Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 21:16:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Thomas Gaige <togaige@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Abandoned Boy - Chapter 19

DISCLAIMER: The following story is FICTIONAL. It contains descriptions
of sexual activities between men, teenage boys, and between men and
teenage boys. If you are not over 18 years of age, or if you find this
type of story offensive, or viewing this material is illegal where you
are, then please DO NOT READ IT! If you choose to read it, then - I hope
you enjoy it!

			     The Abandoned Boy

				Chapter 19

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As December dawned, and colder weather set in, Simon, Ethan, Tom, and I
all settled in for what we expected and hoped would be a fun winter
together. A rhythm developed to our lives. Ethan was still spending his
usual 4-5 nights a week with us. Tom began staying over just as much
now, now that he was out of the closet to the boys. Both of them were
over so much that, with Simon's agreement, I gave them each their own key
to the apartment. Shortly after that, we began to notice that they were
both leaving some of their stuff at the apartment too. Toothbrushes, a
piece of clothing or two, a book maybe. I grinned to myself whenever I
saw some of their stuff there, when they weren't there themselves. Simon
was apparently happy about it too. I caught him wandering around in a
pair of Ethan's sweat pants one day too. He seemed to have a bulge in
his crotch everytime I saw him. From the shape of the bulge, it appeared
he was most likely wearing them "commando" as well! I figured he had a
hardon because wearing Ethan's pants made him think about Ethan all the
time.

When the boys both came home together, straight from school, the first
thing they did was disappear for about a half hour to Simon's room, with
the door shut. They both usually smiled shyly, and blushed a little when
they ran into me elsewhere in the apartment later on. Afterward, they
would work on their homework. If there was time after that, they'd
usually play video games until suppertime.

Each night whoever happened to be at the apartment would have supper
together. Everyone pitched in and helped prepare the meal, and pick up
the dishes afterward. It was good for the boys, as neither of them knew
how to cook anything. Tom and I showed them what to do, and they began
to catch on fast. Evenings we usually spent together watching TV or a
movie. Sometimes if there was nothing good on, we'd play games.
Occasionally, albeit seldom, we each went off on our own to read a
little.

Something that quickly became a tradition with the boys was our nightly
"snuggle time"! Both of them seemed to very much enjoy, and even crave
the opportunity for physical contact with Tom and I. Although both of
them were gay, Tom and I both thought it seemed a little odd that at
their ages, they craved physical attention from men. At first we thought
maybe it was their way of getting sexually aroused, or of trying to
seduce us, but our play, even though we were naked in bed, never got
sexual. At least not after I spoke to them about it that first time,
when they'd been groping Tom and I, and I had mistakenly groped Ethan,
thinking I had Tom. They were both good about keeping their hands off
our privates, and we didn't touch them sexually either. Tom and I
discussed it, and after a little thought, we decided that it must be that
they'd both been minus their fathers for some time now, and that they
were both trying to recapture the time they lost as kids, when they
didn't have a man in their lives. Whatever the case, we were both happy
to oblige them in this way. So, each night before we went to bed, after
we'd finished up in the bathroom, we'd all hop into my bed together,
naked, for a few minutes of tickling and snuggling. Even though our
playing wasn't meant to be sexual, and generally none of us had hardons
when we finished wrestling around, we did all usually end up developing
hardons as we lay quietly next to each other afterward, resting! It was
then that we had time to contemplate our close proximity to each other's
naked bodies, and naturally, we became aroused. Of course, there were a
few times there seemed to be a heightened amount of sexual tension
between all of us as we played. This generally happened if we ended up
in positions where our penises were pressed up against each other.
Usually, on those occasions, the boys got up and left right away, rather
than staying to rest a while. Under normal circumstances though, we'd
lay together quietly for a few minutes after our playtime and talk. It
was then that our hardons all usually developed. After a few minutes,
the boys would get up and go off to their room, with their hardons
bobbing in front of them as they walked out of the room. This became so
routine with us, that after the first couple of nights, neither of them
seemed embarrassed anymore if Tom and I saw them in their aroused state.
They saw both Tom and I that way often enough as well, so that we didn't
seem to mind anymore either.

