Thank you for returning to Aiden’s story. In this chapter, our young hero learns about his uncles and their expectations, while they learn what they have for a foster son.
Thanks to all of you have written already about Aiden and his story so far. Since more than one reader asked, Aiden will be finding new friends soon and will learn new things about himself and other boys he never suspected. The more you learn about Young Master Aiden, the more his amorous adventures will mean.
I love getting email. They are the only salary I receive for writing.
Douglas
Aiden was used to waking up in strange beds. He and his mother had changed apartments once or twice a year as far back as he could remember. In the last two apartments, his bed was the living room couch. He woke up in a juvenile detention center the first couple of days after his mother died until he was moved into foster care with Luke and his wife. Even there, he had to change rooms after a week. And now, where he was once again in a strange bed in a strange room.
After going across the hall to pee, Aiden decided to go downstairs and look out of the window. He had a view of the lake from his bedroom window, but it wasn’t like the view from the picture windows in the big family room. He liked the panoramic vista afforded from the large windows.
Since he didn’t hear anything, he thought his uncles were asleep, so he made his way down the stairs and into the family room still wearing nothing but his tight, white briefs. He sat on the chair that had quickly become his favorite.
The rain was gone and the sky was partly cloudy and much brighter than the last couple of days had been. He remembered his uncles saying that the forecast for the next week was for sunny and warm weather. He hoped his uncles would take him out on the boat or let him go swimming in the pool.
“Well, what do we have here?” came a man’s voice from behind him. Aiden jumped slightly, then turned and saw that it was Uncle Phil. “It seems to be a boy with hardly any clothes on.”
Aiden’s almost naked body turned red from his blond hair to his toenails. “I…I’m sorry…I thought it was early and you guys were asleep and I wanted to see the sun and the lake and…”
Phil stood behind the chair and put his arms around the boy’s chest. His smooth skin felt warm and soft. Phil was surprised to note that the boy’s torso was surprisingly firm for a young boy—there was very little baby fat on him.
“Calm down, son, it’s okay. There is nothing wrong with walking around the house in your underpants if it makes you comfortable.”
“There isn’t? Aren’t you mad? Amy got mad if she saw any of us in our underpants even if we were running across the hall to the bathroom or something. Parker would walk around in his boxers to make her mad sometimes.”
“Women don’t always understand boys.”
“My mom didn’t mind me in my undies as long as I had a T on.”
“Did Parker get in trouble for what he did?”
“Sometimes. Luke would put him on restriction from playing his video games. But he’d do it again anyway. He was really weird.”
Suddenly Aiden thought about the boyfriend his mom had who tried to feel his balls and his thingie. Aiden had been just in his underpants and a t-shirt. The man was wearing boxer shorts. He turned his head to try to see what his Uncle Phil was wearing, but the back of the chair hid him below where his belly button would be if it hadn’t been covered by a red t-shirt.
“Are you wearing underpants?” Aiden asked.
Phil skirted around the honest if not embarrassing answer of no by telling Aiden he was wearing a pair of lounge pants. He let go of the boy and walked around the chair, displaying a pair of loudly checked lounge pants.
“It’s what I like wearing around the house when I want to be comfortable.” This time Phil was lying—he and Larry usually lounged around the house in their underpants or less. They knew that had to change, at least for now, so it was now lounge pants, shirts, and maybe even bathrobes.
“Those are comfortable?” Aiden asked.
“Very.” That was, in fact, the truth. He rather liked the feel and warmth, at least on a cool morning like this one.
“They look ugly to me.”
“It’s nothing wearing a pair of dark glasses won’t fix.”
Aiden looked at Phil with a quizzical look. Then he realized what Phil meant and started to giggle. “You’re funny Uncle Phil. You got funny pants and say funny things.” Aiden got up from the chair. “Can you show me how to work the shower?”
“Let’s go take care of it.”
When they got to the top of the stairs they met Larry. Like Phil, he was wearing lounge pants and a t-shirt.
“Good morning, Uncle Larry,” Aiden said somewhat flatly.
“Good morning, Aiden. Ready for breakfast?” Larry elected to say nothing about Aiden’s state of undress, presuming Phil had probably addressed the issue. He was wondering more about the boy’s lack of animation than he was about the fact he was clad only in his briefs.
“Yeah.”
“What would you like? Sunday breakfast is always special here.”
“Whatever you make is okay, I guess.”
Larry ruffled Aiden’s hair, gave him a smile, and headed up the stairs. Aiden must not be a morning person, he thought. And he is going to have to learn to assert himself when asked to make a choice.
