Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2021 23:20:29 +0000 (UTC) From: Albert Collins Subject: You were there - part 41 Disclaimer: This is a romantic love story about love between young adolescent boys. There are some explicit sex scenes in the story but they are not the main focus of the story. So if you are looking for a story with a lot of explicit sex action, you are in the wrong place. If you like to read a sappy romantic tory with occasional kinky sex scenes, then please sit back and enjoy! Thanks again to all those who wrote with comments, encouragement and feedback! Of course, as usual, comments and constructive criticism are welcome! albert.c87@yahoo.com *************************** Knowledge is pitiless 'The Orange Catholic Bible', Dune, Frank Herbert Do not scorn pity that is the gift of a gentle heart The Return of the King, JRR Tolkien ********************* You were there -- Part 41 Diego woke up with a start and rolled to his side, sharply elbowing Luke in the rib. "Ou!" Luke jumped up from his sleep and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What was that for? And what time is it?" "Sorry," Diego apologized and kissed Luke sweetly. "I think I was having a weird dream." "Yeah, what about?" Luke reached for his phone. "Damn, it's still only 6:15." "Don't remember," Diego frowned a little. "I just know I gotta get moving." "Wait, Diego, wait!" Luke tried to catch Diego's arm but missed. "We could still sleep for another hour. Come back to bed." He lay back down and winked at Diego slyly. "Gotta get moving," Diego disappeared into the bathroom. "Crazy little elf," Luke muttered looking after Diego's trim form. "But with a very cute butt!" He yawned, stretched on the bed, hugged the pillow and closed his eyes. The next few days before the start of school passed quickly and relatively uneventfully. Luke and Diego continued helping Yasha get around and get used to using his crutches. All of the kids were having a ball playing with Roxie, and even performing the litter duty became the object of competition. "Well, that's it, no more long nights of sleep and breakfast after 8 for us," Luke remarked on Sunday morning as the kids gathered in the common room after breakfast. Luke was stretching lazily on a couch, with Roxie on his chest, petting her absent-mindedly. "What?" Diego queried. "How do you mean?" "First day of school tomorrow, Diego, dude," Luke chuckled. "Welcome to the seventh grade! Classes start at 8am. Breakfast at 7:10, sharp." "Oh, man!" Ritchie groaned. "This has gotta be illegal!" "Wait, 8am, even for them?" Diego nodded towards Yasha and Toby. "No, their classes start at 9," Luke explained. "But they still usually eat with us, right, Toby, buddy?" "Sure, Luke," Toby smiled, "it's more fun that way." "But Ritchie is right," Luke added. "It really sucks ... I heard Mr Frank and some of the parents are making trouble. Trying to get the school board to get all the classes start at 9. I donno, maybe it'll work out but I doubt it ..." "Yeah, we need our beauty sleep!" Ritchie seconded. "Beauty sleep!" Luke burst into laughter and rolled off the couch. "Ritchie, man, you gotta warn me when you do that, he-he!" He lay on the couch and picked up Roxie again. "Anyway, we aren't getting no beauty sleep tomorrow. Or the the after." Ritchie groaned again. Later that day Luke finally got a haircut, expertly performed by Rafael. Diego watched the process with fascination. Rafael cut Luke's hair quite short although not quite as short as Diego's, and he did the other kids' haircuts as well. Also on Sunday afternoon, Luke and Manny started constructing a new cat tree for Roxie but the project was less than half way finished yet. In the evening when Luke and Diego were cuddled on the couch in their room, Diego slowly run his fingers through Luke's now short but still noticeably wavy soft brown hair. "So, my sneaky elf-boy Delilah," Luke chuckled softly, "you got your wish. I'm powerless now, he-he! How do you like it?" "It's beautiful," Diego replied seriously, tweaking a short lock of Luke's hair. "I love it." He kissed the top of Luke's head. "Damn it, I do feel completely powerless!" Luke giggled again as he took Diego in his arms and kissed him tenderly on the lips. The boys quietly cuddled on the couch for