Tom and I knew that after the boys went to Simon's room, they would have
their own private "snuggle time". The boys knew too, that Tom and I were
doing the same thing in our room.

On the occasional nights when Ethan didn't sleep over, Simon would still
join either Tom and I, or just me, if Tom wasn't there. If Tom wasn't
there, but Ethan was, the two boys would come snuggle with me before
going to bed. On the nights it was just Simon and I, he'd usually stay
with me longer, and end up falling asleep. Then, he'd spend the rest of
the night in my bed with me. Invariably, each morning, I'd wake up with
him snuggled up to me.

 * * *

One evening, early in December, Simon arrived at our apartment with a
very excited Ethan in tow. Ethan had had a job over the previous summer
at an ice cream shop, which had continued into the fall. Around
mid-October, when we were first getting to know Ethan, he'd been laid
off, as the shop had closed for the season. Since then, he'd looked
around for another job, but hadn't found one. On this particular day, he
and Simon had stopped at the mall after school to visit the video
arcade. As they walked past "The Nature Shop", a store that specializes
in nature, animals, the outdoors, and scientific items, Ethan was amazed
to see a "Help Wanted" sign posted on the door. He'd gone in and
inquired. The manager chuckled, as she'd just posted the sign five
minutes earlier. She had Ethan fill out an application. When he
finished, as the store wasn't too busy, she took a moment to look it
over, while Ethan waited. Apparently satisfied, she asked Ethan a few
questions. He must've answered well, because she hired him on the spot,
pending a reference check, which Ethan knew he would pass. He was asked
to work three evenings a week, and one day on the weekend. Ethan was
elated!

I was surprised, but happy, when he asked me if I'd write a personal
reference for him. I agreed of course and wrote one that evening. He
asked Tom for one as well, and he too wrote his that evening.

"Do you think it would be alright for me to get a job too?" Simon asked,
at dinner that evening, as we were discussing Ethan's job.

"Sure! But you'll have to get working papers first," I said. "That
means you need to see the doctor for a physical."

"He won't have to stuff anything up my penis again, will he?" Simon
asked, looking a little nervous.

"NO!" I laughed. "But, he will have to feel your balls to check you for
a hernia."

Ethan snickered and said, "You might enjoy that! Just pray you don't get
hard when he does!"

"Oh Great! Now that you said that, I probably will. It'll be all I'll
be able to think about!" Simon said, looking ruefully at Ethan.

We all chuckled.

"When do you start your job, Ethan?" I asked.

"Day after tomorrow," he said grinning.

"Do you know which day you're working this weekend yet?" I asked.

"Sunday," Ethan said.

"OK, Tom are you busy Saturday?" I asked.

Tom said he wasn't.

"OK. Well, why don't you all keep Saturday free if you can, and we'll go
get a Christmas tree." I said.

"You don't have a tree?" Simon asked.

"Well, it'd be pretty dead by now if I did," I said, chuckling.

"You mean we're getting a live one?" Simon asked.

"Of course! It's the only way to go," I said.

The boys thought that sounded great.

"We always put up a fake one at our house," Ethan said.

"We do- I mean DID- too," Simon said, turning a little pink.

Ignoring Simon's slip, I said, "Well, I always like to have a real tree,
so unless you guys don't want to get a real one, I thought we'd go cut
our own."

Both boys thought that sounded like fun, and said they couldn't wait for
Saturday.

 * * *

The next morning, as we were getting ready to go to school, I went out to
the kitchen to refill my coffee cup. I found Simon adding some extra
food to the lunch I'd made for him.

"Two sandwiches aren't enough?" I asked, raising my eyebrows, as he
stuffed a third one into his bag.

