Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2020 18:32:11 +0000 From: Douglas DD Subject: Mayfield Titans Chapter 3 Greetings and welcome back. The first two chapters have been pretty serious, but now things will start to loosen up as Aiden and his friends enjoy the last couple of weeks before the start of the school year. Please donate to the Nifty Archive to keep the stories flowing. Emails are always appreciated. Thehakaanen@hotmail.com. Douglas Copyright ©2020 by Douglas DD. CHAPTER 3 SKINNY DIPPING SATURDAY, AUGUST 18 It was Muddy's thirteenth birthday. Muddy had a small party in the afternoon, inviting just his closest friends. He would have a bigger family party that night and going into the next day at his Aunt and Uncle's house in Shelton. Aiden, Gordy, Miles, Mason, and Trent came for cake and ice cream along with a few games. It was the kind of small, private affair they had come to expect, and in some ways, appreciate, from Muddy. Muddy asked for no presents, but they each brought him a card. After the party ended, Mason stayed behind at Muddy's request. "I will be having sex with some cousins and maybe my brothers or sister. I am horny and cum too quick if Mason doesn't give me a quick present." Mason knew exactly what Muddy wanted. His mouth was filled quickly with Muddy's thick sperm. It seemed like every time he gave Muddy a blow job, Muddy's big cock seemed even bigger and shot more and Mason loved it. "Now I will last all night. Thank you, Mason, you are good friend to Muddy." "Hey, thank you for the extra treat," Mason grinned as he left the house. Aiden loved his busy day. He had gone to the morning meeting of the Fourth Dimension, then to soccer practice, cake and ice cream at Muddy's, and finally home where Gordy would be spending the night with him. What made it extra special is that he had provided his own transportation the entire day. THURSDAY, AUGUST 21 Peter sat next to his father on a rock bordering the shore of Lake Gonyea, an alpine lake sitting in the high Cascades near Clark Pass. They had been staying at a mountain cabin that Ross Astor had rented since Monday. It was to be their last full day together in the mountains. This was the third time they had hiked from the cabin to the lake. Their second trip netted dinner in the form of trout fished from the lake. "Thanks for doing this, dad," Peter said. He had never felt this close to his father, a man he had generally despised since his preteen years. "Thank you for inspiring me, son. You helped me figure some things out." "How? All I did was try to stay out of your way." "You've been doing that since you learned to walk. What I meant was, watching you stay sober every day, watching you become a positive kid getting involved in life...yeah, that had me going to my first AA meeting since you were a baby. It didn't work then. While three months sober doesn't sound like much, it's more than I ever got back then." Ross had found a good sponsor in George Bednarzyk, who had taken him through the steps. Ross's amends to his son, as well as his son's amends to his father, had been emotional, but beneficial, to both. Peter had logged eight months of sobriety. His teenage mind took perverse pride in being older than his father, while at the same time knowing that pride based on ego was an invitation to slip. Peter and Ross were both shirtless in the warm summer sun. Peter had also removed his shorts and was wearing just a pair of gray and black boxer briefs. He took off his shoes and socks so he could dangle his feet in the cold water of the lake. "Me sitting here in my underwear has to make you feel right at home," Peter grinned. "It makes me feel like being a dad and reminding you to put sun block on." "I did that before we left the cabin. You didn't raise a dummy." Ross laughed and ruffled Peter's thick brown hair; it was the first time he had done that in years. "I didn't even know that you fished until this trip," Peter told his dad. "And not only that, but you cooked up a couple of great meals out of our catch." "I had some damned good help," Ross grinned. He took on a serious look when he said, "I guess you forgot the trips we took when you were like seven and eight." "I might have been even younger, but, yeah, I don't remember." "Probably a good thing since I made sure to bring plenty of beer along. I'd like to think that this is our first fishing trip. Two of those catches were yours, you know." Ross had purchased new fishing tackle for Peter and himself. Peter put his left arm around his father's shoulder. "I hope it's not our last one." "It won't be son. There is a lot for us to do." One big thing Peter was happy about was his father being dumped by Traci, his teenage bimbo girlfriend, after he started sobering up. Since he would no longer be supplying her with booze and weed, she was gone in an instant. At first Peter wondered if he would have eventually dropped her, but Mikey, his sponsor, told him he was fretting over bullshit that was never going to happen. "Just accept what happened as being the way it's supposed to be and move on," Mikey had said. Peter did his best to follow his sponsor's advice. "Thanks