Howdy Doody

The Geppetto Project

Chapters 49 and 50, first part

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

As Sid, Adam, Dr. Lester and Barry mounted the steps to Bert's cabin, the reinforced screen door sprang open with a slam against the wall of the cabin that had taken the door off its hinges more than a few times since the Spring. With a flying leap, the 80 pound [36 kg], naked door beater landed on Sid's stomach with his arms wrapped around Sid's neck and his legs wrapped around Sid's waist. "What'cha do big fella; set the cabin on fire?" Sid asked the boy as Christopher's Senior girls came out the door and onto the porch both carrying a bath towel.

"Not yet Uncle Sid; he had to get another shampoo for head lice. This is the third time this summer!" Jill told the Councilor. "Not surprising, he's always playing with the muppets in Camp Kenny. I guess it just comes with the territory." Sid replied as he stared into Christopher's jet black hair. "And what about last nights overnight?" Claire asked the man as she dried the boys hair. "Shit! You ain't trying to blame my horses for this are you? Have you ever heard of a case of a horse with head lice?" Sid asked. "What about the Intermediate boys?" Jill asked. "Well that's possible; you know how filthy dirty your Uncle Adam keeps them boys." Sid replied.

As Adam shook his head and the girls giggled while they finished drying Christopher's back and legs, Gloria and Johanna pulled up with the carts to begin an afternoon staff meeting. "Let's have you girls take the little one's over to Christopher's playground. They can play in the sandbox." Bert told the Senior girls as he came out onto the porch.

"Timmy wanted to go swimming." Gloria replied as she gave Bert a kiss and handed him the 4 year old. "Christopher is restricted for the afternoon. If Timmy wants to go swimming, we can split the group if you want." Bert said as he took the boy and gave him a hug. "Why is he restricted?" Johanna asked as she mounted the steps with Sidney Bertram in her arms. "Martha has found another round of head lice. She's screening Camp Kenny now." Bert replied as he gave the girl a kiss. "Wonderful!" Gloria said as she looked towards Timmy. "We'll take a look Aunt Gloria, if he has them, we'll get him shampooed for you." Jill told the counselor as Gloria smiled at the girls.

With the children playing in the small playground built for Christopher just off to the side of the cabin, the staff went onto the back porch to commence the hastily called meeting concerning Paulie and Spencer. "Has Dr. Lester been brought up to speed with regards to his role as Paulie's Primary Uncle?" Bert asked Sid and Adam. "We explained to him that his role as Paulie's Primary is to be his advocate concerning any request that Paulie has, and to see to it that Paulie's best interests, as Paulie see's them, are met." Sid replied as Dr. Lester nodded.

"You know of course that what the boys are trying to do, in this case, specifically Spencer, is to stack the deck in their favor." Bert asked the Dr. "So you think it was a political choice on his part?" Dr. Lester asked the Director. "Oh no Doc, I don't think it was a political choice, I KNOW it was a political choice!" Bert replied as the chuckles erupted.

"These innocent little cherubs aren't as innocent as you think they are. They have learned the system, and they're experts at ways to ensure it falls in their favor. By claiming you as his Primary Uncle for Paulie, Spencer feels that he has locked-out any serious opposition to their plans." Bert said as he sat down with his drink.

"So what's the plan?" Sid asked. "We have a conference call coming in from the Vineyard. I gave them a head's up on the conversation, and what we know at this point is that Paulie's plans are set in concrete. He's returning to the Vineyard and he's going back to school next week. Whatever plans are made, Paulie's plans to become a doctor like all his brothers aren't up for negotiation or alteration." Bert told the group.

"What about David? Is he still talking about going to school with Paulie?" Jeannie asked. "Since we've returned from the Vineyard, we haven't really spoken about it, but the majority of his time is spent with the Transitional boys and the mafia. He and Paulie spend a lot of their daylight time in the Infirmary helping, but at night they're either in the cove or in Charlie's cabin." Thomas said.

All eyes now looked at Charlie. "None of them really talk about up north, they eat, sleep and play as a unit. If you see one, you see all of them, and nobody's been packing their bags, not even Paulie." He said to the staff. "I do think however that if we lose David and Spencer, we're going to have our hands full with Jesse."

Bert nodded his head as he sat back in his chair deep in thought. While all the children of Green Tree were very special to his staff and himself, they were now discussing the possibility that 3 of the most protected and beloved of them would be going away to school all at once. Not the least of his problems was going to be Spencer, who was arguably one of the most protected boys when it came to the staff.

"What we're all going to have to do is to remember our Primary Goal." Bert finally said.

"Sooner or later we have to let go and send them out into the world, and sometimes that time comes when they are ready and we're not. Everybody out there in the big world gives lip service to that tired old phrase "The best interest of the child", and we just can't afford to do that. If they're ready to venture away from the nest, than we have to support and facilitate that goal and let them go. If it doesn't work, we haul them back and try again later, but we all know that all 3 of them can function out there if that's what they want to do." Bert told the group.

"We've never sent them out this young before. I don't remember anybody who was younger than 16. They have no support out there besides themselves." Gloria said.

"The Andover School graduated 3 of my brothers. Whenever any of them had a problem, the staff was always right there for them. Besides, if David is going, we intended to put them up in a rental house with my brother Steven. Three of my brothers families live within 30 minutes of them, and they'll be returning to the Vineyard on the weekends with Dora. They'll also have The New Hampshire School less than an hours car ride away from them." Thomas told the group.

"The school will know the boys are Geppetto?" Johanna asked. "Absolutely not! There's no reason for them to know, and we'll keep it that way." Bert replied.

"And what happens if the boys are discovered in somebody else's pants?" Sid asked.

"Then the school will have to assume they're normal sexual human beings and deal with it the same way they've dealt with it for over 230 years now. I somehow doubt that our boys will be the first to be found in another boys bed." Bert replied.

As Sid rocked in his chair watching the children playing outside, Gloria quietly observed the man. "What do you think Uncle Sid? Will the boys be able to pull it off?" she asked. Sid smiled somewhat and sat back in his chair. "If all 3 of them stick it out, they'll pull each other through. We can have Barry keep close tabs on them until they get their footing, but if one of them gets cold feet, he may drag the others back home with him." Sid replied.

"In that case, they are told ahead of time that the door is always open. They just need to know up front that Paulie's educational plans are made, and they will not be altered." Bert replied as the phone rang and Jeanette answered it.

"The Andover School is quite liberal when it comes to their students sexuality, but it would be pressing the issue for us to expect them to condone open sexual activity between our children and the rest of the population. Paulie and David together we could deal with, but all 3 of them together would open a Pandora's box of activity in the other boys that their parents most probably would never accept in them and they'd be looking for scapegoats to blame their sons behavior on." Stuart began the conversation on speaker phone from Massachusetts. "If all three of them come, we'll have to set them up in a private house in Andover. They could attend school as day students." He said.

"We have another possible wrinkle in the mix; if David and Spencer go North, there's a good chance Jesse will want to join them. He's older than David and Spencer, but he's joined at the hip to them and isn't going to like the idea of their leaving without him." Bert told the men up in Martha's Vineyard.

"Having one additional boy in the house makes no difference to us, the only question is going to be how comfortable your people are going to be with both Paulie and David's eventual steerage towards heterosexuality. As Physicians, they would have a very difficult career being openly gay. There are certainly fields of medicine they could go into, but it's a very limited selection, and we've always kept our private and professional lives completely separated for obvious reasons." Stuart told the group. "We completely understand Paulie's attraction towards Spencer, you'd have to be blind not to see the boys physical attraction. We see no harm in their interactions with each other now, but Paulie's already been encouraged now for a year to become acquainted with girls, and hopefully, leave his attraction and preference for boys behind him as he matures."

"Your goals concerning the boys doesn't differ from our philosophy, we have no wish to send out exclusively gay children into the world, they have enough handicaps to deal with without compounding their problems." Bert replied. "As far as Spencer is concerned, we believe that he will sexually mature when the time comes, as we believe David and Jesse will. However, if they have no internal desire to join the straight world, we won't and can't stop them from becoming whoever they are." Bert said as Sid nodded his head.

"Our philosophy and yours concerning the children doesn't differ in the slightest. We just want everyone, including Spencer, to be aware that the goal is for Paulie and David to become Doctors and hopefully to contribute to our family tree as it was originally envisioned." Stuart replied.

"We've had a pretty good batting average evaluating which boys will gravitate towards the girls and which will prefer to play on familiar turf. We're all agreed that Spencer, David and Jesse, if Jesse chooses to stay with David and Spencer, will gravitate towards the skirts, but that doesn't mean they won't follow in their mentors footsteps." Sid said.

"They were raised openly, and there's no reason to believe they won't raise their children

in the same way."

"OK, so where do we go from here? We're leaving the Vineyard right after lunch tomorrow, and we should be there just before Dinner. There will be 3 of us and Matthew from the New Hampshire School. We've promised the children that we'll be back by Tuesday evening. Is that schedule going to be a problem?" Stuart asked.

"Not from this end. We're set for 6:00 in the O.R., and Sid should be upstairs in his room by noon or so." Thomas told his brothers.

"And he's been his cheery, co-operative self all this time?" Michael asked as Sid shook his head and smiled somewhat. "Piece of cake! I'm use to being sliced up once a month." He said as muffled chuckles broke out on both sides of the phone line.

"As far as our people are concerned, you're in for a family visit to Thomas, David and Paulie unless you personally know different. None of the children, including David and Paulie, know anything about Tuesday. The staff that doesn't already know will be told Monday night, so keep any talk of the operation off the table unless you're in known company." Bert instructed the men in the Vineyard.

"You're not telling your staff until Monday night?" Michael asked. "Our children are extremely sensitive about what's going on around them. If we told the staff earlier, even some of the youngest will be able to tell that something's different. The children will be told Tuesday morning that Sid will be back home on Wednesday, which will minimize any stress on them." Bert told the group.

"Two days? That's pushing it a little." Michael replied. "Actually it's one day. We hope to get him home by Wednesday lunch." Bert said. "The Oncologist is going to go along with that?" Stuart asked. "He's one of our people from the Project. He'll be staying with us until Friday and then fly back to Boston." Bert replied.

"Paulie starts the new school year next Monday. Is he ready to come back with us when we return?" Steven now asked the group. "I haven't sat him down yet and discussed it with him Steven." Thomas told his brother. "There's going to be discussions with all 3 boys tonight following Bivouac." He said. "We'll know where everybody stands when you get here and we can sit down and figure out how to deal with it."

With the call to the Vineyard finished, the meeting broke up with Sid and Adam going to have a discussion with Jesse and Thomas sitting down with David, Paulie and Spencer.

Once the staff reached the front porch, Timmy, Kenny and Christopher bolted from the playground. "Somebody steal your clothes?" Sid asked Timmy and Kenny as the toddlers reach the steps of the cabin. "Once Christopher decided he was going to play in the sandbox naked, they both decided to strip." Jill said. "They've been playing "Bury the Pee-pee." Claire told the staff as the toddlers giggled. "We've been trying to explain to them why Christopher is getting erections when he doesn't play like the rest of the kids, but I don't think they really understand it. As a matter of fact, neither do we Uncle Bert." She told the Administrator.

"Since Christopher's testicles never descended from his inguinal canals, and nobody ever bothered to correct that situation, he no longer has the ability to make semen. He's sterile and he has no sexual libido. Just because he attains erections doesn't mean he's ready to play like the rest of the boys, it just means his penis was stimulated and the nerve bundles that control erections reacted involuntarily like it does when boys have to go pee." Bert explained.

"What your Uncle is trying to say is that you have to think of Christopher like a golf cart with no battery. It's there, but it's not going to run like it's supposed to." Sid said. "How come you don't just put in a new battery?" 4 year old Timmy asked. "Batteries work for you because you aren't allergic to them. They don't work for Christopher, because he is allergic to them." Sid explained. "Oh" Timmy said as he looked at Christopher quizzically.

"Do you really think he understood what you were trying to tell him?" Bert asked Sid as the group of men walked to the cove as the camp lake began to fill with activity. "He has a better chance of understanding dead batteries than inguinal canals and un descended testicles." Sid said as the rest of the men chuckled.

The walk back to the cove would take 10 minutes or so, and the 80 degree balmy weather made the trip that much more enjoyable as screams of "Watch me Uncle Bert" reverberated across the lake from campers involved in swimming, boating, skiing, diving and flying off the high trapeze. The kitchen staff were already setting the tables and cooking grills out for bivouac, and the senior boys were busy at work setting up the trash barrels and sound system. Dinner was going to be its usual Saturday night party time, but with Sid going into the hospital on Tuesday, he had plans to make the next 3 days a "Last fling" of sorts, and this was the calm before the storm.

Carla awoke as the last notes of General Swim rang in her ears and it took her a few long seconds before she recognized the rafters on the back porch of the cabin and figured out that the noises she was hearing came from the lake. She knew she was sandwiched betweens someone's legs, and that someone's left thigh was pressed against her left cheek, and somewhere around her right ear, that same somebody's genitals had become her pillow. "What's that water on my tummy?" She now asked as she felt a wetness slowly making its way down her side. "That ain't water, Matty is drooling on you." Jeremy said as the boy lifted himself off the floor and looked at Matty who was still asleep lying on Carla's stomach.

"General Swim just went off. Is you going swimming?" Benji asked Carla as he stood over the girl. Carla opened her eyes as she wiped her side off and dried her hand on Matty's back. "I guess so. Where's Jeannie?" she asked as she looked straight up at Benji's naked form standing over her. "She's sittin on the toilet." Benji replied as he patted Matty on the ass. "C'mon Matty, the bugle blew already!" Benji told the boy.

