Date: Sun, 27 May 2012 14:22:30 -0700
From: B.E. Kelley <hailcaesar2011@hotmail.com>
Subject: Keys to the Kingdom, Chapter 6

This story is a work of FICTION. The events described are my own invention.
Any similarities to actual events or persons are strictly coincidental. The
author retains the copyright, and any other rights, to this original story.
You may not publish it or any part of it without my explicit authorization.

This story contains depictions of consensual sexual acts between teenage
males.  It is intended for mature audiences only.  If you find this type of
material offensive or if you are under the legal age to read said material;
please proceed no further.

It takes a while before there is any sex in this story but I think you'll
like it.  As always comments are welcome but please, be gentle.

Please send your comments to:
HailCaesar2011@hotmail.com

The Keys to the Kingdom
Chapter 6: Aiden

Jack was adjusting well to his new surroundings.  He mopped around the
house for the first couple of days but Ethan and Nicky did their best to
keep him busy so he wouldn't have time to miss his parents.  If he wasn't
running with Ethan then he was usually helping Nicky with his fastball.
I'm glad Nicky has Jack, Cam and I are pretty useless when it comes to
baseball and Ethan hasn't picked up a bat since an incident he had in gym
class several weeks ago.

It had been a bright spring afternoon and Ethan's gym class was playing
baseball on the athletic field.  When it was Ethan's turn to bat he stepped
up to the plate and was surprised when he got a hit.  In the excitement he
forgot to drop the bat and accidently hit another boy when he tried to
avoid being tagged out.  The coach understood it had been an accident and
the other boy hadn't been seriously hurt, but Nicky teased Ethan
relentlessly.  Ethan hadn't been out to play catch with Nicky since then
and he got up and left when Nicky shared the story with Jack.

I hated to see Ethan upset so I suggested that the next time Nicky gave him
any trouble he might want to remind him how he'd been pinned by a girl
during wrestling season.  That seemed to perk Ethan up and put an end to
this little spat.

I also took the boys on a short sailing trip on Long Island Sound.  We only
went out a few miles so that we'd be home for dinner that evening.  I don't
like to go far without Cam or another experienced sailor, when I have the
boys with me.  Ethan is however, a very competent sailor, his dad taught
him well.  Under my watchful eye he took charge of the boat and soon had
Nicky and Jack taking orders to raise sails and tighten down lines.  I sat
back and enjoyed the ride; I didn't have to take the wheel until we got
back to the dock.  I told the boys that we might sail up to New York City
on the 4th of July to watch the fireworks and they agreed that would be a
great idea.

Before we knew it the week was over and we'd be spending the night without
Cam.  One of his friends at the hospital needed Friday night off and Cam
agreed to fill in for him as the surgeon on duty in the emergency room.
I'm glad Cam is senior enough that he works the day shift as his normal
routine because I was tossing and turning without him.  After a while I got
up and looked in on all of my boys, even Jack. Eventually I grew tired and
by midnight the house was quiet but for the gentle murmurs of sleep.

The phone rang at about 12:30am, I was about to grab for it on the third
ring but someone beat me to it.  A few seconds later Ethan was standing at
my bedside.

"Daddy, dad's on the phone for you," Ethan yawned.

I sent Ethan back to his room then picked up my bedside phone, Ethan hung
his phone up when he got back into bed and I was able to take Cam's call.

"Cam it's after midnight is everything ok?" I asked.

"I'm fine but I'm dealing with an emergency here at work. I've got a
situation here that I think we need to get involved in but I need to talk
to you about it first," Cam informed me.

"Ok," I answered as I sat up and tried to make myself more alert, "what's
going on?"

"It's been a pretty slow night here and I've been hanging out in the ER in
case a trauma patient comes in and I saw the paramedics bring in a boy who
had been badly beaten," said Cam."

"That's terrible," I said, giving him a moment to further collect his
thoughts.

"You don't know the half of it hun," Cam explained, "the second I saw this
boy all I could think about was Ethan.  The boy is the same age, same
height, same hair color; if I didn't know better I might think they were
twins."

"Yeah, I can see how that would be upsetting but I'm still not sure what
this has to do with us," I confessed.

"They took the boy down to radiology to be x-rayed for a broken arm and
that's when I ran into Molly from social services," said Cam.

Molly is a family friend who basically made it possible for us to adopt
Nicky and Ethan.  She'd arranged my own adoption when I was a boy and has
become something of a family friend.

