Date: Fri, 19 May 2017 21:35:40 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Aiden Chapter 51

Greetings and welcome back for the final chapter of "Aiden". Aiden's first
summer in Mayfield ends on a high note as he travels with his dads and
with his Uncle Troy's family on a cruise to Alaska.

While this is the final chapter of "Aiden", it is not the last chapter of Aiden's
story. I am working on Part 2, which is as yet unnamed. I'm hoping to have
it ready sometime this fall. I have trips planned, which slows down the
writing process, so we'll see. My plan is for the story to cover Aiden at least
into high school, but again, the silly characters in my stories tend to like the
limelight at force me to write more about them than originally planned.

If you enjoyed this story, please be sure to donate to Nifty to help keep the
site healthy and the stories coming.

Emails about your thoughts would be great.

Douglas
thehakaanen@hotmail.com

CHAPTER 51
AT SEA


The two Miller families arrived at the Seattle Cruise Port just before noon.
The Magnolia Bridge went past the cruise port and up to the Magnolia
District where Chase, Logan, and their parents lived. They traversed the
bridge frequently, so they often saw cruise ships in port during the summer
season. Still, the fact that this time they wouldn't be passing the cruise port,
but actually would be boarding a ship there, made this trip on the bridge
extra special. The exit to the cruise port came off of the bridge.

Chase and Logan were both too excited to keep very still in the SUV. Troy
and Sue were happy that the distance from their house to the cruise ship
terminal was a short one. But, the real excitement came from Aiden, who
thought he had found his way to an alien planet and that the "Star Princess"
would be taking an exotic trip to the far reaches of the universe. His
excitement knew no bounds. Larry almost wished they could find a sock to
stuff into his son's mouth as he talked over the adults as well as his cousins
with his non-stop chatter.

All three of the boys were impatient with the wait in line to enter the
terminal, and with the wait in line at the security checkpoint, and with yet
another wait in line to check in. On top of that, the slow trip from the
terminal up the escalator to yet another security check, followed by having
their picture taken with a huge depiction of the ship as a backdrop, added
to their impatience. After what seemed an eternity, they finally stepped on
board the Promenade Deck of the "Star Princess". They had one last
individual picture taken which would be used to verify their identities when
they left or boarded the ship. They were now on their own.
The two Miller families found their cabins and set aside their carry-ons on
their beds. Their cabins were not on the same deck, so they rendezvoused
on the Lido deck and were in the buffet line in an instant.

"Whoa," Chase crowed, "we get to eat forever in this place."

"And there still won't be enough food for you," Sue observed.

"Just wait until Aiden starts hitting his growth spurt," Troy chuckled.

"It will be right about the time Logan is eleven or twelve and Chase is
fourteen or fifteen. Our grocery bill will still be half of yours," Phil teased his
older brother.

After lunch, the Millers explored the ship, learning the layout and where the
important places, like the swimming pool, were. One of the important
places was the youth center where they were greeted by a pair of
enthusiastic attendants—a girl and a boy, each in their early twenties.
Aiden, Logan, and Chase liked them instantly. Sue and Larry set up a time
with Linda and Joaquin, the attendants, to pick up the boys, and went
searching for adult locales—like the casino, shops, and bars.

Even though none of the Millers drank alcohol, the bars were where many
of the games and events took place during the course of the week. None of
the Millers had any problem with dropping a few dollars into a slot machine
or playing at the blackjack table.

The boys were introduced to The Lodge, a place for kids 8-12 to hang out,
play games, explore, and have fun.

The Miller parents picked up their boys just before four o'clock and went to
their cabins. It was close to time for the required muster drill. They grabbed
their life jackets and headed for their muster station a few minutes before
the alarm went off.

"We have to do this so that we know what to do when the ship starts
sinking," Aiden said as they found a place to sit in the lounge that was their
muster station. "We don't want to be like the `Titanic', especially since we
might be seeing icebergs."

"It's more like we have to do this because it is international law," Larry
replied seriously. "It is very unlikely we will hit an iceberg and sink."

"That's what the Captain of the `Titanic' said, too." Aiden had read "A Night
to Remember", the story of the sinking of the "Titanic", the month before.
Phil and Larry had given their son a hard time a week before the cruise
about reading a book on the subject of a shipwreck, but Aiden said he
wanted to be prepared.

"We're not going to hit an iceberg and sink," Phil insisted yet again.

