Lastly before we start into the next installment, listed below is the name and age of characters. More character are introduced in this installment and I don't want to confuse people, so it is helpful to know who everyone is before reading. That being said, if you want to learn the names and people as you read, feel free to skip over! Hope you enjoy this Installment.

 

Installment 9 (Greetings)

 

Part – 1

Thursday, February 4, 2016. The day Lincoln, Ryker, Jacob, and Clayton would last see their parents as they were being buried in a cemetery. I awoke to a sleeping 7-year-old boy snoring loudly, and all I could do was laugh, I kissed his forehead and went downstairs for a cup of coffee. It was an early morning for me, the clock read 6:45 and I was down in the kitchen. My mother walked in shortly after, “Hey honey, wants some eggs?” She asked.

“Umm sure, but you know Rita should be here soon.”

“Oh she does enough, plus she can make breakfast for the rest of the guys.”

“Alright,” I said. “so how’d you sleep?”

“I slept pretty well, thanks.”

“Hey by the way, what did you and dad pick up from Kelly’s last night?”

“It’s a surprise! I can’t tell you.”

“Oh great, if it is a dog, you guys are not getting invited back here,” I joked.

“My lips are sealed sweetie,” replied my mother.

“Alright alright,” I said.

My Mom’s eggs were delicious, and I thanked her for breakfast. I wanted to get a quick workout in so I went to the basement and ran on the treadmill for a solid 30 minutes. I went back to my room around 7:30 and hopped in the shower. I went through my schedule while washing myself. We had the funeral at 1:30 and that would probably take about an hour and a half and then we had the funeral reception late lunch/early dinner. Somewhere I needed to run to the school and register the boys. I figured I would wake the boys, and while they are eating breakfast, I’ll run to the school and sign them up. I was in the shower for about 10 minutes, and I stepped out to dry myself. I didn’t know Lincoln was awake and had entered my room just as I dropped my towel.

“Dangggg, yours is huge,” stated Lincoln.

I didn’t want to make a big deal out of this as I was always preaching to be comfortable with your body around others in the right environment.

“Thanks,” I chuckled as I slipped my underwear on.

“Will mine be that big?” he said as he checked the front of his underwear. I noticed he was starting to form an erection, but I was actually surprised he even put underwear on to walk over here.

I laughed again, “most likely, maybe even bigger.”

“No way!” He said.

Changing the topic, “why are you up?”

“I don’t know,” Lincoln returned.

“Did you have one of those flashbacks or bad dream?” I inquired as I pulled my quarter zip over my head.

“Umm,” he pondered, “no I didn’t!”

“Awesome,” I replied as I pulled my pants up and walked over to kiss Lincoln good morning. “I believe Rita is making her special breakfast, I already ate, so if you want to head downstairs without me, you can.”

“Can I wear just my underwear?” He inquired.

“If you want to, but grandma is downstairs,” I laughed at his question.

“Grandma or grandpa won’t be mad, will they?”

That caused me to laugh even more, “no, they raised three sons. They have seen and heard all, I promise.”

“Okay,” Lincoln replied as he gave me a hug before taking off downstairs. Luckily Lincoln’s bruises all went away, or at least the ones that were visible. His rear end still had some spots, and I needed to remind myself to check the cut on his inside cheek to see if it was healing. We have been rubbing some antibiotic cream on the cut, so it should start to improve.

I went to my room and woke Jacob up by rubbing his head and saying, “Mornin sleepyhead, time to get up. Rita is making some breakfast for you.”

Jacob yawned and slowly started coming to life, “morning.”

I kissed his forehead and said, “go make sure you put some underwear before heading downstairs.”

He yawned but agreed. I was about to walk out when I turned around to see Jacob sleeping again.

“Oh no you don’t,” I laughed. “Don’t make me tickle you.”

“Okay okay, just a few more minutes,” he replied.

“Nope,” I yelled and jumped on the bed and began tickling the squirming boy. He threw his head under the covers in an attempt to flee, but I grabbed hold of his sides and tickled away. His laugh was infectious, and by the end of it, I was out of breath from laughing.

“Okay okay, I’m up,” Jacob said panting.

I finally stopped laughing and said, “good! Want a piggyback ride to your room?”

“Yes,” he cheered. I stood up and turned my back so the monkey boy could hop on. I placed my hands underneath his thighs for support, and off we marched to his room. I dropped off Jacob in his bedroom and reminded him to put underwear on before heading downstairs. I was off to Ryker’s bedroom next. I opened his door and saw him sleeping still.

I walked up to his bed and shook him slowly, “Hey Ryker, good morning. Time to get up.”

He started opening his eyes and asked, “what time is it?”

“Almost 8 o’clock, come on time to get up for breakfast.”

“Okay,” Ryker said and sat up on his bed and gave me a hug before stepping out and heading to the bathroom. I went to my last stop, and that was Clayton’s room.

I walked towards the bed, and to my surprise, Clayton was awake playing his Nintendo 3DS.

“How long have you been up? I’ve missed my morning cuddles with you,” I said. It seemed to scare him as he didn’t hear me enter.

“sorry,” Clayton replied.

“I’m just kidding Clay, and I didn’t mean to scare you,” I said as I picked him up from his bed and kissed his cheek. “Breakfast should be ready soon, I’ll carry you downstairs.”

“Can I bring this?” He said referring to the gaming device.

“Not at breakfast, you can come and play it later though,” I said.

“Fine,” Clayton replied as we were heading down the steps. “Hey, we didn’t read last night.”

“Ohh you’re right buddy, we didn’t. That’s my fault, I’ll make it up to you tonight. I promise,” I replied.

“Promise?”

“Promise,” I said. We reached the kitchen, and I placed Clayton in an open chair. He was joined by Lincoln, Jacob, my father, and my mother. Ryker didn’t make it down yet, but I heard his footsteps upstairs.

“Alright boys, I’ll be back. Grandma and Grandma are in charge until I return.”

“Where you going?” Concerned Lincoln.

“I am going to register you all for school on Monday. You guys will be attending school at Granite Hill Elementary, it’s part of Northbury School district. It’s about a 15-minute drive away, so I shouldn’t be gone that long,” I stated.

Lincoln hopped out of his chair and ran to give me a hug. He whispered, “please be careful.”

“I will bud, go eat your breakfast. I’ll be back before you know it,” I mentioned to him.

I walked into the garage and peered outside, all the snow was thankfully gone. The day was cloudy and bit chilly at 40 degrees. I decided it was time to release the inner 14-year-old child in me and give the Ferrari a test drive.

I started the car up and oh my gosh did she purr. One of my goals growing up was to own a Ferrari, and now I was about to drive my own for the first time. I backed out of the garage and pulled down the driveway. My driveway is a long distance from the road as my house sat far away from the street, so it gave me a chance to push the car just a little. I stepped on the pedal, “Damn, I’m definitely getting a ticket in this car.” I hit 60 in about 3 seconds and had to slow it down because that long driveway got short very quickly. I pulled onto my road and proceeded to the school.

When I arrived, I parked in the roundabout in front of the school and walked in.

“Hi, how may I help you today?” Asked a cheerful lady behind the desk.

“Hi, my name is Garret Hamel, and I am here to enroll my 4 boys into school.”

“Alright, when will they be starting?” She asked

“Hopefully this coming Monday.”

“Alrighty, I am going to need to see identification of the boys and yours as well. Also, need to see proof of residence. We will also require a form that shows all their vaccines and that medical history is updated.”

I handled her all the documents that Kelly gave me and prayed that everything was there in the folder.

“I am just going to go make copies of all these, it may take a few minutes. You can have a seat there,” she informed me.

I was waiting about 5 minutes and scrolling through some information that Keith Watson sent me about our charity when some guy walked into the room.

“Have you been helped?” He asked.

“Oh yes, thank you,” I replied.

