Date: Mon, 28 May 2018 17:18:44 +0000 From: Douglas DD Subject: Aiden II Chapter 29 Welcome back. In this chapter Aiden shows what kind of heart he has. Please donate to the Nifty archive to help keep the stories flowing. Email is always appreciated. Douglas. thehakaanen@hotmail.com CHAPTER 29 ANDY AND MEGREZ THURSDAY, APRIL 19 The last weekend of Aiden's spring break actually began on Thursday at three in the afternoon when his phone rang as he finished packing his baseball equipment bag. "Hey, Aiden," came the voice of his best friend when Aiden answered the call. "Gordy! Are you home?" Aiden asked excitedly. "I just got here." "I missed you so much." Aiden knew that Gordy didn't call during his trip to see relatives because his parents wouldn't let him take his phone. "Did you have fun?" "It was okay. I like my cousins, but I like my friends here way better. I thought about you and your party all day on Tuesday. Was it fun?" "It rocked." Aiden told him who had been at the party, told him about the new-used foosball table, and told him about going horse-back riding at Kalie's, and told him about baseball practice. "Dang, I sure missed a lot," Gordy lamented. "Aiden, are you ready to go to practice?" Larry yelled from downstairs. "Crap, I didn't know how late it was. I gotta go Gordy. Are you gonna be at practice?" Aiden asked. "Yep. See you there," Gordy promised as the boys hung up. Except for putting on his shoes, Aiden was ready to go. Larry got him to practice by twenty minutes to four, which made him more than fifteen minutes early and that meant he was on time for practice according to his dads' timetable. Nick, who was helping out with the practice, got the boys started on their warmups at about ten minutes to four. Gordy arrived on his bike five minutes later. Practice started on time with only two boys missing. Only one of the missing had an excused absence. The boy who did not have an excused absence was a sixth grader. None of the players knew where he was. Coach Scott said at the pre-practice meeting that Coach Connor would be about a half-hour late because of work. Nick, Sammy, and Jeffrey were at the practice to help; things got started on time and with little fuss. There was one thing that caught Aiden's attention about ten minutes into fielding practice. Nick was hitting grounders to the left side of the infield while Coach Scott was hitting them to the right side. The boys had arranged themselves in four lines facing Nick and Scott – two lines on the left side of the infield and two lines on the right side. As grounders were hit toward them, the boy in the front of the line would field the ball, throw it in to Jeffery or Sammy, and go to the back of the line to wait his turn for the next grounder. Nick and Scott were both very adept at directing grounders toward the lines in a way that kept all the boys on their toes and all four lines busy. Mason was standing in the line next to Aiden's waiting his turn. Mason's line was in the area the shortstop would be playing while Aiden's was closer to third base. With only four to five boys per line the lines turned over fast. As Aiden awaited his turn he noticed Ed shove his hip into Mason, knocking him aside. Ed then stepped around him and took what would have been Mason's turn. Aiden looked to see if anybody noticed, but the drill went on like nothing had happened. Mason brushed himself off and then got ready to take his next turn when Ed stepped in front of him again without even touching him. Aiden could feel his blood starting to boil. He thought about yelling at Nick, but Nick was too locked into what he was doing to notice what was going on in that line. Sammy was totally involved in catching throws from two locations and trying to look cool while he did so. "Last turn," Scott yelled. When Ed tried to step in front of Mason again, he noticed Coach Connor stepping onto the field and moved back a notch, letting Mason field the ball. Aiden had let Trent get in front of him to see whether or not Mason would get to field the ball and noticed what had happened as soon as Coach Connor showed. Aiden was pleased to see Mason field his grounder cleanly and throw the ball straight to Sammy. Damn, Mason actually looked good doing that, Aiden thought. He looked a lot better than Ed the asswaffle, that's for sure. Aiden decided to have a quick word with Ed as they moved on to the next drill. Aiden stepped up beside Ed. "Hey, Eddie," he said, making sure he was in Ed's field of view. "Only Muddy can call me Eddie," Ed, aka Eddie, said. That was true because Muddy was the only fifth grader who rivaled Eddie in size. "Sorry, Eddie." That earned Aiden an angry glare from the bigger boy. "I just wanted to say that you need to quit being a bully to Mason." Eddie's glare got even more serious, as if that was possible. Eddie stood ramrod straight and looked straight down at Aiden waiting for him to blink and turn