This story is a continuation of the story of Kevin Foley, Rick Mashburn, and their "sons," Tim Murphy, Kyle Goodson, and Justin Davis that started in "Tim" and continued in "Justin."  It is about gay men and gay boys living and loving together as a family, and it contains descriptions of sex.  The sex is never intergenerational.  If you are offended by descriptions of gay sex, or if the law in your area forbids you to read them, please exit the story.  Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it.  I appreciate feedback, and you can send it to me at brew_drinker23@yahoo.com.

--Brew Maxwell

Kyle, Part 1

Chapter 6

(Rick's Perspective)

Our weekend with the boys at the Florida Caverns park was a lot of fun.  Kyle communicated silently to me at breakfast on Saturday morning that he and Tim had filled Chad in on man-to-man sex, apparently even with a demonstration of "the finger."  The boys were off somewhere, and it was just the four adults around the picnic table that had become our unofficial headquarters.

"Well, fellas," I said, "one of the boys became a man last night."

"Chad," Kevin asked.

"Who else?"

"Do you have any details," Sam asked.

"Not many, but I do know that Kyle taught him what 'doing the finger' is all about," I said.  "The way I figure it, they got in that tent and started talking about sex.  Pretty soon, all three of them were hard, and one thing sort of led to another.  Chad probably jerked Tim and Kyle off, and they worked on him as a team."

"That's kind of touching, you know," Fred said.  "It's like they took charge of him."

"I know.  I love those two," Sam said.  "Chad is so fucked up."

"Well, I'd say he's definitely fucked, at least finger-fucked, but I don't know that he's all that fucked up anymore, Sam," Kevin said.

We all chuckled at what Kevin said.

"He sure was happy this morning.  I guess that's a sign of getting laid.  If you call what they did getting laid," Sam said.

"Sure it was, Sam, for guys their age," Kevin said.

"I guess.  Those boys are definitely more advanced sexually than I was at their age," Sam said.

Kevin and I agreed with him about ourselves.  I noticed Fred said nothing.  Kevin had told me about a conversation he and Fred had had the evening before and about the fact that Fred and his partner Randy had been together since they were fifteen.  I was pretty sure Fred and Randy had discovered "the finger" by that age.

"Sometimes I wonder if boys that age should be having sex," Sam said.

"It hasn't hurt Tim and Kyle," Kevin said.  "Or Justin and Jason, either, for that matter.  Tim and Kyle are in love, and it could well be a life sentence for those two."

"But Kevin, they're so young.  How can they possibly be able to fall in love for life at their age," Sam asked.  He wasn't being argumentative, and he obviously had the boys' welfare at heart.

"Sam.  Babe.  It can happen.  Trust me," Fred said.

All of a sudden it dawned on Sam and the rest of us what Fred was talking about.

"Oh, Sweetie, I'm so sorry.  That was so insensitive of me," Sam said.  I could tell he felt awful for what he had said without thinking.

Fred gave him a quick peck on the lips.  "Don't feel that way, Babe," Fred said.  "You're right.  In most cases, guys like that would be split up by the time they were eighteen, but I don't sense that with those two.  My sense is they're in it for life together, and wouldn't that be great?"

"It would be wonderful," Sam said.

"I've been wondering if two straight couples in a situation like this one would be saying the same thing we're saying," Fred said.

"I kind of doubt it," I said.  "They'd be worrying about pregnancy, even if the word never came up.  And about the daughter's reputation."

"Or virginity.  Chad didn't lose his virginity, after all, did he," Sam asked.

"Hell, yeah," Kevin, Fred, and I said in unison.

"Really?  I guess I'm just a prude when it comes to sex," Sam said.

"Yeah?  Since when," Fred said with a big grin.  We all laughed.

 

The boys had been off renting horses for us while we had been talking about the recent deflowering.  They were mounted when they came up, and they were leading the four for us to ride.  Tim and Kyle weren't wearing shirts, and their gold nipple rings reflected the sun.  I thought of what George had told us about the Roman soldiers wearing nipple piercings as a sign of their bravery, and those two boys on those horses were the very embodiment of the brave Roman soldier to me that day.  They were strong in body and in soul, and their ebullience was contagious.

Kyle convinced Chad to take off his shirt.  Then he dismounted and went to their tent for some sun screen for him.  Kyle applied it to Chad's back and legs, and then he handed him the bottle to put it on his face and chest.  I watched the tent grow in Chad's shorts as Kyle touched him.  Kyle saw it, too, and he slapped at it with a downward swat when he finished.

