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Installment 15
by
Erastes
Copyright 2015 by Erastes
Chapter
29 – Highs and Lows.
The boys were all a bundle of nerves from the moment they got up Sunday morning. Even though I tried to explain that they probably wouldn't be getting a call until later that evening, at the earliest, they were all wound up tighter than an 8-day clock. All I could do was to hope the coaches would call before they all hyperventilated, or worse.
In an effort to keep them calm, I had the boys come into the family room with me to watch a movie, since I hoped this might distracted them, at least temporarily. It worked to some extent, but as soon as the movie ended they reverted back to the way they were before.
Seeing they weren't doing any better, I talked them all into going outside to help me wash both vehicles. Once we started doing that, especially after they began squirting each other and me with the hose, their other concerns slipped their minds for a while. When we finished, we were all soaking wet, so I had them enter the house through the garage, because I didn't want them tracking through the house. As soon as I lowered the garage door, I had them strip down, along with myself, and we left our shoes there to dry and carried our clothes to the laundry room, so I could put them in the washer. Then, I sent them upstairs to towel off and get dressed again, while I finished up there and before I did the same.
When we came downstairs a short time later, I fixed them lunch and then took them into the family room to watch another movie. This time they were a little more relaxed and each one cuddled against me as we focused on the screen. When the movie ended, I was just about ready to ask what they wanted to do next when the phone rang. They all sat up straight, with their eyes wide, their mouths hanging open and their heads turned in the direction of the phone.
"By the way, I'll answer all phone calls today," I advised them, as I got up and headed over to see who was calling. After quickly exchanging greetings with the person on the other end and chatting with him briefly, I decided to let the boys know who this call was for.
"Ethan, it's for you," I announced, and he came racing out to take the phone from me. I walked back to the family room to be with the other two and before long Ethan came charging into the family room to tell us the good news.
"I got picked on a team," he announced, as he danced around excitedly. "I'm going to be on the Angels."
Each team in his league had a corporate sponsor and then an American League team name too, but the kids usually just referred to the team by the last moniker. I thought it was very appropriate that my littlest angel was going to be playing for the O'Charley's Angels. O'Charley's is a restaurant chain that is headquartered in Tennessee, but it has restaurants locally too.
"That's fantastic," I told him. "When do you practice?"
"Next Saturday," he answered.
"Do you know what time or where?" I asked and he looked scared as he shook his head. I was glad I'd managed to get that information from his coach before I'd called him to the phone.
I was also glad I'd prepared for this day in advance. One night on my way home from work, I had stopped off at Staples and purchased a calendar that had large squares for each day, so there was plenty of space to jot down notes. I'd also bought three highlighters, one each in orange, green and blue, which I could use to differentiate between the three boys. I quickly jotted down the information about Ethan's practice and highlighted it in orange before I forgot the details.
Now, the other two were even more uptight than before, since Ethan had heard from his coach. I was almost thinking I'd need to drug them, in order to keep them from getting too nervous, but I wasn't ready to go to that extreme just yet. I was out in the kitchen fixing dinner when the phone rang again. I followed a similar routine as earlier, before I announced who this call was for.
"Tyler, it's for you," I shouted.
He came flying out to take the phone from me and excitedly spoke to the person on the other end. After chatting with the man for a couple of minutes, he came over to inform me about his good news.
"I'm playing for the Fraternal Order of Eagles," he announced. "The coach says the uniforms will only say F.O.E. on them, but I think that's neat. We'll be everyone else's biggest foe." I had to chuckle at his observation.
He then told me when and where his practice would be, although I already knew that information, because I'd asked his coach before calling Tyler to the phone. I carefully marked it down on the calendar and highlighted it in blue. When I finished doing this, I noticed the extremely worried look on Marcus' face.
"Don't worry," I advised him. "Just because you haven't been called yet, it doesn't mean anything. I was told that your league has the most teams, because you have three age groups playing, 10 thru 12, while Ethan and Tyler's leagues only have two age groups in each. It's just going to take them a little longer to get through the draft and make their calls."
Marcus suddenly looked a little better as this information sank in. Just then the phone rang again. I picked it up and talked to the person on the other end.
"Tyler, it's Dylan," I announced. "Talk quickly and tell him you'll call him back from your cell phone, so we don't miss Marcus' call." A minute later, Tyler hung up and came to find me.
"Dylan got his call too, but he understood about not staying on the phone very long, because Justin is just as nervous," he explained.
"Yes, it's a little harder on Marcus and Justin, since the rest of you got your calls already," I agreed. "We've just got to keep him calm until he finds out too."
After we finished dinner, I took the boys to the family room to watch TV together. This time I held Marcus on my lap, because I knew he needed me the most right now. As the evening wore on, he was getting more and more nervous, even though I kept reminding him that they'd been told some boys making the team might not be called until Monday night. He made a face, but nodded in return.
About 8:15 the phone rang again, so I placed Marcus on the couch and went to answer it. I talked to the person for a couple of minutes before saying anything to the boys.
"Marcus, it's for you this time," I told him. He jumped into the air, pumped his fist and then came rushing out to take the call. A couple of minutes later, he came racing back into the family room to share his good news.
"Me and Justin are going to be playing for the Braves," he shouted, totally overjoyed.
"The real Braves?" Ethan asked, looking shocked.
"No, the Masonite Braves," Marcus answered. At least he remembered his sponsor's name too, but his league used National League teams for the other half.
Marcus then told me when and where he'd be practicing, although I already knew this information, so I marked it down on the calendar and highlighted it in green. I figured I would buy a small valise to keep the calendar, highlighters and a couple of pens in, so I could carry it with me between the house and car. That way, I'd always have it available so I could jot down the new practice and game times, but I'd also be able to keep track of what was going on at any particular moment.
Now that everyone knew they had made a team, I gave the younger pair their baths and put them to bed. After Tyler finished his shower, he came in to talk to me.
"I'd forgotten about this, because I was worried about making a summer league team, but now I'm worried about our game tomorrow," he informed me. "Can I sleep with you tonight, so I won't think about it so much?"
