Erastes

The Guardian

Chapters 16-23

As soon as the last of his teammates had left, Tyler thanked me too.

"That was a great birthday party, Uncle Blake," he announced, while giving me a hug. "Everyone said they had a really great time and they all thanked me for inviting them. I know we're all going to be closer as a team now, because we've all become friends. Oh, and I was told to thank you for telling the guys about that stuff last night. They all thought it was neat that you were willing to explain the differences and helped them understand all of those things. They told Marcus and me that we were really lucky that we could go to you whenever we had a question about things like that."

"Well I'm glad it worked out and I was able to help," I confirmed. "I just hope no problems arise from any of this later."

"Don't worry, it won't. All the guys really like you, so no one will do anything to get you in trouble," he assured me.

"I certainly hope not," I stated. "Now I want to explain something else to you. I'm going to sew pockets into both your backpack and the duffel bag. It will be a place where you can keep your phone, but it will be out of the way at the same time. This way you can leave it in your backpack during the day, so you won't get in trouble with your teachers, but you can also move it to your duffel bag, so you'll have it with you when you're playing sports. You be able to take it with you when you are at practice or go on road trips, but can't keep it on you while you're playing. The pockets will keep your books and other things you have in there from crushing the phone or making phantom calls on it. I'll do this today, so you'll be all set for tomorrow."

"Thanks, Uncle Blake," he told me. "You always think of everything."

"I try, little man," I assured him, as I turned Tyler around and smacked him on the butt.

"Hey, what was that for?" he shouted, as he turned around to face me again. "Well I haven't given you your birthday spanks yet..." I replied, but Tyler didn't wait for the rest of my answer. Instead, he spun around, bolted out of the room and flew up the stairs to his bedroom.

I didn't see much of Tyler for the rest of the day. I wasn't sure if he was hiding from me or merely catching up on his sleep, since I wasn't sure how well he'd slept during the night. He might also be using this time to think about yesterday and envisioning all of the boy meat he had seen. I'm sure; at least as far as he's concerned, that bonus alone was worth it.

I also decided to use this time to sew the pockets into his backpack and duffel bag, so they'd be ready for him to use the following day. This way he could keep his phone with him without me having to worry that it would get lost or damaged. I sewed the one in the backpack just inside and below the zipper on top and underneath where the top piece connected to the side panel. It was where he could get to it easily, but also away from the heavier items that might crush it. I then sewed the pocket into the duffel bag and placed it inside and just below the zipper on one of the end sections, for basically the same reason.

While I was doing that, I also thought about Tyler's party and realized something else. Even after seeing all those boys with their dicks hanging out in the family room, I never got aroused. The only time that has happened to me has been when I've been with Tyler. I wasn't sure if I should be pleased that I hadn't been sexually attracted to the other boys or dismayed that I do get aroused by Tyler. It was something I would have to think about further and then make some kind of decision as to what I was going to do about it.

Tyler came down to join the rest of us for lunch and dinner, but that was about it. Then after dinner he came up to me to talk about something.

"During my party, Jacob and Dylan both said things to me that made me think they were interested in fooling around sometime. Do you think they really might want to do that?" he wondered.

"First of all, I have no idea what was said or how they acted, so only you can be the judge of that," I replied.

"After he measured my dick, Jacob whispered to me that I had a nice one and he'd like to see more of it," Tyler verified. "Dylan said something like that to me later too, when no one else could hear. What do you think I should do?"

"Are you interested in either of those boys?" I shot back, to see what he had to say.

"Yeah, kinda, but I'm more interested in you," he stated, while flashing me a sly grin.

"Be that as it may," I replied, "if you're interested in doing something with either boy, then you'll have to let him know. I just want to warn you that whatever you decide to do, just make sure it's only done in a safe place, where no one else will be able to discover what you're up to."

"How about here, up in my room?" he wondered.

"That would be fine, but how would they get here to be with you?" I challenged, pointing out the flaw in his plan.

"What if I asked one of them to stay over sometime?" he offered. "Then we could do things, because I know none of you would mind or bother us."

"You could only do it on a non-school night," I pointed out.

"I know, but you wouldn't mind if I did that. Would you?" he wanted to know.

"Not at all," I concurred. "I'd much rather see you doing it with someone your age and in the safety of our home, then trying to convince me to do those things with you."

"I still want to do stuff with you too," he confessed, "but since you don't want to do it very often, I thought this would be good for me to do in between."

When I first heard Tyler mention this idea, I was hoping that if he started messing around with another boy that it would take me off the hook completely. However, it merely seems as if Tyler wants to use one or both of these boys to sate his desires when I won't give in to him. I guess it's still a partial victory for me, but maybe he'll change his mind later and want to do things with one of them full time.

Tyler's mood gradually changed again and he suddenly seemed to be moping around the house, but I wasn't sure why. It might have been that he was just busy thinking about setting things up with either Jacob or Dylan and merely working the idea out in his mind, so I didn't give it a second thought. Then later, as Tyler was walking back to his room after taking his shower, I passed him in the hall. Not only did the expression on his face appear as if he had just lost his best friend, but he was walking with his shoulders slumped slightly forward. When he glanced up at me, I noticed his eyes were puffy and watery too, but it didn't appear as if it was the result of the shower he'd just taken.

"Hey! What's wrong, champ?" I asked when I saw him.

"Nothing!" he exclaimed, as he pushed his way past me.

I didn't understand why he was suddenly so unhappy, especially after the great weekend he'd just enjoyed. So I thought I'd better follow him, to see if I could find out what was wrong. When I entered his room, he was sitting on his bed, with the towel still wrapped around his waist, but he was looking down at his knees. I wasn't sure if he even saw me enter, so I walked up to him to see if I could find out what was going on.

"What's the matter?" I pressed. "You should be happy after your great party, so why do you look so miserable?"

"Because you don't want me and I didn't get the one present I wanted the most," he spit back.

"What are you talking about?" I followed. "Of course I want you here with me. I love you boys and don't want anything to ever change."

"But you don't care if I do stuff with other boys and you won't do what I want," he responded, as the tears began to stream down his cheeks. "I love what you got me for me birthday, but the one thing I really wanted you never gave me."

"So all of this is because I didn't give you a blowjob?" I asked, still partially confused.

"See! You don't even realize how important it is to me!" he blurted out, as he began to cry in earnest.

Suddenly, his earlier comments became clear. He was telling me about possibly fooling around with the other boys to make me jealous. When that didn't happen, he became depressed instead.

"Tyler, I don't want to see you unhappy on your birthday," I told him, as I slipped my arm around his shoulders.

"Then why didn't you give me the one thing I wanted most?" he challenged, as his body stiffened and he glared into my eyes.

"Because I've been giving in to you far too often as it is and I didn't want you to start thinking I'd do it whenever you wanted," I replied, although I knew already that he wasn't going to accept my answer.

"I wasn't asking you to do it all the time, just for my birthday," he shot back, defiantly.

"Well that isn't until tomorrow, so why are you getting so upset now?" I followed and his head suddenly shot up, as he looked into my eyes.

"Do you mean you still might do it?" he asked, as he waited for my reply.

"I don't want to mislead you, but never count anything out until you are sure it isn't possible," I answered. I said it this way so I had time to think about this some more.

His face suddenly lit up and he threw his arms around my neck, as he kissed me on the lips. "I hope you mean that," he whispered in my ear after our mouths separated. I decided it would be best to distract him from those thoughts for now, so I came up with something else to chat about.

"Since tomorrow is your birthday, what do you want special for breakfast?" I asked. It took a few seconds for his mind to change gears, but then I could see him thinking hard about my request.

"How about waffles topped with strawberries?" he wondered.

"Your wish is my command," I replied.

"I wish it was really like that all the time," he countered and I knew precisely what he meant.

"I'll have to make sure we have some frozen strawberries first, but if we don't I'll make a quick trip to the store," I advised him. "If you hear the car start, then you'll know that's what I had to do, so keep an ear out for your brothers until I return. I'll even pick up a can of whipped cream to squirt on top of the strawberries."

As I suspected, we didn't have any strawberries, so I made sure I had everything else I would need before I ran to the store to get the strawberries and whipped cream. Once I had completed my errand and felt everything was in order, I turned in for the night and set the alarm.

I was up early the next morning and had everything set up before Tyler came down to join me. As soon as I saw him, I gave him a kiss on the lips, which wasn't normal for me, and wished him a 'Happy Birthday'. Then I told him I'd start making the waffles, while he went upstairs and woke his brothers. I had his plate ready when he came back down and then I started fixing the same for his siblings.

"Wow! We don't usually get this," Marcus observed as he began to eat.

"You can thank your brother for it, since this is what he wanted for his birthday breakfast," I announced.

"Thanks, bro," Marcus told him. "Will Ethan and me get to tell you what we want on our birthdays too?"

"Of course," I answered, which earned me a huge smile in return.

After the boys got on their buses, I headed to work. I spent the ride and part of the day thinking about whether I was going to honor Tyler's birthday request. Personally, I wanted to do it, but as a parent I knew I shouldn't. I couldn't keep giving in to him every time he cried or pouted. Then again, I didn't want to ruin his special day either.

I argued with myself off and on throughout the entire morning and afternoon. I still hadn't made up my mind by the ride home, but I still had a little time to think about it, because I'd promised Tyler that I'd let him choose the restaurant we'd go to for dinner. After retrieving Ethan and Marcus from next door, we drove to the school to pick Tyler up from his practice. Once he was buckled into his seat, he announced he wanted to go to Dominick's, an Italian restaurant, so that's where I took them.

After looking at the menu, we all decided on what we wanted. Tyler had Lasagna, Marcus wanted Ravioli, Ethan stuck with the Spaghetti and meatballs and I ordered Eggplant Parmigiana. The food was delicious and we were all stuffed, so I ordered three cannolis to go, which we would have later. I would split one between Ethan and Marcus and then there would be one for Tyler and myself.

Tyler was pleased with his meal and thanked me afterward, but so did the other boys. Then, I drove home, so we could relax. After making sure their homework was out of the way, we had our dessert and then I took Ethan and Marcus upstairs for their baths. Just as I was finishing up with Marcus, Tyler showed up and he had a huge grin plastered across his face. There was no doubt about what he was expecting, but I still hadn't made up my mind as to whether I was going to give in to him.

Once the other two were in bed, I ran downstairs to close up, but then I grabbed something at the last second. I took it upstairs and left it in my bedroom, before going over to Tyler's room so I could speak with him. He was still all smiles when I walked in, so I hoped this would go well.

"Ok, you can sleep with me tonight, if you want," I began.

"Of course I want to!" he exclaimed. "Are we going to do the other thing too?"

"Maybe, but I want that part to be a surprise," I answered.

This made Tyler give me a strange look in return. I hadn't said 'no', but I hadn't said 'yes' either. I think he was still afraid I was going to turn him down when he crawled into bed beside me. Once we were both settled, I rolled over stared into his lovely green eyes and finally made up my mind. I wanted him tonight, as much as he wanted me to have him.

Without thinking about the ramifications, I leaned toward his head and placed my lips over his. When he opened his mouth this time, I let my tongue slither between his luscious lips, as I kissed him deeply and passionately. While I was doing this, I was also running my hand over his chest and tauntingly tweaking his nipples, before I allowed that same hand to roam up and down his chest, until it eventually reached his groin. At first I merely rubbed his boy parts through the fabric, which made Tyler squirm and moan into my mouth as his boyhood stiffened. Eventually, I slipped my hand under the waistband and began fondling the entire area, skin on skin.

Tyler was now thrashing about under my touch, while getting worked up more and more every second. Since I didn't want him to ejaculate prematurely, I pulled my hand away again and moved it back up to his chest for a few moments. That's when Tyler pulled away from me and spoke.

"What's wrong? Why did you stop?" he demanded. "That felt wonderful and I was really enjoying it."

"Maybe a little too much," I observed. "I was afraid you were going to shoot before I did what you wanted."

"I could have done it again later, if that happened," he claimed, and being young and resilient I was sure he could have.

"I know, but I want to build up to the moment, without the added mess just yet," I replied.

Tyler accepted my explanation, since he was fairly certain he was going to get what he wanted. Satisfied, he moved his lips back to mine, but this time he was kissing me and it was just as passionate as before. While he was doing this, I started to slide his boxer briefs down his legs and he reached down on the other side to help me do it. When they were finally down by his ankles, he kicked them off and they landed on the bedroom floor.

Now that he was completely naked, I rolled away from him and reached for the object I'd left on my nightstand earlier. He couldn't see what I was doing until I rolled back and began spraying whipped cream on his nipples.

"Hey! That's cold!" he chirped, as he began to squirm around beneath me.

I didn't respond and merely flicked out my tongue and began licking up the tasty treat, before I started working on the tiny nubs. I licked, nibbled, nipped and sucked on each one for quite some time, as Tyler gyrated below me. Once I felt I had paid enough attention to that area, I sprayed a line of whipped cream down his chest and into his bellybutton. Then, I began to lick that up too. As I worked my way down his chest, I stopped briefly to pay homage to his navel and lap up the huge dollop of white cream I had deposited there. Tyler was panting quite loudly in anticipation now, as I moved ever closer to his pride and joy.

Once I'd finished with his chest, I covered his groin in whipped cream next and then began to slowly lick it off. First, I used my tongue to travel over his sensitive scrotum, as I cleaned that area off completely, and then I lifted my head slightly, and allowed my tongue to journey up and down his rigid shaft a couple of times, as I licked that area clean as well. I also swirled my tongue around his helmet and teased the tiny slit at the tip, before I pulled back and slid back to his face. I quickly squirted some of the cream onto his nose and mouth and then I started to lick and suction it off of there as well. Tyler started to flick his tongue out as well and eagerly licked my lips, since some of the whipped cream had smeared there. When I saw he was enjoying this, I put a little more whipped cream on both of our faces and we attacked each other again.

Once we finished doing that, I sprayed another streak of the sticky white treat from his nipples to just below his navel, and then once again licked my way down his body. As soon as I reached his scrotum, I covered the entire area one more time and then not only sucked up the tasty residue, but I also nipped and tugged playfully on his sac for a while. After doing that for a brief time, I slurped the watery orbs contained within that fleshy pouch into my mouth, so I could suck and toy with them as well. Once I had done that for several seconds, I lifted my head and worked my way back up his quivering pole again. This caused Tyler to frantically buck his hips up and down on the mattress in tortured delight, but also in anticipation of what was to come next, until I finally reached the crown. After teasing him with my tongue a little longer, I lowered my mouth over his throbbing shaft and let my head drop downward until my lips were resting against his pubic mound.

I heard Tyler gasp when I closed my mouth around his shaft and began working on it with my tongue. Then, I started bobbing my head up and down over it, like the bouncing woodpecker on the toothpick holder. Every time I lowered my head, Tyler thrust his hips upward, and then he relaxed again as I pulled away. At that moment, I was the Master playing a delicate and lovely tune on a very fine and precious instrument. When at last we reached the crescendo, Tyler thrust his penis as far into my throat as it would go, as the final chords of this delicate and explosive performance played out. It was a work worthy of the greatest maestros - Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, as Tyler's body collapsed onto the sheet, completely spent and exhausted.

As I reluctantly pulled off of his penis, I lifted up and turned my head so I could look at Tyler. On the pillow, I saw the head of an angel, whose face was glowing and as radiant as any image ever created that depicted one of those heavenly creatures. Not even the most marvelous canvases or sculptures that had been meticulously crafted by the most talented artists to have ever lived could begin to compare. Da VincI, Michelangelo, Donatello, Botticelli and Raphael all paled in comparison and were incapable of rendering an equal to the perfection I had lying beside me. There was no way I could deny it any longer; I had without a doubt fallen deeply in love with this cherub from God. Although my heart was about ready to burst and was shouting with joy, my brain was telling me I'd made a huge and terrible mistake. It was screaming at me that he was just too young and the age difference between us was just too great to make this work. I didn't want to believe it, let alone admit the voice might be right, but I had a nagging and foreboding feeling that this second voice was probably the one giving me the accurate advice.

Once Tyler recovered from his mind-blowing orgasm, he sat up, wrapped his arms around my neck and began to kiss me passionately again. His mouth was all over my face, like the suction cups on the tentacles of an octopus or giant squid, and it was more than obvious that he had enjoyed what we'd done.

"That was absolutely incredible and better than I could have ever hoped for or imagined," he informed me, as his arms wrapped tighter around my neck and his mouth attacked mine. "You've never kissed me like that before and you haven't done some of that other stuff since the first time you did this for me, but where did you get the idea about using the whipped cream?"

"Since this was one of your birthday presents, I decided to turn you into a sweet and tasty dessert," I explained. "I hope you liked it."

"I loved it! It was the best birthday present ever!" he gushed. "Thank you sooooo much and I really love you. I wish we could do this forever."

I knew he was thrilled, and so was I, except for this nasty little voice in the back of my head that was swearing, calling me a fool and telling me that I'd just fucked up big time. I did my best not to listen to it, but it just wouldn't shut up and go away.

After a few moments, I talked Tyler into taking a shower with me, since we were both a little slimy from the residue left behind by the whipped cream. We washed each other thoroughly, as we removed the stickiness from our bodies, and then we dried each other off before getting in bed. As Tyler was cuddling against me and getting comfortable, I wondered if I'd done more to help or harm him tonight. Was I leading him on, only to crush his spirit and heart later?

As Tyler slept peacefully beside me, with his body pressed tightly against mine, I kept asking myself this same question. Then another voice suddenly spoke up. It wanted to know if it was so wrong to love him and provide him with so much pleasure, while the other voice kept answering 'yes' and ordering me to stop this while I could. I knew I probably should, but I had enjoyed it too and wanted to do it even more. Which voice was going to win out and convince me? Even more importantly, would Tyler be satisfied with whatever choice I finally made?

When Tyler woke up the next morning, he was happier than I'd ever seen him. He kissed and hugged me again before I convinced him to put on some clothes so we could go downstairs. He still had that goofy smile on his face when he went out the door to catch his bus.

The rest of the day went as it normally would have, except I was still questioning if I had done the right thing the previous night. I attempted to put the thought out of my mind for as long as possible, so I would be able to concentrate on my work. The distraction of focusing on my job helped to some extent, but the plan wasn't perfect and I still struggled at various times with my conscience over what I'd done. This went on for the rest of the day and continued until after I got home and finally fell asleep at the end of the day.

I felt a little better when I woke up Wednesday morning, possibly because 'the guilt' wasn't so fresh in my mind. Whatever the reason, I was able to concentrate on what I was doing until it was time to go home again. Tyler's next game was that same afternoon and it was a home game, so I hurried to pick up the other boys and took them to watch Tyler play. I was surprised to discover Tyler was pitching, because he hadn't mentioned it to me the night before. Seeing I'd never watched him pitch in a game before, I was curious to see how he was going to fare.

After his team finished stretching and warming up, Tyler searched the stands to see if we were there, just as he had done at his first home game. When he spotted us, his face lit up, so there was no need for him to wave in our direction or make any other acknowledgment that he saw us. Instead, he stood beside his teammates and waited to take the field.

As Tyler faced the first batter, I could tell the kid was no match for him. Tyler easily threw the ball by him and struck the kid out on just three pitches. The next batter didn't do much better, but it took four pitches to strike him out. The third batter popped out to Dylan at second base on the first pitch and the top half of the inning was over with just eight pitches.

Now that I knew the boys on Tyler's team better, in more ways than one, I was interested to see how they performed as well. Dylan was the leadoff batter and he hit a little blooper over the first baseman's head for a single. Nathan, the catcher, was up next. He laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt and advanced Dylan to second base, although Nathan was thrown out. Trent, the center fielder, was up after that and lined a shot over the shortstop's head. Dylan had to wait momentarily to see if the ball was going to be caught by the leaping shortstop, so he was only able to advance to third on the hit, but the team now runners on the corners with one out.