"Um, I'm probably gonna be pretty hungry today," he said, turning red in
the face, and looking guiltily at me.

"Well, it's OK. If you're hungry, eat all you want," I said, looking
sideways at him, as he glanced furtively at me. "You are a growing boy
afterall."

Simon gave me a half smile, then quickly left the kitchen, as I stared
curiously after him.

 * * *

Ethan started his new job. He loved it right from the very first
moment. His supervisor seemed to really like him too. He was scheduled
to work Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings, and on weekends either
all day Saturday, or all day Sunday, alternating every other weekend. As
it was Christmas season, the stores were open later at night, so on the
nights Ethan worked, he didn't get out till almost 11:00. Those nights,
he stayed at his own house, as he still had to do his homework after
work. Also, it would've been a lot of trouble to carry so many clothes
around in his car. He had to have clothes for school, and different ones
for work.

The apartment seemed much quieter with Ethan gone so much, and Simon
seemed lonely when he wasn't around too. Tom and I tried our best to
keep him company a little more.

 * * *

Saturday morning dawned clear and sunny, but cold. There were a few
inches of snow on the ground, from a squall that blew through the night
before.

We'd told Ethan to come over early, as a storm was expected later in the
day, and we wanted to go get our Christmas tree while it was still
supposed to be nice out.

At 8:30, the doorbell rang. Tom, who'd stayed over, answered it. It was
Ethan.

"Just in time for breakfast!" he said.

Ethan grinned.

"I gotta shower yet," Simon said. "Is there time before we eat?"

"I can hold off on cooking the eggs till you're out," I said. "Coffee
Ethan?"

"Sure, but, uh... I could use a shower too," he said, smiling and
blushing.

Simon grinned.

"Oh Hell, guess I'll go answer my e-mail then, this is gonna take a
while," Tom grumbled. He grinned at the boys then and wandered over to
my computer.

I chuckled and handed Ethan a cup of coffee.

"You can take it to the bathroom with you," I said, grinning.

He and Simon left and went down the hall to the bathroom then. We didn't
see them again for quite a while, although we did hear the shower running
for a LONG time!

 * * *

While Tom and I answered our e-mail, surfed the net, and read the on-line
news, Simon and Ethan showered together. It had been three days since
they'd been together, and even though they both jerked off on their own
when they were alone, they were both really horny for each other.

"I know we can't do much yet," Simon said, as they climbed into the
shower together, "But I have an idea!"

Ethan grinned and raised his eyebrows.

"I'm all ears!" he said.

"I thought you were all dick!" Simon said, grinning, and reaching for
Ethan's hardon. As he started fondling Ethan, he said, "I'll show you
after."

Simon let go of Ethan, turned around and bent over to turn on the water
faucets, and adjust the temperature. Just as he was about to turn on the
hot water, Ethan, who was standing behind him, began to fondle his ass
cheeks. Squatting down, he spread them apart and gazed at Simon's anus.

"Damn! You have the cutest asshole!" Ethan sighed.

Grinning to himself, Simon decided to hold off on turning on the water,
and see what Ethan had in mind. He looked back at Ethan, grinned at him,
and wiggled his hips a little. Ethan grinned and stood up again. Then
he gathered some spit in his mouth, and holding his mouth over Simon's
asshole, he let his spit drip down onto Simon's hole.

"Oh!" Simon said, as Ethan began rubbing his saliva over Simon's anus,
lubricating it.

"W-we're still not supposed to do this," Simon said, looking worriedly
back at Ethan.

"I know. And I know we haven't even ever actually fucked yet. All we've
ever done is suck on each other. But, we did talk about it before we
found out we had to hold off on having sex until your test results come
back. You said you wanted to do it, as long as I was gentle. You know I
will be, when the time comes. It's just that I want you so much right
now! I just want to make love to you so bad right now Simon! I know we
can't yet though," Ethan said, looking disappointed. "So, I'm just going
to rub it a little, OK?."

