Date: Fri, 16 Nov 2018 21:04:04 +0000 From: Douglas DD Subject: Aiden 2 Chapter 55 Welcome back. Aiden is off on his dream trip of the summer, taking the "California Zephyr" through the Colorado Rockies and the Sierra Nevada. While on the train he strikes up a brief, but interesting, friendship. Please donate to the Nifty Archive so the tales can continue to be told. CHAPTER 55 ON TRACK SUNDAY, AUGUST 12 Aiden was surprised Sunday afternoon when he saw Eric and Noah come into the driveway on their bicycles. He hadn't expected them and wondered why they were there. He, Gordy, and Miles had just come in from the pool, where they had been skinny dipping, to do a snack raid in the kitchen. Aiden saw Eric and Noah ride in when he looked out of the kitchen window. It didn't take long for Beethoven's Fifth to start playing. He was about to call on his dads to get the door since he was naked, but Larry was already there. He could tell right away that Larry had been expecting them. Larry came into the kitchen to announce the arrival of the visitors. "I know who's here, I saw them. Why didn't you tell me they were coming?" Aiden asked. "Because I wasn't sure when they would arrive and I wanted you boys to enjoy your naturist afternoon without worrying about somebody coming," Larry replied. "Instead they come when we're standing in the kitchen naked. I guess it's better than being in the pool naked. At least we can hide in here." "You could hide in the pool—most of you is underwater anyway," Larry pointed out. He was going to comment on his son's snarky attitude but decided to be tolerant. "Whatever. Now, I can't even say hi unless you get me some shorts." "I have a feeling Eric and Noah have seen a few naked boys in their lives." "Okay, fine," Aiden growled. He turned and walked out of the kitchen and into the waiting room where Eric and Noah were standing. "Hi, Eric," he said as he stood naked in front of his other bro. "Aiden," Eric said in surprise. "You appear to have lost your swimming trunks." "I didn't lose them. I never had them on. I'm skinny dipping with Gordy and Miles and you came and my daddy said for me to come out and say hi." By then, Larry had come out of the kitchen. "What I meant was that Eric and Noah wouldn't have had a problem with seeing the three of you in the pool since you would have been mostly underwater and that naked boys wouldn't be foreign to them." "I guess not. I'm a naked boy and they haven't gone screaming out of the house." Eric and Noah laughed nervously. "Looks like we're surviving, bro," Eric finally said. Then he saw Miles enter the room. Gordy elected to stay protected in the kitchen. "Hey, Miles." Miles grinned. He had no problems being naked in front of almost anybody, which made him close to Mason, who had even fewer problems with being naked, except in front of his mother. Eric decided to offer an explanation for his and his husband's visit. "Well, before somebody dies of embarrassment somewhere—which it looks like might be Coach, I'll tell you the reason I came and then we'll go. My last week of work for the railroad before Noah and I leave for school will be the week after you come back from your trip. I wanted to find out if you'd like to take one more cab ride." "Oh yes, thank you. I'd like that a lot," Aiden babbled excitedly. "Master Horn Blower will be coming back." Then he stopped and got a sober look on his face as he looked over at Miles. Ever loyal to his friends, Aiden asked if he could bring a friend with him. "I already asked the railroad that question," Eric grinned. "The answer is, you can, but not for the entire trip. Whoever you pick will be able to ride, seated in the jump seat, from Mayfield to Vickers. I will be operating the train all the way up to Clark Pass, but you and whomever you pick will have to get off in Vickers." "Yippee. Now, I just have to figure out who to pick." Aiden knew that would be a difficult task, but decided to wait until he got home from his trip. The one thing he was sure of was that he would pick either Miles or Gordy to take the last part of the ride with him. MONDAY, AUGUST 13 Aiden was so excited when he awoke Monday morning he had to fight to breathe. The big trip was ready to start. His suitcase had been loaded into the Odyssey the night before. All he had to carry out was his backpack and Horace's tote bag containing Horace and a book. He shut off his alarm, showered, dressed, and reported to his dads right on time. The plan was to get to Centralia by 8:45, park at the train station, enjoy breakfast at the Centerville Café (which was a block from the station) and be at the station in plenty of time for their 10:15 "Amtrak Cascades" to Portland. Phil got a long-term parking permit to place on the dashboard of the Odyssey while Larry checked their three suitcases in. After the train arrived from the north, they boarded the Business Class section. Aiden was pleased to see Conductor Mark, who seated them at the end of the car where they had facing seats. To no one's surprise Aiden claimed a window seat. "I see you have a nice travel accommodation for Horace," Mark grinned. "How did you remember Horace's name?" Aiden asked in surprise. "I never forget the names of my favorite people," Mark looked at Horace's tote bag, "or favorite donkeys." Aiden's grin lit up the coach. After Mark scanned the code on Larry's phone, he chatted for a few moments and moved on to scan the other passengers who boarded in Centralia. "Did you get all of your birthday invitations sent out?" Larry asked Aiden, even though he knew the answer to the question. There was simply no way that Aiden wouldn't have sent the invitations before leaving for the trip. "Yep. I even invited three girls." "Three? You mean there are more girls in your life than Kalie?" Phil asked as he ruffled Aiden's unruly hair. Aiden elected not to take Phil's bait. "I invited Kalie, Donna, and Brittany to the party." "I thought you didn't like Brittany," Larry observed. "She's