Tyler stepped to the plate next and I could tell he merely swung at the first pitch to protect the runner, as Trent stole second base. The other team's catcher tried to make a hard throw back to the pitcher so Dylan would think he was throwing to second and then try to run home. Dylan, however, was smart and didn't bite, so the other team's plan was foiled. Tyler took the next pitch for a ball and then he ripped the third pitch back up the middle. Dylan scored easily and Trent raced around third, as he headed home. He was very fast and slid across the plate safely, as the center fielder overthrew his cutoff man and the ball bounced to home plate. When Tyler saw that happen, he raced to second, but his hit was only scored a single.

Jacob, the left fielder, was up after that and he hit a long fly ball to right field, which was caught. Tyler wisely tagged up and took third, but now there were two outs. Crawford, the shortstop, came up to bat after Jacob and he hit a single between the first and second basemen, which scored Tyler easily. Then Jamal, the third baseman, stepped to the plate. On a 2 - 1 pitch, he took a mighty swing, but only connected with the bottom half of the ball. It popped into the air and drifted backward, into foul territory behind the plate. The other team's catcher tore off his mask, located the ball and settled under it, as he snagged the ball for the third out. The inning was over, but Tyler's team now had a 3 - 0 lead.

Tyler did well pitching the second inning too, although he gave up a leadoff hit to the cleanup batter. The boy was way out in front of the pitch though, since Tyler threw him his three-finger changeup, so the kid didn't hit the ball squarely. He merely caught the pitch off the end of the bat, but it was still hit hard enough to squirt past the pitcher's mound. The ball had so much spin on it that Dylan wasn't able to handle it cleanly at second base, so the boy was safe at first. Dylan made up for that miscue on the next batter though, because the ball was hit to him again and he turned it into a 4-6-3 double play. The last batter in the inning then struck out.

Tyler's team scored two more runs in the bottom of the inning and it wasn't much of a contest after that. Tyler pitched masterfully and hit just as well. By the time the game ended, his team had won 11 - 1. Tyler also went 4 for 5 at the plate, with three singles and a double, which brought his batting average up to .570 (9 for 16).

Tyler's brothers greeted him like a conquering hero, but the entire team had played well. It had been an impressive start to their season so far and they were undefeated after three games. After I congratulated Coach Hendricks and the rest of the players, Tyler wanted to ask me a question.

"Would it be alright if Dylan came home with me on Friday night?" he whispered, so no one else would hear. "His parents said he could stay Friday and Saturday night, if it was ok with you. Can he? Please?"

"I suppose that will be alright," I agreed, as he raced off to give Dylan the good news. Then he came back to walk with his brothers and me to the car.

We picked up subs on the way home, since it was getting late and the boys were hungry again - nothing new about that. Then after I got the younger pair in bed, Tyler approached me again.

"Dylan told me he wanted to try some things when he stayed over, to see what it was like," he mentioned. "I hope that's ok with you?"

"I told you before that it would be fine. I think it's important for you to try those things with guys your own age too," I assured him. "Just keep the noise down."

When he looked at me funny, I merely laughed, to let him know it was a joke. After he thought about if for a few seconds, he finally caught on.

"I don't make a lot of noise when we do stuff," Tyler proclaimed, to let me know I had nothing to worry about.

"But Dylan might be a screamer," I responded. The thought of that made Tyler laugh.

"Well I guess you'll find out then, since you're right across the hall," he teased, before heading to the shower.

Thursday was pretty uneventful, along with most of Friday. That was until I picked Tyler and Dylan up after practice. They were all smiles as they walked out of the school after their showers.

"Hi, Mr. Blake," Dylan greeted me. "Thank you for letting me come stay with you. My little brother is staying with one of his friends too, so our parents could have the weekend alone. They're celebrating their anniversary, which was yesterday, but this way they can have fun without us kids messing things up."

I knew Dylan was referring to his parents having sex, but I also realized he and Tyler were planning to do that as well. I still had to chuckle at his comment though.

"I wish you had told me about that sooner, because I would have wished them a 'Happy Anniversary' at your last game," I told him. He merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry. I didn't think about it then," he admitted, while looking a little sheepish.

"That's ok. I'll wish them a belated 'Happy Anniversary' when they pick you up or I take you home," I informed him, so he didn't feel too badly about it.

While Dylan and I had been talking, Tyler asked Marcus to sit in the front seat, so he and Dylan could sit together in the back. Marcus was thrilled to take the 'big boy' seat in front, as the others climbed in the back and buckled in.

"I've decided to take you boys to the diner tonight, instead of fixing something at home," I announced, as I started to pull away from the school.

"You don't have to do that," Dylan countered, as his face took on a look of concern.

"It is, if you want to eat, because I don't feel like cooking tonight," I informed him. "We'll eat at home all day tomorrow, so count this as a break from my cooking."

"You did a good job at Tyler's party," he shot back.

"Thank you. I appreciate that," I confirmed, as we got closer to the diner.

"We go to this place a lot and they have a picture of us up on the wall that says we're their 'Outstanding Customers'," Tyler told him. "That means we gotta be good and not mess around."

"I can do that," Dylan agreed, as I pulled in and parked the car.

When we went inside, Tyler pointed out the picture to Dylan and the manager came over to say hello, before leading us to a booth. Marcus and Ethan sat next to me, so Tyler and Dylan could sit together on the other side.

"Who's this cutie?" the waitress asked, as she handed us the menus. "Have you taken in another one?"

"No. He's my friend and he's staying with us for the weekend," Tyler announced, as he grinned at the waitress.

"If he's a friend of yours, then I'm sure he's wonderful too," she replied, before leaving to get our water.

We all quickly decided what we wanted and were ready to order. After the waitress left the table, the boys continued to chat with Dylan, while we waited for our meals to arrive. As soon as that happened, their mouths were too full of food to say anything else, but I knew they would soon be looking for even more. For that reason, I told them we still had ice cream at home, which was leftover from the party, and there was also some cake too, which I'd put in the Tupperware cake carrier. I suggested that if the cake was a little hard, they could put some ice cream over it and it would soak up enough moisture to correct the situation. They were satisfied with that explanation, so we went home after I'd paid the bill.

Tyler and Dylan were giggling and joking around the entire way, so I felt this was going to be an interesting evening. During the trip, Tyler also informed me that the coach had given them the weekend off, so I didn't have to get up early just to take them to the school. That was fine with me, so I thanked him for letting me know about this well in advance.

I kept Ethan and Marcus busy by having them cuddle with me while we watched TV, so they wouldn't bother the older pair. When I took the younger boys upstairs for their bath later, the other two were still in Tyler's room, but I had no idea what they were doing. After I put the little ones to bed, I was heading back to my room when a totally naked Dylan and Tyler came strolling down the hallway, toward the bathroom.

"We're going to take our shower together, since we got sweaty horsing around in my room," Tyler explained, although I hadn't asked a question.

"That's fine. I'm just surprised to see you both without anything on," I replied.

"Why? You saw me naked at Tyler's party, so what's one more time?" Dylan conceded. "I'll admit it was a little strange when you first walked in on us in the family room that night. You might not have known it, but when you covered your eyes some of the guys started to reach for their underwear, but only until Jacob signaled them not to do it. Then when Jacob asked if we were all ok with it, most of us agreed, but a few of the guys didn't say anything. I'm not sure if they were ok with it or not."

"If I'd have known that I would have left," I confessed. "I'm sorry if I crossed the line, but I wanted to see what the arguing was about."

"It was cool, especially after you explained all that stuff to us," Dylan assured me. "Then when Jacob asked you to measure all of our dicks and you didn't want to do it, because you were afraid of upsetting us if you accidentally touched our dicks, we all realized something. From then on, each of us was convinced that you would never try to take advantage of us and we could trust you completely."

"I'm glad to hear that," I replied, slightly relieved.

"I was one of the guys that didn't think it was a big deal if you saw me naked at the party, so I don't have a problem with it now either," Dylan confirmed again. "Marcus saw me naked and was cool with it too. In fact, I think Marcus is a really neat kid. I wish my little brother was more like him. He freaks out if I walk into the bathroom we share when he's naked or in the shower, even if I can't see anything. I think he's a year older than Marcus, so that makes it even more disgusting. You guys are just so understanding and open about things, and I like that a lot."

"Well you're pretty open too," I pointed out, while glancing down at his body. Dylan blushed slightly at my remark.

I didn't really mind though and he gave me quite a show. In that regards, below the waist he and Tyler could have been twins, except Dylan's pubic patch was slightly lighter in color.

"If you boys are going to shower together, then you might as well use the shower in the master bath," I suggested. "It will be easier for you that way, because it's bigger. I'll go downstairs while you're in there."

"You don't have to do that," Dylan countered. "You were going to your room, so you can still go there and we'll try not to bother you."

I could tell that Tyler had been thrilled by my offer to let them use the master bath, so after Dylan assured me I could still go to my room, they turned around and headed back the way they'd just come. The only difference was that this time they turned right, instead of left, when they got to the end of the hall.

Since Dylan wasn't bothered if I was in the bedroom while they were showering, I followed them back and watched their cute little butts wiggle, as they headed toward the master bath. They went in there shortly after I reached the bedroom door, and while I was reclining on the bed I thought about how I hadn't felt any signs of arousal while looking at Dylan's body. I had, however, felt a slight twinge when I glanced over at Tyler, but luckily it wasn't enough to give me an erection.

As I lay on the bed, I started to read my book, as I had been planning to do. I often do it to tire myself enough to fall sleep, it's just that I never did it when Tyler was with me. He was too much of a distraction to concentrate on anything else. About twenty minutes later, I heard the water shut off and the bathroom door opened. Both boys were giggling again, as they came into my room.

"I know there's such a thing as morning wood," Dylan stated, which immediately brought my attention to their condition, "but is there something called evening wood too?" He and Tyler began laughing hysterically after Dylan said that.

As I glanced up, it immediately became obvious they were both sporting erections. It also made me wonder what they had been doing in there beside washing up, but neither one attempted to cover himself to prevent me from noticing. I had no idea why Dylan had said that, because they probably could have passed by without me spotting their erections, if they had been quiet. For some reason, it seemed that he wanted me to notice that they were both hard. I wasn't sure what Tyler might have told Dylan about me or possibly divulged about any of the things we had done, but I certainly hoped he hadn't revealed any of those details to Dylan. I'd have to ask Tyler about it the next time I had a chance, but for now they headed toward my bedroom door and scooted across the hall to Tyler's room.

I heard some more giggling coming from Tyler's room before I fell asleep, but nothing more. I slept fairly well that evening, and even though I didn't have to, I still woke up around my normal time the next morning. After emptying my bladder and washing my hands, I went downstairs to figure out what I was going to fix the boys for breakfast. I decided to see what they thought about French toast, since I had everything I needed, including a bottle of maple syrup in the fridge.

Marcus and Ethan came down first and said they were willing to try French toast, even though they'd never had it before, at least not that they could remember. I fixed enough for the three of us and sat down to eat with them.

"This is really good, Uncle Blake!" Ethan exclaimed after taking a couple of bites.

"Yeah, why haven't we had this before?" Marcus wondered.

"I guess I just never thought about it until now," I explained simply. That seemed to suffice, so I didn't add anything more.

Marcus and Ethan had gone off to the family room to watch cartoons after they finished and by that time Dylan and Tyler managed to stagger down the steps as well. I was impressed that they had slipped on their underwear before joining us, but I had a feeling they'd been up fooling around most of the night, since they still looked extremely tired. Once they entered the kitchen, I asked if they wanted French toast or something else.

"French toast sounds good," Tyler told me.

"Yeah, that would be great," Dylan agreed, and while I was fixing it for them, Tyler spoke.

"We didn't make too much noise last night, did we?" he asked with a cheeky grin. I knew he was referring to my earlier joke.

"Shhh," Dylan urged, as he elbowed Tyler in the side.

"Oof," Tyler groaned after that happened. "It's ok. Uncle Blake doesn't care. He didn't say anything about us being naked last night or having boners when we got out of the shower did he?"

Dylan looked at Tyler strangely before responding.

"So you're saying he doesn't mind if we do stuff like that?" Dylan whispered, hoping I wouldn't hear.

"Look, guys. I know nearly every boy likes to fool around at your age or maybe even when he's older, and it's not a big deal, as long as you both agree and are careful," I stated. This surprised Dylan, because he didn't think I'd overheard his comment. "I'm not stupid and I know stuff like that happens, but just don't go spreading it around or telling anyone that I gave you permission. All I'm saying is, I won't interfere with what you're doing, as long as you both agree and no one is getting hurt."

"Neat," Dylan mumbled in response. "You're pretty cool, Mr. Blake."

"Thank you. Just remember what I told you," I responded.

"Ok, that's cool," Dylan replied, as I sat the plates of food down in front of them.

Both boys were very quiet as they ate, so I waited until they were finished before I asked them if they wanted more. They did, so while I was fixing it, I asked them another question. "What would you like to do today? I know Ethan and Marcus want to go to the park, so they can practice baseball. Would you two like to join us?"

"Yeah, that would be cool," Dylan quickly answered. "Maybe I'll even get as good as Tyler." This time Tyler nudged Dylan in the ribs with his elbow.

"I'm up for it too," Tyler agreed. "I don't want my brothers to lose out, since the sign up for the summer league will be in 3 or 4 weeks. Games usually start at the end of April."

"As long as everyone's agreeable then, we'll go after lunch, so you boys can do what you want until then," I agreed.

"Great! Let's go back up to your room," Dylan urged. "I'm feeling horny again."

"Guys, you don't have to announce it in front of me," I advised them, as they got up from the table.

"You would have noticed any way," Dylan countered, as he pointed at the obvious erection in his briefs.

"Jeez, get out of here before you start giving me a blow by blow description of what you're doing," I teased, before turning around to clean up the mess.

"You can come watch, if you want," Dylan offered, although I wasn't sure if he serious or merely joking. I was going to assume the latter, so I ignored his offer as I continued on with my work. "Aren't you coming?" Dylan asked again, when I didn't respond.

"No, you boys need your privacy," I finally replied. "I'll go see what the two munchkins are up too instead."

"Your loss," Dylan shot back, as he and Tyler headed toward the stairs.

I had to assume he was just being cheeky and getting a kick out of teasing me, but I'd speak to Tyler about it later. If the boy was being this forward so quickly, then I might have to tell Tyler that Dylan couldn't stay here again. I hated to have to go to that extreme, but I didn't want to invite possible trouble for us either. One offhand remark like that in front of others or a joking comment that someone else took seriously could bring my world crashing down around me.

Tyler came downstairs about an hour later, but he was alone. That confused me, so I asked him where Dylan was.

"He sucked me off, but then fell asleep after I did it to him," he replied. "He's up on my bed totally zonked."

After Tyler told me this, I felt an irrational twinge of jealousy. I know I shouldn't have, especially since I'd encouraged him to do it, but something inside me was saying that only I should be doing those things with Tyler. I just shrugged off the feeling and broached another topic with Tyler instead.

"I'm a little worried about the things Dylan said to me earlier. Was he being serious about it?" I wanted to know.

"Nah, he was just teasing you," Tyler assured me. "He likes you a lot and thinks it's neat that you don't mind what we're doing."

"I was just worried that he might like me a little too much," I responded. "I already have to fight off one kid, so I don't need another one playing games like that with me too."

"I'm not playing games with you," Tyler objected. "I may be doing that with Dylan, but he just wanted to see how you'd react. He might have even let you watch if you really wanted too, but he was only yanking your chain."

"I hope so or I may have to say 'no' the next time you ask if he can stay over," I warned.

"Don't do that! I'll just tell him to be more serious from now on," Tyler offered, to calm my concerns. "He's a nice guy and I really like him. We've had a lot of fun together."

"Ok, as long as he tones it down a bit," I agreed.

"Does that mean you don't want to see us naked either?" he followed, while trying to discover what limits I was going to set.

"I don't mind that and can handle it, as long as he doesn't try to do more, at least where I'm concerned," I confirmed. "Even though I've broken a few rules with you, I definitely can't do it with anyone else."

"Ok, I understand," Tyler agreed. "I'll make sure Dylan understands it too."

"Thank you," I added, before I went to check on the younger pair again.

After lunch, I took all of the boys to the park and put them through their paces. I worked them hard during fielding practice and Dylan was impressed with how the little ones were doing.

"They're gonna put you to shame when they're your age," he told Tyler.

"I hope they do," Tyler agreed, not letting the comment bother him.

When I pitched batting practice to them later, the fact that we had an extra fielder meant the boys didn't have to run quite as much. I think Ethan and Marcus liked that and might want to bring Dylan with us more often, since it meant less work for them. After we finished up, I took the boys to Krispy Kreme for a donut, as a reward for how hard they'd worked.

When we got home, I gave Marcus and Ethan their baths, since they got quite dirty at the park. As I was finishing up with them, Tyler approached me. Dylan was behind him and they were both totally naked again.

"Do you mind if we use your shower again?" Tyler wanted to know.

"No, that's fine," I told him. "I'll be downstairs when you finish."

As I started to turn to leave, Dylan spoke to me.

"Mr. Blake, I'm sorry about earlier," he apologized. "I guess I got carried away, because I've never been able to joke around with an adult like that before. It was a lot of fun, so I didn't realize I was crossing the line and going too far. I just feel really comfortable around you and didn't realize what I was doing, but I promise I won't do anything like that again. Ok?"

How could I be mad at him after an apology like that? As I turned around to tell him he was forgiven, I didn't realize that he'd moved right behind me. After getting over the shock, I finally spoke.

"I forgive you," I told him, which earned me a smile.

"You mean I'll be able to come back here again?" he followed, as he studied my face and awaited my answer.

"I don't have a problem with it, so you're more than welcome to do this again," I agreed.

Before I knew what was happening, Dylan threw his arms around my chest and gave me a big hug. Wonderful! Another naked boy was hugging me. How and why do these things keep happening to me?

Dylan came down with the other boys for breakfast Sunday morning and I decided to fix omelets and home fries this time. Marcus had actually made the suggestion the night before, because he seemed to like them so much, but each boy greedily wolfed down everything I set in front of him.

"Do you know what time your parents will be coming home?" I asked Dylan while he was eating.

"Why? Are you in a hurry to get rid of me?" he wanted to know. He still looked slightly worried that I hadn't completely gotten over my reaction to his earlier comments.

"No, I just wondered how much time we'd have to do other things," I answered.

"Oh, ok. I don't think they'll be home before noon though," he replied. "They said they'd call when they got back. They kept the invitation from Tyler's birthday party, because it had your phone numbers on it."

"That's good to know," I agreed. "So how would you boys like to go see a movie then?"

"Which one?" I heard several voices ask nearly at once.

"I was thinking about going to see 'When the Game Stands Tall'," I replied. A couple of people at work told me it was pretty good.

They all agreed it sounded like a good idea, so I sent them upstairs to get dressed. While they were gone, I checked the times that particular movie was being shown and discovered we had to wait a while before that would happen. The boys decided to challenge each other playing video games in the meantime, so I let them do that until it was time to leave.

When we got to the theater, Marcus sat next to me on one side and Ethan climbed on my lap, as usual. When I glanced over at the other side, I saw Dylan was sitting next to me and Tyler was on the other side of him.

"I hope you don't mind," Dylan stated when he saw I was looking at him. "I have a lot to make up for, as well as to thank you for all you've done for me."

"It's not a problem," I confirmed, as I reached over and tousled his hair. He leaned his head against my shoulder when I did that.

"Thanks," he said, before he sat up straight again.

The movie was pretty good and it emphasized the concepts of integrity, honesty and teamwork. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it presented some good lessons for the boys. As I looked around, they seemed to be enjoying it too, so I was glad I'd brought them.

