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Installment 7
by
Erastes
Copyright 2015 by Erastes
Chapter
13 – Many Plans.
Seeing Tyler knew that he'd made the team, I didn't have to worry about distracting him for the rest of the weekend. I might have to keep him from bouncing off the walls instead, but that should be a much easier task. At least I hoped so.
After we finished doing the laundry, I decided to celebrate his achievement by taking the boys to the diner again. I knew they all liked eating there and we enjoyed another nice meal together. Then, I took them to see a movie, but this time it was going to be Tyler's choice as to what we saw, because I was doing this to celebrate his achievement. He hemmed and hawed for a while before finally making his selection. I had seen him checking out the posters of several different possibilities, so I knew the choice had not been easy for him. When he eventually made his decision, I quickly understood the reason it had been so difficult for him.
I had my suspicions that Tyler would have rather seen 'Lucy', 'The Giver' or 'Hercules', but he'd decided either his brothers wouldn't enjoy those movies or I wouldn't want them to see any of them because of the violence or nudity they contained. Instead of following his heart, he chose to go to 'Guardians of the Galaxy' instead, which was based on a Marvel comic book classic. The boys all seemed to enjoy the movie, and it was actually pretty good, but I was convinced Tyler had sacrificed his own desires for the sake of his brothers. For that reason, I immediately decided I would do something special for him later.
When we got home, I quickly put Ethan and Marcus to bed and then I went to Tyler's room so I could say goodnight to him. I also wanted to let Tyler know that I realized what he had done earlier.
"That was a really nice thing you did at the theater complex," I told him.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, looking somewhat shocked that I'd even brought it up.
"You may not want to admit it, but I figured out what you did," I began, while looking at him with all the sincerity I could muster. "I could tell you actually wanted to see one of the other movies, but chose 'Guardians of the Galaxy' for your brothers' sake."
"Maybe, but it wasn't that big of a deal," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I wanted to see that too."
"Well I thought it was a pretty big deal, so I'm going to do something nice for you in return," I announced. "I'm going to let you sleep with me tonight."
"Really? You mean it?" he challenged, not truly believing what I was telling him.
"Yep, I really mean it," I concurred.
I didn't have to tell him a second time, because he started hopping around for a few seconds, before he stopped to hug, kiss and thank me for doing this. Once we had brushed our teeth and used the toilet, we climbed into bed and I rolled over toward him and began to grin.
"I've got another surprise for you too," I told him. "Since you were so nice earlier, I'm also willing to perform oral sex on you tonight, if you're interested." Suddenly, Tyler's face lit up and he began bouncing up and down on the bed.
"You mean you're gonna suck me off?" he asked and I nodded in response. "Of course I'm interested. I really would like that."
Before I knew what he was up to, he threw back the covers, slid off his boxer briefs and tossed them on the floor, before he laid back on the bed, ready for me to begin. I could see his penis was also starting to twitch and firm up, as he looked over in my direction and waited for me to get started. Sure, I wanted to reward him, but I didn't have to select this particular treat for him to enjoy, other than maybe I would enjoy doing it to him as well. I wasn't sure why I was breaking one of my 'increasingly flexible' rules for him again, but I was.
I thought he might actually catapult off the bed and wind up on the ceiling when I lowered my head over his spike, because he started forcefully thrusting his hips upward, trying to jab his penis into my mouth. I guess he really was anxious to do this. I didn't stop or say anything about his actions and attempted to give him my best effort. I used my tongue and lips to stimulate his engorged digit, as I bobbed my head up and down on it. Before long, Tyler was panting like he'd just finished running a marathon, as his hips continued to bounce up and down on the mattress. After a few more moments of doing this, his movements suddenly stilled and his body began to stiffen, as slender ropes of his heavenly nectar shot into my mouth. I enjoyed it completely, as his muscular frame finally came to rest beneath me. I never let up, however, and continued to suck on his penis, like a hungry calf at its mother's teat.
I only stopped when it appeared he was completely drained and his penis was becoming tender from the over stimulation. Then, I sat up so I could look at his face, which seemed to be glowing like the noonday sun. After a couple minutes of pure bliss, as he enjoyed the intense afterglow of his orgasm, he finally started to move again. His eyes blinked a few times before they finally opened and then his face lit up, as he rolled in my direction.
"That was incredible!" he exclaimed, as he stared into my eyes. "It was even better than all the other times we've done stuff together and I really enjoyed it. Thank you. Thank you so much for doing this for me. I love you more than ever."
Once I got him calmed down again, I set the alarm clock so we wouldn't have a repeat of when Marcus walked in on us the last time. Then, I pulled the covers over our bodies, before I turned off the lamp and began to cuddle with him. He immediately melted against me, as I lovingly wrapped both of my arms around his body and held him tightly. I wanted to him to feel all the love I felt for him, but I have to admit that I was probably doing this more for me than for him.