In the back of my mind I'd pretty much been expecting this to happen, since I hadn't forgot about his upcoming game. While he and the others had been fretting and stewing about getting a phone call, I had pretty much anticipated they'd all be hearing from one of the coaches sooner or later. Following that same vein, after I'd watched some of Tyler's teammates trying out yesterday, it had reminded me about Monday's game. Factoring all of that together, I answered him.
"Yes, I don't have a problem with you doing that, since this is your last week playing on the school team," I agreed. "After Thursday's game though, I don't feel we'll need to do the same thing for the summer league games."
"Maybe if there's a really tough game coming up?" Tyler asked, hopefully.
"We'll see, but I'm not sure any games in the summer league will be that important," I replied.
Once we got in bed and he cuddled up against me, I could feel his erection poking me through his boxer briefs. I didn't say anything at first, but since it didn't seem to be going down and he kept moving around and making it even more obvious, I finally decided to address the issue.
"I take it you need help with that too," I quipped, as I moved my leg against his obvious boner.
"Yeah, that would be nice and it would help me sleep better," he agreed, playing it coy.
"I have a feeling you planned this all along," I shot back, as I tossed the covers out of the way. I turned on the lamp after that so I could see his face and it was covered with a huge grin.
"You're a sneaky little devil," I teased, as I pulled down his boxer briefs and exposed his throbbing penis.
Once again, this was only to take care of his immediate problem, so as 'Larry the Cable Guy' would have said, we'd just 'Git-R-Done!' I lowered my mouth over the tip and closed my lips around his shaft, before I began to bob my head up and down on it at a fairly rapid pace. I also let my tongue tease and stimulate his penis at the same time and Tyler started to buck his hips to match my movements. He didn't seem to mind that this was just going to be another quickie, because he was obviously only seeking relief.
After a couple of minutes of this frantic pace, Tyler thrust his hips upward one final time, as his body stiffened and he grunted with each shot of semen that entered my mouth. It seemed to me that he ejaculated more than usual, so he must not have jerked off after I'd worked my fingers and the dildo in him last night. The long duration in between obviously left him a little hornier than usual and more in need of ejaculating, so I was glad I'd decided to do this for him.
As soon as I'd finished and helped him pull up his underwear again, he cuddled against me as he normally would. Within a minute or two, I could tell by his even breathing that he had already fallen asleep. I just turned my head and kissed him on the forehead, before I did the same.
Everyone seemed to be in a really good mood when I woke them up on Monday morning, probably because they were anxious to share the great news with their friends at school. I was glad to see them so happy, as they ran outside to get on their buses.
Tonight was going to be Tyler's final away game, so I asked my boss if I could leave a little earlier again. After assuring him this would be the last time for a while, he agreed to honor my request, so I called Brenda Riordan to notify her too.
I was pretty busy at work, but we also had to attend a couple of mandatory meetings during the day, which kind of distracted me from thinking about Tyler's game. One meeting was concerned with budget issues and the other meeting was about an upgrade to the accounting software. We were then told that each of us would be required to do some beta testing on the upgraded system, along with doing our regular jobs on the old software. This meant we'd basically have to do everything twice during the beta process, first as we normally would do it, but then we'd have to repeat the process on the beta system, to make sure the results were the same.
This process wasn't going to start until the following Monday, so at least Tyler's school team will have finished its season by then. The unfortunate part was that the summer leagues would just be getting started and I'd have three boys to rush home to and get ready for whatever their team was doing that night.
The beta process was going to mean a lot more work for all of us, although we'd be getting paid some overtime for doing it too. This meant everyone in our department would be making a little more money as well. It also explained why the department was going to be experiencing budget problems, since the upgrade wasn't in the works when the budget was being prepared for this year.
The changes we would be incorporating into the software was something that the software developer had only added recently, but claimed it was urgent for everyone else to install. We were informed these new modifications were meant to take care of some problems they'd discovered in the original code that might allow the system to be hacked, besides making it vulnerable to malware and viruses.
After hearing this, the company felt these problems were severe enough to require immediate attention, so the C.E.O. was going to give our department a little extra money to take care of these issues. Our department manager, however, felt the amount of money the C.E.O. was offering wouldn't be sufficient to cover the entire cost of doing this. Therefore, we would have to make some additional cuts in our department budge to accommodate for what would actually be needed. That's why the first meeting was held.
This was great for nearly everyone else, since they were excited about the extra income, but that was only a secondary concern for me. What I was most worried about was that I would have to do most of my share of the beta testing on the company laptop at home later, after I had finished chauffeuring the kids around. This wouldn't be too bad until school was through for the year, because the leagues tried to take it a little easy on the boys while classes were still in session. Until then, they promised to only tie the boys up two nights a week, because they didn't want to affect their grades. This was good for the time being, but as soon as school ended, all bets were off.
By the time I left for the day, my head was spinning. All of these concerns were going through my mind as I drove home to get the boys, so we could head over to the school that Tyler's team was playing. I was so distracted before I picked the boys up that I'm surprised I didn't have an accident. However, once Ethan and Marcus got in the car, they distracted me from those other issues.
As I pulled up at the school, I was fortunate to find someone that was able to direct me to the park where the game was going to be played. When we arrived at the field, the game hadn't started yet, which made me grateful that we hadn't missed anything. It was another enclosed ballpark, similar to the one where the 13 - 14-year-old tryouts had been held this past weekend, but I wasn't sure if this was an advantage or a disadvantage.
As I watched the team warm up, I could see some of the boys appeared to be more sluggish than usual. I also noticed that Tyler had a disgusted look on his face as he spoke with some of his teammates. After thinking about this for a few minutes, I realized that all of the players he was talking to and making ugly faces at were 8th graders. That's when it suddenly dawned on me that Tyler's worst fears might be coming true.
When the game started, Tyler's team was up first, since they were the visitors. Dylan led off with a single, but then Nathan popped up to the shortstop and Trent struck out, so Dylan wasn't able to advance. Tyler then hit a double to right center field, but Dylan had to stop and retreat back to third after the right fielder made a quick recovery of the ball and fired a strike to home plate. Jacob then hit a weak grounder to second for the final out.
