Welcome back. I’m glad that after reading the first chapter you returned to learn more about Aiden. In this chapter, you will learn about the gay, married uncles whom Aiden was going to live with as their foster son.
Phil Miller slowed as the Interstate 5 traffic was reduced to a crawl entering Seattle. While the delay frustrated him, he had figured it into his calculations—traffic always slowed entering Seattle. This time it was the logjam caused by the accident north of Olympia that had him and his husband Larry Sanders running late.
“It’s good that this is Saturday and Troy could fill in for us with Aiden. I’d hate to have had him waiting alone for the extra time until our arrival,” Larry said.
“That’s what I love about you,” Phil told him as he braked for the slowing car ahead of him, “you can always see something good when everything turns to shit.”
“Hey, calm down. We’re late—somebody else had the accident, and I don’t think they got out unscathed.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Well, we’ve almost negotiated our way through town. As soon as we cross the ship canal we can finally get off this piece of crap freeway. Late or not, I am really ready for lunch.”
“It’s getting so we can almost call it dinner,” Larry pointed out.
Phil and Larry had become boyfriends in middle school. They met at the start of sixth grade and by the time they were twelve and in seventh grade they had no doubt where their relationship stood. They spent a lot of time denying it and skirting the commitment of moving from best friends to boyfriends, but once they took the plunge they were all in.
They remained boyfriends through high school, college, graduate school, and into the world of work. By the time they started college, they considered themselves partners. They ended up settling in the small town of Mayfield, where they purchased a house on the shore of Lake Mayfield.
When same-sex marriage became legal, the two men skirted the issue. Larry was worried about how being in a gay marriage would work for a teacher and coach in a small town. Phil, who supervised the county roads department, said it would work just fine. With the persuasion of friends, former players and students, and family, Larry finally came to realize he was worrying needlessly. After all, he and Phil had been living together as a gay couple since they started college twenty years before. Making it legal wasn’t going to change anything and it certainly wouldn’t surprise any of the town’s citizens. There actually was a nice turnout of community members and parents at the wedding. There was also a small group of protesters outside of the church, but they were pointedly ignored.
When they returned from their honeymoon at the beach they went to the post office to pick up their back mail and found a big surprise. One letter was sent certified mail, addressed to Phil, meaning Phil had to sign for it.
What they learned was that Phil’s brother Keegan, an alcoholic and drug addict, had a son, Aiden, whom they didn’t know existed. He was eight years old and had been born out of wedlock. His mother had just died and the state wanted to know if Phil or Troy would be willing to serve as long-term foster parents, since they considered Aiden’s father to be incompetent to be a parent.
Now, after reams of paperwork, interviews with state social workers, meeting with Aiden, and heart-to-heart talks between Phil and Larry as well as between Phil and Troy, the two men were on their way to pick up their foster son. They knew that they were making a change in their lifestyle that would be far greater than their recent marriage—they were taking on the responsibility of another human being. The key was that this was going to be long-term foster care. The two men understood that they could very well be responsible for raising Aiden into adulthood.
Phil followed the directions coming from the car’s navigation system and they were soon driving up to a modest house in Seattle’s Ballard district. Troy opened the door as they walked up to the house. They immediately went to the living room to greet Aiden while Troy went to the back of the house to tell Luke that Aiden’s new foster parents had arrived.
“It’s about time. I’ve heard that gay time is late and later,” Luke groused, even though he was fully aware as to why Phil and Larry were late.
Larry sat next to Aiden on the couch while Phil and Luke exchanged the proper paperwork. Aiden tried to remain indifferent to Larry’s presence, but he found it hard to do as Larry talked gently about lunch, and how long the ride to his new home would take, and about the house he would be living in. Aiden knew about the house on the lake and wanted to act like he didn’t care how nice it was.
Just like when he had his first meeting with his two “uncles”, he found himself liking them. The first time it had been easy to like them, but that was before people started telling him about what gay guys—faggots—were really like. But he thought about the three people who tried touching him “down there” and none of them was gay, or at least he didn’t think they were. To make it harder for him to like his Uncle Larry he simply tuned out whatever it was he was saying.
