Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2020 04:18:02 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Mayfield Titans  Chapter 37

Greetings and welcome back. It's adoption day for Justin, Pierce, Eddie,
and Curt. As fate would have it all four become official on the same day in
the same courtroom.

This will be my last post for the year. Merry Christmas to you all and I
will have 38 ready to go right after the New Year begins.

Please give to the Nifty Archive and keep the stories coming.

I enjoy your emails and thanks to those of you who wrote during the last
year, be it one or a dozen emails. I love them all. thehakaanen@hotmail.com

Douglas


CHAPTER 37
IT'S OFFICIAL

SATURDAY, JANUARY 10

<Aiden>

Saturday morning found snow still on the ground, but the roads were clear
and, except for the foothills, life was back to normal. Since he couldn't
come up with an excuse not to go, Aiden attended the Fourth Dimension
meeting. While his new service position didn't demand that he attend, Aiden
knew it would be a good idea if he did. For the next six months he was the
group's literature representative. A major part of his duties was to talk
about the literature they had on hand as well as what they didn't have on
hand.

There was one new person in attendance, Lyman North, who was fourteen and a
freshman at the high school. He had just over a month of sobriety and had
spent two weeks in a teen rehab facility. He appeared to be nervous,
especially since he knew most of the kids at the meeting, or at least knew
who they were. But he was greeted warmly by everyone and soon felt more at
ease.

After the meeting, Aiden walked to Gordy's house. Miles and Mason were
already there and the four spent the afternoon eating lunch, playing games,
and talking about various topics. Gordy's mother was amused by how
seemingly non-stop chatter could be spent on topics ranging from school, to
sports, to girls, to boys, to general gossip, to whatever else struck their
fancy.

Larry picked up Aiden a little before four o'clock. Aiden would be having
dinner with Marty and spending the night with him. He had his overnight
things packed and sitting on his bed and wanted Marty to pick him up at
home because, well that was the way he wanted it done.

Aiden and Marty had dinner at the Mayfield Café. Marty had a ribeye,
medium rare and Aiden had fish and chips. After dessert, they enjoyed an
evening in Marty's apartment on the Bednarzyk property, talking about
topics that were bothering Aiden and Mariner spring training, which would
be starting in February. Of course, Aiden had made himself comfortable by
stripping down to just the Mariner t-shirt and Mariner boxers he had been
wearing. He knew that pleased Marty because Marty had told him so.

One of the topics bothering Aiden was what a person could do about a
teammate with a bad attitude. Marty said about all he could do was show the
"slacker" how the game was played by playing hard and playing smart. What
Marty didn't say was that the higher he moved up the baseball hierarchy
from middle school to the professionals, the more vocal leaders were that
he played with. They were teammates who didn't tolerate bullshit. His
feeling was that at the middle school level it was best to lead by example
rather than with one's mouth. In fact, that was probably the best way at
any level.

"Are you going to be the regular starter at third base this season?" Aiden
asked.

"That's my goal. I have no control over how that will work out—I can
only control what I do and go from there."

"Well, I don't see anybody better than you right now, so I think I'm going
to be watching you a lot at third base."

"I always enjoy visiting with my biggest fan," Marty chuckled.

Before bedtime, Marty and Aiden had their usual discussion about Aiden
sleeping naked with Marty and, as usual, Aiden lost. Still, he had to
try. Aiden wore just his boxers and liked that Marty didn't fight him off
when he snuggled up to him and wrapped his right arm around his muscular
torso.

Rich, Jeffrey, and Nick were in the main house talking amongst themselves
as well as with Jeffrey and Sammy's parents. Sammy was overnighting with
Jackson and Trent. He hadn't been sure who he would end up in bed with when
he left for their house.

Nick and Jeffrey's on and off relationship was back on. Nick had
transferred to Pepperdine for the upcoming semester and he and Jeffrey
would be living together in a dorm.

"Girls are impossible to deal with," Nick complained. "But then, so is
Jeffrey, but he has the advantage that I love him because he puts up with
all my weirdness."

"I do that only because you're a good fuck," Jeffrey said.

The three planned on piling into Jeffrey's bed with nothing specific
planned beyond having SEX. Rich having sex with Jeffrey was Marty's
idea. "Then Jeffrey will be able to say he knows both of us intimately,"
Marty joked with Rich and Jeffrey. They took Marty seriously. The addition
of Nick was a bonus.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 11

<Aiden>

"Who's got first shower?" Aiden asked sleepily when Marty woke him.

"I've already taken it," Marty grinned.

"Rats. I was hoping maybe we could shower together." Then Aiden's eyes lit
up when he saw that his idol was naked. "But there's nothing to say you
can't have a second shower in the morning."

"Dream on, sport."

Aiden climbed out of bed and shucked his underpants, displaying his morning
wood for Marty. "If you shower with me, you get to see this for the whole
shower."

"I must admit that sounds tempting. That is a fine piece of meat you're
sporting, sport. How big is that monster these days?"

"It's over four inches and it shoots," Aiden said proudly.

"No pubic hair yet, I see."

"How come everybody makes a big deal about me not having pubic hair. I'm
only twelve so it's not that big a deal."

"I thought you were almost thirteen," Marty chuckled.

"I am, except for when people give me shit about not having hair. Now, do
you want to come into the shower with me and admire my `monster" or not?"

"I want to do it, but I'm not going to do it. So, you go into the shower
and wash up and do whatever needs to be done to tame that savage monster
and keep it happy so we can get ready for the kick ass breakfast Mrs. B is
going to serve up."

"How do you know it's a kick ass breakfast?"

"I know because Mrs. B ALWAYS cooks up kick ass breakfasts."

Aiden headed to the bathroom. Marty picked up Aiden's discarded boxers and
tossed them on the bed. He picked out fresh underwear, shirt, and pants for
himself and got dressed as his protégé showered. Marty wondered if
Aiden really was taking care of taming the beast.

