Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2016 06:18:37 +0000
From: Douglas DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: Aiden  Chapter 8

Thank you for returning for more of Aiden's story. It is two days after
Aiden's birthday. He is now having the first big birthday party of his life
and it turns out to be all he had hoped for and more.

Please give to the Nifty Archive and keep the stories flowing.

Thank you to those who wrote to me. Your emails are truly appreciated.

Douglas
thehakaanen@hotmail.com


CHAPTER 8
POOL PARTY

Aiden sat at the kitchen table wolfing his breakfast cereal. It was Friday
morning, the day after his birthday and the day before his birthday party.
He was wearing his usual breakfast garb: t-shirt, briefs, and socks.

"Slow down, son. You're eating like you're afraid somebody is going to
show up and steal your breakfast," Phil kidded his nephew.

"I'm hungry," came Aiden's garbled reply between bites. He finally finished
his bowl of raisin bran and took a deep breath. "How come we only have
cereal and toast this morning?"

"Since Uncle Larry has to work at school today, we decided to go with the
standard school breakfast this morning. Get used to it; this is actually the
standard fare for most mornings. The big, fancy breakfasts are for some
weekend days and special occasions. Cereal, toast, fresh fruit, and
sometimes muffins or other pastries are what we generally eat."

"I like the pancakes and French toast and waffles," Aiden stated, hoping his
breakfast preference would spark a change in routine for his uncles.

"So do I, but on school and work days there simply is no time, and often on
weekends we find ourselves pretty busy."

Aiden uttered a grunt of disappointment. "What are we doing today?"
Before Phil could answer he flowed right into another question. "Do you
think maybe you could teach me more about waterskiing?"

"I'd love to, but I need a spotter. I never take the boat out for waterskiing
without a spotter."

"Don't you know somebody who can spot?"

"Not on a moment's notice. But the day is long, the pool is warm, and I am
more than willing to swim with you."

"I wanted to go waterskiing."

"Aiden, an important thing for you to learn as you live here is when to
accept a no answer. You just received a no answer. Without a spotter,
there will be no waterskiing." Phil was certain he could get hold of a current
or former baseball player to be a spotter, but he also knew that Aiden
needed to learn about the meaning no.

"But..."

"Aiden, what about the word no don't you understand?" Aiden slouched
down in his chair, making sure his uncle could see his best sulky
expression. "Let's get the kitchen straightened up and then figure out what
we're going to do today."

"I don't want to straighten the kitchen."

Phil gave Aiden the look that made more than one of his summer league
baseball players quiver with trepidation. "Let's get to work, son."

Aiden looked away from Phil to avoid his uncle's intense stare. "No, I don't
want to."

"And here I thought you and I would have fun in the pool today. Now it
looks like you're going to spend a beautiful day in sitting in your room
instead."

"I'd rather read than go swimming."

"Fine. Head on upstairs and read. I'm going to clean and straighten up the
kitchen."  No matter how Aiden tried to avoid Phil's glare, his uncle's eyes
kept finding a way to be in the path of his vision.

Aiden pulled his chair away from the kitchen table and stomped out of the
room. "I hate it here and I hate you," he yelled as he pounded his way up
the stairs.

"I love you, Aiden," was all the boy could hear as he reached the small
landing at the top of the stairs.

As Phil started clearing Aiden's bowl, spoon, and glass from the table he
thought about how much work they had before them in order to bring out
the boy with the bright smile and bury the boy with the sour scowl. There
was so much to do with him he wondered how long it would take for them
to accomplish anything. A simple thing, like eating some of the sliced fresh
fruit in the refrigerator with his cereal, to a complex thing like understanding
what was expected from him, would all take time to teach.

As Phil rinsed Aiden's bowl and placed it in the dishwasher he was glad
that he and Larry had decided to have Aiden see a child psychologist who
came highly recommended by the Mayfield School District psychologist.
They could see that Aiden needed help in dealing with the loss of his
mother—the kind of help they weren't capable of providing.

I thought I had rough edges as a kid, Phil thought. I had smooth going
compared to my little nephew.

