Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2020 18:20:39 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Mayfield Titans   Chapter 15

Greetings and welcome back. Every growing boy needs good male role models
and mentors in his life to help him over the rough spots. Aiden is
fortunate to have more than one mentor. With the help of Troy, Curt learns
how to be a part of his new family.

Please donate to the Nifty Archive. Keep the stories flowing for all of us
to enjoy.

Emails are always appreciated. They are my compensation for writing.
thehakaanen@hotmail.com.

CHAPTER 15
FATHERS AND MENTORS

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8

<Aiden>

Aiden had a surprise visitor when he arrived home from after school soccer
practice.

"MARTY!" he screamed with delight as he entered the TV watching room. Marty
and Rich were sitting on the couch watching the top of the ninth inning of
Game 5 of the National League Division Series between the Braves and the
Brewers. The game was the rubber match and the Braves were the home
team. They entered the inning trailing 4-3.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I believe the coaches invited Rich and me to dinner, and we graciously
accepted," Marty replied, referring to Aiden's dads.

Aiden checked the time and saw that it was just after seven o'clock. "It's
kind of a late dinner, though."

"Well, if that means you are near starvation and want to hog all of the
lasagna to yourself, we'll be happy to leave."

"No, no, no, no, I didn't mean that. It's just I thought that since it was
late you already ate or something."

"First, Coach Larry invited us this morning when I stopped by the school,
at his invitation as well. Rich and I played enough school sports to know
what late dinners are like. So, we are prepared to eat. Second, don't I get
a hug?"

The reply was a flying leap onto the couch by Aiden. He then climbed onto
Marty's lap, wrapped his arm around his mentor, and gave him a series of
wet pecks on the lips.

"Hey, watch it, those lips belong to me," Rich chuckled.

"I'm his bro, so I get the short kisses. You're his husband, so you get the
long French kisses," Aiden explained carefully.

Larry walked into the room in time to see the pecks and hear the
conversation. He successfully managed to suppress his laughter. "Hey, guys,
Coach Phil has the dinner ready. We can eat in the dining room as civilized
individuals or eat on trays out here as the diehard baseball fans we are."
The vote to eat while watching the ninth inning of the game was 4-0, with
Larry throwing his vote in.

"Dad never got to vote," Aiden said.

"Now that you are a big-time board member, you can see that your dad is
overwhelmingly outvoted."

"And since we have a quorum...," Aiden grinned.

"Exactly."

Marty wrapped his arms around Aiden, who was still on his lap facing
him. "Congratulations once again on being on the Baseball Club board. Now I
get to give you a real hug for your election. Not to mention these." He
leaned in and gave his young protégé a quick series of pecks on
Aiden's lips, causing him to get a case of the giggles.

It turned out that having dinner in the baseball viewing room had been an
excellent idea. The Braves tied the score at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth
on a game-tying triple with two outs. They ended up winning the game and
the series 5-4 in the bottom of the twelfth on a one out, walk-off home
run.

"Now you know how to do it next year," Aiden told Marty. He had been
sitting right up against him since they had finished eating during the top
of the eleventh. He was parked between Marty and Rich. Rich understood the
dynamics between Marty and the little bro he saw infrequently and did his
socializing with Larry and Phil.

"World Series next year," Rich stated confidently.

"Thanks to Marty's bat and glove," Aiden added.

"Let's take this one step at a time," Marty said. "I still have to make the
club in spring training."

"Piece of cake," Aiden grinned. "How long are you going to be here?" he
asked.

"Rich and I leave for Arizona on Sunday. I will be working at the rookie
camp in Peoria until Thanksgiving."

"And you'll be back here then?"

"Yes."

"That is righteous." Aiden wrapped his right arm around his idol. "I'm so
happy you came tonight and surprised me. And I'm happy pop invited you." He
glared at Larry. "Even though he could have told me you were coming."

"And spoil the surprise? No way."

"You're being mean as usual," Aiden jested. "Want to come up to my room?"
he asked Marty. "Rich can talk to my dads." He looked at Rich. "Don't
worry, I won't kiss him."

Rich wiped his brow. "Whew, I was so worried."