After a quick jerkoff in which he fantasized about sleeping naked with
Marty and then showering with him, Aiden washed himself quickly and came
out of the shower. Marty noted that Aiden was flaccid. Aiden dressed and
accompanied Marty to the main house for what was, indeed, a kick ass
breakfast.

When Aiden skyped with Nolan that afternoon, he told him about cuddling up
with Marty, seeing Marty naked in the morning, and undressing in front of
Marty before heading for the shower.

"I think Marty liked seeing my boner," Aiden told his boyfriend. "Anyway,
my morning wood was more than just morning wood, it was horny morning wood,
so I jerked off in the shower before I washed."

"What gay dude wouldn't like seeing your hardon?" Nolan inquired. "It is
one of the Seven Wonders of the Mayfield Gay World after all."

"You're silly."

"I swear I was being truthful. Too bad you couldn't talk him into showering
with you—maybe he would have jerked you off."

"I tried. But better yet would be having you in the shower."

"What would we do during a shower?"

Aiden told him, and ten minutes later he and Nolan had cummy bellies.

After logging off Skype, Aiden texted Happy Birthday to Everett who was
celebrating his fourteenth birthday. His birthday with his family was at a
steak and seafood restaurant in Olympia. "Eating pizza with you guys at The
Bear would have been way more fun," Everett told his teammates after
Friday's practice.

MONDAY, JANUARY 12

"Nice hat," Kalie said to Aiden when he sat next her on the bus. "Too bad
it's not a Mariner hat."

"I always wear a Titans hat on game days," Aiden reminded her.

"I don't see why, since you don't wear a hat playing basketball."

"I can't wear it in school either. It's what my Pop calls, tradition."

"My playing with your penis in the morning on the bus used to be a
tradition, too."

"And it's also a tradition that I never get off on the day of a game until
after the game."

"I know, I'm just giving you a hard time. Are you going to beat this
undefeated team?" Kalie asked, referring to the Monte Bulldogs.

"If we can stop Skyler Winsley, I'm sure we will win. But nobody's stopped
him yet."

That was the theme during lunch too. Aiden saw Alex sitting at a distant
table but made no attempt no talk to him. He didn't want his thinking
messed up talking to an asswaffle like Alex. He saved his chatter for his
friends and teammates, many of whom gave him a good luck fist bump to help
him on defense.

"We stop Skyler we got a great chance of winning the varsity game," Miles
said. "If we stop everybody, we have a chance of winning our game." From
what he had seen of the scores, the Monte JV was a good team and much more
balanced than the varsity.

The JV game started before school was out. The Titans found themselves in a
tough match. When the varsity players started filing into the gym, the
second half was about to start with the Bulldogs holding a 17-13 lead over
the Titans. Aiden spotted Nolan's new friend, Greg, on the floor. Aiden
knew Greg wore number 14 which made him easy to spot. Nolan was right,
Aiden thought, the dude is sexy cute.

The second half score was 13-13 and Monte walked off with a 30-26 win over
Mayfield on the Titans' home floor. The loss left the JV with a 6-2
record. Lenny led the Titans with 7 points and Tanner was the rebounding
leader with 6.

Aiden felt ready for his defensive assignment. He was surprised that while
Skyler was taller than he was, he wasn't three feet taller like he had
imagined at times; the difference was more like three inches, which was
often a significant difference in basketball, but was something Aiden felt
he could work with. The three-foot difference was a bizarre thought he had
to keep kicking out of his head as he tried to get into his zone.

The first quarter surprised everyone, including Aiden. Aiden played with
his anchor down and his nose in Skyler's bellybutton, as Coach Randall
liked to describe a player displaying hard-nosed defense. While Skyler had
the height advantage, Aiden was quicker afoot and was constantly harassing
Skyler. Where Aiden had the big disadvantage was on the boards. Even when
he blocked Skyler off the boards, the bigger player was able to snatch some
rebounds away from Aiden without fouling him.

On the offensive end of the floor, the Titans took advantage of the
Bulldogs' indifferent zone with a lot of reverse action. Moving the ball
from side to side was a time-honored way of beating a zone. The play that
was working for them was reversing the ball from a forward to the point
guard at the head of the key and then to the weakside forward on the
opposite side of the floor. As they did that, the off guard was cutting to
the baseline. The forward threw a cross court pass to the guard, who would
catch and shoot as the mediocre zone was slow to react to the pass. If he
didn't have a shot, the guard would reverse the ball to the point guard,
who would hit the weakside forward again, who was often open for the shot
or able to dump a pass inside.

Aiden was the off guard and was open four times in the first quarter for
the cross-court pass. He hit three of the four, taking one of the good
shots just outside the three-point line. He had seven points in the first
quarter and held Skyler to three. Aiden won his part of the quarter and the
rest of the team won theirs, holding a 12-5 lead at the quarter.

The second quarter was a similar story with a different cast. Aiden picked
up his second foul a minute into the quarter. Coach Randall had a two-foul
rule. When a player committed his second foul in the first half, he was
substituted for. Randall didn't want to have anyone in foul trouble before
half-time. Aiden knew he would be coming out and gave way to Max. Max took
Barry's man and Barry shifted to guarding Skyler.

Barry and Skyler were the same height, but Skyler was a little
quicker. Barry was well-drilled in defense, however, and stayed with
Skyler, getting exceptional help from his teammates when Skyler managed to
get around him. While Skyler wasn't as frustrated as he had been when Aiden
was on him, he still had to work for everything he got. He scored four
points in the second quarter and the Titans outscored the Bulldogs 11-9,
taking a 23-14 lead into the locker room.

