Howdy Doody

The Geppetto Project

Chapters 43-45

Chapter Forty Three

Stranger In A Strange Land

The lone figure he saw was a boy of probably fourteen walking towards the flag pole with a bugle dangling from its harness swinging carelessly as the boy walked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The strong smell of coffee and bakery goods hung in the breeze coming from the Mess Hall that stood not 500 feet [150 m] from the cabin that not only held the Doctor, but four boys as well. The twins, Benji and Gavin along with his Grandson Bobby and his new friend Jesse slept peacefully on as the ringing notes of Reveille now

pierced the silence and floated across the lake like a Call to Arms.

Almost instantly, audible sounds of about 200 children and slamming bathroom doors now ended the tranquility for another day. The good Doctor now had to smile as tiny naked forms, some too far away to tell if they were boy or girl, raced off the cabin porches that circled the lake and jumped in for a morning bath.

"Poppe!" a voice called out in distress from inside the cabin as the Doctor turned and re-entered the bedroom. Now standing by his rumpled bed, the twins' look of abandonment quickly disappeared to be replaced by dimpled smiles from both boys. "We thought you left!" Benji said as both boys wrapped their arms around the man's legs. Doctor Lester shook his head as his Grandson and Jesse now entered the room a little bleary eyed wondering what the commotion was all about.

Sitting down on his bed, the man brought the twins up and sat them on his lap which was something he immediately regretted. "How many times have I disappeared from either of you without saying goodbye first?" He asked the twins. "The bed was empty." Benji replied. "Probably because I rarely stay in bed all day. Do you?" He asked as both boys now giggled a bit.

"I think the first thing we need to do is to shut all the doors and windows and turn on the air conditioning. I'm getting so hot I'm sweating. I can feel my legs getting all wet from sweat already." The man said as the twins now looked down. "That's not sweat Poppe, we pee'd the bed last night. Look!" Gavin said as he placed Doctor Lester's hand on the front of his pajama bottoms. "Well imagine that! And here I thought we could take an early morning lake swim because it was getting so hot." He said as once more the twins giggled away. "We still can Poppe, but we gotta take a shower first. We can't play in the lake, there might be some little kids from Camp Kenny or some stupid girls from Pine Ridge who might see us and get all mad." Benji now said. "Mad about what?" The Doctor asked. "Us fucking!" Gavin declared with an eight year olds innocent smile. "Romping." Jesse now said. "Oh yeah, romping I mean." The boy corrected himself.

Doctor Lester chuckled to himself as two little faces smiled back at him.

"OK, first showers and then I'd really like some of that coffee I've been smelling. How does one go about getting any of it?" The Doctor asked. "I can run over to the Mess Hall and get you some." Jesse now said. "Before or after you put some clothes on?" Doctor Lester asked. Jesse looked down at his naked body, and that of his brand new side-kick, Bobby. "We can put some shorts on. Uncle John don't like it much when we go into the Mess Hall naked, he says it gets all the mess boys confused and they start missing counts and stuff." Jesse said quite straight faced and serious. Doctor Lester once more had to chuckle as he shook his head. "I was just kidding Jesse, but some coffee sounds like a grand idea if you'd like to get me some while we get some of this sweat off out little friends here." He replied. Without comment, two very healthy sized bottoms disappeared

back into their bedroom while the twins headed for the bathroom leaving a trail of very cold, wet, bed clothes in their wake.

Arriving in the bathroom, the Doctor was greeted by two naked 8 year olds having a sword fight in the toilet. "Uncle Greg or Uncle Kevin usually washes our backs and stuff Poppe. Do you want us to wait for Jesse?" Benji asked the man. "Not unless you would prefer it. I've been known to wash a few backs in my lifetime." The Doctor replied.

Both boys now looked at each other. "We don't just wash in the shower Poppe. Here at Green Tree, it's one of the places we play." Benji informed the man. "Romp." Gavin quickly added. Doctor Lester once more had to smile as two penises, somewhere in the two inch [5 cm] variety, began to awaken and make their presence known. "I'll tell you what, I'll wash your hair and backs, and we'll let Bobby and Jesse finish the job. Does that sound OK to you guys?" He asked.

Both boys grinned and giggled once more. "It's OK Poppe, we know you don't fuck." Gavin now said. "No, of course not." Doctor Lester said somewhat resigned to his lonely fate.

With a clean and dry pair of legs as well as the rest of his body, Dr. Lester sat on the front porch with a pot of coffee and a tray of sweet buns as a small war, or something less violent, took place inside the cabin as all four boys finished their shower. The good Doctor preferred not to get involved since not only might his wife not understand, but he was somewhat convinced it wouldn't take a whole hell of a lot for him to sweep a boy off his feet and take him to his bed. Since that just might compromise his work with the boys, all such thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind, but he did know beauty when he saw it, and Green Tree was practically the Lourve or the Sistine Chapel ceiling when it came to works of art.

"How was your night?" Bert asked as he walked up the steps of the porch with Christopher on his shoulders. "Splendid. I guess it has something to do with the country air. I seem to sleep so well when I come here." He told the Director as Bert put Christopher down on the porch and the boy instantly headed for the tray of sweet buns,

"It could be something in the water, but we have very, very, few cases of insomnia here.

My staff tells me it's because the kids run them ragged from sun up to sun down but nobody's turned in their resignation yet." Bert told the man with a smile as he sat down.

Dr. Lester nodded in agreement as Christopher now stood in front of the seat buns that were on the side table. In his usual bib overalls, Christopher stood with his hands clasped in front of him staring at the buns with just a touch of drool heading for the front of his shirt. "Would you like one?" Dr. Lester asked the boy. "No Doctor, There is a process he needs to go though and he knows how to ask for something he wants. Don't you Christopher?" Bert immediately replied. "I-eee?" Christopher said with more than a touch of distress in his voice. "Nobody said you cannot have it, but you know how to ask for it." Bert said. Now walking to Bert the boy stood in Front of the Director with eyes glazing over and no smile on his face which was highly unusual. "More?" He mournfully asked. "Think Christopher. What do you want to do?" Bert asked the boy without emotion.

The boy now pointed to the tray of buns and grunted. "No Christopher, that tells me nothing. You know how to speak and you know how to sign." Bert said to the boy. "Peeez?" The boy asked as his face got more distressed and his eyes began to fill. "I understand that you are polite Christopher, but we need to know what you want. Tell me and sign to me what you want." Bert said again unemotionally. The boy now signed for and said "Eeee?" Which is his word for eat. "OK, ask Dr. Lester for it, and don't forget to sign." Bert told the boy. A smile returned to Christopher's face, but not before the tears spilled out of his over flowing eyes. "Eee, Peez?' The boy now both said and signed to the Dr. with a very concerned look on his face. "May I?" The Doctor asked Bert as he picked up the tray. Bert nodded.

Once Christopher was in Bert's lap and eating a very large cheese Danish, Bert kissed the boys cheeks dry of tears and wrapped his arms around his waist as he rocked in the chair. "All his life he's either been ignored or his needs have been anticipated for him, so he really hasn't had the need to do very much communicating. It would be extremely easy for us to just provide him with the basic necessities or interpret his wants and wishes, but who's going to do that for him when he's an adult instead of a cute and cuddly little boy that has a smile and a pair of dimples that could melt an iceberg?" Bert told the Doctor without being asked.

Now putting his mouth very close to Christopher's ear, he sat back in the chair with the boy and spoke. "Christopher is an extremely smart boy who is growing very big, and is learning how to tell other people what he wants and if he doesn't like something, he knows how to tell us that too. Christopher can speak, and Christopher can sign, and everybody who knows Christopher loves him." Bert said. "Hey!" The boy replied as his attention was directed mainly at the Danish, but he did obviously hear the message.

"Uncle Bert! Aunt Helen isn't going to like that. You know she doesn't want him fed just before mealtime" Jill told the man as she and Claire now climbed the stairs. "Sorry sweetheart, I had a lesson to teach him, and besides, nobody says anybody has to tell your Aunt that he's eating something do they?" Bert asked as the Doctor chuckled. "She's going to take one look at his stomach and know he's been eating Uncle Bert. He looks like he swallowed a watermelon." Claire told the Director. Bert looked at the boys stomach which didn't seem all that big. "From one little old cheese Danish?" He asked the girl. Jill went over to the boy an unsnapped the straps to his overalls as they feel to Christopher's feet. In silhouette, it could have been a pregnant woman but for the height.

"You've been feeding him all morning long haven't you?" the girl asked as Christopher

was completely oblivious to his inspection.

Pulling his pants back up, Jill got to the second strap before she realized a solid stream was pouring off the boys right foot and falling down to the ground from the porch. Bert looked down as Christopher's baby blue pant leg and crotch area now got a shade darker.

"You don't tell your Aunt Helen I was feeding him, And I won't tell her you two signaled for him to urinate and then changed your mind." Bert told the girl's as Doctor Lester chuckled once more.

Sending Christopher upstairs to shower once they got him naked, Jill and Claire rooted in the golf carts boot for a fresh pair of clothing.

Geez Uncle Bert, ya gotta warn us when you're goin to send Christopher in with us: we was just done fucking!" Gavin said as he came out of the cabin drying his hair.

"Sorry ladies, he means romping. He didn't know you were here." Bert immediately told both girls. "We got use to it a long time ago Uncle Bert. Don't you think they could come up with a better description of their playing around with each other? Not everything they do is fucking. They do lots of things, but end up calling it all that.!" Jill declared.

"She has a point." Bert said to the twins as Bert dried one and Doctor Lester dried the other. "But we wasn't doing lollypops or anything else, we wus fucking!" Benji declared in his defense. "See?" He said pushing out his tummy and pointing a fairly happy and healthy erection towards the girls. Gavin giggled as the girls shook their heads and looked at Bert. "I'll work on it!" Bert told the senior girls. "Like you've been working on the rest of the Intermediate boys?" Claire asked as Jill now did some giggling of her own.

"Life hasn't been dull around here since the girls came. Maybe one of these days, things will get back to normal." Bert told Dr. Lester. "To Uncle Bert, that means that every single boy here will be free to run around with a two inch [5 cm] boner." Jill now quipped. "You need to be careful sweetheart, Jesse and Bobby are upstairs and the last time I looked, they could muster up a little more than two inches [5 cm]." Bert said. "Especially Uncle Jesse!"

Gavin quickly added. Claire said nothing, but Bert did detect a slight blush from Jill.

The day had begun once again at Green Tree.

Spencer and David watched the Gulfstream Jet take off from the Vineyard carrying Sid and Jeanette back to Green Tree in silence as they both waved. They now had one week to stay up North with their new found friends and as Thomas and Anthony walked the boys back to the SUVs, Spencer was quite deep in thought. "Are you OK?" Thomas asked the boy. Taking Anthony's hand, Spencer nodded. "I've never been away from both Uncle Sid and Aunt Jeanette at the same time before. I got a very funny feeling in my stomach." Spencer replied. Thomas nodded his head. "I guess it's a little like going away to camp all alone. The difference here is that you have Anthony, David, Me and

a whole lot of new friends to keep you company, so you're not alone." Thomas said.

Spencer again nodded, but remained silent as he now took David's hand in his as they walked.

"Are we going back to Block Island, Uncle Thomas?" David now asked. "From what I've been told by my brother Stuart, we'll be leaving first thing in the morning. He has some work to do in Boston today with my other brothers, so maybe it would be fun to go on a bike ride around the Island and take a look at the sights?" He asked. "Can we see any boats?" Spencer asked.

Blending in on the Vineyard with 4 adults and another dozen or so children riding bikes was fairly easy for the group as they peddled around the island for the next 4 hours stopping for lunch and snacks along the route. By about 2:00, a text message from Stuart sent to Thomas requested the group return to the estate, which did not go over big with the children since they had yet to reach Vineyard Haven Harbor. "Uncle Stuart is on his way back from Boston and wants us to be there when he returns." Thomas told the grumbling bunch.

With the children back at the estate and now in the pool, Stuart distributed a manila envelope to all the adults on the porch including Thomas. "I'm told by the Oncology Department that it might be nothing, but they very strongly suggest that Sid

undergo additional tests to rule out Prostate Cancer." Stuart said as Thomas read Sid's

blood test results. "He's a 50 year old man and his PSA level of 6.8 is highly elevated.

There could be several reasons to attribute to those findings and one is the possibility of cancer." Stuart told the group. "What do they think?" Thomas now asked. "6.8 is very high for a man his age. They recommend a biopsy be done as soon as possible." Stuart replied. "No DRE?" Thomas asked. "Even if the DRE was negative, they'd still recommend the biopsy, so they feel it's a waste of time at this point." Stuart replied.

"This is NOT good! Whatever happens, Anthony, Jesse and David are not to get a hint of this until I get them back to North Carolina." Thomas said as he now stood by the window and looked out at the children playing in the pool. "Have you called Bert?" Thomas asked his brother. "No, we wanted your input first." Stuart replied. Thomas nodded his head. "How soon do they recommend the biopsy?" Thomas asked. "Yesterday." Michael replied. "Where?" Thomas asked. "Since he's in North Carolina, he has the availability of Duke for the biopsy. If it comes up positive, Duke, John's Hopkins or Boston are all leaders in the field." Stuart replied. "If he's positive, he'll opt for Duke because of its proximity to the camp. Let's figure out who we know there and give them a head's up." Thomas said as Stuart nodded. "This doesn't mean he has Prostate Cancer." Michael now said. Thomas shook his head. "A 6.8 PSA pretty much rules out even a severe case of Prostatitus, which if he had, would show itself. Something's very wrong." Thomas replied to silence from the rest of his brother's.

"Where do we go from here?" Cory asked. "Bert needs to be brought into the loop. I'll arrange a conference call for tonight at 9:00 It would be helpful if we had the answers to a ton of questions I know are going to be asked. I know I have more than a few myself." Thomas said as he sat back down. "I'll have the Oncology Department fax over a list of

FAQ,s " Stuart replied.

For the children of the estate, nothing had changed and their world was completely intact. Not only Thomas, but every adult around the children were determined to keep it that way, and one of their first decisions was to keep the news from Dora which would have meant disaster. "What about Anthony?" Michael now asked. Thomas shook his head. "That would be the kiss of death. He'd tell Spencer and we'd be on the next flight out. I think it would also be wise not to tell Paulie anything about this, at least not until after we're gone." Thomas requested.

"You're going to stick to the schedule?" Cory asked. "Going home now is pointless. Even if Sid had the biopsy tomorrow, the results won't be back for almost a week. Let the boys have their vacation, I can use the time to do some research in Boston." Thomas replied.

Bert's day was fairly routine until he received a note from Helen telling him that Thomas

wanted a conference call later that evening. "What's it all about? What did he say? Bert asked Helen as he returned immediately to their cabin. "He just said he wanted to have a conference call between him and his brothers and you and Dr. Lester.

"He specifically said he didn't want anybody else from here in on the call." Helen reported. "He didn't say why or what the call was about?" Bert asked. "No, not a word." Helen replied.

Bert sat down at his desk and picked up the phone. "Nothing's wrong up there?" Bert asked the Colonel on the other end who was in charge of security for the camp. "If there is, we're not aware of it Bert." The man reported. "We can send an agent in there to find out what's going on." He said. "I don't think that's necessary Harry. If there was a problem with security or with one of the boys, he wouldn't put us on hold like this." Bert replied. "We agree Bert, we're also monitoring the situation, and everything is fine with the boys: they're out playing miniature golf." The Colonel replied. Bert shook his head and smiled somewhat. "What did they eat for lunch Harry?" Bert asked. "Cheeseburgers and something called wets. What the hell is that?" the Colonel asked. "French fries with gravy on top." Bert replied still shaking his head. "Oh" the Colonel said.

Satisfied that the boys were OK, Bert sat back as Helen brought him an ice tea. "Problems?" Helen asked. Bert shook his head once more. "The boys are fine; Harry's got them under surveillance. I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a Fed up every tree on the Vineyard right now." He said. "I just wonder how he chases them around Nantucket Sound at 50 knots without being noticed." Bert said not really expecting an answer.

