Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2018 21:30:09 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Aiden 2  Chapter 58

Welcome back. You can welcome Aiden back as well as the often-naked wood
elf spends quality time with his friends.

Please donate to the Nifty archive to keep the flow of stories steady.

Email is welcomed at thehakaanen@yahoo.com.

CHAPTER 58
BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

MONDAY, AUGUST 20

Aiden loved sleeping in his own bed—naked, warm, cozy, snuggled with
Horace. The trip had been amazing, but he was happy to be home. He was also
ready to relive the trip by sorting through his pictures to post them on
the picture website his daddy had helped him create.

He was disappointed that Eric had to postpone his cab ride until Wednesday,
but a Federal inspector was in the area. Eric's supervisor thought it would
be a good idea to not have a ten-year-old boy riding in the cab in case he
decided to inspect the CCP&P. Saturday would be Eric's last day at work. He
had Thursday off and Aiden had plans for Saturday, but Friday would still
be available if it was needed.

He got out of bed, went to the bathroom for a pee, then headed downstairs,
not bothering to dress. He knew he'd have to dress for breakfast, but until
then naked ruled. He saw Larry in the kitchen pouring himself a bowl of
spoon-sized Shredded Wheat and topping his cereal with fresh raspberries.

"So it's a serve yourself breakfast morning?" Aiden asked.

"Yup, but it's also a get out of bed when you feel like it morning," Larry
replied.

"That must mean it's eat breakfast naked morning, too."

"I guess I can live with that."

"For real?"

"This time."

"Whatever. In that case I'll sit at the table with you and talk."

Larry had taken a seat at the kitchen table. Aiden poured himself some
cereal, added raspberries, milk, and sugar and then sat across from his
dad.

"So, what do you want to talk about, kiddo?" Larry asked.

"Parties."

"What a great topic. I know there are a few coming up."

"Naturist swimming here on Saturday. Forecast is for sun and eighty. We
won't need any of your lifeguards. I kept the group small."

"You mean there wasn't a big demand for naked swimming anymore?"

"I just didn't want a lot of guys here since my birthday party is going to
have everybody coming. Just about everybody said yes to their invitation."

"Who is coming to the naturist party?" Larry had a fairly good idea of who
would be there. What he wanted was Aiden's official guest list.

"Me, Gordy, Miles, Trent, Collin, Lenny, and Muddy."

Larry gave Aiden a surprised look. "What? No Mason? I thought Mason and
naturism were synonymous."

"He's going to be in Portland with his mom for some kind of singing
thing. He is not a happy camper, but he also loves his singing."

"What about Lance? He and Lenny usually come as a matched set."

"He's on restriction for calling Brenda a stupid asswaffle. I mean Brenda
IS a stupid asswaffle, but it was dumb for him to call her that since she
is a world champion tattletale."

Larry decided to be noncommittal on that topic. "Nolan or Keith won't be
coming either?"

"Since Nolan's coming to my birthday party the next weekend, his mom said
they can't go driving him around the county every weekend. Nolan says those
were her exact words. I don't think she likes him skinny dipping
either. Nolan's mom is really nice in a lot of ways, but I don't like
her. And Keith is doing something with his family."

"She's doing the best she can, son. Her standards are different from yours,
but that doesn't make them wrong."

"I still don't like her. Anyway, Miles, Trent, and Muddy are spending the
night Saturday"

"You're kidding."

"You said I could have up to three friends," Aiden said with a hint of
anger.

"Calm down, kiddo. I know what I said. I was referring to your best friend
Gordy not spending the night while Muddy, who's been in and out as a
friend, is spending the night."

"Gordy didn't get permission because his family has plans. Mason is out of
town. Lenny decided to come to the swim party without Lance, but he said he
would only spend the night if Lance was coming, too. So, I thought I'd ask
Muddy, because he might be in a friendly mood and he said yes."

