Bill W

Castaway Hotel
Next Generation

Chapters 24-31

Once we'd opened the presents, Danny and Brandon volunteered to help me fix breakfast for everyone, since Jake wasn't here to give me a hand. Not only did they make everyone's eggs to order, but they also fixed enough bacon and sausage to meet the demand, along with a lot of toast. Of course, there was plenty of juice, milk and coffee to go around too.

It seemed really strange being in bed without Jake last night, but I knew he was probably enjoying his time with Shannon and Nick. Although I missed having him to cuddle with, I realized he'd be back late tomorrow evening, so it wasn't as if he would be gone for a long time.

Once everyone had been fed, we cleaned up the dishes and got the house ready for the extended family to arrive. Danny and Brandon were also helping me fix Christmas Dinner and we prepared two huge turkeys again, along with an enormous ham to feed everyone. We also prepared an assortment of side dishes and our guests were also bringing along some others, as well as a few desserts. I'm certain we'll have more than enough to go around.

The extended family began to arrive around noon and the meal was planned for 2:00. Once everyone was here, we exchanged gifts with them and then listened as Elliot played a few Christmas Carols for us, as we waited for the final items to finish cooking. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing time.

Since they had done so much to help prepare the food, I gave Danny and Brandon the honor of carving the turkeys, while I sliced up the ham. The ladies were busy shuttling the other dishes to the tables for us and then we called everyone in to sit down.

After we said grace, Steve looked over at the adjoining table and spoke.

"Elliot, do you still like being part of this nut house or are you looking to escape?" he teased.

"Oh, no, I love it here and the holidays have been a whole lot of fun," he replied. "I've never spent Christmas with so many people before and I'm really enjoying it. I feel right at home."

I think that more than answered Steve's question and served as another Christmas present for Danny, Brandon and me. It was rewarding and extremely satisfying to know that Elliot now felt as if he belonged and was happy being with us.

Dinner was enjoyable, and I'm not merely talking about the food. Even though that was good and we had plenty of it, we also had a good time chatting with each other. The lively banter and light-hearted ribbing kept everyone on his toes, but we all enjoyed it as well.

Once dinner was over, the dishes were cleared and the leftovers were put away. Mark then asked if he could have our attention.

"I didn't want to say anything about this until I'd had a chance to tell my mother first," he began, "and I did that earlier. Now, I want to tell the rest of you that Amy and I have decided to get married. We're planning the wedding for next summer. It will be held where her folks live, but we'd love for all of you to be there to celebrate with us."

"Congratulations," I told him, "and next summer looks as if it's going to be busy for us. I don't know if you're aware of it, but Duck is planning to get married in May and Dustin in June."

"I knew about Duck, but I didn't know Dustin was getting married too," Mark acknowledged. "I guess it will work out then, because Amy wants to get married in July."

"Well, I think we'll all be there, if we're invited," Steve added, after adding his congratulations.

"You'll be invited for sure," Mark confirmed. "I've given Amy all your names and addresses, because she's taking care of sending out the invitations. I'm glad you'll be coming, because that way Mom can ride with one of you and I won't have to worry about her driving."

Susan wasn't really a bad driver, but I knew Mark was worried because it would be a long drive, to get out to Amy's parents' place on Long Island. I'm sure she'll have her choice of vehicles to ride in, because a whole bunch of us will be going.

After Mark's announcement, the younger members of the family went off to enjoy their presents. Elliot, Jesse, Jordan and Nicky went to the family room, so they could try out the new games on the Wii. Some of the others were in there too, waiting to challenge the winners.

The rest of us either continued to sit around the table and chat or moved to the living room, so we could watch some of the holiday festivities on the tube. During this time, Dion and Trey left to take Joshie down to his maternal grandparents' house. He was going there to get gifts from his mother and grandparents and then spend some time with them, before they returned home.

When a few hours had passed since we'd eaten, I called everyone back to the dining room for an evening snack and some dessert. Since most of us were still pretty stuffed from the earlier meal, we only needed a little more food to tide us over, along with the dessert to satisfy our sweet tooth.

Shortly after we finished, we relaxed a little longer and then some of the extended family began to leave. Once they departed, the little ones set about playing with their toys again, while the older ones listened to their music and did a few other things. During this same time, I noticed many of the couples were trying to spend a few minutes of quality time with each other, before the younger ones interrupted them.

Since everyone else was busy, I began to feel a little lonely, especially since the extended family was no longer here to distract me. It was difficult for me to be without Jake on such a festive day, but I was trying not to let it ruin my mood completely. Jesse, Elliot, Jordan and Nicky must have noticed my depressed state and then started to feel badly for me, because before long they came out to speak with me.

"Will you come with us to the family room," Jesse asked. "The movie 'A Christmas Story' is on and we want you to watch it with us."

"Yeah, Papa," Nicky and Jordan agreed. "Come join us. It will be fun."

"Please. We want to know what the big deal was about with BB-guns," Elliot added.

How could I refuse such a lovely invitation?

I watched the movie with the boys and actually enjoyed my time with them. They had me sit on the sofa, with Elliot and Jesse sitting on one side of me, and Jordan and Nicky on the other. The four of them asked me many questions during the movie, especially about BB-guns, which today are basically a thing of the past. When the movie ended, they thanked me and each gave me a hug, before they went to their rooms for the night. When they did, I also went to mine.

Once they were upstairs, Jesse, Jordan and Nicky quickly took off their clothes, but Elliot was a bit slower to react. My grandsons noticed that he seemed to be a little shy and slightly reluctant to join them. They weren't certain if he was like this with everyone or just with guys he'd only known a short time. However, the boys weren't about to leave him out and quickly convinced him it would be fun. After seeing the other boys' bodies, Elliot began to get aroused. This eventually led him to shed his inhibitions, along with his clothing, and join in the fun.

Nicky quickly stated that he wanted to be with Elliot, since they were the same age, so Jordan and Jesse paired up. Once this had been worked out, Jordan, Nicky and Jesse suggested they were up for sucking each other off. After some more coaxing, they got Elliot to agree and the four of them got on the bed together. Elliot was sort of amused, because he now had another penis to play with. However, since all four of them were cut, there was nothing out of the ordinary to experience. It also didn't take long for them to get each other off, except for Jesse, so Jordan didn't finish until several minutes after the other pair was done. Elliot and Nicky didn't mind though and enjoyed cuddling with each other while they watched the action, but after Jesse climaxed, they split up and headed off to shower, before going to bed.

Since the day after Christmas was a Sunday, we all started off the day by attending church together, before going out for brunch. Once we returned to the house, most of the family began to pack up their belongings, so they could return to their homes. Many of them had to work on Monday, so they had to leave today. We bid them, and my younger grandchildren, a fond farewell and helped them load their luggage into the cars they were driving. We gave them all one final hug and kiss, and then saw them on their way. We'd had a great time together, so it was pretty tough to see them go.

The O'Haras got a little emotional as they were saying good-bye to Elliot. They had really connected with him and developed some deep feelings, so they promised Elliot they'd come back to see him at Easter. I hoped all of these flights from Texas to Pennsylvania weren't putting a crimp in their budget. I figured they were probably doing well and could handle it, but I also knew they wouldn't be making all of these trips if they hadn't fallen in love with their new grandson. It was a very nice thing to see and gave everyone involved, even remotely, a very warm, fuzzy feeling.

Not everyone was leaving, however. Sammy and Graham were able to stay a little longer, because they were both teachers and on vacation, and Little Ricky and Andrew were able to stay, because they were on vacation from college. To my surprise and delight, Jordan and Nicky had talked their parents into letting them stay until after New Year's. I would drive them as far as Michael's house and then Michael would take Nicky the rest of the way, since he was going to be traveling near Nicky's home, on business. We lucked out and this worked out to our advantage.

Ricky was among the last to go home today, but before this happened, he came rushing downstairs in a fit, swearing and complaining.

"Some bastard took my luggage and I can't leave without it," he announced. "I don't know who the cock-sucker is, but as soon as I find out, he's going to be sorry."

I tried to get Ricky to chill out by telling him that I'd get the others to help us look for his things. He did calm down a little, but not very much, as we split up and went looking for his missing luggage. It was just a few minutes later, when Nicky cam running back to get me.

"Papa, I think I spotted Uncle Ricky's suitcase," he told me. "I think it's out on the deck around the pool."

Ricky wasn't too far away at the time and overheard what Nicky had told me. Immediately, he raced out to the rec room, which was at the back of the house, and looked out the window in the door. As soon as he did, he began to shout.

"That's it and the things inside better not be ruined because it's been out in the snow," he bellowed, before opening the door and rushing out to get it.

He was so mad as he went outside that he slammed the door behind him. This was something he absolutely shouldn't have done. The vibration from that action caused the snow on the roof to start sliding and eventually buried Ricky beneath it. I saw this happen and hurried outside to make sure he wasn't hurt. He came out from under the pile of snow sputtering and shouting threats about getting even.

"I thought you might have cooled off after being under the snow," I quipped, "but I see you're still hot under the collar."

Ricky merely gave me an evil glare, as he dragged his body out from under the white slush and then continued out to retrieve his suitcase. When he came back inside, he didn't even stop to change out of his wet clothes and merely grabbed his jacket and suitcase and stormed out to his car. We all tried to say good-bye to him, but he was in no mood for pleasantries. He jumped into his vehicle, backed out of the driveway and sped down the road, seemingly in a hurry to return home. I hoped his anger wouldn't cause him further problems, such as an accident, and prayed he might regain his composure, once he got a little farther down the road.

After Ricky had gone, the four boys came into the living room to speak with me. One member of the group was looking a little sheepish, so I was wondering what was going on. I kind of figured they'd been up to something, and it certainly didn't take long for me to find out what.

"Elliot's pranks were awesome, weren't they, Dad?" Jesse asked.

My mouth dropped open and all I could do was to stare at Elliot.

"You were the one responsible for all of that mayhem?" I asked, amazed.

At first, Elliot seemed a little reluctant to confess to his crimes, but finally he owned up to it.

"They were my ideas, but I needed Jesse to help me," he admitted.

"Where you two in on this too?" I wondered, as I looked at Jordan and Nicky.

"We didn't know anything about it until this afternoon," Nicky replied. "They only told us when Elliot asked me to tell you, and Ricky, that his suitcase was out on the pool deck."

I was blown away by Elliot's initiative and courage for orchestrating everything against Ricky.

"And you did this because?" I asked.

I figured I already knew the answer to this question, but I wanted to hear what Elliot had to say.

"He made me wear the dog collar on Thanksgiving and I had to get even," Elliot explained. "They always say payback is a bitch, so I guess he found that out. Sorry about the language."

"Ricky may not see it that way and I'm not sure you'll want him to learn that you did this," I advised him. "If he does, then you'll have to be ready for him to try to get even for what you did."

"But he did it to me first," Elliot countered, looking defiant.

"That may be true, but he only got you once," I explained, "and you did three things to him."

"He got me twice," Elliot countered. "Once with the dog collar and the other when he told me I had to eat off the floor."

"Well, that last part never actually happened," I clarified, "although that was certainly what he had planned."

"Only because you figured it out," Elliot challenged.

"Still, that would only be two things, to your three," I offered.

"Well, the first two were to get even and the last one was to teach him a lesson," Elliot explained.

This caused the other three to giggle. They were thinking that Ricky had indeed learned a chilling lesson, when the snow dampened his spirit.

"Where did you get the idea for all of those pranks," I wanted to know, since we had never seen anything like them before.

"They were things different guys did to some of the others at my boarding school," he explained. "Jesse had to help me dig up all of those safety pins and I was glad you had a supply of those huge ones in with your sewing stuff."

"Even though I kept them in with my sewing supplies," I clarified, "those large safety pins are used at Halloween. I needed the big, sturdy ones that won't give way easily, because they are often needed to hold heavy objects together. Sometimes it is large strips of cloth, which we hang as a backdrop or to fasten some of the props together, so they won't fall apart if the children bumped into or tug on them."

"I'm just glad you had them," Elliot confirmed. "Jesse also helped me to find all the Halloween makeup that you guys hadn't used this past year. Then, he helped me paint Ricky's face with it."

"You two were very lucky Ricky didn't wake up either of those times," I offered.

"He almost did a couple of times, but then he went back to sleep," Elliot informed me. "I don't know what would have happened if he'd caught us in the act!"

"He probably would have wailed on you guys," I offered, hoping it might deter any future adventures of this nature.

"Well, I'm glad he stayed asleep then. I just wanted to teach him a lesson, not hurt him. I know he's bigger than me, but I learned all kinds of great stuff for dealing with big guys when I was taking kung fu. I took lessons for almost as long as I've been playing the piano, so it would have been fun to see if it all worked the way it's supposed to," Elliot chuckled.

I could only wonder how that might have played out.

"Okay, Bruce Lee. You got your revenge, but no beating up your uncles," I teased.

"I really didn't think he'd throw such a fit, after all the things Jesse told me he's done to everyone else," Elliot continued. "If he gets that upset over a little joke, then he's going to have a heart attack when something serious happens to him."

This last comment earned him another round of giggles from the other boys.

"Okay, but I just have one final question," I told him. "How did you get the snow to fall on Ricky when he went out to get his suitcase or was that just a coincidence?"

"That was the whole reason for putting his bag out there," Elliot acknowledged. "Jesse showed me where the hose was, so last night I took it outside and sprayed a very fine mist of water on the roof. The water sank through the snow and then froze overnight. Since the roof slopes downward, any little vibration would start it sliding on the ice, which Ricky did when he slammed the door."

"And what if he hadn't done that?" I asked, wondering if he had a backup plan.

"Oh, Jesse and I were ready to start jumping up and down in here to cause enough vibrations to get him when he tried to come back inside," Elliot informed me.

I was truly impressed by the degree of planning and ingenuity he'd put into this.

Before the boys took off though, I pulled Jesse aside, so I could speak with him about his probable sexual shenanigans with my grandsons. When I did, he informed me about the things he'd already been doing with Elliot. I didn't have a problem with it and merely reminded him about no anal with any of them. I was glad he had previously run this by Danny and Brandon and got their approval first.

I also noticed that Jordan and Nicky seemed to be gravitating toward Elliot while they were here. I believed this was happening because Elliot was in the same grade as Nicky and just a year younger than Jordan. I was pleased to see they were hitting it off so well, and thought it was fantastic for Elliot that they had bonded with him so quickly. Now, they'd be able to enjoy the rest of their Christmas break with each other.

Jake showed up a little later and we all had dinner together. I was happy to see him and he was eager to tell us about his trip and the great time he'd had. The boys were just as eager to tell him about the different things that had happened here, especially about what Elliot had done to Ricky.

Jake thought what he did was hilarious, but knowing how Ricky was, he warned Elliot to watch out for him in the future. He told him that if Ricky found out he was responsible, he would likely strike back when Elliot was least prepared for it to happen, so he would need to remain on guard at all times.

I noticed that Elliot seemed a little annoyed that everyone was giving him warnings about Ricky seeking revenge. After thinking about this for a while, I could see his point. Elliot had demonstrated he was more than a match for my blond prankster. After all, Ricky had talked Elliot into wearing the dog collar, so Elliot had responded by torturing Ricky throughout the holiday and eventually ran him out of the house. I can't wait to see what happens next, but I'll be sure to call a truce before we need the National Guard called in.

After we watched a couple of programs on television together, the boys went upstairs. They quickly agreed to exchange blowjobs again, but this time Jordan was going to be with Elliot and Nicky would be with Jesse.

Elliot immediately noticed that Jordan was hung better than Nicky, but he wasn't as large as Jesse. Jordan's penis wasn't as thick as Jesse's either. Therefore, when Elliot started working on Jordan's dick, he didn't have any problem getting it into his mouth and his jaw didn't immediately begin to ache. In fact, Elliot was able to continue bobbing up and down on his shaft until he brought Jordan off and then Jordan returned the favor.

Over the course of being with this group, Elliot was getting a kick out of being able to compare the different penises he'd been able to play with. It wasn't just about their size and thickness either. The heads of their dicks were also slightly different in size and shape, plus the taste of the juices varied slightly. Elliot wasn't sure what caused this, but maybe it had a little to do with what they ate or was tied to their body chemistry. Whatever caused these differences, Elliot was having a good time comparing and contrasting them, as he judged one against the others.

Now that they'd all had a chance to get off, they showered and then went to bed. As they drifted off, each of their minds was eagerly trying to figure out what they might dream up to do the next day. There was a whole world of possibilities and a selection of different partners they could have fun with.

Elliot slept with Jordan that night and eagerly cuddled with him. He didn't do this, however, until after Jordan had fallen asleep, since he wasn't sure how Jordan might react. Elliot had come to enjoy cuddling with the person he was sleeping with and he wasn't about to pass up this opportunity. In the end, each of the boys had a very restful sleep, filled with wonderful dreams.

When Jordan woke the next morning and discovered Elliot's arms wrapped around him, he didn't mind. Of course, he thought Elliot had done this subconsciously in his sleep, but even if he hadn't, it didn't bother Jordan. Well, at least as long as his friends back home didn't find out he'd woken up in another boy's arms.

Monday night, I got a phone call from Ricky. I was kind of surprised by this, since he'd just been here for a couple of days. I was hoping nothing was wrong.

"Dad, I'm sorry for being such a jerk before I left," Ricky admitted. "The truth is, it wasn't the pranks that upset me. I'd sort of been in a bad mood for most of the time I was there. To be honest, whoever pulled those pranks was pretty clever. I know I never thought up shit as good as that." He laughed.

"Yes, they were well planned and carried out," I agreed. "Now tell me why you were in such a foul mood."

"It had to do with work," Ricky confessed. "Just before I left to drive home, I learned a big deal I had worked on had fallen through, but that wasn't the worst of it. Since it didn't go through I missed qualifying for my bonus, and I was sort of counting on it. I had it in the bag until that deal flopped."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I commiserated.

"Yeah, but I kind of mislead you too," he continued. "I told you I'd been out partying the night before, but that wasn't true. I went out with another guy from my office that wasn't getting his bonus either and we tried to drown our disappointment. There was no party or fun involved." "Ricky, I'm sorry to hear that," I responded, "but I thought you knew that booze doesn't solve problems."

"I know, but it made me numb, so it didn't hurt so badly," he confessed. "Don't worry, I'm okay now, but I really would like to know who pulled those pranks on me. I don't want to wail on him or retaliate, but I would like to apologize for the things I'd said and congratulate him for his ingenuity. You know, one prankster to another." He laughed again.

"I see and I'm sure he'd appreciate it," I confirmed.

"So you know who did those things?" Ricky pressed. "I do now, but I didn't find out who it was until after you'd left," I confessed.

"So tell me who it was," Ricky urged.

"You know I can't do that," I explained. "I never told on you or Andrew when either of you pulled your stunts, and I won't do that now."

"So it was Andrew?" Ricky surmised, incorrectly.

"I didn't say that and it wasn't," I admitted. "Although I suspected him at first, he wasn't the one."

"Damn, then I have no idea who it could have been," Ricky admitted, perplexed. I knew this would bug him until he figured it out.

I was glad he'd called and now I understood why he had reacted so strongly. It was out of character for him, but up until now I had no clue as to why he was so upset. Now, I finally understood it was not the pranks, but the loss of his bonus that made him so grumpy. I'll have to explain that to Elliot, so he won't think so badly of Ricky either.

When I took Elliot aside later and explained the situation to him, I also told him Ricky had basically called to apologize. Elliot's primary reaction was to ask if I'd told Ricky he was the culprit, and I assured him I hadn't. I explained to him that I hadn't done it when the others pulled pranks either and Elliot thanked me. He also told me he'd have to find a way to talk this over with Ricky, which made me begin to wonder what he might have in mind. I hoped this didn't mean another round of pranks was just around the corner.

That same day, I took Elliot down to meet Danny at work. Danny had arranged for the orthopedist to examine Elliot, to see if the cast could be removed. After an x-ray was taken, the orthopedist announced that the wrist had completely healed and appeared to be fine, so he cut the cast off Elliot's wrist. He also examined the wrist after the cast had been removed, and then sent Elliot on his way.

As soon as the cast came off, Elliot flexed his fingers and then scratched his arm, like a jackrabbit using it's rear foot to scratch its ear. He scratched so hard I was worried he'd rip his arm open, but he stopped and sighed in relief.

"Ah, I've been waiting to do that for weeks!" he exclaimed.

Elliot was thrilled about finally being free of the restrictive device. It meant he could now do many of the things he had been kept from doing since he first came to live with us. Most importantly, it meant he could eventually start swimming and resume diving again. He was excited about these prospects and eager to return to school, so he could get back into those activities.

The rest of the week between Christmas and New Year's was very interesting. This wasn't merely because I'd noticed how closed Jesse, Elliot, Jordan and Nicky had become, but also because Elliot was getting to know a few of his uncles a little better. Elliot had been spending quite a bit of time with Andrew, Sammy, Graham, Dion, Trey and Vinnie too, since they were all home on vacation. Although Vinnie was no longer living here, he drove back to visit a few times, seeing Kevin worked during the day. However, Elliot also got to know Kevin better as well, because Vinnie and he came to visit us on the weekend.

