Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2017 22:32:02 +0000 From: Douglas DD Subject: Aiden Chapter 38 Welcome back. In this chapter Aiden enjoys his friend, enjoys baseball, and enjoys the simple pleasures of life. Please donate to the Nifty Archive. Keep the stories flowing. Thanks for the wonderful emails I've received since my return from trip. I love getting emails—they are my salary for writing. Douglas. thehakaanen@hotmail.com. CHAPTER 38 JUST HIT THE BLEEPING TARGET Aiden and Gordy fell soundly asleep almost instantly after Aiden turned out the light. Their bodies touched, chest to chest, Aiden's right arm around his friend's torso, their limp cocklets sitting against the upper thigh of their bed buddy. They enjoyed the touch of the warm smooth skin as they drifted off. Their positions shifted during the night and Gordy's arm was wrapped around Aiden's torso as they awoke to the morning light leaking through the blinds covering the bedroom window. Gordy was now draped over Aiden's back. Aiden could feel his friend's breath on his neck as his eyes blinked open. Gordy suddenly grunted and he rolled over on his back. "You awake?" Aiden asked. "Yeah." Gordy muttered sleepily. "What time is it?" "Five after eight." "Guess we better get up." "That would make my dads happy if we woke up before they had to come up and wake us up." It wouldn't be long before the only logical thing for Aiden and a friend to do that early in the morning would be to roll over and fall back to sleep—unless they elected to give each other a blow job, or dry hump, or do whatever horny pubescent boys needed to do in the morning. After all, it would be difficult to fall back to sleep if hormones were raging through their naked bodies. Aiden and Gordy got out of bed and walked across the hall to Aiden's bathroom. They stood side-by-side and peed, neither of them embarrassed by their naked bodies or the fact that they were peeing together in the same toilet. Aiden thought about Hatcher talking about how he and Chase or his friends peed on each other at times and wondered how that could be fun or sexy. It sounded way, way too nasty. He had no intention of sharing that conversation with Gordy. Aiden grabbed two towels from the cabinet, set the shower, and the two boys got in, quickly wetting their smooth, young bodies. "Are you mad about last night?" Aiden asked. He'd been concerned that Gordy might have felt badly that he jerked him off. The fact that Gordy slept naked with him, cuddled with him, peed with him, and stepped into the shower with him, should have answered Aiden's question without him even needing to ask it. "It was fun. Those organism things feel really good," Gordy answered as Aiden busily soaped his back. "I should have done that a long time ago but I was scared. I'm glad I learned how to do it." "Nothin' to be scared about. I get them a lot. And we can jerk ourselves off whenever we want and not worry about making a mess like Muddy or Sammy or my cousin Chase do." Gordy yelped as Aiden washed and kneaded his pert little boy ass. "What are you doing?" "It feels good when somebody touches my butt," Aiden said as he washed inside of Gordy's crack. "Yeah, it does, but isn't it, like, nasty?" "I'm not going into your hole or nothing. I'm just touching it and making it clean and helping it feel good." "Do I have to wash yours?" "Nope. Nobody ever has to do anything to nobody else if they don't want to. That's like rule number one when you mess around." Downstairs, Larry and Phil heard the shower go on. "The boys are up early for a non-school day," Larry observed. "Come on, love, Aiden is always up early. He hasn't been hit by the adolescent need to sleep in." "Do you suppose they're showering together?" Phil gave Larry a get-serious look. "I know they're showering together." "Good Lord, sex in our upstairs bathroom," Larry chuckled. "Hmm, probably just some groping and feeling up." Phil reached for his husband's shorts and grabbed his flaccid penis. "Kind of like that, only in the nude." "I'd be ravishing you in the shower." "Even if we were nine?" "Maybe not. But I know what would happen if we were twelve." He returned his husband's grope. "Yeah, you'd know because we did it." Phil fondled Larry again—this time his spouse was sporting the beginnings of a hard-on. "Damn, we were dirty-minded boys." "As opposed to dirty-minded old men?" "Speak for yourself." The two men traded deep kisses and gropes until they heard the shower go off. "You have given me a first class hard-on." "I hope it's still around tonight," Phil smirked. Upstairs, Aiden and Gordy dried each other and then crossed the hall to Aiden's bedroom. The boys pulled on underpants and socks. Aiden reached into his bottom desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of