another twenty minutes, enjoying each other's comfort, before calling it a night. In the morning the alarm on Luke's phone woke them at 6:25. "Come on, man, come on!" Luke quickly pulled the groggy Diego out of bed and towards the bathroom. "We gotta hustle!" "Ritchie is right!" Diego yawned widely. "This has got to be illegal!" "Come on, city boy!" Luke joked. "I know just what might wake you up, he-he!" He gave Diego a mischievous grin and winked at him slyly. Diego blushed but didn't protest and followed Luke to the bathroom. They quickly shacked off their PJs and stepped under the warm shower. "Yeah, this is nice," Diego remarked, soaping up Luke's strong naked body with his hands. "No, strike that, this is very nice!" "Hands off, buster, no time for that!" Luke parried with a laugh as he moved away Diego's hands. Diego made a pouty face. "I promise, we'll do that later!" Luke leaned in and gave Diego a quick kiss. The boys quickly finished their shower and brushed their teeth. As Diego was putting his toothbrush away, he looked up at his reflection in the mirror. The boy looking back had a serious and friendly expression on his face but a shade of worry and watchfulness could be seen in his large warm brown eyes. Diego blinked several times. "I definitely grew at least at inch," he reflected, "and put on a few pounds." Luke's smiling happy face moved next to his and Diego felt Luke envelop him in a warm embrace. "Quite a looker, isn't he?" Luke pressed his cheek to Diego's as his green eyes twinkled playfully. "He has his moments," Diego allowed with a gentle smile. "And he's all mine!" Luke kissed Diego softly. "But now we really have to hustle!" They hurried back inside their room and started getting dressed. When Luke and Diego got to the clubhouse, it was still only 7am. "You know, Luke," Diego remarked as he put his backpack in the corner. "I think you miscalculated." "What?" Luke turned to him questioningly. "Look. We are the first ones here," Diego explained. "We could have slept for another 10 minutes." "Nah," Luke retorted with a chuckle. "I just allocated 10 extra minutes in case you got extra frisky in the bathroom." "Luke!" Diego put a hand over Luke's mouth. "You brought it up, elfie!" Luke chuckled again. "Will teach you right to question my math, he-he!" The boys took their seats at the breakfast table. In a few minutes all the other kids appeared, looking sleepy and slightly disheveled. Immediately after breakfast, Luke, Diego, Ritchie, Rafael, Devon and Danny loaded into the van, and Frank drove them to school. As they disembarked, Diego regarded the sprawling school complex attentively. He had only been here once when Frank brought him earlier to register for classes. The place looked much bigger and more imposing that the school he used to go to in San Diego. The main school building was U-shaped, with the front entrance and administrative offices in the middle, and two 5-story wings on each side. "Chop-chop," Frank hurried them, "come on, boys, you've just got a few minutes to get to your classrooms. Have a good first day of school!" Frank got back into the van and drove off. "Good first day of school, that has got to be a joke," Ritchie complained stretching his shoulders. "The only good day of school is the last day of school!" Luke opened his mouth as if to retort but quickly closed it and remained silent. Luke and Diego separated from Ritchie and the others and started going up the stairs to their classroom. "He doesn't know what he is saying," Diego remarked quietly. "Yeah," Luke agreed. "Shit, maybe it's for the best." They continued up the stairs. "Well, whadya think?" Luke inquired as he and Diego stood at the entrance to the third floor. "It's ... big," Diego uttered slowly as he stared down the long school hallway that was being quickly filled with kids. "Somehow much bigger than I thought it would be." "Yeah, that's us!" Luke smirked. "Lots of rich kids go here besides us rejects. Guess there aren't enough of them for a proper private school so their rich mommies and daddies pour their money here. You should see the gym and the pool and the drama hall." Diego suddenly had an odd sense of deja vu as he looked at the long row of tall windows along the corridor. He knew that he hadn't been here before but something still felt strangely familiar. His face turned a bit pale. "Diego, dude, are you okay?" Luke held his elbow gently. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," Diego shook his head. "Just spacing out a bit." "Right," Luke frowned slightly. "Come on, we have geography together for the first period. Starts in four minutes." The boys hurried inside a classroom and took their seats. Luke quickly discovered that his worries about Diego failed to materialize. Nobody tried to bully Diego or give him a hard time. The other kids at school greeted his arrival either with indifference or with outward friendliness. Luke also noticed that quite a few girls - and Luke thought maybe even a couple of guys - gave Diego dreamy admiring looks. Luke felt annoyed at himself for feeling a twinge of jealousy. Diego for his part mostly kept his head down. He was his usual super nice and polite self but didn't go out of his way to interact with the other kids and mostly kept close to Luke. During the classes that they had together, somewhat to Luke's surprise, Diego kept mostly quiet as well, even during science and math. Luke was both relieved and a little disappointed that Diego's first day of school passed so uneventfully. Luke saw that Diego was holding back but decided not to bug him about it. After the last period Diego met Luke at the front entrance of the school, as they agreed earlier. "Ready to go?" Luke grinned at him brightly. "Wait, whadaya mean?" Diego asked, perplexed. "Whadya mean 'go'? The van is not here yet. And what about the others?" "They are riding, we're walking," Luke explained, pulling Diego by the hand. "It's a lot more fun. I talked it over yesterday with Mr Frank. "And now I'm sending him a text, like a responsible boy I am!" Luke added with a giggle as he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text. "And he said 'yes'?" Diego shook his head. "Of course he said 'yes'," Luke giggled again. "You know how persuasive I can be!" Luke winked and punched Diego's shoulder playfully. "Right," Diego conceded. "What about the others? Ritchie, Rafael and the twins? Maybe they wanna walk with us too?" "We'll ask them tomorrow," Luke suggested. "Today I want you all to myself. Although Ritchie isn't all that much into walking. Anyway, Diego, quit stalling, and let's go!" "Okay," Diego smiled agreeably. "Let's go!" As they started walking, Diego realized that he really liked Luke's idea. Apart from their trip to the library, Diego hadn't had too many opportunities to see the town up close and he was looking around with curiosity. "How far is it to Green Oaks from here?" he turned to Luke. "You mean like in miles?" Luke replied. "Umm, I donno, really. You're the big brain here, you'll have to figure it out. It usually takes me about half and hour if I don't go too fast." "We'll have to google it," Diego suggested. "Isn't that cheating?" Luke smirked. "No, that's science," Diego parried. "Nothing wrong with that." "Okay ...," Luke allowed. "So, Diego, babe, what did you think? How did the first day at our snotty school treat ya?" Luke gave Diego a hopeful smile. "Not too bad," Diego replied sincerely, "and not too snotty, really. I thought that everybody was pretty nice, the teachers and the kids." "Well, give them time!" Luke joked with a hearty laugh. "But seriously, Diego, I'm glad that it went okay for you." Luke gave Diego a long penetrating look. "But I think it mostly went well because of you," Diego added bashfully as his long eyelashes fluttered. "I mean because you were right there next to me." Diego reached out and took Luke's hand. "Diego, babe, you really say the nicest things!" Luke grinned brightly. "But you know," he added, "I thought quite a few girls were checking you out, he-he!" Luke elbowed Diego lightly. "Maybe a few guys too!" "Oh, god!" Diego covered hod face with his hands. "Did I just say that you were making me feel better? Strike that!" They both burst into laughter. In a few minutes they heard loud barking from a fenced out house up ahead on their left. "Oh, great. That again!" Luke exhaled with exasperation. "What is it?" Diego looked ahead curiously. "A dog, obviously," Luke commented. "A German Shepherd. The owners must be real fucking jerks. Trained the dog to bark fucking mad if anyone is like within two