Aiden had to tune him back in, however, when it was obvious that it was time to leave. He wasn’t surprised that Luke had left the room. He hated Luke and he hated his Uncle Larry and Uncle Phil for being gay and he hated his Uncle Troy for not letting him live at his home.
With all of the business completed, Phil was finally able to start up some small talk with Aiden. “Hi, Aiden,” Phil said. “It’s good to see you again. Are you all set to head for your new home?”
“I’m gonna hate it,” Aiden said bluntly. Phil and Larry could both see that he was in a far different space than the sweet boy they met at the CPS office had been.
“What’s with the tears?” Phil asked.
Aiden’s answer was a barely audible mutter. “I hate you and I hate it here and I hate everybody.”
Phil looked over at Troy, who, with a shake of his head, let Phil know he should just let things ride for now. Phil respected his older brother, who had been a father figure to him as he grew up.
“Things will be just fine, kiddo.” Phil put his arm around Aiden, but removed it when his nephew pushed it away.
Phil, Larry, and Troy picked up the boxes and placed them in the trunk of the Honda. As Phil started to close the trunk, Aiden stopped him and pulled a book out of one of the boxes.
“You can close it now,” Aiden told him. He sat in the back seat.
“I’ll meet you guys at the restaurant,” Troy told them.
Troy walked over to his SUV. He looked over at the front door of the house. He hadn’t bothered to shut it. As the two vehicles pulled away from the curb, everybody but Aiden missed Parker standing at the door flipping them a double bird.
Larry tried to engage Aiden in conversation as Phil drove them to the restaurant. “J.K. Burgers is supposed to be one of the best burger places in Seattle,” Larry told him. “I hope you’re hungry.”
Aiden stared out of the window to his right and said nothing. He wondered how he could find a way to live with his Uncle Troy instead of two guys who were married to each other. He already knew that the kids in whatever new school he went to were going to laugh at him.
“I have to believe that Aiden loves hamburgers,” Phil said pointedly to Larry. “Does he look like a kid who likes hamburgers to you?”
Aiden continued to stare out of the window, only now he was wondering how he got stuck with two men who acted totally stupid. The prepubescent boy was being hit by a small attack of pubescent sullenness. His entire world, such as it was, had been turned upside down, and he didn’t like it—he didn’t like it at all. He decided to change the subject to something that made more sense to him.
“My birthday is next week,” he muttered, his voice barely audible, but loud enough for Larry to pick up.
“Word has it you’re going to be a big nine years old,” Larry said.
“I won’t get to have a party, though.”
“Says who?”
“I never get to have a party,” Aiden went on as if Larry hadn’t asked him anything. “My mom said we were too poor to have birthday parties. But she always went out to one on her birthday and got drunk and made me stay with a baby-sitter.” Aiden wanted his uncles to know how miserable his life was.
“Well, this birthday is going to be different,” Phil informed Aiden as he turned into the University Village shopping complex.
“How do you know? You probably didn’t even know my birthday was next week.” After Aiden spouted his accusation it occurred to him that Larry had just told him he knew he was going to be turning nine.
“We not only know, but we have a party planned. The only thing is, we have to have it on Saturday so your Uncle Troy and Aunt Sue can come with your cousins.”
“But I don’t have any friends.”
“I have a couple of friends who have boys going into fourth grade just like you. What better time to make friends than at a birthday party, especially your own?”
Aiden noticed that Phil was negotiating the ramps of a parking garage. “Will they bring presents?”
“No. We asked that they don’t bring presents.” Even looking into the back seat, Larry could see the wave of disappointment cross Aiden’s face. “But no worries, since your uncles and cousins will make sure you don’t go without presents.” He was pleased to see a wide smile instantly replace the boy’s frown.
After Phil found a parking spot in section C West, he, Larry, and Aiden made their way to the elevator. Larry and Phil had been to the complex only a couple of times and it had been a long time since their last visit.
Wanting to feel needed, Aiden pushed the down button on the elevator. He was stunned when a few seconds later he heard the mooing of a cow. “What was that?” he asked, wide-eyed.
“Sounded like a cow to me,” Larry replied.
“Same here,” Phil agreed.
“That’s dumb. There aren’t any cows in a parking garage,” Aiden insisted.