"Tell that to the iceberg," Aiden replied.

During the talk on proper procedures, the Cruise Director mentioned that
parents should ensure that children twelve and under have their wristbands
on at all times. The wristbands contained the information needed to unite
kids with their parents should they be in different locales when the unlikely
case of an emergency happened.

Aiden showed his dads his wristband. "We'll all go down with the ship
together," he said seriously. Troy's family had been assigned a different
muster station, where Chase and Logan showed off their wristbands as
well.

After the muster drill ended and they all heard what to do, where to go, and
how to don their life jackets, they were dismissed from their station. When
they returned to their cabin, Larry and Phil asked Aiden to sit on one of the
beds.

"Are you seriously worried about us sinking?" Larry asked.

Aiden looked at Larry and then at Phil, his face a mask of seriousness. As
soon as they saw the twinkle in their son's eyes the two dads knew they'd
been had. Aiden lay back on the bed and burst out in laughter.

"I got you guys seriously going," he squealed. "There's no way we're hitting
an iceberg and sinking—I don't care what happened to the `Titanic'". Then
he looked down at his wristband and said, "But, I'm keeping this on just in
case." Then he fell back laughing again.

Phil and Larry in their roles as coaches and teachers had seen some of the
changes in thinking that come as a boy matures and moves into puberty.
They could see that Aiden was already developing a mischievous sense of
humor and that they would have to be on their guard from then on.

The Millers met up on the Lido deck and watched as the "Star Princess"
slipped out of its berth at the Seattle Cruise Port on the warm summer
afternoon. That evening they enjoyed their first dinner of the cruise in their
assigned dining room, the Michelangelo Dining Room. The Miller family
would be sitting together at the same table for the entire cruise. It was truly
a full meal. Aiden enjoyed a shrimp cocktail as an appetizer. He then had
roast chicken with red potatoes. Dessert was the Love Boat Supreme,
which was essentially a dessert made up of lots of chocolate. With dinner,
the cruise was seriously underway.

That evening Aiden, Larry, and Phil stood on their balcony watching the
sun set behind the Olympic Mountains. They were pleased to have a cabin
on the west side for the northern leg of their voyage. Larry took pictures
with his Canon Rebel, while Aiden took his own pictures with Phil's tablet.
Phil simply stood at the rail and enjoyed the beauty of the sunset and of his
family.

The next day they were at sea, enjoying their trip up the Inside Passage.
The high point came when the biologist on board came on the PA mid-
morning and said that humpback whales had been sighted on the starboard
side of the ship. The boys were in The Lodge getting instructions for the big
scavenger hunt when they heard the announcement. Joaquin and Linda
quickly led the fifteen boys and girls outside and soon they were all ohhing
and ahhing over the big mammals swimming and breeching off of the side
of the ship.

The scavenger hunt started soon after the kids returned to The Lodge.
Aiden, Chase, and Logan had quickly made friends in their age group. The
Miller boys and Archer, an eleven-year-old boy from Sacramento,
California, made up one team. Their dedication waned when the afternoon
warmed up and the pool beckoned them. But, the teams had until Thursday
morning to fill their lists.

They reached their first port of call, Ketchikan, the next morning. Aiden had
been assigned to research their ports. He proudly told his dads that
Ketchikan had the most rainfall of any city in North America. The Miller
families took a walking tour of the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary. The boys
became very excited when they saw a mother bear and her cubs at a
distance. Their guide had given them instructions on how to behave if they
came across bears, and the boys were prepared to do the right things. The
bears ignored the tour group, however, and walked away from the trail. The
returning salmon jumping up the falls were also of interest to the boys.

"They'd make pretty good basketball players the way they jump," Logan
observed.

"But the ref would call them for a foul because they smelled fishy," Aiden
giggled.

On Monday they entered Tracy Arm Fjord. The ship made its way through
the inlet, with steep mountains rising up on either side of them. When they
reached the end of the fjord the boys were able to see a big glacier. The
cameras were out again as they watched the glacier calve.

"Those are the icebergs that have been instructed to sink us," Aiden
pointed out.

"Just don't lose my tablet when it happens," Phil chided him.

 Juneau was Tuesday's port of call. They took the gondola ride up the
mountain that came right down to the edge of the city. They also visited the
Mendenhall Glacier and were able see the glacier from a closer vantage
point than the glacier in the Tracy Arm Fjord.