skin lotion. He handed the bottle, which was about a quarter full, to his friend. "Here, this will help you out until you find a way to get some lotion or something," Aiden told Gordy. "Thanks, but if I take it you won't have any. I can use spit until I figure something out." "It's all good. I just ask my dads for a new bottle and they'll give me one. This way you can get off to a good start jerking yourself off." "Thanks, Aiden. I'm glad you're my best friend." He planted a kiss on his friend's cheek, which Aiden quickly turned into a kiss on Gordy's lips. Gordy quickly pulled back. "Jerking me off is okay, I guess. But no kissing on the lips." "Okay," Aiden shrugged. Just when he thought he had Gordy figured out, he once again realized that he didn't. The boys pulled on t-shirts and went downstairs to say good morning to Larry and Phil and to have breakfast. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The week was a busy one for Aiden. On Monday, he had practice where he learned he would be the starting pitcher for the Knights in their game on Thursday. That had him so excited he almost bounced through practice. When he talked to his dads at dinner he was bubbling. "I'm the starting pitcher, just like Felix," he said, referring to Mariner ace pitcher, Felix Hernandez. "You worked hard to get the chance," Phil said. "I did try hard. But Marty and the song about being the greatest helped, too." He looked back and forth between Phil and Larry. "Plus, I got the two best baseball coaches in the whole entire state as my dads," he grinned. That night, Aiden and Horace went downstairs after his tuck-in. He crawled between Larry and Phil on their bed. "Usually, I sleep with my dads when I'm really sad, but sometimes I gotta sleep with them when I'm really happy. Horace said it's time for a happy sleep. I love both of my dads so much." Phil ruffled his son's shaggy hair, who quickly fell into a deep, satisfying sleep. He and Larry would have to put off their fun for another day. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Knights had a game Tuesday evening. Phil was off work and Larry ended practice in time to make the game before the first pitch. The Knights were playing the Mayfield Dodgers, which meant just about everybody knew each other. Five of the Dodgers attended Lakeview school and eight attended Parkwood. The Dodgers also had a home-schooled boy on the team. There was a lot of smack shot back and forth at school about whose team was better and who was going to beat whom, not only at Lakeview, but at Parkwood school as well. The Knights had a 3-1 record and the Dodgers were 2-2. Aiden started the game at third base, which made him very happy. The first batter hit a hard line drive right to him, which he jumped up and snared for the first out. He could hardly wait to tell Marty about handling the hot corner. He fielded a ground ball in the third inning and threw to second for a force play, but Mason dropped the throw and the runner was safe. Aiden knew he'd executed the play properly and that Mason was getting better, so he wasn't upset. The fourth inning was his last one at third. The Dodger batter singled to left-center with a runner on first. The runner tried to take an extra base and zipped to third. Aiden took the throw from Vance, who was playing left field. He had the base perfectly straddled and Vance's throw was right on target. Aiden caught the ball, put his glove in front of the base, and made a perfect tag, getting the out and ending the inning. In the fifth inning, Aiden took Mason's place at second, catching a pop-up for the second out. Aiden had a good day offensively as well as defensively, getting two singles in three at bats. He reached base on an error in his third at bat. But, even though he had a good game, the Knights lost to the Dodgers 9-6, giving their rivals bragging rights, at least until they played again. After the game, Aiden, Larry, and Phil had dinner at the Lansing home. Flo Lansing had cooked up a casserole the day before. It just needed to be heated up. Aiden and Gordon played footsie during dinner until Gordon's father told them to behave and concentrate on their manners. When they finished eating, Gordon and Aiden helped with the cleanup and then did their homework at the dining room table while the adults talked in the living room. They were both done within a half-hour. They showed their finished work to their parents and went to Gordon's room. "Do you got a nail?" Gordy asked. "I had one when I did my math. I been getting them more since I've been jerking and stuff." "I don't have one," Aiden replied. Then he chuckled. "You're gonna be like Muddy if you keep getting boners all the time." "No way I want to be like him. Then I'd be showing my wiener off in school." "Cool, then