During this time, the older boys not only volunteered to take the younger ones wherever they wanted to go, but they also tried to involve them in other activities, which they thought they might enjoy. This helped them all to get to know one another better and allowed my older grandsons to form new and stronger bonds with their uncles.

One of my favorite times during these sessions was when someone would talk Elliot into playing the piano, so Dion could sing along. They were both extremely talented and complimented each other very well, and the other boys enjoyed listening to them just as much as I did. After a couple of numbers, they'd get everyone else to sing along too, and all I could think of was that they were having an old fashioned hootenanny. It's funny, but I hadn't thought about anything like that for years.

The boys also talked me into going with them to the high school pool, so they could swim. I had a strong suspicion they were doing this because they knew Elliot was chomping at the bit to get back in the water. Even though they realized the high school pool would be locked up, they also knew the high school principal would loan me his key and let me serve as lifeguard for my clan. That was something else we could all enjoy doing together and would give Elliot another chance to shine.

At first I only let Elliot swim and play chicken, as he and some of the others rode on the older boys' shoulders. During this time, he also kept bugging me to let him show the others how well he could dive. Since they knew Elliot dove on his old swim team, the rest of the boys were eager to have him demonstrate what he could do for them. I wasn't sure he should be involved in anything like that, so I called Danny and talked it over with him.

"Dad, when I took Elliot to the orthopedist," Danny advised me, "he said Elliot's wrist had not only healed, but the muscles hadn't atrophied too badly either. He attributed this fact to Elliot's playing the piano and said it helped to keep the muscles in the right arm toned. Since these muscles are stronger than we'd anticipated, I think it will be all right for you to let him do a few very simple dives, but nothing too difficult or elaborate."

Since Danny had given me the okay, I relayed the new restrictions to Elliot and let him go. Eagerly, he raced over to the diving board and did a few dives for the others. He was very graceful and his entry into the water was very smooth. Needless to say that the others were quite impressed by what he had done. He tried to talk me into letting him dive from the high platform, but I reminded him about the rules and he went back to join the others without complaint. It now seemed the time we spent at the pool was turning out to be beneficial on a couple of different levels and possibly Elliot could get back to diving sooner than we first thought.

During the time between the two holidays, we also took in a couple of matinees and the boys had one huge snowball fight. No! I'll correct that. They had a huge snowball war. They divided up in two teams and pelted each other with snowballs until someone called 'uncle.' That wasn't any specific uncle, only that someone signaled it was time to call a halt to hostilities. They were all a little sore and bruised when it was over, but each of them was eager to claim he'd had a great time and his team had been victorious.

When the high school boys came in, they decided to strip out of their wet pants and sweaters, so they could toss them in the dryer. They then made their way to the family room, in just their tee shirts and underpants, and camped out in front of the fire to watch a movie. A few hours later, I went to call them to dinner and found them sound asleep on the family room floor, amidst a tangle of pillows and blankets.

Jesse lay in the middle of this heap, with Jordan snuggled under one arm and Elliot under the other. Nicky was spooned up next to Elliot, with Elliot holding him in his arms and resting his head on Nicky's shoulder. They reminded me of a litter of newborn puppies, and after looking at their angelic faces I decided this scene was so cute that it should be preserved for posterity. I raced off and grabbed my camera and snapped a few frames, before I woke them up.

They looked a little sheepish at having been discovered like this, but once they overcame this initial embarrassment, they quickly ran off to put warm clothes on. They joined us at the table a few minutes later, once they heard dinner was ready.

Although everything else was going fine, I was still having a difficult time trying to think of ideas for our New Year's celebration. Mildly frustrated, I sat down with the boys one evening and asked for their help. At first, someone suggested we should go out to eat and then possibly find someplace that had music and dancing afterward, but then someone else suggested we could probably have more fun at home, with just the family and extended family.

Even though not all of the family would be returning for this particular holiday, coupled with our extended family we would still have a fairly large group. After taking into consideration who would be here, the boys started working out some rough plans. Once we had an idea about what we might do, we contacted those who would be joining us, to get their input on what we'd come up with. After tweaking some of our ideas slightly, they seemed satisfied with what we'd decided and said they looked forward to seeing us on New Year's Eve.

Since we had a lot to do to prepare for the big night, the boys helped me get things ready. First, we cleaned up the house and moved some of the furniture and other items around, so there would be plenty of room to do the things they had suggested. This involved a lot of hard work, which included cleaning up Kevin and Vinnie's old room. We were doing this so we could use it to store many of the items that were currently in the rec room, to free up some floor space. We would need this area to accommodate one of our ideas, but that wasn't all. Kevin and Vinnie's old room also had its own bathroom, which would give us a second facility that could be used by those in attendance. Therefore, we left a pathway leading to it, even though the rest of the room looked slightly cluttered.

After working with me for most of the day to get things ready, the boys were more than anxious to spend their evening with each other. Elliot, Jesse, Jordan and Nicky were making the most of being together and being able to experiment with boy-boy sex. They had been sticking to blowjobs and jacking each other off, which I didn't have any problems with. I was just glad to see they weren't getting too carried away with things.

Although Jordan and Nicky still considered themselves bi, I was beginning to have my doubts about Elliot. From the things I'd been told, he was totally into the male anatomy and hadn't expressed any interest in the female form. Unlike Jordan and Nicky, who enjoyed getting into their fathers' Playboys and Hustler magazines, as well as finding pics of nude females online, Elliot seemed totally disinterested in doing anything of this nature. I think we were all beginning to suspect which way he was going to go.

On Thursday evening, after the boys had enjoyed a little fun and showered, they were planning to come back downstairs and join the rest of us. Except, this time Jordan and Nicky were planning to come down naked. It seems that this pair hadn't yet been advised that Elliot wasn't comfortable doing this, but they quickly discovered this fact.

"So you don't want to go downstairs without your clothes on, like the rest of us?" Nicky asked Elliot.

"Hell, no!" Elliot exclaimed. "I'm not going to run around naked in front of everyone else."

"It's not a big deal," Jordan stated. "It's only guys here and we're all family."

"That may be, but it's not something I'm comfortable doing," Elliot snarled. "Besides, it's not exactly hot enough to be running around like that either."

"But Papa keeps the house pretty warm," Nicky told him. "It's not that bad."

"So you guys really do this?" Elliot wondered aloud. "You run around here naked whenever you come here?"

"We didn't at first, but Jordan and I do now," Nicky confessed. "The first time we did it was to show Papa that he was right in agreeing that we were mature enough to experiment with Jesse and Andrew."

"Wait! Papa knows what you've done with Jesse?" Elliot asked, totally flabbergasted.

"Of course he does," Jordan replied. "The older guys always ask him first, before they do anything with us younger guys."

"What?" Elliot shouted. "Why on earth would they do that?"

"So Papa can make sure that no one is getting forced to do anything they don't want to do," Jordan answered. "He does it to keep everyone safe."

"So you think Papa knows about me too?" Elliot wondered.

"I'm pretty sure he does," Nicky replied. "I don't think Jesse would have done anything with you otherwise. He wouldn't do anything with us either, until Papa told him it was all right."

Elliot didn't say a word. He was in total disbelief and raced off to ask Jesse if this was true. Since Jesse had gone to talk to Andrew for a while, Elliot ran to the room Andrew was using. After knocking on the door, he asked to speak with Jesse alone and the two went into an empty room and shut the door, so they could speak privately. Once they were by themselves, Elliot asked his question, because he wanted to know for sure.

"Jordan and Nicky told me something and I need to know if it's true," Elliot began. "Did you ask Papa, before we messed around together? Jordan and Nicky told me you probably did, since you did it before you did anything with them too."

"Yeah, I asked him first," Jesse answered, "but he told me I'd needed to ask Danny and Brandon instead, since they're the ones responsible for you."

"Wait! So Papa AND my dads know what we've been doing!" Elliot exclaimed. He was totally shocked and embarrassed by this revelation.

"Of course they do and they gave me their approval, as long as it was your idea to do it," Jesse confirmed.

"How could you do that Jesse?" Elliot asked, with a hurt expression on his face.

"What's the big deal?" Jesse countered. "I heard Danny and Brandon used to mess around with the other guys when they were younger too. It's just that now they choose to stay with each other. They weren't upset or anything."

"That's not the point! If I had known you were going to out me to the whole house I wouldn't have asked about experimenting with you! I trusted you, Jesse, and you told everyone about my biggest secret. That was private. I wasn't ready for that," Elliot yelled, before storming out of the room.

Jesse was very upset. He didn't think he'd done anything wrong. This is just how things had always been done in our family, but once he thought about it, he began to feel terrible. He'd never told Elliot he'd talked to me or his dads to get permission to fool around with him. By what Elliot had said about 'outing' him, Jesse assumed that Elliot must be gay and believed he had told us that too.

Elliot's head was spinning. Here he thought he'd been careful about what he'd been doing, but it hadn't mattered at all. Everyone else already knew what he was up to. He went back to his room, where Jordan and Nicky were still waiting.

"Are you all right?' Nicky asked, as Elliot walked through the door.

"I don't know," Elliot admitted. "I'm not sure how I feel about Papa and my dads knowing what I've been doing. Do you think Papa Jake knows too?"

"Probably," Jordan replied. "Papa tells Papa Jake almost everything, so he's prepared in case something happens. It's just to keep everyone safe."

Elliot didn't respond at first and merely hung his head. After he few seconds, he finally spoke.

"Damn, I'm not sure how I feel about all of this," Elliot announced.

"It's not a big deal," Jordan told him. "They're cool about it, the same way they are with us. They're also cool when they see us walking around the house naked or when we go skinny-dipping. It's actually pretty neat that they are willing to treat us like adults."

"I guess," Elliot mumbled, "but it's not what I'm used to. I guess it will take a while before I'm comfortable with any of this. Just give me some time."

Since Elliot wasn't ready to come downstairs in the buff, the boys got dressed and then brought Elliot downstairs. Once they'd joined us, it was hard not to notice that Elliot wasn't willing to look any of the rest of us in the eye and that he wasn't sitting next to Jesse, which was pretty unusual. Jesse had a sad expression on his face and noticing this led me to suspect they might have had a fight. I didn't push for an answer right away, because I felt I'd find out soon enough if they couldn't resolve this issue on their own.

I also noticed that Elliot was dressed kind of funny. I normally keep the house fairly warm, so he normally wears a pair of gym shorts and a tee shirt after he's had his shower. Tonight, however, he was dressed more like Nanook of the North. He had on two tee shirts, a hooded sweatshirt, his pajama bottoms and a pair of socks. Something strange was definitely going on.

After the others went to bed, Jordan and Nicky came back downstairs, so they could speak with me alone. They wanted to tell me about Elliot's reaction to finding out that his fathers and I knew he had been sexually experimenting with Jesse and them. They also wanted to tell me about how Elliot had reacted when they were preparing to come downstairs without their clothes on, but they didn't know something else had happened between Jesse and him.

"He was really upset," Nicky confided.

"Yeah, he looked like he was going to puke, before we came down here," Jordan added.

After listening to what they had to say, I thanked them for bringing this to my attention. I also told them I, or one of his fathers, would discuss this with Elliot further and, hopefully, be able to resolve this issue.

Once they went back to their room, I went to find Danny and Brandon, so I could explain this to them. When I finished, I had a final question.

"Do you want to handle this with Elliot or do you want me to?" I asked.

Danny and Brandon looked at each other, before they answered.

"I think we can handle this one," Danny stated, "but can we come get you if things start to go wrong?"

I agreed that would be fine, so the pair felt they'd pull Elliot aside tomorrow. They would do it some time after they got home from work and before we started our New Year's Eve celebration.

The next day, I saw Elliot continually glancing at me out of the corner of his eye as I was working on the things we'd need for that evening. I was preparing snacks and desserts that everyone could munch on, once we got back from the restaurant. It would be a long night, and I was sure the boys would eventually get hungry again, even though we were eating out first. Therefore, I wanted to make sure I had enough to keep them satisfied, so I wouldn't have to hear them complain about being hungry and needing something to eat. I also loaded up the refrigerator in the rec room with sodas and bottled water for the boys, so there would be plenty for them to drink too.

When Danny and Brandon arrived home from work later, they still had quite a bit of time before we'd be leaving for the restaurant, so they went to find Elliot. When they located him, they asked if they could speak with him privately and then took him to their bedroom, once he agreed.

"What's wrong?" Elliot asked, once they were alone.

"Nothing's wrong," Danny began, "but we felt we needed to clear the air about something. We've noticed you've been looking uncomfortable and discovered it was because you've learned that we know you've been messing around with Jesse, Jordan and Nicky."

Elliot's eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Damn, do these guys tell you everything?" he wondered, while looking totally upset.

"Yeah, they pretty much do," Brandon answered, "because they know that being honest and getting permission first is the best way to keep from getting into trouble."

Elliot didn't look convinced.

"But no parent knows everything their kids are doing," Elliot protested, "especially when it comes to their sex life. This is more than a little weird."

"You may think so, but we also allow you boys to do more than most parents would too," Danny answered. "It is something we did when we were younger and something we hope you'll be willing to do, because it helps us know that you're safe and we can trust you. A lot of those other parents have problems with their kids later on, because they don't have the same sense of trust. We want you to know you can always come to us with anything."

"So you both told Papa everything you were doing when you had sex with each other?" Elliot wondered.

"Not every detail, but he knew the types of things we were doing," Brandon confirmed. "In fact, it was your Papa who instructed both Danny and I how to keep from hurting each other, the first time we made love."

"No way!" Elliot shouted. "You even let Papa know that you were fucking each other?"

Elliot immediately regretted his choice of words. He hadn't meant to demean his dad's relationship like that. Fortunately, they didn't say anything about his language. Instead, they merely continued their conversation.

"Yes, we did," Danny agreed. "He taught us how to do it slowly and safely. He even provided us with the things we'd need, like lube and condoms."

"Oh, wow," Elliot huffed. "I can't believe you let him know what you were going to do, but I also can't believe that he helped you."

"He taught all of us, and we were all better for it," Danny assured him.

"You mean Papa actually touched you… you know…. sexually?" Elliot wondered, incredulously.

"Oh, no. He taught us by telling us and demonstrating using other things," Brandon replied, "but he didn't have sex with us. Sometimes it was just that he made sure we were with another boy he felt could help us."

Elliot breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

"We're willing to do the same for you, if you want us to," Danny confirmed, "but we're also willing to let you learn with others who already know these things – like Jesse. We were willing to allow you to do things with him, since he said you were the one who brought it up first, because we knew he wouldn't hurt you and would stick to our limitations."

"Limitations? What do you mean?" Elliot pressed.

"In your case, it means that we've told him we didn't think you were ready for anything anal yet," Brandon explained. "Jesse agreed he wouldn't get into that and we knew he'd stick to the agreement."

"So you don't mind that we do the other stuff?" Elliot asked next.

"No, we are pretty sure all guys fool around and experiment," Danny told him, "so we're just happy knowing that you're doing it in a safe environment and with people who won't hurt you."

Suddenly, Elliot began to calm down.

"I guess that makes sense," he admitted. "I was just totally shocked that you and Papa knew what I was doing."

"Are you okay with that now?" Brandon followed.

"I guess, but I think this is still going to take some time for me to get used to," Elliot agreed. "I'm still mad that Jesse just told you I wanted to have sex with him."

"He didn't tell us that," Brandon offered.

"What?" Elliot snapped, in reply.

"He didn't tell us you wanted to have sex with him," Brandon clarified. "He merely asked if it would be okay if he did anything sexual with you."

"Oh, no," Elliot sighed.

His shoulders drooped and he hid his face in his hands.

"What's the matter?" Danny inquired.

Suddenly, Elliot's head shot up.

"I'm such an asshole!" he exclaimed.

"Why would you ever say that?" Brandon asked.

"I sort of got the wrong idea about how Jesse approached you guy about this," he admitted. "I said some really mean and hurtful things to him, so now I feel terrible about doing that."

"So go talk to him," Brandon suggested. "I've never known Jesse to be one to hold a grudge. I'm sure if you apologize, he'll forgive you."

"I hope so," Elliot stated. "I really regret what I said. Can I go now?"

"In a moment," Danny replied. "Is that everything or is there something else bothering you?"

Elliot thought for a second.

"Yeah, I guess there is," he confessed. "Do you guys really go around the house naked?"

Danny and Brandon smiled and even began to chuckle.

"We do, along with all of our brothers," Danny confirmed. "We've all done that since we were really young and have even gone to what you'd call nudist camps."

"You mean you went naked in front of strangers?" Elliot responded. "Both guys and girls?"

Danny and Brandon each nodded his head.

"I'm pretty sure I could never do that," Elliot confessed. "I can't even do it in the house with the rest of you. I'm not comfortable with having Papa or you guys seeing me naked."

Danny and Brandon giggled after hearing Elliot admit this.

"I guess you really don't remember your first weeks here, do you?" Brandon pondered.

"Why? What do you mean?" Elliot wondered.

"When you first came here, you weren't exactly able to do much for yourself," Brandon answered. "That meant we ended up giving you baths and had to make sure that you went to the toilet, so we've all seen everything you have."

They tried to give him a reassuring smile after telling him this bit of news.

"Oh, crap. No, I don't remember that," Elliot confessed. "Still, just because everyone's seen it doesn't mean they need to memorize it."

Danny and Brandon both got a laugh out of Elliot's comment.

"Then I guess skinny dipping is out of the question too," Danny joked.

Elliot just gave him a strange look.

"Yeah, I'm not ready for that either," he told them.

"Maybe when it gets warmer," Brandon teased.

However, Elliot began shaking his head.

"Don't count on it," he responded.

"Look, you don't have to do it if you don't want," Danny assured him, "I just hope you won't stop the others from doing it, if that's what they want."

"I don't want to be the odd man out, but I won't make everyone else adjust just for me," Elliot whined.

"If it makes thing easier for you, then Danny and I will keep our clothes on too, no matter how uncomfortable it gets," Brandon assured him.

"Yeah, that makes me feel a whole lot better," Elliot stated, sarcastically, showing his exasperation. "I'll feel great, knowing I'm helping to make you miserable."

"We won't be miserable, just not as comfortable as we might feel otherwise," Brandon explained. "However, Danny and I are both willing to do that for our son, if it makes you feel better."

Brandon's last comment elicited a grin from Elliot, once he heard that his fathers were willing to make sacrifices, as long as it would help him. Now that this had been settled, Danny and Brandon told him it was time to get ready, because they were going out to eat with the rest of the family.

Elliot knew everyone would be waiting for him to get dressed, but he felt he had to clear the air with Jesse before they'd be able to enjoy the evening. He went upstairs and knocked on Jesse's door, and then went in.

"Oh, hey," Jesse mumbled, when he raised his head and saw Elliot. "Look, I'm sorry I…"

"Stop!" Elliot interrupted. "I need you to listen to me for a moment!"

He said this much more forcefully than he'd intended and Jesse didn't say a word. He just looked down at his feet.

"Jesse, I'm so sorry for the things I said to you last night," Elliot offered. "I was upset and got the wrong idea about what you had done. I should have let you explain."

"I'm probably gay, but it's hard for me to admit that to myself," Elliot continued, pouring his heart out. "I know there's nothing wrong with it, but it's still hard knowing there's something not quite right about me. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I haven't thought about a girl at all since I've been here with you and the guys. When you told me you'd talked to Papa and my dads, I thought you'd given away my secret, but from what they told me, it didn't exactly go down like that."

"I love you Jesse. I'm not IN love with you or anything like that, but since the day I came here, you've been my friend," Elliot confessed. "You helped me when my dad died and you've taught me more about sex than I would have ever found out on my own. You've been like the big brother I've never had and always wanted, so I'm grateful to have you. I should have let you explain the situation and not acted like such a douche bag. Can you ever forgive me?" Elliot was actually pleading for forgiveness.

Jesse didn't answer him. Instead, he walked over to Elliot and wrapped his arms around him in a tremendous bear hug.

"Of course I forgive you," Jesse confirmed, "and it's partially my fault too. I should have told you I was going to ask before doing anything with you. I love you too and I love having you here. If you do decide you're gay, you can tell me and it won't make any difference. I promise I won't tell a soul."

"Friends again?" Elliot asked.

"You know it!" Jesse grinned.

He then gave Elliot another energetic squeeze, but their embrace was interrupted when I called upstairs for them.

"Hey, slowpokes. We're ready to go," I shouted. "Do you think you might get a move on?"

The boys dressed for dinner and I was pleased to see big, bright smiles on both of their faces as they raced down the stairs. I guess they'd patched things up and looked to be as thick as thieves again.

When I noticed Elliot slipping into his coat, I couldn't help but make a comment.

"Is the expedition canceled to Antarctica, Admiral?" I asked, jokingly.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, bewildered.

"Last night when you came downstairs, you were bundled up like you were going to explore the Arctic. Now, you're only wearing a light coat," I explained.