away. When Aiden kept zeroed in on Eddie's gaze the bigger boy broke the stalemate saying, "Miller, don't give me shit. Mason don't belong here because he's a little pussy and a shitty player and I'm just letting him know like a good teammate should." Aiden kept looking straight up at Eddie. "Eddie, you better leave my friend and my teammate alone or I'll kick your ass." Before Eddie could reply, Coach Connor and Nick came up behind Eddie and Aiden. "Is there a problem here?" Connor asked. As Eddie tried to come up with something to say Aiden gave Connor a smile. "Nope, me and Eddie were just talking about the, um, infield fly rule." Connor and Nick both gave Aiden a look that said, Like I fucking believe that, but they said nothing. Scott, who had watched the by-play between the two boys from a distance, got the players started on the next drill. After practice was over Eddie followed Aiden off the field. "You're so in trouble," he said as Aiden put his bat into his bag. Aiden picked up his bag, keeping his back to Eddie. "Hey, butt breath, I'm talking to you." He took a step toward the smaller boy when somebody stepped in between him and Aiden. "You leave my friends Aiden and Mason alone," Muddy said in a voice that brooked no nonsense, "or I will beat up your ass." Eddie gave Muddy a shocked look. "I thought we were friends, Muddy." "You are a bully. I don't do friends with bullies. Aiden and Mason are my friends and you don't bully them." "Mayfield is the most fucked-up place I've ever lived and guys like you are why. I can't be your friend because I'm a bully," Eddie said mockingly. "That is fucked. You don't want to be my friend because you're afraid of me being the boss. You're as big a pussy as Aiden and Mason, only worse, because you could be my friend and be their boss, but you're scared." Muddy turned and walked away. Aiden was waiting for him on the other side of the bleachers. "Thanks, Muddy. You're cool." At least you're cool today, Aiden thought. He was still not sure what to think of Muddy. The big task ahead of Aiden and Gordy was to convince their parents to let them spend Friday night together. At one time that had been a tough task, but that was no longer the case. As long as nobody had a good reason to say no, the answer was always yes. Aiden got Larry's permission for the overnight when his daddy arrived to pick him up. "It's okay as long as Gordy's parents give their permission," he told the boys. Gordy rode his bike home and was on the phone to Aiden within minutes. "My mom and dad said tomorrow is okay," Gordy told Aiden. "Dad wants to talk to one of your dads." "Okay, I'll get one. But first, bring Andy with you tomorrow," Aiden said. "Why?" "I'll tell you tomorrow. See ya in school." Aiden learned later what the parents' conversation had been about. Gordy had been given permission to ride his bike over the dam and out to Aiden's house and the boys were told they could ride to their Saturday morning practice. Being given that extra responsibility excited both boys. But, it excited Aiden even more since Gordy had always had more opportunities to ride his bike than Aiden had. His riding to practice earlier in the day was a good example, and Gordy was now riding his bike to school most days. Aiden ignored the fact that he lived outside of town while Gordy's living in town close to almost everything was probably a big reason for Gordy's extra freedom. Aiden finished his math at the dining room table. He was dressed in his favorite homework clothes, which were nothing except a pair of socks. He grabbed his red and white briefs off of the floor, yanked them on, and took the assignment to Larry for him to check. He sat next to Larry on the couch and handed him his homework sheet, which Larry looked over. "Good job, kiddo. You've got this fraction business down." "I got good help from my daddy," Aiden grinned. "Everybody should have a dad who's a math teacher." "Hey, Phil," Larry said to his husband who was reading a book on the life of Vince Lombardi. Phil looked up from his book. "Yes?" "It's still early. Let's finalize our summer vacation plan so we can make our reservations." "You mean we're finally actually going to do something?" Aiden asked. "What happened to having everything figured out right after Christmas?" "I guess we didn't get to it as fast as we thought we would," Larry answered. "Well, I reminded you guys enough times." "Which was appreciated." Phil grabbed a file folder off the desk and brought it over to the couch. He sat so that Aiden was now between him and Larry. "Well, the good thing about going slowly is that we're going to be doing a totally different vacation than what we would have planned back in January," Phil said. "Yep. Colorado instead of Montana," Aiden said. "It will be Montana and more next year. But we're taking the trip inspired by..." "...by my A paper on building the transcontinental railroad," Aiden finished