The Society Boys

The Society Boys By Connor Matthews

Chapter 109

I woke up in the morning, like I always do, with a raging boner and the thoughts of the day ahead, but first things first. I snuggled up to Colin and wiggled and kissed and poked him until he woke up. "Oh good, you're awake! Morning Babe!" I smiled as I reached for his morning wood.

"Hi sweetie. You know, you can always take care of your erection on your own, right? He smiled.

"What fun would that be? Plus you're awake."

"I am now, anyway," He said as he rolled on top of me and gave me my morning kisses. Normally, I lie on him and shove my dick into his warm crevice until I empty myself, but this morning, I think he was trying to prove something as he kicked my legs apart and put his dick down toward my ass. I pulled my legs up and he inserted himself without even going for the lube. I guess my ass was sweaty enough from sleeping. Either that or I was becoming a big open holed bottom. Not a pleasant thought at all. He pushed inside and then put my legs right back and fucked the hell out of me as we kissed. He dumped his load as I stroked my dick happily. He kept fucking slowly and I didn't take long to blast all over myself.

"Now can I go back to sleep?" He grinned. He's such a romantic.

"Okay, but only if you cuddle me," I smiled. We lay face to face and wrapped around each other, chest to chest dick to dick with our legs scissored together. I knew that I would last about 15 minutes in this position before my dick got hard again, but I was so comfortable that I certainly wasn't complaining. We kissed gently and without much energy, basically moving only our lips. We fell asleep for another half hour or so, before my dick woke me up again. I debated rolling Colin over to fuck him, but instead, I just slowly and quietly jerked myself off until I came all over him and then rubbed it into his skin.

"You know I'm awake right?" He smiled as he opened his eyes.

"Your loss. You coulda gone down and sucked it right out of me, but now you'll just have to be satisfied with my new morning protein rub. It's rejuvenates old skin like yours and keeps you looking young and vibrant. People in Ethiopia pay a thousand bucks a millilitre for this stuff. You get it for free."

"I have no idea how to respond to that," he laughed. "My old skin is a lot less used than yours," he said slapping me on the ass. We rolled around in bed for a bit before heading to the shower. By the time we got downstairs, everyone was up and having breakfast including Blake who had brought his polar bear and a couple toy cars to the table. At least I think it was him. It was a hairball the size and shape of Blake.

"I think today is haircut day, buddy. I thought a monster had joined us at the table," I smiled as I brushed the hair out of his eyes. He smiled back and blinked with those adorable green eyes. I'll just bet I was that cute when I was his age. Jason, not so much. I was the adorable one in the family. "You okay getting a haircut? Nothing serious. Maybe just a couple inches and a bit off the front so we can see your face?"

He gave me a look that said he was thinking about it and eventually shrugged as if to say it was okay if he really had to. I thought it was about time, but I also didn't want to lose the cute factor that made Blake, Blake. I had also decided it was time to get him into a bit more normal routine. If he couldn't go to school, maybe school could come to him. It seemed ridiculous to me that he could lose an entire year of school and not be with kids his own age when he went back. We could have him home schooled and tested and then put into his own grade when he went back. After breakfast, I contacted Chad, Tory's old tutor and asked if he might be interested in another job, with a 12 year old. After explaining the situation we arranged to meet tomorrow to see if the two of them were compatible. I was being responsible and the more time I spent with Blake, the more I realized that Children's services hadn't really done much to help him. They simply shipped him off somewhere and then forgot him until a problem arose, but I was out to earn the good parenting merit badge. The government just had their rule book and followed it regardless of the individual needs of the kid. Once the kid turned 18, they cut them free and didn't worry about how their actions affected who they became. If the kid turned out to be a serial killer, they simply shrugged and said they had been a trouble child that had to have several foster homes. If they turned out well, they used that to justify how well their system worked, but gave no credit to the individual.

I took Blake down to our hairstylist. No way I was going to let some Chuckles the Clown $6 Supercuts nimrod touch my boys hair. He was going to get gay perfection, no matter what the cost. The place was busy, but as soon as the owner saw me he ran up to say hello.

"Looks like things have picked up a bit," I smiled.