"MMMmmmmm. OK!" Simon purred, as Ethan continued fingering his hole.
"It feels great!"

Ethan grinned. He gently, but firmly rubbed Simon's asshole then for a
minute or so, Then, he spit some more saliva onto his finger, and
rubbed it on Simon's anus. With Simon's hole good and wet, and nicely
relaxed, Ethan gently pressed against it with his index finger. It
popped right through Simon's sphincter, causing Simon to gasp slightly.
Ethan smiled and gently slid his finger up into Simon's rectum. Simon
moaned lowly, as Ethan began finger fucking him, making sure to apply a
little extra pressure on Simon's prostate. Ethan fucked Simon slowly
with his finger for a minute or so, then he very gently pushed his middle
finger through Simon's sphincter as well, and fucked him with both
fingers for a minute, while Simon stood with his legs spread apart,
moaning softly, thoroughly enjoying Ethan's molestation of his asshole.

After a couple minutes Ethan stopped and said, "How about you do mine
now?"

Simon smiled and turned around, as Ethan spun around and bent forward,
placing his hands against the back-end wall of the shower. Simon spread
Ethan's cheeks and peered at his hole then.

"You got a really nice one too!" Simon said, bending over and kissing
Ethan right smack on his anus.

"OOhhh!" Ethan said, grinning back at him.

Simon Straightened up again and grinned at him. Then he quickly spit a
gob of saliva onto Ethan's anus and began rubbing it with his finger, as
Ethan moaned softly, thoroughly enjoying the feelings Simon was giving
him. Simon spit a little more saliva onto Ethan's anus a minute later
and finger fucked him for a while too, much to Ethan's pleasure.

"I so wish we could go all the way," Simon said, as he finally stopped
fucking Ethan's hole.

"Well, how about you start the water and we can wash each other all
over?" Ethan asked.

Simon grinned and turned around and turned on the water. Once he got the
temperature adjusted, he turned the diverter, sending the water from the
tub faucet, up through the piping, to the showerhead. Soon water was
spraying down on the boys. Simon took down the hand-held showerhead, and
the boys took turns spraying each other with it, concentrating their
efforts on each other's genitals.

After a while, Simon replaced the showerhead in its holder and the boys
each took a bar of soap and started rubbing each other all over. Soon
they were both completely covered with lather, especially their genitals,
and butts.

"So what was the idea you had?" Ethan asked Simon, as the two of them
stood sliding their hands up and down each other's erections.

"Oh yeah!" Simon grinned. "I was reading a story on Nifty, and read
about a way we might be able to fuck - sort of.

He turned around facing away from Ethan then and bent forward, supporting
himself against the wall with his hands. His feet and legs were
together.

"OK. Stick your dick between my legs, just under my ass, and see if you
can fuck me between the thighs!" Simon said.

Ethan snickered and said, "Well, I've heard of guys doing it this way,
but I never tried it. Might as well now!"

Ethan positioned himself behind Simon so that his hardon was pointing
right at the base of Simon's soapy ass crack. Then he slowly pressed
forward.

"That's it!" Simon said, once Ethan was plastered up against his back,
and the tip of his dick was peeking out from between the front of Simon's
upper thighs. "It's rubbing right under my nut sack. Try fucking me
now!"

Ethan chuckled, but began to pull his dick out from between Simon's legs
again. Before he got too far out, he shoved it back in. Then he pulled
it out, then shoved it back in. Soon, Ethan was fucking Simon between
his thighs at a normal fucking pace.

"How's it feel?" Simon asked.

"Good!" Ethan grunted, as he plowed in and out between Simon's thighs.