I just had to give Elliot a hard time about his peculiar wardrobe from the night before.

"Oh, yeah. Last night. Um, I think I hear my dads calling," he said, as he ducked out the door.

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, as I locked the front door.

The family used a number of different vehicles to get to the restaurant, but this gathering wasn't as large as some of the others have been. Dustin and Cole weren't planning to be with us this year, since they were going out with their girlfriends. Even though those two couples wouldn't be joining us, they weren't going out with each other either. They were planning on meeting up with other couples on this festive evening, so they could spend the night with their friends.

They weren't the only ones who wouldn't be with us either. Those living farther away, like Ricky, Mark, Frankie, Nick, Shannon and Pat, wouldn't be returning for this holiday either. However, since all of my grandsons were with us, except for Lucas, we still had a decent size group.

I think Elliot was beginning to enjoy having so many others around, because the conversations at dinner were not only interesting, but they were usually also highly amusing. We all had a good laugh as various boys recounted Ricky's reaction to the different pranks, even though only a few of them actually knew who had orchestrated them. Then, some of the older boys started telling stories from when they were younger, such as when they were playing hide and go seek at one of their birthday parties and our dog ended up peeing on one of their guests, who was hiding in some shrubs.

Once they calmed down from laughing about those things, the boys began to mention some of the ghost stories I had told them over the years and the various reactions these tales had elicited. To my chagrin, Elliot, Nicky and Jordan suddenly started pressuring me to tell them one of these ghost stories sometime, because they thought it sounded like fun. After listening to them whine for several minutes, I eventually agreed that I would, but I didn't give them any specific time when this would actually happen.

Once we finished eating, we took everyone home and quickly got things ready, before the extended family began to show up. Dion and Trey had also agreed to let Joshie stay up a little later than normal, but we knew he wasn't going to last until midnight. However, before he went to bed, we wanted him to have some fun too.

The rec room was immediately designated as the party room, because the boys had previously set up their music in there. It was the room in which they were planning on listening to some tunes, but they also were looking forward to dancing with their partners and others in that room as well.

The family room was going to be the competition room, because that's where the Wii was located. The boys were planning on challenging each other on the games Elliot had got for Christmas, as well as some of the others we had prior to the holidays. I was just hoping the family room would still be in one piece after they were done in there.

The dining room had been designated as the game room and the boys had several different activities lined up for that room as well. They had versions of 'Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader,' 'Twister,' 'Jenga,' 'Clue,' and 'Pictionary.' I'm not sure if they're going to have time to play them all, but they were prepared for anything.

Jake and I started out in the party room, because we were up for listening to some music. Even more than that, we were looking forward to dancing with each other. While we were taking a spin around the dance floor, my grandsons came in to gawk at us. They'd never seen two guys dancing with each other before and wanted to see what it looked like.

After listening to some of their jokes and catcalls, I saw them whispering to each other in the corner. I figured they were trying to come up with some more comments about our dancing or maybe even thinking of some prank they could play on us. However, I was in for a surprise. Instead of what I thought they were up to, the boys started dancing with each other. Jordan paired up with Jesse, while Elliot and Nicky became partners.

At first the boys only danced to a few of the faster song, where they didn't really come into contact with one another, but that soon changed. After some more whispering back and forth, they finally decided to try some slow dances as well. It was cute to watch and I was glad to see they were trying it.

"You know," Jordan told Jake and me, when he approached us with Nicky, "we're only doing this to practice for our school dances. We figured maybe we could improve our dancing here, so we wouldn't look like dorks when we danced with a girl at one of the school dances."

"I think Elliot really needs the practice," whispered Nicky. "He almost broke my toes after stepping on them so many times."

"Hey, I heard that," Elliot shouted before going back to his conversation with Jesse.

"Hey, whatever floats your boat," I told him. "You won't hear us making fun of what you're doing, even though you weren't that nice to us."

I think my comment made that pair feel badly about some of the things they'd said to or about us when they first came into the room. Even though Jake and I knew it had been done in fun and didn't take offense from anything they'd said, I thought it might be a good lesson for them. I wanted the pair to learn that even comments made in jest could be taken wrong, so they should think before they speak. For that reason, I left them hanging for a bit and gave them time to stew in their own juices.

After a few minutes, I took them off the hook and explained we knew they were only joking, and they suddenly looked relieved. I think they'd learned a lesson though, so it was worth watching them squirm for a bit.

During this time, Steve had been dancing with his wife, Mary, but Steve, Jake and I all danced with Sally, Susan, Alice and Mary as well. I also saw some of the older boys dancing with the ladies and the women were thrilled by the attention they were getting, along with the chance to act like young girls again.

During this time, Dion and Trey also brought Joshie back to the party room for a while. I quickly understood that Joshie had just finished challenging his fathers at tennis and bowling on the Wii, because he was so excited about it that he had to tell me.

"Papa, I just beat Daddy playing tennis and Poppy on the bowling game," he announced, with his little chest puffed out.

"Good for you," I told him. "I know they aren't nearly as athletic as you are, so I'm glad you were able to box their ears."

"We didn't do the boxing," Joshie corrected me.

"Right! Well, I'm glad you beat them though," I replied.

I chose not to go into an in depth explanation about the expression I had just used and figured Joshie would eventually learn what the expression meant.

As we were talking, Elliot rushed up to us and grabbed Dion's hand and tried to drag him away.

"Hey, Uncle Dion, come here a minute," he said.

Dion followed his nephew, but I don't think he had much of a choice. Trey and I got a kick out of the helpless look on his face as Elliot pulled him out of the room.

A few minutes later the pair returned, and much to the dismay of our dancers, pulled the plug on our music. Before we could object, Dion announced that he and Elliot had decided they wanted to play some songs for us and contribute to the evening's fun.

They encouraged us to join them in the family room and we all sat down to enjoy the concert. After just a few minutes, we found ourselves getting up to dance again, as Elliot tickled the ivories and Dion belted out Little Richard's 'Good Golly Miss Molly,' followed by 'Tutti Frutti.' No matter how many times I've heard Elliot play now or listened to Dion sing, they continue to amaze me. I could tell that our company was blown away by their impromptu performance as well. If these guys get any better, we may have to send them on tour.

Just when I thought they had finished, Elliot began to play one of my all time favorites, 'Great Balls of Fire,' by Jerry Lee Lewis. Elliot must have seen the pleased and surprised look on my face, because he gave me a knowing smile and a quick wink. It turned out that most of the boys knew the words to this popular oldie, so Danny, Brandon, Kevin, Jordan and Nicky soon joined Elliot and Dion at the piano and began to sing backup.

Elliot even managed to scoot over and make room on the bench for Vinnie to sit down and join the fun. When the song ended, the boys took a bow amid the wild applause and catcalls from their appreciative audience. Elliot and Dion were totally spent after their energetic and enthusiastic performance, so they each grabbed a drink and went to join the rest of us, after we'd turned the music back on.

Before long, I saw both Dion and Trey dancing with Joshie, as they gave their son his first dance lesson. I was surprised at how well Joshie was doing and noticed that he has a good sense of rhythm and moves fairly well, so he seems to be a natural. It had also been cute to watch him shake his little butt while his daddy and Elliot had put on their show.

My older grandsons disappeared for a while, but about a half hour later they came rushing back in the rec room. As they entered, Elliot came up to me, all excited, and spoke.

"Papa, I want to challenge you to play me on 'Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader," he told me. "I just challenged my two dads and I beat one of them and just barely lost to the other."

As it turned out, Elliot had managed to beat Brandon and then narrowly missed out on beating Danny. What they had done was to each play a round and then used it to determine who had been the overall winner. They did this by determining who had done the best and, therefore, won the most 'money.' After hearing this, I accepted his challenge and we went into the other room to play.

We started our game with some light razzing.

"Bring it on, punk," I teased Elliot.

"You're goin' down old man," he smiled, in reply.

Even though I did quite well, Elliot did better. Of course Jesse, Jordan and Nicky were the 'classmates' that we got to cheat off of and I think they were trying to make sure that Elliot won. I was just pleased to see Elliot light up when he beat me. Since some of the extended family had followed us in and watched the game, I got razzed more than a little bit after my grandson won.

Once our game was over, the boys talked us into staying in the dining room and challenged me to play 'Twister' with them. Needless to say, it wasn't easy to get my old body to contort in ways that would allow me to touch the colored circles the spins indicated, so the boys were doing much better. Many of our extended family got sucked into playing too and suffered through similar dexterity problems, but we did our best and had a good time. We weren't surprised that none of us won any of these contests, but the activity did manage to bring back some fond memories from our past.

We continued doing all kinds of things with the boys until just before midnight and then I herded everyone into the family room, so we could watch the ball drop on TV. As the count reached zero, we all shouted and wished each other Happy New Year, and that's when I heard Elliot starting to play 'Auld Lang Syne' on the piano. Since he was playing, those of us who knew the words began to sing along. Having the piano around has been a nice improvement to our home life. We had background music for all of our family functions now and it was also a nice way to bring in the New Year.

After we stayed up a while longer, the extended family began to return to their homes. Once they'd departed, some of the others started to turn in for the evening. I wished everyone good night and a happy new year again as they began to disappear, but I knew I wasn't going to be staying up much longer either.

When the boys got upstairs, they weren't ready to sleep yet. They were all revved up and ready to have a little more fun. Therefore, they took a minute to talk over what they wanted to do next.

"Jesse, do you think that we could do what we did the last time we were here? You know, after vacation," Nicky asked.

Jesse was trying hard to remember what Nicky was referring to. After a few seconds, he decided he might have figured it out.

"You mean what we did in the shower?" Jesse countered, in an attempt to clarify the situation.

"Yeah, that's what I mean," Nicky agreed.

Jordan had also caught on to what Nicky was asking.

"Yes, I think that would be all right, if Elliot is willing," Jesse agreed.

"Willing to do what?" Elliot questioned.

"It's like fucking, but without sticking our dicks up anyone's butt," Nicky crudely explained.

Elliot started laughing at the way Nicky had expressed himself, but soon regained his composure.

"How the hell do you do that?" he wondered. "I mean, to fuck you've got to, you know, stick it in something. Right?"

"Sort of," Jordan agreed, "but Jesse taught us a way we could do it, without having to break Papa's rule of no anal sex. Do you think you might be interested in trying it? It feels really good."

Both Jordan and Nicky were looking at Elliot, with their eyes and expressions pleading with him to say yes.

"I guess if you've all done it and it's not something that will hurt us or get us into trouble, then I'm willing to give it a try," Elliot agreed.

Suddenly, Jordan and Nicky started breathing again and then they began to dance around. Elliot was amused by how excited they were.

"I'll do it with Elliot then, since we're closer in size," Nicky suggested.

"That's fine with me if it's okay with Jordan," Jesse agreed.

After Jordan nodded that it was, Jesse continued.

"You two can use the bathroom across the hall then and we'll go use the other one."

After saying this, Jesse and Jordan took off, leaving the other pair behind.

"We'll get undressed in here, because we have to do this in the shower," Nicky told Elliot.

"Why?" Elliot wondered, as he started to unbutton his shirt.

"Because the water and soap makes it easier," Nicky answered. "Don't worry though. You'll love this and it will feel great."

Nicky grabbed Elliot's hand and began to lead him to the door. Elliot accepted Nicky's assurance and eagerly went with him. As they entered the bathroom, Nicky turned on the shower and waited for the water to warm up.

"I'll let you do it to me first," Nicky suggested, "and I'll tell you what you need to do, once we get in there."

Now that the water was warm, the pair stepped into the shower. After they both got wet, Nicky took the soap and lathered up Elliot's dick, as he got him hard. Then he soaped up his inner thighs and told Elliot to get behind him.

"All you have to do is to stick your dick between my legs," Nicky advised him. "Once I tighten my legs over your dick, just start sliding it in and out, the way a dog might hump your leg. It's just like fucking and it will feel great."

Curious, Elliot did as he was told and was soon driving his penis back and forth between Nicky's legs. He didn't realize it would feel as good as it did and was very glad he had agreed to try this. He was pumping back and forth, nearly as fast as a car piston, so before long he was erupting and shooting his seed all over Nicky's legs. He was slightly exhausted when he finished, although heady from the orgasm. He didn't even realize that Nicky had turned around and was helping to hold him up, since his climax had also left him lightheaded and dizzy. Once he'd fully recuperated, he spoke.

"Wow, that was great!" Elliot announced, once he was able. "I'm glad you suggested that. It really felt like I was fucking and I really enjoyed it."

"I'm glad," Nicky told him. "Just let me know when you're ready for me to do the same thing to you."

Elliot merely smiled.

"Okay, we'll soap up and then you can get off too," Elliot told him.

Before long, they had switched places and Nicky was doing the same thing to Elliot. He did have to remind Elliot to keep his legs tightly together, but in the end he also had a powerful orgasm. Now that they had both cum, they finished washing up, dried off and then headed back to their room.

Nicky and Elliot decided to spend the night together too and Elliot put his arms around Nicky and snuggled up behind him. It wasn't something Nicky had expected and he was a little surprised that he felt so comfortable in another boy's arms, but he snuggled against Elliot and closed his eyes. In the end, they both slept very soundly and were in excellent moods when they awoke.

After I'd fed everyone breakfast and they went into the family room to watch the parades, I kept Nicky and Jordan behind. I had something I needed to tell them.

"I want you to pack your things and then say goodbye. We have to leave here by early afternoon, so I can take you back to Jordan's house," I informed them.

"But why do we have to leave today, and so early too," Nicky whined.

"We have to do it this way, because it's a long drive and you'll be leaving tomorrow, on a morning flight with Michael, to get home," I answered. "He's going to stay at your house overnight, but he has to leave early Monday morning for a business meeting."

"Dang, I wish we could have stayed longer," Nicky complained. "I've had a great time here and I think Jordan has too."

"I'm sure you did, but this is something that can't be avoided or changed," I told him. "If you don't cause a fuss over this, we'll see if we can talk your parents into letting you stay here for a while next summer too, maybe even before we go on vacation this time. That might allow you a couple of weeks here, instead of just one."

This possibility met with very warm reception from both boys. They liked the idea of spending more than one week with us, including the time we might spend on vacation with their families. It also got them to give up their objection to leaving so early, but they still needed to get their things.

They went to see Jesse and Elliot first, before they went up to the rooms they'd been staying in, so they could fill them in about what was happening. Although all four boys were a little sad about their time here coming to an end, they were already beginning to look forward to being together this summer. At least it lightened the current mood slightly and kept them from being so sad.

Once the boys came back downstairs, Jordan and Nicky loaded their things into the car. Since we still had a little time before we needed to take off, I let them spend it saying goodbye to the others. Doing this is never easy, but the pair made their way around and said farewell to all those who were still here and said they'd see them again soon.

After we were gone, Elliot went straight to his room. Ever the intuitive one, Jesse sense that he was taking our departure a little hard and went to check on his little buddy. When he went into Elliot's room, Jesse found him lying on his bed and staring into space.

"Hey, Elliot," Jesse said, cheerfully. "You doing ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just sad to see them go. I really hit it off with them, especially Nicky," Elliot answered.

"I noticed," Jesse smiled. "I saw how you kept looking at Nicky and you guys were really cute together."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elliot asked, defensively.

"I got the sense that you might have a little crush on him," Jesse answered.

"Maybe a little," Elliot blushed. "He's really cute and so nice. Do you think he might be gay?"

"I honestly don't know. He could just be horny," Jesse offered, "but he's always been a sweet kid, even when he was little. I think if you like him that way, you should tell him. Even if he's not gay, I don't think he'd be mad. I think he'd be flattered."

"Well, I really don't know how I feel about him, but promise you won't say anything!" Elliot pleaded.

"Your secret is safe with me, but for what it's worth," Jesse continued, "you could do a lot worse. Nicky's a great guy."

"Elliot never got a chance to respond to Jesse, because Joshie walked in right after Jesse agreed to keep Elliot's secret.

"Elliot and Jesse, I'm bored, so I want you to come play with me," Joshie whined, as he grabbed their hands and dragged them from the room.

The boys spent the rest of their afternoon playing on the Wii with Joshie and were surprised at how much fun they could have with someone so much younger.

It was a long trip to Michael's house and took over four hours to get there. Michael came out to greet us as we pulled in and told us that Andrea had dinner ready. I was staying there tonight and would leave for home after Michael left on his flight with Nicky. Both Jordan and Nicky had school on Monday, so it was good that they would both be home and able to get a good night's sleep before this happened.

I had a good time with Michael's family, but Jordan and Nicky spent most of their time together. They even stayed in Jordan's room that night, even though they both knew that Michael would be coming in fairly early to get Nicky up and ready for their flight. Jordan didn't mind if he was awakened too, because he wanted to say goodbye to Nicky before he left.

Shortly after Michael and Nicky left, I kissed Andrea, Jordan and Megan goodbye, and then started my long trip home. While I was driving, I thought back upon the past week with the family and reflected upon what a truly lucky man I am. I have such a wonderful and close-knit family, which includes some terrific and amazing grandchildren. I also have a wonderful partner, along with some terrific sons. Among them is a very special son and his equally special partner who have returned to not only help take care of the house and me, but to also continue the work I began when I took in boys and started my second family.

By the time I pulled in the driveway, I was happy to be back and thankful for those inside. However, I didn't have long to consider this further, since Jesse and Elliot had come racing out to greet me.

"We just wanted to thank you for letting Jordan and Nicky spend the extra week with us," Elliot began. "We had a great time with them and it was nice to have other guys around who are closer to my own age. Thanks again."

After saying this, Elliot gave me a hug and patted my back at the same time. It was nice to know he was so appreciative.

"I had a great time too," Jesse told me, "but it's not over yet. I know I still have time to enjoy Andrew and Little Ricky while they're here, because they're staying another week before they have to go back."

He was correct. They would be here a little longer, although Jesse, Elliot and our teachers will have to return to their classes tomorrow. At least they'll still have their evenings, after the boys return home from school, and then the weekend to spend a little more time with each other.

Once I got back inside the house, the others greeted me too, and then Jesse and Elliot took off with Andrew and Little Ricky. When I saw this, I had a feeling they would probably be having a little fun together too. The thing is, this could possibly also include a little surprise for Elliot and expose him to something he might not be familiar with.

At first, Elliot wasn't so sure that he was ready to do anything with this pair, seeing they were considerably older than him. The others then told him it was all right and they understood, because they weren't going to force the issue. However, when Elliot saw them get up to leave, he wanted to know where Jesse was going. That's when Jesse informed Elliot that he was planning on going with them, so he could spend a little more time with Andrew and Little Ricky while they were home. As they turned and started out the door, Elliot came to a realization.

"Hey, I don't want to be left all alone," he complained, before the others got very far.

"Elliot, I'm sorry about this, but I want to spend time with these guys before they go back to college," Jesse told him. "Since you aren't interested, you'll just have to wait a night or two, while I spend some time with them. I'm sorry, but I haven't been with Andrew much since he's been here and he'll be at school for a few more months, before he comes home for the summer."

"Okay, I don't want to be left out," Elliot announced, "so I'll do it with them too."

"Look, we don't want you to do this, if you're not really comfortable with it," Jesse told him. "I know you don't especially like being naked in front of a lot of different people, so this is going to create a problem. I plan on doing some stuff with them, so you can't join us unless you're willing to get undressed in front of two more guys and mess around with them too."

"I know and I understand that," Elliot confirmed. "But I like doing these things and don't want to be left out while the rest of you are doing it together."

"Are you sure?" Andrew asked, since he still wasn't convinced.

"Yes, and I'm fine with you guys seeing me naked too," Elliot agreed. "I guess doing things like this are getting easier than I first thought."

"Okay, if you're sure," Little Ricky told him. "I just don't want you to freak out later and then have us all get into trouble because Dad, Danny and Brandon think we forced you into this."

"I promise that won't happen," Elliot agreed.

Since they had his assurance, the boys all came back into the room and closed the door behind them. Elliot stood momentarily off to one side, as he watched the others start to get undressed. Once he realized he needed to be doing this too, he quickly began and caught up to the others in no time. Now, all the boys were naked and began to examine one another visually.

"Hey, why does your dick look so different," Elliot asked Andrew, as he stared at his dick.

"It's because I'm not circumcised and the rest of you are," Andrew explained. "Watch and I'll show you the difference."

Slowly, Andrew pulled back the foreskin and exposed the head of his penis. Then he slid it back over it again. He did this a couple more times before he stopped, so Elliot could see it really wasn't so different.

"But why is yours like that?" Elliot wanted to know.

"Our dicks are all like this when we're born, but then your parents had the doctor cut off this extra skin, so your penis would look like it does now," Andrew explained. "If you look at it closely, you'll see the circumcision scar, where the doctor stitched the remaining skin to the shaft."

Once Elliot had a chance to check his own penis out, Jesse and Little Ricky also showed him their scars, so he could compare them.

"Hmmm, what do you know? I like the way mine looks, but why did our parents do that to us?" Elliot wanted to know.

