids. I learned how to fight back."
My heart went out to him, and I hugged him once we were in the car. "You shouldn't have had to go through all that, but I'm also proud of you for pushing through it and becoming a better person. I think it's time for ice cream now."
"Booya!" he cried triumphantly, making me laugh.
The very next day, we were back at the Center. Another sad thing about that Summer was Ryan didn't return to town, and neither did Corey. I had a whole new Summer staff, and on that particular day, that staff didn't include a lifeguard. That meant yours truly had the responsibility. Eli was swimming in his new speedo – Nicholas and I had one, so he had to have one as well – and killing time until I was done for the day. When he got bored with that, he came to chat with me.
We were standing together, not really talking much at all, when the three boys from the day before approached us. Immediately Eli bristled and readied to defend himself.
"Hey," said the kid who'd been elbowed in the gut.
"Hey," said Eli skeptically.
"We're sorry about yesterday," said the kid, and both Eli and I were unable to hide our surprise. "Will you play with us?"
Eli didn't respond immediately, carefully gauging their sincerity.
"You're Eli, right?" asked Kyle. Eli nodded. "I'm Kyle."
"I'm Matt," said the kid in the middle.
Eli looked at the third kid, who spoke in a shyer voice. "I'm Garrett."
"Wanna do cannonballs off the diving board?" Eli grinned.
The three boys grinned, too, and bolted for the board. I blew my whistle at them right away. "Don't run!" I called.
I had to stay there until the pool closed, which bored me to tears. However, I was happy for Eli, because he and the others had played wonderfully together the whole time. I figured he'd earned their respect the day before, and I was proud of him for that.
I called everyone out of the water at closing time, though by then, it was only Eli and his three friends. We headed for the showers, and they continued to horse around in there as well. Outside, I learned the boys all hoped to spend the night with each other. They didn't care which house.
"Can they spend the night at our place?" Eli asked.
"Wait, you live with this kid?" Matt asked. He was speaking to Eli and referring to me.
I laughed, and Eli responded. "That's my dad."
They were obviously blown away. "No way!" said Matt. "How old are you?" he asked me.
"Twenty-one," I revealed.
"I'm adopted," said Eli. "I'm about to be, anyway. It's not official, yet."
"Cool!" Matt said, echoed by Kyle.
"So can they?" Eli asked again.
"It's cool with me," I said. "But they have to ask their parents, and they might wanna meet you and me."
"My mom's coming to pick me up," said Garrett. "Can you ask her for me?" he asked me hopefully.
"Sure, Garrett. What about you other two?"
"I live with my sister and brother-in-law," said Kyle. "As long as I leave a message where I am, they don't care what I do during the Summer."
"Do you have a phone so I can call my dad?" asked Matt. "He'll be happy if he doesn't have to come pick me up."
"Sure." I handed him my phone about the time Garrett's mom showed up, and I went to greet her. She seemed irritated at first, for having to get out of the car, but after we started talking, she appeared nice enough.
"I'm Grey Taylor. This is my son, Eli," I introduced us to her. "He made friends with Garrett and the other two. They were hoping you had no plans for Garrett tonight, so he could spend the night at my place with the rest of them. My house is just south of the high school."
"I'm Monica Halydier. We live just north of the high school!" she said brightly.
"Oh great! Not too far, then. I'll give you my address and phone number, if it's all right for him to stay over. Besides Eli, there are five other boys who live with me. My son, Landon, my godsons Noah and Nicholas, Landon's best friend, Will, and my best friend, Pete. Nicholas is away at camp for the Summer. It's a big house, though, so there's plenty of room."
Monica was visibly shocked by the information I shared, but she nevertheless smiled and agreed. "Let me grab a pen, and I'll write down your information. Garrett's welcome to stay with you, if you don't mind the extra kids."
"No, I don't mind at all." I dictated my info to her, and we said our goodbyes.
"I called my dad," said Matt, when she had left. "He said I can stay over. Eli gave him your address."
"And I called my sister's voicemail," Kyle added.
"Great!" I said. "Let's go see what the other boys are doing, then we'll get supper."
Our house was a very loud house that night, at least the boys inside it were. Long after we had dinner, the four youngest had endless amounts of energy to expend. Will and I entertained them with simple games outside; hide and seek, freeze tag, football, and general horsing around. By the time we stumbled inside, I was thankful they were ready to settle down, because I was pooped. But it was the most fun I'd had in ages.
