Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2023 20:16:53 -0700 From: Dave Subject: The Society Boys Part 197 The Society Boys By Connor Matthews This is a pop-up chapter. Not sure what that means exactly, but I'm sure something will pop-up during it. Please remember to donate to Nifty, every little bit helps. Mark the donation in your accounting software as therpay. Trust me, you'll get relief. Chapter 197 The problem with cliff-hangers is that you usually forget what the hell it was all about when they reveal the answer, or you just no longer care. I'm not that guy. I always want to know, or there's this big open file in my brain that clutters up the normally pristine organization in there. "Dad, is it okay if Sienna and some of her friends come over on Saturday?" Blake asked as he sat having breakfast. "No," I replied before Colin could. "No? How come?" "It's tit for tat, buddy." "Huh? You want to see her tits? Pretty sure that's not a problem." "No, it's a saying that means you do something for me, I do something for you." "So, she shows you her tits and you show her your tattoos?" he reasoned. "Huh?" "Tits for tats," he replied. "It's tit for tat, not tits for tats. It's probably some old sailor thing. Like they pull up into a foreign port all horny, with girls waiting. They're excited to see buff men from another country, so the girls ask to see the guys shirtless with their tattoos. The girls show their tits in return. Eventually the idea just became a generic tit for tat," I explained. Colin, who had been sitting silently beside us, just shook his head and laughed. "It's kinda scary how alike you two are. I have a headache from just listening to this conversation. The origin of the saying is nothing like. Seems most likely derived from Latin meaning this for that," he said holding up his phone and waving it. "So no tits?" Blake chuckled. "See Dad, you're just a pervert." I looked at both of them. "I'm not the one who brought it up." "So I can have Sienna and her friends over on Saturday? I'm pretty sure there'll be boobs to see." I rolled my eyes. It's like having a conversation at a mental asylum. "Blake, the idea was that I'll let you have Sienna and her friends over, if you tell me what happened between you, Jalen, and Sienna yesterday. Did it go as planned?" "Why the hell didn't you just ask that instead of going on about tits and tattoos?" He asked. "This is why boomers shouldn't run governments. You all beat around the bush with weird shit instead of just saying what you mean." He got up and put his dishes in the dishwasher, and grabbed his backpack off the floor beside his chair. "I've got diving after school, so I'll be late," he said as he kissed both of us on the cheek and went to leave. "Holy shit! Did Jalen get laid yesterday or not?" I asked bluntly. "No. We all got ready for sex, but when Sienna said she wanted to watch me suck his dick, he chickened out and said he wasn't ready. We let him watch us have sex and he was totally into it as he got hard. When Sienna reached out to take hold of it, he jumped back and ran to the bathroom. I think he came while he was in there. I have to work on him a bit more, but I think he'll do it. I have an idea. Wanna hear it?" "Why not. You'll just tell me anyway," I shrugged. "Now, you're getting the hang of it, Dad," he smirked. "I know you won't tell me shit, but I think you and Jalen did it. Not sure how far you went, but I'm assuming you did something together, am I right?" "You're right that you're assuming something," I agreed with Colin just smiling as he watched us. "Anyway, since I've played with Jalen and I'm pretty sure you've at least done something, I figure maybe his first three-way should be with us. I'll do what I did before, and you can join in so that he gets used to the idea of three people. What do you think? Would that work?" "How about instead of asking me, you ask Jalen. He might have his own thoughts on that." "He'll do it. I'm pretty sure he wants the sex; he's just freaking out about what he's supposed to actually do. Once he's done it, he'll chill." He ran off, and Colin just looked at me smirking. "It really is scary how much he's like you. Tit for tat...I'm never ever going to think of that saying the same way again after you two got through butchering it. You know, you never did answer his question, right?" "What question?" I asked as my mind processed some sex scenarios. I could almost hear Sienna moaning in pleasure as she got the ten-inch spike hammered into her, while Jalen was making weird faces to try and control himself. All the while, Blake was down behind him, working his ass for all it was worth. "Is Blake allowed to have Sienna and her friends over on Saturday?" He repeated. "Sure, why wouldn't he be allowed," I frowned slightly as I ate my own breakfast. I went to the office with Colin as I had a few nutbar sessions. Sorry, I mean I have a few clients with concerns to work through on their road to self awareness. Most of the stuff is either relationships, feelings of inadequacy in some way, or worries about the future. Some are interesting like the lady who thinks her boyfriend and her husband are cheating on her with other women, and she wants to know what to do about it. Apparently, the husband doesn't know about her boyfriend, so the solution seems easy to me, but she's more interested in knowing the best way to confront them about their cheating. Yipes. See...nutbars. I say they get everyone in the same room, turn off the lights and gang bang the shit out of that problem. In therapy, however, I've been trying to get her to see that their cheating may not be the root of the problem. She's going to pay for my next car at the rate we're going. Once Blake returned home after diving practice, he repeated his question to us again. "Surprised you need to ask," Colin replied, as I nodded a few times. Actually, a lot of times...I almost giggled thinking I probably looked like one of those bobble heads. "Well, I'm only asking because it's probably gonna be a lot of girls. Sienna figured our place would be best as we have tons of space for them to make their posters." "Posters? For some school thing like a dance or drama club thing?" I asked. "No, that's kinda why I thought I should ask for permission. They're doing it for the protest next weekend." "Protest? Against what?" I asked. "It's the `Free the Nipple' rally downtown." "Let me guess. You want to be able to take your shirt off in school now?" I joked. "Not me, Dad," he said shaking his head. "Girls. They want the right to go shirtless whenever they want. Equal rights stuff." "Ummm...Blake...Do they know that they can already do that in B.C.?" Colin reminded him. "Yeah, but it's not totally about that. It's sort of a national awareness thing, as not all provinces allow it yet. I think they want it to be as normal as when a guy takes his shirt off, and not have people freak out whenever a boob is showing." "I could see that. Like anything to do with nudity, the more people see it and get used to it, the less exciting it is," I nodded. "No," Colin said sternly as he stared at me. "No what?" I asked frowning slightly. "No, you can't start a free the penis protest," he laughed. "Well, you're no fun," I complained. "How many of her friends will be here?" Colin inquired. "Not sure, but you know Sienna. By Saturday she'll have likely talked the entire school into it." "We're fine if you want to have them over here," Colin told him. "Great I'll let her know," He said and bounced off to make his call. I looked at Colin. "oh my god, oh my god...we're going to get to see boobies, Colin...boobies!" I said trying to sound overly excited as I jumped up and down. "Shut up. Please shut up," he said leaning in to give me a kiss. I guess that's one way to get me to be quiet. Late Saturday morning, Sienna arrived with a few of her friends. "Thanks for letting us use the house to make our signs, Justin," Sienna said to me. "Since it's nice out, I thought we'd just make them in the back yard. Probably easier in case we make a mess." "Set up where ever you like. How many of your friends are going to be here?" I asked. "Probably 20 or 30. We didn't get a firm count." "It's okay, Dad. I bought lots of junk food and drinks for everyone. I put it on my credit card so you guys didn't have to pay for it," Blake assured me. I just nodded. I wonder if he'll ever understand how a credit card works, or what the definition of emergency is that triggers him being allowed to use it. The only good thing is that the card has a $50,000 limit, so he can't exactly go crazy with it. "We unloaded everything in the driveway, you wanna help us take it around to the back, Blake?" Sienna asked. He nodded and they took off. I heard several more girls arriving and the next time I looked out there was at least 25 girls out there, maybe more, and it was a variety of ages. I'm guessing the youngest in the school is 13 and probably the oldest is 18. I think if you're out to support a cause, age doesn't matter as long as you believe in it. "Hey boys," I said as I strolled into the media room a short while later where J.J., James, and the twins were all lying on the bean bag chairs together. "What movie are you watching?" "Luca," James replied. "It's funny, Uncle Daddy," Trevor said looking at me with a grin. "Nice to see you boys all hanging out together so quietly." "We wanted to go on the waterslide and trampoline, but we couldn't," James complained. "How come?" I asked, almost certain I knew them well enough to expect the answer I got. "Cause there's a whole bunch of girls out there. They're like all over the yard," J.J. said, and it was hard not to laugh at the faces the other boys gave at the thought of not only having girls around, but having 30 girls around. "Yeah, and they're not even wearing shirts, Uncle Justin," James said with even a more disgusting look on his face. That information was a bit of a surprise, although I'm guessing it shouldn't have been if I'd really stopped to think about it. Sienna never wears a shirt around here, and the couple of friends she'd had over occasionally had gone swimming topless as well. Then there's the whole ignored fact that they were making posters for a rally to promote exactly that...taking their shirts off. No wonder they wanted to use our yard. "Well, I'm sure you boys can go out there later. The girls won't mind if you use the pool." "I'm not showing my wiener to a bunch of girls. Gross," J.J. said scrunching his face up, with James nodding in agreement. "Yeah, gross," Trevor replied copying his cousin. "Yeah, gross," Travis agreed. "You could wear swim suits," I pointed out. "You have lots of other things to do if the pool isn't an option. Bowling, video games, pool, table tennis, foosball. Just to name a few." "We still got lots of time on our movie, Justin," J.J. assured me. I left them to it and was about to head outside when I saw Merrick, Dakota, Kurt, and Patrick standing at the big windows in the great room overlooking the back yard. I went over and casually stood beside them. "What's so interesting? Did a plane crash or something?" "No," Kurt replied. "Boobs. Lots and lots of boobs." "Lots," Merrick nodded. "Tons," Dakota said, without any of them taking their eyes off the back yard. "You guys know that the whole point of their free the boobs thing, is for equality, which probably means they don't want you staring at them and drooling." "Then they shouldn't have their boobs out. Damn that's a selection," Merrick said. "I'm sure they'd say the same thing if they saw your penises." "Do you think any of them are single?" Dakota asked. "No, I think they always come in pairs," I said straight faced while trying not to laugh. "I meant the girls, not the boobs," Dakota laughed loudly as the guys began teasing him. As we talked, Blake and Cory wandered upstairs. "Holy shit, Blake!" Kurt said as soon as he saw him. You coulda warned us about the girls?" "You need warning about girls?" Blake said as he joined us. "I thought only the gay guys needed a code pink alert." "I meant that they'd all be topless," he clarified. "Oh. Guys, heads up. The girls will be topless," Blake announced. "You should all come down and join us making posters." "How's the poster making going?" I asked. "Seems like they're making a ton, so I'm guessing good," he replied, then giggled like a