“Have we met?”

“Umm no I don’t believe so, my name is Garret Hamel,” I said standing up and shaking his hand. “I’m enrolling my 4 boys into school.”

“Oh, that explains why I haven’t seen you before Mr. Hamel. I am Brent Merwood, I am the principal at Granite Hill Elementary.”

“Oh pleasure to meet you, and please call me Garret,” I replied.

“Pleasure is mine, well Garret we can’t wait to have your kids enrolled and attending our fine school. I have to get going, nice to meet you.” Merwood said as he shook my hand and went out the door.

“Mr. Hamel, here are your documents. Everything looks good.” The secretary said walking back to her desk.

“Awesome,” I replied.

“We just need a little more information. Here is an emergency contact card for the boys, if you just fill out one, I can copy the others. We also need your phone number and email.”

I gave her all the things she asked for and listed Rita as the second emergency contact and Kelly as my third.

“This is none of my business Mr. Hamel, but why do you have a different last name from the boys?”

“Well it is none of your business, but the boys are in foster care, and I’m the foster dad. Kelly Schafer is the caseworker assigned to the boys. If you need to verify anything with regards to foster care, you can just call her,” I replied.

“Oh okay, well thank you, Mr. Hamel. We will email you the boy’s schedules individually. Expect the email no later than Friday afternoon.”

“Alright, sounds good. Thank you,” I replied and walked out to the Ferrari.

The drive home was quicker than the drive there. Luckily most of the roads I took were back roads with some bends to see how the car handled. This machine was an absolute beast, it was like nothing I’ve ever driven before and the vehicle handled the turns amazingly. I reached the driveway and made my way to the garage.

I walked in the door and was tackled with a hug from Lincoln.

“Hey buddy,” I replied.

“You were gone for so long,” Lincoln stated.

“I’m back now, that’s all that matters,” I said and kissed the top of his head. He wasn’t releasing his grip, so I picked him up. “This might be the last time I will be able to pick you up. You’re getting heavier.”

“I hope not,” Lincoln replied, “I’ll always want to be picked up!”

I laughed and carried him into the family room where the rest of the boys were with my parents.

“Alright boys, we have to leave in an hour and a half, go head upstairs. I’ll be up shortly to help you all get dressed,” I commanded.

I dropped Lincoln to his feet and let him lead his brothers upstairs.

“How were they?” I asked my parents.

“Good,” commented my father.

“Yeah good, but Lincoln kept checking the window that overlooked the driveway every 2 and a half minutes. He was pretty worried,” injected my mom.

“Oh,” I said. “I guess it was my first time leaving the boys since getting them back. Probably caused some anxiety.”

“Yeah probably,” reassured my mom.

“Alright I am gonna head upstairs and get them dressed, meet you guys back down here in about an hour and a half,” I said.

“Sounds good honey, love you,” spoke my mom.

I headed up the steps and texted Kelly while walking. I texted to know if Christian wanted to stay the weekend and get to know everyone and to see if she was showing up for the funeral. She replied quickly and said she didn’t have a problem with it and that I should call and tell him, he has been acting a bit different lately and that she will be there for support. I figured I would call him later because he was still in school.

I went to each of the bedrooms and dressed them like I did yesterday except with different shirts. They all looked dapper and allowed me to go into my room to get changed into my suit.

We loaded into the car and made the hour trip to the funeral home where the boys would have one last chance to see their parents’ faces. I couldn’t imagine what was rolling through their minds. For Ryker and Clayton it had to be heartache and confusion, but for Jacob, it had to be some sort of relief. I was stumped for Lincoln, he was never sexually abused by his parents, but he was physically and mentally harmed by them. It was just a weird situation with mixed emotions flying around. I will say I am so proud of Jacob as he has been a trooper through this whole event.

We arrived at the funeral home and stepped inside. We were given a moment to ourselves before they closed the caskets forever. It was only the boys and me that entered.

“Well boys, take as much time as you need.” I stated, “we are in no rush.” I walked up with Jacob and Lincoln as the other two went ahead of us.

“I don’t want to go up there,” Jacob said.

I looked at Lincoln, and he went on to go with the other two brothers.

“This is the last chance you get to see your parents, are you sure bud?”

“Umm… uh yeah, I don’t think I wanna.”

“Alright bud, then you stay back, and I am going to make sure everyone else is good,” I said. I walked up to the casket, and the boys were emotional. It was to be expected, and I just wanted to show my support for them. None of the boys had questions, I guess there wasn’t much to ask. Ryker was the first one to turn away and sit down with Jacob. Lincoln soon followed, and all that was left were Clayton and me. I picked Clayton up to give him a better view, and the emotions came full force. He just buried his head into my shoulder and let the tears flow. I made the executive decision that it was time to move on and start the process to the cemetery about 15 minutes away.

I loaded the boys into the Mercedes, and we saw the caskets rolled out into the hearses. They needed two automobiles and handed out flags to put on our cars to signify we were part of the funeral procession. We had about 3-4 cars that were involved in the procession. Mine, my parents, Rita’s, and Kelly’s car all followed behind the hearses as it made the turn out onto the road. In my car, I heard the occasional sniffle and nothing more. The cemetery was in view, and we were turning into it. Their burial spot was a good ways away from the main road, so we drove down this massive hill and took a left on a long swooping curve. The hearse went up the small hill and eventually slowed on a flatter piece of land about half a mile from the road.

The boys and I went out and walked over to the gravesite with my family following close behind. The funeral directors brought out the caskets and walked them over to the grave. We had a priest available who said kind words and the floor was open for someone else to say something.

I knew I wasn’t going to speak, or I would lose my cool and call the father a fuck and the mother an idiot for sticking around with him, so I decided to bite my tongue. I wasn’t sure if the boys wanted to say anything or not but let them decide. After a minute of silence, those who wanted to lay flowers on top of the caskets were given the opportunity. All the boys put a flower across the middle, and I did the same. It was a somber moment, that genuinely signified a change in the boy’s life. Never would they have to go through unwanted behavior forced upon them by their father, and the carelessness of their mother. It indeed signified an end, and hopefully a new beginning.

The funeral reception lunch, well I guess you can call it an early dinner since it was 3:35 was decent. No fantastic food, but was a nice gesture put on by the funeral home. At 4:30 we were back on the road to our house.

“My arms are still sore Garret,” mentioned Ryker.

“Well we can try the massage, or we could go in the hot tub when we get back. Normally heat will loosen muscles and relieve soreness,” I replied.

“Yeah, can we go in the hot tub?” Asked Lincoln.

“Sounds like a plan to me, a nice relaxing evening with my boys,” I said. “You guys have to wear your new swimsuits though.”

“Do we have to?” Moaned Ryker.

“I created monsters.”

“Nakey monsters,” commented Clayton. The car lost it with laughter, which we all needed. Everyone was in a weird mood, and Clayton gave us some much-needed comic relief.

I wiped my eyes from laughing and said, “not this time, with grandma and grandpa around they may want to join us in the hot tub, so swimsuits have to be put on.”

“Fine,” I heard a moan coming from all of them.

“Boys when we reach home, I want you to hang up your suits. I don’t want to see clothes all over the place,” I commanded.

“Okay,” they said. We had about 25 minutes before reaching home, so I decided to give Christian a call on the car speaker.

“Hey boys, we are going to play a little prank on Christian. He doesn’t know he will be on speaker, so I need you all to be quiet until I tell you all.”

All of them were game, so I dialed his number.

“Hey Uncle G! I’m super excited about the party on Saturday.”

“Awesome, can’t wait to see you again. How’s 7th grade been?”

“It’s been okay,” Christian replied.

“Just okay?”

“Yeah, well school is school.”

“True, need to do good in school though. So we have the family party on Saturday, you know how Uncle Lucas is staying with me Friday through Sunday, I was wondering if you would like to as well.”