with a grin. That inspired Larry to ruffle Aiden's hair, which quickly changed Aiden's grin to a scowl so serious that Larry broke out laughing. "You guys are totally mean," Aiden growled, "especially you, daddy." Larry ignored him. He reached around Aiden and took the piece of paper from Phil. "Leave here on Monday, August 13 and fly to Denver. A day in Denver on the 14th, including watching the Mariners play the Rockies at Coors Field." "Yippee! Go Mariners!" Aiden cheered. "And don't forget, we take the train to Portland." "On the 15th we board the `California Zephyr' and ride her through the Colorado Rockies. The next day we..." "...the next day we ride the train over Donner Pass and along the Central Pacific Railroad and the first transcontinental railroad." "It's the Union Pacific now," Phil reminded Aiden. "And was the Southern Pacific after it was the Central Pacific." Aiden was not about to be outdone on his transcontinental railroad facts. "And at the end of the day we arrive in San Francisco, where we'll spend a day." "And then we ride the `Coast Starlight' home and get back there on Sunday," Aiden finished. "Do both of you approve?" Larry asked Aiden and Phil, knowing what their answers would be—or at least what he thought the answers would be. Phil nodded yes, but Aiden asked why it was they couldn't leave earlier and take the train both ways. "Aiden," Larry sighed, "it's so we can make sure your dad's baseball season is over before we leave. League tournament time should be over the weekend before, but Larry's league can be as disorganized as the Washington State League, and we don't want to leave your dad behind do we?" Larry gave Aiden another unwanted hair ruffling. "Nope, we don't want to leave dad behind," Aiden said seriously. Then he turned to Larry and said, "It's you we want to leave behind." "Oh?" "Yeah, for messing with my hair." Larry gave Aiden a stern stare. "You need to admit that you do not really want to leave me behind." "Or else what?" "Or else I tickle you to death." And with that, Larry leaned into Aiden and started to tickle his bare tummy which quickly had Aiden falling off the couch in tumultuous laughter. Larry got down on the floor and continued to tickle his son who struggled unsuccessfully to get out of his daddy's control. He was laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Larry eased off long enough to ask, "Well, what do you say now, kiddo?" Aiden took a deep breath and said, "Now you stay home for messing my hair and...and...," and he broke out into more laughter, finally shouting out, "...AND TICKLING ME!" "Well, then, you obviously need more convincing." Larry then continued with his tickling until Aiden begged him to stop. "You can go, you can go, I want you to go, please stop tickling me, you can go," Aiden said between breaths and fits of laughter. He knew he had a boner and it was pushing up the front of his underpants, but he also knew there was nothing he could do about it. It wasn't like his dads hadn't seen him boned up before. "And just how much do you want your daddy to go with us?" Phil asked. Aiden, seeing Larry's fingers poised for another tickle attack, replied, "I want to see him go more than anything else in the whole world." Laughing almost as much as Aiden, Larry once again ruffled his hair and got up off of the floor. "I lied!" Aiden immediately called out. "What do you think, Larry, should we spank his bare butt since tickling him is not solving the problem?" "Sure, why not," Larry replied. "You can't spank my bare butt," Aiden informed them. "Oh?" "Yeah. If I can't snuggle naked with you and I can't sleep naked with you, then you can't spank my bare butt." "Makes sense to me," Larry said. "What about you, Phil?" "Makes perfect sense." "Good." Aiden was happy to escape a bare bottom spanking, but he also thought it might be worth it if it meant snuggling naked with his dads. "But we could spank him right through his underpants," Phil said. "They're pretty thin and we could generate a good sting." Aiden looked at them to see how serious they were. Just in case they were serious he developed a quick plan and instantly followed through on it, even though it meant exposing his boner. With a loud laugh, Aiden pulled off his briefs and threw them at Larry. He gave his dads a sinister grin and screeched, "Too bad, my butt is naked and you can't spank me!" He ran naked out of the room and up the stairs to his bedroom, howling with laughter all the way. Phil looked at Larry. "How did we manage to survive so many years of quiet and solitude without dying of boredom?" "I don't know," Larry replied, "but I wouldn't trade the noise, laughter, and chaos for the world." As soon as Aiden entered his room he headed for his desk and booted up his computer. As he waited for it to come up he looked down at his hard cocklet. He wondered how much of it his dads had seen. He didn't know if he should be