little kid. "They won't even need sticks to put the signs on." "Huh, why not? They making sandwich boards or something?" I asked, which actually would make sense if they were topless downtown. "Nuh uh. Once all the straight guys see that many boobs, there'll be tons of wood available," he said grinning. Just look at these guys." He reached over to grab Patrick's crotch, but got his hand slapped away. I laughed. "Probably true." "If you guys do come down though, you should change into swim suits, and be shirtless. It'll be less creepy that way," Blake suggested. "I like the shorts you guys are wearing," I said to Blake and Cory. "Are they new?" "Yeah. We wanted form fitting shorts like the speedos, but not as skimpy. These are like trunk boxers, except they're actual shorts." "They look really good on you guys," Patrick commented as he looked at them. Blake was wearing royal blue shorts and Cory's were a slightly different style in a red/black pattern. "Thanks. The girls seem to like them as well. Cory's been getting tons of comments on his. They make his ass look wicked decent." He spun Cory around so the guys could check him out. They really did do a good job of enhancing his natural features. "When they're done making posters, I think some will stick around to go swimming." "Any idea what they're gonna wear, or are they going skinny dipping?" Kurt asked with a smirk. "No idea. I think some have bikinis with them, but likely won't wear the tops. I know Sienna and at least three girls might go skinny dipping. Me and Cory told them we're going naked, so that's gonna get a few of them wet for sure," he grinned. "Technically if they go swimming, won't they all be wet?" I asked. "Funny," Merrick smiled. "Cory, is your girlfriend down there too?" I asked. "No chance. If she knew I was hanging out with shirtless girls, she'd freak out. I'm not even allowed to talk to another girl one on one," he said shaking his head. "Sounds like she is one of the ones that needs to go to the free the boobs rally so she can stop freaking out about it," Dakota told him. "I mean I totally support women's equality rights. I'll be going to the rally for sure. I'll make sure they know I'm fine with them having their breasts out all the time." "I don't think it's all the time. Just the same places that it'd be acceptable for a guy to be shirtless," Kurt told him. "I get that, but I'd also be woke enough to accept them topless all the time too, even if it was super cold out." He got a round of fist bumps for that comment. "You guys should go change and join in. Maybe jerk off before you come down though," Blake suggested. "Might be a bit stalkerish if you all show up with boners. Cory had to nut twice before he could keep it down. If you need help, just let me know." "I think we're good, Blake," Kurt replied. "Mediocre maybe. Good? No," he chuckled. "See you guys down there." He and Cory took off to head back down to the backyard boob festival. "I'm not sure I'd be able to handle being right down there in the middle of those girls," Merrick commented as they returned to watching again. "I mean just look at them out there. I see four girls on their hands and knees doing painting, and all my mind is seeing is girls' doggy style with boobs hanging beneath them waiting for action. I don't know if I could go down there, and trust myself not to go up behind them and lower the shorts." "Great," Patrick said throwing up his hands. "Now that's all I see. I might need one of those blowjobs Blake was offering." "Or instead of going to the blowjob apprentice, you could come to the master and I'll show you how it's supposed to feel," I offered. "Are we going to go down there?" Dakota asked. "I think if I kept my underwear on under my swim suit, I'd be able to keep things from becoming too visible." "Justin, do you think girls would find it creepy if they saw we had boners while we were around them?" Patrick asked. "I think if something sexual was going on, they'd probably like that you were horny, but I think in this setting where they're trying to normalize breasts as not sexual, it might not be well received. Of course, I'm no expert on it. I can tell you that if you got erect around a bunch of gay guys, we'd all happily receive it as well as you wanted to give it." "I didn't bring a swim suit," Merrick commented. Do you maybe have one I could borrow. I'd wash it and return it." "Yeah, we have tons upstairs. We can go up and pick some out. Just dump them in the hamper afterward. No need to worry about washing them. They'd get done with the other things," I replied. "I don't think I've ever seen you guys use the pool before." "We haven't," Dakota said. "We figured it wouldn't be really professional to swim here when we work here." "Guys, we're not like some corporate noon to three type slave drivers," I said shaking me head. "Nine to five," Kurt corrected. "Huh?" "The workday is nine to five. Not noon to three." "God, that's horrible. See, we're definitely not that. Use anything in the house whenever you want. Workout, go swimming, tanning, whatever." "Driving," Kurt smiled. "That's your job perk as transportation manager. Borrowing cars is a different permission, but use anything else. Let's go upstairs and find some shorts." I took the four guys upstairs and let them choose a suit from the collection we had. Merrick and Dakota opted for regular board shorts, probably so they could keep their underwear on underneath. Kurt and Patrick both opted for something a little more streamlined, but still not as form fitting as the ones Blake and Cory were wearing. It was interesting to notice the difference between the guys. Merrick and Dakota, despite remaining in their underwear, turned away from us to change, whereas Kurt and Patrick, who had been around a lot longer, both stripped without a care and changed into their swim suit. I noticed Kurt was half hard, and he noticed me noticing. He just smiled and gave it a little fluffing. I think that's another of my rules. If I remember it's rule 41. Never fluff your balls in front of Justin unless you're offering them up for instant use. Since he tucked everything inside his shorts, I think he just broke that rule, which automatically invokes rule 20. If you offer, or imply, sexual advances, you will be required to follow through. All necessary force is authorized to ensure compliance. The rule doesn't have a time limit for completion, so it may need an amendment at some point. We headed downstairs in just our shorts, having left shirts in the bedroom. I wasn't sure how I felt about Merrick and Dakota being offered up to 30 girls before I'd had both of them, so this was a new situation. I'm 100% losing my touch. There are now three guys in this house that I haven't seen naked. One is Garren, and that one is maybe the worst of the three, because he's both gay and sexual, and I haven't had him yet. When has that ever been a thing in this house? The other two are Dakota and Merrick. Best I've had so far with them is Dakota watching me fuck Kurt. I've seen both of them shirtless, but nothing more. As far as I know they're Ken dolls down there. God, are they? What if they were born with no parts? Like there's the intersex people with both vagina and penis. Maybe there's outersex people too, with nothing. I'm sure that's highly unlikely. They're probably just typical shy straight boys. Normally guys are like that between 12 and 15 while they're bodies are changing, but they start to gain confidence as they get older. Some just grow up learning that nudity is a bad thing. That's such a North American concept. I think I just signed on to the Free the Nipple thing without even knowing I was doing it. We made our way outside and as Blake predicted, they welcomed us with open arms. Wait...that's a bad visual. I meant to say they appreciated that we were joining them to help. "Will there be guys at your rally?" Kurt asked the girl beside us, who looked like one of the older girls of the group. I was impressed that he actually looked her in the eyes. "Guaranteed," she nodded. "Mostly they just show up to look at boobs, not to actually advance our cause." "Do any guys actually join in the rally itself?" "Sure, but the organizers say that to show how unequal the law is, males have to wear a black tape X over their nipples, like women have had to do in many situations." "That's cool. Show both sides. Would I be able to join you at the rally?" Kurt asked as he made a move. I wanted to remind him about his girlfriend, Thalia, but I think he was talking with his penis brain right now. "Sure. The more open-minded guys we have, the better." She sat back and looked at their poster. It read `One law for ALL genders.' "That makes sense," I nodded. "Either guys put shirts on, or we can take them off, but separate laws are discriminatory." "Not disagreeing at all, unless politician start thinking that in order to agree with your cause, they prohibit guys from going shirtless. Remember, most politicians are so old that no one wants to see them shirtless anyway, so this might give them an excuse. That's going to really fuck things up. I personally like seeing guys shirtless," I said quickly. "Not to mention pantless," Kurt added with humour. "That's a separate rally, or a weekend at Wreck Beach." "Last year, lots more guys were there supporting us than in previous years.," She explained. "Some showed up wearing skirts and bras. Others had the black tape over the nipples. Of course there're always the jerks making sexual comments from the crowd. It's sort of proves the point that many guys see breasts as sexual, and that if we have them visible it means were looking for some action." I nodded. "Yeah, I think there's a lot more education needed. Good on you girls for bringing awareness," I said while still thinking how hot guys looked without shirts. I also enjoy the abs and the trails that lead to the promised land in their pants. I mean come on. Like it's officially called a treasure trail from the belly button down, right? Then the `V' shape at the side of your hips, literally pointing towards the goodies. How could you NOT see that as an invite? "Hey, at least we now have a law on our side. We just need to make more women realize they shouldn't be reluctant to free the breasts any place a man can," she said confidently, as she prepared another sign for a message. "I think Blake and Sienna have the right idea." "Which is?" I asked. "They embrace total nudity to show that it's not a sexual thing. They believe that more nudity you see, the less fascinating it becomes. If you already know what someone looks like without clothes, you stop focusing on it and get to know the person first. Then when sex does happen, it's not a drool and groping fest, like it is when they see you for the first time. Blake and Sienna have no problem being naked around people at all. You gotta admire that. I've never met anyone like Blake at all. Even guys at my age aren't that woke." "I think I can honestly agree with that," I nodded. "I've never met anyone like Blake at all." "I'm surprised he's still wearing shorts now," Kurt noted. "He promised to take them off later, once we were done making posters," she replied casually. "He did?" I asked. "Yeah. Some of us are going swimming later and Blake said we'd go skinny dipping. Some of the girls haven't seen Blake without clothes, so I think they're interested in seeing if he's as open as the rumours say he is. Some of the girls think he's just all talk, but lots of us know he's not. He's pretty cool actually. I was over at Sienna's house one day when Blake offered to be a model for us." "A model? Like dress him up and send him down the runway? I could see him enjoying that," I laughed. "He was more of a model to allow us to check out a boy's body. I mean they teach us stuff in school but its not the same as having an actual person to look at. Blake had no problem letting us learn whatever we wanted. Sienna was also open about being a model so boys could see how girls work. That's why I think they're pretty cool," she said smiling. "I can see that being beneficial. I can also see Blake enjoying that. He loves attention, in whatever form he can get it. I'm just surprised he didn't offer to teach everyone everything about sex. God knows he talks about it enough," I joked, knowing full well what these sessions between Blake, Sienna