Phil and Aiden walked into the hall bathroom. Phil showed Aiden the temperature controls and the control for the valve between bath mode and shower mode. He opened a cabinet door and pulled out a bath towel. “Towels are in here. We’ll work to make sure you always have fresh ones, but sometimes we fall behind on household stuff once school starts. So let us know if you are down to your last towel.”
“Thank you, Uncle Phil.”
“You turned into kind of a grump when we ran into Uncle Larry. Anything wrong?”
The small boy shrugged his shoulders. “I just don’t know what to do and I get confused.”
“We’ll work on making you the family expert. How does that sound?”
“Okay, I guess.”
“Do you want me to turn on the shower this time or are you cool with how it works now that you see it?”
“Show me this time. Luke or Amy or Parker did the one at the foster home and Mom let me do the shower at home before…before...” Aiden stopped looking even more forlorn than he had going up the stairs.
“Go ahead and say it, Aiden. Hiding things inside isn’t good for you.”
“Luke and Amy said I couldn’t talk about my mother. I did with Marcie once.”
“Marcie was a social worker?”
Aiden nodded. He wanted to get into the shower and be left alone.
“Well, go take your shower, then get dressed and meet us downstairs for breakfast.”
While Larry got ready to prepare fried eggs, hash browns, bacon, and toast he and Phil discussed Aiden and his quickly changing attitudes. They agreed they needed to make sure not to pressure the boy. He was only nine (almost) and very confused about what was happening to him. While his mother did some things well for the boy (such as supply him with books), he still grew up in an unstable environment. It didn’t help him that in his time of need he was sent to a foster home that failed to provide proper guidance and nurturing.
“He has quite a few rough edges. We have our work cut out for us,” Larry admitted.
“When he flashes that smile of his, he becomes such a lovely, beautiful creature,” Phil mused.
“Our job is to make it so we see more smiles and fewer sulky faces.”
“Our job is going to take a lot of love and patience, and it will be worth every minute we put into it.”
Upstairs, Aiden had shed his underpants and was standing under the flow of the shower. Phil had made him feel very grown up by allowing him to take his shower on his own. A couple of his mom’s boyfriends liked helping him with his bath, or his shower when he started taking them. All they did was get his water ready and watch him, but he still didn’t like it.
Carl liked washing him, which Aiden didn’t like. He hated it when Carl washed his privates, which he only did when his mother wasn’t home. That ended when Aiden hit him in his nuts. Aiden smiled when he remembered the time on the couch when he did that. Aiden was happy that his Uncle Phil didn’t wait for him to get naked. He liked it that his uncle left as soon as he finished teaching him about the shower and giving him his towel.
After finishing his shower and drying himself, he wrapped the towel around himself and went across the hall to his room. He pulled a fresh pair of white briefs out of a dresser drawer. He thought about going down in just his underpants to see how they would react, then changed his mind. While he didn’t get in trouble when Uncle Phil saw him in his underpants, he was afraid he might get into trouble this time.
He put on a pair of dark brown cargo shorts, a Seahawks t-shirt, and a pair of white socks, his big toe showing through a hole in the left sock. As he crept down the stairs the smells of breakfast reached him, which started his stomach rumbling. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was.
Aiden snuck into the kitchen as Larry started cooking up the bacon. He stood quietly and watched for a few seconds before Phil noticed his presence.
“You look all spiffied up,” Phil grinned. “If you will run up and grab your towel we can see about doing a better job of drying that thick hair of yours.”
Aiden turned to go, but Larry stopped him. “How do you like your eggs cooked?”
“I dunno, scrambled I guess. Nobody ever asked me.”
“Well, this morning, you can get fried eggs cooked to your specification.”
“To my what?”
“Cooked the way you like them,” Larry explained.
“I don’t know how I like them. Cook them any way you want.” He took off to get his towel, wondering why he had to answer questions about eggs. Didn’t people just cook them?
When he returned Phil did a quick job of drying Aiden’s hair. “I suppose we could make things easy on you and get you your own hair dryer,” Phil said as he folded the towel.
“Right now, a comb would be plenty,” Larry pointed out. “Aiden’s hair looks like an explosion in a mattress factory.”
“That’s what Miss Fenster, my third-grade teacher, liked to say,” Aiden giggled.
“Well, we’ve got to work on keeping it somewhat well-kempt, or getting you a buzz cut.”
“No. No buzz cut. I like my hair long like this.” While Aiden’s hair wasn’t real long, it did touch his ears, and went down close to his collar—and it certainly didn’t like to show much organization.