It was a long afternoon and evening for Bert, but for the mafia, time flew by as a baseball game in the afternoon and a trip to the Canteen that night filled their day rather nicely. "Look Poppe, I got two cherries on top!" Gavin said as he sat down with an ice cream sundae. Doctor Lester sat smiling trying to figure out exactly where all the food the boys ate all day was going. "I have a meeting tonight with Uncle Bert. Since it's right around bedtime, I can either leave you boys with a Junior Counselor, or you can all sleep with your friends." He told the twin's, Jesse and Bobby. Jesse's eyes now lit up. "Uncle Adam's?" he asked. "Uncle Bert said you may sleep wherever there's room, so if Uncle Adam say's yes, I would guess so." Doctor Lester replied as Jesse took off for Adam who was with his boys. "I don't have a problem with that Jesse, but are you sure Bobby will be comfortable in Beachview? We're not exactly the calmest cabin in Green Tree and he might want something a little more subdued until he gets use to us." Adam said. "If he say's "Yes", can we come?" Jesse asked. "Yes, but just make sure he knows just how active you guys are before you plunk him down in the lion's den." Adam replied. "Don't worry Uncle Adam, he's OK." Jesse said as he went back to his table. "Whatsa matter, Uncle Adam?" Carla now asked the counselor. "Nothing sweetheart. Say, didn't you tell me that you wanted to have a sleepover in Aunt Johanna's cabin?" Adam asked the girl.

Just before 9:00, Doctor Lester walked up the steps to Bert's cabin as Taps was blown.

"Where did they go, Adam's?" Bert asked as the Dr. came into Bert's office. "Yes, both the twin's and Jesse seemed pretty excited about the prospect." The Dr. Said. "I'll bet!

Adam's place is "The" place to be if you've got the stamina. Most boys who spend an overnight there end up sleeping half the following day away." Bert said with a smile.

"Why do you suppose that is?" the Dr. Asked. "It's cyclical. When one cabin or another gets a high concentration of fairly active boys, they become dominant and can out-romp their rivals for a time. Right now, Beachview holds that distinction." Bert replied as Dr. Lester nodded.

At precisely 9:00 the phone rang. "All my brother's are here on this end Bert. Who's on your end?" Thomas asked. "Doctor Lester and I. What's this all about Thomas?" Bert asked. "Did Sid tell you he had a physical while he was here?" Thomas asked. "No, why, should he have?" Bert asked. "We have a problem Bert, he has an elevated PSA." Thomas said.

Bert now sat up in his chair. "How elevated?" Bert asked. "6.8" Thomas answered. "What's it supposed to be?" Bert asked. "O" Thomas replied. "So what are we talking about?" Bert asked. "Possibly Prostate Cancer. We won't know for sure unless he gets a biopsy done." Thomas reported. "Oh fuck!" Bert said as he sat back once again.

"Has he had a prior PSA?" Dr. Lester now asked. "No, this was his first. Sid's not a great fan of needles." Thomas replied as Bert nodded. "His memory goes back to the State Hospital where they injected him with the Geppetto Serum when he was 5 years old. He'd rather get his arm busted than take a shot." Bert said.

"So we have no way of knowing how aggressive it is." Dr. Lester said. "Not until a biopsy." Thomas replied. "What's that entail?" Bert asked. "He's given a local anesthetic and they take core samples from his Prostate and send it to pathology. It's done on an out-patient basis and it's not greatly involved." Thomas said. "If needles are involved, it's greatly involved Thomas." Bert now said.

"Where do we go from here Bert? The biopsy really needs to done." Thomas now said.

"Where?" Bert asked. "We're recommending Duke because if there's a problem, Duke is one of the best in the country and Sid's not going to go along with being shipped off to New York or Massachusetts's for treatment." Thomas replied. "If I can even get his ass in for the biopsy!" Bert said.

"The alternative could mean burying him." Stuart now said. "I didn't get the impression he'd be taken away from his boys without one hell of a fight." Bert nodded his head. "That just might be the bottom-line argument, Stuart. I don't really think he's afraid of dying one bit, but suggesting that he'd never see the boys again would certainly be another matter. Shit, I'm forgetting about Gloria, Jeanette and Johanna! This is going to be one mother fucker of a disaster." Bert said.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I've been down this road. Just about every male over 70 has prostate cancer when they die, but only 3% actually die of the disease." Doctor Lester now said. "You've had Prostate Cancer?" Bert asked. "Yes, about 10 years ago." He said.

As Bert remembered it roughly3 month's later during a conversation about the events that night: He wanted to sit back and cry from relief. "What course of treatment did you pursue Doctor?" Stuart now asked. "I had my Prostate removed through a Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy (RRP), Dr. Lester replied. "Why not Da vinci?" Michael asked. "10 years ago, Da vinci was in its infancy. I might consider it now, but it wasn't available back then with Surgeon's who had the expertise and experience to pull it off." Dr. Lester said.

"So where do we go with Sid?" Bert asked. "First base is the biopsy, then we'll know what the options are. Keep in mind, the choice of options are always Sid's to make. We can't force one treatment on him over another." Dr. Lester replied. "Or for that matter, any treatment al all!"

Bert assumed he would be in bed with Helen by 10:00 at the latest. At 1:00 he slid under the sheets and slept very fitfully though the night. Come morning he would have to start informing people and Sid wasn't necessarily the first person on his list. He was going to need some powerful allies to move Sid in the direction he wanted his friend to go in and each one of those people would feel as helpless as he did now. In the meantime, life as normal would have to continue for the children of Green Tree and their learning of Sid's

situation was not an option. Very few children had ever heard the word "Cancer" before, and if Bert had anything to say about it, they never would.

Johanna's cabin sat directly on the shore of the lake where the girl lived with Sidney Bertram and her two senior girls', Darlene and Meaghan. "Did you know we were having sleepover visitors tonight?" Darlene asked Johanna as Sidney Bertram was having his diaper changed on the back porch. "No, did you ask Meaghan if she invited somebody over?" Johanna asked. Darlene shook her head. "She wouldn't have done that Aunt Johanna, not with these guys!" the girl replied as she pointed out the screen enclosure to the path. Traipsing down the path to the cabin, Johanna saw four children, all with a pillow in their hands, a dead giveaway that these children were here for the duration.

"Did Uncle Adam say anything to you or Meaghan tonight?" Johanna asked. "Not me! And Meaghan was here all night doing her homework." Darlene answered as she kept her eyes on the approaching figures. "Hey Aunt Johanna, we're here for the overnight visit we talked about last week. You got any popcorn?" Carla asked as she entered the porch with Jeannie, Billy and Matty and threw her pillow on a couch. "Overnight?" Johanna asked. "Sure! You remember when we talked about it last week at Bivouac don't you?"

Carla asked as she gave Johanna a kiss and flopped down next to the baby. Johanna did remember a very brief "Sure" in response to a request from both girls for a future overnight, but then again, few children took her up on the offer.

"Does Uncle Adam know the four of you are here?" She now asked. "Sure, he thought it was a swell idea. He even thought it would be neat if Billy and Matty came along too." Jeannie now replied with a smile and a kiss. "Where's the popcorn?" she asked.

"Am I missing something?" Johanna asked Adam as the visitor's now watched popcorn cooking in the kitchen. "Sorry, I meant to call you but I got tied up." Adam replied. "I'll explain it in the morning, but I didn't send them over to you to dump on you, I have a situation here that would be better handled without the girls being here." Adam said. "And Billy and Matty?" Johanna asked. "They just tagged along. Four is easier to handle than two." Adam now said. "How so?" Johanna asked. "They'll keep each other busy. If all you have is the girls, they'll be in your hair all night." Adam replied. "Why is that?" Johanna asked. "The girls don't romp with each other." Adam said. "So you sent along two escorts for them?" Johanna replied. "More like companions. Once Taps blows, they're gone for the night." Adam told the girl. "This is the secret of your success as a much-loved cabin counselor?" Johanna now asked as Adam chuckled a bit. "Compatibility breeds peace and quiet. Those two alone would mean you'd be answering questions and having them wrapped around your neck all night. Add two more into the mix and you've got a good nights rest." Adam said.

Putting Sidney Bertram to bed for the night, Johanna cleared the side porch of the baby's toys and furniture and placed a stack of pillows and comforters down on the floor.

"What happened?" Meaghan now asked as she came out onto the porch. "Search me, but he better have a good excuse in the morning." Johanna said as her four little guests now lined up in front of the fireplace with bowls of popcorn. "What happened to their clothes?" Johanna asked as four pairs of buns now reflected the light from the fire. "Matty said something about bedtime and they all started stripping." The girl replied as she looked at the figures all lined up alongside each other lying on their stomach's watching the fire burn and eating the popcorn in silence. "Are we gonna let them stay naked?" the girl asked. "Do you wear size 10 underwear?" Johanna asked.

As Adam hung up the phone with Johanna the pilgrimage from the upstairs showers began in earnest. The carpeted circular stairway that wound down from the second floor bedrooms now reverberated throughout the cabin with the sound of feet landing on each step with the full weight of the child attached. If done properly, it made a booming sound, and each child was now an expert at creating just the right pitch. "One of these days you're going to drive that staircase right through the floor and land downstairs in the bike racks." Adam said as he reached for a hair brush and sat down on the couch. "You always say that Uncle Adam, but it never happens." Trevor now said as plunked himself down in Adam's lap to become the first boy to get his hair brushed out. "Well some day when you're sitting on your can downstairs wondering what happened, don't forget to remember I told you so." Adam said as he worked on the boy. A small gaggle of giggles

now surrounded the man as the smell of Oreo cookies now replaced soap and shampoo.

The last of the days supply of 20 gallons of milk now filled glasses as the cookie supply dwindled by the handful full.

"Since Jesse and the new boy are gonna sleep over, does that mean they're guests?" Trevor now asked Adam. "There's nobody here named the new boy." Adam replied as he finished with the first of 18 heads for the night. "His name is Bobby stupid" Chris now said as he jumped into Adam's lap. "Pardon me?" Adam asked the boy. "Sorry Uncle Adam. Well, is he?" Chris asked. "Trevor accepts your apology, and no, Jesse and Bobby are not overnight guest's, they're senior boys who are helping me" Adam declared. "But the twin's are our guests, right?" Sammy now asked.

Adam shook his head and smiled a bit. "The twins are Intermediate boys. Jesse and Bobby are Senior boys; anybody confused concerning the rules?" Adam asked the growing group of boys. "No fair Uncle Adam, we played with Jesse hundred's of times!" Andrew now said as he dunked his cookie to a chorus of "Yeah!" from the peanut gallery. "I'm sure the count is well into the thousands, but the fact is that Jesse is now a Senior boy." Adam replied to a lot of grumbling.

Jesse and Bobby's appearance on the staircase accompanied by the twins was watched by the boys already downstairs like vulture's watching road kill from a telephone pole. With Bobby tucked away in a pair of underpants, Adam could almost see the Intermediate boys stripping Bobby bare with their eyes as they chewed on their Oreo's.

Normally, a senior boy in their midst would not be noticed, nor would it create a reaction.

However, this boy was brand new and therefore, an unknown quantity. As Bobby hit the bottom of the stairs, those in underpants were bulging, and those flying free were saluting.

The scene brought back fond memories to the man of his first encounter with Jesse, David and Sammy more than two years earlier when he first arrived. "Let's hope they saved you guys some milk and cookies." Adam said as he released Chris and Joey sat down. Adam's new goal was now distraction, and he knew he had no more than two minutes to accomplish it. "Anybody want to light the fireplace up?" He asked as a small stampede of boys headed for the woodpile. "Whoa tiger!" Adam said to the boy as Joey tried to bolt from his lap.

Once Jesse sat down, Adam knew it was about just a little more than getting his hair brushed out. It had been month's since Jesse had been in Adam's cabin, and Adam reflected fondly on Jesse's presence in his life. Jesse, David and Sammy held a very special place for the man, and unfortunately, Jesse was well aware of his status. As the boy sat down, Adam kissed him on his shoulder. "I missed not brushing out your hair, who does it now?" Adam asked the boy as he began. Mostly me. Sometimes Uncle Charlie does it, but most of the time he's already gone to work." Jesse replied somewhat sadly. "Well then I have to imagine that things will change. You'll have Uncle Greg in your new cabin and I know he always brushed out everybody's hair in Kevin's cabin" Adam replied. "Maybe he'll think we're too old." Jesse said. "Then maybe you need to remind him you're not. Let's not forget, Bruce will be moving with Greg as well and I know for a fact that Bruce doesn't think he's too old to get his hair brushed out." Adam said. Jesse now smiled. "Hey yeah! Thanks Uncle Adam." He told Adam as the man made a mental note to himself to have a talk with Greg about hair brushing and nail clipping.

"Bobby wants me to ask you a question." Jesse said after a short pause in the conversation. "Shoot" Adam replied as Bobby now headed for the kitchen and some more milk. "Uncle Bert say's that Uncle Charlie's cabin isn't in the Intermediate compound and it's not in the Senior boys compound." He began. "No, it's what we now know as a transitional cabin which means it's in between compounds." Adam replied.

"Because of Bruce and Bobby? Jesse asked. "Primarily." Adam said. "That means yes?" Jesse asked. "That means in part." Adam replied. "So if Bobby and Bruce ain't Senior boys, that means they can play with Intermediate boys just like Bruce already does?" Jesse asked. Adam shook his head and had to smile once again. "We've known each other now for over two years Jesse. When did the boy I knew who said exactly what was on his mind suddenly change and beat around the bush?" Adam asked.

Jesse fell silent and laid back on Adam's chest. "We don't want to be separated from the Intermediate boys Uncle Adam, there's no good reason to do that," Jesse replied as Bobby listened from the kitchen. The tone of Jesse's voice told Adam that the boy was not only completely serious, but somewhat saddened, if not depressed. "In the morning, we'll all sit down and have some serious Talk Time with your Uncle Bert. In the meantime, there are no restrictions on you and Bobby tonight or in the morning." Adam declared.

"So that means we can all Play?" Sammy now asked. "That all depends. Is Bobby going to come out of hiding from the kitchen or do you all plan on romping on the kitchen table?" Adam asked. Once the giggling subsided, Bobby came from around the corner with a fresh glass of milk in hand and a very red face and neck. "I wasn't hiding, I was just getting some milk." He said timidly. "Great! Let's get your hair brushed out, and we can all settle down to a nice fire and make some plans for tomorrow." Adam told the boy. "That's Ok sir, I can brush my own hair." Bobby said. "Well of course you can Bobby, every single boy in this cabin and most probably the whole Intermediate Camp can brush their own hair out, but then I don't get a chance to see you and maybe even talk to you. Besides, it's a part of my job and one that I really like." Adam said. "You'll like it, Uncle Adam don't pull your hair out by the roots like Uncle Dan does." Michael now told the boy.

With a brand new fire in the fireplace and all the boys finished having their hair brushed out, Adam would have expected the boys to stick around in the living room for at least 15 or 20 minutes after Taps blew and the lights were turned off. However, something was drawing the boys upstairs in small groups of 2 or 3, until Adam found himself alone with the twins. With a boy on each side of him, Adam massaged their backs as they laid their heads on his legs and watched the fire. "It's a very nice fire, but is it really more interesting than joining the boys upstairs?" Adam asked. "We don't gotta go right now Uncle Adam. We became blood brothers with Bobby yesterday. Once everybody's done, they're gonna let us know and then we'll go upstairs and play." Benji replied with an impish smile.

Some very quick arithmetic told Adam that Bobby was now in the questionable position of becoming blood brother's with 14 boys. A formidable task, especially if he had already drunk several glasses of milk. He also wondered how well the combination would mix in his stomach. It was a mental picture Adam preferred to dismiss and hoped the boy was smart enough to drag the procedure out over several days, maybe a week.

Such was not the case. At some un godly hour that Adam chose not even to acknowledge, Bobby shook Adam awake looking pale, and maybe even a little green with no color in his lips. "I don't feel very well Uncle Adam." Bobby said as Adam walked the boy into the bathroom and draped him over a sink. After half a quart or so,

The color began returning to Bobby's face as Adam applied a cold compress to the back of his neck and washed his face in cold water. "Too much milk and cookies Bobby. Maybe 2 or 3 at maximum in the future would be a better number to try to swallow at one time." Adam told the boy giving him a face-saving out. Putting the boy back in his own bed, Adam covered the boy up with a sheet and comforter. "I wet the bed Uncle Adam." The boy said very weakly. "Welcome to the club Bobby." Adam said as he got into bed and turned out the light.

Dawn broke on Green Tree with the promise of a very beautiful day. By nightfall, it was anything but beautiful for the staff while the children played on oblivious to the internal turmoil that gripped their teachers and counselors.

