Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:21:12 -0500 (EST)
From: ErastesTouch@aol.com
Subject: Different Points of View, chapter 4

Different Points of View - by Erastes
Copyright 2012 by Erastes
Chapter 4 – The Tribulation.

When we returned home from our shopping trip, I helped Jared take his things
upstairs and put them away in the guest room.  I'd previously cleared out a
drawer in the dresser in that room, so he would have a place to keep his things,
and he was tickled to have his own space.  When we came back downstairs, I
grabbed the bag with the things I purchased for his bike and we went out to
attach them.  Before I installed these items on his bike, I took a few seconds to
remove the flashlights I had attached to it a couple of nights earlier.  Then, I
installed the headlight on his handlebars, and put reflectors on each wheel and
on the back of his seat.  After we finished doing all that, Jared just looked at me
and said, "Thank you," once more.

I felt extremely good that I had been able to do this for him, because now I
wouldn't be so worried when he was riding between his house and mine,
especially after the sun had gone down.  I gathered up the trash and flashlights
and prepared to take them back into the house with me.  As we made our way
toward the front door, Jared moved closer to me and slid his arm around my
waist, so I lifted my arm and draped it around his shoulders for the final few
steps.  Anyone going by might have thought us to be father and son, because
this was something any father and son might have done when they were together
and it was really a neat feeling.

It was now getting close to the time for him to leave for the day, so I told Jared
that he probably should head home now.  He began to argue with me about
doing this and insisted that he still had a little longer before he had to leave, but I
advised him that I didn't want to give his mother any reason to question why he
wasn't getting home as early as he used to.  I reminded him that I'd see him the
following day, so he finally gave in and said goodbye, and then he walked down
to his bike and got ready to leave.  Prior to getting on his bicycle though, I saw
Jared walk around it a couple of times, so he could check out all of the new items
we had just added.  He looked at it from all angles before he got on, because he
wanted to get the full impact of how it looked now.  He must have been satisfied,
because I saw him smile, just before he hopped onto the seat.

After Jared left, I got ready for bed, but I also spent a great deal of time thinking
about the shopping trip we had taken earlier, especially the little show he put on
for me in the dressing room.  He obviously knew what I liked and wasn't afraid to
show it to me, but I really think he wanted us to do much, much more.  I thought
about how I never wanted to act on my urges and force a boy into doing things
he didn't want to do, but here was a very willing young man, so now I was
attempting to determine if this made a difference.

I definitely wouldn't be forcing him to do anything, since he seemed eager to do
those types of things with me too, so that would take care of one of my concerns.
The only problem was, no matter how badly I wanted to manipulate his
willingness to prove this changed things, I had to admit that it was still illegal,
since Jared had not yet attained the legal age of consent.  Even if we both
wanted to do these things with each other, I could still end up incarcerated if
anyone found out what we were up to, so I'd have to put these thoughts out of
my mind for the time being.  No matter how much I might want to do this with
him, the potential consequences would be devastating for me.

Now, I began to wonder if Jared would still want to do these things with me once
he became legal, and if he did, how I was going to handle it at that time.  After
thinking about this in great detail, I concluded that if he was still willing at that
time, then I'd have no reason to turn him down any longer, since I wanted it to
happen far more than he would ever know.  I decided that if the opportunity arose
when he was older, then I'd be able to act upon it, because we would each be
legally able to make such a commitment.  I just wasn't sure if I'd last long enough
for that to happen, although I sincerely hoped he wouldn't change his mind about
me by then.  If he did decide that he was no longer interested, then I'd have to
accept his decision, but I was determined that I would still be like a father to him.
No matter what else transpired, I would still fulfill that commitment, because it
would definitely be better than losing him altogether.

My slumber that night was fairly restless, because my mind kept questioning
what my future with Jared would be like.  Of course, I dreamed about giving in to
his antics and having illegal sexual contact with him, but then in another dream
he would refuse to come down to visit me any longer, because I wouldn't give in
to his desires.  In yet a different dream, I would picture us getting together later,
after he was of age, but then that was followed by another dream in which Jared
found someone else and moved on without me.