"Ouch!," Chad screamed, and he and Kyle both giggled.

We took off on the horses at a slow trot, but, pretty soon, we got to an open field.  Kyle smirked at me, as though to say, "Catch me if you can," and he took off at a gallop.  I couldn't let that puppy get the better of me, so I nudged my horse on after his.  Kyle was obviously a schooled rider, but I wasn't.  My ass bumped up and down hard on that saddle with every step that horse took. 

Kyle and I were way ahead of the rest of the guys.  We got to a place where there were planted rows of hedges, obviously a jumping course, and Kyle got really excited.

"We have to jump," he screamed to me.

"Okay," I screamed back.

Jump?!  What was I thinking?  I had never jumped a horse before in my life.  I had no idea how to do it.  I could get killed, I thought.

Kyle took the first hedge with grace.  Then he reigned his horse in and turned around.  The horse jumped it a second time, coming in my direction.

He gave me some cursory instructions on what to do.

"Let's go back some and jump together," he said.

We did that, and my horse barely cleared the hedge.  Kyle was laughing at me, and I shot him a bird.  That only made him laugh more.

We kept that up for a couple of hours.  Finally, he decided the horses were tired and needed water and rest.  I needed water, rest, and an energy transfusion.  He and I were on the ground under a huge oak tree.  He lit up a cigarette, the first I had seen him smoke since we had gotten there.  He offered me his pack.  He had done that several times since he had seen me smoke that one cigarette during the hurricane a few weeks before, but every time I declined.  That was Kyle, though.

"So what really happened last night," I asked.

"What do you think happened," he asked in return.

"I think y'all were talking about sex, and you all got hard.  Chad wanted to see your erections, so you showed him.  He showed you his.  He wanted to touch you and Tim, and you let him.  He started jerking y'all off, and you both shot.  Tim jerked him off while you did the finger.  Am I right?"

"You know you're right.  It happened exactly like that," he said.

"I thought so."

We were both quiet for a while.  Every few minutes we'd get a puff of breeze that reminded us that someday, maybe, it would cool off.

"Why do we think so much alike," he asked.

"Does it bother you that we do," I asked in return.

"Not at all.  I want to be exactly like you, and Tim wants to be exactly like Kevin.  I think that could work, don't you?"

"Buddy, we know that about you and Tim, and do you have any idea how happy that makes us," I asked.

"It makes me happy, too, that we're so much like y'all," he said.

He finished his smoke and rubbed it out on the grass.

"Bury that butt.  What kind of scout are you, anyway," I asked facetiously.

"I'm the kind who didn't smoke on camping trips.  At least, not too often."

"Right.  Not too often."

He kicked up a hole with his heel and buried the cigarette butt.  We got back on our horses and rode some more.

The next morning Kevin rubbed my butt, as he often did.  In the years we had been together, my butt had never hurt, but it did that day. 

"Too much saddle yesterday," he asked wryly.

"I guess so.  Does yours hurt," I asked.

"A little.  Will you put some salve in it for me," he asked in his cutest way.

"How can I resist," I asked, and we made love.

 

Kevin had to work late on Wednesday night, so I went to the gym for my workout by myself.  I had done that before, of course, but it wasn't as much fun without him, and I had the added problem of finding myself a spotter.

As I did my workout on the machines, I noticed a guy I had never seen in there before.  Since we went to the gym at more or less the same time several times a week, we pretty much knew all of the regulars who were part of the "after work" crowd.  That guy kept staring at me, though, and a few times, when he caught my eye, he didn't turn away as guys usually did.  In fact, a few times he smiled at me.  I smiled back to be polite, but I tried not to look at him, even when I knew he was looking at me because I didn't want to send any false messages if that guy happened to be gay.

The man was in his late twenties or early thirties, about six-two, maybe two hundred pounds, maybe two-ten, and his hair was very dark.  He wore it short, and it was neat around his ears and neck, so I figured he had just had a haircut.  His overall physique was nice, not too bulky but not really lean, either.  His face was easy on the eyes, too.  He was what a lot of people would consider handsome.

I finished my routine with the machines, and I went over to the free weights section of the gym.  When Kevin wasn't there, I usually asked somebody else to spot me, and I'd do the same for him.  Since the section was empty, though, I hoped somebody would come along to give me a hand.

