Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 11:44:28 -0700
From: B.E. Kelley <hailcaesar2011@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Keys to the Kingdom Chapter 7

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 7: Bad Dreams

Aiden slept for most of the day.  When the boys got back from playing ball
at the park, we had dinner waiting for them.  Aiden joined us but only
picked at his food.  As soon as we'd finished, he had Ethan help him back
to his room.  For whatever reason, he seems to have latched on to Ethan and
feels most comfortable with him.  Once Ethan rejoined us downstairs, we
watched some TV and Jack brought up something that had caught his eye.

"So is it just me or have you guys noticed how much Aiden and Ethan look
alike?" Jack asked.

"I noticed it right away," said Cam.

"I don't think he looks that much like me," Ethan offered.

"Sure he does," said Nicky, "you guys could be twins."

"No way," said Ethan, "my eyes are blue and his are green."

"Big deal," scoffed Nicky, "close your eyes and stand next to each other
and we won't be able to tell the difference."

"When Aiden gets better you mean," said Jack.

"Yeah," Nicky agreed, "I feel so bad for him; dad isn't there anything you
can do for those bruises?"

"There really isn't," Cam explained, "the only thing you can do to heal a
bruise is rest and let nature take its course.  They'll go away soon."

"It's funny," I interrupted, "Aiden lost his parents and was put into
foster care about the same time as Ethan.  If things had worked out
differently, Aiden might have come to live with us and Ethan would be the
one we're talking about now."

"I don't even want to think about that," Ethan said with a shiver.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," I said apologetically, "I wasn't trying to upset
you, its' just funny how life works out."

"It's worked out pretty good for me; I got to come here," said Ethan, "I
just wish Aiden hadn't had to go through so much."

"I know we're all upset about what has happened to Aiden and it should tell
us how lucky we are to have each other," I said, "but we need to think
positively about things, if we're going to help him.  Let's not dwell on
his past, let's try to think about the future."

"I agree," said Cam, "he has a hard road ahead and he's going to need a lot
of love and support from us, all of us, to get through this.  Try to get to
know him, not just what's happened to him."

"But how do we do that?" asked Jack, "his situation is kind of the elephant
in the room, we can't just ignore it."

"We're not saying ignore it, that wouldn't be healthy either," I explained,
"just let him bring it up when he's comfortable with it."

"So what do we talk about in the mean time?" wondered Nicky.

"Well he's a boy just like you three.  Sure some bad things have happened
to him but deep down he still has likes and dislikes just like anyone else,
ask him about his hobbies and such, see what you have in common," said Cam.

"Ok, I can do that," Nicky smiled.

"Of course you can," Ethan smirked, "when I first came here I felt like a
mongoose being cornered by a chatty cobra."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nicky asked, while the rest of us laughed.

"It just means you don't give anyone the chance not to like you son," said
Cam, "when Ethan came here, you talked his ear off until he responded, just
to shut you up."

"Hey, I was just trying to help," Nicky pouted.

"And I appreciate it little brother," said Ethan as he put his arm around
Nicky's shoulder, "You kept me entertained and kept me from thinking about
how bad things were, when I really needed someone to do that for me."

"Well this is all to touching for me," Jack joked, "I'm going up to bed."

"Hold on, I think I'm going to turn in to," said Ethan.

"I think that sounds like a good idea," I agreed, "Nicky, why don't you get
ready for bed and dad and I will come tuck you in."

While Nicky was getting ready for bed, Cam and I checked on Aiden.  He
appeared to be sleeping soundly, though who knows what dreams might be
haunting him.  We tucked Nicky in and bid him good night, then looked in on
Jack and Ethan.  The older boys had already stripped down to their
underwear and climbed into bed so Cam and I each gave Ethan a kiss on the
forehead and said good night.

"Nighty night Ethan," Jack teased while making kissing noises.

"You're never too big for a kiss goodnight," said Cam.