By the time I finally awoke, not only was I still quite tired, but I also began to
question how I was going to deal with Jared.  I could remain adamant that we not
do anything until he was of age and risk losing him, because he either became
frustrated or moved on and found someone else before he became legal.  On the
other hand, I could risk losing my freedom and give in to him now, because there
was always a chance that no one would ever find out about what we were up to.
This was the dilemma I'd have to resolve before too much longer, while knowing
that half of the outcomes were negative.  Although there was always the chance
I'd be able to have my cake and eat it too, so to speak, there was also a chance
that I'd wind up either losing him or find myself locked up for a long time.  Now, I
had to ask myself if I was willing to take that risk, knowing the possible
consequences.  What was I going to do?

Since I was so preoccupied with my thoughts, I was running a little behind
schedule this morning, so I hadn't finished eating breakfast by the time Jared
showed up.  I quickly asked him if he wanted to join me, but he said he'd already
had his breakfast with his mother and brother, but he sat with me while I finished
eating.  He also made a couple of observations, while I was finishing up.

"Dad, what's wrong with you?" he wanted to know.  "You look awful this morning
and you're always done with breakfast by the time I get here."

"Yes, I guess I spent too much time thinking about my story last night and didn't
get enough sleep," I offered, while making something up to explain this.

I certainly didn't want to tell Jared the truth and admit that I'd had a very restless
night's sleep because I'd been dreaming about him and wondering if we had a
future together.  Doing that could potentially either make him even bolder about
getting his way or he might go in the opposite direction and become totally
discouraged.  If that happened, he might stop coming down as much, possibly
even at all, in order to prevent me from struggling with this inner conflict or
because he was questioning my commitment to him.  I hoped nothing like that
would ever happen, but then again, he might feel it would be for the best to stay
away, rather than have me ruin my health this way.  No matter what I did, this all
seemed like a crapshoot.

"Maybe you should just take it easy today, while I do the work," Jared offered.
"Why don't you go back to bed and try to get some sleep?  It seems like you
could use it."

"No, I'll be fine," I replied.  "I hadn't planned to do a great deal today anyway,
because the pool guys are coming out to give me an estimate on the work that
needs to be done.  One should be here shortly and the other guy will arrive
sometime after lunch."

"Ok, and then we'll take it easy in between," he offered, looking concerned.  "You
can work on your story, if that's what's been bothering you, and I'll just watch
TV."

Now, I began to feel badly.  Jared seemed to be thinking that he had caused this
problem, because he had me doing all of these other things with him, so I wasn't
spending as much time writing.  I felt I had to dispel his fears, so he wouldn't stop
coming down quite as much.

"I can try to write, but I'm not sure if that will help," I lied.  "I'm just stuck on a
problem in the story and can't seem to come up with a way to get around it, at
least not without having to change a lot of the stuff I've already written."

"Tell me what it is," he suggested, "and maybe I can help you."

"I'm not sure that you can, since you don't know what I've written so far," I
replied.  "I'd have to go into great detail about everything I've written thus far, so
you'd be able to understand the problem fully.  Even if you did, you still might not
have any ideas about how to solve the problem for me either."

He looked as if he was about to say something when the doorbell rang, and it
turned out to be the guy from the first company coming out to look at the pool.
Jared followed us, as I led the guy around to the back of the house and showed
him the pool, and then the three of us walked around it, as he looked it over and
pointed out the various problems he saw.  Once he felt he understood everything
that needed to be done, he sat down to work up his estimate, while we left him
alone.

A short time later, he finished working up the estimate and handed me a copy.
He then went over the details of exactly what he planned to do, and then I asked
him some questions about his company and what other jobs they had done.
After he gave me his answers, I told him I'd check with some of his previous
customers and see how they liked the work he had done for them and then I'd
get back to him in a day or two.  We then shook hands and he left.  Once he was
gone, Jared began asking me a bunch of questions about the things the man
said the pool needed to have repaired.  I believe he was still thinking we could do
the work by ourselves, but he eventually realized it was way out of our league, so
he didn't even bother trying to tease me to do it ourselves.

After this had been cleared up, Jared and I went back inside.  I sat down at my
computer and attempted to work on my story, while Jared went into the living
room and turned on the television.  I realized that he wanted to spend time with
me, but I felt that I needed to accomplish something on the next chapter or two,
before my agent began to complain about my lack of progress.  Besides, I'd told
Jared that my current condition was because of a problem I was having with my
story, so I thought it best to continue this ruse, rather than explain the real reason
to him.