"Molly says the boy's name is Aiden Kerry, he's 14 years old and been in
foster care since his parents died in a car accident two years ago.  Until
now there haven't been any problems but that all changed earlier this
evening," Cam explained.  "The police were called when Aiden collapsed in a
truck stop near the interstate; apparently he walked in all beat to hell
and passed out.  The paramedics brought him here and the ER attending
doctor is treating him for a broken arm, three bruised ribs and bruises
that cover most of his upper body. It looks like there's been sexual abuse
as well; the attending is going to administer a rape kit when they bring
the boy back from having his arm set."

"According to Molly, when the cops went to Aiden's foster home they found
his foster parents extremely agitated and the mother blurted out something
like "whatever he told you, we didn't do it."  That was more than enough to
set off alarm bells for the cops and they took them in under suspicion of
child endangerment.  Molly was called because DCF has legal custody over
Aiden and she needs to figure out a place for him once the attending
releases him," said Cam.

"Jesus, that's horrible, Cam, what do you want to do?" I asked.

"I have to be honest Brenden, I'm pretty upset.  All I can think about is
our boys and what if something like this happened to them?  I've talked to
Molly and she's willing to place Aiden with us.  I know it's not a good
time with Jack just getting here and the move coming up but I know Aiden
will be safe with us and after everything else he's been through I don't
know if I can say that about another foster home," Cam admitted.

"Ok, I'm going to call my parents and see if dad can come stay with the
boys, then I'm coming down there," I told Cam.

"Get here as quickly as you can Bren, I need you," said Cam.

As soon as I got off the phone with Cam I woke my parents.  I shared the
situation with my dad and he said he'd jump in the car and head over right
away.  I wasted no time getting dressed and sat on the stairs in the foyer
waiting for my dad to knock on the door.

Dad knocked softly when he arrived so as not to wake the boys.  When I
opened the door he was still in his pajamas, apparently he'd just thrown on
his robe and got in the car after he'd hung up.  I told dad he could reach
me on my cell phone if there were any problems and started to put on my
coat when Ethan came down the stairs, he'd been unable to go back to sleep
after answering the phone and came downstairs when he'd heard the commotion
in the foyer.

"Daddy, what's going on, is everything ok?" Ethan asked, a hint of tension
in his voice.

I think it's a result of the trauma he endured the night his father was
killed but I've noticed that things like late night phone calls tend to
make Ethan a little tense, as if he's preparing himself for bad news.  It's
easy to forget some of the horrible things the boys have experienced, once
they've adjusted.  Thank God for the resilience of children.

"Everything's fine, son, why don't you go back to bed?" I offered.

"It's late, where are you going, why's grandpa here?" Ethan asked.

I thought for a moment before answering him and figured I'd get out of here
faster if I answered him honestly.

"Dad's dealing with an emergency at work, there's a boy that needs us to
take him in, I'm heading over to the hospital now to deal with the
situation," I answered, carefully leaving out the details.

"Can I come; is there anything I can do to help?" Ethan asked.

"I don't think so sport," I replied, "that's no place for you to be. I want
you to go back upstairs and get some sleep."

"I can't go back to sleep now, are you sure there isn't anything I can do?"
Ethan whined.

Before I could respond grandpa stepped in and came to my rescue.

"I'm not going to be able to get any sleep on that couch," Grandpa Phil
stated, "why don't you stay here and keep me company?"

Ethan grudgingly agreed, I thanked my dad for his quick intervention and
then raced out the door.  New Haven is a fairly quiet city at night and the
traffic was light, I found myself in the hospital parking lot in no time.
I asked the nurse at the desk to let Cam know I'd arrived and soon he was
coming through the door.  While he'd been waiting for me to arrive, Cam had
observed the attending physician collect the rape kit and listened to the
police question Aiden.  The look on his face was one of disgust as he
pulled me into the hall to bring me up to speed.

"It looks like the former foster parents have been abusing Aiden for almost
a year," Cam explained.

"Apparently the father lost his job about a year ago.  There wasn't enough
money to support the family and they didn't want to lose the money the
state paid them for taking care of Aiden, so they started selling him at
truck stops around the area.  He's been forced to do God knows what with
who knows how many men," Cam added with a hint of rage in his voice.

