Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2019 15:24:36 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Aiden 2  Chapter 66

Welcome back. The conflict between father and son continues. The question
at the end of the chapter is whether Aiden's decision was a prudent one or
did he set up the big Thanksgiving for a nasty scene?

Please donate to the Nifty Archive to keep the site open for more stories.

Your email is my salary. Thanks to all of you who
write. TheHakaanen@hotmail.com

Douglas

CHAPTER 66
KEEGAN AND SON

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27

Aiden and Nolan gobbled down their second helpings of their breakfast of
scrambled eggs, toast, and crispy bacon, with freshly squeezed orange
juice.

"That was a great breakfast, Mrs. Moyer," Aiden gushed. "Thank you very
much."

"You're very welcome, Aiden. It's a pleasure cooking for a polite boy who
enjoys eating."

"I hope you boys plan on being hungry for the birthday party," Nolan's
father grinned.

"Dad, it's early in the morning." As far as Nolan was concerned, nine in
the morning when he didn't have to get up early was early. "The party is
this afternoon. Me and Aiden will be starving by then."

"I hope you boys managed to get to sleep last night," Mrs. Moyer said. She
didn't approve of the two of them sleeping in the same bed and decided to
prod them a little bit to find out if they behaved.

"Yeah. We talked some, but we were really tired and finally fell asleep."
Nolan was only stretching the truth a little bit. He and Aiden did talk for
a while after they tired themselves out with their sexual exploits.

"I slept real good," Aiden told her as he covered his boyfriend's back.

"Let's go shower so we can watch the Husky game before people start
coming," Nolan told Aiden as they finished eating. The boys had come down
to the kitchen wearing t-shirts and jeans. Nolan told Aiden as they got out
of bed that it was one thing to wear just their underpants at night, "but
we'd better be really good at breakfast." Aiden did as Nolan asked. He was
at Nolan's house which meant he had to do things the way Nolan wanted them
done.

As much as the boys wanted to shower together, they agreed it would be
better if they took individual showers. "No sense giving my mom something
to get all bent out of shape about," Nolan lamented as he started
undressing.

"That won't be a problem when you overnight at my house," Aiden said.

"I can hardly wait to do that. Mom and dad are good with doing it during
winter break."

"Let's push for two nights. I mean, you're coming all the way out to
Mayfield, which is like on a different continent or something so if you
stay longer nobody has to make the long drive on the ugly dirt roads full
of potholes."

"You're crazy, Aiden," Nolan laughed. "They filled in most of the potholes
with gravel."

"Well, all of the rain we've been having has washed out the gravel and now
the holes are full of water."

"Maybe we should take our boat to Mayfield so our car won't sink."

"I didn't know you guys had a boat."

Nolan pulled off his jeans and was now naked. He and Aiden hadn't bothered
wearing underpants since they were going to undress for their showers right
after finishing breakfast. "We don't." Nolan looked out of the window where
the rain was coming down in sheets. "But we're going to need one to get you
back to Mayfield through the potholes on those dirt roads."

"Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to stay here for a couple more nights,"
Aiden said with delight.

"That would be cool. Aren't you going to get naked? Then you'll be ready to
jump into the shower when I'm done."

"I don't see why not." Aiden quickly matched Nolan's state of undress. "I
like looking at you naked."

"I like looking at you naked and looking at you dressed. I just like
looking at you, period. You're beautiful."

Nolan walked over to Aiden and planted a kiss on his lips. Both tweens
sprouted erections almost the moment their lips touched. Nolan wanted to
drop on the bed with Aiden and rub his cock along his boyfriend's smooth
belly until he shot his cum over it, but his big head reluctantly took
control and he broke off the kiss.

"So you think that's what gay adults do?" Nolan asked. "Kiss all the time
and get all mushy and shit or do they kinda like outgrow it?"

"If they're like my dads the answer is yes, that's what adults do. They get
crazy on the couch sometimes."

"I forgot you've got dads who are gay and married, so that makes you the
expert. They just seem like any other guys to me."

"Usually, they're just dads to me, but sometimes I've got to tell them get
a room."

"Do you think that if we held hands and kissed and shit like that when I
come to your house they'd get upset?"

Aiden thought for a moment, and then answered with an emphatic, "No! They'd
love it that we love each other."

"Boys, are you going to get showered up there?" came Paul Moyer's voice.