“Maybe we should check around the other side of the elevator,” Larry suggested. “You never know what you might find grazing in a parking garage.”
The elevator doors opened, but the three of them ignored the invitation to enter and walked around to the other side of the elevator housing. They saw nothing but more cars.
“I knew there wouldn’t be any cows here,” Aiden said smugly.
When they returned to the front of the housing, Aiden pushed the down button again. Just as the elevator arrived, he once again heard the mooing of a cow. He looked up and saw a loudspeaker hanging above the left corner of the housing. “It’s coming from there,” Aiden informed his uncles, pointing up toward the ceiling. “I knew there were no cows in here.”
Two other shoppers had arrived and entered the elevator with the trio. “But why is there a moo when the elevator comes?” Aiden asked as the elevator started down. Before Phil or Larry or the couple on the elevator could say anything his face lit up. “I know, it’s right on that sign. We’re on the C floor and C is for cow, and when the elevator comes, it moos.”
Aiden studied the sign on the elevator wall. The garage had five levels, with E being the top level. Level E was labeled elephant, Level D was donkey, level B was bear, and level A was aardvark. “When the elevator comes to your floor it makes a sound like one of those animals so you know what floor you’re on,” he declared with a look of triumph on his face. “That is way cool.”
After exiting the elevator at ground level, he turned and studied the sign posted next to the elevator door. “Uncle Phil, what is an aaaaaaaah…um…a hardwark?”
“It’s an aardvark,” Phil told him. “Aardvarks are animals that eat ants.”
“I never heard of one of those.” His face became a study in concentration. “What do they sound like?”
“I have no idea,” Phil admitted.
“Do you know, Uncle Larry?”
“Not a clue. Maybe they sound like an animal slurping ants,” Larry speculated.
“That’s what they do? They slurp?”
“Yep, they have long snouts and use their tongues to slurp the ants right off the ground.”
“Maybe the aardvark makes some kind of an ant call so they come out of the ground and he can eat them.”
They stopped for a moment so Phil could get his bearings. “Troy said to go a block to the right after leaving the parking garage, and then turn left up the alley and we should find it.”
University Village was an outdoor shopping complex that had been built up in bits and pieces over the years. It was pedestrian friendly, with narrow streets that kept traffic slow and even narrower alleys that were for pedestrians only. The streets had numerous crosswalks, each one with stop signs so pedestrians didn’t have to worry about moving traffic.
“Uncles?” Aiden asked, using a form of address that would become commonplace.
“Yes, son?” Phil asked. Aiden beamed when he heard Phil address him as son. Maybe my uncles aren’t going to be as bad as I think, he thought. But, the jury was still out and he quickly became wary again.
“Do you think we can get off on all of the floors when we leave?”
“I think the boy wants to hear all of the elevator animals,” Larry grinned.
“Truth be told, I want to stop to hear the aardvark,” Phil confessed, “so we might as well listen to them all.”
Once again, Aiden flashed a smile. His moods had been up and down all day, seemingly changing by the second. It was his brilliant smile that Larry and Phil remembered the most from their interview with him before they agreed to take him on as a foster child.
They found the hamburger restaurant just in time as a new shower started to drop some Puget Sound drizzle on them. Troy was already seated when they entered the restaurant. After joining him they started perusing their menus. The waiter took their drink orders. Troy ordered iced tea, while Larry and Phil asked for lemonade. Aiden ordered a Coke, not realizing at the time that he soon would be drinking more than his fill of lemonade.
“I’m hungry,” Aiden announced.
“You’re a boy, you’re supposed to be hungry,” Phil told him. The three men exchanged a look that said, “You ain’t seen nothing yet—just wait until he hits puberty.”
Aiden ordered the All-American cheeseburger with fries. While they waited, Larry searched aardvarks on his phone and showed some pictures to Aiden. The boy handled his big burger and all but the last few fries.
“How did you get all of that food into that little body?” Troy asked.
“I’m not so little,” Aiden objected. “I’m almost nine—that makes me a big kid.” He flexed his right arm and smiled proudly. “My birthday is Thursday, Uncle Troy. Uncles said you were coming.”