Larry couldn't help laughing to himself at the way Aiden had all the
various reasons and excuses for being or not being at the naturist party
memorized. "How are the plans coming for the birthday party?"

"The usual. Swimming, the game tables, maybe badminton in the yard,
shooting hoops on our little court. Dad said he'd take some kids on the
boat waterskiing. We'll have like a lottery or something if a lot of kids
want to go. You said you'd get the high school kids to watch us and I know
you're barbecuing and getting the cake and ice cream and whatever else we
need."

"David Fitzgerald and Jeffrey will be your guardian angels."

"So, because it's Labor Day weekend nobody can spend the night since on
Sunday we're going to Seattle to stay with Uncle Troy and Aunt Sue and go
to Mariner games on Sunday and Monday. And two weekends after that, we are
going back to Seattle on Sunday for our Seahawks game. And the weekend in
between I get to have the humungous overnight that I couldn't have on my
birthday because we're going to Seattle."

"Very impressive, you almost got all of that said in one breath," Larry
chuckled. Aiden stuck his tongue out at his daddy.

Before anything else could be said, the phone rang. Aiden got up to answer
it. He saw that the caller was Mary Polk, their lawyer in his father's
visitation hearings. He answered the phone in his most businesslike
fashion, then turned the phone over to Larry, who took the phone with him
to the phone conversation room. Aiden finished his breakfast as he tried
unsuccessfully to listen in on the conversation. He was rinsing his bowl in
the sink when Larry came back in.

"What did she want?" Aiden asked before Larry could say anything. Once
again his voice contained a trace of anger.

Larry held out the handset. "Right now, she wants to talk to you."

He was angry because he knew the call had to do with his father, and he
didn't want to have anything to do with his father. Aiden grabbed the
phone. "This is Aiden," he said in a tone of voice that said he would
rather be talking to the monster that had resided under his sofa bed in
Seattle than to the attorney. He noted the glare that he was receiving from
his daddy.

"Good morning, Aiden," Mary Polk said genially, ignoring Aiden's tone of
voice. "I have two things I would like to discuss with you." Her statement
was met with silence, so she went on. "First, I'd like you to accompany
your dads to a meeting in my office to discuss your father's hearing next
month. We were thinking Thursday morning."

Since no matter what happened with the railroad inspector, Aiden wouldn't
be taking his cab ride on Thursday, so he knew he would be available. He
was certain his sneaky daddy had set the meeting for Thursday because his
daddy knew he wouldn't have an excuse not to go.

"Do I have to be there?"

"No, you don't. That is up to you, Aiden."

"I'll think about it," Aiden said grumpily. He felt like he was being
manipulated by the adults and he didn't like being manipulated by them even
if they said they had his best interests at heart.

"That's all we can ask for," the lawyer said pleasantly.

"What was the other thing?"

"This is on a personal level from me. I wanted to tell you how much I
appreciate the invitation you sent to Gage and Skip to your birthday
party." Gage was Mary's eight-year-old son and Skip was his best
friend. "Not many boys your age would invite two younger boys to his
birthday. Gage likes you a great deal."

"I like them both." Aiden was embarrassed by the praise. But he did like
the two younger boys, thinking they acted older than the little kids they
were. Aiden wanted to say that if he didn't like them he wouldn't have
invited them, but he paused and decided that keeping his mouth shut was an
excellent option.

"Gage wanted to know if this was a clothing optional swim party. I have to
say that Gage has turned into a little nudist since visiting you. Not that
I care—but I have had to do some teaching about when the behavior is and
isn't appropriate."

Aiden didn't care what Gage's mother had to teach or not teach. "No,
everybody's gotta wear swim suits." He was getting tired of Mary's line of
bullshit and decided to see how much she really did care about Gage being a
naturist.

"I'm having a skinny-dipping party this Saturday. Just a few friends are
coming. Gage can come and so can Skip."