"Thanks partly to you," he grinned.

"Me? What did I do?"

"Remember when you said I should offer body shaving to get additional revenue? Well, we tried it and it took off. We had to hire a couple more guys to keep up with demand. I honestly thought you were kidding, but it's been very popular. A lot of guys aren't up to the expense of the laser hair removal or perhaps don't like the idea of permanently losing the hair, so they come in here to be cleaned up. I keep the price to a minimum so they come back often. $5 for cock and balls. 5 for ass. 10 for chest and 10 for back. 30 for entire body neck to ankles. So if you want anything shaved, the first month is on me," he smiled. "What can I do for you today, and who is this adorable young man?"

"This is my foster son, Blake. We need to give him a bit of a trim. Nothing serious, just enough so we can see his face."

"Oh, he is so perfect. I could just eat him up," he smiled as he looked at Blake who moved behind me and peeked out.

"I don't think he'll actually eat you Blake, it's just a saying. Plus you're too hairy to eat," I grinned as I put my hand on his back in support. We sat down and waited our turn. As I watched the staff, I couldn't help but notice how cute the guys were that came out to get the next guy for shaving. I debated having something shaved, and I knew exactly what type of tip I could give him. Blake looked through a few books of men's hairstyles and picked out a few that he liked. I didn't want him to change shaggy curly mop style as it was so adorable. I panicked a bit when he showed me a picture of a Justin Timberlake style. "Babe, I think that might look good on you when you're older, but right now, this long hair is so adorable that you should keep it as long as you can. You could be a movie star."

He smiled and kept looking eventually finding one that looked just like him with the same blonde hair.

"See," I said. "That guy has hair like you and is a model. Told you you were cute."

Finally it was Blake's turn and he hopped into the chair as I explained it was basically just a two inch trim, which Blake nodded to in agreement. The stylist looked at me curiously.

"He's the strong silent type. Blake doesn't believe in using words when a nod or smile will suffice," I said winking. The guy smiled and agreed that it made Blake much more adorable and mysterious. He went to work trimming and thinning Blake's mop. I didn't think he could get more adorable but I was wrong. He was so cute once he was done that I wanted to parade him around to show him off. I mean every parent says their kid is the cutest, but Blake had them all beat by a mile, or perhaps by a light year...in my unbiased opinion. At least I could see his face now and he didn't have such an effort keeping the hair back, although it was still long. Once the guys at home saw Blake's new do, they backed me up on the cute factor. I almost hated to let him go swimming as it would mess up perfection, but by morning we would be back to the wild look again.

Chad arrived in the morning to meet Blake and the two go along really well. At first Blake was suspicious, but when I told him that Chad had tutored Troy, he seemed to relax and listen. Chad went over all the subjects that are taken in grade 5 and Blake responded well to the idea of being home schooled. Once they were done interacting, I sent Blake to the media room to play video games for a bit.

"So do you think you can work with him despite him not talking?" I asked.

"Sure. He doesn't need to talk to learn. I can work around it if you want to proceed. We'll start by finding out what he knows and go from there. I figure he could start four days a week just for three hours at a time. Which would you prefer, morning or afternoon?"

"That's up to your schedule, but we're up in the morning anyway." We agreed on 9 to noon each day except for Monday. Chad went to say goodbye to Blake and we let him know what we had planned. Like every kid, he was less than enthusiastic about doing school, but didn't storm off in an `occupy the media room' type protest. School would start next Wednesday after his diving lesson and birthday.