Aiden plopped on his bed and pulled off his t-shirt. He looked at the sports
posters he and Uncle Larry had carefully hung on his wall. He pulled
"Flush" off of his desk and remembered where the book had come from. He
remembered his uncles and Pete, the waiter, singing Happy Birthday to him
at the restaurant the night before.

He got off of his bed and started to yank off his white briefs; he felt like
being naked. As he placed his fingers under the waistband he looked out of
his window and saw the blue sky, the lake, and caught a glimpse of the
swimming pool. He pulled his hands out of his underpants and walked out
of his room.

Phil returned to the table to get the cereal box and the sugar and take them
to the pantry. He was surprised to see Aiden walk into the kitchen, his
unruly blond hair seemingly facing every possible direction.

"Welcome back," Phil said, wondering what had motivated the boy to
return.

Aiden didn't reply as he stepped in front of his uncle, picked up the cereal
box and the sugar bowl, and took them to the pantry. Phil watched
wordlessly as Aiden returned to the table, picked up the milk carton, and
took it to the refrigerator.

Phil wondered why Aiden had peeled off his shirt as he admired the boy's
pert ass, which was very noticeable through his tight white briefs. I don't
think I'm ever going to tire of looking at that boy's rear end, Phil smiled to
himself.

"Can we go swimming now?" Aiden asked with his usual bluntness.

Phil looked straight at Aiden, but his eyes were much gentler than before
Aiden had stomped out of the room. "Do you have anything else to say?"

Looking sheepishly at the floor, Aiden barely whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's always good to look a person in the eye when you speak to him."

Aiden took a deep breath and looked up at his uncle. "I'm sorry, Uncle Phil.
I'm sorry I was being bad and yelling at you. I don't really hate you. Can we
go swimming today?"

"As soon as we get things in place for tomorrow's party. That shouldn't take
long if we both pitch in and work hard." Aiden grinned at the mention of his
party the next afternoon.

Aiden did his share of the work and then some. He happily chattered with
Phil as they took care of getting the house ready for the party, which
included such things as vacuuming and straightening as well as some of
the food preparations. They took the plastic lawn chairs stacked in the
basement out into the yard to add seating. Aiden felt a thrill working out in
the backyard wearing just briefs and socks and was surprised that his uncle
hadn't told him to get dressed.

Finally, Aiden heard the words he was waiting for. "I think we've done all
that we can do today, so let's change into our swimming trunks," Phil said
as he ruffled his nephew's hair. "And Monday we get your hair trimmed."

"I don't want a buzz," Aiden insisted.

"Not to worry, but it's going to be cut enough to make it somewhat
manageable."

As he stood in the big sun room, recreation room, den, or whatever
purpose it served at the moment, Aiden noticed a car pull into the driveway.
"Somebody's coming," he announced.

Phil looked out of the window and knew instantly whose car it was. "That's
Marty," he said. The door opened and the big athlete exited his Honda. "I
wonder what he's doing here."

Aiden knew he was supposed to be fully dressed when company arrived,
but instead of climbing the stairs to his room, he stopped at the bottom step
to see who Marty was. Phil opened the door before Marty could ring the
doorbell.

"Marty! Wow, it's great to see you."

"Hey, coach," the grinning twenty-one-year-old replied. The two men
exchanged a heart-felt hug. He entered the house and saw the scantily
clad boy standing shyly at the bottom of the stairs. "This must be your new
renter. I like his taste in clothes—it means he's comfortable here."

Phil had been certain that Aiden had gone upstairs to dress and was
surprised to see him still standing in the living room area wearing only his
briefs and socks. "Aiden, I thought you were going to get dressed—we do
have company."

"No worries, coach," Marty chuckled. "He looks just fine to me."

Phil was a little flustered, but tried not to let it show. "Marty, meet Aiden.
Aiden this is Marty, former Mayfield baseball player extraordinaire."

Marty pleased Aiden by offering his fist. Aiden's little hand bumped the big
fist of the college ballplayer. "Hey, Aiden. Great to meet you after hearing
so many good things about you." He looked over at Phil. "But nobody told
me how cute you were. I'd run around in my undies, too, if I had a body like
yours to show off."