Aiden was back on Skyler in the third quarter. Coach Randall reminded the
team of things they had worked on in practice during his half-time talk and
the team took those points of emphasis to heart. Once again, the Titans
used a combination of great individual defense along with excellent team
defense to hold Skyler to two points and the Bulldogs to five. The Titans
had a 32-19 lead after three. Aiden scored another three points on a made
basket on which he was fouled. He had 10 points to Skyler's 9 and Skyler
had played all eighteen minutes to Aiden's thirteen.

Marty was sitting in the stands with Larry, Phil, and Rich. They were
impressed with the hard-nosed man-to-man the Titans were playing; not just
hard-nosed but fundamentally sound. The fourth quarter was a matter of not
blowing a thirteen-point lead. The Bulldogs were an explosive team and
could put on a run at any time. But they became their own worst enemies by
putting on a half-court trapping defense. The Titans immediately went into
their half-court press break, and before the Bulldogs knew it the Titans
broke the press four times for lay-ins before their coach called off the
trap.

Barry and Aiden kept Skyler at bay until he came out of the game with three
minutes left and a season low 13 points. The Titans were holding a 44-23
lead and finished with a 48-28 win. Aiden finished with a season high 12
points to lead the team in scoring. Blake was the rebound leader with 11.

There was no hanky-panky in the showers after the game. The players were
tired, and their minds were totally on their great win over a previously
undefeated team. They were certain Meadow Park, their next opponent, was
still undefeated since they were playing Clark Pass. Kentburg had their bye
so there was no doubt they were still undefeated.

Aiden met Nolan on Skype after he got home. Nolan wasn't surprised by the
Titans' win, but he was surprised that they won by 20 points over a team
that had been undefeated. On the flip side he was unhappy that the Coyotes
had to outscore Clark Pass 12-4 in the fourth quarter to eke out a 29-23
win.

"They ran out of gas," Nolan told Aiden, "or they would have won their
first game of the season and done it against an undefeated team. I know
this sounds weird, but damn I hope they win a couple of games. Those guys
work their fucking asses off, but they're just too small and too young. But
I'll tell you this, we better watch our asses next year because I think
they're going to be good."

TUESDAY, JANUARY 13

<Pierce>

As Pierce sat with Walker in the waiting room of Judge Wilson's chambers,
he thought about what a great day it had been so far. His extra work at
school was paying off. Mrs. Andrews, who was one of the school's guidance
counselors, told him that when the new semester started in a couple of
weeks, his schedule would be changed.

He would be taking freshman English at the Lake Union Academy first
period. Lake Union was a private high school that had a close working
relationship with Whitney Middle School.

His math class would be changed from advanced math to pre-algebra, which he
would take sixth period at Whitney. His current math teacher had set up
Pierce's lessons to prepare him for the step up.

The algebra instructor was a high school teacher and the class was
essentially a high school class. His Dad, who had taken the day off, sat in
on the meeting and agreed with the changes. He would drop Pierce off at the
high school in the morning and the high school would transport Pierce to
the middle school after class in a school van. He was told there would be
four other students riding with him. The two schools were just a few blocks
from each other, but chances were he would be late for second
period. Mrs. Andrews said his tardiness would be excused in advance, but
that he should remember to enter his second period Physical Education class
with as little fanfare as possible.

The long-term plan for him was to take summer classes which, along with his
new second semester classes, should have him ready to enter high school as
a sophomore instead of a freshman. Pierce was warned it would require a
great deal of work on his part. He responded by saying he had no problem
with working hard.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard his name being called by the
judge's clerk. He was escorted into the chambers of Judge Shelley Wilson
for his final interview before approval of the adoption decree. The judge
interviewed him for almost a half-hour and was impressed by what she
heard. She had already talked to Mrs. Andrews, to Walker, to the Child
Protective Services social worker assigned to the case, and to two
references given to her by Walker. She had no doubt that Pierce was in the
right place to spend his high school years.

"I'm going to sign the decree," Judge Wilson told Pierce. It was all he
could do to not whoop for joy. "but it is not official until after I
officially declare you Walker Bledsoe's legal son. I have one last question
for you, Pierce."

"Yes, Your Honor?"

"I can either keep your legal name Pierce Grayson or change it to Pierce
Bledsoe. That is your call."

"After what happened in my family, that's a total no brainer; I want to be
Pierce Bledsoe."

"I expected that to be your answer," the judge said with a smile. At the
same time, she was thinking to herself "Damn, this boy's got beautiful
eyes."

"Can I change my middle name, too?"

"That is possible providing you do it now."

"Then I want my new legal name to be Pierce Walker Bledsoe," Pierce
grinned. "Yes, I already got Dad's okay for it."

"Then after your court hearing, that shall be your new name. I think that
should be a good birthday present, don't you?"

"Wow, you knew it's my birthday?" Pierce quickly answered his own
question. "I guess it is on my records. But, wow, Thursday is going to be
my best birthday ever."

<Justin>

When Pierce walked into the waiting room, he saw a young boy seated with
two men. He wasn't surprised to see his Dad engaged in conversation with
one of the men; he knew his Dad was an outgoing, friendly man.

He heard the clerk's voice behind him calling for Justin McKenzie. The boy
and the two men stood up and were escorted into the judge's chambers.

"I take it you didn't fall on your ass," Walker said as he looked at his
smiling son.

"Excuse me? Fall on my ass?"

"When I had my talk with Judge Wilson this morning, she told me that she
would approve the adoption unless you fell flat on your ass, so apparently
you stood tall."

"She really said that?"

"I'll leave that up to your imagination."

"Who was the guy you were talking to other than somebody who knows that
little kid?"

