Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2018 23:28:33 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Aiden II  Chapter 16

Welcome back. There is a lot going on in this chapter, but the highlight
for Aiden is his first trip to California.

Please give to the Nifty Archive to keep the stories flowing.

Thanks for all of the great emails since the last chapter was posted. I
love hearing from you readers. thehakaanen@hotmail.com

CHAPTER 16
WINTER VACATION

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22

<Marty and Sammy>

Sammy walked gingerly into his father's study. Since Thanksgiving he seemed
to be in constant trouble. He wondered what his father was going to be mad
about this time. He had his moments when he wished there was a way a
thirteen-year-old could run away and live on his own. But, even as bad as
things seemed to him, he knew that running away would just put him in a
worse place than he was now.

"Close the door, Sammy," came a voice that was not his father's. He knew
the voice and when he looked over at the leather couch under the window he
saw the person he thought he'd see—Marty.

Sammy closed the door and sat in the big leather easy chair. "I thought I
was going to see my dad. He's the one who told me to be here." Sammy knew
that his dad and Marty had been talking and had a suspicion it had been
about him. Marty's presence in the study confirmed that.

"Your dad and I thought you and I should have a little chat."

"I can't think what that would be about," Sammy said with a shrug of
adolescent indifference.

"Sammy, don't bullshit me, okay? You can't bullshit a bullshitter."

"How am I bullshitting you?" Sammy got up from the chair. "I don't need to
listen to bullshit from you, because that's where it's ALL coming from. How
does that sound?"

Marty stood up to his full 6'1 height and looked down at the 5'2 teen with
his most intimidating glare. "Sit the fuck down, Sammy, or I'll throw your
sorry ass into that chair." Sammy sat in the chair so fast he was almost a
blur.

From that point, Marty talked and Sammy listened. Marty didn't tell his own
story—he knew that Sammy knew it—after all Sammy had grown up with a
lot of it. But he did tell what he knew of Sammy's story over the past year
or so, the drinking parties, sneaking drinks at home and at school, the pot
smoking, the poor work slips, and the threat by his coach to remove him
from the varsity basketball team.

"In short," Marty concluded, "you have a problem, Sammy."

"No, I don't," Sammy protested weakly. "Everybody in the eighth grade
drinks beer and smokes pot. If the coach kicked me off the team, he'd have
to kick everybody off the team."

"For real? Everybody drinks and gets high? Everybody?" Marty asked
dubiously.

"I don't have a problem," Sammy repeated, ignoring Marty's inquisition. "I
just like to do it."

"Drinking beer seemed fun when you started, what, back at the end of
seventh grade, right?"

"Earlier than that," Sammy confessed. And it's still fun."

"And then there was some trouble in eighth grade when Jeffrey figured you
out, and you flunked a math test. But you thought it was still enough fun
to make up for the trouble, right?"

"It's still fun."

"Is your dad telling you about sending you for treatment fun? Is getting
drunk and puking when you're alone in your room fun?"

"It's Jeffrey's fault. He stuck his nose in my business. I can handle this
by myself. That's what I told dad. If he puts me in some prison for drunk
kids I'll run away and never come back."

Marty stared right into Sammy and said, "Is talking to me right now fun?"

Sammy quickly averted Marty's gaze. "No, it's not fun because you're full
of shit."

"What you mean is, it's not fun because you know I'm right. You know what
you need to do, but you don't want to do it."

"You're full of shit, and Jeffrey's full of shit, and dad is full of
shit. I can drink anytime I want and not get drunk."

"When's the last time you just stopped before you were drunk." Marty knew
that Sammy's problems had built up in a hurry, just like they had for
himself. It may have happened quicker for Sammy, because Marty had been
drinking heavily since he was eleven and Sammy didn't really start until
about a year ago.

"I don't want to talk to you anymore," Sammy muttered. He rose slowly from
his chair, prepared for Marty to yell at him to sit down again.

But Marty surprised him. "Your dad is going to have to make a decision
before school starts. I think you know what he's going to decide. But, the
important thing is what you are going to decide is important to you. When
you're ready to talk, you know how to find me."

"Fuck you," Sammy said loudly enough for Marty to hear as he left the room.
Marty sat back on the leather couch and contemplated the whirlwind of
thoughts that came to his mind. He knew Sammy was a better person than the
sullen boy who had been his unwilling audience. He had a feeling that Sammy
might realize what was important to him once he gave it some thought. He
also knew the power that alcohol had on an alcoholic and how even the best
could easily succumb to the disease that was "cunning, baffling, and
powerful." And he also knew that when he was thirteen, he wasn't ready to
say that he was powerless over alcohol or anything else for that matter.
At the same time, he thought about his husband's younger brother Mike - and
about Dallas, a friend he had known in high school. Both of them had
suffered terribly tough times with alcohol and addiction, but both now
seemed to be dealing well with it.

Marty waited for Sammy's father, George Bednarzyk. He didn't envy the man,
but he also knew how George's knowledge, patience, and love had brought him
through his own tough teenage alcoholic years. He didn't know if working
with a boy like him was an easier job or a tougher job than dealing with
the same issue with your own son. Maybe someday he'd find out for
himself. Marty considered it ironic that Jeffrey, the wild boy, the
Hurricane, was the son who had his act together and Sammy, the good boy
through his preteen years was now the wild boy. Life can certainly be
strange, he thought as the man he had looked upon as his own father entered
the room.  <Aiden> Aiden enjoyed dinner at the Steak House with his
fathers. Peter was their waiter and his service was at its usual high
standards, right down to the ruffling of Aiden's hair. Aiden was in the
mood for a hamburger steak, while his dad Phil ordered prime rib and his
daddy Larry a ribeye steak. Larry and Aiden had spent the day Christmas
shopping. Phil had spent his day at work.

