Bill W

Castaway Hotel I

Chapters 11-20

Chapter 11
Broadening Horizons

The boys stayed out for quite some time, with Danny working with Ricky on his throwing and catching first. Danny began by teaching Ricky how to step toward his target when he threw, and how his arm should move through the entire throwing motion. He didn't even lose his temper when one of Ricky's throws went wild and he had to chase the ball down the driveway.

He also showed Ricky what it meant to have 'soft hands' when catching or fielding a ball. 'Soft hands' describes the process of letting your glove and arm give slightly as the ball reaches you, like the recoil on a gun. That way, when the ball enters the glove, it doesn't hit the leather and pop back out. Over time, Ricky's throws got harder and more accurate, and at the same time, he was catching nearly everything that Danny threw to him. By dinnertime, Ricky was doing much better and I was very impressed and proud of both of them.

"That was fun," Ricky was saying, as they came inside. "Thanks, big brother, you're a great teacher."

"No, it's just that you learn quickly," Danny countered. "Heck, you'll be looking like a pro by summer."

"You think so?" Ricky asked, shocked.

"Well, maybe not a pro," Danny conceded, "but you'll be as good or better than anyone else. There will be no reason for you not to play. When do you turn thirteen?"

"July 7th. Why?" Ricky wanted to know.

"I think because your birthday is before August 1st," Danny informed him, "you will get to play the whole season as a thirteen year old. If that's the case, we'll be playing in the same league. If they do like they did where I used to live, that means we'll be playing on the same team."

"Yessssssssss!" Ricky shouted, while jumping about. "I'd like that. Dad, do you know if they do that here?" Ricky yelled to me.

Only partially hearing what he said, I called out. "If they do what here?"

"If brothers get to play on the same teams," Ricky clarified, as they entered the room.

"Well, yes, I believe they do," I replied. "At least they did when my children played. It makes it easier on the parents that way." I paused, having thought of a catch to their plans. "There's one small problem, though. Legally you're not brothers." They both immediately appeared to be profoundly disappointed.

"I'll tell you what I'll do, though," I continued. "When the time comes, I will explain the situation to the league officials and request that you two be allowed to play on the same team, if that's what you both want?"

"Yes!" they exclaimed, joyously. "Thanks, Dad, we knew we could count on you again," Ricky added.

"Dad, he's going to do great," Danny advised me. "He's not nearly as bad as he thinks."

"So I noticed," I confirmed. "I watched you a little, from the window."

"Danny really knows what to do," Ricky told me. "If I do it like he says, it's so easy and it works out just the way he says it will."

"That's great and I saw how well it was going," I informed them. "I'm really impressed by how well you two work together." They both smiled.

Throughout the week, the boys continued practicing, and I could actually watch Ricky getting better on a daily basis. It was quite enjoyable and exciting. At home, they would continue to work on his throwing, catching and fielding, and I'd watch as Danny taught him how to field grounders and pop-ups with equal ease. Danny really did know a great deal about baseball and was a very good coach, so Ricky rapidly improved on his skills.

Each day, as we got ready to go to school, the boys would load their gloves, bats and baseballs into my car, so they could practice Ricky's batting skills while they waited for me to finish work. Sometimes I'd even go out and join them after I finished my day, which seemed to please and impress them too. They were surprised that I'd actually come out and participate, but I also enjoyed my time with them. It also reminded me of when I did those same things with my children, when they were first starting out in sports.

On the weekend, the boys asked me to go with them to the school field, so Ricky could practice some more. I would pitch to Ricky, while Danny enthusiastically ran all over the field shagging balls. After a while, Ricky insisted that Danny take a turn too, so they switched places and Ricky went out to chase the balls his brother hit. Sometimes other kids would drop by and want to join us, so we'd give them their turn at bat too, but they had to help field first. That way, they got to practice their fielding skills while helping the rest of us chase down the balls everyone else hit. This was working out really well, and the boys and I were growing closer and closer every day.

After one of these outings, a couple of weekends before his party, Danny asked me a question after we got back home. "Dad, after we have the cake and ice cream at my party, do you think you could bring us down to the ball field, so we could play a pick-up game with my friends? That way, Ricky could get some practice in a real situation."

"I think that's a wonderful idea," I agreed, beaming with pride that he was taking such a great interest in his brother's progress. "Just let your friends know they should dress accordingly and bring their gloves and whatever else they feel they would need for a game."

"Thanks, Dad," Danny replied, gratefully. "I'll tell them all tonight. Don't say anything to Ricky, though. I want this to be a surprise."

"My lips are sealed," I promised, turning my fingers in front of my mouth, as if I were turning a key in a lock, to emphasize the point. "Go and get cleaned up for dinner and tell your brother to do the same."

I was really proud of Danny. Even though it was his party, he still took time to think about Ricky and include him in the plans. It takes a really special kid to do something like that. It's too bad his father didn't realize how terrific he was; because I truly believe some day his father would come to regret how he acted. I won't complain, however, as Ricky and I are benefiting from Danny being with us.

When I wasn't playing ball with the boys, I used some of my free time to work out the details of Danny's party, including what I thought I might get him as a present. I did it all when the boys weren't around, but things were falling into place nicely. We'd even heard back from most of his friends, and the ones who had replied were all eager to come and see Danny again. Knowing this made me feel good and I was pleased Danny didn't have to lose all contact with his previous life.

That Friday, Danny approached me again. We had just arrived home after school and Ricky had already gone upstairs to change. "Dad, I really want to invite Brandon to my party. I don't care what the other kids say. I can deal with that. It's just that Brandon seems to be real lonely and I haven't noticed him with any other friends. For now, I just want to be his friend and I can wait to decide about the other stuff later. Is that all right with you?" He looked concerned that I might say 'no.'

"That's fine," I responded, "as long as you've thought about it and that's what you've decided. Go ahead and invite him then. I've always liked Brandon and I have no problem with him. It's just I wanted you to think about the possible repercussions, before you made up your mind."

"Thanks, Dad," he replied. "I really appreciate this and I'm sure Brandon will, too." He gave me a huge grin and a hug, before he ran up the steps to change his clothes.

A few minutes later, as Ricky passed Danny's room heading downstairs, Danny called out to him. "Hey Ricky, I've got something to tell you." Ricky stopped and came back to Danny's bedroom, to see what he had to say. "Do you know who Brandon O'Hara is?"

Ricky nodded in response, but didn't say anything. "Well, I'm inviting him to my party," Danny advised him. "I hope you don't have a problem with that."

"No, I don't," Ricky told him. "Why would I?"

"Well, I've heard a lot of guys joking about him being gay," Danny informed him, "and I wasn't sure how you'd react to him coming here."

"It's okay with me," Ricky replied. "I don't care if he comes. It's your party and he is kind of cute," Ricky teased, causing Danny to blush slightly.

"Thanks, little bro," Danny told him, once he got over his little embarrassment. "As long as you're here, do you want to try something new?"

"Like what?" Ricky wondered.

"Shut my door and I'll tell you," Danny told him. Ricky closed and locked the door and then moved back toward Danny.

"Have you ever thought about a blowjob?" Danny asked him.

"You mean like when the guy puts his mouth on the other guy's wiener?" Ricky asked, somewhat surprised by the suggestion.

"Yeah, that's what I mean," Danny confirmed.

"Yeah, I've thought about it, but don't you think it's kind of gross?" Ricky questioned, making a little face as he did so. "I mean, what's a wiener taste like? Wouldn't you taste pee?"

"I've never done it myself," Danny admitted, "but it can't taste that bad. Guys and girls do it to other guys all the time."

"Yeah, I guess so," Ricky responded, not totally convinced.

"Well, what do you think?" Danny asked hopefully. "I'll do it to you, if you'll do it to me after."

Ricky thought about it for a minute before he answered. "If I do it and don't like it and want to stop, will you get mad at me?"

"No, I won't get mad at you," Danny assured him. "If you try it and don't like it, you can stop at any time."

Satisfied by Danny's promise, Ricky agreed. "Okay, I'll try it then."

"Good, let's get undressed and you can lie on the bed, so I can do you first," Danny informed him, and both of them immediately began to remove their clothing. Danny took off his school things and Ricky took off the clothes he had just changed into. When he was done, Ricky walked over to the bed and lay down in the middle of it. Danny had Ricky spread his legs apart, so he could get between them, and then he bent over and grasped Ricky's dick with his thumb and index finger. Tentatively, he began to lick on the head.

"Oh, wow!" Ricky exclaimed. "That's nice. It feels really good."

Danny continued to lick all around the head, even letting his tongue explore the slit. He had also begun to let his other hand massage and tug at Ricky's ball sac. Needless to say, 'Little Ricky' had become firm and ready to play. Danny slipped his mouth over the end of Ricky's cock and started the bobbing motion he read about in the stories. He was careful to keep his teeth back, while trying to apply as much suction as he could at the same time. Ricky's hips were lifting off and then dropping back onto the mattress, as instinct took control of his body.

"Oh, that feels so goooood," Ricky cooed. "Oh, yeah, suck on it, Danny. Suck on my wiener. Oh, wow. This is wild. Watch out, I'm gonna shoot. I'm almost there. Yeeeeeeees. Yeeeeeeeeeesssssss. Here it cuuuuums."

Danny didn't pull away, instead choosing to let Ricky's load explode into his mouth. Four spurts filled his throat, each a little less forceful than the preceding one, and Danny didn't seen to mind the taste of Ricky's seed either. In fact, he kind of liked it. It was kind of sweet. He swallowed the load and kept sucking, until Ricky told him to quit. "Stop, Danny, it's starting to hurt," Ricky complained. "My wiener's getting a little sore."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do it so long, but it was kind of fun," Danny apologized and confessed, at the same time.

"It was?" Ricky asked, somewhat amazed. "Did it taste bad?"

"No, not at all," Danny told him. "It was kind of like sucking on my thumb."

"Your thumb ain't that big," Ricky teased, while he thought about having to take his turn and do the same thing to Danny. "Okay, let's change places then and I'll do it to you," he acknowledged.

The boys switched positions quickly and Ricky moved in to grasp Danny's already stiff penis. He tried to mimic Danny's previous actions, but was still a little hesitant as he stuck out his tongue and it moved toward Danny's helmet. Eventually, it touched the surface and Ricky began to tentatively move it around the corona.

"Hey, this doesn't have hardly any taste at all," Ricky agreed, before beginning to lick it in earnest. As Ricky dragged his tongue around the dark-red tip, Danny began to make all sorts of guttural noises. These sounds let Ricky know he was doing a good job, which encouraged him even more, so he opened his mouth wide and let his lips slide down the sides of Danny's pole. Once he had it almost totally inside his mouth, Ricky slowly began to move his head up and down the ample shaft, sucking as he went.

"Hey, watch your teeth," Danny warned him. "Keep your lips pushed out in front of your teeth, so they don't scrape on my dick. That hurt a little."

"Sorry," Ricky mumbled, with his mouth full. He was actually starting to feel bad that he wasn't making Danny feel as good as Danny had made him feel. "I'll try to do that from now on," he promised, pulling his head briefly off of his brother's dick, and then he went back to work. After a few more seconds, Danny started to feel those wonderful sensations building in his lower body again, and shortly after that, he began to feel those electrical tingles in his groin, which he knew preceded his imminent release. "Oh, Ricky, I'm just about ready to shoot. I'm almost there. Oh, Oh, Oooooohhhhh."

After saying that, Danny thrust his hips upward, burying his member as deeply as he could into Ricky's throat, just before his boy juices began to fill Ricky's mouth. Ricky started swallowing almost immediately, as he knew he had to do that or choke. Ricky quickly decided he didn't think it tasted bad at all, just different. He kept swallowing until there was nothing left, and then Danny pushed his hand against the top of Ricky's head, letting him know he could stop.

"That wasn't bad at all," Ricky stated, as he lifted his head away from Danny's groin. "I hope you liked it as much as I did."

"Yeah, it was super," Danny confirmed. "Thanks, Ricky. Maybe sometime we could even corn-hole each other."

"You mean stick it up my butt?" Ricky asked, shocked. "No way. I'll do it to you, if that's what you want, but you ain't sticking your thing in me."

"Okay, forget about it then," Danny told him.

"Are you mad at me for not wanting to?" Ricky asked, concerned.

"No. Like dad said, we don't do anything unless we BOTH want to," Danny replied. "I'm not going to force you and I'm not going to be mad at you either. I do want to thank you for what you HAVE done with me, though. I appreciate it and I've really enjoyed it."

"I've enjoyed it too," Ricky admitted, "but I still don't want to do the other thing. I'm sorry, if that's what you wanted."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Danny told him. "It's not that important anyway."

Ricky wasn't sure he believed the last part of Danny's statement, but he was glad Danny didn't try to put pressure on him to do it. Both of them got dressed and came downstairs to watch some television with me. As Ricky became absorbed in some program, Danny's thoughts were on other things. He considered that maybe someday he could find someone else who might be willing to try the butt things with him or that Ricky might change his mind. Besides, there was always a chance that he and Brandon might get together and maybe Brandon would be more receptive to his suggestion.

The boys continued to work very hard to improve Ricky's skills, and I was sure this was because neither of them wanted to take the chance that Ricky might get embarrassed, when it came time to play. I think Danny was also concerned that if that happened, Ricky might also get discouraged and not follow through with playing the other sports with him too. I was certainly very proud of both of them for their effort and the way they went about this.

Something else came up during that time as well, when Danny approached me to ask me a favor. "Dad, would you mind if I invited Brandon over this weekend, so Ricky and I can get to know him a little better before the party?"

"No," I told him. "In fact, I think that's an excellent idea. Which day, and do you have anything in particular in mind?"

"Maybe Saturday, " Danny admitted, "but I'm not sure what we'll do. I don't know what types of things Brandon likes, so I don't know what to plan."

"Maybe you should just talk to him a bit first," I suggested, "so you can learn more about him. If you're inviting him to your party, I hope he likes to play baseball. It would be quite rude if he had to sit out and watch the rest of you play."

"Jeez, I never thought about that," Danny admitted.

"Why don't you call him up and speak to him a bit on the phone," I advised him. "That would give you an opportunity to find out a few things about him and then you could plan on talking to him more at school, tomorrow.

"But I don't know his phone number," Danny complained.

"I know his parent's names," I advised him, "so I'll look it up in the phone book for you."

"Thanks, Dad," Danny responded. "That would help a lot."

It didn't take me long to look it up for him and then I handed him a slip of paper with the number written upon it. He took it from me and gave him a call. "Hello, may I speak to Brandon," I heard him say, after dialing the number.

"Just one second please," Brandon's mother told him, before calling her son to the phone.

"Hello," the boy on the other end answered.

"Hi, Brandon, this is Danny Roma. I'm in some of your classes."

"Yeah, I know who you are," Brandon told him. "You live with Mr. Currie, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," Danny told him. "Anyway, I was wondering if you might like to come spend some time with me on Saturday. What do you think?"

"Why do you want me to come to your house?" Brandon asked, somewhat confused by this sudden offer.

"Well, my brother and I kind of talked it over," Danny told him, "and we both thought we'd like to have you as a friend?"

"Really?" Brandon asked, startled, and then there was a pause before he spoke again. "If you didn't live with Mr. Currie, I'd think you were just trying to get me there so you could beat me up or something. Not many people want to be my friend," he confessed.

"Well, we do," Danny stated, emphatically, "and we don't care what other people think. My brother and I think you seem nice."

"Thanks," Brandon replied. "Is your brother that blond haired boy? I think his name is Rick or something like that."

"Yes, it's Ricky," Danny explained.

"Okay, I guess I could give it a try," Brandon told him. Over the next several minutes, the boys discussed many things, including some of their interests and what they might like to do on Saturday. The conversation ended with Brandon agreeing to talk more about it with Danny in school the next day, but he also got his parents' permission to come over Saturday and possibly even spend the night, depending on how well they hit it off. I was quite impressed with the way Danny had handled himself.

Chapter 12
Friends – Old and New

Brandon was a very good-looking boy and about the same height as Danny, roughly 5' 4" [1.78 m]. He had blond hair, which appeared very pale in the bright sunlight, soft brown eyes, and a fair complexion. He was slender, but not skinny, and his legs seemed very long, especially when compared to his trunk, and that made him appear to be even taller than he actually was. If it weren't for that damned rumor, I would have expected him to be one of the most popular kids in his class.

Mrs. O'Hara was smiling warmly at us as she got out of her vehicle and seemed like a very friendly person. "Hello, Mrs. O'Hara," I greeted her. "I think you remember me from the middle school."

"I certainly do, Mr. Currie," she answered, while nodding in agreement, "and it's very nice to see you again."

"Same here, but please call me Josh," I advised her, trying to make her feel more at ease.

"Only if you call me Brenda," she countered, smiling amicably.

"It's a deal, Brenda," I concurred. "These are my sons, Danny and Ricky," I told her, while motioning toward each boy as I introduced him.

"Hello, boys," she greeted them. "It nice to meet you both." The boys returned her greeting, and then stood there unmoving and looking uncertain as to what to do next.

"We are pleased to have Brandon over," I announced, " and we're glad you agreed to let him join us. I think both of my boys are hoping they might all become good friends." Danny and Ricky nodded in agreement with my statement.

"That would be marvelous, Josh," she responded. "Brandon has had some trouble fitting-in since we've moved here. This is so thoughtful of you." I could see Brandon grimace when his mother made that comment.

"Oh, I had very little involvement with this," I told her, honestly, "except to approve the boys' request. This was Danny's suggestion, but Ricky was quite pleased with the idea too." She looked at the boys and smiled.

"Thank you, you little sweethearts," she told them, causing my boys to blush and her son to blanche even more because of the way she addressed them. "I certainly do hope you boys hit it off," she continued, and that led me to believe she'd been through this before, but those situations hadn't worked out to Brandon's benefit.

"Brenda, I'd love to have you come in and join me for a cup of coffee and maybe a sweet roll," I offered. "That will give the boys a chance to go and begin doing whatever it is they have planned to do."

"Thank you, Josh," she answered. "That sounds lovely."

I escorted her toward the house, and as we began to move off, I advised the boys they were on their own for a short time. I suggested they could either show Brandon around or they might want to play a game or go on the computer. I told them to have fun, but admonished them not to get into any trouble. I think Danny understood what I meant by that, as he rolled his eyes back in his head – an indication he was not pleased about my precautionary warning.

I opened the door for Brenda and directed her into the dining room. As she made herself comfortable, I made a fresh pot of coffee and then placed it next to the cups, containers of cream and sweetener and a small plate of sweet rolls I had already placed on a tray. I carried the tray to the table and began to pour. I had picked up the sweet rolls on the way home the previous evening, as I knew this opportunity might arise. If it hadn't, I knew the rolls wouldn't go to waste with three young men in the house. She hesitated for a second, before finally taking one of the treats, and then we sipped our coffee and nibbled on the rolls as we talked.

She asked me about the boys and how they came to live with me. I answered her honestly, although I did withhold many of the details. As we talked about Danny and Ricky, she also began to tell me a little about Brandon too. I had the feeling she wanted to share even more about him, but I think she was worried how I might react to what she wanted to say, so she never revealed the details I was hoping for. I almost prodded her into disclosing those facts by telling her about Danny, but I didn't want to betray his confidence either, just to make it easier for her to open up.

Over the next half hour or so, we discussed many other things and I think she felt comfortable afterward, when she realized we weren't the type to turn on him, if we discovered his secret. After a pleasant visit, Brenda informed me she had to leave, as she had other things she needed to attend to. She was just getting up when the boys burst into the house, breathless and laughing.

"Slow down," she told her son. "You should know better than to come tearing into other people's homes like that." Her admonition stopped Brandon dead in his tracks and he looked crestfallen that she had chastised him in front of his new friends.

"Brenda, I'm sure it's not all Brandon's fault," I informed her, jumping to her son's defense. "I'd be willing to bet he was just following my sons' lead. In fact, I'm glad he's feeling comfortable enough to do something like that already. My home is not a museum and it was childproofed a long time ago. I've kept it that way for when my grandchildren visit, but now that I have boys in the house again, it will definitely stay that way. I don't want you to worry about him causing any problems or doing any harm here. If he gets out of hand, I'll let him know."

"Well, it is your house," she conceded, "but feel free to do whatever you think is necessary, if he should get out of control." I knew this comment was her warning to Brandon, letting him know he'd better behave or else, but I thought it was time to change topics.

"What have you boys been up to?" I asked them. This drew Brandon's attention away from his mother's concerns and he listened as Danny answered me.

"We were just walking around and telling Brandon about how much land you own," my older son informed me, "and that's kind of why we came rushing in."

"Yeah," Ricky added, "we were wondering if you'd take us out for a hike in the woods."

"That sounds like fun to me," I responded, causing Brenda to give me a questioning look. "Don't worry," I told her, "I've set aside most of my weekend to spend with the boys, and I'm very much looking forward to it."

"If you say so," she replied, although she did not sound as if she believed me. "I hate to rush off, but as I told you earlier, I have a lot of things I need to do. Just give me a call when Brandon is ready to come home and I'll come and get him."

"Oh, that won't be necessary," I countered. "I'll take him home any time he's ready to leave, whether it's later tonight or tomorrow morning, but I know my boys are hoping he wouldn't mind spending the night. I believe the boys are thinking about camping out in the yard, or something like that."

"I'm sure he'd enjoy that," she added, while getting up and making her way to the door. "Josh, I want to thank you and your sons for everything. This means a great deal to Brandon AND me." Although I'm sure he agreed with what his mother told us, Brandon looked uncomfortable with the way she said it. Luckily, that didn't last long, as we began saying our good-byes.

Once that was over, Brandon almost pushed his mother out to her car. It was his way of encouraging her to go home, and I was fairly certain he did this so she wouldn't embarrass him in front of us again. Somewhat hurt by his manner, she took his hint gracefully and didn't comment about what he was doing. It was only a minute or so before she was driving off. After she departed, I told the boys to give Brandon a quick tour of the house, while I cleaned up the dining room and put things away.

"You're still going to take us on a hike, aren't you dad?" Danny asked, giving me that hopeful, pleading look he had been working on.

"Yes, I told you I would," I replied, realizing this seemed to be important to him. "Just give me a chance to finish up here and then I'll change quickly and put on my boots." I looked up at Brandon and noticed he seemed to have fairly good clothes on, not exactly the type I would have had him wear for such a venture. "Brandon, are you going to be all right dressed as you are? If not, Danny could probably loan you something to put on. You appear to be close to the same size."

"Yeah, maybe it would be better if I changed into something else," he agreed. "Mom would kill me if I messed these clothes up. She made me wear them because she wanted me to look nice and make a good impression."

"That's a mother for you," I joked back.

"I told her I should probably wear something to mess around in instead," he complained. "I did bring a pair of shorts and a shirt for later, but I guess that wouldn't be good for hiking either, would it?"

"Not exactly," I confirmed. "Danny, would you see if you could find him a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt to put on."

Danny nodded he agreement and then I noticed Brandon's shoes. "Is that all you have to wear on your feet?" I asked him. I knew we didn't have any extra boots for him to borrow.

"I brought sneakers too," Brandon answered. "Will they be okay?"