"Dad's doing the yelling for mom this time," Nolan laughed. "And, just so
you know, my parents get mushy on the couch sometimes too."

"Do you tell them to get a room?"

"What do you think?" Nolan headed into his bathroom and got the shower
going. Aiden lay down on Nolan's bed and played with his hard cock. He
couldn't stand not seeing Nolan, so he went into the bathroom, opened the
shower door a bit, and watched Nolan wash himself.

"Perv," Nolan chuckled.

"Yep, and you know you love it."

"As long as you're here, you might as well step into the shower with me. We
can just say we kept the water going and took back-to-back showers in case
anybody asks."

They rubbed their cocks together as soon as Aiden stepped in and fulfilled
their unspoken goal of having a quick cum. Taking care of the tension
allowed them to concentrate on washing each other.

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

Nolan's mother fussed about the rain. The idea of having a gaggle of
excited tweens confined to the house because of the weather did not appeal
to her. By eleven the rain had stopped—for good, Vivian Moyer hoped. The
partiers were scheduled to start arriving at one in the afternoon, which
meant the yard would still be wet with rain, but Nolan assured her that
most of his friends weren't afraid of getting a little wet.

"If you live in Washington you'd better be okay with getting wet," Nolan
told his mom.

"Being wet doesn't bother me any," Aiden said.

A lot of the backyard was concrete, including a small basketball court and
the tennis court. Aiden knew that Nolan was proficient at both
sports. Aiden knew next to nothing about playing tennis, but he'd been
working hard in his own backyard at improving his basketball skills. Middle
school turnouts started on Tuesday and he was set to turn out for the JV
basketball team.

Nolan had invited twelve of his school and team friends as well as five of
his Mayfield friends: Gordy, Mason, Miles, Trent, and, of course,
Aiden. There would be seventeen boys in all.

"You didn't invite any girls?" Nolan's mother had asked.

"I will next year when I turn into a teenager," Nolan assured her even
though he doubted that was true. It wasn't that he didn't have some friends
who were girls, he just wanted to have what his dad called a "stag party."

Nolan's birthday party was a huge success as any twelfth birthday party
should be. There were games, a movie on the big screen TV, a basketball
game when the court dried out enough to play on it, lots of talk and
laughter, some horseplay, a bit of grab ass—in other words a houseful of
tween boys being tween boys.

Vivian was grateful to her husband for helping with the games and grilling
up the hamburgers and hot dogs. He even ran the trains in the basement for
a while, inviting the curious boys down to the basement.

She was also grateful to Gordy and Miguel's mothers for helping herd the
mob. She had met Gordy's mother briefly a couple of months back, but by the
end of the party the two of them were fast friends. She and Miguel's mother
were both active in PTA and had known each other since their boys had been
in Kindergarten.

But, the most important thing was the food, especially the big birthday
cake. Nobody finished the day hungry.

Aiden and Gordy found some time to ask each other how their dates
went. While they kept most of the sexual details to themselves, they did
admit to having an orgasm, although neither one said how many he had. They
also said that they didn't go "all the way."

"Not on a first date," Gordy giggled.

"Were you really thinking about doing it?" Aiden asked somewhat
incredulously.

"No way—I was just joking. Ain't no way I'm doing that until I'm grown
up."

The big rumor being discussed among Nolan's school friends was that Miguel
had a bush of pubic hair. "If it's true, you gotta show us," Nolan's friend
Carter pleaded to the stocky Hispanic boy, who was sporting a
boystache. Miguel finally told them that the rumor was true but he wasn't
going to show it. That brought on moans of disappointment.

"If he's getting hair on his face then he must have hair down on his
crotch," Glenn Abbott said knowingly.

"Yeah, so let's keep Miguel's privates private," Nolan told his guests.

"I've never seen anybody with pubic hair except my dad a few times," Brett
Robertson said. "Couldn't we just get a peek?"

"Brett, be cool," Nolan said.

"Sorry," Brett apologized sheepishly. "It just sounds so cool."

Miguel Gomez was a competitive, athletic, and intelligent boy and was proud
not only of his thick patch of pubic hair, but also of his tufts of
underarm hair, his boystache, and his larger than average tween cock. He
was the best player on Nolan's soccer team and his grade in advanced math
was second only to Nolan. Once all of the posturing to make it appear he
wasn't at all interested in showing off his wares was over, Miguel agreed
to show off his wares in Nolan's room.