for one more thing, dad." "What's that?" "For not getting pissed when I told you I was gay. I was afraid it would ruin our trip and you'd drag me right home, or toss me in a lake, or something." "Son, I'd have to be totally stupid to not see which way the wind blew for you, not that I was the sharpest knife in the drawer. I wanted to hate you for it, and there were times I probably did. But I appreciate you being honest with me. "I don't know why," Peter's dad continued, "but I had a feeling you'd be coming out to me soon and I talked to George about it. Not only does he have a lot of sobriety, but he's got two sons I thought were gay and I figured he could help me more than anybody." "Jeffrey's as gay as it gets, but Sammy says he's bi, at least when he's not gay. It all gets fucking confusing. I'm just glad I didn't spoil a good time." "If you'd told me a few months ago, I wouldn't have dragged you home because I never would have taken you anywhere. I pretty much treated you like shit because, like I said, I was sure that you were, well, a faggot. And as far as tossing you into the lake goes, fuck son, I'd like to do it right now." "Why?" "Because I can," Ross Astor grinned. While Peter was almost a full-grown boy, Ross was a big man who had kept himself in shape even as he was drowning himself in booze. "In your dreams. You and whose army is gonna do that?" The question was answered after almost ten minutes of squealing and laughing that ended when Peter screamed as his father tossed him into the icy waters of the lake. "Looks like you still have some growing up to do, son," Ross laughed. "Maybe, but I won't forget this. You'd better have spare clothes anytime we get around the water." "Hey, I got wet enough from your splashing. But, I'm not the one who got drenched." Peter climbed out of the lake, his wet briefs sagging down his hips. He shook his head to fling some of the water out of his thick, shaggy hair. "Hey, dad, you know what I have to say about all this?" "What?" "That I love you and am grateful I'm standing here wet and freezing my ass off, with my soaked underpants ready to fall down to my feet." Peter let his briefs drop to his ankles and now stood naked in front of his father. It wasn't the first time his father had seen him naked, but this time he was able to admire the young masculine beauty of his teenage son. Peter, for his part, was not embarrassed about his nudity and was proud to see his father admire him when not long ago he would been have despised. Ross wrapped his arms around his son and gave him a tight hug. It would take more time for complete trust to develop between father and son, but on this camping trip neither one would ever forget, the love they both had shoved into the background, had come to the surface. For the first time since he was preschooler Peter felt safe and loved in his father's arms. For now, that would be enough. SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 Aiden and Nolan sat riding backward in seats facing Larry and Phil on the evening Cascades to Centralia. The boys were holding hands and the boys knew that Larry and Phil could see them. The tweens had reached the point where they were bold enough to hold hands in the open, but in no way were they ready to kiss in front of anybody but their closest friends. The boys lost some of their bravado when they noticed the lady across the aisle casting glances at them. They continued to hold hands but hid them under Aiden's Mariner hoodie, which was draped over his lap. As they headed south past Olympia, the chatter was all about baseball. Phil said, "Marty put on a pretty good show for you guys." The family had visited Troy's family to watch the Mariner three-game series against the Athletics. "He was the best player all weekend," Aiden contended. "And he got us tickets for next month so we can take Ronnie to a Sunday game," Nolan added, his voice much steadier than Aiden's had been as Nolan continued to manipulate his groin. "That's going to be so fun. I hope you can go to that one." Marty had managed to get seats on September 14 so Ronnie's family, along with Aiden's, could celebrate Ronnie's recovery from cancer. "What would get in your way?" Larry asked Nolan. "Soccer." "Aiden has his schedule for the year." "I thought I did, too, but my coach said he wanted to schedule a couple of friendlies during September and if he picks that Sunday then I'm toast," Nolan explained. Aiden squeezed Nolan's hand tightly. The chat went on until they reached Centralia. "Almost home," Nolan grinned as they disembarked the train. When they reached Nolan's house in Larry's Honda, Nolan and Aiden exited the car. Nolan took his overnight bag out of the trunk. Seeing that the front door of the house was still closed, Aiden gave Nolan a quick kiss on the lips. It was innocent enough that they had no problem with Larry and Phil seeing them kiss, but they still weren't ready for Nolan's parents to witness it. What they didn't know was that Paul had seen the furtive peck. "I guess your butt is more experienced now," Nolan giggled. Chase had fucked Aiden on their first night at his house. "And I got some exercise