“Seriously? Yes, I want to,” Christian cheered. ” I have to ask my mom though.”

“Your awesome Uncle G already took care of that, so if you want to come stay, you’re more than welcome to.”

“Wait really? This is gonna be sooo cool!” Said Lincoln who realized he spoke too soon and covered his mouth with his hands.

“Who was that?” Quickly asked Christian

“The gigs up boys, we’ve been busted,” I laughed. “Christian, you’ve been on speaker this whole time, say hi to everyone.”

“I’m not on speaker,” Christian said.

“Hi,” echoed the boys in the car. The phone went silent for a few seconds.

“Wait I’m really on speaker… Hi everyone! I can’t wait to meet you guys,” Christian quickly responded.

“Same,” replied Lincoln. “Thanks for the cards and flowers, that was nice.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Christian responded.

“Well, we didn’t get to complete the prank I wanted to do. I’m gonna have to try it another time, but at least you got to say hi to all the boys. So do you want to come stay with us Friday through Sunday?” I inquired.

“Yes!”

“Awesome, we will cya Friday!”

“Cool, bye Uncle G, bye everyone,” returned Christian.

“Bye,” echoed the 4 boys. The rest of the ride home was listening to music and just chatting. We reached our house, and the boys ran upstairs to go get changed. I told my parents we planned on going in the hot tub and asked if they would like to join. They weren’t going to join us, but my father said he would go open up the hot tub and get stuff ready so I could go upstairs to change.

I walked upstairs and went to Clayton’s room to help him. I put his swimsuit on him and then went to check on the other boys. Jake and Ryker both managed to get undress from their dress suits and into their swimming suits. I went to check on Lincoln only to find him staring into space. I knew what was happening, so I rushed over to him and yelled, “Snap out of it buddy, just a flashback. Snap out of it!”

Lincoln shook his head and came back to reality. He surprisingly looked better than he usually did.

“Have a flashback?”

“Umm yeah, but it wasn’t a bad one.”

“What do you mean?” I said.

“Uhh like I don’t know,” Lincoln replied.

“Hmm… was is like a good flashback with happy thoughts?”

“No,” Lincoln said looking at me funny.

“Then why wasn’t it bad?”

“I guess cause it wasn’t long… That’s sounds stupid.”

“No it doesn’t, it actually makes sense,” I said. “Tell me if I’m wrong, but it wasn’t bad because it didn’t last long and you didn’t see anything new?”

“Yeah!”

“Well it was only a minor one, let’s go downstairs. I think your brothers are waiting for us.”

“Okay,” Lincoln responded as we were heading down the steps. “You know these swimsuits are uncomfortable.”

I laughed, “you’re too funny.”

We met the rest of the boys downstairs and went outside to jump in the hot tub. I positioned myself in my usual comfortable spot, but then Ryker came over and sat on my lap.

“Can you mussage my arms?” Ryker asked.

“It is a massage, mass-age,” I said correcting him.

“Okay however you say it,” he returned.

“We are in a hot tub, the jets are supposed to be massaging you,” I replied.

“Please.”

“Fine,” I said. I couldn’t tell him no, so Ryker sat on my lap, and I started to rub his shoulders and neck before moving to his arms. I worked his right arm up and down and then proceeded to his left side and did the same thing. I repeated the process about 3 or 4 times. Rubbing his smooth body was actually quite nice as it gave me something to do besides chat with everyone. After doing my last massage on his shoulders, neck, and arms, I quickly rubbed his back a few times and called it quits.

“That felt awesome!”

“Glad you liked it, you owe me one next time,” I joked.

“Can I be next?” Questioned Lincoln.

“What! You are your sore too?” I said.

“No, that just looked relaxing. Please, Garret?” Lincoln begged.

“Fine, get your butt over here,” I said. I knew what was coming, Jacob was going to want one and then Clayton.

“Yes,” Lincoln replied and swam over to occupy my lap. I did the same routine I did to Ryker. Started on his shoulders and neck then worked my way down his arms. Since his arms weren’t a focal point, it allowed me to rub his back more. It took about 10 minutes to complete Lincoln’s massage, and when I finished, I was asked by Jacob and Clayton. I naturally agreed to each of their requests and massaged both of them for 10 minutes each. My fingers were prunes by the end of it, as we were in that hot tub for over an hour. We were having a late dinner as Rita had prepared us her famous chicken bacon spaghetti dish. It was one of my all-time favorites, but before eating, the boys and I needed to get changed.

All of us went upstairs to get dried and changed. I helped Clayton out of his swimsuit and since it was around 6:45 I put him in his PJs. I went to my room and jumped into my sweatpants and a hoodie when I heard Lincoln call my name.

I walked over to his room and asked, “What’s up?”

“Can you umm put the cream thing on uhh…. my umm…”

“Yeah I know what you mean,” I laughed.

“Okay.”

“Go lay down on your bed, I’ll get the cream from your bathroom.”

“Okay,” Lincoln replied as he dropped his swim trunks and laid down on his bed. I went to the bathroom and got the antibiotic cream.

“Alright bud, spread your legs a little,” I commanded.

“Okay,” Lincoln replied. With my one hand, I parted his cheeks and located the cut. It was looking remarkably better. Hopefully, this was one of the last times I would need to do this. I applied a dab of cream on my finger and rubbed it on the cut.

I was just about to stop when Lincoln asked, “can you keep doing that?”

“Doing what?”

“Umm uhh, rubbing… it just feels so good. It is like the massage in the hot tub but umm…. better.”

“I’m afraid not bud, plus I don’t have anywhere else to rub. You don’t have any more cuts on your cute butt,” I said as I gave him a playful smack.

Lincoln turned over obviously sporting an erection and asked, “how did I get a cut there?”

I froze. I knew how and why he had the cut, but I didn’t dare have the courage to tell him, so I spoke, “Umm… I’m not sure. It looks a lot better though.”

“So you won’t have to put more cream on it?” Lincoln asked in a dejected tone.

“We will see, but most likely not.”

“Why does this keep happening?” He asked while pointing to his erection.

“Well, as you get older your body goes through changes. It’s called puberty, and even though puberty isn’t the direct cause of your erection, it is a sign that you are growing up. You’ll get these erections all the time, and it will occur at the most awkward and worst times, but it isn’t something to be embarrassed about.”

“What else happens at puberty?” Lincoln asked.

“Lots of stuff! You’ll most likely hate me when you start,” I joked. “But your testicles will develop and get bigger, your penis will enlarge, your voice will get deeper, you’ll develop hair on your privates and armpits, you’ll ga,”

“Wait wait wait, my willy will be hairy? That’s so so gross,” Lincoln said interrupting me.

I laughed at that one and replied, “not your penis but above it. In this area.” I said as I touched above his penis to point to his pubic area.

“Oh,” he said.

“Puberty isn’t a scary thing like I was saying. You’ll gain muscle, facial hair, and you’ll be taller. This is the time where your body develops into a man. It’s a long process that takes many years to complete, and I don’t think you are close to starting it yet. Maybe another year and a half.”

“Good, I like this,” Lincoln replied.

I chuckled but said, “well I think you’re perfect too! Get dressed, dinner should be ready soon. Love ya.”

“Love you too,” Lincoln said and gave me a hug.

The rest of the night was pretty smooth. The dinner was fabulous, and the boys got to play with their grandma and grandpa for a while. It was just some great family bonding time. Bedtime came rather quickly, and I read Clayton his book he brought from his house. I put the boys to sleep and went to my room and crashed.

---

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Part – 2

Friday morning, 6:45 am.