"Dads, why does everybody mess with my hair? You all complain that my hair
is always messy, and then you go and make it messier."

"That is because your hair is so tempting to mess up," Larry replied.

"You guys are weird."

"And proud of it," Phil chuckled.

"And that makes you weirder." Aiden took in a mouthful of the restaurant's
thick, tasty, fresh cut fries.

"How's the packing going?" Phil asked his son.

"Pretty good. I want to be done before Christmas so I don't have to worry
about it."

"What if you get some new clothes you want to take on the trip with you?"
Larry inquired.

"Then I'll just switch things off. That's easy, I don't even need my list
for that." Aiden took a bite of hamburger and then asked, "How come we have
to fly instead of taking the train?"

"I should ask why you're never satisfied with the answer we give you and
continue to ask the same question." Larry replied.

"Because, I think taking the train would be fun, even one-way. I figured
out we could make it work."

"I agree that taking the train would be fun, but our timeframe is pretty
tight. As it is we don't have very many days for what we have planned."

"I guess. But, don't forget you promised we'd take a train trip this
summer."

Larry had just taken a bite of meat and said nothing. Phil finished chewing
a piece of prime rib and then commented on Aiden's statement. "Aiden, why
would we forget something like that?"

Aiden could tell that his dad was getting a little impatient and he knew
that was not a good thing. "I dunno. Maybe `cuz adults forget things."

"And kids don't?" Larry chuckled.

"Not when it's important," Aiden said self-righteously.

"After the first of the year we'll start making our plans for a trip right
after baseball ends," Phil said. "A train trip."

"That early?"

"Why not? Then we'll know what to look forward to."

"Cool, then I get to look forward to it for almost forever," Aiden grinned
as he picked up a bite of hamburger with his fork.

After Larry paid the check the family got up from the table. Once again
Peter ruffled Aiden's hair, making it even messier.

"You need a better comb, Aiden; your hair looks like people keep running
their hands through it." Peter joked. "I hope you guys had a good dinner."

Aiden ignored the joke. "It was really good, even if my dads got mad at
me," Aiden told him.

"How could your dads get mad at a sweet, handsome boy like you?"

"Because they think I ask the same questions too much."

"Well, do you?"

Aiden shook his head. "Nope. I just want to make sure of things."

"Nothing wrong with that, but remember, your dads are pretty good at
explaining things." When Peter moved his arm, Aiden started to duck away
from another hair ruffling. Instead, Peter put his arm around Aiden's
skinny shoulder. "You're getting a little muscle on yourself," the waiter
observed.

"That's because I eat good and exercise a lot."

"Good for you." Peter looked at Phil and Larry. "You all have a good
trip. I want to hear some great stories after you get back."

Larry and Phil agreed to have dinner at the Steak House as soon as they
could after their return. On the way past Peter, Aiden stood up on his
tiptoes and ruffled Peter's hair. He took off after his fathers, giggling
madly. Peter loved that family and truly appreciated the generous Christmas
tip Larry had left him.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23

<Keegan>

Keegan was upset that he wouldn't be able to see his son before
Christmas. "Fucking legal system is built to screw people," he whined to
Natalie as they ate a dinner of pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green
beans that Natalie had cooked up. "The day after tomorrow is Christmas and
I can't see my son because the assholes keep stalling."

"It's not like you were in a rush to contact the judge," Natalie said,
referring to Judge Moyer. She was getting tired of Keegan's whining and
moaning about the unfairness of just about everything.

"I didn't think he would re-accuse himself and tell me to see another
judge."

"The word is recuse."

"Like I give a fuck what the word is. All I know is I get a letter telling
me that he RECUSED himself saying his son and my son have become friends or
some bullshit like that. I mean, it's my fault the two rug rats are
friends? And what does that have to do with me seeing my son for Christmas?
It's not like I give a flying fuck about seeing the judge's little house
ape, too."

"Well, he did give you the name of the judge to contact after the
holidays." Judge Moyer had turned Aiden's case over to Judge Valerie
Newman, who heard family hearings for Lewis County when Judge Moyer wasn't
available.

"A big help that is. I finally do the right things and go through channels
and get told to go fuck myself. I even get my driver's license reinstated
thinking I could just drive down and see the little fucker. But, can I rent
a car? No, because my credit rating is like a sewer. You sure I can't
borrow your car?"

"I am positive."

"And you won't drive me?"

"I did that once before and that didn't work out so great." No matter how
good the asshole is in bed, it's getting close to time for me to dump him,
Natalie kept thinking. "And right now you are court ordered not to contact
Aiden until you've talked to the judge." She made sure to use Aiden's name,
something Keegan seemed averse to doing. "I have no plans to help you break
the law."

"I do believe that I was given the right to see him unless he says I can't
and I sure as fuck haven't heard anything from him telling me to stay
away."

"Keegan, grow the fuck up. You know all that takes place AFTER you've had a
hearing before the judge. Maybe it's time for you to accept things for what
they are. You might just have a better chance of things going your way."

Keegan thought Natalie sounded like a counselor at a rehab center. He
wanted to argue with her, but the problem was he knew she was right.

"Okay, I'll wait until after I see the fucking judge, even if that won't be
until next year."

"Next year is a week away, silly." Natalie flashed Keegan a smile, hoping
that would ease his mood some.

Keegan saw her sexy smile and knew what was going to happen after they
finished eating. But, he had to get one thing off of his chest first. "And
you saw what my fucking brother did. Sent back the present I mailed with
`Return to Sender' written on it. Fucking bastard asshole."

"He did text you that his lawyer said the way the order was written that
the present was considered contact between you and Aiden."