Jared and I continued on like this until lunchtime, and then I stopped to fix us
something to eat.  Shortly after we had finished our meal and cleaned up the
mess, the guy from the second pool company showed up, so Jared and I took
him out and showed him around the pool as well.  I basically did the same thing
with him that I had with the first guy, and then he basically told me the same
things would need to be done.  Once he had written up his estimate and given
me a list of some of his firm's other clients, I told him the same thing I'd told the
other guy.  I said that I wanted to check out some of his other customers first and
see if they were satisfied with his work.  I added that once I'd done that, then I'd
get back to him in a day or two and let him know whether I was going to use him
or not.

Once he left, Jared and I took a ride and began checking out some of the jobs
the two firms had done previously.  Some of these were at private residences, so
I knocked on the door of those houses, and when someone answered, I
introduce myself and explained why I had stopped by.  No one complained about
me showing up unannounced like this, but I also think it helped that I had Jared
with me, because I didn't appear very threatening with a kid in tow, especially
since Jared looked younger than he actually was.  I asked each of these people if
they were satisfied with both the complete job and the people who had done the
work, and they answered all of my questions.  After they gave me their
responses, I thanked them for their time and input before we left, but there were
also a couple of places that no one was home when we showed up.

It also happened that each of these companies had done work for an
organization too, so I decided to check with them as well.  One of the companies
had worked on the pool at the local YMCA, while the other had worked on the
municipal pool.  I drove over to each of those places and spoke with the person
in charge, and once I had their input and learned if they were satisfied, I made up
my mind.

The people I'd talked to that had work done by the first company had nothing bad
to say about the work, but they weren't overly enthusiastic about the crew either.
The customers for the second company, however, were extremely positive in
their praise and stated that they'd hire that company again, without hesitation.  It
also turned out that the second company's bid was also slightly lower, so when
we got back home I called each place back and informed them of my decision.  I
thanked the first company for coming out to give me the estimate and merely told
them I'd received a lower bid, but I didn't give them any other information.  Then,
I called the second company back and set up a time for them to start work and
the man said he could send a crew out the following day to begin prepping the
pool.  Since that was taken care of, I just had to wait for the work to be
completed.

Jared was quite excited that this matter was taken care of now and that we'd be
able to go swimming in a week or so.  Although the pool guy had told me the
work would take three to five days, depending on if they ran into any problems
after they started, I also knew we wouldn't be able to use the pool for a couple
more days after they finished their work, in order to give the paint a chance to
dry.  Once I confirmed that everything was set, I could fill the pool with water, but
then I'd have to add the chemicals and let it set for another day, before we'd be
able to swim in it.

After I explained all of this to Jared, I could tell he was hoping that I could speed
up the process, but I had to tell him that we could only go so fast without
damaging the repairs and also make certain that the water was properly treated.
Reluctantly, he admitted that he understood and would try to be patient until it
was ready, so I told him I'd try to make sure we did other things to occupy his
time, so he wouldn't end up being totally bored.

Now that all of this had been taken care of, it was nearly dinnertime, but I felt we
still had time to watch something on television together first, before I had to send
him on his way.  I could tell Jared appreciated being able to spend this extra time
with me, and I had to admit that I was looking forward to it too.  I sat next to him
on the sofa, with my arm around his shoulder and Jared leaned against my
chest.  He seemed content doing this, so all was well.  When the show ended, I
sent him home for dinner, but he told me he'd be back later, if that was all right
with me, and I told him it was.

Once he was pedaling toward his house, I quickly fixed myself some dinner and
sat down to eat.  While I was doing this, I started thinking about the dreams I'd
had the previous evening and tried to evaluate what they'd meant.  I also tried to
think about all of the pros and cons of each situation, so I could make an
informed decision about each scenario, because I didn't want to arbitrarily reject
any option without good reason, since I certainly didn't want to risk losing Jared.
I also didn't want to risk losing my freedom, so I had to determine the odds with
each option, as well as deciding which would offer the greatest rewards.