"That is Ryan, who is one of the boy's fathers. The big guy is his other
father. Ryan works for me and is one of my top programmers. His work is
what they use on the light rail from the East Side to the airport to ensure
it doesn't crash into the train from downtown to the airport—at least
that's what he tells me," Walker said half-kiddingly. "His husband is a
middle school teacher. I knew he and his husband were looking to adopt the
kid, but I didn't know we would be bumping into each other today."

"I guess Ryan didn't program that meeting into his data base. Wow, so a gay
couple is going to adopt that little kid...interesting," Pierce said. "I
bet there's a good story behind that."

"Their adoption hearing is right after yours on Thursday. I invited them to
join us and Eddie's family at Luigi's. You'll be able to get to know a lot
of people better."

"There's so much good shit going on in my life right now, I can't even keep
track of it," Pierce grinned. "And if I haven't told you this yet through
all the stuff you've been doing for me this week, I love you, Dad, and
don't you forget it."

Walker gave his soon to be official son's shoulder a squeeze. "Trust me, I
won't forget it; your love is very special to me. I love you, too
kiddo—I love you big time."

Because children under twelve years old had to have an adult sit in on
their interview with the judge, Ryan and Mike sat with Justin while Judge
Wilson asked a series of standard questions. The law allowed her a brief
amount of time to interview the child without the parents after the main
interview. She was required to have another adult with her, in this case
her law clerk. She had a set of five standard questions for the solo
interview which Justin answered satisfactorily.

One of her questions was what Justin's legal name would be. His dads had
told him that he would be asked that. Justin had told his dads at dinner
the night before that he wanted his middle name to be changed from George,
who was some relative of his mom's he didn't know, to McKenzie so he could
always remember his Mom, his Dad, and his Grans every time he saw his
name. Mike and Ryan found themselves holding back tears when Justin told
them his choice with obvious heartfelt love.

After Judge Wilson finished her interview, she thanked Justin for being so
well-behaved and patient. She asked the clerk to retrieve Justin's fathers
and she soon ushered Ryan and Mike back into the chambers.

"I will see you all on Thursday to make the adoption official," Judge
Wilson told them. "Congratulations to Justin McKenzie Boyer," she grinned.

"Yippee for me," Justin squeaked as the Boyer family left the room.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14

<Eddie and Curt>

While Judge Wilson was required to interview all adoptees, she knew her
interviews of Eddie and Curt would be cursory. Their soon to be father was
the King County Prosecutor, after all. The story of how he and his wife
Susan had taken the boys off the streets was an inspiring one and she was
eager to talk to the boys. She had seen Troy Miller's birth sons at a
couple of social functions and was impressed by their politeness, poise,
and intelligence.

Since Curt was thirteen and Eddie was twelve, she could interview them
without their parents present, but she liked having the entire family
involved in all interviews no matter what the age of the adoptee. She would
finish by asking each boy her five questions without the parents present.

During her interviews she could see that Eddie had a bit of an attitude at
times. In her one-on-one interview with him, there were a couple of times
when he seemed proud of his street skills and had a bit of a chip on his
shoulder. She knew that Troy and Susan understood they had a daunting task
on their hands, but she had every confidence they were up to seeing it
through. Eddie admitted that not only did his new mother and father set
high expectations, but so did his brothers. He told Judge Wilson that
becoming a Miller was the best thing to ever happen to him.

Curt, on the other hand, was a boy who had been through a great deal of
hurt. But he was also a boy who was proud of how he was dealing with his
problems and was happy he was becoming part of a loving family. He put in a
good word for Eddie, telling the judge how Eddie had helped him when he
ended up on the streets. He didn't go into the sexual angle, but he did
describe Eddie as a big-hearted person who he loved like a brother even
before he knew they would become brothers.

Judge Wilson finished her interviews with Curt, Eddie, Troy, and Susan
together in her office. Both boys stated they wanted their last name
changed to Miller but that they would keep their middle names. She signed
the adoption papers to the smiles of all four. "I look forward to seeing
you boys in court tomorrow," the judge said.

"Our brothers will be there," Curt informed her. "Then we'll be a real
family of brothers."

Judge Wilson smiled. Everyone rose with her and she shook the hands of the
two boys. It's days like this that help me love my job, the judge smiled to
herself.

<Aiden>

Aiden was pleased Kalie didn't bring up his hat when he took his seat next
to her on the bus. His mind was on the night game against Meadow Park and
Nolan and he didn't want to be bothered by silly stuff. Kalie knew Aiden
well enough to not bring up the topic right then, but she wasn't going to
remain silent about it forever either.

Since the game against the Coyotes was a night game, Aiden ate a hot lunch
and right after school was out he had a sandwich his Dad had packed
away. He sat with Trent and Scott to watch the JV game. He and Nolan
exchanged sly waves across the court, which elicited some good-natured
joking from Aiden's two friends.

Gordy played the entire first half, scoring ten points as the Coyote
defense conceded some open shots to him as they tried to pack the middle to
keep the ball from going inside to Tanner and Muddy. They weren't
successful in that endeavor, especially when they realized they were going
to have to pressure Gordy. The Titans held a 22-14 lead at the half.

When the JV came out of the locker room, the varsity players replaced them
and started preparing for the varsity game. Aiden knew that Gordy would be
sitting out a quarter of the JV game so he could suit up varsity. He
figured Lenny or Lance would replace him. Even though they were only sixth
graders, they were as good as any of the guards on the JV except for
Gordy. The JV finished with a 33-27 win over the Meadow Park JV.

The Titans would be playing an undefeated team for the third straight game
and the players were determined to win two of the three—which meant
winning this one. The Titan players knew that the Coyotes were struggling,
but they also understood that the zero in the loss column said all that
needed to be said. While Aiden wasn't starting this game, he knew he would
get plenty of playing time and hoped that he would get a chance to play
defense on Nolan.