"Some do it for religious purposes, while others do it for cleanliness reasons," Little Ricky explained. "Still others do it because they think it looks better."

Gradually, Elliot was beginning to understand. Andrew even offered to let Elliot check out his penis, so he could see the difference for himself. Eagerly, Elliot slid Andrew's foreskin back and forth, eventually getting Andrew aroused in the process.

"So you've never seen anyone else who was uncircumcised before?" Andrew asked.

"Come to think of it, there was a guy at boarding school," Elliot admitted, "but I wasn't that interested in him. He was kinda weird."

"Not weird," Andrew confirmed. "He just hadn't gone under the knife."

"No, I mean his dick may have been fine, but HE was definitely weird," Elliot stated.

Although Elliot had enjoyed playing with Andrew's penis for a brief time, he decided he wanted to go with Little Ricky tonight. He knew Jesse wanted to be with Andrew first.

Eventually, each of the boys sucked the other off. Although Little Ricky's cock was a little shorter than Jesse's, he took just as long to cum. However, Elliot was determined and lasted almost until the end this time, before finishing Little Ricky off with his hand. Everyone ended up satisfied, and then the partners who had just gotten off together spent the night together as well. This had been another new experience for Elliot and one he wanted to think about a little longer.

Shortly after Jesse and Elliot had returned to school, I received a phone call notifying us that the men who had killed Elliot's father would soon be going on trial. The process would begin with jury selection during the second full week of January. It would take the lawyers a day or two to agree on prospective jurors, possibly longer, so the trial wouldn't get started until that process had ended. Once the jury had been seated and any pretrial motions had been dealt with, then the actual trial would begin.

Once we learned about this, Danny and Brandon took Elliot aside, so they could prepare him for what was going to happen. Elliot seemed to take the news well and only asked if he was going to be able to go. He told his fathers that he wanted to be there during the proceedings, but they told him they'd have to talk it over first, before they could give him their answer. Unfortunately, that's not what Elliot wanted to hear, so he began to argue the point.

"I have to be there when this happens," Elliot demanded.

"We know you'd like to be there," Danny replied, "but there are many things we'll need to consider first. I want to get an idea about how long the trial might last and which issues are going to be brought up when. Once I have those answers, we'll sit down and talk about this in more detail."

Elliot still wasn't happy with the response he was just given, but he figured this might not be the best time to argue the point. He'd give his fathers a chance to get the answers to their questions first and see what they decided, before he pushed them further.

Since Danny and Brandon had noticed how this news affected Elliot, they decided it might be best if they tried to distract him, so he would stop thinking about the trial. They didn't feel it would be good for Elliot to continue dwelling on such dark thoughts, which recalling the events of what happened the night his father was killed had begun to conjure up.

Fortunately for Danny and Brandon, there were others who were, inadvertently, willing to do this for them. Shortly after Danny and Brandon had their discussion with Elliot, he went to his room. A little while after that, Jesse, Little Ricky and Andrew approached him.

"We're up for a little fun and we want you to join us, if you want," Andrew told him, when they found him alone in his bedroom. "I'd love to be your partner tonight, if you're up for it."

Elliot thought about this briefly before he responded. He did think getting off might be a good idea and he had been wondering what doing these things with Andrew might be like. Therefore, after only a very short hesitation, he gave his answer.

"Yeah, I think I'd like that too," he agreed.

Since the question was settled, Little Ricky went with Jesse, back to his room. Once the door to Elliot's room closed, Andrew and Elliot quickly got undressed, but Andrew had another surprise for him.

"Jesse told me you like to kiss," Andrew stated. "I just want you to know that I'm willing to do that with you, if you want."

Elliot thought it over briefly, before nodding his head. Then he slowly leaned forward, as Andrew did the same. Slowly, their lips came together and Elliot felt Andrew's tongue dart out and touch his lips. After a slight hesitation, Elliot let his tongue do the same, and as it met Andrew's, the two muscles did a delicate dance of exploration. As this was taking place, the boys also slowly lifted their arms and began to embrace one another. Before long, they were engaged in a very passionate, and lengthy, kiss.

This continued for several minutes, and during this time the boys' hands began roaming across the other's body. As this tactile exploration continued, they eventually found their partners genitals and began to stroke and manipulate this area as well. Elliot was breathless, when he finally pulled away.

"What do you want to do next?" Andrew asked him. "Are you up for oral sex or not?"

"Yes, I think I'd like to try that with you," Elliot confirmed, so Andrew lay back and gave him complete access to his body.

Although Elliot was accustomed to doing this with other partners, he was slightly tentative in his approach with Andrew. After drawing back Andrew's foreskin, Elliot hesitantly bent forward and stuck out his tongue. Since he hadn't done this with an uncircumcised person before, he wasn't certain if he'd taste urine and other things trapped under the foreskin, more than he had with the others. However, he soon discovered this was not the case.

Now that he was convinced it didn't taste differently, Elliot attacked it greedily. Since Andrew was small in stature and endowed more in line with Elliot and Nicky, Elliot was able to take Andrew's entire penis in his mouth and worked on it at a frantic pace. Although it still took Andrew longer to cum that it took either Nicky or him, Elliot was determined not to stop until Andrew had his orgasm. Elliot was proud that he'd been able to accomplish this with an older guy and that his jaw muscles had allowed him to keep going until the end.

A short time later, the boys switched places and Andrew began to suck on Elliot's boner. However, as he was doing this, he did something else that Elliot wasn't expecting and hadn't experienced before. Without warning, Andrew slipped his middle finger up Elliot's chute and began to massage his prostate. Elliot jumped at first and even clenched his anal muscles momentarily, but then he noticed it was feeling pleasurable and began to relax. He also opted not to say anything to Andrew or ask what he was doing. He merely went along with what felt good.

Once Elliot exploded in a powerful release, he lay still momentarily, before he sat up. He looked at Andrew for a few seconds and then spoke.

"What was that you did to me?" he wondered.

"I guess you've never had a finger up there before, have you?" Andrew questioned. "I'm sorry, but I didn't know that. I was just trying to massage your prostate."

"What's that?" Elliot wondered.

"It's a little leathery button that has the ability to excite a guy, when it's done right," Andrew told him. "I'm sorry if that bothered you."

"No! It didn't bother me. In fact, it felt good," Elliot admitted. "It's just that I wasn't sure what you were doing and wanted to find out."

"So you were okay with it then?" Andrew wondered, looking concerned.

"Yes, I am fine with it, but now I also know why it made me feel that way," Elliot confessed. "Thank you. I'm glad you showed me that."

The boys went to shower after they finished talking and then all four of them spent a little more time together. They even discussed what Andrew had done in more detail, so Elliot could learn more about his body. Then Elliot chose to sleep with Andrew that night, which made the other three boys feel really good as well. It was nice to see that Elliot was opening up and forming a bond with each of them.

The rest of the week dragged on slowly, as Elliot waited for his fathers to tell him if they were going to allow him to sit in the gallery at the trial. He also spent some of his time wondering what it was going to be like during the trial and how he was going to feel, once he saw those three guys again. Elliot knew that he'd like to be able to get at them, so he could rip their throats out, and that made him worry about how he might react, once they were all in the same room again. I think the rest of us were concerned about that too.

Saturday morning, before the trial was set to begin, we were mildly surprised that Elliot actually slept in for a while. He didn't awake until 9:00, and then he slowly made his way down the stairs. He came in to the dining room, in a semi-daze, where Danny, Brandon, Jake and I were finishing our breakfast and chatting.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Brandon teased, as Elliot appeared.

"Hey, it's not that late," Elliot whined. "It's Saturday, so I could have slept until noon.

"True, just like the other bums who are still in bed," Danny agreed. "So why didn't you sleep later then?"

"Because I've been thinking about the trial," Elliot answered. "I hope you're going to let me go and be there, so the jury can see me every day. I want them to see what those guys did to me too, as well as hearing about how they murdered my father."

"Look, I understand where you're coming from," Danny agreed, "but I don't think you'll be allowed to sit in the courtroom until after you testify. No witnesses are permitted to hear what the other witnesses are testifying about. Besides, Brandon and I think you would be better off spending your time in school, especially since no one can give us an idea as to how long this trial is going to last. Some have said it will take weeks and others have said it may drag on for months. No matter whether it's weeks or months, you just can't afford to miss that much more school. We just can't have you fall behind and then struggle to catch back up."

"Come on! Even after missing all that other time, I still wasn't behind at school and I didn't have to struggle, but I HAVE to do this!" Elliot pleaded. "I want everyone to see me and realize what those scumbags did. They did a lot more than just kill my dad. They ended up stealing my entire family from me too. My dad was the only person I had and now I'll never be able to ask him about any of the other people who made up our family tree."

"Elliot, that information will all come out during the trial, but we just don't think it would be beneficial for you to be there every day," Brandon added, to let Elliot know Danny and he were in complete agreement about this. "You will be able to go when you're needed to testify and the jury will be able to hear what you have to say and see you then."

"But that won't be enough," Elliot challenged. "Please, Dad. Just let me do this."

I think we were all a little shocked at this point, but not because of Elliot's stance about going to the court every day. Our amazement was due to the fact that this was the first time he had called either of them Dad. Sure, he had referred to them that way indirectly, but this was the only time he'd used that term when talking directly to them.

"Elliot, I know you don't agree with our decision, but Brandon and I have talked this over and we aren't going to change our minds," Danny reiterated. "To begin with, we both feel that you won't be permitted to sit in the gallery to watch, because you are scheduled to testify, but even if you are, the trial will take too great a toll on you. It will not only cause you to miss too much time away from school, weeks or maybe months, but it will also force you to relive the nightmare of what happened that night over and over again. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it has to be."

"Please, Dad. I have to be there. How about if I only go one or two days a week then?" Elliot offered.

"That still doesn't take into account the fact that you probably won't be allowed to be in the courtroom until after you testify," Danny replied. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you won't be able to go, son."

Since Elliot had called each of them Dad, Danny felt he should return the favor and call Elliot son, so he would know it was how they felt about him. Since Elliot actually reacted when Danny did this, it was obvious that he had picked up on this fact too.

"Look, Brandon and I will call the District Attorney every day and get an update on how things are going. Then, every night we'll fill you in as to what happened that day. That's the best we can do."

"But Dad," Elliot pleaded.

He looked first at one and then glanced at the other, so it soon became apparent to him that Danny and Brandon were going to hold their ground on this one. Eventually, Elliot gave up and agreed to go along with their decision.

"Okay, but you have to tell me everything," Elliot demanded, "and I hope you'll at least let me go once in a while."

"When they need you to testify and then maybe again when the verdict comes in," Danny informed him, much to Elliot's dismay.

Danny and Brandon were not only concerned about Elliot missing so much school, but they had also confided in me that they were worried about how he might react if it appeared the men might not be convicted. We knew the chance of this happening was a long shot, but stranger things have been known to occur. The reason we thought this might be a possibility was because the police weren't willing to share information with us. Therefore, we had no idea how much actual evidence the investigators had come up with which directly linked the three men to the actual murder and not merely the incident at the diner. For this reason, they didn't want to risk Elliot losing his cool in open court and, thus, adversely affect the trial.

As expected, the jury selection began on Monday, but it didn't exactly go as any of us had imagined it would. First of all, we expected they would merely choose twelve jurors at random and seat them immediately, but that's not what happened. Once the prospective jurors were brought in, the lawyers were allowed to ask them a wide range of questions. These included such things as if they, or their family members, had been a victim of a crime, if they thought the police always told the truth and even if they felt they were obligated to convict someone for this murder. I guess this was their way of determining if any of these people should be eliminated from deciding the case.

I actually saw this taking place, because I had offered to go to the courthouse every day, since Danny and Brandon had to work and they didn't want Elliot to be there. However, we didn't let Elliot know I was going to attend these sessions either, because we were a little concerned about how he might react if he knew I was there. Therefore, after I told Danny and Brandon what had happened that day, they relayed this information to Elliot and made it sound as if they had received their knowledge from the District Attorney.

After the jury was seated, we became aware of another surprise. The D.A. suddenly called to apprise us of something that had just popped up. The guy who drove the other two to the motel now claimed he had no idea what they were planning to do, so he wanted to strike a plea bargain. He was willing to agree to plead guilty to being an accomplice to murder in exchange for a reduced sentence of twenty-five and his testimony against the other two. After asking what we thought of the idea, the D.A. explained that his testimony would almost guarantee a conviction of the other pair. Danny and Brandon then told him they wanted to discuss this with Elliot first, before they agreed to it, and then they'd call him with their answer.

Fortunately, Elliot was okay with the idea of a plea agreement, after we discussed it with him. He felt that if the driver received twenty-five years, then the other two would be sentenced to a lot worse. He knew if this man testified there was also a slight chance the other two could wind up getting the death penalty and Elliot hoped they'd burn in hell.

Once we told the D.A. we were fine with him making the deal, he accepted the driver's offer. Even though the man's attorney tried to negotiate a better deal, he finally agreed to accept a sentence of twenty-five years for his part in the murder. It was still far better than the possible life sentence or death penalty that he was currently facing, and he could possibly even get paroled sooner.

After hearing what we'd discussed, Jesse thought Elliot needed to forget about the trial for a short time, so he decided to spend some time alone with Elliot tonight. After they took their shower, Jesse took Elliot back to his room and had him lay crossways on the bed. Then he knelt down between Elliot's legs, and carefully lifted them up, so he could place them on his shoulders. Elliot didn't think anything about him doing this, since Jesse had done it before, so he could work his perineum and testicles. However, that's not what Jesse did. This time, Elliot felt something completely different. He felt Jesse's tongue gliding around his anal ring and then he felt it trying to penetrate there.

"What are you doing?" Elliot asked.

He didn't sound angry or alarmed, just curious.

"It's just something else you can learn to enjoy," Jesse told him. "It's called rimming or being rimmed, so just lay back and see what you think of it."

Since it already felt good and had sent some shivers up his spine, Elliot decided that was exactly what he was going to do. After Jesse had done this for a while, he worked his way up the perineum and testicles, until he finally reached Elliot's penis. Jesse then gave him an awesome blowjob and brought Elliot off, so Elliot was very relaxed and feeling really good by the time it ended.

Once he'd had his release, Elliot sucked Jesse off too, but for the first time, he was able to do it until Jesse had his orgasm. Elliot was proud of the fact that he had finally accomplished this and thanked Jesse for what he had done for him. After that, the boys spent a peaceful night cuddled together.

The next couple of weeks were kind of hectic and more than a little tense. Elliot listened intently to the daily reports on the trial and asked many questions about what happened each day, as he sought even the tiniest details about what was going on. After a couple of weeks of this intense scrutiny and answering his detailed questions, we were beginning to wonder if Elliot was going to make it until the end of the trial. Thankfully, he did.

Another surprise for us was that Elliot wasn't called to give his testimony until near the end of the second week, but that also didn't go quite as we had anticipated either. You see, Elliot had already given his statement to the police and had been asked to give it again to both the D.A. and the Public Defender. As it turned out, this would be used as the crux of his testimony, when he was called in to court.

Before Elliot was actually sworn in to give his version of the events of that night, the courtroom was cleared of all spectators first, because of his age. Of course, the judge, both lawyers, the defendants, the stenographer, the bailiff and the jury remained, but everyone else was ushered out into the hallway. This included the members of the press as well, which meant some of them were upset about being excluded. Once the courtroom was emptied, Danny, Brandon and Elliot were then ushered in through a side door and Elliot was led up to the witness stand.

After being sworn in, Elliot was shown the statement he had made and asked if he had given it of his own free will. When he said he had, he was then asked if his statement was true, accurate and depicted the events of that night, as best he could remember them. Again, Elliot agreed this was the case, but these were the only questions he was asked. Once Elliot had given his answers, the D.A. then moved to have Elliot's testimony entered into the court records as evidence and read to the jury. The judge agreed and ordered it to happen, which left the rest of us more than a little surprised. Elliot was somewhat upset that this was the extent of his involvement in the trial, but it was all he was required to do.

As it turned out, the trial took only three weeks, instead of months. Since we were only familiar with the murder trials we've seen on television, which often lasted for many months, we were somewhat shocked when both the prosecution and defense rested. Near the end of the following week, the D.A. phoned and informed Danny and Brandon that he expected the jury would be coming back with their verdict the following day. Since the D.A. had been so sure of this, Danny and Brandon then asked their staff to reschedule their appointments for the day, while they arranged for one of their colleagues to handle any emergency cases. They both wanted to be in attendance when the verdicts came in.

Danny and Brandon hadn't told Elliot about what the D.A. had told them, because they anticipated Elliot would want to be there as well and they didn't wish to argue with him about it. Not only didn't they want him to miss classes just to be there, but they were also worried how he would react if the final two men weren't convicted, so they went without him. I went too and we sat at the back of the gallery, while we waited for the jury to be led in and the verdicts to be read. I think we were all holding our breath as the Judge addressed the jury.

"Madam foreperson," the judge began, "has the jury reached a verdict in this case?"

"We have, Your Honor," she replied.

"Then will you please read it, for the record?" the judge responded.

Everyone in attendance remained perfectly silent, as they waited to hear the jury's decision.

"In the matter of the charge of first-degree murder in the death of Sean Kennedy against the defendant Charles Grant, we find him guilty," she announced.

Hearing this caused all of our hearts to leap for joy.

"In the matter of the charge of first-degree murder in the death of Sean Kennedy against the defendant Henry Rhodes, we also find him guilty," she added.

After hearing the verdicts, it was as if a huge weight had been lifted off our family and Danny and Brandon were eager to share this information with Elliot. However, they thought it would be best if they waited and to tell him after he returned home from school this evening, rather than going to the school and telling him there.

As we sat in the courtroom, silently reveling in the verdict, the rest of the spectators left. A short time later, as the D.A. went to pass by where we were seated, he spotted Danny and Brandon and stopped to inquire about their reaction.

"I take it you are pleased with the verdict?" he asked.

"We certainly are," Danny agreed, "but I'm surprised both defendants were convicted of the same charge. I thought Grant would get a harsher sentence, since we learned he was the one who actually pulled the trigger. We thought Rhodes might get off with a lesser charge."

"No, that's not the way the law works," the D.A. explained, "Since Rhodes was present at the time of the shooting, the law looks at him as if he had also been directly involved in the shooting and just as guilty as the one who pulled the trigger. The same thing would have applied to the other man too, if he hadn't pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. By doing that, he avoided the same outcome as his friends."

"Well, Elliot will be pleased to hear this," Brandon added, "and thank you for all you've done to get justice for his father and provide some sense of closure for our son."

"It was my pleasure," the D.A. answered.

"When will the sentences be announced," Danny asked next.

"The Public Defender and I will each be submitting our recommendations to the judge by the end of the day, so he most likely will announce their sentence in a couple of days. I'll call you just as soon as I know the date and time."

Danny and Brandon thanked him again and then left for home. They were eager to share this news with Elliot and could hardly wait for him to return from school. The three of us were euphoric at about how things had turned out and now anxiously waited for Elliot to arrive at the house.

When he walked through the door, Elliot looked over at his fathers and asked his usual question. I was more surprised that he didn't question why they were home before he was.

"So what happened today?" Elliot wanted to know.

"The jury reached a verdict and both men were found guilty of first-degree murder," Danny told him.

We expected Elliot would be excited and pleased, but he merely stood as still as a statue instead. A second later, he dropped to his knees and began crying like a baby.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked, as he knelt beside his son.

Elliot, however, didn't answer right away and this began to concern us all. After enduring a grueling few seconds of silence, Elliot finally began to speak.

"I'm okay," he assured us. "The whole time the trial's been going on, my stomach has felt like it's been tied in knots. When you told me the good news, it was like the knots all came undone."

"But you're all right now?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Elliot confirmed. "I guess it must have happened because I was so happy and relieved at the same time. I'm really glad this is finally over and that what I was afraid might happen didn't happen."

"What were you afraid would happen?" Brandon followed.

"I was scared they were going to get off and not get punished for what they did," Elliot explained. "That's what worried me the most."

"Well, they have been convicted and will be sentenced soon," Danny assured him, "so you don't have to worry about it any longer."

"As long as they get a real punishment," Elliot spat back, "and not some slap on the wrist."

We all understood what he was implying, because he hoped the punishment they received would truly fit the crime. The judge would make this decision, so we didn't feel this was as big of a gamble as it had been with the jury.

"When will that happen?" Elliot asked next.

"That won't take place for a couple more days." Brandon told him.

"I want to be there when it does," Elliot announced. "I know the court allows people to speak at the sentencing and I want to tell everyone just how badly those guys messed up my life."

Danny and Brandon didn't respond right away, so Elliot continued.

"Dads, you've got to let me do this," Elliot explained. "You can't say no this time and I don't want you to try to stop me. I have to see the guys who murdered my father and tell them just how much I hate them for what they did. I want that judge to see my face and know that I want these guys to have the book thrown at them."

"I think I understand how you feel and I can appreciate that," Danny responded. "Okay, when the D.A. calls to tell us when the sentencing will take place, I'll ask him if you will be allowed to say anything. If he says you can, then we will permit you to attend and do as you wish."