"You're not exactly lacking in the good looking body department," Phil
pointed out. Marty played third base for the Washington State Cougars. He
had been All-Pac 12 the year before and honorable mention All-America.
He had also been a twelfth round Major League draft choice by the Phillies.
Instead of signing a contract, however, he elected to return for his senior
year in college.

"I thought you were back in school," Phil said.

"Rich had some family business he needed to attend to, so I decided to
drive across the mountains with him. My Friday schedule is light and I'll
have nothing big to make up. Since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I'd
stop by and say hello." Rich and Marty were engaged to be married over
winter break.  Phil knew that Marty didn't happen to be "just" in the
neighborhood since there really wasn't anything in the area to interest him
except right here where he ended up.

Marty looked over at Aiden. "Do you play sports?"

"I am on a soccer team," the boy answered shyly. He was a bit overcome
by the gregarious presence of the powerful looking young athlete.

"I'll bet you're the star player."

"I never played before. I've only been to one practice."

"Okay, then I bet you'll become the star." Aiden flashed his wide grin. He
liked Marty and was quickly developing a huge boy crush on him. "Do you
play baseball?," Marty asked.

Aiden shook his head. "I like watching it."

"The next step from watching baseball, is playing baseball. This spring I
expect to find out from the coaches that you're playing on a team." Aiden
maintained his grin as the two of them bumped fists again. "Remember, the
really cool studs play third base. Your uncles know a thing or two about the
sport. It's never too early to start practicing, so get out your glove and get to
work."

Aiden's grin fell away as he looked over at Phil, who was aware that Aiden
didn't own a glove.

"Soccer is an okay sport, but baseball is the sexy sport," Marty went on.

"Aiden and I were just going to get our swimming trunks on and hit the pool.
Do you want to join us?"

"You mean you haven't shown this studly dude how to waterski?"

Marty and Phil both saw Aiden's face light up again. Before Phil knew it,
Marty had volunteered to spot for Aiden if Phil didn't mind taking the boat
out on the lake. Phil and Larry had taken Marty waterskiing numerous
times, as they had other former players.

Phil had no problem with Marty spotting. He had now run out of excuses to
not take the boat out. Within a half-hour the boat was ready to go. Aiden
was dressed in his board trunks, shirt, and life jacket. Marty had also
become his friend for life.

After towing Aiden around the lake, as well as dealing with his falls, for a
little over an hour, Phil brought the boat into the dock. Marty jumped out
onto the pier and helped tie the boat. When Aiden got on the dock, he
stood as close to Marty as he could, looking way up at his 6-1, 200-pound
frame.

"Damn, dude, you were looking pretty good out there at the end," Marty told
him. "You're going to be one hell of a waterskier." Aiden flashed Marty his
signature grin—he now liked the big college boy even more.

"Are you coming to my party tomorrow?" Aiden asked.

"Is that an invitation?"

"Yep."

Marty tied the bow line tightly to the cleat. "Can I bring my man?"

"Your man?" Aiden asked confusedly.

"Rich, my boyfriend and soon to be husband?"

"You're gay?" Aiden had already caught all of the hints that Marty was
indeed gay, but he wanted to hear it directly.

"Since the day I popped from my mom," Marty grinned as he and Aiden
walked off of the small dock.

"He can come," Aiden conceded because it was the right thing to say, but
he felt pangs of jealousy—he truly had a boy crush on the third baseman.

After they all entered the house, Phil told Aiden to head upstairs and
shower. He then escorted Marty to his car. "Thanks for helping out."

"Hey, I had fun. Your nephew is a good kid—smart and pretty coordinated
for a little dude, not to mention cuter than hell. I think you and Coach lucked
out."

"He seems to like you."

"He seems to have developed a bit of a crush," Marty chuckled. "I am
officially invited to the party tomorrow, so make sure you've got plenty of
extra food."

Phil laughed heartily. "Is Rich coming, too?"

"Yes, Aiden reluctantly extended the invitation to his rival for my affections."

"Can you do me a favor?"

"You name it."