Keegan took a deep breath and got a look of incredible sadness on his
face. "I just hope the asshole told Aiden I tried." That moment told
Natalie that maybe, deep down, Keegan really did want to see his son and
that maybe, just maybe, he truly didn't have the skills to understand how
to go about doing it.

Keegan finished his dinner and helped Natalie clear the table. After
putting everything into the dishwasher he looked at his girlfriend with
sexual longing. "Want to get drunk and fuck?"

The two biggest things Keegan and Natalie had in common were alcohol and
sex. Like Keegan, Natalie was an alcoholic, although she was more in denial
than Keegan was. He at least admitted it even if he didn't feel like doing
anything about it.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26

While Aiden and his dads would be flying to California, the first leg of
the trip would be by train. They would be catching Amtrak Cascades 501 at
Centralia for Portland. The family was on the road at 7:30 in the morning
in order to get to the Centralia station in time for the 9:06 departure.

Aiden not only had his bags packed before Christmas, he had also researched
the best way to get from Union Station to the Portland airport. His dads
wanted to use Uber to avoid pulling their suitcases the seven blocks to
where the Red Line MAX light rail train stopped. Aiden, who wanted to ride
the light rail, showed them his plan.

"Nice job, kiddo," Phil said, ruffling his son's hair. "We'll do it one-way
only. Coming home I think we all will be tired and want to sit back and be
driven to the train station."

Aiden was a bit disappointed since he had laid out a plan for the return
trip as well, but he also knew his dad was right. "Okay, one way only," he
conceded, "but only because you and daddy are old and that makes you both
wusses."

"Wait until the return trip," Phil laughed, "and we'll see who the wuss
is."

One extra passenger came with them on the trip. Aiden wasn't sure how he
felt about flying and decided to bring Horace along to comfort
himself. Even though he would be sitting next to his dads, Aiden felt that
having the stuffed Donkey in his arms would make him feel safer.

"You are going to have to stuff Horace under the seat ahead of you when we
take off and land," Larry told him.

"But he's soft," Aiden protested. "He won't hurt anybody if something
happened."

"I'm sure he wouldn't, but on an airplane the rules are the rules, end of
story."

"Okay, but my feet will be touching him all the way."

Larry ruffled Aiden's hair again, making him cringe slightly. "I wouldn't
want it any other way," he assured his son.

At the last minute, Aiden had changed a couple of things in his suitcase,
substituting some new clothes he received for Christmas in place of what he
had packed. "They fit better," Aiden told his dads.

"You are starting to sprout up a little," Larry said.

"Yep, and it's all you guys's fault. You feed me too much good stuff."

"Only because you eat too much good stuff," Larry laughed, ignoring Aiden's
fractured syntax in deference to the fact that this was vacation time.

Having Horace reminded him of the interesting Christmas exchange he'd had
with Gordy. It was based on a series of conversations they'd had since
Thanksgiving. As a result, Aiden found a stuffed penguin under his
Christmas tree while Gordy discovered a stuffed panda.

The boys agreed they were going to be outgrowing stuffed animals ("But I
will never outgrow Horace," Aiden assured everyone) but they each wanted
one more while it was still important to them.

"After all, my cousin Chase still had more than one when he was older than
us."

"You mean he doesn't anymore?" Gordy asked.

"Nope, he gave all of them except Hercules, his stuffed bulldog, to the
Teddy Bear Brigade that police have to give to kids in accidents and stuff
like that."

"Dang, you have a stuffed Donkey, Chase has a stuffed bulldog, and all I
have is Growler, a regular old teddy bear."

"But you still like him, right?"

"Yeah, but I was going to dump him until I found out how you have Horace,
and Marty has Mortimer, his teddy bear. It's like you don't have to be a
little kid to have a stuffed animal, so I kept him."

It was conversations like that which led to their gift exchange. The panda
was exactly what Gordy wanted, while Aiden had told Gordy to give him a
surprise animal that wasn't a teddy bear, donkey, bulldog, or panda. The
result was the penguin.

Aiden and Gordy talked about their animals on the phone Christmas
afternoon. They decided not to name them until after Aiden came back from
his trip to California. Aiden didn't want to leave the penguin alone while
he was gone, so he asked his dads if he could ride his bike over to Gordy's
so the penguin would have company.

While Aiden's dads were certain that their son didn't really believe what
he was saying about lonely stuffed animals, they were also certain that he
believed in the anthropomorphic qualities he had given to Horace and now
his stuffed penguin. As a result, they did their best to take their son's
feelings about his stuffed animals seriously.

The penguin was a smaller animal than Horace and fit snugly into one of the
two new saddle bags he had received for Christmas. "Don't worry, Horace,"
Aiden said as he took the penguin with him, "He'll be returned after we get
back home." As always, Horace reacted with his silent, bemused smile.

Aiden rode his bike to Gordy's house, carrying his penguin in one of the
bags and his new Canon camera in the other. He admired Gordy's Christmas
presents and showed his friend pictures of his own presents. "Hey, this is
a great looking panda," Aiden said as he picked the stuffed animal up from
under the Christmas tree. "He's as big as Horace, but not as pretty," he
grinned.

"He's beautiful," Gordy said with conviction.

"Yep, he is, beautiful. He's just not as pretty as Horace." Gordy accepted
his friend's twisted logic even if he didn't understand what he meant. But
then, neither did Aiden.

"I can't wait to give him a name. For now, I'll just call him panda and
think of as many names as I can. One of them is going to work."

"Sounds like a plan. I want to get a picture of panda and penguin together
under your tree, then I gotta get going back to help my dads get dinner
ready."