"It's just like you said," Dylan observed, once we were in the car. "The good teams are really close, but they also did the right thing in the end, instead of going for the record."

"Yes, they did," I agreed. "It's a valuable lesson to see they did what was right, rather than going for personal glory."

The boys all nodded their heads in agreement, as I drove them home.

Since we hadn't heard from Dylan's parents by noon, I fed the boys lunch. When we still hadn't heard from them by the time the boys had finished eating, I decided to ask Dylan another question.

"I know these three want to go back to the park today, so do you think you'll have time to join us?"

"Sure, as long as you take your cell phone with you," he agreed. "That way if my parents call, we can tell them what we're doing."

"Ok, just bring your things down from Tyler's room and we'll leave them in the car while you're working out. That way if your parents call, I can just drop you off after we're done," I explained.

"Yeah, that's cool," he agreed.

I worked the boys the same way I'd done the previous day and Dylan's parents didn't call until we were just about ready to stop. When my cell phone rang, I assumed it was them and picked it up quickly.

"Hello," I answered.

"Hi, this is Don Cochran, Dylan's dad. I just wanted to let you know we're back. Would you like me to come pick him up?"

"First of all, I'd like to wish you and your wife a belated 'Happy Anniversary'. Dylan didn't mention anything about it until I'd picked them up Friday night," I offered. "And you don't have to pick him up. We're at the park right now, because I was working with my three boys and Dylan on their baseball skills, so I'll drop him off on the way back."

"Thanks for the anniversary wish and for letting him stay with you," his dad told me. "Do I owe you anything for his food or whatever else you did?"

"No, he was our guest and it was my treat," I answered.

"Thank you and we'd be happy to do the same for Tyler some time," he replied.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that, seeing he and Dylan have gotten to be such good friends," I confirmed.

Shortly after I ended the call, we finished up and I took Dylan home.

"Thanks for everything," Dylan told me, as he got out of the car. "I had a great time and hope we can do this again."

"You're welcome and I look forward to it," I concurred, as I watched his parents open the door to greet their son. They all waved at us as we drove away.

When we got home, I gave Marcus and Ethan their baths and then Tyler asked to speak with me. This mildly confused me, but I went off with him anyway.

"Thanks for letting Dylan spend the weekend with us," he began. "I had a really great time with him and I'm sure he'll want to do it again."

"I take it that means you're sexually satisfied for a while?" I asked in jest.

"Maybe," he conceded, although not completely giving in. "I just want you to know that it doesn't change how I feel about you. I still want to do things with you too, if you're willing. You're the one I love and anything I do with anyone else is just because you won't do it with me."

I felt it might be best if I didn't respond to his statement, but at least now I understood why he wanted to talk.

The rest of Sunday was pretty low key and I spent the night giving Ethan and Marcus some extra attention, but I also answered some questions they had for me.

"Are you going to have a party for us too, when it's our birthdays?" Marcus asked, somewhat concerned.

"Of course I am," I assured him. "We'll have your parties on a Saturday too and I'll invite any of your friends that you want."

"Will it be a sleepover party?" he followed, while studying my reaction closely.

"That's a privilege you'll get when you're older. You can have a sleepover when you turn 13 too, just like I did for Tyler. Ok?" I followed, just to be certain.

"I guess, but I wanted to have a sleepover party for my next birthday," he replied, while looking disappointed.

"I think we'll hold that privilege for when you're older," I replied, to his dismay. "You'll be able to have a sleepover when you become a teenager though."

I hated to turn him down, but I just wasn't ready to have a bunch of rugrats running around that I would have to do more for and possibly totally entertain. At least Tyler's friends were able to do nearly everything for themselves, so I just had to supervise. I considered that Marcus' friends might be able to do that for the most part too, but then I began to worry about something else. I suddenly shuddered at the thought he might try to get his little friends naked and then measure their penises as well, just like he'd seen the big boys do. I certainly didn't need kids that age telling their parents anything like that!

I may eventually decide to lower my age restriction after I've had time to think about it more, but I felt Ethan's friends would just need too much assistance and attention. If the boys think a sleepover is something they'll only be allowed to have when they're older, then they'll be happy if I let them do it sooner than that. However, I'll always be able to stick to the 13-year-old age limit, if I don't wish to change my mind after giving the idea more consideration.

Ethan seemed ok with my announcement, as long as I promised to have a party for him when it was his birthday. He hadn't stayed up for Tyler's party, so as far as he was concerned, the sleepover wasn't that special. I planned to keep it that way, at least for the time being.

Monday and Tuesday were basically our run of the mill days, but Tuesday afternoon Tyler had another baseball game. It was an away game, but it was close enough that I felt I could drive there in time to see most of it. With that in mind, I rushed home after work to pick up Ethan and Marcus first, and then I drove to the school where the game was being held. I had to stop and ask a few people where the field was, because it wasn't at the school and I couldn't locate it right away. We finally discovered it was a short distance away from the school and arrived just as our team was coming in to bat again. Tyler smiled when he saw us, so I went over to ask him the score.

"It's the top of the third and we're ahead 5 - 0. We only had one run in the first, but I had a hit and got an RBI. Then, we scored four more runs in the second inning and the team batted around. There's a chance I could come up to bat again this inning, but some of the other guys would have to get on base first."

It sounded good, so the boys and I went over to see if we could find room on the bleachers. Once we got settled in, a bunch of Tyler's teammates found ways to get on base. A couple got on by walks, a few others got hits, including one by Tyler, and they ended up scoring four more times.

When that half of the inning ended, I saw Trent was pitching and Tyler was playing center field this time. It must be that he plays whichever position the current pitcher generally plays. The last time we came when Tyler wasn't pitching, Crawford was, so Tyler was filling in for him at shortstop. It was good that Tyler was so versatile, because it would indicate he shouldn't have trouble making the various teams as he got older.

Trent was looking fairly good on the mound, but he gave up two doubles that inning, one to right and the other to left, so the team they were playing scored a run. The score was now 9 - 1, as they headed into the top of the fourth.

Tyler didn't come up to bat this time and his team only scored one more run. However, the other team didn't score at all and stranded two runners on base. The first guy hit a single and the second one walked, but Trent settled down after that and did a good job keeping them from scoring.

Tyler came up again in the top of the fifth and hit a fly ball to center field. The kid playing out there made a fantastic diving catch and robbed Tyler of another hit, but his team managed to drive in two more runs. That meant the score was now 12 - 1.

I was surprised to see Tyler come in to pitch and Paul go out to play center when they took the field again and wondered why, but Tyler looked sharp on the mound. He fanned the first batter, got the second batter to hit a grounder to Dylan at second and then got the third batter to pop up to Stanton, who had come in to sub at third. I was waiting for Tyler's team to come to bat again, but they lined up to slap hands with the other team instead. I was baffled by this and asked Tyler about it when he came over to see us.

"I thought you played seven-inning games?"

"We do, but the scorekeepers told the umps we were ahead by more than 10 runs, so they called the game because of the 10-run rule," Tyler answered. "That rule can be called as early as four and a half innings if the home team is ahead by 10 or more runs or after five full innings if the visitors are leading by that much."

"That explains it then," I agreed. "But why did you come in to pitch though? I thought Trent was doing fine."

"He was, but he told the coach his arm was starting to hurt," Tyler informed me. "That's why the coach told me to pitch and had Paul go to center field. Coach Hendricks said it would help to keep me loose for Saturday's game. It's an away game too and I'm pitching."

"Seeing it's on a Saturday, we'll be able go too," I stated. My comment brought a grin to Tyler's face.

"Do you think I can ask Jacob to stay over on Saturday, after the game then?" he wanted to know.

"I don't see why not," I replied.

"Great, I'll tell him on the bus," Tyler added.

"Aren't you riding back with us?" I asked, surprised.

"Coach Hendricks wants us all to ride back on the bus," he told me. "Something about school liability, but he also wants to talk to us before we get back to the school."

"Ok. I'll see you there then," I confirmed.

Tyler hurriedly raced off with his team, while I led the little ones back to the car. They wanted to know why Tyler wasn't coming with us too, so I had to explain it to them, and they were fine after I told them what was happening.

On the ride to the school, I began doing some calculations in my head. Tyler went 3 for 5 today, which meant he was now 12 for 21 for the season. If I'd divided correctly in my head, I figured his batting average was now .580. Pretty impressive, if you asked me.

We met up with Tyler when he got off the bus, but since he was still in his uniform and the boys were complaining they were hungry, I decided to order take out. Once the boys agreed on pizza, I called and placed the order using my cell phone. Then I drove over to pick it up. When we got home, I made each of the boys a green salad to go with it, because I wanted them to have some vegetables too. I was happy none of the boys complained about doing this, as long as I had ranch dressing for them to put on it.

Once they were done eating, I bathed Ethan and Marcus and got them ready for bed, as Tyler went in to clean up. Once they were tucked in, I completed my nightly ritual and turned in too, since it had been a long day.

We merely followed our normal routine for the rest of the week and nothing out of the ordinary happened. On Friday night, however, Tyler came to speak with me about something that was on his mind.

"You remember that Jacob will be coming home with us after we get back from the game, don't ya?" he asked, with a look of concern.

"I certainly do," I replied. "I figured I'd drive you over to get on the bus with the team first and then I'd just follow the bus to the game. That way I won't have trouble finding the field this time, like I did at your last away game. Since I assume you'll be riding the bus back to the school afterward, I'll pick you boys up there and then we'll bring Jacob home with us."

"Great! I'm glad you remembered," he stated, as he began to dance about. "Oh, and the coach warned us this was probably going to be a tough game. He said he's been talking to some of the other coaches and found out this team has been beating the teams they've faced by as much as we have, maybe more. He said that meant we'll have to be ready for a battle or we could lose this game. I'm a little nervous, because he said I'm gonna pitch."

"Yes, I remember you telling me that," I responded. "I'm excited for you, but just do your best. That's all any of us can ask of you, so don't go putting extra pressure on yourself or make any more out of this than you need to."

"I'll try not to," he agreed. "Coach Hendricks says if I'm doing well, he'll let me stay in as long as I can. When he told me that, I said I could probably go the distance, if he needed me to."

"Just don't be too proud to ask to come out if you feel any soreness or tightening in your arm," I warned him.

"I won't, because I don't want to get so I can't pitch," he agreed. "I want to be able to play all through high school and maybe even in college too, not just this year."

"Good thinking and I'm sure you'll have a long and successful career ahead of you, as long as you stay focused and take care of yourself," I assured him.

After we finished our conversation, Tyler gave me a very quick hug and kiss, before he took off for his room. I wasn't sure if his brief parting gifts this time meant he was starting to lose interest in me, but it did leave me curious.

Saturday morning, I got the boys up and moving early. The game was scheduled for 10:00 and the bus was leaving the school at 8:30, so I didn't want to be late getting him there. After I got everyone fed, the boys got dressed and I loaded them into the car. After dropping Tyler off to join his teammates, we followed the bus to the other team's field and then watched the team warm up.

Our team was up first, since we were the visiting team, but they didn't start off as well as they usually did. Dylan grounded out to the pitcher, Nathan struck out and then Trent popped up to the first baseman to end the inning.

I watched Tyler warm up and thought he looked fairly sharp, so I was eager to see how he was going to stand up against the better competition. He struck out the first batter on a foul-tip third strike that the catcher, Nathan, held on to. Then, he got the second batter to a 1 ball, 2 strike count. Tyler started the next pitch out at eye level and the kid thought it was going to be called a ball, but unfortunately for him, it was a fork ball that dropped sharply before crossing the plate. The kid never moved the bat from his shoulder before the umpire called strike three and the boy just stared at Tyler as he walked back to the bench. Then, the next batter hit a weak grounder to second base and Dylan easily threw him out at first.

Tyler was up first to start the second inning and fouled off six pitches before finally hitting a single through the hole between third and short. Unfortunately, Jacob popped up to the shortstop next and then Crawford struck out. After that, Jamal hit a grounder to second for the last out, leaving Tyler stranded on base.

To start the bottom of the second, Tyler got the first batter to pop up in foul territory to Curtis at first. Then the next batter hit a blooper over second and became the other team's first base runner. That seemed to piss Tyler off, because he threw harder than I'd ever seen to the next batter and struck the kid out. Then, he got the next boy to hit a grounder to Crawford at short and he tossed the ball to Dylan at second for the force out.

Antonio was the first one up in the third inning for our team and tried to bunt his way on base. Unfortunately, he popped the ball up in foul territory and the catcher made a diving grab for the out. That brought up Curtis in the ninth position in the order and he went down swinging. Dylan then flew out to left field, but it was a good sign. It was the first ball any of our players had hit out of the infield in the air.

It was the bottom of the third and there was still no score. The eighth and ninth batters in the other team's lineup were up first and then it would go back to the top of their order. Tyler struck those two out easily and then he got their leadoff man to pop up to third. I was impressed, because the farthest the other team had hit so far was the blooper that went over second base.

Nathan was up first in the top of the fourth and he hit a single up the middle. Trent then bunted to move Nathan over to second, but he was thrown out at first. Then Tyler stepped up to the plate. He fouled off four pitches this time, before he hit a shot between the center and right fielders. The ball rolled a long way and Nathan scored easily from second, while Tyler ended up on third with a triple. Jacob was up next and hit a long fly ball to center, and even though the center fielder caught it, Tyler was able to tag up and score. After that, Crawford hit a hard grounder to the shortstop, but the kid was able to handle it and threw Crawford out at first.

Our team seemed to be getting to the other team's pitcher now, so I wondered if he was beginning to tire or was he just losing focus. It didn't really matter though, since our team was starting to hit him harder and were now leading 2 - 0, as we headed into the bottom of the fourth inning. Tyler was going to have to deal with the heart of their lineup this time, so it was going to be a tough test of his pitching ability.

Tyler struck out the first batter fairly easily and then the next batter hit a grounder to Jamal at third and was thrown out at first. The other team's cleanup batter hit a double down the third base line after that, which gave me cause for concern, but then Tyler got the next batter to hit a soft liner back to him for the third out.

Jamal was up first in the top of the fifth and ended up grounding out to the first baseman. Jose then came in to sub for Antonio and play right field, but he only managed to hit a little blooper to the other team's third baseman. The boy handled it easily for the second out and then D'Wayne came in to pinch hit for Curtis and play first base next. D'Wayne managed a seeing-eye hit that went just beyond the reach of the second baseman, which brought Dylan to the plate again. After fouling off a couple of pitches, Dylan hit a wicked liner to third, but it was directly at the third baseman. The kid instinctively brought his glove up to protect his head and ended up catching the ball for the third out.

In the bottom of the fifth, Tyler faced the sixth man in the lineup first. That kid tried to bunt his way on, but Nathan was as quick as a cat and jumped out from behind the plate, scooped up the ball and threw the boy out at first. The next batter worked the count to 3 balls, 2 strikes and then Tyler tried to get him out with the fork ball. Tyler didn't start the pitch out as high this time, possibly hoping the kid would think it was going to be a strike and swing at it, but the kid merely froze. When the ball broke, it dropped below the batter's knees and was called ball four. I felt the kid got lucky after getting fooled by the pitch, because he ended up trotting down to first. The next batter hit a sharp grounder to Dylan and he quickly turned it into a 4-6-3 double-play to end that half of the inning.

Nathan was up first to lead off the sixth inning and hit a bullet past the third baseman. He only ended up with a single though, because he slipped coming out of the batter's box. Trent then lined out to the first baseman, which brought Tyler up to bat. He hit the third pitch to left-center field, but the left fielder made a spectacular running catch. Nathan thought it was going to drop in, so he had been running and now had to backtrack before getting doubled up. He made it back to first safely, but then Jacob flew out to the right fielder to end the inning.

The ninth batter was scheduled to lead off the bottom of the sixth, but his coach put a pinch-hitter in for him. That kid hit the ball, but only managed a slow roller to third that Jamal scooped up easily and threw the boy out at first. Tyler then struck out their leadoff batter from the top of the order again and got the next batter to pop up to short.

We headed into the final inning with Tyler's team still ahead 2 - 0, but I could tell that some of the other parents in the stands were getting a little nervous. It was our team's last chance to score a few extra runs and create a larger buffer, but the sixth, seventh and eighth men in the order were due up. Crawford stepped to the plate first and hit the ball well, but the second baseman made a nice leaping grab to rob him of a hit. Stanton then hit a dribbler back to the mound and was thrown out at first. Jose followed that with a soft liner over the third baseman's head for a single, but then D'Wayne grounded out to the second baseman for the final out.

This meant the other team was coming to the plate with their power hitters scheduled to bat, starting with the third man in the order. Tyler threw a four-seam fastball past him for a strike and followed that up with a two-seam fastball. That pitch tailed in on the batter and caused him to hit the ball down by his hands when he swung. He merely popped the ball up to D'Wayne at first base for the out. The cleanup batter was up next and this was the kid who'd hit one of Tyler's four-seam fastballs down third for a double during his last at bat. I could tell Tyler remembered this and was seeking revenge.

He started the kid off with a three-finger changeup and the boy was way out in front of the pitch. Then, Tyler threw him a forkball and the kid ended up swinging over the ball when it dropped. After two off-speed pitches, the batter was looking for another one, but Tyler reared back and threw his four-seam fastball by him for the third strike. It was the hardest I'd seen Tyler throw all day and the kid wasn't ready for it. His mouth was still hanging open as he walked back to the bench after striking out.

The other team was down to its final out and their fifth batter was coming to the plate. Tyler got two quick strikes on him, but then he seemed to lose focus for a moment. He threw a two-seam fastball that tailed out over the plate and the kid connected with it. The ball soared out to left field and it appeared as if it was going to be over Jacob's head. Jacob was doing his best to catch up with it and made a fantastic over the shoulder catch for the last out.

Tyler was so overjoyed that he ran out to meet Jacob as he was running in and ended up tackling Jacob to the ground, as they celebrated their victory. It was their closest game so far, since they only won by a score of 2 - 0.

After slapping hands with the other team and telling them great game, the boys went to get on the bus. Coach Hendricks, however, came over to speak with me first, before he joined them.

"Tyler pitched an incredible game," he announced, as soon as he got close. "I think it's the best game any kid has ever pitched for me at this level."

"He did look sharp, but he's lucky Jacob had his back on that last one," I observed.

"He didn't make many mistakes, but we were lucky the other boys were able to pick up the slack when he did," Coach Hendricks pointed out. "I want to talk to them on the way back or else I'd let him go home with you."

"Not a problem," I assured him. "I'll pick him up at the school. Great game, coach. Congratulations."

"Thank you, but I had very little to do with this one," he replied with a wink.

I then got the other two boys in the car and we drove back to meet the bus at the school.

As soon as they got off the bus, Tyler and Jacob came running over to the car.

"Great game!" I told them, as they were throwing their gear in the trunk.

"Thanks," Tyler replied. "Jacob helped me big time on that last out though."

"Yep, he pulled your bacon out of the fire with that catch," I agreed. Both boys just smiled at my turn of phrase.

"Couldn't let the guy do that to my main man," Jacob quipped, as the boys were climbing into the car. I immediately wondered if his comment was an indication of what might follow. His 'main man' in what way?

Once we reached the house, Tyler asked if they could use the shower in the master bath, so I knew he wasn't about to waste any time before they started celebrating. I gave him the go ahead, so both boys raced up the stairs to Tyler's room to drop off their things and undress.

I left them pretty much alone and stayed downstairs with the little ones. I also began fixing lunch for all of us, but Ethan and Marcus were already eating before Jacob and Tyler wandered down to join us. Tyler and Jacob's cheeks were slightly flushed, which hadn't been the case when I last saw them, so I figured they must have had a bit of a workout. They were also in a very upbeat mood, which could have been a carryover from the game, but I had a feeling there was more to it than just their baseball victory. I wasn't about to pry though and merely set the food out for them.