and their friends were like. I just didn't know if this girl was one of the ones to enjoy the entire session or not. She was older than Blake by roughly four years, so it's likely she didn't need the same education as the people his own age. "Blake and Sienna were cool showing everyone about sex," she nodded. "I think that's what makes both of them so popular. If you want to talk to them about anything, you know they'd be okay discussing it." "Do they ever invite other boys along as models?" Kurt asked. I wasn't sure if he was fishing to see if she knew everything about Blake, or trying to get invited to be one of the models. "You'd have to ask Sienna and Blake about that," she said suddenly clamming up. Oh my god, is that actually a saying that's only for girls? Like when they're done talking about sex, their vaginas slam shut like a clam? I always thought it meant your mouth closed tight, but maybe it's about vaginas. "What time does the rally start next Saturday?" Kurt asked as we pivoted to another subject. "11am, but we're going to be there at 10. Do you have a car?" "Sure, why? You need a ride?" Kurt offered quickly. "Yeah, if you're free. We need to be able to get all the signs there, so taking Skytrain or the bus isn't as practical." "No worries. I'm sure I can borrow an SUV. That way we can transport more with less trips." "Great. I'll give you my number and let Sienna know. Have you met her before?" "I have, yeah." "Great, I'll go let her know." She stood up and wandered off in search of Sienna. "And the plan is?" I asked with a curious grin. "I'm out to help the cause," he replied. "I'd ask which cause, but that bulge is sort of telling me all I need to know. How will Thalia feel about that? "Probably about the same as you fucking me," he replied cryptically. "Ummm...which is?" "She'd be aware that it was of interest to me, and that she has the opportunity to join in or not." "And do you think she'd join in with a topless parade?" I asked, honestly interest in the answer. "I don't know for sure, but I believe she might. Her boobs are pretty good now, and I know she's proud of them. If it were a fully naked rally, then there's no way she'd join. She's still self-conscious about the penis, but boobs...she might do it. I think this is the kind of thing that affects her directly. As a guy before, she was free to take off the shirt. Now that she's a girl, there are societal restrictions despite the law allowing it." "Maybe this'll be our opportunity to finally meet your girlfriend," I said as we painted a sign that said `We're Still Not Asking For it'. I thought they WERE asking for it. If IT means acceptance of bare breasts. "You're going to the rally?" Kurt asked surprised. "Wouldn't think a ton of shirtless girls running around would be of interest to you." "To be honest, it's not. I mean breasts are great, and I have no problem with them being out at all, but I'd be more interested in the shirtless boys that'll be there in the thousands. I could pick them off like fish in a barrel when they reach the horny point of no return. I could set up a blowjob booth." "Like a kissing booth, just extra?" He chuckled. "Exactly. Are you sticking around to go swimming after the poster campaign?" "With potentially dozens of naked girls? How is that even a question? Even if everyone of them magically turned out to be lesbians, I'd still be hanging out with naked girls." "Now you just sound like Blake," I laughed. The painting only went on a short while longer, and once they were done and set the posters upright to dry, Sienna called them all into a circle. The guys just hung out with me off to the side out of their way. "That should give us quite a voice next Saturday," Sienna said as she addressed them with Blake standing beside her. "We'll meet downtown at the corner of Robson and Thurlow at 10am. Let's have a good rally this year." The girls cheered, with a few jumping up and down, which seemed to hypnotize the straight boys. "Blake's invited us to stay and use the pools, hot tubs, and waterslide if you wish. I know some of you have brought bikinis, but this is a totally clothing optional swim, so if you've always wanted to skinny dip, here's your chance. We know some of you think Blake and I just make up half the stuff you hear about us. We don't, and we're happy to prove it if you're sticking around to go swimming." "What do you think that means?" Kurt asked quietly. "Let's hope it doesn't mean a live show," I replied. "It kinda might," Cory said nodding. "Last time we hung out with some girls, we were playing video games in the playroom, and Blake was behind Sienna watching over her shoulder. Then out of nowhere he slipped her shorts off, undressed and slid in to her while we all watched. Totally sucked." "It did?" I asked surprised as I'm sure Cory has seen Blake have more sex than any of us. "Yeah, they were totally in the way of our video game play." I laughed. "Well hopefully you got some action out of it." "Yeah, not what I wanted though. I only got a blowjob." "That's more than most guys get," I reasoned. "Yeah, but it would have been better getting it from one of the girls, instead of from Blake while the girls watched," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Wait, so Blake and Sienna just do it in front of other people?" Merrick asked surprised. Kurt and Patrick both laughed almost simultaneously. "Boy, you are new around here, aren't you?" Kurt said. Several of the girls left, saying goodbye to their friends, while the others prepared to go swimming. "Time to go swimming girls. Anyone who doesn't feel comfortable swimming au naturel, you can head to the bathroom to change. The rest of you, grab a towel from the cupboard over there," she said pointing to the towel storage we had on the deck. "Blake and I always swim naked." "Don't your parents care?" One girl asked. Blake looked over at me. "Dad, do you care if we swim naked?" "No. I just care when you ask to go to the mall without clothes," I replied trying to be funny. "Have any of you never seen a boy naked before?" Sienna asked the girls. "In real life or in pictures?" Another girl asked. "In real life," she replied. "Does a little brother count?" One asked, getting a nervous laugh, probably from those with brothers. "No. Just regular boys. Who has never seen one naked before?" I was actually surprised by how many hands went up. By the time I was their age, I'd seen tons of boys naked. "Of those that have seen boys without clothes, how many have seen them with an erection?" Only about 6 hands went up on that question. "Lisa, you've had sex. You probably saw one," Sienna pointed out to one of the girls without her hand up. "We did in in the dark under the covers," she admitted. "I felt it, but I never saw it. Does that count?" Some of the girls gave a little titter of a laugh. It might be worth a study to see how many girls actually have sex like that. Do they really just get naked under the covers, kiss, and then fuck without seeing each other? How is that a thing? Don't the guys insist on getting head first, or are they happy with handjobs as foreplay? Seems like we need a sex ed seminar. "Since we're going swimming and Blake is joining us, who would like to see what a boy looks like without clothes?" Every hand shot up eagerly. "And Cory," one girl yelled out. I slapped Cory on the back. "Yeah buddy. Looks like you're popular too." "Dude, come join me," Blake said waving him over to the group. Cory just looked at me and rolled his eyes. I know that look. He doesn't want to do it at all, but when it's Blake, it's easier to do it and get it over with, than it is to argue and make it a bigger issue, ending with you doing it anyway. Without waiting, Blake quickly dropped his shorts and kicked them aside. He nudged Cory to do the same, which he reluctantly copied. Now the two boys stood fully naked in front of more than 20 bare breasted girls. If this doesn't scream `what could go wrong?' Nothing will. "I have a question," another girl said as they all stared at the two guys, not hiding their interest in the slightest. Kurt leaned in to whisper to us. "Anyone else feel like we're about to see a 20 girl orgy break out in a few minutes?" "They'll probably need chaperones," Merrick replied. "I'll volunteer." "Ummm...whenever my boyfriend takes off his clothes, his penis is always sticking up, like the erection thing. Is that normal or is he just a pervert?" one girl asked. "I got this," Blake grinned as he looked at Sienna. "He probably got naked in front of you when you were thinking of sex, right?" "Mostly yeah. No reason for him to take his clothes off otherwise," she replied. "Exactly. Thinking of something that excites us, so our penises get hard. But they do that for lots of reasons. Mine goes up so much that I barely notice anymore. We could think of ice cream or skydiving and get hard. It's the adrenaline rush that does it." "So how come you guys don't have stiff penises?" one girl asked. "Because Cory and I are used to being naked. It's not a big deal for us, so it's not something to get the adrenaline pumping." "Even being in front of a bunch of girls?" Another asked. "I've seen plenty of girls without clothes. I'm used to it," Blake replied. Around a bunch of guys, this could seem like bragging. In this setting it'd just fact. "Teresa, you asked me something about Blake a couple days ago. Wanna ask it now?" "No. I'm good," he said lowering her head obviously nervous. "What did she ask? I'll answer anything," Blake asked. "He's not wrong about that," I said to the guys. "My question is do the four of you have the same self control as Blake?" "Fuck no. I've been hard since I saw the girls shirtless," Dakota admitted. "Same," Kurt replied. "The only way I'm going down anytime soon is to cum at least four times." "I keep offering. You keep stalling," I teased. He continued to ignore my advances. He does know that I'm fucking him before he leaves though, right? Can anyone read his mind, because I swear he should know that. "Guys tease each other a lot about their dicks, especially if they get hard. Why?" Sienna said to Blake. "Why not? It's funny as fuck," he grinned. "Almost all guys get defensive and are embarrassed if people notice, so why not have fun with it." "Don't all guys get like tons of erections?" "Sure. That's why it's fun to tease someone. Probably because you got teased about it earlier, so it's pay it forward time." "Do you get embarrassed?" Sienna asked, already knowing the answer. "God no. I'm the exception though. I usually thank the person for checking out my crotch. That usually turns the embarrassment around. If it doesn't, I just grab the outline and enhance it. That usually stops them from looking." "I still get embarrassed sometimes," Cory admitted, "but being friends with Blake you learn to deal with it pretty fast." The girls broke apart with all heading either to the towels or the bathroom. I wasn't sure how many would do which, but it seemed like the majority were heading for the bathroom. I suppose that's a normal reaction in a setting like this. Even the boys that come over are reluctant at first. Then they ease themselves into it. After that, I ease myself into them. Well, in my mind that's how it works every time. In reality...meh, it's not as frequent. Sienna was the first one fully naked as she dropped her shorts and panties right where she stood. I notice girls don't fluff their vaginas like guys fluff their packages. I would have thought that maybe they'd wiggle the lips or something so they weren't stuck together like plastic wrap on a warm day. I almost made myself hurl as I thought of being down there prying the lips apart, and hearing that peeling sound as they separated. Sienna walked over to the five of us and smiled. "You guys can come swimming too. The girls won't mind." "Sienna, there is no way that the four of them have the same control as Blake when surrounded by 20 naked, or almost naked, girls. They're one touch away from cumming too hard and passing out." She laughed. "I'd like to see that. You guys can swim in shorts. I don't think anyone will care." "As long as I could get in the water before taking my shorts off, I'd be okay," Patrick said, getting a nod from the other guys. They all agreed to go swimming at that point, and headed to the pool. Sienna just looked at me grinning. "Which one