Matty slowly turned his body around and stretched straight out as he yawned deeply. "Wow! Your dick sure is red. What'cha been doin?" Benji asked as Matty took his erection in his hand to cover up. "I ain't been doin nothing stupid! I been asleep, right Carla?" Matty stated emphatically as he sat up and crossed his legs. Carla nodded her head as she lifted her head off the quickly hardening penis under her ear. "He just got's a piss boner. See?" She asked as she grabbed Sammy's steadily rising penis and wrapped her hand around the shaft.

As both Benji and Jeremy giggled, Sammy's hips came off the porch floor as the awakening boy stretched out. He didn't have a clue who was holding his penis, but it really didn't matter; it was being held firmly and it was warm, so whosever's hand it was, that was good enough for him. "I gotta go." Sammy said as his eyes began to focus.

"Not if Carla starts playin with your dick!" Benji said as he giggled once again and his own penis began to respond to the activity. "I'd rather fuck in the lake. Let's go swimming!" Carla exclaimed as she peeled down Sammy's foreskin and put her thumb over Sammy's tip just in case the boy decided to let go.

"Are you guys going swimming, or are you going to start another party?" Etienne asked as the Junior Counselor stuck his head in the doorway of the porch. Benji immediately headed for the arms of the counselor. "They wanna go swimming. I'll play with you if you want." The boy said with a dimpled smile as he was lifted off the ground and put on Etienne's hip. Even if the boy didn't have a substantial erection for an 8 year old, the heat from the boys groin sitting on the counselor's hip bone told the counselor that Benji was fully ready for play time. Etienne smiled very knowingly as he kissed the tip of the boys nose. "One of my very favorite play times is with you my little munchkin, but there are dozens of boys already in the cove, and I'm on Swim Watch until your Uncle's get back from their meeting with Uncle Bert. If you want, I will make you happy, but I have to get out on the Rock." Etienne told the boy as he kissed his nose once again. The child looked down at his penis that was fairly crushed between his body and the counselor's as it stood at attention. Benji knew the offer was to be quickly masturbated to relieve the sexual tension that had built up inside the boy during his nap. "No, I'd rather play." The boy said

with a dimpled smile as he flexed his penis against the counselor's warm body.

Etienne smiled and hugged the boy tightly as he shifted him to his stomach and wrapped his arms under Benji's bottom. "I'll see you guys out in the cove. If you aren't taking a lake swim, stay in the cove or go up to the pool to swim. I don't want to have to go searching for you all over camp for Return to Quarters." The counselor told the remaining campers. "What's happening tonight?" Carla asked as she began to get up off the floor. "Saturday Night Bivouac, and then Bonfire. We have some very special guest's coming tomorrow, and they'll be here for the weekend." The counselor replied. "What kinda guest's?" Sammy asked as he pissed off the back porch through the screening. "Very Special guest's. They are mostly Thomas's and Uncle Paulie's brothers, but Matthew from the New Hampshire School will also be here." Etienne told the children.

"Are they Outside Uncle's like Uncle Paulie?" Benji immediately asked. "Your Uncle Bert will have to make that decision, I don't know what their status is." The counselor replied knowing full well what the ramifications were. "What does that mean? If they're Uncle Thomas's and Uncle Paulie's brothers, they must be Outside Uncle's just like they are, Right?" Carla asked. "Not necessarily. Uncle Bert will tell us what they are before they get here." He said as he patted Benji on the bottom. "I have to get out to the Rock, If you have any more questions, they'll have to wait until we get out there." He said as he headed for the front door with Benji firmly wrapped around his neck.

General Swim on most days saw about 2 dozen of the mafia swimming in the cove, with the rest on the lake either in boats or water skiing. On this Labor Day weekend however, the previous nights campout had all of the mafia running late from their Rest Period nap, and with all boats taken except for the boats already in the cove, the cove was "Full" including the addition of Charlie's cabin of transitional boys. By the time Adam, Sid, Barry, Kevin and Dr. Lester arrived in the cove, it was a seething mass of foam and skinny dipping campers.

Sid surveyed the scene with the critical eye of an Administrator as he walked along the cart path at the waters edge. "How are things going Morgan?" Sid asked a Senior boy as the boy stood on the seat of his jet ski looking through his binoculars. "There are no problems Uncle Sid, There's four or five kids under the willow that we can't see, but it's shallow in there anyway." The boy replied smiling. "What's the coverage?" Adam asked. "Uncle Dan has four of us on duty just for the cove, and there's Uncle Etienne and Greg on the Rock. Uncle Charlie's guys are coming over too, so we have another five Senior Swimmers on the way." He replied. "What about the twins?" Dr. Lester asked. "Uncle Dan put Alexander on them, one-on-one. They still got their vest's on, but they're both swimming like fish." The boy replied as he pointed to a boy in a rowboat. Doctor Lester nodded as he spied both boys in the water a few yards from their lifeguard.

Barry shook his head and chuckled to himself as the men continued on their way to Adam's cabin. "That reminds me of the swimming hole we found in Big Sur." He said as he looked at Sid. "Remember when we took the hike with Uncle Kenny and his friend from Rhinebeck and found all those hippies skinny dipping?" Sid smiled broadly as he looked out on the scene of the cove that had close to 4 dozens kids frolicking in the water.

"As I recall the hippies were a lot older, but just as bare-assed, naked and happy." Sid replied. "At least they were until this little boy kept swimming amongst them with a four inch [10 cm] erection staring at them constantly." Barry replied. "Four inches my fucking ass! It was at least 6 inches [15 cm] as I recall, and what the fuck did you expect me to do; the girls had tits!" Sid replied defensively. "The tits were real, but those 6 inches [15 cm] were only in your imagination." Barry told his friend. "If you believe Sid, he had to use a wheelbarrow in college to wheel his dick around."

"What's so funny?" Carla asked as both girls stood on some limbs halfway up a lakeside willow tree. All five men stopped and looked up. Both girls had on ankle bracelets, a belt of beads around their waists and a long necklace of beads and stones around their necks. Nothing more. From the lack of tan lines, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this was their usual mode of dress. "Hey Pocahontas, what are you two up to?" Bert asked the girls. "We're playing hide and seek. What's so funny?" Carla repeated. "Uncle Adam just told us he bought you two a whole new wardrobe for the Fall, and you were wearing it." Sid told the girls. "Is that the new Fall lineup?" he asked.

"What new clothes? We ain't seen no new clothes." Jeannie said as she grabbed the limb over her head and began swinging her lower body. Bert shook his head. "You are aware of the policy concerning the children sustaining any injury's I hope. She fall's out of that tree and breaks her neck and I'll dock a thousand dollars from your pay." He said to Adam. "What policy?" Sid asked. "The one I just made which goes for you too!" Bert replied as he looked once more at Jeannie and turned to leave.

"What dock? There ain't no dock around here!" Carla said to Adam. "Never mind sweetheart; just be careful up there or you two will be the ones who have to listen to your Uncle Bert giving you safety lessons for the next three weeks." Adam told the girls.

As the men arrived at the cabin, Thomas arrived along with Charlie and the boys from his cabin; Paulie, Spencer, David, Jesse and Bobby. Dr. Lester silently shook his head as he watched his grandson inter-act with his new friends and his brand new environment. The shy, retiring 15 year old that Bobby was just a few short weeks ago was history. While he still had the shortest hair among the Green Tree boys, his tan was the same rich brown, and it went from the tip of his head to the tops of his feet. Dr. Lester had seen his grandson naked before, but only in a bathing or physical exam situation, and even then, the boys face was beet red and his hands covered his genitals whenever possible.

Now, he was as naked as the rest of the boys with him, and he could have cared less.

"Are you coming swimming too Poppy/" The boy asked his grandfather as he gave the man a hug. "I probably will, but I thought you and I could have some private time and talk." Dr. Lester replied as he gave the boy a kiss. "About what?" Bobby asked. "Well,

about how you're adjusting to Max for one thing. I notice you haven't had it on lately." The Dr. replied. "That's OK Poppy, he only uses Max when he's in school. When he ain't in school, we just all play together!" Jesse said as Bobby nodded his head in agreement.

"Jesse, if I'm not mistaken, Dr. Lester is asking for Private Time with his grandson." Bert admonished the boy. "Oh, sorry. You can have Private Time with Bobby if you want to Uncle Poppy." Jesse told the Doctor. Doctor Lester smiled deeply and rubbed Bobby's hair. "You have nothing to be sorry for Jesse, if Bobby has no special problems he wants to talk about, I'm more than happy for him to join his friends in the lake if that's what he wants to do." He told Jesse. "He got's no problems, we're all making sure he's happy. Once he starts getting his periods, he won't even care about that anymore!" Jesse replied.

"Period? I don't want to rain on your parade Jesse, but boys don't menstruate." Sid said to the boy. "We know that Uncle Sid, we just call it "Getting your period" when a boy first starts making milk." David told the Assistant Director as the rest of the boys, including Bobby, giggled. "Yeah, Bobby ain't making milk yet, but he is drooling. When we started to drool, we got's milk pretty quick just like Uncle Adam and you told us we would. Remember Uncle Adam?" Jesse asked.

"I recall telling you that your body produced pre-cum just prior to your being able to produce sperm, but I don't recall saying anything about periods, drooling or milk being involved." Adam replied. "That stuff all sounds too dumb Uncle Adam! We ain't going to walk around using words like puberty, ejaculation or sperm. Why should we call our balls "Testicle's" when all they really is is balls anyway?" Spencer now asked. "Good point!" Sid said as he entered the cabin. "Bar's open."

"For your sakes, I'm hoping you're teaching them that there's a time and a place to use colorful terms for their body parts and activities. If they use the wrong term at the wrong time, then the girls are going to be coming for you, because that's who I'm blaming this shit on!" Bert told his staff.

Dr. Lester smiled and watched as his grandson went running into the lake and dove into the water alongside the rest of Charlie's boys. "Is he really producing pre-cum?" He asked Charlie. "At first I thought he was just leaking a few drops of urine in his briefs when he put them into the laundry. Two nights ago, he was watching Paulie and Spencer having play time. He's definitely leaking like a faucet; I'd say he's less than a week away from puberty." The counselor reported. "Does he just watch, or is he participating too?" The Doctor asked. "There's no such thing as "Just watching" with our boys Doctor. Bobby was watching Paulie and Spencer only because the rest of the boys were using his pre-cum as lubricant. Once everybody was "Greased up" as they call it, he was right in the middle of the party." Charlie told the man as he chuckled. "Don't worry about Bobby, when he reaches puberty, he'll hit the floor running."

"He's certainly a changed boy from the one I met just a few short months ago." Barry told the Doctor. "When he first came to the New Hampshire School, he even showered with his underpants on. Except in the Mess Hall, I don't think I've seen him anything else but naked here." Barry said chuckling. Bert nodded his head as he watched the boys too.

"So what are we going to have if Spencer and Jesse leave along with David?" he asked.

"Once he's joined the rest of the squirters, he's going to be looking for boys his own age to play with. I don't think that's going to happen until he grows a rug to go along with all the plumbing, but we all know that once he stops shooting blanks, the rug ain't too far behind." Sid replied. "And in the meantime?" Bert asked. "In the meantime, we keep him with our bald little friends in the mafia. He may be chronologically 15, but his dick is still too small to scare any of the mafia away." Sid said as he took a drink of his beer. "You think that's possible?" Adam asked. "You're right; if they don't run away from Charlie "The horse", they ain't running away from nobody." Sid said with a grin. "Fuck you!" Charlie replied as the laughter reverberated across the lake.

"What are they laughing about?" Sammy asked as Charlie's boys made it onto the rock.

"They're talking about Bobby getting his period and stuff." Jesse replied as he climbed up onto the rock's ledge and rested. "Bobby got's his period?" Trevor asked excitedly. "No stupid, they was just talking about it." David replied. "Oh." Trevor replied with a decidedly disappointed tone as he looked at Bobby genitals. "What's the rule on calling people stupid?" Etienne now asked as the junior counselor watched the boys swimming.

"Sorry Uncle Etienne." David replied as he dove off one of the diving boards.

"When you was a boy Uncle Etienne, how long after you started drooling did you get milk?" Bobby asked. "I didn't keep a diary or anything, but as I recall, I started to make sperm about a week or two after I started to make pre-cum." The counselor replied. The question had been asked many times by the boy in the past week or so, and every time, it was met with a small reassuring smile from the boy. He was tired of being the only 15 year old not being able to lay on his back and shoot a stream 2 to 3 feet up towards the ceiling and have it come arching back down with a splat, and that was his goal. Without a word, he headed for the diving board just a little more at peace with his body.

"Are you going swimming?" Sid asked Bert as the men on the porch finished their drinks. Bert shook his head as he looked out towards the rock. "I'd like to, but I haven't been up on the hill since this morning, and the little one's are getting a little antsy according to Jeanette." He replied. "Let's have Paulie and Spencer at my cabin with both their teams after Intermediate taps. We can't make any plans until the Vineyard crew get here, but we can get a pretty good idea of where the boys are heading with this thing." Bert told the men.

"What about Jesse?" Sid asked. "It's going to be a team decision, but I don't feel comfortable seeing him go up there. If Spencer wants to leave the nest, it should be encouraged as long as we make sure he has back-up and an open door to return to the nest with no questions asked. I just would feel a little more comfortable if Jesse had a little more flying time under his belt." Bert told his Assistant. "I think he would really like to go right now, because that's the talk in the cabin. I think it will be a whole different story once he gets up there and he's no longer surrounded by a few hundred very familiar faces, and a security blanket wrapped around him that's never really been absent in his life." Sid replied as he watched Jesse out on the rock jump off the diving board with both twins wrapped around his chest. Bert nodded his head and patted Sid on the shoulder. "After we get through this week-end, we can sit down and talk about sending him up North on extended trips. When he's ready, we'll know it." Bert said to his friend.