We both slept very soundly until the alarm went off and then we began to stir to life. Tyler hadn't put his boxer briefs back on after I gave him the blowjob, so he hurriedly scooted out of bed and slipped them on. It wasn't that he suddenly became modest, but we certainly didn't want Marcus seeing him in that condition and questioning why he was in bed with me, naked again. A little while later we headed downstairs, as I thought about what I was going to make the boys for breakfast.
Tyler and I were in the kitchen alone for a while before Ethan and Marcus came staggering down the steps to join us. We hadn't awakened them and, instead, let them get up on their own, since it wasn't a school day. They both seemed a little groggy this morning when we saw them, but I wasn't sure why, as they stumbled into the dining room and sat down at the table to eat.
"You two still look a little tired this morning," I observed after watching them for a few moments. They glanced back and forth at each other briefly, before either of them spoke.
"I had a bad dream about the movie we saw last night and Ethan said he did too," Marcus eventually announced.
This surprised me, since I didn't think the movie had been that bad or graphic enough to have caused this to happen. If the movie had been the source of their problem, then I was certainly glad Tyler hadn't chosen one of the more extreme movies to see instead.
After thinking about this a little longer, I finally realized what might have sparked their nightmares. I was willing to bet it was due to the fact the main character, Peter Quill, had been kidnapped after his mother's death. I strongly suspected it was the latter incident that had sparked their unpleasant dreams. Although these visions hadn't been bad enough to wake them up in a cold sweat, screaming, it probably reminded them about their own loss. They must have strongly identified with Peter Quill and put themselves in his place, in order for it to have had that much of an effect on them.
"Ok, you two can take a nap after you finish eating if you want," I suggested.
"Aren't we doing anything today?" Marcus shot back, while giving me a strange look.
"I was only planning on doing some grocery shopping, but we can do that after your nap," I offered.
"Aren't we going to the park to practice baseball?" Ethan followed, after I'd answered Marcus.
"We can do that later too, if that's what you boys want to do today," I agreed. "Practice shouldn't take as long, seeing Tyler has already made the school team and works out with them every day."
I could see Tyler sitting a little taller at the table after I said this and realized I'd made him feel good again, but this time without even touching him. Marcus and Ethan both seemed to like my idea, so they agreed that they would take a short nap after they'd finished eating. Before they left to do that, however, Ethan asked me for a favor.
"Will you come with us?" he wondered, as his face pleaded with me to give in. "I will sleep a lot better if you are there too."
"Ok, but we'll have to sleep in my bed then," I conceded. That didn't seem to be a problem for him and each boy grabbed one of my hands as they began to drag me toward the stairs.
I stayed with them until they had each fallen asleep and then I went back downstairs. As soon as I appeared again, Tyler started making his own request. He immediately attempted to badger me into masturbating him.
"Come on! You just did something for them," he pointed out, "so I want you to do something for me now."
"And I'll be happy to, but it will have to be something other than a sexual release," I countered, while noting his instantaneous negative reaction to my response."
"But that's the best thing you can do for me," Tyler whined. "It makes me feel incredible when you do that and it shows how much you love me. That's why I like to do it so much."
"I understand and I did something like that for you last night, but I don't intend on doing it all the time," I reasoned. "Last night was to pay you back for doing something nice for your brothers, but I'm not going to give in to you on this one."
"Please?" he pleaded, but I shook my head in response.
"In fact, if you keep begging me to do it, I'll guarantee that we'll never do anything like that again," I vowed. I guess that was enough to scare him, because he didn't say another word.
"I'll do something else with you, but nothing sexual," I added, making a counter offered. "By the way, have you thought about having a birthday party?"
"Yeah, I have and I think it might be a good idea," he agreed.
"Have you also considered who you would like to invite?" I followed, as I tried to get the details out of him.
"Could I ask everyone on the baseball team to come?" he wanted to know. "There's only 15 of us, so that's not too many. Is it?" He was looking at me hopefully, as he waited for my answer.
"No, I suppose that would be fine, because I wouldn't want to hurt any feelings by leaving someone out," I concurred. "The best teams are also like best friends, while some even become as close as brothers, and they end up doing nearly everything together. They also look out for each other, even when they're not at practice or a game. That's exactly what we're going to do too."
"Yeah, I like that idea," Tyler replied.
"Did you realize your birthday is on a Monday this year?" I asked next.
"No! I hadn't checked the calendar to see yet," he stated.
"Well it is, so I figured we'd have your party the Saturday before. You can make it a sleepover if you want," I offered.