"Thanks, Dad. Both Dads," Elliot gushed.

He then moved forward and gave each of them a hug. He wanted to show them how much he appreciated them for letting him do this, and for everything else they've done.

"You're welcome and we're fine with you doing this one final thing," Danny agreed, after conferring briefly with Brandon. "We are also willing to allow you to miss school that day, because we suspect you will be emotionally drained afterward and potentially unable to function clearly. For those reasons, we think it might be best if you don't go in to school at all that day."

"Great!" Elliot concurred. "I was going to fight you on this one, if you'd said no."

"Well, you don't have to," Brandon agreed. "We know how important this is for you and, hopefully, it will help you finally close this chapter of your life. We will go with you that day, for moral support, but we won't speak. Is that okay with you?"

"It's perfect!" Elliot agreed, and everyone left the room happy.

That night, before he went to bed, Elliot logged on to his computer and was surprised to find emails from Nicky and Jordan in his inbox. He was tempted to read Nicky's first, but he decided to save it for last and opened Jordan's instead.

"Dear Elliot,

Papa was talking to my mom on the phone tonight and told her about what happened in court today. I'm glad those guys got convicted and I hope you can put all that behind you now. I'm so sorry about what happened to your dad, but I'm glad to have you as a cousin. I had a great time with you at Christmas and can't wait to see you and Jesse again the next time we visit. Take care.

Jordan"

Elliot was touched by Jordan's note. He really liked his older cousin and was glad that Jordan thought of him as family. Now, he read Nicky's note.

"Hi Elliot,

I heard about what happened in court today and I'm really happy for you. I don't know what I would do if something like that happened to my dad and I think you've been really brave, the way you've dealt with all of this stuff.

I really miss you, Jesse and Jordan. I had so much fun with you guys and I can't wait until we can hang out again this summer. See ya soon.

Nicky"

Elliot smiled at Nicky's email. He didn't think he'd been particularly brave, but he thought it was nice of Nicky to say so. The note also helped take Elliot's mind off of the case for a while. He still didn't really know how he felt about Nicky, but he went to sleep that night with the cute blond on his mind.

The D.A. called the next day and informed us the sentences were to be announced the following Tuesday. He also told us Elliot would be allowed to speak at that time, if he wished. Danny and Brandon immediately began to make arrangements so they could take off work again and then notified the school that Elliot would be out that day as well.

The wait in between was actually more difficult than it was while we were waiting for the trial to begin. It was even worse than waiting to see what happened at the trial on a day-to-day basis, especially for Elliot. During this time, he was busy thinking about what he wanted to say and how he was going to say it. Even though Danny and Brandon checked in on him and offered to help, Elliot felt he had to do this on his own. Respecting his wishes, Danny and Brandon allowed him to do this his way.

The night before the sentencing, Elliot was a complete wreck. He was nervous, jittery and bouncing from room to room. We just couldn't get him to calm down, since he was unable to deal with the turmoil welling inside him. Eventually, Jesse took him upstairs, to see if he could do something that we couldn't. Rather than speak to him, Jesse embraced Elliot in a very lengthy and tender kiss.

At first, Elliot seemed a little resistant to his efforts, but eventually he began to relax and respond to Jesse's kiss. Their tongues dueled, but did so tenderly, and Elliot quickly allowed himself the luxury of enjoying this simple pleasure. Their hands also began to roam, but since they still had their clothing on, it didn't elicit the same results. Realizing this, the boys began to undress each other, as their passion took over and Elliot's emotional turmoil was put behind him for a few moments.

Once they were naked, Jesse began to attack Elliot's body, since he wanted him to forget his concerns and no longer worry about what was going to happen the next day. To do this, he got between Elliot's legs and lifted them up. His head dropped to Elliot's butt and he rimmed Elliot with more passion and commitment to pleasing him than he had ever done before. Elliot was moaning and squirming about, as he was enjoying what Jesse was doing to him. Then he felt Jesse began working his way up to his dick, which was standing tall and proud, and then Jesse suddenly stopped.

Elliot lifted his head up slightly, so he could look down to see what Jesse was up to. That's when Elliot noticed Jesse had the lube, so he only paid halfhearted attention to what he was doing. He saw Jesse put some lube on his finger and then move that hand to his butt, but Elliot wasn't sure why. Then Jesse got on the bed beside him, slowly straddled his waist and reached behind him. The next thing Elliot felt was Jesse's hand on his dick and then it was enveloped by something warm and moist. Elliot thought Jesse was giving him a blowjob, but that couldn't be. Jesse's head was nowhere near his penis. Then it dawned on him. Jesse had just sat on his cock.

Slowly, Jesse's body rose and dropped on Elliot's erection, and he gently squeezed his anal muscles each time he lifted up. Elliot found it hard to believe, but he was actually fucking Jesse and was overwhelmed by how good it felt. Instinctively, Elliot began to thrust his hips upward, to mirror Jesse's actions, which quickly brought him to the point of no return. After a minute or so of this activity, Elliot drove his penis as far into Jesse as it would go and then his dick spit out its love juice. Exhausted, Elliot lay on the bed and slowly passed out.

When Elliot regained consciousness a few minutes later, he was still enjoying the afterglow of this experience. Then he looked at Jesse, smiled and spoke.

"Thank you. That was awesome," he gushed. "I wasn't expecting anything like this to happen."

"I know and I don't think I broke Dad, Danny or Brandon's rules by doing it," Jesse answered. "I think they only meant they didn't want me sticking my dick in your butt, not that they wanted to keep you from doing it to me. Besides, I thought you needed something special tonight. You were acting really messed up."

"Yeah, I know," Elliot confirmed. "I'm just trying to work out what I want to say tomorrow. I think I'm set on what I want to cover, but what you just did certainly made me relax and I feel a whole lot better now."

Since Elliot had admitted this, Jesse told him not to worry about getting him off tonight. He said he could wait, but he was glad this had done what he'd intended it to do. Jesse then wrapped his arms around Elliot and they cuddled together. A short time later, they fell asleep and spent the night wrapped in each other's arms.

Tuesday morning, the four of us were up early, but I was up before the rest of them. In fact, I was already dressed before they awoke, so they rushed through their preparations, as they got ready for the big day in court. Once they'd finished, we took Elliot out for breakfast first, since his fathers felt Elliot would do better in court if he had something in his stomach beforehand. They also felt it might give him something else to think about, if we did this somewhere other than at home, so we took him to I.H.O.P.

Unfortunately, Danny and Brandon still had to spend quite a bit of their time trying to get Elliot to calm down, because he was wound tighter than an old-fashioned corset. Elliot was chomping at the bit to be able to speak his mind, but we wanted him to do this in a calm and rational fashion. It wasn't easy, but they eventually got their son to relax a bit.

After we finished eating, we drove over to the courthouse and made the long walk to the courtroom. We were then led to another room to wait, which had a closed circuit TV in it, so we could see what was going on inside. The D.A. was still trying to keep Elliot's identity shielded from the press, so this was what we had to do until Elliot was called in.

Danny and Brandon spent their time watching the monitor, as they tried to determine who else was in the courtroom. While they were doing this, Elliot had calmed down and was totally focused on what he was going to say. I merely kept my eyes on all of them, to see how they were reacting and holding up.

As the judge entered the courtroom, everyone inside was told to rise. Once they were all seated again, the judge prepared to read the sentences. Contrary to what we had been expecting, this was done first, before Elliot was given his chance to speak.

"Gerald Conte, as per your plea agreement," the judge began, "you are hereby sentenced to a term of twenty-five years for your role as an accomplice to murder. Your sentence will be carried out at a facility to be determined by the Department of Correction."

"Charles Grant and Henry Rhodes, for your part is this despicable and cold-blooded murder, you are hereby each sentenced to serve a term of life in prison, without the possibility of parole. Your sentences will also be carried out at a facility to be determined by the Department of Correction."

I think each of us breathed a huge sigh of relief after hearing the sentences announced and then the courtroom was cleared of all non-essential personnel again, so Elliot could speak. Danny, Brandon and Elliot were anxious to get into the courtroom, once everyone else had been led into the hallway. Once the courtroom was empty, they were summoned in, so Elliot could address the court.

Danny and Brandon stayed back and let Elliot move forward, so he could do this on his own. After Elliot was told he could begin, he turned, looked at the defendants and began to speak his mind. With more courage than any of us thought possible for a young man his age, he stood and faced the defendants' table, so he could stare each of them in the eye.

"I hate you for what you did," he began. "You killed my father and for what? You did it just because he stopped you from picking on that poor waitress at the diner. How stupid can you be?

"I doubt you care, but just so you know, you took everything from me. You stole my dad, and in doing so, you took away my other relatives on my dad's side of the family, his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins too. He was all the family I had, so he can't tell me about them now, because I'm the only one left. I'll never be able to ask my dad who I am or where I come from, and that may not matter to a bunch of trash like you, but it matters to me.

"In a way," Elliot continued, "you also stole my mom from me too. I wanted him to tell me about her too, but now he can't do that. I can ask her Danish relatives, but how often will I see them and how close were they to her? They wouldn't know nearly as much about her as my dad would."

Elliot paused momentarily, probably because he had begun to choke up, but this lull didn't last long. A few moments later, he began again.

"You wiped out generations of my family history, traditions and memories, because I have no other way to learn about them now. I was there that night. I know what you did and I'll have to live with those memories until the day I die. I've never felt hate for someone before, like I feel for you.

"At first, I wanted you dead. I couldn't think of anything better than each of you getting the death penalty, but that would be too good for you. I hope you rot in hell for what you did, but before that happens, I hope every day of your life in prison is a fresh hell, filled with beatings, getting raped and lots of pain. God, I hate you! You're nothing but filthy, stupid, pathetic, fucking drunks!" Elliot shouted.

He seemed to be coming unglued at this point, but he stopped his rant and focused on one of the defendants. It appeared as if a smirk was spreading across the man's face.

Danny and Brandon could see Elliot was starting to lose control at this point, so they moved in his direction, hoping to comfort him. Before they could reach him though, Elliot began to walk in the direction of the defendants. Seeing this, Danny and Brandon doubled their pace and reached out to prevent him from going further, but just as they were about to grab him, Elliot lunged across the defendants' table.

"You rotten son of a bitch! You think it's funny?" Elliot shouted, as he tried to get his hands around the defendant's throat.

Danny and Brandon scrambled to get a grip on him, before he could reach his targets, and then struggled to pull him back. Elliot wasn't about to give up easily and continued to fight with every ounce of strength he had in him. Seeing him struggle to break free, it was apparent Elliot was determined to reach the men that had taken his father from him, so he could pay them back for what they'd done.

Once Danny and Brandon managed to pull Elliot away from the table, which wasn't an easy task, the defendants' lawyers stepped out and positioned themselves between Elliot and their clients. They did this to prevent Elliot from repeating his actions, should he break free from his fathers. While the defense attorneys were doing this, the D.A. and bailiff joined Danny and Brandon and did what they could to help restrain Elliot. With his adrenaline flowing, Elliot was a handful, even for the four of them. Everyone still in the courtroom could see the hatred and disgust on his face, as well as note his determination to reach those men and his unwillingness to leave quietly.

While this was going on, the sheriff's deputies, who had transported the defendants from the jail earlier, had raced to the defense table to keep the prisoners from trying anything. The deputies quickly grabbed the defendants and forced them back into their seats, and then stood behind them to prevent them from attempting to escape or doing anything more to Elliot than they had already done. It was a very frightening and tense situation.

The deputies ultimately decided to remove the defendants from the courtroom, while Danny, Brandon, the D.A. and the bailiff were busy dragging Elliot in the other direction. It took all of them to wrestle Elliot into the hallway, and then Danny and Brandon attempted to calm him down. While they were doing this, the bailiff and D.A. blocked the doors leading back into the chamber, just in case Elliot decided to renew his attack.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Danny asked, once Elliot started to regain a modicum of control.

"That son of a bitch was laughing!" Elliot shouted, while tensing up again. "That fucker shot my dad and acted like this was just a big joke. I saw that and it made me want to rip his fucking throat out."

"You could have been hurt doing that," Brandon reasoned. "They're in handcuffs, but that doesn't mean they aren't still dangerous."

"I don't care!" Elliot screamed. "He's not going to laugh at me too, not after everything else he's done."

It took some time, but Danny and Brandon finally got Elliot to regain some control over his emotions. He'd had his say in court and was able to vent a lot of the pent up rage, while releasing some of the hostility he felt toward the defendants. Now, Danny and Brandon knew they had to take him home, because it was time for Elliot to begin moving on with the rest of his life. They no longer wanted him to dwell on what had happened or continue to worry about how those men were paying for what they'd done. It was time to put this to rest, once and for all.

After they reached the car, Elliot began to realize what he'd done and started to feel badly about it. After we were all seated inside, Elliot spoke to us.

"Dads, Papa, I'm sorry for what I did back there – not to those… those… assholes, but to you guys. I'm sorry I made you worry about me and I'm sure I probably gave you some elbows and maybe even scratched you, when I was trying to get at that piece of shit. I'm sorry for that, and I'm sorry I lost my cool, but I just couldn't take him laughing at me. When he started to smile, and then laugh – well, I… I lost it," he stammered.

"We know that was hard for you," Brandon assured him, "but you need to learn how to control your emotions AND your temper. It may not have happened this time, but possibly next time an outburst of that nature will create even bigger problems than you already have. Please, Elliot, work on that temper and learn some self-restraint."

Elliot looked a little sheepish, because he knew Brandon was right. He hung his head and it was a few seconds before he began to speak again.

"I'm not normally like that," Elliot said. "I just can't help it sometimes and it really eats at me when I see someone looking so smug and cocky after they've done something so awful. It just makes me feel like I have to make them pay for what they've done."

"They're going to pay. You heard the sentence," Danny asserted. "Doing something as rash as you did today could place you in a very dangerous situation. The person you're going off on might have a weapon or he could have friends near by that will jump in to help him. On the other hand, if you were actually able to succeed in harming him, then you could be the one ending up in court and being sentenced as a criminal, no matter how pure your intentions. You just have to learn to control your emotions and not act so impulsively."

"I'll try," Elliot agreed. "I really will."

"We hope you do," Brandon concurred, "but in the meantime, maybe you should come speak with us first, before you act out. Okay?"

"I didn't really have an opportunity to do that in this case, but I see your point. I'll give it a shot, but don't get angry if I sometimes can't resist the urge to act," Elliot offered.

"Just make sure you do find a way to resist the urge," Danny countered, "because that's exactly what we're talking about."

Elliot merely nodded and then we made the trip home. The house was empty when we first got back, because the others wouldn't be out of school for a couple more hours or so. In the meantime, Elliot went up to his room and lay on his bed. I don't think he went to sleep, but merely lay on the mattress and reflected upon what had transpired.

When Jesse came home, he asked us what had happened in court, before he went to find Elliot. He thought it would be best that he get that information from us first, so he didn't get Elliot all riled up again. Needless to say, Jesse was stunned when we told him what Elliot had done.

"Wow! He really did that?" Jesse asked. "He actually tried to get to that guy and it took four guys to pull him off?"

"Yes, that's exactly what happened," I told him. "It was quite a scene."

"Damn. I guess I'd better be careful about getting him pissed at me then," Jesse joked. "Maybe it was a good thing that Ricky didn't wake up when we pulled those pranks on him, not for us, but for him. From what you just told me, I think Elliot would have beat Ricky's ass, if Ricky had come after him."

"You may be right about that," I agreed. "I was a little skeptical when he suggested he'd have been able to take Ricky down at Christmas, but after seeing him in action today, I'm beginning to believe it might be possible."

"I think I'd like to see who'd come out on top in that fight," Jesse confirmed.

"Just don't start instigating anything or I'll be coming after you next," I warned.

"Oh, don't worry," Jesse replied. "I know better than to get something started, because I don't want to end up in the middle of it."

"Smart boy," I stated, while giving him a smack on the rear, for good measure.

Once Jesse finished talking to me, he went upstairs to find Elliot. Elliot was still on his bed, but he quickly sat up when Jesse walked into the room.

"They got life!" Elliot exclaimed. "The bastards won't ever be able to do that to anyone else – ever again."

"That's great," Jesse agreed, "but I also heard you practically started a riot in the courtroom. Damn, you'd better be careful. I don't think you want to end up in prison with them."

"Yeah. Who told you?" Elliot wondered.

I think he was slightly embarrassed that one of us had told Jesse about what happened already.

"I saw it on Jerry Springer," Jesse joked. "Brawling convicts or something like that."

After saying this, Jesse let out a maniacal laugh.

"Yeah, it probably is something that would end up on Springer," Elliot agreed. "I'm not proud of what I did, but the guy just pissed me off."

"I see," Jesse stated. "I'll try to remember never to do that then."

Now, they both had a good laugh.

Later, when the boys came down to dinner, Elliot's earlier actions also became fodder for the dinner table. Everyone was teasing him, unmercifully, about what had happened in court. They razzed him about nearly knocking over the D.A. and bailiff, which hadn't actually happened, so he could get at his father's murderer. This was all done in fun, as they continued to joke about Elliot tossing the lawyers and other court officials around like rag dolls, just before Elliot tore the defendants up, like a vicious junkyard dog.

"How about that language? I didn't even know you knew that many swear words," Jesse teased.

"Ha! I didn't until I met you," Elliot shot back.

That wrapped up the good-natured ribbing and even Elliot was getting a chuckle out of how the others were portraying and embellishing his lapse of judgment. Regardless of how humorous they made it, he still got the point and wouldn't be doing anything like that again, at least not anytime soon.

The rest of the night passed fairly quietly. I think we were all reflecting on the fact that those men were definitely going to be paying for what they did. Who knows, with the way things go in prison, they might actually get what they deserve, as Elliot wished for them. Possibly they will get raped, beaten or even killed while they are locked up, but I hope they don't expect any of us to shed a tear for them, if any of that does happen.

At bedtime, Jesse and Elliot went up to Elliot's room. Even though they no longer needed to, they still spent most nights in with each other. Tonight was no exception. As soon as they closed the door, Elliot spoke.

"I want to thank you again, for what you did last night," Elliot told him. "It was really awesome and it helped me sleep better too. I don't know if that would have been possible, if you hadn't done it for me."

"You're welcome and that's exactly what I was hoping," Jesse confirmed. "You know, if you want to, I'd be willing to let you do that again tonight."

Elliot looked surprised by the offer.

"You don't have to and it's not why I said anything," Elliot explained. "It's just that it really did help me out last night."

"And I'm willing to give you that same help tonight," Jesse reiterated.

"But I owe you tonight," Elliot countered. "You did that for me, but I didn't do anything for you."

"That didn't bother me," Jesse told him. "I was worried about you and I took care of myself this morning."

Jesse laughed after admitting this.

"I'm sorry I didn't do it for you," Elliot apologized, looking sheepish.

"No, it was fine," Jesse confirmed. "So do you want to do that again tonight?"

"You really don't mind?" Elliot asked again, to be sure.

"Not at all," Jesse agreed. "This time I'll lay on my stomach and you can do the work. Last night tired me out."

Elliot looked at Jesse, wondering what he meant, when Jesse burst out laughing again. This let Elliot know he was only joking about getting tired out. However, after they got undressed, Jesse did lie on his stomach and then told Elliot what to do, after he'd lubed both of them up.

"I know you're already as stiff as a steel rod," he joked, "so just get between my legs and push your dick down, until it's lined up with my butt hole. Then all you have to do is push it in slowly. Once you're in, then you may go at any pace that makes you happy. I'll just warn you that the slower you go, the longer it lasts and the better you'll feel."

Jesse then prepared for Elliot to enter him, but he wasn't worried that Elliot would hurt him. He'd taken much bigger dicks than what Elliot had, so he knew this wouldn't be bad at all. He'd just try to make Elliot feel the best he could.

Elliot was surprised that the anal ring gave some resistance, but not that much. Once he entered, he tried to do what Jesse had suggested and go as slowly as he could. The problem was, the better it felt, the faster he wanted to go. With that in mind, it wasn't long before he was doing an all out sprint toward the finish line.

Elliot grunted loudly as he drove his dick home for a final time, and then he felt his cock twitch several times, as his love juice spurted from the tiny opening. Elliot thrust in and out a few more times after that, as he drained whatever liquid was left in it. Totally spent, he then collapsed on Jesse's back.

Seeing Elliot isn't very heavy, this wasn't a problem for Jesse, nor was it uncomfortable. He merely allowed Elliot to remain there until he had recovered and then slowly pulled out. When this happened, Jesse rolled over, to see how Elliot was feeling.

"Look, last night and tonight were special and I don't want you to tell anyone else that we did this," Jesse warned. "I'm not sure if it broke Dad, Danny or Brandon's rules, but I don't think it did. The thing is, I don't want Jordan and Nicky to get mad at me either. They asked to do this with me before and I told them I couldn't do it with them yet, so I don't want them to get upset if they find out I did it with you."