They sat down at a table in a nook off of the kitchen. There was a view of the backyard and the lake out of one of the picture windows.
“I cooked your eggs over medium,” Larry said. “That’s kind of in the middle as far as egg cooking goes.”
“Do you do all of the cooking?” Aiden asked as Larry set a plate with two eggs, hash browns, and bacon in front of his nephew.
“I have been known to cook breakfast. But your Uncle Phil is the real cook here. He loves to cook and makes some really tasty meals. He trusts me with breakfast, the barbeque grill, and…well…that’s about it.”
Aiden cut into his eggs with his fork. “They’re kinda soft.”
“Does that bother you?”
“No, I’ll try them.”
As the three of them started to work on their breakfast, Phil commented on Aiden’s Seahawks shirt. “Do you like football?” he asked.
“I dunno. Mom’s boyfriends did so it was on TV. Carl really liked it a lot, but I didn’t like Carl. He was really gross. When dad was there he had football on, but he drank a lot and mom said he used drugs that people shouldn’t use.”
“Do you like any sports at all?” Larry asked.
“Baseball is okay. I had this friend when I was in second grade; his name was Robbie. His dad took us to a Mariners game and it was fun. But the Mariners lost. His dad helped teach me some stuff about baseball. It was way better than television.”
“Do you play any sports?”
“Only what we play in PE. I like PE; it’s mostly running around and stuff.”
“Did they play soccer in PE?” Phil asked.
“Yeah, but I kept kicking the ball the wrong way and touching it with my hands. I was bad at it, but I liked chasing the ball and trying to kick it. Sometimes we ended up kicking each other instead of the ball,” Aiden giggled.
“The town park league is having sign-ups for soccer,” Phil told him. “If you’re interested we can get you signed up to play.”
“But I’m no good.”
“Neither is anybody else, so you’ll fit right in. It would be a great way for you to meet other kids and make friends.”
“I don’t like making friends,” Aiden said quietly.
“Why not?”
“Because I never get to keep them very long.” The boy picked at his food for a few seconds, and then went back to eating. In the time-honored way of getting away from an unpleasant topic, Aiden changed the subject. “I liked the eggs.”
“I see you’ve cleaned your plate, so you must have liked them a lot,” Larry said.
Phil and Larry were learning quickly that Aiden needed to be eased into new topics, so they ended the discussion of soccer sign-ups—for the time being.
Aiden was learning things as well. He learned that he was expected to help clear the table after a meal. He didn’t like the idea. But, after some quick instructions, he took the dishes to the kitchen and loaded them in the dishwasher. Phil and Larry took care of the silverware, glasses, and cookware. Those would be part of subsequent lessons.
There was something else Aiden learned about as well when Phil called him into the hall bathroom. “Aiden, why are your underpants on the floor?”
“I guess because I didn’t pick them up?” Aiden’s reply came out as a statement mixed with a question.
“So what do you suppose you should do about it?”
“Am I in trouble?”
“No, you’re not in trouble. You’re learning about what your Uncle Larry and I are going to be expecting of you.”
“Like helping clear the table.” This time his comment was definitely a statement.
“Exactly. And what else?”
“I shouldn’t leave my underpants on the bathroom floor.”
“What should you do with them?”
“Pick them up and put them on my floor.”
“Do what with them?” Phil asked, somewhat aghast.
Aiden flashed one of his sudden, sunny smiles. Phil was learning something else about his young nephew—the boy had a subtle sense of humor, especially for someone so young. Phil ruffled Aiden’s hair while Aiden promised to put his stuff in the hamper in his room.
Phil, Larry, and Aiden met in the family room to plan the day and the week. “Can we go out in the boat?” Aiden asked eagerly.
“It’s supposed to be much warmer tomorrow and Tuesday, which should allow the water to warm up some,” Phil answered. “Then you, me, and Uncle Larry can go out to sea.”
“That’s not a sea, it’s a lake,” Aiden said somewhat officiously. He looked at the straight faces of his two uncles and muttered, “Rats, you knew that.”
“It’s a figure of speech,” Larry told him.
“Like me and my underpants on the floor.”
“Not exactly, but something like that.”
When the plans were finally laid out, it was agreed they would leave within the hour to go to Centralia to shop for food and then to the mall for items Aiden needed.
“What about shopping for my birthday presents?”
“Not to worry, Uncle Phil and I will take care of that before your birthday.”
