Date: Sat, 3 Dec 2016 23:57:56 +0000 From: Douglas DD Subject: Aiden Chapter 17 Thanks for returning. Aiden is in big trouble at school and learns what being a real family is all about. Please give generously to the Nifty Archive to keep this source of stories. I love getting email. They are my salary. Please write to me, Douglas at thehakaanen@hotmail.com. CHAPTER 17 FAMILY Aiden sat on the bench in the outer office and sulked. He knew that Mrs. Finstuen, the principal, was talking to his Uncle Larry about his fight with Barry. He knew he was in big trouble. Just the fact that he was sitting on the bench meant he was in trouble—he was no stranger to office benches. He was upset that the principal didn't believe that Barry had started the fight by bullying Mason. But, he was also no stranger to teachers and principals not believing what he said, or simply not listening to him. "Barry said you pushed Mason to the ground and that you punched him when he tried to stop you from kicking him," the principal had told Aiden after he had given her his version of the story. "Barry is lying," he mumbled. He wanted to say more. He wanted to say that Barry was a bully and an asshole and a fucktard and was every other dirty name he could think of. But he also had the sense to know that would get him into worse trouble, if that were possible. "Aiden, Barry is a leader in the fifth grade. He is a team captain for intramurals, plays team sports, and is liked and respected by his classmates. He's gone to this school since kindergarten and has never been in any kind of major trouble." Mrs. Finstuen didn't consider some of the rambunctious shenanigans she had to deal with to be serious trouble— it was simply the acting out of a boy with a forceful personality. "He's a bully, too," Aiden repeated. "He punched me in the football game." Aiden felt that ratting out Barry to save himself was now acceptable. "Aiden, you're new to this school. You came here with a reputation for fighting at your old school. Why should I believe you instead of one of our good citizens?" "Because I am telling the truth and he is lying." Aiden felt his answer explained everything. "Roger backs up his story." "What about Mason?" "I haven't talked to Mason. His mother picked him up and took him home. The poor boy was very upset." "Did you talk to Gordy and Miles? They were there." "They backed up your story, which surprises me since neither one of them ever causes trouble." Aiden wondered what that had to do with anything. "I am wondering if maybe they might be somewhat intimidated by you. After what you did to Mason, I would say that you are the bully, not Barry." Aiden finally raised his voice. "I ain't no bully. I got in fights with bullies who picked on people because I hate them. I hate Barry. I hate you because you're a bully—you take sides when you don't even know what really happened. You're picking on me because I'm new!" He stopped for breath and because he felt tears welling up. In just a couple of weeks Lakeview School had become the best school he'd ever been to with the best friends he'd ever had. Now it was all ruined because of Barry and the stupid principal. "Aiden, I am going to ask you to step outside while I call your uncle. I think you should take some time to calm down. I do not like being yelled at by students." "Nobody would yell at you if you weren't stupid," Aiden yelled. "I hate you," he repeated as he walked out of the door. Mrs. Finstuen ignored him and picked up her phone. Aiden's thoughts were brought back into the present when Mrs. Henderson, the secretary, walked over to him. "Do you want to use the bathroom or get a drink of water?" she asked him in a soothing tone of voice. She was the only adult who had treated him decently all morning. "It's going to be okay, Aiden," she told him, but he didn't believe her. He was convinced that everybody in the school hated him as much as he hated them. He stood up and looked up at the kindly lady. "I liked this school when I got here, and now I hate it," he groused. "But I like you." He left for the restroom and returned just as Mrs. Finstuen came out to call him back into her office. Mrs. Henderson watched the young boy disappear into the office. She couldn't help but think he was getting a raw deal. She liked Judy Finstuen as a boss. She was friendly and fair. But, sometimes when dealing with a student, she had preconceived notions about how incidents had played out. But then, her instincts were almost always correct. In this case, she might very well be wrong. Barry Bender lived two houses away from her, and she knew he was not the sterling citizen the principal thought him to be. As the door closed, she wondered how much she should tell her boss about what she knew. Aiden's words about how his perception of the school had changed tugged at her heart. Aiden sat down on the chair in front of the principal's desk and went into full sulk mode. He was determined to let her know how unhappy he was. "I had a nice talk with your uncle, Aiden." "Which one?" he asked. "With Coach Sanders." "Uncle Larry," he muttered. "We agreed that there is nothing that can be decided today. I am going to place you on in-school suspension for the rest of the day. We will decide your fate on Monday. Sad to say, this could very well be your last day at Lakeview Elementary." He glared at the principal. She had told him his uncles might not want him living with them anymore. She probably talked Uncle Larry into sending him back to the child services people in Seattle, or worse, back to Luke's house. "Mrs. Vickers and Mr. Hart will be supervising you." They were the two teacher assistants