Over the weekend, we arranged a Saturday morning play date with a couple of his other old friends. I met Quinn and Hunter who seemed like decent kids. Aiden showed up again and it was great to watch the boys interacting with each other. I gave the boys their space as I entertained the parents. I was having a fucking tea party while the kids played. Yay! I've turned into my Mom. I'm such a dumb ass. I wanted a kid and now that I had a rental one, I wondered if I was too young to be tied down with a 12 year old. Well, almost 12. Jason had gone to the club, but Alex hung out and helped me entertain. The fathers were happy playing pool and checking out the cars, not to mention being impressed with our BBQ area. The women liked the kitchen and the view off the deck into the back yard. It was weird seeing how straight people saw the world. The kids went swimming, played basketball, tried out the trampoline and challenged each other on video games, and not once had sex or nudity come up. So I found the trick. Hook Blake up with straight kids and their parents and keep horny Cory out of the way. Although Cory made me smile a lot more than most. By the time they were ready to go, the boys looked like they had never been apart and the parents thanked me for arranging it. The mother's made such a fuss over Blake and invited him over to their houses whenever he wanted. I invited all of them to Blake and Cory's birthday party in two weeks and got their email addresses to send them the details. I made them promise not to bring gifts as it wasn't necessary. I asked Blake if we should also invite others from his school and he nodded that it would be okay. I made a note to call his principal to arrange it.

Once the parents left, Alex and I flopped down in the media room exhausted at having to be straight for almost four hours. That's not as easy as it looks. I almost felt like I should spit and fart to finish the afternoon off. I curled up with Alex and it was nice to spend time with him again. We had both been so busy that we had just got used to each other being around and not taken time to hang out.

"You remember when we went camping up at the lake?" I asked as we lay there as Blake played his video game, totally oblivious to us.

"Which time? We always had good adventures together, we should make plans to go do that again," he smiled.

"I guess we are growing up huh? Now we make plans to do stuff. Whatever happened to the days where we just grabbed our stuff and headed out to do shit?"

"So, let's do it. Let's go away for the night and come back tomorrow."

"Where should we go?" I asked.

"Back up to the caves. That was fun last time. That's where we found Forrest if you remember."

"I remember. We created a monster. A fabulous sparkly monster. Let's get our stuff and don't forget the DTS trackers in case we get lost in the cave." We raced out to the garage and started sorting out the equipment and stuffed it into our backpacks. Next we grabbed food for the next 24 hours. It was like old times, we were such pros at packing that it took less than an hour. Then I stopped. "I think we forgot something."

"What?" he asked looking at our stuff.

"Blake," I grinned. "We didn't have one of him last time."

"Right. Do you think he can handle the caves or should we just leave him some food and water?" Alex chuckled.

"I'm not sure we can do that. He's not a puppy. If you're okay with it, let's take him along, but instead of hiking the 4 clicks to the camping area, we can rent a couple ATV's."

"Sounds like a plan. Will he be okay with the dark cave? I mean he still sleeps with a night light."

"Guess we'll find out," I smiled. "If he doesn't like it, there must be a place you can leave kids for the weekend. They have them for your pets and stuff, so we could look that up if he says no." We headed to the media room. "Blakie, dude! You wanna go camping with Alex and me? We're going to explore a huge cave?"

He turned and looked at us and nodded as he blinked and went back to his game.

"Umm, I kinda meant right now. We can grab some clothes and put them into your backpack and we've already got the tent and sleep bags and stuff. We're gonna rent a couple ATV's to get to the campsite. I'll let you drive part of the way." Bribery seemed a good all-round parenting tool for most situations.

He turned off his game and ran out and up to his room. Alex and I went with him to help pick out proper clothes for an overnighter. It didn't take long and he also packed his polar bear. Always good to take stuffed wildlife into the woods. You just had to watch out for stuffed hunters with stuffed rifles.

We loaded everything into the car and were just about to head out when Alex suggested we call Colin and Jason to let them know where we were going. "I'm telling you dude, this was so much easier when it was just you and me," I said to him as we called our other halves to let them know our plans. It was like we were asking for permission. Wow, I haven't asked for permission for stuff since I was like 14. How do you get those years back again...and still keep the hundreds of millions of dollars and pools and cars? Both guys told us to have a good time and we also texted Kyle and Troy to make sure they knew we wouldn't be home. A sure way to end up with a house party.