Gordy set the two stuffed animals next to each other and Aiden snapped a
picture of them. He then took a picture of Gordy holding both
animals. Gordy then took a picture of Aiden with the animals.

The two boys bumped fists and Aiden turned and started for the
door. "Aiden!" Gordy yelled out. Aiden turned to see what his best friend
wanted when Gordy walked up to him and surprised him a tight hug which
Aiden immediately reciprocated. "Merry Christmas, Aiden."

"Merry Christmas, Gordy." Then Aiden surprised Gordy by giving him a light
kiss on the lips, which Gordy accepted with his arms still wrapped around
Aiden.

Just seconds after the boys broke their kiss, Gordy's mother, Flo Lansing,
entered the living room. She gave Aiden a motherly hug, one that made him
feel warm and appreciated. "Merry Christmas, Aiden. Be sure to give your
dads a hug from me."

Aiden grinned and said he would. Aiden donned his helmet and left the
house. What neither boy knew was that Flo had seen them kiss. While she
thought that the kiss was probably one of holiday cheer, she couldn't help
but wonder if there was more to it.

While Aiden was away, Larry and Phil had a discussion about their son and
his love for Horace and his desire for another stuffed animal. "I can't
help but wonder if we shouldn't think about allowing him to have a pet,"
Larry speculated.

"He's never asked us for one," Phil pointed out.

"And on the flip side, we've never asked him if he wants one. He still has
his moments when he treads lightly and skirts around subjects."

"It's like he doesn't always trust us."

"Oh, I think he trusts us. But, I don't think he always trusts the
permanence of his situation. Even as our legally adopted son he still has
an issue with abandonment. But, he keeps gaining self-confidence. A
combination of believing in himself and in us has given him a great deal
more assertiveness, but there are times when he still shrinks into
himself."

"The onslaught of puberty sometimes gives him a bit too much
assertiveness," Phil chuckled.

"Maybe on the outside, but he still looks to Horace and other totems for
comfort on the inside. The fact the he feels the need for another stuffed
animal tells us a lot. After we return from California, let's bring up the
subject of a pet."

"Sounds good," Phil said as he heard the garage door open, signaling
Aiden's return home.

An hour later the twins and their family arrived for Christmas dinner. Pork
roast was the feature on the Christmas menu. Leslie Hazen brought the
Christmas pies helping make the dinner a great success. The twins and Aiden
bonded even more before and after the meal as their friendship deepened.

Lenny and Lance's faces split into wide grins when Aiden told them that
their tenth birthday party would be at his home the weekend after New
Year's. "We thought we couldn't get to have a party because we got no room
at the trailer. Now we can have all of our friends come."

Lenny hugged Aiden. "This is the best Christmas present." Lance agreed by
giving Aiden a hug of his own.

"Hey, you have to hug my dads and your mom. It was their idea. All I did
was say it was a good idea, because...well, because it was a good idea."

So, the twins hugged their mom and Larry and Phil. Aiden gave his dads the
hug from Flo Lansing that he had forgotten to pass on, and hugged the
twins' mom because it seemed the right thing to do. When Beverly, the
twins' sister, complained she wasn't getting any hugs, she ended up with
six of them, which made her as happy as everyone else.

That was a sampling of the Christmas events that preceded Aiden boarding
the Amtrak Cascades 501 at Centralia. Aiden was literally jumping up and
down while clutching Horace as the 501 pulled into the station five minutes
late. The conductor opened the door to the business class coach from within
and set down the yellow step stool. "Turn to your left, and the four facing
seats at the front of the car are yours," Conductor Mark instructed.

Just after the train departed the station, Conductor Mark came to their
seats to scan their ticket, or on this case, to scan the bar code on
Larry's phone. Mark was tall and thin, his bald head shaved. He gave Aiden
a stern look when he saw him holding Horace.

"Does he have a ticket for this trip?" Mark asked Aiden.

"Me?" Aiden asked. "My dad has my ticket." He pointed to Larry who was
sitting in the seat across from him.

"No, I meant him." Mark pointed straight at Horace so there would be no
confusion as to who he was talking about.

Aiden looked down at Horace and then back up at the stern looking
conductor. "This is Horace," Aiden informed him. "He's not real, he's a
stuffed donkey. He gets to ride for free."

"Nobody rides for free on Amtrak. If he doesn't have a ticket, I hope he
knows how to tuck and roll."

"Tuck and roll?" Aiden started feeling a bit nervous.

"That's the best way not to get hurt when you're thrown off of a moving
train for not having a valid ticket."

Aiden looked at Larry with look of horror on his face. But when he saw his
daddy fighting not to break out in laughter, he knew he'd been had. "You're
not throwing Horace off of the train. I knew all the time that you were
deking me," Aiden said defensively at which point Larry and Phil both lost
it. "And you could never throw Horace off of the train," Aiden went on, "or
he'd hoof you. He has a mean kick when you make him mad."

Mark ruffled Aiden's hair and gave him a kindly smile. "I didn't mean to
scare you. He is in fact a very handsome donkey. He is welcome to ride free
on my train any time." He gave Larry, Phil, and Aiden each a chit good for
three dollars off of a purchase in the Bistro Car. "What's your name, son?"
he asked Aiden.

"It's Aiden."

"My name is Mark." He held out his hand which Aiden immediately shook. Mark
was impressed by the young boy's firm handshake. "It's a pleasure having a
fine young man with a good sense of humor and a special friend to travel
with him. Your dad is doing a good job with you."

Aiden's hand swept past Phil and Larry. "Those are my dads," he said,
emphasizing the word "dads."

"That's even better yet," Mark grinned. "Good job gentlemen, I can see that
your son is very proud of you. And Aiden, when you go to the Bistro, you
tell Rolando that your drink will be paid for by Conductor Mark."