blocks away. As if anyone ever steals anything in this fucking neighborhood!" Diego looked around and had to admit to himself that Luke was correct. The houses around them seemed quite well kept, expensive and the area appeared pretty quiet. They approached the house, surrounded by a tall metal fence. Just like Luke said, a large German Shepherd dog run towards them from the other side of the fence and started barking and jumping frantically. "Let's just go," Luke shook his head disapprovingly and pulled Diego by the hand. "No, wait," Luke stepped closer to the fence. "Diego, dude, what are you doing?!" Luke cautioned. "He's gonna bite you!" "No, he won't," Diego parried. "I'm not getting that close. Not yet, anyway." Diego stood quietly about a foot away from the fence. Luke stopped a few steps behind him. At first the dog continued barking and howling at Diego but gradually it quieted down and after a few minutes it started sniffing the air in Diego's direction instead. Diego moved closer to the fence. "Diego, careful," Luke warned in a whisper. "Shh-hh," Diego shushed him. The dog got closer to the fence and sniffed Diego's feet. Diego waited, allowing the dog to get aquatinted with his scent. After a few more minutes Diego slowly crouched next to the fence and just as slowly extended his palm towards the dog. The dog sniffed Diego's hand and started licking it. "See, he's not a bad dog at all," Diego commented. "He's just been taught bad manners." "Like somebody else you know?" Luke snickered from behind. "What's your name, boy?" Diego addressed the dog, petting it and scratching it behind its ear. He gently turned the dog's collar and read the name: "Trigger. How inappropriate. Well, anyway, nice to meet you, Trigger. My name is Diego. And that's Luke." Diego pointed to Luke. "Hi!" Luke waved at the dog from a few feet away. Trigger breathed heavily with his mouth open as Diego continued to pet him. They said goodbye to Trigger and continued walking towards Green Oaks. "Umm, you know, Diego," Luke noted earnestly after a while. "What you just did back there. It was ... pretty crazy. But very brave! And so fucking cool! I mean, that dog could have bit your hand off!" "He could have," Diego admitted flatly. "But I had a feeling that he wouldn't. Sometimes you gotta go with your gut, right?" "Right," Luke eyes Diego with admiration and respect. Over the next few days Diego was getting more and more used to the school routine. Luke gradually introduced him to more kids at school, but at lunch Diego still usually sat with Luke, Ritchie and Rafael, and they were only occasionally joined by non-Green Oaks kids. Diego continued keeping his head down in most of his classes and Luke was beginning to get a bit worried. "Hey, Luke, " Diego said as they were entering the school cafeteria for lunch on Friday. "Who is that kid at the far corner table over there?" "Oh, the one in Harry Potter glasses?" Luke responded. "That's Archie Trent, he is in the same grade as we are." "Yeah, I think I've seen him in some of my classes ...," Diego replied. "He always sits in the back alone and never speaks up. And he always sits alone at lunch. What's his deal?" "Well ...," Luke hesitated. "See, he stutters a lot and some kids used to make fun of him. So he is kind of a loner. I tried talking to him a few times last year but he blew me off." "Still, man, it's not right that he's always by himself. Let's go sit with him!" Diego declared. Before Luke could respond, Diego headed towards Archie's table. Archie, a slightly built round-faced blond kid, was sipping a juice box and reading a book. "Hey, do you mind if we sit with you?" Diego asked Archie as they stood by his table. Archie shrugged his shoulders silently but did not look up. Diego and Luke sat across the table from him. "You are Archie, right? This is my friend Luke, and I am Diego," Diego continued undeterred. "We are in seventh grade, like you. I think you and I have geography together." Archie shrugged his shoulders again. Diego was not giving up. "Hey, Archie, what are you reading?" Diego asked. "Iv-v-v-anhoe," Archie answered, speaking for the first time, still not lifting his head. "Cool, man, Ivanhoe, that's one of my favorites!" Luke interjected excitedly. "When the Black Knight and Robin Locksley are