at the school. John Hart worked part time and also attended school at the Community College. He was a sophomore. "I hate Mrs. Vee. She told me I was no-good." "Aiden, you need to start telling the truth about things. Lying about everything that happened is just wrong. And saying you hate people is totally wrong." "Not listening to what anybody tells you is wrong, too. I bet I don't get to play in my football game today, either." The Broncos were playing the Packers in their second practice game at lunch time. "Did you really think I'd let you? I can't remember dealing with a fourth- grader as feisty as you." She got on her phone and dialed a three-digit intercom number. Aiden sat with his arms folded, glaring at the principal while she asked Mrs. Vickers to come to her office. She was there within minutes. Mrs. Finstuen told her to take Aiden to the conference room where he would serve his suspension. The principal was convinced that Aiden was finished as a student at her school, but she requested school work for him to do while he served his suspension—he would need something to keep him busy. Larry arrived at the end of the school day. He had left the high school, whose dismissal was forty minutes before elementary school dismissal, as soon as his last class ended. He stopped at the elementary school office to check in. Mrs. Finstuen saw him enter the outer office and beckoned him into her office. "I am so sorry this incident had to happen. From everything I'd heard the boy was fitting in quite well, but it turns out that wasn't really the case," the principal said in a smarmy voice. "I would like to hear his side of the story before passing judgement," Larry said flatly. "There won't be much to hear, Larry. The boy has tried lying his way through everything." "I still want to hear what he has to say." While Aiden had created some problems since his arrival, Larry knew that his behavior had been improving by leaps and bounds. He seemed to be much happier than he'd been the day he and Phil had picked him up. One thing he had noticed about the boy was that while he sometimes avoided giving answers, he hadn't been caught telling blatant lies. "I'd like to suggest something, if I may. I've known you professionally for quite a few years," the principal said. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for you as an educator—you are one of the best teachers in the school district." "Don't patronize me, Judy. Say what you want to say." "I know it isn't really my business, but while you are an excellent teacher you are new at the parenting business. Aiden's behavior here bears that out. You might want to consider looking into the boy being taken in by a family with experience in child raising. I believe that would serve him best." "You are correct, Judy; it is none of your business. My husband, Phil, and I will see you on Monday." He put a heavy emphasis on the word husband. "If Aiden is in the wrong, I will back you all the way. But, I can assure you, if I feel in any way that my nephew has not received a fair hearing we will fight you all the way." Larry turned and walked out of her office. As Judy Finstuen watched the teacher leave her office she knew she would need to have her position in perfect order on Monday. There was no doubt in her mind that Larry Sanders was an expert on how the system worked and would be a formidable foe. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Aiden sat silently in the backseat as Larry drove home. He had said nothing from the school to the car. Larry noted that his nephew didn't look to be sulking; instead he had a frightened look about him. He was wondering if he should break the silence when Aiden spoke up as they crossed the dam. "Are you going to send me away to live someplace else?" the nine-year-old asked meekly. The question surprised Larry. He thought he and Phil had been doing a good job of creating an environment where the boy could feel safe and loved. "That thought has never crossed the mind of your Uncle Phil and me," Larry said with conviction. "Why do you think we would think about sending you away?" "Mrs. Finstuen said I don't belong with you and Uncle Phil." "Oh lord," Larry muttered. While he had never worked under Judy Finstuen, in a small school district everybody knows everybody. From everything he'd heard about her she was a sound and respected administrator. While that was probably so, she was certainly not handling his nephew's issue very well. "What? Is she right?" "Let's talk about it in the house where we can look at each other face-to- face." They had just passed the entrance to the state park, which meant they were close to home. "I guess she's right then," Aiden said, with a hint of sullenness. "Aiden, she is totally, one-hundred percent wrong. Park that in your head until we can sit in a better place to talk than the front and back seats of the car." "Okay," Aiden said meekly. Nothing more was said until they settled on the couch in the recreation room. The gray clouds moving across the lake portended the rain that had been forecast. This time Larry started the conversation. "Before you say anything, I want to make it very clear that you could never do anything to make your Uncle Phil and me want you to move to another home. We asked for you to live here, and now that you're here we love you more than you can imagine." Aiden sat very still, obviously fighting back tears. Larry scooted down the couch, placed his arm around the thin boy's shoulder, and pulled him close. "Why did the principal say I might have to move?" "Mrs. Finstuen has nothing to do with how this family operates. I love you. Phil loves