I could look at it." Gordy stared at his friend. "You really like looking at my dick?" "When you got a nail, I do." Aiden could have added that he liked looking at it anytime, but he didn't want to seem too eager. The sound of Gordy unzipping his jeans started to give Aiden a boner. The only reason Gordy would be unzipping his pants would be show off his nail, which is exactly what happened. Gordy opened up his jeans and pulled them and his boxers down far enough to expose his little erection and his tight, hairless ball sac. "You like?" Aiden nodded. "Can I suck it?" he asked. Right away he wished he could take his words back. "You talk about me being like Muddy—you're just as bad. I can't believe how you and Muddy and Miles and Mason keep talking about sucking dicks. That is so gay." "Rusty's talked about it, too." "Only when he's around you guys, which doesn't happen much." As they talked Aiden had opened up his pants and exposed his two inches of hard boyhood. He put his thumb and forefinger around it and started masturbating. "Are you gonna jerk off?" "No. We don't got much time," Aiden said. "I just like making it feel good." "Me, too. You haven't told anybody about what we did in your bed did you?" Gordy was stroking himself as well. "Nope, that's between you and me." The two friends plopped down on Gordy's bed and quietly masturbated. The only sound in the room was their hands rubbing their cocklets. "Want me to get my lotion out?" Gordy asked. Aiden spit on his hand and rubbed his saliva around his little erection. "Nah. You know we don't have much time." "I used it last night. I made myself get an organism. That's the first time I've done it with the lotion." "It's an orgasm," Aiden reminded Gordy, "not an organism." "I don't care. I just know it felt real good, but not as good as when you did it." "Want me to do yours now?" Gordy rose from the bed and walked to his dresser. He opened the bottom drawer and pulled out the bottle of lotion that Aiden had given him. "I could still suck it," Aiden said somewhat breathlessly. "I'll let you do it later, when we have more time." "For real?" Gordy flopped back on the bed and closed his eyes. Aiden grabbed the bottle, squirted some lotion on his hand, and rubbed it around Gordy's three inches. "For real. As long as you don't tell anybody as long as you live and I don't have to suck you back." "Deal," Aiden said as he pulled on Gordy's pants and undies until they were down to his knees. He couldn't believe how badly he wanted his friend's cock in his mouth right then. But, he respected his friend's wishes and started to seriously masturbate him. Gordy moaned, shook, and even drooled a bit as Aiden brought him off for the second time in a week. He raised his hips and let out a squeak. Aiden could feel the dry clicks as his friend strained to release the seed that he was not yet capable of making. "Oh, shit," Gordy said. "That felt so good. You do it really good, Aiden." Aiden started to pull off his pants. "This time you do me," he said hoarsely. "Aiden, time to go," came Phil's voice from down the hall. "Damn, it's like my dads know exactly when things are getting good in a bedroom," Aiden moaned. "Well, we said we didn't have enough time, so I'm happy you got to have a cum." "I'll do you first, next time," Gordy told him. "Cross my heart and hope to die." Gordy crossed his heart. "Pinky swear." The boys hooked the pinkies of their right hands and shook. Pinky swears were sacred and solemn. "Pinky swear you'll let me suck you." Gordy was a bit taken back. He had forgotten he'd made that promise while waiting for Aiden to jerk him off. "How much time do I got?" Aiden thought for a moment. "You have until your tenth birthday." Gordy turned ten in August. He nodded and once again the boys hooked pinkies and shook. The boys pulled up their pants and headed for the living room. After Aiden was gone, Gordon went back to his room. He couldn't believe he'd let Aiden jerk him off twice in four days—nor could he believe he was going to let Aiden give him a blow job. In the space of just a few days, everything had changed for him. He remembered something Muddy had said at school when he showed off his nail in the lunchroom. Muddy had informed them all that, "Sex is fun." At the time Gordon thought that sounded dumb, but everybody else agreed. Now he knew it wasn't dumb at all. His friends had it right all along. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ During lunch on Wednesday, Gordy had to remind himself that Muddy had it partly right. Muddy was in one of his frequent "I am horny" phases, which had Mason trying to get everybody's attention regarding Muddy's state of mind. Gordy was sitting to the right of Mason, while Muddy was to Mason's left. Gordy wasn't at all surprised that as soon as Muddy opened the button on his shorts and pulled his zipper down, Mason slipped his hand inside until it was obviously resting on Muddy's junk. Brody, one of the fourth graders who played for the Dodgers, asked if he could have lunch with the fourth graders on the Knights. Since they all liked Brody, none of the Knights' players really cared. "I'm okay with it just as long as he's not a spy or anything," Mason declared. "Mason, you've known Brody since first grade," Miles said. "How can he be a spy?" "I dunno," Mason said meekly. "I was just making sure." When Brody saw Mason move his hand over to Muddy's lap, he looked down under the table and watched Mason slide his hand into Muddy's shorts. Brody was just going to get a glimpse to confirm his suspicion that Mason might have his hand on Muddy's wiener. But when he saw Mason's hand actually inside of Muddy's pants and saw him obviously fondling his wiener, he couldn't take his eyes off of what was happening. Brody knew much less about sexual things than the fourth graders from the Knights. He understood grabbing somebody's crotch during wrestling or play because it was naughty and fun in a nasty sort of way. But what he saw Mason doing to Muddy was way beyond anything in Brody's experience. "What are you looking at, Brody?" Aiden asked. Brody quickly raised his head, banging it on the bottom of the table. "Ouch!" Mason quickly jerked his hand out of Muddy's pants. "I told you Brody was a spy!" he screeched. When Brody finally got himself out from under the table, he looked like he was ready to break out into tears. "Hey, Brody, don't go crying. It's cool. You're still our friend," Miles said. "I was just looking for something..." Brody said, fearing the worst from the boys at the table. "Brody, it's okay," Miles insisted. "Yeah, it's okay," Mason echoed. Nobody knew better than Mason what it was like to get picked on and he felt badly that he almost made Brody cry. "I just got surprised is all." "I would have looked except you were in the way," Aiden giggled. "What was he doing?" Brody asked. "Muddy had a nail, and Mason was helping make it feel good." "A nail?" "Yes, it means I have a boner," Muddy said. "You did? You mean, like it got all hard?" Brody asked. "I get boners very much of the time." "Muddy is always horny," Miles told Brody. "Horny?" Everybody could see that Brody had a lot to learn. "We'll tell you when we go outside," Aiden said. "There are too many nosy girls around here." As if on cue, Autumn Kellogg walked by with her new follower, Carolyn Shepherd, who was also a fourth grader. Both of them were under the thumb of Shana Masters. "Boys are all so nasty," Autumn informed her friend. "Especially, THOSE boys." She pointed to the boys on the Knights, including Brody, with her sweeping finger. "See what I mean?" Aiden asked. "Maybe the girl likes to put her hand into Mudrak's pants," Muddy giggled. "She'd have to move mine out first," Mason said. After the boys cleared their table they headed for the playground. There was no softball game scheduled that afternoon, so they all gathered on the far field where the softball diamond was. Brody got their conversation started on the right track. "I get those boners sometimes. How come?" And with that the fourth graders on the Knights shared their preteen sexual expertise with Brody. Brody nodded like he understood everything, when in fact it all sounded very mysterious to him. He knew was that his wiener had become really hard the whole time they talked. The boys only had to chase Autumn, Shana, and Carolyn away once. When the bell rang ending lunch recess, Brody had an entirely new outlook on life. He decided he'd have to sit with his friends on the Knights more often. After school, Aiden went to Miles's house. Gordon had baseball practice at 4:00. Miles's mom had snacks set aside for the boys as they entered the house. "You're as bad as my dads and Gordy's mom," Aiden groused. "They almost always have fruits and vegetables for snacks, too." "What you're supposed to say, Aiden, is that I'm just as good as they are since we are looking out for the health of growing boys like you," Mrs. Gomez said with a smile. "I can grow just fine on chocolate chip cookies," Aiden said. Miles nodded in agreement, although he wasn't going to risk his mother's wrath by saying anything. "Now, Aiden, you don't really mean that, do you?" "Not really, but they do taste better," Aiden grinned. "But, thank you for thinking of our health, Mrs. Gomez." "I told you it's okay if you call me Rita." "I know, but my dads said that I need to call adults by their last names." Except for guys like Marty, he thought to himself, and that was because Marty was his big bro. "Your dads are very good dads," Rita Gomez said. "They