storming the castle, man, that was great! I didn't like Rowena much, though, she was a bit of a clod fish. I thought Ivanhoe should've married Rebecca!" "Yeah, I ag-g-g-gree," Archie spoke, lifting his head for the first time and looking up at Diego and Luke with a guarded but friendly expression. "I love medieval history novels, and Walter Scott is the best! I've read lots of his other stuff," Diego added. "What else of Scott did you r-r-r-read?" Archie asked sounding skeptical. "Umm, like 'Rob Roy' and 'Quentin Durward' ...," Diego offered. "N-n-n-o way, no-one's read 'Quentin Dur-r-r-r-ward'," Archie stated flatly. "Well, I have!" Diego declared. "We read it together with Luke this summer, didn't we, Luke?!" Diego lightly punched Luke in the shoulder. "Yeah, man, absolutely!" Luke confirmed. "Cool adventure! I really liked the gypsy guy, Hayraddin. Pity that he got killed at the end!" "Wow. You g-g-guys have really read it. Cool!" Archie said in a much friendlier voice. "Yeah, man, the three of us, I guess we can form our own medieval adventure novel geek club!" Luke declared, and all three boys laughed. Luke and Diego unwrapped their sandwiches and started eating. "Hey Archie," Diego asked, "where do you live?" "C-c-corner of P-p-p-ine and O-r-rchard," Archie replied. "No way, dude, we pass by that place every day, it's half-way between Green Oaks and school," Diego exclaimed excitedly. "Archie, do you wanna walk home together after school today?" "Y-y-y-eah, sure," Archie agreed. The boys made a plan to meet up by the school's entrance after classes that day, and continued eating their lunches and chatting light-heartedly. After the last period Diego and Luke were waiting for Archie by the school gate, getting reading to head home. Archie was a bit late and the boys were getting worried. "Shit, maybe he changed his mind!" Luke said. "Maybe we scared him off ..." "No, wait, let's give him another 10 minutes," Diego replied. Suddenly Archie run up to them carrying a large backpack. "S-s-sorry, guys," he said apologetically. "S-s-some m-m-m-morons p-p-plastered chewing g-g-gum on my l-l-l-ocker room lock again!" "Fuck! Those fucking bastards!" Luke exclaimed angrily. "Why would anyone do something like that?! I wanna kick their asses! Fucking cowards!" "N-n-no biggie, I'm used to it," Archie replied. "Still, Archie, Luke's right, it's not right that some idiots keep doing that to you," Diego said, squeezing Archie's shoulder lightly. "We'll figure something out, I promise!" The boys started walking along the sidewalk, chatting. Luke and Diego were happy to see that Archie, despite his obvious shyness and self-consciousness about his stutter, also started to smile and even shared in a few laughs. In about 15 minutes they reached Archie's house. "You g-g-guys wanna come in?" Archie asked shyly, looking down. "Yep, sure thing, buddy, thanks, that'd be great!" Luke replied immediately, before Diego even had a chance to open his mouth. Diego shoved Luke lightly and they smiled at each other conspiratorially. Archie opened the porch gate and let them in. As they were walking towards the house along a long driveway, Diego remarked: "Wow, Archie, that's a huge place you've got here! Looks amazing!" "Wait, no way, you've got a pool too?!!" Luke shouted. "Now I am officially jealous!" Archie again just shrugged his shoulders. He looked up ahead at a large grey Lexus in the driveway by the house. "My d-d-dad is home," Archie remarked flatly. "He's a r-r-r-realtor, so I n-n-never know when he is g-g-g-gonna be home. B-b-b-but he's here now." "And your mom?" Luke asked casually. "D-d-d-divorced. L-l-l-lives in B-b-b-boston," Archie informed in the same flat tone. "Oh, dude, sorry!" Luke exclaimed. "Yeah, Archie, sorry, we didn't know!" Diego agreed. "Wait, your parents are divorced and you live with you dad?" "M-m-mom didn't want to l-l-l-live with a s-s-s-spaz. Got her a n-n-n-n-normal daughter," Archie explained, just as matter of factly. "Archie, dude, don't say stuff like that!" Diego exclaimed, horrified. "Why n-n-n-not? It's t-t-t-true," Archie stated flatly again, staring in the ground. This situation was way too much for Luke. Without a warning he grabbed Archie in a huge bear hug and lifted him off the ground. "Hey, Archie, dude, no matter what