"Yeah, that would be great!" he agreed.
"Ok, I'll start making arrangements for it, like ordering the cake and making the invitations on the computer, so you can give one to each player on your team," I replied. "In the meantime, you can think about the types of things you might like to do while they're here. We can talk about your ideas later." He agreed with my suggestion and went off to start thinking about what other activities they could do at the party, while I began making plans of my own.
The younger pair only slept for about an hour and a half, before they came downstairs again. This time they looked more alert, so I was glad they had given in and done that. Now, I had them get ready to go to the grocery store, so we could pick up what we needed.
It was a really quick trip this time, even though we bought about the same amount of groceries as the week before. I guess the boys must have moved a little faster this time, so we could get everything home and be able to go practice baseball. After we put everything away, I fed them lunch and then had them grab their gear so we could take off for the park.
It was pretty much a repeat of what we had been doing, but this time I let all of the boys pitch to me, not just Tyler. Each of them was doing pretty well, even Ethan, although there wouldn't be a pitcher throwing the ball in t-ball. That position was merely another fielder. All Ethan was doing was actually getting ready for the following year, not this season.
"I think I'm going to ask to pitch this year," Marcus announced as we were driving home.
"I think that's a good idea," I agreed. "You've been doing very well and I think your coach will be happy to have you volunteer to pitch."
"Yeah, bro, you were looking good out there," Tyler agreed, boosting Marcus' confidence even more.
"What about me?" another little voice wanted to know.
"You're doing well too, Ethan," I told him, "but t-ball doesn't use pitchers like that. Remember, you'll be hitting off the batting tee."
"Oh yeah. I forgot," he responded.
After seeing how the boys were doing, I figured it would be a fun year watching them play. I'd sit with Ethan and Marcus at Tyler's school games and point things out to them, so they'd be better prepared when the summer leagues started. I think that will be especially important for Ethan, since most t-ball games are a comedy of errors, at least early in the season. Many of the players don't know how to catch very well or where to throw the ball once they get it. Others aren't prepared for someone to throw the ball to them either, so there tends to be a lot of mistakes. I don't want that to happen to Ethan and cause him to lose confidence in his ability.
Once we were back home and the boys were all cleaned up, I got on the computer and checked the schedule for Tyler's team. This coming week would just be practices, since no games were scheduled, but a week from Tuesday they'd have their first game. It was an away game, which meant I probably wouldn't get to see it, because it was a little farther away than I thought I'd have time to travel before it ended. He would also have a home game the Friday after that, so we'd just have to wait and see him play then.
His away game, however, would give me a chance to accomplish some other things I needed to get done without him being around, but I would have to speak with Brenda Riordan about it first. With that in mind, I told Tyler to watch the younger pair for a few minutes while I ran next door.
I quickly explained to Brenda what I wanted to do when Tyler was away for his game and asked if she'd be willing to watch the other two for a little longer that day, so I could run some errands. She said she'd be happy to and told me I didn't need to rush. I thanked her for that, but now I had to remember to do something else tomorrow, while I was at work.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, although I made sure the boys had their homework done and they had everything ready for the following day. Once I was convinced all the loose ends had been tied up, we spent a little more time together and then I put them to bed.
The following week was a blur of activity. After getting the boys off to school each morning, I headed in to work. I knew it was going to be a very busy week, because it was the last week of the month. This was always a hectic time in accounting, especially for me, because I had a great deal of responsibility. To make matters worse, I was also working on a special project for my boss on top of that. This meant I barely had time to stop and think about anything else before it was time to go home. Somehow, however, I managed to not only get everything done, but I also remembered to take enough time to make one very important phone call.
Once each workday ended, I would rush home to pick up Ethan and Marcus, so I could drive them over to catch the end of Tyler's practice. Then, we'd wait for him to get cleaned up, before I drove everyone home. After we got there, the boys would do their homework and I'd check it, in between making dinner. Once we'd eaten, the boys would clean off the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, while I put the leftovers away and cleaned up everything I'd used to prepare the meal. A short time later, I would bathe Ethan and Marcus and put all the boys to bed, before turning in myself. Then, the entire process would start over.
I was truly happy when Friday night rolled around, because I'd finally get a breather. But then I remembered that I needed to get some things together for the following day. Once I had done that, I called Tyler over so I could explain something to him.
"Tonight when I picked you up after practice, I asked your coach for a favor. He's agreed to let me speak to your team tomorrow after you're done," I began. "It's so I can tell them about your birthday party and you can pass out the invitations. I will have everything with me when your practice ends and I'll use that time to tell your teammates what we're planning."
"That sounds great," Tyler agreed. "I'm glad you're going to do it this way."