teach you to be polite and to eat healthy. What else can you ask for?" "They teach me how to play baseball, too," Aiden told her, flashing his wide grin. "Yes, there is that." Miles and Aiden ate their snacks, did what little homework they had, and then dashed up to Miles's room. "How much time do we have before your dad picks us up?" Miles asked Aiden. Aiden looked at the clock on the desk. "About a half-hour." Phil was going to pick the boys up, as well as Mason, and take them to the high school for the District Tournament game that started at 5:30. "Rats. I was hoping we had time to do a sixty-nine or something." Aiden was becoming more and more amazed by how his friends were thinking about sex so much. He thought about it a lot, too, but it seemed like they were thinking about it more. "It seems every time I start messing around, one of my dads wants me for something," Aiden said. "I bet if we started doing it my dad would come early." "And if we play a video game he will come late," Miles added. At age ten, Miles already was figuring out just exactly how the world worked. "Maybe we can figure out how to do it during my pool party." "That would be really hard with so many grownups around. We need to have an overnight, then we can mess around any way we want," Miles said sagely. "I wish we were older so we could do more stuff," Aiden said. "And not just overnights, but you and Gordy and Muddy and Rusty all have bicycles. I just get told it's too dangerous to have one where we live. Then they build a bike road, but it's still too dangerous. I love my dads, but that doesn't mean they aren't stupid sometimes." "Wow, you were really getting off on your dads. Maybe you should tell them like you told me." "I do." "I guess it works on your dads the same way in works on my mom and dad," Miles giggled. He opened up a video game he and Aiden liked to play and they sat on the floor and started playing. About fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door. "Hey, doofus, what are you doing?" It was Miles's brother, John. "Playing with Aiden," Miles answered, "and my name ain't doofus." John opened the door and stepped into the room. "Well, at least you guys have your clothes on," he smirked. "You're supposed to ask before you come into my room. And I thought you had baseball practice." "I did, but we ended early because of the high school game." "Aren't you going?" Miles asked. "Lloyd's coming by and we're going to ride our bikes there." "Yeah, after you suck each other's dicks." Miles looked over at Aiden. "Aren't you going to take your turn?" "It's your turn," Aiden told. "Aiden's dad is here," came Rita's voice from down the hall. "You can take care of me after the game," Miles pleaded. "In your wet dreams, asswaffle," John said as Miles grabbed his hoodie and pulled it on. Aiden knew that John had started messing around with Miles and that John and Lloyd had messed around. He didn't know if all three of them did stuff together. But, this was the first time he'd heard the two brothers talk about it. Phil was waiting outside in the Odyssey. Mason was already in the front seat—Aiden and Miles took the middle seat and they headed off for the high school field. The game didn't come out well for the Mustangs. Since they didn't finish high enough in the standings for a first round bye, the game against Harborview High School was single elimination. Nick McCall pitched his guts out, but the Harborview pitcher was a big senior who had defeated the Mustangs earlier in the season. The result was a 3-0 loss for the Mustangs, ending their season. Miles and Aiden helped Sammy put equipment away. Sammy had ridden his bike to the high school as soon as middle school practice was over and filled his position as batboy. Phil dropped Miles and Mason off, and then drove to the Mayfield Café. Larry joined them soon after they arrived. Many of the patrons had been at the game and gave Larry their condolences. The Mayfield fans had been spoiled by the run of state tournament and state championship teams. While he was disappointed in the season ending as soon as it had, Larry knew the baseball program had accomplished a lot. The varsity had been a young team with only three seniors. The freshmen had gone 12-2 and the middle school varsity had an undefeated record. The future looked bright, an outlook he shared with the fans who talked to him. "I'd rather be eating at home," Larry told Phil and Aiden after they ordered. "But, it's always good to make a postgame appearance somewhere, win or lose." "And we all know the appearance won't be at the tavern," Phil laughed. "You'd hurt beer sales." "True, and I'd get in the way of the chronic bitchers who clutter up the bars." After they got home, Aiden called Marty. "I'm going to be the starting pitcher