"I am going to make you jealous for only fifteen minutes so come in and
look as quick as you can," he said.

Nolan took Miguel up to his room and asked how he planned on showing
everyone. Miguel answered Nolan by taking off his pants and boxers followed
by his shirt, displaying an almost six-inch, uncut boner, a still hairless
hanging ball sac, and even the beginnings of a treasure trail. Miguel had
turned twelve two weeks ago and had a party at Roundtable Pizza in
Centralia, which Nolan had attended. He knew that Miguel was more
physically mature than he was, but until seeing his friend and teammate
naked he wasn't aware of how much more mature.

"I'll tell everybody you're ready for show-and-tell," Nolan told him.

"Is it okay if I play with my wienie?"

"It's up to you. I'll tell the guys what you're doing and that you're naked
so if anybody is offended they can stay downstairs."

It turned out nobody was offended, although some boys stayed longer to
watch than others. Brett was so fascinated by what he saw that he reached
in and touched Miguel's bush.

"Hey, no touching," Miguel scolded.

"Oops, sorry," a chagrined Brett said. "But, it's just so awesome."

"Okay, you can touch it one more time so you really remember it." Brett
grinned and stroked the hairy bush one more time.

The five boys in the Mayfield contingent were the last to come in. "Whoa,
he's got more hair than Muddy," Aiden observed.

"And a bigger dick." Mason gawked at the prize in front of him. Miguel's
hand was flying now. Having boys he'd never met before watching him was a
huge turn on. "You've got the awesomest dick ever," Mason said
admiringly. "Do you think I can suck it?"

The question was never directly answered as Miguel groaned loudly and shot
a load of nearly mature semen on himself, with drops hitting him on his
neck, his chest, on his belly with one landing in his bellybutton, and a
couple of dribbles into his pubic hair. The white semen glistened on
Miguel's light brown skin, offering an erotic contrast.

"Oh, wow, that was awesome," Mason burbled and without asking he bent down
next to the bed and licked the cum off Miguel's chest.

"Fuck, I heard that you Mayfield dudes were weird," Miguel said, "and I
guess it's true."

"Mason is the weirdest of all," Miles snickered.

"Don't tell anybody downstairs how I finished," Miguel said with an air of
concern. "I told them I was just stroking myself for show, which was true,
until you guys showed up. But, fucking shit, that felt good."

"It tasted good, too," Mason grinned.

Miguel had cum in front of a good-sized audience with Mason, Miles, Aiden,
Gordy, Trent, Brett, and Nolan all watching. Since it was his room and his
birthday, Nolan had stayed for the entire performance.

"Shit, I just shot my load in front of a bunch of dudes I don't know,"
Miguel said as he started to dress. "I've never cum in front of even my
friends before. I've only done it with my cousins and my brothers, but we
do it a lot." Miguel had two teen brothers who were seventeen and fourteen
and five male cousins between ages nine and sixteen. Things often got hot
during family get togethers, especially if the parents allowed the boys to
have a couple of beers (or more). The boys never saw what they did as
sexual—it was just family bonding, much like Muddy's family, but without
the girls.

That was the extent of the erotica at Nolan's party except for the long
kiss shared by Aiden and Nolan in Nolan's bedroom as Aiden prepared to
leave.

"I love you, Nolan," Aiden said as their kiss broke off. Both boys had been
beyond horny ever since watching Miguel jerk off. They wished they had the
time and opportunity to do something about it.

"I love you, too, Aiden. It's weird to say that to you, but it feels really
right."

Aiden replied to Nolan's comment by giving him another kiss. Aiden thought
saying "I love you" to Nolan felt weird too. He believed that what he felt
about Nolan was love, but he didn't know. If he loved a boy in that way,
then it had to mean he really was gay. While he wanted to love Nolan and
was happy he felt the way he did about him, he wasn't sure if he wanted to
be gay to do it.

"I wish you could stay one more night," Nolan said.

"Me, too," Aiden said with a touch of sadness. Then he brightened up. "But
remember, ask for three nights during Christmas break."

"Oh, I will," Nolan grinned.