"You're as silly as my dads." Aiden stood up, grabbed Marty's arm, and
pulled him up to his feet. "I want to show you the Marty stat sheet I made
on Excel."

"Let's go take a look at it," Marty said as he followed Aiden out of the
room.

When he entered Aiden's bedroom, Marty gave Horace a mock
salute. "Greetings to the great Donkey."

"You know two great Donkeys," Aiden reminded him.

"I do. I know Horace and I know Mike the Donkey, who did so much for
Mayfield baseball and for Mayfield gays."

"Do you ever see him?"

"He's come to T-Mobile for a couple games with his husband, Ryan. He's
still a great guy. Last time I saw him, he asked if I'm still in contact
with you."

"What did you say?"

"Of course, I told him yes, and that if I was remiss in contacting you, I
would hear from you real soon."

"Can I ask you a really personal question?"

Marty sat on Aiden's bed and used his right hand to signal Aiden to sit
next to him. "Since when is asking personal questions a problem between the
two of us?"

Aiden sat next to Marty and made as much contact with his mentor as he
could. "Never, as long as we remember that nobody has to answer them."

"You're smart lad. So, what's the question?"

"Why did you stop drinking alcohol?"

Marty looked directly at Aiden, causing Aiden to wonder if he had asked a
question he shouldn't have asked. "Wow, that's out of thin air. What
inspired you to ask that one? Although, we have talked about this subject
before."

"I know we talked about it, but I need it to be the main thing we talk
about not just something you say a little bit about when we're talking
about something else."

"Well, sport, I will answer that question with a statement. One thing I've
learned and something you may have heard, too, is that when you first drink
alcohol it's fun, then it becomes fun with trouble mixed in, and finally it
becomes nothing but trouble."

"You were ten when you started right?"

"Right. I was so young I didn't know if it was fun or not, I just knew I
liked the feeling I got, and it made things seem better. And by the time I
was eleven I drank a lot, and when I was twelve, I was drinking almost
every day and was doing weird stuff. I mean I was just a kid like you. I
thought what I was doing was fun, but I know now, and probably knew then,
that by the time I was a seventh and eighth grader it was mostly trouble no
matter what I thought then.

"So, I ask you again, why it is you're asking me this? I don't think it is
a question you would have asked unless something is bothering you."

Aiden leaned his head against Marty's powerful chest and wiped a tear off
his left cheek. "I was eight when I did it and I liked it and I never got
in trouble. I just wasn't able to do it anymore. And when I moved here with
my dads, I didn't even think about it. But now, I keep wanting to drink and
find out what it's really like and I don't know how to stop wanting it. I
don't know what to do."

Marty nodded and squeezed Aiden hard against him. "I had a feeling that was
what this was about. You know I love you, sport. I love you like a brother
which is why you're my little bro. I love you and I want to see you be the
best you can be."

"I love you, too, Marty."

"Tell me, bro, how many of your friends drink alcohol? And I'm not talking
about the partiers who aren't really your friends, I'm talking about those
dudes who you have become tight with, which includes your boyfriend."

"None," Aiden replied softly.

"You have a group of incredibly awesome friends who look up to you as a
leader. Why do you want to be different from them? Why do you want to
threaten those friendships?"

"I don't know." Aiden's reply was quick and almost automatic, his voice
still soft. Aiden began feeling impatient because he thought Marty wasn't
getting to the point and answering his question.

"You have two great dads who love you and who would do anything for
you. Why do you want to fuck up the really good life you have here?"

"I don't know."

"Why haven't you sat down and talked with them?"

"I have and it doesn't help."

"Why hasn't it helped?"

"I don't know. Because they're my parents, I guess."

Marty took a deep breath as he tried to quell his own frustrations. "Have
you been listening to what you've been saying? Does it really make sense to
you?"

Aiden said nothing. Marty's arm around his shoulder made him feel warm and
secure. He loved that Marty loved him. He loved how his hero led his
life. And he knew deep in his soul that Marty was right about what he had
just said. When he thought about what he had just said, Aiden knew that it
didn't make any sense.

The young boy squeezed himself tightly against the young man sitting on his
bed with him. "Why can't I just try it? Who would it hurt?"