embarrassed about having a hard-on because his daddy tickled him or if he should just not care about it. He wondered what Marty would think about it, but he couldn't ask him. His computer was up and he headed to the website for the Modesto Nuts, forgetting about his dilemma with his boner. He knew he couldn't find today's final score yet, but he wanted to check on Wednesday's game. The Nuts had won 5-2 but Marty went 0-for-3 with a walk. Aiden's idol was hitting only .210 with two home runs. Aiden kept waiting for Marty's bat to get hot; he knew Marty was too good to keep hitting like this for much longer. Aiden lay on his bed and jerked off, wishing he knew how to get to the places that had pictures of naked people that Miles said his brother John had found but wouldn't show him. Aiden tried the URLs but his computer blocked them because of his dads. He had a dry cum as he fantasized Miles and him sitting with John looking at pictures of naked boys while they jerked off together. After his orgasm, he brushed his teeth, cleaned up, and called for a tuck-in. He fell quickly to sleep after Phil read to him, tucked him in, and kissed him on his forehead. After his dad left, Aiden thought about how he was grateful he didn't get his hair mussed up, not considering the fact that it might have been impossible for it to look messier. FRIDAY, APRIL 20 When Aiden got on the school bus the next morning and sat next to Kalie he was not surprised that she started interrogating him on what had happened between him and Eddie during practice the day before. "Eddie was being an asswaffle," Aiden said. "He kept trying to bully Mason and I told him to knock it off. Then Coach Conner came by with Nick and we stopped fighting and later after practice Muddy told Eddie to shut up." "I was wondering, because Eddie kept asking what the infield fly rule was," Kalie said. "Um...what is the infield fly rule?" "I'm not real sure," Aiden told her. "Coaches keep talking about it, but I still can't figure out what it is. I'll ask my dads—they'll explain it so I understand it." The talk at lunch was about baseball, and about Eddie, and about who was going to end up making the team. Nobody at the table wanted to see Eddie on the team. "He'll make baseball no fun at all," Miles stated. "I hope he gets cut for being a troublemaker. Having him around is worse than having coach Estes around." His rant received unanimous approval from Aiden, Mason, Muddy, Kalie, and the twins. "I would have said yes, too, if I was turning out," Brody told them. "You should have turned out, Brody," Mason said. "I mean even I turned out and you're better than me." "I know, but I'll play more on a rec team. Plus, I'm going to be gone a lot of the summer." "Where are you going?" Miles asked. "To a summer camp. It's supposed to make me less of a wuss." "You're not a wuss," Aiden said. "You're just a nerd." "Yeah, you're a geek like me," Mason giggled. "Even more important, you're our friend," Miles told Brody, which nobody could argue with. Aiden rode the bus home while Gordy rode his bike to his house to get his practice gear and what he needed to spend the night. "I thought Gordy was spending the night with you," Kalie said as the bus left the school. "He is. He went to get his stuff and then he's riding his bike over. We're going to ride our bikes to practice," Aiden told her. "That's a lot of stuff to carry on a bike, especially riding a long way." "He's just bringing his overnight stuff in his backpack and it's easy to carry baseball gear in your saddlebags." "What about his bats?" "We're using the team bats for practice tomorrow instead of our own. That's why most guys with bats don't ride their bikes to practice much unless they live close to the field." The practice the next morning was being held at the field in the park at the east end of Lake Mayfield. It was almost a two-mile ride from Aiden's house. "I wish you guys could spend the night at my house sometime," Kalie said. "We can't because you're a girl and we're guys," Aiden pointed out. Kalie got a what the hell does that have to do with it look on her face. "So? We're just kids and besides, you and Gordy could sleep in the extra house and I'd sleep in my bedroom in the main house. You even have your own bathroom and shower and everything, so what's the big deal?" "It's no big deal to me, but you know it is to parents." "My mom and dad won't care. I mean we're going to be sleeping in two different houses." Aiden nodded "Maybe not, but I know Gordy's parents wouldn't like it much." "What about your dads?" "I don't know what they'd say." "So, find out," Kalie told him. "You're almost as crazy as Autumn sometimes," Aiden told Kalie as the bus approached his stop. "Nobody is that crazy," Kalie replied without taking offense. "I just want to go horseback riding and play catch and have fun with you guys." "See ya," Aiden said as he hustled off of the bus. He