I did all the routines I could that didn't require a spotter.  I went to the water fountain and drank two glasses of water, and then I went back to the free weights area.  The new guy was there.

"Hi," he said when I walked up.

"Hi.  I haven't seen you around here before.  I'm Rick Mashburn," I said, extending my hand.

He shook my hand.  "Jerry Taylor.  I've never been here before.  I just moved to town two weeks ago, and I haven't done anything all that time.  I just joined the club tonight.  Have you been coming here long?"

"Yeah, about three-and-a-half years.  It's a good place.  They keep it clean, and the machines are always in good repair.  Nice bunch of people, too," I said.

"Glad to hear it," he said.  "It looks like I made a good choice."  Pause.  "What kind of work do you do, Rick?"

"I work for Goodson Enterprises.  Ever hear of it," I said.

"Can't say that I have," he replied.

"There are two parts of the business, hospitality and retail.  I run the retail side," I said.

"Hospitality," he asked.

"Hotels and motels.  They have eleven of those.  They have sixteen gift shops, and that's what I work with," I said.

"You seem kind of young to be in charge of something that big," he said.

"I'm twenty-six, and I thought I was too young for it when Gene Goodson offered me the job.  But so far it's worked out," I said.

"If you're getting the job done, then you're not too young, right," Jerry said.

"I guess.  What kind of work do you do," I asked him.

He hesitated for a moment, like he was trying to remember what he did for a living.

"I'm in counseling," he said.  "I said that wrong.  I do counseling, I'm not in counseling.  Although there are people I know who think I should be in counseling myself."

I chuckled at his play on words.

"Have you done any work with sexually abused boys," I asked.  I was thinking of Justin.

He looked very pained.  "Er, no."

The look on his face when I asked about sexually abused boys made me wonder if he had been one when he was younger.  Since he didn't ask why I had asked about that, or say anything else, either, I let the matter drop.

"Say, I usually work out with another guy, but he had to work tonight.  Would you mind spotting me," I asked.

"Not at all," he said, "if you'll do the same for me."

"Sure, I'll be glad to."

I got on the bench and started my workout.  Jerry didn't take his eyes off me, but that was okay because I needed his help and didn't want him distracted by something across the room.  I pumped out my usual sets.

When it was Jerry's turn, I had a sense that he was trying to look up the leg holes of my shorts.  I had forgotten to bring a jock that night, but it really didn't bother me that he was peeking.

He finished his routine.  "That was good," he said.  "Thanks."

"Thank you," I said.  "It was nice to meet you, Jerry.  See ya around, man."

"Nice to meet you, too, Rick.  

"Well, I need a shower," I said.

"Me, too.  Tell me about the whirlpool," Jerry said.

"What about it," I asked.

"Well, is it clean," he asked.

"It's spotless.  They make you take a shower before you use it, and they use all the right disinfectant stuff.  It's safe, and it's great, too.  I'm thinking I'm going to use it myself tonight," I said.

"I'll join you, if you don't mind," he said.

"Glad for the company," I said.

I slipped off my shorts, shirt, and shoes and put them into my locker.  I got out a towel for after the whirlpool, but I didn't bother putting it around my waist.  I was all sweaty, and I didn't want to get sweat on my towel before I needed to use it.  Jerry must have had the same idea, and he and I walked naked into the shower room.  He stood at the shower head next to me, sort of facing me.

I knew Jerry was checking me out, but I didn't mind.  We were naked around the boys a good bit when we swam at Kyle's house, and I didn't have anything to be ashamed of.  I don't like to talk in the shower because it's hard to hear what the other guy is saying, so we both just went about our business of getting clean.

After the shower, we went into the next room where the whirlpool was.  It was empty, and we lowered ourselves in.  Jerry wasn't right on top of me, but he wasn't across the pool from me, either.  

I groaned as I was getting in the water.

"Feels good, doesn't it," he said.

"Yeah.  My ass has been sore as hell since the weekend, and this hot water really feels good," I said.

He looked at me funny.  "Oh," he asked, sort of raising an eyebrow.

"I went horseback riding with my little brother Saturday, and, like a fool, I let him trick me into galloping a lot and even jumping hedges.  I'm not very good at that to start with, and I hadn't ridden in years.  All that pounding on the saddle bruised me up some," I said.

"The hot water should fix you right up," he said.

"Yeah."