anyone says, we are gonna be your friends okay?!" Luke said, putting Archie down. "Okk-k-kay, thanks, Luke," Archie replied, his face flustered. The boys continued towards the house. "D-d-d-dad, I'm home!" Archie called, as they came in. I tall imposing looking man with sandy blond hair came down the stairs speaking very quickly: "Hey, Archie, buddy, I hope you had a good day at school. I have a showing in half and hours so I'm here for just ..." He stopped short when he noticed Diego and Luke. "F-f-f-friends, from school," Archie explained laconically. The man's demeanor changed completely and his eyes glistened. "Come in, boys, come in, come in, please, come in! I am so happy to meat you!! I am Doug Trent, Archie's dad. It's been so long since Archie brought home any ... Sorry, boys, I am just so happy to meet you!!" "I am Diego, nice to meet you, Mr Trent," Diego introduced himself politely. "And this is my friend Luke. We are both 12. We go to school with Archie and we are also in seventh grade." Doug warms shook hands with Diego and Luke and reiterated: "I am so happy to meet you, boys! And please call me Doug! Or Mr Doug, if it makes you more comfortable. Now, Diego, Luke, would you like something to drink?" "Cold lemonade would be great if you have any, please," Luke responded. "Sure thing!" Doug responded. "Please come in to the living room and I'll get you your lemonade in a few minutes." "D-d-d-don't you have a showing, d-d-dad?" Archie asked. "I'll call the client and ask to reschedule," Doug answered. "This is a special occasion and I don't want to miss it!" "D-d-d-dad!!" Archie protested in embarrassment. "Don't 'dad' me, young man," Doug laughed, tousling Archie's hair. "Go ahead, take your friends to the living room, and I'll be along shortly." The boys followed Archie to the living room. It was huge, with a high vaulted ceiling and a wall-to wall sliding window facing a covered patio. There was a large wall-mounted TV, and an X-box, as well as a long leather sofa, but Luke and Diego immediately headed towards a row of tall old-fashioned bookcases in the back. "Wow, Archie, you've got a lot of really cool books here!" Diego exclaimed, pulling out a few books from the shelf. "Hey, I see you've got complete works of Jules Verne. Now I am jealous! I've read most of his stuff but not everything. Luke, look, they's got 'From the Earth to the Moon'! I've always wanted to read that!" "Yep, Archie, great stuff, man! Verne was a total genius!" Luke agreed. Doug came in to the living room and placed four glasses of lemonade on a coffee table in front of the sofa. "Okay, here is the lemonade! Hey boys, what are you doing?" Doug called them. "You have some super cool books here, Mr Doug!" Luke shouted back. "I am glad you think so!" Doug shouted back. "Come back here, boys, drink the lemonade while it's still cold." The kids run back and plopped on the sofa, grabbing the glasses. Doug settled in a large recliner chair next to the sofa, sipping his lemonade as well. "I thought you boys would go staring for the video games," Doug chuckled, gesturing towards the Xbox sitting under the TV. "Nah, we are not really into that stuff!" Luke proclaimed. "It melts your brain!" "He-he, I agree!" Doug chuckled again. "It's just unusual to meet boys your age who think that." "They know 'Quentin D-d-d-durward'," Archie explained laconically. "The do, do they! I am impressed, boys, I see that you are smart and unusual kids. I'm really glad that you and Archie are friends," Doug said, smiling warmly. "We are too, Mr Doug!" Diego affirmed emphatically. "I mean, we are Archie's friends, and we are glad that we are Archie's friends! Right, Luke?" "Yep, absolutely!" Luke agreed. Doug nodded at them, still smiling. Archie was looking a little flushed and red in the face, but he still managed a slight smile looking up at his dad. "So, boys, are you from around here? Where do you live? Do I know your parents?" Doug inquired. "Umm, we are from Green Oaks, it's about 15 minutes here by foot," Luke explained. "Geen Oaks? Wait, that's the orph ...," Doug cut himself off and his expression suddenly changed. "Oh, I see. Well, you can tell me more about yourselves later. The important thing is this: Luke, Diego, you are always welcome in our house! You can come to visit, to