Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2019 00:10:52 -0400 From: RJ Subject: Little Me, Chapter 9 Little Me by RJ This fiction involves the sexual relationship between an adult and a minor -- specifically an uncle and his young nephew. Shout-out to a couple readers who offered inspiration and motivation. Thanks, gentlemen! If you have any questions or comments about this piece, want to know about any of my other works, or just want to reach out, please don't hesitate to email me. A list of my works, including links and descriptions, can be found here: https://bit.ly/2S5IYDI If you would like to be added to a mailing list to receive emails when my stories are updated, let me know which stories (if not all) you would like to receive emails for. Please also consider donating to Nifty if you can: http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html ~ CHAPTER 9 ~ "How's this look?" When I glance over, Eli's poking his butt out towards me slightly to show off the new briefs I bought him. And they were well-worth every penny. Those Batman undies are so snug that it's almost like a second skin from the back. "They fit okay?" I ask, smiling. "They're a little tight," he admits, turning around towards me. And now I get a view of the front, his bulge reduced to a smooth mound because of the briefs -- white with the Batman signal printed all around the fabric. "Do you like them?" he asks me. I clear my throat. "Um. Yeah. I like 'em," I say. He doesn't seem to notice just how much I like them, though. "There's no mirror in here," he says, looking around the guest room. "I wanna see how I look." "Just go back to the bathroom," I say, gesturing towards the door. It's right down the hallway. But he makes a face. "It still smells in there." I laugh a little, remembering how he came into my room to change instead because his dad had just used the toilet. Then he gets that twinkle in his eye when an idea passes through his brain. "Take a picture!" "A picture?" "Of me!" he says, smiling. "And then show me." "Alright." I dig my phone out of my pocket, flipping it open and opening up the camera before focusing it on Eli. He stands there awkwardly at first. "Should I pose or something?" I laugh. "Just be yourself. And smile. You're cute when you smile." When I compliment him, he gives me a big, natural grin and I snap the picture before he looks away. "There we go," I say, chuckling and pulling up the photo before handing him my phone. "Whatcha think?" "They look okay," he says, studying the picture. "Just okay?" He shrugs before giving me back my phone. "But I like that you like them." Then he turns around. "Take one of my butt." My cock twitches ever so slightly in my shorts but I ignore it, biting my lip as I kneel down and get a good angle of Eli's brief-clad ass to ensure that I get a good amount of plumpness in there. I take a second one that also has my hand in it, gripping his bottom right before he pulls away with a laugh. When I show him the pictures, he seems to approve of his backside a little more, hitting me with an adorable smile before handing me the phone. I think about deleting the pictures, but... I snap my cell closed and pocket it. I let Eli finish getting dressed in my room before we head back downstairs. We've been at my parents' house all day (along with Tanya, Wes, and the baby) as a way to relax amongst family. After all, my parents are quite well off. Their home is a large one attempting to be modest, fully equipped with two guest rooms, a game room (that my dad uses a lot for gambling), and an indoor pool. Eli and I spent a good amount of time in the pool this afternoon and only came upstairs to change into regular clothes. That's when I requested he try on the new undies I bought for him earlier that day, when we went shopping. And now I get to enjoy that image in my brain for the rest of the evening. We head into kitchen where Tanya and my mom are chatting away. "There you two are!" Tanya says, smiling at us when we walk in. "Dinner's almost ready." Eli, ever the affectionate one, gives his mom a hug, and she laughs and inhales his hair a bit. "You smell like the pool." "Uncle Leo and I swam for a while," he says. "Just make sure you shower before bed, okay?" she says, stroking his hair. "I will," he says before turning his attention to my mom, who's fussing over a garden salad for dinner. "Is there any food, Nana?" he asks, his new term for my mom. She wore him down enough to get him to finally start calling her that. Thinks it's sweeter than plain old "Grandma". She chuckles. "Want some fruit?" She offers him some grapes and pineapple from a separate bowl. Eagerly, he grabs a couple of each and pops them in his mouth, chewing gratefully. "How about you help Nana with the salad?" she asks. "Okay!" he says, smiling and wiping his hands on his shorts before my mom directs him on what vegetables to cut. While they're busy, Tanya turns to me and smiles, in the middle of slicing fresh-baked bread. "So I got a nice call from Ruth just a while ago," Tanya says to me. "Oh yeah?" I ask. "How's she doing?" "She's doing well," she says with a nod. "She says hello." "To me?" "Specifically, yes." She gives me an intrigued, knowing look. I try not to smile. "Well, tell her I said hi back." "I will," she says. Then: "Something I should know about?" I laugh. "Oh, no. Nothing like that." "Mhm," she says, unconvinced. "I'm serious," I say, grinning. "We're just friends, I suppose." "'Friends', he says." But she chuckles. "It's fine. I won't push it. Especially in front of..." And she cocks her head towards my mother. "Yeah, please spare me," I say, laughing. My mom still has a habit of making a point to ask me about my romantic endeavors (of which there are none). How many more times will I have to hear her say "You're not getting any younger, Leo" while giving me side-eye? "Did Ruth say something to you?" "Nothing obvious, no," she says, sprinkling herbs onto each slice of bread. "But she's easy-to-read. I've known her for a long time." I smile. "And?" She just gives me a look. "You know what I'm going to say." I laugh. I've figured Ruth has had a little crush on me, but she hasn't said anything. And neither have I. I'm content with sticking with innocent flirting, and if a time comes where she makes an actual advance, I'll deal with it then. But I'm not going out of my way to turn her down. I have a feeling Tanya knows that too, but she just hums when she finishes with the bread and drops the topic. "Help me set the table?" Once the salad is ready, Eli searches for Wesley and my father in the basement and calls them up for dinner. Thankfully, it's a relatively calm meal, especially since Elaine is sleeping in the other room. Even Wes and my father manage to maintain their indoor voices during the steady, sometimes overlapping conversations. We all have a fair few drinks, though (excluding Eli, of course). I think it's been so long since any of us have really relaxed that it's easy to keep the wine flowing. Even after dinner