On Wednesday they were in Skagway and rode the White Pass & Yukon
narrow gauge railway, which took them up twisting, steep tracks, into
tunnels, and over gorges until they entered the Yukon Territory of Canada.
While Logan and Chase loved the trip, they didn't display nearly the
excitement of Aiden.

"I love trains, so much!" Aiden gushed, not caring what his cousins thought.
He had no intention of holding his feelings in. Aiden's dads and his aunt
and uncle thought he was unbearably cute in his enthusiasm and while
Chase didn't quite understand his cousin's zeal, he respected it. Logan, on
the other hand, caught Aiden's fervor and discovered that the more he rode
the train, the more fun it became.

Everybody's feelings bubbled to the surface when a bear was on a bluff
observing the passing train. "This is the most amazing trip," Chase burbled
as he shed his layer of adolescent cool.

Larry and Phil slept in twin beds. Aiden slept in a bed that was pulled down
from the ceiling. Like he would with a top bunk, he had to climb a ladder to
get up into the bed. He felt like jerking off.

He had found a small tube of lotion in the bathroom the first day. It
remained unused, at least until he stuffed it inside his briefs that night. It
was one of the items not on his original travel list that he would have to add
after he got home.

He then snuck the tube into his bed and used the contents on his little cock
after the lights went out. He was very careful to be as quiet as possible so
his dads wouldn't hear him masturbating. He couldn't believe he was going
through all of this sneakiness just to jerk off. There was no way he could be
this horny—normally he would have waited the entire week and taken care
of business after he got home. He thought about Archer wondering what he
looked like naked as he jerked off in what he thought was total silence.

Larry tapped Phil when he heard the rustling in the bed above them. The
dads smiled at each other in the dark—if their son was so horny that he
had to take care of business on the bed above them, that was a good
indication that puberty was starting to sneak up on the lad. Aiden's climax
wasn't real satisfying—he would rather have let loose as he jerked off, but
he felt relaxed and fell quickly to sleep.

The other branch of the Miller family had booked a mini-suite. As a result,
Chase had a little bit more privacy to take care of his needs. Troy and Sue
had twin beds in the main room of the suite while Chase and Logan had a
set-up somewhat like Aiden's—a bed that lowered from the ceiling above a
couch that was made up into a bed each night. Chase used his big-brother
seniority to claim the top bunk, which suited Logan just fine.

Chase masturbated for the second time on the cruise Wednesday night.
The first time was in the stall of the restroom for The Lodge on Saturday.
Like with Aiden later, his mind was filled with images of eleven-year-old
Archer, whom Chase thought was sexy cute.

His Wednesday night masturbation session was one of desperation. He
was so horny he had to cum or he would end up staying awake all night.
One thing that Chase had packed away was his tube of JO lube. He didn't
need a lot as his erotic image of Archer and Aiden in a sixty-nine in Aiden's
cabin during the scavenger hunt helped get him over the top in a hurry.

Beneath him, Logan knew what his older brother was doing in the upper
bunk. While Logan had a boner and played with himself while Chase jerked
off, he stopped after noting his brother's almost inaudible squeak and the
ensuing silence above him. If Logan had been a couple of years older he
probably would have taken himself to the same conclusion as Chase. Once
the action was over, however, he let go of himself and quickly fell asleep.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thursday was a day at sea. After breakfast, Aiden, Logan, Chase, and
Archer successfully searched for the last three items in their scavenger
hunt. They knew that even though they had found everything on the list,
they weren't going to be declared the winners. There was still one more
part to the hunt. The Lodge opened at ten. When a team handed in their
completed list, it would get two bonus items. First team to find the two
bonus items would win t-shirts in the ship's store.

Four teams, including Aiden's team, were waiting for the Lodge to open at
ten. All four teams received a slip of paper with the bonus items on it and
were given the GO command at the same time. Aiden's team found their
two items within twenty minutes. The clues were cryptic, but Chase and
Aiden were good at puzzles and quickly figured out the clues. Chase
figured out the first one and Aiden the second. Since teams had to keep
their members together during the hunt, they quickly went to the buffet to
get the required apple. One of the other teams arrived as the four boys took
off for the spa.

"We have to bring a tube of skin lotion from the spa," their list told them.

"Wow, I could have used one of these," Archer said as the lady in the spa
handed them the tube.

The three Miller boys jerked their heads in Archer's direction, surprised by
his sudden openness.