I was just finishing washing my dishes and was thinking about going upstairs to
relieve myself before Jared came back, when I heard the doorbell ring, so I went
to answer it.  There stood Jared, but I couldn't figure out why he had rung the
doorbell this time, instead of just coming in, since I'd left the door unlocked.  He
generally didn't bother with such formalities any longer, so this had me a bit
perplexed.  That's when I noticed he wasn't alone this time and concluded that
this was the reason he hadn't barged right in.

"Hi, Bob," he began.  "I'm back, to do more work for you.  Oh, yeah, and I brought
my brother with me this time.  He didn't want to stay home alone tonight, so I
hope that's all right?"

"Of course it is.  And your brother's name is?" I asked.

Jared looked a little embarrassed now, because he had forgotten to introduce us.

"Oh, sorry.  Bob, this is Josh, and Josh, this is my friend and boss, Bob," Jared
introduced us.

"Hello, Josh.  I'm glad to meet you," I greeted him.

At this point, Josh stepped slightly forward and out of the shadows, so I could
see him.  He shared some similarities with Jared, like the gorgeous blue eyes
and a slight facial similarity, but other than that, they really didn't look very much
alike.  Josh had mousy brown hair, compared to Jared's raven-colored hair, and
Josh was pudgier than Jared, but he was still a fairly handsome young man, for a
ten-year old.  Meekly, he extended his hand in greeting.

"Hello, Bob, or shouldn't I call you that?" he asked.

"No, Bob is fine.  Come on in, boys," I stated, and they followed me into the
house.  "As long as Josh is here, I think it might be best if we just forget about
doing any work tonight and we'll just relax and have some fun.  What should we
do?  Watch a movie or play cards, because I'm not sure if I can find my games."

"A movie would be fine with me," Jared answered.

"Yeah, that would be ok.  What movies do you got?" Josh added.

"What movies do I have?" I corrected.  "I have many, so why don't we take a
look?"

I opened up the cabinet that I stored the DVDs in and the boys soon picked one
out... well, I think Josh picked it out.  He wanted to watch 'Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone,' since I have all of the Harry Potter movies, except for the final
one that hasn't been released yet, so that's what we did.  I started to go over and
sit in my usual chair, but Jared grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the
couch instead.  I wasn't sure if this was such a wise thing to do with his brother
here, so I hoped Jared would be able to control himself if we all sat together.   I
certainly didn't want Josh to get the wrong impression about what we'd been up
to.

At Jared's direction, I sat on the sofa and he quickly sat beside me.  I expected
Josh to sit on the other side of his brother, but he walked over and sat on the
other side of me instead.  It wasn't a problem, but it did surprise me, since we
had just met.  As soon as the movie started, Jared leaned his head against my
shoulder, but this time I didn't put my arm around him and just let him lean
against me.  Josh didn't do anything like that, in fact he didn't even sit that close
to me, but I was still surprised that he had chosen to sit next to me, instead of
beside his brother.

Throughout the entire movie, Jared continued to lean against my shoulder and I
longed to wrap my arm around him, but I didn't dare.  I was too concerned about
what Josh might think or possibly say to us or to his mother when he got home, if
he saw me doing that.  Both boys were really into the movie, so they were
concentrating on that, instead of anything else, and we were all enjoying
ourselves immensely.

When the movie ended, I asked if they would like to go for some ice cream, since
it was a warm evening and I thought a treat would do us all some good.  They
first told me I didn't have to spend money on them, but I was sure this was just a
typical knee-jerk reaction to such an offer, precipitated by the fact that they didn't
have a great deal and their mother had to work very hard for what little they did
have.  After overcoming their objections, we got into the Tahoe and drove off to
the local ice cream stand.

When we got there, the boys insisted they only wanted a small cone each, but I
wouldn't hear of it.  I told them I was going to have a banana split and thought
they should each have one too, or at least a sundae.  They quickly looked at one
another and exchanged some sort of unspoken language between them, before
Jared turned back to me and responded.

"Ok, we'll have a small sundae then," he announced.

After they told me which type of sundae they wanted, I placed our order.  It took a
few minutes for the clerk to make our treats, but when they were placed on the
counter in front of us, I directed the boys to pick them up and head over to a
table, where the three of us could sit down to enjoy our ice cream.