while we're having (mandatory) desert, there's a full glass by everyone's plate. Wes being wine-drunk is significantly different than when he gets drunk via hard liquor. He's much kinder, especially to Tanya. Strangely enough, they're being extremely affectionate. Touchy, even. It's surprising to see since I haven't noticed such behavior, especially since the baby was born. And I know from Wesley that they haven't had sex in quite a long time. But at the rate things are going now, I can't imagine they'll be keeping their hands off each other tonight. After spending a couple hours talking at the table, we're all tired and tipsy (or drunk) enough to want to hunker down for the night. Just as we discuss turning in, there's a crack of thunder that rolls through the house. Eli immediately looks panicked. "Is it gonna storm?" "Tomorrow, I thought," my mom says, looking to my dad for confirmation. She was wrong though. Another crack of thunder and Eli practically sprints to his mom's side. Tanya hugs him a bit to calm him down. "It's alright, Eli." I look over at Wes and see him rolling his eyes. "Guess it might storm," my mom says, starting to clear away our empty wine glasses. "And I have to stay down here?" Eli asks, sounding horrified by the prospect of being alone. The plan was for him to sleep on the living room couch after all. There are only two guest rooms, and upon our arrival, my mom had set everything up already: one room for me, and one for Wes and Tanya and the baby. Tanya bites her lip. "Um..." She glances back at Wesley, who looks pained at the possible suggestion. I know what she wants to say to Eli. That he can sleep with them like he usually does when there's a storm during the night. But I also guarantee that they want to have sex tonight for the first time in... how many months? It's evident by how handsy they've been with each other all night. "You can handle it," Wesley says to his son. But Eli thinks otherwise. "No way." "You're gonna have to buck up eventually, kid," Wes says irritably. Tanya sighs, rubbing her forehead. Her eyes flicker towards me, probably by accident, but it gives her an idea. "Why don't you sleep with Uncle Leo?" she asks, and then she turns her head in my direction. "Is that okay?" "Me?" I ask, surprised. They both know it's just one bed... right? "Um. I don't mind." I look at Eli. "That okay with you, bud?" He grins a bit, totally relieved for a moment. "Yeah." Then there's some lightning, followed by heavy thunder, and his frown returns to his face as he scans the ceiling. "You sure that's a good idea?" Wesley asks Tanya in an attempted low voice. I can hear him crystal-clear though. And I'm sure Eli can too. "He'll behave," Tanya says. He'll behave? They must be talking about Eli. I get flashbacks to Wesley freaking out when he caught Eli messing around with my morning wood. He must still be worried that Eli will try something. And my suspicions are confirmed once we all start to make our way upstairs. While my parents clean up, Tanya takes Eli upstairs to grab pajamas and direct him towards the shower, and before I can follow, Wes pulls me aside. "Eli hasn't tried to touch you again or anything, right?" he asks in a low voice, staring right at me. "No," I say. "We talked about it." "So he's good?" "I think so," I say, feeling nervous under such an intent gaze. But thankfully, Wes seems satisfied. He nods, lets go of my arm, and starts to head upstairs. "Good. But you'll tell me if he does anything," he says as a statement and not as a question. Whatever, Wes. I follow him up the stairs before he turns into his room where Tanya is waiting for him. My room is right next door, so I head in and immediately start undressing, eager to get into bed. I'm suddenly so tired that I don't think I have even the energy to walk down the hall to brush my teeth. Pretty sure Eli is in the shower already anyway, and I'm not about to risk popping in on him with my whole family in the vicinity. So, as the storm rages on outside, I strip down to my boxers, climb into bed, and practically collapse, feeling a headache coming on from all the wine. I don't know how much time passes, but I'm half asleep when Eli comes barging in. I hear the door shut and the thud of a backpack, followed by the rapid pitter-patter of his footsteps before he jumps onto the bed, half-landing on me. I grunt and laugh. "Easy." "Sorry," he says, chuckling in my ear before he rolls off me. I hear him take his glasses off and set them on the nightstand, and when I turn my head towards him, I see that he's just in those undies I got him. I may be tired, but that sight (even in the dim lighting) is making my cock wake up just a little bit. "Mom said I could sleep in your bed as long as I behave." I laugh. "Behave, huh? And are you gonna behave?" "No," he says, smiling. "Well you should. Your parents are right next door," I say, pointing to the wall right behind to our heads. He glances at the wall before looking at me. "Can they hear us?" "Not if we're quiet," I say in a soft voice. Especially because they're probably about to get it on. But regardless, the rain is pretty substantial so it'd probably drown out anything we're saying. Or doing... "Then let's be quiet," he says, biting his lip. I laugh softly. "I don't know, buddy. I've got a headache." "Aw," he says, sounding disappointed. He reaches over and puts his hand on my forehead. "You're warm." "That's the alcohol." "Yuck," he says, giggling slightly before looking at me. "Can we cuddle at least?" I smile. "Sure." I pull the blanket off me a bit to give him room to climb in. "Get that cute butt of yours under here." He eagerly accepts, sliding under the blankets and cozying up to me. He rests his head against my chest, and I can feel that his hair is still wet. As he gets comfortable and I completely relax, we stay quiet for a bit, my hand absentmindedly stroking his skin. Eventually, he speaks up. "I'm not tired." This boy. "Not even a little?" "Nope." I sigh through my nose, knowing where he's going with this. "We can't have sex right now, Eli." "I know," he says in a small voice. I feel bad because I know he wants to. I offer up a mild compromise, still wanting to give him attention. "We can talk for a bit, though." "Okay," he says. "About what?" "I don't know," I say with a laugh. "What about the science fair?" "I told you, it's a secret," he says, and I grin. Ever since Eli signed up to compete in the state-wide science fair, he's been hitting the books and busying himself with some secret project. He doesn't want any of our help, including his parents. "I'm not asking about the project," I clarify. "I just wanna know if you're ready." The fair's in just a few days, after all. "I think so," he says, though he sounds unsure. "You excited?" "I'm nervous," he admits. "What if I don't win?" I smile, stroking his back. "It's not about winning, kiddo." "What's it about, then?" I think on it for a moment. "It's about learning. And teaching. You're learning something, right?" I ask. "Yeah." "If