After all his guests had left, Nolan went upstairs to his bedroom, pulled
down his pants and underpants. He started to masturbate, thinking of what
Miguel had done right there on his bed a couple of hours ago. It didn't
take long for his fantasy to morph into what he and Aiden had done on the
bed the night before and to what he hoped would happen between them on
future nights.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28

<Keegan>

Keegan was snuggling up next to Natalie after their second go-round. He
thought about their plans to live together. After two months of discussing
the idea, they had decided to give it a try after the holidays.

The only thing bothering him was his relationship with Aiden. He couldn't
figure the boy out. One minute his son was cute and likeable and the next
minute the boy was a brat and treated him like crap. He continued to be
convinced that he needed to find a way to get complete custody. Now that he
had a steady job driving for McCall trucking, his own apartment, over six
months of continuous sobriety, and a positive relationship, he could think
of no reason why his request for custody would be turned down—all he
needed was the right lawyer.

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing. He shook his head to
clear the fuzz out of it and looked at his alarm clock which read one
a.m. The ringtone was Drake's. He picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hey, what are you doing calling at this hour?" Keegan barked.

"I need your help, please, please, please don't be mad," Drake said
quietly, his voice slurring slightly.

"What's going on?"

"Please help me. I didn't mean to make you mad."

"I'm not mad. Just tell me where you are and what's going on."

"I'm at my mom's." Keegan didn't miss that Drake said he was at his mom's,
not that he was home. "Please help me and pick me up."

"Have you been drinking?"

"Yeah, and smoking weed and I'm sorry and don't be mad and please help me."

Keegan could see that talking with Drake on the phone was futile. "I'll be
there as quick as I can."

"Hurry, he wants to hurt me. Please."

"Just hang tight."

Keegan ended the call and started dressing.

"Who's that on the phone, honey?" Natalie asked sleepily.

"Your nephew. Something's wrong. It sounds like he's in trouble and wants
to get picked up. He says he's afraid somebody is going to hurt him."

"I'm coming with you. I knew we shouldn't have left him with my sister, but
he insisted. She is his mother after all."

"We're both to blame. We wanted the night to ourselves. He wanted to make
up with his mom and her boyfriend was supposed to be working or
something. After all he's gone through with that asshole, I have no clue
why he wanted to go back there."

"He loves his mom, bitch that she is, and I guess he thought he was safe
tonight."

They quickly dressed and were soon in Natalie's car driving to her sister's
house. Traffic was light at that hour and they were there within fifteen
minutes.

Natalie stopped the car in front of the house. Keegan jumped out the second
the car stopped and headed for the house. He wondered what he would find as
he knocked on the door. Drake opened the door. He was wearing nothing but a
pair of ragged boxers. He looked like he was wasted on beer and maybe
drugs.

"Fuck, Uncle Keegan, you came. You gotta help me." The young teen draped
himself around Keegan and held on tight. "I fucked up so bad and I'm so
sorry and don't hate me." He broke out into loud sobs. His body shook as he
tightened his grip.

Keegan stroked the boy's back to calm him. "It's all good, Drake. I could
never hate you."

A naked man entered the living room. Keegan knew he was Drake's mother's
boyfriend, Arnold.

"What the fuck do you want?" Arnold snarled.

"Drake wanted me and Natalie to pick him up. We're picking him up."

"The fucker fucking belongs here. He's mine. He belongs to me and his
mother so get your ass out of here before I kick it." Arnold was obviously
drunk and stoned.

Keegan started walking Drake out of the front door. He could see Arnold
coming at him out of the corner of his eye. He let go of Drake, turned, and
pushed Arnold to the floor.

"Fucker. You take that boy and I'm calling the police," Arnold screamed.

"Go ahead, asshole. And be sure to tell them how you got him drunk and gave
him drugs tonight and how you molested him." Seeing how Arnold was naked
and Drake was stripped down to his boxers, Keegan had no doubt that Arnold
had tried something.

"Fucker," Arnold mumbled. "You're both fuckers." He made no attempt to get
up from the floor, so Keegan returned his attention to Drake. He put his
hand around the teen's shoulder and guided him out of the house, down the
three steps to the sidewalk, and into Natalie's waiting car.

Drake continued to sob. "I'm sorry. I thought he wasn't going to be there
and I wanted to see mom and she said we should share some beer and talk
about why I won't stay in the house and then I had another beer and then he
came home from work. I thought he worked all night but he didn't." Drake
started sobbing again. Keegan asked Natalie to pull over. She stopped at
the side of the road and he got into the backseat with Drake, who
immediately leaned in against him.