Crawford was pitching and he walked the leadoff batter. The second man in the order then hit a single between short and third, but the runners took second and third when Jacob bobbled the ball in left field. Crawford then walked the next batter to load up the bases. The cleanup hitter then came to the plate and flew out to Antonio in right for the first out, but it was deep enough that the runner on third was able to tag up and score and the runner on second went to third. The kid on first stayed where he was, as the ball came in to Dylan, who was the cutoff man.
The next batter hit a grounder to Tyler at short and he scooped the ball up and tossed it to Dylan at second to get the force out at second. Dylan's relay throw was also in time, but Curtis bobbled the ball at first, so the runner was safe and the boy on third scored. Crawford then hit the next kid with a pitch, putting him on first and moving the other boy to second, but Coach Hendricks had seen enough. The other team was now ahead 2 - 0 and there were runners on first and second, so the coach pulled Crawford out of the game and called Trent in to pitch. He also sent Paul out to center field and he replaced Crawford in the batting order. The coach was obviously upset enough that he had pulled Crawford completely out of the game and sat him on the bench.
After Trent warmed up, the next batter popped up to third to end the inning. Even though they were in a hole, it could have been worse, and I could see the coach chewing out some of the players for their lack of effort and mental lapses as they returned to the bench. It seemed to be the 8th graders that had been the problem so far, both with the bat and in the field.
Since Paul had come in for Crawford, he was up first in the top of the second. He hit a little dribbler to third, but hustled and beat out the throw. All of his teammates were cheering and telling him great job, which was a big boost to Paul's ego. Jamal followed that up by hitting a ball up the middle, but the other team's shortstop made a great play and grabbed it. Not only was he able to keep the ball from going into the outfield, but he also made backhand flip to the second baseman for the force out. It was a really tough break for Jamal, Paul and the team. Antonio followed him to the plate and struck out while looking at a pitch that was too close to take with two strikes. Curtis then hit a foul pop up behind the plate that the catcher caught to end the inning.
When the other team came up to bat, the eighth batter in the lineup was up first and he hit a line drive toward Curtis at first base. Curtis reacted to it very slowly or he might have been able to catch it. Instead, the ball sailed over his head for a single. The next batter popped up to Tyler at short for the first out, which brought the other team to the top of its batting order again.
Their leadoff batter then hit a long fly ball to center, but Paul was able to track it down for the second out. Trent then walked the next batter, which put runners on first and second, and brought up the third man in the batting order. Trent fell behind early, throwing 3 straight balls, but then he got the kid to hit a shallow pop up behind the plate. Nathan threw off his mask but seemed to have trouble locating the ball, so it ended up falling to the ground in foul territory for a strike. It was unusual for Nathan to miss such an easy chance, but he didn't seem to be moving as quickly or decisively today.
With a 3-1 count on the batter, Trent threw the next pitch over the center of the plate. The kid took advantage of being given a second chance and zeroed in on the pitch, hitting it squarely. It sailed high into the air and out to left field, so Jacob started after it, although he looked to be moving in slow motion. Somehow he managed to catch up to the ball and it appeared that he was going to catch it, but at the last second it bounced out of his glove and then barely cleared the outfield fence before hitting the ground, giving the boy a 3 run homer. It also put the other team ahead 5 - 0.
Coach Hendricks immediately jumped off the bench and called time after the batter crossed the plate. He then began making wholesale substitutions. First, he called Dylan in to pitch and I could see Dylan smiling from ear-to-ear as he walked toward the mound. Coach then put Jon in Trent's spot in the batting order and told Jon to play second base, but he also told Carlos to put the catcher's gear on and take Nathan's place. The coach wasn't done yet and sent Stanton out to left for Jacob, Jose went in for Antonio in right, while D'Wayne was sent out to play first base for Curtis. This meant the coach had just taken out all of the 8th grade starters and the only 8th grader playing was Jose, who'd just gone in as a sub. Now, we had to hope that nobody got injured, because there was no one left on the bench still eligible to play.
After Dylan warmed up, he faced the other team's cleanup batter first. He was ahead of him in the count 1 - 2, when the kid hit a bloop single over the second baseman's head. Dylan had thrown the right pitch and placed it fairly well, but the ball had caught a little too much of the corner. Dylan had left it close enough for the batter to get a piece of it, but far enough away that the boy was slightly off balance, so the contact wasn't solid. Once that boy reached first base, I saw the expression on Dylan's face change, which left no doubt in my mind that he was even more determined to do well now. He got the next batter to hit a ground ball to Tyler, who tossed it to Jon at second to get the force for the third out.
Dylan was up first to start off the third inning and he hit a shot over third base for a single. When the left fielder fumbled the ball briefly, Dylan hustled and took second on the error. Carlos then hit a single between first and second, but the coach held Dylan up at third. He remembered the right fielder's previous strong throw to the plate and didn't want to take a chance, so there were runner's on the corners. Jon then came up and hit a ball to the third baseman. After looking Dylan back to the bag, the only throw he had was to first and he barely got Jon for the out. Now, there were runners on second and third with one out.
Tyler was up next and hit a long fly to center field. It looked as if it was going to get by the kid playing there, but he made a fantastic catch. Both Dylan and Carlos tagged up and advanced though, which meant Dylan scored and Carlos was on third with two outs. This brought Stanton up next and he hit a line drive over the second baseman's head, which scored Carlos and left Stanton at first. Paul was up after that and he hit a soft line drive between third and short. It could have easily gone through for a base hit, but the shortstop made a diving catch for the final out of the inning. It was a really bad break for Paul and the team, because they were still down, but now the score was 5 - 2.
In the bottom of the third, Dylan faced the sixth man in the other team's lineup first. He struck that kid out looking at a two-seam fastball and then he got the next batter to pop up to D'Wayne at first. He followed that up by striking out the next boy, when he swung late on a four-seam fastball. It was the first easy inning for the team.