you're learning something, that's enough of a win. And if your project teaches someone something, that's even better." He nods against my chest in understanding. "Winning would be cool though," he says. I laugh. "Yes, winning would be pretty cool." He turns his face to look up at me. "You're coming, right?" "Of course I am," I say with a smile. "We'll all be there." He smiles brightly. "Good." Then his eyes shift to my lips, and before I can stop him, he leans up and kisses me quickly. "Hey," I say, unable to not smile. "I thought you told your mom you'd behave." He shrugs. "I lied." "Bad boy," I tease, keeping a tighter hold on him. He giggles a bit more before shimmying out of my grip and shifting on top of me, resting his full body across mine. I arch my eyebrow as he just looks at me with a little grin on his face. "What?" "Nothin'," he says, smiling still. "You've got that 'I'm up to something' look on your face," I point out. "No I don't," he says innocently enough. "Yeah you do, mister," I say with a chuckle. "I'm an angel," he says. Of course, as he says it, I feel his hand slide between us, resting right on my crotch as he gropes for my cock. I grunt. "Eli--" "I wanna have sex," he says, feeling me up. No surprise that my dick is responding to his familiar caress. "Buddy, your parents are right--" "Can I try doing you?" I pause, surprised. "Doing me?" "Yeah, in YOUR butt." I laugh. "You wanna fuck me?" But he just looks confused. "Why's that funny?" "It's not," I say, clearing my throat. It's funny to me just because I've never even thought of that as a possibility. He's bound to be curious, though, seeing how much I enjoy putting my dick in him. But he's never mentioned it before. I guess it just caught me off guard. "You really want to?" He nods a couple times. What would that be like, I wonder? Little Eli trying to pound one out in me. It probably wouldn't hurt more than a finger or two would, which is the most I've ever had up my ass anyway. "Not tonight," I say after considering it. He looks disappointed. "Why not?" "Because I haven't showered or anything," I say. If we're going to do that, I need to be clean. "But I promise I'll let you someday. Maybe when we have more privacy," I add with a chuckle. "Okay," he says, accepting the compromise. Then: "Can you fuck me then?" he asks sweetly. "You don't give up, do you?" I mutter. "What? I showered and everything," he says, hitting me with that winning smile of his. "What about the privacy?" "You said we can be quiet," he points out. I sigh through my nose. "We don't even have, y'know, lube or any--" "Yeah we do," he says, pushing off of me and sliding out of bed as if in a hurry. He rushes over to his bag that he left by the door and, after rummaging through it for a few seconds, comes scurrying back to me. I take the bottle that he offers me and examine it. Sure enough, he brought the lube I gave him. "Have you been planning this?" I ask with an amused smile. "No," he says. "But I had it just in case." "Perv," I murmur, and he laughs a bit as he reinserts himself under the covers with me. "Is that a yes?" he asks playfully as his hand goes right back down my body, his fingers searching for my cock through my boxers. I just look at him smiling at me. "Yes?" he repeats when I don't respond. And instead of waiting for me to say something, he starts sliding himself completely under the covers and disappearing from my sight. "Where are you going?" I ask. "In here," he says, shuffling around under the blanket. I feel him nudging my thighs to open my legs a bit more, and I swallow thickly in anticipation. I can feel his fingers slide up the leg of my boxers and then find their way around my shaft. I inhale sharply. This fucking kid. I can't deny my dick enjoys the attention. It starts stiffening more as he grips and strokes it slowly, and after he shifts around a bit more, I feel an addition: his mouth. He rubs his face into my crotch before mouthing along the outline of my cock, and I moan softly. Part of me wants to pull back the covers and watch, but I resist and let him do his own thing. It takes him a few moments to fish my cock out from the fly of my boxers, but when he does, he immediately wraps those precious lips of his around the knob and starts sucking slowly. I exhale deeply, licking my lips while letting him go at it, his hand gently holding me in place. I never get tired of this. Mostly because he seems to get a teensy bit better at giving head every time we do it. He's more careful with his tongue and teeth especially, and he likes to fit as much in his mouth as he can without choking when he's not just casually sucking on the head like a lollipop. In a way, I'm proud of his progress. And happy that I get to reap the benefits of his exploration. I feel him slobbering on me for a bit longer before he pulls off, and I hear him taking a deep breath after presumably swallowing the spit that had accumulated in his mouth. He pants for a bit, just loosely jerking me off. After catching his breath, he gives me a few more long licks and then kisses the tip of my cock before sliding up and poking his head out from the covers. He smiles at me. "Hi." I snort a bit before Eli sits up and grabs the lube out of my hand. "Hey!" I say, trying to snatch it back. "I wanna," he says, holding the bottle out of reach. Not that I'm trying terribly hard to get it back. He looks down at me with such intense desire that I can't resist. How can I possibly say no to him right now? I swear under my breath before snapping my fingers, gesturing for him to give me the lube back. "Let me do it," I mutter. He looks surprised. "Really?" "Yes. Give it here," I say with a slight smile. He giggles a little, giving me the bottle. I rub his thigh gently and have him give me a few kisses before I tell him to turn around. He lifts himself up and spins 180 degrees, sitting squarely on my chest. I lick my lips a bit, his butt looking particularly delicious in his undies. I reach forward to rub my fingers through his crack, and he lets out a quiet little gasp when I tease his hole. "No making too much noise, got it?" I say. "Got it." "Good boy." I set the lube down for now. I want a quick taste, so I reach forward and very slowly peel his underwear off his cheeks. "Stick your butt out more," I tell him, and as he does so, I'm treated to the perfect slow reveal, his shapely, pearly-white cheeks making my dick twitch and throb. Once I get the waistband under his ass, I squeeze each cheek playfully, spreading them a few times to get glimpses of what's waiting for me in between. It's still relatively dim in here, so I can't discern his hole -- but I can feel it when I slide my thumb in between and rub it gently. Eli responds with soft mewls, pushing back against me as his way of asking for more. So I give him a little more. I grab his hips and pull his little ass closer to my face before I kiss the small of his back and then work my way lower. Once I get to his hole, I hold him in place and give him long swipes