okay. Her problem is that she's Autumn's friend. But her, I mean, she and Kalie are good friends just like Kalie and Donna are good friends. Kalie won't feel all by herself if she's got some friends there." "Girls mean no naturism you know." "That's okay, I can try having a skinny dipping party before school. "Not much time for that. We're going to Seattle over Labor Day weekend." "Yep, to see the Mariners and the Angels play two games," Aiden grinned. "And for me to see Logan and Chase and maybe some of their friends." "I hear that Chase and Hatcher are on the outs," Phil said with a sly wink at his husband. "It's true. But Chase is kinda liking Dillon. Logan likes him, too. He never liked Hatcher that much." Larry and Phil knew that middle school romances had their ins and outs and often left a trail of broken hearts—even gay romances. They were a rare couple who fell for each other in middle school and stayed together through high school, let alone adulthood. The trip was uneventful and the train arrived in Portland 10 minutes early. Aiden knew they would be taking a cab to the airport instead of the MAX Red Line. His dads had pointed out that they had more luggage and bigger suitcases than they had on their California trip and that handling them on the light rail would be too much trouble. "You mean, it will be a pain in the ass," Aiden said. "Well, to put it crudely, yes," Phil said, doing his best to look serious and not crack a smile. "I take it you accept the plan." "Only if we take a trip to Portland sometime to ride the Blue Line to Hillsboro." "Why Hillsboro?" "Because it is the western end of the Blue Line," Aiden explained as if that made perfect sense. "This sounds like extortion to me," Phil grinned. "What is extortion?" Aiden liked to repeat the word when he asked for a definition, something his daddy taught him. He said that by doing so Aiden would be more likely to remember it. "It means threatening somebody unless he gives you something in return." "That's me," Aiden grinned. In return for his comment, he got his mussed hair even messier if that was possible. "Well, we could also cross the Tilikum Bridge and ride the gondola up the hill as long as we're doing some transit travels." Aiden thought that sounded like a great idea and put it into his mental calendar. That meant he would look for opportunities to nag his dads about it whenever he could. The trip to the airport was routine. The trek through TSA security was as routine as that trek can get. Aiden kept a careful eye on his tote bag and Horace during the process. As opposed to his first flight, the flight attendants were courteous and admired Horace, who came out of the tote bag and onto Aiden's lap once he took his seat on the airplane. Aiden enjoyed this flight much more than his first one. After arriving at the Denver Airport they took a commuter train to Denver. When Larry and Phil had made the plans for the trip with Aiden, Aiden asked why it was okay to ride a train in Denver with all of their suitcases but not the light rail in Portland. "First of all, the Denver airport is a long way out of the city," Larry had explained. "Second, the train is laid out to accommodate airport traffic. And third, the train goes from the airport right into Union Station downtown. Our hotel just happens to be right in the train station." Aiden was excited about staying in a hotel inside of a train station. Even though the hotel was pricier than their usual accommodations, Larry and Phil thought it would be a special experience for Aiden. They weren't disappointed. They got settled into their hotel in plenty of time and then made it to Coors Field for the baseball game between the Denver Rockies and the Seattle Mariners. Coors Field was just a couple of blocks from Union Station. In fact, the tracks into the station bordered the outfield fence of the ballpark. "Pretty soon, Marty will be playing third base for the Mariners," Aiden said seriously as he wrote the lineups into his scorebook. "I don't care what their stupid depth charts say. Andy Packard is going to be a free agent after next season and Marty is better than him and better than Jorge Rodriquez and everybody knows he's better than the dorks playing in Tacoma right now." "I have to agree with you about Tacoma. I don't see much of a future in the Majors for either of the two guys they have playing third," Larry agreed. "But Rodriguez is considered the second best prospect in the Mariner system—at least when he's healthy." "So? Marty is number eleven and he's only in his first full season and already at AA. And he's hitting the hoopty-doop out of the ball." Hoopty-doop was Aiden's new word for the stronger words he really wanted to use. In this case, the word would have been "crap." "Who is this Marty guy," the fan sitting next to them asked. He was wearing a Rockies' t-shirt and a Rockies' cap. "Marty Carlson," Aiden answered. "He plays third base for the AA Arkansas Travelers and went to high school in my town of Mayfield. He was an All-American at Washington State. And he is my big bro." "Oh, he's your brother?" "No, he's my bro." Larry came to the rescue to alleviate the fan's confusion. "Marty played high school baseball for me. He's become a mentor to Aiden. Aiden looks up to him like he would to an older brother." "Gotcha," the man grinned. "I can see why you would be loyal to somebody like that." It turned out that the man was a junior high baseball coach and he and Larry started chatting about coaching kids in baseball. Aiden enjoyed listening to them, but enjoyed the first pitch even more. The man, whose name was Jim, was impressed that Aiden kept a scorebook. "I was too busy goofing off with my buddies at games to ever consider keeping a scorebook," he laughed. The Rockies won the game 6-2, but Aiden was happy to see Major League baseball at a ballpark he had never been too. He hoped to see games in as many ballparks as he could. He knew he'd be back tomorrow to see the Mariners