As Sammy watched his counselors walking out to the rock with the large cooler floating along with them, he noticed Bert riding his cart up the path with Dr. Thomas. "Where's Uncle Bert going Uncle Adam? Ain't he going swimming with us?" the boy shouted.

"Christopher is up in the pool swimming and Uncle Bert wants to check up on him." Adam replied as he approached the rock. Sammy watched with a growing number of dripping wet campers as the men lifted the cooler up onto the rocks ledge. "No soda?" Trevor asked as the boy lifted the lid and inspected the contents of the cooler.

"No, bivouac is near, and you can fill up then with all the soda you want." Sid replied as the man lifted himself up on the rock. "No fair! You gots all the beer you want, all we gots is water, and juices!" Joey complained to a chorus of "Yeah" from the rest of the group. "Life's not fair my furry little friend, but you don't see me complaining, do you?" Sid asked the boy as he took a beer out of the cooler. The boys giggled as Joey looked down at his genitals. "I ain't got no fur!" he exclaimed. "Well, when you grow some, you'll be able to drink all the soda you want to." Sid replied as he sat down on the rock.

As Adam sat down, Sammy straddled his leg as the boy drank some lemonade. "When Uncle Paulie's brothers gets here, where are they gonna sleep?" Sammy asked. "I don't know yet, but I assume some will sleep with Uncle Thomas and some will sleep in Uncle Charlie's cabin with Paulie." Adam replied. "Why do you ask?"

"We was just wondering. Uncle Paulie's brothers is outside uncle's just the same as you and Uncle Thomas ain't they?" Sammy asked with a dimpled smile. Adam looked at Sid who shot a look to Barry. "You figuring on finding yourself a new Outside Uncle, sport?" Sid asked Sammy. Sammy giggled and slid his body up towards Adam's chest. "Don't be silly Uncle Sid, I gots my Outside Uncle. Some of the other kid's just wanted to know." Sammy replied as he laid against Adam. Sid looked around the rock, and was fairly well assured that the conversation was being closely monitored by the other boys.

"Lets have a seat guys, and we'll see if we can't explain what's going to be happening in the next few days." Sid told the boys. One by one, the boys came closer and sat down while each one insisted that they weren't the one interested in the new visitors.

"It's perfectly natural for you to be wondering what's going on with the new visitors, and I'm sure your Uncle Bert is going to explain everything to you before they come, but I think I can answer a lot of your questions in the meantime." Sid began as Trevor slipped into Sid's lap and the big man wrapped his arms around the boy. "They are outside uncles, but they're not the same as Uncle Adam or Uncle Peter. They're not even the same as Uncle Bert. They will be here from time to time, and it's even possible that you'll get to go North to spend some vacation time up on Block Island with me and Uncle Barry, where you'll see them again, but they won't be around you on a permanent basis like you are use to outside uncles being. They can't be taken by any of you as an outside uncle, because they won't be available to you on a permanent basis like Adam, or Peter."

Sid told the boys. "So we can't play with them?" Trevor asked.

Sid shook his head and smiled a bit, and kissed the back of Trevor's head. "I don't know whether they play like we do anymore or not, but that will be a decision between you and them. The same rules apply; No means no and it doesn't matter if that no comes from you or from them." Sid said. "Jesse says they know that we're Geppetto boys, so they know we fuck. Do we gotta pretend we don't?" Matty asked. "The whole world fucks Matty, we just don't have to put on a full blown party in front of them to prove it."

"Yeah, even Uncle Adam was jerkin off in the bathroom when he first came, member?" Sammy said.

"Be very careful what you do and say around these brats, Poppy. They have excellent memories and if you do something that might embarrass you, you can bet your bottom dollar it will be brought back up at every opportunity to cause maximum humiliation." Adam said as he stood up with Sammy still wrapped in his arms and threw the squealing boy into the water as his friends laughed.

"Don't mind him Doctor, he's a might touchy about his love life before coming to Green Tree. Seems the only way the boy could get any satisfaction was by bopping the bologna. We think we've helped to cure him of that disgusting habit." Sid said as the boys laughter only increased. "Uncle Adam use to get boners all the time in the shower. He don't do that no more unless we touch his dick." Matty volunteered.

Adam reached for the boy and turned him upside down. Holding the boy now around his waist by one arm, Adam began tickling him. 2 years earlier, Matty was probably the most timid member of the cabin, and rarely interacted with Adam. He had arrived at Green Tree with a severe speech impediment at age 4, and became the constant companion of his best friend, Chris. Now, his impediment was largely gone unless the boy was under stress, and while not a social gadfly like Sammy, he was most certainly out of his shell and thriving with Adam.

Screeching in laughter, both Adam and Matty hit the water as Adam jumped off the rock with him. "You will all kindly observe who has the boner now!" Adam said as he and Matty got back on the rocks ledge and Adam held the boy up sporting a pink erection that stuck straight out from his stomach for about 3 inches [7½ cm]. "No fair! You tickled my balls!" Matty exclaimed as he tried to reach Adam's genitals.

For the next half hour or so, the level of activity on and around the cove increased as the counselor's engaged the boys in "Chicken fights" and horseplay. Dr. Lester watched the scene as boys flew through the air after being tossed by one counselor or another. With special interest, the Dr. watched the twins as well as his grandson Bobby. There was no doubt in his mind that for all 3 boys, the choice of Green Tree for them was the perfect choice. Completely gone was Bobby's meek behavior and his fears of inadequacy about himself. Before the Dr. was a boy extremely happy and comfortable in his situation.

As for the twins, prior to coming to Green Tree, they were inseparable. Mutually dependant upon each other, they were now venturing further and further apart as they grew in confidence and secure in their new home.

"It's positively amazing what you people can do with a child. As a profession, we dream about trying to find and train people to be able to deal with special needs children, and here, it's almost second nature to you." Dr. Lester said to Kevin as the two watched from the rock. "When the Albemarle School was closed and we were assigned here, we were almost paralyzed with fear. Not so much the boys, but certainly the staff. It took them less than a week to turn our boys into Green Tree boys, and almost two weeks to turn us into Green Tree staff. I've heard that there were still problems with our people in Alabama six month's after they arrived." Kevin replied. Dr. Lester nodded his head. "We were working on adjustment problems in 3 of the 4 schools we sent the Albemarle students and faculty to, the only one we didn't need to deal with was Green Tree.

Bert's report's stated that a lot of the reason why was because of your personal guidance and support of the move to both your staff and the boys." Dr. Lester told Kevin. "I didn't know that." Kevin replied. "The files are full of reports from both Bert and Sid. They hold you in very high regard, which was apparent almost from the beginning." The Dr. said.

Kevin smiled as he threw a boy off the rock who was pestering him for the throw.

"That came of course after they dragged me out of the closet?" Kevin asked. "If there was a closet, there was nothing about it in the reports. Maybe you accessed the situation too harshly regarding yourself?" the Dr. asked. "Oh no! We were all in the closet, and neither Bert nor Sid was going to allow us to stay there. Probably that was why the other placements had more difficulty?" Kevin asked. Dr. Lester smiled and chuckled a bit.

"I'll take another look at the files when I get back, maybe I missed something." He said.

The bugler blowing Return to Quarters started an almost instant evacuation of the water. Normally, the boys would slowly drift out of the lake and back into their cabins, but on Saturdays, it was time to prepare for Bivouac. The attraction isn't so much the food served on the beach, but the picnic atmosphere, the music, and especially the fact that the whole camp was interacting together. All week the ages and sexes were separated for the most part, but Saturdays and Sundays they all came together. For the Intermediate boys camp, the attraction was their former caretakers, the female staff who raised them.

"Aunt Gloria and Aunt Jeanette said we could go berry picking with them after dinner Uncle Adam. Do we got's extra batteries?" Sammy asked as Adam washed Sammy's back in the showers. "Yes, we have extra batteries." Adam asked as he emphasized the "Have" which Sammy promptly ignored. "Isn't it a little late for berries?" Adam asked.

"We ain't got strawberries and cherry's, but we can still find blueberries and blackberries." Sammy replied as Adam bent him over and washed his bottom. Adam shook his head as he scrubbed down the back of Sammy's legs and then moved Matty into place.

"Can we go too?" Benji asked as Dr. Lester shampooed the boys hair. "Sure! Does Uncle Poppy know how to find berries?" Sammy asked. "It ain't easy, ya gotta look for just the right leaves cause you can't see the berries till you get close to them." He replied knowingly. "Do ya Poppy?" Gavin asked as the twin stood by waiting for his turn to have his hair washed by the Doctor. Dr. Lester smiled somewhat. I think I might be able to remember how to pick berries again. I picked them in the woods in Maine and New Hampshire with my children when they were little, but I don't think I've forgotten what a blueberry or blackberry bush looks like." He said as Adam and Sid smiled. "The woods is full of them Uncle Poppy. Uncle Dave and the Senior boys plant hundred's of them every Spring. You'll be able to find some. If ya can't, we can help you." Matty said as he stuck an unwashed foot in Adam's face. "Can't we Uncle Adam?" the boy asked. "Yes, but I think Uncle Poppy has the berry picking down pat. Where did this cut come from?" Adam asked as he held Matty's foot and inspected the bottom of it. "I stepped on a rock." The boy replied as he tried to balance himself. Adam shook his head. "Rocks are round, they don't cut. This didn't happen from any rock." Adam said as he looked at the wound.

"Jeez Uncle Adam, I don't gotta go to the Infirmary; it don't hurt." Matty said as Adam handed the boy over to Sid. "If I didn't send you to the Infirmary to have Aunt Sarah look at this, do you have any idea what your Aunt Johanna would do to me?" Adam asked the boy smiling. "Besides, if you need any medication or shots, Uncle Sid will volunteer to take the shot first, just to see if it hurts or not." Adam said as Sid glared at him. Matty looked to Sid as Adam put on a pair of socks on the boy. "Sure I will little pal, and if I'm not sure if it hurts or not, I'll call your good old Uncle Adam to the Infirmary so we can give him a shot and see if it hurts." Sid replied as the boys around him giggled.

"How come I gotta go to the Infirmary if it don't hurt?" the boy asked not completely satisfied with the impending visit. "It's a cut that is deep and it has sand in it that needs to be cleaned out so that it doesn't get infected. You'll be back here in 10 minutes and it will be over." Adam told the boy as he gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"We always know when the mafia is coming down the path. Did the laundry lose all your boys clothing again?" Sarah asked Sid as the screen door opened and a dozen boys followed the man carrying Matty. As the boys giggled, Sid put the boy on an examining table and took off the boys sock. "What's the sense of putting on a pair of shorts when all ya gonna have to do is take them off again?" Sid asked as the giggling increased. Ignoring Sid's remark, Sarah took the boys foot and looked at the cut. "He thinks it happened in the lake." Sid told the Nurse. "Have Uncle Dave do a search. It looks like a glass cut, or something very sharp." Sarah told the Assistant Director as she put the boys foot down. "Do I gotta gets a shot?" Matty asked apprehensively. "Aunt Martha will look up your records. If you do, she is the best shot giver at Green Tree, so you are a very lucky boy." Sarah said as she went for some supplies. "If I gotta gets a shot, Uncle Sid will get one first to see if it hurts." Matty quickly replied. Sarah looked at Sid. "That's my good friend Uncle Adam's bright idea!" Sid said as the children again began to giggle.

"He doesn't need a tetanus shot, he had a booster last fall when he fell off the monkey bars." Martha told Sarah as she looked at the boys medical file. Matty smiled as Sid breathed a sigh of relief. "This isn't going to hurt Matty. It will feel very cold and will numb the area while I get the sand out of the wound." Sarah said as she sprayed the bottom of the boys foot. "What's it feel like?" Chris asked. "It feels like walking in the snow." Matty said as Sarah cleaned out the cut.

"I know it's foreign to the mafia, but I want socks and sneakers on him for 24 hours." Sarah said as she lifted the boy off the table. "He can go swimming, but I don't want to see him barefooted before Monday." She told Sid as he picked Matty up and put him back on his hip for the trip back to the cabin. "Check. Socks and sneakers yes, pants not so necessary." Sid said to the girl. Sarah shook her head as she pointed to the door. "Out!" she said as the boys giggled and waddled back out the door.

"Look Uncle Adam! Aunt Sarah put glue on my cut." Matty said as he took off his sock.

"No shot?" Adam asked as he looked at the bandage covering the cut. "I didn't needs one. I got one when I fell off the monkey bars, remember?" Matty asked his counselor with a dimpled smile. "That doesn't depress you, does it?" Sid asked as he reached for a beer out of the cooler. Adam smiled and chuckled as the boys around the men giggled a bit.

As the bugler blew Assembly, the boys now made a mad dash for the golf carts that would take them to the flagpole and then on to Bivouac. Although none wore shoes except for Matty, shorts, bathing suits and shirts appeared on the boys for the first time that day. Rarely did the boys wear shirts to breakfast or lunch, dinner was always another story, at least for the older campers.

As Adam and Etienne counted heads for the hundredth time that day, the group waited in the 4 carts available to Beechview, Sid's, Adams, Eiteinne's and Dr. Lester's.

"Anybody seen the Bobsy twins?" Sid asked as he sat in his cart. "They can't figure out which earrings to wear." Joey said from the drivers seat. Sid shook his head. "You better get use to waiting boys, this is only the beginning." He replied as he rang the bar of ice cream bells on his cart.