of them has the biggest penis?" I shrugged. "I have no idea. Merrick and Dakota are new around here so I haven't seen them yet." "Are they gay or straight?" "All straight," I replied. "This day just got interesting. You gonna join us?" "I think I'll sit this one out. You already have six straight boys to keep you busy," I reasoned. "One day. One day, you're gonna be curious and I'll be waiting," she teased before taking off. I'm pretty sure I'm never going to be THAT curious. If I want any of Blake's friends, I'd want it to be a Jalen/Joel sandwich. Once everyone was in the water, I saw a few articles of clothing start to appear on the deck as everyone began to relax and enjoy themselves. If I'm counting correctly, then I believe every guy is now naked, which also meant Merrick and Dakota. Maybe I should go join in the fun. At least I could dive under the water check them out. Once I see their junk, I can make an informed decision as to whether I'd be interested in pursuing them, or be over it. As I watched the group from a distance, Garren walked up beside me smiling. "Hey. `Marvin' warned me about some of the stuff to expect when we were here, but he never once mentioned a pool full of naked girls." "Trust me Garren, I live here and I wasn't warned. You can go join them if you want. Maybe get a little hetero action in." "Gross. No thanks," he replied shaking his head. "Look like Blake and Cory are having fun though. Who's that girl Blake is with?" "Melody. One of Sienna's best friends." "Is he fucking her?" "I can't see underwater, at least not in the outdoor pool," I replied, knowing I'd already be downstairs in the adult playroom with the ceiling open if they were indoors, "but from the position he's in, and that I know he's done her before, I'd say it's highly likely," I replied. "Do you think Blake's girlfriend knows?" "She looks like she's a little busy with Merrick to notice," I pointed out. "Where's your boyfriend?" "Oh, he and Colin went off to do their roleplay thing. I guess Colin had some wild idea of doing it outside somewhere," Garren replied. "And they didn't invite you?" "They did, but I figure this is their thing so I'd let them go do it." "Are you okay with `Marvin' and Colin roleplaying like they do?" "I wasn't sure what to think when `Marvin' first told me about it, but I guess they've been doing it since they were kids. I'm okay with the idea as long as he enjoys it." "Have you ever tried the master/slave roleplaying yourself?" I inquired. "No. I've checked it out in videos and stuff, and some of it is interesting. I don't like the type where they beat the guy until his ass is blistering, or he's in obvious pain. That makes me cringe, so I don't think I'd ever do that." "That's extreme stuff. Mostly it's just controlling the other person and doing regular sorts of things. Occasionally it may ramp up to a little spanking, tickling or slapping. Just to give some stimulation, but not actual pain. You honestly should join in with them sometime. I think you'd have a lot of fun being controlled with your boyfriend. The two of you tied together while you suck each other off, or being made to share your master's cock." "I dunno if I'd enjoy being the submissive guy. I think I'd do better as the master," he replied. "That could be hot. You boss `Marvin' around while Colin gives both of you orders. I'd like to see that," I grinned. "It could be fun," he nodded. "I'd just have to get used to it first." "True. It takes a bit of practice to enjoy master/slave stuff, or any roleplaying actually. Speaking of fun, when are you and I going to hook up?" "Ummm...I dunno. I'm still just sort of adjusting to everything," he replied hesitantly. I gave a small laugh. "Dude, you've been here over a week and we haven't even seen you shirtless yet. Normally you'd have gotten the welcome to Vancouver orgy before you'd unpacked. You must really be in love with `Marvin'." "I am. At first, I just enjoyed hooking up together as he's really good at it, but the more we hung out, the more I realized I was actually in love with him. I sort of don't wanna fuck that up by having sex with other people. If that makes sense." "Makes total sense in a way. Although it's a little confusing. Are you okay with him having sex with all of us?" He moved his head back and forth slightly. "I dunno. I'm totally cool with him and Colin doing the slave thing, as I get that's something that's just part of who they are, but when I've walked in on them, I think I get super jealous." "Do you stick around and watch, or leave?" "Oh, I leave. I think it would be way worse if I stayed," he replied quickly. "Have you talked to `Marvin' about it?" "Yeah, but he says it's just sex, and that what we have is way more than that. We're in love so nothing is stronger than that. He said I should join in and we could have even more fun together." "I'm in agreement. Colin and I have that type of relationship, and it's made our bond to each other even stronger. We're not jealous of each other and frequently join in when the other has someone else home." "My fear is that if `Marvin' finds someone better than me, or worse...if I do." "Garren, buddy. If your entire relationship can be destroyed by some guy who sucks or fucks better than your partner, maybe you don't have a very strong basis on which you're building the relationship. Not to brag dude, but I'm way better at sex than your boyfriend, but if you fell in love with me for that, I'd question your ability to ever have a good relationship." "No offense, but that sounded like you WERE bragging," he said with a little smile. "It's not bragging if it's the truth. Let's put it this way, Colin and I have shared `Marvin' a lot and we make him cum every time, but it wasn't always like that. When I first met `Marvin' I was so star struck that he had to have sex with me to calm me down. Ever since then, we've been the best of friends." Garren nodded. "Yeah, he's told me that story before. He even told me about his old boyfriend and some of the things they got up to together, but I think that shit got a little too weird and that's why they broke up." "From the news stories, I can only imagine. Personally, I'm glad you two are now together. I really liked Ezra at first, but now his crazy seems to have consumed him. I hope he gets whatever help he needs." "Me too. I met him a red-carpet event once and he seemed really nice. He has the most amazing face." "That he does," I agreed. "Now back to you and me. How about I take you upstairs for a quickie? Show you what you're missing out on?" "I'm not really into quickies," he replied. "I like to enjoy sex rather than just get it over with. I have pretty good self control now to make it last longer." "You have self control around your boyfriend as you have become accustom to how it feels and what to expect. Doing it with someone new, provides you with new surprises and sensations. I mean just for starters I can get an inch deeper inside your ass than `Marvin'," I teased. "Huh? Oh, never mind. I just got it. That sounds like more bragging," he said. "Are you really that opposed to having sex with someone other than your boyfriend, or are you just shy or self-conscious? I'm guessing under those clothes, you're a pretty hot guy." "Thanks. I'm not shy, I just think there's a time to take off your clothes around someone," he said unconvincingly. "Well, there is a naked pool party going on. Now might be the perfect time," I suggested. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but it basically a pool full of naked girls. Can you imagine what's floating around in that water right now?" He said scrunching up his face in horror. I laughed as I patted him in the back. "Yeah, we're gonna get along just fine. But do me at least a small favour so I don't go crazy and go get rope to tie you down. Take off your shirt and let me see your chest." "It's nothing that special," he replied. "Not compared to some of you guys anyway. I mean you may not have seen me naked, but I've seen all of you, and it's a bit intimidating. Not to be inappropriate or anything because all you guys are seriously good looking, but Colin is like next level smoking hot. I understand why `Marvin' lets him control him. Has he always been that good looking?" "Now you know why I married him. I even had to steal him away from my own brother," I grinned. "Ask Colin to show you pictures of him as a kid. He was super cute, and by the time he was 14, he was as hot as he is now." "I'm only just starting to grow into my looks," Garren replied quietly. "Dude, don't ever put yourself down. You scooped up one hot boyfriend, and trust me, every guy in this house thinks you're good looking. Take off those clothes and you'll be in the middle of a mass gang-bang in five seconds flat." He just gave a nervous laugh. "At least take off the shirt. I mean you're gonna want to go swimming at some point. At least once the haz-mat team clears the pool for us." "Okay, but don't expect anything special," he said as he pulled his shirt off over his head. I watched closely as his body came in to view, and waited until he'd tidied his hair before commenting. "Dude, what the fuck are you talking about. You should never wear a shirt." "Thanks, but I gotta get more definition. I'm still working on it." "Are you nuts? Your abs are incredible and the obliques are on point." "I've been working those the hardest. I keep trying for more defined pecs, but they're just not there yet. I think they're still a bit flat." I couldn't help myself as I reached out and touched them. "Nothing wrong with those, buddy. Strong and firm. Just keep doing what you're doing and they'll have the same incredible look as these abs." I took that opportunity to run my hands over the washboard. I'm pretty sure if he'd been in loose pant or just underwear, I wouldn't have stopped there. I'd be looking to see just how firm everything else was too. I was about to make more moves as I complimented him, but the front door opened and we heard Colin announce that they were home. Garren jumped back and grabbed his shirt. He was just pulling it back into place when `Marvin' and Colin joined us. `Marvin' kissed Garren to say hello, so I kissed Colin. I hate being left out. "You two have fucking horrible timing," I pouted. "Why?" Colin asked. "Uhhh, because I was just about to get Garren out of his clothes and give him good railing against the window, when you two walked in. Way to fuck that up." "Not sure why that'd stop you," Colin laughed. Garren looked like he was having, or about to have, a panic attack. "We weren't doing that," he said staring at `Marvin'. "He's just joking. We were just talking about working out and how to improve my pecs." "Babe, two things. First, like I've told you a hundred times, your body is absolutely fucking perfect, and two, it would have been wicked hot to see you pressed up against the window being railed. Colin, add that to your next list of roleplaying idea. Fuck me up against a big window where people below might see us." "Nice. I know just the window. See what you started, Justin," Colin said putting his arm around me. "Uh, I dunno if you homos have actually been listening, but we didn't actually start anything. You'd need to have arrived 15 minutes later for that." "We could leave and come back," Colin suggested pointing towards the door. My only question is, why aren't they already moving towards it? "Garren, one thing you gotta do before we leave is at least have sex with triplets. You'd never forgive yourself for passing up that opportunity, and I promise you'll never forget it either. Right Colin?" `Marvin' said. "He's not wrong. Hell, I dated one and married the other, and I still find it hot doing all three at once." "We like getting him stoned and messing with his head when he's sure it's me he's fucking. Sometimes it is and we tell him I'm Jason or J.P. Other times one of my brothers will go to bed with him and make him believe it's me all night." "You never fool me though. I can always tell you apart," Colin said defending himself. "You think that, but you have no more clue than anyone else when you're stoned. I could show you video, but I'm saving the good stuff for Blake's YouTube channel once he's reached 10 million." "Not sure they allow that on YouTube," `Marvin' said quickly. "But seriously were you two gonna have sex, because if you