I closed my eyes and let my head fall back to rest on the rim of the whirlpool.  The water felt so good, and I was tired.  I started to drift off, a little.  I thought while it was happening that I couldn't let myself go to sleep in that water.  It was like in class or in church or in boring meetings.  I wasn't really asleep in the technical sense, but I wasn't really fully conscious either.

Kevin put his hand on my thigh, and that felt good, too.  He rubbed me a little there, and then he moved up to my penis.  He held it a few seconds, and I felt some stirring down there.  Why was Kevin doing that in a public place?  We never did stuff like that in public, I thought.

I sat up straight with a start.  

"Jerry, not that, okay," I said.

He pulled his hand away as fast as a gunshot.  "Rick, man.  I'm so sorry.  I totally misjudged you.  I didn't have any reason to think you were gay.  I don't know what got into me.  I am so sorry."  Jerry was panicking.

"Jerry.  Calm down.  No harm done.  I am gay, but I'm married," I said.

"You're gay, but you're married," he asked, somewhat in shock.

"Yeah.  I'm gay and I'm married.  To a guy," I said.

 "Rick, I don't know how to apologize for what I did.  It was stupid of me, and way out of character, I can assure you," he said.  I knew he was embarrassed, and I felt sorry for him.  He seemed like a really decent guy, and I hated it that he had to resort to that sort of thing.

"There's no need to apologize, man," I said.  "After two weeks, you're just horny as hell.  I can understand that."

"Two weeks?  Try six months, but that's still no excuse.  I should be able to control myself, and I didn't."

"I thought maybe we could be friends, but if you're going to beat yourself up about that every time I'm around you, I don't know...."

"I would like for us to be friends very much.  I need friends desperately, and not for sex.  Just for friendship," he said.

"Kevin and I--he's my partner, my husband--have a lot of friends, and some of them are gay.  I think everybody's in a relationship right now, but we're just a bunch of guys who hang out together, go swimming, watch games, go to movies, go out to eat.  One guy's got this humongous boat, and we go out on that.  We go camping.  We just do things friends do together."

"That sounds wonderful," he said.  

"Kevin is usually my workout partner.  You can meet him next time you both make it here at the same time.  I've had about all of this hot water I can stand.  I'll see ya soon," I said, and I got out of the whirlpool.

I took another quick shower to wash the whirlpool water off, and then I got dressed and left.

 

Kevin was already home when I got there.

"Hi," I said, and then kissed him.  "You're home earlier than I thought you would be."

He hadn't really had to work that night, but he wanted to.  One of our big hotels was hosting a government conference, and he had gone to their food function that night to make sure everything was done according to his standards.  He had been the Events Coordinator at his hotel before he'd gone into sales, and he wanted to make sure personally that the staff at that hotel did things the way he wanted them done.

"Hi.  Yeah, the staff at that place is great," he said.

"You mean you didn't find anything to get on to them about," I asked.

"Of course I did, but it was really very minor stuff.  I've got a meeting with their Events lady tomorrow morning, but I congratulated her on a job well done before I left tonight."

"That was considerate of you.  Where are the kids?"

"Tim and Kyle are at Kyle's house, I think.  Justin's at class, and then he was going to spend the night at Jason's so they could study together," Kev said.

"Study together, or study each other," I asked.

He laughed.  "I think we both know what the answer to that question is."

I went back to our bedroom and stripped down to my briefs.  Back in the den, I went through the mail.

"Do you want me to make you a snack," he asked.

"Thanks, but I stopped on the way home and got a waffle cone of yogurt," I said.

"Was it sugar-free yogurt," he asked.

"Yeah.  Sugar-free and fat-free, supposedly," I said.

"Well, you better get over here, boy, and let me give you some of that sugar you missed out on tonight," he said.

The way he said that was so cute that I got all warm inside.  We got into our usual position on the sofa.  He wrapped his arms around me, and then he engulfed my legs with his.  I felt completely relaxed and at ease at that moment.  Being held by Kevin was what I imagined being held by God would be like.

"Did anything unusual happen at work today," he asked.

"Nothing at work, but something unusual happened at the gym tonight," I said.

"Nothing unusual ever happens at the gym when I'm there, except that now and then I can actually do all the exercises you force me to do," he said.

"Very funny," I said.  "What happened tonight wouldn't have happened if you had been there."  I told him the full story of Jerry.

"It sounds like you handled it well.  At least he wasn't embarrassed.  I know how much you hate for people to be embarrassed."