“I am,” Troy said, “and I’m bringing Chase, Logan, and Aunt Sue. I’m also bringing you a present, and I’m bringing your belongings out of storage.”
“You mean all of my games and clothes and books and balls? Everything?” Aiden asked eagerly.
“I’m bringing everything that is in the storeroom.”
“Even my books?” Aiden repeated.
“Especially your books,” Troy assured his nephew.
Aiden’s face fell. “I hope that’s everything. The lady who took me to the foster place said they threw some stuff away. I hope she was lying.”
After they finished lunch they stepped out into the rain, which had increased from a drizzle to a steady rain shower. Aiden gaped at Troy when he reached into a black barrel next to the restaurant’s door and pulled out a large yellow umbrella and quickly opened it.
Aiden pointed at the barrel. “Uncle Troy is taking their umbrella.”
Phil and Larry took out an umbrella as well, opening and raising them to keep the rain off of their heads. “Grab one and keep dry,” Larry instructed Aiden.
“But that’s stealing,” the boy objected. But he took one anyway and then noticed quite a few shoppers walking past them holding yellow umbrellas. When he couldn’t figure out how to open it, Larry bent down to show him the release. Aiden pushed it and his umbrella popped open.
“If you read the writing on the outside of the umbrella you will see that it belongs to University Village for the use of its customers,” Phil pointed out.
“So we’re not stealing them?” Aiden asked as they headed for the garage.
“Nope, they’re for us to use,” Troy replied.
It was then that Aiden noticed more barrels with yellow umbrellas in them. Somehow, he’d missed them on the walk to the restaurant. Sometimes he saw a solo umbrella leaning against the wall of a store that didn’t have a nearby barrel. When they arrived at the garage he saw a barrel next to the elevator doors.
“Which floor are you on?” Troy asked Phil and Larry.
Aiden answered the question, however. “We’re on all of them. We’re getting off at every floor to listen to the animal noises,” he told his uncle enthusiastically.
Troy grinned at his brother and brother-in-law. He could see that the two of them were already figuring out how to communicate with their new foster son.
“Do you know what an aardvark sounds like?” Aiden asked Troy.
“I don’t have a clue,” his uncle answered. “I guess I’ll have to find out right along with you.”
The four of them left their umbrellas in the barrel, then rode the elevator to the E level and got off. After the doors closed, Aiden pushed the down button. Before the doors opened, they heard the trumpet call of an elephant come from the loudspeaker.
Aiden flashed another of his signature grins. Troy, Phil, and Larry all noted how cute the young blond was when he smiled. It was like his eyes lit up and his lightly freckled cheeks took on an extra glow. The elevator took a quick drop to the D level and all four stepped out again.
Once again Aiden pressed the down button. This time the “heehaw” of a braying donkey sounded before the doors opened.
“I don’t know why, but he sounds hungry,” Aiden observed. “I’m glad donkeys don’t eat people or this would be a scary floor.” Phil and Larry were both amused at the active imagination of the young boy.
They passed the C level, since they’d heard the cow, and got off at B. Aiden knew this was the “bear” floor, but his chatter was about what an aardvark sounded like.
“Uncle Larry thinks aardvarks sound like they are slurping ants. But I bet they sound even scarier than bears,” Aiden speculated.
Right then the growl of a bear greeted the opening doors. “Now that is scary,” Aiden said. “I hope he’s not hungry.”
“What if the aardvark sounds like that and is hungry like the donkey?” Phil asked.
“That’s okay, because I’m not an ant,” Aiden grinned.
They stepped out at the A level. Aiden pushed the up button as soon as the doors closed and looked up at the speaker with anticipation. When the sound of the aardvark came over the loudspeaker, Aiden broke out in raucous laughter. The elevator door opened and they stepped back in.
“Slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp,” Aiden said, barely able to control his laughter. “Uncle Larry was right—it goes slurp, slurp, slurp and eats a whole plateful of ants.” By the time they exited the elevator, Aiden’s three uncles were laughing as hard as the boy.
One of the ways Aiden had of shutting out the problems of the world was reading. He was a voracious reader. He had tested at mid-sixth grade level just before he finished third grade. For all of his mother’s faults, she read to him from the time he was an infant and encouraged his love of reading. She and Aiden were regulars in the book sections of Goodwill and other stores that had used books.