"Do not even think about sitting on the furniture," I said, as we came into the livingroom. "You guys are sweaty and stink to high heaven. There's two bathrooms to choose from where you can shower. Eli, do you mind lending them clean underwear while I wash everyone's clothes? But shower first!"
"In here, guys," said Eli, leading them into our bedroom. Incidentally, they all decided to shower in the master bath, and all at the same time. Will showered in the guest bathroom, and I happened to remember there was also a shower in the basement, so that's where I went. When I returned to my room to dress, the shower water was still running. I walked in to find, unsurprisingly, a huge mess.
"If everyone's clean, I want the water off!" I yelled over them. Seconds later the shower tap was turned off, and four boys stared at me sheepishly. I stood with a towel wrapped around me, shaking my head. "Before you even think about coming out, I want this mess cleaned up. Then you can come to the livingroom, and I'll put on a movie. I also have pie for those interested."
The promise of dessert put their gears into motion, and I left and dressed in sweat pants. It wasn't long before four boys in Eli's underwear came traipsing to the kitchen. "Is the bathroom clean?"
"Yes," they chorused.
"Good. Your pie is served and on the table. You can eat it in the livingroom. If you want, you can open up the couch into a bed and watch the movie that way."
As they were opening the couch, I brought in pillows and blankets. Amidst all that, Pete walked through the front door. "Hey, guys, this is my best friend, Pete! He lives here, too. Pete, this is Matt, Kyle and Garrett. They're Eli's friends that we met at the Center."
"Hi," smiled Pete.
"You wanna watch a movie with us?" Matt asked him. "We got pie, too. Want some? I'll get it for you."
"Wow, that's nice of you, Matt," said Pete softly. "I already ate, but thanks, anyway."
"Okay, then will you stay with us and watch a movie?" Matt asked again.
Pete seemed surprised to be asked, but pleased. "Yeah, I'm just gonna shower real quick. Go ahead and start without me. I'll come back in a few."
"Hurry, Pete!" said Eli. "Grey, come watch with us!"
"You call your dad by his name?" Garrett asked.
Eli shrugged. "All of us call him Grey."
I returned from the kitchen, where I'd gone to clean up a bit. "Everybody get comfortable, and I'll find us something to watch." By now I had a Netflix account, which gave us many more options. I settled on a family-friendly adventure, then placed my own pillows on one end of the couch bed, with Garrett next to me. Kyle lounged next to him, then Eli, and Matt on the end. When Pete came in, now in a t-shirt and boxers, he settled on the other end beside Matt. Will remained in his room, presumably chatting online with Dane.
During the course of the movie, Garrett eased his way toward me, very slowly. Eventually he ended up snuggled up to me, and I obliged him with my arm going around him. I also noticed that Matt seemed particularly fond of Pete, even though they'd just met. And Pete obliged him by snuggling up to him as well. Eli and Kyle seemed content in the middle, on their own. None of us moved after that, until the movie was over. I noticed only then that Garrett was asleep against my chest. Carefully I eased him into a lying position, except that woke him up anyway.
"You boys can sleep in here if you want, or you can sleep in the extra bed in my room. Your choice," I announced.
Garrett sat up immediately. "I choose your room."
"I wanna sleep in here," said Kyle.
"Me too!" Eli added quickly.
"Can I sleep in your room, Pete?" Matt asked.
Again, Pete was taken by surprise. "If you want. But I don't have an extra bed like Grey does."
"That's okay," Matt replied. "I wanna sleep with you."
Pete gazed at me for a moment, and his shock was evident. "Yeah, that's cool," he said finally.
So everyone left the room but Eli and Kyle, who still seemed perfectly content with only each other. When Garrett and I reached my room, he spoke shyly. "Can I sleep with you, like Matt's sleeping with Pete? Like, in your bed?"
"Sure thing," I told him. "Eli and Nicholas usually sleep with me." I got rid of my sweat pants, and we crawled in. This time Garrett didn't make it an all night process, but snuggled up to me immediately. And I welcomed him with open arms.
"You really don't care if I go to sleep like this?" he asked somewhat fearfully.
"Snuggled up, you mean? Heck, no. I snuggle with my boys all the time. There's nothing wrong with that."