Jamal was the first batter up in the top of the fourth and he hit a solid single up the middle, Jose then bunted him down to second, although Jose was thrown out at first. D'Wayne then hit a little blooper over first, so there were runners at the corner's again with one out. This brought Dylan up and he hit the second pitch hard to left-center field. The center fielder had to run a long way to track it down, but somehow he managed to catch it for the out. Jamal was still able to tag up and score from third, but D'Wayne had gone part way to see if the ball was going to drop in and then had to retreat back to first. Carlos was up next and he also hit the ball hard, but it was right at the second baseman, who caught it for the third out. With a few breaks, this could have been a big inning, but they only scored one run and closed the gap to 5 - 3.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Dylan got the ninth batter in the other team's lineup to pop up in foul territory behind the plate. Since he had been using the new stance, Carlos leaped up quickly, took off his mask and located the ball. Then, he pulled the ball in for the first out. This brought up the top of their order and Dylan got the next batter to hit a grounder toward the hole between first and second. D'Wayne made a nice grab to keep the ball from going through, but since Dylan hadn't pitched very much, he forgot to cover first and the kid ended up with an infield single.
I didn't want Dylan to get down on himself, so I yelled out some encouragement, like I would have done for Tyler. "It's ok. Don't worry about it! You're doing well, so just work on the batter."
Coach Hendricks was yelling out encouragement too and I could see Dylan was shaking off his minor mistake, as he bore down on the next batter. He got that boy to hit a grounder to Jamal at third and he fired the ball to D'Wayne, to get the out at first base. That brought up the kid who had hit the 'assisted homerun' his last time at bat and I could tell Dylan was aware of this fact. He started the boy off with a four-seam fastball that the boy took for a strike at the knees. Dylan then threw him a two-seam fastball that tailed in on the boy's fists and tied him up for strike two. Dylan followed that up by throwing a four-seam fastball just off the outside corner of the plate, in an effort to get the boy to chase a bad pitch, but he didn't bite. Dylan followed that up with a forkball that started off at the top of the kid's strike zone. The batter swung over the ball when it dropped, but the pitch would have been called a strike by the umpire anyway, if the boy had let it go by. That ended the inning with the score still 5 - 3.
Jon was up first in the top of the fifth and he surprised everyone by hitting a pitch over the first baseman's head. The ball hit the ground in fair territory, but then spun into foul territory, which gave Jon plenty of time to run to second base for a double. This brought Tyler up next and he hit a hard shot down the third baseline that looked as if it was going to drop in fair. The left fielder, however, made a terrific sliding grab that not only robbed Tyler of a hit, but it also kept Jon from scoring. He was nearly to third when the catch was made and had to race back to second to keep from being doubled up.
This brought Stanton up next and he hit a line drive back up the middle, but the pitcher was able to reach his glove out in time to catch the ball. The force of the ball hitting the glove nearly pulled it off the pitcher's hand, but he was able to hang on to it and Jon managed to get back to second again and avoided the double-play. Paul came to the plate next and hit the third pitch out to right field. It was a little higher than the one Jon had hit, which gave the right fielder time to run under it for the third out. It was another of those 'could have been' innings.
The other team's cleanup batter was up first in the bottom of the fifth and connected with Dylan's fourth pitch. It was a line drive, but fortunately it was right at Tyler and he was able to haul it in for the first out. The next batter hit a little floater out to Jose in right after that and he handled it easily for the second out. The next kid then hit a really slow roller down the third base line that Jamal got to as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, the batter was quite fast and beat the throw for an infield single.
While working on the next batter, Dylan hung on one pitch a little longer than he should have and it hit the dirt in front of the plate. Carlos reacted just like we'd worked on at the park and kept the ball from getting through. It kept the runner at first, so Dylan smiled broadly and gave Carlos the thumbs-up signal, to let him know he'd done a good job. Dylan then got the batter to hit a ground ball to Tyler, which he tossed to D'Wayne at first for the third out.
Jamal was up first in the top of the sixth and hit an outside pitch toward the hole between first and second. The second baseman made an outstanding stop and managed to flip the ball to first in time to get the out, another tough break for us. Jose was up next and hit a ball over the pitcher's head and back up the middle for a single. This brought up D'Wayne and he hit a hard grounder to third. The kid on third fielded the ball cleanly and tossed it to second for the force out, but D'Wayne was too fast for them to complete the double-play. This brought Dylan up again and he hit a rope out to left field. Once again, it looked as if the ball was going to drop in, but the left fielder made another fantastic diving catch to rob him of the hit, just as he'd done to Tyler in the previous inning. It retired the side and left the other team up, 5 - 3.
The eighth man in the lineup was up first in the bottom of the sixth and Dylan struck him out for the second time, but this time he caught the boy looking. Then, Dylan got the ninth batter to pop up to Jon at second base for the second out of the inning. This brought the other team's leadoff batter up again. He worked Dylan to a full count, before he finally flew out to Stanton in left field.
Tyler's team was now coming up in the top of the last inning, still down by two runs. Jon was up first and hit a ball that went over the third baseman's head, but the shortstop reacted quickly and dove for the ball. Miraculously, he was able to catch the ball before it hit the ground for the first out. Tyler was up next and I could see the determination in his eyes. He went with a pitch on the outside half of the plate and drove the ball to right-center field. It was just out of reach of the center fielder and the ball rolled all the way to the fence, which allowed Tyler to race around the bases for a triple.
Tyler's team suddenly began to perk up and I noticed those on the bench had put their rally caps on. That meant it was being done by the 8th graders that had been pulled earlier. I took it to mean that those boys were hoping their teammates would pull this game out, so it wouldn't appear as if they had been the ones to cost them the victory.
Stanton was up next and hit a shot to the outfield, but too close to the left fielder again. That pain in our butts hauled the ball in for the second out, but Tyler was able to tag up at third and beat the throw to the plate, so the team was only down by one run now. Paul stepped to the plate next, and after working the count to 2 - 2, he hit a soft liner to left-center field. It was too deep for the shortstop to catch and too close to the infield for either the left or center fielders to reach, so Paul wound up with a single.