"Don't worry. It's our secret," Elliot agreed.

"I only did this for you last night and tonight because of what you've been going through," Jesse confessed, "so don't expect to do it again, until we have definite permission from my dad and yours."

"Okay, I understand," Elliot agreed, "but thank you for being so sweet."

Having said that, Elliot leaned in and gave Jesse a very warm and loving kiss. This evolved into something more passionate and before long they were entangled in a very loving embrace. This continued for several minutes, before Elliot decided it was time to help Jesse get off, which he did orally.

Once he finished, both boys' sexual desires were sated and they lay next to each other for a few minutes, before they moved again. When this happened, the boys decided it was time to get up and shower, so they could get some sleep. They both had school in the morning and neither wanted to be smelly or tired when it was time to get up.

Now that the trial and sentencing were behind us, things began to settle down. It felt good not having that albatross still tied around our necks.

A couple days after Elliot returned to school, his new friend, Hayden, talked him into accompanying him to the swim team practice, so he could introduce Elliot to the coach and some of his other teammates. Once Elliot got permission from his fathers, he told Hayden he'd love to do it.

I heard Elliot acted shyly when he was first introduced to the coach, but his shyness didn't last very long. Once the coach began asking him questions about his former team and what types of things Elliot had done, Elliot began to loosen up and eagerly answered him.

"I'm pretty much just a diver," Elliot told him. "I'm not a racer, but I do like to swim and do it often. My school team was pretty good, but we weren't state champs or anything like that."

"Well, we could use another diver," the coach explained, "but there are just a couple more meets this season. What grade are you in?"

"I'm a freshman, sir," Elliot replied, "but since I just got a cast off my right wrist just before Christmas, my dad doesn't think I should start competitive diving yet. He thinks it needs a little more time to heal, before I do any difficult dives."

"I can understand his caution," the coach responded, "but at least you'll still be able to dive for us for three years. By the way, do I know your father?"

"You probably know both of them and my grandfather too," Elliot confirmed. "Danny Currie and Brandon O'Hara are my foster-fathers now, and Josh Currie is my foster-grandfather."

"Oh, yes. I know them all very well," the coach responded. "I'm looking forward to you trying out for the team next fall."

"I brought my swimsuit with me and my dad said I could do a few simple dives for you, if you wanted," Elliot offered.

"Sure. That would be great," the coach confirmed.

Elliot went into the locker room with Hayden, so he could change. When he came out, he did four dives for the coach and they were the same ones he'd done for the family when they were at the high school pool over Christmas vacation.

Elliot started with an inward dive pike, followed by a back dive pike, a forward 1.5 somersault pike and then a reverse dive pike. After getting out of the pool, he walked over to the coach, to see if he had any comments about what he'd just done.

"Not bad," the coach began. "You did a really good job on those easier voluntary dives, so now I'm interested to see what you'll be able to do on the others, as well as the optional dives. I hope that wrist is totally healed by next season."

"Oh, it will be and thanks coach," Elliot responded. "I can't wait to be able to start diving for real again."

Elliot did stay with Hayden for a while longer. He even swam in the pool for a bit, although he made sure he didn't get in the way. Elliot also got to meet some of his future teammates and they all seemed pretty nice, so Elliot was looking forward to joining the team even more than he previously had been.

When he returned home, Elliot told us how the meeting had gone. We were pleased to know the coach seemed impressed with his diving ability and was looking forward to having Elliot on the team. It was also nice to hear that he might have made another friend or two, besides Hayden.

Diving wasn't the only thing Elliot had been looking forward to. Now that his wrist had its full range of motion again, he was eager to get back into kung fu. Jesse was the first to find out about this when he woke one morning and discovered that Elliot wasn't next to him. When he looked over at the clock, he noticed it was only a little after six in the morning and wondered where Elliot had gone.

Jesse checked to see if he'd gone to the bathroom first and then looked in Elliot's room. When he didn't find him in either of those places, he made his way downstairs. Eventually, he found Elliot in the rec room. Jesse had been about to announce himself when he saw Elliot do some breathing exercises and then perform some kind of elaborate dance. The motions started out slow and deliberate, but became faster and more intense. Jesse watched with interest and kept quiet until Elliot stopped.

"When did you sign up for ballet?" Jesse giggled.

Elliot turned abruptly, somewhat startled.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked.

"Long enough. What was all that about?" Jesse inquired.

"Well, it's certainly not ballet!" Elliot announced, annoyed. "Those were kung fu forms."

"You're really into that stuff aren't you?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, I've been doing it since I was about six or seven," Elliot replied.

"So all you have to do is memorize those steps you were doing and that's it?" Jesse wanted to know.

"Not exactly. It's a lot like playing the piano," Elliot answered.

As he was saying this, Elliot noticed the questioning look on Jesse's face, so he felt he should explain.

"Okay. When you study the piano, you learn and drill scales to build up rhythm, coordination and the ability to play and improvise music," he explained. "The more you practice your scales, the better you get at improvising and sight-reading compositions. You get so used to the notes A-B-C-D-E-F and G that you can change them up and add sharps and minors without even having to think. That's basically how you play songs. Are you with me so far?"

"Yeah, that makes sense, but what's that have to do with kung fu?" Jesse wanted to know.

"Well, forms are like scales," Elliot explained. "Kicks, punches, grabs and locks are your notes, and practicing them in combinations teaches you flow. You learn how to improvise the combinations so you can react to an attack without thinking about it."

"Okay, that's pretty cool, but can you do all that stuff you see on tv?" Elliot wondered. "You know, like the monkey and crane, or is that just bullshit to entertain people?"

"No, it's real. It's called animal style and there's the monkey, crane, dragon, tiger, mantis and a few others," Elliot informed him. "Supposedly, the Shaolin Monks would observe the movements of animals and then develop the style from there. I know some of the forms for it, but it's not very practical."

"How come?" Jesse countered.

"They're too elaborate and detailed. They would take up too much time, if you had to fight someone. It's really amazing to see what some of the masters can do. They call it deadly beauty," Elliot replied, continuing the lesson.

"So what style do you practice then?" Jesse followed.

"It's kind of a combination of Wing Chun and Jeet Kune Do," Elliot answered.

"Yeah, like I know what that means," Jesse replied, sarcastically, while rolling his eyes.

"Right! Well, Wing Chun is a style focused more on combat and less on show," Elliot explained. "It cuts out a lot of the formality that some of the other styles have. Jeet Kune Do was developed by Bruce Lee and basically just takes things a little further. You focus on absorbing or neutralizing an attack, rather than retaliating with deadly force."

Jesse's eyes bugged out a little, as he asked his next question.

"So the point is to kill your opponent?"

"Well, obviously I've never killed anyone," Elliot chuckled. "I was taught that you should only fight as a last resort, but once you're engaged in combat you don't want your opponent getting back up and coming at you again. Deadly force in this day and age just means neutralizing your opponent and ending the fight to your advantage."

"So I guess I don't have to be as careful about pissing you off as I thought, huh," Jesse said, with a smirk.

"Just because I've never had to do it, doesn't mean I couldn't rip your Adam's Apple out and show it to you." Elliot replied, with a grin.

"You're just joking. Right?" Jesse wondered.

He seemed anxious to know the answer to this question.

"We'll never know. Will we?" Elliot laughed.

"How did you get into this stuff?" Jesse asked next.

"Well, when I was little, this jerk in my class used to pick on everyone and one day it was my turn," Elliot answered. "The little bastard punched me and I came home crying. I told my dad all about it, thinking he would fix it. Instead, he took me to my first lesson that Saturday. He said I needed to learn to take care of myself, because he wouldn't always be around to fight my battles for me."

"Did that kid ever mess with you again?" Jesse asked, so Elliot would continue the story.

"Yeah, about a month later," Elliot confessed. "I'd been taking lessons a couple times a week by then, so this time he was the one who went crying to the teacher with a busted lip."

"This is awesome!" Jesse acknowledged. "I could have used some of that stuff against my former step-dad."

"I could show you some great self-defense moves sometime, if you wanted," Elliot offered.

"That would be great! Just don't tell my friends," Jesse responded. "I don't want the whole school knowing my freshman nephew could kick my ass."

"If anyone gives you a hard time, just let me know and we'll test out that Adam's Apple trick," Elliot joked.

The boys had a good laugh over Elliot's comment, before wandering into the kitchen to grab some breakfast.

The rest of January had the possibility of becoming quite boring for me, but Joshie found a way to keep that from happening. Since he was so interested in sports, not only did he come in to watch college basketball games on the tube with Jake and me, but he also wanted us to take him to see the high school team play. We were drafted for this duty because Joshie's Daddy and Poppy aren't interested in sports and Joshie wanted to go to the high school basketball games, since we had taken him to the high school football games in the fall.

Since Joshie was so interested, I agreed to do this, but would limit it to attending the home games that are played on either Friday or Saturday. I wouldn't be taking him to the away games or the home games played during the week, since they ended after Joshie's bedtime. I certainly didn't want to deprive him of his sleep and then have him be tired in class the next day.

Jesse and Elliot often went to the games with us as well, but I'm pretty sure they weren't going because they were interested in basketball. They were going so they could hang out with their friends. They would go in and sit with us for a brief time, but then they would disappear and Joshie and I wouldn't see them again until the game was nearly over. The older boys did as I asked though and returned before the game ended. I had warned them if they weren't back by the time we were ready to leave, then they'd have to walk home and could never go with us again. It seems my threat worked, because they always found us again before the final buzzer.

Since the weather pretty much prohibited Joshie from practicing basketball outdoors, I saw to it that he had a Fisher Price Grow-to-Pro Basketball set that he kept in the rec room. By having this, Joshie could have some fun practicing and yet be indoors where he could play without having to dress in his winter coat and hat. I'm still amazed that Joshie has such a passion for sports, since his fathers couldn't care less about anything of that nature.

While we were watching the high school games, or the college games on TV, I would try to explain the basics to Joshie. He was very interested in learning the rules and absorbed the information quickly, and then I would work with him as he practiced his skills at home. As we did this, I also tried to make certain he used both hands to dribble and shoot lay-ups. I never tried to change or mess with his preferred hand for jump shots and free throws though, because that was his personal preference. The way I figure it, by the time he reaches fourth grade, when the school has its first organized teams, it is very possible that Joshie will be one hell of a player.

Near the end of January, Elliot came up to his fathers and asked if he could spend a night at his friend Hayden's house. After asking the usual questions, such as if this was for a party, if Hayden's parents were going to be there and who else was going to be present, Danny and Brandon had a couple of other questions for Elliot.

"Okay, so it's just going to be Hayden and you, but his parents are going to be home too," Danny repeated. "Now, I just want to ask if you have an interest in Hayden, other than just being friends."

"I might, but Hayden doesn't," Elliot admitted. "Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen between us, other than being friends who like most of the same things, except Hayden definitely likes girls."

"Brandon and I just thought it was important to ask, seeing you've done things with Jesse and some of the others," Danny stated. "So you don't have any plans like that with Hayden?" "Not at all," Elliot confirmed. "Hayden has made more than enough comments to let me know he's not interested in anything but girls."

"That may not have been because of anything you did though," Brandon informed him. "It may just have come out because our family has kind of a reputation, since several of us are gay. I think that makes a lot of people try to clear the air about their preference right away, so there's no confusion."

"That's too bad," Elliot confessed, "because Hayden is pretty cute."

"But his being cute isn't the only reason you're friends, is it?" Brandon pressed.

"No, it helps, but he was the one who came up to me first and introduced himself," Elliot explained. "Since then, we've just discovered we like a lot of the same things, like swimming and tennis, and we pretty much like the same music and movies and we both love to read. He likes Shakespeare too and we have both read all the Harry Potter books, plus a lot of other stuff. I have no expectations that we'll be anything other than friends."

Since that was cleared up, they gave Elliot permission to stay over. Elliot then went with Joshie, Jake and me to the basketball game, but he left there with Hayden and his parents. Jesse had opted not to go with us tonight, which he usually does, so I think I'll talk to him about this later, when Elliot's at Hayden's place.

The rest of us had a great time at the game and our school won. Joshie was cheering just as loudly as most of the others there, plus he was doing his own coaching, by yelling at the players to either 'pass' or 'shoot.' I think the people sitting around us were getting a big kick out of Joshie's antics.

After we returned home, I pulled Jesse aside, once Dion and Trey had taken Joshie to get ready for bed. I led Jesse into the family room, where we could be alone – well Jake was in there with us too.

"Jesse, are you certain you're not upset about Elliot staying over with Hayden?" I asked.

"No, not at all," he answered, rather quickly.

"I know you two have been fairly close since he moved in here, so I just wanted to be sure," I followed.

"I know. Elliot and I are friends and we have messed around, but that's it," he responded. "I'm bi, but I don't think I'm romantically attracted to Elliot. He's great to get off with, but I'm not in love with him, if that's what you mean."

"Okay, if you're sure," I stated, since I was now fairly certain he was being honest about his feelings. "It was just when you didn't go with us to the game – and since you usually do, I was just curious."

"I didn't go because I didn't want Elliot to spend his night trying to split his attention between Hayden and me," Jesse explained. "I thought that would be rude of him, since Hayden was just going to the game to meet Elliot."

"Do you think Hayden might be expecting more than just being friends?" I pressed.

"Not from what I can tell," Jesse confirmed. "Elliot hasn't told me anything that would make me think he's interested in Hayden that way or that Hayden was interested in him like that."

"Okay, I just wanted to be certain," I told him, before I let him take off.

I think that night was the first time Jesse had slept alone in weeks and he didn't look very well rested when he came down for breakfast the next morning. Maybe there wasn't a romantic attachment, but I definitely think Jesse had grown accustomed to having a bunkmate.

Jesse also moped around the house for most of the day, since he didn't have Elliot around to do things with. I guess I hadn't realized before how lonely the last of the boys at home would be, after all the others were gone. I guess having Elliot around only helped to highlight this situation, because I soon caught Jesse out in the rec room with Joshie. Jesse was on his knees playing basketball against his nephew and Joshie was whipping his butt. It was fun to watch and both boys seemed to be having a good time, although Joshie was having more fun than Jesse.

Elliot didn't call for a ride home until nearly dinnertime, and then his fathers drove down and picked him up. Elliot was eager to tell us about his time with Hayden and it seems they enjoyed being together. Elliot even said they went out running that morning, which was something he wanted to get back in the habit of doing, and Jesse quickly volunteered to do it with him, if he wanted company. Elliot agreed he would like that, so both boys seemed happy with this new arrangement.

"So what did you do at Hayden's house?" I asked Elliot later, when Jesse and he were in the family room with me.

"Damn, everyone is sure interested in what Hayden and I did," he joked. "First, I had to tell my dads, then I told Jesse and now I'm telling you. I swear we didn't do anything."

"Funny, but that's not what I meant. You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to," I advised him. "I was just curious and wanted you to know that I was interested in what you did. That's all. I'm sorry if I upset you."

"Nah. It's okay. I really don't mind, so here's the short version," Elliot answered. "Last night we just watched a movie and talked after we got to his place. Today, we went out running and then played video games on his Wii. He has the Wii tennis too, so we played that for a long time."

"Sounds as if you had fun," I told him.

"I did," he replied.

"Does Hayden have any siblings?" I wondered.

"No, he's an only child," Elliot replied.

"Do they have a nice house?" I followed.

"It's nice, but kind of small, especially compared to this place." Elliot replied, with a laugh. "They didn't have a spare bedroom and Hayden only has a single bed, so I slept on the floor. He had an air mattress and gave me a sleeping bag to use on it, so it wasn't too bad."

Well, it sounds as if Elliot had a good time, so now we'll just wait and see where this friendship goes from here.

Jesse and Elliot spent the night together again and I could see Jesse was in a much better mood the next morning, now that his buddy was back home. I was wondering how they would be with one another today, but I needn't have worried. They were just like they had been before and no one's feelings had been bruised.

"I'm really glad you have another friend," Jesse told him. "I only have one more year of school after this and then I plan to go to college. Now, I won't have to worry that I'll be leaving you all alone."

"Joshie will still be here, even if I hadn't met Hayden," Elliot responded.

"Yes, but I think Joshie's a little young for you to consider him your friend, even if he is more grown up than most kids his age," Jesse explained.

"True. He is a neat kid, but you're right," Elliot agreed. "I'm glad I have Hayden as a friend now, but I want you to get to know him better too."

"Look, I don't want to interfere or get in the way," Jesse told him.

"You won't," Elliot confirmed. "I've already told Hayden about you and that I wanted you to meet. He's cool with it, so I hope you are too."

"Yeah, if he's willing," Jesse agreed.

"He is," Elliot answered. "After all, you introduced me to a bunch of your friends back at Halloween, so I want you to know my friends too."

I guess that was enough to end the discussion, with perfect understanding.

Since it was Sunday, we also went to church and brunch together, and then we came home and did our own things until dinnertime. After we ate, I confronted the others before they left the table.

"Okay, it's almost February, so I want to get something cleared up," I began. "I want to know if there's any interest in having a Valentine's Day party at the house or not."

There was an immediate silence, as the boys looked at their partners and then at the others. After a minute or so, someone finally spoke up.

"I think Brand and I are thinking of doing something on our own this year," Danny answered first.

"Yes, and I think Dion and I are going to do the same thing," Trey offered. "Joshie's mother said she'd like to have him for Valentine's Day, or even the weekend before, so Dion agreed he would take Joshie down to her parent's place whenever she wanted."

"Okay, what about you guys?" I asked Jesse and Elliot.

"Neither of us has a partner, so I don't think we're interested either," Jesse informed me. "I'm sorry, if that's not what you wanted to hear."

"No, that's fine," I told him. "I just wanted to know what everyone else thought. This way, Jake and I can make some plans too. Do you think we can trust leaving you two home alone for a few hours, while the rest of us go out?"

Jesse looked at Elliot and they both grinned.

"Sure, we won't tear the house down or anything," he agreed.

"Yes, Papa," Elliot chimed in. "I think my dads, Uncle Dion, Uncle Trey, Papa Jake and you should go out and have some fun. You can trust us to be good while you're gone."

"Okay, I'll make sure I fix your dinner before we leave," I advised them. "Just no parties or people over while we're not here, unless you have our permission first."

"Not a problem," Jesse confirmed.

Now that this minor detail had been cleared up, everyone took off.

A couple of days later, Elliot went up to his fathers, to ask them a favor.

"Would it be all right if I invited Hayden to stay over here on Friday night?" he wanted to know.

"Sure, if it's okay with Hayden's parents," Brandon told him, after getting a nod from Danny.

"Great! I want him to meet all of you too, since I know his parents," Elliot told us. "I also want him to get to know Jesse better, because I think we can all be friends."

That sounded interesting and I think we all wondered how that was going to work out. I think we were all looking forward to meeting Hayden and getting to know him better.

The rest of the week went by quickly and on Friday night, Hayden came home with Elliot after school. Hayden was carrying a small duffle and Elliot brought him in to introduce him to me, shortly after they arrived.

"Hayden this is my grandfather," Elliot stated, "and Papa this is my friend, Hayden. He already knows Uncle Dion and Uncle Trey."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Hayden," I told him.

"Thank you, Mr. Currie, and it's nice to meet you too," Hayden replied. "I knew who you were, since you were the Superintendent when I was younger, but I'm glad to meet you now."

"Thank you, that is very nice of you to say," I added.

Hayden was slightly taller than Elliot, with brown hair and brown eyes. Elliot later described Hayden's hair as the color of melted milk chocolate and admitted Hayden's large eyes reminded him of those on Disney's Bambi. Obviously, Elliot thought he was quite handsome and I think we all agreed on that point. He also seemed like a sweet boy, so I was glad Elliot had befriended someone like him.

Once the introduction had been completed, the boys went into the kitchen and grabbed themselves a snack, and then Hayden and Elliot took off with Jesse and disappeared for a while. Since Danny and Brandon weren't home yet, I figured Elliot would introduce Hayden to them once they arrived.

Brandon arrived home about 5:30, but Danny didn't show up until an hour after that. Elliot introduced Hayden to both of his Dad's and we sat down to eat, shortly after Danny arrived. Of course, we gave Danny a chance to clean up and change first.

Normally, Danny and Brandon would ask Elliot about his day over dinner. However, tonight they were asking Hayden most of the questions.

"Hayden, I know you must think it's a little strange that Elliot has two dads," Danny began, as he broached the topic he was worried about with Hayden.

"It's different, but Elliot seems to like it here and I'm sure glad you brought him to live with you," Hayden answered.

I thought he had skillfully answered the question and sidestepped the issue.

"So it doesn't bother you then," Brandon pressed.

"I'm not sure if I could live without my mom, but it's cool," he replied. "Just so you guys know, I'm into girls. I know you're not all gay, but I just thought you might want to know."

I did detect that Hayden seemed to be experiencing some slight discomfort concerning this topic. However, I thought I'd try to clarify something, before we changed topics.

"I hope you don't have a problem staying here then," I mentioned.

Hayden just looked at me and shrugged his shoulders.