with Logan the second night. Now, we need to get you some more experience, too," Aiden responded. "If you want it, that is." While Nolan had messed around with Eddie and Curt, intercourse was not involved. Aiden walked to the door with Nolan. "I want it," Nolan told Aiden. "It just has to be with the right person at the right time. I mean, you're going to be hard to beat." "You mean you think somebody might be better than me?" "Never, but he's at least gotta be somebody I like a lot." Nolan gave Aiden a quick peck on the lips seconds before the front door opened and Paul Moyer welcomed his son home. "Hello, Mr. Moyer." "Hello, Aiden. Did you guys have a good time? Seeing that the M's took the series and Marty had quite a weekend, I would guess that answer is yes." "Yep, we had all kinds of fun, dad," Nolan said. Aiden wondered what Nolan's dad would read into his son's comment, and then decided it didn't matter. He knew Paul was on their side. "I'll text you when I get home," Aiden said as he sprinted down to the driveway and got into Larry's car. "Home, Jeeves," Aiden called out as he waved to his boyfriend and got into the backseat. "Jeeves?" Larry asked. "Mr. Lawrence said once he's the name of a butler in some story, but I figure it works for a chauffeur too." "I hear good butlers like locking up smart mouthed imps in their garages without food, water, or their telephone." "What? No phone?" Aiden put the back of his open left hand against his forehead. "Oh, the horror! I promise to be good forever." It took Larry five minutes before he got totally over his laughter. A couple of weeks before, his friends had discussed having a naturist party in Aiden's pool, their minds conjured up images of a couple dozen naked bodies swimming, diving, wrestling, groping, grabbing ass, having boners, and thickening the pool water with their cum. Aiden had not been surprised when his dads told him to try being a bit more realistic and limit the group to his very best friends. As a result, he had limited his invitations to nine friends. Naturally, he tried to push the envelope and change his dads' minds after they got settled at home. "You guys always think a big orgy is going to break out at the pool," Aiden said. "All we want to do is have fun." "Aiden, we're not as naïve as you would like to think. We know some of you are going to get excited, which is fine, a couple of you will take care that issue in the basement, which is, well, what boys do. But there too often seems to be something going on in the pool, and that area has been declared a no orgy zone," Phil said seriously. "We've never had an orgy anywhere. I mean, yeah, sometimes we, like, mess around in the basement together, but that's different from an orgy." "Please tell us how that is so," Larry asked with a hint of amusement in his tone. "Orgies have sex, and messing around is just, you know, guys messing around. I mean you keep telling me how you guys acted when you were in middle school, so you should know what I'm talking about." "Nine is a nice number. Nine boys, that is." "What about if the only girls are Kalie and Gretchen?" "Nine equals nine." Larry gave Aiden a look that said the debate was over. "As for numbers, you'll have all kinds of people coming to your birthday party on Saturday," Phil said. "Yeah, and none of them will be naked," Aiden pointed out. "You've seen every one of them with his clothes off, so just imagine them naked when you see them. Besides, when they're in the pool, naked boys look no different than boys with swimming suits on." "One person who I know I haven't seen naked is Grant because we've just become friends, so that means I haven't seen everybody naked." "You can have even more fun imagining him naked," Larry laughed. "Plus, you haven't seen the girls naked either." Aiden's silence set off alarm bells in the minds of Larry and Phil. "You mean you have seen them naked?" Aiden's face turned bright red. "I never said that." "There's nothing wrong with having seen a girl naked or a girl seeing you naked." "Then you're not mad that I've seen Kalie, Gretchen, Brittany, and Autumn naked and they've seen me naked?" Aiden rushed out the names as quickly as he could. "I'm not even surprised, son," Phil laughed, and Larry nodded in agreement. "I assume you remembered what was said in our talks about situations with the opposite sex." "I did." Aiden quickly shifted to a different gear. "So, if you're not mad can I invite them to the naturist party? I mean just my best friends will be at that party and almost all of them have been naked with the girls." "Aiden!" "Sorry." Aiden knew he had crossed the line twice and was surprised he wasn't put on restriction. He recognized he had been wrong for pushing the girl business again and it was past time to quit. No worries, he thought. If somebody wants to see somebody naked it's funny how that ends up happening in the basement. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27 The naturist party was scheduled to start at one, with lunch being served at noon before the outdoor fun started. Sandwiches and chips would be set out on the patio along with lemonade and bottles of sunscreen. Larry had a staff meeting at school in the morning and would be home by noon while Phil took the day off work. Nolan had spent the night and he and Aiden helped Phil get the lunch prepared and set up and cleaned the pool area and the basement. The boat was not going to be used since the idea of the party was to be naked for the entire afternoon. Nolan and Aiden were properly undressed as they took care of their chores. "You were a good bottom last night," Aiden said to Nolan as he attached the cushions to the chairs. "You weren't bad either, but you were a crazy top." "Wait until next week when I'll have the power of somebody who is almost thirteen." "But you won't be twelve until Monday, so how can you be almost thirteen?" "Easy—it's because I'm one year closer to thirteen than I was on my eleventh birthday," Aiden chuckled. "You know, you really are crazy. I'm the one who is almost thirteen since that's only two months away." Aiden cupped Nolan's cock and balls. "Damn, I could swear your nuts are getting bigger." Nolan kissed his boyfriend. "They just might be," he said with a leer. "They have to grow so I can shoot more and more cum your ass." Aiden returned the kiss and cupped Nolan a little tighter. "I'm gonna squeeze unless you tell me you love me because I'm crazy." "I love you because you're fucking crazy," Nolan laughed. Aiden let go of his boyfriend's jewels. "Good enough." Lance and Lenny were the first to arrive. They had cycled from town, enjoying the freedom of being able to travel out of town to Aiden's on their own. As much as becoming middle school students made them nervous, it also made them feel grown up in many ways as they gained increased privileges. Aiden's friends knew that they needed to undress in the basement and leave their clothes there. Once they were naked, they were free to roam the house and pool area but were restricted from the rest of the yard since most of it was visible from the road or the lake. Skip Emerson was the next to arrive. He was dropped off by his grandmother, Mrs. Emerson, who was Aiden's school bus driver as well as a school lunch supervisor. Aiden had a pair of gym shorts ready to pull on if Mrs. Emerson came to the door, which she did. Aiden yanked them on in a hurry and was at the door just as she and Skip reached the stoop. "Well, you certainly look ready for hot weather since you're wearing next to nothing," Mrs. Emerson mused as Skip skipped by her and into the house. "I must say you are wearing more than I expected since I thought this was a naturist party." She was enjoying Aiden's obvious discomfort. "Mrs. Emerson, no way would I answer the door without any clothes on; somebody might see me naked." Skip's grandmother roared with laughter as Aiden's embarrassment increased. "Well, Skip has been looking forward to taking his clothes off ever since he got invited. Too bad his friend Gage couldn't be here, but Skip likes all of your friends and they are good to him even though he is younger. He is so happy you invited him." Gage Polk, who was nine, was away on vacation with his family. "Skip's cool," Aiden said as he finally gathered his wits. "I know everybody likes him." "It's a shame your girlfriend Kalie couldn't be here, he really wanted to see what a girl looked like without clothes on. Oh well, some other time, maybe." "Yeah, maybe on the bus on the way to school. You can give Skip a special ride. You won't see us take our clothes off if we all duck low." Aiden had learned how Mrs. Emerson had a way of "missing" certain happenings on her bus if nobody complained. Mrs. Emerson smiled. "Oh my, who would think such a handsome boy like you could think such thoughts. Oh, well, Skip said he would call when the party is over, which I understand will be around six." "Yep, right about then." Gordy, Mason, and Miles arrived as Mrs. Emerson said good-bye. Since she worked as a lunch supervisor, the boys knew her and greeted her as they passed and bounded into the foyer. "Let's get naked!" Mason shouted as he pulled off his shirt while the boys headed to the basement stairs. Aiden followed them wondering if he should tell his dads what Mrs. Emerson had said about her being okay with Skip seeing a naked girl. Aiden thought if it was okay for Skip, who would be the youngest boy at the party, to go naturist with a girl, then it should be okay for all of them. He never considered the idea that Skip's grandmother was a very liberal old lady. But then Aiden recalled the conversation he had had with his Dads on Sunday about girls and nudity and decided against saying anything. The last two boys to arrive were Keith, who rode his bicycle from Kentburg, and Collin, who was given a ride by his mother. Their families looked at nudism differently. Keith's mother was opposed to her son going if girls were going to be present while his father had a "boys will be boys" attitude. Even though he gave his approval for Keith to attend the skinny dip, he admonished his son to avoid getting involved in any "off-color" horseplay. Keith crossed his fingers and promised to be good. Collin, on the other hand, came from a naturist family. He had just spent two weeks