"I can't believe it never occurred to me that Aiden doesn't own a baseball
mitt." Phil reached into his wallet and pulled out a pair of twenties. "I know
it's out of your way, but if you have the time and can head into Centralia..."

Marty pocketed the money. "No worries. I know exactly what to get a
budding infielder." He told Phil what he had in mind.

"That will take more than forty bucks...pretty pricey for a beginner."

"I'll cover the difference. It will be good enough to last him into middle
school. I'll call Hunter at the store—he can bring it home with him, save me
a trip."

"What if they don't have one in stock?"  Phil asked.

Marty climbed into the driver's seat of his Honda. "Oh, I'm sure they have
one," he grinned. "That kid might not have played baseball before, but I
have a feeling he's gonna be a good one. Just don't let him forget that real
men play third base". He closed the car door and backed out of the
driveway.

Instead of showering, Aiden had gone into the guest bedroom which had a
view of the front of the house. He watched his uncle and Marty talk,
wondering if they were talking about him. Phil handed Marty something and
then Marty backed out of the driveway. After Marty had removed his shirt
on the boat, Aiden had been awestruck by his chiseled torso. He went to
his bedroom wondering what Marty looked like naked.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The first guests to arrive at Aiden's party were the ones who had traveled
the farthest. Aiden had been bouncing around the house since the moment
he'd popped out of bed at six-fifteen. While Larry and Phil still weren't tuned
in to the behaviors of an overly excited young boy, they were familiar with
waking up early.

Aiden chattered about his upcoming party all through breakfast. "My friend
Gordy is coming and his friend Miles is coming and Gordy said yesterday
that Rusty from our soccer team might come—Rusty is really cool and he
has red hair. Miles is on our soccer team."

The newly-minted nine-year-old stopped to catch his breath, and then went
on rapid fire. "And Hurricane Jeffrey, who thinks he's my baby sitter, and
his brother Sammy will be here. So will my cousins Chase and Logan.
Marty and his boyfriend are coming, too. And the sun is shining and it's
supposed to be warm this afternoon and we can all swim in the pool, and
Uncle Larry is going to barbeque."

Phil ruffled Aiden's already unruly mop of hair. "Why do I get the feeling you
might be a little bit excited?" he asked.

"Because it's my first big  birthday party ever," Aiden grinned.

"Marty's boyfriend's name is Rich, so you don't have to call him `hey you' at
the party," Larry reminded his nephew.

"I can still call him `hey you', only I will have to say, `hey you, Rich.'"

"Whatever works," Larry said as he started frying eggs on the griddle. The
birthday party day breakfast would be eggs fried to order, sausage links,
toast, and hash browns. Larry and Phil would have preferred a smaller
breakfast, but this was Aiden's day, and they saw this as a compromise
between plain cereal and pancakes.

That was the first time Aiden gave a summary of the party to come, but it
wasn't the last time. Each new outline added a fresh embellishment. So,
when the first guests arrived Aiden was more than ready for them while Phil
and Larry were more than ready for some relief.

It was just after eleven when Troy arrived with his family. Aiden almost flew
out of the front door without opening it. "It's Uncle Troy!" he yelled as he
skidded to a stop at the door.

Once Troy entered the house he received a surprisingly big hug from his
blond nephew and then proceeded to introduce Aiden to his aunt and
cousins. Aiden had not met any of them. As instructed by his uncles, he
politely shook hands with his Aunt Sue and cousin Lisa, but Chase
substituted a fist bump for a handshake, accompanied by a smiling, "Hey,
cuz, wazzup?" That elicited one of his younger cousin's signature grins.

Logan had just turned eight and Chase had turned eleven in May. Aiden
immediately took a liking to his outgoing older cousin. Like him, Chase was
blond, although he was a much lighter blond—a true towhead. He wore his
hair shorter than Aiden and kept it reasonably combed. Like any boy his
age, there was no way Chase was able to train his hair to lie perfectly, nor
did he want to.  But, unlike Aiden, Chase didn't have freckles; his face was
clear of any marks or blemishes. Chase was about average size for his
age, standing a little over four-nine and weighing in at 78 pounds.

