The Mayfield Episodes

EPISODE 23

TOPS AND BOTTOMS (PART 3)

 

<Aiden and Chase>

 

Aiden, Nolan, and Larry arrived in Seattle on time on the Amtrak Cascades. They had taken the midafternoon departure out of Centralia. This was a Marty trip; they were going to be attending all three games of the weekend Mariner series against the Athletics at T-Mobile Park. Since his call-up from Tacoma, Marty had been starting at third base on a regular basis and Aiden felt confident that he would see Marty play in all three games.

 

They saw Troy when they entered the station. He had gotten off work in time to pick them up. He had told Larry he wasn’t sure how long he would have to work, but since he was in court he should be out on time. If he ended up being late, they could either wait for him in the station or take the bus to Magnolia Village where Sue would meet them. Plan B wasn’t necessary, and he was waiting for them with a big smile.

 

When they arrived at Troy’s house, Logan and Chase rushed out the door to meet them. Hugs were exchanged all around and they entered the house.

 

Aiden saw Eddie and Curt waiting at the door. They were smiling and standing very close to each other. Aiden wondered if the relationship between Eddie and Curt was beyond just being foster brothers.

 

Sue greeted everyone and told them to wash up. Dinner was on the table and ready to be eaten. The dinner table seated eight when the leaf was placed in the middle and there were nine of them ready for the steaming spaghetti dinner. In a switch from normal protocol, the boys were seated at the main dining room table while the adults sat in the breakfast room.

 

The topics at the boys’ dinner table were the trip to Montana Aiden and Nolan took, the upcoming series between the Mariners and Athletics, and how Eddie and Curt had become part of the Miller family.

 

Eddie also talked about his academic camp at Western Washington University. “The counselors said I was smart enough to be an honor roll student if I make it a goal and work hard at it. I was always happy if I got a C, but now my goal for every class is going to be to get a B or an A, even in math which I suck at.”

 

This did not sound like the Ed Shaffer Aiden knew. Eddie’s goal was usually to do as little as possible, to find out who he could bully, and to find ways to get wasted. And here he was talking about working to make the honor roll, which would mean getting at least a 3.2 grade point average.

 

The real excitement was talking about the upcoming baseball series. The Mariners and the Athletics were battling for first place in the American League West Division. The A’s were two games ahead of the Mariners going into their Thursday games; the Mariners had an off-day and the A’s were playing the Texas Rangers at home.

 

“I can’t believe the seats Marty got for us,” Aiden gushed. “We have four seats in the players’ section for all three games.” The players’ section was the seats in the first deck near the field where players’ friends and families sat. Each player received two tickets per game, but they often traded tickets with each other depending on how many each one needed for a game.

 

The adults had put the six boys in charge of dividing up the seats. Those not sitting in the players’ section would be sitting in seats purchased in the Terrace Club, which was in the second deck. Nolan and Aiden would be sitting with Larry and Phil on Friday. Phil was taking Friday afternoon off work and would be taking the midafternoon train to Seattle. Marty had finagled six seats for Saturday. The six boys would be sitting together under the watchful eye of Marty’s husband, Rich. They were back to four seats for Sunday. Aiden would sit in one of them. Chase and Eddie picked the right numbers for two others and Troy picked the right number for the fourth seat. Nobody begrudged Aiden his seat for all three games; they all understood that the relationship between Aiden and Marty was the reason they had seats in that section.

 

After dessert, Troy took Larry on a tour of the remodeled house. The guest room now belonged to Curt, the empty room above the garage belonged to Eddie, and the basement games area had become a guest room, at least temporarily. Sue had her work room back, unless it was decided to turn it into the permanent guest room.

 

“Where are the boys going to create their mischief with the basement closed off?” Larry asked.

 

“The entire upstairs now belongs to them. I think they have plenty of space to create trouble,” Troy chuckled.

 

“You’re doing a great job with all four boys, your own as well as the foster kids. Eddie was a champion troublemaker in Mayfield, and he hadn’t even hit puberty yet. Just looking at him, I can’t believe he’s the same kid. And Curt appears to be a first-rate kid.”