"The beating he got tonight was almost a blessing in disguise.  The son of
a bitch was forcing himself down Aiden's throat and when he couldn't
breathe Aiden bit him.  The guy beat the shit out of him but if he hadn't
done that Aiden might not have gone into that truck stop and the police
would never have been called," Cam stated, trembling with disgust.

"My God, that's terrible," I said, shocked.  I could see why Cam was so
upset; the thought of what Aiden had been subjected to made my stomach
turn.

"There's more," Cam added.

"Tomorrow morning we have to take him in and have a full battery of tests
done," Cam continued, "with all the sexual encounters that have been forced
on him there's no telling what kind of diseases he's been exposed to."

I could only imagine what these tests might discover.  I think we were both
worried about the implications these tests might have for Aiden.

Cam filled me in on a few more details and then he took me to see Aiden.
Molly was with him when we walked into the room and we exchanged greetings
then I got my first look at the boy.  Cam had been right, I had to do a
double take, the resemblance to Ethan was uncanny.  He had green eyes where
Ethan has blue but the differences in the rest of their features are few
and far between. The main difference between the two boys, at least for the
present, was that Ethan's skin was soft and clear and Aiden's was covered
in black and blue bruises that made your blood boil when you thought about
someone doing that to an innocent boy.

"Hey Aiden," Cam began, "this is Brenden, my partner I've been telling you
about.  The doctor attending your case says you're free to go, are you
ready to get out of here?"

He didn't speak he just nodded his head so Cam helped him get out of bed.
He was a little ungainly on his feet, he limped a bit from his injuries and
his broken arm, in a cast and sling, made his movements cumbersome.  Cam
had helped him into a wheelchair for the trip down to the car. He was only
wearing a pair of hospital scrubs and when I asked where his clothes were I
was told that they'd been taken as part of the rape kit so they could be
checked for fibers and tissue samples, anything that might tie a suspect to
the crime.  We said our goodbyes to Molly then made our way out to the car.

When I left the house Grandpa Phil had a cup of coffee and made Ethan a cup
of hot chocolate then headed into the living room to wait.  They watched a
little late night TV and chatted about the week that had passed.  It was
almost 3:30 in the morning when Cam and I pulled into the driveway.

When we came through the door Cam and I were supporting Aiden, he'd be
walking with a limp for a while, due to his injuries.  Jack was just coming
down the stairs, he'd gotten up to pee and heard Grandpa Phil and Ethan
talking, so he came down to see what was going on.  He joined Ethan and
Grandpa as the welcoming committee.  Ethan and Jack seemed shocked by
Aiden's injuries and looked a little pale.  Cam quickly introduced them.

"Aiden, this is Brenden's dad.  The boys call him Grandpa Phil.  That's our
nephew Jack and this is our son Ethan," Cam informed him.

Aiden didn't look at grandpa directly but I think having Jack and
particularly Ethan, there might have been a good idea.  I saw Aiden glance
at them briefly; his eyes lingering on Ethan for a moment, I think he was
relieved just a bit by the presence of someone who appeared to be his own
age.

"Ethan, would you mind loaning Aiden a pair of pajama's for the nigh?" Cam
asked.

Ethan was caught just a bit off guard by the question; he seemed to be
entranced by Aiden's bruises.

"Huh, what?" he stuttered, "I mean um yeah, sure dad, no problem.

"Thanks son," I stated, "why don't you take Aiden up to your room so he can
get changed while we decide where to put him?"

"Okay," Ethan answered.

"Come on Aiden, its right this way," Ethan offered, while reaching out to
put his hand on Aiden's shoulder so he could guide him up the stairs.

Aiden flinched at the touch and pulled back like a frightened rabbit.  His
reaction startled Ethan who pulled away in the other direction.

"I, I, I'm sorry," Ethan stuttered, "I saw you guys helping him when you
came in, I was just trying to guide him up the stairs."

"It's okay Ethan," I assured him.

"Aiden," Cam said soothingly, "I want you to go upstairs with Ethan so you
can get ready for bed, its okay, he'll take care of you."

"Okay," Aiden muttered in a hoarse whisper.

Ethan headed for the stairs with Aiden limping in tow.  When he reached the
first step Ethan held out his arm for Aiden to hold on too as they made
their way up the stairs.  He was hesitant at first but when he realized he
wouldn't be able to make it up the steps on his own, he grabbed on to
Ethan's bicep for support.

Once the boys disappeared up the stairs and we heard Ethan's door close,
Cam and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh my God, what happened to that kid?" Jack asked.