"You don't hate me?"

"I don't hate you. I love you, kid." Keegan wasn't just saying that: he
knew it was true.

"He got some weed out and we smoked it and drank more beer and did a couple
of shots and he was being really cool but I knew I should never have done
the beer and shit because I was working at being sober and now I wasn't
sober no more. He sat next to me and started rubbing my dick in my jeans
and I got hard and didn't want to be hard. Mom didn't stop him; she was too
stoned I guess.

"And then he got out some crack or something and told me to get naked and I
took everything off but my boxers he took his off and he had a big boner
and then I was naked and he wanted to fuck me and told me to go to his
bedroom and he grabbed my cock. But I hit him and grabbed my boxers and my
phone and locked the bathroom and called you and I didn't come out until I
heard you knock but he was screaming and pounding on the door and he called
me a faggot and said he wanted to fuck me and then you got here and I'm so
sorry and...fuck...I feel sick."

Natalie quickly pulled over. Keegan opened his door and Drake vomited onto
the street. After he finished, Drake placed his head on Keegan's lap and
passed out.

<Aiden and Marty>

Aiden lay naked on his bed and called Marty. They talked about Marty's play
in the Fall League and about Aiden's date with Nolan and about being in
love. Aiden was happy Marty didn't say anything about his being too young
to know if he was in love. That was something Marty would never do.

"So, how does being in love feel?" Marty asked.

"It feels totally awesome. Nolan is so smart and beautiful and amazing I
almost can't stand it."

"Hmm, sounds like love all right."

"Does me being in love with a boy mean I'm really gay? I mean I think I
must be, but maybe I'm not. It's all so confusing."

"I've told you this before, Sport, and I'm sure I'll tell you again—you
think too much. All being in love with Nolan means is that you're in love
with Nolan. Enjoy the moment and quit thinking about what it means."

"Espowyes says that being in love can't be explained and that I should
listen to my heart."

"Espowyes is a wise man, so quit thinking and trying figure out what it
means and listen to your heart like he says. You can worry about gay or
straight or whatever later—right now just enjoy Nolan every moment that
you can." Marty couldn't help but be amused by Aiden's shifting outlook;
one moment he was confident in his love of Nolan and the next moment he was
worried about what it meant. His little bro was, without question, a young
adolescent. And, truth be told, Marty could remember having the same
thoughts and concerns Aiden was having.

"But it's not going to be enough moments since we don't live in the same
town."

"Aiden..."

"I know, enjoy every moment I can. Were you in love when you were my age?

"Nope. I was too busy learning how to drink to numb my feelings and showing
off my cock and sexual prowess in the school showers, although that was
probably more true of when I was twelve than eleven. Still, I was on my way
at eleven."

"Oh," was all Aiden could think to say. He then slipped into one of his
subject changes. "When are you coming home?"

"I'll be back in Mayfield in a couple of weeks."

"Yippee. And you're coming to our big Thanksgiving party right?" Larry and
Phil had reserved the large meeting room at the Mayfield Community
Center. MayKent Catering was hired to put together a Thanksgiving
buffet. With the number of people they had invited for Thanksgiving, using
the large meeting room and eating at the buffet seemed like the best way to
take care of a big Thanksgiving crowd.

"The invitation says it will be a friends and family affair. Since I happen
to be both and since my husband, dad, step-mom and little brothers are
invited, I will be there along with all of them."

"What about your big brother?"

"Since he is currently living in Chicago, he won't be able to make it. And
I hate to bring up a sore subject, what have you decided about inviting
your father?"

"Nope. Won't happen, no way. And I know you're going to tell me all kinds
of stuff to change my mind, but it won't happen."

"You won't listen even if I told you about how Thanksgiving is a time to be
grateful?"

"If you're talking about the sperm donor I got nothing to be grateful for."

Marty paused and wondered if he should say what he had on his mind. He felt
that Aiden needed some help to broaden his horizons and decided to give it
a try. "Well, then that's what you should be grateful for—the sperm
donation."

"Huh?"

"You should be grateful that you have the good fortune that your father
deposited the right sperm at the right time into your mother so it would
meet the right fertile egg and create you."