What surprised Aiden the most were the strange feelings he was getting,
feelings that told him he wanted to see his cousin without any clothes on, or
at least to see his cock. He wondered where those feelings were coming
from. They had been the strongest with Gordy, especially after he'd seen
him naked.

There were also the feelings he'd had about Marty, although they weren't
the same. They were more about Marty being a completely, totally, cool
dude who was a star athlete who had been thoroughly nice to him—in other
words he had a boy crush. But with Gordy, and now with Chase, what he
felt was different. What he didn't know was that he was feeling some of the
oncoming of puberty even at the tender age of nine.

Aiden was indifferent to his cousin Logan. He seemed to be very shy, and
after the introductions, he hung back. Almost hiding himself behind his
parents. Fortunately, Troy understood how different his sons were. He and
Sue made sure Logan had plenty of things to keep her amused in what
would essentially be a world consisting of young males.

But Chase was an entirely different matter, and he and Aiden quickly
disappeared into the big multi-purpose room, where Aiden showed off his
new video games. Troy found it ironic that Aiden latched on to Chase
instead of Logan, who was close to his age.

"Wow, you've got some cool games," Chase gushed. "How good are you?"
After Aiden confessed he had just tried learning about them on his birthday,
Chase set to work teaching his cousin the finer points of a couple of the
games. It didn't take long for Aiden to catch on, and soon he and Chase
were busily competing.

Chase thought that his newly discovered cousin was one hell of a cute boy.
Having two gay uncles who were married, he knew all about
homosexuality—or at least he thought he did. He was no sexual neophyte,
having been sexually active with boys since he turned ten. He and his
friends had done everything except anal sex. They talked about "butt
fucking" frequently, but had yet to work up the courage to do it. Chase
didn't know if he was gay. In chats he had with his father about being gay,
his father told him that it was okay to experiment with his friends and that
doing so didn't mean anything one way or the other about his sexual
orientation.

"You're young," Troy told his son. "Enjoy learning about your body."  He
also set down some parental rules and warnings about behavior and safety
which Chase listened to with about a third of his attention.

Chase knew that Aiden was only nine, but that didn't stop him from
wondering if his cousin messed around. After all, he thought, I was ten
when I started messing around and nine is almost as old as ten.

With the party scheduled to start at one, some of the eager guests started
showing up just after twelve-thirty. Marty showed up first, with Rich riding
shotgun and Jeffrey and Sammy in the backseat—since Marty lived with
their parents it made sense for him to take them to the party.

As soon as Chase saw twelve-year-old Sammy, he fell in lust. Sammy had
close-cut brown hair, a slender, athletic body, piercing brown eyes, and an
engaging, dimpled smile. He was five-feet tall, weighed 90 pounds and was
a beautiful boy.

But then, so was Chase, and Sammy noticed. Sammy was straight and
was the stud of the incoming seventh graders. He'd gone all the way with
three girls and had made out with three others, getting naked with two of
them. But, he had also lost his virginity to boys, having frequent anal sex
with his brother, Jeffrey. He sucked a half-dozen or so cocks as well. While
he much preferred the company of girls, he found it much easier and safer
to have sex with guys. Looking at Chase his straight brain told him that if he
was going to have sex with boys then this boy had to be one of them.

After introductions, everybody wanted to see Aiden's room, so he led
Chase, Sammy, Marty, Jeffrey, and Rich upstairs. Since Aiden had
occupied the room for less than a week everything was new. The five
guests gushed their approval of Aiden's decorating skills.

Marty, Rich, and Jeffrey headed back downstairs to see what they could do
to help with the party setup. That left the three preteens alone in the room.
After a brief moment of silence leaving each boy feeling a little self-
conscious, Chase broke the ice. Sammy tended to be reticent around
people he didn't know well, but could be quite boisterous once he got
comfortable with someone.  Aiden felt a little intimidated around the older
boys.

Chase, however, was an outgoing boy who displayed leadership skills. He
had no problem getting a conversation started. He started talking about
sports, which was a natural topic for boys who were obviously athletic.
They had just gotten into the upcoming Seahawk season when they heard
the doorbell ring. More guests had arrived and Aiden was the first one
down the stairs to greet them.