Blake was excited as he jumped into the back of my car and strapped himself in. We headed for the ATV rentals at the base of the mountain and I sat Blake in front of me after we strapped stuff onto the vehicle. He was a daredevil on the ATV and on more than one occasion, I had to slow him down, and then realized that I was being an overprotective Mom and not a Dad, so I let him speed it up and we bounced our way along the trail and up to the camping area. It was the same place we had originally met Forrest and it brought smiles to my face at how innocent he seemed back then compared to the guy we knew now. I think Blake was disappointed when we told him we were at the campsite as he was having so much fun driving. I promised him we would go exploring later but that we had to set up camp first. We pitched the tent and loaded the sleeping bags and pads in. Then we set up the stove and lanterns to be ready for nightfall. We had a couple hours until dark, so we took the opportunity to let Blake drive the ATV around camp for a bit as long as he promised to stay in sight. He looked beyond thrilled that we were letting him go it alone. I put a tracker in his pocket, just in case. I figure if I err on the side of paranoia, I'd be getting my practice in for being a real parent someday. We watched as he drove around and found as many hills and valleys and bumps to go over as he could. He was pretty responsible considering, and there were only a couple moments that he disappeared from sight for a second or two. Alex and I sat on a log side by side as we boiled some water for hot chocolate and to prepare dinner.

"I miss doing this buddy. We gotta get those city boys out here more often. We could have a fags weekend out," I smiled.

"Sure, get your billionaire husband to roll around in the dirt in a tent. Dude, he has a private island and knocked down a cabin to put up a house bigger than my parents place and considers that roughing it."

"Obviously you didn't pay attention to the cabin. It only has ONE bathroom and there's no bidet at all. That is roughing it."

"Oh, you poor things, what will you do?" Alex laughed as he put his arm around my shoulder and we sat side by side watching Blake tearing up the wilderness. "What do you think our lives would have been like if we had never broken up?"

"I dunno. I've thought about that a few times. We'd probably be living at home, going to University with minimum wage jobs and doing more weekends and activities like this, just on a budget."

"Do you think we would have been happy?"

"Definitely. Are you happy now?"

"Sure. I love Jason and you and the other guys. I have to admit that sometimes, I just like it when we have some alone time, like this, or when Jay and I hang out, but I also love all the guys being around and interacting together. I can't wait to be a paramedic. Have you decided what you want to be eventually?"

"No," I said feeling a little inadequate again. "I sometimes feel like I have no skills or talents, except being gay. Now I'm kinda tied to the role of housewife. I loved being the C.O.O. of the Q at first, but I'm not needed there. I think Colin just gave me the job as a tax write off and business expense so he could pay me a big salary. There's such a large staff working on things and all I ever do is look at suggestions and stamp my approval on shit. Most of the time it's just by emails. I'm just a figured head, like the fucking Queen or something."

"I can see that. You're the biggest Queen I know," he laughed.

"That's not true. Forrest gets that title," I laughed.

"Dude, you know what you should go study?"

"No idea," I said honestly without a single clue.

"Why not do something like helping people or being a social worker or something to help kids. You're so good at it. Look at everyone you've helped in such a short time. Kyle, Troy, Jordan, and now Blake. Even Cory loves you, even though Jason is technically his big brother. Why not do something like that?"

"I'd hate dealing with government red tape as a social worker. Those people only follow the rules and aren't interested in helping kids, just about their budgets and processing numbers by the books."

"So why not use your Executive power and take over the Vancouver Q. Ever since Kelly took over there haven't been a lot of activities or things from the organization. We could do so much more with the Q to help tons of people. Look at what they're doing for the Academy. If the guys had activities to do more things, we could help so many others, not necessarily gay kids either. Maybe bullied kids or homeless people. I heard the American Chapters are forming a task force to work on the issue of violence as they don't believe their politicians or gun advocates will do anything except create more violence by introducing guns into schools. They want to come up with a program that targets tolerance and helps kids understand how bad bullying is, thereby reducing the incidents of kids that snap and go psycho, or commit suicide. Maybe that could be a project here too. Find the reason, reduce the problem."

"And you think that I can do that? Me? With no experience at anything? Between Canada and America there are like what, 350 million people. If they can't figure shit out, what makes you think I can? Seems like you should lead by example if you want to be taken seriously. Who wants to listen to a country that can't even work its own problems out? What's the opposite of Con? Pro, right? A con is a bad thing...CONgress and in this country, CONservatives. We should have PROgress and PROservatives. It's pretty much the end of America anyway. History proves that superpowers always tear themselves apart from infighting as people strive to best each other for power. Sound familiar? Ming Dynasty, Roman Empire, British Empire, Soviet Union. The UNITED States is anything but united. Once they go, another power will rise up and claim victory. China will call their debt in and bing bang boom, we'll all be flying the red flag, until the next revolt or until the planet actually goes screw you guys, I quit and kills us all. Meanwhile I'm ordering a Rosetta Stone language lesson in Mandarin or Cantelopian."