"Is there anything in particular you boys might like to do today?" I asked when they were done eating.

"We kind of promised Ethan and Marcus we'd play video games with them for a while," Tyler answered.

"How about tonight after dinner then?" I followed, since I didn't know if they had anything else planned.

"I'm not sure about that," Tyler responded, while glancing at Jacob for support. "We'll have to think about it and let you know a little later."

"Just let me know as soon as you can," I replied. "Please don't wait until the last minute or I might not have time to work things out for what you want to do."

They said they would let me know fairly soon, so I started to think about a few other things I still had to deal with. First of all, the boys would be off for spring break in a couple of weeks, but I would still have to work. Coach Hendricks also told me the team would be having practices in the afternoon all that week too. This meant I'd not only need to make arrangements for someone to watch Ethan and Marcus during that time, but I'd have to find a way to get Tyler to and from his practices as well. I could always take some time off from work, which I didn't really want to do, although I was hoping to do something special for the boys on the weekend.

While I was thinking about these things, Tyler and Jacob came back to speak with me. From the expressions on their faces, I quickly determined it looked as if they had come up with an idea for what they wanted to do later.

"Uncle Blake, we just found out that Jumpstreet Indoor Trampoline is having a special tonight," Tyler told me. "They've got a 2-hour deal for half price. What do you think? Can we go there?"

"Go get your brothers and I'll see what they think of that idea," I suggested, so Tyler and Jacob left to go find Ethan and Marcus.

Of course the two younger boys were interested in doing this as well, so I began to plan a slightly earlier dinner. This would allow me enough time to take them there afterward, even though I knew the place was open until 10:00 on Saturday. It wasn't as if we had to hurry, but I didn't want to keep the little ones out too late. Even though it was a weekend, I didn't want them to get out of their routine either.

The boys then went to the family room to play video games, while I finished what I'd been doing. Then, I went to the kitchen to see what I was going to fix for dinner. I finally decided on stew and dumplings, so I began putting everything together.

After we finished eating, I made the boys let their meal digest for a while first, before I took them to Jumpstreet. I knew they'd be doing a lot of bouncing around and didn't want any of them to end up puking in the process. Once we were inside, I took Ethan and Marcus over to the 'Earthquake Kids Zone', while Tyler and Jacob went to try out the Trampoline Basketball area. They wanted to see what it would be like to dunk a basketball, since the trampoline would help them get high enough to do it.

The boys not only had a blast, but even better than that, they tired themselves out. After Ethan and Marcus had done all kinds of jumps, flips and bounces on the trampoline, they wanted to go over to see what Tyler and Jacob were doing. When we got there, that pair was eager to show us how they could dunk the basketball through the net. They also wanted us to see how they had been working on doing an alley-oop dunk too. That's when one person throws a lob pass close to the rim, so the other one can grab it and slam it through the hoop. It's all in the timing and both boys wanted to do this for us.

As soon as the younger pair saw them doing this, they wanted to try dunking the basketball too, but they couldn't quite accomplish it on their own. After a few pathetic attempts, the older boys agreed to bounce with them and then lift the younger boy up so he could slam the basketball through the hoop too. It was cute to watch and all four of them had fun working together.

When we got home, the boys were all hot and sweaty, so they had to get cleaned up before heading to bed. I sent Tyler and Jacob to use the shower in the master bath again, while I gave the younger pair baths in their bathroom. Ethan and Marcus almost fell asleep before they got their pajamas on and their heads weren't on their pillows very long before they were in Dreamland.

Before I turned in for the night, I went over to say goodnight to Tyler and Jacob first. I felt I had given them quite a bit of time to finish up and get decent, but I still knocked on Tyler's bedroom and only entered after he told me to come in. I guess I needn't have bothered though, because once the door was open I discovered Tyler and Jacob were both naked and the towels they had been using were lying on the floor. Since they didn't seem to be bothered by my presence, I wished them both sweet dreams before going back across the hall to my bedroom. I was pretty sure they were getting ready to do something sexual, so I was happy to give them some privacy.

Just as Tyler and Dylan had done, Tyler and Jacob slept in the next morning and didn't come down for breakfast until it was almost 11:00. They had put their underwear on first, so I was grateful they'd done that much. As soon as I saw them, I asked if they would prefer breakfast or lunch, since it was so late already, and they both said breakfast. While they were eating, I asked Jacob a question.

"What time do you have to be home?" I wondered.

"My parents said they'd pick me up on the way back from church," he informed me. "I was really surprised they let me skip going with them today, because they make me go every Sunday. If they're going to let me do this, then I may have to stay over at someone's house every Saturday night."

Jacob laughed after saying this, but I knew he didn't have much time to horse around.

"I'd suggest you get moving then," I offered. "It's almost noon, so they shouldn't be too much longer."

"They will if they went to our church," he quipped back. "The minister hardly ever finishes before 12:30. That's why I'd rather not go."

Still, as soon as he finished eating, I sent him upstairs to get dressed and grab his things. I had him put everything near the front door, so he'd be ready when his parents arrived. I figured after spending so much time in church, his mom and dad would be eager to get home so they could eat and relax for a while.

I spent a few minutes chatting with Jacob's parents when they arrived and they thanked me for letting their son spend the night. I told them Jacob was always welcome and I was glad Tyler and he had become friends. They said they were glad too and then Jacob's dad helped his son carry his things to the car.

A short time after Jacob left, Tyler asked to speak with me in private again. I could tell something was on his mind, so I quickly agreed and we found a quiet spot to be alone.

"Jacob has a lot more experience with the sex stuff than I do," Tyler began, and I knew something out of the ordinary must have happened the previous night. "He said he did stuff with an older guy last summer, so he wanted to do things that I wasn't ready to try yet."

I looked at him strangely, but didn't say anything for a few seconds. I wanted to see if he was going to explain, but when he didn't, I decided to prod him.

"What exactly did he want to do that you didn't?" I asked, but I felt I probably already knew the answer.

"He wanted to fuck me, but I told him I wasn't ready to do that yet," he responded. "In fact, I told him I wasn't sure if I'd ever be ready to do that."

"I see," I commented, since I didn't want to say anything that would alter what he might offer next.

"I didn't really mean it, because I know I want to do it, but I want to do it with you first," Tyler continued. "I want to do everything with you first, before I do it with anyone else, but I might only do that with you."

He looked up and I could see the expectation and hope in his eyes. I think he wanted me to assure him that I'd do it with him, but I didn't think he was ready for anything like that yet.

"Well, would you do it with me?" he finally asked, since I hadn't said anything.

"Not right away," I replied. "Maybe later, when you're body has fully matured, but definitely not yet. I'll pick up some dildos for you to use, if you want. I'll select them in sizes closer to what you and Dylan are like when you're hard, along with some lube. Then you can practice with them if you want, but I'd suggest you do it with Dylan first, if you can't wait. I'm glad you turned Jacob down though, because he's hung almost as well as I am and I don't think that would be good for your first time."

"But I want to do it with you!" Tyler persisted, looking slightly disappointed.

"Then you'll have to wait until I think you're ready," I offered, but that wasn't what Tyler wanted to hear.

"What are dildos?" he snapped back. "Are those the fake dicks that women sometimes use?"

"Yes, but gay guys use them too," I pointed out. "I'll buy you a few different sizes, if you want, and you can practice starting with the smallest one first and then work your way up to the larger ones. It will stretch you out and get you used to having something up there."

"I don't want a plastic or rubber dick in my butt!" Tyler shouted back. "I want your dick!"

Then you'll have to wait," I repeated. "This is the best way and all I'm willing to do for now, but only if you're interested in it."

Tyler didn't say anything and turned around in disgust, before storming out of the room. He then went up to his bedroom and slammed the door. It appeared I hadn't told him what he wanted to hear, so he wasn't pleased with my response. I'm sorry about that, but throwing a pout and acting like a brat didn't mean he'd get what he wanted.

Ethan and Marcus came out a little while later and wanted to know if we were going to the park to practice baseball. I told them I'd be willing to do that and then I sent Marcus upstairs to see if Tyler wanted to join us.

"He says he doesn't want to go," Marcus stated, when he came downstairs again. "He seems mad about something. Did Jacob and Tyler have a fight?"

"I don't think so," I answered lamely. "They seemed to be getting along fine while they were eating breakfast, so maybe Tyler is just tired."

"Well he doesn't want to go, but we do," Marcus urged. "It's his problem if he wants to stay here by himself."

Marcus had a point and I felt I could leave Tyler home alone for the short time we'd be gone. After having the younger pair grab their gear, we hopped in the car and I drove them to the park.

Luckily, there were a couple of other boys there that Marcus knew, so we let them join us. This was so Marcus and Ethan didn't have to do as much running around as they might have had to do if they were alone. It took us a little longer to get through everything because of this, but I think all of the boys were happy afterward.

When we got home, Tyler was in the kitchen getting a drink, but as soon as he saw me he headed back up to his room. I guess he definitely wanted to make sure I knew he was upset with my decision, but I wasn't about to give in.

Later, I sent Ethan up to get Tyler for dinner and he came skulking down, with a very sour look on his face. I didn't say anything about it, and although the younger pair tried to talk to him, he only gave them very curt responses. They soon realized it would be better to leave him alone, so we all ate in absolute silence for the rest of the meal.

Tyler went back to his room afterward, so I spent the evening with the younger pair. We sat and watched TV together, before I took them upstairs for their baths and put them to bed. Once that was done, I went downstairs to make sure everything was shut off and the doors were locked. Then I went up to my room for the evening.

I heard Tyler in the shower as I went by and then I heard the water shut off, followed by the sound of Tyler's feet padding down the hallway. I was reading my book and didn't look up, until I heard him clear his throat. He had the towel wrapped around his waist and was standing at the foot of my bed.

"Are you sure you won't do that with me?" he asked, with the most pathetic expression plastered across his face.

"I'm sure," I confirmed. "I'll have oral sex with you once in a while, but that's the most I will do with you for now."

"Will you at least let me do it back to you then?" he pressed, since he realized I wasn't going to give in about his other request. "I've done it with Dylan and Jacob, so I know I can do it to you too."

"I'd be willing to make that concession, if it will make you happy," I agreed, which brought a slight smile to his face.

"But not the other?" he followed, and I merely shook my head in response. "Ok, then you'd better get those things for me. You can get them from Dylan's size up to your size, because I want to prove to you that I can do it and you won't hurt me."

"I'll agree to buy those for you, but I'll only give you the two smallest for a while," I confessed. "When you think you're ready, then come and see me and I'll give you one more at a time until you have them all. You'll have to agree to do this at my pace though or I won't get them for you. I certainly don't want to be having constant fights with you over this."

"Ok, if we can suck each other off in between," he conceded. Then he looked at me hopefully to see my response.

"On special occasions," I relented. "Just not whenever you want."

"I guess that's better than not at all," he groaned, as he rolled his eyes.

"And maybe you and Dylan can practice on each other with anal sex, once you've used the dildos for a while," I suggested, only to see him make a face in response.

"I told you that I want to do everything with you first," he reminded me. "I'll only do it with Dylan and Jacob AFTER I've done it with you."

"That's up to you, but you could still have the fun you want with Dylan, until I think you're ready for me," I reiterated, only to see him shake his head.

"Nope. Not until I've done it with you," he repeated, before he came over to give me a kiss goodnight. "Do you think maybe we could suck each other off tonight?" he wanted to know, after he'd kissed me.

"I think you've done enough with Jacob this weekend to hold you over, but maybe next weekend, if you still want to do this," I offered.

"Oh I'll want to," he confirmed, "but I'd like to do it now too."

"What if I compromise and let you sleep with me tonight instead," I suggested. "Will that suffice and make you feel better?"

"Sure, but I'm sleeping with you without anything on," he agreed, as he dropped his towel.

I wasn't going to argue over this minor stipulation and merely nodded. He hurried over to turn off the light in his bedroom and then raced back to climb into bed beside me. I closed my book, set it on the nightstand and turned off the lamp. Then, I reached my arm under his shoulders, as he rolled on his side and laid his head on my shoulder. After that, he placed his arm across my chest and draped his leg over mine, as he got comfortable. I could also feel his erect penis stabbing me in the leg and knew that must have happened after he got into bed with me and began to cuddle. He certainly wasn't hard before that, but I merely pretended I didn't notice. Before long, I felt it start to deflate and then I heard his gentle breathing, which told me he'd fallen asleep.

I know I'd given in to him again, but not nearly as much as he wanted. I just did it to show him it wasn't that I didn't love him, but there were some things he'd just have to wait for. I'd already resigned myself to the fact that I'll eventually do it with him, but I'd prefer he was a little older first. I've mentioned before that I'm not usually attracted to boys, but there's something about Tyler that's different. Even so, my brain still advises me it would be wrong to do these things with him now, so I'll try to hold off until he's a little older. We're not related by blood, so I don't have that to deal with, but there is the age problem. I don't mean the age difference, but just that he's so young. Maybe I'll eventually come to grips with it, but I'm not ready to do that just yet.

Monday and Tuesday quickly saw us resort back to our normal routine again. Tyler only had practices those days and wouldn't have another game until Wednesday. It was going to be a home game, so the boys and I would get to watch Tyler play again. I knew he probably wouldn't be pitching this time, since his coach seemed to only want to start him every other game. He might be called to the mound in the later innings to relieve the starter though, if whoever was pitching got into trouble, was tired or hurting.

Tuesday afternoon, Tyler seemed to be very upbeat when I saw him after practice. I watched as he said goodbye to Dylan and Jacob, because they all came out the front door of the school at the same time. Tyler then he came over and got in the car, but he didn't say anything, so I did.

"It must have been a good practice, since you all seem so upbeat tonight," I stated, as he buckled in.

"Yeah, it wasn't bad and the team we're going to play tomorrow isn't doing that well," he offered. "Coach Hendricks told Crawford he was going to start."

"I didn't think you'd be pitching anyway," I concurred. "Your coach usually rotates you every other game, which are the odd number games. You pitched the first one, the third and fifth so far, but Wednesday will be your team's sixth game."

"Yeah, I know," he agreed. "I wasn't upset or anything. Just telling you."

"Ok. I just wanted to be sure," I replied.

Tyler seemed to be in a better mood tonight, so I guess he'd resigned himself to abide by the agreement we'd made Sunday night. Either that or he was just very focused on tomorrow's game. I was just happy to see him being his normal, upbeat self again. Hopefully, what happened on Sunday only occurred because Jacob had tried to push Tyler into doing something he wasn't ready for yet. At least that's what I hoped.

I hurried home on Wednesday evening to pick up Ethan and Marcus and then I drove to the school to watch the game. Tyler was right about this team - they weren't very good. By the top of the fourth inning Tyler's team had an 18 - 0 lead, so it looked as if the game would be called in the middle of the fifth inning. Tyler was already 3 for 3 tonight and had batted in each of the first 3 innings.

When they came out in the top of the fourth, the coach made some changes. He put Dylan in to pitch for Crawford, because Dylan had been begging to give it a try. Crawford and Tyler then came out of the game, so some of the subs were going to get a chance to play. Jamal moved over from third to short, Stanton came in to play third and Jon went to second base for Dylan.

Dylan didn't do badly, but he was a little wild at the start. After walking the first two batters he faced, he got the next two out before giving up a hit, which allowed the other team to score a run. Then, he got the next batter to fly out to Jose in right field.

Tyler's team came up to bat in the bottom of the fourth, with six of the starters on the bench, but they still scored two more runs. I was glad to see those boys doing so well, since they didn't get as much playing time as some of the others.

Dylan did much better in the top of the fifth. He got the first batter to ground out to Jamal at short, the next flew out to Paul in center and then the third batter grounded out to Jon at second, which was Dylan's normal position. Once that half of the inning was over, the game ended and Tyler's team won 20 - 1.

After the boys slapped hands with the other team, Tyler stopped to speak with some of his teammates first, before he came over to join us. Then we walked to the car and drove home.

"I'm glad Dylan got to pitch a little," Tyler stated, as we pulled away from the school.

"He did ok, but he needs a little more work," I stated.

"Do you think you could work with him then?" Tyler asked, as he looked at me hopefully.

"If that's what Dylan wants, but I don't want you to push him into anything," I agreed, although hesitantly.

"I'm not!" Tyler exclaimed. "When I told Dylan he looked pretty good for his first time pitching, he said he'd be better if he had someone like you to help him. Then he wanted to know if I thought you'd do that for him. I told him I'd check with you and find out, but it was his idea, not mine."

"Ok, in that case you can tell him we can do something this weekend then," I suggested. "You have a game on Friday, so maybe after your practice on Saturday."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Tyler agreed. "Do you think maybe he could stay over too, so you could work with him on both Saturday and Sunday?"

"I suppose that would be alright, as long as his parents don't have a problem with it," I agreed.

"Great!" Tyler exclaimed, while grinning broadly. "I'll tell Dylan tomorrow so he can check with his mom and dad."

Since that had been taken care of, the rest of the night was fairly uneventful.

On Friday, Tyler had his next home game. After picking up the younger boys and taking them to the field, my first surprise was that Tyler wasn't pitching. This was the team's seventh game, and since Tyler had pitched every other odd numbered game, I expected he would be on the mound tonight. Seeing he wasn't, I began to wonder if there was a problem. Wasn't he feeling well? Was his arm sore? What was wrong?

Tyler must have noted my confusion, because he waved for me to come over to the bench. When I walked up to him, he quickly explained.

"The coach wants me to pitch the next game instead," he stated, without any indication that he was bothered or upset by the change. "He says this team isn't as good as the team we'll be playing next and that one is supposed to be almost as good as the other tough team we've played so far. Coach said he wants me to pitch that game instead."

"Oh, ok. That sounds fine," I agreed, feeling relieved. "I was just concerned when I saw you weren't pitching, because I thought you might be ill or maybe something else was wrong."

"Nah, I feel great," he confirmed, so I went back to sit with the boys and watched the game.

I soon discovered this team wasn't as bad as Tyler had indicated and it turned out to be a fairly close game. Trent pitched this time and it appeared that whatever problem he'd been suffering from during his last outing had either healed or been taken care of. Since Trent was pitching, it meant Tyler was playing center field.

Even though Trent got the first two batters he faced out easily, the third batter managed to get a hit. He was the only one to get on base though and didn't score. That's because the cleanup batter flew out to Jacob in left field.

In the bottom of the inning, the first three batters for our team each made an out too. Dylan grounded out to third, Nathan flew out to the center fielder and Trent flew out to left. They had all hit the ball fairly well, but the other team did a good job defensively.

In the second inning, Trent walked the second batter that came to the plate, but none of the other batters were able to do anything against him. Once again, the opposing team ended up stranding a runner and didn't score.

Tyler led off the bottom of the second with a single up the middle and then Jacob flew out to the center fielder next, so Tyler couldn't advance. Crawford followed with an infield hit, so now there were runners on first and second. Jamal then laid down a bunt along the third base line and the only chance the fielder had for an out was at first. Jamal, proved to be too fast for that though, so now the bases were loaded. Antonio then hit a fly ball to right that was caught, but it was deep enough for Tyler to score and Crawford to advance. Jamal didn't want to risk getting thrown out trying to get to second, so he stayed at first. With runners on the corners, Curtis grounded out to the second baseman for the final out of the inning, but Tyler's team was ahead 1 - 0.

In the third inning, the other team got two hits, but ended up stranding both runners again. They had men on first and third with only one out, but couldn't manage to score. It was mostly due to great defense by Tyler's teammates, so the other team had now left four runners on base.