"How did he get here?" Sammy asked as the boy stretched and bumped into a still sleeping Bobby. "He had a tummy ache last night so he was put to bed with me so I could keep my eye on him." Adam told the boy as Sammy crawled on top of his counselor and molded himself into his favorite spot. "How come?" Sammy asked. "Most probably because he over did it a little last night on the blood brother ritual. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing you know." Adam told the boy. "Gee, I never got sick." Sammy replied. "Well, perhaps you didn't take on an entire bunk at one time." Adam replied. "Is he gonna be all right?" Sammy asked. "I'm sure that once he gets some food into his stomach he'll be fine. Would you like to go downstairs and get him a nice cold bottle of water?" Adam asked.

With Sammy on his way down the stairs, Bobby awoke not exactly sure where he was.

"Good morning, are you feeling a little better?" Adam asked as the boy opened his eyes.

"Is Jesse here?" Bobby asked. "I haven't seen him yet, but I'm sure he's still in the cabin." Adam replied as Sammy came running in with the water. "Hi Bobby! Your tummy feeling better?" Sammy asked as he gave the boy the water. After drinking half the bottle, the boy laid his head back down. "Sammy, see if Jesse's awake yet and ask him to come in here." Adam said as he got out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts.

"Is my Grandfather here?" Bobby now asked. "I don't think so, but I can locate him if you'd like." Adam said. "Yes, please." The boy said.

"There's no fever?" Dr. Lester asked as Adam phoned the man. "Not at all, it was just a garden variety tummy ache from over indulging." Adam said as Bobby lay in bed and listened. "Your Grandfather is on his way over. It should take him a few minutes; he has to shower and dress." Adam told the boy. "Why didn't you tell him the truth?" the boy now asked as Jesse appeared in the room. "Actually, it was the truth. I just didn't feel the need to elaborate. If you want to do that, that's your business." Adam replied. Bobby smiled as Jesse bounced himself on the bed. "You slept with Uncle Adam last night?" Jesse now asked. "Slept is the operative word Jesse, don't let your over active imagination take it any further." Adam said as he kissed Jesse on the top of the head.

"There are showers upstairs, and there are showers downstairs. When Bobby is ready, you can keep him company Jesse and show him the routine." Adam now said as he

picked up Sammy and headed for the showers.

"What happened to you?" Jesse asked as he scooted under the covers next to Bobby.

"I woke up last night and didn't feel well. He took care of me." Bobby replied. "Uncle Adam is really neat, you're gonna like him." Jesse replied. "Is he that nice to everybody?" Bobby asked. "Why? Did you play with him?" Jesse asked. "Don't be silly, I was sick." Bobby replied. "Oh. Well, if you get the chance, you'll find out just how nice Uncle Adam can really get." Jesse replied. "How come?" Bobby asked. "He's an outside Uncle. Haven't you ever played with an outside Uncle?" Jesse asked. "No, we don't have any at The New Hampshire School." Bobby said. Jesse smiled. "Well we do here, and if he takes you to bed, you know you've been fucked!" Jesse replied with a knowing smile.

Bobby awoke with sex the last thing on his mind. It was now.

Bert's morning began with the blowing of Reveille. On most days, Bert was awake and up 2 hours by now. Having not gotten to bed until after 1:00 in the morning, he awoke in a grey mood hoping the prior evening's events were a very bad dream.

"Christopher crawled in with me this morning after he couldn't wake you up." Helen said as she handed Bert a mug of coffee. "Where is he now?" Bert asked. "He's with Jill outside riding on his trike." Helen replied. Bert nodded. "Is everything all right?" Helen asked. "No. Sid had a physical done while he was up north and his PSA came back very high." Bert told the woman. "What does that mean?" Helen asked. "It means he might have Prostate Cancer. We need to do more testing." Bert said as his eyes welled up. "Oh no!" Helen said as she sat down on the bed next to Bert.

Bert had dropped a few tears since the death of his wife and son some 20 years earlier, but for the most part they were "Happy tears" usually associated with one of the children's accomplishments. Now, the thought of loosing Sid overwhelmed the man.

Only the sound of the front screen door slamming shut and the stomping of some very familiar feet brought Bert and Helen back from their grief.

"I think he's a little confused Uncle Bert. He keeps pointing to the Mess Hall and tries to take me there." Claire said as Christopher jumped onto the bed and crawled his way up to Bert. "He's OK Claire. He's just use to the routine of going with me very early every morning to the Mess Hall." Bert said to the girl as Christopher now wrapped his arms around Bert's neck and hugged the man. What happened next fairly stunned both Bert and Helen.

Christopher's entrance into the bedroom came with the boys usual grin from ear to ear.

Crawling up the bed and even wrapping his arms around Bert, the smile continued but instantly disappeared the moment Christopher backed off and looked into Bert's eyes. The boys smile turned to a look of deep pain as his eyes immediately glassed over and began to fill. Clearly upset and trembling, the boy put Bert's face in his hands. "Burd happy? Happy Burd?" The boy whined in a tone of hurt and despair as large tears fell from his eyes. "Nothing happened! He didn't fall or anything!" Claire instantly said.

Getting up and out of bed, Bert put the boy back into a hug and kissed him on the neck. "It's OK Christopher, Bert is fine. Everybody is happy." He told the boy over and over as he walked the room and kept Christopher from direct eye contact.

It was a good 10 minutes before the tremors stopped that racked his entire body as Helen assured Claire that the cause was not hers. Only a very long shower brought the boy somewhat back to his old self, and even then, he was pre-occupied with watching Bert's every movement and staying within the man's arms for much of the next 2 hours.

By lunch the episode was over but it clearly negatively affected the boy. Neither Helen nor Claire saw any outward sign from Bert that he was distressed, so what Christopher saw or felt is unknown. It has however happened since and always when someone was in either pain or emotional distress. Dr. Lester attributes it to an innate ability of Christopher to "Feel" another human beings anguish which is probably due to his own experiences while in state custody. The only "Cure" is to remove Christopher from a negative situation and put him in a "Safe" place.

Following breakfast, Dr Lester and Bert once more gathered in Bert's office as Christopher, Helen and both Jill and Claire took the boy out on a pony ride to keep him distracted. After logging the episode in Christopher's file and discussing it with the Doctor, the conversation returned to Sid and his problem.

It was Bert's intention to first bring in Gloria, Jeanette, Johanna and Adam and make them aware of the situation. "You know your people far better than I do, but as a person who's been through this thing, if I were Sid, I'd want to make the decisions myself concerning how I want to deal with this. In my case, I was told by my Family Doctor and he left it up to me to tell my loved one's." Dr. Lester advised Bert. "And who did you tell?" Bert asked. "My wife." The Dr. replied. "What about your children?" Bert asked.

"No, they had families of their own to worry about; I didn't want to burden them." He said. Bert shook his head. "That won't work here. We all live too close together and we're all one single family. My first problem is going to be to convince him to accept even getting the biopsy. Sid might be able to keep this from them if I alone can convince him to have it, but I'm going to need all the help I can muster to keep my people intact and the children insulated if the test comes back positive. Bert said. "You believe that's possible?" Dr. Lester asked. "Didn't you?" Bert asked.

The first of 4 conference calls of that day began with the Director of the New Hampshire School and all of Thomas's brother's on the Vineyards. Bert's first question was of Spencer, David and Anthony. "Anthony's out on Block Island today working on the house, and Spencer and David are out on the boat with our children having a ball." Stuart told Bert. "They're out of the loop?" Bert asked. "Absolutely." Thomas replied.

"let's discuss Barry. He has to be brought into this thing." Matthew now said. Bert nodded. "I don't know him all that well Matthew, can we expect a team player or is he going to need his own support system up there?" Bert asked. "Barry will remain intact for Sid just as Sid would do the same for him. He has the support system up here that will carry him though just as Sid does down there." Matthew replied. "You'll handle it?" Bert asked. "I leave tonight for Block Island." Matthew said.

By 10:00 upper staff began gathering at the office and a routine meeting was held for an hour with Sid present. By 11:00 Sid was on his way to Charlie's new cabin to talk with Bobby and the rest of the boys and the real meeting was held which left the group in confused devastation. It took several minutes for Adam to grasp the full implications of what he was hearing, and when he did, he barely made it to the bathroom in time to lose all his breakfast.

Education and information was now Bert's main focus for himself and his staff and already reams of paper was flowing in from Boston and Duke via computer and fax. Words the staff never used or heard before now came flowing into the reference library and collated into binders by the girls. Sid was now the last Administrator at Green Tree to be told of the lab results.

"Fuck You! You're got fucking rocks in your head if you think I'm going to let some asshole shove needles up my ass!" Sid declared to Bert, Adam, Gloria, Jeanette, Johanna and Patty during a "Working lunch." In Bert's office that was never eaten.

As Bert and everyone else in the room knew very well, the battle was now on.

Once Bobby showered and drank two glasses of orange juice, he was back in top form. After breakfast, he and Jesse began to unpack in their new cabin along with Bruce and the rest of the boys. The 4 bedroom cabin had room for 16 boys, but with only a maximum of 10 boys planned to move in, there was ample room for overnight visitors which made both Bruce and Jesse very happy. "Uncle Adam said we should have Talk Time with Uncle Bert this morning. I ain't seen him, have you?" Jesse now asked Greg. "Uncle Kevin says that he's in meetings all morning. Should I tell him it's an emergency?" The Junior Counselor asked. "It ain't an emergency; we just wanted to know what the rules are about sleepover visitors." Jesse replied. "Uncle Sid already talked to Uncle Charlie about that. He says that you can invite whoever you want to sleepover, but you can't switch back and forth between the Intermediate campus and the Senior boys campus. He also said that if you invite any Intermediate boys for a sleepover, they can't play with Jerry, Marty, Jacob, Edward or Craig." "How come?" Jesse asked.

"Uncle Sid said that they are strictly senior boys and are living with us only because they were living with Uncle Charlie all along." Greg said. "So was I!" Jesse replied. "Uncle Sid said the cabin is split between senior boys and transitional boys. You, Bruce, Bobby, Terry and Jonathon are all transitional boys." Greg told the boy. "So I'm not a senior boy anymore?" Jesse asked. "Yes, you're a senior boy, but you have to choose between the Intermediate boys and the senior boys. You can't play with both except the ones in this cabin. Uncle Sid is coming over in a little while; he can explain it to you better." Greg said.

"What are you gonna do Jesse?" Bruce now asked. "The senior boys are OK, but the Intermediate boys like to have a lot more fun. Besides, if we chose to invite them over here, we can have overnights in the cove and that's a lot more fun than the senior boys campus even if we gotta go to bed earlier." Jesse replied.

A rumble coming from downstairs now caught the boys attention. Heading down the stairs, a group of Dave's men and senior boys were gathered just outside the downstairs bathroom. "What's that noise?" Jesse asked. "Uncle Dave put in a new pump in the Jacuzzi. It should be ready to use once the water heats up." A senior boy told him. "We got a Jacuzzi?" Bruce asked wide eyed. With smiles all around him, Bruce peeked around the corner to see a floor level hot tub and Jacuzzi that could hold 8 people easily. This was the Holy Grail for a Green Tree boy! "That's ours?" Bruce asked excitedly.

"Yes, but Uncle Charlie will set the guidelines for using it, so you'll have to speak with him." Dave now said as he entered the cabin cleaning off his greasy hands.

The look on Jesse and Bruce's face as they looked towards each other had Bobby a little confused. "What's the big deal about a bath tub?" He asked as all eyes now turned to him including the senior boys. "You don't got no Jacuzzi's in your old school?" Jesse now asked. Bobby shook his head. "Uncle Greg, can we go up to the pool?" Jesse now asked.

After a great deal of laughter, Greg looked at the kitchen clock. "Uncle Sid is gonna be here in about an hour, I want you guys back here in 45 minutes." He now said as the boys took off for the front door.

What are you boys up too?" Dan asked as the man took chemical samples of the pool water. "Uncle Sid wants us to show Bobby around the camp, Uncle Dan. We're gonna show him the steam room." Jesse said as the boys walked past. Dan went back to his work as Jesse smiled at Bruce. Entering the pools steam room which the boys had long since named "Romper Room" in honor of its unique abilities, Jesse flipped on a bank of 6 switches on the wall which turned the massive hot tub into a bubbling, swirling mass of water and air. "If ya gotta go poop, ya gotta do it now. Uncle Dan gets really pissed if he finds any shit in the filters and will close it down for a week!" Jesse said as he practically ripped off his shirt and dropped his shorts to the floor. With Bruce following suit, Bobby now stood before two boys in full bloom. He had seen Jesse naked before on numerous occasions, but Bruce had slept in his own cabin with Greg the night before and up to this point, was an unknown entity to Bobby. Even being 3 years older than Bruce, the two were practically identical in body size and weight. Even better, unlike Jesse who was showing a small patch of hair, Bruce was as bald as Bobby was and just about the same exact size in the genital package. As Jesse and Bruce walked into the foaming water, Bobby was getting naked as fast as he could without ripping off buttons and snaps.

"No School?" Dan now asked as he entered the steam room and checked the temperature of the water. "No Uncle Dan; today is moving day for us." Jesse said as he crawled around the bottom of the Jacuzzi showing Bobby his favorite spots over the jets.

Dan nodded as he got up to leave. "Make sure he's taught the rules, and I don't want to find any underpants or socks clogging up the returns." He said to a chorus of "Yes, Uncle Dan."

The imagination of boys knows no bounds, and when it comes to Geppetto boys, they seem to have taken it to new heights as Bobby spent the next 45 minutes with his eyes closed as Jesse and Bruce demonstrated the magic of the Jacuzzi on his body while he

floated in a hazy dream of climaxes that , up to this point in his life, not even he had ever attempted to achieve in one sitting. Differentiating between the water and either boy touching him was impossible and he couldn't tell if he was laying on the bottom of the Jucuzzi or one of his fellow bathers. When Jesse finally turned off the circulators, Bobby

knew he had found a new home unlike any other he had ever lived in.

"Uncle Greg says he told you guys to be back in 45 minutes. Did you forget how to tell time?" Sid asked as all 3 boys walked into the cabin. "Sorry Uncle Sid, we was just showing Bobby around and lost track of time." Jesse said as he gave the man a kiss.

"I heard. I assume you approve of Jacuzzi's?" Sid now asked Bobby. Sid nodded as the boy turned a shade of pink and smiled a little. "Good, I thought you might" Sid replied.

"Now, Uncle Adam says that you boys have some concerns about your sleepover arrangements. What's the problem?" Sid asked. "I don't got no problems, I'm still an Intermediate boy. Right Uncle Sid?" Bruce said hopefully. Sid smiled and ruffled Bruce's hair.

"Let's put it this way." Sid now replied. "You're not an Intermediate boy and you're not a senior boy. You're in transition which means you're in between the two. You can choose which camp you want to romp with, but you cannot switch back and forth between the two." He explained. "Forever?" Jesse asked. Sid now chuckled.

"Nothing's forever pal, but as long as you're living in Uncle Charlie's cabin, you need to choose one side or the other to romp with. If, at some point in the future you want to switch to the senior boys side on a permanent basis, we can sit down and talk about it." He said. Jesse now smiled. "What about Spencer and David?" He asked. "How do you ever find time to do your school work?" Sid now asked the boy as Bruce giggled.

"Spencer and David have been transitional now for some time. If they want to jump in the sack with you, that's their loss." Sid kidded the boy as both bruce and Bobby now broke up in laughter.

"Now that we've solved the question about who's jumping on who's bones, let's sit down and have a discussion about the real reason Uncle Charlie has a brand new cabin and you boys are now the proud owners of your very own Jacuzzi." Sid said as all 3 boys

settled back down.

Making himself comfortable in the corner of the couch, Sid had Bobby sit in front of him with the man's arms wrapped protectively around the boys waist. If Sid was going to be speaking about sensitive issues, this was his favorite position to hold a child in.

"Let's see a show of hands; how many of us are not Geppetto boys?" Sid asked.