"Yeah Jack, not even you," I said as I planted a big kiss on his forehead.

"Nighty Night Jackers," teased Ethan.

Cam and I said good night and left the boys to their teasing.  It didn't
take long for them to drift off to sleep.

He was running so hard he felt like his heart was going to burst from his
chest.  It was dark and he seemed to be trapped in an endless maze of
trucks.  He tasted blood in his mouth but he wasn't sure if it was his or
the truckers.  He'd tried to block out what was happening to him but when
he couldn't breathe he didn't know what else he could do and he bit the
trucker's penis.  The trucker had beaten him without mercy and he'd only
escaped when the man had stopped to catch his breath.

He could hear the trucker chasing after him.  He heard his footsteps
getting closer and heard his curses but no matter how hard he ran he
couldn't seem to get away.  The maze felt like it was closing in on him and
he didn't know if he'd ever find his way out.  His eyes felt puffy and
every inch of his body hurt but he had to press on or who knew what would
happen.

"I'm going to get you, you little son of a bitch," bellowed the trucker.

He spit out the blood in his mouth and kept running.  There had to be a way
out, there just had to be.  Just as he thought he was doomed, he saw a
light ahead.  He raced for the light, he ran like his life depended on it.
The light grew closer, it was a store, a business of some kind, if he could
just get there he'd be safe.  His legs hurt so bad, they felt like they
would give way at any minute.  He somehow found the strength to keep
running even though the store didn't seem to be getting any closer, but the
trucker was.

"You're gonna die boy, just wait until I get my hands on you," the trucker
screamed.

He never saw the hole in the concrete but he heard his ankle snap as it
engulfed his foot and try as he might he couldn't get up.  God help me, he
thought to himself as he tried to drag his body to the store on his hands
and knees.  Suddenly he felt a kick to his ribs and he rolled over in pain,
he saw the trucker standing over him and the tire iron coming down towards
his face.

"NOOOOOOOOO," he screamed.

"Ethan! Ethan wake up," said Jack as he shook Ethan's shoulder.

"Huh, what, what's going on?" Ethan asked, when he opened his eyes.

"You kept tossing and turning in your sleep, than you screamed no, are you
ok?" Jack asked.

"Oh man, I was having the worst dream," Ethan explained as he wiped the
sweat from his brow.

"I was thinking about what my dad said, about how Aiden might have come to
live here and I could have ended up with his foster parents," said Ethan.

"I was in a truck stop running from this crazy trucker and I couldn't get
away from him and finally, I fell and he was going to hit me with a tire
iron, when you woke me up," said Ethan.

"Are you ok now?" Jack asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, it was just a stupid nightmare," said Ethan, "go back to sleep,
I'm going to go splash some water on my face."

Ethan made his way to the bathroom and washed his face.  He'd been sweating
like a pig when Jack woke him.  He had a whole new understanding of how
scared Aiden must have been, after his dream.  It had been so real, he
could feel his heart pounding in his chest like he'd just run a marathon.
When he returned to his room, Jack was already sleeping again.  His eye
caught a glimpse of his old teddy bear, Mr. Turtlebee, sitting on a shelf.
That gave him an idea.

Ethan quickly put on a t-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms; grabbed
Mr. Turtlebee off the shelf and walked into Aiden's room.  Aiden was still
asleep; it was the middle of the night after all, so Ethan turned on the
bedside lamp and pulled up a chair.  He wasn't exactly sure what he was
doing, he'd kind of lost steam when he'd come in and found Aiden sleeping
but he felt compelled to sit there and watch over him.  He looked at
Aiden's face and realized Nicky was right, if they closed their eyes and
stood next to each other, they would be hard to tell apart, weird.

"What time is it?" Aiden asked, through squinty eyes.

"It's almost 3:30," said Ethan.

"What are you doing here?" Aiden asked.

"I, I had a bad dream, I wanted to check on you," Ethan admitted.