None of Tyler's teammates were able to sit still now, since the tying run was on first, but there were also two outs. The other team's pitcher seemed to be rattled after giving up the last run and ended up walking Jamal next, which moved the tying run to second and put the go ahead run on first. Jose stepped to the plate next, with two outs and a chance to be the hero. After the count went to 1 - 2, Jose hit the next pitch in the air between first and second base. It was too high for either the first or second basemen to grab and the right fielder came charging in for it. He dove and slid through the grass on his stomach, but somehow he also managed to catch the ball for the third out, thus ending the game. Unfortunately, Tyler's team was still down one run, so it meant they had just suffered their first loss of the season.
All of Jose's teammates had jumped up when he made contact with the ball, thinking it was going to drop in for a hit. However, they went from euphoria to total dejection in a just a couple of seconds, as they watched the outfielder make an unbelievable catch. Many of the players even dropped to the ground in disbelief when this happened, but they eventually got up again and walked over to slap hands with the other team.
I was able to overhear Tyler and some of his teammates as they complimented specific individuals on the other team about their fine play and was pleased by their sportsmanship. Their praise definitely included the left fielder and shortstop, who had each robbed Tyler and his teammates from getting hits, but they congratulated the right fielder as well, who had just kept Jose from becoming a hero. Tyler was a little down after the loss and only came over to speak with me quickly, before he took off to be with the rest of the team.
As Tyler and his teammates were getting on the bus, Coach Hendricks came over to speak to me. "I heard you've been working with Dylan and Carlos," he began. "They played super today and you've done a great job preparing them for me. Too bad I didn't go with my gut feeling to bench the starting 8th graders and not let them play this game. Besides the way they'd been acting during our last few practices, I'd heard some rumors at school about what they'd been up to, but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, those rumors were unofficially confirmed by the way they performed on the field. That was the worst I've seen any of them play before. They looked terrible."
I agreed with his assessment and we talked about the game briefly, before he went to get on the bus too. He said he was planning to have a lengthy heart-to-heart chat with the team, but I was convinced this meant he was going to rip some of the boys a new one, while patting some of the others on the back. I couldn't wait to hear what Tyler had to say about it when he got back.
We got to the school before the bus arrived and then waited for the team to show up. As we sat there, I called the Cochrans and told them I'd drop Dylan off, because they hadn't made it to this game and I didn't see either of their cars around. They thanked me and said they were just getting ready to leave the house, so this would save them from making the trip.
When Tyler and Dylan got off the bus, I waved for them to both come over to the car. I then told them I was going to give Dylan a ride home. Once they were both inside and buckled in, I spoke again.
"Dylan, you came in and did a great job pitching today. You looked sharp and held the other team scoreless, which almost gave you guys a chance to pull it out."
"Yeah, but we didn't," he groaned. "That was our first loss, just because of the stupid 8th graders."
"I know, but you 7th graders did everything you could to make up for them and almost came back to win," I assured him. "In fact, if it hadn't been for the other team's great plays in the field, you would have won. I don't understand how the other teams in your league beat that team so badly, because they've certainly got some good players."
"We were told there were a few reasons for that," Tyler quickly mentioned. "After the game, we found out the left fielder had been out for most of the early part of the season. He said he got a concussion after he and the center fielder collided in their first game, so he had to sit out for a few weeks. Then the shortstop missed a bunch of games too, when he injured his ankle badly during a slide. The right fielder also missed half the season, but in his case it was because of his grades, so he wasn't able to play again until he got them back up. They told us those other teams beat them when all three were out."
"That would explain things," I agreed.
"Coach Hendricks says he's going to start all of us that finished the game today, when we play our last game," Dylan added. "That means the 8th graders that generally start will be sitting on the bench the next time. We heard at school why they were so out of it today. They all got together and partied Saturday night and all day Sunday too."
"Yeah, we were told they were drinking beer and smoking pot too," Tyler continued. "Most of them didn't get home until really late last night, so they didn't get much sleep either. That's why they all looked so terrible today and weren't playing like they normally do."
"They should have just told Coach they weren't feeling well then and let the other guys start instead," I offered, shaking my head.
"They still thought the other team was so bad that it wouldn't matter," Dylan replied. "Coach really tore into them on the ride back though. As soon as he was done, the other guys on the team started giving them a lot of shit too, so I'm pretty sure those guys all feel like assholes now for costing us a chance at a perfect season." After a few seconds, Dylan continued. "Um, sorry about swearing like that, but that's what they are."
"I understand, so I'll let it slide this time," I told him, as I pulled into his driveway.
He ran inside and then I drove my boys over to the diner to get something to eat. When we walked in, our favorite waitress spotted us immediately and came over to greet and seat us.
"Is it the weekend already?" she teased, since we generally showed up on a Friday or Saturday night.
"Nah, but it's late and the boys are hungry, so we decided to stop here, because it's quicker," I replied.
"Looks like someone had a baseball game," she added, looking at Tyler's uniform.
"Yeah, but we didn't win. It was our first loss and it happened in our next to last game," he responded, still looking depressed.
"Oh honey, there are more important things in life than baseball, but I know how you feel," she commiserated, as she led us back to a booth.
We ordered as soon as she returned with our water, since we practically knew the menu by heart. She wrote it down, turned it in and then delivered our dinners about fifteen minutes later.
"There ya go," she said, as she set the plates in front of us. "I hope it helps to make y'all feel a little better."
We thanked her for her concern and then dug into our food. As the boys and I were finishing up, I asked if they wanted desserts, because I felt it might help to make Tyler feel a little better. Of course they all did, so when the waitress came back to our table we all ordered. Ethan and Marcus had sundaes again, but Tyler ordered the strawberry cheesecake before I could do the same. I merely stared at him after the waitress left our table.
"Hey, I like strawberries too, but I didn't want ice cream this time," he explained, glaring back at me.
"I didn't say anything," I countered, while shrugging my shoulders slightly.
"I could tell by the way you were looking at me," he reasoned. "I knew you were wondering why I got the cheesecake this time."
"I might have been a little curious, but I wasn't going to say anything," I offered, in explanation.