"Good, that means that none of has to beat around the bush about sex." He now told the boys to a few more giggles. "Jesse, how old was your Uncle Sid when he finally hit the Holy Grail and stopped shooting blanks?" Sid asked. "15" Jesse answered. "And it bothered the shit out of me too!" Sid said. "What boys in the senior dorm are still shooting blanks?" Sid asked Jesse. "Terry and Jonathon." Jesse answered. "Do they care?" Sid asked. Jesse shook his head. "Neither do we. When the time is right, the plumbing will start working for them just as it will start working for you and for Bruce." Sid said to Jesse. "Just exactly like me, Bobby here is still waiting for that day and it does bother him, just as it bothered me. We put this cabin together so that all five of you could

reach puberty without having to feel like you're so different from everybody else. Even if you lived outside of this cabin, nobody here would ever make you feel bad about yourself, but we wanted to make your transition as easy as we could for you. Understand?" Sid said to Bobby as he kissed the boy on his ear. "It's taking forever." Bobby replied softly. "Tell you what: I'll bet you 100 canteen points to a bottle of beer that you'll be running around in soggy shorts before Christmas." Sid told the boy. "But I don't have any beer!" Bobby said. "Yes you do, it's in the refrigerator." Sid replied.

"Me too Uncle Sid?" Jesse asked. "I limit myself to one bet a year Jesse; speak to me next year if you still need the money." Sid replied as the boys all giggled once again.

Sid happily lost the bet almost 12 weeks later, just before Halloween.

Sid was in a great mood when he mounted the steps to Bert's office for the working lunch, but with the presentation of the blood work results it soured very quickly. Sid did not like or trust Doctor's as a general rule anymore than he liked or trusted Lawyers or

anyone who work for the Government in any capacity.

Looking at a list of probably 30 questions about his health, he honestly responded "No" to all of them. "That doesn't necessarily mean you don't have a problem with your prostate." Stuart replied. Sid shook his head as he looked at the phone console. "Then why the fuck am I being asked about this shit if it doesn't mean anything!" Sid said.

"Some people have these systems Sid. Many do not, so it can't be ruled out without a biopsy." Stuart replied as calmly as he could. "Tell me about this biopsy." Sid said.

It's done in an Oncologist's office. The procedure takes about 20 minutes and involves taking about a dozen core samples from your prostate. The area is numbed, so the actual taking is relatively painless." Stuart said. "To who; me or the Doctor?" Sid asked as the very first smiles in the office showed up as heads shook. "You're on your way home in less than an hour Sid, and in a few days, we'll get the results." Stuart said.

"And if I decide not to have the biopsy?" Sid asked. "You could do that and possibly outlive us all. You could also be dead; within a very few years." Stuart replied. "In this case Sid, ignorance isn't bliss. You want to know exactly what's going on and then you can make an educated decision." Stuart concluded.

At Sid's request, he and Adam walked back to the cove following the meeting that broke up before the children were out of the Mess Hall for lunch. Most of the way there Sid was silent. Just before the cove he stopped and looked out at the lake.

"I have a job for you good buddy. You're not going to get involved in this stuff in any way. I'm going to get my ass hassled from here to hell until they get me to do what they want me to do and your job is to be my refuge, my peace and quiet, the one place where I can go where I don't have to think or deal with this bullshit. Think of yourself as my Primary Uncle. I'm going to need a safe place where I can lay all this shit aside and take a break from it and you're it!" Sid said.

An embrace was then made between the two men which sealed the covenant bond between Sid and Adam. With his tears falling unabashed, Adam was now closer to this man than he was to his own Father. "I'm it." Adam said.

As Sid had requested, Adam made the entire cove a safe place for Sid to come to over the next few days, even to the point of posting "Safe Place" signs on the path's leading into the cove. Inside the cove there would be no talk of his medical situation, no advice, no questions from any staff, including Bert. For Adam, it was probably the hardest task of all, but it was what his best friend asked for.

"Hey Uncle Adam! Did ya know that Jesse and Bruce gots their own Jacuzzi?" Sammy yelled as he entered the cabin followed by Carla and Jeannie. "Really?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, and it's really cool. We got to see their new cabin and even swam off their diving board." Sammy replied as he headed straight for the kitchen. Adam smiled for the first time in probably an hour. "How did your overnight go at Aunt Johanna's?" Adam asked both girls as they threw their pillows on the couch. "We had fun but Billy and Matty fell asleep watching the fire in the fireplace before we even got to play." Carla complained.

"Whatcha laughing about?" Carla asked Adam just as Billy and Matty came into the cabin dragging their pillows behind them. "Nothing sweetheart, I was just thinking about how nice and peaceful and quiet it was around here last night." Adam replied.

"You shoulda been here Carla. Jesse, the twins and that new boy was here for an overnight!" Sammy said as he came out of the kitchen with a glass of lemonade.

"That new boy?" Adam asked Sammy. "Are we talking about Bobby?"

"Sorry Uncle Adam." Sammy said as he sat down in Adams lap. "An overnight?"

Carla asked fairly stunned. Sammy nodded his head. "He's one of us now, we're all blood brothers!" Trevor told the girl as Carla's smile turned slightly sour. "Nobody told us Jesse was gonna sleep overnight!" Jeannie now said. "Yeah!" Carla said deeply suspicious as she looked towards Adam. "We weren't certain of that possibility when you decided to sleep at your Aunt Johanna's" Adam hedged.

Carla's wheels were now turning at a speed Adam could almost see in the 11 year olds eyes. "How come a senior boy gets to have an overnight in our camp?" She now asked.

"He's not a senior boy Carla. Uncle Bert has made a special cabin that Uncle Charlie will now head and Bruce, Bobby and Jesse are in between the Intermediate camp and the Senior boys camp. Uncle Bert calls it a "Transitional" camp." Adam tried to explain.

"So we're allowed to fuck with them?" She asked.

While Carla was in no mood to giggle, the rest of the boys did which only served to piss her off a little more. "We're still trying to set those guidelines with your Uncle Sid and Uncle Bert." Adam replied ignoring the girls blunt description. "Uncle Adam, if these guys became blood brothers last night, they was fuckin!" Carla exclaimed in no mood to back down. Adam was silent for a few seconds but he could clearly see that Carla was getting very emotionally upset. "You're a member of this cabin Carla, just as Jeannie, Billy and Matty are. Nobody's saying that all 4 of you will be treated any differently than the rest of the mafia." Adam said as delicately as possible. "So we can become blood brothers too?" Carla asked point blank. "Hopefully you won't take a club and knock him out to do it, but yes, if you want to show him how much you care for him, you can if you both agree." Adam replied as tactfully as he could. "When?" Carla now asked.

"Not at dinner." Adam replied.

It might have gone either way, but Carla eventually cracked a smile as the rest of the group giggled at the suggestion. More than anything else, shower time defused the situation but left Adam wondering what he faced in the coming 2 years with both girls

if at 11 years of age they were demanding equal access. Where these girls at their peak, or were they just getting started?

Dinner time was slightly subdued, but if you were a camper, you hardly noticed it.

A protective wall was now going up between the children and Sid's condition.

The presence of Christopher's senior girl monitors in Bert's cabin necessitated certain changes that would preclude their learning of any specifics, and relaying that information to their peers. All staff knew very well that there was a formidable "Underground" communications network among the children, and one leak could burst the dam.

Sid's medical situation was now officially referred to as a "Glitch". "If they ask you what a glitch is, tell them it's like a rash." Bert ordered all staff.

It took 3 days for Sid to finally agree to a biopsy, and even then, some of the finer details of the process were withheld until absolutely necessary. It took those same three days to convince Bobby that he wanted to become blood brothers with Carla and Jeannie, but it finally did occur at 6:30 in the morning on top of Turtle Rock with Carla making the announcement to the free world.

Spencer's, Anthony's, David's and Thomas's return to Green Tree came once more by helicopter on Saturday afternoon with the boys thrilled and Thomas asking why. "Alexandria doesn't want to take the risk of having any Geppetto boys stopped by the locals in vehicles; we can only leave the camp with Federal escorts if there are any children under the age of 18 in the vehicles." Bert explained as Thomas questioned the use.

"How's Sid?" Thomas now asked since he was inside the confines of Bert's office.

"Cooperating, but barely." Bert replied as he made a drink for himself and Thomas.

"The biopsy is set for Monday morning. All his blood work has been done here by the girls and they're using the smallest possible needles on him to keep his cooperation as high as possible." Bert now said. "We finally bribed the Oncologist enough to do the biopsy here in the Infirmary rather than in his office, so Sid is a little more comfortable with the procedure." Bert concluded.

"So far, the biopsy has been sugar coated to get his approval. You do understand that there's going to be several temporary after effects such as blood in the urine and especially the ejaculate for a week to 10 days, right?" Thomas told Bert and the girls.

"Why?" Gloria asked. "The procedure involves taking small core samples of his prostate gland. Because the area will be numbed, Sid shouldn't feel much more than a bump if the Oncologist knows what he's doing, but still, there's trauma to the prostate and it will bleed a little." Thomas replied. "But it goes away?" Jeanette asked. Thomas nodded.

"It takes about a week, but yes, it goes away." He said.

"What else hasn't he been told?" Johanna now asked. "He takes an anti biotic on Monday morning and has a fleet enema." Thomas replied. "That's it?" She asked.

"Yes, until we get the results back which should take 4 or 5 days. We should know by Friday, Monday at the latest." Thomas replied.

"So when does he find out about the blood?" Gloria asked. "I recommend that the Oncologist mentions it while he's taking the core samples. Sid's not going to feel very much, if anything, from the procedure, so it won't scare him into worrying unnecessarily." Thomas said. Jeanette shook her head as she stood up and looked out the window. "Uncle Sid might be fine with doing it that way, but if he feels that he's been bullshitted, we're going to have one hell of a time getting him to lay back down on the table if we need to. I vote we lay the whole procedure out from beginning to end and give him all the facts." She said. With all 3 girls now agreeing, Bert had to adopt the plan.

These 3 girls were almost raised by Sid and their loyalty to him as well as their protection towards him was unyielding. "Who's going to educate him?" Bert asked.

"It's a medical procedure. Thomas is our Family Physician." Gloria replied. Thomas smiled as Bert shook his head. "Is it possible the bleeding will stop in 3 days?" He asked. Thomas nodded. "It's possible." He said. "Go with that figure, it sounds better than a week." Bert suggested.

Spencer and David's return to camp was the cause of a celebration in the cove as well as the rest of the camp that both surprised and embarrassed Spencer in its intensity. He knew he was well liked, but his reception went far beyond that as his lips went a little numb from kissing and being kissed by staff and campers alike. Bobby was impressed with Spencer as it was after meeting him in on Block Island, but as he watched Spencer approach Beachview Cabin in the cove surrounded by very close to 3 dozen kids, he realized that Spencer was not just another camper as far as these people were concerned.

"Hi!" Spencer said with his dimpled smile as he climbed the steps and recognized Bobby. Bobby smiled. "I hear you became our blood brother." Spencer said not waiting for an answer as he gave Bobby a hug.

As once more Bobby turned slightly pink, Spencer turned his attention to Adam. Jumping into Adam's arms, Spencer gave the man a kiss that had Adam's toes curling as Sammy looked on approvingly. "I missed you Uncle Adam, you shoulda seen the boat I was driving!" Spencer said as his feet returned to the porch. "I heard all about it from Jesse. I also heard you're becoming a fairly proficient navigator." Adam replied. Spencer smiled deeply. "It's really cool up there. David and me might go back for Thanksgiving."

Spencer said. Adam let the English slide as he smiled and Spencer was mobbed once again by well wishers.

"Let's see your operation!" Carla called out from the cabin as she bounded down the stairs. Adam held his breath waiting for a reaction from Spencer while he wondered if he could kick Carla in the ass from 15 feet [4½ m] away. "Sure!" Spencer replied as he lifted off his shirt and dropped out of his shorts and underpants. Now fully naked, Spencer stood while a gaggle of hands felt his back and buttocks. "What's that sticky yellow stuff?" Jeannie asked. "It's Vitamin E-Oil for his skin. In about a week, all the scarring will be gone and the pink lines will go away." David replied. "Was you there for the operation?" Matty asked. "No, but me and Valerie had to change his bandages every 3 hours." David replied. "Who's Valerie?" Carla asked as she felt Spencer's bottom. "That's Spencer's new girlfriend." David replied which now touched off a charge into the lake by Spencer chasing David.

Relative calm returned to the camp by nightfall as Saturday night Bivouac ended and the last of the flashlight beams illuminated the leaves in the trees along the path. As his boy's

showered amid a din that sounded like a New Year's Eve Party gone amuck, Adam sat on the front porch with Sid making themselves available for hair brushing and the final days tales of adventure coming from the recipients sitting in Sid and Adam's laps.

For several days now, Adam had noticed that Sid ended his day at Beachview, something that was one of the very few pluses of a very bad situation. It was far from easy for Adam to avoid talking about Sid's upcoming medical problems, and making "Small talk" was uncomfortably impossible. One can only say: "Nice day", or, "Nice night" so many times.

"There are six hundred people here: Four hundred children and another two hundred adults. Green Tree is a small village with its problems and its triumph's. You're the Director of the Intermediate Boys Camp and Sid is the Assistant Director of the entire school. Talk about what you talked about before all this shit came down. Sid wants a wall so build a fucking wall and don't try to climb over it." Bert advised Adam after being advised of Sid's request.

Once Dan's cabin and Kevin's cabin calmed down to the point of sanity, the staff

began the nightly gathering on Beachviews porch to "Unwind" from the day and split a few drinks. "Your guys are still at it? Mine have been finished with showers and snacks now for 10 minutes!" Dan said as he climbed the stairs with Etienne. Adam shook his head. "You and Kevin have 6 kids apiece in your cabins. Guess where the rest of them are?" Adam replied as he brushed out Andrew's hair and gave the boy a kiss on the side of his neck. "That tickle's Uncle Adam, You gotta take a shave!" The boy squealed as he headed for the kitchen. Adam felt his face as he waited for Carla to juggle a handful of chocolate chip cookies in one hand and a glass of milk in the other before she sat down in his lap. "I remember as a teenager spending hours in front of the mirror in the bathroom looking for some peach fuzz on my chin or upper lip. Too bad I finally found it." He joked. "Jesse's got peach fuzz, but it ain't on his face!" Carla now added to the conversation as a small round of chuckles arose from the staff. "Shush little girl, the time

for us to be listening to your pearls of wisdom for the day have passed. This is adult Talk Time." Adam told the girl as he kissed her on the ear. Carla giggled as she spilled some milk on the porch and sat back.

Once Jeannie appeared on the porch and wiggled her way onto Sid's lap, the end of the day for the children was close at hand, at least as far as being up and around. They would spend the next half hour or so still amusing each other, but for the most part, they wouldn't be back downstairs until morning.

"Annie had her hair cut Uncle Sid. Do you think it looks nice?" Jeannie now asked.

"I prefer long hair on my girls, but I guess she looks OK." Sid replied as he worked.

"I was thinking about getting my hair cut." Jeannie said. "Does Aunt Helen know about that?" Sid asked. "No, I was just thinking." The girl said as she ate her cookies. "Well, you could do that, but I sure would miss having these swell times with you putting your hair up and talking to you." Sid said. "You could still do that." She replied. "Short hair takes a minute to brush out and then you would be gone. No time to talk, no time to cuddle" Sid said. Jeannie was silent for more than a few seconds as staff stifled a smile.

"I guess if you cut your hair, I could find another little girl to spend my hair brushing time with, but I would miss your company." Sid told the girl. "How come?" She asked.

"Because I believe that all little girls should have nice long hair, and they should have people around them that receive a great deal of pleasure by keeping it clean and tidy for them" Sid responded. "I cannot imagine your Aunt's in short hair and don't think they would do something so foolish. Do you?" Sid asked as he finished brushing and put down the brush. "Some of them use to have short hair!" Jeannie said. "That was before they came to Green Tree and got smart. Since then they've learned that boys like long hair on a girl, it's what makes them very special and different." Sid replied.

"You're going to get your balls cut off if she goes back to Helen with that "Got smart" routine!" Dan told Sid as the girls scampered up the staircase to the bedroom loft.

Sid giggled to himself somewhat. "It might be worth it. Can you imagine this place with all the girls running around looking like bull dykes? Girls belong in dresses and long hair, not looking like they just got out of a NOW meeting. When I go out on a date, I wanna get laid, not have an arm wrestling contest." Sid said to more than a few chuckles.

By 10:00 the last two people conversing on Adam's porch was Adam and Sid as the last few sips of beer disappeared. "What do you think about the idea of moving Spencer and Anthony into Charlie's cabin?" Sid now asked. "When was that discussed?" Adam asked quite surprised at the suggestion. "Never, I just came up with it." Sid replied.