"Oh," said Aiden, "I know about bad dreams."

"Here, I want you to have this," said Ethan, handing over his teddy bear."

"Um, thanks," said a confused Aiden.

"His name's Mr. Turtlebee," said Ethan, "I know it's silly but when I came
to live here, it wasn't under the best circumstances either and this bear,
I don't know, it was comforting."

"Something happened to you to?" asked Aiden.

"My dad, my real dad, he was killed in an accident when I was 12," said
Ethan, "I couldn't deal with it and I was in shock when they brought me
here."

"I was 12 when my real parents were killed," said Aiden.

"I know, my dads, my adoptive dads, they told us what happened to you,"
Ethan confessed, "they said if things had worked out differently, you could
have been the one that had come to live here and I might have been the one
who got, got... well, you know."

"Yeah, I know.  Don't worry about it," said Aiden.

"It's hard not to think about it, aren't you mad about what happened to
you?" asked Ethan.

"Yeah, I'm mad about it.  I'm so mad about it that sometimes I can't even
think straight, but that doesn't mean I'd wish what happened to me on you,"
Aiden explained.

"But if you'd come to live here instead then...," Ethan started.

"There's always a but, but no one could have known then what was going to
happen to me, and if it hadn't happened to me then some other kid, like
you, would have had to put up with it and maybe he wouldn't have lasted as
long, maybe he'd have done something and ended up getting killed by some
pervert," said Aiden.

"Look, I'm really tired, can we talk about this some other time?" asked
Aiden.

"Of course, I'm sorry I woke you up," said Ethan.

"It's ok, and thanks for the bear, that was nice," Aiden admitted.

"Goodnight," said Ethan, as he closed the door.

Ethan headed back to his room and climbed into bed quietly so as not to
wake Jack.  He was still thinking about Aiden and the strange parallels in
their lives, but Aiden was right, nothing that either of them could have
done would have changed things.  Fate had just dealt Aiden a shitty blow
and Ethan didn't need to feel guilty because he'd lucked out and ended up
with a decent family when his father had passed.  Still, his heart went out
to Aiden for the things he'd endured and Ethan was determined to be his
friend.

In the morning Ethan, woke to find that Jack had already gone downstairs so
he gathered up some clothes and headed to Aiden's room.  This time he found
Aiden sitting up as though he'd just woken.

"Morning, sleep good?" Ethan greeted cheerfully.

"Yeah, thanks for the bear, that really was kind of comforting," Aiden
acknowledged.

"Ah, don't mention it, especially to Nicky, please?" Ethan smiled.

"How come?" Aiden asked.

"Oh you know little brothers, he wouldn't miss a chance to give me a hard
time," Ethan explained.

"Ok, got it," Aiden agreed.

"I brought you some clothes, in case you wanted to come down stairs and
join us," said Ethan.

"I'd like that, but could you help me clean up first?" Aiden inquired.

"Sure, but you showered before you went to bed, you haven't really had a
chance to get dirty," said Ethan.

"Please?" said Aiden, looking away, "I just feel kind of scummy."

Aiden got out of bed and his limp was still there but not quite as
pronounced.  Ethan stayed by his side, ready to grab him should he start to
fall.  They made it into the bathroom, without incident, and Ethan helped
Aiden get his shirt off and wrap his cast in another garbage bag.  Once he
was naked, Aiden suggested that maybe he should take a bath rather than a
shower, his leg felt a lot better but he didn't want to risk pulling down
the shower curtain again.  Ethan got Aiden all set up and turned to leave
but took his seat on the counter again when Aiden asked him to stay.

Aiden scrubbed his skin raw; he looked like he'd been sunburned by the time
he got out of the water.  He was glad he had Ethan wait for him, getting
out of the tub would have been close to impossible with that stupid cast.
It was also tough to get dressed, he was able to get his shirt on ok now,
but he had trouble pulling on his underwear and pants, and the button and
zipper would have been a real pain in the butt.  Once he was dressed, Ethan
helped him up on the counter and had him wait there while he took his own
shower.