win. "Good luck to your bro," Jim smiled as they left their seats. "I'm going to be sure to follow his career." "Thanks," Aiden grinned. TUESDAY, AUGUST 14 The next day the family walked around downtown Denver, rode the light rail, visited the museum at the US Mint, and took pictures of trains—at least Aiden took pictures. That night the Mariners came through with a 9-6 win over the Rockies. Aiden was both happy and disappointed when Andy Packard hit a two-run homer. "Look at it this way, that's just one more reason another team will want him," Phil pointed out. "From everything I've read, Packard will be gone even before the end of next season. With two of their top prospects playing third base the Mariners will be looking to move him." "And you're right about one thing," Larry told Aiden. "What's that?" "Packard isn't that good—I think Marty and Rodriguez are both poised to pass him by." WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15 Aiden slept with his dads that night because it made him feel warm and fuzzy. He didn't feel quite so fuzzy when the alarm went off the next morning, however. He was sporting morning wood. Larry got out of the bed first, and Aiden followed him, hoping his daddy didn't see the bulge in his briefs. While Larry noticed, he didn't comment. Larry took care of business first, then told Aiden to pee and take his shower. It didn't take long before Larry, Phil, and Aiden were packed, dressed, checked out, and sitting in the waiting room portion of the massive train station. They took their carry-ons with them out to the platform to stand in line as "California Zephyr" backed into Union Station. The almost new Superliner III cars glistened in the morning sun as Aiden shot some photos of the arriving train. They boarded their sleeping car and found their bedroom, which was on the lower level of the two-level car. Larry had been able to book the family bedroom for the trip to the Bay Area, but had to book two roomettes for the leg home on the "Coast Starlight". The family bedroom was at the end of the car and could sleep four. It stretched the width of the car and had windows on both sides. "Breakfast is being served in the diner—reservations are not necessary," their sleeping car attendant informed them as he gave them his spiel about the features of the bedroom, the car, the train, and what his job was. Aiden was taking Horace out of his tote bag as the attendant talked to them. He placed the Donkey on the upper bunk. "Excuse me, but do you have a ticket for that bunk?" the attendant asked. "Nope. It says on the website that donkeys ride free on Amtrak." "Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that," the attendant grinned. "We see donkeys so rarely on Amtrak." "Well, he is a very friendly donkey and he won't make a mess." "Then I do believe everything is in order." The attendant left to talk to other passengers who had boarded in Denver. "Bring your camera to breakfast," Phil instructed Aiden. "We'll go right from the dining car to the lounge." For years coach and sleeping car passengers had to fight for seats in the Sightseer Lounge, but the new Superliner III cars had a "Parlour Car" for sleeping car passengers. It consisted of a lounge area with fourteen individual rotating seats and lounge seats that sat two or three in them. They faced the aisle and had small tables for drinks in front of them. A bar and dining area was downstairs on the first level. Breakfast in the Parlour Car was continental. The family agreed quickly to go to the dining car for a full breakfast. Upon entering the diner, the lead attendant showed them to a table with one seat occupied by a young woman in her twenties. While passengers could have individual tables in the Parlour Car, community seating was the rule in the dining car. Aiden learned that their breakfast companion was Jennifer, who was a student at Sacramento State University. She had been visiting her grandparents in Burlington, Iowa and was now heading home to the city of Colfax which was in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Aiden ordered pancakes with bacon and a glass of orange juice for breakfast. When Jennifer learned that Phil and Larry were Aiden's parents she asked which one of them carried the baby to term, which drew a laugh from the two dads. "We thought about it," Phil grinned, "but the doctors assured us that it just wasn't possible. So we adopted this fine specimen of young manhood instead." "How long ago was that?" They explained Aiden's story to her, knowing they might be doing it again at a different meal. They had asked Aiden's okay the night before, explaining to him how the seating arrangements worked and that people loved talking about anything and everything during a meal. Breakfast arrived and Aiden quickly got ready to dig in. He struggled to open the syrup packets, but finally took his fork and poked a hole in the side, which was what Phil was about to suggest. "Wow, these pancakes are hot and fluffy," Aiden said as he took his first bite. "They're almost as good as mine." "What? You cook up pancakes?" Jennifer asked. "And French toast. I do all of breakfast sometimes. It's really fun when my friends spend the night to cook breakfast for them. I've got my own apron and my own chef hat for cooking." He didn't mention that as the Naked Chef he wore nothing under the apron. "Dad says he's going to start showing me how to cook dinners after I turn eleven which will be September first." "Well, an early happy birthday to you, Aiden. You are a remarkable boy. My brother is twelve and about all he can do in the kitchen is raid the refrigerator." Larry and Phil asked Jennifer about school and other subjects as they ate. After Aiden stuffed in the last of the food on his plate, Jennifer raised her eyebrows. "I can't believe you ate all of that." "It was good," Aiden said as if that explained everything. "Where did you put it all?" Aiden patted his thigh. "My dads say I have a hollow leg and it all