Once I went over the details with Tyler, I sat down with all of the boys to watch television for a while. Marcus and Ethan spent the entire time on my lap, with Tyler pressed up against us, and that's the way it stayed until we went to bed.
Saturday morning I took Tyler to practice and then the boys and I stayed to watch them go through their paces. Once the practice was over, Coach Hendricks called the team together before he dismissed them. When he did, he announced that I would like to speak with them.
"Hi guys. You've probably seen me around, but you may not know who I am," I began. "I'm Tyler's godfather and I came to live with Tyler and his brothers after their parents were killed, but I'm here today to make an announcement. Next Saturday I'm having a birthday party for Tyler at the house and you're all invited. Tyler will pass out the invitations with the directions to our place and some other information your parents will want about the time this will take place, along with our address, phone numbers and some other stuff.
"This party will be a sleepover, so I suggest you bring a sleeping bag and a pillow with you," I continued. "If you don't have a sleeping bag, don't worry, because I'll have a few extras for those that don't have one, so just bring your pillow. Your coach told me that you will be practicing next Saturday morning, the same as today, so you can come straight from practice to our place and we'll get started. I'll order pizza for lunch and I'll prepare dinner on the grill later. The invitation also tells your parents they can pick you up between 9:00 and noon on Sunday, just in case some of you have to leave early in order to go to church. Are there any questions?"
I looked around and eventually spotted one of the boys raise his hand. It looked as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to speak up, but I called on him before he had a chance to change his mind.
"So we're all invited?" he asked, looking bewildered.
I immediately understood why he was posing this question, because it was a racially diverse team and most of them probably wouldn't have hung around together, other than for this purpose. The questioner was Hispanic and it might have surprised him that I was inviting all of them to attend.
"Yes, you are," I answered. "As I've explained to Tyler, the players on the best teams are quite often best friends as well, so we're treating this like you're all part of our family. I want you boys to get to know each other better and have a good time, so that's part of the reason I'm making it a sleepover, as long as your parents will allow it."
I saw quite a few nods and some pleased and intrigued expressions on their faces. Then another boy raised his hand.
"So you'll give us all a ride to your house after practice?" he wanted to know.
"I'm sorry, but I can't fit all of you in my car," I replied, feeling badly that I couldn't actually do that. "Since your parents would normally pick you up anyway, they can still do that, but then they can just drop you off at our place before they return home. Just bring a change of clothes with you that you can slip into after your practice, so you'll be ready. You can leave the other things you'll need in your car, so you'll have them when you get dropped off later. I will be able to take a few of you with us, if some of you have trouble getting a ride, because I don't want anyone to be left behind for any reason. Just bring your things with you that day and I'll toss your extra stuff in my trunk while you're practicing. If you think of any other questions later or you come up with a problem, just call me. Like I said earlier, my phone numbers are on the invitation you'll be getting."
"Do we need to bring any money?" another boy wanted to know.
"Not a penny," I assured him. "I will provide everything for you and Tyler is planning some other activities for you to do while you're with us."
"So Tyler's birthday is next Saturday?" a different boy asked.
"Actually his birthday is the following Monday, when he turns 13, but I'm throwing his party on Saturday, when you boys can have more fun," I explained. "I don't think it would be nearly as good on a school night and we wouldn't be able to have a sleepover either, so I hope all of you will be able to attend."
I heard a lot of murmuring after I finished, and as the boys were chatting with one another about this, Tyler passed out the invitations. After I had finished my spiel, a few of the other parents that had been waiting for their sons came over to speak with me about this. They asked some questions of their own, which I happily answered for them. I also explained that I had been Tyler's father's best friend and Tyler's godfather, as well as being close to the entire family before the accident, which was the reason his parents had named me as guardian for all of the boys. Some of the adults said it was very generous of me to take on that responsibility, as well as doing this for Tyler, but not everyone agreed with this sentiment.
"I think you must be either very brave or really naive to take on this many teen and pre-teen boys, even for one night," one of the fathers mused. "What were you thinking?" He laughed after saying this.
"Actually, I wasn't thinking about myself. I was just thinking about what Tyler wanted this time," I replied.
"I just hope you don't come to regret it," he added, as he shook his head slightly and snickered.
I understood he wasn't really being critical, but merely warning me as a novice parent. Overall, though, I seemed to hit it off fairly well with each of the adults there and the comments were all fairly positive.
Once that discussion ended, I loaded Ethan and Marcus into the car and we drove to the front of the school, where we sat and waited for Tyler. When he came out, he was sporting an ear-to-ear grin and his face was radiant. When he got into the car, he explained the reason why he looked so happy.
"All the guys were talking about my party in the locker room and I think they're all going to come," he announced, with his chest swelled out proudly. "They all told me it was really nice that I had invited the whole team and they also thought it would be a lot of fun. This is going to be fantastic."