Two paths in front of me, one that is apparently better than the other. One seemed darker, less favorable while the other drew me in with bright, colorful lights. The shining path just looked so fun, but there was a piercing sound that took my attention to the dark side. I couldn’t quite comprehend what the noise was, but it the level kept increasing and increasing. The sound was laughter mixed with fear and screams. I was intrigued by it; I wanted to know what the noise was, so I took one step forward, my heart beating like a drum as sweat filled my palms. I took another step forward and another step. I started to notice someone sitting in front of me, I took another step, and the person looked at me. I couldn’t figure out who the person was, but as I got closer to the figure, the noise kept getting louder. I took another step, and the path became lighter, but the sound pierced my ears. I took another step, and the figure started to take shape. It was a boy, it could have been Lincoln, but I couldn’t tell. I took another step down this path, and money bags were burning as they zoomed my head. Images of drugs and sound of cries scorched by me. I took another step, and the boy looked away from me. I was frozen, I felt I couldn’t move, and the thing started to get darker. This boy’s face wasn’t illuminated, and I couldn’t tell who it was so I tried to take another step and, “I thought I was done with this bullshit,” I said to myself. This damn dream was getting to me, I didn’t know what my brain was trying to tell me. I got my ass out of bed and went downstairs, Rita was already up and cooking as she stayed the night.

“Mornin Rita,” I said.

“Morning, how’d you sleep?”

“Good, had this weird dream though. I keep having it over and over again.”

“What is it?”

“Umm hard to explain, but I have two paths to choose from, a dark and light one. Every time I go to the dark path, I can only take a few new steps forward before I wake up. There is this boy in the dreams, reminds me of Lincoln, but I can’t see for sure. Every time I try to go closer but I can’t, it’s just frustrating.”

“Hmm, I don’t know that sounds pretty weird Garret,” Rita commented.

“Tell me about it, I know.” I said, “let’s change topics, what’s on the menu for the weekend.”

“Well starting tonight when Lucas and Katherine get here. We are going to have a filet with mashed potatoes, and vegetables. Bruschetta will be served as an appetizer, and I went and picked up some wine. Saturday morning before the party, I’ll make eggs Benedict! For the party, you ready for this one?” Asked Rita.

“My mouth is already watering,” I said.

“For the party, we are doing beef sliders and steak tartar for starters, then we will go with a light buffet style lunch of pasta, baked BBQ chicken, baked beans, roasted vegetables and finally two desserts, ice cream and baked apple crisp.”

“How in the world are you going to do all of that?”

“I got my ways, don’t worry about it.”

I laughed, “sure you don’t need help?”

“Don’t question the head cook here.”

“Thank you, Rita, I don’t know what I would do without you,” I said as I went and gave her a quick hug. I grabbed my morning coffee and went to sit in the family room, my mom was first awake and came to the kitchen. Rita was in the process of making pancakes, so my mom came and sat down to watch TV.

“When does Christian get here?” Asked my mom.

“I don’t know, good question,” I replied.

“You know what would be cool?”

“I’m all ears.”

“If you picked him up in the Ferrari from school and brought him back. He would be so surprised,” stated my mom.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea.” I spoke, “I have to ask Kelly first though, not sure what the rest of their plans are.”

“Yeah, send a text. I think Kelly told me she is in work calls most of the day.”

I picked up my phone and texted her about the idea. She quickly agreed and thanked me because I was making it easier for her. She had to notify the school, and everything would be good. I told her to keep it a surprise because I wanted to see the shock on Christian’s face when he sees the Ferrari for the first time.

Everyone was up in the house early today. Everyone was fed by 7:45 and we were left wondering what to do. To pass the time, I decided to take the boys one by one for a ride in the Ferrari. This was their first time experiencing it, and they were beyond thrilled. I don’t think Ryker stopped laughing of enjoyment until he stepped out of the car. Of course with my dad releasing his inner child, I took him for a ride and even let him drive it. I quickly notice that this car was a gas hog, but I expected that. It has a 4.5 Liter V8 engine, and it is not meant to save gas. Before driving to pick up Christian, I would have to go fill up the gas tank.

I still had another 4 hours to kill, so we watched the third Harry Potter film. I couldn’t ask for much more, I was cuddling four terrific boys, and my parents were on the other couch enjoying everyone’s company. This was my perfection, I don’t know if I could be any happier at this moment.

The time flew by, and before I knew it, it was time to go pick up Christian.

“Alright boys, I’ll be back, I’m going to go pick up Christian. Grandma and Grandpa are in charge,” I said.

Lincoln came running over to me, “can I come?”

“Sorry, buddy, not this time.”

“Promise you’ll be back?” He demanded as he wrapped his arms around me.

I freed myself from his grasp, and picked his head up with my hand, “you can’t get rid of me that easily. Of course, I’ll be back, I promise,”I said as I hugged him again. “Now try to have fun with Grandma and Grandpa,” and I kissed the top of his head.

I got in the Ferrari and was on my way. I stopped to fill up the tank and arrived at his school just before students were being let out. I parked and went inside to sign him out. It took about 5 minutes for him to reach the office and I was sitting down in the chair.

“Uncle Garret! What are you doing here?” Christian asked as he ran to give me a hug.

Christian was a good looking kid, he just had his 13th birthday about 3 weeks ago. He has brown hair and brown eyes with a chiseled chin. I figured Christian was just entering puberty as the last time he was at my house, he went in the hot tub and appeared to be growing underarm hair. He was about 5 ft tall and weighed around 110 pounds. His body type was athletic as he played soccer, but he never showed much confidence in his body image.

“Thought I would surprise you and pick you up, come on let’s go,” I said and grabbed his backpack off of him to carry.

“Are Lincoln, Ryker, Jacob, and Clayton here?” Christian asked walking out of the building. The bell rang just as we got outside, I was hoping to beat the school buses out of the school so the timing couldn’t have been better.

“Nope, they are back home with Grandma and Grandpa!”

“Oh,” Christian replied.

I chuckled, “am I not good company anymore?”

“No no it’s not that, I’m just excited to meet them.”

“I know, I’m just teasing. They’re excited to meet you as well.”

“What if they don’t like me?” Christian asked as the sudden shock of fear rolled over his face.

“They’ll love you man, just be yourself! You have nothing to hide.”

“I know but wh,” Christian stopped talking. “No way! You brought the Ferrari, oh my gosh this thing is freaking awesome!”

“Hey hop in, when we get to your house we will take a better look, I just want to beat the buses out of here,” I commanded.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” mention Christian. We got in the car, and I started the engine. I pulled out of the school, and we were on our way to his house to pick up some clothes.

“Make sure you grab a pair of swim trunks when you pack, the boys like to go in the hot tub,” I said.

“Okay, when does Uncle Lucas come in?”

“Hmm, he said he was getting off work early today. They live about 3 hours away, and it’s 2:45 now, so I’d say around 6. He told me they were going to try to leave anywhere between 2:30 and 3,” I replied.

We reached his house, and no one was home. His sisters must have been at volleyball practice, and Kelly and Tom were still at work. He took about 10 minutes to pack his bag.

“Do you have everything, that was awfully quick to pack,” I stated.

“Yeah let’s go!” Christian said as he ran by me to the car

“If you didn’t grab swimming trunks, you’re butt is swimming naked.”

“I’ll be back,” he said quickly running back into the house.

“I knew you forgot something!” I yelled.

“Hush it,” he yelled back.

I laughed and walked back to the car. Christian came back down, and we loaded his bags into the hood of the car. The Ferrari has the engine in the rear, so you pack items in the front. He got in the car and started our way to my house.

“So how’s the life since turning 13?” I asked.

“Good I guess.”

“Just good? How 7th grade been?”

“It’s been good, I don’t really want to talk about school.”

“Alright what do you want to talk about.”

“Umm, what are my new cousins like?” Christian asked.

“Hmm I could tell you, but I’ll let you find that out on your own! I don’t want you to carry any preconceived notions about them.”

“Come on Uncle G, like tell me something. Like umm, hmm like I don’t know.”