goes into there," he grinned. After breakfast Larry, Phil, and Aiden were pleased to note that there were still two rotating parlor seats available. Larry took one and Aiden the other, which was two seats away. The couple on those seats offered to move a seat so father and son could sit together. Phil found a lounge seat, sitting next to a Gary Paulson, who worked for a highway contractor. That gave them a topic of conversation when they weren't admiring and discussing the passing scenery. The train was still climbing the Front Face and Aiden got busy with his camera, taking photos of the panorama spread out below them. It wasn't long before the twelve-car train was heading through thirty tunnels before reaching the highest elevation of the journey at 9,239 feet while inside the 6.2-mile-long Moffatt tunnel. As the train came out of the tunnel and slowed to a stop at the Fraser-Winter Park station, Phil noted, not for the first time, the young blond boy sitting across the aisle from them, straining to see the scenery. "That boy is missing a lot of scenery from that seat," Phil noted. "I know. That's my son, Ryder," Gary said. He introduced Ryder to Phil. Ryder politely shook Phil's hand. "I think it would be great if you and my son Aiden could sit together," Phil suggested. Gary smiled and nodded in agreement. Phil rose from his seat and signaled Ryder to follow him. He soon came back with Larry and left Ryder sitting next to Aiden after introducing the two boys to each other. The two blonds hit it off right away. "How old are you?" Aiden asked Ryder. "Fourteen." That surprised Aiden, who thought the boy looked much younger. "How about you?" "I'll be eleven in three weeks." "Cool. Nice camera." After the train started up again they were soon heading along the Colorado River through more tunnels and box canyons so narrow only the tracks and the river fit in them. Both boys were sophisticated enough to have an appreciation of the display that Mother Nature and the engineers of the old Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad put together for them. Aiden worked hard to keep up with the changing scenery, tried to get as many pictures as he could from the wide windows of the Parlour Car, and carry on a conversation with Ryder all at the same time. Aiden learned that Ryder lived outside of Chicago and had boarded the train the previous afternoon. He had been playing baseball since second grade. His team had gone 15-11 for the year and won a weekend tournament in June. He played second base and shortstop and pitched when "there's nobody else left to pitch" as he put it. His big hobby was showing dogs at dog shows. "I do it with my grandma. She belongs to a club and has a lot of her own dogs." He told of the trophies and ribbons he'd won and displayed pictures of himself and dogs taken at various dog shows. Aiden was suitably impressed. One thing that generated comment was the so-called Moon River. It was a place in relatively flat land where a lot of rafters and kayakers tackled the Colorado. It was fast water, but not the kind of whitewater they'd seen in the narrow canyons. The boys (and the rest of the passengers) learned what the "Moon" in Moon River meant. The conductor warned them of what might ensue. "Mooning the `California Zephyr' on this stretch of track has a long tradition, so be prepared for some...interesting views." Aiden wasn't sure what to think until six people on a rubber raft in the river mooned the train as a group. Aiden had his camera ready and got a half-dozen big asses, not to mention some other mooners over the next ten minutes or so. When the lead attendant went through the Parlour Car to take lunch reservations they learned that the three dads made a reservation in the Parlour Car dining area so the two families could sit together. Ryder's mother joined the group—she'd been sitting in the coach Sightseer Lounge with some ladies she'd met at dinner the night before. The parents took up one table while Aiden and Ryder sat at another. Community seating was not practiced in the Parlour Car dining area. The boys talked baseball, school, and dogs. Aiden scrolled through the pictures, showing Ryder what he'd taken on the trip so far. The age difference didn't mean much to the two boys, maybe because they were the only two boys in first class, or maybe because Ryder looked so much younger than fourteen. "There's a thirteen-year-old I saw yesterday who's riding in coach," Ryder told Aiden. "He seemed pretty nice, but we didn't have much to talk about. You're way different—you're easy to talk to. I can't believe you haven't even started middle school yet." "I will be starting just four days after my birthday," Aiden informed his new friend. "I turned fourteen on August first. I'm going to be starting my first day of high school, probably the same day you start middle school. Do you have a girlfriend?" "No. I have a girl who is a good friend, but she's not a girlfriend." "I didn't have one until about half-way through seventh grade. We broke up right after we finished eighth grade because she's going to a different high school, so now I don't have one." Aiden wasn't sure what to say, so he just nodded. "Do you have your own bedroom?" Ryder asked. "No, we're all in a family bedroom." "My rents got us two bedrooms with a door in between. So, I got all my privacy and my own shower and bathroom. I guess it's not so bad for you all being in one room. I mean you've got two dads and everything. I don't think I'd want to have to strip down to my undies in front of my mom if I can help it." Ryder's mom overheard her son's remark and couldn't resist commenting. "You look just fine in your pink boxers," Ryder's mom grinned, causing the teen to turn a deep shade of red. "I don't wear pink boxers, they're salmon colored," he quickly told Aiden after shooting his mother a glare. Ryder knew he would need to be more careful to keep his voice down. He leaned conspiratorially over the table. "Want to see