"Gordy!" Aiden yelled when he saw his new best friend, who was being
ushered in by Marty. Gordon grinned when he saw his new friend and gave
him a roughhouse hug that looked almost like a dance move. Aiden was
surprised and pleased by the hug. Miles and Rusty waited their turns and
soon fist bumps and "heys" were exchanged all around.

Miles, who had some Mexican blood in him, had thick dark hair that he
wore so short it looked like he really didn't have to comb it, and golden skin.
Rusty had bright red hair, a face full of freckles, and a quick smile. Both
boys were nine and heading into fourth grade.

Marty told the boys that if they needed to change for swimming they could
do so downstairs in the pool shower room.  As six boys raced for the stairs,
Aiden caught a glimpse of boxes in the all-purpose room, which meant that
Uncle Troy had brought his belongings from storage. He would check it all
out later, especially the one item he missed the most.

All six boys scampered down the stairs, almost tumbling into a pile when
they entered the basement shower room. All of the boys, except Miles and
Chase, already had their swimming shorts on. They set their bags and
packs on the bench and pulled off their shirts and shoes.

Chase had no problem taking his clothes off in front of other boys and was
quickly bare-ass naked. His nude body garnered some long glances from
the crowd in the room, with Sammy and Aiden giving him an extra-long
look. What they saw was a trim body with virtually no fat, a hairless pubic
area, a thin, cut cock that dangled maybe two inches, and a hairless
scrotum that was starting to descend. All of the attention didn't escape
Chase as he pulled on his board shorts—he enjoyed the looks he was
getting.

Miles was quite a bit more shy than Chase. He stripped down to a pair of
Seahawk boxers and then stopped. Aiden detected his shyness and quietly
told him it was okay to change in the toilet stall. Miles shrugged, faced
away from the other boys, and pulled off his boxers, showing off his
buttocks and a pair of well-formed, brown ass cheeks. He quickly yanked
on his board shorts and turned to face the group, a big grin on his face. It
was the first time he'd ever been naked in front of boys he didn't know.

"Did you know that was Marty Carlson who opened the door?" Gordon
asked somewhat awestruck.

"I did," Sammy said, "he lives with me and Jeffrey."

"I just met him yesterday," Aiden told them. "I didn't know his last name was
Carlson. Is that a big deal?"

"Big deal?" Gordy asked. "He's only the best baseball player to ever play
for Mayfield. Now he's a star in college and he's gonna be in the major
leagues. I can't believe he opened the door for me. I wonder if I can get his
autograph later."

"He'll give all you guys autographs," Sammy informed them. "I know that for
sure."

"How?" Chase asked as the boys started out of the sliding glass doors to
the patio. Chase had never heard of Marty, but was now intrigued by him.

"Because that's how he is. Marty isn't stuck up like some jocks—just ask
him and he'll sign for you."

All of the boys were soon in the pool. It didn't take long for splashing,
dunking, and wrestling to break out. A game of tag was started and then
dropped when everybody ganged up on Chase.

Some grab ass took place as the boys got to know each other better.
Sammy was pleased when Chase swam between his legs and rubbed his
hand on his crotch "accidentally on purpose." Sammy soon returned the
favor by squeezing Chase's ass, which was the sign Chase was hoping for.

When Gordon grabbed Aiden's balls, Aiden got into an immediate wrestling
match with his friend and soon had his fingers around Gordon's little cock.
There was nothing new about Miles and Rusty grabbing each other's
junk—they'd been doing it to each other since they were seven, only now at
age nine, it seemed to be much more fun.

Logan came into the pool long after the older boys. He hung out at the
shallow end by himself, despite Chase trying a couple of times to get him
involved. Chase simply didn't understand Logan's shyness. He knew his
younger brother had some good friends of his own, but when Chase had
his own friends over, Logan seemed to disappear. Like his father, he was
surprised that Aiden and his brother didn't connect at all.

"Man, I'd love to grab some of those little cocks and asses," Jeffrey told
Marty. "That is one collection of cute boys in that pool."