"I bet you guys do it, too," Archer said. "At least, I'm sure Chase does."

"I found a small tube of lotion in my cabin," Aiden quickly told him. He
wanted Archer to know he was a big boy, almost ten, and that Chase
wasn't the only one who did it.

Archer grinned, his hand quickly adjusting his crotch.

"Too bad we didn't talk about this before," Chase said. "We might have
found a way to mess around together."

"We still could. My mom and dad will be in the casino sometime today—I
can let you know when." That brought a wide grin from Chase, a somewhat
skeptical grin from Aiden, and a look from Logan that said, "Why does my
brother always think about sex except when I want to try it with him?"

Chase, Aiden, Logan, and Archer were pleased to learn they had brought
their bonus finds first. They would each be receiving a voucher for a "Star
Princess" t-shirt. Aiden could hardly wait to wear his to school.

After claiming their shirts, the boys agreed to meet at the pool in a half-
hour. When they met, the Miller boys once again had slightly different
perspectives. Chase wanted to get his hand inside of Archer's board
shorts. Aiden thought Archer was cute and wanted to see him naked, but
wasn't sure why he had those feelings. Logan thought Archer was a boy
who had a nice body when he wasn't wearing a shirt. Phil took on
supervisory duties, but stayed in the background.

At one point during their horseplay, Chase grabbed Archer's balls, and was
pleased when Archer returned the favor, with a little bit of erotic underwater
fondling thrown in. Chase could tell from Archer's response to his grab that
the California boy was more than talk. Now, if they could just get some time
alone in Archer's cabin, the day would be perfect.

As is so often the case with young boys, parents intervened in their lives. It
was time for lunch. They ate their buffet lunches at a couple of outside
tables on the Lido deck as the Millers and Archer's parents got to know
each other.

After lunch, Archer's parents told him they were going to the casino for a
while and admonished him to behave. Archer and Chase exchanged looks.
Chase told Larry, who was now the boy watcher, that he and Archer were
going up to the sports deck to play putt-putt golf. Aiden and Logan joined
them. Larry remained near the pool, feeling that the boys were responsible
enough to behave on the sports deck. They probably would be responsible
in the pool area too, but the signs around the pool were adamant about
kids having parental supervision in the pool area. As the boys went up the
stairs to the sports deck, Larry relaxed in one of the hot tubs.

Once they reached the sports deck, the boys grabbed four golf balls and
four putters and walked to Hole #1. As soon as they finished the hole,
Chase told Aiden and Logan to keep playing.

"Me and Archer are going to play a different game," Chase grinned. He
figured that since he played a hole of putt-putt, he hadn't told his father a lie
and could go to Archer's cabin without feeling guilty.

"You guys are nasty," Logan sniffed.

"Yep, and in a couple of years you'll be as nasty as us," Chase informed his
little brother.

"Never. I'll never be that nasty," Logan insisted. But, like the other three
boys, he didn't believe it either.

Chase and Archer, worried about encroaching parents, didn't mess around
with small talk when they got to Archer's cabin. Archer put the "Do Not
Disturb" sign up on the door to discourage the room steward. The boys
were wearing nothing but their board shorts, flip-flops, and each had a
beach towel draped around his shoulders.

The two yanked off their board shorts simultaneously, each one proudly
displaying his boner. Chase admired Archer's hairless three inches of early
pubescent boyhood. Archer was circumcised. He admired the hairless
scrotum—Archer's balls were just beginning to descend.

"You've got the biggest dick, I've ever seen," Archer said of Chase's four-
and-a-half inches plus. "Plus, you've got hair—cool."

The boys flopped on one of the beds and started jerking off. As they took
care of their pubescent horniness, they bragged about their sexual
expertise, naming the boys they'd jerked off with. Chase learned that
Archer had sucked one cock and that he was a virgin. Archer was
impressed by Chase's sexual history, especially that he had fucked another
boy.

Without saying anything it was understood that they were going to jerk
each other off. Time was of the essence and they both were very
experienced at masturbating. Their hands flew along the other boy's hard
pubescent cock, their eyes never leaving the crotch of the other boy.
Archer came first, a couple of clear drops seeping from his piss slit. Chase
shot four clear drops of boy cum from his nipples down to his pubic wisps,
with some of it sticking to Archer's hand.