 

“I can’t say enough about what Eddie is doing,” Troy said. “I think that for the first time he feels safe, secure, and loved and wants to keep what he’s found. There will be some backsliding because he’s still a young kid who’s going to screw up at times, but I think he’s willing to work hard and to learn from his mistakes. As for Curt, he’s a doll. But there are storm clouds roiling around him.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“His uncle, who signed all of the documents giving up his guardianship in return for no child abuse charges being filed, suddenly petitioned to reinstate his guardianship.  In a nutshell, he learned what Curt’s inheritance looks like.”

 

“I assume you’re going to get to work fighting it.”

 

“When the entire foster parent process was started, I hired a good family attorney. Ironically, it’s the same lawyer Keegan hired and hated and then discovered that the guy had his shit together. The guy really knows his stuff and I think Uncle Greedymotherfucker will be backing down before Curt gets any hint of an incoming storm. I think those abuse charges might be reinstated if he doesn’t withdraw his petition.”

 

There was another discussion going on in Eddie’s upstairs bedroom. After dessert, Eddie had told Aiden he wanted to talk to him in private and now Aiden was sitting on Eddie’s bed while Eddie sat at his desk chair.

 

“I want to apologize to you one more time,” Eddie said. “I’m sorry I treated you like shit,” Eddie said. “Dad says I need to make what he calls amends to people and he had me make a list of who I need to talk to. I know I’ve made them to you, but I guess I want to be sure you know how I feel.  I guess what I want to say is I’m gonna try hard to be a good foster cousin and if I fuck up for you to tell me.”

 

“What I’ve been learning is that amends aren’t saying you’re sorry, amends are changes, like an amendment,” Aiden responded. “So, the best way to make amends is to work hard to be a better person.” That topic just happened to be what was discussed in his Tuesday Fourth Dimension meeting.

 

“That’s what Dad said.” Aiden thought it was weird to hear Eddie call Uncle Troy his dad, but he had to accept the fact that it was how things were now. “I’ve been trying hard with Darnell,” Eddie went on, “and I think me and him have kind of become friends. If I ever go back to Mayfield, I have a lot of those amends things to do, and your friend Mason is right at the top.”

 

If Eddie can become friends with Darnell, then he has improved big time, Aiden thought. He also remembered how mean Eddie had been to Mason and hoped Eddie could make amends to Mason soon.

 

“I really like it here,” Eddie admitted. “I don’t want to fuck it up. Chase and Logan are awesome brothers and Curt is, well, Curt is the best friend I’ve ever had in my life. And Mom and Dad treat me fair.”

 

Eddie thought about telling Aiden about the shit he had done as a street kid then decided it wasn’t the right time. He wasn’t sure that Aiden had totally accepted his amends. He needed to feel a lot closer to him before he confessed what he had done in that life; and he might never confess it to him at all.

 

The Rangers-A’s game was on television and the boys decided to watch it. Chase asked his parents if he and the other boys could get comfortable. As soon as they said yes, they stripped off their pants and settled in to watch the game wearing just socks, t-shirts, and underpants. Sue, who had become much more tolerant of the foibles of tween and teen boys now that she had a quartet of them to deal with, cooked up some popcorn and soon the boys were eating popcorn and drinking soda.

 

Just after the third inning started, Aiden received a phone call from Marty. He told Marty yet again how happy everyone was to get the seats and thanked him, as did everyone in the room. Marty let Aiden know where to meet him before the game and said he would let Coach Larry know about the special field visit for Saturday. Aiden told Marty to kick ass, they both yelled, “Go Rangers!”, and Aiden handed the phone over to Larry who carried it out of the room to have his own chat with his one-time star player and his current friend.

 

During the game the boys cheered loudly for the Rangers. They also played musical chairs, switching off on partners for varying reasons. Aiden and Nolan started the game sitting together on the couch. Chase wasn’t surprised to see them openly holding hands while Logan found it interesting. Eddie and Curt were surprised, not by the fact they were holding hands but that they were so open about it. Curt reached his hand toward Eddie and was pleased when Eddie took his hand and held it.

 

During the commercial break between the third and fourth innings Chase moved onto the couch next to Aiden. Nolan gave Aiden a knowing grin and he slid down to the floor where he lay prone next to Logan.

 

“If you want to do it on this trip, tonight’s the best time,” Chase told Aiden quietly.  