"That's stupid. He didn't do anything for me after that except be an
asswaffle."

"Think about it...,"

Aiden interrupted him before he could say more. "Make up your mind. First
you tell me I think too much than you tell me I should start thinking."

Aiden was greeted by a long silence, which he finally broke. "Are you
there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. How about you doing me a favor, Aiden." Marty had been
thinking about how he and Rich wanted to adopt a boy someday. He thought
about how they would have to deal with the same adolescent behavior, only
in their case they would be living with the boy.

Aiden tensed a little. When Marty called him by his name instead of Sport,
or Kid, or Bro, it usually meant he was upset with him. "What do you want
me to do?"

"I want you to take your head out of your ass so you can listen for a
moment."

"That's dumb. I don't have my head up my ass. Keegan is an asswaffle and
you shouldn't be taking his side. I'm gonna..."

"Just shut up and listen," Marty barked. Aiden was ready to end the call,
but this time he paused like he had been taught and kept quiet and
waited. "Have you ever thought that maybe your father doesn't know how to
not be an asswaffle?"

"Huh?"

"Did you ever think that maybe he might need your help to become the father
you want him to be, and maybe the father he wants to be?"

Aiden paused again and then said, "Okay, I'll think about it. But, that's
all I'm going to do. Is that a good favor? Is my head out of my ass?"

"Your head will be in the right place if you don't make up your mind before
you think this over and when you're finished thinking you make the right
decision."

"I still don't get why you want me to think when you tell me I do too much
thinking."

"It's one of those mysteries of life. You know, Sport, you love to
overthink stuff, but some thinking is good; it keeps you from making
decisions too quickly. I gotta go. I love you, Sport."

"I love you, too, Marty even if you make me mad sometimes."

"That often seems to be my role in your life."

After the call ended, Aiden thought about what Marty had told him. The
winning argument was that maybe Keegan really didn't know what he was
supposed to do. Aiden decided that thinking of him as Keegan rather than
his father made him less than an asswaffle. He didn't care if Keegan was a
jerk, but he did care if his father was a jerk.

He put on a pair of blue and green briefs and went downstairs. His dads
were watching football. Aiden was more excited about the World Series game
scheduled to be played that evening, even if the Mariners hadn't made the
postseason let alone the World Series. For Aiden, baseball trumped
football.

 "How was the chat with Marty?" Larry asked when Aiden entered the football
watching room.

"He made me mad."

"Not the first time that's happened," Phil commented. "What did he say that
made you mad this time?"

Aiden didn't answer the question—instead he asked one of his own. "Can I
ask Keegan to come for Thanksgiving?"

Phil gave Larry a look that said "Ok, now we know what the conversation
with Marty was about – let's see where it goes from here."

"By Keegan, I assume you mean your father," Larry said.

"I don't like calling him that."

"Do it anyway."

"How come everybody is so mean today?"

"Maybe because you're being a little PITA, today. Is this how you talked to
Marty, too?"

"Maybe. But he thinks I should ask my FATHER to come so I can help him not
be an asswaffle."

Larry and Phil knew they were getting a slanted view of what Marty had told
their son, but neither one said anything. They were both interested in what
Aiden was hoping to accomplish with his surprise invitation. Aiden told his
dads what Marty had said about his gratitude and what he needed to do.

"Okay, so why are you asking us if you can invite him?" Phil asked. "You
know you have complete control over meeting with your father."

"Because I know you only have so much room and there might not be room for
him." Aiden knew that he had control over meetings with his father but he
had to admit that he didn't always feel totally confident using that
control. He sometimes needed the feeling that his dads were agreeing with
his decision even if they didn't say so in so many words.

"That won't be a factor. We have plenty of room—he can even bring his
girlfriend if they're still together." Which I doubt, Phil thought. "And
don't forget to tell him he has to pay for his own meal." Larry and Phil
along with Aiden's Grandpa Art, Grandma Jennifer and Uncle Troy were paying
to rent the meeting room, but all of the guests had to pay for their own
buffet.

"I'll tell him," Aiden said. He started to leave the room but stopped and
faced his dads. "And I am NOT a PITA!" Aiden wanted his father to know for
certain that he wasn't in any way a Pain In The Ass.

Aiden couldn't bring himself to call his father until almost dinner
time. When he picked up the phone he hoped that Keegan, his father, had
already made plans for Thanksgiving. He hated Marty for making his life
complicated.