"You know Sammy wouldn't stop you," Marty told his fifteen-year-old friend.
He'd had sex with Jeffrey the Hurricane in one form or another when he
was in middle school and high school.

"I'd take that Chase dude in an instant."  Jeffrey jumped in feet first and
managed to cop a feel of his brother Sammy's ass. He got into a little
dunking match with Chase, and somehow his hand managed to find the
front of his trunks in just the spot to give the eleven-year-old's junk an
accidental squeeze. Chase knew fully well the grope had been intentional
and he quickly managed to get his first feel of an almost fully grown teen
cock through the fabric of Jeffrey's trunks.

All too soon, Marty, who had taken over as the boy herder, announced that
it was time to leave the pool and get ready to eat. The boys grabbed towels
and dried off. The temperature was warm for a September day, hovering in
the lower eighties, so nobody bothered to put on a shirt.

Since it was Aiden's birthday, he decided he should be able to choose who
would sit next to him. He felt comfortable with Gordon sitting on his right
side and Marty on his left. Marty kept him laughing while Gordon kept him
smiling, which sometimes made it hard to get his food chewed and
swallowed.

Hamburgers, baked beans, fries, and other munchies were soon being
devoured by the hoard of hungry boys and adults. Once the mess of eating
was cleaned up, it was birthday present time. Aiden received gift
certificates at both the Centralia sporting goods store and at the Barnes &
Noble in Olympia. Word of Aiden's love of books had gotten around thanks
to his uncles.

Chase gave him a book rather than a gift certificate. It was "The Cay" by
Theodore Taylor. "It's one of my favorites," Chase told him. "My dad said
you are a good reader, so I think you'll really like it."

When Aiden opened a box from Marty and pulled out a beautiful leather
baseball glove he was awed. "Thanks, Marty," Aiden said with obvious
emotion.  He gave the big college boy a hug, rubbing his face into his
muscular torso. "Now I can practice for baseball."

While Marty's gift had been requested by Phil, it seemed the rest of the
boys missed the message about not giving Aiden presents. While Larry and
Phil had said no presents, they had a feeling the request would be ignored.

"Be sure to double check the card," Marty told him. "The present is from
your uncles and me together."

Aiden looked over at his uncles. "Thanks Uncle Phil and Larry."

"Just remember, third base," Marty reminded the nine-year-old.

"Right, third base."

"I Don't Know," Marty and Larry blurted out together. They looked at each
other and broke out laughing.

"What are they laughing about?" Aiden asked Phil.

"It's an inside joke. We'll fill you in on it later."

"Don't forget Uncle Troy's present," Larry said, pointing to a box on the
bench along the deck railing. "It's from all three of us, but your Uncle Troy
did the work in getting it."

When Aiden opened it he found a laptop computer. "Wow, I get my own
computer?"

"The teachers all tell me that even in fourth grade it makes life much
easier," Troy said.

"We thought about you using our computer," Phil said, "but your Uncle Troy
convinced us that having your own would be better for everybody."

Aiden fought back tears of emotion as he walked around the patio and
hugged his three uncles. "I am the happiest boy in the whole world," Aiden
sniffled. "This is the best birthday anybody ever had, ever. Thank you
everybody, you're the best friends ever."

"Well, it needs one more thing to be the best," Larry said. It was then that
Flo, Gordon's mother, wheeled a cake out on a cart. It had white icing with
a Seattle Mariner logo on it and nine candles placed in the middle. "Happy
Birthday Aiden" was written across the cake.

The group sang "Happy Birthday" and Aiden blew out the nine candles with
one breath. Tears were dripping down his smooth, freckled face. He looked
down at the gorgeous cake on the cart and at the incredible presents on
the table. He saw the smiling faces looking at him and he felt embarrassed
by the tears. The boy felt a sob forming—he tried unsuccessfully to fight it
off, but it burst out of him with a loud "umffff". He turned his head and saw
the blurry image of Marty next to him.  He buried his head in the athlete's
chest with its dusting of body hair and bawled his young heart out.

Next: What Friends Are For