you. That's all you need to know." "But, I'm in big trouble. I might get kicked out of school, then you'd kick me out of the house." "Stop that, Aiden," Larry said sternly. "Trust me and believe me when I say that this is your home and this is where you belong. Period. End of discussion. Okay?" Aiden laid his head against his uncle's muscular chest. "I guess." Larry decided that was good enough for the moment. "Now, tell me what happened today." "You won't believe me." "Just tell me the truth. We had this discussion when you first moved in. You're a boy who has a lot of learning and growing up left in front of him. We said you'd probably get in trouble on occasion, although we hoped that it wouldn't be big trouble." "This is big trouble," Aiden said again. "Hush, son." Larry stroked Aiden's unruly blond hair. "What was the one thing your Uncle Phil and I told you not to do when you got into trouble?" "You said not to lie to you. You said you needed to trust me." Larry gave Aiden a smile and a squeeze. "You remember perfectly. Now, tell me what happened today." Larry had thought about waiting for Phil to get home, but he knew that it would be best for Aiden to unburden himself right away. "Well, I got off the bus...," he started and then went on to describe the entire incident with Barry. He finished by saying, "And that is the truth. You can ask Gordy and Miles and Mason." "It's best that we don't talk to Mason. We don't want anybody to get any wrong ideas about what was said to him. But, tomorrow, we will have a chat with Gordon and Miles. Would they be willing to talk to Mrs. Finstuen or does Barry have them intimidated, too?" "Nobody pushes Gordy around. He's like me. And him and Miles told Mrs. Finstuen, but she said they were lying." Larry could see that the whole incident had become very complicated in many ways. But it was also simple enough that he had no doubt that Aiden was being completely truthful. He and Phil were going to have a very interesting meeting with the Lakeview principal on Monday. "How come you can't ask them tonight?" "Because we're going to the Mustang's homecoming football game tonight, with pizza afterward, remember?" "You mean I still get to go?" "I believe everything you told me. Although you might have been able to find a better way to take care of your rescue, like asking Mrs. Vickers to go with you, you didn't do anything wrong. You may have showed some poor judgement, but you also kept Mason from getting hurt worse. So, yes, we're all still going to the game." "Except you'll be working." "Well, nothing is perfect," Larry grinned. Larry was assigned to be on the chain gang for the game, carrying the down marker. "Uncle Larry?" "Yes, son?" "I think I used bad grammar and you never said anything." "Sometimes people just have to say what they need to say, and this was one of those times. What you had to say trumped how you should have said it." Aiden thought about what his uncle said for a moment, and then placed his skinny arm around Larry's neck. "I love you, Uncle Larry. I don't ever want to live somewhere else. I want to always live with you and Uncle Phil." Larry gave Aiden's forehead another kiss. "And I love you little man. I don't want to think about this house without you in it." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Phil's job had kept him away from his office for most of the afternoon as he inspected the condition of the road projects before the start of the weekend. Larry had been able to fill him in on most of Aiden's run-in at school, but Phil didn't have the full story as he pulled into the driveway. He smiled as Aiden came down the front steps to greet him. "Hey sport," Phil grinned as he stepped out of his truck. "Hi, Uncle Phil." Aiden surprised him by giving him a big hug. "Uncle Larry says I wasn't a bad boy today." "Indeed?" Aiden nodded. "He said I was a bad judge." "I guess if that is properly translated it means you were a young boy who got caught up in events and used poor judgement." "Yep, that's what he said. I'll carry your briefcase." Phil handed it to Aiden and he took it in his left hand. He then placed his right hand in Phil's left hand. They walked together into the garage and then into the basement. Aiden had to let go of his uncle's hand as they walked up the narrow stairs to the main floor of the house. Phil and Larry were both pleasantly surprised by Aiden's affection. "Come on in the kitchen and help me get dinner prepared," Phil suggested to Aiden. "I thought we were going out for pizza," Aiden said. "That's not until after the football game. I'm putting together some sandwiches to get us through the evening." Aiden soon found himself spreading butter and mayonnaise onto slices of bread as he told Phil that he punched Barry twice and why he did it. The nine-year-old then waited for Phil to yell at him figuring that if Larry didn't yell at him then Phil would probably be the one doing it. Instead, his uncle looked down at him with a wide grin. "Larry said that you and I were a lot alike," he told his nephew. "How?" "Back when I was your age and a little older, I punched out more than my share of boys." Aiden gave him a skeptical look. "Were they bullies, like Barry?" "Some. But others were nice guys like your Uncle Larry." "You punched out Uncle Larry?" Aiden's disbelief grew by a few leaps. "Right in the gut in the hallway outside the cafeteria when we were in sixth grade." "What did he do to make you mad?" "He tried to be my friend." "You punched him for wanting to be your friend?" "Well, son, I happened to be an asshole at the time." "You used a dirty word," Aiden giggled. "Sometimes you just have to