"So I did it for you," Tyler quipped, while giving me a smug look. "Oh and I forgot to tell you earlier that I spoke with the other 7th graders on the bus ride to the game. They all got picked to play on a team too, but they're all on different teams, except for Carlos and Paul. Those two will be playing on the American Legion team."
"So you and Dylan, as well as Carlos and Paul are teammates, but the rest are all alone," I summarized.
"Nah, some of them are on a team with an 8th grader too, although none of us are too happy about that right now," Tyler quickly confirmed. "It doesn't matter though, because the other 7th graders know some of the other guys that will be on their team too, so it's not a big deal."
As soon as we finished up, I made sure to say 'hi' to the manager before I paid the bill and took the boys home. After getting the little ones cleaned up and ready for bed, I asked the boys if they had their homework done.
"I don't got none," Ethan offered, in response.
"I don't have any," I corrected him.
"That's cuz you don't go to school," Ethan shot back, giving me a dirty look and missing my point completely. I decided to let it drop after the other two said their homework was done.
Once the boys were in bed, I sat down with the company laptop and finished doing the things I hadn't completed before I left work earlier. It took me about an hour, which wasn't too bad, and then I went upstairs to get some sleep.
During the workday on Tuesday, we learned more about the beta project and were given more details about how to log on to the parallel site. We were also told about the little differences that had been incorporated and how it would affect what we did. It was nothing major and in most cases shouldn't even be obvious while we were working, but it would hopefully prevent future problems for the company.
After picking up the boys later, I took them to Tyler's practice. I saw a lot of long faces, drooped shoulders and heads hanging low as they went through practice. The 7th graders didn't appear quite as bad as the 8th graders though, although they all appeared to be depressed about losing their chance for a perfect season. Coach Hendricks was doing his best to turn this around so they didn't lose the last game too, but from the look of things he might be fighting a losing battle. He chatted with the team briefly before turning the boys loose and Tyler came directly over to speak with me before he went in to take his shower.
"It's not as bad as it looks, but I'll explain later," he advised me. "I've got a bunch of things to tell you."
I wondered what that would entail, but I didn't consider it for very long. Instead, I took Ethan and Marcus to the car and drove around to the front of the school. A few minutes later, Tyler came out with Dylan. Dylan walked over to say hi to us first, before he went to ride home with his mother. As soon as Tyler got buckled in, he turned to me and spoke.
"I'll fill you in after we get home," he stated, as he jerked his head toward the backseat. I knew this meant he didn't want his brothers to overhear the conversation.
After I feed the boys dinner, the little ones headed to the family room to watch TV. "Aren't you coming with us, Uncle Blake?" Ethan wanted to know.
"I'll join you in a little while. I have something else I need to do first," I replied.
Ethan didn't question me about what I had to do and just went on without me. As soon as we were alone, Tyler began to tell me what he had been hinting at earlier.
"Coach Hendricks told the starting 8th graders they wouldn't be starting the next game and probably wouldn't even play, unless someone got hurt," he began, while looking serious. "I heard the coach found out why the 8th graders had looked so bad at our last game, but I'm not sure who told him. Anyway, when the coach thought maybe some of the 8th graders might not show up after he'd told them that, he said that if they didn't come to our practices or show up at the game on Thursday and take their punishment for breaking team rules, then he'd make sure the other coaches knew what they'd done too, so it might effect whether they got to play next year as well. That scared most of them, but Jacob got cocky and wanted to know what team rules they broke."
Tyler paused at this point, so I wasn't sure if he was going to continue. For that reason, I spoke next.
"And what did the coach tell him?" I wondered.
"Coach said they broke the 'no partying' rule and used alcohol and drugs," Tyler answered. "When Jacob looked like he was going to say something else, the other 8th graders told him to just shut up."
"So Jacob was going to try to deny it?" I asked in return.
"Probably, and he was the one that set it all up in the first place," Tyler admitted. "He organized the 8th graders into all getting together and had his older friends supply them with the booze and weed. I think the other guys were worried that if Jacob kept trying to get out of this and continued arguing, the coach might go to the head of the athletic department and have them banned from playing the fall season too, maybe even more."
"That was probably a wise move on their part," I agreed. "It's best for them to accept their punishment like men, seeing they knew what they were doing was wrong."
"Yeah, but the funny thing is, the others probably wouldn't have ever done any of that if Jacob hadn't kind of bullied them into it," Tyler stated. "When some of the others balked about going and participating in his party, Jacob threatened that he'd spread word around school that they were pussies and warned them they might get beat up too."
"But he didn't threaten the 7th graders?" I pressed, because that seemed strange to me.
"He tried, but he doesn't have the same kind of hold on us, since he's in a different grade," Tyler responded. "I feel bad that the other guys just didn't ignore his threats."
"Yes, but peer pressure can make people do stupid things, so I hope you can see that now and will be able to avoid something similar from happening to you in the future," I pointed out.
"Yeah, Dylan and I talked about it some," he replied. "I think we'll be ok for our last game too, since the 7th graders have been doing so good. Jose will start too, because he didn't join the others when they partied. His parents were taking him out of town over the weekend to visit relatives, so the other guys didn't get on his case about being there. They could tell he didn't have a choice about going with his mom and dad, so they just left him alone."
"That worked out for Jose then," I replied. "Do you think he would have gone otherwise."
"Probably, because they got Antonio to go and he really didn't want to do it either," Tyler informed me. "I think Jose would have joined him, just so they could hang out together and kinda protect each other. They're really good friends."
"I'm surprised Jacob has that much influence over the others," I added, thinking aloud.
"He has some pretty tough friends in the 8th grade, but he has a bunch of older friends too. They can be really nasty, especially if Jacob sicks them on you," Tyler countered, giving me a better picture of what was going on.
"Then maybe you shouldn't hang around him or have him over again," I suggested, not knowing how Tyler was going to react to my suggestion.
"I already made up my mind not to do either of those things, but I did that after he tried to pressure me into letting him fuck me," Tyler answered. "I decided I didn't need friends like that, but I have to admit he was fun at my birthday party. He was the one that got everyone else to measure their dicks and then jerk each other off afterward."