This time Aiden was met with silence. Mary had known that the birthday
party wasn't going to be a naturist affair and was using that knowledge to
let Aiden know what she thought. She hadn't been prepared for the
invitation to the skinny dipping party. I screwed that up, she thought. A
good lawyer never asks a question he or she doesn't know the answer to.

"I'll have to see what my husband thinks and what Gage thinks," Mary
finally said.

Which is parent speak for, "No," Aiden thought. "Thank you," is what he
said.

"What did you and Mrs. Polk decide?" Larry asked. He had left the room to
give Aiden privacy.

"Nothin'," Aiden replied sulkily.

"Ohhh kay, then what did you talk about?"

"Nothin'."

"Aiden." Aiden didn't like hearing his name sounded out in his daddy's
stern teacher's voice. He knew it meant he was about to be in
trouble. While sometimes he didn't care, usually it was enough to change is
attitude.

"She said I could come to your meeting if I wanted to but I don't know if I
want to. She kind of suckered me into inviting Gage and Skip to the skinny
dipping party."

"I thought you invited them to your birthday party."

"I did, but I guess Gage likes being a naturist."

"Are they going to come?"

Aiden looked up at his daddy and said. "Probably not since I don't think
Gage's mom wants him to."

"If she didn't want Gage to go, how would she sucker you into inviting
him?"

"It's long and complicated, but it seemed that way to me." Aiden wasn't
prepared to think he may have outmaneuvered a lawyer.

"Now, Aiden, wouldn't things have gone a bit smoother for both of us if
you'd just answered my questions right away?"

"I just wish my asswaffle father would go away. I don't want to go to the
stupid meeting."

"Okay, fine. But there is a better way of stating that opinion."

"I don't care."

Larry took a deep breath. Usually, Aiden was an amiable, easy to get along
with young boy. When he got cranky, his bad mood didn't last long. It was
rare that his mood took a couple of big swings over a short period of time
like what was currently happening. "Whether you go or not is up to you,
son. But right now I think you should head up to your room and do some
thinking about how you should handle things that aren't pleasant for you."

"Whatever," Aiden groused as he stomped up the stairs to his bedroom. "I
should be able to say what I think," he shouted back as he got up to the
landing. Larry fought every urge in his body to bound up the stairs and get
into Aiden's face. The end result would be Aiden getting crankier and him
looking as bad as his son at handling adversity.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22

The Federal inspector did visit the CCP&P on Monday. While having Aiden in
the locomotive cab would not have violated any company rules, everyone knew
that the inspector would have written up a strong suggestion that the
company should come up with a rule regarding minors in the cab.

Aiden's Wednesday cab ride didn't have the overwhelming excitement of his
first ride with Eric, but it was still a special experience. Aiden wore his
CCP&P hat, took pictures with his camera, reprised his Mr. Horn Blower
role, and took off his hat to lean out of the left window and wave it at
cars, kids, bicyclists, and anyone else he could find to wave to.

Aiden was quite a sight as he leaned out of the window, his blond hair
streaming in the wind, a big smile on his face, his tireless left arm
waving his hat and sometimes giving thumbs up signs. Scott was the
conductor on this trip and took pictures of Aiden, as well as Aiden with
Eric. He put the camera into video mode a couple of times as Aiden ran his
horn blowing routine.

A big moment for Aiden was when they passed near the county road that
connected Highway 12 to Meadow Park. Aiden knew who would be there to see
the train and he wasn't disappointed. Nolan and Nolan's friend Carter stood
on a berm that separated the highway from the tracks. Aiden sat on Eric's
lap, gave the horn two long blasts, waved, and then took pictures. Eric had
slowed the train from 30 mph down to 15 mph to help the boys get their
waves, take their pictures, and get their pictures taken.

"Nolan is one of my best ever friends," Aiden informed Eric. "Plus, he
really likes trains."

"He's your best friend even though he lives in Meadow Park?"

"Yep, even though he lives in Meadow Park," Aiden stated, as if living in
Meadow Park should make a difference in deciding who best friends should
be.