tomorrow," he gushed after they traded greetings. "Congratulations. You're doing really great, especially with you being one of the youngest kids on the team." "Yep. I got coaches and a good big bro who helps me a lot. And you're playing tomorrow, too. Too bad you don't pitch." "I never really wanted to. I'm happy where I am." "I know, but if you did we could compare stats." Marty laughed out loud. "Bro, you go get two hits tomorrow and I'll try to match you." "Okay. And if one of us gets three hits, then the other guy buys us a pizza," Aiden said enthusiastically. "Well, seeing as my games are nine innings long and yours are six innings long, and we bat nine players and you bat thirteen or fourteen or whatever, I have more chances to win. Doesn't sound fair to me." "I don't care. You just have to remember what you told me." "What's that?" "Come on, Marty. How can you forget." Aiden started singing "I Am the Greatest," which had Marty laughing so hard he could barely reply. Finally, he got himself together enough to give Aiden his final thought. "Bro, when you pitch, just remember to focus and to hit the fucking target." He could feel the laughter welling up again. Before he lost it entirely he yelled out, "Bye, little bro. Kick some butt." "Bye, big bro." Aiden grabbed a baseball off of his desk. He lay back on his bed tossing the ball toward the ceiling, catching it on the way down and tossing it up again. He didn't know that this was the habit of another Mayfield pitcher— one of its best pitchers ever—Eric Simmons. He just knew that the act of tossing the ball into the air and catching it relaxed him. He thought about Marty's parting words—focus and hit the target. Both Coach Hallion and his dads said concentrate and focus on the catcher's mitt—the target. Marty's words were a little different and affected him a little differently. When Marty said focus, he meant get into the zone and if he was in the zone everything would fall into place. He tossed the ball up. "Focus," he said aloud. Then he caught it coming down. "Hit the fucking target." For the next fifteen minutes that was his mantra. Aiden could be as squirrely as the next nine-year-old, but he could also patiently concentrate his thoughts in ways most boys his age could not; it was one of his strengths. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ While he wasn't antisocial at school the next day, everybody noticed that Aiden was quieter than usual. As they got older, Aiden's friends and teammates would observe this state of mind more frequently. They would realize that Aiden was moving into his zone. Muddy was the one who took the most notice of Aiden's state of mind. He had a feeling that his friend and teammate's first pitching start was going to be something special. After school, Aiden and Gordy walked to Gordy's house. By then, Gordy realized that Aiden was not going to be his usual chatty self. Aiden talked, but it was about baseball, and Muddy's glove as his target, and about being nervous, but not as nervous as he thought he'd be. When Aiden spoke, Gordy listened. He wondered if they were going to just sit around the house waiting for game time, but he and Aiden did their homework and played cribbage until Gordy's mother set out sandwiches for them. Larry picked up Aiden and Gordy at Gordy's house. While the Mustang season was over, Larry had a closing meeting with his team after which they all worked to put all of the baseball equipment away for the year. Aiden said nothing as they got on Highway 12 and headed for Kentburg. The drive from Gordon's house to the Kentburg sports complex took about twenty minutes. When they arrived, Aiden greeted his teammates and Coach Hallion and warmed up with Gordy until the time came for him to warm up for pitching. He and Muddy went to the bullpen area so Aiden could do his pitching warmups. Part-time assistant coach Kelly Johnson supervised the warmup. He and Coach Hallion both felt that they may have found a special pitcher in Aiden. Kelly saw that Aiden was all business, and by the time he was warming up at full speed, he was consistently hitting Mudrak's target. The fact that the Knights, who had a 3-2 record, would be playing the undefeated Kentburg Wolves was not lost on the team. But Aiden didn't care. It was one thing he hadn't told Marty. Playing the first place team didn't matter. All that mattered to the nine-year-old was the mantra that was locked in this head: focus and hit the fucking target. Aiden singled on the first pitch he saw in the top of the first inning, but the Knights didn't score, and now it would be time for him to pitch Aiden knew he would be on a fifty-pitch limit. He would go as far as those fifty pitches carried him. They ended up taking him further than Coach Hallion thought they