"Yes, but now we know how and why he was able to do that," I offered, and Tyler nodded his head in response.
The rest of the night was pretty normal for us and nothing out of the ordinary happened. The boys all leaned against me as we watched something on TV, but I could also tell the little ones were looking forward to their first practices on Saturday. Tyler, on the other hand, was thinking about his school team's last game on Thursday, but they all had something that was occupying their minds, so they didn't need me to keep them entertained.
Wednesday was fairly uneventful too, at least while I was at work, but that soon changed. There was a little drama when I got to Tyler's practice though and he came rushing over to tell me about it, just as soon as the coach dismissed them.
"Jacob quit!" Tyler exclaimed. "The other guys said he told them he thought Coach was bluffing, so I guess he'll find out."
"Having spoken with Coach Hendricks a few times," I began, "he doesn't impress me as the bluffing type. I hope Jacob can live with the consequences of what might happen next then."
After agreeing with me, Tyler raced off to take his shower, while I rounded up his brothers. They had been playing catch and hadn't immediately come back when Tyler's practice ended. They were just so focused on what they'd been doing that they had been oblivious to everything else. They both looked surprised when they heard me yell to them that it was time to leave, especially after they'd glanced around and didn't discover anyone else.
"We didn't even see the other boys go," Marcus stated, as he looked at me to see if they were in trouble.
"I noticed that. So what was so fascinating that you two were unaware of anything else?" I wanted to know.
"I was just practicing my pitching with Ethan," Marcus confessed. "I really want to be a pitcher like Tyler and Dylan."
"That's admirable and I'll work with you a little more, if you really want to do that," I offered.
"Yeah, I do," Marcus agreed, without hesitation. We then got in the car and drove to the front of the school.
"Dylan told me to ask you if he and Justin can stay over again on Friday night," Tyler began, as soon as he got in the car. "He said we could all ride to practice with you on Saturday and then he and Justin would go home afterward."
"It's fine with me, as long as his parents agree," I confirmed.
"I knew that's what you were going to say, so I told him to just ask his parents about it," Tyler replied. "He said he would and he'd let me know what they said tomorrow, before our game."
"So I'm that predictable, am I?" I asked, feigning a hurt look.
"Sometimes, because I know you'll always do what you think is best for us," Tyler answered. "And that includes Dylan and Justin too."
"Then I guess it's not a bad thing," I countered, while reaching across and tousling his hair.
After feeding, bathing and putting the little ones to bed, I went to my room, wondering how long it would be before Tyler showed up. It was shortly after I heard him get out of the shower when he walked into my bedroom.
"Can I sleep in here tonight? It will be the last time for a while," he stated simply, while looking hopeful.
"I had a feeling I'd be seeing you tonight," I admitted. "Just to sleep this time?"
"Maybe you could help me with this too," he suggested, as he removed his towel and pointed down at his suddenly stiffening boyhood.
"Ok. Shut the door and come on in," I offered. He quickly spun around and pushed the door closed, before turning toward me and sprinting to the bed.
"Man, I love you and always know I can count on you when I need you the most," Tyler stated, while giving me a hug. "Can we sixty-nine too?"
I didn't immediately respond to his request and gave him a stern look instead. I soon broke down, however, when I saw the hurt expression on his face. I didn't want to torture him any longer, because I knew I'd be giving in to him, almost as soon as he'd asked. I just didn't want to do it too quickly.
"Ok, I suppose so," I relented, much to his delight.
I had him hover over me again, like we'd done the last time, and then we went to work on each other. I suddenly felt like a calf or colt sucking on it's mother's teat, except if I were to draw a proper analogy I would be sucking on my sire's cock instead. Either way, I did it tenderly, as I attempted to drain his 'boy milk' from his body.
He was busy doing the same thing to me and he wasn't doing too shabby of a job either. I decided to try something a little different with him this time, so I let his penis fall from my lips for a second, so I could wet my finger. I felt he was about ready to pull off of my penis and complain, when I took his boyhood back into my mouth. Then, I reached up and slid my finger into his rectum.
I think this startled him at first, because his sphincter suddenly clamped down on the intruding digit and he stopped working on me, but then he began to relax again. I used my finger to massage his prostate and before long he was filling my mouth with his semen. When this happened, he stopped working on me momentarily, but as soon as the great sensations had pulsed through his frame, he started again. A few minutes later, I was filling his mouth too and he drank it down as quickly as he could. Some of it seeped out and fell back onto my groin, but he accepted most of my offering without complaint.
I went to clean up after that and when I got back into bed, Tyler immediately cuddled up against me.
"Thanks. I enjoyed that," he whispered in my ear.
"I did too," I confessed, as I held him against my side and we both drifted off to sleep.
I wished Tyler good luck when he left the next morning and told him I'd see him at his game. He smiled and ran off to get on the bus.
Other than being busy doing my job, nothing much happened at work either. Almost before I realized how late it had become, it was time for me to leave. I hustled home to pick up the boys and then drove to the school, since this was Tyler's last home game.
I was surprised to see a larger crowd than normal and realized there were a lot more students there this time. I guess they must have heard the team had a great season and were there to give them an appropriate send off. I spotted Don, Cherie and Justin in the stands, so I led the boys over to sit with them.
Tyler was pitching, but the game had a different feel to it, since there was a whole new set of starters. As soon as Tyler's team took the field, I glanced over at the bench to see if any of his teammates were unaccounted for. As far as I could tell, Jacob was the only one missing, because I spotted Crawford, Trent, Antonio, Curtis and Nathan. I was glad they hadn't followed Jacob's lead this time and were acting mature and accepting their punishment.
Tyler started off strong, getting each of the first three batters out. The first boy grounded out to Dylan at short, the second batter struck out and the third boy popped up to Stanton in left field. As soon as Stanton caught the ball for the third out, the entire team raced in to bat.
The team's batting order seemed a bit strange too. Although Dylan was leading off and Tyler was still batting cleanup, everything else had changed. Here's what today's lineup looked like and there were no subs planned, except in the case of injury.