“You’re nervous aren’t you?” I inquired.

“Yeah a little, don’t tell them please.”

“I won’t, they are nervous too, so don’t think you are the only one who is.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Think about it, they have to meet so many new people in our family. That’s 10 cousins, 6 aunt and uncles, and two grandparents. That is a lot of pressure, and that’s why introducing everyone is challenging for them.”

“Whoa, I didn’t think of that. Can I help them?” He inquired.

“Just be yourself, kid! I love the young man you have turned out to be Christian, so don’t act differently! And if you want to help, maybe remind them of names, I’m sure that will be really difficult.”

“I won’t act different, I promise,” He quickly reiterated.

“I know you won’t.”

“So are they cute, I mean umm like what do they look like,” he blushed wondering if I caught what he said first.

I decided to ignore the first part and say, “hmm… too difficult to describe them, you’ll have to find out on your own!”

“Uncle garret,” he nagged.

“Nope!”

“Fine!”

The rest of the drive home we just chatted about usual stuff like sports and the middle school dance. We pulled into the driveway and headed for the garage. I parked the car in the usual spot and grabbed Christian’s bag out of the hood. We walked in the front door, and Lincoln came sprinting to me.

“I missed you!” Lincoln said as he ran into my arms.

“Missed you too,” I replied. “I want you to meet Christian.”

“Hi,” Christian quietly said.

“Hi, I’m Lincoln. Umm uh… thanks for the flower thing.”

“Ohh yeah, umm no problem. Sorry for your umm loss,” Christian managed to stay.

“thanks, umm… do you like video games?”

“Yeah! What games do you have?”

“Lots,” smiled Lincoln. “FIFA, Madden, Roblox, Minecraft.”

“I’ll beat you in FIFA,” commented Christian.

“You’re on!” Said Lincoln, “let’s go!”

“Hold hold hold,” I quickly said. “Don’t you think we should introduce Christian to the rest of the gang?”

“Oh yeah… Come on follow me,” Lincoln said taking hold of Christian’s hand and running to the family room.

I turned around to shut the garage door and proceeded to follow the boys. Just as I entered the family room, 5 boys went sprinting past me screaming, “FIFA tournament!”

I walked into the family room and saw my parents, “well that didn’t take long.”

“No, no it didn’t,” chuckled my mom.

“Did you guys even get a hug from Christian?”

“Nope, but it’s okay honey. They are just excited, I’ll get a hug from him later.”

“Well, that was easy,” I said. “How’d the boys do when I was gone?”

“Clayton, Jacob, and Ryker were all fine. Lincoln was better this time, but still checked the window a few times,” said my mom.

“Yeah, they are great. Jacob kept asking when you would be back, but he told me he was excited to meet Christian,” said my father.

“Really?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Jacob doesn’t usually share his feelings or emotions like that. How’d you get him to talk with you?”

“Umm, I guess ever since I helped him at the funeral viewing he has been talking to me. He is very inquisitive and likes to know his surroundings. He is a smart kid,” said my father.

“Hmm, that’s good to know,” I returned.

“Yeah, has he not opened up much?” Inquired my father.

“Umm yes and no. It all depends on the mood he is in, but normally not. Ever once in a while, I will see it, but he just hasn’t opened up fully like Lincoln and Ryker.”

“What about Clay?” Asked my mother.

“Is that even a question?” I laughed.

“No I guess not, when you were gone he was telling us all about the book you read to him last night, he enjoyed it,” said my mother.

“He is just so loving,” I said. “Just wants to be around people and be loved. You know, share a connection with someone.”

“Yeah he is adorable, they all are.”

“Trust me I know,” I said as I decided to sit down and watch some tv with my parents.

“When does Lucas get here?” Asked my mom.

“About 2 hours,” I said.

“Oh that’s good, I think I am going to go see if Rita needs help in the kitchen.”

“Be careful,” I joked. “Rita is dangerous in that kitchen.”

“I heard that,” Rita yelled from the Kitchen.

I gave the boys about 30-40 minutes of playing before I went upstairs to check on them. Christian still needed his bag carried up because he didn’t have a chance to. I went to the kitchen and grabbed his suitcase. I walked upstairs and placed the bag on the ground in the hallway when I heard.

“GOALLLLLLLLL!! Messi, with a beauty!” The sound was coming from Lincoln’s room.

I walked in through the door to see Christian and all the boys packed on the bed. Christian was playing Lincoln in FIFA while the others watched on. Clayton was basically using Christian as a pillow and Jacob was laying next to Lincoln. Ryker was towards the top of the bed with his legs resting on the butts of Christian and Jacob. It was an adorable family moment, and it melted my heart to see Christian fitting in so well.

“Who’s winning?” I asked.

“Lincoln is winning 2-1, but I just scored a goal, and I’m about to score another one! GOOALLLLL, Messi with his second,” commented Christian.

“Darn it,” Lincoln said. “Good shot though.”

“Thanks!”

“Garret do you want to play?” Asked Lincoln.

“Oh no, I don’t want to embarrass all of you and whoop your little butts.”

“HA, funny, we’d be able to beat you with our eyes closed!” Returned Christian.

“Not a chance! I’d beat you guys so bad that you aren’t even worth the time to play!” I said

“Yeah Garret would beat you,” Clayton said.

“Who’s side are you on?” Asked Ryker. “No way Garret could win.”

“I don’t know,” said Clayton giggling. “whoever wins!”

“Whoever wins the tournament, will get the chance to play me,” I said.

“Deal,” echoed the 5 of them.

“Who’s got next game?” I asked.

“Jacob Vs. Ryker. Then loser plays Clayton,” said Christian.

“Alright well come get me, when you all are done,” I stated and walked to my room. I was thrilled the boys were all getting along so well.

---

---

Part – 3

The FIFA tournament ended, and I played Ryker as he won the championship between the boys. I played against him and won by 1 goal scored with two minutes left. Needless to say, the boys did not like me winning as they all tackled me playfully. I was able to wrestle off the boys and tickle them before I finally caved.

“Alright alright, you boys win!” I said. “But not at FIFA!”

Panting, all of the boys laid down on the ground next to me giggling.

“I think we need a few drinks, Rita has some fresh lemonade made. She will gladly pour us some.”

“Good idea! Can we umm… go in the hot tub later?” Asked Lincoln.

“Yeah, but Lucas should be here soon so how about you guys can go in the hot tub after dinner with everyone.”

“Yeahs” came from each of the boys as they slowly got up and went downstairs to get some drinks.

We reached the kitchen, “Something smells good,” said Lincoln.

“Well thank you,” Rita replied. “Hope all you boys are hungry, we will have tons of food to eat.”

“Hi Rita,” Christian said and walked over to give a hug.

“Hey, sugar! How have you been?”

“Good!” He replied.

“Wonderful! Can I get you, boys, anything?”

“Lemonade please,” said Lincoln.

“Me too, thanks,” spoke Ryker

“Can I have some please?” Asked Christian.

“Same, thank you,” said Jacob.

“Can I have milk?” Asked Clayton.

“Alright so we have 4 lemonades and 1 glass of milk, Lincoln can grab 5 glasses please?” Asked Rita. They finished their drinks and put their dishes away.

The boys went to the family room where my parents were sitting. I was in the kitchen helping prep the table for dinner. We would be using the formal dining room for dinner as the table was massive compared to the kitchen one. The kitchen table could sit 8 while the formal dining room table could seat 24. I was laying plates and glasses out for everyone. In total, 14 people would be eating, so having everything planned out would make for a comfortable dinner.

Around 6:20 I heard a car door shut outside and figured it was Lucas, I walked to the garage area and opened the door.

“Uncle G!” I heard a scream.

“LJ, what’s up buddy?” I said as I bent down to give him a hug.

“Uncle Garret!” Two more boys came running over to give me a hug.