couldn't figure Kalie out. As much as she wanted to be like a boy, in the end she was still a girl. No way a boy spends the night with a girl, he thought, it just doesn't happen until you're grown up. Just as Aiden walked up the stairs and into the foyer his phone rang. He saw that it was Gordy and answered it. "Hey, Aiden. I'll be a little late. I couldn't get my side saddle connected but I figured it out." Aiden thanked him for calling and told his friend he'd see him soon. Aiden sat in his window seat watching for Gordy. As soon as he saw Gordy's bicycle approach he went outside to greet him. Gordy grabbed a black garbage bag out of one side saddle while Aiden took Gordy's glove out of the other side saddle. Gordy was wearing his practice gear. He had fresh underwear, a hoodie, and his toilet kit in his backpack. The boys went up to Aiden's bedroom. Aiden booted up his computer and saw that the Nuts lost 6-1 to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Marty went 0-for-4 and his average was in danger of falling below .200. He saw that he had an email from Marty asking how Aiden's practices were going and telling him that he was working hard to get out of his slump. While Aiden answered the email he noticed Gordy taking Andy Panda out of the black sack and sitting him on Aiden's bed. I'd never put Horace into a dark sack, Aiden thought, but he was diplomatic and didn't say anything. "Marty said if he doesn't start hitting he's going to be sent down to the low A team in Clinton," Aiden told Gordy. "You gotta help me root for him to do better so he doesn't get sent down. He's too good to be sent down. He says he has time for us to talk Sunday night." He looked over at Gordy and said, "That's if the game doesn't go umpteen zillion extra innings." Larry arrived as Aiden finished his email and the boys ran down to greet him. The boys enjoyed an active and fun evening, punctuated by a dinner of broiled pork chops and boiled red potatoes along with vanilla ice cream and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. After dinner Aiden told Gordy what Kalie had said about wanting them to spend a night at her farm. "That sounds like fun to me," Gordy said. "You and me would have that whole house to ourselves." "Really, you'd do it?" "Sure, but my mom and dad would never let me. That doesn't mean I don't want to do it though. I mean I don't think she'd come sneaking into the back house or something like that." "Probably not," Aiden agreed. "That's the kind of stuff Autumn would do." "And Kalie sure isn't like Autumn." "I know Kalie and Autumn have messed around." "Well, so do we," Gordy grinned. "Does that mean you want to mess around tonight?" Aiden asked eagerly. "That would be a yes." "Dang, Gordy, you sure have changed a lot since last year." "Nobody told me how much fun messing around was." "Yes we did, doofus," Aiden giggled, "you just didn't listen." "Yeah, I guess that's true. But, before we do anything, how come you wanted me to bring Andy?" Aiden didn't answer right away. Instead he took Megrez down from his shelf and set him next to Andy. "You remember how Chase gave away all of his extra stuffed animals to the Teddy Bear Brigade in Seattle?" "Yeah, except for his bulldog, he said." "Well, I saw in the paper that the Mayfield police and the county sheriffs and the fire departments are starting up a brigade and are going to share their stuffed animals." Aiden was referring to the Centralia newspaper that came out three times a week. Mayfield had its own page in the paper which contained news items about the town. "And?" "And, Andy and Megrez are almost like new. You've got Growler, your bear, and I've got Horace, my Donkey. Why don't we be one of the first to give them a stuffed animal. We can make our Christmas presents to each other a present that could help a kid who really needs it." Aiden gave Gordy a steady look, wondering how his best friend would react to the idea. "Did you talk to your dads about it?" "Nope, I wanted to talk to you first." "What if they say no, or my parents say no?" "They won't and if they do it will be too late. They are setting up a place to turn in animals at the fire station starting today. We can take them there after practice, tomorrow. Once we give them away it's too late to stop it. Besides, I don't think they'll be mad. I mean, they're our animals and we gave them to each other so why should they care?" Gordy thought about it for a few seconds, and then said, "I like it. Let's do it." Aiden flashed his signature grin. "Cool. I knew you'd like it." "Does that mean we have to take them to practice with us?" "That's why I wanted you to bring Andy." Gordy frowned. "Somebody's gonna laugh at us or something." "Only Eddie would and we already know he's a butt shuffler." "Okay, let's do it," Gordy repeated. "Awesome. Now let's go tell my dads good-night so we can mess around." Gordy started for the door when Aiden