While we downed these goodies, the brothers talked excitedly about the movie,
in between spoonfuls, and advised me that they wished there really was such a
thing as a wizard school and that they would be able to attend.  As the boys
became more and more engrossed in their discussion, I informed them that the
book was even better than the movie, because the director had to leave many of
the details out, in order to keep the movie from being too long.  This seemed to
ignite their curiosity, so now they wanted to know what had been left out, but I
told them they'd have to read the book and find that out for themselves.  They
said they'd check the library, to see if they could sign the book out, after which I
suggested that they should read the other books as well.  I then informed them
that I had read all of the books and went on to explain that even though I knew
they were supposed to be children's books, I still found them interesting and
enjoyed reading each and every one of them.

When we finished our ice cream, we got back in the SUV, but I decided against
heading directly home.  A little while later, when the boys noticed I was going in
the other direction, they wanted to know where we were going and why.  I
wanted our destination to be a surprise, so I kept letting them ask, but with no
response from me.  Finally, we pulled into the local Walmart and they wanted to
know why we were there, but I still didn't say a word.  Instead, I got out of the
Tahoe, with the boys trailing behind me, as we went into the store.  Looking at
Jared, I think he was a little concerned about what I might be up to, but he soon
relaxed when he realized I was heading toward the area where they kept the
books.

After we reached that location, I picked out two of the Harry Potter box sets,
which contained copies of each of the books in the series, and handed one set to
each of them.  They immediately began to object and claimed they could share
one copy, but I wouldn't change my mind.  I told them I appreciated their
concern, but stated that they should each have their own copies, so they could
read the various books at their own pace.  When they continued to protest, I
turned a deaf ear to them, but they wouldn't let up.  After listening to this for as
long as I could, I finally told them that I was definitely getting copies for each of
them, but then I offered to let them work the cost off later, if they felt they had to,
but I wasn't about to change my mind.  Once they gave in, we took the books to
the register and cashed out, but I had the cashier put each set of books in a
separate bag, so each boy could carry his set out to the car.

As we walked out to get into the Tahoe, both boys began to thank me and I
merely told them they were welcome.  I also told them that I expected them to
take the time to read each of the books, now that they each had their own copies,
and they agreed to do that.  When we were just about to my place, I realized it
was getting late, so I suggested I would just drive them home, since they had
walked down this time.  They agreed, although I could tell Jared would have
preferred to stay with me a little longer, but I passed by my driveway and
continued on to their place.

When we got there, I made sure each of them had their books and then we said
our goodbyes.  Jared then came over to give me a hug, but then thought better of
it, so he just shook my hand and thanked me for what he called 'a wonderful
night.'  That made Josh come over to imitate what his brother had just done and
then they both went into the house.  Before they disappeared from sight,
however, they stopped and turned back to wave at me one more time, before
they closed the door.

As soon as they were inside, I drove back to my place, parked the Tahoe and
went inside.  The house seemed kind of quiet and deserted now, even though
this was exactly what I had originally planned for and might have even wanted
when I first moved here, at least until I met Jared.  However, since he had come
into my life, all of that had changed and now the house seemed very lonely
without him around.  I tried to put all thoughts of Jared out of my mind, since I
knew I was fixating on him far too much now, but I couldn't get the kid out of my
thoughts.  I was totally consumed by his friendliness, beauty and attachment to
me, which all combined to form my attraction to him.

Was I beginning to allow something to happen here – the very thing I promised
myself that I had to prevent?  Maybe I needed to start focusing my efforts on
trying to eliminate the sexual attraction between us, although I wasn't sure if that
would mean that I'd also have to severe the emotional and psychological bonds
Jared and I now shared.  When I considered doing this, I wasn't sure if I could
pull away from him completely and go cold turkey, so to speak, but I knew I had
to do something.  I wasn't sure what that might entail, because I also realized
that he meant far too much to me at this point to just let him slip through my
fingers.

Jared was in my dreams the entire night again and magically moved from one
visions to another, but those dreams were so varied that I wasn't sure what to
think about them.  Sometimes Jared and I would only be friends and merely hang
out with one another, while in another dream we didn't even act like we even
knew each other.  In the next vision we'd be more like father and son, but in the
one after that we were lovers, in every sense of the word.  What was happening
here?  What were my dreams trying to show me?