“Hey Ashton, how you doing Jackson? You guys excited to be here?”

“Yes! Where is everyone?” Asked LJ.

“Inside! I’ll go introduce you to them, but go get your guy’s bags.” I said.

LJ was a good looking kid, a bit overweight but nothing dangerous as he is tall for his age standing around 4’10. He is in the same grade as Lincoln. LJ has brownish hair with brown eyes and a great personality.

Ashton looks completely different than his brother. Ashton is short and small with red hair and freckles, he is still a cute kid, and Ashton is 8 years old.

Jackson is 6 years old and the youngest of my brother’s children. However, he resembles Lucas the most. Almost a spitting image, as he has brown hair with a touch of blonde that is naturally curly.

“Hey brother, how have you been?” Asked Lucas.

“Good good!” I said as I gave him a hug, “how was the drive?”

“Oh not too bad, passed a few cops but nothing more,” Lucas said.

“Katherine! How are you?” I said to my sister-in-law.

“Hey Garret, I’m good. These boys of ours have been so excited to meet the new members of the family!”

“They are inside with grandma and grandpa, do you guys need help with anything?” I asked.

“Umm not yet, we will come back out to grab stuff. I think we better go meet everyone before Jr. goes crazy,” said Lucas.

“Alright follow me.”

“Finally,” mentioned LJ. We walked inside through the garage and went towards the family room.

“Hey boys, come meet everyone,” I said. Lucas and Katherine were standing behind me as their children were next to them.

“Boys, this is my brother Lucas and his wife, Katherine. These three boys are my nephews LJ, Ashton, and Jackson,” I said. “Everyone, this is Lincoln he is the oldest. Next is Ryker and then we have Jacob. Last but not least we have Clayton.”

“Clay…. you always forget that,” said Clayton.

Lucas went first, “hey guys, first we just want to say sorry for your loss. We know it has been a rough couple of weeks and hopefully, we can get to know each other more. You guys can call me Lucas, Uncle L, or Uncle Lucas, but welcome to the family.” He said shaking each of the boy’s hand.

“Yes boys, we are terribly sorry for your loss,” Katherine said. “However, I’m am delighted to finally meet y’all, and like my husband said I’m so excited to know y’all more. We wanted to welcome you to the family, my name is Katherine, and you can call me Aunt K, Aunt Katherine or whatever you would like.”

“Can I call you Aunt Kat, I like cats,” asked Clayton.

“You know what, that’s perfect! I like cats as well, so call me Aunt Kat,” Katherine said as she gave a hug to each boy.

“Yes,” giggled Clayton.

“Umm thanks umm…. for the flower things,” said Lincoln shyly.

“Did you read mine?” blurted LJ.

“Yeah, we read all of them,” said Ryker.

“Yeah those were really cool, thanks,” said Jacob.

“Why don’t you guys go to the game room for a little, dinner should be ready in about 15-30 minutes, so it gives you guys plenty of time to play.”

“Yeah, come on let’s go,” said Lincoln. The 8 of them took off to the basement game room.

I heard one of the boys ask, “did you guys bring swim trunks? We are going in the hot tub after dinner.”

They were too far away for me to hear a response, so I turned to Lucas and Katherine.

“Can I get you guys anything to drink? We have wine, whiskey, beer.”

“Umm wine for me,” said Katherine.

“Make that two,” said Lucas. I went to the kitchen as Lucas and Katherine greeted our parents. It was nice to see plans come together. Especially for the boys, they were handling everything so well and treating everyone with respect. My nephews did terrific as well, they were all so nervous, but once they started to play, everything clicked. It was if my boys grew up in this family since they were born and it felt amazing to have my family around.

Dinner was an interesting one, as it was filled with laughter and chatter from both ends of the table. Rita had cooked us an excellent meal, and everyone complimented her. She really outdid herself, the appetizers were outstanding, and the steak was cooked to perfection. Everyone had full stomachs, and I told the boys to help clean up the table before doing anything else. Luckily the cousins helped, which sped the process up. It was around 7:30 and I told the boys to go play video games for 30 minutes while all the food digested. Plus I had to set up the hot tub and was planning on having a nice fire outside to keep the adults warm. It was a chilly night of 30 degrees, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Starting a nice fire on the patio near the hot tub would be an excellent first night to kick off the family weekend.

I was just about to head outside to start prepping everything when Christian came down and asked to talk with me.

“Hey Uncle G, could we talk real quick?”

“Umm yeah, uh let’s head down by the lake and chill on the dock. Put your jacket on though, it’s cold outside,” I said.

“Okay, let me grab it.” He replied which gave me time to talk with Lucas for a quick second.

“Hey Lucas, you think you could get a fire going outside? I was about to start one, but Christian wants to speak with me.”

“Is everything alright?” Asked Lucas.

“Yeah, I think so but just get the fire started and pull a few chairs around the fire please,”

“Yeah no problem,” said Lucas.

Christian walked back towards the door, and I said, “Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go!” I said stepping outside and begin the walk to the lake. “So how is everyone getting along.”

“Good! They are all really cool and nice.”

“How is LJ doing?”

“LJ is fine, very excited to be here.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” I said. “How are the littlest ones handling everything.”

“They are so funny together, Clay and Jackson are inseparable,” Laughed Christian.

“Good, glad everyone is having fun,” I said as we reached the dock. “so what’s up?”

We took a seat on the dock and Christian began, “nothing just wanted to talk with you I guess.”

“Well, I am always game for that!”

“Yeah,” he said looking down while twiddling his fingers.

“You okay?”

“Umm… yeah,” he said looking up at me, but his face said otherwise as he looked like he was about to cry.

“Hey, buddy, what’s going on? You can tell me.”

“I,” he sniffled, “I think I am umm.” Christian started to cry, “I am gay.”

It took me a second to comprehend this, I was honestly shocked because I never thought of Christian being gay. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I sort of, umm…. have a boyfriend, but I don’t want to tell my parents, but I don’t want to keep this a secret from them, but I don’t want them to know I’m gay, but I, I.”

“Whoa whoa, slow down buddy….. It’s okay, it’s okay I promise. Gay or not, I am still going to love you, and it doesn’t matter to me. Now let’s take this one problem at a time,” I said. “You have a boyfriend?”

“Yeah, umm he was over my house a few weeks ago, and we kissed and we umm,”

“And?”

“you know, we umm… I mean I touched his dick, and he touched mine.”

“Well, that’s okay, part of growing up and experiencing new things. However, you might be a bit young to do that kind of stuff, but I’m not one to judge. But anyway did you like it?”

“Yes… a lot” he cried.

“Did he enjoy it?”

“I, I think.”

“What’s wrong then? If both of you enjoyed it, then there is nothing wrong. If you like boys, then it is okay, nothing to be ashamed of. If he is your boyfriend, you guys will kiss and stuff, its part of being in a relationship and growing up.”

“I know why does it feel wrong though? It felt so good, but feels wrong.”

“Hey, just take things slow Christian. Move at your own pace and don’t feel forced into anything. It’s okay buddy, I promise. This is just a new feeling for you, and you’re learning how to handle it.” I said. “Have you told anyone else you are gay?”

“no, you are the first person I have told.”

“Well, I’m happy you can come to me and talk about this kind of stuff. This won’t change our relationship I can promise you that, but why don’t you want to tell anyone or your parents?”

“What if they don’t like it or what if I get kicked out, or… or… or?”

“Christian, you don’t actually believe your parents will not love and accept you for who you are. I know your mother will be 100% supportive of you, and your father will be as well. They love you man, and they are so proud of you, just like I am. I promise they will understand.

“Yeah but, I don’t know if I can tell them.”