When Tyler's team came up to bat again, Dylan and Nathan both hit singles, which put runners on first and third. Trent then struck out, which brought Tyler up to bat. He hit a long fly ball to center that was caught, but Dylan tagged up at third and scored. Jacob then hit a liner over short, so runners were now on first and second. Crawford followed by hitting a bullet to third, but the third baseman caught the ball and ended the inning. Although they had a chance to score more, Tyler's team was only up 2 - 0.

In the fourth inning, the other team's first batter struck out and then the second batter walked. The next batter bunted him down to second and was thrown out at first. Then, the following batter hit a long fly ball to center, but Tyler was able to run it down for the final out.

Jamal led off the bottom of the inning for Tyler's team and hit a line drive that the first baseman caught. Then, Antonio walked and D'Wayne laid down a bunt to advance him. The other team made a bad decision and tried to get Antonio out at second, but the throw was late. This meant there were runners on first and second with just one out. Dylan was up next and hit a ball to left field, but the outfielder made a sliding, shoestring catch. Since the runners thought the ball was going to drop in, they went halfway to the next base and then had to retreat, so neither runner advanced. Nathan followed that up with a little blooper to right, which looked as if it might fall in as well. The other team's second baseman was able to chase it down and pulled off an unbelievable over the shoulder catch for the third out.

The top of the fifth started off shaky when Trent walked the first two batters. Then the next batter hit a grounder to Crawford at short and he flipped the ball to Dylan at second for the force. Dylan was taken out as he attempted to make the relay throw to first, but he still managed to get the ball there in time to complete the 6-4-3 double play. This left a runner on third with two outs. The next batter hit a fly ball to right-center, but Antonio was fast enough to get to it and made the running catch for the final out of the inning.

Trent led off the bottom of the fifth with a double to right center and that brought Tyler up next. He followed with a double to left center, which scored Trent. Jacob then hit a single between first and second, but it gave Tyler enough time to tear around third and slide home for the second run of the inning. Crawford then hit a hard grounder to the right of the bag at second, but the second baseman was able to get to it and he touched the bag at second with his glove for the force out. Stanton then hit a grounder to third, which the other team turned into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning, but Tyler's team was now going into the sixth inning ahead 4 - 0.

The first batter for the other team fouled the second pitch into the dirt beside home plate and the ball bounced into the air. Nathan reacted instinctively and reached out to grab it with his bare hand, but it turned out to be an unfortunate move on his part. The ball came up with enough force to bend Nathan's thumb backward when it made contact, so he was unable to control it. As soon as the ball touched Nathan's hand, the umpire called foul ball, but Nathan was grimacing in obvious pain and grabbed his wrist.

After Coach Hendricks ran over to check on Nathan, he reported that he didn't think Nathan's thumb was broken, but felt it might be either jammed or dislocated instead. Since Nathan couldn't continue playing, the coach told Carlos to help Nathan get out of the catcher's gear and then put it on. Coach Hendricks also had Nathan's parents drive their son to the emergency room so he could have his hand x-rayed, as a precautionary measure.

Once Carlos got behind the plate, the lead off batter stepped up to continue his turn at bat and ended up grounding out to Crawford at short. Then, the second batter flew out to Jacob in left. With two outs, the next batter hit a sinking liner toward center field. When the ball hit the ground it took a weird bounce and skipped past Tyler, so he had to turn around and chase after it. By the time he reached the ball and threw it to the cutoff man, the batter was already standing on third base with a triple. The next batter then hit a little blooper over Stanton's head at third, which fell in for a single and scored the other team's first run. After that, the next batter grounded out to D'Wayne at first, so the inning ended with Tyler's team leading 4 - 1.

In the bottom of the sixth, Jose was up first. After fouling off several pitches, he hung in there long enough to finally get a walk. That brought up D'Wayne and he tried to bunt Jose down to second. After bunting the pitch foul twice, the coach let him swing away and he struck out. Jon then came in to bat for Dylan and he not only bunted Jose down to second, but he beat out the throw to first too, which put men on first and second base with one out. Carlos was up next and got fooled badly on a 2 - 2 pitch, which he took for a called third strike.

With two outs, Trent hit a rocket to third and it got to the third baseman so quickly that he wasn't able to handle it. The ball smacked off his glove and bounced into foul territory, so the kid had to chase after it. By the time he retrieved the ball, all of the runners were safe, so the bases were now loaded as Tyler stepped up to the plate. He hit the ball solidly, but it was right at the left fielder and the boy handled it easily to end the inning.

Tyler's team was going into the top of the last inning still up 4 - 1, but Trent suddenly developed some control issues and walked the first batter. After Coach Hendricks went out to the mound to give him some advice and get him settled down, Trent started to do better. He threw a strike to the next batter and then the kid hit the following pitch to Jon at second. Jon handled the ball smoothly and tossed the ball to Crawford at second for the force out, which left a runner on first with one out. The next batter hit a fly ball to Paul in left and it appeared as if he had misjudged its trajectory, so the ball was going to drop in for a hit. Luckily, he was able to recover in time to make the catch for the second out of the inning. The base runner, however, thought the ball was going to drop in too, so he took off running. He came to a screeching halt when Paul hauled it in, but Paul made a good relay throw to Crawford and he whirled and fired a strike to first to double off the runner for the game's final out.

Appreciating how well the other team had played, Tyler's team went out of their way to congratulate their opponents for giving them such a tough game. They had underestimated this team and ended up with more of a battle than they'd expected. In fact, they were actually lucky the other team had stranded seven base runners or else their opponents might have been victorious. Then again, Tyler's team had stranded nine runners, so I guess it could have gone either way.

When Tyler came over to me later, I just looked at him and shook my head in disbelief. "If the team you just played was supposed to be easier than the next team you're scheduled to face, then you're going to have your hands full next Tuesday," I pointed out.

"I know and we're practicing tomorrow morning too," Tyler advised me. "I certainly hope Nathan's alright, because we'll need him if the other team is as good as the other coaches say."

"I hope Nathan's ok too," I concurred. "His thumb didn't look that bad when I saw it while his father was examining it, but you never know until it's x-rayed. At least he'll be able to take it easy over the weekend and just observe your practice tomorrow. Then, if he isn't hurt too badly. he'll be able to practice with the team on Monday and still be eligible to play on Tuesday."

"Yeah, I hope that's what happens, because I'm used to pitching to Nathan," Tyler commented. "I've never pitched to Carlos before, so I don't want to find out that he does things differently behind the plate, especially when we're going to be facing a really good team."

Tyler then went over to speak with Paul next, because Paul was Nathan's closest friend on the team. Tyler wanted to ask Paul to call him as soon as he found out how Nathan made out, so he'd know if Nathan would be able to play in the next game. While Tyler was doing that, I went over to speak with Dylan's parents. Not only did I want to arrange for Dylan to come home with us after practice tomorrow, so I could work with him on his pitching, but I had something else I wanted to discuss with them too. I was going to offer to work with Dylan over spring break as well, and he could even stay over a couple of nights when we did this, as long as they would give Tyler a ride to his practices that week.

Cherie, Dylan's mom, said she'd be happy to do that for us, since she didn't work. I was going to offer to pick the boys up afterward, but I didn't know the practice times for that week. Since the boys wouldn't be in school the practices might finish earlier than I could get there, but Cherie said she understood and had no problem with picking them up too. She also stated that Dylan and Tyler could let her know which days Dylan was going to work with me and I told her I'd bring him home on those nights, if she didn't want him to stay over.

When Tyler and Dylan came back to join us, Dylan asked his mother if he could spend Saturday night with us, so I could work with him on both Saturday and Sunday. She quickly agreed that would be fine, as long as I was willing to go along with the idea too. She also stated that Dylan would have to be home by 3:00 on Sunday, so she and her husband would be able to spend some time with him too. Dylan didn't have a problem with his mother's stipulation and happily assured her that would be fine.

I then rounded up the other boys so we could head home. After we got in the car, I could tell something was on Tyler's mind, because he kept glancing over and giving me strange looks the entire time. His actions made me conclude that he wanted to say or ask something, but didn't want his brothers to overhear whatever it was. Once he got me alone in the house, he finally revealed what was bothering him.

"If Dylan is staying over with us tomorrow night, then we're going to have to do what you promised tonight," he told me.

He looked extremely concerned that I wasn't going to honor the request I'd already agreed to, but since I had a feeling this might be what was bothering him, I quickly agreed with his suggestion. After hearing my answer, Tyler contentedly bounced into the other room, so he could wait for Paul to call. That didn't happen until after we'd finished eating dinner and then he came to tell me what he'd learned.

"The doctor said Nathan only had a bad sprain and taped it up for him," he announced with a grin. "Paul said the doctor told Nathan to take it easy with that hand over the weekend and then it should be fine by Monday."

"That's great!" I agreed. "Will he be at practice tomorrow?"

"Yeah, Paul said Nathan's going to come so he can explain things to the coach and give him the doctor's release," Tyler informed me. "Paul said Nathan doesn't want to sit out, but he'll just watch the practice and do what the doctor told him. He just doesn't want to miss any games."

"I'm glad to hear that he's going to follow the doctor's advice," I concurred.

Tyler started getting really antsy after that had been cleared up and it seemed as if he could hardly wait to get me alone in the bedroom. I watched as he kept pacing back and forth for the rest of the evening, especially while I was giving Ethan and Marcus their baths and then while I was putting them to bed. He was continually walking up and down the hall and peeking into the different rooms to see what I was doing. In fact, he did it so often that when I finished up with the younger pair, I actually stopped to see if he had damaged the carpet with his constant pacing up and down the hallway. I was convinced that the countless trips he'd made from his room to the top of the stairs and then back again had worn a hole in the rug. Even though my mind was telling me it was impossible, I expected to see the floorboards showing through the hole he had produced in the fabric. Even though it hadn't actually happened, I was convinced he had greatly reduced the life of that section of carpet.

As soon as Tyler and I were alone in my room, he quickly threw off the towel he had wrapped around his waist. Since it was the only thing he'd put on after he got out of the shower, he stood there completely naked. He then started to move closer to me and began pawing at my clothing, as his way of letting me know how eager he was to get started.

"Slow down and take it easy," I advised him. "We've got all night and there's no need to rush."

"Maybe you're not excited about this, but I am," he shot back. "This is the first time you've let me do this to you and I don't want to waste any time before we get started."

"Easy, champ, or you're going to hyperventilate and pass out before we get started," I warned. "Just take it easy and I promise to let you do what you want."

That seemed to calm Tyler down a bit and he stopped trying to rip my clothes off, but he was still somewhat hyper. He even protested that he didn't want me to do anything to him first, but I was afraid that if I didn't he'd spew his load all over the bed while he was working on me. Once he understood my reasoning and concern, he did what I asked.

Even though I performed oral sex on him first, he was still so worked up and emotionally primed that he blew his load in my mouth in a fraction of the time it had taken him during our previous encounters. I had wanted to really give him a workout and let him enjoy it, but that wasn't to be. As soon as he recovered, I let him go to work on me next, much to his relief and enjoyment.

He actually did a lot better than I'd expected. Even though I knew he'd done this with his friends, I still imagined that he'd make at least some of the typical novice mistakes, such as allowing his teeth to scrape against my penis or trying to take too much of it and then end up gagging. Since he didn't do either of those things, I felt he either learned quickly or Dylan and Jacob must have given him enough constructive criticism during their sessions so he was able to improve and avoid those errors. The only thing I did speak to him about was that he was trying to go way too fast. I jokingly warned him if he continued going at that pace then he'd produce enough friction to possibly start a fire, if he didn't pass out first. Seriously though, I thought he might get dizzy and lose consciousness from lifting his head up and down so quickly and frequently. What I should have been worried about was making him laugh after hearing my comment, especially with me being in such a vulnerable position. That's because he nearly bit down my penis when he started to giggle and it forced me to yell at him to be careful. Fortunately, he heard my warning and pulled his head off of it quickly enough so no serious damage was done, but he also got the message. After that, he started going slower and did a much better job.

I also tried to warn him when I was getting close, since I wasn't sure how he'd been handling it with his two friends when they ejaculated. After he heard me say I was about ready to shoot, he merely flicked one wrist at me, to let me know he didn't care and then greedily accepted my offering. I was fairly certain that I produced more semen than either Dylan or Jacob, but I also wasn't sure how he was going to handle the difference in taste. To my surprise, he took it like a pro and never backed off or tried to spit it out.

"That was great!" he exclaimed, once he finally released my penis from his mouth. " You know, I wasn't going to do this with them, but I couldn't exactly have them do it to me and then not return the favor, so you weren't the first person I did this to. I had fun doing it with Dylan and Jacob too, but this was the best."

"Tyler, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that. Why do you think this was better than what you did with the other two?" I wondered, mildly confused. I just wasn't able to see why he would think this was any different than what he'd done with Dylan and Jacob.

"It was better because we love each other and weren't just doing it to get off," he explained. "I like Dylan and Jacob, so it was still fun, but I love you. That makes what we did special and much better for me, because I knew I was making you feel good and we were making love. I know most people think that only happens when you're fucking, but until you will do that with me too, this will be how we'll make love. I guess that's why I was going so fast at first, because I really wanted to make you feel absolutely fantastic."

That certainly cleared things up and I'm glad he was being mature and taking this so well. I was expecting he might start pestering me about having anal intercourse with him once we did this, but it's not how he reacted. I was pleasantly surprised by this and glad I'd given in to him now.

Since I hadn't been able to do much with Tyler the first time I sucked him off, I decided to do it to him again. He was young and could handle it, so I began working on his body, but this time I was planning to do so much more. Tyler was thrilled that I was offering to do this with him again, but this time I started off by kissing his face and neck first, before moving on to his lips. As soon as I locked on to his mouth, Tyler aggressively responded to what I was doing. His tongue dueled with mine, as we shared the love we felt for each other. For the next half hour, I was able to put aside my concerns about whether this was right or wrong and merely enjoyed the beautiful connection between us.

Once we ended the kiss, I moved down to his chest and started to nip, tweak and suck on his boy nipples. Tyler was squirming and groaning beneath me, as I paid homage to his tiny nubs and then continued to work my way down his chest, as I moved ever closer to his straining prize. After leaving his navel, I bypassed his penis momentarily and worked on his scrotum for a while instead, before I licked my way up his quivering shaft. When I reached the top, I swirled my tongue around the crown, before flicking it into the tiny slit at the end, which was opening and closing like a gasping fish in anticipation. I was prolonging this as much as possible, to make certain his body had enough time to produce another load.

When I finally lowered my mouth over his penis, Tyler began to buck his hips up and down, in an attempt to hasten the process. I knew he was eager to experience another release, but I wanted to show him there was more to the journey than just reaching the final destination. With this in mind, I reached down and gave his testicles a gentle tug and squeeze, in an effort to delay his orgasm. At the same time, I continued to bob up and down on his penis, while working it with my tongue and lips, as I attempted to bring him the maximum amount of pleasure. After listening to him beg me to let him cum, I finally gave in and let him release his load into my mouth. Then, he collapsed on the bed, totally spent.

Now that we had both attained some sexual relief, I turned off the light and Tyler cuddled up against me. After a few seconds of total silence, Tyler finally spoke.

"Thanks, that was even better than I was hoping for," he offered in a barely audible whisper. "I didn't expect you to do it to me a second time, but it was great."

"I'm glad you approve and I enjoyed what you did to me too," I replied. Then he put his head on my shoulder and eventually drifted off to sleep.

I had already set the alarm so I'd be able to wake up early enough to feed the boys and still get Tyler to his practice on time. Even though I should be trying to get as much sleep as possible, I couldn't resist lying there for a while and thinking about everything that had happened tonight. Although I still had more than a few doubts about whether I was doing the right thing, I finally concluded that what we'd done this evening had felt special and wonderful, not wrong and unnatural. Not only had the sex been great, but I think we felt each other's love. it was also really nice to have my angel pressed firmly against my side like this, because I knew it meant he loved me as much as I loved him. I also thought about how much more I was willing to do with him and how soon, until I finally lost consciousness as well.

I awoke before the alarm went off in the morning, so I got out of bed and turned it off, so it didn't go off on its own later. Then, I went into the master bath to relieve myself, washed my hands and sprinkled some water on my face. When I came out again, I saw Tyler was up too. I must have awakened him when I got out of bed and he now came running over to greet me.

"Thank you for last night! It was absolutely wonderful," he gushed, as he wrapped his arms around my chest and gave me a hug. Then he tilted his head upward and gave me a kiss on the lips. "I wish we could do stuff like that all the time."

"We'll do it enough, but you've got baseball practice soon, so we've got to get moving," I prodded. "Dylan will be coming back with us after practice, so you'll be busy with him instead. Why don't you slip something on and then go wake up your brothers for me, while I head down to the kitchen and start fixing breakfast."

As soon as he agreed to do what I'd asked, I went downstairs and fixed the boys scrambled eggs and toast. I didn't want Tyler to have anything too heavy in his stomach before practice, since I wasn't sure how hard his coach was planning on working them. When I saw the boys' reaction to the skimpy fare, I told them I'd make it up to them at lunch. They seemed fine with that and then I had them run upstairs to get dressed, after they finished eating.

Once we were all ready, the two little ones grabbed their gloves and a baseball, before we hopped in the car and headed to the practice field. While Tyler and the team were going through their drills, the two little ones went off to play catch, so I sat down with Nathan to see how he was doing.

"I kinda wish I hadn't reached out to grab that foul ball now," he explained, as he showed me his damaged right thumb. "I guess I was lucky it didn't turn out any worse than this and the doctor said I should keep icing it for the next couple of days. He told me it would help to keep the swelling down and if I could grip the ball well enough to throw it on Monday, then I could practice and play in the game the following day."

"Does it hurt much?" I countered, to see what he had to say.

"It did when it first happened, but not so much any more," he answered. "The ice helps with that too, not just with the swelling, but I'm also taking some heavy-duty Tylenol for the pain. I should be fine by Monday, so I'm not worried."

"I hope so, because Tyler likes pitching to you," I said with a wink.

"I like catching for him too," Nathan agreed. "He doesn't make me jump all around behind the plate, because he pretty much throws the ball where I want it. His pitches move around a lot, but since I know what he's throwing, I know what the ball is going to do. I feel sorry for the batters though, because they aren't ready for most of the stuff that happens when his pitches come in."

"Don't feel too badly for them," I teased. "That's their problem, not ours." Nathan laughed after I'd said this.

"You're right, but I'm glad I don't have to bat against him," he assured me.

Even while we'd been chatting, Nathan still kept an eye on what the team was doing. He quickly got up to join them when the coach called the team in to go over a few things. After Nathan left, I had a little time to think.

I'd always been impressed with Nathan's ability behind the plate, because he wasn't a lazy catcher. He always positioned himself in an active crouch, rather than sitting back on his heels, which is what most young catchers do wrong and where they screw up. Instead, he was always in position so he could move right or left, as well as up or down to block the pitches that were thrown awry in any direction. For that reason, he'd only allowed a couple of passed balls so far and he'd kept a lot of potential wild pitches from getting by him. His great stance and the fact that he was always ready to move was part of the reason he did so well defensively against bunts too. Nathan always reacted quickly when he saw the ball being bunted, but he also positioned himself well when scooping it up, so he was ready to throw the batter out at first.

When practice ended, the boys went to take their showers and Nathan left to spend some time visiting with them. I rounded up Ethan and Marcus, who were still busy throwing each other grounders and flies, and guided them to the car. We'd just barely arrived at the front of the school in time when Tyler and Dylan came rushing outside. I suspected they had only taken a very quick shower today, since they felt they'd be taking another one at our place, which I didn't have a problem with. As soon as they were in the car, I made another quick decision and took the boys out for lunch.