After they returned home, Phil told Aiden that the pool would be opened for swimming.
“By myself?” Aiden asked.
“No, at least one of us will be with you,” Phil assured him.
“I meant am I going to be the only kid?”
“Why, do you know somebody to invite?”
“Uh uh, I thought maybe you did.”
“Looking for a friend are you?” Larry asked.
“I don’t want to know nobody when school starts. That sucks.”
“I thought you said you didn’t want to make friends.”
“I changed my mind.”
“Gordon Lansing will be at your party on Saturday. I work with his mom and she wants you to feel welcome.”
“Is Gordon my age?”
“He turned nine a month ago.”
“Is he nice or is he a bully?”
“He is very nice.”
“Why can’t he come today?”
Phil smiled and said, “I suppose we can find out, can’t we?”
They discussed what they would do on Thursday, which was Aiden’s birthday. Aiden was excited about going out to the Steak House in Centralia, which was the best restaurant in the county.
“I’ve never been to a really nice restaurant before,” Aiden confessed.
“After Thursday, you’ll never have to say that again,” Larry chuckled.
“Huh? Why not?”
“Because after that it won’t be true.”
“Oh, I get it.” Aiden broke out into another grin, which vanished in a hurry. “I don’t have any swim shorts,” he informed his uncles.
“You’ve never heard of skinny dipping?” Phil asked with a straight face.
“You mean swimming naked?”
“Sure, why not?”
“No way do I go swimming naked, especially if that Gordon kid comes. That is totally stupid.” Aiden quickly wondered if his Uncles were starting to behave the way Luke and Parker had said they would.
“Well, then I guess we’ll have to buy you some swim shorts at the mall.”
Aiden nodded with a smile.
“And we’ll get you plenty of new clothes,” Phil said. “You told us the clothes that are stored for you were pretty old, so we’ll just get you new clothes for school that will fit a growing boy.”
Aiden never liked shopping with his mother, but he felt really good after shopping with his uncles. While shopping at the supermarket had been somewhat boring, he was given some say on what groceries to purchase. But shopping at the mall had been great. He was able to pick out his own clothes and also drop plenty of hints about birthday presents. It had been a good day shopping.
Gordon wasn’t able to come over for swimming, but his mother said he could go boating on the lake on either Monday or Tuesday, which worked for Aiden. He’d still be able to try to make a new friend.
While Aiden had never had swimming lessons, he was able to dog paddle and make his way around the pool. Phil and Larry gave him some basic lessons which their nephew picked up on quickly.
At dinner, they talked about sports. Aiden told them again that he wasn’t interested in soccer. As much as Phil and Larry wanted him to play, they had coached long enough to understand that forcing him to participate would accomplish nothing.
“You cook real good, Uncle Phil,” Aiden told him. “I’m glad you’re our cook.”
“You didn’t like my breakfast?” Larry asked with a hurt look.
“It was good, but dinner is more complicated to cook.” Phil had cooked up meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Phil and Larry both had a good laugh and assured Aiden that there was nothing wrong with his comment.
That night, Aiden was in bed earlier than the time his uncles had set for him—he was a tired little boy. Larry tucked the boy in first, giving him a kiss on the forehead. Aiden was surprised by the kiss, but also enjoyed it.
Only mom kissed me in my old home, he thought, but it’s cool my uncle does it too. He even said the same thing mom said to me. “I love you.” Only mom said, “I love you, sweetheart.” He couldn’t imagine his uncles calling him “sweetheart.”
Phil came in right after Larry left. He and Larry had talked about tucking in Aiden together sometimes, and individually at times as well.
“Want me to read to you?” Phil asked.
“Mom said I was too old to be read to,” Aiden declared.
He didn’t want to dispute the boy’s dead mother, so he told Aiden he was willing to read whenever Aiden wanted it. It was a nice way to spend a few minutes before falling to sleep.
“I’m tired tonight, but I’ll think about it,” Aiden said.
“Fair enough.”
Later, Larry and Phil discussed their nephew after they completed having sex.
“You didn’t scream,” Phil chided Larry.
“That was only because you were gentle, for once,” Larry replied.
“Well, whatever the reason, we got some good relief in and didn’t bother the urchin.”
“Speaking of said urchin,” Larry said. “Our top priority before hitting up the Steak House on Thursday is...”
“…restaurant etiquette,” Phil finished.
“I love how we’re on the same wavelength.”
“Compatibility in bed has a lot to do with it.”
The husbands kissed and quickly fell asleep. Their day had been as long and tiring as Aiden’s had been.