"Oh, he had to have been embarrassed," I said.  "How could he not be?  I hope we can get to be friends with him, though.  He's really a nice guy, and very needy."

"Well, we'll see."

We didn't really talk after that, but we communicated a great deal on the tactile level.  When we got in bed around ten, we were so hot for one another we almost set the bed on fire.

 

The next day around three o'clock, Kevin opened the door to my office while he was saying "Knock, knock."

"Hey, Babe.  What's up."  

Kevin and I each had a suite of offices on the fifth floor of the six-story Goodson Building.  We each had corner offices with huge expanses of glass overlooking the Gulf of Mexico on two sides.  Even though we were just down the hall from one another, we didn't have many reasons to see one another during the work day, except for social calls like that one.  Gene's office, on the top floor, was obscenely large, and he even had a "nap room," a kitchen, and facilities to serve dinner to about twenty people.  Our workplace was first class by anybody's standards.

"I needed a break," he said.  "I've been working on the consolidated sales force thing, and I couldn't take another minute of it."

About a week after we went to work for Gene, Kevin had a bright idea that Gene thought was brilliant.  There were eleven hospitality properties in the company.  Four of them were very large franchises of international hotel chains, and they pretty much ran themselves.  They each had a full sales force, and they were all profitable.  The other seven, though, were another story.  They ranged in size from 250 rooms down to the little fifty-room motel where Tim, Kyle, and Justin had worked during the summer.  There was a sales person here, two sales people there, and none of them communicated with each other or worked together.  At the two smallest ones, the GM's handled whatever sales work was done.  Kevin's idea had been to create one sales force for all of the smaller properties.

"How did the meeting go with the Events lady from last night," I asked.

"Great.  She had a longer list of picky shit than I did," he said.

We both laughed.

"What have you been doing," he asked me.

"The inventory system, of course," I said.

My bright idea, which Gene also loved, had to do with our inventory system, which was really a system in name only.  We had a warehouse that stocked everything we sold in the gift shops.  One of the problems was that there was no control of which "Goodson" took what out of it.  Kyle, his brother Clay, Rita and Gene Goodson, Kevin and I, the Goodson boyfriends, and God alone knew who else, had free run of the place.  Kyle supplied cigarettes to all the smokers in our family circle from there, and the boys were encouraged by Gene to "shop" there any time they needed something that we had in stock.  I had absolutely no problem with that, if that's how Gene wanted to run his business.  I did, however, have a problem with no record of any of that being kept.  I also figured out pretty early on that shoplifters were robbing us blind in the gift shops.  That was both an inventory problem and a security problem, and I was working on solving that, too.  I already knew I was going to have to fire some shop managers over that, and I was in the process of building air-tight cases against them.

"Let's go get some coffee.  You want to," he asked.

"That sounds good," I said.

The first two floors of the Goodson Building were retail establishments.  Together they constituted just one of the sixteen places I was in charge of.  There was a famous-name coffee shop on the ground floor, and that's where we went.

There weren't very many people in there when we went in, and we got a table on the covered deck in back that overlooked the beach and the Gulf.  A very, very cute waiter, probably a college student, took our order, and he had it there in remarkably quick time.  We fixed our coffee the way we liked it, and Kevin lit a cigarette after he took a sip of his.

"Monte called me a little while ago," Kevin said.

"Oh, yeah?  What's Mont up to?  If he wants us to go out on the boat, then my answer is 'yes.'"

"No, it's not that," Kev said.  "Terry found out at work late yesterday afternoon that he has to go to the far east.  He leaves Saturday."

"Jesus Christ!  What's going on over there," I asked.

"Mont doesn't know.  He said that if Terry knows, he can't even tell him.  It's some kind of top secret government stuff, though."

"Jesus, so little notice.  Was Mont devastated," I asked.

"He was actually calmer than I thought he would be.  He said they've always known that it could happen this way.  It sort of reminded me of George Murphy having to go to war with almost no notice."

"How does Ter feel about it," I asked.

"We didn't really talk about that, but I guess he's as good with it as Mont is.  Ter won't be in any danger, though, and that's a blessing," he said.

"I'll bet this is all related to the World Trade Center thing, don't you," I asked.

"I don't know.  Probably.  Mont wanted to know if we can all get together for a kind of send-off dinner for Ter Thursday night," he said.

"What did you tell him," I asked.

"I told him you have a meeting of the running club on Thursday nights that you usually go to," he said.