 

Aiden knew what Chase was referring to and agreed with what Chase said. “Yeah, I’m cool with it. I told you I’d do it.”

 

“Hey, cuz, you don’t have to do it. You never have to do it. You do it only if you really want to.”  The conversation was a talk Aiden had had with Chase some months before where he had asked him questions about anal sex so he would know what to do and what to expect when he and Nolan did it for the first time. Since then Aiden and Nolan had taken each other’s cherries. The agreed on price had been Aiden letting Chase fuck him and Chase was now prepared to fulfill his part of the bargain if Aiden was ready.

 

“But we made a deal,” Aiden pointed out.

 

“I learned something interesting from my mom, of all people. And yeah, she’s your aunt. What she said is saying yes isn’t good enough when it comes to sex and touching. You have to be able to see that the person really, really, truly wants to do it, and if the person isn’t excited about it, then he isn’t saying yes.”

 

“I want to do it. You’re my cousin and you’ve taught me a lot about sex and other stuff. You and me have done all kinds of sex stuff together and I want us to do this. Nolan is good with it, I’m good with it. Just because I’m not jumping up and down doesn’t mean I don’t want to really, really, truly want to do it and do it tonight.”

 

“I sense the word but, with one t, here.”

 

Aiden nodded to Eddie and Curt, who were squeezed together on the easy chair holding hands, with Curt’s head leaning on Eddie’s shoulder. “What about them?”

 

“Trust me, those two know what to do in bed.” Aiden and Chase looked down at Nolan and Logan. Nolan had slipped his hand inside of Logan’s briefs and was gently rubbing his left butt cheek, his hand very close to the younger boy’s crack. “And I think those two will do fine in bed together tonight.”

 

“Logan told us you took his cherry a couple of weeks ago,” Aiden stated.  

 

“I figured he told you as soon as Nolan asked me if I was cool with him getting serious with Logan if Logan wanted to do it and I said fuck yeah, since you and me are going to do it. Besides, it’s Logan’s decision not mine, and if anybody ever made Logan do something, he’d have to answer to me.”

 

“Okay, cuz, this sounds to me like we’re gonna do it,” Aiden grinned.

 

By the time the Rangers finished a 6-3 win over the Athletics the boys were ready for bed. Since the Mariners had the day off, they gained a half-game on the A’s and were now one-and-a-half games back.

 

Aiden and Chase undressed and climbed into Chase’s bed. They kissed and then licked each other’s cocks a bit to help key each other up. Aiden enjoyed running his fingers through the small patch of pubic hair above his fourteen-year-old cousin’s five plus inches. When the time came, Aiden was ready. What Aiden received was a fuck that was harder and deeper than what Nolan gave him, mostly because of Chase’s size and experience, but it lacked the psychic connection he received from Nolan when he and his boyfriend made love. Still, it was a great sexual experience and Aiden was happy he agreed to do it. Chase, who had fucked three bottoms (Hatcher, Dillon, and Logan) prior to Aiden, thought Aiden’s little ass was as hot and tight as any of the three. He enjoyed the experience as well; his younger cousin had been a good pupil.

 

Nolan became the second boy to fuck Logan and Logan became the second boy to be fucked by Nolan. They kissed and stroked and licked and rubbed and finally Nolan ran his dick up Logan’s ass and then Logan returned the favor.  The two tweens both thought it was great sex.

 

And while the Miller brothers were busy fucking, Eddie hammered Curt’s ass, each of them telling each other that they thought it was the best sex they ever had.

 

<Aiden and Nolan>

 

Aiden may have slept with Chase on Friday night, but he ended up showering with Logan. He also ended up playing around with his cousin’s little boner in the shower and sucking him to a dry orgasm after they finished their shower.

 

Chase and Nolan entered the bathroom after the shower went off and the two boys hadn’t come out. When they saw Aiden on his knees with Logan’s cocklet in his mouth they couldn’t help but laugh. Before Aiden and Logan could react, Logan had a reaction of his own, having a dry cum at the same time he wanted to die of embarrassment.

 

“Well, Nolan, I guess we get to mess around with each other for the first time,” Chase laughed.

 

“Quit laughing at me,” Logan growled.

 

“Hey, bro, I’m laughing with you. That could have worked just the opposite—you could’ve caught me. Tell me the truth, bro, did it feel good?”