Dylan was leading off and playing shortstop, Jamal was playing third base and batting second, Carlos was catching and in the third spot and Tyler was pitching and the cleanup batter. After him, Stanton was hitting fifth and playing left field, Paul was in center field and batting sixth, Jose was the 7th man in the order and playing right field, D'Wayne was at first base and batting eighth and Jon in the last spot playing second base.
Dylan hit the ball hard, but directly at the third baseman for an out, before Jamal singled and Carlos did too. Tyler then flew out to center field, but Jamal was able to tag up and advance to third. Stanton then singled as well, scoring Jamal and moving Carlos to third, but then Paul grounded into a fielder's choice, with the out being made at second. The team was up 1 - 0 at the end of the first.
Tyler had a strong second inning as well. The other team's cleanup batter hit the ball to center field, but Paul was able to snag it for the out. The next batter grounded out to Jon at second and the boy after him got an infield single when Jon couldn't handle the ball cleanly. Tyler then got the next batter to pop up in foul territory at third and Jamal caught the ball rather easily for the last out.
Jose started off the bottom of the second with a double down the third base line. Curtis bunted him over to third, although he was thrown out at first, and then Jon hit a grounder back to the pitcher. The pitcher was able to look Jose back, before throwing Jon out at first, so there were now two outs. Dylan came up to bat next and hit a single over short, which scored Jose. Jamal then flew out to center field, but the team had scored another run, so they were leading 2 - 0.
In the top of the third, Tyler struck out the eighth batter in the other team's lineup and then he got the next batter to ground to D'Wayne, who made the unassisted out at first. This brought up the leadoff batter for a second time, but this time he flew out to Stanton in left field.
Carlos was up first in the bottom of the third and led off with a double to right center field. Tyler came up next and hit a single between the shortstop and the bag at second, but it was good enough to score Carlos. Stanton then hit a single between the first and second basemen, which moved Tyler to third. Paul followed that with a little blooper between the first and second baseman and just out of reach of the second baseman's glove. This scored Tyler and moved Paul to second. It was also enough to get the opposing coach to come out and change pitchers.
Once the new kid had warmed up, he got Jose to fly out to the right fielder for the first out. Then Curtis hit a double over the left fielder's head, which scored Stanton and put Paul on third. Jon bunted down the first base line next, and the first baseman tried to get the out at home. Paul slid across the plate before the catcher could make the tag, leaving Curtis on third and Jon safe at first on the fielder's choice. This brought Dylan up to bat again and he hit a hard grounder to short, which the shortstop turned into a 6-4-3 double-play to end the inning. Tyler's team, however had scored four more runs and were now leading 6 - 0.
After that, it was a runaway game. The other team didn't score in the top of the fourth and Tyler's team brought three more runs across the plate, to make the score 9 - 0. The other team scored one run in the top of the fifth, but then Tyler's team scored two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Once the scorekeeper told the umpire behind the plate the score, he checked with both teams and called the game because of the ten run rule, even though there were only two outs in the bottom of the inning.
Tyler's teammates and Coach Hendricks were all thrilled that the 7th graders had done so well and the 8th graders looked totally dejected that the team had won without them. Not only that, but they'd also had to ride the bench in front of the largest crowd of the season. The euphoria from the win carried over as the boys slapped hands with the other team and then Tyler ran over to me.
"Great game, champ," I said, as he approached. "You all looked good out there."
"Thanks, and we proved to those 8th graders that we didn't need them," he replied, gushing over with pride.
"You certainly did," I agreed.
"Did you talk to Uncle Don and Aunt Cherie during the game?" Tyler followed, while eyeing me suspiciously.
"We chatted about a bunch of things before the game started," I replied, while not telling him what he wanted to hear.
"Did they say anything about this weekend?" he pressed, getting more excited. "They told Dylan they'd talk it over with you at the game."
"This weekend was mentioned briefly," I responded coyly, still not giving him the answer he was looking for.
"Come on! You know what I want you to tell me," he begged. "Are they going to let Dylan and Justin stay over on Friday night?"
"After they made sure I was ok with the idea, they said it would be fine with them," I confirmed, which caused both Tyler and Dylan to leap into the air. I hadn't noticed that Dylan had joined us, since I was having so much fun making Tyler squirm. "Seeing you boys all have different practice times on Saturday, I told Dylan's parents that I'd drop Dylan and Justin off at their house after the last practice."
"Great! I was a little worried because of that," Tyler admitted. "They think we're asking too much of you and taking advantage of the situation already. Dylan said his parents told him that Ethan, Marcus and me would have to stay over at their house sometime, so you can go out on a date or just go someplace where you can meet someone."
"Yes, Don and Cherie mentioned that too, but I told them I wasn't interested in having a relationship right now," I confessed, while looking him in the eye. "I explained that it was hard enough to meet someone you were compatible with without immediately having to tell them they would be saddled with three rugrats too, if it worked out. That would be more than a little daunting to a prospective mate. I think Don and Cherie understood my point and won't push it again for a while."
"We're not rugrats," Tyler replied, emphatically before lowering his voice to a whisper. "And you don't need no one else either, cuz you're gonna wait for me!" He added this last part so no one else would hear him, before he gave me a wink.
"Let's go home," I suggested, while trying to stifle a smile at his response. "I'm sure you and your brothers are hungry and you all have school tomorrow too. I hope you remember this is only Thursday."
"I'd like to forget it, but I remember," he teased in reply.
I then called the other boys over so we could go get in the car, but I could tell I was headed for another interesting weekend.
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E-mail responses to the stories, story suggestions, or other ‘constructive’ comments or advice may be sent to: ErastesTouch@aol.com - but please put the story title in the subject line, so it doesn’t get deleted as junk mail.
My other stories:
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/different-points-of-view/
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/adult-youth/a-throw-away-kid/
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Although the boys in these stories sometimes have unprotected sex, I strongly urge all of you out there to be smart and protect yourselves from various sexually transmitted diseases by using taking appropriate precautions before engaging in sex.