of my tongue. I can feel his pecker poking my chest as he tries to grind against me, but I'm focused on his hole right now, giving him the best treatment possible. I keep it slow and am persistent with my tongue, gliding in circles around his pucker before trying to dip my tongue into him. He tastes so fucking good. A little like soap, but there's plenty of his boyish taste for me to get boned over. But soon, we're both eager to get to the main event. And honestly, I'm still pretty tired and dizzy from the wine, so I want to get to it. I pull back and catch my breath while grabbing the lube beside me and coating my fingers with it. After some light touching and fingering, Eli's clearly antsy to hop on my cock. So I let him. He does the honors and lubes me up almost meticulously, making sure each inch of me has a nice coating of the slick liquid on it before hovering over my lap with his back to me. He struggles to get it in from this position, so I hold it up for him while he lowers himself onto me, keeping a grip on him so that he doesn't slip. Both of us let out soft moans when he sinks down on the head. I rub his back gently as he takes me lower, and lower, and lower. When he gets especially deep, he hisses, pulling off just a hair until he gets used to the sensation. I encourage him with soft praise and gentle touches until, finally, I'm all the way inside him. His cheeks press nicely into my crotch, and I moan at the sight. Fuck, Eli. You're a Godsend. I hold his hips and grind into him a bit, keeping myself deep and enjoying the tight warmth of my nephew before he starts to move. It's hard for him to find a good rhythm like this, though. He tries leaning forward and resting his hands on my thighs, but he can do little more than move up and down an inch at a time. So I pull him back so that he's on top of me, spread his legs open with my knees, and take over the movement. He moans a bit as I start thrusting, and I remind him to keep it down while kissing his cheek gently as I work my hips. Eli reaches back to grip my hair as to hold onto something, and I let him. If anything, it encourages me to take things up a notch. I start thrusting a little faster. Harder. Lengthening my stride. I do it gradually, and once the bed starts to knock against the wall when I go too fast, I slow it down a bit, keeping things relatively smooth and gentle. Don't want to raise suspicion. I close my eyes and relish in his tightness. I know I'll never have a fuck as good as him. I'm almost certain of that. We're bonded too closely for anyone to ever compare to him. As I work my hips, I slide my hand slowly down his torso until it gets between his legs, and I wrap my fist tightly around his hard-on. He moans immediately and I have to cover his mouth with my other hand, letting him moan out into my palm. Feeling him throb in my grip as he lets out those muffled cries only brings me closer and closer to orgasm. It's such a blissfully gradual build that when it finally hits, it almost knocks me out. I clench my teeth and hold back my moans as best as I can before thrusting up into my nephew just a couple more times, my cock spurting cum into him. I exhale sharply as I finally start to unload, my hips twitching from the sensitivity as I fill him up before I can relax, totally drained of energy. After a few moments of me catching my breath, Eli moves my hand off his mouth and then proceeds to stroke himself. My hand had slipped from around his boy cock mid-orgasm and now just rests on his inner thigh. But I watch him masturbate from over his shoulder. I run my hand near his groin and, with my other hand, roam his chest. I bet I know exactly what face he's making: the face of concentration, with his tongue out as he bites down on it gently, intently focused. He works a little faster as my thumb nudges against his balls and my fingers tease around his nipple in circles. That sends him right over the edge. He grunts and whines before his cock spurts out a little bit of cum. I feel him tightening against my dick, semi-soft inside of him, and I swear my dick throbs and pushes out another few drops of cum into him. I should have pulled out since we're with family in the morning. But at the same time... I'm glad I didn't. Hope he's not too messy tomorrow. I kiss the side of his head when he rests against me, and then I hear him laugh tiredly as he raises his hand to look at the sticky mess of his fingers. Then he brings it to his face, gives it a cautious sniff, and then licks one of his fingers. He smacks his lips as if testing the flavor before saying "I like yours better." "Yeah?" I chuckle a bit. "Lemme taste." He reaches his hand back towards me and lets me suck on one of his fingers to get his boy load off it. I swallow, licking my lips slightly. I'm not sure how describe it. This strange, bittersweet flavor. I can't say I've tasted myself often enough to compare, though. Eli gets that privilege. "Not bad," I tell him. "Can we sleep like this?" he asks. I get what he's saying. I don't want to move either. And sleeping while still buried inside him would be incredibly intimate. "No, buddy," I tell him, giving his tummy a little rub. "We don't want to get caught, right?" He sighs. "Yeah," he says sadly. "C'mon," I say, patting his chest. "Get some clothes on and then come back to bed." "Only if you kiss me," he says cheekily. Even in this lighting I can see him grinning. "You're such a brat," I say before grabbing his face between my thumb and fingers tightly. He laughs before I plant my lips on his for a few seconds and then push him away. "Love you," he says with a giggle, and with a seemingly random burst of energy, he rolls off of me, hops out of bed, pulls up his underwear, and goes to where he dropped his backpack to grab his pajamas. I smile at him from the bed, giving my cock a tug before stuffing it back into my boxers. "Love you more." "No you don't," he says, picking up his shirt. He checks to see if it's in the right direction and then pulls it on over his head. "How would you know?" I challenge. "I just know, Uncle Eli," he says, smiling, and I smile broadly towards him as I watch him pull on his pants. He then climbs right back into bed with me, eager to cuddle. "Spoon, please." Not at all reluctant, I roll onto my side and pull him right up against me. "So demanding," I say, smiling. "G'night, you little bastard." I kiss the top of his head and give him an affectionate squeeze. "'Nighty," he says, taking my hand and guiding it between his legs again, right into his pants. I'm about to protest when I notice that he's not hard, nor is he grinding against my hand. He simply wants me to rest my hand against his private parts. I don't know whether or not to think it's weird or cute... A mix of both, I suppose, but I leave my hand there, close my eyes, and fall asleep against him. I wasn't expecting such a high caliber of projects at a little sixth grade science fair. As I walk through the gymnasium where all these Massachusetts sixth graders are set