“Well, I’ll give you a piece of advice. They would rather find out from you speaking to them and explaining your emotions rather than walking in on you kissing or touching someone. I’m not going to tell you what to do because this is something you have to figure out. I can be here for support, but I can’t tell your mom and dad for you buddy. I know it will be tough, but when you are ready to tell them, they will support you. Your parents are very understanding people, and it might be a shock to them, but they’ll love you.”

“When do you think I should tell them?”

“Only one person can answer that question buddy, and it is you. Whenever you feel comfortable, or ready to talk with them but make sure you are ready.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Have any questions you want to ask?” I inquired

“Umm, no I think I am good.”

“I got one, you’ve been texting someone a lot, is that your boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” Christian said embarrassed.

“Well, what’s he like?”

“Umm he is a year older than me, but his name is Austin.”

“What does Austin look like?”

“You wanna see a picture?”

“Yeah!” I said as Christian scooted over to me.

“Here is one photo we took last time we hung out, I really like his eyes.”

“Ohh he is a cutie,” I said lightly elbowing him in the side.

“Thanks, here he is in another pho,” he stopped and turned red.

“Well, you sure got bigger down there since a baby,” I laughed, trying to ease the situation.

“Please don’t tell anyone uncle Garret,” he began to cry.

“Whoa, easy bud. Give me your phone,” I said.

“But why?”

“Just give it to me,” I laughed. Christian handed me his phone, and I went to delete the photo. I went into the settings and deleted it permanently from his phone. “Now I wouldn’t send another one of those photos or even take a photo like that again bud. You never know what could happen.”

“I didn’t send it, I promise. I just took a picture and thought of sending it.”

“I believe you, just be careful.”

“Thanks, Uncle Garret.”

“Hey come here kiddo,” I said as I wrapped him in a hug and kissed the top of his head. “Gay or not, I love you no matter what. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, and don’t be afraid to talk with your parents about it. Well, not the photo part, just keep that between you and me, but I promise you that your parents will understand.”

“Thanks, Uncle Garret. Love you,” said Christian.

“Love you too man,” I replied as I let go of his hug.

“Hey, by the way, you got a pretty good looking dick,” I said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, a bit small… I’m kidding,” I said as I knocked him over and took off running for the house laughing.

“Uncle Garret, not funny,” he replied and chased me up to the house.

We reached the patio and saw Lucas had a good fire going.

“Alright, go tell the boys to get their swimsuits on, and the hot tub will be ready,” I said to Christian as he took off into the house.

“So what was that all about?” Asked Lucas.

“He just wanted to talk about life,” I said.

“About life?”

“Yup,” I responded.

“Life? Ohhh gotcha ya,” Lucas said.

“Yeah, I’m gonna head upstairs to help the boys get changed. Are your kid’s swimsuits in the suitcases?”

“Yeah, Katherine just took them upstairs. I think Rita said we were sleeping in Jacobs room.”

“Yup! I’m gonna head up,” I said. I wasn’t sure if Lucas knew what I meant or not, but he would find out sometime. I walked upstairs and went into Lincoln’s room first.

Lincoln was about to put his swim trunks on when I walked in.

“Hey bud, having fun?”

“Yeah, my cousins are awesome!”

“Good, I’m glad you’re having fun,” I said as Lincoln gave me a hug. LJ came out of the bathroom just as are hug finished.

“Oh sorry, didn’t know you were naked still,” said LJ

Lincoln laughed, “it is okay, I don’t care. You’re my cousin anyway.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.”

“Yeah, no need to be embarrassed about your body boys. You guys are all good looking young men. That being said, Lincoln get your suit on, you can’t go skinny dipping this time,” I said.

“I know I know, stupid swimsuit,” Lincoln said. I was walking out when I heard LJ ask, “You don’t care if Garret sees your dick?”

“Nope, he has seen it before. Not like he doesn’t have one,” I heard Lincoln say.

“Yeah I guess so, never thought of that,” Said LJ.

I walked into Ryker’s room where I saw him, Jacob, and Ashton getting changed. Katherine helped Clayton and Jackson get changed as Christian was using the bathroom to put his suit on. Everyone was ready to go, and we walked outside.

“Ohhh, it’s freezing,” I heard multiple voices say, and they took off for the hot tub.

All the boys jumped in, and I set the temperature at 103 and turned the jets on full blast. I told Lincoln, Christian, and LJ that they were in charge of safety and they seemed to take the role seriously. I walked over to the fire, which was about 25 feet away and was joined by my parents, Rita, Katherine, and Lucas.

“Awesome fire Lucas,” stated my dad.

“Yeah nice one, guess that one day of Boy Scouts when you were 14 really paid off,” I said.

“Shut it,” laughed Lucas.

“Oh the Boy Scouts,” joked my father. “I remember that story.”

“I don’t know if I have heard this story before,” said Rita.

“It’s a good one, that’s for sure,” commented Katherine.

“Oh please do tell.”

“Yeah please do tell, Lucas,” I said.

“I strongly dislike you all right now,” joked Lucas. “Oh, where do I begin, umm so when I was 13-14 I signed up for Boy Scouts because I thought it would be cool. Like fishing and all kinds of stuff… it wasn’t, it was bizarre and weird. To make a long story short, I was in Boy Scouts for like 5 months and not just one day. I quit because we went on a 3-day camping trip. Being from the wealthy background we came from, I thought camping was going to be nice and fun in a cabin or something. Oh boy was I wrong, we had to sleep and tents and everything. The worst part was that there wasn’t a bathroom around and I was afraid to shit in the woods because I thought a snake would bite my boys if you know what I’m saying. So tried to go the whole 3 days without pooping and needless to say I didn’t make it. I ended up shitting my pants on the last day. It was so bad that I had to jump into the lake to get all the crap off of me. The troop leader didn’t even want to come near me I smelled so bad… I would have made it if I didn’t eat the damn baked beans.”

“I have heard that story multiple times, and every time I hear it, it gets funnier,” I said.

“You poor child,” spoke Rita through her laughter.

“Yeah yeah, I’m never going camping again unless there is a toilet around,” said Lucas.

We went on talking for a good while, and the conversations were all over the place. We covered health, sports, the kids, school, other family members, plans for the party, the hockey game tomorrow, and much more. Sometimes the girls were just talking to the girls and vice versa with the boys. It was good family bonding time simply putting it. For once I wasn’t worried about Lincoln having a random flashback as he was so happy. Actually, this was the happiest I had seen all the boys.

It was around 8:50 and the first boy stepped out of the hot tub. It was Clayton, and he walked over to me.

“Can I sit on your lap, I’m cold.”

“I was hoping you wanted to cuddle with me, I need my human blanket,” I said to him. “Let’s take this swimsuit off though, it will only make you colder.”

“Okay,” he said as I pulled down his trunks and threw them in the direction of the house.

“There’s the full moon,” joked my brother. Clayton giggled and wiggled his hips to mock him.

I wrapped the towel around Clayton twice and cradled him in my lap.

“What a sweet boy,” said my mom.

“Thanks,” replied Clayton.

“I know he is,” I said as I kissed his head and rubbed his body to keep him warm.

“So Clay, what’s your favorite color?” Asked Katherine.

“Umm, I don’t know red, yeah red!”

“Ohhh that’s a good choice, I like red too. What do you want to be when you grow up.”

“Umm,” he thought for a few seconds. “Uhh, I guess to be like Garret. Garret is the bestest.”

“Awww,” multiple voices said.

“Thank you, Clay, that means a lot,” I said as I kissed his forehead. A second boy was getting tired of the water and walked over. It was Jackson, and he went to Katherine. Katherine did the same thing I did with Clayton and but handed Jackson to Lucas so she could go check on the rest of the children.

“They are good,” spoke Katherine returning to the fire. “Wow, it’s freezing away from this fire.”

We went on talking between one another just telling stories and having a good time, my dad was telling a tale I’ve heard a thousand times, so I whispered to Clayton.

“Warm enough?”