were don't let us stop you. I think it'd be hot to watch." "No, we weren't about to have sex," Garren replied quickly before I could say anything to swing the pendulum back to at least considering it. `Marvin' reached over and grabbed Garren's crotch. I expected him to jump back or at least slap the hand away, but he just stood there. "Hmmm...he's not hard, so maybe that's true." He then reached over to feel me and laughed. "Figures." "What?" I replied. "It's always hard. That's no measure of anything." "After us being here a week, on a scale of one to ten, just how badly do you want my boyfriend?" "17...maybe 23," I replied. `Marvin' grinned. "That's how I feel about him too. Guess you'll just have to wait though. Come on babe. I need a shower and you look horny enough to make it fun." He grabbed his hand and took him off upstairs. I watched until they were out of sight and then turned to stare at Colin. "What the hell was that?" "What?" he said with a light grin. "Why the fuck is `Marvin' still horny and taking Garren away. I almost had that boy ready to go. I thought the whole point of roleplaying with `Marvin' was to drain him. Are you just losing your touch?" "You should know better than anyone that I have all the touch I need. I took him out to a cruising area in the woods and offered him up to anyone willing. I'm surprise he can walk, never mind have energy for anything else." "Wait, he had sex in public? Doesn't that go against his whole not getting caught by the paparazzi?" "Yeah, but I walked him out to a very secluded spot and put a full hood on him before I stripped him. We even planned ahead and put some temporary tattoos on him to throw anyone off who might be even remotely suspicious. I have a feeling that's what he needs help in the shower with." "I'd like to have seen that. A hood over his face with just a nose and mouth hole, while he's being spit roast and used from all sides." "I think I might have found his limit this time though. I bent him over a downed tree and tied his arms out to the side, to really stretch him. Then I had his legs tied wide apart. He couldn't move at all. Once I began working his ass open, it didn't take long for others to smell the pheromones and come running. For a good 45 minutes, his ass and mouth were never without a cock. I'm pretty sure he came at least three times, and there's enough cum in him to start a sperm bank." "Damn it. You gotta invite me to shit like that." "Thought you were busy with Garren," he grinned. "For all the good that did. You still got the ropes? Maybe that'll work. At this point, I'd just be happy seeing the boy naked." "No you wouldn't," Colin laughed. "Probably not, but it'd be a shit ton easier to fuck him if I at least had him out of his clothes," I reasoned. "How's the girl gathering going?" "It started out nice with them all shirtless painting signs, but it's now turned into a horror show with half of them naked in the pool with a few straight boys. I got a question. Do you think girls can swim with tampons in? Are vaginas waterproof like our asses?" "How would I know? I'm gonna say they're probably not, considering they need tampons for their periods. If they were water tight you could hold things in like we do when we need to poop," he replied. "Do you think any of them are on their periods now?" I asked. "God, Justin. Why do you always take the dark path? You realize now, that I won't be able to use the pool until we drain and sanitize it. Fuck." "That's basically what Garren said too. I'll call the pool guys and have them come out first thing in the morning." "Good idea. I mean I'm pretty sure nothing like that happens, or women would just never be allowed in public pools, but now that you got it stuck in our heads, this is the only way back. Blake and Cory look like they're having fun." I looked out and saw the two boys each kissing one of the girls. I made a quick scan of the pool and noticed that Merrick wasn't there, and after another scan, I was pretty sure Kira was missing as well. I knew she was one of Sienna's friends who had enjoyed fooling around with Blake before. I walked over to the nearest panel on the wall and whispered quietly to it. We'd added that feature after hearing about Alexa being able to do it. We figured ADAM should be able to at least do what Alexa could. When we whisper to him, he whispers back. Handy for things like this. "ADAM where is Merrick?" "Merrick is in the steam room." "Is he alone?" "No, there is one other person with him," ADAM whispered back. "What was that about?" Colin asked. "Just a hunch. I think Merrick is in the steam room boning Kira." "Or he's in the steam room just getting to know her?" He reasoned. "Honey, they're both naked. If he's only talking to her after separating her from the rest of the herd, we should fire him." "I thought you wanted him fired for not sleeping with you?" He laughed. "True, but he's a great cook so he gets a pass. There's no pass for a straight boy not getting laid in this setting." "Are you planning on going to check?" "No, I'll talk to him later. There's been enough cock blocking around here for one day," I said staring into Colin's eyes. "But this does make me realize we should be adding cameras to the steam, sauna, and foam rooms." "They'd always be steamed up ya little perv." "Who you calling little?" I said pouting before he pulled me in for a hug. "You know, I could use a shower myself," Colin said as he leaned in for a kiss. "I'm guessing `Marvin' wasn't the only one that got used out there in the woods?" "Join me in the shower and find out." Like I need to be asked twice. I think that turned out to be one of the longest showers we've had in a while, but so worth it. We even stopped for a nap afterward. By the time we returned downstairs, there was absolutely no one around. The girls were gone and the nuclear warning tape was around the pool. Not really, but there wasn't a sign of anyone. I asked ADAM how many people were home and it was only five of us. `Marvin and Garren were still in their room, and Troy was in his suite. That's it. Guess I'm going to have to wait for details on who did who. Colin and I hung out together enjoying each other's company for the rest of the day. I didn't go to the tits out rally on Saturday. Not sure the official name. Boobs for all? The Bouncing Betty Bonanza? Be Your Breast Self? The Upfront Rally? Babes and Boobs? Whatever they call it, I'd have the slogan; `The cum in your pants shouldn't be caused by our breasts.' If they joined with a `free the penis' rally, we could call it Nips and Nuts. This is maybe why I'm not allowed to organize things. Anyway, I didn't go as I was pretty sure I'd end up having some sort of breakdown trying to take care of all the guys in needs of servicing. I'm only one person. Maybe three, if you throw in Jason and J.P. I'm not including other universes as I have no idea how to get them over here. I heard from Kurt that Thalia was going to attend, and it almost swayed me to go so I could meet her, but maybe that's not the breast place for a first meeting...I meant best place. BEST, not breast. That was a Freudian slip. Still think those sound sort of sexy. `Hey honey, you like my Freudian slip. It's pure silk from the minds of the rarest silkworms.' It had to come from their minds to make it true `Freudian'. "What are you boys up to today?" I asked as Blake, Darcy, Layne, and Cory bounced down to the main floor the next day. The day of the rally, they had gone to support the girls cause before rushing off to film content for their growing collection. "We're off to do our first video at the pool," Blake announced. "I thought you did that yesterday." "Nah, those were just the intros for the first three videos. This is the actual content. We'll film for a couple hours and then edit. Hopefully by tonight we can show all of you a rough draft of it. We'll have a world premiere." "Would you like me to call the media and arrange for a red carpet?" I teased. "Not for this one. This is more like we're getting the audience reaction to the concept of the video. The real world premiere will happen once we finish post, and add all the polish." "Have fun, and if you need us, text. We're going to take J.J. out for the day. I think he wants to look at some new games." The guys disappeared quickly, having coerced Troy into driving them for the second day in a row. I hope he's at least getting paid as their driver. It could be a full-time job if I know Blake. The boys returned a few hours later all excited and seemingly overdosing on adrenaline. They disappeared upstairs, only surfacing one at a time to grab drinks or snacks. They all stayed for dinner and arranged their focus group `world premiere' in the media room. "Thank you for coming," Blake said as he stood at the front of the media room. "As investors and interested parties, we present the first ever concept video for my new YouTube channel Blake up2Speed." "What's an investor, Daddy?" Trevor asked Alex. "Someone who pays to help him get his business running," Alex replied quietly. "Did we do that?" Travis inquired. "No. We're the interested parties," Jason chuckled. "The video is not totally finished, but we wanted you to be the first to see it and give us your feedback. Now, sit back and enjoy. Cory, roll film." "Roll film?" I whispered to Colin. "Isn't this digital?" "Shhh, homos," Blake giggled as he sat down beside me. "You can get all gay horny AFTER you see me in my speedo." "Not gonna be a thing," Colin assured him as the video began. "I'm Blake! THIS is Vancouver! Let's get you up to speed." He took off his sunglasses, and stared at the camera. "We hope you liked our last video, and thanks for coming back. It's time to show you a bit more about myself, and my friends, before we turn all our attention to others in our amazing city. I've received a lot of questions on my Instagram about things I've uploaded, but for this video we're going to focus on one of my favorite things, diving. Yes, I'm a diver. It's pronounced diver, not diva, in case you're confused like my dad was. At least until I showed up in my Speedo. Then he just thought I was being weird. Apparently the mall isn't the best place to wear them. The question I get the most is how scary was your first platform dive? That's usually followed by how come your speedos are so tiny? Let's go explore that." They cut to Blake at the side of the pool with the diving platforms behind him. It was actually framed really well. "This is the dive tank at my local pool, and where I train with my diving team. Today I'm going to answer some of your questions about diving and show you a few dives along the way. I think we'll start up there," he said pointing to the top of the 10 metre tower. "But first, I guess I can't dive in these clothes." He snapped his fingers and instantly went from fully dressed to being down to his small speedo. The twins giggled excitedly. "How'd you do that, Blake?" Travis asked. "Magic, little man. Magic," Blake replied with a big smile. Looks like he has a couple of early fans. Back in the video, Blake lowered his hand and looked down at himself. "There, that's going to make the dives easier, and that leads to the very first question that is the asked most often. Why do divers wear such small speedos?" The camera view inched back to show more. "Because, damn they look sexy," he chuckled as he turned around in a 360. "But enough about me. Back to me. Just kidding...mostly. If we wore regular swim trunks, the force of hitting the water would just rip them off us. That might be fun for the underwater camera shot, but not good for the diver, or a YouTube video. It also allows us a lot more freedom for the twists and bends we do. You'll get the idea once you see some of the dives. One comment I get is how long the climb is to the top of the tower and do we really climb it several times during competitions. Of course not. We only do one climb for the TV viewers; the rest of the time this is how I normally get there." The next shot was from the same vantage point on the pool deck, but Blake was now on the top of the 10-metre platform looking down at where he'd been. "We're going to add like a transporter effect, but we need Stone's help with that as it's a little complicated," Blake explained. "That's way easier than having to climb all those stairs. Plus it saves me a lot of energy," he