Chase used his towel to wipe off his emission. As he wiped, Archer
remarked on the quantity of Chase's cum and how far he shot it, and then
proceeded to lick his hand clean. Archer's compliments had made Chase
feel very grown up.

And so, because of a chance comment by Archer, two boys who barely
knew each other, had jerked each other off in the cabin of the cruise ship. It
may have been gratuitous sex, but that was not how the two boys saw it.
They saw it as taking care of their horniness and having a special moment
to remember on their cruise. Chase had already jerked off thinking of
Archer—and after what had just happened, it wouldn't be the last time in
life.

Of course Aiden and Logan were curious about what had happened
between the two when Chase and Archer returned. "We just jerked off is
all," Chase shrugged, as if jerking off was the equivalent of taking a piss—
but to him and Archer it was much more.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Friday's itinerary was an all-day layover at Victoria, B.C. The boys were
bored by the Butchart Gardens and its floral finery and weren't at all
interested in shopping or in high tea at the Empress Hotel. Troy and Sue
said they wanted to do high tea, although Phil doubted very much that Troy
was truly interested. Larry and Phil agreed to take the boys back to the
ship.

The boys were pleased to go back, and even more pleased to spend the
afternoon at the pool, swimming, eating soft ice cream, and getting hungry
for their last dinner in the dining room. They saw Archer late in the
afternoon. Chase and Archer ended up in one of the hot tubs together.

Aiden and Logan wondered what it was Chase and Archer talked about in
the hot tub for a long while. In their minds the subject was sex and they
were disappointed to learn later that they had talked exclusively about
sports. No mention was made about the encounter in Archer's cabin the
day before.

Friday night was not at all like Thursday night had been. The boys played
for a while in The Lodge until the Miller parents asked them to go to the
cabin. Everything, except for what they needed in the morning, had been
packed up before dinner. Everyone was in bed and asleep by ten; they
would be getting up very early in the morning.

The Millers and Archer's family met for breakfast in the Horizon Court
buffet. After enjoying the breakfast buffet, Troy and Sue and Larry and Phil
expressed their pleasure at meeting Archer's parents and wished them the
best. Aiden and Chase and Logan exchanged fist bumps with Archer.
Chase and Archer exchanged phone numbers and parting hugs. Both boys
felt a brief urge to exchange kisses, but they realized it was not the place or
time. Chase's eyes lit up when Archer got in a clandestine grope of his junk
when they hugged.

"You're nasty," Chase whispered.

"I know you love it," Archer replied.

Chase's smile said everything Archer needed to know.

They were off of the "Star Princess" by ten on Saturday morning. Aiden,
Chase, and Logan were proudly wearing their new t-shirts. Troy had them
at King Street Station by 1:15 for the 2:10 departure of Amtrak Cascades
#507. They were in Centralia and on the road to Mayfield by 4:05.

Dinner was pizza at The Bear. Aiden and his dads agreed that the pizza on
the ship was good, but nobody had better pizza than The Bear.

After he got everything unpacked and either tossed into the dirty clothes
hamper or put properly away, Aiden was on the phone talking to Gordy,
followed by Miles, and Mason; Muddy didn't answer his phone, which was
not unusual. It was agreed they all needed to get together to talk and learn
all of the details about Aiden's trip.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Aiden's summer calmed down after his return home. He did a lot with his
friends, enjoying the freedom to ride his bicycle into town. There were
some overnights, some messing around, and time spent getting ready for
soccer and school.

One special occasion after Aiden returned from his cruise was Muddy's
birthday. He turned 11 on Friday, August the 18th. Because his house was
small and his family, with four kids, was somewhat large, Muddy had a
good old American pizza party at The Bear on Saturday afternoon. The
birthday present Aiden gave his friend was a stocking hat with the Big
Dipper and Alaska knitted on the front. Because Muddy wore his hair in
close to a buzz cut, he liked wearing stocking hats and had a half-dozen
different ones. Now he had one to add to his collection, for which he gave
Aiden a gigantic bear hug.

Aiden knew that the first anniversary of his move to Mayfield was coming
up. Even though he still missed his mother, he had never felt happier or
more secure or more loved than he did right then. As far as he was
concerned, nobody could ask for better dads than the ones he had. One
night, while cuddled up with Phil on the recliner, he told his dads that the
day of his tenth birthday would be his first anniversary with them.

"Why not on the day we picked you up?" Phil asked as he stroked his son's
bare shoulder and back.