would. He pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, throwing only ten pitches. Muddy had been impressed by how often Aiden hit his mitt, no matter where he put the target. He knew he would have to concentrate on giving him a good target on every pitch, and he did just that. Aiden and Muddy were working well, together. The bottom of the second was a little tougher. He had to pitch around a single followed by an error by Vance at shortstop. But the Knights held firm and the Wolves didn't score. Aiden threw fourteen pitches in that inning, giving him twenty-four in all. The top of the third was a good one for the Knights. They scored three runs. Aiden knocked in the second run with a double. Seeing that Aiden was consistently throwing strikes, the Kentburg coach told his players to swing early in the count. The strategy seemed to work when the first two batters singled. A wild pitch moved the runners up a base. Focus, Aiden told himself. He realized he'd been thinking about his last at bat instead of on Muddy's glove. He had slipped out of his zone, but he still had to get out of the inning. The next batter hit a grounder to Vance at short. He threw the batter out at first, but the runner on third scored. Aiden struck the next batter out. That brought up a left-handed batter, who hit a fly ball to right field. Mason was playing right and he camped under it. Some of his teammates cringed, but Aiden yelled out, "You got it, Mason. You're the greatest." He didn't know whether or not Mason heard him, but Mason made the catch and ran off the field with a huge grin on his face. "Did you hear me yelling?" Aiden asked Mason in the dugout. "Nope, I was focusing on catching the ball." Aiden grinned and high-fived his friend. The Knights scored another run in the top of the fourth to take a 4-1 lead. Aiden had thrown fifteen pitches in the third, giving him total of thirty-nine. Coach Hallion didn't think Aiden would pitch beyond the second inning. The pitchers in their league generally threw twenty or more pitches an inning. He decided to let Aiden reach fifty pitches and sent him out to face one or two more batters. Then his son, Trent, would take over to finish the game. While Aiden started the fourth inning, Trent was throwing to Luke, who would be his catcher, in the bullpen. Aiden was still feeling strong as he struck out the first Kentwood batter on four pitches. The next batter walked on five pitches; it was the first walk issued by Aiden, and it went to the last batter he faced. Aiden had only two pitches left and Coach Hallion decided this would be a good time to change pitchers. Trent and Luke entered the game. Aiden and Muddy took seats on the bench. They didn't sit for long, however. They were quickly up cheering for their teammates on the field. In the stands, Larry and Phil were surprised by Aiden's control and poise on the mound. "He didn't look like a young nine-year-old," Larry said. "He was in control all the way," Phil agreed. "It looks like the fifty-pitch limit Jim set for him was just about right. He looked tired on that walk." "The little imp looks like he might turn into a decent baseball player." "All the more reason to keep him around," Phil laughed. Miles's dad came from his seat and sat next to Phil and Larry. "Your kid looked good," he said. "You two must be pretty proud of the boy." "That we are," Larry said. "That we are." The Knights gave up two runs in the bottom of the fourth, making the score 4-3. In the top of the fifth the Knights scored three runs. Aiden picked up his third hit of the game, a key two-run, bases loaded double. The Wolves scored another run in the bottom of the inning, making the score 7-4 going into the sixth and final inning. The Knights didn't score in the top of the sixth. When they went out on the field, Aiden replaced Collin at third and Miles came in to pitch. The bottom of the sixth wasn't an easy one. The Wolves scored a run but left runners on first and second when Miles struck out the Wolves' number ten hitter for the final out and a 7-5 win. Aiden had won his first start and was now 2-0 as a pitcher. He had also gone three-for-three at the plate, meaning Marty would owe him pizza if he didn't have a three-hit game as well. As much as Aiden wanted Marty in debt to him, he wanted to see his big bro and mentor have a great game and get three hits or even more. On the ride home Larry and Phil praised Aiden for his poise and control in his starting pitching debut. "I did what Marty told me," Aiden gushed. "He said for me to focus and to hit the bleeping target." "I can't help but suspect that Marty used a stronger word than `bleeping,'" Larry chuckled. Aiden's dimple filled smile, accompanied by a nervous giggle, was all that needed to be said. Next: Friends and Teammates