said loudly as if talking down to Layne's camera. He turned around as the camera view changed. He now had the pool behind him as he talked to the camera on the platform with him. "This is the ten-metre tower, and I'm a two-metre guy. Almost," Blake said loudly, looking directly into the camera. "I've been asked a lot of questions on my Instagram about diving, so today I'm going to answer the most requested ones. After I answer one, I'll make a dive, then come back and answer another. Sure hope y'all don't have two hundred questions, or this could be one of those `I spent 24 hours on a diving board' videos instead. One question I get asked is why do they spray water on us when we dive? That's a good one. I'll give you one hint. It's not to keep the pool full from any water splashing. If we made that much splashing, we wouldn't be very good divers. Let me show you why." The camera moved to show the shot over the edge and down into the pool. "In its normal state, the water looks like this. I have no idea from this height where the top of the water is, and can only see the bottom of the tank. If I can't judge where the water starts, I might not finish my dive in time and crash right through it. Remember, I'm 10 metres in the air. That's like standing on three story building and jumping off. If I don't slice through the water properly, it's like landing on concrete. That's the answer to two other questions. I seem to have more questions than dives at this point. We put our hands above our heads at the end to open the water. If we didn't, we could easily break bones or get a concussion. That's the reason some divers, especially younger ones like myself, wear tape or wrist guards. It helps with support. I mainly use it during training, but not on competitions, although sometimes if it's a really tricky dive that I'm not as comfortable with, I'll wear the guards in case I get something wrong. Now back to looking at the difference in the water." He grabbed a small two-way radio and spoke into it. "Asher, turn on the water." The camera showed the spray and how it affected the surface. "As you can see, with the water rippling, I can now see where the actual surface is. Perfect! Now I can make the dive." Blake did a simple pike position dive and entered the water below perfectly. The screen split into two and showed the dive from a couple different angles. Then after he hit the water, the screen flashed up an `Instant Replay' banner and the shot was facing him, but followed him down into the water. "How'd you do that?" Troy asked as everyone clapped for the dive. "We used the drone to follow me down and then switched to the GoPro in the pool as I hit the water," Blake explained. "That was impressive," Alex nodded with everyone else agreeing as the video continued. Blake swam over to the side of the pool and rose up out of the water. He brushed his hair back and looked at the camera directly in front of him. "Another question we get is why do divers always shower after being in the water?" He hitched up out of the water, walked over to the shower on the wall and pressed the button. "Mainly to stay warm so that muscles don't cramp up after the cold water shock, which is also why we hit the hot tub while waiting for our next dive. Plus...who doesn't like getting into a hot tub? I also think it's partially to get the chlorine off. Spend as much time in the water as we do, and you'll find it dries out your skin pretty fast. I think showering helps minimize that, but no one has confirmed that for me. It's just what I believe, and as you'll learn about me, I believe lots of stuff." "That's the other question I hear a lot," Blake said as he wiped his face and held up the cloth in his hand. "Why the tiny towel? What good is that gonna do? It's actually a shammy and this little sucker absorbs a lot of water quickly so we can dry off faster. Wish my towels at home were this fast." He lowered his voice as he grinned. "The fast and the fuzzyist." He made his way over to the stairs for the tower again, and as he turned the shot changed so he was not looking at a different camera. I have to admit it was some good editing or filming because there was no sign of the other camera operators. The video went with him as he climbed to the first tower, which I believe is the five-metre one. Blake paused and smiled. "Five metres." I was right. It's the five-metre tower. Called it. The angle changed again and sped up as they raced up to the top tower. Blake turned to look directly into the camera. "Sorry about that angle. I hope the editor sped that up so you didn't have two minutes of looking just at my butt. When I do a dive it's usually pretty quiet as I need to concentrate." He turned and moved to the edge of the platform and got himself ready. I'm pretty sure I held my breath as we all watched him about to dive. Blake did a reverse somersault twist dive, and executed it perfectly, getting another round of applause. He resurfaced and swam to the side of the pool where a tripod camera had been set up. He hitched up out of the water and wiped the excess water off himself. "Usually we have six dives per competition. Each one has varying difficulties, and our score is multiplied that difficulty level. So, the harder the dive, the bigger the reward. My friend Tom Daley, who is an Olympic diver, says I'm getting much better at the more complex dives and he's given me a lot of support. I'm not sure I'd ever be an Olympic diver, but I do want to keep getting better at it. If there's enough likes on this video, maybe I'll make another one with fans who want to learn how to dive. Let's go answer some more questions and do more dives." He dried himself as he headed towards a springboard. "The next two questions are sort of similar. What was your first dive like? And what was your first dive from the 10-metre tower like? Great questions. My first ever dive when I was a little kid was terrifying. I think I did it like all kids. I stood on the smallest springboard, bounced a couple of times standing on the edge. Then when it stopped moving, I put my hands over my head, leaned forward and basically fell into the water. Not really a dive, but to me it was like a lifetime achievement thing. And I'm not talking a participation award here. I'm talking a gold medal performance...at least in my mind. Here let me show you how that went." Blake stepped up onto the small springboard, then like a little kid, bounced a couple times and waited for it to stop, before cupping his hands over his head, leaned his head forward and fell into the water, landing face and stomach first. Again, the camera changed to get the best angle of it, but this time there was no instant replay. Probably for the best. No one wants to see that again. Blake quickly swam back to the edge and looked up again. "If I'm being honest, that's almost more terrifying than the 10-metre tower now. My first 10-metre dive took me a long time. I started with the 5-metre platform like everyone does, and slowly progressed up to the ten. I gotta admit, I almost didn't do it. I looked down, saw how high up we were and felt super dizzy." He used his towel to dry off again and the camera followed him to the stairs so he could climb up. It followed him up about halfway, and then the camera changed to top down shot, and recorded the rest of the climb. Blake stopped at the 7½ metre tower and looked up. "Why don't they install an elevator?" He said as he jogged up a few more stairs. "We're athletes, so stairs are fine. Plus, water and electrical things...not a good idea. You guys had a lots of questions. Here's another dive!" he grinned as he turned and prepared a somersault dive. It didn't seem as good as I've seen him do, as he landed with a bit of an extra splash, but it still looked impressive. I still have trouble diving in from just the side of the pool. Blake dried off and looked at the camera. "Another question. Why do we dry off between dives? Aren't we just gonna get wet again? Yep. If we do the dive right, we'll get wet," he grinned. "But we dry off to ensure we have the best traction before a dive. Last thing we want is a foot to slip while we're standing on the edge of a platform, or have our hands or legs slippery while we're trying to hold onto them. Also, we throw our tiny towels down to the ground so that they're there when we finish the dive. Some say they're good luck charms. Mine isn't. It's just a towel." There was an obvious cut that Blake said they'd left in as a jump cut. Not sure what that means, but so far this video was entertaining, so I wasn't jumping anywhere. Darcy was now in the shot, dressed in just his board shorts. "How come you didn't wear speedos," Darcy?" J.J. inquired. "Not a good look on me. I prefer the long shorts," he replied. The video continued with Blake introducing their next bit. "One last question that came up is how I got the courage to make the first real dive. I'll show you. This is one of my friends, Darcy. He's part of my team making these videos with me. I'm going to use him to show you how to make that first dive when your nerves are making your legs shake so bad you can barely stand. Darcy, have you ever used a springboard to dive?" "The little one I have, but not this taller one. I've only ever jumped off it," he replied looking at Blake. "You ready to dive off it today?" "No," he said shaking his head. "Excellent, I'll show you what to do and then give you a few tips to make it easier. Sound good?" "Still no," he said shaking his head again, getting a laugh out of our group watching. Blake went onto the board and showed how springy the board was, and how to adjust it using his foot on the wheel at the side. When he was ready, he took a run and jump on the board before making his dive. He resurfaced quickly and swam back to the edge and climbed out. He dried off and returned to Darcy. "See, it's just that simple. Now that you've seen me, you should have no problem now, right?" "Nope, still gotta go with a no," Darcy replied again. "You can do it Darcy," James encouraged. "Thanks buddy," Darcy replied as the video continued. Blake got Darcy onto the board and they walked to the end together. They gave it a small test bounce. "Best way to take that first dive..." he said as he looked over the edge, and down to a camera below them, "is to stand on the edge and bend over with your hands above your head. It looks stupid, but it gives you a different perspective on the water. Give it a try, Darcy." Darcy switched places with Blake and did what he'd been instructed. He held it for a second and stood upright, moving back from the edge. You could actually see how nervous he was, and I felt bad for him. I know I'd be freaking out if I were up there. "Did that feel better than just looking over the edge?" Blake asked. "No. I think it was worse," Darcy admitted. "You just need to get used to it. Here, try it again," Blake said as he eased him back to the edge. The camera angle changed to look down the length of the board. "A new diver will sometimes take a long time to get the courage to take that first real dive. In this starting position, you can help them along...like this..." Blake grinned before he turned around, lifted his bare foot and put it square on Darcy's butt, and pushed him off. The camera shot moved to the side to capture Darcy screaming all the way down before hitting the water. Mostly in a head first position. "Blake, Jesus!" Ben laughed. Blake looked over the edge of the diving board before turning to the camera. "See, no nerves to deal with and his first dive is behind him. No pun on the `behind' thing." He looked over again and as soon as Darcy got out of the water, Blake dropped down onto his ass and allowed the spring of the board to catapult him off and into a dive. Once he was up out of the water, he went up beside Darcy and grinned. "Just so you don't think I'm a total jerk, we planned that dive, and Darcy was a willing participant." "Yeah, I've dived off a 3 metre before. Dived or dove? I can't remember. I suck at it, but I can do it." "And to show you we were just having a bit of fun, he's going to go again," Blake announced. "I am?" Darcy asked looking at Blake. "Well, you're staying down here this time." Darcy made another dive, and while nowhere near as good as Blake, obviously, he at least proved he could do it. I liked this. Darcy showed Blake