"And the answer to that question is?"

"I want you to tell me," Aiden insisted.

"Why should I tell you the answer when you already know it. You know
exactly who it's going to hurt."

"Me," Aiden said so quietly Marty could hardly hear him even though Aiden
was inches from him.

"I couldn't hear you, bro."

"I said, ME! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!" Aiden broke loose from Marty and raced to
the bathroom with tears flowing.

Marty knew he had said all that he could say right then. He got up and
headed downstairs. Larry and Phil were talking to Rich in the chat room.

"Well?" Larry asked.

Marty sat next to his husband. "Rich and I talk a lot about someday having
a kid. If we had one, I had always thought I'd be so proud if he grew up to
be like Aiden."

 "And now?"

"Same answer, although I am learning the kind of work that goes into
parenting even a good kid. You and Coach Phil have your work cut out for
you."

"Don't we know it," Phil said. "It's almost like having an ear worm with a
song playing in your head over and over and you can't get rid of it. Aiden
has a worm that keeps playing the same crazy idea in his head over and over
and he can't make it go away."

"I agree with Phil, but I want to add this," Larry said. "I think Aiden is
trying to get rid of the thing, but like that song, no matter what you do,
it won't go away. All we can do is support him and advise him and be here
to help him find the magic he needs to get rid of it."

"He told me he was willing to admit in his meetings that he was an
alcoholic," Marty said. "I think he has the tools that he needs
available. Our job is to show him how to use them."

The two couples talked for a few minutes about some other topics, baseball
in particular, until Rich and Marty decided it was time to leave. "Thanks
for dinner, the game, the chat, and for doing a great job with your son,"
Marty said. "We'll be seeing you for Thanksgiving."

"The big feast is definitely on," Phil told him.

When Marty and Rich got to the front door, they heard Aiden coming down the
stairs. He walked up to Marty and hugged him. "Thank you for being my
bro. I'm sorry for being a jerk and saying dumb things. I love you, Marty."

"You know bro, we all SAY dumb things. The idea is to use our tools to
ensure that we don't DO dumb things." He ruffled Aiden's already unruly
blond hair. "I love you bro. And think about using a tool we didn't talk
about much."

"What?"

"Talking to your father."

Aiden stood and watched Marty and Rich walk down the front steps to their
car. He suddenly realized that what Marty had just said was the same thing
Sammy had told him a few days ago. Larry placed his left hand on his son's
right shoulder. If even Marty is unable to lead Aiden to the right tools,
then I have to wonder where the key to solving his current adolescent
crisis lies, Larry thought.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9

Aiden woke up to a busy Thursday. School would be taking up most of the
day, of course. Since Coach Bill had the day off from work, soccer practice
was scheduled for right after school. This worked out for Aiden since the
Mayfield Baseball Club had its October meeting scheduled that evening. It
would be the first one Aiden would attend as a member of the club's
board. He was happy he didn't have to make a choice between soccer practice
and the meeting.

He hadn't known that practice would be in the afternoon until Coach Bill
handed out the October practice schedule. He breathed a huge sigh of relief
when he saw the time for the ninth. Practices were usually Tuesdays and
Thursdays depending on the game schedule which was determined before the
season started, but the times weren't always decided until a couple of
weeks before the practice. Aiden knew he would have a Saturday game that
week, which meant a Thursday practice, which meant a conflict was in the
making.

"Quite often in life you have to prioritize things," Larry had told him
back in September when Aiden asked him and his dad for advice on what to
pick. "In this case, is your main obligation to your team where you are a
key starter or to the board, which will have a quorum even if you don't
show?"

Aiden didn't have to think twice to give his answer. "It's to my team,
because we all work together to win. If I miss practice, then I won't start
on Saturday."

"Are you sure about that?" Phil asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't Coach Bill say that if a player missed a practice for a family
reason or some very important reason, he would excuse him from practice
without penalty as long as it was arranged in advance?"

"Yeah, I guess he did say that. I didn't think about that since I never
miss practice."

"So, before you get yourself all bent out of shape over making a tough
choice, why don't you talk to Coach about it first?"