<Keegan and Aiden>

Drake slept on the bed in the spare bedroom as Keegan and Natalie talked
about what to do with the teen. They knew that when Natalie's
fourteen-year-old nephew woke up he was going to not only feel physically
sick but also mentally sick about his relapse. He had been proud of what
he'd accomplished. On the trip back to Keegan's apartment and while being
put to bed the biggest thing Drake cried about was letting everybody down
by getting wasted.

Natalie and Keegan agreed that Natalie needed to call Child Protective
Services in the morning and investigate getting temporary custody of Drake.

"He's going to have to stay here," Keegan pointed out. "I mean, I've got a
spare bed and you don't. I don't think going to CPS is going to work. They
aren't going to give you custody because your apartment wouldn't pass
inspection. They'd send him to a foster home, which would be a total suck
fest. Trust me, I've dealt with the assholes way too much."

They decided that Natalie should contact Dave Brown, who was still Keegan's
lawyer, and see if they could find a way to have Drake's mom give them
custody until she got herself straightened out.

While they talked, Drake came stumbling out of his bedroom. His hair was in
disarray and he looked worn out. "Hey, good morning everybody," he
yawned. He was wearing only a pair of blue boxer briefs he found in his
drawer of clothes. Since he'd been spending so much time staying with
Keegan he asked if he could keep some of his clothes at Keegan's
apartment. Keegan told him it was fine, and he purchased toiletries for him
as well.

"It's almost two in the afternoon," Keegan grinned, "but good morning works
I guess."

Drake joined Keegan and Natalie on the couch. "I'm sorry again for being
such a dork. You warned me about going there, but I thought I was strong
enough to be with my mom. I mean, she's my mom, right?"

"I thought Arnold got you drunk," Natalie said.

"No, mom got me started. I didn't know how to say no, so I thought just
having a beer would be okay." Drake's story brought up memories for Keegan
of getting drunk with his dad when he was a kid. "Then Arnold brought out
the drugs and I smoked some weed with him. Then he tried raping me so I
punched him and called you. If I was any more wasted, I don't know what
would have happened."

"How are you feeling?" Natalie asked.

"I'm hungry."

"That's a good sign," Keegan grinned.

"So, you guys aren't mad at me?"

"No, we're not mad at you," Natalie answered. "We love you and are ready to
do everything we can to help you."

While Drake wolfed down a sandwich, Natalie explained to him what they had
been discussing regarding his future. "One thing we want to do if your mom
allows us to be temporary guardians is to get you into rehab," Keegan
said. He didn't believe he'd agree to that, but he knew that Drake needed
more help to stay sober than any of them had thought.

Drake didn't appear to be upset by the idea. "Mom needs to go, too," Drake
said. Nobody argued. "Can I still live here if Aunt Natalie becomes my
guardian?"

"Keegan and I agreed that I would move into Keegan's apartment for now,"
Natalie said.

"He's Uncle Keegan to me," Drake said as he leaned against Keegan on the
couch. "I got a little home work."

"Are you up to doing it before we go?" Keegan asked.

"Yeah, it's just math and it's stuff I pretty much know."

After Drake showered and dressed, he did his homework and then they talked
about where they were going eat dinner. After settling on an Italian
restaurant, they were preparing to leave when Keegan's phone rang. He would
have ignored it except he recognized the ringtone as Aiden's.

"It's my kid," he groused. "The little prick never calls me, so I wonder
what the fuck he wants."

Natalie was about to say something, but Drake beat her to it. "Chill out,
Uncle Keegan, he's your kid so sound like his dad."

Keegan glared at Drake and answered the phone, putting Aiden on
speaker. "What do you want?"

Aiden would have hung up right then, but he was going to give Keegan every
chance he could to come for Thanksgiving even if he didn't deserve
it. "Hello father," Aiden said icily.

"I was just leaving for dinner."

"Fine, then go if you don't want to talk to me." Aiden decided he was
right— Keegan Miller, whom he refused to call father, was an asswaffle,
or even worse.

"I want to talk to you, son, but you know, I got people with me ready for
dinner."

"Don't call me son until you treat me like one instead of like I'm a pain
in your butt." Things were not going well and Aiden knew he wasn't helping
matters by saying the first thing he thought of rather than pausing and
coming up with the right thing to say.