Once Kevin's group of carts appeared at the back of the line, Dr. Lester's cart with Gavin at the helm moved up to join Dan's carts that were waiting. Together, the 8 carts carrying the mafia were ready to make an appearance at the flagpole.

Adam sat back on the rear seat of the cart with Sammy sitting on his lap while Joey drove. Sandwiched in the middle of the line of carts, there wasn't very much trouble Joey could get into, and as long as the cart stayed on the path, Adam relaxed as he held Sammy around the waist. "Is Uncle Poppy going home with Uncle Thomas's brothers, or is he going home later?" Sammy asked his counselor. "I'm pretty sure he's going home next week-end with Uncle Barry, but those plans can change." Adam replied. "Are we ever gonna get the chance to go up there?" Carla asked. "I guess that once Uncle Sid and Uncle Barry's cottage is finished, they plan on having visitors, but the cottage isn't going to be ready until the Spring sometime. Even then, we have to keep in mind that the cottage will need to be shared with the boys at The New Hampshire School." Adam replied. "That's OK, we just want to see them piss clams and throw rocks off the big cliffs that Jesse and David and Spencer told us about. You ever seen them piss clams Uncle Adam?" Jeannie now asked. Adam smiled and chuckled. "Yes, they're very common on the beaches up north, when I was a little boy, we went to the beach and dug for them when we wanted to have a beach picnic." Adam replied. "Jesse says they got dicks exactly like boys do. They even feel the same he says, except they're cold. Is that right?" Carla asked as the boys giggled. "Well, since Jesse is pretty much the expert on dicks around here, I guess he must be right." Adam said as the cart exploded in laughter.

"You boys do know that when assembly blows, it means you come to the flagpole right?" Bert asked as the Mafia all lined up by cabin. "Sorry boss, we had a medical emergency, and then we had to wait for Uncle Poppy to get ready." Sid said as he took Sidney Bertram from Johanna's arms. "What medical emergency?" Bert immediately asked. "A small cut on the foot nothing major." Sid replied. "On whose foot?" Bert asked the man. "Not now boss, don't you know it's time for flagpole?" Sid said as the boys around them giggled.

Bert shook his head as the first bars of "To the colors" was blown and Christopher circled the flagpole expectantly as Bert's Golden Retrievers and Spencer's Cocker Spaniels began barking and jumping around chasing the boy as he reached for the camp flag. Normally, the dogs would stay behind at the cabins, but with dinner being outside, the dogs were allowed to join the meal. Once the flag was down and folded away after being wrestled away from Christopher's grip, the group took the short walk to the beach bivouac area. "What was Sid talking about? I was one of the first in the carts." Dr. Lester said as the men walked. The men all chuckled. "Sid knows that Bert can't bawl you out, so he used you as an excuse. Get use to it, it probably won't be the last time." Dan said as the rest of the group agreed. "And Bert believes him?" The Dr. asked. "Not a chance!" Dave replied as the laughter increased. "But he will pester Sid until he finds out who got hurt. Sid wouldn't fake a medical visit, and Bert knows that." Etienne added.

"Don't worry about it Poppy, this stuff goes on all day long. None of these guys are happy unless they're driving each other nuts." Johanna told the Doctor.

Dinner was known to the boys as a beach picnic, but that name hardly explained the meal. Bivouac was prepared by the kitchen staff in a well organized, choreographed system that enabled the entire camp to eat at once. Except for the Camp Kenny children who ate at tables family style, the food was served buffet style when outdoors and the food ranged from hot dogs and hamburgers to steak, chicken, fish and seafood. Salads and hot and cold entrée's were available by the panload, and vegetables and fruit came in a variety seen usually either at a wedding reception or on a cruise ship during the midnight buffet. This was Dr. Lester's 4th bivouac, and he was as impressed with this one as he was with his 1st.

As the twins brought the man his meal of grilled swordfish, baked potato and green beans, both boys ran back to the buffet to get him some salad and a glass of water as he watched the boys. "It almost seems strange to see them in clothing. Not only the twins, but all of them." He said as a senior boy poured out glasses of wine to the staff. "It will change with the weather; once the Fall gets into full swing, they'll start covering up again." Johanna said as she fed Sidney Bertram small pieces of chicken. "You mean we don't have to look at penises all year long?" Darlene said as Meaghan giggled. "You will unless you intend to chop Sidney Bertram down a notch. You ain't planning on giving him a Bris are you?" Sid asked from across the table. "Don't be silly Uncle Sid, Sidney Bertram is different." The 14 year old replied as the table listened. "Are we really going to sit here and discuss this at the dinner table?" Johanna asked Sid in a tone that said "Stop." "No darling, but if she's gonna chop Sidney Bertram's winky off, we need to know about it, don't we?" Sid asked as Darlene rolled her eyes.

By the time the giggling stopped, Bert came over to the table. "How's your foot Matty?" Bert asked the boy. "Fine Uncle Bert, it don't hurt." Matty replied as he smiled at the man displaying a dimpled face. "Good, Aunt Sarah told me you were a very brave boy while she cleaned out the cut. She also told me you returned to the cabin well before the bugle blew Assembly." Bert said as he gave Sid several knocks on his head. With the children laughing, Bert looked at Dan. Before the Administrator could speak, Dan spoke up. "Once the lake bottom is settled back down after dinner, we'll try to find what cut him." Dan said. Bert shook his head. "Don't try, do it." He told his waterfront Director somberly as Dan nodded.

"Where's the shadow?" Sid now asked. "He's eating with Sarah's cabin. He's going to spend an overnight there so we have the cabin for our meeting. Let's meet there after Intermediate Taps." Bert told the staff as heads nodded. "After dinner Paulie, I would like to have Talk Time with you. I would like Thomas to be there too." Bert told the boy. "Let's meet at the Stable's and we can saddle up some horses for a short ride, OK?" Bert asked the boy as eyes enlarged around him. "Us too?" Carla boldly asked the man. Bert smiled and gave Carla a kiss on top of her head. "Not this time Princess, this is Private Talk Time." Bert replied to a chorus of "No fair!"

The children never knew what genre of music Sid would put together for them, it really depends upon his frame of mind at the time, and the mood on campus. During meals, no matter what the mood was, the music always starts off light, usually classical. This night was no different as the very soft refrains of the old Masters played while the children ate and began their usual game of naming the piece within notes of its beginnings. Doctor Lester listened quietly as the boys ticked off the names that even he was not sure of. "Water Music!" half a dozen boys around the table exclaimed at once as a new piece came over the massive speakers that surrounded the picnickers. "By who?" Sid asked as he cut into a prime rib. "Handel!" most of the children around the table replied almost instantly and just as proudly. Sid nodded his head. "Five canteen tickets says you know-it-all's can't name the next piece." He said smiling. Dr. Lester watched the children around the table as their eyes lit up and they stole glances to each other. "Each?" Jesse asked. Sid chewed his meat as he looked around the table at probably 3 dozen children.

"You can't ask anyone not sitting here at this table. If you don't guess, what do I win?"

Sid asked the boys. "No fair! You don't get to win anything, only we do!" Carla exclaimed indignantly. As the staff chuckled, Sid shook his head. "You boys have a strange sense of fairness. Anybody ever tell you that?" Sid asked as the laughter increased.

Once the Handel piece finished, small ears strained to hear the next piece. For a good 3 minutes or so, empty forks sat in the boys hands as they listened intently. "It's Bach." David finally said. All eyes now shifted to Sid. "Yes, but you have to name it." Sid said.

As Doctor Lester sat there completely impressed, the boys now started naming different Bach arrangements, and one by one, shaking their heads. "I think it's the Concerto in D Minor for 2 violins and Orchestra" Brian said as he ate. "Listen to the two violins." He told his friends. "Is that in D Minor?" Spencer asked Kevin. "Uncle Kevin is a staff member, you have to figure that out." Sid told the boys. "Bullshit! You said we can't ask anyone not sitting at this table. Uncle Kevin is sitting at this table!" Jesse told Sid. "The boy has a point there Sid, Kevin is sitting at this table." Adam said with a smile.

"That little stunt cost me over $150.00 You do realize I intend to pay you back don't you?" Sid asked Adam as the last of the children headed for the lake and open grassy area's to play.

As the music progressed from Classical to soft rock and the dinner wine gave way to beer and drinks, the staff began to spread out on blankets. During dinner, the larger majority of children were fully dressed. Now, as Dr. Lester watched, the children began to peel off their clothing. Those nearest to the lake were the first, but within 15 minutes or so, the designer clothes gave way to birthday suits with an occasional pair of underpants or a diaper seen on the youngest. With bellies that strained at their sunsuits, both Sidney Bertram and Joshua were halfway between awake and asleep as they nursed off Johanna and Beth. "Aunt Helen said that when we grow up, we'll be able to have our own babies. Is the Institute going to let us?" Darlene asked Dr. Lester. "There's no reason that you can't have a baby, we just have to make sure that we use an egg that has been donated from a non Geppetto girl, and inseminate it with a non Geppetto's boys sperm." The Dr. replied. "How are we gonna find them?" Meaghan asked. The Dr. Smiled along with the counselor's sitting around the blankets. "There are always plenty of students at Harvard and Boston University who will donate their eggs and sperm if we call for volunteers. When the time comes, you just need to tell us, and we can find the donors." Dr. Lester replied. "How are you gonna get the sperm from the boy?" Meaghan wanted to know.

"The same way the boys here get sperm from themselves. A little cup, a little imagination, and a few minutes in the bathroom alone, and poof, we have sperm." The Dr. said as Meaghan turned a slight shade of red. "That ain't the way they do it here Uncle Poppy, these boys are never alone when they make sex!" Darlene said.

To the sounds of laughter, children squealing, splashing water and Sid's music which was progressively getting more lively and louder by the tune, Bert picked up Paulie with Dr. Thomas and headed up the cart path to the upper camp and the stables. Paulie watched along the path down towards the lake as it got smaller and smaller as the cart climbed the hill. "When are they going to have to stop swimming, Uncle Bert?" The boy asked. "The lake is open and closed for swimming when the water temperature reaches 65 degrees. When the water temperature falls below 50 degrees, all boating stops and the lake is fenced for the winter." Bert replied as he drove. "What about ice skating and hockey?" Paulie asked. "It doesn't get that cold during the winter for the ice to get thick enough to walk on. Our average winter temperature is 35 to 45 degrees. That's not cold enough." Bert replied.

"So what do they do?" Paulie asked. Bert chuckled. "There's a ton of things for them to do without ice. They hike in the woods, go horseback riding if the weather cooperates, run the 4 wheelers and harvest fire wood from the deep woods. This winter they also have a ton of construction to do on the new canteen and some other buildings, so they will be pretty busy." Bert told the boy.

"I think what Paulie is confused about is the fact that he skated on ice at his school in Raleigh-Durham. That ice came from a pond that was only a few inches thick and wasn't spring-fed which keeps the water warmer likes it does in this lake." Thomas explained to his brother. "But you could make a skating rink." Paulie replied looking at Bert. Bert smiled as he topped the hill and headed for the stables. "I'll add it to the list of things for Dave to do this fall." He said as he chuckled.

Once the horses had their halters put on along with the lambs wool blankets, All three headed out of the corral with Paulie opting to mount his friend David's Belgian mare with her colt "Moochie" prancing not very far away from his mother. Being given the choice of trails to take out to Look-Out Point, Paulie chose the Orange Trail that climbed

along the side of the mountain and periodically wound its way passed a clearing that looked out to the south towards Statesville with Interstate 77 snaking its way through the

countryside headed for Charlotte. For about a half hour, the 3 riders walked out towards the look-out before Bert felt that Paulie was sufficiently comfortable to open up and talk.

"Your brothers are going to be here tomorrow and we need to figure out what everybody's plans are. I'm hearing that Spencer has asked you to be his Outside Uncle. I know what that means according to Green Tree rules, but I'm not sure how it works in your family structure. Can you tell me what it means to you?" Bert asked the boy.

"You know all about my brothers, and how we became brothers. Thomas became a brother to Steven and Steven became a brother to me." Paulie replied. Bert nodded his head.

"But obviously, there's a difference, even in your family, between brother's and Uncle's. You're a brother to David and an Uncle to Spencer now." Bert said.

" It's pretty much the same thing, except that I love David as a brother, but Tom-tom is his Outside Uncle." Paulie explained as best he could.

"How do you see your relationship if you are returning to The Andover School and Spencer is remaining here?" Bert asked. Paulie shrugged his shoulders. "David is coming with me, and he's OK with leaving Tom-tom." He replied.

"David and Spencer are two very different boys, Paulie. David can emotionally separate himself from Thomas and Thomas can most certainly handle the separation without a problem." Bert replied.

"But Spencer was away from here and up north, he was fine!" Paulie replied. "He was "Fine" because he had a security blanket wrapped around him. Uncle Sid, Aunt Jeanette, Thomas, David, Jesse. You have to know by now that Spencer is a very special boy who needs more attention than most of the boys here." Bert told him.

"Has Spencer suggested he go up north?" Thomas now asked his brother. "We talked about it. We also talked about the both of us staying here together." Paulie replied.

Thomas closed his eyes as both men knew they were getting a bit closer to the truth of the boys intentions. "That's a family decision Paulie and it would be directly against the wishes of Marty and Joel. I don't think you're thinking this through rationally. What about David and Dora? Have you considered what happens to them if you can convince Stuart to allow you to give up your medical career?" Thomas asked his brother.

"Spencer wants to stay with me, and I want to stay with him. He loves me Uncle Bert, and I love him. We want to stay together." The boy said as his eyes brimmed. Bert nodded his head as he looked at Thomas.

"When the two of you make love, he kisses you." Bert finally said. "Yes, why?" Paulie asked.