Wow! He was really enthused, which made me feel really good. I would do my best to make sure each of them had fun and no one was disappointed or felt left out. I'm sure Tyler and I will both be judged by how this turns out.
After we got home, Tyler and I began finalizing plans for the party and I started a list of things I'd need to do or purchase between now and then. I also made my grocery list, so we could get some of it now and keep it in the freezer. There was an awful lot to do in a short amount of time.
During this session, I went over Tyler's ideas about what he wanted to do while the boys were at the house and we both tried to make sure Marcus and Ethan would be part of the activities as well, so they wouldn't feel left out either. We also decided that he and his teammates could sleep in the family room the night of the party, so I began moving things out of there and rearranging some of the other items so there would be plenty of space for the boys. It was a fairly large room to begin with, but it still might be a little crowded, although I doubted the boys would have any problems with the close sleeping quarters.
Once I thought all of the issues had been taken care of, I went to speak with Ethan and Marcus, to see what they wanted to get their brother for his birthday. We talked about a few different suggestions that one or the other had made, but they finally decided on one particular item, which would be from both of them. Once that was set, I added it to my list, since I would have to purchase it for them.
As soon as this had been taken care of, I asked the boys to bring down their laundry hampers again, so we could start loading their dirty clothes into the washer. They did what I asked and Tyler volunteered to help me with this, since he was so thrilled about all of the work I was doing for his party. Now, I'd just have to make sure I did something just as nice for Marcus and Ethan on their birthdays, although they wouldn't be for a couple of months. Marcus' birthday was in May and Ethan's was in June.
Needless to say, we didn't go to the park that day, but I promised to make it up to them the following day. Tyler certainly didn't need any more practice, but Marcus and Ethan were getting antsy, because they're summer leagues would be starting in a little over a month. Thinking about it, I hoped that having them all playing wasn't going to create a bunch of problems for me. What if two or more had a game or practice on the same day? How would I get everyone around and also be there for each of them by myself? Last year the boys had their mom and dad to do these things for them and Ethan wasn't even on a team. Had I bitten off more than I could chew? I certainly hoped that wasn't the case.
By the time we went to bed that evening, we were all tired, but in my case my head was also spinning. The boys all wanted to sleep with me again, so I thought about it for a short time and finally agreeing that would be fine. After giving Ethan and Marcus their baths and getting them in their pajamas, Tyler and I performed our nightly ritual too and then we all climbed into bed.
For some reason, this seemed to be a big deal for the boys. I knew why Tyler felt that way, but I wasn't sure about the other pair. Maybe it was just that they still felt a little lost without their mom and dad around, so they were using this to make up for it. It seems as if they had actually bonded with me, but in a slightly different way than Tyler had done. Regardless of their motivation, I certainly enjoyed doing this with them, and just like Tyler often said about sleeping with me, I always seemed to sleep really well whenever we did this.
I woke up Sunday with three boys in my bed and we were all wrapped together like a litter of puppies. Arms and legs were draped over the body next to them and some of boys appeared to be lying on top someone else, at least more than on the mattress. No matter how chaotic and uncomfortable it might have appeared, it was nothing less than pure joy and contentment for each of us.
Once I got everyone up and fed, we headed to the grocery store to do our weekly shopping next. I had a lot of things to pick up this time, because I also needed to purchase multiple items for Tyler's birthday party, which was the following Saturday. After we had gone through the checkout and taken everything out to the car, I discovered not all of the items were going to fit into the trunk. This forced me to put a few bags in the back with Ethan and Marcus, but I tried to choose the things they wouldn't crush or damage in any way.
After we got home and had put everything away, I fed the boys lunch. While we were eating, Marcus noticed something and brought it to our attention.
"Dang, it's raining out," he grumbled. "Now we won't be able to go to the park to practice."
"Maybe it will stop later and dry up enough for us to still be able to do that," I suggested, just before we heard a loud clap of thunder and the sky opened up in a downpour. "Then again maybe not," I offered, as I tried to indicate to Marcus that I was sorry, but I had no control over the weather.
Since going to the park was out of the question, I agreed to spend time with the boys in the family room instead. I did a bunch of different things with them, such as playing games, watching movies and just talking about things in general, so we still had our special time together.
Later, after the boys were in bed, I checked over my list again to see what I still had to do this week to get ready for the party. A lot of the things had already been taken care of, so I felt pretty good, but I still didn't want to forget anything.
The following week, like the previous one, was a blur of activity. The biggest difference was on Tuesday night, when I had some additional things to do while Tyler played his game out of town. First, I went to my appointment with Adam Sheffield, Esq., the attorney I was going to use to make my will. I told him that the Riordan's had agreed to be guardians for the boys, in case anything were to happen to me before they were adults, so I gave him their full names, dates of birth and address.