"Don't talk to me like that."

"I was going to invite you to come for Thanksgiving dinner but I guess you
don't want to, so I'll go now. Bye."

Keegan realized he'd fucked up from the moment he pressed the answer
icon. He automatically thought Aiden was calling him so he could be the
little asshole he was proving to be but it turned out that he was actually
reaching out. "Wait!" Keegan called out. "I'm sorry!" Aiden said
nothing. "I mean, I'm really sorry."

Natalie and Drake were both giving him looks that told him what he already
knew, that he had totally fucked things up.

Aiden wasn't ready to let Keegan off the hook. "Why were you being mean to
me?"

"Look, I said I was sorry. I didn't know why you were calling and I thought
it wasn't for anything good. So, I'm sorry. You and me just seem to set
each other off for whatever reason. Were you serious about Thanksgiving?"

"If you don't have any plans. You can even bring your girlfriend if you
want."

"Her name is Natalie. That's one other person who is here with me. I
probably will be bringing Drake, too, if that's okay."

Aiden paused. He didn't like Drake and wasn't eager about having him come
to Thanksgiving dinner. "I guess it's okay if you have to."

"Look, he's been living with me most of the time. He probably doesn't have
any place else to eat Thanksgiving dinner."

Aiden paused again. There was a lot going on between his father and Drake
that he didn't know about and wasn't sure about. But he wanted so badly to
show Marty he could help his father that he was willing to put up with
Drake.

Aiden's tone of voice changed to a more conciliatory one as he told his
father he was okay with Drake coming. "He seemed to be pretty cool when I
saw him. He needs to be thankful, too."

"You changed your tone in a hurry," Keegan said suspiciously. He didn't
trust his son and his many mood changes, forgetting that he was dealing
with a young adolescent and that Drake could be just as inconsistent.

"I'm sorry. I guess I got kind of angry. I never know how to talk to you,
but that is no excuse for the way I was talking."

"Apology accepted. Should we bring food or drinks or anything to help out?"

"Well, I still need to tell you one more thing. This a big meeting of
family and friends and it will be at the Community Center. You have to pay
for your dinners." Aiden told him how much it was. "But it's a buffet so
you can really stuff yourself."

"That's fine." Keegan was leery of being in a crowd. He wasn't worried
about the friends—people he didn't know; he was more worried about the
family—the people he did know.

Aiden might have been relatively new to the family, but he didn't live in a
vacuum. He knew that his father didn't get along with his brother or his
own father. He decided he had better warn him.

"Your dad will be there, and my Uncle Troy and you know my dads will be
there."

"What are you trying to say?" Keegan asked with a definite edge to his
voice.

"I'm just letting you know what's going on so you won't say I didn't tell
you."

"Just why did you invite me? Did your dads put you up to this?"

Aiden felt himself getting pissed off again. "You know that you being able
to visit me is totally up to me. Nobody puts me up to anything. Not you and
not my dads."

"That's what you keep saying. But why invite me to Thanksgiving? Aren't you
afraid I'll fuck things up?"

"Maybe, but I am hoping you won't. You pretty much haven't been nice to me
except after that soccer game. So, I'm hoping to teach you how to be a dad,
and I'm inviting you because you can't learn to be a dad for me if you
don't get a chance to do it."

"So you, my son, are going to teach me how to act like a dad around you,
right?"

Aiden heard Drake yell, "You tell him, Aiden. He's got a lot to learn but
we can teach him together." Keegan glared at Drake who gave him a serious
look back.

When Aiden heard Drake, he knew right then that he and Drake could be
friends.

"So, what are the details about this dinner?" Keegan asked. "Time, place,
who do I pay, where do I sit, what do I wear, all of that shit?"

"I'll email it to you."

"Okay. I have two people waiting to go out to eat and one of them is a
hungry teenager. I gotta go." Aiden was ready to disconnect when Keegan
added, "And thanks for the invitation. I really appreciate it and I'll try
to do my best to make it a great Thanksgiving. See ya soon."

"Good-by father," Aiden said with stiff formality. He disconnected and
breathed a sigh of relief. The call was over. He wondered what he had just
done. He was afraid that Keegan might end up wrecking Thanksgiving. All he
could do is hope that his father would do what he said he would do—make
it a great Thanksgiving.

Next: Hoops