When I awoke, I had a lot to think about.  I know that life and love are quite
complex, but it seems as if I still have a great deal left to learn.  There are a
number of different levels to every relationship and a slew of variables that could
lead us down any of a variety of avenues throughout life, but I still had no idea
where we might be heading.  I was totally confused now, even more so than if I
were a kid again, but that only made this more of an enigma for me, because I
thought you were supposed to get smarter as you grew older.  Aren't you
supposed to be able to understand these types of situations better once you
became an adult?  Yet here I was at a loss about what any of this meant or what
I was supposed to do, possibly even more so now, than if I were Jared's age
again.

After going downstairs and fixing my breakfast, I continued to think about this for
quite some time.  I finally decided it would probably be best if I chose the option
where we were more like father and son, but that meant I would also have to
remember that there could be no incest in this relationship.  I would be expected
to help and guide him, but I would also have to be there for him whenever he
needed me, which included whatever I could do for him, except for anything
sexual.

Although this sounded easy enough, I knew it would test my willpower to the
ultimate degree.  I would have to be strong, but was I capable of doing that?  I
knew how much Jared needed a father, but was I the right guy for the job?  And
would this arrangement now include Josh too?  Did I have to be a father to both
of them, if I chose to do this for Jared, because I didn't know if they came as a
package deal?  How was I going to find the answers to all of these questions?

Before I had time to resolve my dilemma, Jared arrived and flew through my door
with the usual huge grin on his face.

"Hi, Dad.  I'm back," he announced.

"So I see.  Did you sleep well?" I wondered.

"Great!  Josh and I even started reading the books last night," he added.  "You
were right, because it IS much better than the movie.  There's a lot more
information in the book and it's really neat.  I managed to read four chapters
before I fell asleep, but I'm not sure how many Josh finished, but I know he likes
it too."

"Great.  I'm glad to hear that," I agreed.  "I figured you boys might enjoy those."

"Thanks, Dad.  That was really nice of you to do that for us, and Josh told me to
tell you that too," Jared explained.  "He thinks you're pretty neat."

"That's nice to know," I confirmed.  "So why didn't he come down with you
today?"

"His friend was coming over to the house and they are going to play games," he
replied.

Jared then rolled his eyes back in his head, while also making a little face in the
process, to let me know that he thought that was boring, and maybe even
childish, but definitely not for him.

"Ah, I see," I acknowledged, while letting him know that I understood.

"Oh, and he said he was going to let his friend borrow his books after he read
them," he added.  "Josh thought his friend would like them too, if that's all right
with you."

"They are your books now, not mine, so you boys can lend them to whomever
you wish," I explained.  "I would only suggest that you put your names in them
first, so there won't be any question later, as to whom they belong."

"Oh, yeah.  Good idea," Jared agreed.

"Thanks, I thought it was too," I teased, as I smiled at his innocent praise.

"So what are we going to do today?" he wanted to know.

"Well, it's Friday and the pool guys will be starting their work today, and I'd like to
be here to keep an eye on them," I stated.

Jared didn't seem too bothered by that thought, since he wanted the work on the
pool to be completed so we could go swimming, so he agreed that would be fine.
He did run home first, to get his Harry Potter book, which he read while I worked
on my story.  We'd both go over and look out the window from time to time, to
see how things were going, but the crew never needed anything from us.

The guys working on the pool were gone for the day, by the time Jared came
back after dinner, so he and I sat down for a while, as he told me the things he'd
discovered in his book that hadn't been in the movie.  I was glad to see him so
excited about what he was reading and knew he wouldn't stop until he had read
each and every book in the series.

When we finished our discussion, there was still some time left before he had to
go home, so we sat and watched television together.  He sat cuddled up against
me again, with my arm wrapped around him, so he was quite content with the
way things went.

When he came down again the following morning, he wanted to know what we
were going to do today.

"Well, the pool guys certainly don't need us to stick around," I stated, "since there
isn't much we can do to help them, so I guess we can just take it easy and do
whatever we want."

"Like what?" Jared followed.

"Anything," I answered.  "If there is something you'd like to do, just tell me and
we'll talk about it."

He appeared to be thinking now, so I merely stood there and didn't interrupt.  A
few seconds later, he looked up at me and spoke.