Aiden thought that was good advice, but he never had to act on it since
Coach Bill had scheduled an afternoon practice. Afternoon Cobra practices
happened a couple of times a month at the rare times that Coach Bill had a
weekday off.

Aiden's bus ride with Kalie was routine. They didn't even talk about sex
let alone get a little sexy. School went well, especially when he learned
he aced his math test with a 98. He had lunch with his usual tablemates and
sat next to Rusty and Gordy. Rusty sat to his left and busily chatted about
what good friends he and Grant were becoming. Grant was sitting to the
right of Aiden and eating up every word.

Practice went well. The day had been partly sunny with temperatures in the
mid-50's. The best part was that there was no rain.

Larry picked Aiden up after practice and took him home. He showered and
then ate a quick dinner of reheated mac and cheese with tuna fish. After he
finished eating, Larry drove him to the baseball club meeting.

"I'm really nervous," Aiden told Larry and Phil as they headed toward town.

"You'll do fine, son. You worked on a couple of committees last year, which
was one of the reasons you got elected to the board. Mark has done a great
job bringing you up to date on what the board had been working on before
your position opened. He is a very organized individual and great to work
with.  And you've already worked together as part of the coaching
committee."

Larry was referring to Mark Elder, the senior who was the board president,
and to the committee that was responsible for interviewing and hiring
coaches and for being the place where coaches would first bring their
problems. The committee consisted of Aiden, Sammy (who was a board member),
Jackson Hallion, the board vice president, and Aaron Lansing, one of the
three adult board members. The one meeting they had since Aiden was elected
dealt with who the current coaches were and what teams would need coaches
by the time turnouts started in the spring.

"I feel ready for this; it's just everything we do will be watched by
people and that makes me nervous. It was scary at the September meeting
with all those people there."

"Past experience says there won't be nearly as many in attendance. In fact,
one of the things your board is going to have to do is increase
participation in the club. I have a feeling you and your group are going to
have a big influence in turning things around. You have quite a group of
friends."

"I know," Aiden nodded. He remembered what Marty had said to him the day
before about his friends.

As if to prove what Larry had pointed out, they stopped along the way to
pick up Mason, Rusty, Lenny, Lance, and Grant. Miles would be coming with
Jackson and Trent Hallion, who were both on the board. Gordy would be
coming with his father, who was also on the board. Grant made sure he sat
next to Lance when they sat in the meeting room.

The meeting went smoothly. Mark had sent out an agenda to everyone the week
before and called each board member to discuss it. As Larry had said, Mark
was very conscientious and organized. Larry was his baseball coach at the
high school and Phil had coached him in summer ball, so they both knew him
well.

As Larry predicted, most of the younger players in the audience were from
the Yard Goats or from the high school, where Larry and Phil wielded a
great deal of influence. It was participation of players from the middle
school through high school that needed to be amped up, especially the
middle school. After all, it was middle school students who had started the
club over 10 years ago and helped change the direction of baseball in
Mayfield.

Mark told the board members he would contact them about having a study
session. Because it would be a closed session no official business could be
discussed, but they would be talking about ways to increase membership
participation.

On the way home from the meeting Aiden checked his phone for calls and
texts. He had one from Nolan admonishing him to kick ass in his Saturday
soccer game and to remember he was spending the night at Nolan's house. The
text from Keegan, said he would be at Aiden's soccer game on Saturday and
asked him to call. After they dropped off Grant, their last rider, Aiden
told his dads about the text from his father.

"I thought he was working Saturdays," Larry commented.

"I guess he's not working this Saturday," Aiden said.

"I'll be looking forward to seeing him," Phil said.

Aiden waited until he got home to call Keegan. It turned out that Keegan
had a load to drop off at Centralia in the morning and would be driving
back to Seattle empty. Seth McCall, the trucking company owner, told Keegan
it was okay for him to watch Aiden's game. Seth lived in Mayfield and was a
big supporter of youth sports. One of his duties was as the chief financial
officer for the Mayfield Baseball Club. He told Keegan he would have a
company pickup truck available for him to drive to the game, which was
being played at Benville, about a twenty-minute drive from Centralia.