As soon as we got to the house, Dylan wanted me to start working with him on his pitching. This surprised me, because I thought that just having come from practice he might want to take a break and have some fun with Tyler first, but it's not what he had in mind. After I agreed to his request, I grabbed the catcher's mitt and a couple of baseballs, before Tyler, Dylan and I went out to the backyard. The little ones didn't join us, because they decided they'd rather go to the family room and play video games instead.

I quickly showed Dylan the grip for the four-seam fastball first and then had him practice throwing it to me. I left Tyler to stand by Dylan, so he could make sure Dylan was doing it correctly. After I thought he had that pitch down fairly well, I did the same thing while teaching him how to throw the two-seam fastball. It took a little while until he got the ball to start moving a little, as Tyler made minor adjustments to the way Dylan gripped the ball, but his pitch definitely wasn't tailing off as much as Tyler's did.

As soon as he got a little more movement on that pitch, we started working on the three-finger changeup next. The biggest thing I emphasized was that Dylan should throw this pitch using the same motion he used with both fastballs. I explained that the grip would ensure the ball came in slower to the plate, so he didn't have to change a thing. After he'd worked on that pitch for a while, I took him inside and did the same thing I'd done with Tyler next. I drew diagrams of home plate and the strike zone, so I could make sure he understood the finer points of the game, especially where it concerned pitching.

After I'd figured we'd done enough for the time being, I went to the kitchen to think about what I was going to fix for dinner. While I was doing that, Tyler and Dylan went upstairs to take a shower. About 20 minutes later, I heard Tyler calling for me.

"Uncle Blake, will you come up here?" he shouted from the top of the stairs. Once I'd come to see why he'd called me, he told me the rest. "There's something we need you to check out."

I agreed and went up the steps to see what they wanted. Tyler was still clad in his towel and I followed him down the hall to the master bedroom, where Dylan stood naked beside my bed.

"What's up?" I asked, while wondering what I was getting myself into.

"I was telling Dylan about what you said about checking my balls for lumps and I had him do it to himself while we were in the shower," Tyler began. "He thinks he might have a lump and wants you to check to see what you think."

"Dylan, don't you think you should have your father do this instead?" I challenged.

"I'm not sure he knows about this stuff, since he's never said anything to me about it," Dylan shot back. "Besides, he's not good with things like this. When my mother told him it was time to have 'the talk' with me, he found a video online for me to watch instead."

"Maybe he thought that would be better," I offered. "And he may not have told you about checking your testicles, because he might feel you're too young to have to worry about such things. It's something that usually doesn't show up until you're older, but it does happen on occasion with younger people too."

"So will you check my nuts and see what you think?" Dylan pressed, not giving up.

"I'm not sure I should," I replied. "I did it for Tyler, because I'm his guardian and I'm responsible for him. In your case, it should be your father or a doctor checking you out."

"Please, just do it for me," Dylan begged. "If I have a lump, then I'll just tell my dad that Tyler explained how I could check myself and I thought I felt one."

I wasn't sure if he was really worried that he might have a lump or if this was some scheme to get me to touch his privates. I wasn't sure why he would want me to do that, but he did look as if he was scared and wanted reassurance.

"Are you sure I'm the only one that can do this for you?" I asked, trying to make sure before committing myself.

"Yes, I really need you to do this for me and I trust you as much, or maybe even more, than anyone else," Dylan urged, but it almost sounded as if he was pleading.

"If I do, it will be solely like a doctor's exam. I won't do anything more than that," I explained, while giving him my most serious expression.

"Yeah, that's fine. I just want to be sure," Dylan responded, as the panic level in his voice seemed to decrease slightly.

Since he sounded and looked sincere, I agreed to do this for him. I sat down on the edge of the bed first and then he stepped closer to me, so I could examine his scrotum. I gingerly reached out and grasped the sac between his legs, as I gently moved the two watery orbs contained within around slightly. I checked each one out completely, but found nothing wrong. However, Dylan was starting to plump up while I was examining him, so I quickly become suspicious.

"I don't feel anything," I said, as I hurriedly released my grip.

"Then what was it I felt?" he wanted to know. "I thought it felt like something was growing on one of them."

"Dylan, there are tubes leading from each testicle that carry the seminal fluid they produce," I explained. "You might have just been feeling one of those."

"No, I felt them too, but this felt different," he assured me. "And what's that fluid stuff you're talking about?"

"Dylan, I know you and Tyler have been fooling around, so I suspect you can ejaculate just like Tyler can," I began, but he didn't let me continue.

"Do you mean cum?" he wanted to know.

"That's the street name for it, but yes," I agreed. "The fluid that comes out of your penis is produced in your testicles, so what you felt are the tubes that carry it so you can ejaculate."

"Are you sure there's nothing else?" he whined. "Please just check it for me again. I'm sure I felt something else."

Once again, he sounded and looked serious, as well as a little scared, so I agreed to do it for him again. As I was checking the area one more time, I was also giving Dylan a blow-by-blow of what I was encountering. After I examined each of his testicles over thoroughly, I once again told him I found nothing. When he started to protest, I told him that maybe he should have a doctor examine him next.

"So there's no other way to tell?" Dylan challenged.

"Not as effectively, but let me ask you a couple of questions," I followed. "Do you feel any pain down there?"

"Only if I get hit in the nuts," Dylan replied, as a pained expression formed on his face.

"Do you ever see blood or anything else that looks odd when you ejaculate or even urinate?" I continued.

"Not that I've noticed, but maybe you should check that too," he countered, looking hopeful.

"If you want to masturbate or have Tyler do it for you, then I'll look at what you produce," I offered. "I'm just not going to masturbate you."

"Is that the same as jacking me off?" Dylan countered, looking unsure.

"Again, that's one of the street names for the act, but yes, that's what masturbation means," I concurred.

"No, I can do that if you want, but I just need you to check it out for me after I finish," he quickly agreed.

"Ok, I'll give you some privacy while you do that then. Just call me when you're ready," I confirmed.

"No, just stay here," Dylan pleaded. "Tyler just about had me ready to cum in the shower before I checked myself, so this shouldn't take very long."

That tidbit of information might explain why Dylan started to get hard while I was examining him, so I quickly glanced over at Tyler to gauge his reaction next. I wanted to see if he had a smug expression on his face, which would have told me that he'd set Dylan up to do this, but he looked just as concerned as his friend. Maybe this wasn't a ploy after all and the kid was actually worried.

"Ok. Go ahead then," I reluctantly agreed.

Dylan immediately jumped on the bed, laid back and began flogging his penis. Even though most kids would have felt odd masturbating in front of an adult, he certainly didn't seem as if he was letting it bother him. He was working his penis like crazy and paying very little attention to me. Before long, he was announcing he was about to cum and his body stiffened, as the liquid strands erupted from the tip and coated his abdomen.

"There. See what you think," he urged, as soon as he caught his breath.

I moved closer and looked down at what he produced, but the only thing I noticed was that it was on the clear side. This only meant he wasn't fully mature yet and probably hadn't been able to ejaculate for very long, similar to Tyler.

"Dylan, I don't see anything here either," I confessed. "I think you're fine and just letting your imagination get the best of you."

"I hope you're right," he replied, "but I want you to check me again the next time I stay over."

I didn't respond to his request and hoped he would forget about it before then, but I no longer felt this was some sort of a game. The kid was actually worried something was wrong with him, even though I had assured him he seemed fine. I then left him alone with Tyler, as I went back downstairs.

After dinner, we focused on baseball again and I went with Dylan up to Tyler's room, so I could pull up some videos to point out some of the things I'd mentioned to him earlier. This was the same thing I'd done with Tyler, so he could actually see what I'd been talking about. After we'd done this for a while, Dylan looked at me and spoke.

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong with my nuts?" he asked again. "I checked myself after you left us earlier and I still think I feel a lump."

"Then I suggest you have your parents make a doctor's appointment for you," I recommended. "I've done the best job I know how to do, but I found nothing. Maybe you'll have better success with a doctor."

I don't think Dylan was happy with my suggestion, but he didn't say anything else. Now that we'd finished with the videos, I left him and Tyler alone, while I got the little ones cleaned up and put them to bed. While I was doing that, I also apologized to Ethan and Marcus for not doing more with them during the day.

"It's ok," Marcus told me. "We know you were busy helping Dylan and we were fine." I also noticed Ethan nodding his head in agreement.

"I just want to thank you for being so understanding and acting so mature," I told them. "I'll make it up to you when I can."

Once those two were in bed, I went to my room and began to read. A short time later, Tyler came in to speak with me.

"Dylan's still really upset," he began. "He convinced there's something wrong with him."

"I know he is, but I didn't find anything," I replied. "I don't know what else I can do."

"Will you let us sleep with you tonight?" Tyler wanted to know. "I think that might make Dylan feel a little better and stop him from worrying so much. I'll let him sleep between us, so we can both cuddle with him."

"Tyler, I'm not so sure that's a good idea," I replied, concerned.

"Neither of us is going to try to get you to do anything, if that's what you're worried about," Tyler reasoned. "I'm just afraid Dylan won't be able to sleep, if it's just the two of us. I think he'll relax more if he knows you're there too and you let him cuddle against you like I do. I know that always makes me feel better and then I'll cuddle with him on the other side."

"Are you sure he would even want to do that?" I countered, hoping my question might end the discussion.

"Let me go ask him," Tyler offered, before racing out of the room. Before long, he came back with Dylan in tow.

"Are you really going to let us sleep with you?" Dylan asked, as he studied my face for the answer.

"Is that something you want to do?" I countered, answering his question with another question.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied, while only partially committing himself. "I have the feeling you just didn't feel the same thing I did, but it doesn't mean it isn't there. That makes me a little scared."

"If this will help you sleep better, then I'll do it for you," I agreed.

Almost as soon as the words escaped my lips, Dylan jumped on the bed beside me and gave me a hug.

"Thank you for letting me do this," he whispered. "I don't want you to think I'm a baby or anything like that, but I know I'll sleep better tonight if I'm not alone."

"Well you would have been with Tyler anyway," I pointed out.

"I know, but I mean being with a grown up," he explained. "When I'm hurting or not feeling well, I always feel better when one of my parents stays with me. Since they're not here, it would help if you would do that for me instead."

"Ok, then let's get some sleep," I suggested. "You two hop under the covers and I'll turn off the lamp."

They were both in bed with me faster than you could say 'jackrabbit', so I turned off the light and laid back in my usual position. Dylan was already moving closer to me, so I slid my arm under his shoulders and held him against me, like I often did with Tyler. Dylan immediately snuggled against me and I could feel his body suddenly relax. In an instant, all of the tension seemed to drain out of him, as he melted into my side. He also placed his arm across my chest, just as Tyler often did as well, but he didn't hook his leg over mine. I think Tyler had been right and Dylan was just a very scared young boy right now, even though I had a feeling the problem was all in his head. I almost wished Tyler hadn't told him about the testicular exam, because then we wouldn't be having this problem.

Since Dylan was pressed so tightly against me, I also tried to see if I could feel if he had an erection, but it didn't take me long to determine he wasn't hard. I truly felt he just needed me to reassure him and make him feel better for the night. His fear might not have been justified, but it was certainly real to him.

As we lay there, I could also feel Tyler's body pressing against the arm I had wrapped around Dylan. I also felt Tyler's arm extending across Dylan's body and resting against me too. Dylan was sandwiched between us and it must have made him feel better, because I could soon tell he had fallen asleep.

My mind was reeling as I laid there. I was busy trying to figure out what I could do to convince Dylan he was all right, while at the same time wondering if I'd missed something. I finally decided that I was going to make sure he went to see a doctor, even if I had to pay for it out of my own pocket.

By morning, I could feel Dylan's head nuzzled against my chin, along with the sure sign that he had to pee. Since I was fairly certain his morning wood wasn't sexual, it didn't bother me, so I remained there with him until he woke up. When I realized he was starting to shake the sleep from his body, I looked down at him to see what he was going to do next. When he saw me staring at him, he smiled and spoke.

"Thank you. I slept really good last night," he confirmed. "I don't think I would have, if you hadn't let me do this."

"I'm glad I could help, but I think you'd better get up and head to the bathroom," I suggested.

He appeared slightly confused for a couple of seconds, but when he finally realized what I was referring to, he blushed slightly and then spoke.

"Let me out then, because Tyler's blocking me on the other side," he offered, with a sly grin.

I quickly threw the covers back and got out of bed, so he could get out too. He made sure I got a good look at his morning wood as he climbed out of bed and then giggled as he walked toward the master bath. He didn't even shut the door, so I was able to hear his stream hitting the bowl and it lasted for quite some time.

"Dang. I guess I really did have to go," he announced as he came back to join me. "Can I get in bed with you again and stay there until Tyler wakes up?"

"I hope you know he can be a lazybones and sometimes sleeps very late, but we can do it for a little while longer if you want," I offered. He did, so we got back in bed and I held him against me again.

"I learned a lot about pitching from you yesterday," he stated, as his head rested against my chest. "What are we going to do today?"

"Are you sure you feel up to doing more?" I countered, wanting to be sure.

"Yeah, even though I think there's a problem with my nuts, I still want to learn as much as I can about pitching," he answered. "I'm hoping the coach is gonna let me pitch in one of the games again."

"I'm fairly certain he will, so we'll make sure you are ready for your next outing," I agreed. "We'll start by checking if you've got the pitches down that we worked on yesterday and then I'll teach you the fork ball. Once you get that down, you'll know all of the same pitches that Tyler uses."

"Yeah, he told me you don't want him to throw a curve ball yet," Dylan responded.

"In a couple more years I'll work with him on one, but I want him to finish his growth spurt first," I explained. "Too many young kids ruin their arms trying to throw a curve ball too soon. As you've noticed, Tyler does very well without one."

"I know, so I'm not going to complain either," Dylan agreed, as he flashed me a shy grin.

We stayed in bed talking for a while longer and I told him about my plan to make sure he saw a doctor. He said I wouldn't have to do that and he'd mention it to his dad instead, because he didn't want me to have to pay for it. He also assured me he wouldn't tell his dad that I examined him, because he wasn't sure how his dad would react. I told him that was probably best and we left it at that.

After we heard Marcus and Ethan moving around, Dylan and I got up so I could start fixing everyone breakfast. Tyler woke up a short time after Dylan and I went downstairs and he soon came down to join us. As soon as the boys were all full, I sent them upstairs to get dressed. As they all walked away from the table, I had to chuckle. This really was a bachelor pad, with the boys and I all still in our underwear or pajamas. No woman would let us come to the table dressed this way!

After I finished cleaning the kitchen, I went upstairs to get dressed too. Then, I took Dylan and Tyler out in the backyard to work on Dylan's pitching again. We spent quite a bit of time working on the pitches I'd taught him the previous day first and then I took all of the boys to the park. I certainly didn't want Marcus and Ethan to get left out of things today.

When we got back to the house later, I fed the boys lunch and then took Dylan out back to pitch some more, since he had to be home by 3:00. This time I worked with him on the fork ball, but when we finished I knew he still needed a lot more practice on this particular pitch before he'd be ready to use it in a game.

Just before 2:30, he and Tyler went upstairs to shower and then they changed into some clean clothes before coming down so I could drive Dylan home. He gave me a hug first, before we went outside to get in the car.

"Thanks for everything, Mr. Blake. I really appreciate everything you did for me," he confessed.

"You're very welcome and I'm glad I could help," I confirmed.

I left Tyler at home to watch his brothers, while I drove Dylan to his house and dropped him off. Before he got out of the car, he made sure that I promised we'd do this again, soon.

On Monday, I picked up the two younger boys after work and drove them over to watch Tyler's practice. I quickly spotted Nathan practicing with the rest of the team, so I felt his thumb must have healed enough that he could play. However, I also noticed that Tyler was off to one side working with Carlos. I assumed they were doing it just in case Nathan re-injured his hand during the game. I felt that was a good idea, but I was still glad to see Nathan back.

"I worked with Carlos, but I worked with Nathan for a while first," Tyler explained, once he was in the car. "Nathan worked with Carlos for a while too, before I worked with him, to make sure Carlos knew everything that we did. I think Nathan will start, but I feel a little better about pitching to Carlos now too, if I have to."

"That's good," I agreed. "It means there should be nothing to throw you off your game tomorrow."

After we got home, Tyler went to his room to do his homework, while I began fixing dinner. A little while later, Tyler showed up again and it seemed as if he wanted to talk to me about something.

"I forgot to tell you on the way home that Dylan told me to let you know that he asked his father to make an appointment with the doctor," he announced. "He said he just told his dad that he felt something was wrong and wanted the doctor to check it out, so his dad agreed."

"That's good to know and I'm glad he'll be having a professional look at him too, especially if he still thinks there's a problem," I agreed.

"I could tell you thought we were just playing games with you while he was here, but Dylan was really scared," Tyler added.

"I might have thought that in the beginning, but I was soon able to tell that Dylan was definitely worried about something," I admitted.

"He told me he feels more comfortable talking to you about stuff like that than telling to his dad about it," Tyler continued. "Dylan says his dad is a really great guy, but he just acts weird and gets all nervous when Dylan asks him about guy stuff. He said his dad kind of freaks out if he or his little brother are naked when his dad is around. He says it's been like that since he was little. Dylan thinks that's why his brother overreacts when Dylan accidentally walks in on him too."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I know some guys are so worried that others will think they're gay that they try to avoid anything that others might perceive that way," I explained.

"That's dumb!" Tyler shot back. "Even though Dylan's little brother is a year older than Marcus, I kinda hope they'll become friends. Then you can help Justin too. That's Dylan's brother's name."

"I'm not sure that would be such a good idea in this case," I pointed out. "If Justin already has that type of attitude and freaks out over something as trivial as Dylan walking in on him when he's naked, then he's the type that could cause all sorts of trouble for us."

"I think he'll change and not do stuff like that once he gets to see how we are with each other," Tyler reasoned. "Justin only knows how his father acts and he hasn't seen how other people do things. Dylan told me he wants his brother to meet Marcus and Ethan so they can start hanging out together. He thinks maybe Justin will start to loosen up a little then. I have a feeling Dylan is gonna ask you if he can bring his brother here with him sometime."

"If he does bring his brother here, then we'll all have to be very careful that we don't do anything that might upset him. I certainly don't want to give Justin anything to complain about," I warned. "That means you and Dylan won't be able to run around naked while he's here and the other two will have to be careful about what they say and do around him too. I'm just worried that Marcus might accidentally say something that Justin could take wrong, like the things he told your teammates at your birthday party."

"That was funny when he did it, but I can see where it could also be a problem," Tyler agreed. After that, he went back up to his room until it was time to sit down and eat.

I spent most of the night with Ethan and Marcus, to make up for ignoring them over the weekend. They weren't holding a grudge though, but they liked that I was paying more attention to them now. We also spent some of the time talking about the baseball signups, which would take place the second weekend of spring break. I also explained to Ethan what he should expect at the tryouts, because his brothers were already familiar with the process. Tyler and Marcus had gone through it before, when they tried out to play in their previous league. However, they'd have to go through the process again this year, since they were too old to play on last year's teams and would be moving up to the next older group.

When I was looking to find a tee-ball league for Ethan to play in, I'd discovered it was for 5 and 6-year-olds, but I later found out that they let some 7-year-olds play too. The next league, the one that Marcus had played in the previous year, was for 7 to 9-year-olds, but the 7-year-olds that weren't ready for that league were then allowed to play tee-ball. Marcus would be playing in the 10 to 12-year-old league this year, which Tyler had played in the previous season. Marcus was going to be considered a 10-year-old this year, because his birthday fell before the June 1st cut-off date. By the same token, Ethan was going to be playing as a 6-year-old, because his birthday came after June 1st date, and Tyler would be playing in the 13 to 14-year-old league this time around.

Once I put the younger boys to bed, I went in to say goodnight to Tyler. I also wanted to make sure he wasn't too worked up about the game the following day. Just before I was ready to leave his bedroom, I decided to ask him a question.