The game ended up being a disaster for Meadow Park. The Coyotes weren't
mentally prepared for the "in-your-face" style of man-to-man defense the
Titans were now playing. Coach Randall's preaching about defense and, more
importantly, his incessant defensive drilling, was bearing fruit.

The Coyotes barely got a sniff of the basket in the first quarter, getting
off only five hurried shots. They found themselves on the short end of a
12-0 score.

"You can't blame me for this one," Roland Barker snarled. "I'm not the only
one missing shots." Since Roland had only taken four of the team's five
shots, in a sense he was right.

Coach Billings glared at Roland, who glared back but said nothing. The
coach mouthed some banalities about sucking it up and playing hard and it
was still early, and anything could happen. He didn't believe it and
neither did anybody else.

Aiden got his wish as he and Nolan each started the second quarter. "Coach
said you're my man," Aiden told his boyfriend.

"That will make scoring even sweeter," Nolan said, forgetting that his
entire team had yet to score. The Titans scored the first four points of
the second quarter before the Coyotes finally got on the board on a basket
by Nolan. He didn't score it off Aiden, however. He scored it off Everett
on a fast break layup as Everett didn't get back as quickly as he should
have. Unlike what was happening with the Coyotes, it wasn't Everett's lack
of hustle, it was confusion on his part as to who was supposed to be back
for the fast break on a missed shot. Nolan's basket made the score
16-2. The teams went into the locker room at the half with Mayfield leading
21-2.

Two of Mayfield's baskets in the second quarter came because Roland didn't
bother playing defense. He simply waved at whoever had the ball and watched
him score. After the second wave, Coach Billings pulled him. That they had
just watched Roland play his last minutes of Coyote basketball didn't
surprise many of the Meadow Park fans in the gym; they weren't seeing
anything new from the malcontent.

Both coaches substituted freely in the second half. Mayfield's bench was
better than Meadow Park's and the Titans ended up with a 41-12 win. The
Titan players weren't surprised by the win. They felt going into the game
that they had a good chance of giving the Coyotes their first loss of the
season. What surprised them (and the rest of the Seamount League) was the
score; a 29-point win in a game everyone had expected to be close.

Aiden finished with five points, three assists, three steals, and a
turnover. Nolan ended up with five points and five rebounds in the
loss. Overall, it was a satisfying win for the Titans and a nightmare for
the Coyotes.

When Aiden and Nolan met on Skype later that evening, Nolan was as pissed
off as Aiden had ever seen him. "All I gotta say is Coach Billings better
kick Roland's sorry ass off the team," Nolan snarled.

"It seems to me like he's got no choice," Aiden responded. "He killed you
guys with his attitude and with the way he played."

"Yeah, but his dad is friends with a couple of guys on the school board and
I think Coach is scared of them."

"Well, somebody has to do something about it."

"Some of us on the team have talked about quitting if Coach doesn't at
least suspend him. And before you ask, yes, I told dad how I felt."

"What did he say?" Aiden asked.

"He said to hold tight and see what happens. He also said if nothing was
done tomorrow, he and Carter's dad would have a talk with coach and the
principal. And you know my dad—he's a pretty nice guy, but you don't
want to fuck around with Judge Moyer."

That was pretty much the extent of their conversation. There would be no
jerking off that night, both because it was late and because Nolan was in
no mood for it. Aiden hadn't even asked about doing it—he read his
boyfriend's mood perfectly.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 15

<Family Court>

The adoption hearings were scheduled for four o'clock and were the last
thing on the Family Court docket. Judge Wilson had five adoptions on the
docket, all boys. Her clerk informed her at twenty minutes to four that all
the parties had arrived, which made the Judge happy. It meant she could
start on time. Traffic and parking were always a problem in Seattle and
sometimes, no matter how early someone thought they were going to be, they
ended up being late because of that.

Pierce greeted Eddie and Curt. They laughed over the coincidence of their
adoption hearings being on the same day. Curt introduced Drake, who was
attending the ceremony with his adoptive father, Keegan. Drake had been
through the procedure and knew what Eddie and Curt were thinking. Added to
that, he thought that Pierce was one unbelievably hot dude. The feeling was
mutual.

They talked about the reception at Luigi's after the hearing. "It's cool
that we got the party room for our two families," Eddie said.

"Three families," Pierce corrected him.

"How?"

"See that little boy over there—no, not the baby, the other one."

"Yeah. What about him?"

"Well, my dad is the boss of one of his dads. They just found out a couple
of days ago their adoption ceremonies were on the same day. So, they'll be
joining us."

"Sounds good to me," Curt said. "It looks like it will be a giant party. I
hope Luigi has plenty of pizza dough. Go get him so we can find out who he
is," he instructed Logan.

The best thing about the party at Luigi's is that Tony texted that he would
be there, Logan thought to himself as he walked over to invite Justin to
join the group.

The adults, who seemed to be forgotten in the proceedings, chatted busily
with each other. Troy introduced his brothers, Keegan and Phil, to
Walker. Troy hadn't known that Phil and Keegan knew Mike and Ryan.

"Larry apologizes for not being able to make it," Phil said. Troy and
Keegan had known in advance that Larry wouldn't be able to make it as well
as Aiden. They both sent video congratulations to Curt, Eddie, and Justin,
plus they would be seeing Justin the next day.

They also introduced themselves to Brandon and Shirley Vogel who were
adopting a sixteen-month-old baby who was about to become Aidan
Vogel. Susan, who was the only other mother in the courtroom, wished them
the best of luck. Phil asked them how the baby's name was spelled and
Brandon spelled it for them. Phil told them that his son's name was also
Aiden and even though the names were spelled differently he was a great kid
with a great name, and they should expect the same from their Aidan.

"You're all adopting older boys," Brandon noted. "That must take a great
deal of courage," he chuckled.