up with their own booths, some of their projects jump out at me: making your own microscope with water, testing the "adverse" effects of oil spills, solar-powered radios... I was fully anticipating the classic paper mache volcano or something silly like that. But I'm impressed. Maybe I'm just unaware of what sixth graders are learning about or are capable of, but most if not all of the posters are really well done and surprisingly interesting topics. I scope out the area for Eli and find him more towards the center, clearly in the middle of explaining his project to an adult with a clipboard -- probably a judge. As I get closer, I smile when seeing Eli doesn't even notice me. He's completely focused on his presentation, so I turn my attention to his actual set-up. "The Importance of Iron." Something I notice right off the bat about Eli's project is that he went way more in-depth than his peers. He offers sufficient background on why iron is important for human health and the health risks (such as anemia) of not getting enough iron in your diet before he gets into the actual experiment. Pretty straightforward, it seems like: he tested what looks like twenty different cereals that are specifically popular among kids for their iron content, somehow extracting metallic iron from each cereal in a uniform way. There's even a snazzy-looking graph to go along with it. When the judge is done scoring Eli, Eli thanks her before glancing towards me. And I laugh when he recognizes who it is. "Uncle Leo!" he says with wide-eyed surprise, jumping forward and hugging me. I give him a decent hug but keep it appropriate. We're in public, after all. "Hey buddy!" "You came!" he says, smiling brightly when I have him pull back. "I didn't know if you were gonna show up." "I said I would, didn't I?" I say with a smile. "Yeah, but no one else did," he adds sadly. I sigh through my nose. I knew he'd be disappointed, but it's just how things played out. Elaine isn't really fit for travel health-wise, so Tanya had to take care of the baby. She's the only one with a real excuse, though. Wes claimed he had some work-related thing to take care of and couldn't take the day off, but I don't really buy it. And my parents are travelling yet again for real estate nonsense. So it's just me. But I don't want him to be upset that everyone else essentially bailed on him. This is his day, so I turn the attention towards his poster. "So tell me," I say, "which cereal's the healthiest?" He holds up his finger, putting on his smart-face. "Healthiest, or has the most iron?" I squint. "I don't know. Both?" "Raisin Bran had the most iron per serving," he says very officially, pointing to the highest point on his bar graph. "But I think Cheerios is heathier overall. And kids don't like Raisin Bran but they like Cheerios so it makes sense to focus on Cheerios." I snort a little. He could be a businessman with all these conclusions. "I like Raisin Bran," I tell him. "Yeah, but you're gross," he teases, reaching forward to pat my stomach. I laugh, slapping his hand away. "Least I get lots of iron." "But too much sugar," he warns, pointing to a little table comparing the nutritional facts of the top three cereals. "See?" "Dang, that's crazy," I say, surprised to see Raisin Bran has eighteen-times the amount of sugar as Cheerios. Maybe he has a point. "How did you test all this?" He shrugs. "Lots of research. I just tested the iron." "Okay, but how?" "It's easy," he says, straightening up his posture as if about to lecture me. I find it adorable. He tells me how he used a simple plastic bag filled with warm water to soak and/or dissolve the cereal in before running it over with a strong magnet. He shows me the magnet in front of his poster, and sure enough, there are plenty of little shavings on the end. "It took forever, though," he says, drawing out the word "forever." I chuckle. "I bet. Guess you learned some patience." "Patience is dumb," he says with a little grin. "'Patience is dumb'," I mock, and we stick our tongues out at each other before falling into a fit of giggles. I glance at his poster again, eyeing it over. "I'm really impressed, Eli." Even by the poster itself. He put his eye for art to good use and made a clean, respectable poster. He blushes but smiles. "Yeah?" "Your work ethic speaks for itself." He looks proud for a moment, then nervous. "Do you think I can win?" I laugh. "Didn't we talk about this?" I ask, crossing my arms across my chest. "Yeah, but I wanna win." "What's the prize anyway?" "A trip to San Diego." I almost laugh. "Seriously?" A trip across the damn country? Seems a little extravagant for a simple middle-school fair. But he nods. "There's a big science fair out there in December and we get to compete if we win." I guess that makes more sense, if the trip is to represent the state. San Diego, huh? Eli always said how he wanted me to take him to California. And I fully intended to someday, but if this is his chance, then I hope he wins. "Do YOU think you're gonna win?" I ask him. He just shrugs shyly. "C'mon. Lemme hear it." "I can win," he says, but in a miniscule, unconvincing voice. "Don't pussy out on me," I say, smiling. "Where's that confidence?" He takes a breath before saying "I can win." "What's that?" I tease. "I can't hear--" "I can win!" he says loudly, and a couple people turn to glance at his outburst, but I just laugh. "Atta boy," I say, messing with his hair. "You don't need me to tell you that." He smiles, smoothing out his hair before saying "Thanks." After taking a couple pictures of him in front of his poster to send to Tanya, I take a look around and scope out the competition. Dang, these kids are smart. I almost feel intimidated, in a weird way, but it's good to see. I know Eli at least will put his intelligence and curiosity for learning to good use -- and it makes me happy to see a bunch of kids on the same sort of trajectory. I return to Eli's booth after a while and mostly listen to him explain his project to people who seem interested. It's adorable watching him play teacher. He answers everyone's questions with the sureness of an expert, and sometimes offers up witty commentary that always gets people laughing (especially the women). I just grin. Eli knows he's cute. I can't fault him for using what he's got to his advantage. I know he uses it against me plenty. Soon, though, the judges have made their rounds and they tally up their scores before getting ready to announce the top three projects. An older gentleman (who I think is the principal) clears his throat in the mic, makes some sort of congratulatory announcement, and thanks us all for coming. He mentions the prizes again: monetary prizes (in the form of scholarships) for third and second place, and a trip to the EXPO in San Diego in December for first place. Then he says (in dramatic fashion) "And now, the moment we've all been waiting for -- it's time to reveal the winners!" Eli immediately grabs my hand tightly, and I can tell he's nervous. "You okay?" I ask gently. "I