stopped him. "We should go in our underpants only." "Why?" Aiden thought about it for a moment. "Um, because we can?". He said it more as a question than as a statement. Gordy and Aiden both giggled as they stripped down—Aiden to his white briefs and Gordy to his red and gray boxer shorts. As soon as they were all but naked, they dashed down the stairs. Larry and Phil were sitting in the TV room watching television. "Look out, Larry," Phil shouted, "we're being attacked by naked mini-aliens." "We're not naked, we've got underpants on," Aiden countered. Since his dick wasn't hard, he yanked down the front of his undies and flashed his dads. "If we were naked, you could see this." Gordy thought about following suit, then changed his mind, even though both Phil and Larry had seen him naked before. But, he didn't think they'd ever seen him with a boner and his dick was getting hard very quickly. Aiden pulled his briefs back up and gave his dads hugs. "Good night, dads." Gordy followed up with hugs of his own. He didn't realize until he stepped back and stood next Aiden that his hard cock had slipped out of the pee slit of his boxers. He did a quick adjustment, deathly afraid it wasn't quick enough. "No tuck-in tonight?" "Not tonight. We're going right to sleep." "Whatever you say," Phil said doubtfully, having just seen the tip of Gordy's hard little cock. Suddenly Aiden pulled his underpants all the way down and stepped out of them. "But you can tuck this in if you want," he laughed as he picked up his briefs and threw them at Phil. For the second time in two days he'd tossed his undies at one of his dads. He and Gordy then ran up the stairs shrieking with laughter. "You're beginning to look rather sexy with Aiden's undies in your face," Larry laughed. Phil flipped his husband off and set the undies on Aiden's viewing chair on the top of the other pair he'd tossed. "One of us has to remember to tell the little imp to take his underpants upstairs," Larry muttered. "Oh, I don't know—I think it adds to the ambiance of the décor." "I don't think those two will be going to sleep real soon: Gordy's condition seems to say otherwise." "Do tell," Phil agreed. "And as far as the two of us are concerned, Gordy saved himself from embarrassment just in time." Larry nodded in agreement. After running into Aiden's room, Aiden and Gordy landed on Aiden's bed. "You're crazy, Aiden," Gordy said through hysterical laughter. "I know," Aiden chortled. "Now, get yourself naked so I can hump you." "Hump me? What about giving me a blow job," Gordy suggested as he pulled off his boxers. Aiden still couldn't get over how much his friend had changed when it came to messing around. Aiden granted Gordy's wish by getting down on his knees and placing the three plus inch uncut cock into his mouth. Gordy was over his fit of laughter and was now lying back on the bed enjoying the sensations that Aiden was creating with his mouth and tongue. Moans replaced laughter as he felt his orgasm building in a hurry. "Oh, fuck, Aiden, I'm gonna cum already," Gordy squealed as he tried desperately to hump the mouth of the boy between his legs. "Ohhhhhhhhh, yeahhhhhh," he piped as he felt the contractions in his cocklet as he urgently tried to shoot out the boy cum his little testicles could not yet make. When Aiden raised his head, leaving a trail of spittle between his mouth and Gordy's cock, Gordy whispered, "Go ahead and hump me." While Gordy wasn't feeling particularly sexy as he came down from his climax, he did feel the need to have Aiden's naked body draped over his own. Aiden didn't have to be asked twice as his maturing little body underwent a mini-surge of hormones. He was quickly on top of Gordy, humping him, kissing him on cheeks and on his mouth, licking his neck, and in a new move for both of them, licking and sucking his nipples. Like Gordy, Aiden didn't last long. His cocklet slid along his friend's sweat dampened body until he too felt the contractions of an intense little dry cum. "That was so awesome," Aiden breathed. "Thanks for letting me do that." "I keep telling you, this sex stuff is way more fun than I thought it was and it doesn't feel like it's wrong any more. If my best friend can do it, then I can do it." Aiden kissed Gordy on the mouth. The two traded tongue for a couple of minutes until they both realized they were running on fumes. They peed together, brushed and cleaned up, and tucked themselves into Aiden's bed. "My boner slipped out of my boxers downstairs," Gordy said. "I know, I saw it," Aiden giggled. "I was so embarrassed, but I think I got it put away before your dads saw it." "You must have since they didn't say anything." Aiden decided it was best if he didn't tell Gordy that the way his dads were sitting they probably saw his boner. But he also knew that they wouldn't have said anything about it even if they had seen it. That kind of behavior was one of many reasons