at a nudist camp with his family. Seeing naked females meant nothing to him. To him, they were simply naked people enjoying the freedom of naturism. Naked boys sent more of a charge through him than naked girls, although he enjoyed sexual play with both sexes, having enjoyed intercourse with both. As they finished their nude lunch on the deck and patio, the boys made their way to the pool, splashing, wrestling, groping, and playing tag. Gordy, Miles, Aiden, and Nolan soon had a keep-away game going with a beach ball. Not that there wasn't some "off-color" horseplay involving some of the boys. Ironically, one of them was Keith, who went into the backroom for a bit of sexual fun with his bed buddy, Lenny. While the two had been together a lot during the summer, they weren't ready to declare themselves boyfriends, even though they might have been thinking that way. When Aiden saw Keith and Lenny sneak into the basement sporting hard-ons, he knew there would be some good fun going on in the backroom. "Looks like the back room is going to be used," he informed the remaining boys, which they knew meant they should keep out until further notice. One of them got hard thinking about what would be going on in the room, and that was Lance. Nobody was surprised that Lenny and Keith were the first two to head for the basement; they hadn't been able to keep their hands off each other since the moment they first saw each other in the basement. "What are we going to do?" Lenny asked after Keith closed the door. "I want to fuck you," Keith replied. "Here, with everybody naked and horny? What if somebody comes in while we're doing it?" "First, Aiden set things up pretty good, so nobody should be coming in. Second, so what? It's not like we haven't all seen each other messing around." "But fucking isn't messing around, it's sex." "You Mayfield guys are weird. Fucking a girl is sex. Fucking a boy is messing around." Lenny was quiet as he tried unsuccessfully to come up with an appropriate response. Keith sensed that his younger friend was confused; Keith was eight months older and a grade higher than Lenny. They felt the difference didn't mean anything, but there were times when the difference in maturity was apparent. It was the grade difference that had more influence on the maturity level than the age difference. Lenny was slumped on the old couch. His cocklet was no longer hard even though he wanted to do something. Keith reached under Lenny and pushed his finger up his crack until he reached Lenny's boy hole. Lenny adjusted his position to allow Keith better access and the older boy took advantage. "Do you want to, or don't you?" Keith asked. Lenny wasn't sure if Keith was asking if he wanted to fuck or if he just wanted to mess around. While he hesitated, Keith pushed his finger up his ass, causing him to groan in pleasure. Messing around with Keith was proving to be more complicated than what Lenny did with his brother or with Aiden and his other friends. Lenny didn't realize that being in a relationship that was more than just friendship could be so complex. Whatever his brain thought about Keith finger fucking him, his penis thought it was wonderful and sprang back to life. "You can do me," he breathed. "Are you sure?" Keith asked. "You don't have to do it, you know." "I know, and I'm sure, but let's do it fast." The boys adjusted their positions and Lenny was soon on his hands and knees, ready to take Keith's four plus inches up his tight little ass. Keith was more than happy to oblige him. He had come prepared with some lube and as soon as they both were ready, the twelve-year-old Kentburg boy was fucking the eleven-year-old Mayfield boy. Once they got started it didn't take long to complete the act. Keith grunted that he was going to cum and surprised Lenny by pulling out and shooting over his back and ass. Lenny had been jerking off and shook with an intense dry cum as just before Keith had his orgasm. "Why did you pull out?" Lenny asked as Keith licked his sperm off Lenny. "Because you're naked, you're going to go back outside naked, and I didn't want everybody see you leaking my jism out of yourself. It's nobody's business what we did in here." "Except for Lance. Me and Lance share everything." "Okay, except for Lance it's nobody's business." When they re-entered the pool area, they received scattered applause and catcalls, which were answered with smiles and waves. Like the boys in the pool, Larry and Phil, who were sitting on the deck, wondered what Keith and Lenny had done in the basement. They were pretty sure anal sex wasn't involved, feeling that the twins were still young and naïve in their outlook and had yet to experiment with full blown sex. The only naïve ones at the party were Larry and Phil. The next boys to go into the backroom were Mason, Miles, and Skip. Mason wanted to give Skip a blow job and Miles accompanied them to be Skip's guardian. He wanted to be sure Mason didn't try too much too fast, plus he wanted to get off., and watching them would be his stimulous. Mason had been around Aiden and his gang long enough to understand he shouldn't push sex on anyone, which didn't mean he