don't know," he says, glancing up at me. "Why do I feel scared?" I laugh a little. "What happened to that confidence?" "It died," he says, and I do my best to keep quiet. "In third place," the principal says, his eyes scanning the index card in his hand, "is Kelly Lipton, with 'Can Chewing Gum Make You Smarter?'" Aside from the girl's mother screaming in pride, everyone else tastefully claps as Kelly heads up to the stage to accept her medal and a little envelope. I remember her poster. Something about how chewing gum helps with test-taking. An interesting topic, but I didn't understand how she could effectively test that theory, especially since test-taking isn't exactly a fool-proof indicator of intelligence. "In second place," the principal says, squinting hard at the card, "is Joseph Kuznetsova, with 'Milk as Plastic'." The principal butchers the poor kid's last name, but everyone cheers loudly for Joseph. I thought his topic was the most impressive, honestly. His project was all about turning the protein in milk into a moldable plastic. He had samples of things he made, too. The drawback is that the kid is dull as fucking rocks. He's far too shy to be in an environment like this, and that's made apparent by how tentatively he walks up to the stage, accepts his prizes, and stands next to Kelly as if he wants to do nothing more than disappear. If someone more personable (like Eli) had done that project, or someone who could really sell it, they for sure would have won. I can feel Eli twitching next to me, and when I look down, he's moving his knees back and forth. I give his hand a little squeeze, and he looks up at me, smiles, and relaxes a little more. "And now, first place!" the principal says as if he's announcing Best Picture or something. He goes on and on, drawing out the moment and restating the prizes as if we don't already know. I'm willing to bet he was a drama student back in the day. There's something a little too theatrical about him, and it irritates me, so I practically tune him out. Until he announces what I want to hear. "Eli DiNicola, with 'The Importance of Iron!'" Both of us look at each other in surprise. It's not that I didn't think he could win. In fact, he probably won because he went so above and beyond just the simple experiment, and he's so friendly that he easily won some points in the charming department. But it's always a shock to hear that you've actually succeeded and met your goal. I know he was desperate to win, and now, it's actually happening for him. Eli's mouth splits into the most joyous grin I've seen on him and he gives me a deep, excited, quick hug before running off towards the stage. I laugh and cheer among the audience before quickly pulling my phone out and snapping pictures of Eli as he gets on stage. The little bastard even does a small bow towards the audience, and we all laugh while praising him. The principal has more words, but I ignore him, solely focused on my nephew. I feel such a warmth in my chest, especially when I see how giddy he is. He can barely stand still on stage. The pride I feel is almost overwhelming, and after a bit, my cheeks start to hurt from smiling so much. It takes some time to actually get out of there. Because I'm his "adult" for the day, one of the ladies who works in the office explains to me the actual prize. One round-trip ticket to San Diego for Eli along with an all-expense-paid two night hotel stay. The school couldn't afford more than one plane ticket, so that expense will have to be on Tanya and Wes. But at least the hotel (which is bound to be ridiculously expensive) is paid for. And the hotel is just a short walk to the actual convention center, so everything is convenient. I thank her and pocket the envelope before helping Eli pack up his poster and take him out for congratulatory ice cream. He's beaming the entire time, relishing in the feeling of all his hard work paying off. Now he knows how good it feels to put your best foot forward, and as long as he doesn't always do it for the reward, I'll be happy. When we get back to the house, Tanya's already overjoyed. I texted her the pictures earlier so that she wouldn't have to wait for the results. She screams and hugs her son to her tightly, laughing. "I'm so proud of you!" she says, hopping up and down with him and then kissing his face. He squirms and laughs, trying to get away from her. "My little superstar. Oh I wish I could have been there, honey." He blushes heavily but clearly enjoys the attention. "It's okay. I'm going to San Diego," he says. She blinks, laughing. "San Diego?" "There's a convention out there where he can show his poster and compete nationally or something," I tell her, pulling out the envelope. "He won a ticket and everything." "Wow," she says, taking the envelope and looking at some of the information before smiling at Eli. "That's amazing. You've always wanted to go to California." "I know!" he says excitedly, swaying on his feet. "Are you gonna come with me?" She smiles, but in a sad way that I don't think Eli could detect. She just reaches forward and strokes his hair. "We'll talk to your father when he gets home," she says. Eli doesn't seem to excited about that prospect, and neither do I. It just seems like a looming threat as we anticipate him returning home from work. He doesn't for a couple hours, and by the time he does, the three of us are in the kitchen while Tanya cooks and Elaine is sleeping soundly in her crib upstairs. He walks in with an already-exhausted expression on his face, saying hello Tanya and me. He kisses Tanya on the cheek before heading to the fridge to crack open a beer. "You want one?" he asks me. "I'm good," I say. "Have one with me." "I said I'm good, Wes," I insist, adding the slightest hint of an edge to my voice so he gets the point without getting too offended. "Fine," he says, kicking the fridge door closed with his foot, popping the cap, and taking a large swig. It's interesting to see how Wes has sort of fallen apart since I've returned home. Like it's been a gradual decline. More drinking and arguing, increased exponentially by the arrival of the baby. Maybe the timing was bad, since things were pretty rough at work for a while. But he needs to get it together. "Hi, Dad," Eli says from the table, trying to get his father's attention. He only just notices him. "Oh. Hey, bud." There's an awkward silence before Tanya whispers. "You gonna apologize to him for missing the fair?" He blinks. "Right. Sorry I couldn't make it," he says in a very insincere way. "It's okay," Eli says in a small voice. Another awkward silence before Tanya speaks up again. "Eli won, in case you were wondering." "He won?" Wes looks at me and when I nod, he laughs. She explains the prize to him, about the trip to California and the EXPO. "San Diego?" he says skeptically in response, and then he shakes his head. "Well I can't take him." Tanya immediately looks pissed. "Seriously? You're not even going to tell him how proud you are?" He just takes a swig of his