my room after we get out of the Glenwood Canyon?" he whispered. Aiden nodded. He liked Ryder and wanted to get to know him better. Ryder was going as far as Martinez. He and his parents would change trains there for Bakersfield where his mom's sister and her family lived. The two families went upstairs and found some lounge seats. All but one of the parlor seats were filled and Ryder's mother took it since she hadn't ridden in one during the trip through the Rockies. Aiden and Phil learned from Ryder's father that the stretch of I-70 through the Glenwood Canyon was built to fit the canyon rather than changing the canyon so a highway could be built. Gary told him that the stretch of I-70 through the canyon was the most expensive piece of highway per mile ever built. "The people of Colorado love the Glenwood Canyon and insisted the construction create as little disruption as possible. It fits into the environment remarkably well right down to the bicycle path built into it." Aiden wasn't sure how impressed he was supposed to be, but he could tell his dad was incredibly impressed. "That is an amazing piece of highway engineering," Phil remarked as the train left the canyon and they headed into the town of Glenwood Springs. After the train left Glenwood Springs, Ryder asked his parents if he could show Aiden his room. The parents agreed and Aiden followed Ryder to his room in car 531. Aiden's room was in car 530. Ryder's room was upstairs. It had its own sink and a small enclosed space that had both a shower and a toilet. "You have to be sure to close this cover over the toilet paper before you turn on the shower or you get some soaked toilet paper," Ryder told Aiden as he demonstrated how the cover worked. "I learned that the hard way this morning," he giggled. They sat in facing seats by the window and chatted on various topics. Aiden took a moment to look closely at his friend. He noticed a well-groomed boy whose hair was neatly in place. His clothes were well-fitting. Even his shorts seemed to fit perfectly. Aiden liked how Ryder didn't treat him like a little kid and Ryder liked how Aiden seemed to be a lot smarter than most kids he knew who were eleven. Even though Ryder was straight, like many young teens he'd messed around with his friends. His sexual experiences with boys were relatively innocent, mostly jerking off together with occasional mutual masturbation. Ryder thought that Aiden was incredibly cute; not cute like a girl was cute, but still a person he couldn't take his eyes off of. He was surprised by the thoughts roiling through his head as he sat alone with the younger boy. The boys had been talking about their best friends when Ryder surprised himself by asking Aiden if he'd ever been naked with anybody. "I don't mean like in a swimming pool shower or anything, I mean like getting naked so you could see each other naked." Aiden was as surprised as Ryder by the question, but he was not offended. After all, he had a cousin who was almost Ryder's age plus he'd been around Sammy for a long time. Having another boy bring up an erotic topic was nothing new to him. Besides, he thought Ryder was kind of sexy looking—he'd had a few erotic thoughts while they were chatting. "Yeah," Aiden said. He didn't want Ryder to think he was weird, so he didn't commit to saying more. "How about you?" "Yeah, with some of my friends I told you about and with a couple of girls, too." "Me, too. Naked with my friends I mean. And with my cousins. And with a girl." "Did you ever see anybody with a boner?" "Lots of times. And they've seen me with one, too." Aiden was beginning to feel a little more comfortable talking about sex stuff with his new friend. "I've been naked with a girl in her bedroom like about four times," Ryder said. "One time, her parents were downstairs—that was scary and fun." "Did you do any sex?" "Just me kissing her and playing with her boobs—they weren't really big yet. And she played with my balls and my boner and I fingered her pussy. The last two times she made me cum and one of those I shot all over her titties and she got really mad so we never got naked again." "I've kissed a girl when we were like in our underwear and once naked. But I don't shoot yet so I couldn't ever make a mess," Aiden giggled. "I've got a boner." "You mean, like right now?" He looked at Ryder's crotch and could see a bulge in his shorts, which answered his question. He wanted to see it, but was afraid to ask, once again worried that Ryder would think he was weird. "Want to see it?" Ryder wasn't sure why he was being so forward with a boy he'd just met a few hours ago. For a moment he was afraid Aiden would get mad at him for bringing up boners. Then he realized that after tomorrow they would never see each other again, so what difference did it make? Aiden paused before answering. He was worried that Ryder was testing him. He didn't have the same thought as the older boy had about the two of them never seeing each other again. At Aiden's age he often lived in the moment rather than thinking of the future. The deciding factor was that he really did want to see Ryder's boner. He thought Ryder was cute and had been entertaining erotic thoughts about him before Ryder brought up the subject of his erection. "Yeah, I guess," Aiden finally replied. He hoped his answer was good enough to get Ryder to open up his pants without seeming so eager that the older boy would think he was a pervert. Ryder nodded and opened his shorts. He stood up and unzipped them, revealing a pair of "salmon" boxers which looked pink to Aiden. He slid his shorts down to his knees. The boxers looked like they'd been freshly ironed. Aiden couldn't grasp the idea of ironing underpants. But he could grasp the idea that Ryder's mother was right; he did look fine in pink, which he told Ryder. "I think I look like a dork. If I'd known I'd be taking my pants off in front of somebody, I'd have worn my gray boxer shorts or something." Aiden picked up his camera