"Yes, he definitely looks a little worse for wear," Grandpa Phil stated,
"what's going on?"

"Jesus guys, the things this kid has been through make me sick," Cam
replied.

Cam and I filled them in on what we'd learned about Aiden and the horrors
he'd faced.  When we finished they were as pale as we were.  It's not every
day you meet someone who has been beaten and abused by people who were
supposed to take care of them, thank god for that.  After hearing the whole
story grandpa went home to try and salvage some sleep from the night and we
told Jack to move back into Ethan's room for the night once we got Aiden
set up in his room.  Meanwhile Ethan was helping Aiden get ready for bed
upstairs.

Aiden leaned against the wall and watched Ethan as he dug through his
dresser looking for something Aiden could sleep in.  After a minutes search
Ethan pulled out a pair of pajama bottoms and an old tee shirt, then handed
them to Aiden.

"Here you go, it's not much but you should be comfortable in these," Ethan
said as he handed the garments over.

Ethan then sat at his desk and pretended to be looking for something.  He
wanted to give Aiden as much privacy as he could, while still being in the
room with him.  Aiden started to take off his clothes but soon found it
difficult with a broken arm in a sling and a leg he couldn't put all his
weight on.  He stumbled and banged into the wall.

Ethan turned to discover Aiden with his shirt stuck under his arms and a
knot in the drawstring of the scrubs he was wearing.  Ethan went white as a
ghost and then turned green as his stomach turned on seeing the mass of
bruises that made up Aiden's chest.

Aiden looked away from Ethan, his face burning with shame and embarrassment
for what had happened to him.  He felt disgusting and all he wanted to do
was wash the filth off of his body but he craved sleep even more, he was
exhausted after his ordeal.

"Here, let me help you, it's hard with one hand," Ethan offered once his
stomach settled down.

Ethan helped Aiden take his shirt off then put on the tee shirt he'd given
him.  It took a bit of work to get things settled with that cast in the
way.  Ethan then untied the cumbersome knot in Aiden's pants which allowed
them to slide down so Aiden could step out of them.  Ethan helped him pull
up the pajama bottoms; then tied the drawstring for him so they stayed
comfortably in place.

"Thanks," Aiden whispered.

"It's ok," Ethan assured him, "if you need anything else just ask me."

It was about that time that I knocked on the door.

"Well, we're going to have you sleep in Jack's room for now," I announced,
"Jack's going to bunk in here with Ethan so you can have some privacy.  I'm
sure you're exhausted so why don't you come this way and you can get to
sleep."

I took Aiden's hand and guided him into the hall.  Before I closed the door
I noticed the look on Ethan's face and decided to come back and have a chat
with him before he turned in.

I led Aiden down to his room then Cam and I helped him into bed.  We tucked
him in; made sure he was comfortable but didn't kiss him on the forehead
like we usually did with Ethan and Nicky.  Given the circumstances, we
didn't think Aiden would react well to being kissed by two strange men.  We
wished him a good night but we weren't sure he'd heard us, he seemed to
drift off to sleep the moment his head hit the pillow.  Both Cam and I were
exhausted but I told Cam to head to bed, I wanted to have a word with Ethan
before I joined him.

I entered Ethan's room and found he and Jack curled up under the covers.  I
sat on the bed and looked down at my son then gently brushed my fingers
through his hair.  Ethan surprised me when he opened his eyes.

"Sorry, I thought you were asleep," I said, "why didn't you say anything
when I sat down?"

"I was just thinking," Ethan replied, "about what happened to Aiden."

"Pretty terrible huh?" I asked.

"Oh daddy, it's awful," Ethan said choking up.

"How could someone do that to him?" he demanded.

"I wish I knew son, but the important thing is that he's here with us now
and that we do everything we can to help him get better," I replied.

"I'll do whatever you need me to do," Ethan committed.

"Well for starters, Jack will be in charge tomorrow morning because your
dad and I have to take Aiden in for some tests, don't give him any grief.
We'll probably be gone before Nicky wakes up so I want you to explain about
Aiden's injuries to him.  I don't want him to get freaked out when he sees
him, that would just upset them both," I told him.

"Sure I understand that, I sort of had a bad reaction myself.  I'll talk to
Nicky as soon as he gets up," Ethan agreed, "anything else?"