"I'm glad," he said, and I felt him relaxing. "I like this."
"Me, too. I don't sleep well when I don't have someone to snuggle up with. Glad we don't have to get up early, too." There wasn't much conversation after that, but a whole lot of snoring.
That night was weird for me. Either I dreamed it, or something else triggered my brain, but I came to believe it was Nicholas in bed with me instead of Garrett. I felt so peaceful, but a logical part of me – something in the very back of my mind – wondered why Nicky had left camp early. Then I made myself believe it was because he missed me and wanted to be with me again. When morning came, I fully believed I was holding Nicholas against me. Only half awake, I began kissing his head and face and caressing his hair and his body, reveling in having my boy back. "Love you, hon," I whispered.
He stirred, and I felt his arm circle my waist as he pressed tighter against me. I hummed happily and squeezed him. He started making small movements, and I realized he was making tiny thrusts against my leg, with a definite hard-on. I chuckled lightly and patted his bum. The next few moments brought me completely awake, for he began to grunt repeatedly, and almost immediately I felt a dampness on my leg. As that dampness grew, so did my consciousness. I threw back the covers and discovered not only was he cumming in his briefs, but it wasn't even Nicholas! What was more, he wasn't even awake.
I disentangled myself from his embrace and got out of bed to clean my leg. I decided I should attend to him as well. Not knowing if he would wake up or not, I proceeded to remove his soiled underwear, which was actually Eli's, and clean his crotch with a towel. He seemed to stir at first, but ultimately he didn't wake up. I left him naked, put a fresh pair of underwear on myself, and went to make myself some breakfast. I felt embarrassed for thinking Garrett was Nicholas, and I tried not to dwell on it. I had promised Eli my undivided attention that Summer, and I intended to keep that promise by not focusing on how much I missed Nicky.
I was hovering over my bowl of cereal when Garrett entered the kitchen, naked as a jaybird. I smiled. "Good morning, sunshine."
He surprised me by leaning against me sleepily. "Morning," he mumbled.
I welcomed him into my lap and held him for a few moments. "How did you sleep?"
"Good." Brief and to the point, he was.
"Would you like some breakfast? There's cereal, or I can make eggs and bacon, or whatever you want."
"Cereal, please." I heaved him off of me – he was light for a twelve year old – and went about making him a bowl. "I don't know where my clothes are," he said. When I looked at him, he was beet red in the face.
"Oh yeah!" I recalled. "I washed your clothes last night, but they're still in the laundry room. I'll get `em." I set his breakfast at the place next to mine and headed for the laundry room, gathering all the kids' clothes. What belonged to the other two, I put in the livingroom recliner. The two on the couch bed were still dead to the world. I brought the rest back to the kitchen. "I think these are yours, but you should make sure." I put them in an empty chair and returned to my own breakfast.
Garrett didn't make any moves to don his underwear, and I didn't force the issue. We went through the ritual of eating silently, and when I was done, I took my bowl to the sink. Garrett followed suit and waited for me to sit down again. When I did, he promptly crawled in my lap once again. I was reminded again of Nicholas; being smaller than most other fourteen year old boys, he was closer to Garrett's twelve year old height. Nicholas acted his age, however, and even older. Conversely, Garrett seemed to me to act younger than his twelve years, just in the way he clung to me like a child.
However, as I held him and he soon had another hard-on, he suddenly didn't seem so much like a child anymore. "Did you wanna sleep a little longer?" I suggested. "It's still pretty early, and the others might not be up for a while, anyway." I thought if he was going to remain naked, he might not want the others to see him like that, if they did happen to wake up.
"Only if you do, too," he murmured.
"Okay, let's go." We got up, I grabbed his clothes, and we returned to the safety of my bedroom. He didn't bother with underwear even still, but crawled in bed like he was. I began to wonder what his parents were like. I couldn't assume anything based on the little amount of time I'd spent with Garrett, but I tended to think he didn't receive the affection he desired. I'd given him the same affection as the rest of the boys while we played outside and such, but he was obviously latching on to every bit he could acquire.
I let him snuggle with me again, despite his state of arousal. I doubted he was too conscious of it, anyway. I also doubted I would be able to sleep any longer, but I was wrong on that account. Both of us were out in no time at all.