"Because when Spencer kisses someone, it's a whole lot different than when someone kisses their mother, a close relative or even a good friend. Most boys don't like to kiss, some do. Spencer rarely kisses another boy, but when he does, that boy feels his love from the deepest part of his brain to his groin. He makes your head dizzy, gives you butterflies in your stomach and an erection you never felt before in your life." Bert said

as the boy shyly smiled and turned a little pink in the cheeks.

"How did you know that?" Paulie asked. "Because I've heard it described many times by people he has allowed to kiss him and because it's the way I felt once he trusted me enough to be kissed by him." Bert replied.

"Does he kiss a lot of people?" Paulie asked. "No, he is aware of the effect he has on people and he usually reserves them for certain Staff and Anthony of course." Bert said.

"What does it mean?" the boy asked.

"It means that the both of you are working on pure emotion. Something may come of your feelings down the road, and then again, maybe not. We know boys pretty well here at Green Tree, and neither one of you strikes us as opting for a homosexual lifestyle as adults. It really doesn't matter how many boys you play with as a child, nor does it matter what you do with each other right now. Once you reach adulthood, you'll figure out who turns you on and who doesn't." Bert told the boy.

"I know, My Big Brother Marty and Uncle Joel always told all of us that; right Tom-tom?" the boy said as he looked over to his brother riding beside him. "Yes, and I think we know that they were proved right. Do you see yourself growing up differently than our brothers?" Thomas asked. There was a long pause before the boy thought. "No, but that don't mean I won't still love him." He finally replied. "Of course you will, just as much as Marty and Joel loved all of us throughout their lives. But still, we had to grow up and get an education along the way, and that's what they wanted us to do."

"What we need to do is to get together with your brothers and with the members of Spencer's team and figure out how to make everyone happy. I think we both know that your education is pretty much written in stone, so we'll have to come up with some creative solutions. I can't guarantee that Spencer's going North, but if it can be worked out, we'll try." Bert concluded.

The rest of the ride progressed fairly silently except for the sounds of the colt crashing his way into small bushes and rubbing himself against the branches now and then, and the occasional sound of the horses hooves hitting a stone or branch on the trail. Paulie was content watching through the trees as an occasional clear patch of trees allowed a view of the Interstate winding its way towards Charlotte. It was a perfect late summer day, without a trace yet of the trees changing colors.

Back at camp, the weekend was in full swing and as the sun began to set, the music coming from Sid's equipment picked up the pace as it always did, from Classical to Rock. Everybody in camp knew that it would not take much for the Phase Linear 700 amplifier to crank up the music loud enough to bounce off the hillsides and create a "Surround sound" effect with a double bass beat echoing off the mountains that encircles the camp in a cocoon of security and privacy from the outside world.

By 9:30, Sammy and most of the mafia were back in the cove getting ready for bed. Even over the high pitched screams of 16 or so shower takers in Beechview cabin, the very distinctive sound of The Allman Bros. were easily recognizable as the Senior boys and girls continued with their bivouac across the lake.

"They seem to be a little more rambunctious tonight." Dr. Lester said to Adam as both men sat down on the front porch of the cabin. Adam chuckled to himself as he sat back and looked towards to South end of the lake where the Seniors were now alone on the beach with a growing bonfire and music that was getting louder and more raucous as the tunes progressed.

"Sid can always be counted on to get them all fired up. It's been a long evening without playtime for a great many of them, and, they know that Sid has a very special "Finale" planned for tonight as far as the music goes, so they're all juiced up over that prospect."

Adam said with a knowing smile.

"Did the Senior boys up on the cabin roofs have anything to do with that?" The Dr. Asked. Adam nodded his head. "They were mounting the Laser guns that will be used. Sid has enough toys to outfit a pretty large outdoor concert and this week-end is one of the largest parties of the year for the boys. Once they finish having playtime, the real show begins around the lake." Adam replied as he pointed to a small, dark, globe hanging off a thin wire that was stretched across the center of the lake about 50 feet off the water.

"There are 6 Laser guns that will be striking that ball in sync with the music. When they do, it's like the 4th of July from one end of the lake to the other. That's what has the boys so hyper tonight." Adam said.

"He seems to be in a pretty good mood." Dr. Lester said as he heard Sid's laughter come across the water. "He's keeping up a good front, but he's not happy about any of this. I think that if the girls weren't in the picture he would say "Screw it" and ignore the problem." Dr. Lester nodded. "That would lead to him being dead within 5 years. That would be foolish." The Dr. said. "Sid is a strong believer in quality of life, rather than quantity. If he can't live the way he wants, he's not too interested. Death doesn't scare Sid, it's not an argument you can win with that logic." Adam replied.

"Hey Uncle Adam, has the light show started yet?" Jeannie asked as she pushed the screen door open hard enough to slam against the cabin wall. "No sweetheart, the lights are still on in the Mess Hall and Rec Hall." Adam said as the girl plunked herself on top of Adam's lap and handed the counselor her hair brush. "Where are the boys?" he asked as he began brushing out the girl's waist length hair. "They're coming, but they ain't done yet. The twins still ain't done yet because they took off their Max pants and want to fuck the regular way." Carla said as the girl duplicated Jeannie's action with the screen door and sent it flying open. Adam shook his head. "If you guys keep beating that door up like that, your Uncle Dave is going to have to put it back on its hinges for the 5th time this summer." He said as Carla headed for Dr. Lester's open lap. "Nuh-uh Uncle Adam, Uncle Dave had to fix it 6 times already." Carla replied as she scooted herself onto the Doctor's lap without a pause and put her brush in his hand. "Forgive me. Now explain the "Fuck" comment" Adam replied as he shook his head. "What's wrong? There ain't no girls here to get mad." Carla said as she looked around the porch. "My mistake." Adam said as Dr. Lester chuckled.

The nightly routine of brushing out both girls hair after showers had long ceased to be a simple act of grooming for both the girls and whoever was brushing them out, usually Adam and Sid. As both girls leaned back, the brushing become more of a massage than merely getting the tangles out and putting the girls hair up in braids for the night when they wanted them. As Adam parted Jeannie's hair in the middle and moved the girls waist length hair around and down the front of her chest, he put his nose against her scalp. "It smells like coconut." He said. "Aunt Helen brung it to us. It's shampoo." Jeannie replied. "We got's a whole lot of it and they all got's different smells." Carla said. Adam nodded his head as he restrained the English lesson for the time being. "I've always liked it when girls use different smelling shampoo like vanilla, strawberry or even different flower smells like lilac and roses." He said as he brushed the girls hair. "The boys don't care, the only one's who stink up their hair is Spencer, David and sometimes Jesse. Uncle Paulie does too, but he ain't really one of us." Carla said.

Adam chuckled a bit as he stifled a smile. "Give Sammy and the younger boys time. You'll find as they get a little older, little things like clean smelling hair will be getting their attention." Adam said. "Oh, they pay attention now, they like the smell of Spencer's shampoo. He always stinks like a baby." Jeannie replied. "That's because he uses baby shampoo and baby powder in his underpants." Carla told the group. Adam again nodded.

"I think we can all agree that Spencer has always smelled clean and fresh. "Stink" may be a term we need to consider altering when we describe him." Adam suggested.

"I didn't mean he stinks bad, but that baby powder sure don't taste very good." She replied. "I don't really think it's supposed to be eaten Carla. Why would anybody do that?" He asked the girl. "Uncle Adam; don't be stupid. When he puts it in his underpants, it goes on his dick. How are we gonna suck on his dick and not taste the powder?" she asked a little indignantly. "That is a little stupid of you Uncle Adam." Dr. Lester now said keeping as straight a face as possible. "Great, Uncle Sid isn't even here and I have to listen to his idiotic logic." Adam said pretending to be miffed. "What's logic?" Jeannie asked as she turned her head around to Adam. Adam kissed the girl on her nose as he smiled. "It's a new group your Uncle Sid listen's to." He told the girl. "Nuh uh! That's Jackson Brown." Carla said as she heard the first refrains of "Running on empty" come booming across the lake.

"Look! Uncle Sid is projecting the concert!" Carla exclaimed. Across the lake, the image of the singer and his band was being projected off the hillside that was now visible to just about the entire lower camp from their cabins. "I don't think I've ever seen that done before." Dr. Lester said as he watched. "You use to have to bounce the image off a white screen. Now, you can bounce it off just about any surface including fog if it's thick enough." Adam replied as he finished his brushing. "That particular concert was taped back in the 1970s at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in New York by Sid and Barry when they were children. The tape was professionally made by the sound crew as a gift to the boys from Jackson." Adam told the Doctor. "Between the two of them, they probably have a larger collection of Rock & Roll memorabilia than the one Bill Graham had." Adam concluded.

" Do you know how Bill Graham died?" Carla asked Dr. Lester. "Was he a singer?" Dr. Lester asked. Both girls giggled. "No silly, he was a Rock Promoter, he was killed in a helicopter; right Uncle Adam?" Jeannie asked. "Yes sweetheart; Dr. Lester was just pretending to be stupid. He knew who Bill Graham was all along." Adam said as Dr. Lester now chuckled. "And how is it that you two knew how he died?" Dr. Lester asked the girls. "Uncle Sid teached us all about him and everything there is to know about Rock and Roll. Uncle Sid and Uncle Barry knows everybody in Rock and Roll." Carla replied.

"That's what Uncle Matthew told me as well. I know that your Uncle Sid and Uncle Barry spent their childhood immersed in the music scene, but I didn't realize that he was teaching you all about it too." the Dr. replied. "Who's Uncle Matthew?" Carla asked. "Uncle Matthew is the Director of another school that your Uncle Sid use to teach at and grew up in." Adam explained. "He will be here for a visit tomorrow, so I naturally expect the two of you to be on your best behavior. You also need to use your very best English, and try very hard to avoid the fuck word. Can you do that for more than a few hours at a time?" Adam asked as he kissed Jeannie on her neck and the girl giggled. "Even if he's here in the cabin and there ain't no girls around?" Carla asked.

Adam shook his head and smiled a bit. He was staring at two golden brown girls who were well into puberty. By anyone's calculations, these two 11 year olds were going to be fairly stunning teenagers, with bodies that were going to be enticing the boys of Green Tree out of the beds of their male friends, and into their beds. But for now, they considered themselves as just "One of the guys". Adam wondered how much longer it was going to take them to realize that they had the keys to the kingdom. Adam figured he had, at best, another year before the flowers fully blossomed. "These people are our guest's sweetheart and it's polite not to use certain words in other people's presence. Let's see if we can't find less descriptive words around them. OK?" Adam finally replied.

Carla shrugged her shoulders. "Sure." She said.

By 9:30 most of the cabins lights around the lake went dark as the boys gathered on the front porches or spread out on blankets on the grass in their front yards. Most of the attention was focused on the Mess Hall and the projected images. They knew that once the lights went out, Sid would work his magic with audio and video images unrivaled in the concert music world.

With Adam and Dr. Lester on the porch with the twins and another 5 or 6 boys with them, the rest of the mafia spread out with blankets and pillows on the lawn. All lined up towards the Mess Hall, all Adam and Dr. Lester could see was a collection of buttocks and here and there a pair of underwear. Normally, the boys would have been chattering and inter-acting back and forth. But for now, they were intently watching the Mess Hall lights which would signal the beginning of the show. They knew that whatever they were about to see came from Sid's vast collection of both audio and video, mostly from live concert's Sid had attended as a boy growing up with his brothers. They had no clue what they were about to see, but they knew it was going to be spectacular.

"It's getting foggy Uncle Adam! Is that from the water, or is Uncle Sid doing it?" Trevor asked from the lawn. "I'm not sure Trevor; I guess the air is cold enough to be making the fog, but I'm not sure." "I betcha it's Uncle Sid. I think I saw some Senior boys setting up a fog machine by Uncle Charlie's cabin." Matty told his friends.

"Then I betcha he's going to do Bruce or Elton John." Sammy declared. "Look! Uncle Dave is spraying the tree's with the fire hoses. Uncle Sid is gonna project off the hill!" Bobby exclaimed as he stood up and pointed.

Adam smiled once more as the squirming of some very tanned asses told the counselor the children were primed and ready for whatever came. "Can Sid fog the entire lake?" Dr Lester asked. "He has 8 commercial foggers that can lay down a fog in limited conditions, but if the water temperature and the air temperature is ideal, he can produce a fog that feeds off the warmth of the water. If he has put all the foggers into service around the lake, he can probably pull it off." Adam said. "He sure can! I seen him do it!" Michael said gleefully.

Once the lights went out in the Mess Hall, a total blackout of the campus quickly occurred as the camp itself was completely silent. What was left of the bonfire was doused, and at that point, the only visible light was the stars in a cloudless sky. The lake was a misty grey, and the only sound was an occasional frog croaking somewhere in the mist. The stage was now set.

The name of Sid's game with the boys was always "Name that Concert" He never tells in advance who he's going to put on; the boys need to figure it out for themselves. With endless possibilities, the boys prided themselves with being able to identify the Artist's first. Now, they listened intently as the faint sound of a note came drifting across the lake as the fog now took on a blue/green tone that increased as the note increased in volume.

It took Adam, who was concentrating on the music to figure out what was happening about a minute to identify the music. It took the boys on the lawn, who were concentrating on the light show that was in computer sync with the music, almost 4 minutes to identify the song, and even then, they were not positive. "It's Pink Floyd, but what's the song Uncle Adam?" Trevor asked as the lake was turned into a cloud of slowly rolling rainbows by the magic of lasers and klieg lights all being run by computer.