and snapped a picture of Ryder standing in his boxers. There was an obvious pink bulge that Ryder did nothing to hide. Ryder didn't seem bothered by Aiden taking the picture or Aiden would have deleted it. "I want to see your boner now," Aiden said. "Are you sure?" Ryder asked as he entertained some second thoughts. "You don't have to you know." Ryder debated whether he should just pull his erection out of the piss slit or pull his pants and underpants down, revealing his entire groin area. He decided on the second option. "I know, I want to see it." "But no pictures of it." Aiden lowered his camera into the storage bin next to his seat. What Ryder was about to do was so different from what he did with his buddies. That was just friends having fun. Doing it with a stranger seemed like it was something gay. He wondered about his motives, but as soon as he yanked down his boxers those thoughts left his head. Aiden stared at the almost five-inch cut rod in front of him, the hairless, hanging ball sac, and the small patch of short, sparse, blond pubic hair at the base of Ryder's erection. Because they were on the second level of the sleeping car neither Ryder nor Aiden saw any need to close the window curtains. Without any urging Aiden stood up and quickly dropped his shorts down to his ankles, showing off his green and blue briefs. His close to three-inch hairless cock rock was hard and could easily be seen through the cotton of the briefs. Ryder grinned and snapped two pictures. Aiden wanted to stop him, then realized that turnaround was fair play. Aiden posed to show his not so hidden wares for Ryder's third picture. "No nudies," Aiden said as he pulled off his briefs, revealing his throbbing piece of steel. Both boys quickly agreed that their junk had to be covered in any pictures they took. "Do you jerk off?" Ryder asked as he started to absent-mindedly stroke his young adolescent cock. "Yeah." Aiden followed Ryder's lead and started doing the same, only with more purpose. "Ever do it with your friends when you get naked?" "Yeah," Aiden whispered as he watched Ryder pull off his Cubs t-shirt and drop it to the floor. Then, like Aiden had, he dropped his shorts and underpants to his ankles. For all intents and purposes he was naked. Aiden took off his shirt and was all but naked as well. Ryder sat back down and started seriously masturbating. Aiden followed his lead. His eyes were now fixed on Ryder's groin—he wanted to be looking when Ryder shot his load. There was no longer any skirting around the subject of sex—both boys were jerking off and both knew they were going to do it until the inevitable finish. Being the horny adolescent, Ryder had the first orgasm. "Oh, shit, dude, I'm gonna cum," Ryder grunted. He quietly groaned as his left hand flew over his erection. "Oh, fuuuuuck yeah," he moaned as a squirt of teen cum shot into the air and landed on his chest. Four more hard shots flew out of his penis, each one landing farther down. "Unggg, ohhhh," Aiden moaned as he shook with a dry orgasm. Aiden lay back in the seat, breathing hard, wondering what he had just done. A guilt feeling shot through Ryder's mind. Both boys had just experienced their first casual sexual experience with someone who was all but a stranger. "That was weird," Ryder said. "I hope you're not mad at me." "No, I'm not mad. Why should I be mad?" "Because I'm older than you and made you jerk off with me." It was the first time the issue of age came up between them "You didn't make me do anything and I've done it with older guys. It's all good." Aiden pulled up his pants and picked his t-shirt up from the floor. "Is this just between us?" "Well, yeah, but I might tell a couple of my friends at home cuz they won't ever know you. And you can tell your friends about me if you want. Tell them you met a horny ten-year-old on the train," Aiden giggled. "Are you going to show them that picture of me in my...um...pink boxers?" "If I could take one right now, I'd show them an even better one," Aiden giggled as he looked at the all but naked teen with cum across his chest. "Go ahead. I mean look how far away we live from each other." Aiden made the prudent decision to not take a picture. Instead he pulled some tissues from the box on the window sill to his left and handed them to Ryder, who quickly wiped up his mess. Ryder, who badly wanted a picture of Aiden naked, realized that Aiden was reacting more maturely than he was. "Yeah, I guess that's okay." Ryder then pulled up his pants and put his t-shirt on. The boys left the room to find their parents and to find out about dinner. There was no repeat of their little tryst nor did they talk about it for the rest of their trip together. Yet, in their own way, after their feelings settled down, they realized their masturbation session had been a special thing. Neither of them felt bad about the incident and they enjoyed each other's company until Ryder got off the train at Martinez the next afternoon. Ryder had a second bunk in his room, but he and Aiden never considered Aiden spending the night in it. What had happened that afternoon as the train made its way to Grand Junction, Colorado, was a spontaneous eruption. They simply weren't ready for any planned sexual encounters with each other, although a couple of more days together might have changed that. That night, Aiden saw Phil put on his lounge pants for the first time on the trip. They were green with white silhouettes of forest animals and trees. Aiden thought they were one of his dad's saner pair of pants, but he still felt obligated to make a comment. "Dad, you can't wear those outside of the room. People who are half-asleep will think they fell off the train and got lost in the woods." "I have to wear them," Phil pointed out. "I can't just walk out in the corridor to the bathroom in my boxers." "Eeek. Then you better wear your loungers or people will see your hairy legs." "It's a lot more exciting than your boring gray sweats." Phil ruffled