karate, and Blake showed Darcy diving. That shows some great friendship right there. "Time for a diving montage," Blake grinned as he looked at the camera. The video sped up and showed them all leaping, jumping, and diving off the various platforms. Some videos two boys jumped together, one had Darcy & Layne hugging each other in fear as Blake stood pointing at them as if demanding they jump like some supervillain. The last one was a synchronized jump of all three. Darcy was on the three metre, Layne on the five, and Blake up at the 10. The two lower guys jumped at the same time going for a, hands at the side, missile type, feet first, entry into the pool, while Blake did a basic pike position dive from the tower. They all hit at roughly the same time. "Wow! That was impressive," Colin said, echoing what I'm sure we were all thinking. "Are you allowed to dive with others still in the pool?" Jason asked. I had to agree as I was pretty sure they were strict on that, except for doubles synchronized stuff. "No. That's the beauty of editing. Layne and Darcy jumped at the same time, then we layered my dive over top of it and coordinated it so I hit the water with them, giving this end result. We still have some work to do, as the water ripples give away some of the magic. We have to smooth them out." "Looked great to me, Blake," J.J. said supportively. "Thanks," Blake replied. The video continued with a voice over comment. "After a full day of diving and answering questions, I figured I'd just let all my personality shine before ending this." It switched to showing a different Blake on every platform and springboard at the dive tank. He was wearing a different swim suit on each one. The twins giggled. "How come there's lots of you, Blake?" "Just for fun, buddy. We filmed each one separately and then edited them together." Troy laughed when the various Blakes began nodding, waving, and smiling at each other. "Now that's funny. It actually looks like you're interacting with each other. "That was the plan," Layne announced. "It's not perfect yet," Darcy added. "We rushed the edit so we could show it to you tonight, but when it's completely right, it should look pretty seamless." "Looks good to me," Colin replied and I nodded my agreement. We watched as the various Blake's dove from their locations. Sometimes more than one dove at a time which was cool effect. The one I liked first was when Blake dove from the 10-metre platform, and all the other Blake's looked up to watch him, and then clapped afterward. I honestly believed it was real. Less real looking was when all the Blake's were filmed together in their various speedos on the top tower and one by one dove off. They did a pretty good job of a synchronized dive with two of them at once, but it was pretty obvious that it was all overlayed. "We weren't sure about that last bit," Cory admitted as they paused the playback. "We think it looked too sus. Any reaction?" Ben replied first. "I liked the dive where two of you went, and I think it was well done when you had one dive and then another and another until there was no one left on the platform, but the rest of it was a bit much." "I'd agree," Troy nodded. "Less is more in that case. You already had a few minutes of you diving from all the other platforms. I think you should reduce a lot of that." "That took so long to film," Blake told them. I think I did like 30 dives for all of that. I didn't even know if we would be able to finish, but I'm glad we did it. I suppose we can make a few Shorts videos from all the footage we have." "We wanted the video to be about 12 minutes. That's why we left that part so long," Layne replied. "If you have stuff you edited out from the Q&A portion, I'd add some more of that back in, and reduce the `all Blake' dives," Jason said, with J.P. nodding. It seemed a unanimous decision with only two hold outs. "All those guys looked like you, Blake," Trevor said grinning. "Yeah. How come all your friends look like you?" Travis asked. "Because little man, when you look like me, everyone wants to copy you," Blake replied. I rolled my eyes. "Good god, his medication has worn off again." They resumed the video which now moved to Darcy, Layne and Blake drying off as they walked along the pool deck towards the locker room. I'm assuming Cory was the cameraman for this. As they arrived at the entrance, Blake turned to look at the cameras. "That's enough diving for today, and hopefully you got the answers about diving you were looking for. Oh, there is one more. A few people ask if we shave all our body hair? I know swimmers do a lot, and most divers shave a little. I mean look at me, my chest is super smooth." He giggled at the camera. "Okay, that's because I'm 14. I don't have chest hair anyway. I don't shave my legs," he said putting a leg up on a nearby bench, letting the camera come right in. "I'm blond so the hair on my legs is super fine anyway. No need to shave it. I think that hair helps with grip when I'm doing dives." The camera moved back to get his head and torso again. "I'm pretty sure super smooth dolphin legs would be slippery. I also do underarms, but only because I think it looks better, not because it affects my diving. As for other places..." he looked at his arm and tapped his wrist. "Will you look at the time. I have to go. I'll do more Q&A videos later on, so keep those questions coming about whatever you'd like to know. Remember though, this is a family friendly YouTube channel. None of the weirdo question like how many marshmallows can I shove up my nose...four...it's four." He turned to look up at the sign for the men's change room, then put his hand up towards the camera as they began to enter. "Whoa. This is as far as you can go. I just have to get a shower and change, and we don't have visitors for that." The next shot was him back on the deck with a towel over his head, and redressed in his black jeans. He was still shirtless, which was a good look, especially as he removed the towel from his head to show his messy wet hair. "There, chlorine is gone and I'm back. Thanks for joining me and the guys here today. Hope you had as much fun learning about diving as I did showing you. I'll do a few videos that let you get to know who I am a little bit more, and then we'll really move into the whole point behind this channel. To help kids in need. Not by donating to some mega corp with 30,000 employees gobbling up all the money, but by going to the kids themselves and having some fun along the way. Until next time, I'm Blake, and now you're up to speed. Wait! Wait! Don't show that. Guys! Editing. Editing!! He put his hand up and moved up to the camera. The scene switched to him in the shower all soaped up from the waist to his hair. It slowly zoomed in to his face as he rinsed the water out of his eyes, and looked at the camera. He blinked and then gave a shriek of surprise before the screen went black and the video ended. "That was great," J.P. said quickly, with everyone else congratulating the guys. "We still have a lot of editing to do, but that's basically the idea. Was it okay?" Blake asked. "I think that was a very well done, and informative video," I said supportively. "I actually learned a lot of about diving, and that I'm more convinced than ever that just one of you is plenty." The others laughed. "Yeah, it really shows off a lot of who you are," Alex added. "A lot," Troy laughed. "Like almost nothing to the imagination, lot." "We kept the video to 12 minutes as you don't want to lose retention on your video by making it too long, and if it's only short like a Tik Tok, you don't have a chance for as much ad revenue down the road. J.J. looked at his brother with a giant grin. "I liked the part where you lost your bathing suit. That was pretty funny." "Yeah, we filmed that as a joke. I just threw my other suit in the water with me and pretended like it had come off after the dive. We thought it would add some humour." "It worked," J.J. nodded. "Would be funnier if you'd got out of the pool not realizing it, and then had to jump back in." "Can't show nudity on YouTube, and we didn't want to have to blur anything. We want it to be fun, but family friendly," Blake told him. "It'll be fun to have you in some of the upcoming videos. You looking forward to it?" "Yeah. Hopefully something cool though." Ben spoke up next. "If this is going to be your first video, you might disappoint a lot of your viewers if you're not in your speedos in every video. You might want to do a few intro ones where you're fully clothed first. Just what I'd do if I were you," Ben commented. "Yeah, we already talked about that. The first ones I'm gonna upload will be like introductions to who I am. I'll show them things like my karate, playing the piano, maybe a camping video, introduce some of my friends. Then we're going to make a video of cool places around Vancouver and include some kids in it." We talked about his video plans for a while and explained a few things that he was asking about. Mainly about gift tax and would kids have to pay if they got given stuff. Colin explained that there is no gift tax in Canada, and only if they were given a car or a house, would there be any financial obligation. Apparently, you'd have to pay provincial sales tax on the value of the car when you register it, which doesn't sound right, since we'd have paid tax on the vehicle when we bought it. I suppose if we buy it in the other persons name, we could avoid double tax. Houses have property tax to pay each year. Colin did point out that it was unlikely that Blake would be handing out cars and homes anytime soon, so he was fine to gift anything he wanted without worrying that the other person could be penalized. Is anyone worried that Blake might give away some of our cars, or gift the house while we're out? The younger kids left to go do other things, but Blake and the guys stuck around to replay the video again. Most of us stuck around to provide feedback on editing when Blake stopped the video at certain scenes to point things out. It sounded like they could handle the basic editing of their videos, and Stone would be called in for the more professional things. "Ummm, we have a question," Blake said looking at us. "When we filmed, we left the cameras running when I changed into the speedos so I was wondering if we should keep that footage or delete it. We figured all other footage we should keep in case we need it for different videos or edits." "You delete anything with nudity on someone under 18. I'm sure there's no problem with it in your own computer, especially since it's not sexual or anything, but if your computer ever got hacked, the last thing you want is a lot of video of you naked," I told him quickly, with Colin agreeing almost as empathically. "Or do I?" Blake grinned. "Don't worry, most of my storage is on a separate drive. It keeps the main computer freed up so it runs faster. Anything we need we import over for editing. I kinda like the shots of me changing. Let's us see how the behind-the-scenes stuff worked. I probably shouldn't keep the video of me jerking off on the 10 metre though, huh?" You know, with any other kid you'd just know he was joking. With Blake, not so much. "Please tell me you're just kidding," I said with fingers crossed. "I'm just kidding," he chuckled. "But dude, that look on your face says you'd think I did." "Tell me that if you'd thought of it in the moment, you wouldn't have done it." "Dude, if I'd thought of it and hadn't been totally focused on the dives, or been so tired, I'd have totally done it. Imagine how spectacular that would have looked. I'd have refrained from masturbating for three days so I'd have a massive load that the camera could capture. Then the drone following it down into the water. That would be porn award legendary." "Blake..." Colin began to say. "Dad," Blake said stopping him, "I'd never do something like that for one of my videos. I'm totally trying to be professional about it. I was just joking. I only wanted to know what you thought I should do if we get video with any of us naked. Sometimes the raw footage just captures things that we always edit out." "For everyone's safety, I'd delete and security wipe, just to be sure it couldn't bite you in the ass," Colin advised. I had to agree as well. "Guys, make a note. We need a video of me being bitten on the