"Would it help if you slept with me tonight?" I wanted to know, and his face immediately lit up.

"It sure would!" he quickly agreed, as he raced over to join me.

I let him cuddle against me throughout the entire night, since I knew he'd sleep better and relax more than if he slept alone. We didn't do anything sexual, because this was just my effort to make sure he'd be at the top of his game tomorrow.

When I got to work the next morning, the first thing I did was to ask my boss if I could leave even earlier today. I explained that Tyler had a tough away game and he'd be pitching, but I offered to connect to the office at home later, on my company laptop, and make up for whatever I didn't get done before I left. He had no problem with my offer, so I called Brenda Riordan to let her know, so the boys would be ready when I got there.

I thought about Tyler's game off and on throughout the day, especially after I happened to glance at the picture I had of the boys and me on my desk. I wondered if the team they were going to be playing was as tough as they thought. If so, I hoped Tyler was up for it.

As soon as I could, I raced home to pick up the boys and headed over to the game. Fortunately, I found someone at the school to give me directions to the park where they were playing and I was surprised that they were playing on an enclosed field. Even though the outfield fence was only a temporary structure, similar to a snow fence, every other field the boys had played on had no outfield fences. The signs on this one indicated it was a consistent 328 feet (100 m) all the way around, so it would still be a good poke for kids this age. It might also put a little additional pressure on Tyler, since his outfielders wouldn't be able to chase down every ball hit over their heads, because some might go over the fence for a homerun.

Tyler spotted us when we were taking our seats and waved in our direction. He wasn't smiling as broadly as he normally did, so I could tell he was feeling the pressure already. For that reason, I flashed him the 'ok' sign with my hand, to let him know that I felt he'd do fine. He merely nodded and then turned back to join his teammates.

Tyler's team was going to be up first, so I hoped they'd get off to a good start. Dylan was the leadoff batter and he tried to cross up the other team right away by laying down a bunt for a base hit. Unfortunately, the ball rolled a little farther than he wanted and the third baseman was able to snatch it up and throw him out by half a step. It was a tough break, but a good try. Nathan came up next and made contact with the ball, but he didn't seem to have the same power behind his swing that he normally did. He hit the ball weakly to the shortstop and was thrown out at first as well, so I hoped this wasn't a sign that his hand was still bothering him and affecting his batting prowess.

Trent was up after that and walked, which brought Tyler to the plate. He looked terrible on his first swing, so he stepped out of the batter's box and glanced toward his coach for the next sign, before he turned toward me. I merely rotated my hips to let him know he hadn't opened up soon enough and he nodded and smiled. Before stepping into the batter's box though, he took a couple of practice swings and then got ready for the next pitch. He timed this one perfectly and hit the ball well to left-center field, but the kid playing center raced over to catch up to the ball and hauled it in for the third out.

Even from this distance, I could tell the boy that just caught the ball was quite tall and had used his long legs to get to it in time. It crossed my mind that any other outfielder might not have gotten there so quickly, so it was just another bad break for our team. Tyler looked slightly disappointed that the center fielder had been able to get him out and his head hung down as he walked back to the bench to get his glove. Since I wanted to perk Tyler up and get him over this minor disappointment, I clapped my hands together and yelled out "Good job! You'll get a hit next time." I did this to let him know he'd better forget about it and get over what had just happened. He had to clear his head and get ready to pitch, if he hoped to win the game. He merely looked up and gave me a weak grin in return.

In the bottom of the first, Tyler got the leadoff batter to ground out to Jamal at third for the first out. Then, the next kid hit a ball between Curtis and Dylan, just out of either one's reach, so there was a runner on first with one out. Tyler struck out the next kid, but he really had had to work to do it. The boy fouled off three consecutive 1 - 2 pitches first, before Tyler threw his fork ball and got the kid to swing over it when it dropped.

When the next batter came to the plate, my mouth dropped open. It was the other team's center fielder, but now that he was standing next to Nathan, I got a truer picture of how tall the kid was. He must have stood 6' 5" (196 cm) and he was only an 8th grader. I could tell Tyler was a little intimidated seeing him at the plate and he ended up walking the boy. There were now runners on first and second with two outs, so I yelled out to him.

"That's ok," I urged. "You have two outs, so just bear down and get the batter." Tyler looked up and nodded.

I didn't want him to get down on himself after walking the last boy and immediately saw Tyler buckle down like I'd urged him. He got the next boy to hit a grounder to Crawford at short and Crawford threw the kid out at first. I could see Tyler breath a sigh of relief as he walked back to the bench.

Jacob led off the top of the second and hit the ball well, but he merely flew out to the right fielder. Crawford came up after that and hit a line drive up the middle that nearly took the pitcher's head off, but the big center fielder got the ball back in quickly and held Crawford at first. Jamal came up next and bunted Crawford down to second and he nearly beat out the throw from the pitcher to first, but the umpire called him out on a really close play. That brought Antonio to the plate and he hit a line drive that looked as if it was going to go over the second baseman's head, but the kid timed his jump perfectly and snagged the ball for the third out. If he hadn't done that, I was certain Crawford would have scored on the play.

In the bottom of the second, the other team's sixth batter came up first. After working the count to 2 - 2, the kid hit a weak liner between third and short. Crawford dove for the ball and nearly came up with it, but it bounced out of his glove when his body hit the ground. He was able to pick the ball up quickly, but the runner was safe at first. It had been another unlucky break for the team that Crawford hadn't been able to hang on to the ball for the out.

The next batter struck out when he swung late at one of Tyler's four-seam fastballs and this brought up the eighth batter in the order. Tyler was ahead of him with a count of 1 - 2 when he threw his two-seam fastball. The ball ran in on the batter a lot more than it normally did and the kid froze. The ball ended up grazing the batter's midsection, so he got on base after being 'hit by a pitched ball'. This put runners on first and second with one out.

The next batter up was the last man in the order and he laid a bunt down the first base line to advance the base runners, but it didn't go very far away from home plate. Instinctively, Nathan leaped out of his stance and scooped the ball up, but when he went to throw it to first, the ball slipped out of his grasp and sailed well over Curtis' head. The base runners immediately began to circle the bases, as Curtis and Antonio raced after the errant throw. Antonio got to the ball first and threw it back to the infield, but by that time one run had scored and the other two were standing on second and third with one out.

Coach Hendricks called time and came out to chat with Nathan about what had just happened. He wanted to know if Nathan was still having problems with his hand, but Nathan assured him the ball had just slipped. The coach decided to leave him in and the team's leadoff batter stepped up to the plate for his second turn at bat.

Tyler seemed more than a little pissed as he faced this kid, most likely because he thought he had the last batter out and now a run had scored. It suddenly appeared as if he started throwing harder than before, as he released his four-seam fastball. The pitch sailed past the boy and it had reached him so quickly that he had very little time to react. He stood frozen in place and never moved his bat to swing. Tyler followed that up with an identical pitch, but this time the batter was prepared for it and fouled the ball off down the first base line.

Now, Tyler tried to slip a fork ball by the kid, but it dropped lower than he expected and hit the dirt in front of home plate. The ball then skidded, rather than bounce up as Nathan expected, so it slipped past him. Nathan threw off his mask and raced after the ball, as the kid on third bolted toward home. Nathan had trouble grabbing the ball once he got to it, which made the throw to Tyler too late to get the out, so another run scored. With a runner on third and two runs in, Coach Hendricks decided he'd seen enough and brought in Carlos to catch.

After the umpire gave Carlos a chance to warm up, the leadoff batter stepped up to the plate again with a 1 - 2 count. This time, Tyler threw him a two-seam fastball that not only tailed in, but it also dipped down a couple of inches as well. This caused the batter to swing over it for the third strike, so there were now two outs. The next batter swung late on a four-seam fastball and hit a little pop up to Curtis in foul territory at first base. He pulled it in for the third out, but Tyler's team was now behind 2 - 0 as they headed to the top of the third.

I stood up and yelled out, "That's ok. You can score too!" which I hoped might perk the team up and let them know the game wasn't over yet. I was sure the coach was doing something similar, but now we'd see if the strategy worked.

Curtis was up first and hit a hard grounder toward the gap between first and second, but the first baseman was able to snag the ball and tossed it to the pitcher covering first base for the out. This brought Dylan to the plate for the second time. After working the count to 2 - 2, he hit a soft liner over the shortstop's head for a single.

With one out, Carlos stepped up to the plate in Nathan's original spot. He looked at two balls first and then took the third pitch for a called strike, before hitting the next pitch solidly for a hard grounder to short. The shortstop picked the ball up easily and tossed it to the second baseman for the force out. The second baseman then pivoted and relayed the ball to first in time to complete the 6-4-3 double play. Tyler's team wasn't doing that badly, but the other team seemed to be catching all the breaks so far.

As the third batter in their lineup came to the plate in the bottom of the third, Tyler appeared determined that he wasn't going to allow them to score again. He was hitting his target perfectly and struck the kid out, as he stood looking at one of Tyler's fork balls. The pitch had started out at eye-level, but dropped down abruptly before reaching the plate and fooled the batter completely. After the umpire called strike three, the kid walked back to his bench shaking his head in disbelief.

This brought the other team's huge center fielder up again, but this time Tyler didn't seem to be intimidated by him. He threw a three-finger changeup first and had the kid way out in front of the pitch. Then he threw a two-seem fastball that tailed in on the boy's fists and he fouled it off. Tyler then reared back and tried to throw a four-seam fastball by the kid, but the boy hit a towering pop up in the infield. Crawford quickly settled under it and called everyone else off, as he hauled it in for the second out. Looking confident, Tyler got the next batter to ground out to Dylan for the third out.

Trent was up first in the top of the fourth and hit the second pitch out to center field. It was a solid line drive and would have sailed over the head of nearly any other outfielder, but the tall kid was able to haul it in for the first out. Tyler stepped to the plate next and fouled the first pitch to the backstop. He fouled off the second pitch as well, but this time it was a hard shot down the third base line, which seem to rattle the pitcher. After throwing a ball next, the pitcher tried to blow the next pitch by Tyler. Tyler's timing was perfect though and he connected solidly with the pitch. We all watched as the ball sailed out to left field, well above the left fielders head and cleared the fence for a homerun.

Tyler's teammates went crazy and started jumping around and whooping it up, as Tyler circled the bases. Coach Hendricks kept everyone back though and wouldn't let them go greet Tyler until he touched home plate. Then, the coach let them run out to mug Tyler as he headed back to the bench. Tyler was beaming when he glanced over at me.

Looking at the bench, the team seemed to have regained a little confidence after Tyler's mighty blow. Jamal was up next and appeared to have a little swagger in his step as he walked to the plate. Unfortunately, he merely popped the ball up to the first baseman in foul territory for the second out. That brought up Crawford to the plate and he worked the count full before hitting a hard grounder to third. The other team's third baseman was able to pick the ball up and threw Crawford out at first to end the top half of the inning. Tyler's team had closed the gap though, so the other team was only ahead 2 - 1.

Coming into the bottom of the fourth, Tyler was about to face the same part of the lineup that had scored the two runs earlier. He started out by striking out the first kid, the one that had singled off him in his previous at bat, and then Tyler struck the next kid out for the second time. This brought up the batter he'd hit with the pitch previously, so he started out by pitching the boy away. Tyler was working everything on the outside corner of the plate and the kid ended up hitting one of those pitches off the end of the bat. Curtis ran up and grabbed the ball as it rolled down the first base line, and then tagged the boy for the last out. It had been a very easy inning.

Jamal was supposed to be up first, but since he hadn't looked very good his last time up and had only hit a little dribbler back to the pitcher, the coach sent Stanton in to pinch hit for him. Stanton fouled the first pitch back for a strike and then took the second pitch for a ball, before hitting a little blooper over the first baseman's head for a single. That brought Antonio up and he hit a shot to the shortstop, but the boy scooped the ball up and turned it into a 6-4-3 double play. He'd hit the ball hard, but right at someone, another unlucky break. This brought Curtis to the plate next and he ended up hitting a fly ball to the right fielder for the last out.

In the bottom of the fifth, Tyler faced the ninth batter first. This was the kid that got on due to Nathan's throwing error and led to both runs scoring. I could tell Tyler was determined to keep the boy off the bases this time, because he threw four consecutive four-seam fastballs to the kid and struck him out.

This brought the other team back to the top of the order again. Tyler got the leadoff batter to line out to Crawford at short on the third pitch, and then he got the next batter to fly out to Jacob in left field for the last out. It was another solid 1-2-3 inning.

Tyler's team had the top of the order due up to start off the sixth. Dylan stepped up to the plate first and hit a liner over the pitcher's head that went back up the middle for a single. Carlos then stepped up to the plate next, having taken over Nathan's spot in the order. He got around on one of the pitcher's fastballs and hit a bullet between third and short. Dylan was off at the crack of the bat and rounded second, but he came skidding to a halt when he saw the left fielder pick the ball up cleanly, so there were runners on first and second with no outs.

After two consecutive hits, and hard ones at that, the opposing coach decided to change pitchers. He called the boy in from center field to pitch next and he was throwing the ball really hard during his warm ups. Beside that, it almost appeared as if the kid was striding halfway to the plate when he pushed off from the rubber, so I knew he was going to be tough on the hitters he faced.

Trent, who had walked and flied out to center previously, was due up next. Since he was facing a new pitcher and the kid was throwing smoke, the coach flashed him the sign to bunt. Trent did a great job and bunted the ball toward the third baseman, about halfway between the mound and the foul line. The pitcher's momentum had taken him toward first, so the kid playing third was the only one who could field the ball. Once he picked it up, his only play was at first and he threw it there in time to get Trent by less than half a step. However, it had also moved Dylan and Carlos up to second and third with one out.

This brought Tyler to the plate next and I saw him dig in deep in the batter's box, because it looked as if this kid was going to throw nothing but heat. Tyler fouled the first pitch off down the first base line, but then I saw him smirk at the pitcher, as if he was telling him he had his number. As the next pitch came in, Tyler opened his hips, strode forward and swung the bat in a quick arch. He connected with the ball and sent it to right center field, where it sailed over the center fielder's head as he tried to chase it down. The pitcher might have been able to catch the ball, if he'd still been out there, but the kid currently playing center was about a foot shorter, so the ball got by him. It hit the turf and rolled the rest of the way to the fence, so Tyler ended up on second with a double and Dylan and Carlos both scored on the play, which put their team ahead 3 - 2.

Tyler's hit seemed to unnerve the pitcher and he threw three consecutive balls to Jacob next. After his coach yelled out for him to "settle down and concentrate," the kid tried to groove the next pitch past Jacob, since he thought Jacob was going to take it. To everyone's surprise, however, the coach had given Jacob the green light and he drove the pitch to right center field too, although a little farther away from the center fielder than Tyler had done. This ball dropped in as well, so Jacob ended up on second with a double, as Tyler scored.

The other team's coach quickly called time and went out to talk to his pitcher. After discussing the situation with the boy, the coach decided to leave him in, so Crawford stepped up to the plate next. Crawford seemed to time the pitch fairly well too, but he just didn't elevate the ball enough and hit a line drive back at the mound. The pitcher caught the ball, although it appeared he did it purely out of self-defense, to keep it from hitting him, so Jacob wasn't able to advance. There were now two outs and Jamal was up next. He hit a grounder to the second baseman and the kid threw him out to retire the side. Tyler's team had scored three runs though, so they were now ahead 4 - 2.

Tyler was scheduled to face the heart of the other team's lineup in the bottom of the sixth, starting with the third man in their batting order. This kid had struck out twice already, once swinging and once looking, so Tyler merely reared back and threw. He ended up using five pitches to strike the boy out again, but the kid went down swinging this time. This brought up their big cleanup batter, who had moved in from center field to pitch.

As the boy walked up to the plate, I saw him glare at Tyler and could tell he was remembering how Tyler had hit a double off him that scored two runs, before he also scored on the next hit. I'm sure the boy wanted to return the favor, as he stepped into the batter's box and dug in. Tyler started him out with a two-seam fastball that tailed in on the boy's hands and tied him up, but it also made his swing look pathetic for the first strike. Tyler started the next pitch out at the letters and I could almost see the boy's mouth salivating as the ball came in. Just as he started to swing though, the ball dropped sharply and his bat ended up gliding harmlessly through the air above it. Tyler had thrown a fork ball and fooled the boy completely.

With two strikes on the batter, Tyler threw a four-seam fastball way off the outside corner of the plate next. Carlos missed grabbing it, so the ball went all the way to the backstop. It wasn't a problem though, since no one was on base, but it did make the batter consider that Tyler might be a little wild. Tyler then used the exact same motion on his next delivery, but this time he threw a three-finger changeup instead. The boy wasn't expecting this, so he was way out in front of the pitch for the third strike.

There were now two outs and the fifth man in the other team's lineup was coming up. He had grounded out to short his first time at bat and then to second base during his next time up. After getting the boy to a 2 - 1 count, since Tyler had just missed the strike zone on both called balls, the kid lifted the next pitch into the air. It was heading out to right field and Jose, who had come in to replace Antonio, drifted over and settled under it for the third out. The boys were now heading into the final inning with Tyler's team still ahead 4 - 2.

Stanton was up first and he'd hit a single his previous time up, but it wasn't against this pitcher. He was a little late on his swing each time and ended up fouling out to the first baseman for the first out. Jose was up for his first at bat after that and grounded out to the second baseman for the second out. This brought up D'Wayne, who had come in for Curtis at first, and he connected with a 3-1 pitch that headed toward right field. The kid playing there had to make a long run and couldn't quite get to the ball, so it dropped in for a double. This brought Dylan up again, and he was already 2 for 3, but this time he grounded the ball to the shortstop. The boy scooped the ball up easily and tossed it to first for the final out in the top half of the inning.

Fortunately for Tyler, he'd be facing the bottom of the other team's lineup with a 4 - 2 lead. The first boy that stepped to the plate popped the ball up to second for the first out and then the next batter grounded the ball back to Tyler. He fielded it cleanly and threw the boy out at first for the second out. Tyler then bore down on the next batter and caught him looking at a called third strike to end the game.

As the teams were slapping each other's hands afterward, I saw the various boys talking and felt they must have been chatting about the game. I noticed the big kid had also pulled Tyler aside and the two spoke for a couple of minutes, but then Tyler came over to me when he was done.

"What was that all about?" I asked, after his brothers and I had congratulated him.

"We were just telling each other great game," he answered. "The last pitcher also told me that even though he'd walked his first time up, this was the first game he'd worn the collar and gone hitless."

"Wow! That's impressive," I replied, giving him a slap on the back.

"He also congratulated me on my hits," Tyler added, but not in a bragging way. He was merely filling me in on their conversation. "I'm going to go get on the bus, cuz the coach wants to talk to us on the way back. I'll see you at the school in a little while."

He then raced away and I led his brothers over to the car so we could head home.

When I picked Tyler up at school after the bus got back from the game, he had a lot he wanted to tell me. Before he started, though, I asked the boys what they wanted for dinner, because I'd decided we would get take out tonight. When they all agreed on Chinese, I called our favorite place on my cell phone and then listened to Tyler while we drove there to pick it up.

"Nathan felt really bad that his mistakes almost cost us the game, but he was glad we finally pulled it out," Tyler announced. "He said he thought his hand was ok to play, but he later realized he'd only been fooling himself."

"Yes, I'm glad that didn't cost you the game either, because it could have," I agreed. "I hope the next time someone is injured they'll be honest about whether they're ready to play again, rather than just coming back so they don't have to sit out a game."

"Yeah, me too," Tyler concurred. "I was glad that I'd worked with Carlos yesterday, because it helped a lot. I'll never worry about pitching to him again, but he still isn't as good as Nathan. He doesn't move around behind the plate as well and that's why he missed that one pitch. I'm pretty sure Nathan would have got to it."