Although he'd expected it would be rather mediocre, it actually felt
pretty good, Ethan thought to himself, as he felt his orgasm beginning to
build up. He picked up his pace slightly, and within a half minute, he
knew his orgasm was about to start. Breathing heavily, and moaning
lowly, he shoved his hard cock in and out of Simon's crotch a little
faster still, then suddenly, he let out a gasp, as he felt his first
spasm, and cum shot out from between Simon's thighs, hitting the shower
wall. Grunting and groaning, Ethan continued fucking Simon between the
thighs, squirting load after load of cum all over the shower wall.
Eventually, his orgasm ended, and he slowed down, stopped, and finally
pulled his hardon out of Simon's crotch.

"Sounds like it was good for you!" Simon chuckled.

"You'll know soon enough!" Ethan said. "It's time to switch places. You
get to get-off too!

Simon grinned. The boys changed places, and soon, Ethan was bent over
and Simon was shoving his soapy cock in and out of Ethan's crotch!

"Knew this would be good!" Simon growled, with labored breathing, as he
felt his orgasm approaching.

A few seconds later, Simon cried out, as he too began firing his own seed
from between Ethan's thighs. He managed to hang on and keep on pumping
in and out of Ethan's crotch, as he shot load after load of his cum
against the wall. Eventually, Simon's orgasm ended.

"Damn! That wasn't half bad!" Simon said, after he'd finished.

He pulled his dick out from between Ethan's thighs then, and the two boys
rinsed each other clean, and washed down the wall as well. Then they
turned off the water, dried, and dressed, before joining us for
breakfast.

 * * *

After we'd eaten, I got my small pruning saw out of the closet off the
end of the balcony, and we went out to my car, and headed out into the
country to a Christmas Tree farm I'd read about in the paper. It took us
about a half hour to get there.

The tree lot wasn't very busy yet when we got there, possibly due to the
gray clouds that hung ominously in the sky. We piled out of the car and
walked over to a couple of guys who looked like they were in charge.
They were. They handed us a map that showed where the various types of
trees were located, and we set off in the direction of a stand of Douglas
firs.

As we plodded across an empty field and into the trees, Tom and I had a
spirited conversation about the various types of pine trees that were
used for Christmas trees. Just as we were getting to the area where the
Douglas firs were supposed to be, it dawned on me that the boys hadn't
said a word the whole time we were walking along, although I heard their
boots in the snow.

Just as I turned to look and see why they were so quiet, I got hit in the
face with a snowball!

"What the-???" I hollered.

Tom got hit in the back of the head next. He spun around and the two of
us faced Simon and Ethan, who each had an armload of snowballs, and stood
poised, each ready to throw another at us. Both of them were grinning
obnoxiously.

A grin broke over my face as I reached down and scooped up a handful of
snow.

"Think you're funny eh?" I yelled, grinning at them. "Let's see who
likes having snow shoved down their shirts!"

Tom grinned and scooped up some snow then too.

"Let's get 'em!" Tom yelled.

We both started walking toward them grinning insanely at them. They both
grinned and started hurling their snowballs at us, as we continued
walking slowly, but determinedly toward them, successfully dodging each
snowball they threw. Within seconds, they were out of snowballs, but Tom
and I continued lumbering toward them. Suddenly both Ethan's and Simon's
eyes got big, as they considered the possibility we might actually get
the better of them.

"Fuck Si! We better run!" Ethan yelled, suddenly.

They both stared at us yet for a split second, as grinning, we kept on
walking toward them. Suddenly, Ethan turned and started to run away from
us. Simon quickly spun around and followed him. Tom and I broke out
into a run chasing them.

"I'll get Ethan!" Tom yelled.

"OK, I'll get Simon," I hollered back.

Ethan suddenly turned left between a couple of scotch pines, and I heard
a thud and an "ooomphh!" from him. As I raced past the spot Ethan had
turned into, in hot pursuit of Simon, I saw he'd tripped over a stump and
had landed on his face in the snow. He was struggling to get up again,
as Tom rounded the corner, and tripped over the same stump and landed on
top of Ethan. I hoped they weren't hurt, and figured the were OK, when I
heard uproarious giggling coming from both of them as they began
wrestling around with each other.

Not too far ahead, Simon turned to look back and see where I was. A look
or horror crossed his face as he saw me closing in on him quickly. As he
turned to continue running, he had to stop short as a man and his wife
cut in front of him, crossing the pathway carrying a large balsam tree
they'd cut down.

"Aaahh!" Simon exclaimed, as he almost crashed into them.

As the couple stared at him in surprise, he quickly turned right, but not
quick enough. I closed in on him and reached out and grabbed his
shoulder. Simon stopped short and I collided with him then, sending both
of us to the ground.

"I'm sorry!" Simon yelled, grinning at me. "I won't throw snow at you
again. I promise!"

Laughing, I said, "Yeah right!"

As I laid on top of Simon, I started to jab him in the ribs, hoping to
divert his attention, while I centered my attack on my real goal - his
partially exposed neck! As Simon thrashed about beneath me, giggling,
and trying to throw me off of him, I scooped up a handful of snow and
quickly pushed it between his neck and collar.

"AAahhh! COLD!" Simon yelled, still giggling from the tickling I was
giving him.

Laughing, I stopped tickling Simon, and let go of the wad of snow I was
holding on his neck.

"That wasn't fair!" Simon complained, grinning yet. "You're a lot bigger
than me, and you took unfair advantage!"

"You want me to show you unfair advantage?" I asked, raising an eyebrow,
and staring sinisterly down at Simon.

"NO!" Simon cried. "That's OK! That was enough!"

Still laughing, I climbed off Simon and stood up. I held my hand down to
Simon. He took it and pulled himself up out of the snow. Just then, Tom
and Ethan came along. Ethan was walking funny, and I wondered if he'd
gotten hurt.

"NO!" Ethan replied, smiling ruefully at me when I asked. "Your
boyfriend here shoved some snow down my pants! I feel like I wet my
pants!"

Simon, Tom, and I roared then, as Ethan glared at all of us. We couldn't
help ourselves though, and apparently, even Ethan finally saw the humor
of the situation and started laughing along with us.

As we stood snickering yet, it suddenly began snowing.

"Oh, great! Now the hair on my head's gonna get wet as well as my pubic
hair!" Ethan groaned.

"OH poor Baby!" Simon cooed at him. "I'll dry you off later!"

"OOohhh! Promise???" Ethan asked, excitedly.

Simon grinned and said, "of course!"

Both boys grinned at each other then.

 * * *

"OK, let's go get a tree and get out of here before it really starts
snowing!" I said.

We wandered back to the Douglas firs we'd been looking at.

"Here's a nice one!" Simon called, after a minute.

"Yes it is! But it's way too big!" I said.

"Oh!" Simon said, and went back to looking.

Ethan was next to find a tree. It looked great, but upon closer
inspection, we found the trunk was slanted quite a bit, and didn't think
the tree stand would hold it up.

I found one then, but Simon said it was too small.

Simon came up with another one then. It was a bit larger than I wanted,
but he seemed so pleased with it, I figured we could cut it down a
little, and it would fit. Besides, he was right, it was a good looking
tree. So while Ethan and Tom held onto the tree, and Simon held the
lower branches out of my face, I cut it down.

"Timber!" Simon yelled, after I'd finished sawing through the trunk, and
Tom and Ethan gave it a push and it fell over.

"Time to get this sucker out of here!" Tom said. "It's really starting
to come down!"

Tom was right, it was definitely snowing harder! Ethan and Simon grabbed
a hold of some of the lower branches and started dragging the tree behind
us, as we headed back to the car. After a while. Tom and I took a turn
pulling it. Then, Simon and Ethan took over again and dragged it the
rest of the way. We paid for the tree, and one of the guys who owned the
tree lot gave us some rope. Together, the four of us hoisted the tree up
onto the car roof. Tom and I tied it down then. Once it was secure, we
piled into the car and headed back to the apartment.

 * * *

The tree was so big, we almost couldn't get it into the apartment.

"Guess it was bigger than I thought!" Simon said, looking doubtfully at
it.

"Relax, we'll cut it down a tad, and it'll be fine," I said. "First
things first though, let's put on some Christmas music and make some hot
chocolate."

Everyone thought that sounded good, so while Tom and I made the hot
chocolate, Simon and Ethan selected a Christmas CD to put on.

Afterward, working together, we trimmed the lower branches off the tree,
cut the stump down, and cut about 8" off the tip-top of the tree. After
the trimming, we were able to successfully get the tree into the stand,
and situated in a corner of the living room.

As the snow came down heavily outside, we spent the rest of the day
together, happily trimming the Christmas tree and decorating the
apartment. The place looked great afterward.

At Ethan's suggestion, we strung the branches we'd cut off the tree along
the railing on the balcony and wrapped some strings of white lights
around and through them too. The balcony looked quite nice after dark,
when the little white lights were turned on.

Later, we had dinner together, then watched a couple of Christmas movies,
before it was time to go to bed.

 * * *

The snowstorm left us blanketed under almost 2-1/2' of snow. I was glad
we'd gotten our tree when we did, and that I didn't have a driveway to
clear. The next morning, after breakfast, Simon went home with Ethan and
helped him clear the Rodman's driveway. A little while later, Ethan
dropped Simon back off at home, as he had to go to work.

Tom had some things to take care of, so Simon and I went to the mall and
did a little Christmas shopping.

When we got to the mall, I was surprised to see so many people there.
Even though it was Christmas season, I'd thought the massive amount of
snow we got would've kept the people home shoveling, but apparently, as
soon as they were able to, they all hit the road.

I realized Simon most likely didn't have any money, so I asked him if he
needed some.

"This is why I need to get a job too," Simon said, sounding a little
depressed.

"Well, it's too late to worry about that right now," I said. "How much
do you want?"

Simon looked at me. Finally he said, "Can I have $100.00? I promise
I'll pay you back after I get a job!"

"You really don't need to get me, or any of us for that matter, anything
expensive," I said.

"I know," Simon said. "I promise, I'll pay you back though."

Hesitantly, I took out my wallet and counted out $100 and handed it to
him.

"We'll figure out a way for you to pay me back," I said. "Don't worry
about it for now."

"You don't mean....????" Simon asked, giving me a funny look.

I looked at him a moment, then suddenly it dawned on me what he was
thinking.

"GOD NO SIMON!" I exclaimed. "I'd never expect, or want you to do that!"

Simon smiled slightly and turned a little red in the face. "Didn't
really think so, just you sounded funny when you said that, that's all.
Although... it probably would be pretty great if we did!"

Simon waggled his eyebrows at me then, and grinned.

I smiled and said to him, "Simon, I love you very much. I'm sure if we
ever did have sex, it would be great! But, Simon, that's not going to
happen. First of all, I'd never ask you to give me yourself that way for
any reason. I care about you way too much to ever do that. Nobody
should ever feel they have to USE sex in any way. Sex should only ever
be to show how much you love or care about someone. And before you say
it, yeah, we do love each other, very much in fact, but, you need me to
be your Dad, not your lover. And I want to be your Dad! Given your
recent past though, I do understand why you might have gotten confused by
what I said. It's OK. All I meant though was that perhaps you could do
some chores to pay me back."

"I see" Simon said, his face flushed with embarrassment yet. "I'm sorry
Greg. I really should've known what you meant."

"You don't have to be embarrassed, or sorry. It's OK. I understand why
you thought I might've meant that. And about the two of us having sex,
like I said, it doesn't mean I think it wouldn't be great. Given the
right circumstances, where I wasn't your legal guardian, and we were
closer in age, sure, I'd be interested, and I'm certain it would be
great! But like I said, I'm really into being your 'Dad'! OK?" I said.