It was a busy day and Aiden made the most of it. He knew he might never get
the chance to do this again. In many ways this trip was better than his
first one because he wasn't overwhelmed by the newness of the experience
and was better able to enjoy the moments. Aiden thought that the cab ride
had been one of the highlights of the summer.

"Thanks for giving me another ride," Aiden told Eric as he gave his other
big bro a hard hug at the end of the ride. "And thanks for slowing down for
Nolan." He let go of Eric and said he, Noah, and Scott would have to come
see his pictures and Nolan's pictures when they got everything edited. Eric
promised that they would. Aiden didn't hug Scott, because Scott was his
baseball coach and he thought players usually didn't hug their coaches.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23

Aiden waited with Larry and Phil in their lawyer's waiting room. Aiden was
sitting in the same seat Peter Astor had occupied the day he met Mikey in
the office. Aiden had apologized to Larry for "acting like an asswaffle"
Tuesday evening.

Wednesday afternoon, after his cab ride, Aiden told his dads that he wanted
to go to the meeting with Mary Polk. "I just want to listen is all," he
told them.

"You do whatever you want to do, son," Phil told him. "We want you to feel
comfortable with what's going on."

As the meeting progressed, Aiden learned what the procedure was going to be
on September 25, the day of his father's visitation hearing. What he
learned was that as long as his father passed his urine tests for drugs and
alcohol before the hearing he would probably be given visitation
rights. "The other conditions he needed to meet were adhere to the
no-contact order and stay out of trouble with the law."

Aiden looked at his dads, hoping they'd bring up how they ran into Keegan
at the park on July 4th, but they said nothing.  Aiden wanted them to bring
it up again, only this time with a different result.  He knew they had told
Mary Polk and Mr. B after the incident. Both attorneys had said that the
meeting appeared to be accidental and there was most likely nothing that
could be done about it. Mary had said she would inform Judge Newman about
the incident. The judge said what Mary expected, that what happened was
coincidence.

"It would only have an effect on the ruling if there was another incident,"
the Judge had told Mary. "Otherwise, it was just a coincidence, albeit an
extremely unlikely one. I will make a note of it in Keegan's records,
however."

As the meeting concluded, Larry asked Aiden if he had any questions.

Even though he had said that all he wanted to do was listen, he asked a
question as soon as Larry opened the floor. "If he gets to see me, I can
still say no, right?"

"That is correct," Mary said. "And if he violates that provision, then he
will most likely lose all visitation rights permanently."

Aiden nodded. He didn't like the idea that his asswaffle of a father would
get the right to see him, but he liked that he wouldn't be allowed to visit
without permission.

The official meeting ended, but Mary said she had something unrelated and
personal to tell Aiden. Aiden knew it was going to be about her son Gage
and he knew that she wasn't going to give Gage permission to come to the
skinny dipping party.

"Gage really wants to come to your party this weekend," Mary said. "I have
decided to allow him to do so since I know the party will be well
supervised. Although everyone there will be older, you're all good
boys. And I know that Gage likes you a great deal. A little bit of nature
never hurt anyone, as my husband told me."

Aiden was surprised about the decision, but pleased. "What about Skip, can
he come, too?" Aiden asked.

"His parents haven't decided yet. He'll either be in the car when Gage's
dad or I bring him on Saturday or he won't. More shall be revealed."

"That's okay, because everybody likes Gage. It's like he's not really a
little kid." Mary was amused that a ten-year-old would consider an
eight-year-old to be a little kid, but she'd dealt with enough children in
family law practice to understand how their minds functioned.

Aiden thought that Gage was a cool little kid and looked forward to not
only being around him, but to seeing him naked.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 25

The skinny dipping party was slated to start at one o'clock. The guests
could come at noon if they wanted to munch on one of Phil's chicken salad
sandwiches along with potato chips and lemonade. Chocolate chip cookies
would be set out on the deck with a pitcher of lemonade to snack on once
the party started. Not surprisingly, everybody showed up in time for
sandwiches.