"For real?"

"For real. You earned it," Conductor Mark said as he ruffled Aiden's hair.
"Thank you Conductor Mark," Aiden said with a smile although in the back of
his mind he was wondering to himself why the hell EVERYBODY had to ruffle
his hair.  Mark tipped his conductor's hat to the three members of the
Miller family and walked back towards the rear of the train.  The ride to
Portland found Aiden glued to the window. As the train sped into Winston,
Larry made sure Aiden was ready for what the town of Winston labeled as
"The World's Largest Egg." Aiden grinned as the big structure came into
view with Santa Claus painted on the side.

After clearing the tunnel just north of the Kelso/Longview station, Aiden
and Phil went to the Bistro Car for a snack and a drink. Aiden ordered a
cinnamon roll and a bottle of orange juice, telling Rolando, the attendant,
that Conductor Mark was paying for his drink. They went past the table in
the diner that the two conductors used as their onboard office. Aiden
pointed to his orange juice and again thanked Conductor Mark for his
drink. He followed his dads to their seats in the business class
section. Even while he snacked, his attention was focused on the passing
scenery. Aiden truly loved riding trains.

They arrived at Union Station in Portland ten minutes early. The Miller
clan wheeled their luggage across the street to the Greyhound bus
station. But, they weren't catching a bus, they were catching the MAX Green
Line train which stopped at the station. Larry purchased their tickets from
the machine and the Green Line train arrived a couple of minutes later.

They rode the light rail train across the Steel Bridge and got off at the
Rose Quarter station where they would transfer to the Red Line train. Aiden
hoped the train would come soon—even with a sweater and a coat on he was
cold. As Aiden saw it, waiting for the Red Line train, even in the cold,
was better than lugging their luggage for seven blocks to the closest Red
Line station to Union Station. He had studied the MAX routes on the
computer and was certain his itinerary was better than the one his daddy
had worked out. The green line station was less than a block from Portland
Union Station.

"If we catch the Red Line train we don't have to transfer trains," Larry
pointed out when they were doing their planning.

"Nope, we will just have to carry everything for seven blocks, probably in
the rain," Aiden countered. It didn't take long for him to convince Larry
that his idea was better than his dad's. They were traveling light since
they would be gone for only four nights, so there really wasn't much
luggage to tote. Aiden had everything he needed stuffed into his overnight
bag thanks to the folding and packing technique he had learned online. All
he had to deal with was wheeling his bag and carrying Horace.

Aiden noticed that there was a reader board above the bench on the covered
platform. The board told the number of minutes before the next trains
arrived. He smiled when he saw that the next Red train was due in three
minutes. He knew he could wait that long without freezing to death.

The Red Line went to the Portland airport, it's terminus. They boarded the
train and found three seats close together in the front of the second
car. As they rode to the airport Larry thought about the upcoming four
days. He knew the amount of time was short, that they would be rushed. More
than once he and Phil had second thoughts about trying to squeeze the trip
into such a short time frame. But, as he observed Aiden's enthusiasm about
the trip, his pride in putting together the revised MAX schedule, his
excitement at flying in an airplane for the first time, even his
disappointment that they wouldn't be taking the "Coast Starlight" all of
the way to Los Angeles, he realized that every second of the short trip
would be something precious. There might only be three real days of playing
tourist, but there would be thousands of those seconds.

Aiden didn't like the boarding process at the airport. Larry and Phil had
warned him he wouldn't like it since they didn't like it either. Aiden was
annoyed by everything, from waiting in line, to taking off his shoes and
his coat, to having Horace hauled unceremoniously through the X-ray
machine.

He had a difficult time hiding his annoyance, but he remembered his dads'
advice—accept that what was happening was happening for a reason and
that security was important. It might be important, Aiden thought, but that
didn't stop it from being a pain in the ass. Aiden smiled inwardly at his
thought. It was the kind of thought a big kid in middle school would have.

When he picked Horace off of the conveyor he hugged the stuffed animal
tightly against himself. The mere touch and presence of the ever smiling
donkey helped to ease the annoyance and tension within himself.

Aiden did like the actual boarding process, even if it took a long time. He
entered the jet in wide-eyed wonder. He liked the look of the first-class
section, but when he entered the coach area with the six across seating the
first thing that hit his mind was that the interior of a train was
nicer. Even the interior of his school bus was nicer, he thought.

Aiden found out from the lady attendant who was greeting passengers at the
door that he could hold Horace in his lap for takeoff, which pleased him no
end. He also managed to give his dads a look that said something akin to, I
can't believe how wrong you dummies were. He let Horace sit on his lap and
held the stuffed donkey tightly against him as they both enjoyed the
exhilaration of acceleration and takeoff.

As he looked out of the window and the landscape so far below him, two
things went through his mind. The first one was that being up this high and
looking down at the ground was really cool. The second was that he liked
seeing things from the train better. Soon a third factor cropped up that
made the second thought in his mind stand out. The land below was soon
blocked by a layer of clouds and he saw no land at all, just boring white
tops of the clouds.

The flight attendants were soon coming by with their cart, passing out
drinks and bags of nuts. Aiden didn't want any nuts, but he did ask for a
cola. "Aren't you a bit old to be travelling with a stuffed animal?"
Calvin, a dark-haired flight attendant asked.

"Nope," Aiden answered. "Horace needs my company because he's afraid of
flying."

"Or maybe you need his company because you're afraid of flying," Calvin
said seriously.

Larry and Phil both glared at the flight attendant. Unlike Conductor Mark,
who had obviously been pulling Aiden's leg, the flight attendant appeared
to be serious. Before they could say anything, Calvin looked at them and
said, "I don't know which one of you is his father, but I outgrew my
stuffed animals when I was like six or seven."