"Hi, daddy," Aiden said when Keegan answered the phone. It felt babyish to
call his father, "daddy", but the two agreed that at least for the time
being it was the best choice.

"Hey, son. Thanks for calling."

"I'm glad you're coming to the game, especially since I thought you
couldn't come."

"Things happened to work out."

"I guess Drake can't come."

"That couldn't be worked out. I would like to meet you for lunch after the
game. Seth said I could drive you to Mayfield if your dads didn't want to
wait around."

"Yeah, I'd like to have lunch with you. I've got some things I'd like to
ask you. You won't have to drive me all the way to Mayfield. You can drop
me off at Nolan's house in Meadow Park; I'm spending the night there."

"That works for me. See you Saturday."

Aiden then called Nolan. They talked about Aiden's meeting, Keegan's coming
to his game and giving him a ride to Nolan's after lunch. They then got to
the most important part of the call which was talking sexy to each other
until they each had an orgasm.

Aiden said his gratitude prayer that night. He was grateful that he was
able to keep busy with things he liked to do. And for the first time in
almost a week, he said he was grateful he hadn't had thoughts about
drinking that day. He then set to work thinking about the Saturday's soccer
game.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11

The Cobras didn't expect much trouble from the Benville side. The Cobras
were in second place in their eight-team league, while the Benville Barons
were the last place team. It ended up being a game where the second team
received a lot of playing time as the Cobras pulled out to a 5-0 half-time
lead and whipped the Barons 7-2. Aiden scored two goals, both off assists
by Gordy.

After the game and Coach Bill's postgame meeting, Aiden met with Keegan,
who was chatting with Larry and Phil. Aiden was pleased that all his dads
were getting along and seemed to genuinely like each other. That hadn't
always been the case. It was only after Keegan got sober and amends were
made all the way around that Larry and Phil managed to forge a good
relationship with Keegan. That also marked the time that Aiden was finally
able to deal with his biological father positively.

Keegan drove Aiden to the Centerville Café, where they sat at a booth
and ordered lunch. On the drive to the café, they talked about the game,
about how Aiden was doing in school, why Keegan was working on a Saturday
(because of extra business for the company), Aiden's election to the
Mayfield Baseball Club board, and about Drake. Once they finished ordering,
Aiden took a deep breath and got to his real topic.

Aiden went directly to the meat of what he wanted to discuss. "Did you have
fun drinking alcohol when you were twelve?"

"What brought this question up?" Keegan asked.

"I just wanted to know."

"I expect more information than that, but I'll answer you first. I started
drinking when I was eight, the same age you were when I tried to get you
started. By the time I was twelve, I was pretty well hooked and got drunk
every weekend and often during a weekday. I drank with my dad, with Troy
until he got smart and quit, and sometimes with Phil. By then I had
drinking and pot smoking buddies. I was getting stoned by the time I was
ten. I was a regular cigarette smoker at eleven."

"But was it fun?" Aiden asked impatiently. He knew his father's history and
didn't feel like he needed to hear it again.

"I thought it was, but that was before I learned what real fun was. As you
know, I was well over thirty years old when the light finally flickered
on. What I thought was fun, wasn't fun anymore. Unless you call living in
blackouts, not feeling the good things, forgetting what you did the night
before, fighting with friends, flunking classes, not playing sports, losing
jobs, and not joining clubs to be fun."

"If you didn't feel the good things, why did you do it?"

"Because I also didn't feel the bad things. Since I thought life sucked, I
didn't want to feel anything, and I did a damned good job of that. Plus,
for an alcoholic like me there is also a mental compulsion to drink no
matter what. I learned that you kind of go through three phases of
alcoholic drinking."

"Yeah, it starts about being fun, then it becomes fun with some trouble,
and then it becomes nothing but trouble."

"Good job," Keegan grinned. "Did you learn that from Marty?"

"Yeah."

"Now tell me why you have this great urge to drink."

"Because I want to see what the fun part is like."

The conversation paused as the waitress placed their orders on the table. A
BLT with avocado for Keegan and a double cheeseburger with fries for Aiden.

"Are you telling me you're not having fun?"

"I dunno."