"They'll be better than your nice shoes," I informed him, before sending them on their way. Brandon grabbed his gym bag with his other things in it and the boys gave him a quick tour of the downstairs, before taking him up to Danny's bedroom. When they got there, Danny dug out a pair of jeans and lightweight sweatshirt for him to change into. Remarkably, Brandon didn't flinch about changing in front of them, but that was probably due to the fact he still had his underwear on the whole time. While he was changing, my two stood gawking at him, trying to judge his package through the fabric and ogling what they could see. Once Brandon was dressed, they came back downstairs to find me.

"We're ready to go, Dad," Danny announced, giving me a smug little grin. I concluded that it had something to do with Brandon's change of garb.

The boys followed me out to the woods, but I didn't plan on testing Brandon while we were out there, as I had done with Danny and Ricky. This was merely for fun and to give Brandon a chance to see more of our property, even though it would be fun for the rest of us too. As we entered the trees, I took a slightly different route than I had used with Danny and Ricky, and right away all the boys noticed something nearby.

"Is that a tree house?" they all kind of asked together, while pointing at the upper branches of a budding maple.

"Yes, it's one I built for my children, many years ago," I advised them. "I almost forgot it was here."

"Can we go up in it?" Ricky asked, looking eager to try it out.

"I'm afraid it would need to be repaired before I would allow you to do that," I explained. "I'm sure many of the boards have rotted by now and I'd worry about you getting hurt."

"Can we fix it up then?" Danny asked, agreeing with Ricky that he thought the tree house would be a great place for them.

"We could," I confirmed, "but not today. I'll have to measure everything and make a list of what I'd need to purchase, in order to get it back into shape. Then I'd have to go and pick-up all of the lumber and other items, and that will take time. Maybe in a couple of weeks we can do it," I suggested, "after things have calmed down a bit."

"Do you promise?" Ricky asked me, not wanting to let me off the hook so easily.

"Yes, I promise," I responded, sending Ricky dancing about and causing Danny to look very smug.

"Can I come and see it when it's done?" Brandon wanted to know.

"Sure, you can. Right, Dad?" Danny asked me, seeking confirmation.

"Of course he MAY," I agreed. "Brandon may come and visit any time he'd like, as long as his parents don't have a problem with it."

"Awesome," Brandon chimed in, and I could see he was beginning to like being with us already.

After that was settled, we moved on, and I pointed out a lot of different things to the boys, more than I had on our previous walks. The boys were interested in most of what I showed them, but they were especially intrigued when I pointed out the drop-off, which fell away into a fairly deep ravine. I don't think Danny and Ricky had been able to appreciate the hazards I had told them about before, until they saw it for themselves, even though I had warned them such things existed. It affected Brandon the most and caused him to stay right by my side, as I think he was concerned about what other potential dangers might be out there.

After walking around for an hour or more, we returned to the house and I noticed it was already past lunchtime. I asked the boys what they wanted to eat and then fixed them a quick meal. Once they finished inhaling all of the food I put in front of them, I asked if they would like to go to the movies. They all jumped at the idea, so I sent them up to change back into something a little better than their hiking clothes, while I did the same. Soon, we were in my car and on our way to the theater complex.

I let the boys select the movie when we arrived, and I already decided I would watch whatever they chose. I bought them all snacks when we came in, getting them each some candy and drinks, but I also purchased a large tub of popcorn for them to share, even though they had just finished lunch. We went in and found seats toward the back of theater, as I can't enjoy a movie if I'm too close to the screen.

It was decent movie, although I found myself spending most of my time observing the boys interact. They had made sure Brandon sat between them, so each would be next to him. I found it intriguing watching them whisper back and forth, making comments about what was happening on the big screen, and I could tell they were enjoying each other's company. I was also getting a kick out of watching them fight over the popcorn, making sure they each got their fair share, but all of their goodies were gone before the movie was half-over. After that, the boys got comfortable in their seats and focused solely on the movie.

Once the film ended, I asked the boys what they wanted to do next, and Danny suggested swimming. I wasn't sure about that idea, so I asked Brandon if it would be okay with him, and he said he'd like to do that too. He added that he'd just need me to take him by his house first, so he could get his swim trunks. Maybe the boys had discussed this during the movie, because they seemed to be in agreement and had the details worked out. I hustled them off to the car and drove back to our place quickly. Danny, Ricky and I ran to our rooms to get our trunks, while I took time to collect towels for all four of us. Once that had been accomplished, we got back into the car and drove to Brandon's house.

Brandon's mother looked concerned when we arrived, and I think she worried something had gone wrong, but after I assured her we had only come to pick up Brandon's swimsuit, she seemed to relax a bit. It didn't take Brandon long to retrieve what he needed and we were on our way. The YMCA appeared fairly quiet when we entered, so I concluded most people were taking advantage of the nice day and staying outdoors. What was even more surprising was there was absolutely no one in the locker room when we went in to change.

Our time in the locker room was pretty interesting. I watched the three of them as they got undressed, to see how they were reacting. Danny and Ricky couldn't seem to keep their eyes off of Brandon, as they waited almost breathlessly for him to get naked, while Brandon kept glancing cautiously between the two of them, hoping to see their goodies as well. Danny and Ricky didn't hesitate stripping naked in front of their new friend, and I felt they did this because they thought it would encourage Brandon to follow suit. They weren't disappointed, as it didn't take long for Brandon to do the same. Now, the three boys stood displaying their wares for each other to see, none of them hiding the fact that they were checking each other out.

I'm sure Danny and Ricky were both pleased with what they saw. Brandon sported a slender, cut penis, topped by a small bush of blond hairs, and it appeared to be even longer than Danny's. I don't think Brandon was disappointed either, as he became bolder looking at their packages too. After they got more comfortable with each other, they made a few comments about how good nature had been to each of them, before they reluctantly slipped on their swimsuits.

Once we were appropriately attired, I led the boys to the shower to rinse off, before heading out to the pool. As I did before, I held back to watch the boys in the water first, but this time it was so I could assess Brandon's aquatic skills. After watching the three of them dive in and begin racing and horsing around, I concluded Brandon was a capable swimmer and quietly jumped into the water myself. I wasn't paying much attention to them, as I did my own little workout, when I was suddenly attacked. All three of them jumped on top of me, trying to dunk me under the surface, and it took all my strength to keep from going to the bottom of the pool, in the shallow end.

After I was able to stand up, I tossed the boys off of me one at a time, and then I went after them, as each one landed a short distance away from me. I would first dunk one, and then another, or toss them about in the water. The boys must have thought this was fun, because they kept coming back for more, and the lifeguard was good about allowing our horseplay, but I assume this was only because the pool was so empty. After several more minutes of this vigorous activity, I finally called a truce and we got back to just swimming.

We stayed in the water for about an hour, getting a good work out, and then I told the boys I thought we should be heading home. They whined a bit about having to leave, but after a few stern parental stares, they backed off and did as I asked.

We went into the locker room and showered again, but this time the boys began to peel their swimsuits off as they did so. At first Brandon hesitated, but after he saw that Danny and Ricky had no problem doing this and I wasn't urging them to stop, he did the same. Unabashedly, they seemed to expose themselves to one another, making sure they got a good view of whatever they wanted to see. Some of their posing almost made me laugh out loud, as it was becoming quite obvious what they were doing. After coaxing them out of the shower, we dried off and put our street clothes back on, so we could leave.

On the ride home, Brandon told us he liked baseball too and was also planning on playing summer ball. That was welcome news to my pair, especially Danny, as it meant they would be seeing each other over the summer and Brandon would fit in with his birthday party plans. When we got back, I told the boys they could play outside for a while, while I went in to fix dinner. I played it safe and prepared things I knew most boys liked, such as hamburgers, macaroni and cheese and fries. After we finished eating, the boys wanted to play some games, so we challenged each other to a couple of board games, before they grew tired of that and went off to have some fun on the computer.

They were on the computer for quite awhile before they came back out to find me. That was when Brandon announced he wanted to spend the night. I suggested they might like to camp-out in the yard, but Danny and Ricky weren't keen on the idea, especially if I wasn't going to be out there with them. I guess the ghost story I'd told them on our last outing still had some lingering effects. Even though they didn't tell Brandon about that experience, they were still more than a little concerned about the Devil of Fuller's Hollow and didn't want to risk being outside alone. Instead, they decided to use the sleeping bags in the family room, where they would camp out on our green, shag carpet. Not only did they feel it would be safer there, but they would also have the television to help keep them entertained. I agreed with their suggestion, so they scurried off to set everything up.

During the evening, I went in to check on them three or four times, and I was amused to see them all lounging around nonchalantly in their underwear, like it was quite a natural thing to do. Actually, I was quite pleased to see Brandon feeling so comfortable and having no problems fitting in with my boys. In fact, he didn't even flinch when I walked in to see if they needed anything and it made me wonder if they might do some experimenting with each other later. When I was ready to head to bed, I told them they should probably turn in too, as we had to attend church in the morning.

Right away, I began to hear protests from Danny and Ricky, but I quickly let them know that missing church was NOT an option. While we were discussing this, I told them we could drop Brandon off on our way to the service, but he surprised me by asking if he could go with us instead. I told him where we attended church and asked if he thought that would be a problem, and he said it wouldn't. He said he could clean up here in the morning, and then change into the good clothes his mother had made him wear when he first arrived. I said they would be appropriate, but I also mentioned that I wanted to get his parent's permission first. He called, but his parents did not answer, so I told him we could stop by there on our way to church in the morning. He replied that would be fine, so it looked like there might be more than usual for Sunday service.

The boys were pretty quiet the rest of the evening and I'm not sure if they went to sleep or watched television after that, but I guess things worked out well for them. All I know is, when I went down to wake them the next morning, to get them ready for church, they were all more than a little groggy and slow to react. I hustled them all off to the showers, one at a time, with Brandon using the shower in my room, while Danny and Ricky used their own. I went down to fix breakfast while they were cleaning up, and I grabbed something for myself before they arrived in the dining room. While they were eating, I went to clean up and get dressed too.

Once they were ready to go, we drove to Brandon's house, so he could get his parents' permission to join us. Brandon told his parents about his idea and then asked if that would be all right. He seemed greatly relieved when they announced it would be fine. Brandon wanted to take the boys and show them his room quickly, so I chatted with his parents a while longer, to make certain they didn't have any qualms with their son attending our church. Neither of them objected and they both told me they hadn't seen him this happy in quite a long time. After thanking me for everything I'd done for him, I told them whatever I'd done was for my sons, but I was pleased that they had selected such a nice young man to be friends with.

They did want to know how I got Brandon to agree to go to church with us, so I explained that it had been his idea, not mine. That information seemed to surprise them, so I explained how it happened. I told them I had gone in to warn my boys about staying up late, as we had to go to church, when Brandon asked if he could join us. It was then that they explained to me that he'd had a falling out at their own church and hadn't gone back since. This made me wonder if the problem might have had something to do with his sexual orientation, but I didn't ask.

We were talking about other things when the boys came back to join us, so none of them heard anything we had discussed. After saying good-bye to Brandon's parents, I herded the boys out to the car, so we could be on our way. I advised Brenda and Patrick that I'd drop their son off after the service and they stated they'd appreciate that. I was impressed with the entire family and I was beginning to think this was going to work out well for all of us. Not only had the boys made a new friend, but I might also become close with his parents.

The boys were all very well behaved during the service and Danny and Ricky seemed to participate even more than usual. I think this was so they could impress Brandon, because he appeared to be enjoying everything that was going on. Whatever the case, I was pleased with the way they were conducting themselves. Before we left, we even received several favorable comments from the parishioners sitting closest to us, which made me feel even prouder of them.

We dropped Brandon off at home shortly after noon and he thanked us all several times for his visit. He told us he had a really great time and went even further by telling us he hadn't had this much fun in many, many months. He then stated he would like to do it again sometime, if I didn't mind. I quickly agreed, by telling him that we'd love to have him anytime he wanted to come over. Brandon then asked if maybe Danny and Ricky could come stay at his house some time as well, and I said that would be fine too, as long as his parents were ready to be driven insane. After some protests from my sons about my harsh words concerning them, Danny asked Brandon if he'd like to come to his birthday party the following weekend. Brandon thought that would be great and confirmed that he'd ask his parents, the minute he went inside, and then call and let us know. After watching him race into his house, we drove home.

The rest of the day and the entire next week flew by for me, but I don't think it went by quite as quickly for the boys. They were looking forward to the weekend and Danny's party, and that kind of anticipation always seems to make time pass by more slowly. However, things improved greatly for them when Friday finally arrived. I imagine they had a tough time getting through the day and all of their classes, as I was fairly certain the party must have consumed their every thought. When we got home, Danny hurriedly went about double-checking his list, to make sure everything was in order for the next day. He didn't want to take the chance that anything would go wrong. I know some of what Danny did confused his brother, but Ricky was good about it and didn't press the issue. I'm not sure how much sleep either of them got that evening, but they were both up before I was the next morning, and I think they were running primarily on adrenaline at that point. After watching them for a bit, I concluded they would more than likely be quite worn out by the time this was over.

After we downed a substantial breakfast, we got into the van I had borrowed from a friend. Ricky let Danny have the front seat, saying it was only right, seeing it was Danny's birthday, and I told him that was very thoughtful and generous of him. Ricky flashed me his, 'It's no big deal' face, and then hopped in the back. We left around 11:30, so we would have time to drive the thirty miles [50 km] over the twisting country roads we would have to use.

When we arrived at the school where we had agreed to meet the other boys, Ricky saw how they were dressed and that confused him even more. They were all dressed like they were going out to play, not come to a party. They all carried baseball gloves and some even brought along baseball bats. Ricky was polite enough not to say any of this to them about their attire and didn't mention it to anyone else either, at least until we got home. That's when he took me aside, to question me about it.

Not wanting to spoil the surprise, I told him he'd have to ask Danny why he told them to dress that way. He looked confused and disappointed with my response, but went over to Danny and asked if he could speak to him in private. After Danny agreed, they moved away from the others, but it wasn't long before I heard Ricky scream out, "All right!" before he came racing back toward me.

Within seconds, he was excitedly telling me what he had learned. "Dad, Danny told them to dress that way so we could go to the school later and play ball. He said he wanted me to have a chance to play in a real game, because that would help me get better. He told me this might be the only chance for us to get a game going before our league starts, because it's kind of hard to find enough guys to play, most of the time. He said we had enough today to make teams with at least five or six players on each side, so he thought this would be the perfect time. Isn't that great?"

"Yes, it is, but I knew that already. I just wanted Danny to be the one to tell you about it, because it was his idea to do this. He was thinking primarily about you when he made his decision, and I thought it was pretty special that'd he'd be willing to do this for YOU on HIS birthday. That's why I wanted him to have the honor of letting you know about it."

"Yeah, I'm glad he's my brother," Ricky confessed, his smile still nearly splitting his face in half. "Should I change now?"

"You may, if you want to," I told him, "but you'll probably have time to do it later, if you'd prefer to wait."

"No way!" he exclaimed. "I want to be ready when they are. I'll be back in a minute," he advised me, before racing into the house and up the stairs, at breakneck speed.

Brandon arrived a few minutes later, dressed liked the others, as Danny had shared this secret with him at school. Danny also made him swear he wouldn't tell Ricky, as he wanted to keep it a secret from him for as long as he could. Deep in my heart, I was very proud Danny had made sure to invite Brandon too, so he could have him meet his old friends.

Sally Swarthout arrived a few minutes later and Danny and Ricky introduced her to everyone as 'the nice lady who brought us to live here with Dad.' I think this made Sally feel really good about the placements and gave her an even deeper connection to my two sons. Anyway, all the boys were very friendly toward her and thanked her for taking such good care of their friend.

The party went off without a hitch and everyone seemed to get along nicely. After we had something to eat, as I had pizza delivered to the house, we topped it off with cake and ice cream. I told Danny he should open his presents before they went to play ball, so he'd have a chance to thank everyone, before things got hectic. Amazingly, he agreed. He did get some nice things from his friends, but I could tell he had a special appreciation for what Ricky gave him. A huge smile came over his face when he opened Ricky's gift and discovered his new baseball glove. Seemingly unconcerned what the others might think, he gave his little brother a big hug.

"I can't use this until I break it in," he told Ricky, "but I really like it and can't wait to be able to use it. Thanks, bro." All of this attention had caused Ricky to blush and I think my little blond was worried about what the other boys might be thinking, concerning the display of affection he was getting from Danny. However, none of the others ever commented about it, and so it was soon forgotten.

Sally handed her present to Danny next and we soon discovered she had been very generous too. She gave Danny two pair of shorts and two pullover shirts to go with them. They were all the style that boys his age like to wear now and Danny genuinely appeared very pleased with them. They also drew favorable comments from his friends, which only helped to enhance his appreciation for the gift.

I saved my presents for last. Once Danny had opened all of his other gifts, I handed him three boxes, all wrapped in appropriate gift-wrap. He eagerly ripped the paper from the first box and discovered a soccer ball. The second contained a lacrosse stick and ball and the third held a small goal he could use with either. He was already thanking me profusely when I handed him his last gift. He looked at me oddly, like he thought he had already received more than enough, but I encouraged him to open this final present. As he peeled away the wrapping paper, he found a new pair of cleats, which were appropriate for use while playing any of those sports. Almost immediately, he set all of his gifts aside and walked over to me, so he could give me a hug, a kiss on the cheek and thank me for his presents and party. I was surprised he did this in front of his friends, as teenage boys are reluctant to show their parents affection, especially in public, but it didn't seem to bother him at all. I was very glad he felt that way.

While Danny and his buddies were checking out the sporting gear, I pulled Ricky aside and took him into the living room. Once we were there, I pulled something out of the closet and handed it to him. It was a box wrapped in birthday paper, similar to one I gave Danny. "What's this?" he asked, confused and surprised.

"Just consider it an early birthday present," I told him. Without further encouragement, he ripped off the paper and opened the box. In it, he discovered a pair of cleats, just like the pair I had given to Danny.

"Thanks, Dad," he told me, while giving me a hug. "Can I wear these today?"

"Of course, you MAY," I advised him, correcting his grammar in the process. "That's why I gave them to you early." This time he kissed me on the cheek and thanked me again, before bending over to put them on.

I went back outside to supervise the clean up, and once everything was taken care of and everyone was ready, I took them down to the high school field. I was pleased when Sally announced she wanted to go too and she ended up keeping score and cheering for both teams. There were enough boys to have a good game of six on six, as long as I played catcher for both teams.

The game was close and exciting and all the boys played very well. When the game ended, Danny's friends congratulated both Ricky and Brandon on how well they played, which made both of them feel good and a part of the group. To tell you the truth, I think Danny had e-mailed his friends and told them the story about how he had been working with Ricky, so they made sure to let Ricky know the hard work was paying off.

After the game, I loaded everyone back into the van, took Sally back to her car at our house and then I drove all of the various boys home. I delivered each of Danny's old friends to his doorstep, met his parent or parents and told them that their son was welcome to visit us any time. I also informed them that I thought Danny had selected his friends very wisely and that I had enjoyed their visit immensely. One of the boys asked if they could have a sleepover sometime, seeing we lived in such a big house, and I immediately agreed with his suggestion. I advised him that I'd work with Danny to set up a date in the near future, and then we'd notify them all when it would it take place. This really was a nice group of boys.

I waited to drop Brandon off on the trip back, as I didn't want him to feel we were trying to get rid of him too soon. I knew he had become close to Danny's other friends too, so there was no reason he couldn't ride with us to take them home. I think he really appreciated that little courtesy. As he got out of the van and said good-bye, I told him I expected to see him back soon, which caused him to give us all a very nice smile. The party had obviously been a big hit, on several different levels, and I was sure I would be seeing a great deal of all of Danny's friends again, in the future.

Chapter 13
Different Issues

By the time we had dropped everyone off and returned home after Danny's party, both boys were still excited, but quite exhausted. All they could talk about was how much fun they had, how great the baseball game was and how wonderfully Ricky had played. I think even Ricky amazed himself by how well he had done, and Danny was busy trying to convince him to sign up for summer ball.

"Look," Danny began, "sign ups are next weekend and you know now that you'll do great. Even Brandon is going to play, so you've got to. It will be fun."

"What if this was just a mistake," Ricky protested, still not convinced of his ability. "Maybe I'm not as good as I looked today?"

"But you are good," Danny shot back, "and all my friends told you so. I've told you that all along, but it's up to you. I know you'll do great, but I'm not going to try to force you, if it's not what you want to do. It's the same as everything else, you don't have to do anything unless you want to." Ricky looked at Danny, trying to understand what he meant.

"So you don't care if I play or not?" Ricky asked.

"Oh, I care and want you to play," Danny answered, "but I'm not going to make you. I'll be much happier if you play too, but that's your choice." Ricky had listened carefully to what Danny told him, but he took several more minutes, before he said anything else. Finally, he gave Danny his answer.

"Okay, I'll give it a try," Ricky finally confirmed. "I guess I could do that, seeing you've done so much to help me get better."

"Just one thing," I interrupted, having overheard the conversation. "I have one hard and fast rule that you might want to consider first. If you join up for something, I expect you to stick it out for the entire season and not quit in the middle of it, as that hurts the others on the team. That means if you do join, you'll go to all of the practices and all of the games, regardless if you change your mind about liking it later. My other children were forced to follow that rule and I expect you boys to do the same." Ricky thought about it briefly, before answering me.

"I can do that," he stated, simply, which caused Danny to grin broadly and give him a hug.

"Great!" Danny exclaimed, after releasing Ricky. "This is going to be a lot of fun. You just wait and see." Both boys seemed truly looking forward to this now and I was glad they were both happy they were going to be teammates.

Things were continuing to go smoothly and school was nearing an end, which made me realize I had been lax about keeping up with the boys' progress in class. I decided I'd better check with their teachers, just to make sure they were still doing well, because if they weren't, there was still enough time to bring their grades up before school ended. I was almost certain the teachers would have said something to me before this, if either boy was having problems, but I thought it best to be certain. After talking with the various faculty members, I was happy to learn that both boys were doing fine.

Ricky's teachers all commented about how much better he was doing since he came to live with me and each one made sure I understood they were having far fewer problems with him in class. Hearing that pleased me immensely and I knew I'd have to find a way to let Ricky know how thrilled I was that he kept his promise about trying harder, both academically and behaviorally. I realized that amount of change must have taken more than a little effort on his part, so I had to find a way to show him how much I appreciated what he had done. I always knew he was truly a good kid, but just the kind who occasionally reacts before he thinks.

Danny's teachers were also very impressed with him. They told me that sometimes they wished he wasn't so quiet and would participate more in class discussions, but his work was excellent and he was very intelligent. I had some idea that he was a capable student, after scanning his records from his old school, but I didn't realize that he had been under-performing there. His teachers were praising his efforts now and they also told me he was making many friends and showing signs of being a natural-born leader. Dang, did I luck out with these two or what?

Encouraged by these reports, the following weekend I took the boys to sign up for the 13-15 year old baseball league. While we were there, I spoke to the various league officers about our current situation and they saw no reason why the boys couldn't play on the same team. Danny and Ricky were thrilled when I informed them about this and now they eagerly anticipated their first practice. Once the sign up had been completed, the coaches would get together and select the teams, and they'd call all of their team members to inform them as to when and where they'd be practicing. I could tell the boys were getting antsy about what team they'd be on, but there was nothing they could do to find out that information until they heard from their coach.

They got their phone call Sunday evening, confirming they were on the same team and getting the information about their first practice. I happened to know their coach, because he was a member of our church, and I knew he had been coaching summer ball for a number of years. Learning this made me feel good too, as I now realized they had someone of his caliber to work with them, and it helped to remove some of my concerns as well. I was worried the wrong coach could destroy what little self-confidence Ricky had gained from working so hard with Danny, but I was now able to put that worry behind me.