“Yeah. I’m really warm.”

“Good, love you, buddy,” I said…..

I just broke my own rule, I wasn’t gonna force the boys into saying they love me. I wanted them to come to me first because I didn’t want to add pressure.

“Really?” He asked excitedly.

“Yeah, I really do kiddo.”

“Love you too,” he said as he broke the towel blanket and gave me a hug.

“Thanks, buddy, but let’s get you back in the towel though.”

“Yes please,” he said. All I could do was laugh, Clayton has a special place in my heart. I don’t know what it is, but whenever I am around him, I am just cheerful. He brings everyone’s mood up, and the best part is that he doesn’t know he is doing it. He is only his usual happy self.

I thought, “Well 3 out of 4 boys have told me they love me. I am certain Jacob loves me, but I wasn’t going to be the first one to say it and force him into anything. I made the mistake of letting it slip with Clayton, but I’m sure Clayton didn’t feel pressured to say it back.” I tuned back into my father’s story, and by the end of it, another boy came over to me.

“Hey, want to stay out by the fire or go inside?” I asked Ryker.

“Umm can-can, I stay outside with-with you,” he said chattering his teeth.

“Absolutely, here mom can you hold Clay?”

“Yes, come here honey. Grandma needs some warmth!” Spoke my mom.

“Okay,” said Clayton and he jumped off my lap to go to my mom.

“Alright buddy, let’s get these off,” I said. “You’ll dry quicker and be warmer without the soaking wet swimsuit.”

“Okay just hurry, I’m cold,” Ryker said. With a quick downward motion, his trunks fell down to his ankles, and he stepped out of them.

“How in the world do you still have tan lines?” Joked Katherine.

“That’s impressive,” commented my dad.

“I don’t know,” giggled Ryker. I wrapped two towels around him like I did with Clayton, but I put a smaller one on top of his head as his hair was damp. He sat his cute little butt down on my lap and swung his legs over the arm of the chair ss he rested his head on my shoulder. He was basically curled into a ball on his side, with me supporting his back with one arm and my other supporting his butt, so he didn’t fall off. I rubbed over the towel trying to dry and warm him up.

“Comfortable?” I asked.

“Very, the fire feels good,” said Ryker.

“Good,” I said and kissed his cheek.

It wasn’t long before the rest of the boys got out, and unfortunately, we didn’t have enough laps to go around, so most of the boys took off to go upstairs and change.

“Want to go up and change?” I asked Ryker.

“No, not really, I am super warm. Can I stay out here for a little longer?”

“Absolutely bud, just tell me when you want to head in or if you are getting cold.”

“Okay, but I’m really comfortable.”

“Alright,” I said. Katherine went upstairs to help the boys and hang up the soaked clothes, as it was just me, Ryker, Lucas, Jackson, my mother, and Rita. Everyone else went inside to get changed or help those get changed.

“Garret you look so happy,” commented Lucas.

“Oh I am,” I said and lightly tickled Ryker. “These boys are something special, and I am lucky to have them.”

“Well, I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks,” I replied as I looked at the sweet little boy in my lap. “Oh, and thank you guys for coming here by the way.”

“Yeah, thanks for coming,” Ryker said poking his head up through the towel.

“Oh he IS awake, I thought he was sleeping all bundled up there,” joked Lucas.

“I could fall asleep, it’s so cozy in here,” said Ryker as he nuzzled his head against my shoulder.

“I bet it is,” said Lucas. “Well, thanks for having us, and letting my boys share your guy’s rooms.”

“I forgot we have to share rooms, this is like my first sleepover, this is so cool,” spoke Ryker.

“Where is everyone going to sleep?” Asked my mom.

“Well you have the spare bedroom,” I said. “Lucas and Katherine get to sleep in Jacob’s rooms. I think Lincoln, LJ, and Christian can share Lincoln’s room. If they don’t want to fit three, then one of them can sleep on the couch or somewhere else. We will put Ryker and Ashton in Ryker’s room, and then Clayton and Jackson in Clayton’s room. Jacob can choose where he wants to sleep, his options are abundant.”

“Just wait until next Christmas,” said my mom.

“What happens at Christmas?” inquired Ryker.

“You know how we have grandma and grandpa staying here and we also have Uncle Lucas’s family here.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, during Christmas everybody comes to stay Christmas Eve night and then on Christmas morning we all open presents from Santa. So we will have Aunt Kelly and Uncle Calvin and all their family staying here. It’s chaotic, but tons of fun.”

“Whoa, that’s awesome. There will be like 100 people here,” said Ryker.

I laughed, “not quite that much. But we will have kids sleeping everywhere.”

“I can’t wait!” said Ryker.

The rest of the night went by quick. We were out by the fire for another 30 minutes, and Ryker had fallen asleep in my arms, so I decided it was time to take him up. I took him upstairs and put a pair of underwear on him because he was going to share a bed with someone. It was late, so the younger group of kids went to bed. Jacob decided he wanted to share a bed and slept with Ryker and Ashton, while Clayton and Jackson were sleeping in Clayton’s room.

I walked into Lincoln’s room and found the three older boys sitting in their underwear playing video games. Apparently, they were on the same team and trying to beat the New England Patriots in Madden. They were getting crushed, so it was comical to see the struggle.

“Hey boys, don’t stay up too late okay? We have the party tomorrow,” I said.

Lincoln paused the game and ran over to me, “goodnight love you.”

The other two boys followed his lead and gave me hugs.

“Love you, boys, if it is too cramped in this bed between the three of you, there is space in my room, and the couches are opened all over the house. Just remember that uncle Lucas and Aunt Katherine are in Jacob’s room.” I said and walked out to my room. I watched something on TV and took a quick shower. It was around 11 o’clock, and I jumped into my bed when my door opened.

“Garret, you still up?”

“What’s the matter Lincoln?”

“Can I sleep with you?”

“Of course hop in,” I said.

“Thanks,” Lincoln replied. He jumped up into my bed and worked his way over to cuddled next to me. He backed his butt into my stomach and laid on his side, and I draped my arm over his belly too.

“Did you have fun today?” I asked.

“Yeah a lot of fun, everyone is really nice,”

“Not everyone,” I said.

“Who isn’t nice?” Asked Lincoln.

“Me!” I said and tickled his stomach. The tickle torture went on for half a minute.

“Okay okay, I give,” laughed Lincoln. “My stomach hurts from laughing.”

“Aww poor baby,” I said as I rubbed his stomach and accidentally went too far as I hit his soft cock. “Are you naked?”

“Yeah?”

“Wait what, I thought you had underwear on?”

“I did, but I took them off.”

“Oh, where are they?”

“Right next to the bed,” Lincoln said.

“Maybe you should put them on.”

“But why?” Lincoln said, and he adjusted his body to look up at me. That sent his bare butt angled to my groin area. I could feel my penis through my underwear touching his crack ever so slightly.

“Umm, I…. because,” I couldn’t think of anything else besides my penis in between his cheeks, but finally was able to say, “because I said so and I am the adult, but also because we have guests here.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Said Lincoln who finally moved to grab his underwear. This allowed for me to adjust and lay on my back instead of my side. Lincoln came back over and arranged himself on his side with his head resting on my arm and cuddled against me.

“Goodnight, love you,” I said as I rubbed his back trying to get him to fall asleep.

“Love you,” Lincoln replied.

I was up for another 30 minutes pondering what just happened. I mean come on, no way this kid did that on purpose, he doesn’t even fully know what sex is. I was starting to realize I was over thinking this. Lincoln just wanted to be close, and he didn’t see being naked as a big deal because I always tell him it isn’t. Maybe he didn’t think about having our company staying the night would change anything because they are family. It was just by coincidence that he backed his butt down to my groin area because he was turning to talk to me. It was an accident, a complete accident, it had to be…

Or was it? 

Author Notes: