Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2006 21:33:46 -0400
From: Tyler Peel <tylerpeel@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Road Home Chapter Thirty Three

DISCLAIMER: WARNING!! This is a work of homoerotic fiction written by an
adult for the purpose of entertaining other adults. If you are not eighteen
years of age or you have any problem with this type of literature then this
is a warning to read no further. The author will not be held responsible for
any reason if you choose to disregard this disclaimer. If it is not legal to
read the following fictional story in your country then please stop now.


The Road Home Yahoo Group: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_road_home>


The Road Home:  Chapter Thirty-Three (Lesson's Learned)


Linda was putting the finishing touches on dinner when she heard her five
boys coming in from the garage. "Don't you dare drag that tree in here until
I get an old blanket to wrap it up in!" she yelled.

Luke and Kyle led the way carrying a long box with Derek and Tyler each
holding an end of a second long box.

"Oh My God!  We finally got a real tree?" Linda began laughing. "Tyler,
what's wrong with your eyes?"

"He's allergic to pine needles Mom!" Kyle said laughing.

"You bought two trees?" Linda asked.

"Yes dear! We got a tree for the Great Room and one for the front entrance."
  Larry said not smiling.

"How big is it?"  Linda asked.

"If you don't know by now Mom then I want to know who my real Father is?"
Luke said casually.

"LUCAS!" Linda yelled. Everyone snickered while Linda glared at all of them.
  "Derek, would you go get an antihistamine for Tyler?" Linda asked.

"Sure Mom.  C'mon Ty, and I will get you drugged up and then have my way
with you!" Derek teased.

"Good! Because the smell of chloroform is making me sick!" Tyler said with a
grin following Derek out of the kitchen.

"What's kloriforum?"  Luke asked.

"Water with sodium fluoride in it."  Larry said and Linda looked at him.
Luke walked back to the television.

"What? You want the kid to know what Chloroform really is? We're talking
about Luke here!"  Larry said.

"Good point. That was kind of you to give up your Christmas tree for Tyler."
Linda said giving him a hug.

"Anything to make our sons happy!" Larry said still pouting.

"Don't pout Dear!  We all know the sacrifice you've made." Linda said giving
him a kiss.

"Sit on the edge of the tub and put this cold, wet washcloth on your eyes."
Derek said handing Tyler the washcloth.

"I guess we now know why I never had a real Christmas tree at home." Tyler
said holding his head back.  "I'm just sorry I am spoiling your Dad's
Christmas."

"Tyler!  You just made everyone's Christmas by not having to put up with the
stench of a real tree!  Mom doesn't have to deal with needles so she won't
be in a pissy mood all Christmas, which means Dad won't be in a bad mood
because of Mom!  Besides, I've got an idea on how Dad can have his tree!"
Derek said.

"I need to go grocery shopping tonight. Could you drive me?"  Tyler asked.

"Anything for you, Babe!  What are we buying?" Derek asked.

"I'm making dessert for Christmas dinner, but I wanted to do a couple of
things for the Christmas Eve party as well."  Tyler said.

"What are you going to make?" Derek asked.

"For Christmas dinner I thought I would make an Egg Nog cheesecake with a
praline sauce.  I found a couple of recipes on the internet and I thought
that would be good!" Tyler said.

"Sweet! I have a boyfriend who is good both in the bedroom and in the
kitchen!" Derek teased and kissed Tyler.  "So where are we going bowling? I
should know this since it is my idea, eh!"

"There's a place called Brunswick Perry Hall Lanes, and Thursday night is
Cosmic bowling night with lasers, glow-in-the-dark balls, music videos, and
48 lanes!" Tyler said.

"We have seven people going.  We really need an eighth person!" Derek said.
"Do we have to take Jeff?"  Tyler removed his washcloth and glared at Derek.

"Fine." Derek said. "I could always invite one of my old girl friends to
come along?"

"Great! Do you think she might like me?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah actually. screw that idea!" Derek said and Tyler laughed.

Kyle and Luke came along with Derek and Tyler to go shopping.  They settled
on renting a DVD of Mission Impossible II and Luke insisted they buy one
more jar of peanut butter. just in case a snowstorm arrived and they
couldn't get out to get more peanut butter!  Tyler and Derek looked at each
and laughed.

"Okay guys. think of it this way!  Do you really want to be locked up in the
house with me because of a snowstorm and I've run out of peanut butter?"
Luke asked.

Derek grabbed a large jar of Kraft Crunch peanut butter. "Better make it
two!" Tyler said.

"What are you making for the Christmas Eve party?"  Derek asked.

"My turn to push the cart!" Kyle said.

"My ten minutes isn't up yet!" Derek said.  Tyler looked at Derek and shook
his head.

"Wot?" Derek said grinning as he turned the shopping cart over to Kyle.

"Gingerbread, chocolate fudge, shortbreads, and lemon cheesecake bars!"
Tyler said.

"And chocolate pecan peanut butter squares!"  Luke added with a cheesy grin.

"And chocolate pecan peanut butter squares!"  Tyler said.  "Why are there
four boxes of Animal Cracker cookies in here?"

"Mango likes them!" Luke said.

"Okay, lets get checked out of here and get home!"  Tyler said.

"Can I go out into the Mall for a bit?" Kyle asked.

"No!  I don't want to have to go trying to find you." Tyler said.

"I wanna go to the pet store and see if I can replace my snake I lost!" Luke
said.

"WHAT SNAKE?" Derek and Tyler said in unison.

"Hahahaha. you guys are so easy to fool!" Luke winked.

"Kyle, just wait until we load the Van up with the groceries and then we'll
take a walk through the Mall!" Tyler asked.

The four boys began a stroll through the crowds of holiday shoppers.  Luke
was holding Tyler's hand and Derek walked on Luke's other side with Kyle
beside him.

"I'm going into the Sports Authority for a minute!" Kyle said to Derek.
Derek turned expecting to see Luke and Tyler but they had stopped a couple
of stores back.  "Whatcha lookin' at purdy boy?"  Derek said into Tyler's
ear.

"It's a Men's wear store Derek. I would think you should know what it is?"
Luke said with sly grin.  The window was filled with Tuxedos and men's
formal wear for New Year's Eve.

"Ty?" Derek asked.

"What?" Tyler said not looking away.

"You thinking about asking someone to marry you and you want to pick out a
Tux?" Derek teased.

"No, but I've got an idea!" Tyler said.  Derek, Tyler, and Luke were all
huddled in quiet conversation when Kyle approached.

"What's up?"  Kyle asked.

"Want to have some different kind of fun at your Christmas Eve party?" Tyler
asked.

"Any kind of fun would be better than attending that garbage!"  Kyle said.

"Well come here and I will tell you what we are thinking of doing." Tyler
began.

All four boys arrived home carrying multiple bags of groceries and Kyle and
Derek had to go back and get the rest of them out of the Van.

"What on earth did you guys buy?" Linda said as she sat on a stool at the
island with Larry beside her as they shared some wine.

"This is just Luke's stuff!" Tyler teased them. "Except for Kyle's gum,
Derek's toothpaste, and my deodorant the rest belong to Luke!" Tyler said
looking at them with a straight face.

"LUCAS!" Linda said.

"Tyler we really need to have a chat about Luke and how he uses people!"
Larry said.

Tyler grinned and handed him his bag with four boxes of Animal Cracker
cookies, peanut butter M&M's, and a bunch of still green bananas.  Luke
grabbed the bag and ran off to his bedroom.  "I was just teasing!  This is
what I need to do my baking tomorrow." Tyler said.

"Give me the bill Tyler!" Larry said holding out his hand.

"Lost it!" Tyler said ignoring him.

"Bull shit!  Hand the bill over. You're not paying for this stuff!" Larry
said.

"DADDY SWORE!" Luke yelled from outside the kitchen and then laughed out
loud.

"Lucas!" Larry yelled only to hear the two feet running up the stairs.

"Bill?" Larry said to Tyler holding out his hand.

Tyler took Larry's hand and shook it! "Nice to meet you Bill, I'm Tyler!" He
said and then continued to unpack his groceries.  Linda snorted and Larry
growled.

"You know, Tyler." Larry began.

"Sir! I'm part of the family now so I can do my part to contribute!  You
only get out of it what you put into it, right?" Tyler said.  Larry growled
again and Linda laughed.

"Peanut butter cup Sir?  Your blood sugar level seems low." Tyler said
unable to hide his grin as he slid a Reese's P.B. cup across the island to
him.

"Where's my chocolate bar Tyler?" Linda teased.

Tyler looked through three bags of groceries before he pulled out a Dove
chocolate bar and slid it across the island to her.  "Oh yeah. my favourite.
Dove chocolate bars make me want to put on my high heels and go dancing."
Linda said as she rubbed her foot up and down Larry's right leg under the
island.  Larry's eyes popped wide open.

"Umm Tyler, before I forget. I spoke with Greg Anderson, and he found you a
good lawyer in Philly.  I gave him your email address, and he is going to
send you the information in the morning.  Gosh I'm kind of tired." Larry
said staring at Linda as she ate another piece of the Dove bar.

"Oh yeah.." Linda sighed.

Tyler heard Linda and paused for a moment from putting away groceries.  He
turned around to look at the two of them and he could see what was going on.

"I rented a movie that will keep the boys busy for a couple of hours." Tyler
said without looking at them.

"That's great Tyler. they'll enjoy that." Larry said not really paying
attention to what Tyler said or what he himself was saying.  He pulled out
Linda's stool so she could get down and he began pushing her out of the
kitchen.  Tyler followed and handed Larry a bottle of wine, an opener, two
glasses, and then he stuffed some peanut butter cups Larry's pocket.  Larry
looked at him.

"In case you need another sugar boost Sir!"  Tyler winked.  The moment that
Larry closed their bedroom door Tyler yelled, "Guys, everyone down here!"
Luke, Kyle, and Derek came running.

"Kyle, would you set up the DVD player and make some popcorn in the
microwave? Luke, jammies, pillow, Animal Crackers, and. you'd better bring
Mango cause he will like this movie too!  Derek, would you get the fire
going in the living room and then turn out all of the lights in there?"
Tyler asked.

"Ummm sure. why?" Derek asked.

"Your parents want some private time if you get my meaning." Tyler said with
a grin.

"Too much info, Ty!  Way too much info!" Derek said as he headed into the
living room to start the fireplace.  Tyler went to the fridge in the garage
and pulled out six R.C. colas.

"Everyone ready?" Tyler asked as he brought the drinks into the Great Room.

"What are we watching?" Kyle asked.

"A college staple!  No one goes through University without watching Monty
Python's Holy Grail!" Tyler said.

"Sweet! I've heard so much about it but I've never seen it before." Derek
said.

"I've never heard of it before. this is going to suck ass!" Kyle said
crossing his arms.

"I love the scene with the Black Knight!" Luke said, stuffing his mouth full
of Animal Crackers.  Tyler, Derek, and Kyle all stared at him.

"What?" Luke said.

"You've seen it?" Derek asked.

"A couple of times!" Luke said.

"You're full of shit Pukester.  You haven't seen the movie before!" Kyle
said.

Luke went into full Monty Python mode. "Whose dat?   Must be a King!  Oww do
you know he's a King?  He asn't got shit all over him!"  Luke said repeating
the lines in the movie and then bursting into laughter!  Tyler laughed at
him.

"I just cut off your arm!" Tyler said in a fake English accent.

"It's just a flesh wound!"  Luke replied with an English accent.

"We are the Knights who say 'Ni'!"  Tyler said to Luke.

"Bring us a.  Shrubbery!" Luke said laughing hysterically.

"Great. now they've told us all of the best lines in the movie!" Kyle sighed
leaning on one arm of the sofa.

"Silly English Kiiii-nig-its!" Luke said and Tyler started to choke on some
popcorn while Derek laughed at the two of them.

"Okay Luke, you know the movie, you've passed the test, and you can pass Go
and collect your degree!"  Tyler said and Luke grinned at Derek and stuck
his tongue out at Kyle.

"Everyone together on one sofa with the comforter!" Tyler said.  No one
moved.  "Fine, Luke, Mango, and I will move over there." Tyler said shaking
his head.

Tyler snuggled up next to Kyle who was still sulking over having to watch
the movie. "Just give it half an hour and if you don't find it funny then
we'll turn it off." Tyler asked.

After they were one hour into the movie Kyle had been laughing so hard that
he could barely catch his breath.  Tyler and Derek had warned him a few
times to be quiet so he wouldn't wake his parents who were sleeping above
them.

"Am I hurting you?" Linda asked as she bounced up and down on Larry.

"Only in the good way Babe!"  Larry said.  There was nothing better than
when Linda was in the mood to do all the work and he just had to lie there
and enjoy it.  Larry played with Linda's nipples under the cover of her
black lace bra.  Linda dropped down into Larry's arms and sucked away on his
ear lobe.

"Oh yeah Babe!" Larry said.  Linda rose back up and lifted herself off of
Larry.  She saw his disappointed look.  Grasping his hard member in her
right hand she moved her hair back behind her ears and impaled her mouth on
Larry.

"Oh God!" Larry said as his eyes rolled back into his head.  He wanted to
hold her head steady and fuck her brains out but he knew that was one of
Linda's no-nos!  Larry clasped the headboard behind him with both hands and
thrust his hips up once and held steady.

Linda twisted Larry's cock back and forth as she devoured her prey.  Using
her long nails on her left hand, she ran them up under his balls.  Larry
flinched and his testicles tightened up.  Linda pulled off Larry and
extended her tongue out to lick up the outside of Larry's cock from top to
bottom.  Larry facial expression could have been one of pain or pleasure or
both!

Linda pressed her lips back down over Larry's head and began to run her
tongue around in circles over his piss slit.  Twisting his shaft back and
forth, she stroked him up and down and Larry came!  The moment Linda pulled
off of him he gave her a glass of ice water and kissed her passionately and
told her once again how much he loved her.

Typically Larry would roll over and go to sleep but tonight was not a
typical night.  He rolled her over on her tummy and took the bottle of hand
lotion on Linda's nightstand.  He squirted it out on her back and began to
massage her.  Larry worked from her neck and shoulders down to each
individual toe before rolling her over.

"I love you so much Linda!" Larry said as he softly kissed her.

Linda became suspicious that Larry might have had too much wine in him.  She
was about to say something when he pressed his finger against her lips.
Larry got up and went into his walk-in closet and pulled out a card and a
single, long stem, red rose in a vase.  Linda gasped upon seeing the card
and the rose.  Larry set the rose on her nightstand and gave her the card.
She didn't even notice the small box he was hiding in his left hand.  He
crawled on top of her nuzzling between her perfumed breasts to keep her
distracted while he slid the box under his pillow.

Larry began planting a thousand tiny kisses on her tummy as she opened the
card.

Linda began to read aloud, "My Dearest Linda." Larry shushed her!

"I wrote it - I don't need to hear it again!" Larry said looking up and
winking at her.  Linda raised the card up and looked at Larry.  She gently
hit him on the head with the card and smiled.

Linda lowered the card and began reading.  "My Dearest Linda.  Every moment
of every day I am blessed with one thought that rises above any other, and
that is my undying love for you and my appreciation of you being a part of
my life.  You are the air I breathe, that laughter in my soul, and the
happiness, love, and warmth in my heart!  Everything in my world that I hold
close to my heart has come either through you or from you.  There is nothing
I have achieved in this life that came without your help and guidance.  I
have more than any man deserves in this world and all of it would mean
nothing without you by my side to share it with!  I am never alone or in
need of anything as long as you are with me.  For all the times that I have
failed you I am deeply sorry and know that those scars live with me as a
constant reminder that I will never be worthy of all that you have given me.
  As we approach our 20th Anniversary this coming summer I would ask, beg,
and plead that you might consider me worthy of marrying you again?  I
promise to love, honour, and always remember every thing you unselfishly
give to me.  For my past, present, and future would you please marry me?
Your ever loving, Larry."

Linda began crying so loudly that Larry had to cover her mouth not to
disturb the boys below.  Larry reached over and pulled out a small box.
Linda saw the box and put her hands to her mouth as she gasped.   Larry got
out of bed and kneeled down on the floor, on one knee and said.  "Would you
please honour me with another twenty plus years of happiness and take my
hand in marriage again?"

Larry opened the box and said, "Oh Shit. backwards!" He laughed and turned
the box around.  Linda gasped again as she saw the three diamond solitaire
ring before her.  Larry removed the ring and slid it on her fourth finger.

Tears flowed as Linda looked at the ring.  Larry, still waiting for an
answer, held up a Dove chocolate bar and said with a smile, "I'll throw in a
half-eaten Dove bar if you say yes?"

"Oh God yes Larry!  I don't need a diamond ring to marry you again!" Linda
said pulling Larry into a hug.

"Damn!  I could have bought a Mazda RX-8!" Larry joked.

"Shut up and kiss me Larry!"  Linda said.

Larry pushed Linda back down on the bed and said, "I really have nothing of
importance in life if I couldn't share my world with you!"

"Larry, this ring is so beautiful and so unexpected, but it doesn't come
close to the card you wrote!"  Linda said still crying.

"Fine! Give it back and I'll have a RX-8 by tomorrow afternoon." Larry said
pulling on her hand. Linda smiled and took her hand back.  Larry winked and
worked his way back down to Linda's tummy.

Massaging each thigh with his hands, Larry used his thumbs to spread Linda's
vagina open. He ran his tongue from bottom up over and over.  He clamped his
lips down on the top of her clitoris and sucked back and forth while
inserting two fingers in and out.  Larry opened his eyes to look up at Linda
and he could see that her eyes were closed.  Larry happily smiled at the
fact that she wasn't looking at the ring.  Larry's right hand worked its way
up to take Linda's left hand in his.  She squeezed tight when her first of
two orgasms began.  When all was over he covered Linda up and went back into
the closet and brought out a crystal vase with 19 roses of all different
colours in it.

"I wanted you to know that all of the colours of my life for the last 20
years have come from you!" Larry said as set the vase down on the dresser at
the end of their bed.  "And don't even say I didn't need to do that because
the flowers are almost as expensive as a ring now!"

Linda laughed and hugged Larry as he got into bed.

"Why tonight?" Linda asked.

"Tonight?  Well because with Christmas coming I knew we wouldn't have time
with everyone home, and Tyler basically guaranteed us a couple of hours
alone with no interruptions.  Besides, I didn't want to wait until our
anniversary to tell you how much I love you and how much you mean to me!"
Larry said lying on his right arm looking at Linda who was looking at her
ring.

"So you'll marry me again?" Larry asked.

"Unless a better offer comes along before June!" Linda winked.

"What would entail a better offer than a three stone ring with three carats
of total diamond weight?" Larry asked.

"A man who could put the toilet seat down!" Linda joked.

"Well then I guess I don't have to worry about competition because that's
never gonna happen!" Larry laughed and cuddled up with Linda.

"I want a story," a sleepy Luke said as Tyler put him to bed.

"You don't need a story tonight Luke, you can barely keep your eyes open."
Tyler said.

"Dad always reads me a story!" Luke demanded.

"Can I ask you a question Luke?"  Tyler said.

"Only if I get a story?" Luke grinned.

"Nope. Forget it then!" Tyler said getting up and giving Luke one more kiss.

"Okay, then ask the question."  Luke said.

"Firstly Luke, I shouldn't have to bribe you to ask you a question, and for
future reference I won't be bribed by you or anyone else!" Tyler said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way."  Luke said.

"You don't need to be a con artist to have friends, Luke. You put everyone
through a rigorous set of tests that you yourself don't even live up to!"
Tyler said.  "I think you're funny, and loveable, and I like you very much
but I just don't understand you!"

"What don't you understand?" Luke asked.

"I don't understand why you collect peanut butter jars?  Would you be
happier if you had a million peanut butter jars?"  Tyler asked.

"I just like them! I just like peanut butter!" Luke said, trying to defend
his actions.

"That's great Luke.  If you love them then it's fine with me!  It doesn't
matter to me anyway." Tyler said.

"You don't like them?" Luke asked sitting up in bed.

"I don't like or hate them. I was just trying to understand why you collect
them? I don't understand why people collect anything.  You go into the
houses of old people and they have a spoon or teacup collection on the wall!
  People have houses stuffed with Elvis memorabilia, or Coca-Cola
advertising or some other junk." Tyler said.

"I just like it. I guess." Luke said.

"That's great Luke; if it makes you feel happy inside having the best or
rarest collection of something then I am happy for you." Tyler said getting
up.

"Don't you collect something?"  Luke asked.

"Not really. I guess I collect music because it inspires me or helps me to
feel better when I'm feeling down, but I don't buy CD's hoping that someday
they will be worth something.  For me, happiness comes from the inside. It's
about being honest with the people around me that I love and with myself!  I
still have a long way to go in that area but I am working at it everyday."
Tyler said.

"I want my story!" Luke said not liking where the conversation was going.

"Okay Luke. I will tell you a story and I then I will tell you another
special story on Christmas Eve and that will be the last time I ever tell
you a bedtime story." Tyler said.

"Why?" Luke asked.

"Because you're not the little boy you pretend to be Luke!  Maybe you and I
are the only ones who know that but we both know it's true!"  Tyler said.

Luke was about to speak when Tyler hushed him!

"Once upon a time there was a King who lived in a land far, far away.  He
ruled his Kingdom from one end to the other!  His country was surrounded by
many other Kingdoms that each had their own King!"

"Luke, what name should we give this King?" Tyler asked.

"Luke!"  Luke said.

"Are you sure?" Tyler asked.

"Yes!" Luke said smiling.

"Well King Lucas had travelled to visit many of his neighbouring Kingdoms
and saw all of the beautiful houses that these Kings lived in and the
beautiful thrones each King had!  He decided that he wanted to have a home
that was bigger and more beautiful than any other King's home! A home that
was completely different from all the other Kings of the land!  He ordered a
glass palace to be built as his new home.

He invited all the Kings from the surrounding Kingdoms to visit his
beautiful glass home!  Every time a King would visit King Lucas he would
bring a gift, as it was customary!  King Lucas loved his throne he sat on
and but he also loved everyone else's throne.  He got the word out that if
they wanted to visit they had to bring a new throne as a gift!" Tyler said.

Luke frowned as he saw where this was heading.

"King Lucas was given so many thrones that he had to build a second floor on
his glass home and then a third floor as well to store them all!  His entire
home was filled with beautiful thrones from top to bottom.  Then one day the
weight of all of these thrones were just too much on this glass house.  The
house came crashing down crushing King Lucas!" Tyler said and stopped.

"That's it?" Luke asked.

"That's it!" Tyler answered.

"That's not exactly a happy bedtime story!" Luke said angrily.

"You didn't ask for a 'happy' bedtime story.   You asked for a story!" Tyler
said.

"This is about my peanut butter jar collection isn't it?" Luke asked.

"Not really, Luke.  What's the moral of the story?" Tyler asked.

"You suck at telling bedtime stories!" Luke answered.

"Maybe. but there is a moral to the story."  Tyler said.

"What is it?" Luke asked. "Please!"  He coldly added.

"People who live in glass houses shouldn't stow thrones!" Tyler said
smiling.

"You're talking about my wall of peanut butter jars aren't you?" Luke
demanded to know.

"Nope! Peanut butter jars don't mean a thing to me Luke!  I told you that!"
Tyler said.

"Well you're talking about something." Luke said, pouting.

"Pouting won't make me give you the answer. You have to dig deep inside to
figure it out yourself!"  Tyler said as he kissed Luke goodnight and turned
out his lamp.

"Is this to do with asking Jeff to put Santa up?" Luke asked Tyler as he was
leaving.

"Nope! I only ask you do to things that make other people feel happy or
loved Luke!" Tyler said.

Tyler walked down to Derek's bedroom and found him in bed almost asleep.

"I gather you had to tell Luke a story?" Derek said yawning.

"I did but he didn't like it!" Tyler grinned.  Derek's eyes opened.

"Why not?" Derek asked.

"It hit a little too close to home." Tyler said.

"What did he do this time?' Derek asked sitting up in bed while Tyler
stripped down to his boxers.

"Sorry Derek, but that's between Luke and me." Tyler said.  Derek put his
finger to mouth and then pointed to the door.  Derek then winked at Tyler.
Tyler smiled.

"Fine. you're keeping secrets from me now!" Derek said winking.

"Derek, if I told you a private conversation I had with Luke he would never
trust me again.  I don't care if he likes me or hates me!  I only care about
two things!  That he knows that I love him and that he respects me for being
honest with him even if he doesn't like what I have to say."  Tyler said
smiling.

"I thought you two had worked things out?" Derek asked grinning at Tyler.

"So did I but he tried to play me for a fool."  Tyler said dropping his
boxers into his suitcase.

"So I guess you will have to leave then?" Derek said rolling his eyes.
Tyler almost burst out into laughter.

"I want to finish making all the food for YOUR Christmas dinner!" Tyler said
grinning.

"I'm sure Mom will pack something for US to eat on Christmas day!"  Derek
said smiling.

"You're leaving too?" Tyler said

"Well I'm not going to leave you alone on Christmas Day.  Kyle and Luke can
have my presents." Derek said.

"You know, we could go to Quiznos and get turkey subs to eat on Christmas
Day!  It will almost be like having a turkey dinner with loved ones!"  Tyler
said biting on his lip so that he wouldn't laugh.

Luke tapped on the bedroom door and asked Tyler if he could speak with him.

"You can come in Luke!" Tyler said smiling at Derek.

"I need to see you in my room for a moment." Luke said.

"Okay." Tyler said opening the door.

"Ummm Ty?"  Derek called.

"Yeah?" Tyler said.

"Ummm. boxers?" Derek said smiling.  "We don't want Luke finding another
snake do we?"

Tyler laughed and grabbed a pair of night shorts.  "My Bad!" he said
,walking out and down to Luke's room.

Tyler entered Luke's bedroom to see that he had been crying.

"What's a matter Pookster?"  Tyler said sitting down beside Luke and putting
his arm around him. "Having a bad dream already?"

"No." Luke said.

"What's wrong then?" Tyler asked.

"You were talking about the inline skates when you told that story weren't
you?" Luke asked.

"Yeah I was.  I'm proud of you for figuring that out all by yourself." Tyler
said.

"I didn't figure it out all by myself." Luke said lowering his head down.
"I was spying on you and Derek and I heard you say that I had fooled you."

"Well my respect for you has just doubled, Luke!" Tyler said.

Luke looked up at Tyler. "How is that?"

"You told the truth Luke!  How can one not respect another man who tells the
truth, even when he doesn't want to?" Tyler said kissing Luke on the top of
his head.

"I'm sorry about the Santa thing." Luke said.

"Which one?" Tyler teased.

"Both! I'm sorry about smashing the Santa Claus you made for me and I'm
sorry about lying to you about believing in Santa Claus.  Will you forgive
me?" Luke asked.

"You are forgiven but. you are still getting the inline skates from Santa
Claus!" Tyler said not smiling.

"I don't want them. I don't deserve them!" Luke said.

"No, you don't deserve them but maybe every time you put them on it will be
a reminder of what you did.  There is nothing of real value to be gained
when you deceive someone Luke!" Tyler said.

"I don't want them!"  Luke said.

"You don't really have a choice unless you can come up with some sort of
solution." Tyler said.

"I don't want you to leave either!  I don't want you to ever leave Ty!" Luke
said leaning into Tyler.

"I already told you Luke that I don't ever want you to be out of my life
either.  I will make you this promise!  I will always try my hardest to be a
part of your life for as long as you want me to be, but if you ever tell me
to go then I promise you I will never return!  So remember in anger or in
happiness, always choose your words carefully!"  Tyler said getting up and
tucking Luke into bed and kissing him goodnight.

"Are you still going to tell me stories?" Luke asked.

"Nope! I am going to tell you one more bedtime story on Christmas Eve.  It
will be a little bit about you but how the story is told depends on what you
do to fix this problem you have!" Tyler said.  "Just remember one thing
Luke!  I love you very much!  I always have and I always will." Tyler said
smiling.

"I love you too, Ty, but I would still like you to read me bedtime stories?"
Luke asked.

"Welcome to one of the most exciting, terrifying, happy, and sad times of
your life, Luke!  You're no longer a little boy. You're on the road to
becoming a man, and a good one at that, but I will let you in on a little
secret that will make your voyage a little easier!" Tyler said.

"What's that?" Luke asked.

"You happen to possess one of the most valuble collections in the world!
You have three brothers who love you more than anything else and they are
all here for you!" Tyler smiled.

"You're right Ty! Night!"  Luke said rolling over.  Tyler closed Luke's
bedroom door.

When Tyler woke up the next morning around five he discovered that he hadn't
been holding on to Derek all night but in fact Luke.  Tyler slipped out over
Luke and had his morning pee.  He threw on a sweatshirt and socks and headed
down to the kitchen.  As he left Derek's room, Abbey who was looking for
breakfast and a pee herself, joined him!

"Morning Abbey!" Tyler said and he sat on the top of the stairs while Abbey
happily accepted a quick belly rub.  Tyler fed and watered Abbey and then
began his task of preparing all of the desserts for Christmas.  By 8 o'clock
Tyler had made two large pans of peanut butter squares along with a smaller
square pan of them.  The dough for the shortbreads and gingerbread was in
the fridge chilling.  The Egg Nog cheesecake and the Virginia's Chocolate
Cheesecake had just come out of the oven and were cooling outside on top of
the barbeque.

"All we have left to do, Abbey, is to make 4 tons of fudge, bake cookies,
and make the lemon cheesecake bars!" Tyler said smiling at her.   Abbey
panted.

"Sorry Babe, no chocolate for you but how about a Beggin' bacon strip?"
Tyler asked.  Abbey's tail fanned the floor moving back and forth as he gave
her a treat.

"Do I get a kiss?" Tyler asked bending down.  Abbey's tongue gave him his
right cheek a full lick.

"Looks like I've got competition?" Derek said standing at the entrance to
the kitchen.

"There's no competition Derek. Abbey's my favourite girl!" Tyler said
turning to face Derek as he stood up.

"Nice butt by the way!" Derek said.

"Why thank you!" Tyler gleamed.

"I was talking about Abbey's!" Derek grinned.  Hearing her name Abbey
hurried over to her Derek for a morning pet.

"Damn you look hot, Derek!"  Tyler said noticing the large bulge in Derek's
too tight night shorts.  "I could do you right now on this counter if there
was room to!

"Really?" Derek smiled.

"Really, really!" Tyler said. "I love you hair like that!"

"Like what?" Derek asked giving Tyler a hug.

"You've got that 'I slept in a dumpster last night' look about you." Tyler
said as they began to kiss.  "And you didn't brush your teeth yet did you?"

"I can't drink coffee after brushing my teeth Ty!" Derek said with his hands
moving up under Tyler's sweatshirt.

Larry, fully dressed, and Linda wearing her bathrobe, entered the kitchen to
see Derek and Tyler kissing.

"Oh My God!" Linda shrieked noticing all the food that Tyler had prepared.
Derek and Tyler jumped apart as Derek wiped his lips.  Larry burst into
laughter.

"Thank God the island is covered with food or who knows what we might have
seen going on in here." Larry joked.

"I'm sorry boys, I didn't mean to interrupt!  I was referring to all this
food you boys have made."  Linda said.

"Food that Tyler made Mom!" Derek said.

"Speaking of. I need to get back to work here.  Do you have any Christmas
cookie cutters?"  Tyler asked of Linda and she went to a drawer and pulled
out a bag of assorted attachments.

"I've got to get Kyle and Luke up because we have some shopping to do this
morning!" Derek said.

"I need some decorative gel icing and some plastic squeeze bottles. Can you
pick some up?" Tyler asked as he poured coffee for Larry and Linda.

"Sure, but what colours do you want?"  Derek asked.

"All the red and green you can find but I also need an assortment of other
colours as well. I am doing a Christmas tree on the Egg Nog cheesecake."
Tyler said.

"Egg Nog cheesecake?" Linda asked with a big smile.

"With a praline sauce!" Tyler added smiling back.

Kyle came running into the kitchen in only boxers and socks.  He did an
eight-foot slide on the tile floor and then began singing.

"We're Knights of the Round Table.  We dance whene'er we're able.
  We do routines and chorus scenes with footwork impeccable.
  We dine well here in Camelot. We eat ham and jam and spam a lot.."

Kyle sang with a big grin and finished with a round of applause from his
brothers and parents.

Luke arrived as the applause for Kyle died down.

"Morning Pookey!" Larry said.  Luke never said a word to anyone.  He walked
around the island and looked at all the food.  He came over beside Tyler and
placed his palms flat on the counter and jumped up holding himself in the
air.

"Morning Luke, did you sleep well?"  Tyler asked.

"What is your quest?"  Luke demanded with a British accent.

"I seek to finish making all this food before Christmas!" Tyler responded in
a British accent.

"What is your name Sir Knight?" Luke asked still holding himself up off the
floor.

"Sir Tyler. of Canuckistan!" Tyler said and everyone laughed.

"What is the average wing speed of a sparrow?" Luke asked with a big grin.

"African or European?" Tyler asked back.

Luke paused and looked out to the backyard.  "I don't know?" Luke responded
and yelled "Aahhhhhhhhhhhh" as he jumped up in the air and dropped down to
the floor.  Luke got a round of applause as well.

Derek poured two glasses of chocolate milk for his brothers.

"Sounds like someone had fun last night watching a movie?" Larry said
sipping on his coffee.

"More fun that you guys had reading the Bible!" Luke said taking his
chocolate milk.

Everyone look at each other wondering what he meant?  "What do you mean,
Pookey?" Linda said.

"While watching the Holy Grail last night we kept hearing 'oh God, oh
God'.." Luke said, walking off to the Great Room to watch television.

Everyone snorted or laughed except Linda who turned beet red.  Kyle dropped
his head down into his arms on the island hysterical with laughter.  Tyler
grabbed a dishtowel to put over his mouth as coffee came out his nose from
laughing.

"Dad put that sign back out on the front lawn. I want to be adopted by
another family!" Kyle said laughing.

"Add my name to it as well!" Derek said.

Luke returned to the kitchen. "You people are all freaks!" Luke said
standing next to Tyler.

"Holy crap! What's that?" Luke said pointing at his mother.  Everyone looked
at Linda.

"What are you looking at Luke?" Derek asked.

"That!" He said pointing.  Linda knew what he meant and she held up her hand
showing the ring off.

"That, Lucas, is a Mazda RX-8 but with better gas mileage!" Larry said.

"Holy crap is right Luke!" Derek said.

"Your Mom and I are going to get married this June!" Larry said.  Silence
took over the room and three mouths dropped open and Tyler grinned.

"Oh God!" Luke yelled putting his hands on his face. "I'm a bastard!" He
screamed and everyone began laughing.

"Glad to see you finally owning up to it Luke!" Kyle said grinning.  Luke
stuck his tongue out at Kyle.

"Maybe I should rephrase it Luke. We are going to get married again!"  Larry
said smiling.

"Congratulations!" Tyler said and went over and gave Linda a hug and kiss.

"Thank you Lord!" Luke said. "I don't want to be a statistic!" Everyone
laughed.

"I can assure you Luke that you are a one of a kind!" Derek said.

"Can I be the ring bearer?" Luke asked.

"Can you drive an RX-8?" Larry asked grinning at Luke.

"Not as far as you know Dad!" Luke grinned back at Larry.

"Sweet!  I just realized we all get to go on a Honeymoon!" Kyle said.

"We?" Larry and Linda said together.

"Disneyland!" Luke yelled! "Can Mango and me have our own room?"

"NO!" Larry and Linda said in unison.

"You've got to pick up Kyle's pants too when you are out, Derek!" Tyler
said.

"Right! Thanks for reminding me!"  Derek said.

"Don't forget the sunglasses!" Tyler added.

"Now I won't."  Derek said.

"Kyle's pants?"  Linda asked.

"Nothing!" Derek and Tyler said together.  Luke and Kyle laughed.

"When is Casey due back?" Derek asked.

"He'll be back in time for bowling." Tyler said.

"Speaking of bowling. what do you want to do for dinner Larry?" Linda asked.

"I'm not sure that I follow you?"  Larry asked.

"Derek and Tyler are taking all of our boys out for bowling and dinner
tonight so we will be alone.  I thought maybe we would go out for dinner?"
Linda suggested.

"Hmmm. or we could just stay home and read the Bible?" Larry said winking.
Linda elbowed him.

"That's it! I'm going to go shower!" Derek said shaking his head.

"Not if I beat you there first!  I do not want to be a part of this
conversation!" Kyle said and they both scrambled to get out of the kitchen.

"Derek!" Tyler yelled and Derek stopped.

"Wot?" Derek asked slowing twisting his head sideways trying to look
mentally unstable.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth!" Tyler said smiling.

"Shouldn't you be making your family some breakfast instead of yaking!"
Derek winked.

"I want Tyler's French Toast for breakfast!" Luke announced.

"I do too!" Larry said chiming in. "What is Tyler's French Toast?" He asked.

"It's a fifty-fifty mix of eggs and Egg Nog along with cinnamon and a hint
of nutmeg!" Tyler said as he began pressing out gingerbread men from the
cookie mold.  "C'mere for a moment Luke!" Tyler called.

"Wot!" Luke said twisting his head slightly.

"You do that much better than Derek!" Tyler said laughing.

"I do everything better than Derek!" Luke said.  Tyler, Larry, and Linda all
stopped what they were doing and looked at Luke.

"Please don't explain that Luke!" Tyler asked.  "I want you to try this and
tell me if it is Luke approved?" Tyler asked cutting a peanut butter
chocolate pecan square out and giving it to Luke.  Luke popped the entire
square into his mouth chewing away but said nothing.

"Luke?" Tyler asked.

Luke walked over to a kitchen cupboard and pulled out a jar of Kraft Peanut
Butter and said, "Needs more peanut butter!"

"K." Tyler said smiling at Larry and Linda.

"HEY!  How many times do I have to tell you not to put empty jars of peanut
butter back in the cupboard!  If I've said it once. I've said it."  Luke
stopped holding the empty jar up in the air.  "Never mind, get back to work
making my breakfast." He said pulling out a fresh jar of peanut butter.
Linda laughed and Larry shook his head.

"May I please have another piece of your delicious squares?" Luke asked.

"Huh?" Tyler said.

"Double Huh!" Linda said.

"I think it's be like Tyler day around here!" Larry guessed aloud.

"I'm about to do dishes Luke, lots and lots of dishes!" Tyler said.

"Be like Tyler day was yesterday Dad, but you can make up for your faux paus
by doing Tyler's dishes today!" Luke said.  "Square please?" Luke asked
again holding out one hand with the other hand holding a knife loaded with
peanut butter. Tyler dropped a second one into Luke's hand and winked.

"Looks like breakfast is all ready, except for putting the French Toast on
the grill!" Larry said.

"I need to speak to Tyler alone so go away."  Luke said and Larry and Linda
glared at Luke.  "Please!" Luke added with a smile.

"I guess we've now been booted out of our own kitchen?"  Larry said to
Linda.

"Go read your Bible Dad." Luke said.  Larry smiled at Linda!

"There's a good idea Linda.  We could read the Bible together!" Larry said
and Linda smiled shaking her head.

As they left the kitchen and started upstairs, Derek came down the hall
wrapped in only a towel having just finished his shower.  "Mom, I need to
speak with you alone for a moment!"

"Great." Larry said.

"Go read the Bible alone!" Linda teased.

"Like I haven't done that a thousand times before!" Larry moaned.

"Practice makes perfect, Dear!" Linda said grinning and following Derek down
to his room.

"What's a matter honey?" Linda asked.

"We need to get Dad out of the house for at least an hour! Do you know how
to get rid of him?" Derek asked.

"Derek. I've been married to your father for almost 20 years!  Of course I
know how to get rid of him.  Tell me what you want me to do?"  Linda said.

"Luke, Kyle, and I are going to get a real Christmas tree for Dad.  We're
going to set it up on a stand outside on the patio and decorate it with
lights as a surprise for Dad but we will need about an hour from the time we
get home to get it finished!"  Derek said.

"Oh Derek, that is a wonderful idea!  Your Dad needs to pick up the wine and
liquor for tomorrow night so what I will do is send Tyler with him." Linda
said.

"Thanks Mom." Derek said hugging Linda.

"You're welcome honey; anything for one of my boys!" Linda said.

"Isn't Tyler great?" Derek asked.

"He sure is!  Hold on tight to him, Derek, and don't ever to do anything to
make him want to leave you!"  Linda said.

"Mom, there isn't a day that I don't consider myself the luckiest guy in the
world to have Tyler in my life.  I never knew what being in love was until
we found each other."  Derek said.

"Now you know how I feel about your Father!" Linda said.

"I think we kind of figured that out last night!" Derek said laughing.

Linda coughed and smiled.

"It's okay Mom, Tyler jumped to the occasion and immediately told Luke that
you guys were reading the Bible!" Derek said laughing.

"I think it's really great that you and Dad are still so much in love at
your." Derek stopped.

"Age?" Linda said narrowing her eyes and biting down on her lower lip.

"Yeah, exactly!  What are you now, 29 years old?" Derek said grinning.

"Go get your brothers and get that damned tree put up!"  Linda said kissing
Derek's cheek. "Thank you for being the wonderful first son you are Derek! I
couldn't be any prouder of you than I have been in the last month!"

Tyler lifted Luke up on to the counter and then hugged him.  "What's up
Pookster?" Tyler said.

"I was thinking about those skates.  I came up with two ideas!" Luke said.

"Uh huh." Tyler said smiling at him.

"I could give them to Casey because he doesn't have anything near what I
have but then I thought that there are a lot of people worse off in the
world than even him.  So I figured I could either return them and donate the
money to charity or give them to the Santa Claus Stocking fund for kids who
don't have all that I have!"  Luke said.

"What do you have that no one else has Luke?"  Tyler asked

"I have you and Mom and Dad and Kyle and Derek and Casey." Luke said.

"I got your point Luke and I like your style!  I was going to go out and
make a donation to the food bank today so why don't you come with me and
we'll see if they can help us find a needy boy who could wear your skates?"
Tyler asked and Luke smiled.

"I'm sorry for all the things I've done to you this week Ty." Luke said.

"All you've done is make my world a better place Luke.  You are without
question the one person I would most want to be like!"  Tyler said giving
Luke a soft kiss on the lips.  "How about some French Toast and then we'll
get showered and go!"

"After breakfast Larry I need you to pick up the liquor, beer, and wine. and
while you're out could you see if you can buy a case of cheap wine glasses
please!" Linda said.

"So much for Bible study!" Larry said sighing.

"Honey. we have the house to ourselves tonight!  When was the last time we
got to go naked in the Jacuzzi?"  Linda winked.

"If we gave Derek some extra money do you think he would take them all to a
movie after bowling and dinner?" Larry said jumping up off the bed and
getting dressed again.

"Shit!" Larry said.

"What's wrong?" Linda asked.

"Kathy and Casey are coming home tonight!" Larry said.

"Oh that's right!  I need to discuss some of the presents we got for her to
give Casey from Santa and herself."  Linda said.

"I think you're missing my point. we won't be alone tonight." Larry said.

"I'm sure we'll get some quiet time honey!" Linda said kissing his cheek.

"Nope. Sorry, it's Christmas!  Let's take Kathy out to dinner and maybe a
movie!" Larry said.

"Really Larry?  That's so sweet of you to think of that." Linda said.

"I didn't actually. I thought about what Tyler would do!"  Larry groaned.
"I had better get breakfast into everyone!" he said, leaving the bedroom.

Tyler and Luke were heading upstairs as Larry was coming down.

"Don't you guys want breakfast?" Larry asked.

"We just ate Dad!" Luke said.

"Derek and Kyle are eating breakfast as we speak!" Tyler added.

"My work here is done!" Larry smiled to himself heading into the kitchen.

"Hurry up and get dressed Luke. I'm going to grab a quick shower and shave."
Tyler said.

Tyler stripped naked and turned on the shower.  He thought about having a
quick jack off session when he finished washing his hair and body but
decided he didn't have time.  He was glad he didn't because when he turned
off the water and opened the sliding glass doors Luke was sitting on the
vanity.

"What do you want Luke?" Tyler asked covering himself with a towel.

"I was just waiting for you." Luke said.

Tyler walked over to the sink and began applying shaving cream to his face.

"Does it hurt to shave?" Luke asked.

"Sort of! I wouldn't say it is the highlight of my day!" Tyler said as he
finished covering his beard.  He looked straight at Luke and said, "Ho Ho
Ho! Have you been a good boy this year Lucas?"  Tyler said smiling

"Santa... I've been the poster boy for all the Angels in heaven this year!"
Luke said barely keeping a straight face.

Tyler roared with laughter!  "You're a lying little sack of shit Luke!"

"Santa, does Mrs. Claus know you swear around the children?" Luke asked.

"No, and she doesn't know that I play strip poker with 5 of the reindeer on
Tuesday nights either!" Santa Tyler laughed with his 'ho ho ho'!

"What are your favourite things that little boys and girls give you when you
go to their house?" Luke asked.

"Hard liquor, cold cash, and pork rinds!" Santa Tyler said ending each
answer with a hearty deep laugh.

"What do you like best about your sleigh Santa?" Luke asked

"My BOSE stereo system and the port-a-potty I installed about 10 years ago!"
  Santa Tyler said laughing.

"What house is your favourite to go to?" Luke asked of Santa Tyler.

"Orlando Bloom's!  He's a bad, bad boy. if you know what I mean?" Santa
Tyler said winking.

"What do you spend all the cash on that people leave for you on Christmas
Eve Santa?" Luke said.

"Strippers, Cheesecake, and hair colour for Mrs. Claus!" Santa Tyler said
laughing as he began shaving.

"Speaking of Cheesecake Santa, what's your favourite food?"  Luke asked.

"Anything but reindeer meat little boy!  Oops. I probably shouldn't have
said that!" Santa Tyler laughed.  "I like to drop by Quiznos or pick up some
ribs at Darryl's Restaurant in Greensboro when I am flying over the
Americas."

The bathroom door opened and Derek said, "Luke! I've been searching for you!
We have to go do that thing for Dad!"

"I can't go! I have to help Tyler with something." Luke said.  Derek looked
at Tyler.

"He really does have something very important to do Derek."  Tyler said.

"This is not happening." Derek said walking out of the bathroom.

"Go get your coat and boots on Luke while I get dressed." Tyler said.

Luke ran up to the attic and pulled out a small crate and brought it back to
the kitchen.  He grabbed a stool and climbed up to open his peanut butter
cupboard.

"Do you want some help honey?" Linda said as she was washing dishes.

"No Mom. it's all good!" Luke said as he began pulling out new jars of
peanut butter and putting them into the crate.  He took his one large jar of
smooth peanut butter from Angelo and Gina and put it back up along with one
jar of Crunchy peanut butter that he was giving to Casey in his stocking.

"What are you doing Lucas?"  Linda asked.

"Just sorting out what's important."  He said as he walked off towards the
garage with his crate full of peanut butter.  Luke then went to see his Dad
who was in his office.

"Dad, I need to get into my box." Luke said, and Larry knew right away that
he needed to get into his locked bottom right hand drawer of his desk.
Larry pulled out the box and handed it to Luke.  Luke in turn pulled out his
own key and unlocked the box right in front of Larry.

Luke opened the box and pulled out a wad of bills that made Larry gulp.
"How much have you got in there Luke?" Larry asked as Luke was pulling out
five $20.00 bills.

"A few thousand I figure!" Luke said.

"Are you turning tricks on the street for money, Luke?" Larry questioned
Luke.

"Dad. You know I'm not a good skater like Kyle!" Luke said.

"Don't you think." Larry began.

"Dad! We've had this discussion. I don't tell you how to invest and you
don't tell me!" Luke said holding his palm out towards Larry.

"May I ask what you are going to do with YOUR money you are taking out?"
Larry said.

"I'm making a donation to the Salvation Army and the Baltimore Area Food
Bank!" Luke said recounting his bills.

"Are you going to buy your Dad anything for Christmas?" Larry asked.

"Did you want something?" Luke said seriously.

Luke pulled out a five-dollar bill. "Sure, I'll buy you something." Luke
said.  Then he thought about it for second and put the five-dollar bill
back.  "Why spend my money on a card when I can have Kyle print one off of
the internet?"  Luke said as he closed and locked his box.

"It feels so good to be loved." Larry sighed.

"Talk is cheap, but love is priceless Dad!" Luke said as he left the office
counting his money once more.

Tyler grabbed the box with Luke's inline skates from Derek's closet and
headed downstairs.  "Are you ready to go Luke?" Tyler asked.

"Yup!" Luke said.

"I better tell your Mom we'll be gone for about an hour or more." Tyler said
walking into the kitchen.

"Are you and Larry ready to leave because I've got the list made up." Linda
said.

"Me and Dr. Anderson Ma'am?" Tyler queried.

"To pick up the alcohol and soft drinks!" Linda said.

"I really don't know what you're talking about Ma'am?" Tyler said.

"Oh Shit!" Linda laughed. "I forgot to ask you.  Could you go with Larry to
the help him get the drinks for the party?  I would really prefer if you
picked the wine. if you know what I mean?" Linda said winking.

"Well Luke and I are just headed out." Tyler said as Larry came into the
kitchen.

"Larry!  The boys have to run some errands so could you go with them to the
liquor store right now and then Tyler and Luke can go and finish what they
need to do?" Linda asked.

"Sure. I guess.  Tyler do you want to follow me then?" Larry asked.

"Sure!" Tyler said. "Mrs. Anderson, I left instructions and baking times for
the gingerbreads.  Put one tray in the freezer for 10 minutes before putting
it into the oven and after the first tray goes in put the second tray into
the freezer and so on.  Just leave them to cool on the trays so I can
decorate them when I get back."

"Don't worry, it will be fine and thank you for all you have done Tyler."
Linda said giving him a hug.

Tyler followed Larry to the liquor store and when they went in one of the
employees noticed that they had filled a cart with a lot of alcohol and
offered to help the three of them.

"Did you folks need some help?" Dennis asked.

"Yes Sir." Tyler said.  "We have a list to fill but I would really like to
get a good single Malt Scotch about 12 plus years old.  Do you have anything
from Isley?

Dennis smiled upon hearing someone who knew about good Scotch!  "We do but
we don't keep it out here!  Come with me!"  Dennis said.

Dennis punched a series of numbers into a keypad next to a locked door and
everyone heard the click.  Dennis opened the door to a room that was bigger
than their regular retail area.

"Whoa!" Luke said upon entering.

"Whoa is right Luke!" Larry said.

Dennis led Tyler to the Scotch section.  Tyler pulled out two bottles.  Both
were over $150.00 a piece.

"We need some good Italian red.  Perhaps some Chianti from the Parma region
of Northern Italy and do you carry any Frascatti?" Tyler asked.

Dennis beamed!  "Yes! I still got two cases from 1999.  They're on special
as well!  Less that eight-dollars a bottle!"

"We'll take two cases then!" Tyler grinned.

Larry and Luke looked at each other.

"What else do you need?"  Dennis asked.

"We need some Crown Royal, Dry Vermouth for Martini's, Tanquery Vodka,
Tequila, and some beer!  Do you carry Michelob?" Tyler asked.

"Only because the owner drinks it!" Dennis joked.

"It's still better than Bud!" Tyler said smiling.

"I wouldn't feed that crap to a slug!" Dennis said.

"Are we having slugs tomorrow night?" Tyler asks of Larry.

"You'd better believe it!" Larry said.

"What about Smithwicks and Rikard's Red?"  Tyler asked.  "Maybe some
Moosehead as well!"

"I've got Smithwicks and Moosehead, but Rikard's Red is only available in
Canada.  The American version is called Killian's Red and it is palatable if
you've had enough to drink beforehand!"  Dennis said grinning as he led them
to the beer section.

"I love this!" Tyler whispered to Larry. "A beer snob!  How great is this
finding a guy who knows his stuff?" Tyler giggled.

"Whatever floats your boat Ty!" Luke said rolling his eyes at his father.

"Word! Little man!" Larry said fisting with Luke.

"When the guests start complimenting you on your choice of Scotch I will be
expecting apologies from both of you!" Tyler said and wandered off to catch
up to Dennis.

"Snob!" Larry and Luke said in unison and laughed.

When it came time to check out Tyler never batted an eye when the total came
to $924.00.  Larry almost dropped dead of a heart attack.  He pulled out his
VISA card and handed it to Dennis.

Tyler figured that the owner of the liquor store was the older man standing
behind Dennis watching the large order be registered.

"Sir, are you the owner?" Tyler asked.

"Yes Sir, can I be of help to you?" The man said.

"No Sir. I just wanted to complement you on what a great help Dennis has
been!  He makes an excellent sommelier!  You are very lucky to have such a
great assistant!" Tyler said as the owner perused the quantity and quality
of the stock on Tyler's cart.

"Thank you Sir! We are very proud of Dennis!  Many of our best customers
work exclusively with Dennis to make sure their functions are properly met!
Gino Mazerelli!"  The owner said shaking Tyler's hand and smiling.

"Dr. Anderson?" Dennis said. "There seems to be a problem with your card,
Sir!"

"Oh Shit! I know what it is!  I put the ring on the card!"  Larry said quite
embarrassed.

"No problem Dad!" Tyler said winking. "We'll put it on my card!" Tyler said
pulling his VISA card out and handing it to Dennis.

"There won't be a problem Dennis - I have a $25,000.00 limit!" Tyler said.

"Whoa!" Luke said.

"Mmmm hmmmm." Larry said putting his card back in his wallet.

"You seem to know a great deal about wine yourself?" Gino asked.

"He does Mr. Mancuzi!  I would hire him in a moment!" Dennis said.

"I work in a small Italian restaurant in Philadelphia called Ciccone's
Trattoria." Tyler said.

"Angelo Ciccone?" Gino asked.

"Yes Sir.  Angelo and Gina are my bosses!"  Tyler said.

"It probably should be noted that they think of Tyler as their own son!"
Larry said putting his hand on Tyler's shoulder.

Gino handed Tyler his card and then said something in Italian to Dennis.
Dennis handed Tyler his credit card and the chit to sign.  He asked Tyler to
wait one moment and said he would be right back.  Dennis returned with two
bottles 1991 Barolo covered in dust and protected by a plastic mesh sleeves.
  He wrapped one bottle in bubble pack and put it in a bag with one of
Gino's cards.  Dennis then handed the bag to Gino who in turn handed the bag
to Tyler.

"I would be very grateful if you would kindly give this to Angelo and Gina
from me when you return to work?" Gino said.  Tyler accepted the bottle on
Angelo and Gina's behalf!

Gino then handed the next bottle to Tyler as a thank you gift for delivering
the first bottle. Tyler politely declined.

"Thank you Sir but I must respectfully decline!  It would be my honour to
deliver this to Angelo and Gina as a small thank you for all they have given
me, but if you feel the need to say thank you then you may do so by never
letting go of Dennis!" Tyler said smiling as he shook Gino's hand.  Larry
noticed that Tyler quickly inserted his hand in his pocket and shook Dennis'
hand.  He saw the quiet exchange of bills.

When they finished loading up the Van Larry stared at Tyler.

"Did I do something wrong?" Tyler asked.

"No. You did everything the way it was supposed to be done.  I learned more
in one hour with you than I did in a week at medical school!" Larry said.
"Why and how much money did you put in Dennis' hand?"

"It's customary to tip the Sommelier for good service but I like to think of
it as an investment!  Dennis will now personally handle your orders.  Trust
him implicitly! I've learned to give approximately 5% of the total order,
though after using him for a year you probably want to go a little higher in
the Christmas season.  It's actually saves you money in the long run!  They
will hunt out and find under-valued wines and spirits all over the world!  A
good Sommelier makes you look great to your guests!

"How did you know what beers to choose?"  Larry asked.

"Very easy!  Beer drinkers come as three basic types.  There is the
white-trash barfly who wears the Bud cap with the logo!   Then there is the
moderately sophisticated beer drinker who wants to taste something more than
the local slosh on tap!  Finally there is the cultured American beer sipper!
  He will enjoy one beer while shooting a game of pool or eating barbeque!
He wants quality not quantity!  So we have Michelob which is the higher end
of the slush, Moosehead for those who want more flavour but don't have
radical tastes in beer, and finally a mild British beer which can be enjoyed
over a couple of hours." Tyler said.

"Whoa!" Larry said.  "Thank you Tyler for your help and your credit card!
Drinking on your tab will be fun for change!" Larry winked and Tyler
grinned.

"Sir, you still need to get a case of cheap wine glasses!  Can you handle
that yourself?" Tyler asked.

"Go on your Merry Christmas way." Larry said and Luke rolled his eyes.

"Let's go to the food bank first!" Luke said.

"Yes Boss!" Tyler said turning to smile at Luke.

Tyler got out of the Jeep and walked up to the big overhead loading ramp
doors of the Food Bank.  He turned expecting to see Luke but he was still at
the Jeep trying to unload a box.  Tyler went back to help Luke and find out
what he was doing.

"Lucas! This is a year's worth of peanut butter to a family that lives on
it. or a month for you!" Tyler teased.  Luke looked up with his eyes
beginning to water.

"I'm sorry Luke. I wasn't trying to be mean!  That's a really great offering
and I know that can't be easy for you do!"  Tyler said and Luke sniffled.
"At least let me carry it for you." Tyler said trying to take the box from
Luke but he moved away.

"Ahhh, I see.  This is something you have to do on your own eh?" Tyler said.
  Luke nodded but wouldn't look at Tyler.

Tyler shut the Jeep door and walked up the stairs ahead of Luke so he could
hold the receiving door open.  They saw a man in his fifties in a uniform
sitting behind a desk in an office so they went to see him to ask
directions.

Tyler tapped on the open door.  "Excuse me Sir?" Tyler asked.

"Sergeant Bagger!  How can I help you?" The man behind the desk asked.

"Sir my little brother is here to make a donation to the Food Bank and we
were just wondering where to take it?" Tyler asked.

Sergeant Bagger looked around behind Tyler to a boy hiding that was holding
a box.  The Sergeant narrowed his eyes and moved slightly to his right to
get a better look at Luke.  Once Luke peeked out from behind Tyler the
Sergeant's frown turned into a huge grin!  He turned around and grabbed the
calendar off the wall and began flipping the pages backwards!

"Ah Ha!" Sergeant Bagger yelled and then started to scan the fine print of
the calendar.  "You're Lucas Anderson?" He asked with a huge smile.

Luke peeked around Tyler's leg and nodded in fear. The sergeant jumped up
out of his desk and came straight at Luke with his hand extended.

"It's an honour Lucas to meet you!"  The Sergeant said.  "I've never met a
Kraft Calendar kid!  You are definitely the most talked about month of 2005!
  Here, let me set that box down.  Holy crap!  You're giving us peanut
butter too?"  Luke nodded now holding on to the back of Tyler's coat.

"Can I see the calendar?" Tyler asked.

"Just a second!  Come here Lucas!  Sit down!  Use my chair if you prefer?"
Sergeant Bagger offered!

Luke smiled and sat down in one of the two chairs facing the Sergeant's
desk.

"Sir?" Tyler interrupted.

"What?" Said the Sergeant not amused at Tyler's interruption.

"I hate to bother you Sir but we need to get this dropped off and get
going!" Tyler said smiling.

"You can't go yet!  You just got here!  I have to phone some others around
here who will want to meet you Lucas!  Would it be all right if we had a few
pictures taken with Lucas? We've never really had a star show up here
before!  It would be great for morale!" the Sergeant asked Tyler.

"If you want to take Lucas' picture then you need to ask him!" Tyler said
reaching over and lifting the Kraft Foods Peanut Butter calendar off of the
Sergeants desk.

"Holy Crap Luke!  There's your wall of fame and you!  What's your shirt
say?" Tyler asked.

"It said Pork Fat Rules but I crossed out the Pork Fat and wrote in Kraft
Peanut Butter." Luke said grinning.

"Ummm Sergeant, I see you are with the Salvation Army and I was wondering if
I could make a donation to them while I am here?"  Tyler asked.

"Oh yes!  Certainly!" The Sergeant said and pulled out the receipt book.

"Now I'm a Canadian so the receipt is no good to me so would you make it out
to Larry Anderson please in the amount of $100.00?" Tyler asked.

"Make it $200.00." Luke said pulling out five twenty-dollar bills and
setting them down on the desk.

"Oh oh oh ." The sergeant began to hyperventilate!  "You're not only giving
food but money also?  This is probably the most exciting day of my life!"
The Sergeant said placing one hand over his heart and looking up to heaven.
Tyler looked at Luke and both giggled.  "Dear Lord!  The world needs more
Lucas Andersons!!!" The Sergeant said.

"If there's a shortage you can have this.Owww!" Tyler said upon being
punched in the arm by Luke.

What should have taken 10 minutes ended up being almost an hour and a half!
Tyler ended up holding the cameras for everyone and taking all of the
pictures.

"Sergeant Bagger?" Tyler called away from the group.

"Yes Tyler?" He said almost giddy from the morning's events.

"Do you people do a Christmas dinner for those in need?"  Tyler asked.

"This Saturday the 24th at noon!  Most of the people working here are
volunteers and they want to be home with their families on Christmas Day!"
Sergeant Bagger said.

"Would I be able to volunteer and come in and help?" Tyler said.

"Me too!" Luke added.

"You're kidding me right?"  Sergeant Bagger said clapping his hands together
in excitement.

"Sergeant Sir?  I really don't have the time to go through all of this
again.  What time would you like us to be here?" Tyler said

"Ten o'clock would be great!  Next to Thanksgiving this is our busiest meal
of the year!  If you wouldn't mind Luke, we could probably raise some much
needed funds if we could advertise a little bit that a celebrity like you
was going to be here?"  Luke grinned. "I know the Mayor and many city
councillors would want the photo op and if we could say something like 'for
a can or cash donation bring your own camera and have your picture taken
with Kraft Foods June 2005 Calendar Kid Lucas Anderson, then we could really
raise a lot for the needy people of Baltimore!" Sergeant Bagger asked.

"What do you say Luke?" Tyler asked.

"I think this will be the best Christmas yet!" Luke said shaking hands with
the Sergeant and then Luke saluted the Sergeant and Sergeant Bagger saluted
back.

"One last question Sir.  Luke has a brand new pair of inline skates he wants
to see go anonymously to a guy around his age for Christmas.  Could you help
make that happen?" Tyler asked.

"I know just the boy, too!  He and his Mom volunteer every Saturday.  They
also make use of the Food Bank.  The staff here chipped in and bought David
a hockey stick and ball for his birthday along with a cake.  Hey Luke, maybe
you would like to give him the present yourself?"  Sergeant Bagger asked.

"No Sir. It's to come from Santa Claus, not me!" Luke said sadly.

"Well that's really kind of you Luke!  The world would be a much better
place if we had more Lucas Andersons in it!"  Sergeant Bagger said.

Tyler and Luke said their goodbyes to everyone and headed home.  Tyler put
his fist up in the air and Luke met him halfway.

"Ya dun good pardner!" Tyler said in a John Wayne voice.

"We dun good Tyler!" Luke said taking Tyler's hand in his.

"Giving is a lot more fun than receiving, isn't it?" Tyler said.

"Nope!" Luke said with a big grin and then winked at Tyler.

"I already knew that Ty.  I let Casey play with or have anything he wants in
my room." Luke said.

"Really?  I never knew that!" Tyler said putting both hands back on the
steering wheel.

"Don't tell anyone Ty, I have an image to maintain!" Luke grinned and Tyler
lightly punched his arm.

Tyler put on a song especially for Luke called "Everybody" by Stabilo Boss.
"Have a listen to the words of this song, Luke!  It's about the greed in the
world." Tyler said and he and Luke listened quietly until it ended.

"Are you going to help me make three pans of fudge when we get home?" Tyler
asked.

"Sure! I will taste it for you!" Luke said as they pulled into the driveway.

"How does it feel to know that you are playing Secret Santa to a boy your
age who is in need?" Tyler asked.

"I know it's a lot better to help people one by one rather then spending
your life with a plan to save the world that might never happen!" Luke said.

"Word!" Tyler said smiling. "Just think if every person helped just one
other person!" Tyler said putting his arm around Luke as they walked into
the house.

Tyler and Luke arrived in the kitchen to find everyone working at decorating
the tree.

"Welcome back boys!" Linda said.  Tyler spotted all of his trays of cookies
sitting there waiting to be decorated.

"So where did you two go off to?" Linda asked.

"We went to the food bank Mom!"  Luke said smiling.

"Did you make a donation?" She asked.

"We both did!" Luke said.  Tyler quietly stuck the receipt in Larry's hand
saying it wasn't any good to a Canadian and Luke was too young. Larry smiled
and winked at Tyler.

"Luke was a huge hit!  The sergeant in charge even referred to him as a
celebrity." Tyler said.

"Really?"

"Kraft Foods is a big contributor to the Food Bank and they recognized Luke
from the calendar.  He had his picture taken with just about everyone who
works there.  They invited us to come help make and serve Christmas dinner
for the less fortunate on Saturday morning.  I told him yes but I said I
would need to confirm it with you.  Sergeant Bagger, the guy in charge
there, said that if they could promote Luke being there that the Mayor and
other dignitaries would want to show up along with the Press to increase
awareness of the need to help those less fortunate." Tyler said.

"Wow Luke! That's incredible!" Larry said.  "I'm really proud of you!"

"Luke was amazing. He sat there holding small kids on his lap to have his
picture taken with the family.  The Sergeant said it was a huge boost to
morale for Luke to not just show up but to make a donation of peanut butter
and money!"

"You donated peanut butter?"  Derek asked in shock.  Luke politely smiled
but didn't say a word.

"So would it be okay if Luke comes with me to work there on Saturday?"
Tyler asked.

"That's fine with us Tyler, but it's Luke's decision.  We really need you
guys back and ready for the Christmas Eve party which usually starts around
5 p.m." Linda said.

"Great! I will give Sergeant Bagger a call and let him Luke can be there so
they can try to get some free press out of it." Tyler said putting his arms
around Luke and kissing the top of his head. "I've never been prouder of you
than I am today Luke!"

"Ty, come over here we need your help!  You too Luke!" Derek said.

"Mom? Want to do the honours?" Derek asked handing a small gift-wrapped box
to his mother.

"Merry Christmas Tyler!" She said handing Tyler the little box.  Tyler read
the card out loud.  "Merry Christmas Tyler, love always your family!  Thanks
everyone." Tyler said.

"You haven't even opened it Ty!  Why are you saying thanks?" Luke asked and
Linda swatted the back of his head.

Tyler tore open the paper to uncover a red box with a transparent plastic
window on it.  Inside was a beaver tree ornament wearing a toque with
'Canada' on it holding a hockey stick.  At the bottom it said "My first
Christmas 2005" Linda had written the name Tyler on the front of the base.
Tyler's eyes began to water and he hugged Linda saying, "It's beautiful,
thank you."

"Where should I hang it?" Tyler asked.

"Somewhere at the back where we don't have to look at it!" Kyle said
grinning.

Tyler picked up Luke and let him hang it up on the tree!  When Luke finished
they both got a round of applause and Luke got a kiss from Tyler.

"Don't set him down Ty!" Derek said handing Luke the Angel to put on top of
the tree. Luke burst into laughter!  "Did you do this Ty?" Luke asked and
Tyler winked.

"What is it?" Linda asked.

"Tyler took two of the peanut jars he made for the broken Santa and his 5
reindeer and glued them on to the Angel's hands!" Derek said.

"I need to get back to work.  Who wants to help?  Derek? Kyle? Luke?  Good!"
Tyler said.  They all shrugged their shoulders and followed.

"I really need your help to decorate the gingerbread men and gingerbread
trees while I make the fudge!" Tyler asked.

"It's all good Ty!" Derek said. "That's what family is here for!"

"So I am learning how lucky I am to have three of the four best brothers in
the world by my side." Tyler said.

"How do you make fudge Ty?" Luke asked.

"Sugar, Carnation milk, chocolate, marshmallows, and vanilla!  It's really
easy.  I thought we would do one pan of chocolate fudge with peanut butter
swirled into it.  What do you think?" Tyler asked.

"Definitely the dumbest question you've ever asked Ty!" Derek said.

"Can you show me how to decorate the trees Ty?" Kyle asked, and Tyler used
the red and green gel icings to make ropes running back and forth and then
used all the other colour to make Christmas lights.  An hour and a half
later they were all done!

"Nap time!" Tyler said after rinsing the last dish.

"Word!" Derek said.

All four boys went up to Kyle's room and collapsed on his bed.  Tyler lay
down with his arms around Kyle facing Luke who was held in Derek's arms.

"So Ty." Derek began. "Can I come along and help you guys on Saturday?"
Derek asked.

"I was wondering when you were going to volunteer." Tyler said.

"Bi-otch!" Derek said.

"Word!" Tyler responded.

"We've got a problem!" Luke announced.

"I'm sure whatever it is will be your problem and not mine!" Derek said
poking Luke and grinning at him.

"Are your teachers invited to the Christmas Eve party Luke?" Kyle asked.

"What's our problem Luke?" Tyler asked.

"Well. we're going bowling!  There's only Chris, Jeff, Casey, and the four
of us!  That makes it an odd number!" Luke said counting out on his fingers.

"We've got a problem Derek!" Tyler said lifting his head to speak to Derek.

"No problem. we'll leave Kyle at home!" Derek said.

"Oww! That hurt!" Derek said.

"Good, assmite!" Kyle said smiling at Luke and Tyler.

"I might be too injured now to bowl." Derek whined.

"Yea!" Luke and Kyle said.  Tyler laughed.

"Nooooow. I'm not dead yet!" Derek said in a British accent from the movie
the Holy Grail.

"Yes you are!" Luke said matching Derek's British accent.

"No, I'm not!" Derek replied.

"You're very, very ill! You'll soon be dead!" Luke said and Kyle and Tyler
started laughing at the banter between them.

"I think I'm getting better?" Derek said.

"No you're not!" WHOP!  Luke said.  "There. you're dead now!"

"Okay, okay. I've got an idea."

"Hey Everybody!!!!!!!" Casey said standing at Kyle's bedroom door.

"CASEY!" Everyone yelled.

"Haul yer ass up here Casey!" Tyler yelled and Casey dove into the centre of
the bed between Luke and Kyle.

"Tickle time!" Derek said.

"Noooooooooo!" Casey yelled and all four of his brothers began tickling him
and kissing him while he laughed hysterically.

"Okay!  Enough!  Casey and Luke. go get yourselves unpacked!  We leave in 3
hours!  Kyle go.  go. use your left hand for a change!  Derek I need to
talk. alone!" Tyler said, getting up and pulling Derek up with him.

"Fine... just leave me here alone!" Kyle moaned.

"Okay!" Derek said walking through the bathroom to his room.

"I've got an idea!" Tyler said.

"Coolies!" Derek said starting to kiss him.

"Not that!" Tyler said pushing him away.  Derek made a pouty face.

"What would you think of phoning Cody and inviting him up for the night to
go bowling?  He might even be able to stay for some of the party?" Tyler
said.

"That's great! He's probably alone doing nothing anyway!  Phone him!"  Derek
said.

"Ask your parents first!" Tyler said.

"You mean OUR parents and you have to ask them!" Derek said.

"I'm not asking them! It's your house!" Tyler said.

"Wrong! It's our house!" Derek said walking out of the room!  Derek went to
the top of the staircase and yelled. "MOM!  DAD!  Have you got a minute?"

"Oh shit!" Tyler said aloud in the bedroom.

To Derek's surprise his Dad opened his bedroom door behind him wearing his
bathrobe and said, "WHAT!"

Derek turned around and looked at his Dad in the bathrobe sporting a
sizeable chunk of wood!

"Ummm. ummm. Tyler needs to speak to you guys for a second!" Derek said
giggling.  Linda came around from behind the door tying up her bathrobe.

"What's the matter honey?" Linda said.

"Tyler needs to ask you guys a question!" Derek said.  "He's in our room!"

"Don't worry Dad!  Cialis is good for 24 hours!" Derek said turning to lead
them back to his room.  Linda snorted laughter and Larry reached out to swat
the back of Derek's head but Linda blocked him.

All three piled into Derek's bedroom.

"Oh God! Why did you do this?" Tyler said to Derek.

"Do what?" Linda asked.

"Just ask them!" Derek said.

"Dr. and Mrs. Anderson?" Tyler began.

"NO Tyler!  Mom and Dad!" Derek said.

"Dad and Mom." Tyler said sticking his tongue out at Derek. "Would it be
okay to invite a friend of ours from Drexel up for the night?"

"Why certainly, Tyler, and you don't need to ask but that was nice of you to
do so!" Linda said.

"What's the matter, Tyler?  Derek can't keep it up and you need someone
new?" Larry said winking at Tyler.

Derek punched his Dad in the arm.

Linda punched Derek in the arm. "Don't hit your Father!" She teased.

"Are we done here?" Larry asked.

"We are!" Derek said with a big grin and looked at his watch.  "Don't worry
Dad you still have 23 hours and 53 minutes left!

Larry turned to walk out of the room and Derek slapped Larry's ass and said,
"Have a good game Son!"   Tyler fell over on the bed laughing and Linda
raised one finger up at Derek's nose when Larry hollered for her.  She
decided not say anything.

"You're such a shit and a weird shit at that!" Tyler said.

"D isn't just for Derek, it's also for dysfunctional!" Derek said grinning.

"Here's the phone Derek. Call him and invite him!" Tyler said.

"Why me? It was your idea!" Derek said.

"Cause I already asked Mom and Dad!" Tyler said punching him in the arm as
he walked into Kyle's room.  Derek followed Tyler into Kyle's room and
clicked on Cody's name.

"Hey Cody!  It's Derek." He said.

"Hey Derek!  Everything okay?"  Cody asked.

"No. No it isn't okay I'm afraid." Derek said grinning and holding the phone
so Tyler and Kyle could hear Cody.

"Is Tyler okay?  What's wrong?  Is he hurt?" Cody yelled into the phone.

"It's worse than that Cody!" Derek said.

"What is it?" Cody yelled.

"We want to go bowling tonight and we are short one bowler!" Derek said and
Tyler and Kyle laughed.

"Excuse me?" Cody said.

"We need you to be here in 3 hours so we can go bowling.  Tyler said you
could drive back to Philly tonight but I insist that you stay!"  Derek said
laughing as Tyler began to attack him.

"Are you cereal?" Cody said laughing.

"Captain Crunch's honour!" Derek said as Tyler tickled him.  Tyler wrestled
the cell phone out of Derek's hand.

"Hey Codylicious!" Tyler said as he flopped down on Kyle's bed next to Kyle.
"Want to come bowling?

"You must be joking?  Drive to Maryland to go bowling!" Cody said.

"It's glow-in-the-dark bowling.  I've never bowled in my life and if you
come you can have Kyle's ass!" Tyler said and Derek dropped on the floor
laughing.  "What?" Cody could hear Kyle say in the background.

Cody listened and heard mumbling.  "Sure Kyle, we can hook up the webcam and
make Danny watch back in Iowa!"  Cody went into full belly-laugh mode.

"You guys are so mean to my boyfriend!" Cody said. "Hang on a second!"

Tyler heard Cody yell at his father. "Dad!!!!!!!!  Can I go to Baltimore to
go bowling in three hours?"

"What?  Did I hear you right?"  Coach Conners asked.

"Yeah, I would stay the night with Derek and Tyler at the Anderson's house.
I would be back tomorrow!" Cody said.

"If you like?  Are you talking to Tyler right now?"  The Coach said.

"Yeah Dad." Cody responded.

"Tell him thanks for the gift whatever it is!" Coach Conner's said.

"Dad says your gift sucks ass!"  Cody said bursting into laughter!  "Hey Dad
can I take the Miata?"

"Not now!" Tyler heard the Coach say and he laughed at Cody.

"Son of a.  email directions and I will be on the road in twenty minutes!
Do I need to bring anything?" Cody asked.

"Bring your balls <Tyler chuckled> and something to protect your ass from
Kyle reaming you six feet under!" Tyler said.

"No problem!  He can ream my ass anytime he wants!"  Cody said.

"Drive safely Cody, there's no rush to get here!  We want you alive. well.
except Kyle, he'll screw anything!  Be safe my brother!" Tyler said.

"Love you guys too!" Cody said hanging up.

Tyler closed his cell phone and said, "Kyle! Tonight is your night if you
want it to be!"

"Huh?"  Kyle said.

"Well. Cody could sleep in your bed tonight if you wanted?"  Tyler said.

Kyle's eyes widened completely.

"Derek, can I talk to Ty alone for a second?" Kyle asked.

"Sure little brother!" Derek smiled.

"You can sleep alone tonight Kyle. I was just teasing you!"  Tyler said.

"Ummm Ty, I don't want Cody to be my first." Kyle said as he slowly formed a
smile.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Tyler asked.

Kyle smiled.

"Kyle, I would hurt you!  I would tear you in two. and not intentionally!"
Tyler said.

"Well I didn't think it would happen tonight.  I figured we would work up to
it!"  Kyle grinned.

"When you feel you are ready why don't you start with Chris?" Tyler said.
"C'mere and let me hold you." Kyle moved in for a hug.

"I think you know how much I love you?" Tyler said.

"Yeah I do, I'm just not sure if you realize it!"  Kyle said and got up and
left his bedroom.

Tyler lay back on Kyle's bed for a moment and looked at the ceiling.  "What
the Fuck!" He said.

Tyler went down to the kitchen to find himself alone.  He pulled out one of
the bags of jumbo tiger shrimp he had bought and dumped them into a sink of
cold water to let them thaw.  He got a large glass bowl and some wooden
skewers.  He soaked the skewers in a dish filled with water.  Adding olive
oil, a tablespoon of curry powder, some freshly chopped garlic and coriander
along with the juice of two limes, he mixed in the shrimp and let them
marinate.  Tyler, with Abbey in tow, went outside to start the barbeque.

Tyler looked down to see Abbey sitting patiently at his feet wagging her
tail.  "Hello Dawg!" Tyler said smiling down at her.  <Thump, thump, thump
banged Abbey's tail on the patio deck.>

"How about we make some bruchetta Abigail?"  Tyler asked.  He took a stick
of French bread and sliced it down the centre into two pieces.  While the
bread broiled in the oven for a bit he cut one clove of garlic in half and
chopped the other two pieces up finely.  When the bread started to darken he
removed it and rubbed the half cloves of garlic and then added olive oil,
chopped garlic, fresh basil, and feta cheese.

Tyler skewered the shrimp, three to a stick, and took the tray out to the
barbeque along with the bruchetta.  When he finished cooking the shrimp and
bruchetta he returned inside.  He cut the bread up and poured a dish of Thai
dipping sauce.  Within ten minutes the smell had permeated the house and
everyone was making their way down to the kitchen.

"Mmmmm. I smell garlic!" Linda said glowing from her post-orgasmic bliss.
Larry just seemed to be in a daze.  Casey and Luke showed up next.  Casey
grabbed the Ciccone's jar of peanut butter and Luke grabbed two knives.

"Casey, go get your Mom!  Tell her that Tyler is cooking!" Linda said.

Casey ran upstairs to the doorway next to Larry and Linda's bedroom.  He
opened the door and yelled for his Mom to come down.  Kyle wrapped in a
towel from a shower and Derek followed behind.  Everyone but Casey devoured
the shrimp samplers that Tyler made.  Conversations ran from bowling to what
movie Linda, Larry, and Kathy would go see.

The buzzer in the gate went off but no one seemed interested in answer it so
Tyler went over to the keypad and punched in 1234.  He opened the door to
greet Chris and Jeff.  Tyler figured it was better to stay low key with
Jeff.  He gave Chris a hug and told them to follow him into the kitchen.
Cathy, Linda, Larry, Casey, and Luke were on the outside of the island
sitting on stools while Kyle, Derek, and Tyler were on the kitchen side
leaning on the counter.  Chris moved in beside Kyle and it wasn't long
before Larry noticed that Kyle's left and Chris' right hand were down under
the counter below anyone's view.  When he caught Kyle's eye he winked and
Kyle blushed.

Jeff moved down beside Tyler and leaned in beside him.

"Chris, what do you want to drink?" Tyler said.

"R.C. please!" Chris said.

"Jeff? Do you want something to drink?" Tyler asked.

"Sure. smells like coffee is brewing!" Jeff said.

"Yup. Just for me since no one else wanted any.  This is good! I hate to
drink alone!" Tyler grinned. "What do you like in coffee?"

"Just black please." Jeff said.

"You can slide over Jeff?" Derek said. "Try some curried shrimp!" Derek said
handing him a skewer.

"This is amazing!" Jeff said.

"Try it with some thigh dipping sauce!" Luke said sliding the bowl across
the table.  Everyone broke out in laughter.

"What?" Luke said.

"Luke, it's THAI dipping sauce not thigh dipping sauce!" Derek said.

"It's made with peanut butter Luke!" Tyler said as he set two mugs of coffee
down.

"So are you guys going to play in teams?" Larry asked.

"Yup!" Derek answered.

"We're still short a bowler then?" Luke said.

The doorbell rang and Derek said as he went to answer it, "Not any more
we're not!"

Everyone in the kitchen heard Derek when he said, "Cody!"

"Who's Cody?" Chris asked.

"He's a friend of my brother's.  He's dating Danny. the one I told you
about?" Kyle said.

"Oh.  Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!" Chris said with a big grin.

"We don't want to know what that's all about do we?" Larry asked.

"No Sir!" Kyle said grinning.  Derek arrived with his arm around Cody.  Cody
was wearing his cowboy hat that Danny had given him for Christmas.

"Wow this is some mansion ya got here!" Cody said.  "Hi everyone!"

Kyle was the first to run over and jump into Cody's arms!  "Told ya we would
see each other over the holidays!" Kyle said giving him a hug.

"Luke!" Cody yelled and Luke jumped up in the air and landed on Cody almost
knocking him over!

"Cody! This is my best friend Casey and his Mom, Kathy!" Luke said
introducing them both.

Cody stuck out his fist and met with Casey.

"Nice to meet you Casey!  I've heard about what a great hockey player you
are!  So you're the guy who is Tyler's personal guest at our game in
February?" Cody asked.

Casey giggled and Cody messed his hair.

"Cody this my friend Chris and his brother Jeff!"  Cody shook hands with
Chris and when he met Jeff he said, "So you're the great guitar and football
player that Tyler told me about!"  Jeff smiled shyly and put his hand out to
shake.  Cody wouldn't stand for any of that and pulled Jeff into a surprise
hug.  "Any friend of Derek and Tyler's is a friend of mine!"

"He's more than a friend Cody!" Tyler said, "He's family!"

"Family?" Cody said looking at Tyler.  "So don't loan him any money then!"

Jeff and everyone else started laughing.  Cody stood with his arm around
Jeff and took his hat off and set it on Jeff's head.

"Cody, these are our parents, Larry and Linda."  Derek said.

"Pleasure to meet you Dr. and Mrs. Anderson!" Cody said reaching across the
counter to shake both of their hands.  "Derek and Luke are fine boys!" He
said winking at Tyler, Derek, and Jeff.

"What about me?"  Kyle said.  Cody shifted his eyes back and forth and
everyone laughed.

"You are so dead meat later!" Kyle added with an evil grin.

"So now you've got two teams!" Larry said.  "Who are the Captains?"

Luke, Casey, Kyle, and Chris all started screaming that they wanted to be
Captains.  Tyler asked Derek to get a deck of cards.  Tyler pulled out 13
cards from the Ace of hearts up to the King of hearts.  He shuffled them and
then spread them out on the counter face down.

"Okay! Everyone gets to draw one card!  Don't turn it over or look at it!
Ace is low and King is high!  The highest and lowest card will determine the
two Captains!  The high card gets first choice for his team!" Tyler said.

"What does the winning team get?" Derek asked.

"Okay! Let's do it two ways!  Everyone chips in five dollars!  Each team
chooses a charity and the money goes to the winning charity!" Tyler said.

"But when I kick your ass Tyler. and I will, I want something for that!"
Derek said.

"Any ideas?" Tyler asked.

"Losing team has to make breakfast for the winners tomorrow morning!" Kyle
suggested.

"And clean my room!" Luke said!

<Silence>

"What?" Luke asked holding his arms out stretched.

Everyone took a card and slid it in front of themselves.  Larry, Linda, and
Kathy couldn't stop laughing through all of this.

"If you're a team Captain Derek you had better choose me because I want
Hollandaise sauce with my Eggs Benedict!" Tyler said.

One by one they began turning their cards over.

"5 of hearts!" Casey said.

"Jack of hearts!" Luke said and he and Casey fisted.

"9 of hearts" Chris said.

"6 of hearts." Kyle moaned.

"Ten of hearts" Cody said showing everyone his card.

"2 of hearts!" Jeff said grinning.

"All right Jeff!" Tyler said patting Jeff on the back.

"C'mon baby. Papa needs a king of hearts!" Derek said as he flipped over the
queen of hearts.

"Now you see Luke! I told you Derek was my queen!" Tyler said winking.  The
room erupted in laughter and Derek sent his queen of hearts flying at
Tyler's head.

Tyler turned over the Ace of hearts.  "Oooooooooooooooh!" was heard through
the room.

"So the opposing Captains are Tyler and Derek!" Larry said. "Derek chose
your first team member!"

"This is so going to end up in a divorce!" Luke said matter-of-factly.  More
laughter.

"I choose. Cody!" Derek said grinning.

"Interesting choice Derek!  Have you ever bowled Cody?" Tyler asked.

"Once!" Cody grinned.

"Shit!" Derek said.

"I choose Jeff!" Tyler said looking to his right with a smile. "That is if
you will do me the honour of being on my team?"

"Sure since Derek doesn't want me!" Jeff joked.

"Ooooooooooooh!" spread through the room.

"I choose Luke!"  Derek said.

"You can't choose Casey!" Luke said to Tyler.

"Why not?" Tyler asked.

"Cause we are a team and we want to kick your butt!" Luke said grinning.

"Okay then. instead I will choose.  Casey!" Tyler said grinning at Luke.

"I'm telling Santa about you!" Luke said.  More laughter.

"I choose. the cuter, smarter, and more gifted of the two!"  Derek said.
Kyle grinned.

"No Kyle, I want Chris!" Derek said laughing at him.

Kyle made a "Grrrrrrrr" noise.

"You see now Linda why our sign in the front lawn never worked!" Larry said.

Everyone laughed at Kyle.

"Derek!  That's not fair!  I've never bowled and you're handicapping us with
Kyle?" Tyler said winking at Derek.

"What?" Kyle yelled.  "Both of you better sleep with one eye open tonight!"
He said with a smirk.

"We always do when we are home Kyle!" Derek said winking at him.  Everyone
laughed.

"Okay team gather around!" Tyler said.  They got into a huddle and whispered
to Casey, Jeff, and Kyle and then said out loud for everyone to hear. "Okay
team lets show our sportsmanship and do a team cheer for the other team!"

They all placed their hands one on top of the other and raised them up to
the ceiling together saying "Gooooooooooooo Losers!"  And then they laughed
and clapped.  Team Derek scowled at them.

'Team Tyler' got into the Jeep and followed 'Team Derek' in Cody's van.

"Shit! This place is amazing!" Kyle said seeing MTV videos playing on the
wall, a laser light show and hearing rock music blaring to the point that
everyone almost had to yell.

They decided to skip the shoe rental and bowl in stocking feet.

"Okay, someone needs to show me how to hold the ball?" Tyler said lining up.
  Derek ran up behind him and grabbed his balls from under his legs.  "Like
this!" Derek said and everyone laughed.

"Try that again Derek and your balls will be glowing!" Tyler said grinning
at Derek.

"That was really very good Ty for your first time!  Three gutter balls in a
row!"  Derek said and Team Derek laughed at him.

"Oh I thought I was supposed to avoid hitting the pins?" Tyler said winking
at his team.

Derek and Cody were good bowlers!  Luke did okay and Chris was failing
miserably!  Jeff seemed to be a champion bowler, while Casey and Kyle held
their own, and Tyler was steadily improving for a first-timer.

Casey never broke 100 in his three games and Chris was only marginally
better.  Luke and Kyle averaged around 160 for each of their three games.
Derek and Cody averaged between 200 and 300 over their three games.  Tyler
went from a 60 to a 140 to a 220 in three games.  When all was finished Team
Derek had beaten Team Tyler with a score of 2360 to 2140!

Luke went insane and Tyler became what was to be known as the epitome of a
bad bowler!  Tyler took it all in good stride and everyone made sure to
compliment Casey and Chris as they were new to bowling as well!

"Sorry I let you guys down!" Tyler said to his team.

"You did great Ty for a guy who's never bowled before!" Jeff said.

"I was the worst!" Chris moaned and Jeff pulled him aside.  "Not at all lil
brother! You don't bowl at all. You did great and I was really proud of
you!"  Chris smiled.

"Chris I would have you on my team any day and remember, big brothers don't
dish out compliments unless they are deserving!" Tyler said winking at Jeff.

Luke interrupted the Team Tyler post-game meeting to offer his 'autograph to
anyone who wanted it?  "Five bucks is a good price!" Luke told them.

"Did everyone have fun?  I know I did!" Tyler said.

"That's a loser line!"  Luke said and then did his happy dance.

"Hey Luke, what was your highest score?" Tyler asked.

"171!" Luke proudly announced pushing his chest forward.

"Interesting. my high game, for a guy who's never bowled before was 220!"
Tyler said. "Maybe you and me should have a rematch!  Just the two of us!"
Tyler grinned.

Luke stopped his happy dance and thought for a moment!  "No thanks, I'm
retiring as a champion!"  Everyone mussed Luke's hair up.

"Luke! No one likes a sore winner!" Derek said. "Ha ha!  Loooooser!" He said
pointing at Tyler and his team.  "Where are we going to go for dinner?"
Derek asked Tyler.

"Wherever your team isn't!"  Tyler teased.

"How about Chili's?" Luke said.

"Jeff, you're the true Champion here!  Where would you like to go?" Tyler
asked.

"Doesn't matter to me!" Jeff said smiling.

"That's what I thought you'd say!  Chris, where does our brother Jeff like
to eat?" Tyler asked.

"His favourite place is Ruby Tuesday's!" Chris said.

"Ruby Tuesday's it is!" Tyler said.

"Which location?" Derek asked.

"Pick one and we'll go to the other." Tyler said grinning.

"Hey Ty?  Don't forget I've got those things in the Van for you that you
wanted!  I got the last three!" Cody said.

"Sweet! Thanks Cody!  I'll straighten up with you at dinner." Tyler said.

"What?" Derek said.

"Never mind!" Tyler said.

"Spill it!" Derek told Tyler.

"Not here and not now!" Tyler said sitting on the bench next to Derek as
they put their shoes back on.

Tyler and Derek didn't notice that Jeff was listening in on the
conversation.  "Just tell me quickly." Derek said.

"Those four things that you, me, Cody and Danny have!" Tyler said.

"Uh huh?" Derek said.

"And we got two more for Luke and Kyle." Tyler said out of the side of his
mouth.

"Right.?" Derek said.

"I got three more!" Tyler said.

"Oh. OH!" Derek said with a big smile.  "So the entire family will each have
one?"

"Uh huh!" Tyler said.

"You went to all that trouble and didn't get Cody to pick up cinnamon buns?"
  Derek asked.

"Duh!  Why do you think we invited him?" Tyler said winking at Cody.

"Sweet! You're are so smart, and kind, and thoughtful.." Derek said
laughing.

"I got him to get two dozen!  One dozen for Chris and Jeff to take home and
one dozen for the house!" Tyler said.

Tyler looked over at Jeff and Jeff turned away immediately.  "Did you have
fun Jeff?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, it was a blast.  I really like being a part of this family." Jeff
said smiling at Tyler.

"Good. I like that you and I are family as well!" Tyler said.

"Everyone ready to go?" Derek asked.   All chimed in their agreement.

As they left the bowling alley Jeff stayed close to Tyler.  He figured out
that Tyler had bought something for him, Chris and Casey but he wasn't sure
what it was.

"I love your Jeep Ty!" Jeff said as they approached it.

"Really?  It's pretty cool.  Belonged to my Dad but it's mine now." Tyler
said.  "Do you want to drive to the restaurant?"

"Sweet!  Are you sure it will be okay?" Jeff asked.

"Are you a good driver?" Tyler asked.

"When I'm in someone else's vehicle!" Jeff said laughing.

Tyler tossed him the keys!  "Oh yeah!" Jeff said with a big smile.

Tyler's cell phone rang and he saw the name "Cody" on the display.

"Can you hear me now?" Tyler answered.

"Why are you not driving?" Derek said.

"Because.." Tyler answered.

"Can't really talk huh?" Derek said.

"Right.." Tyler said.

"You're doing a good job with Jeff!  More than I would have!" Derek said.

"It's worth it!" Tyler said. "What did you want Derek?"

"Did you read what is written on the back of your window?"  Derek said
laughing.

Tyler could hear Luke say in the background "Don't tell him!"

Tyler looked back and asked Kyle to read what is written on the dirt in the
back window.

"I'm.. A... Loser!" Kyle read slowly as it was backwards.

"Tell Luke he's history!  Big time!" Tyler said laughing.

Tyler heard Derek yell back at Luke, "Tyler says you're history!"  He then
heard Luke say, "He'll have to catch me!"

"Derek!  Tell Luke what I did to Danny in the hallway and then tell him
that's gonna happen to him in the restaurant!" Tyler said clicking his cell
phone off.

"What did you do to Danny?" Jeff asked.

"He played a joke on me so I wrestled him in the hallway of our dorm.  When
I was done I came back into Derek's and my room with all of his clothing!"
Tyler grinned.

"And Danny?" Jeff asked.

"Danny was knocking on the door screaming obscenities at me and demanding to
be let in." Tyler said smiling proudly.

"And you let him in?" Jeff asked.

"Once he said please!" Tyler said.  Everyone laughed, but Casey thought it
was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.  He also made Tyler promise to make
sure he would be there so he could watch!

As they pulled into Ruby Tuesday's restaurant Tyler's cell phone went off
again. "What the Hell do you want now?" Tyler yelled at Derek.

"Tyler?"

"Mrs. Anderson!  Oh God! I thought it was Derek!  I'm so sorry!" Tyler said
and Jeff, Kyle, and Casey's laughter overtook any conversation they might
have had.

"It's okay Tyler. if I didn't know better I would have thought that was Kyle
on the other end." Linda said laughing.

"I'm truly sorry!  We lost and they've been riding us ever since!  Luke even
wrote on my Jeep 'I'm a loser'" Tyler said laughing.  "Did you want to speak
to Derek" he said getting out of the Jeep?"

"No, I don't need to. We went to dinner but decided to skip the movie.  We
are making a little surprise for dessert for the winners and we wanted to
know who won?" Linda said.  "Oh and you can tell my youngest that he will be
washing your Jeep tomorrow by hand!"

"Hey Luke! Your Mom says you're going to be washing my Jeep tomorrow by
hand!" Tyler yelled.

"You're so full of shit Ty!  There's no one on the phone!" Luke said.  Jeff,
Kyle, Casey, and Tyler started laughing.

"Your Mom says you're now grounded tomorrow for swearing!" Tyler told him.

"Fuck you!" Luke said laughing at him.

"Your Mom says you're now grounded for two full days!" Tyler said. "I
suggest you shut up now Luke!"

"Luke! Shut up! It's really Mom on the phone!" Kyle said.

"Whatever.  Assmite!" Luke said.

"Hey Luke, who else would know that your sheets needed changing two nights
ago because you wet the bed?" Tyler said holding the phone up to his ear.

Luke almost threw up and everyone roared with laughter.

"You're not really going to ground him are you Mrs. Anderson?  He would be
unbearable for the rest of the holidays!" Tyler said.

"No, but make him sweat a little!  It will do us all some good!  Have fun
and sorry to hear you didn't win.  Tell Derek and Kyle I love them too!"
Linda said laughing.

"Yes Ma'am!  See you in an hour or so." Tyler said closing his cell phone.

"It looks like a line up to get in." Derek said.

"Go get in line guys!  I need to talk to Luke for second." Tyler said.  They
all laughed as Luke sat on the sidewalk curb almost in tears.

"You okay?" Tyler said.

"Was that really my Mom?" Luke asked.

"It was! You know I don't lie to you Pookster!" Tyler said.

"Then I'm not all right." Luke said with tears coming to his eyes.

"I talked to your Mom and you're not grounded, but you do need to take her
aside and apologize and tell her that you were just putting on a show
because we were teasing you." Tyler said.

"Lesson learned eh?" Tyler said and Luke just nodded his head as he cried a
few tears of relief.

"It'll be okay Luke!" Tyler said picking him up and hugging him.  "I give
you my word! Now let's go have some fun.  You're the winner and it's time
for you to celebrate!" Tyler said.

"What's everyone having tonight?"  Ashlea asked the group.

"Can we start with 4-way sampler, cheesy spinach dip, and some spicy Buffalo
wings?" Tyler asked, "And make sure I get the bill please!"

"Drinks?" Ashlea asked.

"Could we get a pitcher of Sprite and a pitcher of Mr. Pibb?"  Tyler asked.

"Certainly! I'll be right back with your drinks and take your orders!"
Ashlea smiled.

"She's a hawtie!" Tyler said to Jeff.

"No shit!" Jeff said.

"*Ahem*" Derek coughed and smiled.

"What?  She's a babe! I can look!" Tyler said grinning. "Besides she's
probably only interested in Luke!"

"How old do you think she is?" Jeff asked.

"Probably no older than 18 I gather." Tyler said.

"Sweet!" Jeff said grinning.

Ashlea returned with their appetizers and drinks ready to take their order.

"Why don't I go around the table?"  Ashlea said.

"Sure Ashlea! This is Jeff by the way!"  Tyler said and Jeff blushed.

"Hi Jeff.  What would you like tonight?" Ashlea said.

Jeff just stared at her and everyone started to laugh.  "Ummm Jeff?  Hello?"
Derek teased.

"Oh, umm sorry, whatever is fine with me?" Jeff said staring at Ashlea.

"He mentioned the Shrimp Alfredo earlier so why not go with that!" Tyler
said.

"Sure thing." Ashlea said as she wrote it down and smiled back at Jeff who
just grinned. "I'm guessing you're kind of quiet on a date huh?" She asked
of Jeff.

"Apparently so?" Cody said answering for him.  The table laughed and Ashlea
just smiled at Jeff and bit down on her lower lip.

"Cody? What are you having?" Tyler asked.

"Smokehouse burger, hold the fries, add a Caesar salad!"  Cody said.

"Casey?" Tyler asked.

"Can I please have the Ruby Mini's?" Casey asked.

"Anything for a cutie like you!" Ashlea said smiling and Casey giggled.

"Luke?" Tyler asked.

"Ultimate Colossal Burger with a side of onion straws please!" Luke said
closing up his menu and passing it back to Ashlea.

"Luke?" Tyler said.

"I'll finish it! I promise!"  Luke said.

"We don't call you the Pukester for nothing Luke!" Kyle said.

"Kyle, what are you having?" Tyler said.

"Bacon-cheese burger with extra onions!" Kyle said smiling at Ashlea.

"Thank you Kyle!" Ashlea winked at him.

"I'll have the Church Street Stacker please!" Chris said.

"Ultimate Colossal please with onion straws instead of fries please Ashlea."
Derek said.

"Carolina chicken salad with the Smokey Dijon please!" Tyler said smiling at
Ashlea.

"Thank you gentlemen and I'll be back with your orders shortly!" She said
smiling and leaving.

Bowling banter continued between the group of seven.  Number eight kept an
eye out on Ashlea and where she was in the restaurant.

"Holy Crap Luke did you really finish that?" Cody said laughing.

"Huh?" said a dazed Luke.

"Are you okay Luke?" Derek asked.

"What do you think Derek?  He just ate the equivalent of two Oompa Loompas!"
Tyler said.

"The real movie Oompa Loompas' or the porn version?  The chocolate dipping
scene was masterful at minimum and the concept of 'ever lasting gobstopper'
well. it was of Andy Warhol / Woody Allen quality!" Cody said.

"HUH?" Derek and Tyler said together.

"Oh sorry. kids and stuff. right!" Cody said looking guilty.

"K.." Derek said.

"Can you make it to the van okay, Luke?" Derek asked.

Luke belched.  "I can now!" Luke smiled.

"Be right back guys I just need to pay the bill." Tyler said getting up.  He
cornered Ashlea and got to her to add on a $50 dollar gift card to the bill.
  He also mentioned Jeff's fascination with her and that if she were
interested it would be great time to return the VISA slip with a phone
number for Jeff!  Ashlea smiled and pulled out a Ruby Tuesday's business
card and wrote her name and number on the back of it.

When she handed the card to Tyler she said winking, "You could call me?"

Tyler grinned saying, "You know the guy at our table with the almost shaved
head?"  Ashlea nodded.  "He's my boyfriend!"

"Oh?" She said smiling.  "I'm sorry, I didn't realize."

"Don't be sorry!  Not realizing is a compliment and having a pretty lady
dropping hints is never something you should have to apologize for!"  Tyler
smiled.  "Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I can't acknowledge beauty when
I see it!"  Ashlea blushed.

Tyler pointed over to their table and said, "So you see Derek!"  Ashlea
nodded. "Ultimate colossal boy is Luke, Derek's little brother and the
blondish boy with the skater hair is his other brother Kyle.  Kyle's
boyfriend is Chris sitting next to him and Chris' straight brother is Jeff!
Derek's family is holding an open house on Christmas Eve from five until
eight p.m.  If Jeff were to call you would you be able to drop by?  There
will be fifty or more people there who all don't know each other.
Co-workers, friends, neighbours.

"I might be able to squeeze it in." Ashlea smiled.

"Sweet!" Tyler said. "Jeff is such a great guy I think he might be worth
getting to know?"

"He seems a little shy!" Ashlea said.

"What would you expect when someone as pretty as you appears before him."
Tyler grinned.

"Is Jeff as sweet as you are?" Ashlea asked.

"A thousand times nicer!" Tyler said as he walked off back to the table.

"Did you get a date with our server Ty?" Derek teased.  Jeff glared.

"Yeah I did!" Tyler grinned.  Jeff's face went white. "Got her phone number
too!  It's just too bad she doesn't want me.  She wants Jeff to call her!"
Tyler said handing Jeff the Applebee's business card.

"Wooooooooooo!"  Came from the table.

"Let's get out of here!  There's some sort of surprise for the winners at
home!"  Tyler said.

"I don't think I can eat breakfast." Luke said and everyone laughed.  As
they walked back to the Jeep, Jeff asked Kyle and Casey if they could ride
in Cody's van because he wanted to talk with Tyler alone, and they did.

"Where are they going?" Tyler said to Jeff.

"Ummm they wanted to ride with their friends." Jeff said.  The ride back was
quiet except for Tyler telling Jeff that Ashlea was indeed free to attend
the Christmas Eve open house at the Anderson's!  Tyler followed Cody's van
up the steep driveway and almost hit Cody when he slammed on the brakes and
the side passenger door opened.  Luke jumped out and threw up on the lawn.
Derek jumped out to look after Luke and both vehicles continued up the
driveway parking on the far right so as not to block the garage doors.

"Poor kid." Tyler said as he got out and took a roll of paper towels he kept
in the Jeep and walked it over to Derek.  Luke looked green, but he seemed
slightly happier.  Tyler picked him up and carried him back into towards the
house when Linda came running from hearing the news.

"Oh Baby, are you okay?" Linda said and Luke nodded that he was.

When Tyler carrying Luke arrived in the kitchen there was a lot of noise.
Everyone was cooing over the cake before them.  Linda and Kathy had made a
chocolate slab cake with peanut butter icing on it.  They decorated it with
a couple of bowling pins and balls made of icing and at the bottom it said
'Congratulations Luke, Chris, Cody & Derek'.

"Aren't you coming inside?" Derek asked of Jeff.

"Yeah. I wanted to talk to Tyler alone but haven't had the chance." Jeff
said. "Not sure I would know what to say anyway."

"What did you want to say?" Derek asked knowing full well what Jeff wanted
to say.

"I want to apologize for being an asshole to him.  He really is everything
Kyle said and more.  I don't even know why he is nice to me?" Jeff asked of
no one in particular.

"That one I can answer Mr. Coulter." Derek said pulling Jeff into a hug.
"You're family! Nothing more, nothing less!  There is a down side of course.
you're stuck with us!" Derek laughed and so did Jeff.

"I haven't even thought about what to get for Tyler this Christmas?" Jeff
said. "I heard you guys talking about having bought something for me and
Chris and I gather Casey." Jeff confessed.

"You shouldn't eavesdrop Jeff though I am guilty of that myself, but I will
tell you one little thing about it.  When you open up your gift just
remember that it was Tyler's idea and don't buy him anything.  He doesn't
want anything and he can afford to buy whatever he wants anyway.  If you
gave him a card and told him how much he means to you that might be the
nicest gift he will receive this Christmas." Derek said holding Jeff tight.

"You guys are so lucky to have each other." Jeff said.

"We are all very lucky to have each other and that includes you!" Derek
said. "Now let's get in there and see what the surprise is."

"I love you Derek." Jeff said.

"I love you too Jeff and I already told you that!  Brothers don't lie to
each other so remember that what we say is what we mean!  Just think about
this for a moment Jeff!  You have Chris, Casey, Luke, Kyle, Tyler, Cody,
Danny, and me to call on whenever you want or need us!" Derek said.

"Let's go inside little brother." Derek said kissing the side of Jeff's
head.

Everyone was gathered around the island eating cake except for Luke.  Luke
was sitting on Tyler's lap eating a peanut butter sandwich with one hand and
shovelling forkfuls of cake into his mouth.

"What are you doing Pukey?" Derek said laughing at him.

"I was hungry!" Luke declared.

"Come on boys have some cake!" Larry said.

Tyler got up and poured two mugs of coffee for Jeff and himself.

"Thanks Ty." Jeff said taking his mug of coffee and sitting down next to
Tyler and Luke.

"I turned on the Jacuzzi for you boys!  Just remember NO RUNNING on the
deck!" Larry said pointing at the eight of them.

"We know Dad!" Luke said.

"You're not even going in there!  It's almost bedtime for you and Casey!"
Linda said.

"Awwww Mom!" Luke whined.

"I think you've gotten yourself into enough trouble tonight already young
man!" Linda said.  Luke shut up.

"We thought you guys would like to stay up in the apartment with me tonight
so we have room for everyone to sleep!" Kathy said.  "So Larry and I built
you a fort up in the living room and put sleeping bags and some snacks
inside!" She said.

"Whoa!" Casey said grinning.

"Coolies!" Luke said smiling.

"C'mon Jeff!" Luke said.

"What?  Why me?" Jeff asked.

"Cause I need you to install Santa!" Luke said pulling on Jeff's arm.

"Can I do it in the morning?" Jeff asked.

"No." Said Luke as he dragged him away from the kitchen.  "And while you're
installing it I can give you my order for breakfast in the morning!"  Luke
added.

"Uh huh." Jeff said.

"Remember the tiny little burger I had for dinner?  Well for breakfast."
Luke began as he and Casey each had hold of an arm pulling him out of the
kitchen.  Everyone laughed at Jeff.

"Poor Jeff!" Derek said laughing.

"We probably won't see him again until morning!" Larry said smiling.

"Jacuzzi time!" Derek yelled. Everyone got up to head upstairs to change.
Kathy and Linda went up to get Casey and Luke ready for bed.

Derek stuck his head in Luke's bedroom door.  "How's it going?" He asked.

"Should be done now!  Turn the light switch on!" Jeff said.  Derek reached
over to the light switch and found it covered in tape.  "Good thinking
Jeff!" He said pulling the tape off and turning the light on.  Santa began
his infinite journey in circles above Luke's bed.

Luke threw his arms around Jeff's neck and said, "Thanks Jeff!  I love you!"

Jeff closed his eyes for a moment and said, "I love you too Luke!" When Jeff
opened his eyes he saw Derek smiling at him.

"C'mon Jeff! I wanna get you naked and get into the Jacuzzi!" Derek winked
and headed off to his room.

"Sure. dump me for a bunch of naked guys in a hot tub!" Luke sighed.

"Luke!  You know you are my first choice of people to spend time with." Jeff
grinned.

"Well duh, aren't I everyone's first choice?" Luke said pulling his pj's out
of a drawer.

Six naked boys headed downstairs single file wrapped in large white towels.
Tyler and Derek removed the hard cover off the Jacuzzi and everyone began
getting in.  Kyle was flanked by Cody on one side and Chris on the other.
He wasted no time in putting his left hand on Chris' cock under the water
and his right hand on Cody's thigh.  Derek sat down next to Cody and Jeff
stuck himself next to Derek on purpose.  Derek looked at Jeff and then at
Tyler grinning.  Tyler had three seats to choose from so he took the centre
seat and had an empty seat on each side of him.  Tyler spread his arms out
over the two empty seats.

Larry approached them with a tray of cans of R.C. cola.  "Anyone, and I mean
anyone, who spills soda in the Jacuzzi will be emptying, cleaning, and
refilling it!"  Everyone thanked Larry for the drinks and he left.

"Damn this is so fine!" Tyler said.  "I wonder if we can install one of
these in the new house?"

"You guys have a house at Drexel?" Jeff said.

Tyler held up crossed fingers.  "Maybe!"  Tyler picked up his cell phone and
looked at it.

"You missed a call?" Derek asked.

"Nope! Kyle can you turn the jets down please?"  Tyler asked.

"Ummm do I have to?" Kyle moaned.

"No, but I asked you to and we've all seen you guys with erections so don't
worry about it!" Tyler said and everyone laughed except Kyle.

"It's time to make a phone a call?" Tyler grinned.

"Who are you calling?" Jeff asked.

"I'm not calling anyone!  It's time for Cody to make a long distance phone
call and tell someone where he is and what he is doing right now!" Tyler
said grinning.

"You are such a bastard! I love it!  Does the phone have a speaker setting?"
Cody asked.

"It does!" Tyler said pressing the number 4 on his phone and holding it for
two seconds.

"I'll talk first but when I tell you guys everyone yell 'Hi Danny' together!
  It's ringing." Tyler said.

"Tyler?" Danny said.

"Hey Daniel!  How's it going?" Tyler asked.

"Hang on a sec!  Yeah you guys go ahead and play. this is long distance!"
Danny said leaving the kitchen.

"Did I interrupt you?" Tyler said.

"Did you?  You could have called four days ago!  I'm playing cards with my
parents and Grandma!" Danny said.

"Oh I'm sorry Danny. I will let you go then." Tyler said to the phone
grinning at everyone in the Jacuzzi.  Tyler laid the phone down on the deck
and leaned over the edge to talk.  Everyone gathered around him trying to
stay quiet.

"It sounds like water!  Are you in the tub?" Danny asked and everyone had to
cover the giggles.

"You are correct!  I am relaxing in the tub.  That's why I sound distant. I
don't want to hold the phone in case I drop it in the water.  Anyway, I know
you are busy playing cards with the rents." Tyler said grinning.

"Fuck you Puckhead!  You hang up and I swear next time I see you that you'll
be the one lying naked in the hallway!" Danny said.   That started the
laughter.

"Hey!  You're not alone?  I hear other voices?  Is Cody with you?" Danny
said all excited.

"Okay, <one, two, three> HI DANNY!" Everyone yelled.

"Hey Babe!" Cody said.

"Cody! Oh. I miss you so much Babe!  Where are you guys?" Danny asked.

"I'll let Tyler tell you!" Cody said laughing.

"I'll let Derek tell you!" Tyler said laughing.

"Hey Danny, love you.  I'll let Kyle tell you!" Derek said laughing.

"Hey Danny! I'm sitting on Cody's lap right now!" Kyle said and everyone
began laughing.

"You mean bastard!"  Danny said laughing.

"Hey Danny, we're going to get a few pics snapped of us and we'll email them
to you tonight okay?" Tyler said.

"Shit! That would be great! I miss my brothers so much! I love you guys, but
where are you?" Danny asked.

"Jeff?" Derek said.

"Hi Danny, I'm Jeff, one of your brothers!  We're all here at the Anderson's
home in Baltimore!" He said.  Everyone was silent waiting for Danny's
reaction.

"Nooooooooo!  This is so not fair!  I'm in God's country playing thirty-one
for pennies while you guys are hottub'n?"  Danny yelled and everyone
laughed.

"Okay Danny, relax. We were all thinking about you and wanted to call you
and wish you a 'Merry Christmas'" They all yelled into the phone.

"Anyway Danny, got a little bit of news for you and then we'll let you have
some private time on the phone with Cody okay?" Tyler said.

"Thanks guys, Merry Christmas to y'all!" Danny said.  "You guys made my
Christmas!"

"No problem Danny. Got a question for you.  Could you afford approximately
$300.00 per month plus food to share an apartment?" Tyler asked.   Derek and
Cody began giggling.

"Really?" Danny asked.

"Really, really!" Tyler, Cody, and Derek said in unison.

"Yeah! You found an apartment for all four of us?" Danny said.

"Nope! It's not an apartment Danny. It's a four story townhouse!" Tyler
said.

"Oh My God!  Oh My God!  You're shitting me right?" Danny said.

Tyler picked up the phone. "Nope. Not at all and we'll email you the
pictures of the place tonight as well.  I'll get off the phone and let Cody
talk to you.  Love you Danny!" Tyler said.

"Love you too Puckhead!  I'm glad you are home for the holidays!" Danny
said. "That's the best Christmas present I could get!" Danny added.

"Thanks Danny!  Me too!  Here's Cody." Tyler said handing the phone over to
Cody.

Cody leaned over the edge for privacy and the others chatted quietly.

"Kyle, would you go in and grab my camera off of Derek's dresser please?"
Tyler asked.

"Do I have to?" Kyle asked.

"No." Tyler said and Cody closed the phone and handed it back to Tyler.

"Derek would you phone your Dad and ask him to bring out the camera and grab
our Cowboy hats?" Tyler asked.

Larry arrived in his bathrobe carrying three cowboy hats and a digital
camera.

"Dad! You've still got 14 hours!" Derek teased. Larry wasn't amused.

"Thanks Dr. Anderson. Would you mind snapping a couple of pics of us to send
to our friend Danny in Iowa?  Right now he's sitting at his kitchen table
playing cards with his parents and grandmother!"  Tyler said.

"Oh, that is a legitimate sympathy case if I've ever heard of one before."
Larry laughed.

Tyler, Derek, and Cody sat up on the edge of the Jacuzzi wearing their
cowboy hats with Chris, Jeff, and Kyle in the water below them.  Larry
snapped four pics.  The boys then turned around and got into a semi circle
and bent over exposing all of their asses to Larry.

"You can't be serious?" Larry said laughing.

"Dad! It's cold here! Snap the picture!" Kyle whined.

"You didn't look like you were suffering from the cold when you stood up
Kyle!" Larry teased.

"Ooooooooooh!" Everyone said laughing.  Larry snapped a couple of pics.

"Thank you Sir!" Tyler said taking the camera from Larry.  Larry couldn't
help but stare at Tyler's more than gifted package.  Larry rushed back in
the house and everyone returned to their seats with the exception of Jeff
who now sat beside Tyler.

"Okay Kyle, we need a shot of you sitting on Cody.  Make a face like you're
getting fucked." Tyler said.

"You're so bad Ty!" Cody said.

"Fine! We won't do it then." Tyler said.

"Like Hell we won't!" Cody laughed as he pulled Kyle up on top of him.

Kyle began making faces like he was in pain but it wasn't really working so
Cody reached around and grabbed Kyle's cock!   <Snap> Kyle turned around and
wrapped his arms around Cody's neck to make it look like he was riding him
on top. <Snap>

"Okay guys, got it!" Tyler said laughing.

Cody and Kyle burst into laughter and Tyler snapped a couple more pics of
them to show Danny that they were just teasing him.

"I think it's time for bed everyone!" Derek said yawning.

"I think I need to run in the morning?" Tyler said. "Haven't been out in a
few days now.  Is it okay if I just relax in here a bit?"

"Go crazy.  Just don't drown and make sure you put the cover back on.  Do
you know how to turn it back down to 60 degrees?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, your Dad showed me earlier.  He figured you wouldn't remember." Tyler
teased.

"C'mon Cody!" Kyle said. "You're sleeping with Chris and me tonight!"

"I am?" Cody asked as each boy took one of his hands and pulled him out of
the Jacuzzi.

"Here's your towel but don't worry! We'll dry you off upstairs!" Kyle said
winking.

"Derek?" Cody pleaded for help.

"Relax Cody! You could sleep in a room with a lock on the door and they will
still get you so don't fight it."

"Derek!!!!" Cody pleaded.

"If it gets really bad call 911!" Derek teased.  "Or if you want you could
just tell them a story and they will fall right asleep?  I suggest you tell
them what the four of us did last Friday morning!" Derek said winking.

"What'd you guys do?"  Kyle demanded to know.

Cody glared at Derek. "Brother's don't do this to brothers you know!" Cody
said.

"Actually they do Cody!  Welcome to the family!" Derek said and Tyler began
laughing hysterically.

As they dragged Cody in by the arms up to the house Kyle wanted to know what
happened.

"You've heard of a three-way Kyle?" Cody asked.

"Yeah?" Kyle said.

"This was four-way!" Cody said.

"I want every single detail Cody!" Kyle said.

"Damn, I think I just blew my load." Chris said and Kyle laughed.

"I'm going to head in." Derek said. "Jeff you can sleep in Luke's room or in
between us if you want, but if you are sleeping with us I suggest you face
Tyler so your ass won't be as sore in the morning!" Derek said as he winked
and got out. Tyler laughed out loud.

Tyler and Jeff lowered themselves down to neck level in the Jacuzzi.  Jeff
turned the speed up so bubbles were everywhere.

"I wanted to say thanks for the sheet music and taking me out tonight." Jeff
said.

"What?" Tyler yelled.  Jeff slid over beside Tyler.  Their knees touched and
Jeff flinched but Tyler didn't.

"I said, I wanted to say thank you for the sheet music you gave me and
taking me out tonight." Jeff said. Tyler smiled and turned down the speed of
the water a bit.

"You're welcome Jeff! You're my brother so anything for you any time!" Tyler
said.

"Derek already said that to me a couple of times but it's kind of hard to
take seriously.  People just aren't like you guys." Jeff said looking over
at Tyler.

"You will only get out of your family what you put into it.  Typically you
won't get much because not everyone wants to work at it but around here the
love is real." Tyler said.

Jeff leaned back against the wall and moved his hand over to Tyler's arm. He
worked his way down and took hold of Tyler's left hand.  Tyler held Jeff's
hand snugly.

"Is this okay?" Jeff asked.  Tyler squeezed Jeff's hand three times.

"Does that mean something?" Jeff asked.

"What?" Tyler said looking over at him.

"The three squeezes.  Kyle has done that several times and Derek too!" Jeff
said.

"It means I love you." Tyler said.  Jeff squeezed Tyler's hand three times.

"Are you coming with us next week?" Tyler asked.

"Coming where?" Jeff asked.

"Oh Shit! You don't know?  I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything." Tyler
apologized.

"About what?" Jeff asked sitting up.

"I don't think I can say?" Tyler said.

"You can't stop mid sentence Tyler.  I can keep a secret!" Jeff said.

"Well it might be a considered part of your Christmas present so I don't
want to spoil it." Tyler said.

"I'm not Luke's age." Jeff said sulking.

"Fine. Next week.  Derek, Cody, Danny from Iowa, and me are going to Derek's
cottage up in New York State.  We want Kyle, Chris, and you to join us for
New Year's and if you say 'really' I will be forced to hurt you." Tyler
joked.

"Really?" Jeff said winking.  Tyler lowered his eyes and faked an angered
look.  Jeff laughed.

"If ever you need me or Derek just yell, scream, or holler and we'll be
there for you! Honour Bright!" Tyler said.  "Before you ask. it means a
solemn and trustworthy promise." He said.

"I already knew what it meant Tyler." Jeff said smiling.  "And thank you.
The same goes for me."

"Thanks Jeff. That means a lot and I know if you say it then your word is
good." Tyler said. "We have to cook breakfast and I want to run in the
morning so we had better get to bed eh?" Tyler said.

"Eh? You sound like a Canadian." Jeff said.

"I am a Canadian." Tyler said.

"Well that explains the Gay thing but I never would have thought." Jeff
began laughing from teasing Tyler.

"Sorry Ty, I already knew you were a Canadian." Jeff laughed.

"Derek's was right. You'd better sleep facing me!" Tyler winked standing up.
  Jeff stared at Tyler's semi-erect cock.

"Holy fuck!  I don't think I could get my mouth around that?" Jeff said.

"You won't know till you try!" Tyler winked extending his hand to pull Jeff
up.

Tyler and Jeff got dried off, turned down the temperature on the Jacuzzi and
covered it back up.  When they arrived in Derek's bedroom, he had already
uploaded the pics, resized, and cropped them to email to Danny.

"Want to see my new desktop picture guys?"  Derek said clearing the screen
to reveal six naked butts in a circle.  "I'll update it when we're in New
York to include Danny!" Derek said smiling.

Tyler went and brushed his teeth.  When he came out of the bathroom he saw
Jeff lying in the centre of the bed wrapped in Derek's arms.  Tyler removed
his towel and opened a drawer to pull out a pair of night shorts.

"If you wear those you'll be the only one wearing them!" Derek grinned.
Tyler flung the shorts across the room and got into bed with a big grin.

"You guys are amazing. I keep thinking this is a dream and I am going to
wake up alone." Jeff said.

"You'll never be alone again Jeff as long as you choose to be a part of the
family, but always remember it's a two-way street!" Derek said.

"What do you mean?" Jeff asked.

"If you're not here for the rest of your family don't expect your family to
be there for you!" Tyler said.

"Do you guys always finish each other's sentences?" Jeff asked laughing.

"That and a lot of other things we finish together!" Derek said sliding his
hand down over Jeff's erection and kissing the back of his neck.  Tyler in
turn grinned and turned out the light.



Post your gripes/compliments/questions at:
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_road_home/>

Please do not email the author!

Many thanks to Nifty.org for providing a vehicle to display my first
multi-chaptered story and the poor guy at Nifty who has tolerated me over
the last few months!  All Rights Reserved Copyright 2005-2006 Tyler Peel.