I also directed the lawyer to put everything into a trust for the boys, if such an event occurred, and Brenda Riordan would be the executor. This would change when Tyler turned 21, because then he would become the executor, but everything was to be split evenly between the three boys when they were older. I had also purchased a fairly substantial term life insurance policy as well, so the boys should be more than adequately taken care of after I was gone.
As soon as I finished up at the lawyer's office, I ran out to purchase the presents for Tyler's birthday, since I hadn't been able to do it when he was with me. I had to go to a couple of different stores to get the various items, since what I wanted wasn't available at the same location, but I also stopped off at the grocery store and ordered a sheet cake for the party. I would pick it up on Friday after work and before I went to get the boys so we could go watch Tyler's game. That way I'd already have it at the house when the baseball team arrived on Saturday, after practice.
Once those things had been taken care of, I drove home and picked up Ethan and Marcus from the Riordan's house. Then, we drove to the school to see if Tyler was back yet. As it turned out, we ended up waiting for over an hour and the younger pair was vociferously complaining that they were hungry. I told them we'd eat just as soon as Tyler got back, which they agreed to, although not happily or eagerly.
When Tyler finally climbed off the bus and joined us in the car, he told us the reason they were so late was because they'd stop to eat before coming back. The younger pair groaned audibly at the thought they'd been starving while Tyler was filling his belly, but his news made me think about something else. I was glad that I had previously decided to give him some extra money to keep on him for emergencies, because it made it possible for him to buy something to eat. He also told me that he'd loaned some of the money to a couple of the other boys as well, so they didn't go hungry either. I told him I was glad he'd done that and then I promised Ethan and Marcus that I'd stop to pick up something for us to eat on the way home, since that pair didn't want to wait for me to prepare their dinner.
Tyler, on the other hand, was excited and eagerly told us about the game, both during the drive home and while the boys and I were eating later. It seemed he had played quite well.
"We killed the other team, 13 - 2," he began, while we were in the car. "The coach let me pitch and I did really good. I only gave up like six hits and only walked one. Some of my teammates said they couldn't believe it was the first time I had ever pitched in a game." He was absolutely bursting at the seams as he told us this.
"While we were riding on the bus to the game, Coach Hendricks told me a lot of the same stuff that you explained to me about pitching," he continued. "He also said that out of all the boys that wanted to pitch, I had the best control, much better than the others. He said that I had a good pitch selection too, even though I didn't have a curve ball. He told me that wasn't a problem though and probably even a good idea that I hadn't started throwing one yet. He said he would have discouraged the others from throwing one too, but they had started using a curve ball before they were playing for him."
The conversation paused briefly when I stopped to pick up the food and drove the last leg home. Tyler continued telling us about the game, however, while we were eating.
"I had two hits too, in six times at bat, before the coach pulled me out of the game. He said he did it to rest my arm, since we had such a big lead. He also told me he wanted to see how well some of the other boys pitched in a game situation too, so he'd know who to start in other games. He said he wanted to get some of the subs into the game as well. I didn't mind though, because the other guys want to play just as badly as I do and I'd already had a good game."
"I'm glad you were man enough to see that and not get upset," I praised him.
"Thanks," he replied simply. "I had two doubles when I was up to bat, but I hit the ball really hard on the outs too. I flew out to the outfield twice, once to left and the other time to center, but I also hit a hard grounder to the shortstop and got thrown out, and the third baseman caught a line drive I hit the other time. The whole team did really well though and we had a great time on the bus on the ride home.
"We were all joking around with each other about the game," he continued, "and we even teased some of the guys about the mistakes they'd made, but we didn't do it in a mean way. It was all done in fun and no one got mad. They even made fun of me because I slipped and landed on my butt when I went to field a ball that was hit slowly down the third base line. I guess it probably did look funny when it happened, so I didn't mind that they ragged me about it."
"I'm glad you were able to see the humor in things," I offered as a compliment. "That's very important."
"Yeah, the other guys were good about it too," Tyler replied. "We all laughed a lot and nobody got upset or anything."
"That's good and the start to becoming a close knit team," I replied. "It's important that they can all laugh at the little mistakes they make, because those types of things will happen, no matter how good you get."
"That's for sure," Tyler agreed. "I'm glad you'll all be there for Friday's game though. I think you'll be impressed with how well we do."
"Just don't get too cocky," I warned him. "Inflated egos can result in huge disappointments."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he wondered, since he didn't catch my drift.
"It means that you shouldn't get carried away with the success you've had so far," I explained. "That can lead to you making silly mistakes or not taking the opposition seriously enough, so a team that isn't nearly as good ends up beating you."