Once again Larry and Phil were cut off when Aiden said, "My friend Marty is
an adult and plays pro baseball and he takes Mortimer, his teddy bear,
everywhere with him. Maybe you'd be a lot nicer if you had a stuffed animal
to keep you company and help you feel good."

Calvin looked at Larry, who was sitting in the middle seat next to Aiden,
causing him to assume that Larry was Aiden's father. "I would appreciate it
if you talked to your son. We don't tolerate backtalk and rudeness from
children on this airline."

"Perhaps you should just give us our drinks and move on down the aisle,"
Phil said. "I think Aiden is handling the situation with a great deal of
restraint and maturity."

Calvin huffed as he set the drinks down and he and Helen, the flight
attendant working with him, moved the cart to the next row. Aiden caught
Helen looking at their seats and mouthing the words, "I'm sorry." She was
the same attendant who had told Aiden it was okay for him to hold Horace in
his lap for takeoff.

"That guy was really mean." Aiden said after the cart moved another two
rows down. "Mark scared me at first, but I should have known he was kidding
with me since he was smiling. But I didn't like that guy because he wasn't
kidding."

"We didn't care much for him, either," Larry said.

"Did I really handle things okay?"

"You kept your cool. You weren't rude. You got your point across. I think
you handled things just fine."  Aiden looked down at his Donkey. "Horace
likes riding trains better, too." He looked at his dads and flashed them a
sly smile. "As long as nobody throws him off," he giggled. At the same
time, he was thinking to himself that at least fucktard Calvin hadn't
ruffled his hair.  Aiden fell asleep for a while. He awoke when the pitch
of the engines changed as the jet started its approach to John Wayne
Airport in Orange County. He looked down at the approaching ground and
turned quickly to his dads. "The ground is starting to get closer."

"Probably because we're landing," Larry grinned.

"Oh yeah. I guess we can't land if the ground doesn't get closer. I've been
fooled by lots of stuff today," Aiden said.

One of the things Aiden had noticed from the window during the plane's
approach was baseball fields. The green attracted him and when he could
make out the brown dirt of the infield he knew what he was looking at. He
was amazed by how many fields there were. He saw single fields, and double
fields, and fourplexes with home plates in the middle of the four, giving
the complex the look of a four-leafed clover, and a complex with what
looked like twelve fields. Even in the middle of winter, the fields were a
rich green and appeared ready to host games. To Aiden it looked like
Southern California was all about baseball and he loved it.

After the plane landed and came to rest at its assigned gate the passengers
slowly gathered their belongings and started to file out. Larry and Phil
both took note that Calvin, who was at the exit, did not thank them for
riding on his airline. Larry and Phil had already decided they would be
writing a complimentary email to Amtrak about Conductor Mark. They would
write an email about Calvin, as well, and send it to his airline. It would
not be complimentary.

WEDNESDAY to FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27- 29

The three full days in Southern California flew by for Aiden. He barely had
time to integrate the Wednesday whirlwind that was Disneyland when he found
himself riding the Metra to Los Angeles Union Station followed by the Red
Line subway and the Expo Line light rail to the Los Angeles Natural History
Museum.

The museum was a block away from the Expo station. Aiden's excitement was
heightened when he saw Darnell and his father, Tyson, waiting for them at
the entry to the museum grounds. While Tyson traded hugs with Larry and
Phil, Darnell and Aiden hugged and danced around each other.

"I was so excited when I heard we were going to be in Los Angeles at the
same time," Darnell gushed.

"Me, too," Aiden agreed. "We're going to be doing stuff together for the
next two days."

Both boys were awestruck by the big museum. There was the gem and mineral
exhibit, life-sized nature dioramas, an earthquake exhibit, a huge dinosaur
exhibit, and countless other things to see.

Aiden was busy snapping pictures of dinosaurs, controlling virtual flying
dinosaurs along with his dads, and commenting on the size and number of
bones on the big reptiles. He took pictures of Darnell around the museum
while Darnell took pictures of Aiden and the dads took pictures of
everybody with their own cameras.

"We could look right into the eye of a T-Rex," Darnell and Aiden told their
fathers simultaneously. "And I got some great pictures," Aiden added.

"I sure wouldn't want to be around one of those things if he was hungry,"
Darnell said with a shiver.

"That was even more fun than Disneyland," Aiden said as they finally left
the museum.

"Really?" Phil asked, certain that Aiden was saying that to make them feel
good about taking him to the museum.

"For real. Disneyland was fun, but it's all fake stuff and it's way
crowded. The dinosaurs are real and they lived and breathed and flew and
walked and swam and now all we have left is big fossils. Those dinosaurs
sure had a lot of bones."

"I can tell you really liked the museum," Larry said.

"How?"

"You took a ton more pictures here than you did at Disneyland." Phil knew
his husband was right and felt embarrassed that he hadn't noticed that. He
understood that Larry was much more in tune with kids than he was, but that
didn't excuse his missing something that obvious about his son.

"Well, I had to take a lot of pictures with Darnell in them," Aiden pointed
out.

While Tyson would be returning to his brother's house, it was decided
during the museum visit that it would be okay for Darnell to spend the
night with Aiden. Tyson would pick the Millers and his son up at Union
Station and the group would head to Magic Mountain for the day.

The time after dinner was spent playing hearts, watching TV, and looking at
Aiden's pictures through his camera.

"You took some really good pictures, Aiden," Darnell told him.

"My dads told me that if I take lots of pictures I should get a few that
are good. So, I took a lot of pictures."