Not everyone invited showed up for the party, however. Skip had received
permission to come, but his grandparents, who lived in Yakima, showed up
for a surprise visit, offering to take the family out to lunch. Skip was
told his plans had been changed. He knew better than to protest and called
Gage with the bad news.

Had the nine-year-old been a couple of years older he might have considered
the theory that his parents had called his grandparents to come over the
mountains to keep him from going to the skinny-dipping party. That was not
the case—the grandparents were taking their RV home after spending a few
nights in Olympic National Park. Since Mayfield was on Highway 12, which
connected Yakima to the Olympic Peninsula, they thought they'd stop off and
see their daughter and two grandsons. They had originally planned to stay
until Monday, but changed their plans.

At one o'clock the seven guests and Aiden walked out onto the deck and down
the steps to the pool patio. As soon as they were all on the patio, Aiden
pulled off his shorts and briefs and was naked. The seven other boys were
stripped within seconds and quickly jumped into the pool.

Muddy and Trent produced the first visible erections. Gage stared at the
two boys who sat on the edge of the pool, their wares on display. Both boys
had started into puberty. Trent's erection was 4.5" and he had a smattering
of wispy hairs in his pubic region while Muddy's uncut erection was now
almost five inches. He had a small triangle of pubic hairs just above his
hard cock.

"Are you horny, Muddy?" Trent asked.

"Yes. But Aiden tells us to not mess around because the little boy is here
and Aiden's father is watching."

"I don't think Gage is spending the night. You know how it is when Aiden
has an overnight."

Muddy's grin said it all.

Aiden and Miles popped visible wood during the afternoon as well, but other
than a below the water boner by everybody except Gage and some underwater
gropes during horseplay, the skinny-dipping party was remarkably
benign. The only grope that happened out of the water was between the two
youngest boys, who got mutual feels in when they went to the bathroom to
take pees at the same time.

"Some guys were grabbing wieners in the pool," Gage reported.

"I know, I was one of them," Lenny said. "I got grabbed, too."

"I only got touched one time, but I think it was on accident."

"I know you grabbed me once," Lenny grinned as he took a piss into the
urinal. "Did you want somebody to grab you?" Gage nodded. "Everybody
thought Aiden wanted us to be careful around you, but you seemed really
into everything. It's not like you haven't been skinny dipping here before
and grabbing things."

After he finished pissing, Lenny fondled Gage's little cock.

"I grabbed things this time, too," Gage giggled as he enjoyed the feel of
Lenny's fingers. "And that time Trent and Muddy showed their boners was
cool. Theirs were gigantic and they even had hair. I wished I could see
them do things that big kids do. And I like your hand in my pants."

"Aiden kind of wanted us not to mess around because his dad was up on the
deck watching us." He didn't want to make Gage feel bad by saying that
Gage's presence was another reason they didn't do any messing around, but
Gage's erection told Lenny that Gage must be feeling pretty good.

"Aiden is afraid to make my mom mad," Gage said. "If I come again, I'll
tell him I am not a tattler. I want to have fun like the big kids. You can
touch me down there again when you want."

"I will," Lenny said as he fondled Gage's hard dickey. He wasn't ready to
reveal that he'd done more than wanting to have fun with the big
kids—he'd actually had fun with them. He reluctantly let to of Gage's
cockelt and the boys went back out to the pool.

The swimming party ended at four. Gordy, Collin, and Gage were picked up by
a parent by four-thirty. Aiden was told when he invited Collin that he
could only have three friends spend the night. He apologized, saying he was
sorry Collin wasn't one of them and promised he was at the top of the list
for next time.

Before the boys got out of the water, Collin fondled Aiden's balls. "That's
what you'll get when I get to spend the night," Collin grinned.