He was a bright boy with good genetic lines. His mother had graduated from high school with honors and completed two years of college. His two uncles had advanced degrees. Troy had earned a law degree from the University of Washington and Phil had a masters in civil engineering from Washington State University. Keegan, his father, may have been the brightest of the three brothers, but his life went off in the wrong direction from the time he was a preteen. Drugs and alcohol sank Aiden’s father before he dropped out of high school.
Aiden’s mother, Kammie, didn’t have problems with drugs and alcohol, not that she didn’t get drunk on occasion. Her issue was sex. Aiden got to know a string of boyfriends, none of whom seemed to last more than a few months. Every now and then his father would drop in to whatever apartment they were living in and stay for a while, even if there was a resident boyfriend around.
Kammie died after being hit by a car. She was in a crosswalk, but had hurried across the street to catch a bus. A combination of the driver’s inattention and her being in a rush led to the accident.
After the excitement of lunch with his uncles, Aiden retreated back into himself as he and his two uncles departed Seattle on Interstate 5. He opened up the book he had taken from the trunk and resumed his reading. When he was sent to his foster home, he was very upset he couldn’t take all of his books with him. That, and the anger raging in him at being left alone by the death of his mother, led him to throwing a major tantrum as the state social worker drove him to his temporary foster home.
“You will get all of your books back when you get a long-term foster home,” the young social worker assured him.
“I want them now!” he screamed. He took a deep breath and finally sat quietly in the back seat, sulking and crying. He didn’t believe the social worker—he was certain he would never see his precious books again.
But for now he sat in the back seat, his nose in his book as the scenery sped past the windows of the car. He wanted to know how his friends in the book were doing. If Aiden liked the characters in the book, they became his friends, especially if their life seemed happier than his own. He was always sad when he finished a book and wouldn’t be with his friends for a while. He held on to his books so that he could always return to a favorite and visit with his friends again.
Larry was driving them home for the return trip. Phil turned around to see how his quiet nephew was doing, thinking he had fallen asleep. Instead, he saw the boy buried in a book.
“What are you reading?” Phil’s voice startled Aiden. Phil could see the title from where he sat, but asked the question to initiate some conversation.
Phil’s question came right at an exciting spot in the book. Aiden felt some resentment build up against his uncle, but elected to answer the question rather than sulk. He decided he would have to train his uncles not to disturb him when he was reading. He would give the title and then go back to reading.
“It’s called ‘Hoot’,” the boy answered. “It’s by Carl Hiaasen.” He carefully sounded out the last name, thankful he had a simple name like Miller.
“I’ve read some of his books,” Phil said. “He writes mysteries for adults.”
“Well, this is a mystery for kids. It’s about a guy who is dumping dirty stuff in the water.” Aiden became talkative in spite of himself. “I bet you haven’t read this book.”
“I haven’t, but I bet your Uncle Larry has. He used to teach middle school.”
“I thought he was still a teacher,” Aiden said.
“I am,” Larry told him, “only I teach high school now. And, yes, I have read that book. I liked reading books the kids were reading, especially by good authors like Hiaasen.”
“It’s a whole series of books. There are four of them, but this is the only one I have. I really like it.” Aiden hoped the uncles could tell he was hinting for the rest of them.
“That’s a pretty grown up book for a kid going into fourth grade,” Phil said, knowing it was a mistake as soon as it came out of his mouth. He could see Aiden deflate some at his words.
Fortunately, Larry, who was a bit more skilled at dealing with younger kids, saved him. “I am willing to bet Aiden is a pretty grown-up reader,” he declared.
Aiden smiled and his chest puffed out when he heard Larry’s comment. “My teachers said I was one of the best readers in third grade. This isn’t hard at all.”
“I’d love to read the book when you finish,” Phil told him as he tried to salvage some good from his mistake.
“You want to read a kids’ book?”
“Hey, you think it’s good, Uncle Larry thinks it’s good. I would sure hate to be the only one to miss out on reading a good book like this one.”
“Okay, but you have to give it back to me.”
“I will, I promise.”
Aiden stuck his nose back into his book, effectively ending the conversation. The next time Phil looked back, Aiden was slumped back in the seat, sound asleep.