"Yes, the coach needs to work with Carlos on his stance, because he's sitting back on his haunches too much and that keeps him from being able to move well," I pointed out.

"Maybe you could do that instead," Tyler suggested, looking hopeful.

"I'm not going to interfere with your team," I replied. "I've worked with you and Dylan, but only because you live with me and Dylan asked for my help and comes here so I can work with him. I'd never try to coach someone at your practices or games."

"Maybe I can mention it to Carlos and see what he thinks then," Tyler suggested in return.

"I don't mind if you do that, but it will have to be his choice and then he'll have to come here for me to work with him," I countered. "Just mention it, but don't push the idea. I don't want him to think he has to do it, because I don't want Coach Hendricks to think I'm interfering with what he's doing."

"Don't worry. I won't," Tyler assured me. "Oh, and Dylan said his father is going to make the appointment for him over spring break, so it won't interfere with school or practices."

"That's good, as long as it isn't too long before Dylan sees the doctor," I stated. "He needs a professional's opinion about this, because I'd feel awful if it turned out he actually had a lump and I just didn't find it."

"Dylan has a lump?" Marcus asked from the backseat.

"Yes, he noticed it when he was staying over at our house and I told him to have his father make an appointment for him with the doctor," I answered.

"What kind of lump? Where is it?" Marcus persisted, not letting the subject drop.

"It's kind of personal and I'm not sure if Dylan would want me to mention it," I replied, hoping that would end the discussion.

"Dylan wouldn't mind," Tyler chipped in, much to my chagrin.

"Come on, tell me then!" Marcus urged.

"Ok. Dylan thought there was a lump on one of his testicles, but I couldn't feel anything," I responded, and immediately wished I'd worded my answer differently.

"You mean on his balls?" Marcus countered. "You felt him there?"

"Only to check it out, since he thought he felt a lump in that area," I replied, hoping my answer would be sufficient.

"I want you to check me too?" Marcus continued. "I don't want a lump either."

"You're probably too young for that, but I could check you out, if you insist," I responded.

"Yeah, I want you to check to make sure I don't have a lump," Marcus answered.

"Me too," Ethan quickly chimed in. "I don't want a lump either."

After I assured them I'd do that for them our discussion ended, so I got out of the car and went inside to get our order. The boys were barely able to wait until we got home before digging in to eat.

After we finished dinner, Tyler and Marcus went to do their homework, while I gave Ethan his bath. Shortly before I finished with him, Marcus came to tell me he was ready for his bath too. I was mildly surprised that he still wanted me to do this for him, but I knew it was just so he could get some special attention from me too. I'd continue to do it for as long as he wanted, seeing it still seemed very important to him.

While I had them both together, I decided to check their testicles, like they both wanted. I explained how to do it and then I checked each of them and assured them they were fine. Then they wanted to check each other, so I just warned them to be careful and not squeeze too hard, before I let them do what they wanted. When they were satisfied, I gave Marcus his bath, while Ethan went to put on his pajamas.

Later, after I'd tucked those two in bed, I went to check on Tyler, so I could see how he was doing with his homework. He said he was just about finished, so I sat down on his bed and waited to check it over for him. After he'd handed it to me, Tyler went to take his shower, since he hadn't taken one at school after the game. When he returned, he was using the towel to dry his hair, rather than having it wrapped around his body.

"I'm really glad you were at the game today," he said, once I looked over at him. "You reminded me what I was doing wrong when I was at bat, but you also helped to make sure I didn't get down after I flew out or when the other team scored. I heard you cheering and encouraging me not to let it get to me. It really helped to keep me from thinking about the stuff that had already happened and I did a lot better after that."

"I'm sure your coach told you the same things," I offered, trying to deflect some of the attention away from what I'd done.

"Yeah, he did, but I knew you really meant it and still had faith in me. That's what was important," Tyler countered, while looking at me sincerely.

"I do have faith in you and you've never let me down," I replied. I then gave him a big hug and kissed him on the lips, before wishing him sweet dreams.

"Hey! Aren't you going to stay and help me with this now?" he wanted to know, which quickly drew my attention back to him. That's when I noticed he was pointing down at his erection. He didn't have one when he first came back from his shower, so it must have happened when I gave him the hug and kiss.

"Damn, it happens so easily to you. That's not fair," I teased. "Ok, lay back on your bed and I'll give you your reward for having such a great game."

Tyler had a huge grin on his face after I said this and quickly dropped down on the bed, as he presented his crotch to me. I could already hear him panting, as I bent down to begin my effort.

This was just going to be a quicky tonight. I wasn't planning on letting him sleep with me and was only going to take care of his current problem as rapidly as I could. Although I ran my tongue over his scrotum and toyed with his testicles briefly, it was the extent of the foreplay. I then licked my way up his shaft and swirled my tongue around his helmet a few times, before I swallowed his penis down to the root. I followed by nodding up and down on it using a hurried pace, while allowing my tongue and lips to provide the needed stimulation.

Tyler was bucking his hips up and down to match my efforts, so he wasn't interested in delaying the outcome either. Before long, his body began to stiffen and he rammed his penis as far into my throat as it would go, as multiple threads of his boy cream splattered my gullet. He then bucked a couple more times, until he was completely drained. Then, I pulled off and waited for him to recover.

"Thanks. I really needed that," Tyler announced as he was getting up. He then wrapped his arms around me again, as he tilted his head upward and kissed me on the lips.

"You're welcome, now get some sleep," I suggested. "You had a big day and need your rest." I then waited as he hopped into bed and turned off the light before heading across the hall to my room.

After getting ready for bed too, I got comfortable and began to think about a lot of different things. First of all, I could hardly believe it was almost April, which meant I'd been with the boys for two months already. Even though the time had seemed to fly by, it also seemed as if we'd always been together. They were truly my sons now, even if Tyler was doing his best to convince me that I should let him be my lover too. I also knew that each of them thought of me as his dad, even though I didn't want them to call me by that name. It was just that I had been so close to their father that I feared I'd be treading on his memory or somehow belittling his importance if I allowed them to call me Dad too.

Wednesday night, I sat the boys down and asked them what they'd like to do the second weekend of spring break. It wasn't the upcoming weekend, but the one after it, and I thought I'd like to take them somewhere and do something special.

"Can't we do that after baseball ends?" Marcus wanted to know. "I'd rather stay home and practice more, so I'm ready for the tryouts."

"Me too," Ethan chimed in, much to my surprise.

"How about you?" I asked Tyler next, since I wanted his input as well.

"I'm good with staying here," he agreed. "I want everyone to do well at the tryouts too, because that will mean they'll have a better chance of playing a lot, once they get on a team."

"That's a good point," I concurred. "As long as you boys are ok with staying home, then that's what we'll do."

The rest of the night passed by quickly as well and without any unnecessary drama. As soon as I woke up Thursday morning though, each of the boys tried to pull an April Fool's joke on me. It was fun and nothing harmful in any way, but I got a kick out of seeing how pleased they were with their own efforts.

On the way home, I stopped to pick up a Wiffle bat and ball for Ethan. Even though I'd bought the batting tee for him earlier, I hadn't been practicing with him much on it at home and we didn't use it at the park. Most of the time, he hit balls I pitched underhand, so I felt he could use this to practice in the backyard during spring break. That way he'd be ready for what he'd encounter later, beginning at the tryouts. He just grinned and thanked me for it when I gave it to him.

The only other thing of any importance that happened that evening was when Tyler confirmed that Dylan's appointment with the doctor would be on Monday during spring break. I was glad it was happening early in the week, since Dylan wanted me to continue working with him on his pitching and it would be better if he wasn't distracted by other things. I was hoping the doctor would alleviate his concerns about whether he had a lump or not, so he'd be able to focus on what we were doing. If he did have a lump though, then he'd have a lot more on his mind than just baseball.

On Friday, Tyler's team had its last game before taking a week off for spring break. It was a home game and Tyler had told me the previous night that Crawford was going to pitch. The boys hadn't heard very much about this team, so they were basically heading into this contest blind, so to speak.

I rushed home to pick up Ethan and Marcus after work and drove over to watch the game. Shortly after getting to the field and deciding where we wanted to sit in the bleachers, Dylan's parents showed up too and they had Dylan's little brother with them. Since the Cochrans had never formally met the younger pair before and I hadn't met their other son either, we took time to make the introductions and get acquainted.

"Cherie and Don, it's nice to see you again," I greeted them. "I know you've seen these two around before, but let me introduce you to Tyler's brothers. This is Marcus and over here is Ethan."

"It's nice to meet you both," Cherie stated, as she looked at the pair. "I've seen you with your uncle before, but you were either too involved in the game or off playing, so we never got the chance to talk."

After Dylan's father also greeted the boys, Marcus and Ethan meekly said 'hi' back.

"Blake, this is Dylan's younger brother, Justin," Don added. "Looking at Marcus, I'd say these two must be about the same age."

"I turn 10 on May 12th," Marcus quickly replied, as he sat up a little straighter.

"And Justin will turn 11 at the end of October," Don countered, "so he's only seven months older than you."

"Well I'm glad to meet you too," I finally offered, while looking at Justin. "I've seen you around as well, but I've never had a chance to actually meet you. Whenever I went to chat with your parents, you always seemed to be off doing something else."

"Yes, he's a typical boy and can't sit still for very long," Cherie interjected. "I'm surprised he manages to sit through most of Dylan's game, but I think it's only because he really wants to learn how to play the game."

"Yep, I'm gonna play baseball this year too," Justin added. "I couldn't play last year because I broke my arm before the signed ups. I kinda had an accident on my bike."

"Ouch! I'm sorry to hear that," I commiserated. "The good news is that it looks as if you'll be in the same league as Marcus this year." Justin smiled and looked over at Marcus after I'd said this.

"Blake, I'd like to thank you for working with Dylan on his pitching," Don added. "I understand you were the one who helped Tyler and he's doing fantastic, so Dylan is really glad you've agreed to do this for him as well. I just want you to know we appreciate all you've done for him."

"It's my pleasure, Don," I replied. "Dylan's a great kid and he and Tyler have become good friends, so I'm glad to help."

At this point we noticed the game was about to begin, so Don and Cherie sat down next to me and the boys moved higher in the bleachers and sat together. Every time I looked back to check on them they seemed to be talking, so they appeared to be getting along, but I wasn't sure if they were actually watching the game.

The other team was up first, seeing they were the visitors, and their leadoff batter connected with the fourth pitch. The ball sailed out toward Trent in center field, but it wasn't hit very hard or deep. Trent had to really hustle in to get to it before it hit the ground, but he ended up catching it at knee level to record the first out. The next batter walked and then the boy after him hit a weak grounder to short. Tyler charged the ball and got to it quickly, so he was able to toss it to second for the force out. Since the ball hadn't been hit very hard, this took time and didn't give Dylan a chance to get the runner out at first and complete the double play, so there was a man on first with two outs. The cleanup batter came up after that and hit a grounder to first. Curtis was able to snatch the ball off the ground and step on the bag for the unassisted third out.

The other team's pitcher started out the bottom of the inning with some serious control problems and walked Dylan on just five pitches. Coach Hendricks had decided to let Nathan start this game, since Nathan had assured him his hand was better, so he came up to the plate next. The pitcher walked him on just four pitches, but since Nathan never had to swing, there was no indication if he was truly back to normal.

The other team's coach quickly called time after that and walked out to the mound to speak with his pitcher, in an effort to calm him down. When he finished, Trent came up to bat next and drilled the first pitch over the shortstop's head for a single. Even though the ball was picked up fairly quickly by the left fielder, Dylan never slowed down as he approached third and headed home. I thought the coach was actually trying to hold him up, but Dylan rounded the bag and took off for the plate. The throw to the catcher was off line, so Dylan scored standing up and Nathan and Trent were able to advance to second and third.

This brought Tyler up next. After the pitcher threw a ball that nearly hit Tyler, he left the next pitch out over the plate, right in Tyler's wheelhouse. Tyler timed it perfectly and drove the ball to left center field, so both the left and center fielders turned and ran after it. The grass had just been mowed, so when the ball hit the ground it took a couple of hops and then started rolling. By the time the center fielder got to the ball and threw it back to the infield, Tyler was standing on third and both base runners had scored. Tyler's team was now up 3 - 0 and there were no outs, with Jacob coming to the plate.

Jacob ripped the third pitch toward center field, but this time the center fielder was able to catch up to it for the out. However, it was deep enough to give Tyler plenty of time to tag up and run home, bringing the score to 4 - 0. Crawford then hit a liner to third that was caught and Jamal flew out to right to end the inning.

In the top of the second, Trent got the fifth batter in the lineup to ground out to Dylan at second and then the next batter struck out. The seventh man hit the ball back up the middle, but it was directly at Trent and he hauled it in for the third out.

Antonio was the first one up in the bottom of the second and he hit a shot between the first and second basemen for a single. Curtis then walked, which brought up Dylan again. This time he hit the third pitch over the left fielder's head and the base runners were off to the races. By the time the kid caught up to the ball and threw it in, the coach was stopping Dylan at third with a triple and two RBIs.

Nathan came up after that and quickly proved his hand was definitely better. He hit a bullet down the third base line that just stayed fair, so he ended up with a standup double. It also scored Dylan, so Tyler's team was now ahead 7 - 0.

Trent followed by grounding out to second, but it advanced Nathan to third. Tyler then flew out to center, but it was deep enough for Nathan to score easily. Jacob then lined out to the shortstop to end the inning, but the score was now 8 - 0.

Things just got worse for the other team after that. They didn't score in the top of the third and Tyler's team added five more runs in the bottom of the inning. When they came back out to take the field in the top of the fourth, Coach Hendricks made all kinds of changes. First, he put in all of the subs, since they had such a large lead and he felt this would be a shortened game, but he also brought Dylan in to pitch. I could tell that Dylan was thrilled to get this chance to try out the things we'd worked on in a game situation. Since Carlos was in for Nathan too, Dylan told him just to call the same pitches he would with Tyler, since they both threw the same pitches.

Dylan actually looked pretty good and his pitches appeared to be moving a little more than they had the last time I'd worked with him. His two-seam fastball not only tailed in on right-handed batters, but it also dipped a little, which made it even harder for them to hit. He also threw the forkball a few times and it dropped a little more each time he used it. I think it was due to the fact that he was getting more comfortable with the grip and how he released it. Even though he allowed a man to get on base, it was a close call as to whether it was a hit or an error by Jon at second base, but the other team still didn't score.

When Tyler's team came up in the bottom of the inning, the subs did their best to prove they deserved more playing time too. Jon started off with a double, to make up for his possible error at the top of the inning, and the other subs did just as well. By the time the inning ended, they had scored three more runs, which made the score 16 - 0.

This was the other team's last chance to bat, unless they were able to score seven runs. Dylan was back on the mound and it was obvious he wanted to complete the shutout, because he wasn't smiling or joking around at all. From watching how he was treating this opportunity, someone just coming in to watch the game would have suspected the score was a lot closer than it actually was.

Although Dylan gave up two singles that inning, the other team still wasn't able to score, so the umpires called the 10-run rule and the game ended. Tyler's team was jubilant as they slapped hands with the other team and chatted with them briefly.

"It seems as if you've done a tremendous job with our son's pitching already," Don began. "I know the other team wasn't that good, but he looked pretty sharp out there."

"He's still a little rough around the edges, but he has improved a great deal," I concurred. "He's a super kid and very eager to learn."

About that time, Dylan and Tyler came running over to us.

"Guess what?" Dylan began, without even greeting any of us first. "We've got three games left and the other team just told us they beat the team we'll be facing second, 6 - 4. Maybe coach will let me pitch against them too."

"It's very possible and you did look good out there," I assured him.

"Mom, Dad, can I spend the night with Tyler?" he asked next. "Then Mr. Blake can work with me some more tomorrow."

"Don't you think you should have checked with Mr. Blake first, to see if it was ok with him?" his father asked, mildly scolding his son. "He may have other plans for tonight or tomorrow."

"Can I Mr. Blake? Please?" Dylan begged, turning his attention to me this time.

"Well I don't have anything else planned and I was going to work with Marcus and Ethan tomorrow anyway, so it's ok with me, if it's alright with your parents," I agreed.

"Please?" he whined, after turning toward his parents again.

"I suppose," Cherie relented, after her husband looked to her for input. "As long as you promise to spend Saturday night and Sunday at home with us."

"Yeah, sure," Dylan agreed, as he began dancing around.

"Can I go too?" Justin followed, while looking at me. "Marcus said you could help me get better too and I really want to play this year, so can I come too? Please?"

"He can sleep in my room," Marcus quickly added, which told me they'd become close today and he wanted this to happen as well.

"It's ok with me, if your parents will agree," I answered.

"It would be nice to have a night alone," Don quickly added, as he turned toward his wife and winked at her.

"But neither of you have anything to take with you," Cherie pointed out.

"We'll go home with you and grab our stuff. Then, Mr. Blake can swing by to pick us up," Dylan offered, thinking fast.

"Only if Blake will allow us to give him enough money to buy dinner for all of you tonight," Cherie agreed. "I don't think he should have to go home and cook for this big horde after this."

"Is that ok, Uncle Blake?" Tyler pleaded, as he attempted to close the deal.

"Are all of you ok with subs then?" I followed and immediately received agreement from each of the boys. "Then it looks like a done deal."

I then followed the Cochrans to their house and chatted with Don, while Cherie went up to help Justin grab what he would need. Don also handed me $40.00 to cover the meal.

"This is more than it will cost to feed them," I offered, while trying to give back some of the money.

"Trust me, it's worth it to have a night alone with my wife," he quickly countered. "I may even take her out to dinner too, since it's just the two of us."

He then giggled like a schoolboy after saying this, so I understood he had much more in mind than just a dinner alone. As soon as the boys came back outside, Dylan and Justin said goodbye to their parents and then hopped in my car. Tyler told Marcus sit up front and then he held Ethan on his lap in back, with Justin between him and Dylan.

We swung by Subway to pick up the food next and I let each of the boys order what they wanted. The three little ones only got 6" subs, while Dylan, Tyler and I each ordered a foot-long. Then I dropped by the grocery store next and hurried inside to pick up drinks and some dessert for after the meal, before we headed home. I was actually a little surprised that the boys hadn't tried to eat their subs in the car, since they'd all been saying how hungry they were before I stopped at the grocery store, but they were still unopened when I slid back into the driver's seat.

As soon as we got home and finished eating, Dylan and Tyler announced they were going upstairs to shower.

"You're going to do that together?" Justin asked, looking confused.

"We shower together at school all the time, so why shouldn't we do it here too?" Dylan shot back. "If you want to play sports at school when you get older, then you're going to have to get used to doing that too. You're going to have to stop acting like such a baby over other people seeing you naked."

"You mean you can't play on a team if you don't take a shower with the other boys too?" Justin shot back, not fully convinced.

"If it's a school team, then yes! Everyone else will be taking a shower afterward, so are you going to be the only one that doesn't?" Dylan challenged. "What do you think the other boys are going to think about you and say if you don't do it too? They will probably call you names, like 'stinky' or 'smelly' if you never take a shower or they might not want anything to do with you at all. It's time you grew up about this stuff. Marcus and Ethan don't have any problems with it."

"Really?" Justin shot back, as he looked at Marcus and Ethan.

"Yeah, it's not a big deal," Marcus answered, as he looked at Justin. "I've been naked around other boys too and it doesn't bother me."

Justin looked a little confused by this admission, but he merely shrugged his shoulders slightly, as Dylan and Tyler took off.

While that pair was taking their shower, I took Ethan upstairs to give him his bath. Marcus and Justin said they were going to play video games while I did that, so I left them in the family room to entertain themselves.

NEXT PART