"Nah, I'm not worried about anyone hitting on me," he said.

I think it was his effort to joke the topic away.

"Besides, Elliot stayed with me last weekend and wanted me to stay over here tonight, and I didn't have a problem with that," he continued.

I hope he truly doesn't, otherwise this could turn out to be a sticky situation. I don't want any allegations to crop up later, just because he thought something happened when it hadn't.

After we finished eating, the boys asked Danny, Brandon, Jake and I to watch a movie with them in the family room. After we agreed, we allowed them to choose what we would watch and were mildly surprised when they selected the original Saw DVD. After some of the things I'd observed with Elliot, I didn't expect him to select a movie from this genre.

"Hayden said he's never seen this, so I thought it would be a perfect time to correct that situation," Elliot announced.

Maybe his comment meant this was Hayden's idea then, not his. Whichever the case, we all settled in to watch the movie, even though it wasn't exactly the type of movie I was hoping they'd choose. The boys decided to sit or lay on the floor, so they could spread out and we had no problem with this. We merely focused on the flick.

It didn't take long before I noticed that Hayden was kind of squeamish and jumpy when it came to some of the action. When one of the scarier or gorier scenes came on, he would frequently turn away, close his eyes or even jump slightly. It was no wonder he hadn't seen this movie before. It seems he's not really into horror films either.

We were all very good and didn't say anything about how Hayden was reacting – well most of us were good. Elliot, however, would reach over and grab or tap Hayden during some of the more graphic scenes, in an effort to elicit a worse reaction. Then, when Hayden reacted, Elliot would either elbow or punch him in the shoulder for acting like such a baby.

I guess Elliot must have not only dealt with his own squeamishness, but was already aware of how Hayden was going to react as well. This might have been Elliot's attempt to set him up in front of the rest of us. I was glad to see this didn't embarrass Hayden though, but I did overhear him say he would get even with Elliot later.

Once the movie ended, the boys challenged each other on the Wii, so Danny, Brandon, Jake and I left the room. We knew they'd need plenty of space to move around and we didn't want to get in their way, or worse yet, have them challenge us. Therefore, we felt it would be best to let them have a good time on their own.

Later, when the boys tired of playing the Wii, they decided to go upstairs. They went up to Elliot's room, so they could listen to some music, as they talked about the movie. Now that there were no adults around, Elliot let Hayden have it.

"What a chicken you are," Elliot told him. "Bwaak, bwaak, bwaak, bwaak, bwaaaak."

"Hey, my 'rents don't like me to watch stuff like that, so I'm just not used to it. That's all," Hayden explained.

"I know. It's no big deal," Elliot agreed. "It's just that I couldn't let it go without saying something."

This time Hayden punched Elliot in the arm.

"Okay, we're even," Elliot conceded.

"Not by a long-shot," Hayden countered.

The three boys listened to music for a while and Jesse was getting a chance to know Hayden a little better too. After about an hour though, the boys started to get tired and decided it was time to sleep. Once Jesse left to go to his room, Elliot asked Hayden a question.

"We've got lots of empty bedrooms, so I can make up one of those beds or you can sleep in here," he told him.

"You've got a big bed, so I'll just sleep in here with you," Hayden answered.

"You want to sleep in my bed with me?" Elliot asked, just to be sure he understood correctly.

"Yeah, it'll be cool. Just don't try any funny stuff," Hayden joked, as he released a nervous little laugh.

"Do you want some pajamas or did you bring some?" Elliot wanted to know.

"I usually just sleep in my underwear, like we did last weekend," Hayden answered. "That's okay, isn't it?"

"Yes, I just wanted to be sure you wanted to do that, seeing this time we'll be sharing a bed," Elliot confirmed.

Both boys then went to the toilet and brushed their teeth, before they came back into Elliot's room. Once the door was shut, they stripped down to their underwear and hopped into bed together. It didn't take long before they drifted off to sleep.

When I heard about their sleeping arrangement later, I was hoping that Hayden had decided to stay in with Elliot merely because they were friends or he didn't want to have him make up another bed. I was praying it wasn't because he was worried about sleeping alone in a room in our house, for fear that something else might happen.

The next morning, Danny and Brandon asked us to join them, because they were going to take the boys to I.H.O.P. for breakfast. Since it sounded good to us, Jake and I agreed. Dion and Trey had turned down their offer, but I offered to take Joshie with me. I knew he liked the kiddie breakfast there and this would give Dion and Trey some quality time alone, while we were gone. They thanked me for taking Joshie, as we headed out the door.

Hayden ordered the 'all you can eat pancake special' and I think we were all a little surprised by how much he packed away. Elliot had ordered the same thing, but didn't eat nearly as much as Hayden. Jesse also ordered what they had and ended up beating them both. I'm not sure if this was meant to be a competition or not, but if it was then Jesse won.

The rest of us were a little more reserved and leisurely ate our breakfasts. Joshie not only had his own meal, but he also sampled what Jake and I had ordered too. I guess he thought this was the custom, since the last time we came here Lucas and he split two different kiddie breakfasts.

When we got home, Hayden talked to Danny and Brandon for a while, so he could ask them more about what they do for a living and where they went to college. He seemed really interested and it didn't appear that he had an ulterior motive. We also felt he seemed fairly impressed by what they'd told him. Afterward, Hayden admitted that he wanted to be an engineer, like his father, and said he liked math and was pretty good at it. Danny and Brandon told him that was a great goal and they hoped he was able to follow through on it.

Once their discussion ended, the boys spent some time playing games. When Hayden asked to use our phone later, because he thought it was time for him to go home, Danny offered to drive him instead. Hayden told him he didn't need to do that and he'd just call his parents, but Danny told him it was fine. Therefore, Elliot and Hayden rode with Danny to Hayden's house and returned him safely to his parents. Overall, I think his visit went very well.

Danny and Dion came up to speak with me one evening, and I quickly learned they wanted to discuss their plans about Valentine's Day.

"Dad, Danny and I have been talking and we need your help. We can't think of anyplace we can go dancing, after we take our sweethearts out to dinner, at least no place that we won't standout in the crowd," Dion told me. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not locally! Going to any establishments around here you'll take the risk of being stared at or becoming the brunt of derogatory comments," I replied. "I know most people in this area are used to us being with male partners, but there are still enough folks who either don't approve of it or who are merely curious about seeing two guys together, and that's what causes the problems. They will gawk and whisper, if they see you out dancing with each other, or they can get downright rude. Other than that, I don't know what I can tell you."

"I know what you mean and we wanted to try to avoid becoming the center of attention or getting involved in an incident while we're out," Dion agreed. "That would ruin the whole purpose of the evening. Sometimes I wished we lived closer to one of the major cities, where they have gay clubs and things."

I nodded my head in agreement.

"Are you boys going to go out on Monday night then?" I wondered.

"Actually, since Valentine's Day is on Monday, we were thinking we might celebrate it on Saturday instead," Danny answered. "That way we'd avoid the worst crowds and maybe even get to enjoy ourselves a little longer, since we can stay out later that night. It happens that I have Sunday off."

"That's not a bad idea! Jake and I have hinted at doing that as well," I confessed. "It's hard on Jake to go out on a weeknight, seeing he has to get up so early the next morning, so he can go to work."

"I think it would be better for Trey and me too," Dion agreed. "I don't want him having to face his students if he's tired out and then have a terrible day at school. Going out on Saturday would solve that problem. By the way, I've decided to order a half-dozen red roses for him too, so I'll just have them delivered on Saturday and avoid the rush." Dion laughed after saying this.

"That's not a bad idea either," I confirmed. "Look, after listening to what you've been saying, I think I have an idea, if you're interested in hearing it." Both boys nodded their heads.

"I was thinking that I could call our favorite restaurant and see if the small private dining room is available for Saturday the twelfth," I suggested. "If it is, I'll reserve it, so we can all go there for the night. You can also bring some of your music with you, so after we eat we can shut the door and dance with our lovers without bothering anyone else or having them bother us. What do you think?"

"That's a great idea, Dad," Dion nearly shouted.

"I agree and I think I'll order a half-dozen red roses for Brand too," Danny added.

"Do me a favor then. Okay? When you boys are ordering your flowers, order a half-dozen red roses for me to give to Jake too," I concurred. "If you guys will take care of that for me, then I'll make the arrangements with the restaurant."

Both boys agreed, so I think we had tentative plans for our little celebration. I just hope the small dining room is free that evening. If it is, I'll reserve it starting at 8:00 and explain to the owner that we'll need it for the rest of the night.

The next day, I called the restaurant. Fortunately, my timing was good and the room hadn't yet been booked for that particular Saturday evening. I'm glad we thought about this with a couple of weeks still remaining until the big day, otherwise it might have been taken. Now, I can iron out the details with Dion and Danny, so we can surprise our lovers. I'm not worried about the others planning something as well, since they know the three of us are usually the ones that make the arrangements.

Since all of this was taken care of, I went to check and see what the other boys were up to. They've been home from school for about an hour and I haven't heard much from them. After looking in a couple of different places, I found them in the family room with Joshie. They had been playing Wii together, but now the older boys were teaching Joshie how to play some of the other games too. I stood in the doorway for a while and peeked in on their interaction with each other. I enjoyed seeing the older boys working with Joshie and he was certainly reveling in being the center attention.

I eventually slipped away and went back to the kitchen. I'd been puttering around in there for a while, when I suddenly heard Elliot on the piano. He was playing the 'Peanuts Theme' again, so I guess Joshie must have requested he do that. I was really proud of the older pair and how good they've been with Joshie. A few minutes later, Joshie came hurrying into the kitchen.

"Papa, I'm thirsty," he told me, as he strolled up beside me.

"Okay. What would you like? Juice or water?" I asked.

"Apple juice," Joshie replied.

I poured him a glass and he drank part of it down immediately. Then he looked up and started talking again.

"Elliot played the Peanuts song for me," he stated, while smiling at me.

"I thought I heard that," I replied.

"Uh huh and Jesse and Elliot were playing games with me," he continued. "It was fun."

"I'm sure it was," I agreed. "I guess it's nice when the big guys do things with you."

"Uh huh. It's fun when we do that," Joshie agreed. "I'm going back in there with them now. I just told them I was coming out here to get a drink, so they're waiting for me."

"Then you'd better get back in there with them," I confirmed. "Just don't spill your drink."

"I won't, Papa, and thank you for the juice," he stated, as he started toward the family room again.

"You're welcome, little man," I replied, just before he disappeared from sight.

The boys stayed in there until the others came home from work and then we sat down and had dinner together. Danny and Brandon had just finished asking Elliot about his day, when Brandon looked over at Danny and asked him a question.

"Have you planned anything for Valentine's Day yet?" he wanted to know. Danny glanced at me quickly and I gave him a very slight nod.

"Yes, dear. I have," Danny assured him. "We'll be going out to celebrate on Saturday though, not Monday. I don't want you to be yawning and all worn out the next day when you're drilling in someone's mouth."

I heard some snickers from the others after Danny said this.

"Don't worry, I've made plans too," Dion told Trey. "We'll be going out Saturday night as well."

"Can I go too, Daddy?" Joshie asked next.

"No, honey. You'll be spending the weekend with your Mommy," Dion informed him, and Joshie beamed after hearing this.

Since I saw Jake staring at me, I knew he had the same question on his mind, so I decided to reassure him too.

"Same here," I told him. "I guess great minds do think alike. We all made plans for Saturday, so our wonderful, strong, sexy lovers won't be tired out when they go into work the next day."

Jesse and Elliot clutched their throats and made gagging noises, but we ignored their antics.

"Great!" Jake exclaimed. "I'm glad church doesn't start as early as my job. That way I can at least get a little more rest before I have to get up, since I know you're not going to let me sleep through the Sunday service too."

The boys all laughed at Jake's comment.

I think everyone was feeling pretty good about the upcoming holiday now. Jesse and Elliot were also looking forward to it, because they understood they would be on their own for a few hours that evening, while the rest of us celebrated the day for lovers. I knew it didn't bother them at all and Elliot had even asked his fathers if he could have Hayden come over and spend the night with him, while the rest of us were out. Danny said that was fine, as long as Hayden's parents knew they would be home alone for a short time.

I was reading in the living room when Elliot came up to me and asked if we could talk. When I told him we could, he said he wanted to do it somewhere that his dads couldn't hear what we were talking about. This comment made me very curious, so I agreed and followed Elliot up to his room.

"What's up?" I asked, as he shut the door.

"I know Dad Brandon's birthday is next month and I want you to help me plan something special for him," he stated. Now, I understood his need for secrecy.

"Maybe you should ask your other father to help you with this, since I know he will probably want to plan something too," I offered.

"I know he is, because that's how I found out when Dad Brandon's birthday is," Elliot explained. "It's just that I want to do something special for him too. I want to show him how much I appreciate everything he's done for me."

"Okay, I can understand that," I told him. "So what do you need from me?"

"Well, I know that you plan most of the parties and things that go on around here, so I was hoping you could help me do this," Elliot confessed. "I want this to be perfect, but I don't want Dad Danny knowing what I'm doing either. I know you'll help me and not give anything away to them."

"That's very true," I agreed. "If you want this to be a secret, then I won't tell another soul."

"You're going to have to help me do something else too," Elliot told me next.

"Whatever you need," I confirmed.

"You know my dad left me a lot of money when he died," he stated, and I nodded in agreement. "I want to use some of that money to do this, so I'll need you to help me get to it, so my dads won't find out."

"That will be a problem then," I told him. "Only your fathers are authorized to get at that money for you, so I'd need one of them to help pull this off."

"Damn, but I don't want them to know about this until it happens," Elliot whined.

He was looking very distressed at this news, so I tried to think of another option. Eventually, an idea came to me.

"Maybe I can help you with that after all," I offered. "I'm willing to cover the costs for you until after the party, and then you can ask Danny to reimburse me from your account, if that's what you want to do. Would that work for you?"

"Yes, that would be perfect," he agreed. "I know Dad Danny wants to have a party for Dad Brandon on the weekend and he's already swapped days at work so he has it off. Since Dad Brandon's birthday is on Friday, I want to do something for him that night. Do you think that will be all right?"

"I think it would be perfect," I told him.

"Will you tell me how old Dad Brandon is going to be?" he asked next.

"Certainly. He'll be turning twenty-seven this year," I confirmed, after doing the math in my head.

"Damn, I'm fourteen and my dad is only twenty-seven!" Elliot exclaimed. "He must have started fooling around really young then." Elliot laughed after saying this.

"Yes, both of your fathers turn twenty-seven this year," I advised him. "Danny's birthday is May 6th."

"Wow, they were naughty AND precocious," Elliot joked, and I could only agree with his statement.

For the next several minutes, Elliot told me what he wanted to do for Brandon and I offered suggestions and advice, whenever I thought something might be a problem or felt he had overlooked a detail. In the end, we planned to do nearly everything the way Elliot had envisioned and I knew this would not only surprise Brandon, but it would please him as well. This was one truly special kid.

"Well, it looks as if we'll be partying every couple of weeks now," I teased. "First Valentine's Day and then Brandon's birthday."

Even though I tried to convince Elliot that his plans should just be for his two dads and him, he was insistent that all of us living together in the house should come too. Therefore, when helping him make his plans, he wanted to also include Dion, Trey, Joshie, Jesse, Jake and me. This meant he'd be spending a lot more of his money on the party than I considered prudent. Elliot dismissed my objection by insisting that he wanted to do this and he had more than enough money, so it wasn't going to be a problem. The thing was, I knew this was true, but the money was supposed to be for him. However, since he was being so adamant, I stopped trying to convince him to change his mind.

There was still a little over a week left until Valentine's Day, but I didn't have a lot of other things to do, other than what I normally would. During this period, Jesse seemed kind of lost after he came home from school, because Elliot wasn't here with us. Earlier in the week, Hayden had talked Elliot into staying after classes ended, so they could go to the school gym and start getting ready for tennis season. Elliot told me they'd start these sessions by stretching and then jogging for a while first, and then they'd practice serving against the wall in the gymnasium. They'd even volley some after doing that for a while, so they could work on strengthening their forehand and backhand shots. Once they'd finished, they'd shower and then he would call me to give them a ride home. I was glad to do this and happy that he'd found something to do with his best friend, even though Jesse was feeling a little left out.

After seeing Jesse moping around the house again, I decided to sit down and talk to him about this.

"Jesse, what's troubling you?" I asked him.

"I just don't know what to do," he confessed. "Since last October, I've been spending most of my time doing everything with Elliot, so now I feel, I don't know – kind of lost. I mean, he's spending every afternoon practicing tennis with Hayden and soon they'll be practicing and playing with the school team, so this is just gonna keep going."

"Are you jealous of Hayden now?" I asked, point-blank.

"I'm not sure I'd call it jealous," Jesse replied, "but I do miss having Elliot around, so I can do things with him."

"Are we talking sex things?" I asked.

"Nah, we still have time to do that at night, if we feel like it," Jesse confessed. "It's just that we used to do a lot more than that together too, but now he spends most of his time with Hayden."

"So you are jealous," I announced.

"Not in a romantic way," Jesse clarified, "but I guess I am a little jealous that he's spending so much time with Hayden, instead of with me. I know I shouldn't feel that way, but I do."

"I guess I can understand how you're feeling," I confessed, "but Elliot has quite a few interests that you don't share with him and Hayden does. I think that leaves you with two choices. You'll either have to learn to like some of the other things that Elliot does or you have to find someone else to spend your time with when Elliot's doing these other things. If you don't think you could learn to enjoy doing the other things that Elliot likes, then maybe you should try to spend a little more time with one of your other friends, someone whom you have more in common with."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Jesse agreed. "I'm not sure I'd be able to enjoy everything that Elliot does, but I also know that even if I do, I probably wouldn't be able to make the school teams that he'll be on. I just don't see any way to avoid this, so I guess I'm going to continue to miss spending time with him."

"This may turn out to only be a seasonal problem," I offered. "When summer comes, things may change again."

"Maybe, but in this case seasonal means swimming season and tennis season," Jesse suggested. "That's almost the whole school year. I'm sure they'll also be spending time playing more tennis together over the summer too, but at least I'll be able to swim with them in our pool."

"You may be right about that," I agreed, "so it might be best that you have your own friends whom you can do things with when Elliot's not available. I'm afraid you won't be able to rely solely on Elliot for companionship, so it would be best if you had other options or you'll end up driving yourself crazy."

"Yeah, I know you're right, Dad, and thanks," Jesse agreed, before he took off to call one of his buddies.

It seems our little conversation must have helped him work out his problem, at least for now. Over the next few days, Jesse began hanging around with his two friends that had helped him with the Haunted House. Since both Jesse and Elliot were now busy and that problem had been handled, it was time for me to turn my attention back to Valentine's Day. The holiday was nearly here, well at least the day we were going to celebrate it on.

On Friday, Hayden came home with Elliot. His parents had agreed to let him spend the weekend with us, not just the one night, but we soon discovered they had ulterior motives for doing this. According to Hayden, they were going to use this opportunity to spend some time alone and were going to New York City for a romantic weekend together. I'm glad this worked out for them too.

I was worried that Hayden and Elliot would end up ignoring Jesse and just spend their time together, but shortly after Hayden arrived, I noticed Elliot and Hayden were making sure this didn't happen. You see, for the first time in quite a while, Elliot and Hayden hadn't stayed after school and came directly here instead. As soon as they arrived, they asked Jesse if he wanted to go with them for a run. Jesse looked surprised when they asked, but happily agreed, and then I saw the three of them jogging up the street together.

While the boys were gone, Dion and Trey got Joshie ready and packed a few of his things in a small suitcase. Joshie came over to hug and kiss me before he left and seemed excited about doing this. He was going away for the weekend with his mother and maternal grandparents and his enthusiasm meant this wasn't going to be a difficult or emotional parting. Once we'd said our good-byes, Dion and Trey put him in the car and drove way. As they were pulling out of the driveway, Joshie turned around and waved at me. Damn, I sure do love my little man.

When the other boys got back from their run, almost an hour later, they immediately went upstairs to shower and change. It was a good thing we have multiple bathrooms. Everyone was showering alone, because nothing else was going on between them, so this kept it from taking forever. Once they finished and had changed into clean clothes, they came back downstairs. About forty minutes later, we sat down together for dinner.

Once we were all at the table, Danny and Brandon were about to ask the boys what they'd been up to, when Hayden spoke first.

"I just want to thank all of you for letting Elliot invite me over for the weekend," he began. "Not only do I like being here, but it also gave my parents a chance to get away. They know I don't want them hiring someone to stay with me and I don't like being shipped off to stay with another relative or one of their friends when they want to do stuff by themselves, but they won't let me stay alone. I guess they're worried I'm going to have a party or invite a girl over or something. That's why I was glad Elliot invited me to come here this weekend, since I enjoy spending time with him. This way my mom and dad also get to spend the weekend alone and I didn't end up someplace I don't want to be. Thank you for that."

"Hayden, you're welcome to come here any time," Brandon assured him. "We're really happy that Elliot and you have hit it off so well and, as far as we're concerned, you're part of our family now too."