Phil woke him up after they left the freeway and started on Highway 12 east toward Mayfield. “I thought you’d like to observe the last miles to your new home,” he said once Aiden had shaken himself awake.
“How far away are we?”
“About forty-five minutes.”
“Oh. I was asleep.”
“That you were, and you didn’t snore once.”
Aiden grinned and looked out of the window, watching the rain falling on the farms and forests. He sensed they were close when Larry turned off of the highway and onto a side road. They crossed a bridge that appeared to cross a river and then went past what looked like a park. A lake appeared through the trees, and then the trees were gone and he could see the waters reflecting the gray of the rain-soaked clouds.
Larry turned into the driveway of a large house that sat along the lake. “You live right on the lake?” Aiden asked excitedly. The garage door opened and Larry maneuvered the car into the garage.
“Yep,” Phil told him as he and they exited the car, “just like we told you.”
“I forgot.”
Larry and Phil took the boxes filled with Aiden’s possessions out of the trunk and set them down next to the stairs. They led Aiden up the stairs and into the house.
“Whoa, this place is humungous,” Aiden mused. He started to explore his new environs.
He saw the big picture windows with a view of the road and woods to the other side. When he entered the den, he could see a big deck, a neatly mowed yard, and the lake through the big windows. At the end of the yard he saw a pier with a boat tied up along it.
“Is that your boat?” Aiden asked.
“Yes, it is,” Phil answered.
“Will I be able to ride in it?”
“You know it.”
“When?”
“As soon as the weather turns nice, which should be in a couple of days according to the forecast.” Phil could see Aiden almost dance with excitement.
They showed Aiden his bedroom. It had a big queen size bed, a chest of drawers, nightstand, a desk, and a couple of chairs. The walls were a light blue.
“It’s big, but the walls are all blank.”
“One of your birthday presents will be you picking out what you’d like to hang on your walls. Pretty soon this room will be all about Aiden Miller,” Larry said.
“We can even change the color of the walls,” Phil added.
“The walls are okay. I like blue.”
They went on to tell Aiden he could also pick his own bedding and comforter. He didn’t need curtains for now since the windows had blinds, but that could be a future improvement.
When his boxes were brought to the room, Aiden put his things away. He could tell he needed a place to put his books and would ask for shelves or a bookcase or something for his birthday. He couldn’t wait until Uncle Troy brought the rest of his things.
After he got his room in order he joined his uncles in the den where they were watching baseball on the big screen television. Instead of watching the game he wandered over to a seat by the picture windows and sat down. He looked across the rain-soaked yard to the dock, the boat and the lake. Phil and Larry observed him as he looked out of the window at the falling rain and the wet landscape.
Aiden was lost in his own thoughts. His uncles had been really nice, just like when he had first met them. They were as nice as his Uncle Troy, and Uncle Phil even wanted to read his book.
And then there was the lake where he could go swimming. They had a boat. He would have his own room. Maybe he’d even make a new friend at his birthday party or when school started.
He tossed the friend idea out of his head. Making friends was something he didn’t like to do, because whenever he managed to make a friend, his mom would move.
He didn’t know whether or not he’d be happy here, but for now it was way better than where he’d come from. He decided to ignore what Parker, Tim, and Luke said about his uncles. Those three were a bunch of fucktards anyway, he decided. So far, he liked both of his uncles. He liked the big house, and he liked the big TV screen, and he liked the lake, and the boat, and he stopped thinking for a moment. Something outside had just caught his attention.
He got up out of his seat and looked out of the side window and across the deck to what had caught his attention. He blinked a couple of times, wondering how he could have missed it. There was no doubt about what he was looking at. On top of everything else, he liked the swimming pool.
He stared back out of the window at the empty lake. The rainy, breezy day had driven the boaters indoors. The rain looked like it would never stop. Aiden was different than most nine-year-olds and he knew it. Unlike most of his peers he could sit quietly and think—at least some of the time.
Phil’s voice broke his reverie, just like it had in the car. “Are you ready to go out for pizza?” he asked.
Aiden grinned. He decided that no matter what the fucktards told him, so far he liked his new home and was willing to give his uncles a chance.