"I haven't said anything to him naturally, but he gets along very well with Bobby and Jesse is one of his best friend's. Terry and Jonathon get along with everybody in camp so they present no problem." Sid said. "What about Anthony?" Adam asked.

"Anthony could give Greg a hand with the running of the cabin and let's not forget that Greg is headed for school in the fall. I'm also sure that Anthony won't mind one little bit if he gets Spencer away from Patty's senior girls." Sid said.

"Did you hear about David's little crack about that girl in the Vineyard?" Adam asked

Sid nodded his head. "I couldn't blame if it were true, she's a cute little girl. He may surprise us yet. The next 3 years will tell the tale. If he cruises through that period without a serious problem with girls, he just might figure out what they're good for." Sid said.

"What have you got up your sleeve for tomorrow's Vespers?" Adam now asked.

Sid smiled. "My first task according to the boys is to play "A whiter shade of pale."

the correct way. Apparently, you pretty much fucked it up according to them." Sid responded as he got up. Adam shook his head and smiled a bit as he gave Sid an embrace

the two now routinely shared since the beginning of the week. Few of the children took notice or thought much about it, but the staff knew it was an act of deep love between the two men, one they were not ashamed to proclaim.

Chapter Forty Four

Rather than having to immediately start the day, Sunday's are more casual and breakfast is delayed until 8:30 to compensate for the rude awakening, especially if a staff member was up late. In Adam's case, this was not the problem, but he still wished for a few more minutes sleep as Sammy stretched out alongside him and began his wakeup routine of getting the kinks out of his body. Adam smiled to himself as one of the first kinks worked out was in Sammy's 3 inch [7½ cm] penis that now strained for the ceiling rafters in the cabin.

"Hey Uncle Adam, are you going to go to Vespers with us today?" 11 year old Chris asked as he came alongside the bed and twanged Sammy's penis. "If I were you, I'd be a little careful. Sammy's bed is dry so that boner may not be what you think it is!" Adam told the boy as Sammy now giggled a little.

Stepping out of range, Chris repeated the question as he kept a wary eye on Sammy.

"Yes, your Uncle Sid and I will be playing together, he's picked up some music from Thomas's family and we're going to play it for you." Adam said as Sammy headed for the bathroom with a choke hold on his penis. "Neat! Uncle Sid said he would teach you how to play "A whiter shade of pale" the right way." The boy said with a grin as Adam threw a pillow at him.

"And what are you doing still laying here like two sleeping beauties?" Adam asked Carla and Jeannie. Carla opened her eyes but Jeannie just groaned as she put a pillow over her head. "We stayed up really late last night playing with the twins. We wus the last people awake." Carla said as she slid over and got on top of Adam and put her head down on his chest. "Well I'm hoping you had fun. Are the twin's still alive?" Adam asked as he smoothed out the girls hair. Carla giggled a little as she ran her hand across Adam's chest and arm. "Don't be silly Uncle Adam, them boys never stop playing." She replied. "You're probably right, but for them there's a very good reason why they never stop. On the other hand, two little ladies I know don't fall into that category. Maybe they need to consider making themselves available for playtime a little less freely?" Adam asked. "What's that mean?" Carla asked. "That means if you sit down to eat a gallon of chocolate ice cream, after awhile you can become pretty sick of it. On the other hand, a bowl full now and then is appreciated so much more." Adam said patting himself on the back. "We don't like chocolate Uncle Adam; we like vanilla fudge." Jeannie now said

from under the pillow.

Sunday's attempt at child psychology 101 by Adam went down the tubes with Sammy's morning piss as the boy returned to the bedroom and slid back underneath the covers.

"Want us to take showers later?" Carla asked hopefully. "Want to get your fanny tanned?" Adam asked as he pinched the girl playfully on the ass.

"Come on Jeannie, I hear Trevor and Andrew in the shower." Carla now said as she reached up and kissed Adam good morning. Closing the door behind them, Sammy crawled up on Adam's chest to take his routine morning position on the man as he molded his body into Adam's form. Adam traced the boys spinal column with his fingers as he buried his nose in Sammy's hair and kissed his scalp. "One of these day's I'm going to figure out exactly what magic power you have over me. There are hundred's of boys at Green Tree who are so very special to me, but somehow, you always end up at the very top of my list." Adam said softly. Sammy giggled a little as he flexed his already erect penis. "It's not magic Uncle Adam. We just love each other and can't help it!" Sammy said as he lifted his hand and stroked Adam's cheek. Adam kissed Sammy's hand and hugged the boy as hard as he dared. "I ain't gotta go pee anymore Uncle Adam!" Sammy said with a twinkle in his eyes. Adam shook his head and smiled and turned the boy around. Lowering the boy down, Sammy giggled as Adam delicately wrapped his lips around the boys warm erection and peeled back his foreskin with a skill that had been practiced since his first day at Green Tree. If two human beings could love each other more, Adam did not know how as Sammy closed his eyes and contemplated the feelings rushing throughout his body.

"Gosh Uncle Adam, was you and Sammy playing or writing a book?" Chris now asked as Adam came into the shower. "And what's the name of the book you were writing last night?" Adam asked the boy as the rest of the boys giggled. "Lollypops with Trevor"! Carla said as a washcloth came flying across the shower room at her. "Since when did we approve of "Kiss and Tell." Around here?" Adam asked. "Oh they wasn't kissin, Uncle Adam!" Jeannie said as Adam's eyes rolled up to the ceiling in defeat.

The children of Green Tree attributed that Sunday's mass turnout for Vesper Services to

the return of Sid and Jeanette into their midst. The staff knew better. To put it mildly, the staff was anti-organized religion in any form. They do not approve of the "My God is better than your God" theory and wanted no part in the continual blood-letting in the name of the lord (Or anybody else for that matter). Still, they recognize the need for children to believe in something greater than themselves, even if it's Mickey Mouse. Vesper's at Green Tree is less about god, and more about togetherness, love for one another, and mutual comfort.

Normally, the group was contained in the rec hall, but on this Sunday morning it had to be held outside on the lawn in front of the lake. One of the highlights of any Vesper Service was Sid playing his vintage Hammond B-3 organ, and the Intermediate boys never settled down until after he played Procol Harum's "A whiter shade of pale." as the opening hymn. Adam smiled to himself as Sid played the piece and the boys all stared at him as if to say "That's how you play it stupid!"

As lunch progressed following the Service, Bobby's education concerning Green Tree progressed at lightening speed as he followed Jesse and Bruce around the lawn. The boy's new cabin on campus with Charlie was the general topic of conversation and to Bobby it seemed as if everybody he met wanted to move in with them.

"You're probably right. The new cabin was put together to specifically meet the needs of the boys who will now be living in it, and it's something brand new that they've never known before." Bert told the boy as Bobby and his Grandfather stopped by Bert's blanket sitting on the lawn. "Because of the Jacuzzi?" Bobby asked.

Bert smiled. "The Jacuzzi is certainly a plus, but the boys have plenty of access to them around the campus. I'm sure what they're intrigued about is the fact that the cabin is transitional, and therefore, the residents can chose which campus they play in.

Normally, there's a complete separation between the two." Bert told the boy.

"Because of me?" Bobby asked. "Because of you, because of Bruce, because of Terry and Jonathan. Each one of you guys is an individual. We can't just stick you all in the same box and expect you to fit. We just don't work like that here." Bert told the boy.

"Uncle Sid made a bet with me." Bobby now told the Director. "I heard about that. I'll tell you what; I'll match that bet, but I don't drink beer. If you lose, I win a Gin and Tonic." Bert replied. Bobby now looked at Dr. Lester. "You keep this up and I'm going to have to start asking you for commissary loans." His Grandfather said. Dr. Lester looked down at his Grandson who had the largest smile on his face he had seen in almost six month's.

Monday morning's biopsy for Sid was scheduled for 10:00 in the morning. Only

with a very large bribe would the Doctor agree to travel to the camp and do the procedure in the camps Infirmary, but once he arrived, he was impressed with the facility enough to finally crack a smile. Fortunately for all concerned, he also knew Thomas as being a former Pediatric Surgeon at Duke Medical. With the Camp Kenny children restricted to the upper campus and the Intermediate campers in morning classes, the grounds were all but deserted as Sid entered the Infirmary. To his credit, Sid was even civil.

The procedure itself took less than 45 minutes and other than the introduction of the ultrasound instrument to guide the Doctor in taking the core samples, Sid was relatively

comfortable with the procedure. Having been warned in advance, the Oncologist made damned sure the area was numbed well and Sid was back in his cart and returning to his classroom before the Doctor left the grounds just before lunch with an even dozen core samples in hand. Bert's smile of relief was very short lived.

"Jesus fucking Christ I'm pissing pure fucking blood!" Sid screamed as he entered Bert's office after lunch. "We knew there was going to be some blood Sid, we told you that." Bert said trying to calm him down. "Some! It's beet fucking red! That ain't just some." Sid declared as he went for a beer. "It looks worse than it is Sid. You have to remember; the biopsy removed small pieces of your prostate and there is some trauma there." Thomas told him. "It will get less and less each day and be gone inside of a week."

"You know of course that the shit is going to hit the fan in a very short time right?" Thomas said to Bert after Sid returned to the stables. "Why so?" Bert asked.

"The biopsy is also going to be producing blood in his ejaculate. His urine will clear within the week, but the ejaculate takes considerably longer to flush out." Thomas replied. Bert nodded his head. "I discussed that with Dr. Lester. He thinks that we may be over looking the fact that Sid is a Geppetto boy. Normal men won't re-start sexual activity for many days after a biopsy; some don't even try for weeks. He doesn't have any data, but he thinks that if Sid returns to sexual functioning as fast as he suspect's he will, Sid's prostate could be flushed of blood relatively soon; maybe even in a week or two." Bert replied.

During a bathroom break that afternoon, Sid watched what was most probably the largest climax of his 50 years of life go spilling into the toilet bowl and turning the water

dark pink as clot's of blood floated to the bottom of the bowl. It there was semen mixed in it, Sid didn't see any as he sat down all alone and cried for the first and last time of his very long journey.

For the children, a week's time is an endless journey. The younger you are, the longer it takes to get to the weekend. "Gee Uncle Sid, how come we have to wait until Saturday to go on a overnight?" Michael asked as the boy climbed back onto Turtle Rock and stood before the counselor with his wet skin gleaming in the sun. "Because we have 400 campers here who all want to go on overnights, and I don't think the horses would appreciate it if we put all 400 of you on their backs at one time Spunky." Sid replied as he gave the boy a tap on his bare bottom. "No fair!" The boy exclaimed as he dove back into the water. "I'm gonna shoot the son of a bitch who taught them that phase if I ever get my hands on him!" Sid said as he sipped on a beer. Adam smiled, but he had both heard and thought the same exact thing before.

"What was Anthony's reaction when you told him that Spencer was being moved into Charlie's cabin?" Adam asked as he sipped on his own beer. "Guarded pessimism. At this point, Anthony sees every move we make concerning Spencer as an attempt to drag him out of his bed." Sid replied as he watched Carla toss Gavin out of a row boat. "What did you say?" Adam asked as he blew a warning whistle to the girl. "I asked him if he felt more comfortable having Patty's four senior girls making moon eyes Spencer's way." Sid said. "Are they?" Adam asked. "Are they fucking blind?" Sid asked his friend.

Adam smiled as he now focused on Spencer who was diving for fresh water scrimp with Bobby, Jesse and David along the rocks. With shoulder length red hair that glowed in the rays of the sun, Spencer stood out in a crowd of hundred's. His green eyes could pierce the coldest heart and his boyish beauty fully explained why a man would lay down with a child and risk a lifetime of freedom. As Spencer's bottom disappeared under the water Adam shook his head. "No, they're not blind!" he said.

"Getting Spencer moved tomorrow isn't the problem. The problem is fending off all the requests from the other kids to join Charlie's cabin. So far I have a list of 18 names." Sid said. "Because of Spencer?" Adam asked. "Only partly. We seem to have put together a "Dream team" of a cabin. Bruce, Bobby, Jesse and now Spencer all being in one place at one time has everybody running on overtime." Sid replied. Adam smiled as he nodded his head in understanding.

"I don't want to give you a swelled head or anything, but there's not a mafia's members name on that list." Sid told his friend with a grin. "That's only because they already know that they get first dibs on overnight visits between them and Charlie's boys." Adam replied. "Good point!" Sid conceded as he finished his beer.

"Tomorrow afternoon my brother Barry is coming in from New Hampshire for the week." Sid now told Adam. "I'm looking forward to meeting him, I've heard a great deal about him." Adam said. Sid nodded but remained silent for a time. "I don't want him staying in my cabin, I'd much rather he stay here in the Cove." Sid finally said. "You think he'll go along with that?" Adam asked. Sid smiled a bit "He'll do a little kicking and screaming about it, but he'll do as I ask." Sid replied.

Adam knew very well that Sid was still building walls, but fully understood what his friend needed was an oasis from reality, and for now, the cove was it. "Kevin now has a spare room and so do I. If he's the quiet type, he would prefer Kevin's place. If he's into mayhem, confusion and anarchy, Beachview is the place for him." Adam said as Sid chuckled. "I'll let him know." Sid said.

"What are we going to do with them?" Bobby asked as the boys filled a bait box with the shrimp. "Some of them we can bring to the Nature Shack and the rest we can keep in the aquarium in Uncle Kevin's cabin." Jesse replied as he looked at a dozen or so unhappy shrimp. "Are they any good to eat?" Bobby asked. "Nah, Uncle John say's they gotta come from salt water before you eat them." David said as he put another one into the bucket.

"Look what I found!" Spencer yelled as he surfaced. Opening his hand, a large gold ring with an aquamarine stone in it glistened in the sun. "Georgetown University, 1977"

was stamped on the ring. "Uncle Sid went to Georgetown, I'll bet it was his!" Spencer said excitedly as all 4 boys now headed for Turtle Rock with water flying.

"It isn't mine, I have mine back at the cabin in the jewelry box. Your Uncle Peter lost his ring over ten years ago; I'll bet this is his." Sid told the boys as they all gathered around him. "Where is Uncle Peter?" Spencer now asked. "This close to recall, he's probably back in his cabin." Adam replied as all 4 boys now jumped back into the water and headed for shore.

"Don't you guys ever put your boys in clothes?" Peter asked at dinner that night. "What for, they're only going to take them back off." Sid replied as the counselor approached the mafia's table. With the boys giggling, Peter handed Spencer 25 canteen tokens while the rest of the boys received 10. "I spent weeks diving for that ring when I lost it 9 years ago; I figured I would never see it again." Peter said as he thanked the boys.

"When they all came charging up to the cabin, I didn't know if the place was on fire or we were going to have a party!" Peter told Adam as he showed the rest of the boys the recovered ring. Adam laughed as he looked down the table at Bruce and Spencer who were now more interested in their tokens than the food. "How much is a token worth in money?" Bobby now asked. "It use to be a quarter and would buy a boy 5 candy bars. Now, it's worth about a dollar and you only get 2 candy bars!" Sid replied.

"No fair!" half the group at the table's chirped as Sid groaned.

"Uncle Adam, how much does a Wii cost?" Spencer now asked. Adam looked at the boy and then to Sid. "What's a Wii?" he asked. "A new computer game that every kid in america just have to have. It's the new Cabbage Patch doll or Beannie Baby hype." Sid responded.

"Oh no Uncle Sid, It's a really neat game that you can do tons of stuff with." David now said. "Sitting in front of a computer game and getting lost in it isn't our way of doing things guys. Playing baseball, playing tennis, playing golf, going swimming, horseback riding, boating, diving and any of a hundred other things available to you is far more valuable than staring at a screen racing make believe cars. Uncle Bert might agree to buy a few for use at the rec. hall, but we want you out and about, not locked up in a fantasy world that does you no good. And yes, I know; no fair!" Sid replied. The boys giggled, but they were on their way to Bert to see if he was any more sympathetic.

Sid's brothers arrival the following day came with a surprise to Thomas, his own brothers Michael and Paulie stepped off the helicopter as it landed in the FEMA depot, along with Barry. "You knew they were coming?" Sid asked Thomas. "Not at all, nobody ever said a word." Thomas replied. "Well Bert must have or Paulie wouldn't be here." Sid said. "If he did, he didn't say a word to me." Thomas said as the group converged and greeted each other.