"Oh, ok. I understand now," he agreed, as we cleaned up the table and threw away the trash.
Wednesday and Thursday went as usual too, and so did the start to Friday, but then it got hectic. On the way home I stopped to pick up the cake first, along with a whole lot of ice cream and a bunch of hot dog and hamburger buns. I then dropped all of that off at the house before going over to the Riordans to get Ethan and Marcus. Tyler's game had already started before we arrived, but they hadn't finished the first inning yet. We got there just as the second batter stepped up to the plate for Tyler's team and I was told the other team hadn't scored.
Since no one was on base, I assumed the leadoff batter had made an out, but the second batter dropped a drag-bunt down the third base line and beat out the throw. The next batter hit a blooper just over the shortstop's head, so now there were men on first and second as Tyler stepped to the plate.
The first pitch was a ball and then Tyler swung at and missed the next pitch. The pitcher then tried to slip a fastball by him next, but Tyler did everything the way I had taught him and connected solidly with the ball. It flew out toward left field and sailed over the head of the boy playing there. As the kid turned around to chase the ball, Tyler and his teammates began to round the bases. The first runner scored and then the second runner did as well, as the left fielder retrieved the ball and threw it toward the infield. He missed the cutoff man as Tyler was heading to third and the coach waved him to keep on going. Tyler rounded the bag and flew down the base path as the throw came to the plate. Tyler slid under the tag and the umpire called him safe.
"Tyler just hit a homerun!" Marcus screamed, as Tyler jumped to his feet and was mobbed by his teammates.
"That he did," I agreed. "I guess it must have been his birthday present to himself."
The boys laughed at my comment, but agreed it was a good present, and then we watched the rest of the game.
To my surprise, Tyler was playing shortstop today and Crawford was pitching. Tyler did a really good job though and dug out a ball that was hit into the hole to his right. Even though he wasn't able to throw the runner out, he probably kept the kid from getting a double. Later, Tyler dug a grounder out of the hole while going to his left, but this time he was able to flip the ball to the second baseman for the force out. He also snagged a line drive, caught a popup behind third and turned a couple of other grounders into outs. Overall, I was quite pleased and impressed with his fielding.
Besides the homerun, Tyler hit a single up the middle and a double down the third base line, so he ended up going 3 for 5 today. That means\t he was 5 for 11 so far and was batting .460. I was certain he would be happy with that.
The team ended up winning the game 7 - 4, so it was a little closer than their first game, but they were doing very well. After the game ended, I was pleased to see Tyler's team slapping hands with the other team, before celebrating with each other. They were all extremely happy and going around patting each other on the back and saying 'good game'. It was really great to see that they were all getting along so well. After the boys helped the coach pack up the gear, he spoke with to the team briefly before dismissing them. When that happened, Tyler came rushing over to us.
"What did you think?" he asked, just as soon as he reached our location.
"I liked your home run," Ethan answered first, while smiling broadly.
"Thanks, bro. I liked it too," Tyler agreed. "The coach was generous and scored it as a homerun, but I think it was a triple with a throwing error. I think the coach would have held me at third, if the left fielder had hit the cutoff man."
"It was still awesome," Marcus added. "I hope I play that good."
"You'll do just fine, seeing Uncle Blake has been working with you too," Tyler responded. "I know that's why I'm doing so well now."
"Hey! I'm not out there fielding or hitting. That's all you," I pointed out.
"Yeah, but you're the one who taught me how to do those things, so I'd be able to do this good today," he shot back, flashing me a grin.
"Well the entire team looked good and I didn't work with any of them," I challenged.
"Yeah, but the coach tells them a lot of the same stuff that you taught me," he clarified. "I just got a head start on the rest of the team."
While we were talking, some of his teammates and their parents came over to congratulate Tyler and comment about how well he had played. While they were doing that, I moved around to congratulate some of his teammates as well. It was a fun victory celebration.
"Are you going to go take a shower?" I asked Tyler when I got back to him.
"Nah, we all decided we could shower at home today, since our parents were already here," he replied. "We didn't want to make you guys sit around and wait for us to do that."
I had no problem with that either, so I led them all to the car and we headed home. I stopped to pick up some Chinese on the way, since I didn't feel like cooking and the boys were all complaining they were starving.
After we ate, Tyler went upstairs to change out of his uniform and take his shower first, before I took Ethan and Marcus up to give them their baths. The boys were all pretty tired, so I had a feeling they'd sleep fairly well. At least I hoped Tyler was tired enough so the thoughts of his accomplishments in the game and anticipation of his upcoming birthday party didn't keep him awake.