The overnight wasn't as tame as the swimming party had been, but it wasn't
as wild as some of Aiden's recent overnights. Trent and Muddy completed
what they had wanted to start when they sat next to each other on the edge
of the pool. They sat naked on the old couch and had an old-fashioned jerk
off contest, with Aiden and Miles as the judges.

The two younger boys were naked as well. The ten-year-olds sat on the floor
and busily jerked their little-boy boners while they watched the two
twelve-year-olds go at it. They were watching for who shot their wad first,
who shot the most, and who shot the farthest. Aiden had brought down some
lotion to make things easier on the older boys, and on him and Miles.

The hands of the older boys were a blur. Muddy announced his impending
orgasm first and within seconds shot out six squirts of thin boy cum. The
first one landed between his nipples and his belly button. Trent came
twenty seconds later. His first squirt hit his neck. If the noisiest orgasm
had been a category, Trent would have won.

There was no question that Muddy was first and that Trent had shot the
farthest. But, the most copious cum was going to be up the judges. They
awarded that win to Muddy.

Aiden then licked a squirt of cum off of Muddy's belly and then another off
of Trent's. "I'm testing for the sweetest," he grinned.

"Who won that one?" Trent asked.

"They are both so sweet I have to call it a tie."

Aiden and Miles then went back to work on their own little boy tools. Their
dry orgasms came within seconds of each other. Then the sleeping
arrangements were made. Muddy wanted to sleep with Trent, which was fine
with everybody. Miles slept with Aiden in Aiden's sleeping bag. They'd
slept together enough to know how to make each other comfortable. Muddy and
Trent ended up in Muddy's sleeping bag. They had to cuddle because of their
space restrictions, but they ended up sleeping back-to-back, at least to
start. Even though sleeping together sounded like a good idea to start,
Muddy and Trent felt awkward about it after snuggling in Muddy's sleeping
bag.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 26

When Aiden woke up he noticed that at some time during the night Trent had
moved to his own sleeping bag. He wondered when that had happened since he
never heard anything. He found out later that Trent had awakened around
three and needed to take a pee. After peeing he decided he was less likely
to wake up Muddy in the dark if he crawled into his own sleeping bag which
had been laid out on the floor.

Aiden eased out of the sleeping bag, went into the bathroom, and started up
one of the showers, taking care of his morning piss after getting under the
water. After drying himself he went upstairs and saw Phil in the newsroom
sitting in his favorite recliner reading the newspaper.

"Good morning, dad."

Phil looked up and grinned. "Well, the naked wood elf is up early."

"I'm a boy, not an elf."

"How many naked boys have the run of their house?"

"None. I sure don't since I can't eat naked. Which means I am a boy and not
an elf."

"You will soon be an eleven-year-old wood elf for a week."

Aiden leaned over the back of the recliner and looked over the top of
Phil's right shoulder. "For a week? How can I be a wood elf for a week?"

Phil reached back and patted Aiden's arm. "Think about it."

Aiden stood still with a thoughtful look on his face when suddenly he lit
up the room with a smile. "It means I get to do everything in my birthday
suit for week, even eat at the table."

Phil managed to get Aiden's hair ruffled before he could step back. "You
are a smart boy. And yes, naked hugs are okay, but undies are still needed
if you sleep with us."

"I guess Horace and I will just have to sleep upstairs for the week," Aiden
said. While Aiden slept with his dads less and less as he grew more
comfortable with his home and with himself, he and Horace still showed up
for a cuddling sleep every week or two

"Your daddy is about to start breakfast, so you might want to wake up your
friends," Phil said.

"Rats. I wanted to make breakfast this morning. That's why I didn't go back
to sleep after I peed." Aiden didn't bother mentioning that he had combined
his morning pee with his morning shower.

"Well, go tell him before he starts." Phil loved Aiden's enthusiasm about
cooking. He and Aiden had started on cooking a couple of easy dinner
recipes. Phil wondered how much of Aiden's enthusiasm came from his own
love of cooking and how much came from Marty's enjoyment of preparing
cuisine.