Simon grinned at me and nodded then, and I mussed his hair up.

We split up then, agreeing to meet at the food court an hour later.

 * * *

My first stop was at the Nature Store, where I asked Ethan what he
thought Simon would like for Christmas. He said he had just the thing,
right there. Simon had seen a metal detector he thought might be fun.
So I bought that. I also bought a few other things Ethan thougth Simon
might like.

While I was at the store, Ethan introduced me to his supervisor, and we
had a nice conversation, while we watched Ethan waiting on customers. He
seemed to be doing fine, and his supervisor was very happy with him.

 * * *

As I walked further down the mall, toward a book store I wanted to check
out, I saw Simon a little ways down the mall. He was standing talking
with a boy I recognized as a junior from our school, although he wasn't
in any of my classes. I didn't realize Simon knew him. I didn't know the
boy's name, He was rather good looking though. He was tall, almost 6' I
figured, and rather skinny. He had platinum blond, spiked hair, and
beautiful blue eyes. He was a really good looking guy. I stopped and
watched them for a minute from a distance. As I watched, I was surprised
to see Simon reach into his pocket and hand the boy some money. It
looked like he gave him a couple of the $20 bills I'd given him earlier.
The boy didn't give Simon anything in return. He just smiled a little.
Oddly, I thought he looked a little embarrassed. Simon smiled warmly at
him. They talked a minute longer, then the two shook hands and went
their seperate ways.

I quickly ducked into a store so Simon didn't see me. He went into a
hobbby shop then. As I came out of the store I had ducked into, I saw
the blonde boy disappearing from view into the food court, which wasn't
too far down the mall. I quickly started walking after him. I was
curious to see where he was going.

 * * *

When I got to the food court, I looked around for him. He actually was
easier to spot than I thought he would be, as he was slightly taller than
most of the other kids there, and he was dressed in rather preppy
clothes. He was standing in line at McDonalds. I watched as he paid for
a meal with a $20 bill. Then he went and ate. I got a table a little
ways away from him, off to the side and watched him. He ate silently,
watching people as they came and went.

Simon came along a few minutes later. He sat down with me and followed
my gaze off to the boy I was watching. He looked nervously at me when I
looked at him.

"Isn't he from our school?" I asked, pointing to him.

Simon looked at the boy, then back at me and said, "I think so."

"What's his name?" I asked.

"I-I don't know," Simon said, looking evenly at me, but swallowing and
turning pink.

"Oh," I said. "Thought maybe you knew him."

"No," Simon said, looking guiltily at me.

"So how's your shopping going?" I asked, changing the subject, and trying
not to show the disappointment I because I knew he was lying.

"Great! I'm done!" he said.

I noticed one bag that looked like it had a few items in it.

"Got any money left?" I asked.

"Not much," he said, tinging pinker. "Did you need some back?"

"No," I said. "Don't get much for your money these days anymore, do
you?"

"Not really," Simon said, looking guilty yet.

"Hungry?" I asked.

"Of course!" Simon said, smiling then.

"OK, let's eat then!" I said.

I gave him some money and sent him to get something to eat, while I held
our table. Tables were at a premium, since there were so many people
shopping. I noticed Simon opted for food from the opposite side of the
food court to where the blond boy was sitting, just finishing his meal.
When Simon returned, I went and got in line to get myself some food. As
I stood waiting, the blond boy noticed Simon, and smiled and started
walking toward him. Simon looked at him and shook his head "NO!" The boy
stopped short, smiled a half smile and nodded, then reversed his
direction and left. I quickly looked away, before Simon could catch me
looking at him. I wondered what was up with Simon and this boy, and
decided that I'd best figure it out as soon as possible...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next chapter in this series will be published shortly.