beer again. "What? I'm just being realistic." "You're being an asshole," she says, and my eyes go a little wide. Tanya rarely swears unless she's really mad. And it's clear that she is, now. She's abandoned the stove, holding the wooden spoon in her hand and completely facing her husband with one hand on her hip. They must have already been on edge with each other for things to snap so quickly. "First of all, I didn't even want you to take him." He looks offended. "The fuck is that supposed to mean?" "You don't deserve to take him," she says. "Deserve--?!" "Second of all, why were you so quick to say no? It's not 'til after Christmas." "So?" Wes says, still looking equally-mad for being called out in front of his son and brother. "So, what, you're not taking ANY time off for the rest of the year?" "Why is this my responsibility?" he challenges. "He's your son, you f--" But she cuts herself off and takes a centering breath. "Because I have to take care of the baby, and God knows you won't--" "Oh for Christ's fuckin' sake--" "And Elaine can't travel so much, she's too weak for--" "You think I won't take care of the baby?" Wes demands, still hung up on her comment. She almost looks like she's going to laugh. "You really want to go there right now?" "Enlighten me, Tanya," he says angrily. "Tell me ALL about what a terrible father I am." "I don't want to have this argument with you right now," she says, turning back to the stove. "No, you fuckin' started it," Wes says, leaning towards her more. "And I'm finishing it," she says, and it's with such an icy tone paired with a fiery glare that I'm not surprised that Wesley steps back a bit. I feel my heart racing watching the two of them. And then Tanya says something else that really drives in the nail for Wes: "I want Leo to take him." Plain and simple and definitive. I wasn't sure I heard her correctly, but Wesley's reaction confirms it. He stares at me before rounding on her again. "You want LEO to take Eli across the fucking country?" But she's not hearing it. "You NEVER put your son first. Ever. Leo does, time and time again, picking up what YOU'VE been slacking on." She runs her fingers through her hair in an exasperated way before saying "Step the fuck up, Wesley." I'm shocked. I'm shocked that she went there with Wesley. Damn, Tanya. I had no idea you could be so harsh. But honestly, I sort of admire her a bit more for it. She's been much quicker to call Wesley out on his bullshit lately, and this has really been the peak of it. I wonder if her words had the intended effect: to sting. Because Wesley looks so affronted to have been compared to me like that. He accepts defeat, and all he does is leave the room, muttering angrily to himself. As soon as he leaves, the atmosphere feels lighter, like we can all breathe a little better. And when I make eye contact with Eli, I'm surprised to see that he's not hurt over the argument he just witness. He's smiling over at me. I come back from Subway equipped with two foot-longs: an Italian BMT for me and a veggie for Vince. I rarely ever bring myself a lunch to work, and Vince forgot to make his, so when it's close to noon, I take a quick drive to Subway to grab us each a sandwich and a soda. Terry was in the middle of showing Vince his "special foundation technique", so to save time, I went myself to get us some food. I was only gone for ten minutes, so by the time I return, Terry's done with his spiel. Vince smiles when I roll up, and after I step out of my truck, I beckon him over, laying out the sandwiches across the hood as if it was a table. "Enjoying yourself?" I ask when he gets close enough. "So far," he says with a chuckle, standing next to me. "Terry's pretty passionate about proper foundation." "You'll never hear the end of it," I say with a grin, sliding his sandwich over to him. Vince has been a great addition so far. He's a bit younger than the rest of us, so he brings that youthful energy to the group. And the guys I work with are a bit raunchy, but Vince seems to know how to play along easily enough. I knew he'd be a good fit. Now it's just a matter of seeing if he can follow through with the actual labor. Vince pulls his wallet out of his pocket. "How much do I owe you?" I wave him off. "It's on me," I say, unwrapping mine. "Oh c'mon, don't be like that," he says, opening his wallet and starting to pull out a few bills. As he does, a smaller piece of paper falls out and flutters to the ground. "Shit," he says. But I lean down to pick it up. When I have it in my fingers, I realize it's a photo. Just a candid, normal-looking picture of a normal-looking man. Average build, maybe a little on the beefy side. Salt-and-pepper hair. Tired expression, but he looks happy still, almost in a radiant, wholesome way. I stand back up straight, and when I look at Vince, I see that he's blushing slightly, glancing at the picture in my hand. That can only mean one thing... I hand it back to him and say "Here." "Thanks," he says, tucking it carefully back in his wallet before setting five-singles on the hood of my truck. After pocketing his wallet again, he starts to unwrap his sandwich. "That your stepdad?" I ask after a long pause, curious to know. He glances at me before nodding and saying "Yeah." We haven't talked much about all of that since that first time I went to his apartment, even though we've hung out a couple times. I think we keep waiting for each other to make the first move and break the ice again, because it's still such an intense, taboo topic to speak about aloud. "You see him recently?" I ask, taking a bite out of my sandwich. "'Bout a month ago," he says, shrugging. I know he's imprisoned about four hours from here. I looked it up. Quite a drive, especially just for a visit. "He doing okay?" Vince smiles. "Yeah, seems to be hangin' on. The visits help. Thanks for asking, man." I smile back before asking another question. "What about your mom? What's she up to?" His smile wavers a bit. "I don't know. I think she's out in Utah or something." "Utah?" I say, surprised. "Yeah. After I moved out we kinda just... drifted apart," he says, shrugging before starting to work on his sandwich. "Haven't talked to her in a few years now." "Damn, I'm sorry," I say. But he shakes his head. "Don't be. We've never really been that close, to be honest." "Not even when you were little?" He shakes his head again as he chews. "Nope. She was always kinda... I don't know... mean? To me AND my stepdad." He shrugs a bit. "I think that's why him and I got so close." "Being lumped together," I say. "Exactly. So we kinda just gravitated towards each other more." He takes a substantial bite out of his sandwich and mutters "This is good" before trying to swallow. "You kinda remind me of him, in a weird way." "I don't look anything like him," I point out. "No, not physically. Just, your energy, I guess," he says, trying to find the right words. "That calm, strong-and-silent sort of energy. Except he was a drinker." "Uh oh," I say skeptically. He laughs. "Not