Aiden zipped into the kitchen, but Larry wasn't there. He headed for the
master bedroom and arrived at the door as Larry stepped out. "I'm the cook
this morning," Aiden declared.

"Well, in that case, go cook," Larry grinned.

"I have to wake everybody up first." Aiden turned and went down to the
basement. Trent and Muddy had been awake ever since Aiden finished his
shower and were now in the shower. Miles was still asleep and snug in his
sleeping bag. Aiden shook him by his bare shoulder, waking him
up. "Breakfast in twenty minutes," he announced.

"You're mean," Miles grumbled. "I want to sleep in."

"Everybody else is up so you have to get up, too."

"You are totally mean."

Aiden went into the shower area to say good morning to Trent and
Muddy. Because Trent had moved to another sleeping bag during the night,
Aiden was surprised and at the same time not surprised to see the two
tweens standing under separate shower heads jerking off their soapy cocks.

"Breakfast as soon as I cook it," Aiden announced, interrupting a moan from
Trent.

"Mudrak wants to suck you," Muddy said seductively.

"Yeah, after you change your name to Mason," Aiden giggled. "I gotta go
make pancakes and bacon. See ya upstairs." He turned and started out of the
shower and then stopped. "You have to wear shirts and have your cock and
balls covered." He then headed back upstairs wishing that naturist week had
started this weekend instead of the next weekend.

The boys enjoyed Aiden's fluffy, hot pancakes and crisp bacon. The food
even diverted Muddy's thoughts from Aiden's pecker.

"You're a good cook, Aiden," Trent said. "My mom won't let me do any kind
of cooking. She says I'll just end up burning the house down. She won't let
Jackson cook either, but said when he's sixteen she'll give him some simple
lessons."

Aiden wore his blue apron and his chef's hat while he cooked, but he was
now dressed in a just a long t-shirt. "I'm glad my dads are showing me how
to cook. It's fun. Breakfast is easy, but I can already see that cooking
dinner is going to be way harder. My dad says as long as I'm organized it
isn't as hard as it looks."

The main topic of conversation during breakfast was soccer. Turnouts for
the twelve-and-under travel team were slated to start the next day which
was Monday. All four boys at the table planned on trying out for the team.

"You guys should all make it even though you're only eleven," Trent
said. "You're better than most of the twelve-year-olds who will try out,
not including me and Muddy."

"Hey, Aiden won't be eleven until Saturday," Miles pointed out.

"Yep, and I should still make the team," Aiden said. Aiden's confidence in
his athletic abilities had gone up considerably over the last few months.

"Well, me, Aiden, Mason, Gordy, and Collin are all turning out," Miles
said. "Mason's gonna have a hard time making it, especially if the twins
turn out."

"The twins are only ten," Trent said. "But I guess their mom checked and
they're old enough to play twelve-and-under. And I think they're good
enough."

"I think it's cool that Coach Bill will be our coach," Aiden said. "He
knows all of us." The coach that the team had the year before wasn't coming
back to coach. He became a father for the first time in May and his wife
made him choose between family and soccer. Reluctantly, he chose
family. Since Coach Bill had coached so many of the incoming boys in
recreation ball, the team's sponsor asked him if he would be willing to
coach the team. He didn't hesitate to say yes, contingent on his wife's
approval. He received her okay two seconds after he asked.

"We will have the practices tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday on this
week," Muddy reminded his friends.

"And then Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday the next week," Miles said. "I
like that Coach Bill said that the team would be playing a lot of weekends
and so he didn't like having practices on weekends."

After the boys finished eating, everybody helped clean up. Without asking
for permission, they stripped off their underwear and headed for the
pool. They could see no reason why they couldn't get some more skinny
dipping in.

Aiden had been busy, busy, busy since returning from his train trip.
Looking at his upcoming schedule of parties, Mariners, Seahawks, soccer and
the start of his first year of middle school, Aiden could see things were
going to get even busier.

Next: Even Busier.