"Can we go to the park?" he asked, after a brief delay.

"Sure, if that's what you want to do," I agreed.

"Great!  Can I call Josh to see if he and his friend want to go with us?" Jared
asked next.  "They're spending the day together again and they might like to go
too."

"Sure, I don't see why not," I concurred, although the fact that he didn't want to
be alone with me was mildly surprising.

Jared quickly dialed his house and asked his brother if he and his friend wanted
to join us, and when they said 'yes,' then Jared asked him to bring their Frisbee
along.  He figured they could toss it around at the park and it might be something
fun to do.  After Jared hung up, we got into the SUV and drove over to his house,
so we could pick up the other pair.  That duo flew out of the house when they
saw us pulled in to the driveway and raced to the Tahoe.  They then jumped
inside, obviously eager to do this, and Josh introduced me to his friend.

Josh's friend's name was Dean and we talked for a little while, so we could get to
know each other a little better as I drove to the park.  As soon as we pulled into
the parking lot and the car came to a stop, the boys all jumped out and raced to
an open area, where they began tossing the Frisbee around.  At first, they merely
played catch with it, while also getting me involved with what they were doing,
but then they decided to make it into sort of a competition.  They wanted to split
into two teams and each team would score by throwing the Frisbee and hitting
one of the two on the other team.  The thing was, the person on the receiving
end couldn't move or try to duck out of the way, because it was just to see how
accurate the thrower was.

Jared automatically wanted to be on my team, but Josh and Dean didn't think
that would be very fair, seeing they were the two youngest and smallest.
Therefore, it was decided that Dean and I would be one team and would play
against the brothers.  The boys quickly made up the rules and decided the
throwing team would get one point for each hit and the first team to 21 would win.
Both teams would have the same number of opportunities, since both teams
would get to throw in each round, so it was possible there could be a tie.

Once we started, I quickly discovered two things.  These boys were very
competitive and my Frisbee throwing skills had gotten pretty rusty since I had last
tossed one around.  I missed on my first two tosses, because the Frisbee veered
away from my target at the last second, and this put my team at a severe
disadvantage.  Unfortunately, I never could make up for those early blunders,
even though we all missed a few times during the rest of the game, so my team
ended up losing.  This didn't endear me to Dean, but it certainly made Jared and
Josh happy.

Once that game ended, the boys decided they wanted to play around on some of
the playground equipment next, so I told them to go ahead and I'd sit on the
bench and watch them.  Jared was going to sit with me and keep me company,
but I finally talked him into joining the other pair, even though he insisted he was
too old to do that stuff now.  Regardless, he still seemed to have a considerable
amount of fun as he went down the slide, played on the swings and monkey
bars, went on the teeter-totter with both of the younger boys on the other side
and then they started messing around on the merry-go-round.  This wasn't one of
the mechanical devices, with the horses to ride on, but the manual type where a
person supplies the force to spin the others around, before he either tried to hop
on or would simply stand back and watch the others spin around.

Jared decided to push the merry-go-round and get it spinning the first time, even
though I had offered to do this for them.  When he went to jump on after he got it
spinning, he had difficulty and wound up falling beside it.  It was fortunate that he
didn't get hurt, except for maybe his ego, so after it stopped again, he hopped on
and asked me to spin them this time.  I agreed, but I didn't run beside it as he
had done.  Instead, I merely grabbed one of the bars that separated the various
sections and yanked it forward, and then I grabbed one of the next bars as it
came along and repeated the action.  It had the same basic effect as running
beside it, so the boys spun merrily around.

When they finished this ride and got off, Josh and Dean seemed a trifle dizzy and
staggered around a bit.  Jared didn't react as badly, but that might have been
due to the fact that he'd only gone around once, while the other pair did it twice.
However, once they gained their equilibrium again, we joked about it for a while,
before we decided to take a walk around the park next.

It was a lovely day and it was very relaxing as we made our way around the
perimeter of the park.  The boys were talking about some of the things we'd
done, such as how Josh and Dean were so heavy that they kept Jared up in the
air on the teeter-totter, until they shifted how they were sitting.  Once they had
worked that out, they were able to continue for a while without any further
problems.  They also talked about the way Jared fell beside the merry-go-round
and that Josh and Dean had become so dizzy.  I wasn't immune to this treatment
either, since the boys made fun of the first few throws I'd made with the Frisbee,
but none of this was done maliciously.  It was merely some good-natured ribbing
and making light of some of our less than graceful moments, so no one took
offense and we all had a few good laughs.