call an asshole an asshole." Aiden nodded at Phil's sage words. "I take it Barry is an asshole." Aiden paused and then said, "Nope, he's not." "No? From what you've told me it sounds like he qualifies." "Barry is a fucktard," Aiden said, as if it were the kind of truth his uncle should have known. "Now that is a dirty word," Phil said with a hint of disapproval in his voice. Aiden looked up at him. "Well, Uncle Phil, sometimes you just have to call a fucktard a fucktard," he said without a hint of pretension. He waited to see how his uncle would react, and when he spit out a roar of laughter, Aiden joined him, his high pitched mirth mixing with Phil's adult merriment. Larry rushed in, asking what was so funny. "Aiden just put Barry on an even lower plane than the one his Uncle Phil occupied at age eleven." "That is pretty low on the social scale," Larry agreed. "It's at the fucktard level," Aiden said, which immediately had Larry's laughter joining those of his husband and his nephew. Aiden decided that since his uncles were in a good mood, this would be a good time to ask the question he'd been afraid to ask. "Will I be able to play in my soccer game tomorrow?" he asked somewhat meekly as his confidence quickly turned to fear as to what the answer would be. "You were at both practices," Larry told him, "so I know Coach Bill will play you." "For real?" "Well, those are the rules...you come to practice, you play." "No, I mean it's okay with you and Uncle Phil?" Larry tussled Aiden's mop of unruly hair. "Like I told you, son, while you showed some poor judgement in how you handled the situation, you also kept a much smaller boy from being hurt by a bigger one. I don't think you did anything that should keep you from playing. The soccer program has nothing to do with the school." Aiden stepped between his uncles and wrapped a small arm part way around each of their waists. "I love you, Uncles." "And we love you, kiddo," Phil said. As Aiden went back to his prep work, he knew there was no way he would ever be asked to leave this house. After less than a month of living with his gay uncles in the house on the lake he knew this was exactly where he belonged. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Aiden sat to the right of Phil at the football game. Larry was down on the field carrying the down marker as part of the chain gang. Gordon, Miles, Rusty, and Muddy sat on the other side of Aiden, while Aaron Lansing, Gordon's father, sat to the left of Phil. Aiden was relieved that nobody talked about the morning altercation at school—all of the talk was about the football game unfolding down on the field. But, from what Larry and Phil had told him, Aiden knew there would be a lot of conversation about the incident the next day. The boys couldn't fail to notice Barry and Roger. The two were running around with a group of unsupervised middle school boys who appeared to be led by Peter. While none of them were causing trouble, their focus wasn't always on the football game. The game ended up being an exciting one—it even managed to capture the full attention of the wandering gang of boys in the fourth quarter. The Mayfield Mustangs entered the fourth quarter trailing the Harborview Tugs 16-10. But junior quarterback Nick McCall tossed two touchdown passes to lead the Mustangs to a 24-16 win as they remained undefeated with a 3-0 record. After the game, Aiden and his friends joined Phil, Larry, and most of the boys' parents at The Bear for pizza. Only Muddy's parents didn't join them. They hadn't attended the football game either, saying they didn't understand American football. The topic at the table was American football, including the flag football game Aiden missed because of his in-school suspension. The Broncos lost their second practice game 13-0 to the Packers. "We really missed you," Gordon told Aiden. "I hardly played in the first game," Aiden pointed out. "I know, we missed you then, too. And I missed you a lot." Aiden grinned. There was no doubt in his mind that Gordy was the best friend he ever had. When Aiden finally arrived home he told his uncles he was tired and ready for bed. "I got a big soccer game in the morning, so I need to get lots of sleep," he pointed out. "We certainly won't be the ones to stop you," Phil told him. "But, we are letting you know that after the game we're going to Gordon's house to get the story about what happened today from him and Miles." "They'll tell you the truth." "We have no doubt they will." Aiden went upstairs, took off his clothes, brushed his teeth, and walked to the landing to let his uncles know he was ready to be tucked in. He felt no embarrassment at being naked in front of them and no longer made an effort to hide himself. Larry took the tucking and reading duties for the night. "No reading tonight," Aiden announced as Larry entered the room. "I know; you have a big game tomorrow." He ruffled the grinning boy's perpetually unruly hair. "I think we need to get you a buzz cut next time we visit the barber." "No frigging way." "Frigging? Where did you come up with frigging?" "Gordy says he can say it at home because it sounds better than fucking." Aiden realized his mistake right away and was ready for Larry to chew him out. "Sounds reasonable to me. And I was just joking about the haircut." "Thanks for not yelling at me for saying um...you know...the `F' word." "You meant no harm by it. I've heard and used the word before." "Good night, Uncle Larry. I love you." "I love you, too, son. I'll let you get that precious sleep now." He turned off the light and left the room, feeling thankful yet again for having the young boy in his life. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Bobcats played the Lions from Meadow Park, the town between Mayfield and Centralia. "Nothing like a good cat fight," Phil mused at breakfast. After swallowing his mouthful of pancake, Aiden let out a mighty roar, even if though it sounded more like a soprano squeal. "Bobcats are little cats that fight hard," Aiden said once his uncles stopped laughing. The Bobcats proved that to be true as they knocked off the Lions 5-2. Aiden scored two goals and Gordy scored one as the Bobcat's discipline on the field helped them dominate the Lions. Larry and Phil were both impressed by how much the Bobcats had improved since their first game. It was obvious to the two baseball coaches that Coach Bill was doing an outstanding job of teaching soccer to the kids. After the game, most of the team gathered at the Burger Barn for burgers and milk shakes. The treat was paid for by the team's sponsor. After the feast, Aiden, Miles, and Rusty, along with Larry and Phil went to Gordon's house. Larry and Phil sent Aiden and Rusty to the multi-rec room and sat down with Gordon and Miles to get their account of the Friday morning confrontation. Gordon's father and mother sat in on the conversation. Larry and Phil were not surprised that Gordon and Miles backed up Aiden's version of what happened. "What are they talking about?" Rusty asked as the boys watched the University of Washington Huskies football game on television. "They're talking about the fight I was in," Aiden told him. "I'm glad you punched that Barry kid—he's mean." While Rusty didn't go to the same school as Aiden, Gordon, and Barry, Mayfield was a small town. Barry was an up-and-coming young athlete and his name was known to many of the kids around town. "He was picking on Mason," Aiden said, justifying his actions to Rusty. "He's picked on a couple of kids at my school. Nobody likes him except the guys everybody says are jocks." Their discussion was interrupted when Gordon and Miles came into the room with the adults trailing them. "Looks like Barry got what was coming to him," Phil said, "although you could have used..." "...better judgement," Aiden finished. "You guys keep telling me that." "Only because it's true," Larry said. "That said, Phil and I will be backing you all the way with Mrs. Finstuen on Monday." Aiden felt relieved. He was certain that with Uncle Larry and Uncle Phil backing him up, he wouldn't be kicked out of his school. "Anybody object to staying for dinner?" Flo Lansing asked. Nobody objected. Miles and Rusty called home for permission to stay. After the obligatory discussions between mothers, everything was arranged. Everybody, except Flo, stayed in the room to watch the football game. After the game, which the Huskies won 31-21, the boys retreated to Gordon's room. Gordon and Rusty lounged on Gordon's bed while Aiden and Miles sat in the two chairs in the room. They talked about their soccer game, the college football game they just saw, the high school game of the night before, and anything else that came to mind. Rusty brought up the subject of a cute red-haired girl in one of the other fourth-grade classrooms at his school. "Her hair is almost as red as mine," he told his friends. "I think she likes me." "Like she wants to be your girlfriend or something?" Miles asked. "I dunno. What do I have to do to be somebody's boyfriend?" "Just ask, I guess," Gordon said. "What if she says no?" The boys all shrugged. None of them had an answer since they had never been in that position. "I'm nailed," Aiden said suddenly. "For real?" Gordon asked. Aiden nodded. "Is it because Rusty was talking about maybe getting a girlfriend?" "I don't think so. I think girls are dumb. I just got one is all." "What do you mean you're nailed?" Rusty asked. "It means he's got a boner," Gordon informed him. "That's how Aiden and me tell each other when we get one." "Prove it," Miles challenged. Aiden surprised him by standing up and opening his jeans. "For real? You're going to show us?" Rusty asked. "It's what me and Gordy do when we're nailed," Aiden told him as if it was no big deal. He unzipped and then pulled his pants and briefs down below his butt and balls, revealing his two-inch boy tool, which pointed almost straight up into the air. "Wow, that is too cool," Rusty said. "Anybody else got one?" Gordon answered by yanking his sweatpants down to his ankles. He lay back down on the bed, his erection pointing at his chin. The other three boys were surprised that he wasn't wearing underpants. "I can get one if I play with my peter," Miles said. "John gets them all the time. His is big, but he don't got hair yet." John was Miles' twelve-year-old brother. "He says his is four inches. I've seen him measure it and it was that long. Mine is only a little more than two inches." Gordon got off of the bed, kicked off his sweats, and walked to his desk. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a plastic ruler. "Today we keep official track of how big our wieners are," he announced. The other three murmured in agreement. Miles and Rusty pulled their pants down, while Aiden joined Gordon by pulling his pants and undies off. Miles told them how John did his measuring and they agreed to do it the same way. They agreed to measure from their bald pubic mounds to the tip of their swollen little heads. "I think Gordy is going to be the biggest," Aiden said. Nobody disagreed. Gordon measured his first as the other three boys watched closely. "Three inches." "Yours is skinnier than John's, but it's almost as long," Miles said. He then took his measurement, coming up with 2.5 inches. Rusty's was the same length, although he got bonus points for his penis being fatter. "I got the smallest one," Aiden lamented. "Two inches." Then he grinned. "But I bet none of you ever lay in bed jerking off with your cousin." He decided not to go into the fact that he and his cousin Chase had jerked each other off. "I've done it with my brother," Miles grinned. He decided not to get into how he and his brother often engaged in mutual masturbation. Like Aiden, he didn't want anybody to think he might be gay and having sex. The boys decided that Aiden and Miles were tied when it came to having sexy fun. Aiden and Miles were tempted to break the tie by admitting to jerking off his partner, but they kept quiet. "I wish we could spend the night," Aiden said. "We could have lots of fun." "It would be so much fun," Gordon agreed. "Maybe we could even get naked." "John gets to spend the night with his friends because he's older," Miles said. "He's so lucky. He says they get naked and jack off when they're at his friend Leo's house. They are afraid to do it at my house because it's so small." The four of them were slowly playing with their cocks, closely watching what their friends were doing. They weren't seriously masturbating—they were still too far from puberty for the hormones to flow, but they were feeling some sexual excitement. They said nothing, the only sounds in the room was their collective breathing and their frapping. Their reverie was broken by Gordon's father calling to them. "Boys, we eat in ten minutes, so get your hands washed and come out to take your places." "Wow, I'm glad he didn't come in to tell us," Gordon said with relief. "That would have sucked," Miles agreed. The boys quickly pulled up their pants or put them on depending on their state of undress, and got ready for dinner. They weren't sure what their session of exhibitionism meant, but they were certain they wouldn't mind doing it again. Rusty and Gordon both wanted to find out more about what Aiden and Miles had learned in their jerk-off sessions. While the boys were fooling around in Gordon's room, Larry had made a phone call to his friend George Bednarzyk. His son, Jeffrey, answered the phone. "Hey, coach," he said when Larry identified himself. "Just 149 days left to first baseball practice." "It's good to know that somebody is keeping track," Larry chuckled. "I'd like to talk to your dad, please." "You mean you didn't call to talk to me?" "Not everybody can handle being in the eye of a hurricane." "Oh, okay, I guess I can get him," Jeffrey said with mock disappointment. George came to the phone. After a bit of small-talk, Larry told his friend what he needed. "I can't help," George told him. "I have to be in court Monday morning. But, I think Mary is available. Let me confirm that." He walked to his office and checked his calendar. "It's good. I'll call her and have her meet you at the school." George had law offices in both Centralia and Mayfield. Mary Polk, who was two years out of law school, managed the Mayfield office three days a week. Larry thanked George and started to feel better about Monday morning's meeting. Dinner was macaroni and cheese. With four nine-year old boys sitting in the kitchen, it was noisy and a bit messy. The boys were well-behaved, which had the adults speculating what the meal would be like if they weren't good boys. That night, Phil did the honors of pulling Aiden's covers over his bare torso. He picked up "The Cay" and sat next to his nephew to do some reading. "Chapter Three. We were torpedoed at about three o'clock in the morning on April 6, 1942, two days after leaving Panama. I was thrown from the top bunk and suddenly found myself on my hands and knees on the deck." He got almost four pages read before Aiden fell asleep. Phil kissed the boy on his forehead, turned off the light, and left the room. Sunday ended up being both a work day and a play day. Larry mowed the big back lawn with the rider mower. Aiden helped by bringing one of the yard waste cans over to the mower when Larry was ready to empty the bag. "You are one strong boy," Phil said as he brought some of his famous lemonade out to the patio. "Those cans are heavy." "This one only has a little bit in it," Aiden admitted, "but the other one is close to full and it's too heavy for me." "Make a muscle for me," Phil told him. Aiden bent his arm to show off the bicep on his skinny arm. Phil gave it a squeeze. "It might not be big," he told his nephew, "but there is some steel in the muscle." Aiden gave his uncle one of his big, wide grins. After the lawn was finished and lunch was consumed, Larry, Phil, and Aiden spent time on the newly mowed grass playing catch with a baseball and kicking a soccer ball around. Despite his problems at school, Aiden felt happy and content being with his uncles. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Phil, Larry, Aiden, and Mary arrived at Lakeview Elementary ten minutes ahead of their nine-thirty Monday morning appointment. Larry had talked to Mary on the phone on Sunday, telling her what he knew about the altercation on Friday. Aiden was instructed to sit in the conference room. Larry had already told him that, at least to start, the hearing would be adults only. "Larry, you feel you need a lawyer?" Mrs. Finstuen asked when she was introduced to Mary Polk. "I don't understand—I thought we were professional colleagues." Mary had agreed that Phil and Larry would handle the conversation, with her stepping in if she felt that the principal showed the same bias she had on Friday. "I don't feel you have given Aiden a fair hearing, "Larry told the principal. You refused to take into account what Miles Gomez and Gordon Lansing told you about the incident." "I felt your nephew intimidated them into lying about what they saw. Barry Bender is a leader in our fifth grade. There is no reason for him to bully students, and Roger Clauson backed that up. Barry's father is a noted businessman and is a county councilman." "What does his father's political position have to do with Barry's behavior?" Phil asked. "He comes from a good family. My experience is that boys from good families who are in positions of leadership are not the kind of boys to bully others. Your nephew comes from a much different background, and was suspended at his previous school for fighting. That is all I need to know." Mary decided it was time for her to break into the discussion. "Did you discuss his record with the principal at his previous school?" "I saw no reason to. The suspension is in his records." "Aiden told his uncles that he was protecting a smaller boy from a bully." "Of course he told them that," Mrs. Finstuen scoffed. "That is the same excuse he used on Friday, when he was the one who hit Mason and it was Barry who was protecting the smaller boy." "So you didn't confirm that story with the principal of his previous school." "That is what I said." "Then I suggest you make that call now," Mary said forcibly. "Are you telling me how to do my job?" "I am telling you what needs to be done for you to avoid dealing with an appeal should you make a decision that is not favorable to Aiden Miller." "Are you threatening me?" "I am simply saying that in order for you to make an unbiased decision, you need to make that call." Mrs. Finstuen glared at Larry. "This could have been an amiable discussion among professionals." Larry said nothing. The principal finally picked up the phone and made the call. The principal of the Seattle school was available and quickly picked up his phone. Mrs. Finstuen put the principal on speaker phone. She asked him about Aiden's suspension from school and if he bullied kids at the school. Mary wanted to object to the two-part question, but kept quiet since she wasn't in a court of law. "Aiden was, and I assume, still is, a small, slightly built boy," Mr. Guthrie, the Genesee Elementary principal said. "He was the one being bullied by bigger boys. Unlike many, he decided to fight back." Phil had to suppress a grin when he heard Mr. Guthrie's statement. "Why was he suspended?" Mrs. Finstuen asked. "For using poor judgement. We told him he should have let the adults in the school handle the bullying problem." Phil looked at Larry. They were both thinking the same thing—it sometimes takes a long time to grow up and learn things. After a bit more conversation, Mrs. Finstuen thanked Mr. Guthrie for his time. "It would appear there is more to this than I thought." "Do you want to have another talk with Aiden's two friends." Before the Lakeview principal could answer there was a knock at her door. Mr. Guthrie's account of Aiden's fighting was not what she had wanted to hear, which put her into a bad mood. The knock upped her irritation level even more. She yanked the door open and stared at Mrs. Henderson, the school secretary, standing outside. "Mrs. Henderson, you know you are not to disturb a conference unless it is an emerg..." Mrs. Finstuen stopped when she saw an ashen-faced little boy who looked very frightened standing next to the secretary. She recognized Mason Johnson. The three adults noticed her demeanor soften almost instantly. "Mason, honey, are you okay?" she asked gently. Mason shook his head as tears started to drip down his cheeks. He couldn't get any words to come out and looked up at the kindly secretary for help. "Mason told me he has something he needs to tell you," Mrs. Henderson said. Mrs. Finstuen gestured the boy to enter. He stepped into her office and looked at the three strange adults. "If you wouldn't mind stepping out for a moment," the principal asked them. "I think it would be easier for Mason to talk if it were just the two of us." Mason looked back at Mrs. Henderson. "Okay, make that the three of us," Mrs. Finstuen smiled. Larry, Phil, and Mary left the office, while Mrs. Henderson stayed behind, smiling gently at the frightened little boy in the principal's office. Mrs. Finstuen sat behind her desk and invited Mason to sit in one of the chairs. "This must be very important," she said compassionately. "Aiden never hit me or tried to kick me. It was Barry." His tears were flowing freely. "He's been mean to me since last year." He shook and started sobbing. "Don't let Barry beat me up," he managed to choke out. The principal got up, pulled some tissues out of a dispenser, and handed them to the little nine-year-old boy. In the last ten minutes her entire perception of Friday's incident had changed. She had been very wrong. While Mrs. Finstuen had her flaws, her biases being one of them, she was able to admit she was wrong if the evidence strongly indicated that. In this case, she had no doubt that she was wrong. She called Larry, Phil, and Mary back into her office and asked Mrs. Henderson to bring Aiden in as well. It was time for damage control. That evening, Aiden sat in what was now his favorite recliner. "I can't wait to go back to school tomorrow," he told his uncles. "Thank you for helping me." "You're our kid," Larry told him. "That means we have your back." "And it also means we'll be all over your ass if you're in the wrong," Phil added. Aiden grinned. "I know I have to show better judgement, right?" "Exactly." "Mason showed a lot of courage coming into the office like he did," Larry said, not for the first time since Mason spilled