"Yes," I continued, "when we get back we're going to have a talk with you
boys, I want you to pay attention and do whatever we ask you.  Other than
that, just help us look after Nicky the next few days so that we can spend
some time with Aiden and get him used to being with our family.  Okay?"

"Okay daddy, I can do that."

I pulled the blanket up over Ethan's shoulders then kissed him on the
forehead before bidding him good night.  I then went down the hall to my
room and joined Cam in bed.

The next morning Cam and I were up early.  We let Aiden sleep as long as we
could but soon had to wake him and get him ready for the testing he'd
undergo today.  We woke Ethan and barrowed some clothes from him then he
went back to bed while Aiden made his way back to the hospital with us.

After the testing Cam and I are going to have to talk to the boys about
what's happened to Aiden.  Given their reactions to his injuries thus far I
don't know what they're going to think when they find out about how badly
he's been abused.  More importantly, now that we know that at least Ethan
and Nicky have been experimenting with each other we have to make sure they
don't do anything with Aiden.  I doubt there is anything to worry about
since Aiden is clearly in no condition to engage in those activities but we
have to make certain, given the myriad of sexually transmitted diseases he
could have been exposed to.

I don't know if Aiden was just being brave or if all of the trauma he'd
been exposed to had numbed him but he endured the various tests with little
more than a few whimpers.  The doctors ran tests for every sexually
transmitted disease imaginable.  Some of these tests involved taking blood
samples; others involved taking tissue samples from Aiden's penis and anus.
By the time the testing was done there was no part of that poor boy that
hadn't been poked and prodded by gloved hands.

I wanted to do what I could to comfort the boy but Cam, ever the doctor,
told me the best thing we could do was to let the attending doctors do what
needed to be done.  When the testing was over the only disease they had
found was a case of Chlamydia which they treated with a dose of
azithromycin.  We'd have to wait a few weeks for some of the results to
come back, most importantly the results of the HIV test.

The ride home was a little awkward, Aiden didn't say anything and Cam and I
didn't really know what we could say to him.  Cam had spoken with a
psychiatrist friend of his and learned that people who have suffered sexual
assaults like this often feel dirty and ashamed, as if they've invited the
kind of attacks they've been subjected to.  They also slept a lot because
dealing with everything that resulted from their abuse was exhausting.
Ultimately the best thing we could do for Aiden was to watch over him, give
him time and space and wait for him to open up to us.

When we walked in the front door three heads popped out of the kitchen like
a Three Stooge's movie.  Jack, Ethan and Nicky peered around the corner and
came to join us once Cam gave them a gesture beckoning them forward.  Ethan
must have spoken to Nicky like I'd asked him to because there was no
expression of fear or disgust on his face as he looked at Aiden's wounds,
just his usual bright, happy smile.  The most inquisitive turned out to be
Debbie, she couldn't figure out why this new boy smelled so much like Ethan
when Ethan was standing next to Nicky.  She walked around Aiden a dozen or
so times sniffing like a truffle pig then gave up and sat next to Nicky,
her pet boy.

Cam and I quickly reintroduced Aiden to Jack and Ethan then he got to met
Nicky and Debbie.  His eyes traveled over each face and once again seemed
to linger on Ethan, maybe he noticed the same resemblance Cam and I had
noted.

"Aiden would you like the boy's to give you a quick tour of the house?" Cam
asked.

"I'd really like to take a shower and get some sleep if I could," Aiden
said flatly.

"Sure no problem," I said, "Ethan would you mind helping Aiden out?"

"Yeah daddy I'll take care of it," Ethan agreed.

Ethan remembered what had happened when he tried to help Aiden last night
so this time he walked over to the stairs and waited for Aiden to grab his
arm.  Ethan guided Aiden up the stairs and into the hall bathroom then
started the water so it could warm up.  Next he helped Aiden take off his
sling then his shirt.  Ethan knew that Aiden wouldn't be able to get his
cast wet and so after his shower that morning he'd stocked the bathroom
with some supplies.  He helped him put a garbage bag over his cast then
used duct tape to keep water from getting in and soaking the plaster.  By
the time Ethan had helped Aiden take off his pants and socks the water had
warmed up to a comfortable temperature.

"I noticed you're still limping," said Ethan, "are you going to be ok in
the shower?"

"I think so, but would you stay close just in case?" Aiden asked.

"Ok, I'll sit on the counter and if you need any help just ask me," Ethan
complied.