"I guess it could be Pink Floyd, but it could also be Jean Luc Ponte or Tubular Bells." Adam replied. After several more notes of the intro played, the boys began shaking their heads. "It ain't Jean Luc, Uncle Adam, there ain't no violin." Sammy said. "It ain't Tubular Bell's either. That's Gary Gilmour's guitar!" Trevor said as a bunch of the boys readily agreed with him.

"Are they right?" Dr. Lester asked Adam. "Most probably. The last thing you ever want to do is to bet against these kid's when it comes to music." Adam told the man as he chuckled.

"It's "Shine on you crazy Diamond!" Matty declared as he stood up on his blanket.

"The intro is too long. The intro is only 3 minutes long." Chris replied as the other boys listened even closer. Matty shook his head. "They gots tons of versions of it, this is the long version cause they ain't even started to sing yet." The boy said knowingly.

Dr. Lester watched intently as the opening lyrics brought with them an image of the concert emblazed off the tree's in back of the mess hall and Bert's cabin. Like the fog on the lake, the images were not crystal clear, but the wet leaves projected the lights like stars twinkling in the sky.

For those who have ever been to a live Pink Floyd concert, what the children were now seeing could just as well have been Red Rocks, Saratoga or Wolf Trap. Laid out before the children was a lake that had been transformed into a pillow of clouds with the image of the band seemingly floating on them, sometimes rising, sometimes coming closer to the ground, but always with the music in surround sound. "I feel like I'm riding on a carousel. Is this what it's like to be high?" Dr. Lester asked Adam as the twins were mesmerized sitting on his lap in the rocker. "I'm not an expert in that field, but I understand that both Sid and Barry are. According to Sid, when they were children they would go to concerts, and if it was the first time they saw the band, they would drop acid

and trip their way through the show. The next time they saw that particular band, they would watch the Master Board Technicians who ran the lights and audio. They would also tape the show directly off the board. What you're seeing right now, they taped as children. I think this one came from the Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center in New York." Adam told the Doctor.

"Did Uncle Sid get hurt when he dropped the acid?" Gavin asked. The chuckles from Adam and the Doctor didn't answer the boys question, but did tell him that whatever the answer was was something only adults thought was funny. "Uncle Sid told us that electric cool aid was a drink they use to have when he was a boy. They don't sell it anymore. The electric cool aid had acid in it." Carla told the boy. Both twins now looked at each other. "Who wants to drink acid? That sounds a little stupid, don't it Poppy?" Benji asked. "That's probably why they don't sell it anymore sweetheart." Doctor Lester told the other twin.

For almost two hours, the music and the light show kept the Intermediate boys around the lake mesmerized. As only Sid could, he put together a concert that was seamless in its presentation of the band, and each succeeding song brought the tempo higher and the visual effects a little more spectacular. From both the campers and the staff's perspective, they might just as well have been sitting in the clouds 20 or 30 thousand feet up, or even somewhere between the earth and the moon. On more than a few occasions that night, Dr. Lester looked in back of him just to make sure the cabin was still there and he was sitting on the porch and not in a weightless state.

By the end of "Mother", which Sid replaced the original visual background of with a montage of stills and video of both babies, Sidney Bertram and Joshua with Johanna and Beth, Doctor Lester shook his head in amazement as he watch the boys on the lawn, most of which were sitting Indian style either on the grass or on blankets. "They seem to be especially fond of that song. Is it because of the subject?" he asked Adam.

"That particular song took some heavy convincing of the girls before they allowed it to be played. They were afraid that it would be too much for some of the children to understand, and some boys, they felt, it might actually have a very negative effect on. The boys have never seen the original graphics that went with that particular piece, like more than a few others; he altered the images to avoid any backlash from the girls." Adam replied.

"The girls have that authority?" Doctor Lester asked. Adam smiled deeply and checked to see if Jeannie was paying attention to the conversation or the concert. Satisfied that she was somewhere just north of Mars in her mind, he turned back to the Doctor. "If the girls decide that a particular event or action could harm a boy emotionally, they have been given veto power by Bert. They have the final say over the Camp Kenny and Intermediate camp children." He told the man.

With the opening notes of "Comfortably numb" the children seemed to automatically sense that the concert was coming to its conclusion. As many stood up to see what Sid was going to do to make the ending special, Dr. Lester watched them intently. Not to disappoint, Sid's laser's turned the lake fog into waves of day-glow color moving across the lake in perfect synchronism with the music as black lit lasers hit a mirror ball hanging invisible over the lake. "That's a pretty intense visual!" Dr. Lester exclaimed to Adam. "That's why it's never done in the presence of the Camp Kenny children. Even some of the Intermediate boys have to be reassured the next morning that a spaceship didn't land the night before." Adam told the man as he once again smiled.

It was well past midnight before the last child was picked up from the lawn if he had fallen asleep during the concert. Content to go to the bathroom, get a glass of water and climb into bed, most of the boys were sound asleep before Sid and the rest of the staff had congregated on the front porch of Adam's cabin for their usual night cap.

"So, are you stoned or are your eyes all bloodshot from drinking all night? Adam asked his friend as he turned out the cabin light and came out onto the porch. "Fuck you! I've been working my ass off all night. I must have gotten some laser beams in my eye!" Sid retorted as the rest of the staff chuckled. "Looks more like blotter acid to me." Adam replied with a straight face as he opened another beer. Sid shook his head slowly. "There ain't been no decent blotter acid around since 1978 you screwball. Only Dead Heads are still doing acid, the rest of us stick with the tried and true mushroom from our Indian friends out West." Sid declared to more laughter. "People still do that?" Dr. Lester asked.

Sid smiled. "Doc, while the Feds are all running around searching for pot plants planted by the Mexicans, the smart folks are growing mushrooms which can't be spotted from the air, dogs can't smell them and the cops can't tell Mescaline from an eating mushroom if they tried." He replied.

The camp was now halfway through the Labor Day week-end, with two more full days of activities left until it would be time to return to school on Tuesday. As was usually the case, Adam's cabin was brimming over with children, all now dead asleep strewn around the porches off the bedrooms, and within the bedrooms themselves.

Once the rest of the staff from within the cove's 3 cabins went home, Adam, Sid, Barry and Dr. Lester did final rounds checking on the boys and locating pillows and blankets when necessary. "Should I re-arrange him and put his head up with his friend?" Dr. Lester asked as he looked down on Matty and Chris. "Usually, one or the other will wake up in the middle of the night and switch positions. It probably has something to do with the fact that Matty still wets from time to time and Chris has taken more than a few in the face when that happens. Just put a sheet over the two of them and leave their heads out." Adam replied.

"A few months back, the twins never spoke of their enuresis. Now, they treat it like it's a badge of honor. Why is it encouraged?" Dr. Lester asked as the men now headed to their bedrooms. "It's not really encouraged, but it is taken as a normal event, and one that we put no pressure on them to stop. They know that their penis's have multiple functions, and one is to expel water. To them, it's a combination water gun, fire hose, toy and sexual apparatus. They play an unending number of games built around their penis's to both amuse themselves and impress each other with and wetting is just a by-product." Sid replied. "They know that they usually stop wetting around puberty, so they just chalk it off to something that happens with little boys, like shooting blanks."

By one in the morning, Adam slipped into his bed alongside Sammy. Lifting the boy over himself, he laid the sleeping boy down and watched as Sammy snuggled himself into his pillow and curled up alongside his counselor. On the opposite side of the man, Carla stirred due to the absence of a warm body next to her and moved alongside Adam

until she was firmly attached to the length of the man's side with her head resting on his chest. At some point in the middle of the night the children would spread out on his bed and give him a little more room to move, but for now, he was sandwiched between two sleeping beauties that he could not love more if he tried. Giving both a kiss on their foreheads, Adam closed his eyes as he listened to the breeze filter through the pine trees.

Tomorrow would be a full day and the morning might even be a dry one, but for now, all was right with the world.

Chapter Fifty

Sid joins the other side

"What time did you get to bed?" Sarah asked Jeanette as the woman joined the small group of Camp Kenny counselor's sitting on the front porch of the cabin drinking coffee and watching the toddlers romp around.

"I guess it was close to 10:00 or so." Jeanette told the group. "Alicia woke up with a stomach ache around 9:00 and Thomas had to give her an enema to get her bowels moving again. He wants us all to watch out for distended stomachs. It may be an isolated case, but the kitchen is going to be serving more fiber and fruit just in case." She told the women.

"How did Alicia deal with that?" Martha asked.

Jeanette smiled as she located the little girl playing with a group of friends on the swings. "Once Thomas had her empty, she fell fast asleep within 3 minutes. I don't even think she remembers being awake last night and going to the Infirmary." Jeannie replied with a smile.

"So we're pushing the prune Danish again?" Sarah asked her Head Counselor.

Again, Jeanette smiled. "It's a good thing that they all like the mini Danish that the bakery puts out. Push anything that will go through them like a racehorse, but make sure they keep hydrated. Thomas will be putting out a notice this morning to staff, so we should all be on the same page. Keep a supply of wipes and training pants available and have bathrooms within running distance or we're going to have accidents." Jeanette told the group as they giggled.

"What time did they quit last night? I kept waking up inside a full blown Pink Floyd concert." Martha said as she sipped her coffee.

"From what I've heard, Uncle Sid put on a barn burner. I don't think the men got to sleep before 1:00 or so." She said as the girls once more giggled. "Uncle Sid turned the entire lake into a fog bank and was putting on a light show that would have made Showco green with envy. All I saw when we took Alicia to the Infirmary was the Intermediate boys sprawled all over the lake front watching the lasers like hawks." She told the girls.

"What was Uncle Bert's response to that?" Sarah asked.

"He was pretty cool about it. He also had his hands full with Christopher who wanted to jump in the lake and play with the fog. Thomas said that Uncle Bert had given all four of Christopher's caretakers off for the night to see the concert with their boyfriends so he was chasing Christopher from one end of the beach to the other and packed it in around 9:30 and took Christopher back to his cabin for the night." Jeanette said as laughter from the porch got the little one's attention as they started drifting back to the cabins.

"It looks like snack time. Breakfast is at 8:30, so give them a little something to hold them over until then." She said as she finished her coffee just before Kenny came bounding up the stairs and jumped into her lap. "Kenny has a cold bum. Wouldn't it be better if he had kept his pants on?" She asked the 4 year old as she patted his bare bottom.

"I was the only one who had panties on. Since everybody else was nakey, I got nakey too momma" the boy replied with a dimpled smile. "I'm hungry. What's to eat?" the boy asked.

While the upper camp prepared for the day ahead, the lower camp stayed quiet right up until Reveille was blown at 8:00.

With a low groan, Adam extricated his arm from between himself and the warm body next to him on his right side. The waist length hair told the counselor that it was either Jeannie or Carla, but not until he looked down at the girls ass did he know for sure it was Carla. While the golden brown tans were exactly the same, Carla had the larger of the two girls, with dimples on the waistline that confirmed whose buns were whose.

Wrapping his arm around the girl who was attached to his side like a starfish on a clam, Adam ran his fingers along the girls spine gently as he looked towards his left. With the side of his face squashed against Adam's rib cage, Sammy was still in a deep sleep as he breathed heavily through his mouth. Adam reached his other hand around the sleeping boy and cupped a slightly soggy cheek in the palm of his hand. Giving Sammy a kiss on his forehead, Adam lay there as the sounds of the cabin coming back to life slowly escalated.

"Hey Uncle Adam! Do you wanna take a shower with us?" Trevor asked as he leaped onto Adam's bed and crawled his way up to his counselor.

"Good morning, sparky. What makes you so bright and cheerful this morning?" Adam asked as he gave the boy a kiss. "We gots to go over to the Depot this morning with Uncle Charlie and get some stuff for the new Feed Bag. He say's we can help him load the truck and get to ride in the back!" The boy exclaimed as his eyes twinkled with excitement.

Adam smiled at the boy. "We're talking about after breakfast, right?" He asked. "Uncle Sid was planning on playing the organ at Vesper's. Are you planning to be there?" Adam asked. "I guess so, but I'd rather help Uncle Charlie." The boy replied. "Well, I know that Uncle Sid and Uncle Kevin were planning on putting on some special music. I think that even Spencer will be singing for us again." Adam told the boy.

Carla's head now lifted off Adam's chest. "Really?" she asked. Adam nodded. "Uncle Kevin has been working with him again. He cannot hit the high notes that he use to, but he still has a very beautiful singing voice." "Cool" Carla said as she flipped off the sheet and sat up. "You gots to braid my hair after showers. Are you comin?" Carla asked. "As soon as I can get my little friend here to greet the new day." Adam replied as he rubbed Sammy's bottom. "He's waking up. He already gots half a boner." She said as she looked down on the boy. "Uncle Adam ain't got half a boner, he gots a whole one!" Trevor said as the boy giggled somewhat and began scooting himself back down the bed.

Adam shook his head as Trevor's feet hit the floor and he raced after Carla headed for the bathroom showers. As the bedroom door slammed shut behind them, Sammy lifted himself on top of Adam and snuggled himself into the man's torso. Words had long since been dispensed with between the two when they made love, and Adam always allowed Sammy to dictate the mode and level of involvement. There were times when Sammy merely wanted to be cuddled and brought to climax quickly and fairly effortlessly, and then again, times when his foreplay would make a hooker blush. Having been taught that no sexual act short of S&M was un-acceptable, he had no bounds and even less modesty or shame concerning his sexual behavior. Making love was as natural to the boys as eating and sleeping and accomplished with the same degree of concern or effort. As Sammy lifted both legs alongside Adam like he was riding a horse, the boy re-positioned his body so that Adam's erection nestled between his cheeks. Once Adam had delivered enough pre-cum to the area, Sammy knew that Adam would effortlessly massage his prostate into action and relieve him of the night's pent-up tension he was feeling deep within his groin.