"Cut the bullshit son and tell me what you really think. You're the one who
wanted this lunch and wanted to talk about this, so don't give me this `I
dunno' crap."

Having his bullshit called by his father caused Aiden to turned red. "I
guess I'm having fun," he muttered. Keegan's glare caused Aiden to look
away. He knew his father was pushing buttons he didn't want pushed. They
were the same ones Marty, Sammy, and his dads pushed; he just wasn't
expecting his father to know enough about what was going on to push them.

Keegan got his son's attention by telling him he had one thing to point
out, and if it wasn't enough, then he was on his own. "The way I heard it
is that you were nominated for that election because a group of assholes
who love to party nominated a fellow asshole and your friend, Gordy,
thought the middle school could do better and nominated you."

Aiden nodded.

"And then you surprised everybody by beating a pretty good high school dude
by one vote in the election," Keegan went on.

"I didn't really want to run," Aiden said lamely.

"And now that you're on the board you want to be just like the asshole you
ran against because your friend Gordy respects the hell out of you and you
impressed enough of the high school students to win the fucking election. I
would give both of my fucking nuts to have been in position like that when
I was twelve."

"But if I didn't want to win..."

"Cut with the I didn't want to win shit. You wanted to win, you won, and
now you can't stand the pressure. I've watched you playing sports enough to
know that is not how you tackle shit on the field. I'm sure you gave some
kind of speech after you got nominated—what did you tell everybody?"

"That we needed to get more guys in the baseball program involved in the
club," Aiden responded. This was something he had been thinking about since
his election and was something he felt comfortable and enthusiastic about.

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"Well, I know some guys have talked about having meetings with the teams
and the coaches and talking to everybody.  That's an okay idea, but I think
what we really need to do is talk to each kid in the program, like,
one-on-one. Give them a pamphlet that we write up and print—I know we
have money for this. It will have the history of the club and what it does
for teams now."

Keegan was engrossed in Aiden's speech: the kid had obviously put a lot of
thought into the topic. He could think of a million things to say and ask,
but he followed his sober dictum and paused. Aiden took the pause as a
signal to keep talking.

"But that's just one thing. First, we need to have a membership
committee. I was surprised we don't have one. It's like everybody just
figured guys from the teams would just show up like when the club
started. So, we need to start a committee. And we need the pamphlet. We
need to talk to the coaches too. Some of the summer coaches don't know what
we're about."

"What about a web site?"

"I know they used to have one but finding players to keep it up was hard
and it kind of died."

"Why the fuck do you need players doing it? I know Mayfield is a small town
with a small high school, but the school has to have some nerdy computer
geek who likes baseball and would love to volunteer to get it going. I bet
your dad, the math teacher, can help you there."

"Yeah," Aiden grinned. "We can put everything in the pamphlet on the web
site, and then during the season, he can put in scores and news and stats,
and even report about the meetings so everybody can see what we do." Aiden
chewed the last of his burger and waited to see if his father had anything
else to say.

"For somebody who says he's not sure he's having fun you're sure full of
enthusiasm and ideas. I am impressed. You just sounded like you look on the
field when things get tough—you come through under pressure."

"We're going to have a workshop soon and I want to give them my ideas. I'm
going to talk it over with my dads, and with Gordy and my friends, and
somebody like Coach Eklund at the middle school."

"And experimenting with booze will help your ideas how?"

Keegan's question stopped Aiden for a moment. He hadn't connected the two
in his mind. He saw where this conversation had taken him, and he knew the
answer to his father's question. "It won't."

"That's a good start on the road to getting rid of that fucking craving in
that brilliant brain of yours."

"My brain is brilliant?"

"That's how I see it. But, I'm only your father so what do I know?" Keegan
glanced at his watch. "There is a meeting at the Alano Club at two. How
about we go before I drop you off at your boyfriend's."

Aiden liked how smoothly the word boyfriend flowed from his father; it was
as if there was nothing at all unusual or wrong about him having a
boyfriend.

"But it's an adult meeting. I've never been to an adult meeting."

"It's an AA meeting. You've been to a few of those. Look, you don't have to
talk or share. In fact, the best thing you can do your first times at a
regular meeting is to zip your mouth shut, open your ears, and learn."