I think Hayden was really pleased with Brandon's response, so he went ahead and started to fill us in on what the three of them had been up to. He stopped after a couple of minutes, so Elliot could jump in and tell us more about what they'd done together. Then Elliot asked Jesse to tell us about one of the other things they'd done, once they got cleaned up after their jog. It was obvious Elliot was making certain that Jesse was being included in on this too.

After dinner, the boys decided they wanted to watch a movie and asked the rest of us to join them.

"Do you know what you're going to watch?" I asked, since that would help me decide if Jake and I were interested in accepting their offer.

"Anything but a horror film," Hayden announced, quite emphatically.

"Yeah, Hayden doesn't really like scary movies," Elliot agreed, without making Hayden look bad. "What if we watch 'Inception'? That's not scary. It's a mystery and should be exciting."

The others readily agreed with his suggestion, so we went in and watched the movie with them. Although I wasn't initially familiar with this flick, it turned out to be a thought provoking film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Leonardo's character had the ability to invade other peoples' dreams and was hired to do something that was really complex and involved. In the end, his success depended on his ability to be able to tell what was part of the dream and what was real.

I think we all enjoyed watching this movie with the boys, but then we left them alone to watch another DVD, while we went to do something else. After all, I still had a few things left to finish, so I would be ready for my big date tomorrow tonight.

I didn't hear a peep from the boys for the rest of the night. I'm not sure what they did after the second movie ended, but they were certainly quiet about doing it, whatever it was. However, that wasn't true about them the following morning.

They made quite a racket when they came bouncing down the stairs, around 8:00. They were all hyper and talking about a bunch of different things, but they were louder than normal as they were doing this. Eventually, they took off and raced down the street again, as they took off to go running before they ate. Their sudden departure left the house peaceful for nearly an hour, until they came bursting back in to the house again. Unbelievably, they were more invigorated now, than when they'd left.

Excitedly, they recounted tales about their jog and told me they had been chased by a dog at one point, until its owner called it back. After telling them I was glad that none of them had been bitten, I suggested they should probably avoid that area in the future. After we finished our conversation, the boys disappeared so they could shower and change, but then they reappeared again, about twenty minutes later. This time, they were quick to inform me they were all starving and wanted something to eat.

After feeding the troops, I went to chat with Dion and Danny. I wanted to make certain that the things they had promised to take care of were all set for tonight. After they assured me they were, I went to spend some more time with Jake.

Shortly after noon, the doorbell rang and Elliot raced to see who was there. After I heard the door open, Elliot spoke briefly with someone, and then I heard the door shut again. A second later, we all heard Elliot call out.

"Dad Brandon, Papa Jake and Uncle Trey, you each just had something delivered for you."

A few moments later, the three who had been summoned were heading into the foyer, where they found three vases, each containing six red roses and a few sprigs of baby's breath. Each vase also had a silver ribbon tied around it, with a card attached, bearing one of their names. Once they realized what this was, they took the vase meant for them, opened the card and then thanked the individual who had sent it. It was really quite nice.

Once we'd received our hugs and kisses from our sweethearts for our thoughtfulness, possibly to Hayden's shock and dismay, the three of them excused themselves for a minute, as they rushed to their rooms. When they returned, each one was carrying a rather large, heart-shaped box containing some very special chocolates. They handed the candy to us, along with a card, hug and a kiss. It was obvious that Danny, Dion and I weren't the only ones who had been planning today together.

After opening our present, each of us enjoyed a chocolate and offered a piece of candy to our lovers. Then, I offered a chocolate to Jesse and Danny offered some candy to both Elliot and Hayden. Unfortunately for Dion, he wasn't able to do this with Joshie, because Joshie wasn't at home.

Now that we had enjoyed a sweet treat, Jake took his vase and set it on the dining room table, where he stated 'it will serve as a lovely centerpiece for all of us to enjoy.' Seeing this, Brandon took his vase into the family room and placed it on top of Elliot's piano. He was careful to ensure it wouldn't leave a water-ring by placing a coaster under it. Brandon thought it would be nice to share his roses with Elliot too, so he selected this very special place of honor for it.

After noticing the other two doing this, Trey took his vase back to the rec room and placed it on a small stand there. He felt by doing this, it would be where Joshie could see it and enjoy it as well, since he spends a great deal of his time on the basketball set. Trey felt by doing this, it was the place where the three of them could best enjoy the roses as a family, while they lasted.

Since we had already exchanged our small gifts and cards, we followed that up by spending some quality time with our lovers. Around 6:00, we stopped what we were doing and started to get ready. Before I did this though, I put dinner in the oven for the boys and made certain it would be finished before we left. I certainly didn't want them to go hungry tonight, while the rest of us were having such a good time.

Once their dinner was cooking, I showered and changed into my suit. When I came out of my room, I called the boys and made certain they took the food out of the oven and placed it on the dining room table. Once they began eating, I rounded up the others and loaded them into the Suburban, so we could leave for the restaurant. Our special night was about to begin.

Once we arrived at the restaurant, we were led back to the small, private dining room I had reserved. The six of us were dressed up in our best suits and ties and I thought we each looked very handsome and dapper, as we followed the maitre d'.

After we were seated, each couple at a separate table within the room, we were given menus. Our drink order was then taken and we took a few minutes to peruse the menus and read the selections, including the specials. During this time, each of us decided what we were in the mood for, as we sipped the cocktails that had been set next to us.

While we were enjoying our drinks, the waiter came in and took our orders. Once he had gone, Dion started to play some of the tunes he had downloaded for this special night. They were all romantic songs and other beautiful melodies that we could slow dance to later, but we enjoyed listening to them now, while we chatted with our partners and waited for our food.

Before long, our meals were delivered and we moved on to the next phase of this wondrous evening. This happened as we savored the culinary delights for the pallet and washed it down with the warming sensations of the alcoholic treats, which had been provided for our pleasure by Bacchus himself.

This fabulous evening was made even more special, due to the fact that we were able to spend the entire time focused solely on the one other person who fulfilled our lives. Yes, we were still aware that the others were in the same room with us, but we only had eyes for our partners. It was a truly magical time, filled with words of love, touches of tenderness and embraces of passion.

Once we finished the last morsels of the scrumptious desserts we'd ordered, we got up and stepped away from the tables, so we could dance with our soul mates. Rhythmically, we swayed to the enchanting tunes that Dion had specifically chosen for this special event. We must have done this for nearly three hours, as the waiter repeatedly moved in and out of the room to take away the dirty dishes or ask if we wished to order another drink. He merely smiled when he saw us embraced in each other's arms, since he was someone who had waited on us before and was well aware of the fact that we were all couples. It was nice to be able to unwind and have fun, without being judged.

As the hour grew late, we agreed the time had come to end this truly enchanting night. We paid the bill and left a sizable tip for our wonderful waiter and then made the return trip home. I did the driving, since I had switched to coffee after dinner and no longer felt the effects of the few drinks I had enjoyed earlier. I had offered to do this, so the others could continue to enjoy their evening however they saw fit.

Upon reaching home, we discovered the boys were still awake and in the family room. They came out to greet us as we entered and eagerly asked if we'd had a good time. After we assured them we had, we bid the boys goodnight and suggested they not stay up too late. They merely smiled and said they wouldn't, as we made our way to our rooms.

I'm certain that each of us revelers tried to be as quiet as we could, while we enjoyed making mad, passionate love with our partners. Even though we understood the boys were probably well aware of what we were up to, we felt it best not to over-stimulate their hormone-driven minds. This was especially true where Hayden was concerned, because we didn't totally comprehend what he thought of the fact that we were happily paired up with another male. He hadn't made a big deal about it up to this point and had even told us he enjoyed being with us, so we didn't want to create a problem where there currently wasn't one. As the old saying goes, we let a sleeping dog lie.

When Hayden came downstairs with Elliot on Sunday morning, I gave him a choice.

"Hayden, do you want to go to church with us, or would you prefer we drop you off at home on the way?" I wondered.

"I know you don't go to the same church my family does," he began, "but I don't mind going with you. Besides, my parents won't be back until later. They said they'd call me on my cell phone when they got in."

"We're fine with having you join us, if that's what you want to do," I assured him. "We also don't eat much before the service, because we like to go out for brunch afterward."

"That's cool, but you guys sure do eat out a lot," Hayden observed.

"Not really," I replied. "We do go out for brunch most Sundays, but last night was a special event. We usually only eat out on special occasions, so I hope you don't get the wrong impression about what we do."

"Nah. It's all cool," he agreed, as he headed upstairs to clean up and put on something appropriate.

After church and brunch, we returned to the house and the boys went back to the rec room and challenged each other at air hockey and table tennis. We had also picked Joshie up before we came back, so he was in the rec room with the others too. He could play air hockey with them, because he had a milk crate to stand on, but he wasn't quite ready for the table tennis. Therefore, he played with his basketball set, when the other boys challenged each other at ping-pong.

Hayden's parents called a few hours later and told him they were stopping by to pick him up on their way through. As soon as he ended the call, he raced upstairs and collected his things, and then he came down and thanked us for letting him spend the weekend with us. We assured him it wasn't a problem and we'd enjoyed his company, but he thanked us again and said he'd had a great time.

His parents also came in to thank us and briefly described their romantic weekend in New York. We told them we were glad they'd had a good time and Hayden was welcome to come back anytime they felt the need to get away again. Before they left, they thanked us one more time and then took their son and went home.

Now that Valentine's Day was behind us, I spent a considerable amount of time with Elliot, as he ironed out the details concerning what he wanted to do for Brandon's birthday. Elliot also wanted to get Brandon a very special present, but he had no idea what that would be, so we spent many hours together as I told him about his father's likes and dislikes. Since I had no idea what he might get Brandon either, I felt this was the best way to help him figure out what Brandon might like.

You see, Elliot was determined to come up with something that would have special meaning for Brandon, while also showing him how much Elliot appreciates everything he has done for him. I wanted to help Elliot think of something, yet I was just as stymied as he was. Yes, I could think of a bunch of things Brandon might like or would enjoy, but they just weren't special enough to Elliot's mind. He didn't feel those suggestions portrayed the correct sentiment or elicited the type of feelings that he was trying to convey.

"Elliot, do you want me to talk to Danny about this?" I wondered. "He may have a better idea of something Brandon might want that would also meet the requirements you have for it."

"No! I don't want him to know either," Elliot demanded. "I want this to be a total surprise for both of them, not just Dad Brandon."

"It isn't Danny's birthday, just Brandon's, so why can't he know?" I asked.

"Because I want them both to be surprised," he asserted. "You may think it's silly, but I want to do something similar for Dad Danny's birthday too. It's just that I want them to be surprised this time, as I try to show them how special they are and how much they mean to me."

"Okay. I get it," I agreed. "Let's start over and we'll see what we can come up with."

This was not an easy task and we spent many hours deliberating on it. I half expected Elliot to get frustrated and give up, but he was absolutely determined. He was a man on a mission and no mere mortal was going to deter him.

This doesn't mean that there weren't moments when something else was able to distract him and one of these distractions was Jesse. Fortunately, these past few nights Elliot and Jesse had been staying together and once they were alone, Jesse found a way to make Elliot temporarily forget his problems, if only for a brief time.

On this particular evening, Jesse could see something was bothering Elliot again, but Elliot wouldn't tell him what it was. Since he didn't have the slightest idea how else he could help, Jesse slowly stripped Elliot out of his clothing and began doing the one thing he knew would make Elliot relax and forget whatever was troubling him.

Tenderly, Jesse let his lips meet Elliot's and Elliot willingly gave himself over to the older boy. As their lips pressed against each other, they attempted to ravenously imbue their love into each other. While their tongues dueled in a joyous and sensual dance, all the tension and concerns began to slowly drain from Elliot's frame.

Gradually, Jesse released his contact with Elliot's mouth, so he could gently begin to nibble and kiss his neck. Elliot was completely giving himself over to his more experienced partner, as he reveled in the overwhelming, delightful sensations Jesse was providing him. Almost imperceptibly, Jesse slid lower and began to run his tongue around Elliot's nipples, and then he nipped at the tiny, protruding nubs, just before he began to suckle on them, like a newborn at its mother's breast.

Elliot was moaning and gyrating on the bed, as the electric impulses of sexual bliss coursed throughout his body. Now, Jesse was running his tongue down Elliot's chest, as he worked his way toward Elliot's navel and traced his path toward Elliot's midsection. Jesse was just above the pubic patch, when he suddenly stopped, stood up and positioned himself at Elliot's feet. Delicately, Jesse grasped Elliot's ankles and lifted his legs, as he moved closer and began to kneel. Elliot almost catapulted off the mattress when he felt Jesse's tongue contact his anal ring and then lovingly, yet persistently, attempted to get Elliot's sphincter to yield.

Elliot's body was trembling in the throes of euphoric bliss, as Jesse drove his tongue in and around the muscular love ring. After spending many minutes of paying devotion to this sensitive area, Jesse worked his way up the perineum and lathed Elliot's scrotum with his tongue. Then, he gingerly rolled Elliot's testicles around in his mouth and then ever so carefully sucked on those watery orbs, just before he reached his final goal.

Elliot's midsection was humping the air as Jesse licked up his erection. Jesse took his time and slowly worked his way up to the crown, and then he slid his mouth over the mushroom head and swallowed the entire length of Elliot's penis. As he began to bob his head up and down, Elliot began thrusting his hips and forcing his engorged shaft in and out of Jesse's gullet. Elliot's hands were resting on Jesse's head and his fingers were sliding through Jesse's hair, as he tried to direct Jesse's effort to match the desire welling up within him.

This rhythmic tango lasted for a few more wonderful and delicious minutes, before Elliot began to feel the rushing tide of his orgasm building within his groin. As the nectar of his youth began to rise up the shaft, Elliot thrust one final time into Jesse's throat and released several blasts of his boy seed. Totally spent, his body collapsed back onto the mattress, as his mind attempted to deal with the powerful sensations and exquisite feelings his orgasm had released.

It took several more minutes for Elliot to recover from this mind-blowing climax and then he looked around to locate the person responsible for making him feel so great. As soon as his eyes came to rest on Jesse's face, he spoke.

"Thank you so much for that," he gushed. "I guess I needed that more tonight than I realized."

"You don't need to thank me," Jesse responded. "We're family and that's what's important. We're there for each other when we need to be and show each other that we will get through every problem as one. That's why family is so special."

For a moment, Elliot remained speechless and just stared at Jesse. His mind was racing at warp speed, as he digested what Jesse had just said. Unexpectedly, Elliot's eyes shot wide open and he sat up on the bed.

"That's it," he screamed.

He then hoped out of the bed and raced out of the room.

I was startled when Elliot came racing into the kitchen. His eyes were wild and his face was beaming, but that wasn't what nearly made me drop the snack I had just fixed for myself.

"I've got it," Elliot told me, nearly breathlessly. "I know what I want to get for Dad Brandon."

"That's great, but did you forget something else," I asked, which caused Elliot to flash me a bewildered look.

"Just look down and you'll figure it out," I advised him.

Elliot did as I asked and then his mouth dropped open and his face turned red. Before anything else was said, I saw Elliot's bare ass flying up the stairs, as he raced back to his room.

"Why didn't you tell me I was naked," he screamed, as he re-entered his room.

"Um, I thought you knew," Jesse told him. "I mean after what we just did it was kind of obvious."

"But why didn't you stop me?" he asked next.

"I just thought you were in a hurry to go to the toilet or you just didn't care," Jesse explained. "I had no idea you were going to run downstairs, but didn't want to do it naked."

After thinking about it for a few seconds, Elliot began to calm down. Then a grin began to form on his lips and he burst out laughing.

"I feel like an idiot, but I guess it wasn't too bad," Elliot admitted, after a few seconds. "It was only Papa and I know he's seen me naked before. They told me he had to help give me baths and assist me going to the toilet when I first came here, along with my dads. Since no one else saw me and he's seen me before, I guess I won't die of embarrassment – this time."

I could hear Jesse laughing upstairs, as Elliot came down the steps again. This time, he had something on.

"Sorry about that," he said, as he approached, "but I was just so excited. I finally know what I want to get Dad Brandon for his birthday."

"Hey, it didn't bother me, if you were okay with it," I assured him. "So what have you come up with?"

Elliot dragged me into the dining room before he would tell me. Then in a hushed tone, so no one else would overhear, he told me what his idea was.

"That is perfect!" I exclaimed. "Brandon will love it and cherish it forever."

Elliot was beaming, after hearing me confirm that he had come up with the ideal present. Now, I had to help him make his wish come true.

Elliot could hardly contain his excitement, as he waited for Friday to arrive. I thought he might even spill the beans accidentally, because he was so eager to see how Brandon was going to react to the gift he had selected for him. I was nervous just watching him, as he attempted to contain his excitement, so I was also relieved when the big day finally arrived. I had been very afraid that Elliot was going to hyperventilate and pass out before he got his chance to reveal his little surprise.

On Friday, Elliot raced into the house after school and quickly got everything ready. Then he went around and told Jesse, Dion and Trey that they needed to get cleaned up and dressed in nice clothes, because we were all going out for dinner. He wanted us all to be ready before the others got home and then he would tell Jake and his dads to do the same thing, once they showed up from work. For the next couple of hours he acted like an expectant father, as he waited for the others to arrive.

Although everyone kept asking what was up, Elliot wouldn't divulge his secret. He would only say that I knew and approved of what he was doing and I merely confirmed his statement, without giving any additional details. Once the others had arrived home, cleaned up and changed, he told them to go out and get in the Suburban, and then I would drive them to their destination. I think the others were getting a big kick out of the mysterious way in which Elliot was acting.

As we pulled into the restaurant, he told us to get out and follow him. Once we were inside, he announced our party to the maitre d' and we were led back to the private dining room again.

"What's going on?" Danny asked, once we were inside.

"This is a birthday party for Dad Brandon," Elliot announced. "Happy Birthday, Dad," he added, as he gave Brandon a tremendous and affectionate embrace.

"But I'm throwing him a birthday party tomorrow," Danny whispered in Elliot's ear.

"I know, but I wanted to do something special for him all by myself," Elliot confirmed.

Elliot then directed us to be seated and announced that we were to order whatever we wanted. The others looked at him quizzically.

"Elliot is throwing this party and paying for the entire thing himself," I told them. "I think you should probably just do what he says."

"But how can he be paying for this?" Danny asked next. "He can't get to his money unless Brandon or I do it for him, and I know I haven't done that. I also doubt he would have asked Brandon to do it either, since this party is for him."

"That's true," I agreed, "so I'm temporarily covering the tab for him, until he gets you to help him with that matter. He was determined to do this and I saw no harm in it, but he didn't want either of you to know what he was up to, because he wanted it to be a surprise."

"It's definitely a surprise," Brandon agreed, "but he shouldn't be spending his money on us. His father left it for his future."

"What this is costing me won't even make a dent in it," Elliot replied, "but no matter how much it costs, I really wanted to do this for you."

Having said that, Danny and Brandon ended their protest and asked Elliot to sit between them. After exchanging hugs with each of them, he sat down and we all looked at our menus.

It was another wonderful meal, which it always is whenever we come here, and after we finished, the waiter reappeared with a birthday cake that Elliot had special ordered. It read, 'Happy Birthday Dad Brandon, from your son.' I know that alone touched his fathers.

"Are we going to sing Happy Birthday to Uncle Brandon?" I heard Joshie ask his father.

"Yes. Just wait and we will," Dion told him.

Joshie was having a hard time waiting for Danny and Brandon to finish their conversation with Elliot, but he managed. Then, the candles were lit on the birthday cake and we began to sing.

After Brandon cut the cake and Elliot brought each of us a piece, he then went back to his seat. Once he was there, he reached inside his pocket and withdrew a small, flat box.

"Happy Birthday, Dad," he announced, as he handed him the gift.

Carefully, Brandon unwrapped the small package and looked inside. Once he saw what was in there, he looked up and spoke.

"A gift certificate. Thank you," he said.

"It's not just any gift certificate," Elliot announced. "This one is special. It's a gift certificate to a photo studio. I've paid for us to have our first family photo taken – just the three of us."

Immediately, Brandon's jaw dropped and his mouth hung open. I could also see there were tears forming in his eyes. As I glanced at Danny, the same thing was happening to him. After a few moments of being totally speechless, Brandon composed himself and thanked his son.

"That is absolutely the best gift you could have given me," he announced. "It will give me something I will cherish forever and remind us of the sad, yet wonderful, day when you came into our lives."

It was truly a thoughtful present, followed by an equally appropriate comment from Brandon, as they shared this joyous moment together. As I stated before, I don't think he could have come up with a more perfect gift, no matter how hard he'd tried.

Before we left the restaurant, each of us thanked Elliot for the fine meal and fantastic party. We also told him he had done a wonderful job planning it and had found the ideal present for his father. Elliot was bursting with pride that he had pulled this off and thrilled by the reaction he had received from his fathers. I don't think this could have been scripted more perfectly or ended any better.

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