 

Logan’s shy grin answered the question. Logan left the bathroom for his room and Aiden went to Chase’s room. After they left, Nolan’s mouth enveloped Chase’s hard cock and he got to taste thick cream of teen cum for the first time. He later told Aiden he couldn’t wait until they got old enough to cum like that.

 

Troy had to work but Susan, who worked part time, had the day off. When asked what kind of activity the boys wanted to do during the day, they chose riding a Washington State ferry to Bremerton and back. Aiden, Nolan, Curt, and Eddie had never taken the ferry across Puget Sound, while Chase and Logan were veterans and made their experience known. The day was warm and sunny, and the boys stayed out on deck facing west for the thirty-five-minute ride. They faced east, looking at the Seattle skyline for the ride east.

 

After the ferry ride they enjoyed lunch on the waterfront and then rode the big Ferris wheel. Susan and the boys met Phil at King Street Station. They walked to T-Mobile Park, where Troy was waiting for them at the big black baseball glove sculpture outside the left field gate. From there they walked to the home plate gate, where they admired the Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez statues before entering the ballpark.

 

“I can’t wait until tomorrow when we get to go out on the field,” Aiden said as he, Nolan, and his dads took their seats. Marty had set up early entry to the ballpark and an escorted tour of the field for the group.

 

Phil, Larry, Aiden, and Nolan went down to the front row where a couple of players were standing on the field signing autographs for kids in the stands. Marty was one of them, since he wanted to see the four of them. Hugs were impossible, but fist bumps and chatter made up for that. A couple of kids looked at Nolan and Aiden with envy when they realized the two were friends with Marty Carlson.

 

Their conference was short, and Aiden and his group were soon in their seats. The A’s were starting Jeff Fuller, who was their ace. Vance Edison was starting for the Mariners, who wouldn’t be starting their ace until Sunday.

 

Marty started at third base and batted seventh. He got a giant cheer from two sets of seats when the starters were introduced. The scoreboard showed Marty hitting .266 with three Home Runs and eight Runs Batted In 16 games.

 

When Marty was announced for his first ever at-bat at T-Mobile, many of the Mariner fans, particularly two blue-eyed blonds, one named Rich and the other named Aiden, came to their feet and offered a round of applause to welcome the young third baseman to the big leagues and to his home park.

 

As Marty approached the batter's box, the plate umpire called time, took out his whisk broom and swept off the plate. Knowledgeable teammates and baseball fans knew that the plate did not need sweeping—he was simply giving Marty a few seconds to enjoy the recognition being given to him and soak it up. As he stepped into the batter's box, the young rookie and the veteran umpire exchanged nods.  It was a brief, easily missed moment but one of those little traditions that makes baseball the great sport that it is.

 

Aiden had his scorebook, of course, and his boy soprano voice was well-oiled for maximum screaming and cheering. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to cheer about. Fuller was on his game, giving up only three hits over eight scoreless innings. A’s closer Adam Kingery struck out the side on fourteen pitches to preserve a 3-0 win for the Athletics. Marty went oh-for-three with two strikeouts against one of the top pitchers in the American League.

 

Aiden was sad about the outcome. Marty had been blanked and the M’s dropped to two-and-a-half games behind the A’s in the AL West.

 

“Don’t forget that Marty made one hell of a play at third in the seventh,” Larry reminded Aiden who moped all the way back to Troy’s house. "There aren't many things in sports more beautiful than a skillfully executed around-the-horn double play."

 

“Yeah, it was a great play,” Aiden grinned. Marty had made a diving stop to his right near the foul line, jumped to his feet and fired a bullet to second base for the first out. Pablo Gomez, the second baseman, made a perfect pivot and just nipped the batter-runner at first to complete the double play.

 

That night the boys switched partners. Aiden slept with Logan and, with Nolan’s okay, became the third boy to deposit his sperm in the eleven-year-old’s butt. As Aiden fucked his cousin’s tight little ass, Logan thought this was the best of the three because…well…because Aiden was Aiden which meant he was special.

 

Eddie slept with Chase in Chase’s bed. They found their release through mutual masturbation. While they agreed they would like to try fucking in the future, they wanted to do it on a night where they weren’t dead tired and could spend a lot of time making out before doing the deed. Eddie didn’t want his sex with Chase to be like it had been with Peter—slam, bam, and  thanks for the fuck, kid.