The Vogel spouses each had their own parents there to witness the
ceremony. Susan invited all of them to their party, telling them there
would be plenty of food. Shirley thanked her and said they had already made
their dinner plans.

The boys' chatter stopped when a lady accompanied by two dark haired boys
entered the courtroom. "Tony!" "Marco!" Logan and Justin called out at the
same time. They quickly moved over to their friends.

"What are you doing here?" Justin asked Marco. "You're not being adopted."

A lot of boys, Marco's brother Tony for one, would have come up with a
smart response to Justin's comment, but Marco simply said, "I came to watch
you get a family of your own." His mother, Marne, was impressed by the
length of her son's answer; generally, he would have replied, "I came to
watch," and left it at that.

"Cool. Come sit with me."

"I was hoping to see you at the party," Logan said to Tony. "This is even
better. But how come you're here when none of your friends is being
adopted."

"Because that way mom could take Marco and me to the restaurant together,"
Tony replied.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I should have thought of that answer."

Pierce saw that it was five minutes to four and wondered when people were
going to start sitting down. His question was quickly answered when the
bailiff entered the courtroom and asked everyone to be seated. He knew that
nobody ever responded instantly to that request, so he gave plenty of
notice. He was pleased when everyone was seated and ready two minutes
before the judge was scheduled to enter the courtroom.

The adoption process was a combination of courtroom decorum and family
celebration. Judge Wilson was experienced enough to know how to keep things
calm when needed while allowing the gallery to celebrate when appropriate.

The Vogel family was called first. Judge Wilson wanted to take care of the
baby before he became cranky. Plus, she had learned in doing her interviews
that the other three adoptive families were connected in some way and
handling them consecutively was the right thing to do. As soon as the baby
officially became Aidan Lawrence Vogel, the grandparents cheered and
applauded and the flashbulbs went off, which started young Aidan
shrieking. When Phil heard Aidan's middle name, he couldn't help but be
amused by how the names of the baby were connected to his family.

After the Vogels were finished, Justin was called up next. Mike, Ryan, and
Justin's grandmother, Amy McKenzie, applauded and smiled proudly. Marco
said just loudly enough for everyone to hear, "He's my friend," and then
watched quietly.

As soon as the formalities were completed, Judge Wilson declared Justin to
be, "Justin McKenzie Boyer." Justin held up his certificate and smiled for
the cameras that flashed. Marco held up a sign that read, "Congrats Justin
Boyer," which he had made himself using crayons, and snuck in under his
coat. Marne and Amy took pictures of Justin and his two dads and then Marne
took a couple of pictures of them with Amy. The picture that everyone ended
up loving the most was one taken before the posed group shots. It was taken
by Ryan and showed Justin holding up his official certificate flashing a
smile that truly lit up the room.

Pierce was next. Walker was the only person in the courtroom who had come
just for Pierce's confirmation, but he did have friends there. And those
friends made themselves known after he received his certificate and
officially became Pierce Walker Bledsoe. Ryan and Marne ended up being the
chief picture takers while Curt, Eddie, and Drake provided the most
enthusiastic applause. Pierce knew Drake was a member of the Miller family
and thought he was one hot boy. He wanted to know the outgoing teen even
better.

The finals consisted of Eddie and then Curt. Each had their own ceremony,
their own applause, their own signs, and had their own pictures taken. But
the last pictures were of Eddie and Curt together and then a big Miller
family picture of Troy, Susan, and the four boys, with Eddie and Curt
proudly holding up their certificates in one of them.

Judge Wilson finally pounded her gavel, and everyone was seated. She
congratulated the new adoptees and court was adjourned. Pierce and Justin
ran up to the judge, gave her handshakes, and thanked her. Eddie and Curt
sheepishly followed them, upset that they didn't think of thanking the
judge first.

<Luigi's Italian Restaurant>

Everyone gathered their belongings, left the courtroom, and headed for
Luigi's for the celebratory dinner. The party room soon became noisy and
full of cheer. Camera flashes were frequent, laughter was frequent, and
soon, the food was plentiful.

Justin drifted to Marco and the boys talked about working on their parents
so they could have an overnight. Marco was happy that his new friend was so
happy.

Tony and Logan paired up, of course, and found ways to touch each
other. They sat next to each other while they waited for their food. When
their legs touched, Logan pressed on Tony's leg, causing Tony to pull away
quickly. Logan was sure that Tony had misunderstood his push, so he moved
his right leg so it touched Tony's left leg. Tony didn't pull back and
pushed Logan's leg. Logan then returned the pressure, causing both boys to
grin.

Logan made the next move, which was to touch Tony's left hand with his
right and they clasped fingers and squeezed. Their grins became even wider,
but they had to let go to eat. After Logan leaned close to Tony and
whispered that he had a boner, Tony whispered back that he had one,
too. Logan slyly reached down and squeezed Tony's erection through his
jeans. Tony looked at him with surprise and then grinned. They agreed that
an overnight was necessary soon.

"I gotta go to the bathroom," Logan said quietly.

"I'll come with you." Tony hoped Logan wouldn't think he was weird for
wanting to go with him, but having his cock squeezed made him think Logan
wouldn't have a problem with it.

As soon as they stepped into the small bathroom, Logan locked the
door. "Want to see my boner?"

"Duh, why else would I follow you into the bathroom?"

Logan quickly dropped his pants and underpants, showing off his hairless
three-and-half-inch erection. Tony hesitated for a moment since being
flashed in a bathroom was an entirely new experience for him. Then he
pulled down his pants and showed off his similarly sized tool. His crotch
was equally hairless.

"I think yours is bigger than mine," Tony said.

"It's close enough for government work is what my dad says. I'm not sure
what it means, but it sounds cool." Logan lightly touched the head of
Tony's erection. "I can think of another reason for you to follow me into
the bathroom than just doing show-and-tell," Logan said. "I can show you,
if you want."