Aiden couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as he looked at Ethan's
naked body without a single blemish.  No matter how hard he scrubbed, he
still felt his own body was dirty.  Ethan dressed quickly and then came
down the stairs slowly, with Aiden following behind, we were all pleasantly
surprised to see them.

"Look it's the twins," said Nicky, "good morning guys."

"Twins?" said Aiden, giving Ethan a questioning look.

"They think we look alike," Ethan explained.

"Cause you do," yawned Jack.

"How are you feeling this morning Aiden?" I asked, changing the subject.

"A little better, my leg doesn't hurt as much," he said.

"Great," said Cam, "You should try and walk around the house some this
morning, exercising it should clear up the rest of that limp for you."

"We're just about to make breakfast, are you hungry?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm starved," Aiden admitted.

A few minutes later, I put a plate of pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon in
front of him and once everyone was served, I put the left over pancakes on
the table for anyone who wanted seconds.  Aiden cleaned his plate and was
soon grabbing for more pancakes.  It was good to see his appetite returning
to him, he hadn't eaten much in the couple of days he'd been with us; I
knew he had to be starving.  I think that Nicky, however, has been spending
too much time with Debbie, because when he and Aiden each stuck their fork
in the last pancake, I could have sworn I heard Nicky growl.

"It's ok," sighed Nicky, "you can have it."

"No pouting Nicky, I'll make more," I said as I rose from the table and
headed back to the stove.

"Thanks daddy," Nicky smiled.

I'd make a million pancakes for that smile.

After breakfast the boys took Aiden into the living room so they could get
to know him.  Over the course of the mini interrogation we learned that
Aiden was an avid swimmer, he'd never been on a team but thought that it
might be fun to try.  He was also rather artistic, he enjoyed drawing and
he loved to read.  I think Ethan took particular note of Aiden's interests.
Nicky is our little jock where as Ethan is our bookworm.  Now that Jack is
with us, Nicky has him to toss the ball around with and it will be nice for
Ethan to have someone around who shares his love of books.  When the boy's
asked Aiden if he had any questions, the first thing he wanted to know
about were all the boxes around the house.

"We're getting ready to move," Ethan explained.

"Move, what happens to me when you move?" Aiden asked, with a touch of
panic in his voice.

Fortunately, I was close enough to have overheard his question and had an
answer for him.

"You'll move with us," I stated, "we're just moving out to Wallingford
which is still in New Haven County; we settled that with Mrs. Nichols at
social services before we brought you home."

"Oh, ok, I was worried for a second," said Aiden, breathing a sigh of
relief.

I gave him a pat on the shoulder; at least he liked us enough so far that
he was relieved he wouldn't have to leave when we moved.  After that the
boys explained about Bartlett Academy and how we'd be moving into the
headmaster's house.  They filled Aiden in on their favorite parts of the
tour we'd given them and he seemed to like the idea, all though he'd never
heard of a situation like ours before.  He'd heard of boarding schools but
didn't know the teachers and administrators lived on the campus as well.

The boys gave Aiden a tour of the house and soon made their way into our
family/music room.  This is where I kept my piano and Ethan stored his
cello.  It was in the closet at the moment.

"Wow, that's a nice piano," Aiden remarked.

"Do you play?" Ethan asked.

"No, but I always wanted to learn, I like classical music," Aiden admitted.

"You should have daddy teach you," offered Nicky, "His mom played with a
symphony and he's really good too."

"That's cool, do you think he would?," asked Aiden.

"Sure," chirped Nicky, "he tried to teach me but I wasn't that interested."

"Dumb jock," Ethan teased.

"I'm not dumb," Nicky huffed.

As if to prove his point, he sat down at the piano and played the first few
lines of Beethoven's Fur Elise that I'd taught him.  He played just enough
of the song to prove his point and then gave Ethan a smug, take that, look.