The boys were a bundle of nerves for the next couple of days, anticipating their first practice and worrying about who else might be on their team. As I drove them to the field, neither said a word. They were both staring intently out the windows, to see if they recognized any of the others there. We were all shocked to see Brandon there and he came rushing toward our car when he saw us drive up. "Are you on this team too?" he squealed in delight, already fairly certain as to how my boys were going to respond.

"Yep," Ricky told him. "I guess we're going to be teammates." They all took a deep breath after that, as some of their concerns had already been put to rest.

I stayed and watched the practice, intrigued as the coach tried all the boys at the various positions they hoped to play. Once he had finished doing that, he pitched batting practice to them. He would follow that same routine over their next two practices, but on Friday he began to let the boys know where they'd most likely be playing. It turned out that Danny was going to be the shortstop and Ricky would play opposite him, at second base. Hearing this, I immediately thought about how I had the double-play combination in the family and decided I'd work with them a little on our own, to help them polish those very skills.

Brandon became the centerfielder, as his long legs allowed him to cover a lot of ground, which he did very gracefully. Besides being fast and having good range, he also had very good instincts and could get a great jump on most fly balls. He was truly going to be an asset to the team. The boys seemed pleased about most of their other team members as well and there wasn't anyone on the team they were unhappy with. I felt that was important, because at this level, the ability to play as a team is always much easier when you think of everyone else as family or a great friend. To encourage that feeling, I was planning to invite the whole team over to our place every so often, to give the boys an even greater chance to bond.

There was one kid, however, that I didn't need to worry about. Brandon became a very frequent visitor to our house and sometimes I began to wonder if he had just moved in without telling me. Some nights when the boys had a practice or a game, Brandon would come home with us first and then come with us when we drove to the field. Once in a while, he would invite my boys to go home with him beforehand, and then his parents would take them instead.

I was pleased to see this, but I was also beginning to notice something else, something that disturbed me greatly. I was beginning to notice Ricky's body language and facial expressions when Brandon was around and I could tell something was bothering him. I decided to confront this head on and not wait for Ricky to explode; so I took Ricky aside for a private chat.

"Okay, what's wrong?" I asked him, once we were alone. He looked up at me, with those big expressive eyes and his mouth hanging open.

"What do you mean?" he asked, rather than answered.

"Look, I know something is bothering you," I explained, while trying to eliminate any denial he might try to make. "I just don't know what it is. However, I think it has something to do with Brandon," I added, causing Ricky to blush. "Do you mind filling me in about it?"

It took Ricky a few seconds before he answered me, and I could tell he was very uneasy about sharing this information. I could have said something to try to ease his discomfort, but I thought it best to let him work it out for himself this time. Eventually, my little blond scamp began to speak. "It's not what you think," he informed me.

"Oh? And what do I think?" I asked in return.

"You think that I don't like Brandon any more," he stated, assuredly, "but that's not it."

"Okay, what is it then?" I demanded.

"It's just that Danny keeps spending more and more time with him," Ricky admitted, and then stopped, without adding more. I thought I understood where this was leading.

"And you think this means Danny likes Brandon more than you?" I asked him, which caused Ricky to turn red and look away from me.

"Maybe," he responded, without looking in my direction.

"Do you think it's possible that Danny might like both of you," I pressed, "but just in different ways?" Ricky turned toward me again and I could tell this question had confused him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean," I began, "that he might love you like a brother and Brandon like a good friend. That doesn't mean he likes one of you more than the other, just that he loves you both, but in different ways."

"Then why does he spend all of his time with Brandon when he's here?" he fired back.

"I think that's because he isn't with him all the time, like he is with you," I answered him. "I think if Brandon lived here and you didn't, then Brandon might have thought the same thing, because it would seem like Danny was spending all his time with you." Ricky thought carefully about this and I could tell he was weighing things over in his mind.

"So you think I'm being silly feeling this way?" he finally asked.

"No, not silly at all," I replied. "It's just that you're not seeing the whole picture. I'm sure Danny would feel awful if he knew you felt this way. If he did, he'd probably try his best to show you how much you mean to him, but I think he needs other people in his life too, not just the two of us." I paused for a second, to let this sink in. When I saw him looking back toward me, I continued. "What if you found another friend? Would you want Danny to feel bad that you wanted to do things with him too?"

"No," he replied, without hesitation.

"Well, I'm sure Danny feels the same way," I assured him. "Do you think I should feel bad because you boys want to spend more time with each other or with Brandon, than with me?" Ricky's eyes bulged from their sockets, as he thought about the implications of my query.

"No," he almost screamed, "we both love you a whole bunch."

"And I love both of you and Danny loves you too," I assured him. "Do you see what I'm trying to tell you?" He considered my words for many seconds, before he finally answered.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he admitted, a little sheepishly. "You're saying you don't love us less because we spend time with each other or with Brandon, and I shouldn't be mad cuz Danny spends time with Brandon either."

"That sounds about right," I responded, causing Ricky to roll his eyes a bit.

"I guess I've been kind of dumb, huh?" he asked me.

"I wouldn't say dumb, just confused," I assured him, which caused him to smile weakly. "Maybe you should go find Danny and Brandon and see what they're up to?" Ricky nodded and ran off. It didn't take long before he found them in the family room, playing ping-pong. They immediately invited him to take on the winner, which only confirmed what I had just told him. He now realized Danny and Brandon weren't ignoring him, just that he'd have to learn to share the time he got to spend with them. For the next hour or so, the three of them played table tennis together, rotating in and out, with the odd man challenging the winner. I was happy to see them having such a good time and Ricky's jealousy toward Brandon seemed to fade.

The boys had several baseball games during the remainder of May and Brandon would stay over on Friday or Saturday nights with my boys, occasionally spending both nights at our home. When he wasn't staying with us, Danny and Ricky would sometimes spend the night at his place, so they were all becoming very close. Once the issue of 'whom Danny liked more' had been put to rest, they were actually able to enjoy each other on their own level.

The first weekend in June, I kept my promise and we had a sleepover for Danny's old friends. Danny also invited Brandon, seeing he had met these boys before and they all seemed to get along so well. I picked everyone up Friday afternoon, as we were going to make this a weekend get together. School was officially over, so there was nothing to keep this from happening, and the boys all wanted to have as much time to spend together as they could finagle.

My friend had loaned me his van again, so I picked Brandon up first, and he rode with us to get the others. All the boys were excited, had all of their things with them and were ready to go. I had suggested they bring several changes of clothing, appropriate for the various types of activities we might do, a sleeping bag and possibly a pillow or whatever else they thought they might want. I had also spoken to each of their parents in advance, to make sure they had no allergies, medical conditions or food dislikes that I should know about. Armed with all of this information, I had planned the weekend out with my sons.

The first thing we did after getting to our place was to take everything into the house and get the boys settled in. I made sure they all got a detailed tour of the place, making certain they also knew where all three bathrooms were located, meaning the one on the first floor, the second floor, and the bathroom off the master bedroom. That way they'd know what their options were, in case someone was occupying one of the toilets when they needed to use it. Once that was accomplished, I had them grab a few specific items, loaded everyone back up into the van and then drove them to the high school baseball field. I let them play a game until dinnertime and I caught for both teams again. The boys told me it was neat that I'd play with them too, as none of their parents ever did that. They had another very good game and seemed to really enjoy themselves. On the way home, I stopped to pick up the sheet pizzas I had ordered before we left the house.

Once we were in the van, I wondered if the pizzas were going to make it until we reached our place, as all of the boys seemed to be drooling and getting hungrier by the second. It was a good thing it wasn't a very long ride. I carried the pizza inside, brought out some bags of chips, soda, vegetables and dip, a green salad that I had quickly thrown together and some dressings. The boys devoured everything in sight and I had to hustle to make sure I got something to eat before it all disappeared. There's nothing like watching the feeding frenzy of growing boys.

After our meal, Danny and Ricky asked me if I'd take them all for a hike in the woods, as they wanted everyone to see how much land we had. I knew their primary purpose was to allow his friends see the ravine I had shown them when we took Brandon out there, but I happily agreed. I told everyone to change into something appropriate for the hike and when they all returned, we exited through the back door. It was a lovely afternoon and the woods just seemed to dance in sunlight and shadows, which gave it a very relaxing feeling. The boys eagerly followed me, while Danny and Ricky filled them in about many of the things we passed. When we got to the ravine, the other boys hesitantly edged forward, so they could look down the dirt and rock strewn drop off. I could tell it had precisely the effect Danny and Ricky had desired. It not only impressed this group, but it threw a little panic into them as well.

Once we got back to the house, the boys amused themselves for a while indoors, before going outside to play hide-and-go-seek, after it got dark. Danny, Ricky and Brandon had a distinct advantage, as they knew the area better than the others, but I think everyone had a good time. When they came in for the evening, I had everyone take a shower, because they had all played very hard throughout the day. It went quickly with the three bathrooms, and once they were done, we all went to the family room to watch a video I had Danny and Ricky pick out Friday morning. It was a horror film, but it wasn't overly violent, and everyone seemed to get into it. While they were watching the movie, I went out to the kitchen to make popcorn. When I returned, I was lugging not only the popcorn, but also some bags of chips, dip and drinks for everyone. That seemed to tide them over until bedtime.

When the movie ended, the boys let me know they all wanted to sleep in the same place, instead of being split up among the various bedrooms. I had no problem with that, so I had them lay out their sleeping bags in the family room, as I had my boys do when Brandon stayed over that first time. Being the prankster that I am, I grabbed a few items and sneaked outside, to see what type of excitement I might be able to stir-up. I peeked through the large family room window at the boys, and once they were settled in, I went into action. I put my face against the window, flicked on the flashlight I held under my chin, and made the worst face I could think of, while emitting some very loud moaning and groaning sounds. I added that touch to make sure I got everyone's attention at about the same time. I heard some screams and saw some of the boys bolt from the family room and race for other parts of the house, until Danny and Ricky explained I was the one scaring them. Once the boys realized I, and not some monster, had been peering through the window at them, they started to calm down. However, someone decided that what I had done deserved payback, so he whipped the others into a revolt, and they all shot out the door after me.

I gave them a run for their money, but they eventually caught me. Once they got a hold of me, they playfully swatted my shoulders and backside, as if they were punishing me for what I had done. You see, after their initial fright, I think they all enjoyed my little diversion and it helped make them feel a little closer to me too. When I got them settled down again, I ushered everyone back inside. I led them into the family room, had them slip inside their sleeping bags and then advised them to get some sleep. Before I left, however, the boys made me promise I wouldn't try to scare them again. After assuring them I wouldn't, they began to settle down.

I'm not sure what time the boys actually fell asleep or how much rest they were able to get that night, but they did sleep in late the next morning. By the time they started getting up and moving into the other parts of the house, it was nearly noon. I began giving them their options for breakfast – cereal, eggs, toast, English muffins, French toast, sausage, bacon or even a breakfast sandwich, and then fixed whatever they wanted. While I was preparing their food, I also set cartons of various types of juice on the table and had Danny and Ricky set out dishes, glasses and silverware for them to use. It took a while to get everyone fed, but then I let them chill out for a bit, before I explained what I had planned next.

"Okay, guys. Everyone go get your swimsuits and we'll head to the state park for at least part of the day," I announced, receiving a loud cheer in reply. I also made sure each of them took a towel from my ample linen closet, before shepherding the group toward the van.

The state park wasn't that close to the house, but it had an awesome swimming area at one end of the lake. After parking the van, I had them grab their things and led them to the men's bathhouse, where they began to change out of their street clothes and into their trunks. This proved to be a very interesting time. All the boys were a little hesitant about changing in front of their buddies, so Danny, Ricky and Brandon decided to set the tone. They quickly stripped out of their clothing and actually took some time playing with their swimsuits before putting them on. The others watched them closely, including checking out their bodies, but seeing those three acting so nonchalantly about what they were doing, the others quickly began to follow suit. As I was changing, I watched them all checking each other out, and it was actually quite amusing. Some were still a little bashful about showing off their body, especially the one boy who wasn't quite as physically mature as the others, but one of the others seemed to relish letting the others have a good look at his wares. I know this pleased Danny, Ricky and Brandon immensely.

When everyone was ready, I locked all their belongings up with mine, but I had them wait for me, before they went out to swim. Once everything was secure, I followed them out to the water, so I could evaluate their abilities. After watching them for nearly twenty minutes, I began to relax enough to get in the water and enjoy myself too.

We had a very good time swimming and lying on the beach sunning ourselves, so we ended up spending the entire afternoon there. I bought the boys little things to eat to tide them over along the way, but as evening approached and their stomachs began to rumble, I decided it was time to leave. We all went back to the bathhouse to change into our clothes, with the boys urging me to move a little faster than I was going. When I completed my efforts, they nearly dragged me out to the van, because I had mistakenly mentioned it was time for dinner. There was no way I was going to be able to fix anything quickly enough to satisfy them, so I took them to a family buffet-style restaurant, which I discovered on the way back. As I walked in and looked at the prices they were charging, I almost felt as if I was cheating the owners by paying so little for these eating machines. However, that was all I was required to do, but I would leave a nice tip for whoever had to remove the stacks of dishes these boys would go through.

I watched in awe as the boys moved between the various food stations, like a pack of wolves moving in for the kill, and by the time they loaded up their plates and made their way back to our table, not much remained. I gawked at the serving pans after they strolled away and it was like looking at the skeletal remains of an animal, after the vultures had finished with it. As I walked back to take my place beside them at the table, I saw the panicked staff begin to race about, as they tried to refill all the empty containers for their other customers.

The boys went through that first plateful like fire through a drought stricken forest, and it wasn't long before they were headed back for seconds. The staff just watched, with open mouths, as the boys roamed from station to station, helping themselves to more. It wasn't long before they returned to the table, to finish off their most recent selections. Some of the boys even went back for thirds, but most moved on to the dessert bar, returning with anywhere from two to five different items. I hoped they were eating enough to last them through the night, because I think my cupboards were running a little bare, after all they had already consumed.

After everyone had finished eating, I suggested we could go see a movie next. They all responded positively to that idea, and once they reached an agreement on what they wanted to see, we drove to the theater complex. I was a little surprised when they turned down my offer to purchase snacks for them, so maybe they didn't have two hollow legs after all, and I merely ended up buying them drinks. I didn't find the movie that enjoyable, but the boys did, and that's all that mattered. When the movie ended, we went back home, but I had another little surprise in store for them.

Once we got to our house, I disappeared, but soon came back lugging two bundles under my arms. They were two family sized tents I still had from the old days, when my family would go out camping and bring along a few friends. I asked the boys to help me set the tents up in the yard, explaining that I'd let them camp outside tonight if they gave me a hand, so they eagerly agreed. We got everything under the glare of the spotlights I had focused upon that section of lawn, but instead of setting up a campfire, I brought out the old charcoal grill, so I could light a small wood fire in it. I did this so the boys could roast marshmallows later and make Smores. I had purchased everything they would need before they arrived, anticipating this opportunity.

We had to split the boys into two groups, with half in each tent, and then I had them bring their sleeping bags and pillows out and get them arranged. Once they were set up, I turned off the spotlights and the boys made and ate their Smores over the little fire. For those of you who have never gone to camp, that's a Graham cracker with a chocolate bar placed on top of it, and then you put a toasted marshmallow or two on top of the chocolate, before topping it off with a second Graham cracker. While the boys savored their treats, we sat around and talked, so I could get to know them even better. When the conversation began to wane, Danny and Ricky asked me to tell them another ghost story, which the others eagerly approved of.

It was a good thing I know so many spooky tales, ones I had learned during scout outings with my children, school campouts, and the camp I worked at as a counselor during high school and college. I thought hard to come up with one that would be appropriate and finally remembered something I had heard a very long time ago. Quickly, I figured out how to adapt it, to make it work here.

"I don't know if you realize this," I told the boys, "but the state park we were at earlier today used to be the location of a large Native American village. The Indians built their huts along the banks of the lake and part of the area farther away from the water, was very sacred ground for them. That's where they held various ceremonies and buried their dead.

"When the settlers first appeared and started moving into this area, some of the things the white men did were confusing to the Indians. You see, Native Americans believe in only taking what they need to survive and they use everything they can from any animals they kill. Naturally, they didn't understand why the trappers killed so many animals and then only took their pelts, leaving the meat and everything else to waste. In addition to that, they began to feel threatened, because those same men also appeared to want to drive them away from their ancestral lands.

"As the white men moved farther and farther west, that fear became a reality. The trappers and settlers kept driving the Indians from the lands of their forefathers, but not all of the tribes were willing to go peacefully. Some decided they would rather stay and fight, to defend what was theirs. The tribe that lived where the state park is now avoided war by allowing these outsiders to do as they wish, but they also let it be known that they did not want to leave these sacred lands. Their ancestors had dwelt on the banks of that lake for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and they weren't going to be forced to move.

"Knowing the Indians wouldn't leave peacefully, one unscrupulous trapper made plans of his own. He sought to get rid of the Indians his own way, so he could claim the land for himself. That way he could trap and hunt all of the animals that lived there, not just the small quantities the Indians allowed him to take. His motive was greed, because he realized he could become very wealthy if he controlled this area. Many animals lived around the lake, especially beaver, whose fur was very valuable. To accomplish his goal, he organized a group of his friends to help him make the Indians disappear. They all knew there was only way to do this, and that was to kill all of the Indians, but that didn't seem to bother any of them. One night, the trapper and the others crept into the camp and literally massacred all of the inhabitants.

"Word of these murders spread quickly and another tribe, who were distant relatives of those killed, went to avenge their deaths. They hunted down all of the trappers, and one by one, they made them pay for what they had done. These men did not go quickly or painlessly, because the Indians tortured them first, causing them as much agony as they could. The braves made sure these men died a slow death, so they could feel the life as it drained from them. The Indians also punctured the white men's eardrums and gouged out their eyes, so they could not hear or see in the next world. They even scalped the trappers before they had taken their final breath, as the ultimate act of retribution. Without their scalp, their spirit would escape through the opening in the top of their head, thus keeping them from finding eternal peace. Since that time, the ghosts of all those killed, both the Indians and trappers alike, have haunted this area. Even though it's hard to see them in the bright daylight, I did see them in the bathhouse while we were changing. They were watching us very carefully, to see what we were up to."

"You really saw them?" one of the boys asked, his mouth hanging open and his body very tense.

"Oh, yes," I answered. "They were behind you the whole time, observing everything you were doing. I just hope none of them followed us into the van and rode home with us, or they might be looking over your shoulders even now."

Suddenly, I saw heads begin to swivel back and forth, as the boys looked for any signs of these ghostly figures. This time, Danny and Ricky realized my story wasn't true, so they were the only ones unaffected by it. Even Brandon was concerned that ghosts might have accompanied us home, so he also scanned the area, to see if he could see any signs of one. A short time later, after I told the boys I was going back in the house for the night, some of Danny's friends begged me not to leave.

"Mr. Currie, can't you stay out here with us tonight?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, maybe you could sleep out here too," another suggested.

"Not that we're scared or anything," a third offered, "but it might be fun if you camped out with us too." I don't think anyone doubted any of these boys' motives, but many of the others were nodding in agreement.

"The tents are already pretty crowded, just with you boys in them," I countered, which caused them to start looking around.

"Uh, we can make room," one of them offered, getting two or three of the others to agree with him.

Danny and Ricky even helped the boys decide how they could make this work. They'd sleep in one tent, with the boys who were least effected by my story, and I could sleep in the other tent with those who seemed to be the most frightened, which appeared to include Brandon. I guess maybe I should give up telling ghost stories, if I was going to get paid back like this after each occurrence. I was actually looking forward to spending a peaceful night sleeping in my bed.

I finally gave in and agreed to sleep out with them, but explained that I would have to go get some bedding for myself first. As I got up to leave, I wasn't surprised to see a few of the more scared boys follow me into the house, making excuses that they needed to pee, get a drink or do other things inside. After collecting what I needed, I went back out to fulfill my promise, with my scared little ducklings trailing close behind. After spreading out my bedding, I was surprised to see Brandon make sure he was closest to me, as he slid tightly against my right side. Even though I had previously noted he had been affected by my story, I thought he might choose to stay in the other tent, between Danny and Ricky. In addition to that, I didn't expect him to be so gullible or that easily spooked. I had also assumed my sons would assure him I had made the whole thing up and he would have laughed it off by now. However, I guess I had misjudged the situation. After many minutes of trying to get everyone settled in and quieted down, I managed to get comfortable and make it through the remainder of an uneventful evening.

In the morning, I woke everyone up and fed them, and then I had my boys dress for church, so we could attend services after we took the others home. Brandon asked if we'd drop him off first this time, so he could get ready to go to church with us. He made sure we promised to pick him up when we returned, because he wanted to go too. After loading everything in the van and setting out, I did as he requested.

As I dropped the other boys off at their homes, they thanked me and told us they had a great time, even the boys I had scared so badly the night before. After saying good-bye to each of them, we drove back into town, picked Brandon up at his place and went to church. After the service, we returned Brandon to his parents and then went home to clean up the mess and put things away, before we began to prepare for the week ahead.

Chapter 14
Baseball and Birthdays

June was also a very busy month for me, as my time was split between my family and work. I was overseeing the summer school session, as well as various maintenance and construction projects going on in my school building, but my priority was spending as much time as I could with my sons. To that end, I had the largest above ground pool I could find installed at the house, so we could swim together as often as possible. The boys thought having our own pool was awesome, but that's not all we did. We also spent time playing games, working on their sports and going various places, either alone or with their friends.

Baseball was also a very big part of our lives during that time and I attended many games and practices throughout the month. The boys did very well, both individually and as part of a team, and I reveled in their achievements as the season progressed. Needless to say, I was very pleased with both of them. Their team had gotten off to a somewhat shaky start, but none of them ever gave up or became disheartened. It was this adversity that caused their team to gel as a unit, even better than any of us could have hoped for. During that time, I invited the boys' teammates to our house on several different occasions, so they could swim and do other things together, and that also helped the team grow closer with each other.

As July approached, the league playoffs began, and Danny and Ricky's team still had a chance to win it all. They had finished with the second best record out of the two divisions during the regular season, and they qualified to participate in the four-team playoff, which included the top two teams in each division. They had to play the team with the third best record first and they played really well, but so did the other team. It came down to the final inning, with our team up by one run. The other team had runners on second and third, and there was only one out, so it was very tense.

The pitcher fell into a hole quickly, as his first two pitches were called balls, so he grooved the third pitch, thinking the batter would be taking it, and he didn't want to fall behind 3-0. The batter wasn't taking and swung hard, nailing the pitch. It was headed for the gap between short and third, which more than likely would score two runs and put the other team in the lead. Out of nowhere, Danny dove for the ball, snatched it out of the air and immediately popped back to his feet and took off for third. The runner there had made a mental error, first taking too big of a lead, but he also broke for home before the ball went through the infield. Danny ended up doubling him off, ending the game and allowing his team to win by a single run.

Needless to say, Danny was mobbed by his teammates, his coach and even a few of the parents, but I elected to stay off the field. Oh, I clapped loudly and cheered energetically, but I thought I'd wait to congratulate him after the commotion had died down. Once things were almost back to normal, I offered to take the entire team to the nearby ice cream parlor and buy everyone cones. Of course, that set the boys off again, but they had earned it. A couple of the boys rode with us, but most went with their parents. As soon as we got in the car, Ricky couldn't contain himself any longer.