Aiden's hair before he could duck away. "Let's go take care of our fangs." Father and son then left the room to brush and floss, leaving Larry behind shaking with laughter. THURSDAY, AUGUST 16. The trip along Donner Lake and over Donner Pass taught the boys a lot about history. Aiden told Ryder what he had learned about the building of the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1860s. He soon became aware that many of the passengers sitting close to him in the Parlour Car were listening in on his discourse, which embarrassed him some, but didn't stop him. "You certainly know a lot about the history here for a little boy," an older lady said. "To hell with the little boy business," a man Aiden surmised was her husband said. "He knows a lot for somebody of any age. Where did you learn this stuff?" Aiden told them about his term paper and the books that he'd read for it. He told how his dads had scheduled this trip for him so he could ride over some of the transcontinental railroad route and see some of that history for himself. That earned Larry and Phil a lot of verbal and physical pats on the back. Aiden felt very smart and very important. Aiden said good-bye to Ryder after they finished their lunch. Their short two-day friendship had been interesting, fun, enlightening, and a bit awkward. But, they genuinely liked each other and promised to keep in touch, although both boys believed it was an empty promise. Ryder and his mother and father got off in Martinez. Aiden waved out of a Parlour Car window and Ryder waved from the platform. Their friendship had been short and intense. The two boys never contacted each other and never saw each other again, except for the pictures they had taken for masturbation purposes. Every now and then one of the pictures would make an appearance as the catalyst for a masturbation fantasy about the jerk off session on the "California Zephyr". The Zephyr arrived in Emeryville on time. An Amtrak connecting bus took passengers for San Francisco across the Bay Bridge and into the Transbay Bus Terminal. By seven o'clock Aiden and his dads had checked into their hotel and were enjoying dinner at a nearby restaurant. FRIDAY, AUGUST 17 Friday was a day to explore San Francisco. Larry told Aiden that one day wasn't nearly enough time and they would have to consider another trip in the future to really see the city. "We could take a trip and watch the Mariners play the Giants or the Athletics," Aiden said enthusiastically. "Excellent thinking," Phil grinned. The day was spent visiting Fisherman's Wharf, checking out AT&T Park, the home of the Giants, riding the cable cars and visiting the cable car museum, where Aiden was fascinated by the giant wheels that moved the cables the cars used as propulsion. They finished by riding the vintage streetcars to the Castro district. The Castro was the city's gay district, which Aiden picked up on right away. "Does everybody who's gay in San Francisco have to live here?" Aiden asked. "Nope," Larry chuckled. "It's just that a lot of them like living together in the same neighborhood. And a lot of the gays you see here are like your dad and me—curious and just visiting." "I wonder if everybody thinks I'm gay because I'm here." "Probably not. Most likely they think you're just a little boy visiting with his gay dads." "But they know you're gay, right?" "I wouldn't say they know, but they probably make a pretty accurate guess." They visited a bakery, where Aiden asked for a giant chocolate chip cookie. They purchased cookies, a lemonade for Aiden, and coffee for the dads. They sat at a table and enjoyed their haul. A man who looked a bit older than Larry and Phil stopped at their table. "Is this your son?" the gray-haired man asked. Phil acknowledged that he was and introduced Larry as his husband. Aiden shook hands with the man as well as with the man's husband who followed him to the table. "Good job, you two. Good to see married men making a family for themselves," Grant Steller, the gray-haired man said. "We have two sons, both in college, both as straight as a yard stick. No way we could have asked for better boys." "Did you adopt?" Larry asked. "Nope. Used a surrogate mother, each of us being a sperm donor." The term "sperm donor" conjured up an image of Keegan for Aiden, but he quickly figured out it was a positive term in this case. Phil explained that Aiden was their nephew, his blood nephew, and that he was now their adopted son. Grant and his husband moved on as Aiden enjoyed his fantastic giant chocolate chip cookie purchased at a bakery. "Best chocolate chip cookie I ever had," he told his dads. "Better than the homemade cookies at home?" Phil asked "This is a giant cookie and it's so good because we're away from home. You guys still make the best regular cookies." Aiden was learning the art of diplomacy. "You probably liked it because we let you have it before dinner." "No, it's still a couple of hours until dinner. So there." That night, Aiden slept alone because he wanted to jerk off. He parked Horace at the end of his bed. He wondered why he never told Ryder about Horace, then decided he wasn't going to worry about it. Instead he quietly played with his little boner, fantasizing about sucking Nolan's cock in the swimming pool until he had a satisfying cum. SATURDAY, AUGUST 18. Since their connecting bus didn't leave for Emeryville until nine that night, the family checked out of the hotel, left their luggage at the hotel desk, and spent another day playing tourist. This time, they took a tour bus to give Aiden an overall education about the city. The tour included a ride over the Golden State Bridge. Aiden made sure to text Happy Birthday to Muddy. Since he couldn't get a reservation in a family room in the "Coast Starlight", Larry got two roomettes situated across the aisle from each other. Larry and Phil slept in one of the roomettes while Aiden had one for himself and Horace. He wished that he'd had a room to himself when