play, to use our pool and back yard, whatever you like! Archie and me would be happy to have you!" "Thank you, Mr Doug, thank you!" Diego exclaimed. "Your pool looks great, and we would sure like to swim with Archie in it sometime! At Green Oaks we have a big pond but no pool. The pond is great for fishing and stuff, but its overgrown with weeds and you can't really swim in it ..." "Well, like I said, Diego, you boys are welcome here any time! And if you want to borrow any of our books, or to come and read them here, you are welcome to do that too!" Doug reiterated. "Diego, dude, hey, look, they have a guitar!" Luke said, elbowing Diego and pointing out towards a guitar that was sitting in the corner. "Err, well, ...," Doug started with sudden hesitation, "none of us actually plays it. I am afraid I am kind of tone deaf myself .... See, some time ago I got this guitar for Archie's music therapy, for his stutter, for a therapist aide to come in and play it so that they would try to sing together ... You know, like in that movie, 'The King's Speech' ... Did not really work, though ... The guitar has been kind of gathering dust ever since ..." Diego and Luke exchanged knowing glances. "Ah, Mr Doug, Diego here plays the guitar real well and he sings like a bird of paradise!" Luke stated. Diego gave him a sharp elbow shove. "Yeah, sorry, not promising anything to do with paradise," Diego said elbowing Luke again, "but yes, I do play the guitar and I do love to sing. I could play and sing something and Archie, if he feels like it, could try singing along. Or if not, just listen. How about we try it? Archie, buddy, whaddya think?" "I ... d-d-don't know," Archie mumbled, sounding shy and uncertain. "Ah, Diego, that's very sweet of you, but really, you don't have to do that ...," Doug said, also sounding unsure. "Archie, dude, you've gotta listen to Diego sing, man, it's really something, I promise!" Luke said turning to Archie. "If you can sing along, that's great, but if not, we can just listen to Diego singing. Hell, dude, I, me, want to hear Diego sing, please! Okay, Archie, dude?" "Ok-k-k-kay", Archie agreed hesitantly. Diego grabbed the guitar and spent a few moments tuning it up. He then turned to Archie who was biting his nails and nervously staring into the floor. "Okay, Archie, dude, listen up," Diego started explaining. "I picked a real easy song that you probably already know most of the words for, 'Oh my darling Clementine'. And even if you don't remember some words but still wanna sing along, just go with the refrain between the main verses. Okay, buddy?" Archie nodded silently. Diego looked at Doug, who appeared to be just as nervous as Archie about the whole thing, and gave Doug a short reassuring nod and a smile. Doug relaxed slightly. "Oh, god, I really hope it'll be OK and not a disaster like the last time," Doug thought to himself, "I really don't want Archie's self-confidence shuttered any more than it already is. Let's hope that Diego knows what he ..." Doug's train of thought was interrupted when Diego struck the strings of the guitar and started singing. Doug could not believe that such divine, clear and sublime sounds could be produced by this strange 12-year-old kid in his living room. "Lived a miner Forty-niner, And his daughter Clementine," Diego sang in a sweet voice with perfect clarity. At the end of the verse Diego nodded to Archie to indicate that a refrain was coming and started singing in a louder voice: "Oh my darling, oh my darling Oh my darling, Clementine. You are lost and gone forever. Dreadful sorry, Clementine." Archie had not joined in yet but Diego could see that Archie started lightly humming the lines following Diego's voice. Therefore, instead of going to the next verse, Diego decided to repeat the refrain: "Oh my darling, oh my darling Oh my darling, Clementine. You are lost and gone forever. Dreadful sorry, Clementine." This time Archie was definitely singing along, louder and louder. Diego, Doug and Luke could all hear him. Doug was holding his breath, not wanting to break the magic. Diego went on to the next verse. "Drove she ducklings to the water, every morning just at nine," Diego and Archie were singing together. Doug was amazed that Archie was singing with no trace of stutter. That's what all the doctors