"Dad, did you see Danny's play?" he gushed, his enthusiasm showing how proud he was of his brother. "He was awesome."

"Yes, I did," I responded. "It was a fantastic play. I don't think I've ever seen a major leaguer pull off anything quite as spectacular."

"I just got lucky," Danny told us, modestly. "I didn't think I could reach it, but it must have tailed back into my glove."

"Danny, that ball was hit too hard to tail back," I informed him. "All I saw was a well executed, well-timed dive, followed up by a reaction that could only have happened for somebody whose head was in the game. It was obvious you had thought the situations over in your mind before the ball was even hit, otherwise you would never have made it to third base so quickly. THAT is what makes a great player." I could see Danny blush a little after I said that, but I could tell that he was also very pleased by my compliment.

"Thanks, Dad," he eventually responded, "but I only did what you and the coach have taught me to do."

When we arrived at the ice cream place, I told the person waiting on us what size cones to give everyone, and then I let the boys order what they wanted. Everyone kept talking about the game while they downed their treats and Danny remained the center of attention during most of that time. I could tell he was proud to have helped the team like that, but he was a little uncomfortable about being singled out for what he had done. He kept saying they all helped win the game, not just him, and all he did was make the last two outs. No one bought that, but I was pleased and impressed by the way he conducted himself.

The next game was also a thriller and they ended up playing the only team that finished with a better record than they had. The lead shifted back and forth throughout the game and Danny and Ricky both played very well. They both had hits and each of them made some nice fielding plays, but the team fell short. They ended up losing the game, and although you could see they were sad about not winning, they didn't let the loss tear them up inside. They knew they played well and did their best, except the other team did a little better. We were still proud of their accomplishments and the boys learned a great deal and had fun, and that was what mattered the most. Once again, I took everyone out for ice cream, but the mood wasn't quite as enthusiastic this time around.

Once the baseball season was over, we began planning for Ricky's birthday party. I had been talking to him about his guest list and what he wanted to do, but he had not yet worked out all the details. One afternoon he came to speak to me, telling me he needed to ask me a question.

"Dad, I'm having a problem deciding who I think I should ask to my birthday party. I want to invite all the guys on my baseball team, but I also want to invite Danny's friends from Springville. What do you think I should do?"

"Well, that is a very large number of people, if we invited them all," I replied, trying to decide how we should handle this. Not only would I have to deal with helping him work this out, but I also had to make sure I didn't appear to be showing favoritism, by doing more for Ricky than I had done for Danny. "Why don't you go get your brother and we'll discuss this as a family," I finally suggested.

Ricky nodded and went off to find Danny and soon they were standing in front of me in the living room. "What's up, Dad?" Danny asked, as he entered.

"We need to discuss something," I told him, "so why don't you boys sit down here beside me and we'll talk things out." The boys did as I asked, both sitting on the same side of me, with Danny being the closest.

"Danny, one of the reasons I wanted you to be a part of this decision," I began, "is because I didn't want you to feel cheated or think that Ricky was getting more than I did for you. He's having trouble deciding who he wants to invite to his party, as he's torn between inviting the team and your friends from Springville."

"You don't have to feel that way, Dad," he explained, "and Ricky doesn't have to feel like he needs to invite my old friends."

"But I don't feel that I HAVE to invite them," Ricky protested, "I just WANT to. I like them and they've become my friends too." Danny smiled broadly after listening to what Ricky said.

"I'm glad you feel that way," Danny told him, "because I know they like you too." Danny now looked away from Ricky and up at me. "As far as I'm concerned," he told me, "Ricky can invite as many people as he wants to. I'll have as much fun as he will, and I like all those guys too, so he can ask them all. It's fine with me."

"Are you sure you won't feel like you got gypped then?" I pressed.

"No, Dad," Danny responded. "In fact, I kind of hope he does invite them all." Ricky was just beaming now, knowing he had his brother's support.

"Ricky, it looks like the guest list is up to you then," I advised him, before waiting to see what he wanted to do. It didn't take him long to fill me in.

"Thanks, bro," Ricky told Danny. "That was nice of you. You know, we'll have enough people to play touch football on the side yard. Would that be okay, Dad?"

"Of course," I responded, although I think he already knew what I was going to say. "Just let everyone know about your plans, so they don't wear good clothes to the party. I wouldn't want any of their mothers getting upset if they came home dirty, grass stained or if their clothing got ripped." Both boys grinned.

"Sure, Dad, I'll tell them," Ricky confirmed. "This is going to be great." I waited a few seconds for him to suggest something more, but when he didn't, I decided to offer him an idea.

"We could also make this a sleepover, if you were interested," I added, confident that I knew his answer in advance. Ricky began to respond, but then stopped, and he looked intently at his brother instead.

"What do you think, Danny?" he asked, seeking his advice.

"I think I like the idea," Danny replied, honestly. "I was wondering if Dad would let us do that."

"Then we'll do it," Ricky informed me. "Oh, this is going to be a lot of fun. Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome," I told him. "Now, your birthday is on a Friday, so why don't we plan the party for that Saturday. We can take everyone home Sunday, sometime before dinnertime."

"That sounds awesome," Ricky responded.

"Ricky, do you want me to help you e-mail my friends?" Danny offered.

"Yeah, I was going to ask you if you would," Ricky informed him. "Thanks." The boys went off to do their thing and soon the invitations were being sent to the boys from Springville. Ricky invited his baseball team over the telephone, as we had a list of their names and phone numbers handy. Everyone accepted, except for one boy who would be out of town on vacation.

Seeing how many times I had been forced to borrow my friend's van, I concluded it was time to purchase a van of my own. I also determined it would probably be best to do this before the party, since it would come in handy transporting everyone back and forth. Not only that, I had some other plans in mind for which I would probably need a van. That afternoon I called a friend of mine, who owned a dealership, and told him what I was looking for. He advised me that he had a few vehicles that might meet my requirements, so I told him I'd drop by later to check them out. I took the boys with me, to get their input.

We looked at a number of vehicles, some commercial, some passenger, and some custom, and even though the boys and I were impressed with the custom vans, we felt a passenger van would suit our needs best. Besides, the boys thought being able to look out the windows while we were traveling would beat the few benefits a custom van might offer. That would be especially true when we had all of their friends with us, as they wouldn't have to fight over looking out a window and there would actually be more room to seat all of the boys. Once we had that settled, we just needed to pick out the color, and then wait a couple of days to pick it up.

The morning of the party, we drove out to pick up the boys from Springville. The boys commented immediately about having a different van and they let us know how nice they thought it was. On the way back, we stopped to get a few of the boys from their baseball team, but most of their teammates didn't need a ride. Either their parents were going to drop them off at our place or the boys were going to ride their bikes there, but there were a couple who lived a little farther out and needed a ride. Once we had everyone inside the van, it was more than crowded. Some of the boys even had to sit on someone else's lap, but no one seemed to mind. We stowed their belongings under the seats and wherever else we could find, and then headed home.

After we unloaded everything and took it into the family room, the boys decided they wanted to play football first. I suggested a game of touch football, or even flag football, but the boys all thought those ideas were pretty wimpy. They were determined to play tackle. Going against my better judgment, and already picturing boys with broken bones and concussions, I agreed with their suggestion – but only if I was the referee and could keep the game under control. They gave in to that stipulation and then played for over an hour.

Once they got tired and ready to quit, I asked if anyone was hungry and received a resounding 'YES' in response. I started up the grill and we had a cookout. I fixed hamburgers and hotdogs, to go along with the macaroni and potato salads I had fixed earlier. We also had a large selection of beverages for them to choose from, including water, milk, juices and soda.

We had invited Sally to this party as well, and I had told her what time to arrive. It worked out well, as she arrived just in time to join the rest of us to eat. The boys introduced her to those she hadn't met yet, but I could tell the boys found it awkward to keep calling her Mrs. Swarthout. I knew they felt closer to her than that, so after talking it over with Sally, we suggested to Danny and Ricky that they could call her Aunt Sally from now on. She liked that idea as much, if not more than the boys did, as it made her feel like part of the family, and the boys seemed more comfortable with it too. In fact, before long, it seemed like all of the boys were calling her Aunt Sally or referring to her as Danny or Ricky's Aunt Sally.

Once all of the troops were fed, we decided to let Ricky open his presents, before having the cake and ice cream. Danny had given Ricky his gift earlier, before we went to pick up the other boys, because he knew he would need it once everyone arrived. It was the new football they had played with earlier. Ricky's reaction when he opened the gift had been priceless and very animated, as he was very relieved they wouldn't have to use the battered old football that he and Danny had been practicing with, on and off. That was another relic leftover from when my other children had been young, which had long ago served its purpose and seen better days.

Ricky's friends gave him some nice things too, although we had suggested they didn't have to do that. When we saw the boys, or their parents, weren't going to let the idea of a gift slide, I suggested they get together in groups, and pool their money. That way Ricky wouldn't end up with more than Danny had, although I didn't think Danny would let that bother him, and it would cost the boys less. They did take that advice and things seemed to have worked out for all of us.

Sally gave Ricky an identical gift to the one she had given Danny, two pairs of shorts and two shirts to match. Once again, they were things that were popular among the boys today, and the rest of the group made many positive comments about Sally's selections. I think both she and Ricky appreciated what was said.

When it came time for him to open my presents, he soon unwrapped a lacrosse stick and ball, so he could practice with Danny, a basketball, and a fold-up portable basketball hoop for the driveway. That way, we could take it down and put it away during the winter. Seeing both boys planned on playing basketball and lacrosse during the school year, this would give them the opportunity to continue practicing with each other. The only difference between the boys' gifts had been that Danny received the soccer ball and goal for soccer and lacrosse, as it was adjustable, and Ricky was given the basketball and hoop, but I was positive they would end up sharing everything.

We brought out the cake and ice cream next. It was a large sheet cake, because I knew the boys would eat more than just one piece each, but we still cut everyone a generous portion. We also offered them the choice of four flavors of ice cream, which I had purchased in two-and-a-half gallon [10 liter] buckets, because that too would probably have to last the whole time as well. It's a good thing I have a large freezer.

The boys wanted to go swimming right after they finished eating, but I made them wait for a while first. In the interim, Ricky asked me to help them set up the basketball hoop, which I did. Once we had it up and operational, the boys played around with it until I told them they could go in the pool. They swam until dinnertime, but the pool was quite crowded with everyone in it, although it didn't seem to faze the boys and they enjoyed themselves anyway.

After I got them out of the pool, dried off and changed, we ate. I had several sheet pizzas delivered to the house and set them out along with bags of chips, corn chips, cheese curls and pretzels, plus a large tossed salad Sally helped me throw together. Needless to say, the food disappeared quickly, but they all got full before it was gone. Once we had eaten, Sally and I sat and chatted for a while, but the boys went off to do a variety of things. Some got a basketball game going, others were tossing the football around again and some went inside to play games on the computer or play ping-pong in the rec room. Since they'd all been at our house at least twice before, I was happy to give them all their space and spend some time alone chatting with my old friend.

Sally just went on and on about how pleased she was seeing the boys so happy and doing so well, and she thanked me several times for all I'd done for them. I didn't want to appear rude and argue with her, but I thought I needed to get some things clarified. "Sally, I've actually done very little for them, except provide a place for them to live. They have been super to have around and I think they've done more for me, than I've done for them."

"How do you figure that, Josh?" she asked.

"Well, they seem to brighten every day for me," I explained. "They've made me feel young again and given me a reason to come home at the end of the day." She looked at me as if she still didn't understand, so I continued. "Sally, after my wife died, I rattled around in this house all by myself and I hated it. My children were grown and living on their own and none of them lived close by, so I usually only saw them on the holidays. That was nice, but it left over 350 days they weren't here, but I still was. I began leaving the house as early as I could in the morning and then stayed away for as long as possible at night, just trying to be around others. I even became active in all kinds of different organizations, just so I wouldn't be alone, but it wasn't satisfying. All that changed, however, the day you brought Ricky here and it only got better after you dropped Danny off too."

"I think I understand what you're trying to say," she confirmed, "but don't sell yourself short. I deal with a lot of children, in many different homes, and I've never felt I've had the success that I've seen here. I can tell from just watching and listening to the boys that you've done a great deal for them, even if you won't admit it or fail to realize that yourself. They truly love you, and that doesn't generally happen when I make foster placements. They may like or even have a fondness for each other, but very seldom can I say they really love each other, as is obvious here."

"Thank you, Sally, and I'm glad you feel that way," I told her, "but I kind of feel I was playing with a stacked deck. By having you hand pick the boys for me, how could I lose?" She looked shocked that I had suggested such a thing.

"Josh, I didn't do that," she stated, almost as if she were trying to convince me she was telling the truth. "I may have decided to bring them here, but I wasn't doing you any favor. With the information I had about both boys, I wasn't sure how you were going to get along. Even though I knew Ricky went to your school, my information said he was a behavioral problem, but I thought you could deal with that. As far as Danny was concerned, I was worried if others found out about the reasons his father threw him out, he might become a target, and I thought you might best be able to prevent that from happening. Josh, I didn't place them here to benefit you – but for you to benefit them."

Now I was confused. "Sally, I just assumed, after seeing them fit in so well and realizing what great kids they were, that you were giving me a break, because I was new to this."

"Nice thought," she told me, letting out a little chuckle as she did so, "but that's not how it went down."

"I'm sorry if I offended you by saying that," I apologized, "but it just went so smoothly, well, I couldn't believe that happened accidentally."

"Josh, I'm not offended," she replied. "In fact, I'm honored to think you even considered that I might have done that for you, but honestly, I was doing what I felt was in the boys' best interest, not yours." We talked about this a little while longer and Sally finally convinced me it was just a coincidence that both boys worked out so well, but we had to stop when a fight broke out during the basketball game. I just happened to be looking toward where the boys were playing and saw a couple of punches being thrown, so I jumped up and raced off in that direction. I'm sure Sally was baffled by my actions, but I didn't have time to explain. When I got there, I grabbed the two boys who seemed to be involved in the fracas.

"Okay, what's going on here?" I demanded.

"He hacked me real hard," the right fielder from the boys' baseball team screamed, while pointing at one of Danny's friends.

"I got tripped," the other boys shot back. "I didn't mean to foul him like that."

"Yeah, sure," the first boy shouted back. "You freaking farmers have no coordination and play dirty."

"That's enough of that," I announced, quite loudly. "I'll not have anyone insult anyone else and I will not tolerate fighting."

"He had it coming," the right fielder retorted, his nostrils flaring, arms flexed and fists clenched.

"Look, it either ends here and now," I stated emphatically, "or I'll be taking one or both of you home. It's your choice. What's it going to be?" I knew Danny's friend wasn't going to be a problem, but I wasn't sure about the other boy. I looked directly at him until he answered me.

"Okay, it's over," he told me, though not convincingly.

"It better be," I rejoined, "or you'll be out of here in a heartbeat. Now, shake hands and let's put an end to this nonsense." Danny's friend was a little hesitant, but he did offer his hand, but the right fielder didn't respond right away either.

"Do it now or go get your things," I told him, and after he glared at me for a few seconds, he shook the other boy's hand. I wasn't thrilled with his response and vowed I would keep one eye on him the rest of the time he was here, but I would give him another chance.

After going back to apologize to Sally, this time for leaving her so abruptly, she told me it wasn't necessary and she understood. A short time later, she informed me she had to leave, so I walked her around to say good-bye to Danny and Ricky. Both boys gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek and Ricky thanked her for his present. They both said, "Good-bye, Aunt Sally," as she walked away, which caused her to turn and wave at them, before she got in her car.

It was starting to get dark, so I suggested the boys should come inside, but some of them wanted to play hide-and-go-seek again. I decided to let those who wanted to play stay out and told the rest they could watch television, play in the rec room, play a board game or play games on the computer. It turned out I had some doing each, with some of Danny's friends opting to play another game of 'Life,' which they had played against Danny and Ricky the last time they were here. A couple of the curious baseball players asked if they could play too, and were told they could, but the right fielder was not among them. He opted for the computer games, so I hung out in a location where I could see what he was up to.

While watching him, I noticed that he and the left fielder kept putting their heads together and whispering back and forth. I wondered what they were up to, thinking they might be planning some sort of revenge against the boy he felt had wronged him earlier, but I wouldn't jump to conclusions and would merely wait and see what happened next. There was an outside chance they might only be involved in telling some harmless jokes or sharing some other harmless boy stuff, although I sincerely doubted that. They seemed to be too serious, possibly even arguing about whatever it was they were discussing.

About an hour later, the boys who were outside came back in, so I suggested that anyone who wanted to shower could do so. I think all of the boys eventually took one and it's a good thing I have two fast recovering water heaters hooked to the different bathrooms. It did take a little more than twice as long as it had when Danny's friends had slept over, but that was only because there were more boys this time around. Once they finished, they all joined me in the family room, because I had told them we had a movie to watch next. Most had pestered me for the title, which I kept tight-lipped about, but they still thought watching a movie was a good idea. While they were cleaning up, I had made several batches of popcorn and dragged out more bags of snacks for them to munch on, and then we all got comfortable in front of our television, while Ricky popped the movie in.

The family room was quite crowded with all the boys in there and some decided to lay on the floor, while others found a chair or sat on the floor, while leaning back against a patch of wall or one of the pieces of furniture. The boys ate and drank, while their eyes stayed glued to the screen, and we only had one accident, when one of the boys' drinks accidentally got knocked over. I cleaned it up quickly, and it was no big deal, although he told me numerous times how sorry he was.

When the movie ended, I had the boys grab their bedding and told them they could either sleep in the family room or living room, as I wasn't sure they could all squeeze into one location. They insisted they could, so they chose the family room, which was larger. I had suggested, in advance, that the boys who owned a sleeping bag should bring it with them, and I then I loaned ours to the boys who didn't have access to one. I had purchased new sleeping bags for Danny and Ricky and had given them to them on Friday, as I thought it was time they had one of their own, rather than having to rely on hand-me-downs. That gave me extras for times like this, so I had enough for the others to use as well. Once the boys settled in, I was coerced into telling them another one of my ghost stories before they went to sleep. Danny, Ricky, and the boys from Springville watched the others intently while I told my story, which was different from any I had told them previously. Once I'd finished, I could tell it had its desired effect, as many of the boys kept glancing around the room, looking for ghosts. As I left the room, I knew the boys from Springfield were also anticipating my appearance at the family room's picture window again, so I didn't disappoint them. They howled as the other boys reacted to my antics and we all had a good laugh when I came back in to join them.

I went to my bedroom and grabbed my pillow and a blanket, and then I slept on the sofa in the family room near the boys, as I wasn't sure I could leave them alone after the fight earlier. The right and left fielders were set up side by side, but I was surprised by something else. When I looked around to check on Danny and Ricky, I was surprised to see Ricky bedded down next to the team's first baseman, a redheaded boy named Jay Curtis. I didn't know they were that close, other than playing side-by-side all season long.

The night was uneventful and I woke up before the boys the next morning. I had told the boys earlier we could skip church this Sunday, which they seemed to appreciate. I did this because I wasn't sure what churches the other boys attended and didn't want to create any problems by taking them to our place of worship. I didn't think God would mind if we skipped one Sunday.

It took quite a while to feed all of the boys breakfast the next morning, but Danny, Ricky and Brandon all helped out. They took out the dishes, juice, milk, cereal, butter, jelly and cream cheese for me, and they also made toast, toasted the English muffins and prepared bagels for those who wanted them. I took care of the eggs, bacon and sausage, and I even made some home fries and pancakes, as an extra little treat. I think everyone was full before they left the table.

I gave them a couple of hours to do whatever they wanted, even if it was just to rest and chill out, but around noon I made them all get dressed to go out, because we had something special to do after lunch. After fixing them sandwiches and subs for lunch, which took a ton of lunchmeat, I loaded them into the van and drove into town. Ricky and Danny had decided previously that today would be a good day to play miniature golf and I thought that was a wonderful idea.

Their friends seemed to agree too, judging from the comments they made when we pulled into the parking lot. After paying for everyone and getting them set up, we chose up teams and decided to make it a competition. I assigned teams of four boys each, mixing the baseball players in with Danny's friends to make up the different teams. I chose that number of players because it worked out to be an even divisor for the number of boys we had in total. I even put the two fighters on the same team, although not in the same group, as they played around the course. What I did have the boys do was this: I had two boys from one team join up and play against two boys from another team, so the players on one team couldn't cheat or fudge their scores by being together. It was also meant to increase their fun. When they were done, I would add up all their scores and announce the winners, but they didn't know I had another little surprise for the winners.

The team that won came as a complete shock to me, as it was the group that included the two who had been fighting earlier. When I announced their names and then awarded them a five-dollar gift certificate from Wal-Mart as their prize, they began high-fiving and hugging each other, even the two who had previously been on the outs. I wasn't sure it was going to last, but at least for the time being they had forgotten about their previous problem.

When we got back home, the boys wanted to take another swim before they had to go home, so they all changed and hopped into the pool again. They stayed out there for an hour or more, and then I told them it was time to get out, dry off and change again, as some of their parents would be showing up soon. It was about that time when the right fielder came over to apologize to Ricky and me. He said he was sorry for spoiling the good time and for causing me problems. He even went out and apologized to the other boy too, sounding very sincere in his effort.

This only added to my confusion about him, and I was still trying to sort out my thoughts when the left fielder came up to speak to me. "He isn't a bad guy, you know," he began, referring to his friend. "It's just that sometimes he blows up over nothing. I think he gets that from his father. His old man does that all the time, especially to him." I began to understand the boy a little better.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I told him, "but he has to learn to control that impulse."

"He's trying," the left fielder insisted, "like now, when he apologized to all of you."

"That was appreciated," I replied, "but it makes me wonder why he did that all of the sudden."

"It was because I've been telling him that if he didn't, he would probably never get invited back here again. I know those other boys have been here a lot and are close to Danny and Ricky too, so I told him he'd have to make friends with them or HE'D be the one getting left out."

"Well, you're probably right about that," I admitted, "but was he just saying the words, or did he mean them?"

"I think he really meant them," he informed me. "He's really had a great time here and told me he'd like to be able to come back again. When I pointed out that he might not get that chance, he got really upset. That's when he asked me if I thought it would help if he told you all how sorry he was. I really think he meant it."

"Well, I hope so, and we'll give him another chance," I replied, "but just one. If he blows that, he won't get another."

"Okay, I'll tell him," the boy replied, "but I'm sure he won't do that again. Okay?"

"Okay," I told him.

A little while later, the last of the boys waiting for rides had been picked up by their parents, so I loaded those who still remained into the van and drove them home. It was a pleasant drive and each boy thanked us profusely before they left. We told them they were welcome and we looked forward to having them again, and then we drove the rest of them home.

Later Sunday evening, I sprung my last surprise on my sons. "Danny and Ricky, I have something that I'd like to tell you," I announced. They both came closer, but looked puzzled. "How would you two like to go on a vacation and spend the last week of July and the first two weeks of August touring through Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC?"

I didn't have to guess about their answer, as they began jumping up and down, before running around the room yelling things like 'yes', 'cool', and 'way to go, Dad'.