As Aiden sat through the hour-long meeting, he followed his father's advice
and discovered he got a lot out of the meeting. When the members discovered
that Aiden was at the meeting as an AA member and not as a kid who was
there because his parent was there, he received a lot of encouragement from
the members. They had a First Step meeting for his benefit, so he could
hear their stories, how they got to AA, and what it was that kept them
sober.

After the meeting, when Keegan stopped in front of Nolan's house, he asked
Aiden if he felt better. "Yeah, I feel lots better. Thanks for talking with
me, Daddy," he replied. "And thanks for taking me to the meeting."

"Remember what we talked about and what you need to do. And remember, what
we did was for today. Tomorrow you need to battle that craving again, until
one day you won't even think about it."

Aiden leaned across the seat and, battling the steering wheel, managed to
give his father an awkward hug. "I love you, daddy."

"I love you, too son. I love the way you're growing into a man. Don't
forget to remember every day what a great kid you are. I'm grateful to have
you back in my life."

Aiden grabbed his gym bag from the truck and ran up to Nolan's front door,
where his boyfriend had been patiently waiting for him.


<Curt>

Curt walked into Troy's den. Troy was sitting at his desk writing
something—he stopped as soon as he saw Curt enter. "How does it feel
being thirteen years and two days old?" Troy asked his foster son.

"It feels kinda grown up," Curt replied as he sat in a chair next to the
desk. "I guess we should have that talk that we couldn't have on Thursday."

Thursday had been Curt's actual birthday. The family went out for birthday
dinner at Luigi's Italian Restaurant, which had been Curt's birthday
choice. Curt had been awakened by a good morning kiss from Chase, who had
crept into Curt's bedroom to wake him up.

"Happy Birthday, bro. Welcome to the world of teenagehood," Chase
grinned. Chase was fourteen-and-a-half and therefore a veteran teenager.

"Thanks, that was a great way to get woken up. Now, I better shower since
I...um...got a little sticky last night."

"Checking out the equipment?" Curt flashed a big grin as he pulled his
naked body out of bed.

His day had gone well. Logan, Eddie, Troy, and Susan wished him Happy
Birthday and, along with Chase, had given him presents of items that were
useful and wanted. As the day unfolded Curt had received texts from Aiden,
Darnell, his best friend Duncan, as well as three boys and two girls who
had his phone number. It wasn't until after his delicious spaghetti dinner
that his day suddenly unraveled.

Troy had asked Curt to sit with him and chat about how he was growing up,
the great work he was doing in school and in soccer, and his changing role
in the family. Troy had noticed that Curt seemed a little down as dinner
progressed and was silent on the way home. He wasn't surprised that before
he could say a word to Curt, the birthday boy had started to shake and sob
and broke into a river of tears.

"I'm sorry," Curt sobbed. "I can't help it. It's my birthday and I miss mom
and dad. I...I was trying to be happy and then all of a sudden I couldn't
be happy anymore." Troy stood up, helped Curt to his feet, and escorted him
to his bedroom. "I'm a big wuss," Curt sniffed as he had stretched on his
bed.

Troy lay next to his foster son and placed his arm around him. "You are not
a wuss, son. You are a very brave boy. You're doing just fine. You've still
got a lot of hurt. Like Dr. Benson said, don't be afraid to show your
emotions." Troy stayed with Curt until the boy undressed and fell asleep in
his bed.

By Saturday, Curt was looking a lot more like his assured self, was sitting
in Troy's den, ready for the promised talk. "What were we going to talk
about before I wussed out, Thursday?" Curt asked with a grin that said he
wasn't feeling as negative about his breakdown as he had on Friday.

"I just wanted to say how proud I am of what you've done since you've come
to live with us. You're polite, friendly, and helpful to everybody. Your
grades are top notch, and you're making a lot of friends. You have become a
positive part of the Miller family. And, I'm happy you're feeling more like
your real self, today."

"Chase helped me a lot last night. It felt good to let him hold me and to
sleep with him. He's an awesome big brother." Curt didn't mention Chase
kissing him passionately, licking his neck and chest and nipples and giving
him a rim job. Chase then finished by making love to him as a special late
birthday present.