"Ok, ok, I admit it, you might not be dumb after all," Ethan smiled.

Nicky kicked his older brother, playfully in the shin, than sat back down.
I know they tease each other a lot but Ethan and Nicky have always been
pretty good buddies.  I think their banter is more for fun than anything
else and at this point, I suspect, they were trying hard to entertain
Aiden.

"So you really like classical music?" Ethan asked.

"Sure. I don't listen to it all the time but I used to like it when I was
little and my mom and dad would play it in the car, I guess I just learned
to appreciate it," said Aiden.

"Cool, let me show you something," said Ethan as he headed for the closet.

"Oh, here we go," moaned Nicky, as Ethan pulled his cello out of the
closet.

"What's that?" Aiden asked curiously.

"It's the beast," whispered Nicky.

Jack and Nicky giggled as Ethan got ready to play for them, Aiden watched
him set up with interest.

"That thing is huge," remarked Aiden, once Ethan was hidden behind the
large instrument.

"Can you really play it?" Aiden asked incredulously.

Ethan didn't answer; he simply brought up his bow and began to play Bach's
Prelude, as if he was Yo-Yo Ma himself.  Ethan is a gifted musician and I
love listening to him play.  He filled the house with beautiful music and I
think his new friend was impressed.

After Ethan's impromptu concert, Nicky went to play with Josh and Ethan and
Aiden tried to teach Jack how to play chess, yet another thing the "twins"
had in common.  Jack was a quick learner but both of the younger boys
seemed to take joy in letting him get close to a victory, only to pull the
rug out from under him at the last minute.

Later in the afternoon we were hit with another of our late spring
thunderstorms, and as it got close to dinner time, Nicky showed up, least
he miss a meal.  The rain spoiled our BBQ plans so we ordered a few pizzas
and ate in the living room while we watched a DVD.  Aiden ate well but this
time there was no fight over the last piece, we actually had leftovers for
once, a rare thing with Nicky in the house.  Before long it was time for
bed again and the boys settled in quickly.

Unlike Nicky, Aiden loved our thunderstorms and the sounds of rain and
thunderclaps soon carried him off to sleep.  In Ethan's room, Jack was
sound asleep but Ethan was waiting for a visitor.  True to form, Nicky came
in shortly after lights out.  Jack asked what was the matter, the sound of
the door had woken him when Nicky stepped in.  Ethan quickly explained that
Nicky didn't like the thunder so Jack should just scoot over and make room
for him.  Jack thought that three would make the bed uncomfortable so he
grabbed his pillow and lie on the floor.  Both Nicky and Ethan tried to
convince him that there would be plenty of room but he told them it was no
big deal and he was gently snoring in no time.

When he was sure that Jack was sound asleep, Nicky reached over and put his
hand on Ethan's thigh and began to rub it gently.

"I thought the thunder scared you?" said Ethan.

"It does, you know it does," said Nicky, "but we haven't gotten to do much
since we got caught and then with Jack and Aiden moving in.  I missed you."

"Awww, I missed you to squirt," said Ethan as he rolled over to face Nicky
and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

Nicky responded by moving his hand up from Ethan's thigh and rubbing his
package.  Ethan started to harden up almost immediately and was soon
tenting his underwear.  He couldn't resist the urge and he was soon feeling
up Nicky's bulge as well.  The boys started to kiss heavily, their tongues
fighting to dominate each other's mouths, when Nicky let out a soft moan.

"Careful, we don't want to wake Jack," whispered Ethan.

Nicky nodded his head in the dark but Ethan was able to see it from the
street light reflecting off Nicky's blond hair.  Ethan rolled Nicky on his
back and slipped under the covers and then began to nibble the younger
boy's sensitive nipples.  It felt so good it was hard for Nicky to contain
his pleasure so he pulled his pillow over his face and moaned into it.
Ethan grinned at the effect he was having on his little brother and began
to move lower, kissing down his taut body.