 

Nolan slept with Curt. Like the other four boys, they were physically tired but mentally hyped. Nolan dry humped Curt and spewed his seed on Curt’s belly. Curt quickly followed with his own orgasm within a couple of minutes when Nolan masturbated him to completion. It was quick, enjoyable, and for sex between two normally randy boys, surprisingly chaste, but a step above jerking off.

 

 

The pairs that slept together, showered together. There was mutual washing along with some touching and groping, but the boys were thinking more about pancakes than about cocks and balls. One slight exception happened with Eddie and Chase as they showered together for the first time.

 

“Have you ever peed in the shower?” Chase asked Eddie when they stepped into the shower; they were the last pair to do so.

 

“Sure, lots of times,” the twelve-year-old replied.

 

“With somebody?”

 

Eddie frowned at Chase. “No way. Why, have you?”

 

“Yeah. It can be kind of sexy sometimes.”

 

Eddie’s dick started to stir as the sheer nastiness of the act sounded appealing in a perverse sort of way. Even though he enjoyed sex with Curt and had jerked off with Chase, his sex life in his new home was calm and orderly compared to what it had been since he was ten. He knew Logan was not real sure of him yet, so he had yet to mess around with the youngest of the group.

 

“Really? Peeing is sexy?” Eddie asked, his nearly four-inch boy cock beginning to rise. He suddenly surprised Chase by letting loose a steam of pee on the teen’s chest and belly. “You mean like this?”

 

“Yeah, exactly,” Chase grinned as he let loose with a much bigger stream on Eddie. Chase had been holding his just in case Eddie agreed to try peeing on each other. His urine covered Eddie’s chest, belly, and crotch.

 

When Chase finished, he saw that Eddie was rock hard. “That was kinda cool,” Eddie said while following Chase’s lead by rubbing his wet, stinky chest and belly before stepping under the shower stream. “I’d do it again with you any time.” And that was how Chase discovered a kindred spirit in his new foster brother.

 

After the underwear clad boys laid waste to a few stacks of pancakes, they helped with kitchen cleanup and straightening the house. Troy and Susan then took them to the Woodland Park Zoo, where they spent an enjoyable three hours.

 

They arrived at T-Mobile in plenty of time for their personal tour. The boys, as well as Troy and Sue, were able to see batting practice at field level, talk to some of the players, take pictures, and get autographs. Marty took Aiden and Nolan to meet Mariner manager Scott Pierce.

 

“Sorry I can’t take all of you guys,” Marty apologized, “but I was asked to bring just two boys inside the team area.” The boys already knew this would be the case and said they understood. Nolan and Aiden had made their apologies before the group had even arrived at the ballpark.

 

The manager was generous with his time. He talked some Mariner baseball and asked the boys about their youth baseball careers. Pierce embarrassed Marty by praising him as a good role model and presented each boy with a bat autographed by the team. Before they left, Aiden and Nolan thanked Scott profusely and thanked Marty even more. They traded hugs with Marty and were escorted back to the field by a clubhouse attendant. He told them if they gave him their bats, they could pick them up at customer service after the game.

 

They also found out their friends had been well cared for. They had received a personal visit from the Mariner Moose complete with autographed pictures of the Moose. They had one last surprise when they were stopped at the exit from the field by none other than the Moose. He posed for a picture with all six boys; they were told copies of the picture would be mailed to them.

 

The game was an exciting one. The six boys sat together. Larry, Phil, Troy, and Susan sat together four sections away. Aiden was well aware of the presence of Marty’s husband, Rich, two rows behind them and made sure the other five boys were aware as well. It didn’t matter, though, because their behavior would have been exemplary even without Rich nearby.

 

The six boys started their screeching for Marty when the opening lineup was read over the PA and posted on the giant scoreboard. Marty was batting sixth and received a lot of extra noise when his name was announced. He could hear it even in the crowd of 41,118.

 

The A’s scored a run in the first and were ahead 1-0 when Marty made his first plate appearance in the bottom of the second. Wade Whalen singled to lead off the inning. Marty, who was hitting sixth that game, was the next batter. Wade didn’t care much for Marty, but it wasn’t personal since Wade didn’t care much for most of his teammates. He was considered a clubhouse cancer by management.  