Troy suspected more happened between the boys than Chase simply holding
Curt, but diplomatically kept those suspicions to himself. The sexual angle
between the four boys in the household had become a big part of family
dynamics. As long as nobody was hurt, Troy elected to stay out of that
aspect of their life beyond giving them generalized talks about sexual
conduct, in particular that nobody should ever be pressured into having sex
they weren't totally in favor of.

"You said you were going to talk about how the family was, like, doing
right now."

"The work on your adoption is moving along. I..."

"What about Eddie?" Curt interrupted.

"That I will discuss with Eddie. When decisions have been made, then we'll
all sit down and talk about it as a family."

"Can Eddie and me talk about this with each other?"

"I would suggest you don't, but that is entirely up to you guys. I have to
maintain your privacy and Eddie's privacy, but what you do is your
choice. I think the best thing to do is keep things simple and private for
now."

Curt nodded. He decided he couldn't make up his mind until he heard what
his foster father had to say. "Anyway, sorry for interrupting. What were
you going to tell me?"

"On Wednesday, our lawyer reached an agreement with your uncle. We won't
prosecute him for child abuse if he agrees to give up all claims to
parental rights. He also has to agree to get counseling for him and his
daughter. Those are the basics, but it's more complicated than that." Curt
had agreed to that solution in advance so that he wouldn't have to
testify. He didn't want to talk about any of his issues in a public trial.

"He's an asshole and I wish he'd go to jail, but, well, you know, we talked
about it."

"We honored your wishes as much as we could legally." Curt had not told all
of the details of his time with his uncle, staying away from the sexual
angle other than the fact that his teen age cousin had come on to him.

Troy had suspected there was more to the story than Curt told. He had asked
Curt a few questions, could see that the boy was very nervous and
reluctantly elected not to cross examine the boy. Curt had been suffering
enough trauma at the time and didn't need to be subjected to more. He
thought that Curt might reveal more at a future time, but for now he wasn't
going to push things.

"The result is that Susan and I could be filing adoption papers soon." Troy
could file them Monday, but he wanted Eddie's future to be on more solid
ground before he did. Eddie's father had refused to sign papers forfeiting
parental rights without being paid a hefty fee.

"We're not in the business of buying children," Troy had told Eddie's
father. Instead, Troy's lawyer petitioned the court to have the father's
rights removed on the grounds of parental neglect. There was a lot more
evidence against Eddie's father than there had been against Curt's uncle.

Curt had his birthday party that afternoon. He had a dozen friends at the
party, including his best friend Duncan, who would be spending the
night. With Chase, Dillon, Logan, Royce, and Eddie added to the mix, the
afternoon and evening was one of controlled chaos.

"At least nobody had the gumption to start a food fight at dinner," Susan
told Troy.

Eddie was a bit put out that Chase had fucked Curt on Friday night and that
Duncan would be fucking him that night. He told Curt as much after the
house emptied out except for the overnighters. While Eddie had helped
comfort Curt some, he felt left out until Curt made a promise. "Yeah. I
understand you feel left out. I mean you're my best friend and got me
though a lot of shit back in the tent city. So, I'm making you the cherry
on the top."

"The cherry, like on top of a sundae you mean?" Eddie asked.

"Yep—a whole crop of cherries even. You get my ass tomorrow night,
Monday night, every night this week, in fact."

"I don't care about fucking you as much as I care about being there for
you. Not that I mind fucking you."

"You can do whatever you want, I'm just letting you know my bed is yours
all week."

Eddie gave Curt a long kiss. "You're the best. I hope we become real
brothers soon."

Curt hoped for the same thing, but he also wondered how much having Eddie
as his real brother would complicate things.

That night, Duncan topped Curt, Chase topped Dillon, and Eddie humped
Logan's butt, sliding his well-lubed cock along and in the younger boy's
crack while jerking him off. Troy could almost feel the testosterone coming
from upstairs while he made love to his wife.

Even with his crying jag thrown in, Curt thought this had been the best
birthday of his life. As much as he missed his parents, he knew in his
heart they would be happy to see him happy.

Next: Aiden and Kalie