that Aiden felt one-hundred percent safe with Larry and Phil. SATURDAY, APRIL 21 Gordy and Aiden were out of bed and showered before eight. They showered together to save time and water, or so they claimed. Larry had breakfast ready for them when they got downstairs, Aiden wearing a long t-shirt and socks and Gordy wearing a t-shirt, boxers, and socks. Gordy wondered how Aiden managed to get away with wearing nothing under his t-shirt, something Aiden sometimes wondered about, too. It never occurred to the two boys that Larry and Phil were fully aware of Aiden being commando and then some under his t-shirt. As long as it didn't go beyond that point they felt it wasn't a battle worth fighting. It was one of those little victories they felt Aiden should appreciate on occasion. Larry sat down and ate with Aiden and Gordy. The boys wanted to chat about baseball and he was happy to accommodate them—the topics ranged from the Mayfield Mustangs, to the upcoming cuts for the eleven-and-under team (Aiden and Gordy both told Larry they hoped Ed would get cut), to Marty's prolonged batting slump, to finding new baseball cards, to the Seattle Mariners. Larry was continually impressed with the seriousness of the two young boys. Phil returned from his jog as the boys finished eating. He greeted them and went to his bedroom to shower. Aiden and Gordy were clearing the table when Phil sat down to eat. After eating, the boys dressed in their practice gear, loaded their gloves and cleats along with Andy and Megrez into the saddlebags on their bikes, and crossed the road to the bicycle/hiking path. They headed east toward the town park on the east end of Lake Mayfield which had one baseball field. Of the twenty boys turning out, nineteen were at practice. Roger was the missing player. He had missed over half the practices with unexcused absences. Nobody doubted that he would be cut. Even though he was a decent player, he was unreliable and a "pecker head" in the words of Trent. While the sky was overcast and the temperature was in the mid-fifties there was no precipitation which, on a Pacific Northwest spring day, was not often the case. Scott and Connor kept everybody moving and that kept everybody warm. Toward the end of practice, the boys noticed smoke rising from the south side of the lake. They speculated as to what was on fire. "It looks close to where the trailer park is," Lenny noted. "I hope nobody's trailer caught on fire, especially somebody we knew there." Aiden watched Ed, whom he now thought of as Eddie, closely. As far as he could tell, Eddie was behaving. He was leaving Mason alone and hustling through the drills. Aiden thought he was being a phony to get last-minute points with the coaches. Aiden so wanted the asswaffle to be cut, but it didn't look likely. For all of his faults, he was a good enough player to make the team. When practice ended, Scott told the players they would each get a call about their status with the team. "If you don't make it, make sure to get on a rec team. There is room for everybody. Work hard, play hard, be smart, and maybe next year will be your year," he said. Scott and Connor thanked everybody who turned out and dismissed them. Of the nineteen boys at practice, fifteen would be placed on the roster and invited to Tuesday's practice. There was one incident after practice ended, and of course it involved Eddie. As Aiden and Gordy mounted their bikes, Eddie saw Andy the Panda's head sticking out of one of Gordy's saddlebags. "Oh, will you look at that?" Eddie sneered. "The little boys like bringing their toys to practice. Did your mommy help you get it out of your playpen?" "You can stuff it up your butt," Aiden said. He was rather proud of his retort, feeling it was the kind a middle school boy would use. Trent, who was standing close, heard the byplay between the two. "Yeah, Eddie's ass is so well used it probably would fit up there." Trent was a sixth grader and had become quite familiar with the art of middle school insults. "Eddie is going to make somebody happy someday," Gordy said. Gordy was not comfortable with profane insults. "Come on, Gordy, we need to get these to the fire station," Aiden urged. "You mean you have more than one?" Eddie laughed. This time Aiden ignored him and mounted his bicycle. Gordy pushed Andy deeper into his plastic bag. He then mounted his bike and the two boys headed for town, riding East Lake Road for the first time. When they got to Highway 12, they stopped and looked carefully in both directions. The times they had crossed the highway on their bikes had always been on the west end where the crossing was controlled by a traffic light. There was no traffic light at this intersection, although there was talk of installing one because of increasing use of the park. They looked both ways, aware of the warnings of their parents about judging the speed of cars. Larry and Phil had almost told Aiden that