The presence of 15 year old Paulie now had both Sid and Thomas confused and guessing. The boy wasn't Geppetto, but he did know all about it unlike the nieces and nephews back on the Vineyard. Why the boy would now be at the camp personally had many questions rolling around Sid's head. For that matter, Michael's presence spelled concern for Sid; why was he accompanying his brother?

"The results of the biopsy have been reviewed Sid. The results were positive and it appears to be contained to the left side of the prostate. We need to have a bone and cat scan done, but we think we've caught it in time and that it's fully contained within the prostate. We have a window of opportunity available to us, and it's recommended that you have a Lupron shot that will immediately drop your PSA from 6.8 to zero for the next 3 month's and cut off the cancer's food supply which is testosterone." Michael informed Sid as Thomas, Bert, Gloria, Jeanette and Johanna all listened.

"That's it? All I have to do is to take a shot?" Sid asked. Michael shook his head. "We need to do the tests to see if the cancer has metastasized, or moved out of the prostate.

If it has, removal of the prostate isn't an option. Once we get the test's back, we'll know what range of options we have." Michael said.

Why not just keep taking Lupron?" Sid asked. "It will put you in remission for a time, but sooner or later the cancer will mutate and the Lupron won't hold anymore. You're taking the shot only to give us some time to figure out where we're at in the stage of development.

Suppose I do nothing?" Sid asked. Michael shook his head. "Your Gleason Score was a 9 out of a possible 10. 6 out of the 12 samples taken were positive and all with a Score of 6 or greater. You have an aggressive form of prostate cancer and if it's contained, it can be eliminated, but it won't stay contained for long. If it moves to the lymph nodes, we lose the option of surgical removal. If you do nothing, we could be looking at five years or much less." Michael replied.

What about a second opinion?" Gloria now asked. "These are the reports on the second, third and fourth opinions." Michael said as he dropped the reports on the table. "Harvard, John Hopkins, Duke and Houston all say the same thing."

"So now what? Jeanette asked. "First the Lupron shot, and then we go for the scans as soon as possible. Duke can do it the day after tomorrow." Michael said.

"This Lupron eliminates testosterone you said. Does that mean I can expect to start growing tits and start singing in high C?" Sid asked Michael. "There can be side effects Sid, most noticeably hot flashes, but most people tolerate it well." Michael told the man ignoring the sarcasm. "What if I don't take the shot?" Sid now asked. "That would be your decision, but the medical advice is to cut off the food supply now until we find out just how far it's progressed." Michael replied.

"Uncle Sid will take the shot; let's get an appointment set up for the scans." Johanna now told Michael. "Let's keep our panties on sweetheart! Your good old Uncle Sid ain't quite made that decision yet; I'll let you know when I do." Sid told the girl. "No Uncle Sid, this isn't some stupid tetanus shot we're arguing about, this is your life. Johanna is right; you have to take the Lupron." Gloria now told Sid. "I sure am fucking glad I'm making the decisions around here! Let me know what I decide!" Sid said as he got up and left.

"Well that was easy. What now?" Michael asked. "He'll go to the cove and hide. He'll come around, but he'll do it on his own schedule." Bert said. "The cove?" Barry asked. Bert nodded his head. "Since this thing has started, Sid has made a place for himself as a "Safe Zone" where all discussion about this stuff ceases. We call it the cove." Bert told Barry and Michael. No discussion whatsoever about this stuff is mentioned to him in that cove." Bert said as Michael and Barry now nodded.

"What about the scans?" Jeanette now asked. "He's scheduled at Duke for the day after tomorrow, but I can cancel that appointment." Michael now said. All 3 girls shook their heads. "Uncle Sid will be there." Johanna said sternly.

Paulie's arrival at Green Tree was a surprise to all staff, who now had this 15 year old in their presence with no advance warning or clue what the boy did, or did not know.

"Bert told me to take him to Charlie's and have Jesse and Spencer show him around campus, so I have to imagine he has all access." Adam told Kevin and Dan after he dropped Paulie off. "That can get mighty educational for a 15 year old outsider. He's aware of Geppetto?" Dan asked. "According to Sid and his brother Thomas, he was brought into the loop last Thanksgiving when David went up there for the funeral." Adam replied. "Why would a 15 year old boy be told?" Kevin now asked. "He's a full brother in Thomas's family of eight brother's. From what I'm told, Alexandria signed off on the

proposal." Adam said. "Why would they do that?" Dan asked. "Alexandria knows Thomas's families personal history. They consider that knowledge to be a kind of an insurance policy against any unwanted disclosures on anybody's part." Adam replied.

"Sort of like a "Mutually Assured Destruction" scenario?" Dan asked. "Same thing." Adam replied as the men now watched Jesse, David, Spencer and Paulie come running down the steps to the cabin and hoping into David's golf cart.

"Where are you headed?" Adam asked as the boys pulled up alongside. "Uncle Paulie wants to see the horses. Maybe we can get Aunt Patty to let us go out to Look-Out Point." Jesse said excitedly. Adam nodded as the boys sped off in a small cloud of dust.

"Uncle Paulie?" Kevin now asked. Adam once more nodded. "To Jesse, David and Spencer, he's an outside uncle just as Thomas and the rest of his brother's are." Adam told the two men.

Dan shook his head as he returned to his cart. "That must have been one hell of a vacation." He said. "The most interesting part is going to be the Senior boys reaction to this new "Uncle" in their midst that's just about as old as they are. That little boy better have a lot of stamina because if he intends on living with our kids for the next few days, they're going to have his pants down around his ankles on a wall to wall basis." Dan said as he turned his cart around and headed for the boat shed.

"Hi Aunt Patty, this is Uncle Thomas's brother Paulie. He's just visiting with us and he was wondering if we could take out some horses to the Point?" Jesse asked with a dimpled smile he knew he could produce if he held his cheeks just right. Patty greeted the boy with a smile as she loaded two boys onto a horse. "I don't have 4 horses guys, I have 4 cabins out on trail rides right now." She said as she handed a boy the reigns. "We don't need 4 horses, Paulie likes to ride double." Jesse now countered. Patty smiled somewhat and looked at Paulie. "Have you been riding double for long?" She asked the boy who looked rather uncomfortable. "Not too long." Paulie replied sheepishly. Patty nodded her head. "And if I were to find you 2 horses, your Uncle Bert and Uncle Thomas would approve?" Patty asked Jesse. "Oh yes Aunt Patty, Uncle Bert told us all to show Uncle Paulie the entire camp!" Jesse replied. "Uncle Paulie?" The girl asked. "Sure, ask David!" Jesse exclaimed. Patty now looked to David who smiled and nodded.

"Let's keep something in mind gentlemen while we're out there on the trail, there are two cabins of Camp Kenny children up on the Meadow on a trail ride on their ponies. We don't want them seeing things they have no business seeing now do we?" Patty asked the boys as they mounted up. "No Aunt Patty." Came a chorus of 3 voices.

"What did she mean?" Paulie asked once the boys entered the bridle trails. "The Camp Kenny kids are just baby's. We're not allowed to let them see us fucking." Jesse replied.

"She thinks we're going to fuck?" Paulie asked. "She KNOWS we're going to fuck!" David replied as Jesse and Spencer giggled and nudged the horses into a trot.

After two weeks together on Martha's Vineyard where Paulie lived with his family, all need to be shy, coy, reserved or embarrassed concerning romping was long since gone as the boys trotted into Indiantown camp and slid off the horses. Only because Paulie had more clothes on to begin with was he the last to get naked as Jesse, David and Spencer waded in the stream and waited for the boy to join them. There may have been a moment or two of hesitation on Paulie's part, but it disappeared as he watched the Green Tree boys look for turtles with their erections blocking the view of the water. If there was such a thing as a boyhood paradise, Paulie was sure he had found it as a feeling of total freedom and harmony with his surroundings swept through the boy as never before.

At just barely 15, Paulie was the oldest boy now standing in the creek. Jesse, at just over 13 was the next youngest, followed by Spencer and then David. All 3 Green Tree boys were well on their way developmentally, but still bald as compared to Paulie.

Some boys do not age gracefully. They go from smooth lines, soft hair, clear skin, clean breath, clean teeth and a cute manageable genital package to a geek with pimple's, bad breath, green teeth, a bad mustache, a dick with hair on it and a set of balls of two different sizes. The ass is gone, and so are their manners.

Paulie was not such a teenager. At 5 foot, 6 inches [1.68 m], he was clearly no longer a child, but not yet a man. His sparse pubic hair rested primarily on top of his groin in a typical adolescent wave pattern that had not yet turned course and curly. His 4 inch [10 cm] penis had retained most of its youthful beauty as well as its texture and by any man's measure was as inviting as an ice cream sundae. His testicles were clearly producing his seed, and yet they were still in a controlled environment rather than a loose sideways hanging sack. From either the back or the front, Paulie was a pleasure to behold, and Jesse, David and Spencer were well aware of that fact as the breeze rustled in the tree's overhead.

While Paulie was no sexual match for any one of his hosts, he was more than willing to give it the old college try as Spencer wrapped his arms around him and gave him a kiss he had been dreaming about and masturbating over since the last one Spencer bestowed upon him on the Vineyard a week earlier. Normally, the boys would have paired off in this situation, but not in this instance as Jesse guided Spencer and Paulie to a moss covered bank on the stream and all four boys laid down together in a scene of love and passion that newlyweds seldom obtain. For Paulie, time stood still as he lay there in a dreamy haze as the Green Tree boys worked their magic on each others bodies like no boys he had ever encountered before.

"Hey guys, we're looking for Cabin 6. Have they come by here?" A senior boy on horseback now asked the 4 stretched out bodies on the moss. Jesse opened his eyes

and refocused them as he looked up at the 2 stable boys. "They came by about 10 minutes ago and were up on the ridge on the Yellow Trail." He said as he pointed. "Thanks. Who's he?" The older stable boy now asked as he looked at Paulie. "He's Uncle Thomas's brother. His name is Paulie." David replied as he sat up. "He's new here?" The boy asked. "Just visiting." David replied. Both stable boys now looked at each other. "Does Uncle Bert know you're romping?" One of the boys now asked Jesse. "He's OK, he's my Uncle." David told the boys. "But does Uncle Bert know you're fucking?" The boy pressed. "He knows he's my Uncle doesn't he?" David answered. Again, both senior boys looked at each other. "I sure hope you're right!" The oldest senior boy now said as he guided his horse around and trotted off.

"I didn't see any boys from Cabin 6." Spencer now said as he propped himself up on his elbows. "They came by about 10 minutes ago and stopped for a peek at us. You and Uncle Paulie were doing lollypops, so you were too busy." David said with a giggle. "They stopped? Jesse asked. "Yeah. I guess they wanted to get some pointers on how to really get fucked!" David replied with several giggles now going up in the crowd.

Paulie shook his head at the openness and frankness of the conversation going on around him. "Are we going to get into trouble?" He asked. "What for? All we were doing was fucking. The only reason it's a big deal is because you're new here and they don't know you. After today, they won't even bother to look unless you promised to do them next." Spencer said with a dimpled smile. Five minutes earlier, Paulie would have bet the farm that he wouldn't see another erection for at least 12 hours, if not 24! Now as he laid there, his penis slowly engorged as it reached for the tree tops. "Boy David, you sure do

know how to find great Outside Uncles!" Jesse said as Spencer and David giggled once again.

The boy's return to the lower camp came well after lunch was over. "We eat lunch around here at 12:00 usually; are you boys fixing to change that schedule?" Chef John now asked the boy's as they walked into his kitchen. "Sorry Uncle John but we were showing Uncle Paulie the camp and we lost track of time." David replied.

The chef now looked at Paulie. "Uncle Paulie?" He asked as Jesse snickered.

"This is Uncle Thomas's brother. His name is Paulie." Spencer told the chef.

"That makes him an Uncle?" The chef now asked. "Uncle Bert and Uncle Sid say it does." Jesse now said. John looked at Jesse and then back to Paulie. "Are we talking Inside Uncle or Outside Uncle?" John asked as he studied the boy. "Outside." David replied. "Welcome to Green Tree Uncle Paulie!" John said as he shook the boys hand.

"What's the big difference?" Paulie asked as the boys sat in the Mess Hall eating a lunch of French Dip and steak fries. "Inside Uncle's are grown up Geppetto boys.

Outside Uncle's are not Geppetto boys, but they take care of us like Uncle Thomas and Uncle Adam." David replied. "And Uncle Bert!" Jesse added as he dipped his sandwich.

David and Spencer nodded their heads as Paulie thought. "That's it?" Paulie asked.

"Heck no! Outside Uncle's don't just fuck; they really like to fuck. They can't fuck as much as we can, but when they do, it's fucking awesome!" Jesse replied with a grin.

Paulie smiled as the other boys all giggled to themselves. "How did I do?" Paulie now asked. "Wanna go back out to Indiantown?" Spencer asked with a dimpled smile as he dipped a steak fry in ketchup and David and Jesse looked at each other.

Since declaring the cove a "Safe Place" for Sid to get away from the pressure's of his diagnosis, Bert had suspended Adam's responsibilities in the classroom.

While Adam was still the Director of the Intermediate Camp, he performed the majority of his duties while remaining in the cove just in case Sid needed some respite and a friendly ear to bend.

Clearly upset, Sid arrived at Beachview immediately after his meeting with Michael, Bert, and the girls. Intentionally kept out of the medical loop, Adam knew nothing about what had transpired at the meeting, but knew damned well it didn't go over well with Sid.

"Where's Barry? The boys will be back from school in a little while, and after rest period they want to show him the Canteen build." Adam asked Sid as the man opened a beer and sat down next to Adam's desk on the side porch. "He'll be along; I left him at Bert's to discuss my life." Sid said sarcastically as he took a drink. Adam avoided looking at the clock, but knew damned well it was a little early to start drinking for the day. Getting up,

he went to the kitchen and retrieved a beer for himself. "What's your fucking problem?" Sid asked him as he sat back down. "No problem other than I've got eight kids in the infirmary for minor crap and I'm trying to juggle 15 baseball teams onto 3 fields for the playoff games. Besides, my Dad always told me to never let a friend drink alone; he might drink up all the beer!" Adam replied. Sid now chuckled.

"Has Barry decided where he wants to bunk?" Adam now asked. "I told him what his options were and he was stupid enough to choose Beachview. This place really reminds him of our old camp when we were kids and he wants to bathe in the anarchy and confusion of it all I guess." Sid told his friend with a smile. "He'll get a lot of that, that's for sure!" Adam replied.

"Why did Bert allow Thomas's little brother to come here?" Adam now asked. "Officially, it's because Paulie had a family problem and needed to talk to his mentor "One on One." It was easier to bring him here than it was to get Thomas up to New England." Sid responded.

"And unofficially?" Adam asked. "He was clinically depressed after Jesse, David and Spencer left to come back home. Apparently the boys have made a very strong impression on our young friend, especially Spencer from what I'm told." Sid said. "Why would we want to encourage that?" Adam asked.

"For Paulie, it will allow him to resolve any feelings of loss concerning the boys. He'll know exactly where they are, what they're doing and just how truly accessible to him they are. For the boys, especially David and Spencer, it will allow them to bond closer together as a family. David will most certainly be joining Thomas's family in the not too distant future, and there's every possibility that Spencer just might do the same as well." Sid told Adam.

"And how does Anthony fit into this picture?" Adam asked. Sid shook his head. "There's a fifty-fifty chance that Spencer will prefer a homosexual lifestyle within the next few years. For Anthony, those odds are overwhelmingly against it. He's never made any kind of sexual advance towards any adult male since he was 14 years old.

If Spencer were frozen in time, his relationship with Anthony would be rock solid, but that ain't about to happen and where the fuck is Spencer when his beard begins to grow and Anthony's no longer interested?" Sid asked. "What's Anthony's reaction to all of this?" Adam now asked. "You're fucking kidding right? Anthony still has a 13 year old sleeping in his bed. Anthony's not thinking about next month, next year or 5 years down the road for Spencer. That's our job, and that's what we need to start planning for now, not when Spencer starts buying razor blades!" Sid said.

"I guess this is something I also need to start planning for with Sammy." Adam said solemnly. "You've got a lot more time, but one day Sammy will be ready to unfold his wings and fly out of the nest. The difference is that we're not worried about you trying to clip his wings and hold onto him longer than he should be." Sid told his friend.

Adam shook his head. "I'm not looking forward to that day." He said as he finished his beer. "Nobody ever does Adam, at least not anybody I've ever known." Sid replied.