One thing that Aiden's dads didn't tell him was that if he had a good eye
for composition he would have fewer bad pictures to delete. As a result,
Larry and Phil were amazed at the eye Aiden had for setting up a
picture. There were a lot of poor shots, but that was part of the deal when
shooting a lot of pictures. But, they could see a talented eye in their
son's pictures and that with some lessons he had the potential to be a good
photographer.

Bedtime came early. The boys as well as the men were tired. Aiden and
Darnell stripped to their underpants; there was no way they were going to
sleep naked in the same room as Aiden's dads. Darnell was wearing solid red
boxers while Aiden had white briefs on. They took care of their fangs and
had Larry and Phil tuck them into their king-size bed.

"I'm glad you brought Horace," Darnell said sleepily after the lights were
turned out. Aiden had told the stories of Conductor Mark and Calvin the
attendant while they lunched at the museum, so Darnell wasn't surprised to
see the gray donkey.

"Me, too. He made me feel really good on the airplane even if that Calvin
guy was a bitch about it on the airplane."

"Aiden!" came Larry's voice from his bed.

"Sorry, but that's what he was." Aiden thought his voice wasn't going to
carry over to the next bed. He and Darnell giggled at his mistake. "At
least I didn't call him a fuck-you-know-what," Aiden said which got him and
Darnell laughing even harder.

When they calmed down, Darnell surprised Aiden by feeling his soft cocklet
through his briefs. Darnell was on Aiden's list of friends who could grope
him without having to ask first. The list included Gordy, Mason, Miles,
Brody, and the twins, along with his cousins Chase and Logan. Except for
Gordy, permission was granted the other way as well. Aiden knew he could
grope Gordy under limited conditions.

Aiden took the hint and slid his right hand inside of Darnell's boxers. It
didn't surprise him to find that his friend had a hard-on. Under the
ministrations of Darnell, Aiden developed one quickly. They found it
difficult to masturbate each other while trying not to get their arms
tangled, but they managed.

While Aiden wished Darnell would move his hand inside of his underpants
instead of feeling him through the cloth, he couldn't say anything without
letting his dads know they were awake. But, the more Darnell rubbed him
through his briefs the better it felt. He was enjoying the coarse feel of
the cotton briefs against his cocklet as Darnell rubbed him. Darnell's cock
poked out of the pee hole of his boxers and Aiden wanted badly to duck
under the covers and suck Darnell off.

As tired as the boys were, their sexual urges were trumping
sleepiness. Usually, it had been the other way around for them. Aiden
hadn't had an orgasm since the afternoon of Christmas Eve and Darnell's
last one had been the night before that. In a word, the two ten-year-olds
were horny as wisps of the winds of puberty blew through them. It didn't
take long for either boy to cum, which surprised them both; they had to get
off worse than they thought.

Darnell came first. He kept his mouth closed to try to muffle his rising
moan and was only partially successful. As much as he didn't want to move,
he did, his little brown ass lifting off of the bed as his hand fell away
from Aiden's cock.

Aiden started to finish himself off and was pleased when he felt Darnell's
hand push his away and slide inside of his briefs. It took only a
half-dozen strokes to bring Aiden to orgasm. Like Darnell, he was only
partly successful in stifling his moans.

While Phil had fallen sleep, Larry knew what was going on in the boys'
bed. At first he thought about admonishing the boys, telling them to save
taking care of their desires for some other time and to get to sleep so
they would be ready to rise early. He didn't go that route, however,
because he knew it would embarrass both boys, especially Aiden, who
probably wouldn't talk to him for the rest of the trip, or longer. He said
nothing, letting the boys think they were getting away with
something. Apparently puberty was sneaking up on everybody, Larry
concluded.

His own cock was rock hard as he remembered his own new feelings when he
was ten and hoped it was as good for Aiden and his friend as it had been
for himself.  Larry fought successfully to ignore the distraction between
his legs, knowing that if he were fourteen again he would have no choice as
to how to deal with a raging erection. As it was, he barely had a
choice. What Larry didn't know is that after satisfying each other the two
friends exchanged a long, quiet kiss on the lips before drifting off in
each other's arms.

The next morning Larry and Phil were up early. They took back-to-back
showers and shaved, being careful not to awaken the boys. They were
successful in that endeavor. As soon as they were dressed they woke up the
two soundly sleeping boys. It took multiple shakes to bring them to
reality.

"I swear you two could sleep through an earthquake," Larry said.

"We WERE sleeping through an earthquake," Aiden retorted as he untangled
himself from Darnell. "The earthquake was you."

The boys shed their underpants and tossed them on the bed. While they were
embarrassed by the thought of sleeping naked in the same room as Aiden's
dads, being naked in front of them as they prepared to take their morning
showers didn't faze them at all. The inconsistency of their thinking
escaped them.

"Be quick," Phil told them. "We still need to get breakfast in before we
catch our train."

The boys hustled into the shower and soaped themselves above the
waist. They wordlessly set to work soaping each other below the waist,
taking in cock, balls, and ass, including ass crack.

"I liked what we did last night," Aiden said as he washed Darnell's
butthole with a washrag.

"Me too. Me and my friend Conrad have been doing lots of stuff together. We
suck each other all the time, and hump, and kiss. He's getting to be my
best friend."

"Is he the only guy who sucks you at home?"

"His brother does it, too. He's fourteen and I suck him and he shoots in my
mouth. I'm getting good at swallowing it down. Sometimes he jerks off and
shoots on me or on Conrad and rubs his cum all over us. Once Conrad came to
school with his brother's cum rubbed all over his chest and belly."

"Dang, it sounds like you're having a lot fun."

"It's the best," Darnell said. "And you helped get me started doing it. I
was so scared about it, and now I do it with Conrad and his brother and
sometimes with a couple of other friends. I even had a girl suck me on a
dare, but she wasn't very good. But, I did get to see her naked."