his guts. "I told him he was always going to be my friend to matter what he did," Aiden said. "He's scared that Barry or Roger are going to beat him up." "Barry and Roger are in deep doo-doo right now," Phil said. "I think they are going to learn that if anybody touches Mason they're going to be in even deeper doo-doo." "I won't let anybody beat him up when I'm around." Aiden looked at his uncles. "Even if that's bad judgement." "Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do," Larry said. "Just make sure it's the only way out. But like Uncle Phil said, I don't think that will be a problem." "I love you," Aiden told his uncles. Aiden finished the school work he'd missed during his two-day suspension. He did some reading until Larry told him it was time to get ready for bed. Aiden headed upstairs to take care of his nightly routine. As he always did before bed, he stripped down naked then went to his bathroom. He looked in the mirror, wondering if he was too skinny, as he brushed his teeth. He thought about what had happened in Gordon's room when he and his friends all showed off their boners. He wondered if that was sex, then decided it wasn't because they didn't touch each other, plus there was no kissing. But he decided to ask Chase when he could if showing off boners was sex. He went to the landing and called to his uncles. Phil came up to tuck him in. "No story, tonight," Aiden said. "No? Phillip is on a sinking ship. Don't you want to see how he gets off." "Yeah, but not tonight." Aiden rolled over on his side, facing the wall with his back to his uncle. Phil ruffled his head. "Whatever you want, son." He turned off the light and left the room. He wondered if he would ever figure out the boy's changing moods. Aiden knew his uncles usually went to bed about an hour after him. He turned on his desk lamp, grabbed a book he'd seen on his uncle's book shelf, and started to read. The book was "The Hobbit". It was a book he'd heard of and hadn't read. He realized right away that this would be a fun book to have his uncles read to him, so he put it back on the desk and picked up "Chomp", by Carl Hiaasen, the book in the "Hoot" series that he'd been reading in the living room. He pulled back the covers and sat up against the headboard, hoping neither of his uncles would come upstairs and see his light on. The only reason they would do that would be to use the office which had the desktop computer, but they rarely did that this late at night. After a half-hour, he became impatient. He could barely keep awake. He put the book down and pulled on a pair of clean white briefs. He grabbed Horace and held the stuffed donkey tightly against his chest. Opening his bedroom door, he walked down the short corridor to the landing. He was pleased to see that the downstairs lights were off. Keeping hold of Horace, he made his way down the stairs that were dimly lit by the nightlight on the landing. When he reached the bottom, he turned into the downstairs corridor and walked to his uncles' bedroom door. Taking a deep breath, he rapped lightly on the door. He heard Phil's voice through the door. "Hang on a sec, Aiden." It only took a few seconds for Phil to open the door. He was naked except for a pair of boxer briefs. His heart went out to the little boy standing at the door, clutching his gray donkey. It reminded him that beneath the sometimes cocky boy was a layer of vulnerability and loneliness. "Come on in, son," he said quietly. The word "son" was exactly what Aiden wanted to hear. He'd been thinking about this moment ever since Phil, who'd taken off a family leave day from work, had taken him home from school. Aiden knew what he wanted, he hoped he would get it, but he was still afraid his uncles would think he was being a stupid little boy. Larry was lying in the bed and Aiden scooted in next to him. Phil took up his place in the bed so that the little boy was between them, his body touching theirs. "Are the happenings at school still bothering you?" Larry asked. "No," Aiden whispered, pulling Horace tightly against himself. "Then to what do we owe this visit?" Phil asked. "You're my uncles, right?" Aiden asked. "That we are." Aiden squeezed Horace even tighter, knocking the Mariner cap off of his head where it dropped on Phil's chest. "Can you be something else, too?" he asked. "What else would you like for us to be?" Larry asked, although he was certain he knew the answer to the question. The nine-year-old shut his eyes tightly, even though the room was dark. He looked up at the ceiling, his breathing nervous and labored. He felt the warm bodies of Phil and Larry on either side of him. He loved the feel of their skin and of their strength. His eyes started to moisten and he squeezed his eyes even tighter. Phil and Larry waited patiently for the answer, sensing that this was not the time to push their nephew. "I want you to be...to be..., I want you to be..." His voice was barely audible. He stopped to take a deep breath. "Can you be my dads, too?" he asked in a quivering voice as tears dripped down onto the sheets. This was turning out to be harder than he thought it would be. Larry put his arm around Aiden's bare shoulder. "There is nothing else we would rather be," Larry told the boy in a quiet, yet firm voice. "That would make you our son for real, you know." "I know. That's what I want to be," the boy smiled, happier than he could ever remember being. Larry and Phil were both thinking the same thing—on this night, they were becoming a real family. It didn't take long for them to fall asleep, with the warm body nestled between them becoming a part of their dreams. Next: Becoming Dads