like that," he clarifies. "He wasn't, like, an alcoholic or anything. But he drank a lot when fights with my mom got real bad. But he's a nice kind of drunk. Was always way more affectionate after he drank." I arch my eyebrow as I watch Vince speak, slowly working on my sandwich. "Is that how... everything started?" Vince looks around, but the rest of the guys are still working on the house, way out of earshot. "Yeah," he says. "From what I remember, it started off pretty innocently. Cuddling, tickle fights, all that." Vince abandons his sandwich for the time being, telling his story with his hands as well. "But then it got more..." "Sexual?" "Kinda. Yeah." He explains how his stepdad's hand would sometimes wander between Vince's legs. Maybe he'd cop a quick feel and leave it at that for the night. Sometimes he'd grope him for a little longer until Vince got hard, and then he'd pull away. "And then the next day, he'd pull me aside and practically beg me not to tell anyone. Especially my mom. Every time it happened, after he'd sober up, he'd apologize like it was life or fuckin' death." Now that I have a visual image of his stepdad (that's not a mugshot), I can see it clearly. Upon looking at the photo, my first thought is "He seems like a sweet guy." I wonder if he has always had some attraction to his stepson and just felt guilty for acting on it when inebriated. "Of course I never told anybody," Vince continues. "And I always found it weird that he'd apologize because I didn't feel like he needed to. After a couple times, I wanted it to happen again, y'know?" I just nod, thinking of Eli. "I started to look forward to hearing my parents fight, 'cause I knew what would happen next. He'd drink, I'd visit him, we'd cuddle and mess around a bit and I'd try to get him to touch me again. I tried initiating things too. Like touching him instead. But he always shut me down. Took forever for him to let me reciprocate." As Vince returns to his sandwich, I get a flashing image of his six-year-old hand pawing at his stepdad's bulge. But I try my best to push that out of my head. Can't get horny at work. He must notice my expression though because he says "You okay? Too much?" I shake my head. "No, I'm just... picturing it in my head," I admit, feeling my face get hot. He just smiles. "Yeah, I understand." I swear his eyes quickly drift down towards my crotch, but it's so quick that I could have imagined it. I break open my soda and take a quick swig to cool off a bit before another curious question comes to mind. "So what was the deal with the tapes?" I ask. Vince laughs. "Apparently that was my idea," he says, shrugging. "He showed me porn and stuff pretty early on. I don't remember saying it, but he says I wanted to make a video of my own. 'I wanna be a movie star' or something like that." I can't help but laugh. "Wrong kind of movie star." "Hey, I didn't know any better," Vince says with a laugh. "But I guess that's kind of how the whole tapes thing started. He recorded everything, man. Even all my firsts." "Firsts?" "Yeah, like..." And then he drops his voice lower, counting off the list on his fingers. "First time I went down on him. First time he, you know, tried to fuck me. First time I had an orgasm. Firsts." "Must have been a lot of tapes," I say, imagining how many iterations of those he probably recorded. How many hours of footage is that? He shrugs. "It was a lot, yeah," he says, "but we didn't fool around that much. At least, not as much as I wanted to. Could only do it when my mom wasn't home. That was the rule." Still, I'm sure there are plenty. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to get my hands on those and see. My curiosity is at its most intense. Now I have this fantasy of breaking into the police station's evidence room and scooping up all the tapes I can nab. "Makes sense," I tell him. "I try to implement that rule, but..." And then I feel myself getting hot again. Admitting this shit about me and Eli out loud is intense. Vince chuckles. "No, I get it," he says. "I was your nephew once. We want what we want." Then he grabs his soda. "How's he doing, by the way?" "Good," I say with a smile. "He actually won the state science fair couple days ago." "No shit!" he says, looking impressed. "Yeah. Gets to go to California to compete nationally." "That's awesome!" he says, slapping my arm. "Tell him congrats." "I will." Eli is always happy to hear that people are proud of him. "What was the project?" "Iron in cereals. Or, the importance of iron, or something. Here," I say, pulling out my phone. "I took a few pictures at the event..." When I pull up the gallery, I show him the pictures of Eli that I took at the fair. As we scroll through the pictures, I briefly explain what Eli's experiment was as well as his conclusions. But I scroll a little too far. I forgot I had taken pictures of Eli in his underwear, and when I get to that set, my phone is lit up with a photo of my hand giving Eli's plump little bottom a squeeze. My instinct is to panic, and I swear under my breath, quickly scrolling back to the more appropriate fair pictures. "Sorry," I say, clearing my throat. I should have known Vince wouldn't care. He just chuckles. "It's okay," he says. Then: "Cute undies." I smile slightly, still feeling just a touch embarrassed. "Yeah, he, uh... he wears them well." Vince glances at me for a while before saying "I've been dying to hear more about you two, you know." I bite my lip a bit. "Yeah?" "He's a cutie," he says. "And you? Well... You know you're a stud. You two are a hot fuckin' match for a guy like me. I just don't wanna be pushy or anything." I don't get compliments like "stud" often, so it's kind of nice to hear, even from Vince, who knows I'm not necessarily attracted to men. "I appreciate that," I say, before pocketing my phone. "Maybe when we're not at work," I say with a laugh. "Yeah, for sure," he says. "You wanna come over later? We can... swap more stories. My roommate won't be home." I gulp. If we have the privacy, maybe we can be a little more explicit. "Yeah, I'm down," I say. He looks excited that I've accepted his offer. "Sweet," he says before going back to his sandwich. "So is the California thing happening soon?" "Not 'til December," I say, taking a swig of my soda. I burp slightly before adding "I'm actually taking him." He looks confused for a moment. "To California?" I nod. I haven't technically confirmed it with his parents since nothing was discussed after that argument, but I think Tanya knows that I'm on board. She might have elected me without talking it over with me, but of course I'm going to accept. Vince looks intrigued. "Damn. So, it's just gonna be you and him?" "Yep." "Wow. That'll be fun," he says with a knowing grin. "Bring a camera." He says it in a joking manner, but the thought sticks. Bring a camera? Maybe I'll take a leaf out of Vince's stepdad's book. If Eli and I are going to have an entire hotel room to ourselves, maybe putting a good camera to use won't be such a bad idea...