"So how are we going to deal with Anthony?" Adam now asked. "Beginning this Fall, Anthony's going to switch his Major to Early Childhood Education and continue his schooling on line. We're also going to put together a transitional cabin and fill it with

the 7 year olds who are moving up to the Intermediate camp in the Spring. Anthony's going to be the Senior counselor of that new cabin." Sid explained.

"What about Spencer?" Adam asked. "We don't think he's going to opt to leave Charlie's cabin and follow Anthony. The draw of Jesse, David, Bruce and the other boys in the cabin will be a lot stronger for him than a dozen 7 year olds who are still into playing Leap Frog, Merry Go Round and Where's the Banana." Sid replied.

"What's that?" Adam asked. "Imaginative games that the Camp Kenny boys indulge in during playtime." Sid said cryptically. "Like "Lollypops?" Adam asked. "Same thing."

Sid replied. Adam nodded.

The slamming of the front screen door told Adam that school was out for the day as half a dozen kids came galloping out onto the porch and took up residence in either Sid or Adam's lap. "Where's the new boy?" Sammy asked as first his shirt and then his shorts hit the porch floor. "Somewhere off with Jesse, David and Spencer last time I heard." Sid replied as Sammy wiggled himself onto Sid's lap. "If he's staying in Uncle Charlie's cabin, that makes him a transmission boy right Uncle Sid?" Trevor now asked.

Sid chuckled a bit as he patted Sammy on his now bare ass. "If you mean "Transitional"

The answer is "No". Paulie is a guest of the camp, and the same rules don't apply for you guys. He's off limits to the Intermediate boys." Sid now told a group of very unhappy campers. "No fair Uncle Sid! He's allowed to fuck with Jesse, David and Spencer ain't he?" Sammy asked. "You've seen something I haven't?" Sid asked the boy. "Don't be stupid Uncle Sid, you know they're fucking don't you?" Carla now asked. Sid now looked at Adam. "What the hell have you been feeding this kid?" He asked.

"Carla apologizes for her very unladylike language. She's been working on her behavior modification program now for several days." Adam said as he looked at the clock. "10 minutes to Mess Call, if anybody has any unfinished business, now's the time to remedy the situation." Adam told the group as they now scrambled for the privacy of the upstairs bedrooms.

"Giving yourselves a break?" Sid asked Carla and Jeannie as the two girls now claimed the laps of both Adam and Sid. "There ain't no time to fuck right now, all they're going

to do is beat each others meat and then go get dressed." Carla said. Adam shook his head.

"Every morning I wake up thinking to myself: This is going to be the day that I'm going to go through the entire day without hearing any trash talk coming from my two sweet little angels. Maybe tomorrow Carla?" Adam asked the girl. Carla giggled as Adam kissed the girl on her ear.

"All I know is that if I talked like that in front of your Aunt's, I'd be chewing on a bar of Ivory soap for a few hours!" Sid told the girls. "We don't talk like that outside the cabin Uncle Sid. The cabin is a free zone where we can do or say anything we want!" Jeannie now said. "Who told you that?" Sid asked. "Uncle Adam!" both girls replied. "They've expanded on my idea of free speech." Adam told Sid who now nodded.

Lockdown

Barry asked as he came onto the porch after watching two screeching little girls scamper up a flight of stairs with bare asses. "Not to worry. By tonight those same two shy little

missies will be parading naked for you even if they have to wear signs and flashing lights

to bring themselves to your attention." Adam told the man. Sid nodded. "Sounds about right." He added.

"It's an interesting concept; having both sexes living together. Do you have many problems?" Barry asked as he sat down. "It's like the sociologists found on Israeli Kibbutzim; the children living in such close quarters after awhile regard each other like brothers and sisters." Sid told his friend. "So they don't sexually interact?" Barry now asked. "Would you believe me if I told you that?" Sid asked.

As the laughter died down, the bugler sounded Mess Call and what had been a fairly quiet cabin erupted into an ever growing thunder of feet stomping down the stairs.

Barry's presence among the group had them stopped dead in their tracks.

"You have all heard your Uncle Sid talk about his brother Barry who lives up in New Hampshire. This is the man Uncle Sid was taking about." Adam told the staring group

of children who were inspecting every inch of this stranger in their midst.

To Adam's complete surprise, not one child in the group moved or changed their obvious concern about the adult now standing before them. Their eyes continued to search, but not one was ready to lower their guard which Adam had only seen on trips

or travel outside of the gates of Green Tree. This was an "Outsider" in their midst's until it was proven otherwise.

"He's Uncle Barry?" 11 year old Chris now asked Sid as he took his friend Matty's hand in his protectively. "He is, and he is Geppetto." Sid responded affirmatively.

Moments before, a look of deep concern was etched on every face Adam looked at, now a vail of dread seemed to have been lifted from the children as smile's and dimple's reappeared. "Wow, he looks a lot older than you told us he was!" Matty now said.

"What was that all about?" Adam asked as the staff walked down the trail to the Mess Hall. "The children are all taught from the earliest age to never trust an outsider until and unless another Geppetto boy they know verifies their safety. They do not ask questions, they do not answer questions, they do not provide any information about themselves or any other person they know and they do not discuss Geppetto or their personal activities

with anyone for any reason." Sid told Adam.

"They didn't believe me?" Adam asked. "They were presented with a barrier they could not cross. They've been taught every trick in the book from "Good cop, Bad cop" to the kindly social worker and extremely nice foster parent, to the nice person who just wants to return them to their loving home. To them, everything they see and hear is bullshit

until they're released. Only an adult Geppetto boy can verify their personal safety when they're confronted with an outsider. Don't feel hurt, even Bert himself cannot release them from "Lockdown" once it's in place." Sid told his friend.

"I've been here for over two years now; I've never heard anything about this." Adam now said. "Lockdown is a personal protection program that we're all taught to protect ourselves with in case we're ever taken into custody by outsiders. The kids are taught to learn the program and to never discuss it, not even amongst themselves. The fact that it took more than two years for you to discover it's existence only goes to show you just how insulated and protected these kid's are from the outside world.

Think back to when you were on the plane to Miami with the kid's when you first came, were the boy's unusually quiet, or were they regular magpies?" Sid asked. "They were extremely quiet, but I attributed that to the fact that they had never been on a plane before and were looking out the window." Adam replied as he thought back. Sid smiled.

"Trust me, they were on lockdown!" He said as Barry nodded.

"Suppose they're isolated or taken to some facility?" Adam asked. "Sooner or later, they'll get access to a phone. Once they do, they know what phone number to call which will automatically locate them and they'll be recovered within hours." Sid said. "It's the same number you've been told to memorize." Adam nodded as he recalled his conversation with Bert when he first arrived.

"If we're under a Federal umbrella, why would anyone try to interfere with us?" Adam now asked. "Anybody with any brains wouldn't, but there are tons of asshole state cops and sheriff's out there who have too much testosterone and all think that they're fucking Rambo running around the Iraqi desert. They don't have the fucking ball's to enlist and actually take the chance of somebody shooting back at them so they spend their day tasering little old ladies to death or beating up on their wives and kids.

Those are the scumbags that Alexandria knows are the loose cannon's who just might come into contact with one of our kids. It just happened to 5 Geppetto boys in Arizona and they immediately went into lockdown." Sid said.

"What happened?" Adam asked. "The assholes thought the kids were wetbacks. They spent 12 hours with the boys and never even got a name from one of them." Sid replied with a grin. Adam giggled as he thought about the frustration level of the cops.

"We looked all over the Mess Hall Uncle Adam, Jesse and David and Spencer ain't here. Neither is the new boy." Trevor said as the boy returned to the table with half a dozen other friends and sat down for lunch. "The new boys name is Paulie. Can we all remember that name?" Adam asked the table. "As far as the boys are concerned, your Aunt Patty allowed them to go out on a trail ride and obviously, they're not back yet." He told the mafia. "Ya know what they're doin right?" Carla now asked Adam as the rest of the table snickered and giggled. Adam shook his head and closed his eyes. "Nothing that is any of our business; right Carla?" Adam asked the girl. "Yes Uncle Adam." The girl replied as the rest of the table continued to giggle away.

"You appear to have your hands full. Is the energy level always this high?" Barry now asked Adam. Adam smiled and looked out at a table of probably 30 or so children and another 5 staff. "I never really thought of it. I guess it is but usually the energy is directed

outward, either in some activity, school, or just recreational play. You happen to have arrived with something new, and that always gets their curiosity going." Adam said with a smile. "You mean Paulie?" Barry asked. Adam nodded his head as he felt a tug on his back. "Yes. They know that he's one of David's outside uncles and to have one so young has them extremely intrigued." Adam said as he turned around to find Christopher now crawling up onto the bench between himself and Barry.

"What does "Intrigued" mean Uncle Adam?" Matty now asked. "It means that little ears are listening to a conversation between staff." Adam replied.

"I'm not sure if you've met or not Uncle Barry, this little terror's name is Christopher." Adam told the man as Christopher climbed into Adam's lap and presented him with a slobbering bear hug. Barry smiled broadly as Adam wiped peanut butter and jelly off his face and gave Christopher a kiss. "Where are your bodyguard's?" Adam asked the boy who was now twisting around in Adam's lap and reaching for Adam's ice tea. "I-eee?"

Christopher chirped.

Barry watched as the child now downed a full glass in one movement and then held out the empty glass. "More?" Christopher asked with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

"Yes, we met when Christopher was up in Boston for some testing. He seems to have put on some weight." Barry said as he poured some tea into Christopher's glass. "Be careful not to mention that little fact if Bert's within hearing distance Barry, you'll find yourself on the next plane out of town." Dan now told the man as the rest of the staff chuckled.

"Sorry Uncle Adam, he snuck away from me when I was going to get him some more food." Claire said as the girl approached the table. "No problem sweetheart, Christopher's company is always welcome at our table, isn't it guys?" Adam replied.

"Not when we got ice cream!" Trevor replied. "I-eee?" Christopher asked as he now looked around the table. Adam shook his head as the boy now stood on the bench and surveyed the entire table in earnest. "Sorry Uncle Adam!" Trevor said. "Since you mentioned it, you can go to the kitchen and convince Uncle John to give you an ice pop for him." Adam said to the boy as more giggles came.

"As you can see Uncle Barry, we have an instant gratification problem here. Nothing is ever mentioned in his presence unless you're prepared to provide it for him instantly." Adam told Barry as he pulled Christopher back into his lap. "Trevor is going to get you a popsicle Christopher, he'll be right back." Adam told the boy. "Hey." Christopher replied as he now took Adam's sandwich apart and ate the roast beef.

Barry nodded as he continued to study the child. "He looks quite content." Adam smiled as he picked up a piece of meat off his lap. "In actuality, he owns this place lock, stock and barrel. He's got almost 600 pairs of eyes on him constantly, and he pretty much roams at will. All in all, Christopher is the King of his domain." Adam replied as he kissed the boy on the back of his neck. "That's because he's Uncle Bert's pet." Carla now added. "And who's pet are you?" Kevin asked. "Uncle Adam's!" Carla replied with a dimpled smile. "I belong to Uncle Sid!" Jeannie now said. "That's silly, Uncle Sid belongs to everybody." Sammy said as he finished his pudding. "She means as far as being a girl is concerned." Adam said trying to un ruffle some feathers. "Oh." Sammy replied without comment as Barry chuckled.

"After Rest Period we're going to help Uncle Dave build our new canteen. Do you wanna go with us Uncle Barry?" Michael now asked. "That would be wonderful but first I have to check with Uncle Bert to see if we have any staff meetings scheduled." Barry told the boy. "That ain't no fun Uncle Barry. All you guys do all day is talk and drink beer. If you come with us, you get to use hammers and screwdrivers and stuff!" Trevor told the man with a small grin. "That does sound like a lot more fun. I'll see what I can do." Barry told the boy.

"That's all you got?" Sammy now asked Trevor who handed Christopher a banana ice popsicle. "I asked Uncle John for a whole box but he told me to get out of the kitchen before he put me in the soup pot." Trevor replied. "He wouldn't do that. I betcha he ain't even cooking soup for tonight." Matty said as he watched Christopher lick his pop.

Exiting the Mess Hall after a meal was usually a casual affair for the Intermediate boys once the Camp Kenny little one's exited first, but Christopher changed the routine a bit as he sat on Adam's lap licking his popsicle and let go with a bit of flatulence that reverberated 4 tables around the boy who was fairly oblivious to his lack of decorum as the evacuation began in great haste. Adam lucked out in the prayer department when all that was forthcoming was air, but with Christopher, one never knew. "I'll take him Uncle Adam, he's probably going to have to g-o p-o-t-t-y Claire spelled out so the boy wouldn't get a premature signal to take a dump there and then. "Good Idea" Adam said as he handed the boy off to the girl and she put him on her hip.

"How old is she? She appears much more mature than her age suggests." Barry said as the staff walked back to the cove for Rest Period. "She'll be 16 in February. All of our senior girls who have custodial responsibilities for infants and toddlers are specially trained by our senior female staff members. In Christopher's case, all his caretakers were trained by Helen, Gloria and Jeanette." Adam told Barry. "Impressive. Most girls that age aren't ready to take on that kind of responsibility." Barry replied. "Most of them aspire to be like Johanna and Beth. They want a baby of their own, even the 13 and 14 year olds." Adam said. "Our biggest problem is getting them to refrain from allowing the little one's to nurse off them. The Institute is afraid that early lactation can lead to eventual breast cancer and they don't want the girl's breast feeding before age 18 if at all possible." Adam told Barry.

"It's quite amazing. When Sid and I were growing up a Geppetto girl couldn't even think of having a child. Now, they can plan whole families if they want to. Who knows what might be possible for the present generation a few years down the road." Barry said.

Adam thought about Barry's words, but saw no light at the end of the tunnel as he remained silent.

"Bert tells me that Sid has taken you out of the loop on his medical condition." Barry now said changing the discussion. "Yes, Sid feels he needs some place to go where he

can just leave all that stuff behind and take a breather now and then." Adam replied. "So you don't get involved?" Barry asked "I know what's basically going on, but Sid doesn't want me getting into any discussions about it with him, so I try not to get too much advanced knowledge of what's taking place." Adam replied. "He's put you in a difficult position. Have you told him that?" Barry asked. Adam shook his head. "He told me what role he wants me to play in this thing, and I fully intend to honor his wishes. I don't have to agree with it, but I will honor it." Adam replied. Barry nodded his head. "Sid always did choose his friends very wisely." He said.

"You know that Sid wants me in the cove to shut me up." Barry now said. "I think that Sid wants you in the cove because he knows that you'll be precluded from bringing up the medical situation while the both of you are in there together, but I'm sure he's fully aware that he'll get an earful outside of the cove. He wants maximum time with you without having to dwell on his problems constantly. He needs some peace, we have to give it to him" Adam said. "He could die from this." Barry replied.

"He knows that Barry. That's why he's trying so hard to maintain some kind of normalcy in his life, at least for a few hours every day. We have no choice but to abide by his wishes." Adam said as he found himself tearing up. "You love him don't you." Barry replied. "I don't know anybody in this camp who doesn't. I love him enough to hurt and I love him enough to do what he asks of me." Adam said as he wiped away the tears that would no longer be held back. Barry nodded as he patted his new friend on the shoulder

and walked past the newly posted yellow and red sign that read: "Safe zone" on it.

"No fair Uncle Adam! Uncle Sid is out on Turtle Rock with Aunt Jeanette and Aunt Johanna and we can't go out there with him." Sammy yelled from the front porch of Beachview as the mafia's staff drew close. "Life's not fair guys; you'll just have to wait until after Rest Period." Adam told the boy's as he mounted the steps with Barry, Kevin and Etienne. "But we ain't tired. We don't need no rest." Sammy countered. "Well we do, so you guys will just have to find some nice quiet place to digest your food and figure out what mischief you can get into this afternoon." Adam replied with a smile as he sat down.

Primarily put into place for the younger Camp Kenny children to take a nap, Rest Period in the Intermediate camp was usually just a period of quiet play or reading in the cabins or out on their porches. As Adam and the assembled staff on the porch of Beachview rested and talked, both Sammy and Carla took a leg each of Adam's to use as a pillow and within 5 minutes or so, both were sound asleep as Adam stroked their temple's.