told him was supposed to happen in a successful music speech therapy, but until now he and Archie were never able to achieve this. By the time the song finished, Doug's eyes were wet with tears and he had a huge lump in his throat. Before he could say anything, Luke beat him to it and broke into wild clapping, woofing and whistling. He hugged red-faced Archie and shouted: "Archie, dude, great, job, buddy, that was awesome!" Luke then turned to Diego and continued: "And Diego, my man, that was some great bird-of-paradise singing!" Diego stuck his tongue out at Luke but then smiled happily. "Wow! That was ... Wow!" Doug spoke at last. "Archie, buddy, how are you feeling?" "Good, d-dad, good!" Archie answered. Everybody chuckled. "Great job, Archie, buddy, great job! I knew you could do it!" Diego encouraged. "Now, we do need to strike the iron while it's hot, as they say, so let's try another one okay? ... This one is not really a kids song and you may not know the words but it does not matter. The refrain is real easy to remember and ya don't need to worry about nothing else. It's called 'I've got you, babe!' You might have heard it in a movie 'The Groundhog Day'." Diego turned to Luke and continued. "By the way, Luke, buddy, this time I'd like you to join in too!" Luke vigorously shook his head in refusal: "What?! No way man, you know I can't sing! Somebody will call animal control thinking that a raccoon got hit by a car!" "He-he, you might be right, but I want you to join in anyway!" Diego said, looking at Luke mischievously. "Okay, here we go," Diego said, struck the strings and started singing again: "They say we're young and we don't know We won't find out until we grow Well I don't know if all that's true 'Cause you got me, and baby I got you Babe I got you babe I got you babe." By the time the got to the refrain, Archie was signing quite loudly, and grinning too. On the second pass Luke joined them. Diego continued the song, and Doug could see that both Archie and Luke were getting more and more into it. "I got you to hold my hand I got you to understand I got you to walk with me I got you to talk with me," Diego sang. At that point Luke, with a huge smile on his mug, jumped up and launched in a wild weird happy dance around the room, while continuing to sing along with Diego and Archie. "I got you to kiss goodnight I got you to hold me tight I got you, I won't let go I got you to love me so. I got you babe I got you babe I got you babe I got you babe I got you babe!" The song finally ended and Luke collapsed on the sofa, panting. Everybody laughed, including Archie, and they all clapped. "Wow, boys, wow, that was absolutely amazing!" Doug exclaimed, still laughing happily and wiping his eyes. "Diego, Luke, come here, boys, come here, you guys!" Doug called them. Doug leaned forward and hugged Diego and Luke at the same time and then kissed the tops of their heads. "You are a very special pair of kids, you know that, right?! And what you did for my Archie today is very special too." Doug hugged them again and continued: "Diego, Luke was right about your voice, you do have a rare gift, that was some paradise level singing. And remember what I said before about you being welcome in this house any time? Well now I have half the mind to kidnap you and never let you leave this house again!" Doug chuckled. He then motioned to Archie to come to him. When Archie walked to his dad's chair, Doug lifted him up, sat him on his lap, kissed him on the cheek and held him in his arms like a younger child. "Aww, d-dad, I'not a b-baby anymore," Archie protested. "Ssh-h, sorry, kiddo, I know, I know, but today you are," Doug said, continuing to hold Archie. "I am so-o-o happy for you, son!!" Diego, sensing that it was the right moment for them to get moving, tugged Luke's hand and they headed for the door. "Bye, Mr Doug, thanks for everything! Bye, Archie, buddy, see you at school!" Diego and Luke shouted their goodbyes. "Bye, boys, please, please, come again soon!" Doug called back, still holding Archie, who waved at Diego and Luke. As the boys exited the house and started walking back towards Green Oaks, they were silent for a few minutes. "Wow," Luke said at last quietly, "that was ... real." "Yeah ...," Diego agreed, "yeah, it was." *******************