As Adam lay there massaging the boys back, he smiled to himself. "Are you trying to tell me something, or is your penis getting squashed?" He asked the boy as he felt Sammy's erection flexing against his abdomen. Sammy giggled as he purposely flexed it again this time. "I didn't tell it to do that, it's jumping because you are tickling me when your hands get near my bottom." He told his counselor. Adam again smiled as he ran his fingers down the boys crease and across the boys puckering anus. Sammy giggled once again as he clamped his buttocks shut, trapping Adam's fingers which were now massaging the boys perineum. A small sucking sound came from Sammy as Adam used his thumbs to draw circles along the area from Sammy's scrotum to his anus as the boy relaxed his bottom and allowed the man to continue giving him the kinds of sensations that none of his friends had yet mastered, and that only the "Toys" the boys used in sex play could produce with a fresh set of batteries on themselves. Sammy closed his eyes and concentrated on the feelings that were now coursing through his groin all the way to his brain as his hearing diminished and his head began getting that now very familiar "Tightness" about it, as though he had on a sweatband a little too tightly.

More skillfully than two swimmers engaged in a water ballet, Adam and Sammy effortlessly coupled as Adam brought the boy to the precipice of sexual euphoria and back again as he made love to the child known by very few couples in their lifetime. Finally, dripping in perspiration between them, the boy sat himself straight up on Adam's stomach which gave Adam access to Sammy's now cherry red penis that was aching for release as Sammy massaged his prostate with his counselors impaled penis.

The next few minutes were spent in sexual bliss for the boy as his eyes remained closed, and Adam, with the skill of a Geisha, massaged the boys penis into a climax usually reserved for wet dreams in little boys. The feeling was well known to Sammy, and it could have come orally or manually, it really didn't matter, the effect was the same as the boys prostate and testicles convulsed in a feeling of pleasure and lust that had Sammy panting like a puppy as the sweat poured down his stomach and mingled in Adam's hair.

Collapsing on top of Adam, Sammy's heart raced as the boy felt a cool breeze wash across his back as Adam sucked on the boys neck and tasted the salt of his body. "I'm thirsty!" Sammy said once his breathing returned to a reasonable pace. "And I'm in love." Adam replied as he kissed Sammy's neck. Sammy once again giggled. "You say that every morning Uncle Adam." "And every morning, you give me one more reason to love you. It's all your fault." Adam replied as he tickled Sammy under his armpits.

Sammy's screeching brought some knocking to the bedroom door. "Ain't you done yet Uncle Adam? We gots to get ready for breakfast and Vespers you know!" Carla said from the other side. "Come in, I guess we're not going to get any more privacy anyway." Adam said as the door slammed open and half a dozen soaking wet bodies headed for his bed.

"How much privacy do you need? You bin playing now for half an hour you know!" Jeannie said as she sat on the bed alongside Sammy and looked at him. "Jeez Sammy, how come you're all wet?" she asked as she ran her hand along Sammy's back.

"That's a stupid question; whatcha think they bin doin for the past hour?" Trevor asked the girl as he bounced onto the bed and landed alongside Adam. Adam shook his head and patted Sammy's bottom. "Let's go pookey before they have us in the sack for a week!" He told the boy as Sammy giggled once more.

Bundling Sammy up in his arms, Adam walked out of the bedroom followed by his small entourage as he headed for the shower room. "Coffee?" Dr. Lester asked as he mounted the stairs with two cups in his hands and the twins following behind him in their underoo's.

Turning around and around under the shower heads that hit them from all sides, Adam put Sammy down on his feet and gave the boy a kiss on top of his head as Sammy joined Matty and Chris who were having a facecloth tossing match. Stepping out of the shower, Adam took the mug of coffee and sat down on the bench as the rest of his brood decided to take another shower and bring the high pitched squealing to the typical morning levels.

"How did you sleep?" Adam asked the Doctor. "Like a log. Right up until Noah's flood hit, and then I had to abandon ship and make a new dry bed on the porch floor." The Doctor said with a smile. "Who's Noah?" Gavin asked. "He's talking about us wettin the bed. Ain't you Poppy?" Benji asked the man with a dimpled smile. Dr. Lester smiled and gave the boy a hug. "I didn't know that it was you two who did that. I thought that there was a hole in the roof and it rained." He told the boys with a chuckle.

While the twins skipped into the shower room, Adam smiled as he watched the two boys dimpled cheeks. "I think if I could line up 100 naked boys, I could pick out the Green Tree Boys just from the rear view. I know that those two had two of the skinniest little butts in Camp when they first came, and now, I can't tell them from any other boy here if you covered their heads." Adam said to the Doctor as he sipped his coffee. "I know damned well that neither them had dimple's on their asses."

Doctor Lester smiled as he nodded his head. "A good friend of mine back home is a Pediatrician. He swears that he can tell a child who is well cared for merely by looking at him. He told me that a child with a sheen to his hair, a sparkle in his eyes, a smile on his lips, good teeth, clear skin, and a pair of underpants that is full front and back is a well cared for and happy child. I have to imagine that if he met our boys, he would be quite satisfied that they are well and happy." The Doctor said. "Thomas has told me that the boys have gained 15 pounds apiece and have added an inch to their height since they arrived. I guess some of it went to their buttocks, I'm not an expert in that area." He said.

"Well don't you worry your pretty little head about that Doc, my friend here can tell you which kid is sleeping in his bed just by reading his ass with his hands in pitch blackness!" Sid said. "He's our resident ass assessor!"

As the man stripped and walked into the showers with Jesse and David giggling, Adam picked up a large sponge and dipped it into the toilet. "Shit, that's cold!" Sid yelled as the sponge hit him on the back of the head.

Bert's morning had begun much earlier, despite the fact that he had not gone to bed until late due to the music the night before. He was usually up and at his desk by 5:30 or so, and this Sunday morning, he was just a little late at 6:00, a good hour before the dawn.

Christopher normally required a solid 10 hours of sleep, and was still fast asleep laying with his head on his hands in between his two monitors. Bert quietly closed and locked the front screen door just in case Christopher awoke and started roaming without the girls knowledge.

Where's the shadow?" Chef John asked as Bert came into the kitchen. Bert smiled as a Mess Boy handed him a mug of coffee. "He gave it a good try, but he finally collapsed around 10:00 last night. He won't be up until the sun wakes him unless he's rousted out of bed." Bert replied. "What time did you get to bed?" Bert asked the Chef.

"I made it until 9:00 but I knew I had to be up at 3:00 I assume our guests are still on their way?" John Asked his Director.

"They leave the Vineyard just after lunch and they should be here by 4:00" Bert replied. "The plane will be full. The Institute is sending us three teams that will be here for a week. We will have a team of Dentists, Ophthalmologists and Audiologists. All the children will have their routine, semi-annual, check-ups." Bert told the man.

"What have you heard about the Florida campus?" John now asked.

"Everything is on track. The old kitchen is already gutted and the new equipment is on-site. The electricians, plumbers, gas people and Fire equipment companies have 2 month's to get their equipment in and then the carpenters, painters and cabinet people have until December 31, to finish. You'll have 4 dozen staff, 150 boys and a security detail to maintain the perimeter." Bert said.

"What about the locals?" John asked.

"As far as they are concerned, it's a federally run "Wilderness Training Camp" for "At risk" youth. We've promised them we'll "Protect" them from the kid's, and all the money is coming from the Fed's, we're not using either State or local funds." Bert said as John smiled and shook his head.

"How are we going to select the boys? You're not planning on taking 150 boys all out of Green Tree are you?" John asked. Bert shook his head. "No, you'll choose 30 boys from Green Tree that you want in the program, and the rest are being recommended by the Chefs at the remaining schools around the Country. You will evaluate the boys during the first semester, and if there are boys who don't make the cut, they'll be replaced by other boys from the schools. As for staffing, you'll have the pick of 12 men from your staff and the remaining staff will come from the remaining facilities pending your approval." Bert told his Chef. "In effect, you're going to be starting a whole new school."

"What about Administration, maintenance, household?" John asked. "You'll be choosing your staff from the available pool. You're the Director, and who you tag for the positions you need to fill will be up to you." Bert told the man.

"I'm a Chef, not an Administrator!" John replied. Bert sat back and smiled. "Now, you're both. I will give you whatever guidance you need, but the best way for you to acclimate yourself to your new role is to spend the next 4 month's shadowing me and learn what it takes to run a camp. My first advice to you is to not try to do it all yourself. I wouldn't last a week in this job if I didn't delegate authority and responsibility, and that's something you'll have to pick up by osmosis." Bert replied.

"Delegating isn't a problem, hell I don't have a choice in the kitchen, I can't possibly do all the cooking myself. But I know these people and what they are capable of, and I don't know the people that will be coming from the other schools." John replied as two Mess Boys approached.

"I will have each of our department heads send a temporary worker to teach your new people the ropes if need be. You can keep them through the first semester, but they will be returning to Green Tree unless they decide to stay with your approval." Bert told his Chef as the boys stood by. "What's up?" John asked the boys as he turned to them.

"We was just wondering if you had made up your mind yet about who you were going to take to Florida with you, and if you were going to take the Senior girls too, Uncle John." One boy asked. John sat back and smiled a little as he took a sip of his coffee.

"I can always tell when a question is about work, and when it's about pleasure. When it's work, I'm always "Chef John". When I become "Uncle John", you can bet your ass they are trying to con me into something they want." John told Bert. "Let me guess. The both of you have friends up on the hill. Right?" he asked.

"We just wanted to know because the girls wanted to know." One of the boys responded with slightly red cheeks. John smiled and shook his head. "I would think that eventually the new school will be co-ed, but to tell you the truth, the subject hasn't come up yet with the girls, or with your Aunts. I'm sure that we'll be looking into it, but as of right now, your Uncle Bert and I haven't discussed it. Do you two think that there is an interest in going to culinary school coming from the girls camp, or are we just talking about making sure you have sheet warmers to go to bed with on those hot Florida nights instead of taking care of business the old fashioned way?" The chef asked.

As the red cheeks on the boys grew, Bert now shook his head and smiled. "We will bring the subject up with the staff, but I think you should keep in mind that your Aunts are not about to be going along with your plans if they include you running a bordello down there. The same dating and rules of conduct will apply down there as they do up here." He told the boys.

As the boys smiled slightly to each other and turned to go back to setting tables, a door slamming out in the Mess Hall was met with an almost instant announcement of "Christopher alert!" several voices shouted.

"Sounds like your vacation is over." John said to Bert as the Chef reached for some nearby knives and put them in a drawer. With a bang, both swinging "In" doors to the kitchen came flying open immediately followed by Christopher grinning from ear to ear. "He's making progress, at least he didn't cause a pile-up at the "Out" door." John said as he finished his coffee and handed the mug to a kitchen boy.

"Rink burd, rink?" the boy asked Bert as he climbed into his lap and signed for a drink. Bert kissed the boy on his cheek. "We gave him two glasses or orange juice at the cabin Uncle Bert, but he's still thirsty." Clare told the Director as the two girls followed Christopher into the kitchen. Bert nodded as he spoke to Christopher. "Do you want juice or milk to drink?" he asked the boy. "Mik" Christopher replied.

As a kitchen boy went to a cooler for a tumbler of milk, Christopher watched the boy intently as he came back out of the cooler with chocolate milk. "Hang que" He said as he was handed the milk and began to gulp it down in one motion.

As Christopher gulped, a small stream of milk drifted off his chin and down his tummy and began spreading a small wet spot on the pair of yellow training pants he wore. The glass was emptied in one motion as the boy now sported a brown mustache and gave out a large burp. Without missing a beat, Christopher leaned into Burt and wiped his mouth on the Directors shirt. Now looking around the kitchen, he spotted boxes of banana's that were being prepared for breakfast. Signing "Banana", Christopher looked into Bert's face with a dimpled smile. "Peez?" he asked. Burt smiled back and gave the boy a kiss on his forehead as he placed him on the floor. "You may have one, and then you have to wait for breakfast." Burt told the boy.

"I'm not suggesting he's a lightweight, but just exactly where does all that food he eats go?" The Chef asked Burt. "Most of it goes in one end, and out the other. He probably has an average of 2 to 3 bowel movements a day. Still, Doc Thomas says that he's only about 15 pounds on the high side of his weight to height chart." Burt told his Chef as Christopher headed for a rack of cooling pastries.

"Well, I don't see all that much of a problem, but you should know that I'm getting little hints from the Dietitian to cut back on his calories." John replied as a mess boy sat a fresh mug of coffee down on the table. "What does she know? She's up in Boston sitting at her desk!" Bert said tersely. "Yes, but she reads charts and see's figures she doesn't like. She also knows that Christopher is your pet, so she has enlisted the aid of the girls to put additional pressure on me to feed the boy a few hundred pounds less a day." John replied.

"My pet?" Burt asked as Christopher's monitors giggled. John ignored the girls giggling as he watched Christopher stare at a tray of mini Danish that was about at his nose level on the rack. "He's drooling all over my clean kitchen floor! Give him a few, Trent." The chef told a Mess Boy.

With a grin from ear to ear, Christopher returned to Burt's lap with a handful of prune Danish. "Prune's? Couldn't you have given him some pineapple or cheese Danish instead?" Burt asked the boy.

"They're all prune Danish. Doc Thomas woke me up in the middle of the night and ordered a "Throne" Menu for the next 2 days. I thought you knew about it." John replied.

Burt shook his head. "Did he say why?" Burt asked.