ass," Blake giggled. "Thanks for letting me show you our video. We'll have a couple more next weekend, I hope." We wrapped up the `world premiere', and I have to admit, it was a lot of fun. I could see this really keeping him busy. Maybe with his acting, YouTube channel, Instagram, karate, and diving, he'd be too busy and too exhausted for sex. At least until he starts an OnlyFans, but let's cross those bridges when they get built. I was minding my own business (as I'm well known for), and just lying around on the couch surfing documentaries. I'm sure Timotheé Chalamet, Tanner Buchanan, or Daniel Gravelle must have done some shirtless documentaries somewhere. Who's Daniel Gravelle you ask? Look him up and then look up Timotheé. You'll see. Anywho, I was doing that when Colin rushed into the room and sat down next to me. "Colleen just called me," he said holding up his phone. Guess that's to add legitimacy to his story in case I doubted he could get calls on it. "Oh?" I said as my heart began to race. With Colleen it's either good news or bad news. It's rarely just a call to see how we're doing and talk about life in general. "What did she want?" "Actually some good news. Very good news." Nailed it. My heart slowed down a little as I'd braced for the sledgehammer to the forehead type news. "Apparently the ministry received an anonymous tip that the Campbells go out of town for six months of the year. This negates their foster parent agreement, so they're no longer eligible for any consideration," he said grinning. "I thought they had already been cancelled because of how they were dealing with this whole thing, making them unsuitable," I replied. "They were, but they'd gone to court to fight it, based on the grounds that they had planned on adopting J.J. But now that it's been revealed that they are only around six months of the year, they are unsuitable as candidates to adopt, so the court has ruled that they can not adopt J.J. Apparently it's over. J.J. is ours to adopt as soon as we're ready." "Now that's the kind of news I like to hear. Did Colleen say when we can begin the process?" I asked, ready to put my coat on and head for the adoption warehouse. In my mind, it's kinda like those puppy adoption places. You go down this long corridor looking in the windows of each door where you can see the kids looking all cute and adorable. Each one almost begging to go home with you. We'd already picked out a kid and taken him home to try out. So far, he seemed great. Potty trained and everything. Just a few marbles missing, but we could work with that. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about," he said looking directly into my eyes. "Colleen said we could go to court as early as this week if we wanted to, but said we should discuss it first." I put my imaginary coat down, and stopped thinking about the adoption warehouse. "What's to discuss? Let's buy the kid before he goes on sale and someone else scoops him up," I grinned at Colin. "I was joking." Figured I better say that just in case. "Ultimately the decision comes down to you and me, but I think both Blake and J.J. should have a say in it, don't you?" "Of course. It won't be much of a decision with Blake as he'd be ready to go right now. He wants his brother back. Simple as that." "True, but the stumbling block is J.J. Has he had enough time with us to accept us as his parents, or is he still holding out hope that he'll be going back to the Campbells?" "What did Colleen say about that?" I asked figuring they must have discussed it. "She was honest with me and said ideally the Ministry of Children and Families wants him to be adopted as it provides long term stability for a child." "Probably to get his expenses off their books," I nodded. Colin just smiled. "We've already offered to refuse the monthly allowance they provide for him, but for some reason it has to be paid. If J.J.'s not ready to be adopted by us, how would that affect him if we push it through? The other side of that is how would Blake feel if we don't adopt J.J. at the earliest opportunity? Any thoughts?" "We still have the shovel option," I replied, trying to keep a straight face. "Huh?" "The shovel option. Where we hit J.J. over the head with a shovel to see if it knocks his memories back into place. I've done some research into it and it usually works." "What sort of research says that?" "I got some from movies where it works successfully every time. Then my Redditt feed is totally supportive of the idea. Even some guys on Truth Social said it's really the only option at this point. I mean that holds a lot of weight as their whole platform is about truth, right?" "Did you research any actual medical journals about it?" Colin asking, totally giving me the amused smirk that said he was playing along. "Sure. I'm not an idiot, but those guys all said it doesn't work and only time, therapy, and in some cases, medication, are the only way to move forward. Of course they'd say that, as the longer someone is in need of medical help, they make more money. Keep the patient from regaining memories and they can bill for therapy and meds, so you gotta read between the lines on their advice. It basically says that most memories are likely to come back as time passes. I say for the price of a shovel we can speed that up." "Are you done?" Colin asked sitting back, apparently wanting to get back to a serious discussion. "Yep. I'm done. I've thought about this scenario a lot as I knew we'd be facing it one day, and here we are. For my five cents on the issue, I say we talk to J.J. and be honest with him. Replay the story from the tragedy until now and tell him we've been approved to adopt him." "Would we be asking him if he wanted to be adopted?" Colin asked, showing some concern in his facial expressions. "Not at all. That sets you up for the answer to be no, allowing him to think there are other options. If we give him any option, it's to let him know that we can adopt him immediately, or to wait for some of his memories to return so that he can understand why he's here." "Would we involve Blake in that?" He asked. "Not at all. At least not in this part of the process. We wait until we've made a decision, then bring him in on it. Having Blake apply pressure would not be a good idea, since at the moment, J.J. is just taking us at our word that Blake is his actual brother. In his mind Layne is the real brother." "Do we need to factor Layne into this?" Colin asked as we discussed the situation. "I've actually thought about that, and even talked to my old professor about it," I admitted. "If this had been a clean break from the Campbells, I would have said we let them live their lives and we live ours, but since Layne is friends with Blake, it's a bit more complicated. Right now, both older boys are acting as brothers, and J.J. is accepting that arrangement, but he still looks to both of them for advice." Colin gave a small laugh. "I've noticed that occasionally. He'll ask Layne something and if he doesn't like the answer, he goes to Blake, and vice versa. Like a kid playing one parent off against the other, except with brothers." "I'd say that hits it right on the head," I replied. "Again with the hitting on the head," Colin chuckled. "Give it a rest. We're not whacking someone on the head with anything." "Well, that was a waste of $34.95 for the shovel," I said sitting back on the couch. "I do know from talking to Layne that he's been trying to help J.J. transition to his new life here, and he's supportive of J.J. being adopted by us." "Could we use that to help?" Colin asked. "If we involve Layne, we'd have to pull Blake in as well. As much as we want to adopt J.J. today, I think we should ramp up our efforts to get his memories back. We have an opportunity ahead to do that." "We do?" Colin asked. "Sure. Blake will be away all week filming and only home on weekends, where he'll no doubt spend time doing his YouTube videos. I'm sure we can convince Blake to involve J.J. so that they spend a lot more time together. During the week, you and I could concentrate on doing things with J.J. Go through that list of things Blake said the two of them did together, and take him to do as many as we can." "Since we're talking about this, I did look into hypnotherapy..." "The shovel to the forehead would be just as effective," I interjected, cutting him off. "That's what the consensus seems to be. It has potential to allow some rewiring of the brain, but hasn't been at all successful in restoring memories. Most studies seem to be what we've already discussed. First is simply time to allow the brain to heal. Stimulate it with familiar things from the past. Another is to introduce the trauma that caused the amnesia in the first place, but in a controlled environment." "Excellent idea babe. I'll burn the house down and we'll make sure we help J.J. get out safely as we all watch it go up in flames," I said sarcastically. If we'd had Blake in on this, he'd have run off to soak the house in gasoline. "Maybe a little less traumatic than that," he grinned. "I say for now, we keep the status quo and maybe just ramp up the things we do with him. Let's try throwing out the idea of adoption and see what he replies with," I suggested. "It could be any extreme, from still believing he's going back to be adopted by the Campbells, to having resigned himself to his new reality and is all for it." "Do you really think he's come that far?" Colin asked. "No, but it's the two extremes. It's likely he's in the middle somewhere. Let's just take him more places and do more things with him during the week, and he can spend the weekend with Blake and the guys." "I'm good with that. I'll call Colleen back and let her know what we're thinking." He made the call and Colleen seemed to agree with us. She did say that sometimes it was easier to rip the band-aid off and let the child start to deal with their new situation, however, she agreed that may now wasn't the right time to do that with J.J. We agreed to go slower and work a bit harder on recovering memories. Makes sense to me, so we wait. Anyone else hearing Jeopardy music in their head right now? Blake and Darcy showed up a short while later with a small tag along. "Hi!" Toby said waving excitedly. "Hey Toby. Guys. What're you up to today?" "We're going water sliding and then we're going to McDonald's," Toby said with a giant grin on his face. "We still don't gotta wear clothes though, right Darcy?" "We should probably wear them to McDonald's," Darcy replied putting his hand on Toby's shoulder. "It would be super funny if we didn't though," he reasoned. "Looks like you guys are still getting along well," I said to Darcy. "Yeah, he's the best big brother ever!" Toby exclaimed. "And you're the best little brother ever," Darcy added. "Where's Layne today?" "He's at home. His parents have him doing chores around the house. They've made him do all the chores J.J. used to do, so he hardly has free time when he's there. Between homework, chores, and having to check in with them all the time, it's like they wanna know where he is 24/7. He usually can't wait for the times he goes over to his uncle's place." "I can understand that. Have fun on the water slide, Toby," I said. You could see him getting impatient, so the boys took off. It wasn't long before you heard the excited voices of kids playing. Strange how even 14 and 16-year-olds turn into pre-teens when given permission, and a 7-year-old gives you that permission. I checked on them briefly a little later, and found J.J. and James had joined in. I think they may have two more for their trip to McDonald's. As I watched J.J., all I could think about was how he was going to be our son now. We still have a difficult road ahead, but maybe once he's settled in to the idea that this is now his permanent home, he'll let his brain relax and maybe those memories will come flooding back. In the meantime, I went to make sure I knew exactly where the shovel was. End of Chapter. Would you use a shovel or a spade for something like that? Guess we'll find out if Justin goes through with it. Meanwhile, there's plenty more ahead. We'll expose it all soon enough. Comments and suggestions are welcome @outinwest@gmail.com. Be sure to follow on Twitter.com/outinwest for announcements of new chapters or stories. Happy reading and thanks for sticking with me this long.