couldn't ask if someone seemed interested. Skip knew about blow jobs but had yet to give or receive one. He and Gage had learned enough about sex by being around the older boys to know about masturbation and mutual masturbation. Each boy had received his first orgasm from the other. Mason went to work on Skip's cocklet, and when he finished sucking the ten-year-old, Skip had entered a whole new world. He had received the best feeling imaginable—he thought it was ten times what he had enjoyed with Gage. He couldn't wait to show his friend what he had learned from the big boys. He also learned about the number sixty-nine as Miles and Mason gave an impromptu demonstration. When Miles was ready to cum, he had Mason pull off him so he could cum on Skip's torso. Mason then shot a few drops on Skip as well. The ten-year-old added cum eating to his sex list as the two older boys licked him clean. When his grandmother asked him what all he did at the party, his session in the basement would not be part of his answer, but Gage would be sure to learn all about it. Because the basement door wasn't visible from the deck, Larry and Phil had not seen Skip go to the basement with Mason and Miles. Boys often disappeared under the deck or used the basement bathrooms, so not seeing the three didn't concern Larry and Phil. They didn't know how long they were gone because they had gone inside to finish up the mac and cheese dinner the boys would have to end their day. The only other sexual adventure was Mason sucking Nolan's dick. Since Nolan and Aiden had an inkling that Mason was going to work hard to get what he wanted Aiden made sure Nolan knew it was okay with him if he and Mason had some fun. And fun they had. Mason's cocklet was rock hard when he and Nolan went to the backroom in the basement. Mason placed Nolan's cock in his mouth. Within seconds, Nolan was hard as well, and in less than ten minutes he was filling Mason's mouth with his sweet pubescent cream. Mason jerked himself to an orgasm within seconds after swallowing his treat. "That was a great blow job," Nolan told Mason. "Thanks." "You tasted as good as I thought you would," Mason grinned. The rest of the boys got hard, got soft, groped, and played, but none went to the basement that afternoon. There was some kissing and groping between Keith and Lenny in the hot tub. Lance asked Skip if he wanted to learn about kissing—he didn't have to ask twice. For about a half-hour the hot tub was all about four little hard-ons making out. Overall, the party had been much calmer than Aiden had expected. Collin commented that the party was much like being at a naturist camp; everyone was happy with just being naked and didn't need to get sexy to have fun. "Of course, somebody always disappears for some extra fun at a camp, but most of us just have fun doing what we like in the nude," Collin said. Aiden, Nolan, Gordy, Mason, and Miles had standing invitations to go for a day or even a weekend to a nudist camp with him and his family, but none of them seemed ready yet. The boys dressed after eating and were soon on their way home. When Skip's grandmother picked him up, Skip gushed about how much fun he had and that he wanted to be a nudist. "Talk to your mom," Mrs. Emerson laughed. "She'll say no." "There you have it." "But if when I come to your house, maybe I could..." "We'll talk about it later." Phil, who was at the door, couldn't help but laugh. He was happy he and Larry had loosened up the household dress code to where Aiden could be naked almost any time he was home, as could his friends if they wished. His friends' parents knew what the policy was and only Mason and Nolan's mothers disliked the policy. But even those two mothers didn't forbid their sons from stripping naked at Aiden's house if that was what they wanted. Phil and Larry were amused by their hypocritical stance. Nolan went home that night and would spend Wednesday and Thursday nights at home. He would be back to spend Friday with Aiden and Aiden's cousins and take part in the big sleepover Saturday night as part of Aiden's twelfth birthday party. Aiden rubbed his cock off on Horace after everyone left, although he was careful not to shoot his jism on the stuffed donkey. He wanted to do what he knew Marty used to do with Mortimer when he was twelve, only without leaving a mess on him. When bedtime arrived, he surprised his dads by bringing Horace with him to their bedroom and sleeping with them. He wore a pair of white briefs, even though it was no longer a requirement (his dads always wore underpants when Aiden slept with them). He rarely slept with his dads anymore, so it was a special occasion when it happened. "I just wanted an all-night hug," he told them when Larry asked about why he came downstairs. Larry wanted to make sure nothing major was bothering their son, which was sometimes a reason for a nocturnal visit. And while Aiden had briefly considered telling his dads what he had said at the most recent meeting of the Fourth Dimension, it turned out that the reason this time was the best reason of all—their son was simply hungry for some fatherly love and comfort. Next: Twelve (Pool Party)