"Were you naked with her?"

"Well, yeah, or why bother?"

Both boys were sporting little erections. They were thinking of maybe
getting off before getting out of the shower, but Phil's knock on the
bathroom door ended that idea.

"I wish you could come up to visit me some time," Darnell said as they shut
off the water and started drying off. "You'd love my friends like Conrad
and his brother Zach and my friend Tucker and some others."

Aiden told Darnell about the twins and how they were liking sex even though
they were only fourth graders.

"We learned about it when we were fourth graders," Darnell pointed out.

Aiden agreed. He wanted to tell Darnell about what he and Gordy had done
before Christmas, but they didn't have enough time. They walked back out
into the hotel bedroom, completely naked and not bothering to hide anything
with their towels.

Larry and Phil both admired the two athletic preteens, noting the contrast
between Aiden's pale skin and Darnell's chocolate colored skin. They both
noted how special it was that Aiden could easily make a friend of an
African American boy and get horny enough around him that he was willing to
get sexual with his dads "sleeping" in the bed next to him. Larry and Phil
agreed later that Darnell and Aiden were two special little boys.

After the boys dressed, they went down to the hotel's breakfast buffet and
then hired Uber to take them to the Anaheim train station where they caught
a Surfliner to Los Angeles Union Station.

Aiden loved LA Union Station. It was big, it had lots of trains, and it had
lots of people coming and going. It was the biggest train station he had
ever seen, much bigger than anything he ever imagined. He hardly believed
his daddy Larry when he told Aiden there were much bigger stations in
cities like Chicago and New York.

Darnell's father was waiting for them and they accompanied him to where his
rental car was parked. They then took off for Magic Mountain. This was
Aiden's first time on the LA freeway system and he couldn't help but wonder
how all of the cars avoided crashing into each other. They obviously knew
what they were doing since he didn't witness any accidents.

Their day at Magic Mountain was, in a word, magical.  The December day was
sunny and in the low seventies. There were roller coasters and more roller
coasters to ride creating screams of joy, fear, and everything in between
in Aiden and Darnell. Some of the coasters splashed through water, getting
them damp a couple of times. Other than stopping to eat more than once,
their only pauses were when they waited in line for their next ride.

"That was the best day of the trip," Aiden announced as they exited the
park. It gets better every day." Darnell agreed completely.

Tyson dropped Aiden, Larry, and Phil off at Union Station and headed back
to his brother's house. The Millers caught a train back to Anaheim. Larry
and Phil didn't have to tell Aiden about when to get to bed. As soon as
they got to their hotel room, he stripped down to his underpants, brushed,
flossed, peed, washed, dropped into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30

The trip home was uneventful. The flight attendant welcomed Horace on board
her flight. They took a cab from the Portland airport to Portland Union
Station as they were all too tired to deal with taking the MAX. The
conductor on Amtrak Cascades 516 didn't even notice Horace. As much as
Aiden wanted to view the scenery, he kept falling asleep. He was awake
during the brief stretch when the tracks ran on the grassy median in the
middle of Interstate 5. He thought it was very cool to watch as the 80mph
train passed the 70+ mph auto traffic.

The train arrived in Centralia at 4:50, just seven minutes late. After
stopping for dinner at the Centerville Café, the Miller family headed
home, where they arrived around seven o'clock.

Aiden set Horace up on his shelf, happy that he had decided to bring the
stuffed animal with him. It had been extra work when they were actually
traveling, but it had been worth it. He even made a friend in the person of
Conductor Mark.

He had made up his mind what he was going to call his new stuffed penguin,
but he wouldn't make it official until Gordy told him that he had a name
for his panda.  He called and texted his friends catching up on what he had
missed while he was gone. He also called Marty and told him about the great
time he had. He told his big bro about Conductor Mark and Calvin the
attendant and their reactions to Horace.

"I told Calvin I knew a pro baseball player who has a teddy bear. I told
Calvin he'd be a lot nicer if he had his own stuffed animal to make him
happy."

Marty ended up laughing so hard it almost hurt. "I'll be sure to tell
Mortimer that story," he told Aiden after he finally regained control.

When Aiden finished telling Marty about the hierarchy of his days, Marty
asked him if he really liked the Natural History Museum better than
Disneyland.

"Yep. Disneyland was awesome and I want to go back someday so I can see
even more, but the museum was better and Magic Mountain was the best. I
never knew a place could have so many roller coasters." Aiden knew that
Marty would be leaving in a few days and hoped he could see his big bro
before he left for Arizona.

Before going to bed a couple of hours later, Aiden made sure to thank his
dads for the awesome trip. He also thanked them again for the camera and
the saddle bags for his bicycle and the new clothes that fit better than
some of his old clothes.

He hugged them both. "I love you. I am grateful you're my dads." With that
he had said what he was grateful for that day, and had said it out loud and
face-to-face. After his official tuck-in, Aiden squeezed Horace close to
him, told the donkey that he was grateful for his friends as well as his
dads, and fell quickly to sleep.

Next: New Year's Birthdays.

If, like Marty or Sammy, you suffer from an alcohol problem it is never too
early to look for help.  Log into AA.org to see what is available. You
never have to drink again.

My thanks to fellow author Nick for his idea of having Aiden seeing the
green baseball fields from the sky. I think you would enjoy his latest
story, "Goats and Bugs" which is in the Young Friends section of Nifty Gay
stories.

Conductor Mark is based on an actual Amtrak conductor who worked the train
I often took to Portland to visit my brother. He was a wonderful person, a
great conductor, and a credit to Amtrak. Mark retired this past spring and
I truly missed his presence on my last trip on that train.