"We'll take the van and you can each invite one friend," I continued. "When you decide which friend you'd like to invite, I'll speak with his parents. How does that sound to you?" Both boys started jumping around again, and then they hugged me for all they were worth. I advised them they'd have to decide whom they wanted to ask fairly soon, as I would need to talk with their parents as soon as possible, to make sure they approved and would be able to fit this into their schedule. As the boys started to think about whom they were going to ask, I put the finishing touches on the plans for our trip.

Chapter 15
Our Trip Begins

Danny decided that he wanted to invite Brandon O'Hara on our little trip, which wasn't much of a surprise. Ricky wanted to ask Jay Curtis, the redheaded boy who played first base on his baseball team – the boy he had slept next to the night of his birthday party. I talked to both boys' parents and they thanked us for our offer and agreed to let their sons go with us. They asked what the boys would need to bring with them and I quickly gave them some ideas. I informed them their sons should bring their toothbrushes, a comb or brush, sneakers, a pair of sandals or thongs, and enough clothes to last for three weeks, some for warm weather and some for the cooler nights and miserable days. Although I didn't request it, and even tried to politely refuse their offers, both sets of parents insisted on giving me money to help cover their son's expenses. When I realized they weren't going to take 'no' for an answer, I graciously accepted, but I intended only to use their money to do even more for their sons.

I planned this trip out on a daily basis, because I'm a fanatic about doing as much as I can on vacations. I was able to reserve some of the tickets and a few of the hotel/motel rooms in advance; because I was concerned some things might be sold out or booked up by the time we arrived. I also made sure there was a nice mix of educational and recreational activities along the way, because I wanted the boys to remember this outing for a long time. I thought it would be nice if they could learn as much as they could and still have a good time. All in all, it was going to be a very hectic schedule, but it would also give us an opportunity to grow even closer as a family. In addition to that, it would afford the boys and me an opportunity to get to know their friends even better, as well. We were set to leave on Sunday after church, July 26th, and we would stay at a motel just outside of Washington DC to begin with. That would allow us to get an early start on our plans the next morning.

The O'Haras and Curtises dropped their sons off around 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, since they were both joining us for services, and helped them stow their luggage in the van. There were the usual admonitions from the parents, as they told their sons to behave, do everything I told them, be careful, stay together and so on. The boys nodded their understanding, while reassuring their folks verbally that they would do everything they had been told. It was then that the kissing, hugging and tears began, mostly from the mothers, but I saw both Brandon and Jay were slightly affected too. Realizing we had to get going, I urged the boys into the van, informed the parents that I would have their sons call home every few nights (to put their mothers' minds at ease) and I reminded all of the adults we would return the weekend of August 15th. As we drove away, the parents were waving, but the mothers were also weeping, and the boys were getting into their vacation mode.

After what seemed to be an unusually long church service, we started out. The boys were talking excitedly, trying to pump me for information about what I had planned, and when I wouldn't divulge the information they wanted to know, they tried to guess what I had in store for them. You see, I love surprises and I wanted as much of this trip, as possible, to be a surprise for them too.

From what I had observed during the short time I had known him, Jay was usually shy around adults, but he could be a real hellion when he was with other kids. He was two inches [5 cm] taller than Ricky, at 5'4" [1.63 m], but shorter than the other two boys. Danny had sprouted up over the summer and was nearly 5'6" [1.68 m] now, and Brandon had grown to 5'5" [1.65 m]. Jay appearance made him stand out a little, as he had red hair, green eyes and a milky-white complexion. He was thin, but I think lanky would be a better description for him, because he was often very awkward in his movements and even clumsy at times. I think that's why the coach put him at first base, as those qualities weren't as noticeable and didn't come into play as often there. Even so, Jay still elicited more than his share of chuckles during the season, due to some of the less than graceful things he did while he was batting, fielding or running the bases. It was most likely just a phase he was going through, and one that he would outgrow over time, so we tried to ignore it as much as possible. We didn't want to make him feel more uncomfortable than he already was, which wasn't always an easy thing to do.

Riding with the boys had its ups and downs. At first they merely looked out the window and enjoyed the scenery, but after about an hour, they started to become restless and even a little irritable. I overheard a couple of minor disagreements in the back, as the various boys objected to something someone else was doing. It never became serious enough that I had to get involved, but that doesn't mean it wasn't irritating when it happened. In an effort to divert their attention from each other, I stopped at a convenience store and let them pick out some snacks and drinks, and when we got back to the car, I also let them pick the music they wanted to listen to. That helped to prevent any further flare-ups between them for a while, as we continued on our way.

We reached the motel, just outside the nation's capital, in the early evening. We unpacked our things and got settled in, taking a brief walk around the area to check things out. By the time we got back to our room, the boys were begging to eat, so I had everyone clean up and change as quickly as they could. I decided to take them to one of the restaurants we had passed when we took our walk, and they seemed to be fine with that idea. The establishment wasn't elegant, but it was nice, and the food was quite good. Even though we had a pleasant meal, our time there wasn't without problems.

About halfway through dinner, Jay managed to knock over his water glass, sending its contents all over the place. In an effort to redeem himself, Jay grabbed his napkin and tried to soak the water up, but that's when he managed to knock over Ricky's water glass too. All of the boys jumped to his rescue, as they used their own napkins to absorb the puddle of liquid that was spreading across the table, and while they did that, I restrained Jay from doing further damage. I urged him to sit down and let the rest of us clean up his mess, and out of frustration, he did as I requested. That might not have been a wise move on my part, however, because that's when he noticed the people at several other tables were trying unsuccessfully to stifle their laughter. This embarrassed him tremendously, but once they noticed my disapproving glare, they managed to regain control of themselves and go back to what they were doing. After I soothed Jay's bruised psyche, we got through the rest of the meal without further incident, but I still felt bad for Jay.

After dinner, I took the boys back to the motel and we settled-in for the night. We would be spending the next several nights here, using it as our base of operation. It would afford us a reasonably priced place to stay, it wasn't very far away from the places we planned to visit and it was conveniently located near several major routes.

I had rented a double room, one with two king-size beds in it, and then I had the motel place a cot in the room too. I was going to let each pair of boys sleep together in one of the king-size beds, and I was prepared to sleep on the folding bed. As soon as the cot was set up, Ricky objected to my sleeping on it. He stated, quite forcefully.

"You're paying for everything and should be able to sleep in a nice bed too, rather than on that somewhat flimsy thing," he told me, while pointing at the cot. I told him not to worry about it and I would be fine, but he wasn't finished.

"No way! You can sleep with me and Jay. Were smaller than Danny and Brandon and the bed is plenty big enough, so you can sleep on one side and I'll sleep in the middle." All of the boys sided with Ricky and I eventually ended up giving in. Later that evening, I crawled into bed beside him and I would not pay for another cot during the remainder of the trip.

We needed to get an early start in the morning, but I wanted everyone to enjoy a good night's sleep first, so I announced bedtime would be at 9:00 p.m. Immediately, the boys began to argue with me. "Aw, come on, Dad," Danny whined. "This is our vacation. We shouldn't have to go to bed THAT early."

"Yeah, Dad," Ricky added. "Can't we stay up until at least eleven?"

"I will be waking you up at 6:00 a.m. and we'll probably be doing a lot of walking tomorrow, so what do you think?" The boys hurriedly discussed this among themselves, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. Finally, one of them responded to my question.

"Mr. Currie, what if we go to bed at ten instead?" Brandon countered, making me realize I had two issues to deal with here.

"If you can promise me that none of you will give me any trouble when I wake you up and you'll be able to get going immediately," I offered, "then I will accept letting you stay up until ten." All the boys flashed me a grin. "However," I continued, "there is another problem we have to address." They all looked confused. "You and Jay have to stop calling me Mr. Currie on this trip," I told Brandon. The boys looked relieved to hear my problem was that simple, yet I could tell Brandon and Jay were both a little apprehensive about how they were going to resolve this.

"What SHOULD we call you then?" Jay asked, trying to clarify what I wanted.

"You could call me Josh," I told them. "I wouldn't mind that."

"No way!" Brandon objected, looking concerned. "My parents would kill me if I called you by your first name."

"Mine too," Jay chimed in. "So what now?" This left me to wondering what I was going to suggest next.

"I didn't expect you to have a problem with this," I confessed, "so I guess I'll have to think of something else."

"Dad, I might have an idea," Ricky offered, though he stopped before telling me what it was. I surmised he wanted my approval, before he shared his thoughts.

"Okay, what is it?" I asked him.

"Well, my mom used to have me call all her boyfriends 'Uncle whatever' when I was allowed to go places with them," he told us. "So what if Brandon and Jay called you Uncle Josh?"

I was impressed by his suggestion. "That would be fine with me," I conceded. "Would it be all right with you?" I asked, Brandon and Jay.

"Yeah, I guess so," Brandon answered for the both of them. "I don't think my parents would have any problems with that." Jay was nodding his agreement, rather than verbalizing it.

"Okay, then it's settled," I announced, "and I like that better than hearing someone saying 'Mr. Currie' all the time. I get enough of that at school." The boys chuckled when I made that comment, because they all attended my school and understood what I was referring to.

The four of them decided to turn on the television once the name problem had been solved, but I had something else they need to do. In order to insure that we didn't fall behind in the morning, I told the boys they'd have to shower tonight. I did this because I knew my boys like to take lengthy showers and that could throw everything off in the morning. I reasoned that since I had given in to them about their bedtime, they could do this for me. Although they were not totally convinced, they did still agree to it.

I also recommended they shower in pairs, to save even more time, but that didn't work out as I had hoped. In making my apparently naïve suggestion, I didn't realize I was setting up something other than just bathing. As I would later discover, some interesting contacts were about to take place in the bathroom, which would eliminate the time saving factor. The only thing that would work in my favor was that they would be ready to get started after I woke them the next morning.

Ricky and Jay went first, and they were in the shower cleaning up when Jay asked Ricky a rather personal question. "Ricky, have you ever touched another boy's dick before?"

Ricky looked at him, uncertain as to how he should respond. He studied Jay's face and realized his friend appeared to be sincere and eager to know the answer to his inquiry, and he wasn't just trying to pry into Ricky's business. Ricky took a gamble and answered him truthfully. "Yeah, I've touched my brother's wiener before," he admitted. "We've even jerked each other off a few times."

Jay hesitated before he spoke again. "Would you mind doing that with me?" he asked, tentatively. The two boys were facing each other at the time and Ricky could see the pleading look in Jay's eyes. "I don't have any brothers," Jay continued, "and I never dared to ask anybody else. I'm not gay, Ricky, but I would like to know what it's like to do something like that."

"I know," Ricky admitted. "That's why me and Danny did it – we were curious too." Ricky was going to stop after admitting that, but he thought he needed to say something to ease a concern Jay had brought up. "Hey, just because you do something with another boy," Ricky added, "it doesn't mean you're gay or anything."

Jay immediately smiled and noticeably relaxed, after hearing his friend say that, so Ricky took that opportunity to take a peek at Jay's 5.5" [14 cm] hooded cock. He was surprised to notice that it was already beginning to get stiff and they hadn't even started to do anything yet. Ricky also noticed that Jay had a scattered growth of red hairs around the base of his dick, even more hair than he had. Ricky had seen Jay naked before, in the changing room when we went swimming, but he'd never noticed his pubic patch before. Seeing Jay had the only uncircumcised penis Ricky had ever seen, Ricky was always more interested in checking it out instead. This was also the reason Ricky was so eager to mess around with Jay, so he could check out those differences for himself.

"I think this is going to be a lot of fun," Ricky commented. "I've never touched an uncut wiener before." Jay's grin broadened, when he heard Ricky admit that, and then he noticed Ricky was reaching out for his inflated rod. Tenderly, Ricky let his fingers wrap around Jay's turgid shaft and he stroked it a few times, from the front. When Jay didn't object, Ricky reached his other hand between Jay's legs and began to fondle his testicles. Jay was thoroughly enjoying the attention he was getting from Ricky's hands and eagerly encouraged his friend to continue.

"That feels real nice, Ricky. Keep doing it. I want you to make me squirt." Ricky decided he could masturbate Jay more easily if he stood behind him, rather than in front, so he repositioned himself and started to stroke the redhead's dick from behind. Ricky enthusiastically pumped it back and forth, intrigued by how the milky white prepuce slid back and forth over the dark red glans, like it was playing hide-and-go-seek. The sensations his actions were producing caused Jay to whimper. "Oh, yes, Ricky. That feels so good. Do it faster and make me squirt. Oh, wow, that is so good." Even though they were being somewhat loud, the sounds of the shower and the exhaust fan kept us from hearing anything that was being said.

Ricky picked up the pace and soon he could feel Jay's prick begin to throb. Ricky knew that meant Jay was about to explode and send his creamy seed flying out of his cock-head. "Yes, Ricky, I feel it. I'm going to squirt – a lot. Yes, yes, mmmmmmmm." Ricky's hand was a blur now, as it slid up and down the shaft, and Jay threw his head back and let loose with four strong volleys of hot boy spunk. Ricky kept pumping on Jay's penis, even as the flow of his juices slowed to a trickle, but then Ricky finally stopped.

Ricky had also been helping Jay remain upright, as Jay's legs seemed to grow weak after his climax, and Ricky waited for his friend's strength to return. While he waited for Jay to recover, Ricky rolled and squeezed Jay's loose foreskin between his fingers and then he amused himself further by pulling the hood back, exposing the crown, before returning it to its normal position. Ricky couldn't get enough of playing with this novel new toy, but Jay finally distracted him. "Oh, thank you, Ricky. Thank you, so much. I loved that. It felt so good. Do you want me to do you now?"

Ricky nodded and Jay immediately reached out and grabbed Ricky's 5" inch [12½ cm] member. Jay had never touched any penis, other than his own, and this one was circumcised, unlike his. He let his fingers roam over the bright pink head and around the section of the shaft where the operation had been performed. He began to rub and pull on Ricky's scrotum, while he was fingering his boyhood, enjoying all of these new activities. Ricky also liked the feel of Jay's bony fingers running over his joystick, as it felt different from Danny's hand or his own grip. Ricky decided he should try to encourage the novice, so he wouldn't suddenly stop, before he had finished the task. "That's great, Jay. You're doing really well. Yeah, just like that. Oh, keep going. Faster, oh yes, faster. That's it, keep it up."

Jay was emboldened by Ricky's comments and jacked him even faster. He felt Ricky's pole expand in his hand and Ricky was making all sorts of strange sounds. Jay realized it wasn't quite the same as when he played with himself, because his hand didn't slide as easily up and down Ricky's mast, like it did on his own. Jay concluded this must be because of the missing skin. He surmised, that since there wasn't any loose skin to glide up and over the head, each stroke seemed to come to a sudden and abrupt halt. This train of thought was broken, however, when Ricky began to speak.

"Faster, Jay, faster," he pleaded. "I'm ready to shoot. Faster, oh yes, here it cuuuuuums. Aaaargh." Ricky's hard-on spewed five watery bursts onto the shower wall and he clung to Jay, to keep from falling over. Jay didn't let that slow down what he was doing, though, and continued to work on Ricky erection, until he had milked the last drops of the sperm from his now deflating rod. Nothing more was said, until Ricky descended from his high.

"Thanks, Jay, that was awesome," he complimented his friend, before suddenly remembering the admonition I had given him and his brother before we left. "Uh, Jay, you've got to do me a favor," Ricky told him. "You've got to promise you won't say anything to anyone, ever! I don't want anybody saying shit about us. Promise?"

"Yes. I don't want anyone doing that, either," Jay agreed. "I won't tell anyone, as long as I live." Reassured by the other's pledge, the boys got out of the shower, dried off quickly, wrapped their towels around their waists, and left the bathroom. Danny and Brandon were waiting for them as they came through the door.

"It sure took you two long enough," they chimed in together, as huge grins spread across their faces. Both of the younger boys were somewhat embarrassed by the implication and stammered. Ricky recovered first.

"The hot water felt so good on our bodies that we didn't want to get out."

"Yeah, sure," Brandon shot back, as he and Danny entered the bathroom next.

Jay and Ricky looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and got out some clean underwear. They dropped their towels on the floor, not caring that I was there to see them without anything on, and they even took their time dressing. Once they were finished, they went over and sat on the small sofa and watched TV.

Danny and Brandon were now in the shower, lathering up. Danny accidentally, or maybe on purpose, backed into Brandon as he was rinsing off. Brandon immediately popped a boner and Danny turned around and saw it. "Did I do that?" he said, pointing at Brandon's flagpole and flashing a grin. "Seeing I caused it," he continued, "maybe I should help you get rid of it."

He reached for Brandon's 6" [15 cm] cut member and Brandon snapped at him. "No!" Danny was momentarily frightened that he had made a serious error in judgment, having assumed the rumors to be true and concluding that Brandon was gay and would appreciate his offer.

"Not with your hand," Brandon bit off the words sharply, but then he began to soften. "Let me get you hard first, and then we can rub them together, almost like we're fucking." Danny let the air escape from his lungs, as he had been holding his breath since he first began to think he had made a major mistake. Brandon reached out and stroked Danny's cock until it was as hard as his own, causing Danny to feel better about the situation. During this time, Danny also remembered my warning to him and spoke to Brandon about it.

"Brand, if we do this, you've got to promise me you'll never tell anyone else. Okay? And I promise I won't say anything to anybody either. I don't want more rumors flying around about you and I certainly don't want them spreading around about me."

Brandon looked embarrassed by this statement, and swallowed hard a few times in between, but he still managed to respond. "Don't worry, Danny. I won't tell anyone." There was a slight, awkward pause after he said this, while he debated if he wanted to press the issue further. "Is that why you were so quick to try to grab my stiffie, because you thought I was a queer?"

"No, Brandon. I didn't think that. I like you. You're a good friend. I wasn't even sure the stories about you were true. Heck, you may not be any more gay than my dad (little did he know), but I just thought we were friends and we might be able to have some fun together."

Brandon's face seemed to brighten after that comment. "Yeah, we're just friends having a little fun," he concluded.

Danny debated with himself for a few seconds, as he tried to decide if he should ask his next question. Finally, he got up the courage to do so. "Are you gay, Brandon? I mean… well… it won't make any difference if you are, but I just kind of wanted to know. I won't like you any less and it won't change how I act toward you or anything," he added, trying to make Brandon comfortable enough to answer him.

After thinking about how he wanted to handle this, Brandon decided to be truthful with Danny, because he liked him so much. It did take him a few seconds to summon his courage to speak, though. He might have even been a little hopeful that possibly something more could come from this encounter. "I hope I can believe you and trust what you say," he told Danny, before he paused briefly. Danny was eagerly nodding his head to confirm that he was telling the truth and Brandon could trust him. "Yes, I am," Brandon finally admitted.

Danny could still tell that Brandon was still a little worried about his reaction, so he immediately set out to reassure him. "I really meant it, Brand, and it's okay. I think I'm gay, too," he confided, which seemed to shock Brandon.

"I didn't know that," Brandon admitted, slightly in awe.

"Yeah," Danny told him. "I've been attracted to other boys for quite some time now, but I've only told my dad and brother that. No one else knows I feel that way."

"You told your dad!" Brandon blurted out, incredulous.

"Yeah. My real dad found pictures I had of naked guys on our computer and kicked me out of the house because I was a fag," Danny admitted. "My new dad, Mr. Currie, knew about it when I came to live with him, but he was really cool about it. He just told me that I'd have to be extra careful, if I did anything with someone else. He's just worried that I'll get hurt, if any of the other kids find out that I'm gay." There was another slight pause in the conversation, before Danny continued. "You know, if you ever wanted to talk to anybody about any of this, I'm sure my dad would be willing to do what he could for you too. I know he wouldn't make you feel uncomfortable about it. He's a great guy and I'd bet he'd help you too, like he's helped me." Brandon just studied Danny's face for a second or two, before he responded.

"I'll think about it, but we better get started, if we're going to do this. You know your brother and Jay are going to want to get back at us, for what we said to them earlier." Danny agreed and they quickly stroked each other back to arousal, because their conversation had made them both go limp again. That might have been due to nerves or the topic of conversation, but it didn't last for very long.

Once they were both hard again, Brandon pulled Danny tightly against his body and adjusted their love muscles, so they were rubbing against each other. Once they were in the desired position, he started to thrust his hips, up and down, so their embracing bodies were performing the act of masturbation. Danny caught on to what Brandon was doing and began to match his friend's movements. Both boys were enjoying the feeling of their penises being rubbed by the other's cock and abdomen, and this friction caused a wave of sensations to ripple through their adolescent frames. They continued to thrust against each other, as if in some ritualistic mating dance, and both were moaning and panting, while their hands were roaming over each other's back and butt.

As they became more involved in this sensual dance, they began to push harder and faster, which sent bolts of electricity shooting out in both directions. Some of these sensations shot toward their head and shoulders, while the rest moved toward their legs and feet. As they kept humping against each other, both boys began to feel the crescendo building between them, and they sensed their nut sacs drawing up against their bodies, as their sausages continued to swell even more. When that magical moment arrived, both boys arched their bodies in opposite directions, yelping unintelligible words to one another, while their dicks exploded in pure delight. Shot after shot of hot boy jism splashed between their two bodies and they were soon coated in a white slime, which served as a sealant as their bodies pressed together.

Danny threw his hands against the back of Brandon's head, so he could draw him forward into a passionate kiss, and his tongue forced its way into Brandon's shocked mouth. Once he realized how much he wanted this too, Brandon relaxed and let his lips part slightly, allowing Danny to proceed. As their two tongues slid against each other, they were able to sample the taste of their counterpart, something they both enjoyed. Brandon yielded to Danny's exploration first, so Danny let his oral muscle eagerly explore the lining of his friend's mouth. When Danny's tongue had been fully extended into Brandon's mouth, Brandon suckled on it for a moment, and then the boys let their tongues swap places. Just as eagerly, Brandon's tongue began to explore Danny's oral cavern, moving around his sensitive lining and over his teeth. Eventually, they ended their kiss and broke their embrace, when they realized it was time to leave their steamy love nest.

"Thanks, Brandon, that was awesome," Danny admitted, "and I'm glad you suggested this. I've never done anything like that before."

"No, thank you, Danny," Brandon countered, still slightly breathless, "for being such a good friend and for not caring what people were saying about me. Not many people will be my friend, because of the gossip, even if they are gay themselves. They act like I have a contagious disease or something."

"Don't let it bother you any more," Danny comforted him. "You're a great guy and I'm not going to let anyone give either of us any crap." Brandon thought it was time to give Danny another kiss, to reward him for his sweet answer, so they locked lips once more. After another few seconds, they ended this kiss too, and Danny spoke again.

"I don't really want to stop," he admitted, "but we'd better rinse this stuff off us and then get dry, so we can get out there with the others. If we don't, they're going to start knocking on the door and wondering what we're up to."

"Yeah, you're right," Brandon agreed, "but thanks for everything. It was really wonderful."

Both boys dried off quickly and left the bathroom. They were prepared for the other boys' comments when they emerged, and therefore weren't disappointed as they walked into the main room. "Man, you guys thought WE took a long time," Ricky began, the moment the door opened. "You two were in there MUCH longer than we were."

"Yeah," Jay chimed in, "MUCH longer than we were."

"You were right," Brandon shot back, nonplussed. "The hot water did feel really good."

"Besides," Danny continued, "we've got more to wash. Especially in certain areas," he added, with a wink, before he and Brandon let their towels fall to the floor, to emphasize their point. They continued to stand their like that for a second or two, before they went off in search of clean underwear, making sure Ricky and Jay got a good look at what they meant.