"Because my birthday was the first day I started thinking that this was
where I lived. So, it should be my first anniversary."

"Makes sense to me," Larry said.

"Makes sense to me, too," the soon to be ten-year-old grinned. "I invited
everybody to my birthday party."

"Everybody?" Larry asked. "You mean the entire town of Mayfield? There
won't be enough room in our pool."

"No, I mean everybody I want to invite, silly. Including those stupid girls."
Since Autumn didn't want to go to Centralia for dinner any more than Aiden
wanted her to go with him, Larry and Phil proposed a compromise.

"Invite Autumn and a couple of her friends whom you know to your party,"
Larry suggested.

"Yuck."

"It will be one or the other—deal with Autumn at your party or go out on a
date with her."

"But then I can't have a naturist party," Aiden groused.

"You weren't going to have one anyway," Phil reminded him. "Those are
just for your closest friends—the ones who've done it before. And even
without the girls, you were inviting more than just that group."

Aiden nodded. He knew he'd lost that battle before he'd started it, but he
still had to make the effort. His dads had been fair about his naturist kick,
so he couldn't complain too much. But, he still saw it as his duty to
complain some.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On the actual first anniversary of his arrival in Mayfield, Aiden brought
Horace downstairs after his tuck-in. He nestled between his two dads,
reveling in the physical warmth as well as the transcendent love he felt
emanating from the two men.

Aiden's tenth birthday was just a few days away. Aiden had grown a lot in
his year with Larry and Phil, and not just physically. He had become more
mature and more sure of himself. He had learned how to be a member of a
team. He had learned what it took to be a top student. He had made many
friends—good friends, friends who taught him how to be a good friend
himself. Physically he had yet to start any kind of a growth spurt, but he
understood that was coming, even if he was impatient to start seeing some
progress on his growth chart in the basement.

The year had been one of sexual learning as well. He had been thrust into
sexual situations and had created quite a few of his own. Over the last
month he had entered a kind of dormant zone, sexually. He still messed
around some with his friends, but he had become less driven to do so.
Gordy liked having Aiden less focused on wanting to mess around with
him, yet he was also disappointed that there were fewer sexy situations
between them.

Aiden had fifth grade ahead of him, the senior class in his school. Middle
school was looming after that, which was already starting to excite him.
High school was too far in the future for him to even begin to contemplate.

Right after school started, soccer practice would begin. He would again be
playing recreation soccer for Coach Bill, along with Rusty, Mason, and
some other friends. Gordy, Miles, and Muddy were ready to turn out for the
eleven-and-under travel team.  He told his dads he didn't want to play on
the travel team, at least not that year. He thought he had more to learn.
Larry and Phil disagreed, telling him he was a talented athlete who had
shown a lot of improvement since he started playing a year ago. Plus, he
wanted to play with Mason to make sure Mason had a good friend with him
on the team.

"You also need to think about yourself in order to improve your skills," Larry
told his son. "I won't stop you from doing what you want to do here, but if I
were you I'd give some special thought to what you want to do in the spring
with baseball."

Even though spring was a long way off, Larry wanted to plant the idea in
his head that baseball would be a different matter. Larry and Phil both felt
that Aiden was already an above average player and that his talent could
carry him far.

"But I am going to play for Scott and Connor in baseball," Aiden informed
his dads. Scott and Conner were two of Larry and Phil's former players who
had coached eleven-and-under the spring before. "I want to be like Marty
and play the best baseball I can play. Mason can stand up, you know,
stand up..."

"...on his own two feet," Phil finished.

"Yeah, that."

At the end of his first year with what was now his family forever, Aiden saw
life as being good. The bullies weren't bothering him and he knew what he
wanted to do in sports and in school. He was ready for the challenge of fifth
grade. He was ready to be ten and soon to be almost eleven. He was ready
to keep growing up.

THE END

This is the end of Aiden's first year in Mayfield, but it is not the end of
Aiden's story. I'd like to eventually take him through the relative quiet of fifth
grade and into the turmoil of middle school and hope you will all be willing
to come along for the ride if I do.

My thanks to Mike the Donkey, Larry, Perry, my anonymous nitpicker, and
Will for their help in making "Aiden" a much better story than I could have
written on my own. Thanks to all of you readers who wrote and told me
your feelings about the story and young master Aiden. I hope you enjoyed
your stay in Mayfield and come back for more.

Douglas