 

Wade Whalen’s feelings for Marty made no difference to Marty. Marty was a professional ballplayer and his job when he came to the plate was to hit the ball and not worry about the fact the runner on base was an asshole. With a 2-2 count on him, Marty did his job and launched the ball into the bullpen in left field, giving him his fourth home run of the season and giving the team a 2-1 lead. The six boys sitting in the players’ section went berserk with excitement. By now, Curt and Eddie had become die-hard Mariner fans and members of the Marty Carlson fan club. Marty knew where the boys were sitting and gave them a wave as he stepped down into the dugout. It was his first home run at T-Mobile and he received many high fives and butt pats from his teammates. The ball would be retrieved and given to Marty for his trophy case.

 

When Marty came up in the fourth inning, he hit the ball hard but right at the shortstop who snagged it for the second out. The inning ended when Ben Jeffers, the catcher, flied out to left.

 

Marty’s next at bat came in the bottom of the sixth with two outs and nobody on base. The score was 4-3, but the first pitch to Marty ended up sailing over the fence in left-center field to tie the score. The six boys were beside themselves with joy.

 

After the inning ended the lady behind them touched Aiden’s shoulder. “It sure is wonderful how our star rookie has such a wonderful group of boys cheering for him. Since you’re sitting in the player’s section, you all obviously know him from somewhere.”

 

“I live in the same town Marty grew up in,” Aiden told her. “My pop was his high school baseball coach.” Nobody bothered to add that Aiden was the only boy of the six who actually lived in Mayfield.

 

“That is so nice. My husband, Jerry, Jerry Andrews, loves Marty. He thinks he’s been a real plus to the ballclub. You picked a good role model.” Aiden knew that Jerry Andrews was considered the ace of the Mariner staff and would be starting the Sunday afternoon game.

 

“He sure has been a plus today,” Chase said. Chase and the boys didn’t know that the biggest plus was yet to come.

 

That plus came in the bottom of the ninth with the Athletics sitting on a 5-4 lead. Adam Kingery, the A’s closer, entered the game to protect the lead. He had struck out all three batters he had faced in the ninth inning the night before and his 38 saves were second in the American League.

 

Centerfielder Aaron Lister led off the inning with a line-drive single to left, putting the tying run on base. That brought up first baseman Thomas Adams, the number three hitter in the lineup, who walked on five pitches. Now the Mariners had the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on first. Adams was a big, powerful hitter, but was not blessed with a lot of foot speed. Manager Scott Pierce sent Ryan Hollister in to pinch run for Adams.

 

That brought up Wade Whalen, the number five hitter, who struck out swinging. Now the number six hitter in the lineup was coming to the plate and that was Marty. The entire crowd was on its feet yelling and clapping and stomping, but none of them were as loud and enthusiastic as the six boys on the first base side of the lower seating area.

 

The A’s closer’s first pitch was a high and tight fastball, brushing Marty away from the plate. The savvy closer was trying to intimidate the rookie third baseman. Adams missed with a low fastball and the count was 2-0. The next pitch was a fat one and Marty clobbered it with everyone screaming at the ball to get out of the park. That didn’t happen, but the ball was hit hard into the left-centerfield gap and struck the bottom of the fence. The third base coach waved Lister home and Hollister, who was the fastest player on the team, was being waved in right behind him.

 

Lister scored standing up to tie the score. The throw from the left fielder came to the catcher on one bounce but was a little offline. The catcher had to reach to his right for the ball and then turn to his left to tag Hollister, who was sliding into home feet first. The catcher slapped the tag on Hollister’s left thigh. The umpire saw that Hollister’s right foot had touched the plate before the tag and signaled safe. Marty had his first career walk-off hit.

 

The crowd roared, the boys had all but screeched themselves hoarse, and the Mariners were 6-5 winners and back to one-and-a-half games behind the A’s. Aiden received a hug from Jerry Andrews’ wife.

 

After the game ended, Aiden thought he had experienced a touch of heaven. Marty had three hits in four at bats, two runs scored, five RBI, with two home runs and a double, which had been the game winning hit. He waited outside the players’ gate for Marty and gave his hero the big hug. As Aiden saw it, Marty was a big leaguer in every way possible.