"Kevin!  They're our best friends, man.  I wouldn't miss that dinner for anything, much less some boring-ass running meeting."

"And then I told him we'd be there," he said.

"You shithead!  That is the perfect name for you.  Ed and Craig knew exactly who you were when they gave you that nickname, you little shithead."  I was laughing, and he was, too.

"Would you gentlemen care for a refill," the waiter asked.  He had no idea who we were, and that was just fine.  We said we would.

"He's cute," Kevin said.

"I know.  I audition all the male wait staff personally.  It's just part of my job," I said.

"Audition?  I'm going to audition your ass tonight, buddy."  He was laughing and could hardly talk.

 

"I've got class tomorrow night.  You want me to miss class to go to some stupid dinner," Justin demanded.

"Monte and Terry are our best friends, Jus," Kevin said.

"So?  They're not my best friends," he said.

"Bubba, they're your friends," Tim said.  "Haven't you had fun on their boat?  Don't you like 'em?"

"Yeah, I know they're my friends, and, yeah, I've had fun on their boat, and yeah, I like 'em.  But they don't run my life," Justin said.

"What do you owe a friend, Jus," Kevin asked.

"I don't know.  You tell me I've got to be in class every night, and then you tell me I have to miss class so I can go to a party.  You tell me, Kevin."

Kyle had been quiet up till then, but I knew he was about to speak up.

"Why are you being a butt-hole about this," Kyle asked.

"This is none of your fucking business, Kyle, so shut the fuck up," Justin said.  He was angry.

"Yeah, it is my fucking business, Davis.  We're a family.  We're all the fucking family you've got, dude.  You don't give a shit about that class tomorrow night, and you fucking know it."

"I said mind your own fucking business, man.  And I meant it," Justin said.

"Are you calling me out, dude?  'Cause if you're calling me out, I'm ready.  Right now, man," Kyle said.  

"Who?  You and these three fruits?"

"Jesus Christ!  I ain't fucking believing you, dude," Kyle said.  "Back yard.  Right now.  You and me.  They stay inside.  Let's go."

Kyle stood up and started storming out, and Justin was right behind him.  I got up and blocked their way.

"Sit down.  Both of you," I said.  "What the fuck are y'all doing?"

There was silence.

"Kyle, I knew you were going to say what you said, and I think you're right about Justin needing to be there.  But did you really think he'd want to go just because you beat him up, assuming you could beat him up?"

"No."

"Justin, what's up with you, man?  You've missed class before for concerts and I don't know what all.  This isn't about missing class.  What's it about, Jus?"

He didn't say anything.

"Jus," I asked.

"I had a very bad day today, okay?.  Jason told me he didn't want us to be boyfriends anymore.  He told me he didn't think we were right anymore.  How could he do that?"  Justin started crying.

Kyle did something that made me so proud of him.  He went over to his brother and hugged him.  He had wanted to take Justin out minutes before, and there he was, consoling him and comforting him.  What a kid, I thought.

"We didn't know, Bubba," Kyle said.  "We didn't know."

"All I ever did was love him, Kyle," Justin said.  "He was the first person I ever loved, and you fixed us up.  Please don't be mad at me.  Please let me still be your brother."

"You will always be my brother, Jus," Kyle said.  Kyle was crying then, too.  "We'll all be brothers forever."

 

The next night, Tim, Kyle, and Justin all rode with Kevin and me in my truck.  Kyle and Tim had slept in Justin's room the night before, but I knew there hadn't been any sex among them.  They had wanted to comfort Justin, and, from his attitude, they had succeeded.

"I think you're going to get a nice waiter tonight, Jus," Tim said.

"I guess that could happen if I give him the right tip," Justin said.

"Oh, God, that was bad, Jus," Kevin said, but we all laughed anyway.

"I know," Kyle said.  "You can be Chad's date."

"I'd rather be your sister's date," Jus said.

We laughed.

"I don't got a sister," Kyle said.

"Do you think Chad is your brother?"

The boys laughed.

"Hey, what is this," Kevin asked.  "Put down Chad night?  We expect better of you guys than that."

"Yes, sir," Kyle said.  "We're sorry."

I thought about the fact that Kyle could be both our son and our boss in a heartbeat, if something happened to Gene and Rita.  He knew all of that, and he was smart enough to understand the implications of it, but it didn't affect him in the least.  Kevin and I were his parents, as far as he was concerned, his big brothers, at least, and he was content with that.

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