Ethan soon found himself between Nicky's legs and he began to kiss the soft
skin between his belly button and the waistband of his underwear.  Ethan's
lips played there briefly then he slipped lower kissing and licking at
Nicky's boyhood through his tight fitting briefs.  Nicky was moaning
heavily into his pillow, the feelings Ethan was sending through his body
made him shiver with delight.  Ethan carefully pulled down the front of
Nicky's briefs to free his dick, then he took it in his mouth and sucked up
and down on the hard piece of flesh.

It only took a moment and Ethan was rewarded for his efforts with a few
droplets of Nicky's watery release.  Ethan licked him clean and when Nicky
began to go soft, he pulled up the younger boys underwear and made his way
back up to the pillows.

"So, how was that?" Ethan smiled.

"Wow," Nicky said dreamily.

"Good," Ethan beamed, than kissed Nicky on the cheek, "now get some sleep."

With all the excitement of the last couple of weeks, Ethan had almost
forgotten how much he enjoyed Nicky.  He liked sucking the younger boy's
dick, almost as much as Nicky liked having it done.  Nicky had rolled over
onto his tummy and was sleeping soundly as Ethan reached into his underwear
and began to jerk off thinking about the cute boy next to him.  Ethan used
his free hand to grope Nicky's firm little butt and was soon cumming.  The
effort tired Ethan out and moments later, he was spooned behind Nicky,
there would be no bad dreams tonight.

In the morning, Ethan was overcome by this warm wet sensation emanating
from his cock.  When he opened his eyes and looked down, he discovered his
erection fully engulfed in Nicky's mouth.  Nicky applied everything Ethan
had shown him about blow jobs and was sucking like a champ.

Ethan's first instinct was to frantically look around the room for Jack but
when he didn't see him he settled back down and enjoyed the exquisite
sensation coming from between his legs.  He didn't know how long Nicky had
been sucking on him but it didn't take long before he was bucking his hips
and spraying his load down Nicky's eager throat.

"What made you do that?" Ethan panted.

"I heard Jack get up and head downstairs and I thought it might be a while
before we got to do this again so I started rubbing you and it got hard,"
Nicky explained casually.

"But what made you suck me, I thought you weren't up for that?" Ethan
questioned.

"Well you've done it enough to me now and it felt so good, I wanted to
return the favor," said Nicky, "how did you like it?"

"It was good," Ethan admitted, "really good, I don't think I've ever felt
anything that good."

"Yeah, that's how I felt so I wanted to pay you back," Nicky smiled.

"How did you like it?" Ethan asked.

"It wasn't bad; it tasted like sucking your thumb or something," said
Nicky, "than it was really salty, when you squirted your stuff."

"So you think you'd do it again?" Ethan asked hopefully.

"Sure, if you keep doing it to me," Nicky agreed, "it wasn't bad at all."

Ethan grabbed Nicky and pulled him down on top of himself then kissed his
pouty lips.  They made out for a while and Ethan grabbed and kneaded
Nicky's cute little butt.  He was in love with Nicky's butt and knew he'd
have to figure out a way to get Nicky to let him fuck him.  But that
wouldn't be today.

"We better get up," Nicky said, "everyone's probably downstairs already."

Ethan reluctantly agreed, gave Nicky a playful slap on the rear, then made
his way into the bathroom to shower.  When he came downstairs for
breakfast, Aiden was already there so Ethan took a seat next to him and
reached for his favorite cereal.  He caught Nicky's eye a couple of times
and they shared an insider's smile.

I suspected I knew what they'd been up to when Nicky wasn't the first one
at the breakfast table.  I don't know where he hides it but that boy can
pack away the food.  If they're more comfortable thinking we're not aware
of their sexual experimentation, I don't mind, as long as they stick to the
rules Cam and I set for them.