After that little display, there was no feigning of modesty between the foursome. They undressed and paraded around nude on a regular basis, from that moment on, without exhibiting a care in the world. Hell, they didn't even worry if I was around and saw them exposing themselves either. During the remainder of the vacation, I was to be treated to a never-ending display of gorgeous, youthful male flesh. It was a feast for the eyes and far surpassed anything a museum curator could have organized along those lines. If this was the type of scenery I'd get to behold, we might have to take more vacations together.

Now that each of them was clean and dry, I shooed them off to bed. Of course, being exhausted from the drive, I turned in at the same time. My little blond haired monster spooned his body against mine the entire evening. It was far and away the best night's sleep I've enjoyed since my wife died. I wonder if that little shit knew what he was doing to me? Yeah, I have a feeling he knew all too well.

Chapter 16
Starting in Washington, D.C.

I received my requested wake up call from the front desk on schedule and headed for the bathroom first. I took a short shower, dressed quickly and then began to rouse the boys. Although they were still a little groggy, they were true to their word and didn't give me any problems. They understood that if they did, I might make them go to bed even earlier tonight. Once they were dressed, I loaded them into the van and we set off to find a decent place to eat.

The boys started to come to life, once they began to shovel food into their mouths. They also downed glass after glass of juice, to wash it down with. As they shook off their drowsiness, they began to question me about what we were going to do today. I guess they hadn't learned yet that I like to be tight lipped about our destinations. As we got ready to leave, I left the waitress a sizable tip, to reward her for her hard work and patience, because the boys had run her ragged chasing after the many things they ordered. That was one gratuity she had definitely earned.

After I paid the bill, we made our way into D.C. and our first stop – the White House. I mean, where better to begin a tour of the nation's capital? Before we got there, I tried to fill the boys in about a few White House facts, so they'd be a little better prepared for what they were going to see.

"Okay, guys, listen up. I did a little research before we left, so I could give you a little background about the White House before we go inside. George Washington signed an Act of Congress in 1790, establishing a district on the Potomac River, where the federal government would reside. It was later named Washington, D.C. in his honor."

"Hey, I thought this was supposed to be a fun trip," Ricky whined, "but this sounds more like being in school. No fair."

"Oh, come on," I replied, "can't learning be fun too. I wanted you to know these things, so our visit would make more sense to you when you saw everything."

"He isn't going to test us later about this, is he?" I heard Jay whisper to Ricky, but more loudly than he thought he had.

"No, there will be no tests, just remember what you can. Okay?" All the boys nodded, although not with much enthusiasm.

"There's just a little more, so listen up," I advised them, followed by some low groans. "The cornerstone for the White House was laid in 1792, based on a design by James Hoban, an Irish-born architect. George Washington never got to live in the White house, even though he helped plan how this area would be developed. He lived in Presidential residences in New York and Philadelphia, so John Adams was the first occupant of the White House, taking up residence in 1800. The White House survived a fire in 1814, during the War of 1812, and Dolly Madison helped to save many valuable artifacts, including Gilbert Stuart's famous portrait of President Washington."

"Did they leave any spots, so you could see where it had been burned?" Brandon asked, hopefully.

"No, they rebuilt it like new. In fact, the White House has gone thru several renovations and expansions. It was expanded and restored during Teddy Roosevelt's presidency, during the early 1900's, then in the 1940's, during Harry Truman's term in office, the first and second floors were completely gutted and renovated, and in the 1960's, Jackie Kennedy became involved with another renovation project."

"How come they had to do it so often," Danny wanted to know, seemingly interested by this information.

"Just like any house, repairs are needed from time to time," I advised him, "but during the Truman years, the leg of a piano actually broke through the floor."

"Did it fall to the floor below?" Danny wondered.

"No, just the leg broke through, not the entire piano," I explained.

"Shucks," was his only response.

I thought that would give them a suitable background for what they were going to see, and I think the boys appreciated those little tidbits of information, even after their earlier complaints.

As we approached the building, just looking at it from the outside was impressive enough, especially when seeing it for the first time in person. The thing was, it only got better when we entered the well-known edifice. The boys walked around the building in awe, impressed not only by its size, but the splendor and history it radiated, as well. How could you not help but think about all the presidents, vice-presidents, first ladies and others who had spent time within those great walls?

As we walked along the ground-floor corridor, we looked through the doors of the Vermeil room and the Library, before walking up the stairs to the State floor. Once there, we entered the East Room, a large rectangular room that is good for holding receptions, parties, funerals and for viewing movies or the performing arts. Jay busily looked through an informational brochure as we toured the East Room and was eager to pass along what he read.

"Hey, it say here that Mrs. Adams used to hang her laundry on clotheslines in this room," he announced. "Can't you just see some foreign dignitary walking in here and running into the President's or First Lady's underwear?" The boys all began to laugh.

"Hey, it also says the caskets of most of the assassinated Presidents have rested in state here," he continued. "Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy all had their caskets in here for a brief time, so it's kind of like a funeral parlor too. Dang, that's creepy." No one laughed this time, as this comment got each of the boys thinking what it would be like seeing a casket on display in this room.

Next, we went into the Green Room, which is most often used as a small parlor for hosting guests and holding private conversations. Then we entered the Blue Room, which is an oval shaped room in the center of the White House, and has often been the traditional place for presidents to formally receive guests. We followed this by going into the Red Room, which is another small parlor that has also been a favorite place for many presidents and first ladies. The final room we visited was the State Dining Room, where elaborate state dinners are held. That room can accommodate well over one hundred diner guests.

"Wow, look at the size of this place," Brandon uttered, in awe. "Can you imagine having so many people over for dinner at one time?"

"It's bigger than the high school cafeteria," Jay observed.

"I just hope they serve better food here," Danny added, while taking a shot at the meals offered at his school.

During our visit, we saw numerous priceless paintings, splendid collections of antique furniture and exquisite chandeliers. When we were ready to leave, we exited the building from the north portico lobby, and the boys were excitedly telling me their reactions to everything they'd just seen. They were so wrapped up with this discussion that none of them were watching where he was going, but it was Jay who stumbled and nearly plummeted down the outside stairway.

Fortunately, he was near me at the time, and I reflexively reacted when I saw him start to fall. My parental instincts were still quick enough to grab a hold of his arm and prevent him from tumbling down the steep stairway. That little piece of luck most likely kept him from getting injured, possibly severely, and maybe even ending our vacation. Once the impact of what had nearly happened sank in to my brain, I considered making Jay hold my hand for the rest of the trip, for safety's sake. However, I didn't do it, because I didn't want to embarrass him further. The boys, however, weren't nearly as considerate and teased him mercilessly about his near disaster, but all in a fun way.

"Jay, have a nice trip?" Ricky asked him.

"Hey, no diving in the shallow end of the pool," Brandon teased.

"Jay, did you trip over first base again?" Danny mocked, since Jay had done that more than once during the baseball season.

I would have stopped this, but Jay was playing right along with them, comically giving us instant replays of his awkward stumble.

After getting safely down that set of steps, we decided to grab a quick lunch, before moving on to our next destination. As we were eating, I thought I'd give the boys some background information about it.

"Fellas, we're going to the Capitol Building next, so here's a little information for you."

"Oh, no, not again," Ricky groaned. "Are we going to have to go through this for every place we visit?"

"Not every place," I responded. "Just the major ones." Ricky made a face and rolled his eyes back in his head.

"Construction began in 1793, the year after the White House was started, but it wasn't completed until 1826."

"Why did it take so long?" Brandon asked. "That's thirty-three years to finish one building."

"Yes, things took longer then, because they didn't have the machinery that construction crews would use now, plus everything was handcrafted. Besides, you forget the War of 1812 came in the middle of that time, so that probably slowed things down a bit, especially after the British burned the White House."

"Oh, yeah. Kind of forgot about that," Brandon mumbled.

"Anyway, Congress actually started meeting in the unfinished structure in November of 1800, so they did get to use it before 1826."

"That's good," Jay added. I'd hate to think they had to wait all that time before they could do anything with it."

"That's true," I agreed, "but continuing with the information, an extension and new dome were added to the building later, with work finishing on it in 1868."

"So they were working on it during the Civil War?" Danny asked.

"Actually, I think work on it stopped during the Civil War, but they finished it after the war ended," I replied. I stopped there, feeling that was enough information, until we actually got there. We finished up our meal and then walked to the Capitol, which was another structure the boys were vaguely familiar with. They had seen many images of the exterior before coming here, since it's been used as the backdrop for numerous television shows and a variety of movies. Yet, once again, it was even more impressive when you get to see it for yourself.

Eagerly, we made our way to the Capital Rotunda, which is the circular room in the center of the building, beneath the Capital dome. The Rotunda has many large paintings on display, but the boys quickly picked out their favorite.

"Wow, I like this one," Jay remarked, while looking at the Embarkation of the Pilgrims. "I remember seeing a picture of this in my history book, when we learned about the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock. It sure is a lot bigger and a lot better looking when you see it for real." I was still looking at the painting when someone else spoke up.

"Nah, this one over here is better," Brandon countered, after he spotted the painting, Declaration of Independence. "This one shows everyone signing the document that set America free." Who could argue with that?

"Well, I think this one is best," Ricky argued, while pointing at another painting, Discovering the Mississippi. "That guy (meaning the explorer De Soto) was out there finding all these new things and meeting with the Indians."

"Native Americans, Ricky." I corrected.

"Yeah, whatever, but that would have been exciting," he added.

Danny had remained quiet throughout this whole discussion, so the boys started asking him his choice, figuring he would side with one of them. "Which do you think is best?" they each wanted to know.

"To be honest, I like the painting of General George Washington Resigning His Commission the best" he answered, referring to the event that happened at Annapolis in 1783. "That showed one of our country's greatest generals right after he led the American army in winning the nation's freedom and just before he became the very first president." That was pretty profound reasoning and I admired his stance.

The boys tried to get me to break the 'tie' for them, but instead, I merely guided them to the National Statuary Hall, which contains a collection of 97 statues. The statues have been donated by the various states, with two coming from each state, except for Nevada, New Mexico and North Dakota. Those states are still eligible to donate one more statue to the collection. The boys seemed to think I would know each person represented there, but not all of them are readily familiar or recognizable to the average person.

"Wow, Uncle Josh," Jay began. "I thought you knew everything. How come you don't know this stuff?"

"I may know more than the average person," I assured him, "but that's far from knowing everything. Some of these statues are of pretty obscure people. At least they're obscure outside of the state that donated it."

One thing the boys did notice as we went through the hall was that out of the 97 statues, only six were of famous women. "Guys, that isn't necessarily sexist," I told them, "it merely reflects the times they lived in. Until the early part of the twentieth century, women were not able to play a significant role in the government, because society had them relegated to being mothers, housewives and a few other limited professions."

"I guess it sucked to be them then," Ricky shot back, sarcastically.

"Yes, I'm sure it did," I agreed, "especially for any woman who was ahead of her times and looking to make some sort of an impact on the world she lived in." They all agreed with my comment and we moved on.

The boys were still talking excitedly about many of the things we saw there, as we made our way out of the building. I was thrilled they had been so impressed by what we'd done so far, so from there, I led them to Ford's Theater.

"What's this place?" Danny asked, while staring at the non-descript exterior of the building. From the outside, it is just an old brick building with five arches on the lower level, where the doors are located.

"This is the building where Lincoln was assassinated," I announced.

"Cool," Jay responded. "Do we get to see where he was sitting and the gun he was shot with?"

"I suspect you'll be able to see both," I agreed, to his great delight.

Indeed, we did get to see the interior of the theater and the State box, where Lincoln was watching the play 'Our American Cousin' when he was shot. After that, we moved to the basement to tour the Lincoln Museum. It contained many items from Lincoln's life, as well as items pertaining to his assassin and the other conspirators who helped plan this infamous deed, and included the clothing Lincoln was wearing on the night he was killed. We also saw the hunting knife Booth carried and the .44-caliber Derringer he used to carry out his diabolical plan.

"That's a pretty small gun," Jay remarked.

"It may be small," I replied, "but it proved to be very deadly." The boys just nodded and then went back to studying it for a few more minutes.

Our visit to Ford's theater was interesting, but not as much as our previous stops, although the boys did find some of the assassination related displays intriguing. When we finished up there, my gang decided it was time to eat again, so we looked for a place where we could chow down, as we drove back to the motel. We ended up having dinner in another nice restaurant, one I noticed on the way from the motel earlier in the day, and decided to give a try. As soon as we sat down, I moved certain items on the table, so Jay's lanky arms wouldn't tip them over. He didn't get upset when I did this, which I was glad to see. In fact, he even thanked me for watching out for him, because he said he didn't want to be embarrassed again, like he was the previous evening. After enjoying a wonderful meal, we returned to our motel room.

This time, I didn't happen to learn what went on in the showers, but I can probably safely assume that something similar to the previous night had taken place. All I know is, for some reason, all four boys spent the entire evening naked after their showers. They lounged around and watched TV for a couple of hours like that, before going to bed in the buff. Although he never knew it, it took every ounce of will power I possessed that night to control myself in bed. Not only because I had been slightly aroused by viewing four handsome, naked young men strutting their stuff all evening, but also because Ricky's little dick and butt kept brushing against me all night, as he tossed about on the mattress. I thought about telling the boys they'd have to start wearing something around the room from that point on, but then decided I'd just shore up my self-restraint and not complain.

Chapter 17
The Smithsonian

I had put in for another 6:00 a.m. wake up call, which rudely interrupted a very enjoyable slumber. After responding to it, I noticed the boys were hardly fazed by the loud ring of the telephone, so I went into the bathroom to shower. When I came back out, I woke the boys and got them moving, this time before I got dressed. They were still a little sluggish and it took them a while to get ready, but when I threw the lure of breakfast out to them, they all began to move a little faster. Once they were ready, we took off, only to stop at the first decent looking place we saw. After I filled their tummies and all of them were satisfied, we headed off to see the Smithsonian.

As we pulled in and parked, I heard Ricky groan, before he challenged me on my choice of destinations. "This is like another school outing," he complained. "I thought we finished with all of that yesterday."

"We finished touring the government buildings yesterday," I replied, "but correct me if I'm wrong. I thought you enjoyed what we did."

"Yeah, maybe a little," he countered, half-heartedly, "since there was some interesting crap to see there."

"That's funny. I don't remember seeing any crap around. Not even in the toilet," I joked back. "Did one of you boys have an accident?"

"No, not that kind of crap," Ricky shot back, barely able to hold back his disdain for my bad pun and sarcasm. "I meant, the White House was interesting, because the rooms were kind of cool and there were some neat paintings and junk, but I really liked the stuff at the place Lincoln got shot."

"So why is this any different?" I challenged.

"Because this is just some dumb old museum," he replied, as if that were enough to convince me we should go somewhere else.

"But the place you liked most yesterday was the Lincoln MUSEUM," I emphasized.

"Yeah, but they had the gun that killed Lincoln, the knife he used to get away and even a picture of the bad guys getting hung."

"Well, they might have things like that here too," I informed him. "After all, this is the National Museum of American History."

"Yeah, we'll see," he muttered, knowing he wasn't about to change my mind.

It was really a remarkable building, with three floors of exhibitions, so I felt there had to be something inside the boys would find fascinating – or this would turn out to be one long day. Fortunately, I was right in my assumption.

The first floor was devoted to America on the Move and detailed the history of transportation in the U.S., from 1876 to the present.

"Hey, look at this old car," Jay told the others. "There's no roof on it and it doesn't even have a steering wheel."

"Well, in 1894 when that was developed, they hadn't worked out all the details that are now agreed as standard items for cars," I told them. "In fact, the seat looks like it might be one that would have been used in a fancy horse-drawn carriage."

"Damn, they had cars back in the 1800's?" Ricky asked. "I thought everyone still used horses back then."

"They did," I assured him. "Horses to be ridden, horses to pull farm implements, horses to pull carriages and wagons and the new-fangled horseless carriage. The early ones were much like this one."

"Look at this one over here," Brandon squealed. "It looks like it uses the same wheels they used on those old big wheeled bicycles, that I've seen in books."

"You might be right," I agreed. "They did borrow items from existing technologies, and bicycles were big at the end of the nineteenth century."

"Man, can you imagine riding in something like that," Ricky sneered. "Even go-carts are better than that."

"Maybe now, but back then this was the cutting edge of technology, the best they had to offer," I replied.

"It says this one was made by Karl Benz," Danny noticed. "Did he have anything to do with Mercedes-Benz?"

"In fact he did," I informed him, pleased by his observation. "He formed the Benz Company, which later became Mercedes-Benz, then Daimler-Benz and now Daimler-Chrysler."

We continued to look around at the other classic cars, including a Ford Model T. This, in turn, led into a discussion about Henry Ford and his use of the assembly line. I explained how that innovation helped to keep the cost of the vehicles down, so almost anyone could afford to own one. The boys all agreed the assembly line concept was really important or "only the rich would be driving cars now," Jay concluded.

They also had a Southern Railway Steam Engine there, but the boys quickly lost interest in that display, once they discovered the cars of the future.

"Wow, look what they've got over here," Brandon gushed, eyeing a designers idea of what the future might bring. The boys were definitely into these vehicles, as opposed to the old classics. Well, I guess that's only right, seeing they'll probably live long enough to drive such things.

After I dragged them away from there, we hit the TV Objects area, which probably meant more to me, than to them. The boys thought Jerry Seinfeld's Puffy Shirt was 'ugly and they'd never wear anything like that,' so I explained that it was precisely why it was designed that way. They didn't understand, so I had to explain the joke part of that episode to them, that Jerry was conned into wearing a shirt no one else would have.

Moving on, I also ogled the 'phaser' from the original Star Trek series and the signpost from M*A*S*H, but my companions weren't as enamored with these items as I was. Therefore, the boys quickly dragged me away from there and prevented me from languishing in the memories these items rekindled.

When we reached the second-floor, Jay became confused. "What do they got all those old dresses here for?" he wanted to know.

"Jay, those aren't just old dresses, those are the First Ladies' Inaugural gowns, from Martha Washington, right up to Hilary Clinton." I guess that answer sufficed, but the boys weren't much into women's fashion, so we moved on.

"Man, that's a big, but funny looking flag hanging there," Ricky announced, while pointing at a well-worn version of Old Glory.

"Guys, that's not just any flag," I told them. "I'm pretty sure that's the flag that was flying over Fort McHenry the night Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. It was just a poem then, but it eventually turned into our National Anthem."

"I understand the fifteen stars," Danny told me, "because there were only fifteen states then, but why did it have more stripes."

"That was during the War of 1812, and until 1818, when five new states were added to the Union, it had been expected that a star AND a stripe would be added for each new state. Once they reached twenty states, though, people began to feel the flag would have really looked strange with twenty stripes, so Congress passed the flag act, stating there would be one star for each state, but there would only be thirteen stripes, one for each of the original colonies." The boys thought that made great sense and were pleased those early lawmakers were smart enough to come up with that idea.

When we came to the Pop Culture area, I had a great time filling the boys in about my favorite displays. Although they recognized Michael Jordan's game-worn jersey, and Judy Garland's Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz, they were only vaguely familiar with Fonzie's leather jacket, from Happy Days, and didn't know who Archie Bunker was or why his chair would be here – until I told them about All in the Family. They also didn't know anything about the Lone Ranger, or why a good-guy would wear a mask. I also enjoyed seeing Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves, which started the boys shadow-boxing with each other.

After leaving that area, we hit the History of Money and Medals area, which of course fascinated my crew. "Man, I didn't know they had $100,000 bills," Ricky announced, with his eyes bulging from their sockets.

"They don't any longer," I explained, while staring at the bill with Woodrow Wilson's portrait on it. "They only made them for a short time and stopped in the 1930's, when the Great Depression hit. It didn't make much sense to have $100,000 bills in circulation, when most people found it hard to even come up with a dollar." The boys shook their heads, while thinking about how hard life must have been then.

"I wonder how much I could get for that, if I stole it," Jay mused, while staring at a gold nugget.

"Oh, probably ten to twenty years in prison," I informed him, which got a glare from him and giggles from the others.

"No, I meant how much money," he corrected me, although too late.

"I'm not sure, but the price of gold isn't as high now as it has been in the past," I advised him.

Over the next few minutes, we also saw many strange looking forms of money, including currency printed by banks, and not the government. That's when I had to stop and answer their questions about why banks had been able to print their own money, before the federal government came up with a formal currency standard. Once that had been clarified, we came across a Nobel Prize Medal and then a US Civil War Colored Troops Medal, which piqued Danny's interest.

"They had a medal for the black soldiers who fought in the Civil War?" he asked. I quickly read some background info, before giving him his answer.

"It says here that their commander, General Benjamin Butler, was so impressed with the fighting ability of his black troops that he commission this medal and had it made, specifically to honor their service. Unfortunately, the federal government would not authorize its use, so those men were never allowed to wear it on their uniforms."

"That's a shame," Brandon shot back. "If they fought well enough that the guy in charge had it made for them, then they should have been able to wear it whenever they wanted, even on those dumb old uniforms." We all agreed, but it was a moot point. They had all died a very long time ago.

Before we left, we also saw George Washington's Revolutionary War uniform, Lincoln's top hat and Alexander Graham Bell's phone, along with numerous other items, and I thought it time to see if Ricky had finally changed his mind about the value of this stop.

"Well, Ricky, do you still think this was a waste of time," I prodded him, as we were getting ready to leave.

"Nah, it was okay," he conceded. "You know, history isn't so bad when you can actually see things and not just read about them in some stupid book or hear some boring old teacher yak about it for hours and hours."

"Some boring old guy, like me?" I asked, causing him to whip around in my direction.

"I didn't mean you, Dad," he announced, startled. "You aren't boring, well, most of the time you're not." The other boys couldn't help but snort and chuckle at his response.

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," I teased him back, but he was correct. By actually being able to see some of these items, they suddenly had more meaning for them and made it easier to understand the importance of certain things. All in all, we had spent about an hour on each floor, so now we decided it was time to grab a quick lunch in the cafeteria, before moving on to our next stop.

During our meal, the boys talked about some of the things they'd seen and shared their impressions with the others, but they spent most of their time trying to find out where we were going next. Using every trick they'd ever learned, they continued to try to wheedle this information out of me, but their only flaw was that they hadn't considered my resolve. I was able to remain tight-lipped and not ruin the surprise, although I did tell them our next destination would be another part of the Smithsonian.

After eating, I guided them to the National Museum of Natural History. This is where various natural science exhibits are housed, including the anthropological materials, which tell about the early people who inhabited this land. There were also botany displays, featuring various forms of plant life, entomological presentations, about the vast number of insect species, and geological displays, showing different gems, minerals and rocks, as well as information about meteorites and volcanoes. In addition to those things, the largest attraction is probably the zoological or animal materials, which would encompass various exhibits and replicas of numerous forms of animal life, including dinosaurs.

Not meaning any harm, I jokingly teased our redheaded friend. "Hey, Jay, please stay away from the skeletal displays and not touch any thing. I don't want you to accidentally break or wreck anything."

This elicited an immediate response from the other boys, as they laughed hysterically, thinking my comment was extremely funny. The problem was, I don't think Jay saw it that way. He gave me a dirty look and I could tell I had hurt his feelings, so I immediately apologized and tried to defend myself by explaining I was just joking. Not totally buying in to it, he forced a weak smile and shrugged it off, but I took note that I had hit upon a major sore spot for him. I pulled him aside later, and apologized again, privately, telling him that I hadn't meant to hurt his feelings or upset him. This time he told me it was all right, although I insisted it wasn't, and I promised to do nothing more that might ridicule him, even as a joke.

The boys were totally blown away by the dinosaur exhibits and stood in awe of the size of these gigantic creatures. Even at their age, and having studied dinosaurs in school or seen television programs about these behemoths, they got a whole new perspective concerning the former 'rulers' of the world. It was nearly impossible NOT to be intimidated and feel dwarfed by the skeletal recreations of these monsters and this was enough to make all of us realize that, as far as pure physical stature was concerned, we were just insignificant slugs on the evolutionary ladder.

"Can you imagine getting chased by something like that?" Danny asked, while staring at one of the displays.

"It would be just like in Jurassic Park, when the T-Rex and raptors were going after everyone," Jay added, with a great deal of enthusiasm.

"Actually, man didn't come along until long after the dinosaurs had disappeared," I informed them. "I'm not sure if humans would have survived among those eating machines. They devoured even more than you boys, but not by much."

"Hey, we don't eat that much," Brandon challenged.

"You certainly wouldn't say that, if you had to pay the bills," I teased.

"Okay, so maybe we do eat a lot," Ricky conceded, "but there's no way all of us together could come close to eating as much as just one of them could."

"Okay, so I exaggerated a bit," I admitted, with a grin, "but you boys are no slouches when it come to packing away chow." The four of them let it go at that, or this debate might have lasted for the rest of the evening.

All of us had been so enthralled with the displays that we didn't realize it was nearly closing time. However, that was quickly made evident when we began hearing the announcements. Reluctantly, we began to make our way toward the exit, even though the boys kept looking over their shoulders to see if they could discern anything we might have missed.

Chapter 18
Washington, D.C. By Night and Day

We didn't get out of the museum until after 5:30 and could immediately see the traffic was already miserable, so we chose to stay in the area for dinner. My human garbage disposals decided they wanted to go Italian tonight, so I went along with their request. After making a few inquiries, we were told about a suitable restaurant and made our way there. After we arrived, we started filling up on antipasto, pasta and other Italian delights. The dinner was quite good, there was plenty of it and I felt completely stuffed when we left. However, it appeared my crew wasn't quite done yet. As we exited the restaurant, they suggested we go somewhere for ice cream. After a brief discussion, I reluctantly gave in, and found a place nearby where they could indulge their sweet tooth. After watching them inhale dessert, I concluded it was time to do some more sightseeing, so we could walk off some of the calories we had just consumed.

Leaving the ice cream shop, we made our way to the Washington Monument. As we approached it, we noticed it didn't appear quite the same at dusk, since the spotlights illuminated it differently than the sun did during the day. However, the boys didn't have time to contemplate that, as they were too excited about going to the observation deck and viewing the city at twilight. We were immensely disappointed to learn that no visitors were allowed in at night, so we couldn't go up to the top, but I promised them we'd do it another time.

Still somewhat disappointed, we walked across to the Lincoln Memorial, strolling beside the reflecting pool that lies between the two landmarks. As we did so, I thought it was the right time to remind them that this was where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream speech. He stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, while more than two hundred thousand people listened to him as they mulled around the reflecting pool. As we continued to move along, we discussed the implications of that speech and talked about what it might have been like to have been here on that particular day.

"We've seen black and white movies of that," Brandon told me, "and his speech was really interesting, but it looked like the whole situation was pretty tense."

"Well, it was during the Civil Rights Movement of the 60's and desegregation was still in its infancy in the south, so I'm sure there were some nervous moments. During that same time, other Civil Rights gatherings had been broken up by police wielding nightsticks, using fire hoses or utilizing attack dogs, so those in attendance might not have been sure what to expect."

"No wonder they might have been worried that something bad might happen to them," Jay added.

"Yes, those were unsettling times and you could never be sure about what might happen next," I agreed.

After walking up the steps to the Lincoln Memorial, we stopped, turned and stared out from the spot Dr. King would have been standing when he looked upon those who came to hear him. It sent chills up my spine. After that, we went to view the magnificent marble sculpture of Lincoln, which only heightened my feelings. Here we were, standing at the monument dedicated to the one who freed the slaves and was assassinated for his part in the Civil War, while thinking about the other person who helped advance what Lincoln started and take it to the next level, before he too was assassinated. All of this only enhanced the awe-inspiring visions I was seeing in my mind's eye.

We finished up our brief tour by going over to the Jefferson Memorial next. The architect who designed it drew his inspiration from classical architecture and was even inspired by Jefferson's home, Monticello, which Jefferson had designed. Once we got inside, we could see the 19-foot [5.8 m] tall bronze statue of the third President and various passages from Jefferson's writings, which are engraved into the walls. As we finished looking at the monument, it was apparent we were all pretty beat from the long day and all of the walking we had done. That's why I suggested it was time to return to the motel and no one objected.

Once we got back, I made sure Brandon and Jay called home first, so they could let their parents know they were still all right, and they excitedly recounted their travels up to this point. While they were on the phone, I turned on the TV and found a baseball game, which Danny and Ricky soon became engrossed with. I told them they could watch the game, but they needed to take their showers too and get them out of the way, so once Brandon and Jay finished their calls, the younger pair decided they'd hit the shower first. Now that they were alone, more than just the water heated things up in there.

"Jay, do you want to try something new tonight?" Ricky asked, eyeing his friend.

"Like what?" Jay shot back, curious as to what his buddy had in mind.

"How about a blowjob?" Ricky suggested, hoping Jay would take the bait.

"You mean sucking each other's dick?" Jay asked, a little uncertain as to whether he was ready to try it.

"Yeah, that's what a blowjob is," Ricky replied, stating the obvious.

"Well, I've heard about them, but I don't know how to do it," Jay admitted, slightly embarrassed. "I might mess up or something," he added, hoping that would take the pressure off him.

"No, you won't," Ricky assured him. "I'll do it to you first and then you can do the same thing to me."

"You mean you've done this before?" Jay asked, astonished.

"Yeah, with Danny," Ricky admitted. "We wanted to know what it was like and it feels really good." Jay thought for a second about what Ricky had told him, before posing his next question.

"Does it taste bad?" Jay asked, while wrinkling his nose.

"No, not at all," Ricky confirmed. "The wiener doesn't have hardly any taste at all and the spunk is just a little salty."

Jay thought for a minute. "Okay," he finally agreed. "If you've done it and you don't think it's that bad, then I'll try it too."

Ricky didn't waste any time or give Jay a chance to change his mind. Before Jay could blink, Ricky knelt down in front of him and grabbed his flaccid member. Ricky started by playing with the foreskin first, pulling on it, squeezing it, and sliding it back and forth over the head. When he exposed the head, he noticed some white gunk under the lip of the helmet. "Eeeeewwwwww. What's that stuff?" he asked.

"My dad calls it smegma, but some people call it cheese. Dad says it moisturizes the head and keeps it smooth and soft. It's not dirty, and it helps keep my dick clean and healthy, but dad says I should clean off the excess build up when I shower. He also says smegma does for your dick what tears do for the eyes, keeps them moist and healthy. If you want to get rid of it, just let the water run on it for a minute and it will wash down the drain."

Ricky did just that, and turned Jay's penis around in his fingers, to make sure he rinsed it off on all sides. Once he was sure everything had been washed away, he started to lick on the exposed head. Jay twitched immediately and let out a moan, as Ricky's tongue came into contact with his sensitive glans. He moaned again, as Ricky's tongue flicked out and delved the little slit in the middle of the crown. This attention caused Jay's member to swell to life in no time at all, as it reacted to the feel of the little blonde's tongue swirling all around his shaft.

Eagerly, Ricky licked the entire surface of Jay's penis, before opening his mouth and letting his lips slide down the outer surface. Once Ricky had Jay's cock in his mouth, he began to move his head back and forth, letting his lips and tongue provide pleasure to his friend's organ. Ricky ran his other hand between Jay's legs and under his scrotum, to stimulate that area as well. While he continued to pump his mouth on his friend's cock, he continued to let his fingers roam around and toy with Jay's balls and fleshy sac. Jay was wild with excitement, relishing all of the new sensations that were coursing throughout his body, and instinctively began to thrust his hips back and forth, to match the motion of Ricky's head. It wasn't a conscious act, but his body seemed to move on its own, as if it had done this before.

Ricky tried to increase his suction, as Jay's pole slid in and out between his lips. He could tell by Jay's actions and from the noises he was making that he was enjoying this new activity. "Oh, oh, this is great, Ricky. It feels sooooo goooooooood. Oh, yes, suck on it. I'm almost there. I'm going to squirt. Yes, yes, I'm gooooooooing to squiiiiiirt."

Immediately after saying that, Jay's juices reached their boiling point. The pressure that had built up in his loins now catapulted his semen up his shaft, and those precious liquids soon flooded Ricky's waiting mouth. Ricky slurped up the boy juices and swallowed them as quickly as he could. Not missing a beat, he continued to suck on Jay's tube until it was completely drained, and then Jay literally collapsed on top of him.

"I'm sorry, Ricky," Jay told him, once he realized what he'd done. "I hope I didn't hurt you?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Ricky told him. "Things like that happened sometimes, especially after you shoot a big load."

"I didn't know that," Jay admitted, "but thanks for not getting mad. And thanks for the great blowjob too. It was fantastic. I've never felt anything that good before. Get up and I'll do you, but be sure to tell me if I do anything wrong."

"I will," Ricky told him, "but just remember to keep your teeth back and not let them scrape on my wiener. If you remember about your teeth, then you'll do fine."

Jay noted the advice and reached out for Ricky's penis. He grabbed it with one hand and, cautiously, stuck his tongue out to touch the exposed head. He let it stay on that one spot for a few seconds, while he tried to determine what kind of a taste it had. Finding almost no flavor at all, he became more aggressive and let his tongue move to other areas. Concluding this was not going to be as unpleasant as he had originally feared, he started to lick up and down Ricky's pulsing hard-on. Jay treated it like a Popsicle, licking it on all sides before trying to take the entire shaft into his mouth. Cautiously, he let his lips slide down the length of Ricky's rod, until his nose touched Ricky's pubic patch. Once he felt those wiry hairs begin to tickle his face, he pulled back again. He repeated these motions over and over, sending bolts of ecstasy racing throughout the young blonde's torso.

"That's it, Jay. Yeah, just like that. Umm, umm, you're doing really great. Keep going. Do it a little harder. Yeah, that's it. Work it. I'm going to cum. Get ready. Here it comes. Uuuuungh."

Ricky unleashed his hot load into Jay's waiting orifice. Jay gagged slightly, before he overcame this reflex and began to swallow the fluids. He lapped up each drop, until there was nothing left, and then stood up to face Ricky, who was leaning back against the shower wall, using it to help him keep his balance.

"That was kind of fun," Jay said, grinning and breaking the silence. "You were right. Your dick didn't have much of a taste and your jizz was a little salty, but none of it tasted bad."

"See, I told you," Ricky replied, smiling weakly, still drained from his recent orgasm. "Thanks, Jay. That was great, but we'd better get out of here, before Danny and Brandon get suspicious." The boys finished washing up quickly and then hopped out of the shower, turned off the water and dried their bodies. When they walked out of the bathroom, towels in hand, they were surprised that nothing was said.

The older pair had decided to keep quiet, since they would probably be doing something too and didn't want to face retribution. Therefore, Danny and Brandon merely stood up and passed the other two as they went into shower. Once they got inside, they were happy to repeat their previous performance and eagerly humped their bodies against each other again, until they fired their respective loads. Exhausted, not only from a long day of walking, but also from this most recent exercise, they nearly collapsed after their climaxes. Taking a while to recuperate, they finally cleaned up, dried off and returned to join the rest of us.

Tonight, when I announced it was time to go to bed, no one argued with me. Instead, they each thanked me for everything we did today and confessed they'd had a very good time. After I told them they were welcome, they crawled into bed and soon fell into a deep slumber. All of us slept very soundly that evening, but Ricky must have been totally spent, because he didn't move the entire night. I curled up next to him when I turned in and found myself in that same position when my 6:00 wake up call came the next morning. After going through my normal preparations, I woke the boys, and before long, we were on the move again.

After breakfast, we headed back to the Smithsonian, this time to visit the National Air and Space Museum.

"Look at those old-fashion planes," Jay announced.

"I think that one is the Wright Brothers plane," Danny told him, "but I'm not sure what the other one is."

"It says it's the Spirit of St. Louis," Brandon added, reading the markings on the plane.

"That's the plane Charles Lindbergh used to make the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic," I informed them.

"Wow, I guess man has always wanted to fly," Ricky noted.

"Probably since he first saw the birds soaring freely above him," I suggested. "Have you ever heard the Greek Myth about Icarus?"

"Isn't that the boy who flew too close to the sun?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, he and his father built wings from bird feathers and wax," Brandon added, "but he supposedly flew higher than his father and got too close to the sun, which melted his wings. Then he fell to earth and died."

"But I thought it got colder the higher up you go," Jay pondered.

"It does, Jay, but the ancient Greeks didn't know that," I explained. "They thought the closer you got to the sun the hotter it would be, but that isn't until you get out of the earth's atmosphere and much closer to the sun."

"Yeah, like the planets Mercury or Venus," Ricky offered. "They're hotter than earth."

"They certainly are," I agreed.

"So the Wright Brothers were the first to fly?" Jay asked.

"They were the first to successfully build an aircraft that flew," I corrected, "although there are others who also made claim to that title. However, there were others who soared above the earth before that, but in balloons."

"Who did that first?" Jay wanted to know.

"I don't think they know for sure, because it's been suggested that might have been the way the ancient people in South America could have observed and constructed the images on Nazca Plains in Peru," I advised them.

"You mean those huge drawings in the ground?" Brandon asked. "I think there's a spider, a monkey and other stuff."

"That's the place," I confirmed.

"Wow, they've been there like forever, haven't they?" Ricky inquired.

"Pretty much," I agreed. "I think most scientists put them between 200 and 600 BC or BCE, however you refer to it now."

"So, there have been hot air balloons all that time?" Jay followed.

"Not really," I answered. "People have just conjectured that was probably the only way the natives could have appreciated the images they dug into the ground. However, it was a pair of French brothers who are usually credited with the first hot air balloon flights, in the late 1700's."

"That's a big difference in time," Brandon remarked.

"Yes, but there may have been others before that, but there is no way to prove it or know for certain," I countered.

Following our little discussion, and continuing throughout the day, we saw many more stages in the history of flight and more examples of the various advancements made throughout the years. I think the boys were most impressed with the section on the U.S. Space Exploration program and seeing the Apollo 11 space command module. If you remember, it was Apollo 11 that made the first manned moon landing, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. In fact, the boys got to see the actual spacesuits they wore and were able to touch a lunar rock too.

During this time, we also talked about the risks of venturing into space, commenting on how many early pilots died trying to perfect flight, as well as the deaths of astronauts, as we ventured farther out in space. We talked about the fire in Apollo 1 and the Challenger tragedy, before hypothesizing how much more man would be willing to risk and what the future might hold for space explorers. I was very impressed by the knowledge and interest level of all four young men, as this was quite an in-depth and insightful discussion.

From there, we went to see the National Cathedral, which is an Episcopal church that reminds you of a massive, medieval Gothic cathedral. Construction on it was started in 1907, during Theodore Roosevelt's presidency, but the last finial, or ornamental decoration on the exterior, wasn't finished until 1990, when George H. W. Bush was President. It is the sixth largest Cathedral in the world, the second largest in the US, and well worth a visit. It has a multiple chapels, a huge organ, whose pipes completely surround the choir area, an impressive altar and stained-glass windows.

"The organ didn't look that big," Jay announced, after we walked out of the cathedral.

"That's because its pipes are mostly hidden," I informed him. "If you could see everything used by the organ, you'd realize just how big it is."

"I guess," Jay conceded.

"I wish our church looked like that," Ricky announced.

"It would be nice to be able to see something like that every Sunday," I admitted, "but I don't think God really cares how fancy the church is, as long as we worship."

After leaving the cathedral, we took a bus tour of the city, so we could get a better feel for the entire area. After the tour ended, the boys agreed that the old town of Alexandria, with its historic buildings, was the most intriguing part of the trip. Once the tour ended, the boys began pumping me for more information about my plans for tomorrow, hoping they might learn what we were going to do in advance. Of course, they weren't successful, so it drove them crazy and made them more curious about what I had up my sleeve. Even though they were having a good time and enjoying the itinerary I had laid out for us, they just couldn't deal with not knowing what was going to happen next.

We ended the day by having a very late dinner, because we spent some time walking around the area, before we went to eat. By the time we got back to the motel, it was very late, so I sent the boys straight to the shower. All four boys enjoyed the pleasures of yet another round of sexual experimentation, before proceeding to parade around the room in their birthday suits. I was beginning to feel as if I was the odd man out at a nudist convention, but I'm not complaining. Far from it, but I am intelligent enough to realize a slightly out of shape principal can't compare to the pure, angelic, unadulterated beauty of these naked young men.

We went to bed a few hours later and Ricky wrapped himself tightly around me, like a drowning man clinging to a life preserver. I slipped my arm under his head and cuddled my little darling against me, and we stayed that way until the phone rang the next morning.

Chapter 19
Our Last Day in Washington, D.C.

That morning, we started off at the National Zoo. The boys were like the metal balls in a pinball machine while they were there, running from one area to the next, checking out all of the animals on display. About halfway through our visit there, Jay ended up tackling a metal trash barrel, without intending to. I was worried he might have injured himself, but he was too mortified to worry about anything as trivial as being hurt.

Not only did my boys get a few restrained chuckles out of this incident, but a few passers by were howling because of it too, which only helped to compound Jay's discomfort. He was extremely embarrassed by his clumsiness and it took me nearly twenty minutes to calm him down enough so he could get over what had happened. Seeing his friend's discomfort, Ricky also tried to help me convince Jay that any of them could have done the same thing, but Jay was well aware that he was a bigger klutz than the rest of us. After Jay and I talked a little longer, he started to loosen up a bit and enjoy himself once more, but he made sure he moved more slowly from that point forward, to reduce the risk of another accident.

The rest of the visit was pretty routine; with the boys checking out all of the animals on display, but there was one other comical moment. It happened while we were checking out the orangutans. One of the juvenile males began sporting an erection and nonchalantly began to stroke himself.

"Hey, look," Ricky called out. "There's Danny doing his thing again." The boys all turned in the direction Ricky was pointing, quickly discovering what he was referring to. Brandon and Jay began to snicker, while Danny turned a bit red.

"I'm a little bigger than that," Danny announced, but only loud enough for us to hear him. "That looks more like Ricky's size," he added, trying to deflect the attention back toward the one who started it.

"Nah, I've got blond hair and the monkey's is almost red," Ricky shot back, before making another observation. "But Jay has red hair and skin that covers his dick when it isn't hard, the same as the orangutan." Now, Jay began to blush as the attention shifted to him.

"Okay, it's time to end this discussion," I announced, trying to save Jay from further embarrassment. After what he'd already been through on this trip, I thought this might only bruise his psyche more. Fortunately, the boys let the conversation drop and we moved on to see what else there was to discover.

We spent the morning touring the zoo and then decided it was time to eat. The boys selected a fast-food spot for lunch, over my mild protests, but I eventually decided to let them have their way. After eating, we moved on to our next stop, Arlington National Cemetery. I made sure my foursome got to see President Kennedy's resting place, with the eternal flame, an area that holds special significance for me. I think everyone from my generation can remember where he was and what he was doing the day JFK was assassinated, so there is this emotional connection that is hard to explain to anyone who had not experienced a similar occurrence. I guess the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster might come close, but it still isn't quite the same. After telling the boys some of the things I remembered about Kennedy and that shocking day in November of 1963, I took them over to see The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

The Tomb of the Unknowns, as it is also known, is a symbolic memorial to all those who have died in war and whose remains where unidentifiable. The Tomb was established through a Congressional Resolution, in 1921, and it was constructed to honor the remains of an unknown and unidentified American soldier from World War I. You might have seen ceremonies conducted there on Memorial Day, when the President typically places a wreath at the Tomb. The Tomb contains the remains of American soldiers from World Wars I and II, the Korean Conflict, and until just a few weeks before we got there, a soldier from the Vietnam War. His body was identified through the use of DNA testing and his remains were returned to his family, to be buried where they wished. Each soldier was presented with the Medal of Honor posthumously, at the time of the internment, and the inscription on the memorial reads, 'Here Rests In Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But To God.'

"I guess they won't be adding any more now, will they, Dad?" Danny asked.

"Not because there won't be more wars," I responded, sadly, "but because of advances in science. I think the remains already interred here will be all that will occupy this spot." The boys nodded and I looked at them, wondering if any of them would ever be called to serve and, God forbid, lose their lives in defense of our country."

After we left there, I made it a point to go the Arlington House, so they would be better able to appreciate the history of the cemetery. Arlington House had been the family home of Robert E. Lee's wife. She was the granddaughter of George and Martha Washington, and Robert E. Lee was the General who led the Confederate Army during the Civil War. It was his masterful leadership that nearly allowed the South to win the war and prolonged the length of the conflict.

"It was during the latter stages of the war that bureaucrats from the federal government confiscated the land surrounding the house," I informed them, "so it could be used as a burial place for the large number of soldiers killed during the various battles."

"I can see why they would need the land for a cemetery," Jay began, "but wasn't it kind of mean to take their farm? I mean… she was George Washington's granddaughter."

"Yes, I suppose it was," I agreed, "but Lee's detractors in the government sought to punish him for turning down command of the federal army and taking up arms against the union. They understood how much this place meant to Lee, seeing he had resided at Arlington for thirty years, so they knew it would be painful for him and his family to stand by and watch their beloved homestead undergo a transformation into a national graveyard."

"Yeah, I guess he wouldn't want to come back here and live in the middle of a cemetery after the war was over," Brandon agreed.

"Yes, it made his old farmstead virtually uninhabitable," I concurred, "but it would be hard for me to envision what it would be like if we didn't have a national cemetery like this where you could come to honor veterans, presidents and others who had done so much for their beloved country."

Once all of that had been digested, we hurried back to the Washington Monument, so we could go to the top and take in the view. I didn't want to take the chance that it would close before we got there again, and I was glad we made the effort. First of all, I got a kick out of watching the boys as we rode up in the elevator. They were as jittery as a bride on her wedding night, anticipating the treat that awaited them at the top. However, most of all, I enjoyed seeing their faces light up, when they looked out over the city. The boys were totally blown away when they beheld the breathtaking view and made it a point to look out the windows on all four sides.

"Hey, there's the White House," Jay announced, looking out the opening facing north.

"Just don't fall out," Ricky teased, immediately drawing a glare from Jay in return.

"And there's the Capitol," Brandon announced, having already moved to the opening facing east.

"And all the museums we went to," Danny added.

"There's the Jefferson Memorial," Ricky pointed out, after racing to the south side of the monument.

"And over here is the Lincoln Memorial," Jay announced, excitedly, looking west.

"And the Reflecting Pool," Brandon added, after joining Jay.

"And there's Arlington," Danny noted, indicating the area we had left earlier.

"And there are our next two stops," I pointed out, indicating the Korean and Vietnam Veterans Memorials.