"Have you been slipping booze into their bug juice again?" Bert asked as he walked up the steps with Thomas and Michael. "That was last week." Adam answered as Bert sat down. "What's happening?" Bert now asked as he looked out at the 3 figures on Turtle Rock. "You know what we know. They've been out there since we arrived." Adam said.

"Where do we go from here?" Michael asked. Adam now moved to get up as Bert motioned for him to sit back down. "Any discussions we take out of the cove Michael."

Thomas told his brother.

"The boys have invited me to spend some time with them this afternoon. Do you have any staff meetings scheduled?" Barry asked Bert. "Not until after I talk with the girl's that I know of. If something comes up, I'll send a boy out for you." Bert replied. "In the meantime, has anybody seen Jesse, Spencer, David and Paulie?" Bert asked. "According to Patty, two senior boys spotted them at Indiantown camp and left them there about an hour ago, but they haven't been seen back in camp yet." Adam said. Bert nodded.

"I don't guess missing one meal is going to hurt our guys. Are you worried about Paulie?" Bert now asked Michael. Michael now smiled and laughed a bit.

"There might be a few things that Paulie will allow himself to go without, but food isn't one of them. If he were hungry, he'd find a way to get back here." The Doctor said as Thomas nodded agreement.

"How are the rest of the mafia doing as far as our guest is concerned?" Bert asked Adam. "I'd say that Paulie is being scrutinized closer than a chicken in Ethiopia.

They see and smell new blood and they're having a hard time reconciling the fact that the transitional boys can romp with him but they can't." Adam replied.

"Do you think they'll hold the line?" Barry asked. "Without question. The ruling came down from Bert; they won't disobey a direct instruction." Adam declared. Bert nodded agreement. "What about Paulie? How is he going to handle himself?" Bert asked Michael and Thomas. "If one of your boys dropped his pants and invited Paulie to join him, he'd accept the invitation, but he's been told not to initiate contact." Michael said. "That of course excludes Jesse, David and Spencer from those instructions, Paulie wanted to make sure he could continue to interact with them just as he did up in the Vineyard." Thomas added.

"I don't have a problem with that, or for that matter with him interacting with anybody in Charlie's cabin, I just don't want our kids to get the idea that playing with senior boys is now OK. I want them sticking to their own age groups." Bert told the staff. "This "Transitional" thing has them all a bit confused, if it's Ok for them to romp with Jesse, David and Spencer, why can't they romp with a guest in the same group?" Adam asked.

"You would approve it?" Bert asked. "If Paulie were a guest in the senior boys compound, then no, I wouldn't. But since he's a guest in the transitional compound, I think we're being a little hypocritical." Adam replied.

"That's what I love about my relationship with my staff gentlemen; they are so loyal and so supportive of my Administration." Bert said to Dr Lester, Michael and Barry. "Let the boys enjoy each other, but let's keep the party down to a dull roar." Bert told his staff.

As the bugle blew to end Rest Period and start 4th Period Activities, Sid, Jeanette and Johanna packed up the things they brought out to Turtle Rock with them including little Kenny and the baby, Sidney Bertram. "Today Uncle Sid is going to come with us to Aunt Sarah. She has to give the baby his medicine to keep him well, and then we'll go up and play in Waterfall Town with Timmy." Jeanette told the toddler. Sid looked at the girl.

"Uncle Sid has some things he needs to do up at the stables." He replied.

"Uncle Sid will be going up to the stables right after he joins you and Sidney Bertram

in the Infirmary with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Thomas." Johanna now told Kenny.

"Since when did we start using the children as pawns to badger people into doing things they're not inclined to do?" Sid asked both girls. "Since it would be very inappropriate for them to start yelling, screaming and crying in front of those children to get a stubborn old fool to do what he has to do to be able to stick around long enough to see those same children reach adulthood. One way or the other, we're going to the Infirmary Uncle Sid.!" Johanna said getting upset for the first time all afternoon.

Sid shook his head and looked at the boy who was now pissing off the Rock. "Do it while you can little fellow, it won't be so far down the road that you'll be told what you can and cannot do every time you turn around!" Sid told the boy who largely ignored the advice with he made bubbles in the lake and giggled.

Carrying in the toddler, Sid entered the Infirmary very deliberately not looking in any particular direction, especially on any flat surfaces where any possible syringes might be.

Not afraid of getting into a bar fight in College and taking a few hits, Sid was petrified of needles and really didn't give a fuck who knew about this "Weakness" in him.

His phobia was not uncommon among the original Geppetto boys, who had suffered serum injections made directly into the base of their spines as very young children, and never forgot the fear or the pain involved. For Sid, the site of a hypodermic gave him cold sweats and on more than a few occasions as a child, caused him to faint in fright of what was about to come.

As Thomas's brother was warned in advance, get it done, and get it done fast or it was not impossible that fists were flying. Without comment, Sarah rolled the syringe full of Lupron in her hands to mix it as Sid dropped his shorts and leaned against an examining table. As Jeanette slapped Sid on his buttocks to desensitize the area and Johanna cleaned the area with an alcohol swab, Barry held Sid's hands as they trembled.

Once the color returned to Sid's face, he smiled somewhat. "Actually, I don't know what the big deal was all about. That shot hurt less than a blood test." Sid said as Kenny was returned to his arms. "I used the smallest needle I could Uncle Sid, so that probably helped." Sarah replied. Sid nodded. "You did a good job; it was even less than a wasp or a bee sting." He said greatly relieved now that it was over.

"The Lupron shot will work for the next 3 month's Sid. It will eliminate the testosterone that is feeding the cancer and buy us some time to figure out where we go from here. You also need to know that there are some side effects to this hormone and you may, or may not feel some of them." Michael now said.

"Like growing man-tits.?" Sid now asked. "No, you won't be seeing any of that, but you very well may have hot flashes, burning sensations in your groin and legs, possibly some depression which can be mitigated with medication and anxiety." Michael said without cracking a smile at Sid's joke.

"You forgot about the part about becoming a eunuch Doc. No testosterone, no man.

Or have they not taught you that in school?" Sid replied as Bert winced.

"Unless you were planning on fathering a child, you will see very little difference in your ability to sexually function as you have in the past. You may have a little less libido, but we don't know that yet, there is no data on Geppetto boys with prostate cancer. We're in un chartered territory." Thomas replied giving his brother Michael some respite from Sid's wrath.

"Thomas, I'm pissing and climaxing pure fucking blood! Unless Patty's into internal transfusions, I'd say that was a slight difference in things." Sid replied sarcastically.

"It will cease Sid. It's already a lot lighter than it was a few days ago." Bert now replied.

Sid reluctantly nodded as Kenny now played with Sid's nose.

Feeling his buttocks Sid now turned to leave before Sidney Bertram received his shots.

"You forgot one Doc, I feel like one of my horses kicked me in the ass." He said as he felt the injection site. "It will go away in less than a week or so." Michael replied. Sid grunted. "Like the blood I guess!" He said as he left for the front porch with Kenny.

"I'm sorry Michael; he can get fairly brutal around shots." Bert told the Doctor. "Under the circumstances, would any one of us be any different?" Michael now asked the group.

"What's next?" Johanna now asked. Next we have him undergo a bone and CAT scan.

He's going to need to be evacuated, and there's a dye injection necessary for the bone scan. It needs to be done at Duke and it needs to be done by their technician's. We're going to need to sedate him and hope he cooperates." Michael said. "What about putting him under?" Barry asked. "They need him awake to hold his breath for the Cat scan." Thomas replied.

"The process is easy and painless once he has the IV shunt in place, but unless we can find a cracker jack technician to put it in place, it can get mighty painful and bloody. Sid won't just sit there if someone's boring holes in his arm." Dr. Lester said.

"What about Sarah? Sid won't punch her!" Jeanette said. Thomas shook his head. "Duke isn't about to let a non-employee administer to a patient." He replied.

"So we have Stephanie do any hypodermic work on Sid. She's a registered student!" Sarah now said. Bert nodded. "Can we get Duke to agree to that?" Bert asked Thomas.

Thomas nodded his head. "With the appropriate releases from Sid, they'll allow that." He replied.

With Sid up in the pool nursing an ass with a large lump on one side as he tossed a few dozen toddlers into the water from his shoulders, the Intermediate boys from the cove all

gathered at the site of the new Canteen's construction. Like busy little ants, they covered the grounds while the senior boys did the technical and heavy work under Dave's guidance.

"Where have you guys been?" Sammy asked Jesse, Spencer, David and Paulie as the 4 boys drove to the site on Jesse's cart. "We just came from the Mess Hall. Aunt Patty let us go out to Indiantown and we were late coming back for lunch." Jesse said as the 4 boys now watched a crane lifting a log into place.

"Uncle Bert had a Cabin Meeting with all of us after Rest Hour today." Sammy told Jesse as he studied Paulie who was watching the work in progress. "What about?" Jesse asked. "He say's that there are no strictions on us anymore. As long as it's in the cabin, we can play with Uncle Paulie if he wants to." Sammy said with a cheery smile.

Spencer, David and Paulie now turned their attention back to Sammy. "You mean "Restrictions?" David asked. "That's what I said stupid!" Sammy replied a little indignantly. Spencer giggled a bit as he looked at David and Paulie. "How come?" Jesse asked. Sammy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, we was all getting ready to come here after Rest Period and Uncle Bert called a Cabin Meeting. Everybody was there including Uncle Adam. He heard it too!" Sammy declared.

"Maybe he was just talking about real play, not fuck play." Spencer said. Sammy shook his head. "He was talking about romping. He even said the word." Sammy replied. "We better ask Uncle Adam about this!" David now said as he looked around.

"Your Uncle Bert changed his mind because he realized that restricting one member of the transitional cabin and not the rest was inconsistent. But that does not mean that he has given the mafia the green light to drag Paulie into the bushes and rip his clothes off.

The same rules apply for him as with any other boy in Green Tree; if you both don't agree, your pants stay on and your hands don't touch the other boy!"

Adam told the 4 boys as Sammy smiled knowingly back at them.

"What does "Inconsistent" mean? Jesse asked as the boys walked away from Adam. "I don't know but who cares? All I know is that Uncle Bert says we can all play together if we want to. Is that what you want to do?" Sammy asked Paulie hopefully with a dimpled smile.

"He's OK with playin, but he don't want to have to become blood brother's with everybody in the mafia." David now said. "How come?" Sammy asked more than a bit disappointedly. "Bobby told him about getting sick. He don't care about a few at a time, but he don't want to do it all at once." Spencer now said. Sammy looked at Paulie for some kind of explanation. "I really want to become blood brothers with everybody here; I just don't think I can do it all at one time." Paulie said.

The smile on Sammy's face returned. "That's OK Uncle Paulie, you don't gotta do everybody all at once, we can all take turns!" He said happily. Paulie now smiled as Jesse, Spencer and David giggled a bit. "He's just sayin that because he wants to do it first." Jesse said as Sammy looked at his friend. "Look who's talkin! I betcha you was first in line with Bobby and Uncle Paulie!" Sammy retorted as Paulie turned a little pink.

"Geez Sammy, ya don't gotta talk like that in front of him!" Spencer now said as both David and Jesse looked at Spencer. "I don't believe you guys are arguing over becoming blood brothers. What are you gonna do when it comes time to fuck?" David asked. "Fuck you! We ain't arguing, we're just having a meeting!" Sammy replied as the rest of the boys all giggled.

While Sammy's diplomatic efforts continued at the build, Dr. Lester spent the afternoon with the twins and Bobby, his Grandson. With his time remaining at Green Tree limited since he would be returning to Boston with Thomas's brother Michael, the man wanted to spend as much quality time as possible with all 3 boys. With 3 horses and the twins riding double, all 4 left the stables after Rest Period and headed out to Look-Out Point and the Meadow which Dr. Lester had visited several weeks earlier with Adam and the mafia.

"When are you going to be coming back Poppe?" Bobby asked his Grandfather as they rode down the bridle path through the pine tree forest. "I expect to be back here in probably four to six weeks." Dr. Lester said as he followed the boys. "What do you think of your new home. Do you think you're going to be happy here?" The Dr. now asked.

"I don't ever want to leave Poppe, this is the best place we ever been in." Gavin said. "Me too!" Benji added.

"The people here are a lot different than the people up in New Hampshire. The people in New Hampshire were nice, but not as nice as they are down here." Bobby told his Grandfather. "In what ways?" The Dr. asked. "The kids in New Hampshire were older than a lot of the kids here. They just liked to play computer games or watch TV all the time when we weren't in school. They were OK to play with and stuff, but they weren't very friendly most of the time." Bobby said. "And here?" Dr. Lester asked. "There's always tons of stuff to do, and everybody is friendly and wants to play. Even the staff play baseball and swim and go boating and stuff. It's more like a family here instead of just a school." Bobby said.

"And we get to ride horses and go on overnights and we get to have cabin sleepovers here! We could never do that in New Hampshire." Benji added with a broad smile.

"What about playtime. Are you happier here or is it just the same?" Dr. Lester asked.

"Oh no Poppe! These guys ain't like the guys in New Hampshire at all. They just liked to play with their peter's." Gavin said. "Sometimes they'd let you do it, but most of the time, they'd just go into the bathroom and shut the door." Benji said. "You never slept with them and fooled around?" The Dr. asked. "Sometimes, but only when they would climb into our bed after everybody else went to sleep. They told us not to tell anybody because they weren't gay." Benji replied. "The funny thing was, they all did it with us, but didn't want anybody else to know." Gavin said as he giggled.

"So how is it different here?" Dr. Lester asked. Bobby laughed as both twins now giggled. "Poppe, here everybody fucks and don't care who see's them except for the Camp Kenny kids. These guys have fun when they do it, and make sure you have fun too!" Bobby told his Grandfather. "These guys know how to do everything; even Carla and Jeannie know how to fuck better than the guys in New Hampshire!" Benji declared with a broad smile and a growing bulge in his shorts.

"I think that's a little more than I need to know." Dr. Lester said as he stifled a smile.

"Not that I think it's wrong, but what is the Rule as far as using words like "Fuck" as far as Uncle Bert and the staff are concerned?" He now asked. "They don't want us to say fuck or shit or stuff like that in front of the older girls and the little Camp Kenny kids, but it's OK if we're with our friends." Gavin reported. "And the girl staff, we can't say fuck in front of them or they might make us eat a bar of soap. They ain't done it yet, but they keep saying they will." Benji added as his brother nodded in agreement. Once again, Dr. Lester had to stifle a smile. "I don't think they'd really do it. I even heard Uncle Sid and Uncle John say fuck in front of them and they didn't get mad." Bobby said.

"What about using Max? Has the stimulator helped the three of you during your class work time?" The Dr. asked. "Sometimes we gotta stop talking or doing what we're doing, but it's better than having to keep running to the bathroom and make tingles in there." Benji told the man. "And you Bobby?" He asked. "The other kid's think its funny and even wanted to try it themselves, but they said it's boring after awhile and would rather fuck instead." The boy said. "Does that attitude bother you?" The Dr. Asked. "Oh no Poppe, I agree with them!" Bobby replied.

"They all gots lots of toys, but they don't play with them much. Everybody would rather have fun together because it feel's better if somebody else is doing it for you." Gavin said as his shorts now began to tent.

"Poppe, we need some playtime. Do you want us to do it in the woods?" Benji now asked. "What would you normally do?" The Dr. asked the boys. "That's easy! Do it on the horse. That's what makes horseback riding so much fun!" Gavin declared proudly.

"Yes, I've heard that before. I tell you what, I'll take the lead and when you're finished, you let me know." Dr. Lester suggested. "Is it against Doctor rules to see boys fucking?" Benji asked as he leaned back on his brother and began to remove his shorts. Dr. Lester chuckled as he moved his horse to the front. "No, I don't think there are specific rules against it, I just think you're entitled to some privacy." He told the boys. "We have privacy Poppe, ain't nobody else here in the woods except us." Gavin said as he slipped his shorts down to the ground and waited for his brother to line himself up.

A good 20 minutes later the small group approached Look-Out Point and the good Doctor had yet to hear any word from the twins or Bobby concerning their activity.

"How in the world did you do that?" The Dr. asked as he turned around and all three boys were now riding one horse with Bobby sitting in between the twins. "We can switch horses anytime Poppe. We had to all ride on one horse or Bobby wouldn't have anybody to play with." Benji said as the three boys now sat linked together.

"Why didn't I think of that?" He asked as he turned back around to leave the boys at play

while the gait of their horse did all the work necessary to put smiles on their faces for probably the third time.

NEXT PART