Saturday, we got up early, had breakfast and then I took Tyler to his practice. The two squirts and I were going to stick around and watch them again, but this time Ethan and Marcus brought their gloves with them, so they could play catch too. I had no problem with that, since there was plenty of room for them to do it where I could still keep an eye on them.
Before he started working with the team, Coach Hendricks took time to talk to the boys about the mistakes they'd made during the previous day, so they could learn from their miscues and be able to avoid them in the future. Then he worked them pretty hard during fielding practice, before throwing batting practice to them. When they finished, I called on my cell phone to order the pizzas, while the boys grabbed the baseball gear and headed toward the locker room. While they were doing that, Coach Hendricks came over to speak with me.
"This birthday party has turned into a real team morale builder," he began, while shaking my hand. "After you told the players last week that some of the best teams were also best friends, I've begun to see some of the boys talking and doing things with some of the other boys that they might not have done those things with otherwise. I think you've even convinced them it's possible they can all be friends when you invited each of them to Tyler's party, so thank you. You have helped me a lot.
"By the way, Tyler is doing great," Coach Hendricks added. "You didn't get to see him pitch on Tuesday, but he did an excellent job. He told me you didn't want him to throw a curveball, which I have no problem with, because you've taught him enough pitches to make up for that. He had the other team totally off balance and the hits they did get were dribblers and bloopers. No one hit him solidly, except for one lefty that hit a line drive foul ball down past first. Tyler threw him a changeup and fork ball after that and the kid never came close to either one."
"Wow! Thank you for telling me this," I professed. "Tyler's a great kid and easy to work with, plus he listens to everything I tell him."
"I know and you've done a great job with him," Coach Hendricks agreed.
"Only with his baseball skills though," I countered. "Everything else was because of the great job his parents did raising him."
The coach nodded his head in understanding and then took off to check on the team. At the same time, I had Ethan and Marcus follow me to the car, so we could drive to the front of the school and wait for Tyler.
It wasn't very long before he came flying out the door of the school and raced to the car. He was eager to get home so he could get ready for the others to arrive.
"No one else needed a ride?" I asked, just to make sure.
"Not that I know of," he confirmed. "I think they're all set, because everyone told me they'd see me in a little while. They're almost as excited about this as I am."
"That's great, so I hope it all goes well and no one ends up disappointed," I offered, as Tyler gave me a strange look.
"I'm sure they won't be, because I know this is gonna turn out just fine," he assured me, as I drove them home.
Once we got to the house, Tyler pulled me aside, so he could speak with me in private.
"This is really working out super," he gushed. "Since everyone was coming here after practice, they all took showers today, even the guys that hadn't done it before. That means I got to see everyone's dick in the shower, which was another birthday present for me, even though they might not have known that." He laughed after saying this.
"I almost popped a boner too, since I was so excited and happy," he confessed. "I kept it from happening by turning the hot water off for a few seconds and the cold water made it go down really fast. No one said anything about it, so I don't think anyone noticed."
"That's good or it might have been embarrassing," I commented, just before he took his duffle bag up to his room.
I made a quick trip around the house to make sure everything was ready for the party to begin. A few seconds later the doorbell rang and the first of the boys arrived. I greeted each of them when they showed up, along with a few of the parents that walked up to the door with their son to make sure they had the right place. Once I assured them they did, I invited them in for a while, but they all thanked me and said I had my hands full already, before they went back to their cars.
After a group of boys had arrived, Tyler took them around and gave them a quick tour of the house, so they'd know where everything was. He also had them store their sleeping bags, pillows and other things in the family room, so they would already be when they were ready to turn in. The various boys handed Tyler the present they'd brought for him, so he put those on the dining room table for the time being.
Shortly after the last boy arrived, the pizza delivery man showed up with their lunch. After paying the man and giving him a decent tip, I carried all of the boxes into the dining room. I had to temporarily move Tyler's presents out of the way, so they didn't get covered in sauce, and then I brought out the heavy duty paper plates, the red plastic cups for the drinks and some chips, corn twists and nachos as fillers. Then I placed several bottles of Coke on the counter, since this is Georgia - the home of Coca Cola. I also set out a gallon of milk, a couple of different jugs of juice and multiple bottles of water for the boys to choose from. Then I called them in to eat.
It looked like a swarm of locust attacking a field, as they all came running into the dining room. I quickly advised them that I had ordered a variety of cheese, pepperoni and sausage pizzas and they could take whatever they wanted. If later we were out of the type of pizza they'd prefer, they could always remove the toppings from one of the others if they were still hungry and didn't like what was on the remaining pizzas. I had ordered nine pizzas in total, three of each, since Ethan, Marcus and I would also be eating with them. I certainly hoped it would be enough to fill them up.
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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.