When we got back to where I'd parked the Tahoe, we quickly hopped inside and I
took us over to Subway next, for lunch.  When the boys noticed where I'd taken
them, I merely told them that it wouldn't make sense to run home to eat in
between, so we'd just do that here.  No one argued with me, so we all went
inside and ordered a 6-inch sub, with a drink and chips, and then chowed down.

When we finished our lunch, I took the boys to play miniature golf next, because
there wasn't much else that I could think of doing with them.  The boys weren't
very good at this activity and the younger pair had a great deal of difficulty
learning how to gauge the force needed to make their putts, but they did seem to
enjoy themselves anyway.   Jared caught on a little more quickly than the other
pair and ended up doing better, so he was happy too.  When we finished, they
each thanked me and then I drove them back and dropped Josh and Dean off
where I'd picked them up.  Jared rode back to my house with me though, after
telling his brother that he'd left his bike there and wanted to go back and get it.
Josh didn't question his reason or say anything about it, but I knew Jared did this
so we could have a little time alone.

"Thank you for doing that with us today," Jared told me, once we were at my
place.  "I wouldn't have asked you to include Josh and his friend too, if I knew
you were going to take us out to eat and go miniature golfing, but it was really
nice that you did.  I know they both had a really good time and appreciated it."

"You know what?  I did too," I admitted.  "Even though they are both still young,
they were well behaved and fun to be with, so I'd be willing to take them with us
again, whenever we decided to do something similar."

Jared merely smiled, to let me know he understood and appreciated my offer.
He didn't stay very long after our little conversation, since he'd told his brother he
only wanted to come down here to get his bike, but he did tell me he'd be back
after dinner.  I told him that would be fine and he gave me a hug and a quick
peck on the lips before he took off.

When he came back later, after having dinner with his mother and brother, Jared
just wanted to chill out, so we decided to merely watch something on television.
As we settled in to enjoy a movie that was on, Jared cuddled up against me, so I
lifted my arm, wrapped it around his shoulders and held him tightly against my
side.  Jared barely moved a muscle during the entire movie, except when I got up
to use the toilet and grab us a couple of drinks during one of the commercials, so
it appeared that he was satisfied with what we were doing.

When the movie ended, we talked for a little while first, before I sent him home.  I
told him that I didn't expect to see him the following day, since I knew that
Sunday was his mother's day off from both jobs, so I felt it would be best if he
spent the time with her.  He began to protest that he could come down for a little
while, but I explained that I wanted him to spend the entire day with his mother,
since he spent most of his time with me.  After thinking about it for a few minutes,
he finally agreed, but then he told me he'd see me first thing Monday morning,
before he hugged and kissed me again, as he headed out the door.

I went to bed a short time after Jared left, but I couldn't get to sleep for over an
hour.  All I could think about was watching the movie together and how I had
enjoyed cuddling with him as we did that.  I thought this was something a father
and son might do and didn't cross any lines, but then again I knew that my mind
had constantly flashed to images of Jared being naked and doing a little dance
for me, like he had in the dressing room at Walmart.  I knew I shouldn't be
thinking like that, but I couldn't help it, and now those same images were
consuming my every thought as I tried to fall asleep.  Eventually, I drifted off, but
my dreams were filled with images of a naked Jared, and in some of those
visions he even convinced me to do things with him – things I had promised
myself I'd never do.

For that reason, I ended up sleeping late the following morning, but I was less
than refreshed when I awoke.  I may have fallen asleep from time to time, but the
visions I'd experienced that showed me doing things with and to Jared kept me
from having a restful slumber.  In fact, it was probably the worst night's sleep I'd
had in ages and it was all due to the fact that my mind was trying to tempt me to
do things I had vowed I would never participate in doing.   I couldn't hurt him, and
even though Jared had indicated that he might be interested in doing those
things with me, I just had trouble justifying doing anything sexual with him, even
in my dreams, since I knew Jared couldn't legally consent.


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