he was with Ryder, until he realized that Ryder had his own room. He shrugged that missed opportunity off and rubbed his cock along Horace's soft fur, enjoying a different kind of orgasm. He knew that once he started shooting sperm his days of humping his donkey would be over. He wasn't about to make the same kind of mess that Marty had made on Mortimer. SUNDAY, AUGUST 19 When Aiden woke up he checked his phone and saw that it was just a little after seven. He opened the curtains on his window and admired the passing scenery. Their roomettes were on the second level of the new Superliner III car. The morning sky was cloudless. A large volcanic peak dominated the view to the southeast. Aiden had no doubt that he was looking at Mt. Shasta. He wished he had the railroad map book that he put on his birthday wish list. He knew Mt. Lassen was the only other volcano, but he didn't think the railroad tracks came this close to it, so he had to be looking at Mt. Shasta. A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. He opened it slightly and saw Larry standing outside. "Are you awake?" he asked. "No, I always open doors in my sleep," Aiden replied. "Hey, I reserve the sarcastic answers to dumb questions for myself." "Well, don't ask me any dumb questions and I won't give you a smart-ass answer. So there." He then flashed his daddy a grin and said. "Good morning daddy." "Good morning son. I guess that's the way I should have started this whole conversation." "Yup, it is," Aiden agreed. "Well, get dressed and we'll go to breakfast. We can deal with washing and showering and shaving later." "I can't shave," Aiden protested. "I left my razor in San Francisco." "I guess it's better than leaving your heart there." "Huh?" "You can look it up. Be ready for breakfast in five minutes." Aiden closed the roomette door and got dressed. He connected his phone to its charger so it could charge during breakfast. As he dressed, he couldn't help wondering what his daddy meant by leaving his heart having something to do with San Francisco. He made a mental note to try to find out, left his roomette, and joined Larry and Phil in the dining car. Even though they were seated on the east side of the train, Aiden couldn't see as much of Mt. Shasta as he wanted to. It not only moved in and out of view, depending on the angle of the tracks and the number of trees in the way, but the position of the sun forced them to close the curtains part way. The fourth person at their table was a man named Warren. He was a light rail operator for Sound Transit and had traveled to Oxnard to visit his sister and her family. He was an interesting man and Aiden enjoyed listening to him talk to his dads about trains and light rail and transportation. When Warren described what the trip on the Coast Starlight was like during the 100+ miles the tracks ran along the ocean, he heightened Aiden's attention. When he mentioned they'd seen dolphins from the train, Aiden hung on his every word. "Can you see whales, too?" Aiden asked him. "I have seen them, but not on this trip. You have to go at the right time of year so you catch them migrating." When Aiden told Warren about his cab ride and that he had one coming up after he got home, he knew he had all of Warren's attention. "Too bad you can't do that on the light rail, or better yet, on a Class 1 railroad mainline," Warren lamented. After leaving Klamath Falls, the "Coast Starlight" traveled along the east shore of Lake Klamath. Aiden saw a volcanic peak to the west, but didn't know what it was. He thought it might be Mt. Washington. After the town of Chemult the rest of the morning was spent descending the Cascades along the Willamette River into Eugene. From there it was up the Willamette Valley to Portland, crossing the Willamette and Columbia Rivers into Washington State and making their way to Centralia, which they reached at 5:50 pm, just one minute late. Their scheduled arrival gave them just enough time for dinner in the Parlour Car where Aiden sampled bison meatloaf. He was a bit leery of eating buffalo meat, but found it to be tasty. They were home within an hour of arriving at Centralia. The first things Aiden did when they arrived home was get naked and place Horace on his perch above the desk. Then he bounced down the stairs and looked for something to snack on in the refrigerator. Finding nothing, he went into the relaxing room where Phil was on Aiden's recliner, wearing his Eggo lounge pants, and Larry was stretched out on the couch. They were catching up on the week's newspapers and ignoring the Mariner game on television. Since he was naked and wasn't planning on hanging around long, Aiden didn't ask to sit with Phil or try to evict him from his chair. "It's Mt. McLoughlin," Aiden said without any preliminary. "What's Mt. McLoughlin?" Larry asked. "The mountain I thought was Mt. Washington," Aiden answered. "It's 9,495 feet tall in case you wanted to know." "Looks like somebody did some Googling up in his room." "I had to know," Aiden said with conviction. "Now I have to go unpack. I want it done tonight." "But first you had to announce your find, right?" Phil asked. "Wrong. I came down to find a snack. I came in here to ask a question, but I figured I'd tell you what I learned first." "What was your question? "Don't we have any snacks?" Aiden asked plaintively. "We plan on restocking the kitchen tomorrow," Phil replied. "I'm hungry." "Take a look at what's in the freezer." Aiden thought for a moment and then grinned. "Eggos!" he said. "Even after looking at those gross lounge pants, I gotta have Eggos." "These pants are not gross. If they were gross they wouldn't have reminded you of what you can snack on." "I didn't say Eggos are gross, I said the pants are gross." "Admit it, deep down you love them." Aiden shrugged, turned around, wiggled his little bare ass, and giggled his way back to the kitchen. For Phil, Larry, and Aiden, it was great to be back home. Next: A Week in the Life of...(3)