he would have to ride back along the north lake road past their house so they would cross at the light. The only reason they relented was that the crosswalk had a caution light that could be activated by pedestrians. That meant Gordy and Aiden would have to get off their bikes and walk them across. They were tempted to stay on their bikes and ride them across, but they hadn't moved that deep into puberty that adolescent rebellion against the rules often stood foremost in their minds. It was a good thing they followed the rules. They didn't see Phil, who had ridden his bicycle to the intersection, hiding behind some brush not far from the crosswalk. It wasn't that he didn't trust the boys, but they were kids—kids who were all too often prone to forgetfulness. Phil stood poised ready to stop them at the first sign of them not taking the proper precautions, but he didn't have to. Instead, he took pride in how carefully the boys crossed the road, even after the yellow lights started flashing. They didn't move until the cars in both directions slowed to a stop. Not long after that they reached the trailer park and could see the emergency vehicles on the road and at the entrance. They stopped across the street and away from the action to look at the commotion. A Mayfield policeman, who was in the road redirecting traffic, saw the boys standing with their bikes. "Hey, Aiden and Gordon." "Hi, Officer Mike," Aiden said. Mayfield was a small town and it was not unusual for kids and town policemen to know each other. Officer Mike had a daughter who was in the fifth grade at Lakeview School. "Make sure you stay out of the way, boys," he said unnecessarily. "We will. Did anybody get hurt?" "Thankfully, no." He pointed to two small boys standing at the entrance to the trailer park with an EMT. Both boys were sobbing. "But those two had been left alone in their trailer when it caught fire. We're about to take them down to the station. I sure wish we'd started the Operation Teddy Bear earlier—they sure look like they could use some comfort." Aiden and Gordy looked at each other and nodded in unison. Gordy pointed to Aiden, who was the more assertive of the two and the better speaker around adults. "Um...Officer Mike?" "Aiden, I'd love to talk with you boys, but I have a job to do." "Sorry, sir, but we have something we can give to them." He reached into his side saddle and pulled out Megrez at the same time Gordy pulled Andy out of his. Officer Mike was surprised to see the two ten-year-olds produce the stuffed animals. "You don't need to give those up. Those two boys will be fine." "We were taking these to the fire station for the collection today. They are like, almost brand new." Aiden pointed to the two crying boys. "They need these and now we'll know who is getting them." Mike called the EMT over. "Clark, this is Aiden and Gordon. The boys were taking these stuffed animals for the collection but they think they just found a better place to donate them." Clark Mayhew smiled at the boys. "I would say they are spot on. Come with me boys and I'll let you hand them out." Aiden and Gordy followed the EMT across the street. Mike stood guard for any traffic, but gave most of his attention to what was happening at the entry to the trailer park. Clark put an arm around each of the sobbing boys. "Cole and Davey, meet Aiden and Gordon. They have something for you." Cole Hartman was six and his little brother was three. Their demeanor brightened up considerably when they saw what the two older boys were holding out for them. Davey quickly took the panda from Gordon while Aiden handed Megrez the penguin to Cole. The young boys clutched their new comfort animals tightly against their chests. The tears still flowed, but their sobs came more under control. "Th...th...th...ank...thank...you," Cole sobbed out. Davey said nothing. He simply held onto the panda like his life depended on keeping it safe. Even in his youth Aiden could see the thanks and love that had found their way to the three-year-old's eyes. Both of the little boys gave their benefactors shaky smiles—but smiles nonetheless. Aiden hadn't truly realized what the gesture he and Gordy made really meant until that moment. It was then that Aiden felt the tears running down his cheeks as well. He cried without shame and saw that his best friend was doing the same. Aiden and Gordy slowly backed away and into Officer Mike. Mike gave each boy a hug of their own as he fought off his own tears. "You two are very special boys. Very special. Thank you from all of us. You do not know how much you just helped us." Aiden was happy he had his baseball cap on. He had a feeling that Officer Mike might have mussed his hair if he hadn't been wearing it. Gordy and Aiden walked to their bikes so they could ride to Gordy's house. Neither boy had noticed the Mayfield reporter from the Centralia paper busily at work near the entrance. Next: The Roster