"I want."

Logan leaned in and planted a kiss on Tony's lips while pushing his hardon
against his friend's. He started humping and kissed hard—he thought
about pushing his tongue against Tony's lips, but decided they had better
return to the party room before people began wondering where they went. He
broke the kiss and looked directly at Tony, who was flushed and breathing
hard.

"Were you okay with that?" Logan asked.

"It kinda surprised me but yeah, I'm more than okay." Tony cupped Logan's
balls and gave him a quick kiss.

"Now I really do have to pee," Logan grinned. The boys stood side-by-side
and peed into the toilet before pulling up their pants.

"You're a really cool friend, Logan," Tony said.

"So are you Tony. Now, let's see if you spend tomorrow night at my house."

The other pairing was Drake and Pierce. They had started flirting in the
courtroom and their actions continued while they ate. "We need to get
together," Drake said as they worked on their slices of pizza. "We're both
adopted, and I think we have a lot to talk about."

Drake had learned from his father that Pierce had lived a tough life.

"Tougher than mine?" Drake asked Keegan. "Like what?"

"I'm not at liberty to say but I think the two of you have a lot in common
and might enjoy getting together."

Drake thought that his dad was right. He found that he liked Pierce and was
certain the feeling was mutual. He wondered if Pierce was attracted to him
as he was to Pierce. His first impression of Pierce that he was one hot boy
simply amped up as they got to know each other better. Pierce's thoughts
about Drake were close to Drake's.

Pierce decided to get one thing out into the open, however. He didn't want
a budding friendship to end because he wasn't up front with Drake. "Before
we make any plans, would it bother you if I told you I was gay?"

Drake felt a rush of pleasure flow through his body and a tingle flow
through his crotch. This was even better than he imagined. "It would bother
me only if you were bothered by my being gay."

Pierce flashed a wide smile. "Well, like they say in this old movie, `I
think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.'"

"Then let's talk to our dads before this is over about us getting
together. And since I live way off on the east side, maybe we could talk
them into us making it an overnight."

The two teens noticed Logan and Tony returning to the party room together
after having left together. "I wonder what they were up to?" Pierce asked
quietly.

"Knowing Logan, I bet it had to do with sex," Drake smirked.

"Wow, that's my kind of cousin."

The arrival of pizza, lasagna, and spaghetti and meat balls quickly quieted
the room as the group concentrated on eating. There was cake to be eaten as
well, a large cake with the names of the four adoptees written on the
icing.

Tony and Logan were ecstatic when a Saturday overnight was okayed at
Logan's house. Pierce and Drake were told by Walker and Troy they would
have to wait for a get-together since Drake's parents would have to be
consulted first. Marco wanted an overnight that weekend and was
disappointed when Justin told him he was going to a wedding out of town
with his dads and would be away for a couple of days. They vowed to find a
way to have an overnight during an upcoming weekend, however.

Three pairs of boys got the okay for overnight visits as soon as they could
figure out when and where, which meant coordinating with the parents. But
for Justin and Pierce, the youngest and oldest adoptees, one of the best
days of their lives continued to get better. For Logan and Tony, their
flirting during the party told them that they were ready to take their
budding friendship to a different level.

Curt and Eddie hung out with Chase and didn't feel left out at all. Chase
would never let that happen. What Curt and Eddie felt they were missing at
the party was the kind of special friendships they saw happening. But that
evening it didn't matter, they were now a permanent part of a great family
and their lives felt great.

The four boys whose names were on the icing of the cake all felt the same
way: they were now official and on that night they couldn't ask for
anything more.

<Justin and Dads>

After dropping Amy off at the Woodward Retirement Home, the Boyer family
headed for their home. It was the first time the three of them were
together alone as the Boyer family. They might have enjoyed the event in
quiet contemplation if not for the gregarious eight-year-old in the
backseat.

"So, if me and Marco can't have an overnight together this weekend, when
can we have one?" Justin whined.

"We'll play it a weekend at a time," Ryan responded.

"Yeah, but..."

"End of story!"

"Okay, I won't ask again until next week. Why are we going to the wedding
in Mayfield?"

"We told you. It's because one of the grooms is Marty's brother. We were
invited because we all knew each other back when we were kids," Mike
replied.

"I thought you were older than Marty. And if you're older than Marty then
you're way older than his little brother, so how could you all know each
other?"

"Because of baseball and because we grew up in a small town."

"What does a small town have to do with it?"

"You are full of questions this evening," Mike chuckled. "It's just that in
a small-town people get to know more people because we see each other
more."

"Now I'll know eight married men," Justin said. "You and Daddy Dawg, Marty
and Rich, Uncle Phil and Uncle Larry and the guys we'll see get married."

"Mikey and Peter," Ryan said.

"Yeah, them. How come guys wanna marry each other? They can't have kids
that way."

"Hey, Dawg, is there anybody in the backseat?" Mike asked Ryan.

"Not that I know of," Ryan replied.

"Too bad. I think it might be nice if we adopted a boy to sit back there."

"I'm sure Larry and Phil wish they had kids, too."

"Okay, so they can have kids," Justin conceded. "But they can't get
pregnant and have kids."

"True, but we still can have kids to love very, very, very much," Mike
said, "just like we love you."

"And I love my dads. I can't wait to see Aiden again. I want to do more
stuff with my big bro. He's the best big bro in the whole universe."

"I'm sure he is, and I'm sure he's looking forward to seeing you, too,"
Ryan told him as he turned the car into their street.

That night after climbing into bed, Justin said good night to Kenneth, his
teddy bear, and directed him to keep the monsters under the bed at bay. He
knew Kenneth would follow through since he had never seen a bed monster
since he had Kenneth. Not that he had ever seen any before he had Kenneth,
but with Kenneth on guard he was positive he would never see one—ever.