"Not really, but I can guess." John told his boss. Watching Christopher now devouring the Danish, John smiled. "I would keep a close eye on him if I were you girls, Each one of those Danish contains two ground up prunes. You might want to keep him in Huggies until they find their way out of his tummy." The Chef told the girls. Both girls now looked annoyingly at Burt. "Hey! Don't blame me, blame your Uncle Thomas, he's the one who ordered it." Burt said in his defense.

Sunday morning breakfasts at Green Tree are always a little more involved than most meals, largely due to the wider variety of foods available. Sunday morning meals look much more like a midnight buffet on a Cruise Ship than a camps mealtime. While a normal breakfast takes a half hour for the children to eat, Sunday mornings can easily run for an hour or longer. While all meals are highly social events, this particular meal always stands out.

By 9:30, most of Green Tree was gathering outside the Mess Hall waiting for Vesper's to start while the women watched over the Camp Kenny toddlers who were already itching to get into the lake.

"We've got some very special guests coming in this afternoon, and you chose today, of all days, to have these kids shitting their brains out?" Adam asked Burt as the Director approached a large group of his staff sitting around a picnic table.

Burt shook his head and smiled a bit. "How did you guess?" He asked.

Well, let's see." Adam replied as he held up a hand and counted on his fingers. "Apple sauce, apple juice, prune Danish, bananas, stewed prunes, pears, peaches, plums and apricots. When that stuff starts appearing on the tables all by themselves, you're pushing for a shit fest." Adam told his boss.

Burt smiled. "I'm innocent this time. Apparently, Thomas ordered a Throne meal diet last night. I haven't talked to him yet, but I'm sure he had a good reason." Burt told his staff.

"We had three cases of constipation in the Infirmary yesterday, and one last night." Sarah told the group.

"From where?" Adam asked. "Camp Kenny." Sarah replied.

"Oh, so just because you ain't smart enough to keep your kids hydrated, our poor little boys have to go shit their brains out?" Sid said as he sipped his coffee.

Knowing that it meant a dip in the lake if the girls caught up with him, Sid made it to the Rec Hall and slammed the door shut before they got there.

Immediately after breakfast, Kevin met at the Rec Hall with the children who were in the choir. Originally the choir consisted of all boys with several of the girls from Camp Kenny, but once the girls from Pine Ridge merged with Green Tree, a growing number of those younger girls now joined in, largely due to the presence of Spencer.

Spencer never openly courted or encouraged the girls, but at the same time, they knew that he was no ordinary 13 year old when it came to making love. It was rare, but when he agreed to having sex with a girl, they knew they were in for a special treat. He had a soft manner, smelled constantly of a combination of baby oil and vanilla, had the face of an angel with piercing eyes and a set of dimples when he spoke, and the body of a pre-pubescent God. Spencer looked good enough to eat, and even the older Camp Kenny boys found themselves sexually attracted to his naked body. Most people know how to have sex; Spencer knows how to make love.

Kevin looked around from his piano as Spencer came in with a dozen or so friends including Paulie, who was by now completely under Spencer's magic spell. This was no big problem for Spencer, who was use to having people fawn over him, and in this particular case, Spencer was even encouraging the relationship with Paulie whom he had come to befriend and love as well. Kevin quickly noted the fact that the two were holding hands as they walked, something that carries extreme significance at Green Tree between two boys in public. Paulie, in spite of his age (13), was considered an "Outside Uncle" by the Green Tree children. By publically holding his hand, Spencer was declaring him as his own Uncle. Kevin wondered if Burt was aware of this development.

With Paulie watching from the sidelines, Kevin put the choir through their paces before long, rehearsing several songs that they would sing that morning at Vesper's. While most of his attention was on Spencer, Paulie listened patiently with several other boys from the cabins. He thought the music was nice, but nothing special since he had heard choirs before, including the Vienna Boys Choir in Boston for a Christmas Show.

Then it came time for Spencer to solo in his new voice range after his voice had cracked 3 months earlier. Kevin knew that Spencer could no longer hold the High Cs of a boy soprano, but he wanted to keep Spencer as close to the line as possible for as long as Spencer's voice cooperated. His hope was that Spencer's voice would level out at Tenor rather than Baritone and if he kept exercising Spencer's vocal cords, he just might succeed.

Since his return from The Vineyard, Spencer had been learning new songs to sing, and as he stepped forward from the choir Paulie was a little surprised since he had never heard Spencer sing before, or that he even knew how to. Kevin chose Pie Jesu for Spencer to solo, and from the opening notes Paulie was stunned as the voice of Spencer filled his ears and floated through his brain with the clarity of Chrystal bells in a Cathedral.

"Pretty neat huh?" Jesse asked Paulie as the last of the piano notes faded away. "You shoulda been here before his voice broke. He could holler high enough to break a wine glass." Jesse told his friend.

"What'sa matter Paulie?" David asked the boy as Paulie wiped his eyes after turning his head away from the group.

"Paulie's probably allergic to the smell of this place. It kind of reminds me of a gym locker room full of dirty socks and old sneakers." Sid said as he approached the group of boys and tossed Paulie's hair.

"I don't smell nothin!" Jesse replied as he looked at Paulie a little closer. "Oh." He said as he looked back at Sid. "That's OK Paulie. You're an Uncle and most of the Uncle's and even our Aunts cry when they listen to Spencer sing. He does that to old people all the time." The boy explained.

"I'm sure Paulie appreciates your kind words Jesse, but let's not set him up with Social Security just yet, OK?" Sid asked as he approached his organ.

"Hey Uncle Sid, you gonna play "Pale" today?" Michael asked from the choir.

As Kevin smiled and shook his head sitting at the piano, Sid chuckled. "Your Uncle Kevin needs a break from Pale this week guys, he has another song he wants me to play at Vespers, but if you ask him real nice, maybe he'll agree to accompany me for a pre-Vespers run through it to warm us up."

Shaking his head, Kevin looked at Sid. "I thought maybe we could get through one Service without playing the same tune over and over again." He said to Sid.

"Hey, this ain't Services yet, we could play it before everybody came in and got bored with it." Sid replied as the boys in the choir snickered.

"What's "Pale?" Paulie now asked Jesse, David and Bobby.

"Pale is the name of a song; A whiter shade of pale. It's a song by Procol Harum." Jesse replied.

"Uncle Sid and Uncle Adam usually play it together, but Uncle Kevin knows how to play it on piano too." David told the boy. "You never heard it before?" He asked.

"I don't know." Replied Paulie.

As Paulie watched Sid turn on his Hammond B-3 organ and set up the instrument, the choir and spectators surrounded both Kevin and Sid spontaneously. Once the organ warmed up and the Leslie 122 speakers began rotating slowly, Paulie listened intently as the sound of the organ filled the Rec Hall and the opening bars of Pale reverberated off the walls. Sid does not consider himself a singer, however when it comes to Pale, his voice is fairly indiscernible from that of Gary Brooker, the lead singer of Procol Harum.

For the second time that morning, Paulie was stunned as Sid began the song, joined by every single boy and girl there singing along. It was clear to the boy that these people regarded this particular piece of music with a very special reverence usually reserved for Classical Music by his own family.

Not completely unexpectedly, the music now flowing from the Rec. Hall started an influx of people waiting outside. Vesper Services were always held "In the round" whether they were held inside or outside, and the seats began quietly filing up with the Camp Kenny children taking up the first 3 rows of benches that surrounded the stage.

Pale is normally a 4 minute song, but on this particular morning, Sid extended it for 10 minutes, and by the time it closed, most of the camp were seated or standing around the back of the benches with toddlers and babies who were just not ready to settle down just yet. Christopher had already galloped into the Hall and promptly plopped himself onto Sid's lap frothing at the bit to get his hands on the keyboards.

Paulie watched the Services with great interest. Like the rest of his family, he was not particularly religious and merely considered himself a Christian. Now, he half expected to see and hear a Sermon and some prayers, but Green Tree's idea of Christianity and his families were fairly identical.

The closest thing to a Pastor was Uncle Peter, and he pretty much served as the Camps Spiritual Head. As a former Catholic Priest, Father Peter retained his position as far as the children and adults of Green Tree were concerned, notwithstanding what the Pope thought about the situation.

After the welcome, Paulie heard more about love, respect, consideration and understanding being taught by Peter than talk of God, salvation or damnation. Probably the closest thing Peter came to religion was the prayer he gave at the end of Vespers asking for God's blessings and thanks for the children's health and well-being. It was the only "Amen" he heard all morning.

"See, I told you they would all start bawling." Jesse said as Spencer finished his solo of Pie Jesu for the group. Paulie looked around and watched as more than a few of the adults had to wipe their eyes.

Following Vespers, the entire campus once again gathered on the lawn before lunch. "Hey Uncle Adam, how come nobody told the twins about poop day?" Sammy asked his counselor as he approached the bench Adam and a group of staff were sitting on.

"I'm not aware of any "Poop Day" Sammy, what are you talking about?" Adam asked the boy.

"You know when Uncle John makes us them prune Danish it's poop day." Sammy told the man.

"Well, nobody made them eat them did they? Did you tell the twins not to eat them or they would be going to the bathroom?" Adam asked as a few staff chuckled.

"I wasn't sittin by them. I didn't know they ate them until they started shittin." Sammy replied.

"You mean went to the bathroom, right?" Adam asked the boy.

Sammy shook his head. "They didn't go to the bathroom Uncle Adam, they shit in their pants." The boy replied. "Twice".

"Well, shit happens Sammy. What about you?" Adam asked as the boys now giggled.

"I went to the bathroom, but we knew it was comin. They didn't realize they had to go so fast and thought it was just a normal poop." Sammy replied. "I don't think they ever ate prunes before." He said.

"Well, next time they will know better." Adam told the boys. "Yeah, and next time, there won't be shit all over the bathroom floor." Michael replied with a giggle.

"Serves you right for being so stupid Uncle Adam." Sid now told his friend as the boys giggled even more. Adam lowered his head and shook it as the boys went giggling off towards the lake. "I owe you one." Adam said to Sid.

Sid chuckled as he sat down at the table. "You get your chance at lunch. You and I are going to get into a watermelon eating contest, and I'll let you win." Sid told his friend.

"Watermelon contest?" Dr. Lester asked. Sid nodded his head. "Watermelon is a natural diuretic and it's full of water. The older boys know the effect prunes will have on them and many avoid eating it. By getting them involved in a watermelon eating contest, we fill them up with melon and let it finish the job. By 2:00 every kid in camp will have the cleanest bowels in town and be re-hydrated." Sid told the Doctor.

"And they don't know it's caused by the watermelon?" Dr. Lester asked. "Doc, we got the most beautiful boys in the world, but we never said they was the smartest." Sid replied as the staff laughed.

"I'm happy to see that you're all in a good mood. You're going to need it in about an hour, we have 3 tractor trailers coming onto campus in about an hour and the kids are going to realize that the Dentists aren't all that far away." Bert now told the group as he sat down on the table next to Sid.

"Dentists?" Dr. Lester asked.

Burt nodded his head. "Twice a year we have all the children's teeth, hearing and eyesight checked by our Doctor's from The Institute. The tractor trailers haul all the equipment here they need, and they will be flying in today with our guests from the Vineyards." Burt told the Doctor.

"On one little plane?" Sid now asked.

Burt shook his head. "The Gulfstream had to be scrapped for a 727. There's 3 dozen Doctor's, technician's and Assistance involved for the children, and almost a dozen folks involved with the Vineyard crew." Bert replied.

"A dozen? I thought there were 4 coming from the Vineyard." Sid now said.

"Plus a few folks from the New Hampshire School along with some rugrats from the Vineyards who asked to join their parents." Bert replied.

"Speaking of Vineyard rugrats, are we all aware of the fact that Spencer seems to have taken Paulie as an Outside Uncle?" Kevin now said to the group.

"I was kind of hoping it's nothing more than a summer camp romance on Spencer's part." Sid said as he turned to watch Spencer interact with Paulie and a group of boys on the lawn. "We still have Anthony in the picture."

"I think it's a little more serious than a summer camp romance. Paulie asked me to have a talk with him last night after the Music ended. It appears he wants Spencer to return to the Vineyards with David and Jesse so that they can all go to Andover Academy together. He asked me to be his Primary Uncle." Doctor Lester now told the group. "He wants me to speak to you all on his behalf." He concluded.

"He's not a Geppetto Boy, since when can he claim a Primary Uncle?" Sid now asked Bert. "Are you going to go along with the bullshit?" he asked.

"Calm down Sid. Nothing's happening without the teams OK. Obviously he's being coached, probably by Spencer himself." Bert replied. "We've been telling Paulie for weeks that he's a part of us, if that's so, isn't he entitled to the same protections?" he asked Sid.

"Look on the bright side Sid, he could have asked one of the girls to be his Primary Aunt." Adam suggested to ease Sid's demeanor which was quickly changing.

"I don't give a fuck who his Primary guardian is, he ain't leaving with those boys!" Sid said as he stood up and headed for his cart.

Bert shook his head and smiled a little as Sid rolled down the path in his cart headed for the Cove. "You'll have to excuse Sid's behavior Doctor, never once has Sid been the first to allow a boy to move on from Green Tree, and I doubt that it's going to happen in this case." Bert told the man.

"You believe he's too attached to Spencer?" The Doctor asked. A giggle from the adults around him told the man he was missing something.

"It ain't Spencer Doc, but he purely does love him. It's Jesse that has him in a lather and it's going to take a bull dozer or two to move him off center if that's what the team agrees to." Bert replied.

"You're considering it?" Adam now asked.

"I'm considering nothing. I haven't been asked to consider anything yet, and we don't even know if Paulie's family would even entertain such a scenario. Before I get my blood pressure rising, I need a reason." Bert replied.

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