The hot water felt good on his body and Aiden thought he could feel the
layers of invisible filth washing off.  He had endured so many months of
torture and now it seemed to be over and all he could think about was
making himself clean.  Aiden scrubbed his skin raw in some parts, he was so
eager to wash away the taint of what had happened to him.

Everything was going fine until he tried to wash his right leg and ended up
putting too much weight on his damaged left. He felt himself slipping and
instinctively grabbed for the shower curtain to stop his fall but only
succeeded in pulling it down on top of him.  Ethan reacted at once and shut
off the water so it wouldn't spray all over the room; he then pulled back
the shower curtain and wrapped his arms around Aiden to help him back to
his feet.

Aiden surprised Ethan by clenching on to him tightly.  At first Ethan
thought Aiden was trying to help himself up but quickly realized this was
an embrace.  Something had snapped in Aiden, all the emotions that he'd
been damming up seemed to break loose with that fall and when Ethan held
him so gently the dam came apart.  Aiden wrapped his good arm tightly
around Ethan; buried his face into his shoulder and started sobbing.  Ethan
didn't know what to do but instinct kicked in and he started to rub up and
down Aiden's back assuring him that everything would be ok.

Cam and I had heard the crashing shower curtain when Aiden had fallen and
we rushed up the stairs to make sure he was ok.  We found him in Ethan's
arms when we burst through the door; we weren't prepared for such a
touching scene.  We stood there in silence with nothing but the sound of
Aiden's cry's filling the room and when he stopped, Ethan helped him up and
got him dried off.

When he was dressed in his pajama's, Cam picked Aiden up, carried him to
his room and got him settled in bed. When we were alone, Ethan hugged me
tightly and did some of his own crying.  He didn't know what to make about
what had just happened with Aiden, all he knew was that his heart had been
touched by the pain of someone else's suffering and the tears started
pouring out.  I held on to Ethan until he composed himself and then took
him downstairs so that Cam and I could have a chat with him and the boys.

When Cam came downstairs he joined the boys and I around the kitchen table.
We quickly explained that not only had Aiden been beaten but he'd also been
sexually abused.  We didn't go into the full details but there is one thing
we wanted to make clear.

"We took Aiden in to have some medical tests this morning," Cam began, "and
unfortunately he does have a case of Chlamydia.  Now, I want to stress that
this disease is highly treatable and he's already been medicated for it,
but there are other diseases that he might have been exposed to and we
won't know those results for a few more weeks."

"Can we catch something from him by being around him, like a cold?" Nicky
asked.

"No," Cam answered, "you can't catch anything by being around him and it's
ok to touch him or give him a hug.  I don't want you to think it's unsafe
to be near him or treat him like he's going to infect you."

"For the most part, the diseases he's been exposed to are only transmitted
through sexual contact and the exchange of bodily fluids," Cam explained.

"So what's that mean?" Nicky wanted to know.

"What it means," I started, "is that we know teenage boys sometimes like to
experiment with each other and engage in sexual touching.  That can't
happen with Aiden because we still don't know what kinds of diseases he may
or may not have."

"You think we're going to have sex with him?" Jack blurted out.

"No Jack, I just want everyone to know that any innocent experimentation
with Aiden is strictly off limits.  The bottom line boys, is that we don't
know what he may or may not have.  It's bad enough that he has to endure
this and we just want to protect each of you so we're telling you this in
order to be safe rather than sorry," I explained.

"Ok, that makes sense," Jack agreed.

"Yeah, I understand," said Ethan.

"Me to," Nicky chirped.

That went a little easier then I'd expected.  I felt we had to have this
discussion after we discovered Ethan and Nicky were exploring their
sexuality.  I don't think anything has happened with them and Jack but I
felt we had to include him in on the discussion as well.  I don't want to
risk exposing our boys to something just because we were too embarrassed to
discuss it with them like adults.  By the time everyone left the table I
think we had a clear understanding as to how to keep everyone safe.

"What was Uncle Brenden talking about when he mentioned experimenting?"
Jack asked Ethan.

"Oh, that," Ethan blushed, "I'll tell you about that later, let's grab
Nicky and go down to the park for a while."

"Cool, bring the bat and I'll teach you how to run bases without it," Jack
laughed.

"Yeah, well, you know Nicky got pinned by a girl during wrestling season,"
Ethan offered.

The boys continued to banter as they collected their gear then left for the
park.  Cam and I hadn't slept much at all the night before and so we
decided to follow Aiden's lead and take a nap.