After spending another twenty or thirty minutes enjoying the view, we made our way back down and went to check out the two Veterans Memorials. We didn't stay there long, as the boys quickly got bored, since they didn't know anyone who had lost his life in either conflict.

Sensing their restlessness, I decided it was time to move on and took them to check out the Supreme Court Building. Once there, we toured the Courtroom, the Upper Great Hall, the East Conference Room and a courtyard. We also found out about the various inscriptions, carvings and ornaments that adorn the exterior of the building, as well as information about the people who designed and built the building.

"Wow, I didn't know there was no Supreme Court until 1935," Brandon announced, but was soon joined by the others, as they admitted they hadn't known it either.

"Yes, in 1929, Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who had also been President from 1909 – 1913, persuaded Congress to create a permanent home for the court, and this building was completed six years later," I told them.

"But why did they wait so long to make a building for the Court?" Jay wanted to know. "Wasn't there a Supreme Court before that?"

"Yes, there was Jay," I told him, "but it met at various locations, including once being housed at the Capitol. I see you don't remember that."

"I kinda do," he answered, "but I thought they only meant for a little while, until everything in Washington was built."

"That was sort of the case," I confirmed, "but they had no plans to build a special, separate building for the Court. It was thought they could just utilize space in the other buildings, but that eventually became impractical." This seemed sufficient to answer the question for the boys, so we moved on.

Even though it was still fairly early by the time we finished our tour, the boys informed me they were getting hungry again. At Jay's insistence, we decided to go to a Chinese buffet this time.

Once there, the boys pigged out, eating anything that didn't move, and the owner of the restaurant seemed to be getting a little annoyed by their seemingly insatiable appetites. He watched them intently, following their every move when they went back for seconds, and I suspect he thought they couldn't possibly eat all the food they were taking from the buffet. After watching them devour what was in front of them, he seemed totally blown away by how much these slender young men could pack away. After hitting the dessert bar, to finish off our meal, we left, much to the relief of the management. I was wondering if he would turn us away, if we came back again in a day or two, but seeing we weren't going to be around that much longer, I put the thought out of my mind. Shortly after that, we returned to our motel room, to spend our final night in the Washington D.C. area.

I had Brandon and Jay call home again, and got a great deal of satisfaction from listening to them recount their most recent adventures to their parents. I could hope for no greater reward than to hear the excitement in their voices and watch the glow on their faces, as they told about all the wonderful things they had discovered. Selfishly, I wished Danny and Ricky could have had the same opportunity to tell someone like that, but they would have to be content just sharing these moments with me. It would never be quite the same for my pair, as it was for Jay and Brandon, because I witnessed everything they had, so they didn't need to explain the wonders of the various things they saw. I must admit, however, that I appreciated being with them and seeing their reactions first hand.

Once the phone conversations ended, the various pairs headed into the showers. This evening, the dynamic duo, Jay and Ricky, just decided to just give each other a quick hand job. They were both tired and didn't have the strength to do much more. When they emerged from the bathroom, they immediately went over and jumped into bed. They were both sound asleep before the other two had finished cleaning up.

Salt and Pepper went next. That's how we have been referring to Danny and Brandon, because of their contrasting appearance. They seemed to acquire those nicknames at the restaurant the previous evening, after Ricky made an observation.

"Hey, look at Danny and Brandon," he exclaimed. "Their hair reminds me of the salt and pepper shakers on the table." We all studied them closely, noticing Brandon's blond, almost white, hair juxtaposed against Danny's dark brown crop and agreed with Ricky's observation. After that, Jay and Ricky jokingly started referring to them Salt and Pepper.

As they entered the shower tonight, Brandon took the lead. "Danny, what would you think of giving each other a blowjob tonight?" he asked.

"Is that what YOU want to do?" Danny asked in reply.

"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind," Brandon admitted.

"No, I don't mind at all," Danny responded. "That would be fine with me. Which one of us do you want to go first?"

Brandon thought for a minute. "Would you mind doing me first?" he asked, wondering if he was asking too much of Danny.

"Nah," Danny told him, "it doesn't make any difference to me." Hearing Danny say that relieved Brandon of his concerns. Now, he waited with great anticipation, as Danny bent down and grasped his limp dick.

Danny affectionately kissed the exposed tip and Brandon's prick began to stiffen. Danny stuck his tongue into the sensitive inverted 'v' on the underside of the pole, causing pleasurable feelings to course through Brandon's slender frame. Danny followed this up by attacking the tiny slit at the tip, which was beginning to open and close with the pulsing of Brandon's heart, as he eagerly waited for what was to come. It didn't take long before Brandon began to whimper, as the sensations began to cause an overload in his neural system.

"Oh, yeah, Danny. That's hot. Oh, lick my cock all over. Wash my hard-on with your tongue. Mmmm, oh, yes, that's good. Ahhh, ahhhhh, oh yes."

Danny had continued to tongue Brandon's sausage while Brandon urged him on, but now he slid a little lower and let one of Brandon's testicles slip into his moist opening. He sucked on the walnut sized orb and let his oral muscle roam its nearly hairless covering, sending even more electrical bolts shooting through Brandon's frame. After he finished that, Danny moved his attention back to Brandon's shaft and let his mouth slide over the purplish head, as he began to suckle on his friend's potential baby maker. "Oh, yeah, Danny. Suck it for me. Yeah, yeah, that's it. Unghhhhhhhh."

Danny's head was bobbing faster and faster, while he kept his lips locked over the smooth surface of Brandon's shaft. He also allowed his tongue to play along behind his lips, to stimulate Brandon penis even more. Brandon was really squirming now, as the tingling vibrations rippled thru his torso, and Danny placed his hands on the blonde's hips, to keep him from falling over. Danny continued to use his mouth to pump his friend's boy meat as quickly as he could, and Brandon was nearly ready to release his well-earned reward.

"Oh, God. Oh, God. I'm cumming. Yes, yes, I'm cuuuuuuuuuming," he squealed, just before his rifle fired five shots of love-seed into Danny's throat. Danny gobbled up his prize, like a starving piglet, and after sucking the final drops from his buddy's wilting tube, he let the love muscle fall harmlessly from his lips, so the head was now dangling toward the floor again.

Satisfied with the job he had done, Danny stood up, since he wanted to see how his buddy was doing and get his assessment about how he had performed. As he rose, Danny was afraid to release his hold on Brandon, as he feared his partner might fall, helplessly, into the tub. Therefore, they stayed this way until Brandon came down from his orgasmic high.

"Oh, Danny. That was just super," Brandon squealed in appreciation, once he returned to his senses. "It was so great. Thank you. Thank you, so much."

Danny merely smiled, while appreciating the praise and waiting for his turn to climax. After a few more minutes, Brandon had recovered enough to return the favor, so he eagerly dropped to his knees in front of his friend. Danny was already semi-erect as Brandon started, still somewhat aroused from pleasing his pal. Mimicking what Danny had done to him, Brandon's tongue darted out, like a snake trying to smell the air for danger. He let his oral muscle reach out and touch the head, before he began working his tongue like an overly friendly puppy, sending Danny to new levels of enjoyment. When Brandon eventually eased his mouth over Danny's throbbing mast, Danny wasn't far from bursting forth with his own creamy gift.

"Brandon, oh damn. I'm… I'm… gonna… shoooooooot," he warned, barely in time. "Here… it… it… comes. Awwww, awwww, Arghmpf." At that moment, Danny's milky offering began to fill Brandon's gullet. Brandon was somewhat undecided about what to do with it, but swallowed nonetheless, as it filled his mouth. He was actually able to swallow quickly enough that he didn't lose even a fraction of an ounce of his gift.

After releasing Danny's cock from his cum coated lips, he stood next to his buddy, who was propped against the tiled shower wall. He smiled expectantly at Danny, waiting to see his reaction to how he had done.

"That was marvelous, simply marvelous," Danny began, as soon as he was able to speak, parroting a favorite Billy Crystal line. "I take it that you've done that before?"

"A couple of times at scout camp," Brandon admitted. "I was afraid that if I did you first, and you knew I'd done it before, that you might change your mind about doing it to me. I also thought you might think I was some kind of slut or something. Did you really like it?"' Brandon appeared to be very insecure about his performance and desperately needed Danny's confirmation that it had been pleasurable.

"Yes, Brandon. It was excellent – really great. I don't think anyone could have done any better," Danny agreed. He was doing his best to try to convince his friend that he had done well, once he recognized Brandon's compulsive need for reassurance. "Thanks. You're the best," Danny added.

The pair exited the shower and returned to the main room, after drying themselves off. I happily watched them emerge from their clean up, having left their towels behind in the bathroom. They went straight for their bed and they, too, were soon receiving a visit from the 'Sandman'.

I stayed awake for another half an hour, watching the end of an investigative news story I had become interested in while they were cleaning up. However, once it was over, I slipped into bed beside Ricky and joined them in the land of oblivion. The night passed by quickly, until the ringing of the phone disturbed my slumber and signaled the dawning of another day.

Chapter 20
Presidential Estates

The sixth day of our trip, Friday, we awoke early (5:00 a.m.) and began with a quick breakfast. While we were eating, the boys tried to discover what we were going to do today, so I reached into my pocket and extracted all the change I had there. I then handed each of them a coin and explained the clues to our itinerary could be found on those items. Immediately, they began studying them, making observations as they went.

"Well, we saw where Lincoln was assassinated and the Lincoln Museum," Jay said, looking at the penny, "and we saw the Lincoln Memorial, so I don't see any clues here."

"And we saw all of Washington and the Washington Monument," Brandon said, while gazing at the quarter, "and I have no idea if the eagle on the back is supposed to mean anything," he added.

"And I think this is supposed to be Jefferson," Ricky offered, observing his nickel, "and we've seen the Jefferson Memorial and the Capitol Building on the back," he added, after flipping the coin over.

"I'm not certain, but I think this is FDR on the dime," Danny commented, while looking at me, so I nodded that he was correct. "If I remember right from history class, Roosevelt was from New York and I don't know of any monuments to him around here."

"Just keep working on it and you may figure it out," I explained, without offering to give them any more information. "Pass the coins around and take a good look at all of them and maybe you'll come up with something."

The boys did as I suggested and continued to look at the coins, passed them around and debated with each other about their meaning as they ate. However, they still hadn't figured out what I was up to by the time we left the restaurant. Once we were in the van, we set off for our next destination, with the boys complaining that I wasn't being fair and needed to give them more clues.

"Okay, have you boys been reading that Harry Potter book I bought for each of you?" I asked. They each nodded their head in response. "Okay, there's another clue in there, in one of the character's names."

The boys quickly put their heads together and tried to figure out which character it was and how his or her name could lead them to figure out where we were going next. They still hadn't figured it out, by the time I pulled up to our next stop.

"What is this place?" Ricky asked, looking at the building in the distance.

"That is Mt. Vernon, home to George and Martha Washington from the time of their marriage in 1759 and until his death in 1799."

"So my quarter held the clue, huh?" Brandon commented, mildly upset that he hadn't figured it out.

"But what did that have to do with anyone in Harry Potter?" Jay asked.

"What's Harry's uncle's name?" I responded. He thought for a minute.

"Uncle Vernon," he replied.

"Yes, UNCLE VERNON and MOUNT VERNON," I offered.

"That was pretty lame," Ricky stated, disgusted, "and not very helpful." The others quickly agreed with his observation.

"Well, it was the best I could do at the time," I added, in justification.

We got out and I quickly tried to prepare them for this visit. "Washington loved this place and continued to expand it throughout his life. We will tour the house and some of the dozen or so outbuildings."

"What's an outbuilding?" Jay asked, not understanding.

"It's a structure that is not part of the main building," I informed him. "Back then, the kitchen would have been located in a separate outbuilding, so as not to set fire to the house, if anything happened."

"You know, like the outhouse," Danny also added, "where they'd go to take their dumps." Suddenly, they all understood what an outbuilding was.

"We're going to see an outside toilet?" Jay followed, confused, so I felt I needed to show them there were other reasons for such structures.

"No, Jay," I assured him. "That was just Danny's way of trying to explain what an outbuilding is. It was accurate, but limited in its scope. A barn or a chicken coop could also be considered an outbuilding, if that helps." He nodded his head, so I felt I didn't need to explain any further.

Upon first entering the home, you can't help but be impressed by the large foyer and its graceful walnut staircase, not to mention the walls, which were covered in a lovely honey-colored pine and made the area almost glow. "This area served as a main entertainment area too," I advised the boys, "since it captured the cool summertime breezes, in the days before air conditioning."

"What's that key in the case on the wall?" Brandon wanted to know.

"That is the key to the Bastille, the French political prison that was stormed during the French Revolution, which took place a few years after the American Revolution. The prison was later torn down and the key was presented to Washington by the Marquis de Lafayette, who assisted Washington during the Revolutionary War and then also took part in the French Revolution." The boys seemed to be impressed and studied the key closely.

Once they tired of that activity, we moved on to the room to our right. This was a small dining room, with green walls. The boys didn't really care for the color, so we quickly passed into Washington's study, where he spent a great deal of time conducting the business of the estate in private. The one item in there the boys became interested in, other than the bust of Washington, was the fan chair. It was an ordinary Windsor chair that had a pasteboard fan attached above it, which the 'sitter' could operate by pumping the wooden treadles with his or her feet.

"That seems like a lot of work," Ricky observed. "Wouldn't you sweat more just making that thing work?"

"Maybe," I agreed, "but seeing they didn't have motors to operate such things, the only other way for it to work would be to have someone else operate it for you, like a slave."

"But he didn't have a slave, right?" Ricky followed.

"He did, as did most of the early founding fathers," I told him.

"But didn't they say ALL men were created equal," he pressed.

"They did, and that was one point all of them had trouble justifying, with the high ideals that they saw as the basis for this new country," I told him. "Some of them, like Washington and Jefferson, tried to rectify this later, by freeing their slaves upon their death."

"At least they did something," Brandon added, as we left that room and moved on.

"This is awfully small for a bedroom," Danny observed, as we moved into the next room."

"Yes, but that was typical for homes of this period. The room would be large enough for a bed and a few other small pieces of furniture and that was all."

"Where's the closet?" Brandon inquired.

"If they had a place to store their clothing, it would have most likely been a small wardrobe," I informed them. "You have to remember, most people didn't have many clothes, at least not compared to today's standards."

Crossing the foyer, to the other side, we entered the 'little parlor/music room,' which contained some chairs and the harpsichord that Washington had purchased for his step-granddaughter. From there, we passed into the elaborately decorated and elegant two-story 'large dining room,' where the Washingtons loved to entertain family and guests.

The final room on the first-floor was the 'front parlor.' This was the room where coffee and tea was generally served after dinner and the family could come to read or discuss the latest political news.

"How come all these rooms have fireplaces?" Jay asked, innocently.

"In the days before central heating, each room needed its own fireplace," I informed him. "A fire would be lit in the room before it was occupied, to keep its occupants warm and cozy." Immediately, Jay was chagrined to think he hadn't figured that out for himself, as it seemed so simple.

The second-floor had three rooms of interest. The 'Nelly Curtis room,' which was the room used by Washington's step-granddaughter, and contained the beautiful mahogany crib, which Nellie used when her oldest child was born, and a canopy bed. The next was the master bedroom, which was located directly above Washington's study on the first-floor. The unusual aspect of this room is that the canopy bed is six-feet wide and six-feet, six inches [1.9 x 2 m] long, which was needed to accommodate Washington's six-foot, three-inch [1.91 m] height. The final room was the 'Lafayette Room,' which is the largest of the guest rooms and the room commonly used by the Marquis de Lafayette when visiting Mt. Vernon. The remaining rooms were also guest bedrooms, but quite unremarkable, when compared to the three I've mentioned.

On the third-floor, was the steep and narrow ladder that led to the cupola, which is one of the most striking and easily identifiable features of Washington's home. Although the boys weren't allowed to go up there, we suspected it provided stunning views of the surrounding estate. The other room of interest on this level was 'Mrs. Washington's bedroom,' a small bedchamber that Martha retreated to after the death of her husband. It is said that she spent most of her time there, until her own death, two and a half years later.

After leaving the house, we walked around the four gardens, saw Washington's tomb and visited the 'Pioneer Farmer site.' At this last stop, we watched horses tread wheat in the 16-sided barn and saw cooking demonstrations in the 'kitchen.'

As we drove away from the home, I informed the boys the key to our next stop was on one of the three remaining coins, so they began searching them for clues. We were a little more than halfway through the three-hour drive to our next destination, when we stopped for lunch. As we walked inside, Danny spoke to me. "I think I've figured it out," he commented, in a low, assured voice. "Jefferson also came from Virginia, so I'll bet we're heading to his home next. I forgot the name of it, but I remember he designed and built it."

"Bingo," I exclaimed, surprising all of the boys. "You've figured it out. Our next stop will be Monticello, the home of third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson." The boys in general, but Danny in particular, seemed pleased with having solved this mystery. Now they ate their meal quickly, so we could be off again.

"Hey, that's the building on the back of the nickel," Ricky exclaimed, as we approached it.

"Yes, Ricky, it is," I concurred. "It is Monticello on the flip-side of Jefferson's bust, not the Capitol Building. I was wondering when you were going to figure that out." Ricky blushed a bit, because of his error, and realized, belatedly, that was the reason he hadn't figured out our next destination before Danny did.

As we entered the house, we moved in to the entrance hall, which is a large space that served as a reception area and waiting room for visitors. Its most unique feature is a balcony that connects the two mezzanine-level wings.

Off to the left side of the entrance hall is the south square room, which served as Martha Jefferson Randolph's sitting room, where she sewed, schooled the children and ran the household. Next to that room was Jefferson's suite of rooms, which included his bookroom or library, the south piazza or greenhouse, the cabinet that Jefferson used for reading, writing, architectural drafting and scientific observation, and Jefferson's bedroom, with it's unique alcove double bed.

"Look, the bed's build right into the wall," Jay commented, admiring the design. The other boys readily agreed that it was quite 'cool' as well.

Directly to the rear of the entrance hall is the parlor, which is a large room with beautiful parquet floors and displays most of Jefferson's art collection. This room was used for games, music, reading and was the center of much of the social activity. It was also the site of weddings, dances and christenings during Jefferson's lifetime.

On the right side of the entrance hall was the north square room, which served as a guest bedroom, the north octagonal room, which doubled as both as a bedroom and sitting room, the tea room, which was used as a small dining area, but was also a place where Jefferson might also read or write, and the formal dining room, complete with dumbwaiters, to bring everything that was needed into the room.

"Man, if it took us that long to drive from Washington to here," Brandon remarked, "how long did it take Jefferson to travel back and forth."

"Much longer than that," I assured him. "It might take days, or even weeks, to get from one place to another, so you had limited contact with others. Your only forms of entertainment would be with family or friends at your home or someone else's, or at other social gatherings, most likely held at a church. You would spend much of your time reading books or learning what was going on by reading regional newspapers, which might be printed once a week or once a month." The boys all agreed they would probably have been very bored, if they lived back then.

The biggest surprise on this stop was not the house, but the additional knowledge the boys gained about Jefferson. They discovered that not only was he one of the founding fathers, but he also authored the 'Declaration of Independence' when he was thirty-three, served as Minster to France and Secretary of State under Washington, and was Vice President under John Adams, before he became the third President.

While serving in that office, Jefferson eliminated the unpopular whiskey tax, sent a naval squadron to fight the Barbary pirates, cut the national debt by a third and made his most significant contribution – the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803. The addition of that piece of property effectively doubled the size of the young country and removed another foreign influence from the continent.

"I would have loved to be with Lewis and Clark when they explored that area," Ricky informed us. "It would have been fun to camp out every night and see all those great places for the very first time."

"You're forgetting about how difficult the travel was and the wild animals and hostile natives they might have encountered along the way," I informed him, "not to mention what problems Mother Nature might create for them."

"Well, I still think it would have been neat," was Ricky's retort, as he didn't want to give in on this point.

In addition to everything else Jefferson accomplished, he was an architect and not only designed his home, but also developed the plans for the University of Virginia. He was also an inventor and came up with ideas for a folding ladder, a portable writing desk, a clock that told the date too, an improved plow, a swivel chair and the first dumbwaiter in the US. He was truly a man of enormous genius.

One other ironic, if not unbelievable, fact about Jefferson's life was that he died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Not only that, but he succumbed only hours before John Adams, the second President, also passed away. I do believe the boys came away with a whole new respect for the man.

Leaving Monticello, we hit the road again, for another two and a half hour drive. After stopping for dinner, I took the boys to their first truly non-educational stop of the vacation, a visit to 'Go Karts Plus' in Williamsburg, VA. We would be spending the next four nights here, but for the next few hours, the boys drove go carts over two different tracks, rode bumper boats, played miniature golf and a variety of other games.

Jay's awkwardness carried over to the track, when he had some trouble navigating the course. After seeing him bump into Ricky's cart and nearly forcing Brandon completely off the track, I was afraid those in charge might decide he was too much of a hazard to allow him to continue driving. However, other than a few unbelieving and shocked expressions, they let him be. I think if there had been many others there, besides us, they might not have been so generous, but the boys weren't going to let these incidents pass without comment.

"Jay, you get to bang into others on the bumper boats, not the go carts," Danny informed him, tongue-in-cheek.

"Yeah, Crash," Ricky began, giving his friend a new nickname in the process. "The idea is to stay on the track, while avoiding the other carts."

"Jay, don't mind them," Brandon began, causing the other two to look at him oddly. "They just didn't realize this was the demolition derby track," he added, which caused Ricky and Danny to begin giggling. Jay took all the ribbing good-naturedly, but I wondered if down deep it didn't hurt his feelings a bit.

I joined the boys in some of the activities, as I took a few spins around the track and played some of the games with them, but for the most part, I was more than content to sit back and watch the boys be boys. By the time we left there and checked in at the Inn we would be staying at, the older pair was so tired that they merely took quick showers and then collapsed into bed. I guess they had enjoyed themselves enough for one day.

The younger duo, however, still had energy to burn. Heading into the shower, they began whispering between themselves. "What do you want to do tonight?" Jay asked his blond partner.

"I don't know," Ricky responded. "Do you just want to suck each other off again?"

"Sure, that would be okay with me," Jay confirmed. Without further encouragement, the pair entered the shower and Ricky knelt down in front of Jay.

Ricky seemed eager to play with Jay's uncut penis again, since he was still fascinated by that extension of skin that he had been deprived of. He slid it playfully back and forth over the glans, before engulfing it. Eagerly, he slid it in and out of his mouth, teasing it with his tongue as he went. Jay was enjoying this attention very much, and it didn't take long before he exploded into Ricky's waiting pallet. Swallowing greedily, Ricky accepted the entire load and sucked Jay flaccid, before giving up.

Quickly, the boys exchanged places, so Jay could return the favor. With as much enthusiasm as his partner had shown, Jay got to work, licking and sucking Ricky's entire genital area, before suckling on Ricky's boy treat. Enthusiastically, he bobbed up and down and the stiff rod, adding as much suction as he knew how. The high-speed effort and Ricky's horniness quickly brought him over the brink, and Ricky flooded Jay's mouth with his offering. After drinking down every drop, Jay refused to stop until Ricky held his head still, letting Jay know that his little friend couldn't take any more attention.

The pair quickly finished up and then came out into the main room and convinced me to join them in bed again. After such a long day, it didn't take any of us long to drift off.

NEXT PART