 

While the group was filing out of the ballpark, Phil couldn’t help noticing that Larry seemed unusually quiet. “You’re being pretty quiet,” he remarked to his husband.

 

“I’m ok,” Larry replied with a smile. “I was thinking of Marty—I’m just so damn proud of that kid I don’t know what to say.”

 

Phil squeezed Larry’s hand. “You can take a lot of credit.”

 

That night the boys were a combination of excited and exhausted. The sleeping arrangements were a repeat of the first night: Aiden with Chase, Nolan with Logan, and Eddie with Curt. Only this time there was no sex. When their heads hit their respective pillows all six boys fell into dreamland.

 

 

Sunday afternoon’s game was a good game but seemed almost anticlimactic. It was Jerry Andrews t-shirt day, with children 14-and-under receiving a free Jerry Andrews t-shirt. Coincidentally, Andrews was the starting pitcher. He was also the Mariners’ ace and had a 17-5 record with a 2.69 ERA for the season.

 

The game was a pitching duel with the score sitting at 1-0 Mariners after six innings. Andrews had given up two hits, walked none, and struck out 10 through the six innings. He pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning and struck out two more batters.

 

Marty made sure to give Aiden more to cheer about with his hoarse voice when he hit an opposite field home run to right-center to make the score 2-0. Manager Scott Pierce called on his bullpen in the eighth inning, bringing Ronnie Reynolds in to pitch. Reynolds gave up a run on two hits to make the score 2-1. The M’s picked up an insurance run on two walks and a single in the bottom of the inning, making the score 3-1. Closer Mario Diaz threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 40^th save, which led the American League. The Mariners won the three-game series two games to one to move just a half-game behind the Athletics. 

 

It had been a great weekend for Aiden. The Mariners had won their series, Marty had hit three home runs to double his season total to six and had a game-winning hit. He had paid his debt to Chase and ended up having anal sex with both of his cousins. He had made a friend in Curt and moved Ed Shaffer from asswaffle status to likeable person status. Eddie was not a friend yet, but he showed himself to be somebody who could become one.

 

Aiden’s parting words to Eddie were, “You’re not an asswaffle anymore, which is pretty cool.”

 

“And you’re not an asshole anymore, which is even cooler,” Eddie giggled.

 

“I’ll see you at my birthday party,” Aiden shouted as he followed his dads through the door to the platform where his train home was loading.

 

The next week would be the last week before school started. He had a naturist party planned for his small cadre of close friends on Wednesday. He planned on attending the Tuesday Fourth Dimension meeting. Soccer practices had begun. Saturday he would have a pool party to celebrate his twelfth birthday with a lot of friends invited. Monday was not only Labor Day, but it was also his actual birthday. He was certain it would mean dinner out at the Parker steak house.

 

And finally, there was Wednesday, September third. He would officially be starting seventh grade. He and his friends would no longer be the babies at Mayfield Middle School. The twins would be coming in as sixth graders, but Aiden and his group didn’t see them as baby sixth graders—they were Lenny and Lance, the awesome Hazen twins.

 

Aiden didn’t know what adventures he would experience in seventh grade, but he was certain he would be ready for them. He would no longer be a wussy little sixth grade eleven-year-old. He was going to be a grown up twelve-year-old seventh grader. He would be almost thirteen and ready to kick ass.

 

He had a great boyfriend he had come close to losing. He knew he had things to learn in his meetings and from his sponsor, Sammy.  The biggest thing he had to learn was what character defects he needed to dredge up and turn over. Aiden was grateful for what he had. Life was good and he was ready to work at making it better.

 

 

This is the last Mayfield Episode. The life of Young Master Aiden will continue in Part 3 on a future date.

 

A big thanks to my fabulous editors, Larry, Will, the amazing anonymous final nitpicker, and especially to my beta reader and dear friend, Mike the Donkey. Your hard work added a sparkle to the Episodes that I could not have accomplished alone.

 

And a special thanks to all the readers who wrote. Your encouragement was important, as were your thoughts and suggestions.

 

Thanks for reading. I hope to see you all when Part 3 starts posting.

 

Cheers,

 

Douglas