He then thought about what Marco had said to him during the party when they
talked about spending a night together when he was sure nobody was
listening. "Do you think I can see you naked when we do our overnight?"

Justin was stunned by quiet, shy Marco's question, but he was not about to
drop the ball answering the question. Even though Marco was already nine,
Justin felt that they were equals. "Only if I can see you naked, too."

"Deal." That was the last thing Marco said until they had finished eating
and went to talk to their parents about overnighting.

And now Justin imagined Marco without any clothes on and hoped he would get
to see Aiden naked again. On this visit to Mayfield, Justin planned to find
any excuse he could to be "nakey" with his big bro.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16

<Aiden>

 Aiden's three-day weekend promised to be "crazy busy." Of course, there
was the day at school. He would be getting out early for the Titan
basketball game at Barrett. His pop would be at the game, although not
until after the opening tip, but his dad would be home making dinner and
being there to greet their overnight company if they arrived before he and
his pop got home.

Aiden was looking forward to having his little bro spending a night. Justin
was a bundle of energy and almost wore him out when he visited a couple of
weeks ago. But that had been New Year, and everybody was hyped up,
especially for the Happy Nude Year. Skip and Gage, who were close to
Justin's age, weren't as full of non-stop energy as the little
eight-year-old.

On Saturday afternoon they would be going to the wedding of Marty's brother
Mikey and Peter the steakhouse manager. After the wedding, Justin would be
heading home with his Donkey and Dawg dads. Saturday night would be his
only night of the weekend sleeping alone. He considered sleeping with his
dads just to fill the weekend but put off the decision for Saturday night.

Then came Sunday. The plan was for him to be dropped off at Nolan's house
at noon and then spend the afternoon, evening, and night with his
boyfriend. That was going to be the high point of his weekend no matter
what else happened. The Titans were expected to easily defeat the Barrett
Bruins, who had won only one game all season.

The game was as one sided as expected. The Titans jumped off to a 10-0 lead
and coasted to a 44-16 win. Aiden had seven points, five assists, three
steals, and no turnovers. Trent led the Titan scorers with 10 points and
Blake was the leading rebounder with six. The JV won 37-21. Lenny was the
leading scorer with nine points for the Titans.

The bus trip back to Mayfield was lively, but as far as Aiden knew at the
time, everyone kept their pants zipped. It wasn't until a couple of days
later the he learned that Mason had jerked Lenny off as a reward for his
good game.

After the bus ride, Aiden was picked up at the school by Larry. When they
arrived home they learned that their company should arrive in about
twenty-minutes. Aiden took his gear to his bedroom and then helped set the
table.

The company arrived as Aiden came back down the stairs. Justin and his dads
had left Seattle for Mayfield as soon as Mike came home from school. Ryan
had taken the afternoon off so Justin wouldn't have to wait at daycare or
at a friend's house.  Justin had been unhappy they weren't riding the train
and was assured that they would be train riding again.

"But for this trip, the car is the best way for us to travel," Mike told
him as they hit the freeway. Other than a stop at the Olympia Rest Area,
they drove non-stop to Mayfield.

Justin led the way up the steps to the front door and rang the doorbell,
giggling when he heard the opening bars to Beethoven's Fifth
Symphony. Larry answered the door and ushered the company into the house.

"This Donkey smells dinner," Mike grinned as he entered the house. "The
smell of good cooking's the best greeting a Donkey can receive."

Hugs and handshakes were exchanged with the biggest hug being the one
Justin clamped on Aiden, removing all negative thoughts Aiden had about
Justin wearing him out. Let the little imp try to wear me out, because I'm
ready for him, Aiden thought. He's way too sweet and loveable to ever wear
me out.

After dinner Aiden and Justin went downstairs to the game room. "You were
pretty good at ping pong when you were here before," Aiden said. "Wanna
play a game?"

"I wanna BEAT you in a game, not play it," Justin giggled.

"Okay then, let's see you put your money where your mouth is. But ping pong
is more fun to play if we take off our jeans and play in our underpants."

"How about playing nakey?"

"Underpants!"

"Okay, but then we get to play two games instead of one."

Aiden readily agreed. "Great, that means I get to beat you twice."

That was not quite what happened. Justin hustled his buns off in the first
game and won 11-8. Justin pranced around the table chanting, "I won, I won,
I beat my big bro, I won, won..." It was all Aiden could do to step in
front of Justin to give him a high five—he was furious. He felt like he
had all but given the game to his little bro.

Aiden reacted to Justin's victory as any competitive athlete would—he
played harder and better. For the second game he moved his mental state
from the "I love little Justin" mode it had been in, to being almost in one
of his zones.  The result was an 11-4 win. Justin stuck out his hand and
shook his big bro's hand. "My big bro played a good game. Nice game, big
bro."

Justin's response surprised and embarrassed Aiden.  "You played a pretty
good one yourself," Aiden conceded. And he knew it was the truth; his
little bro was a good player and a good little athlete, and a good sport as
well.

"Now what?" Justin asked.

"Let's go up to my room. I want to look at the basketball scores and see if
Nolan is online."

"Nolan is your boyfriend, right?"

"That's right."

"Are you going to get married like our dads and Marty and Rich and the two
guys getting married tomorrow?"

"Deciding to do that is a long way off, bro," Aiden chuckled. "Right now,
we're happy just to be boyfriends."

Aiden picked his pants off the foosball table where he had tossed
them. Justin did the same and asked if he had to put his pants on to go
upstairs.

"Nope. Around here, undies rule," Aiden replied.

When the boys raced past the adult room, Justin ducked into the room,
wiggled his hips in his tighty whities, and yelled out, "Undies rule!
Undies rule!" and the boys zipped upstairs to the sound of adult laughter.

Next: Newbies and Veterans