"Cantonese. And you say you have no skills. You should go run the U.N. or take over the intergalactic invasion force that's hiding behind Nibiru," Alex laughed. "But seriously, go help people. You have such a big heart, Justin. It just needs to be focused on a task. Look at Blake, you talk about being tied down with him, but you're not fooling anyone. You'd jump in front of a speeding train to protect him. We can all see how much you love him already. I can see you having a dozen Blakes around the house before you're done."

"God, could you imagine? A dozen Blakes or Corys running around. I'd have grey hair by the time I was 30," I laughed.

"What do you mean 30?" He said looking at the top of my head and plucking out a hair.

"Asshole," I said as I pushed him back off the log and he pulled me on top of him. We laughed and struggled back onto the log. We waved Blake over as dusk was starting. He came over and jumped off the ATV and gave both of us a huge hug. "I guess we should maybe let you drive back by yourself tomorrow if I'm getting hugs out of it. Alex and I will have to share." He grinned as big as I've ever seen.

"So have you ever been spelunking before?" Alex asked. Blake frowned. "Spelunking is what they call it when you explore inside caves. The last time Justin and I came up here about a year and a half ago, we went deep deep into the cave. It's super dark, but amazing. The first time we came here we were 14, and it was so much fun that we've been up here a few times since. Are you scared of the dark or small spaces?"

He shook his head no.

"Cool, but just so you know, it's really super dark in there. We're gonna attach ropes to each of us so that we won't get separated. You'll be in the middle, so if you get scared all you have to do is feel along the rope in either direction and we'll be right there okay? Plus we have several flashlights with us all the time and spare batteries. You sure you're okay with it?" I asked as I made sure he had the details in advance.

He nodded again and rolled his eyes. I laughed and rubbed his head as I hugged him against me. Alex made us hot chocolate and we all had a cup before we got out the canned stew. Normally we couldn't have taken cans, but we packed in a hurry. Personally, I think we should hunt and fish when we're camping. Kill only what we need to survive. Live off the land. As long as we can do it inside a Safeway or something. Could you imagine me killing and cooking something? Gross. I don't even like raw chicken prepared in a marinade. Alex and Blake cooked, while I supervised and gave advice on how to do it, which wasn't as well received as I had expected. I was sent off to set the table which may just have been to get rid of me, since we didn't have a table. I took credit for picking out the stew, and for my insight I was delegated to dish detail. Once we, or rather I, cleaned up from the meal we started a campfire and went exploring in the dark with our flashlights. Blake stuck close, but handled the darkness really well. If this had been Cory, I might have thrown rocks or sticks into the bushes to try to scare him, but I still thought of Blake as a little fragile and treaded carefully when I could, or when I thought it through properly. The sky was clear so we lay on the ground after turning out the lights and stared at the stars. Alex pointed out a few constellations and tried to show Blake where they were. He kept mentioning the big dipper and little dipper. I pointed them out. "Alex, big dipper, Blake, little dipper." I got bounced on from both of them for that. We had fun and eventually decided to go to bed. Alex and I were so used to zipping our sleeping bags together that we hadn't even thought about doing anything differently. We had the LED lantern in the tent and changed into sweatpants. Normally we'd sleep naked, but it was a little cool outside for that. We recommended to Blake that he wear his as well to help keep him warm. He frowned at us.

"Are you okay, buddy?" I asked. He shook his head and pouted a little. "I'm guessing that you would prefer to sleep with us huh?" He nodded. So we unzipped one side of the sleeping bag and did our best to attach all three together. It took a while, but we got them good enough to allow all of us to be together. Somehow I ended up in the middle, which was fine. I had Blake on one side and Alex on the other. It was like old times with an extra half body beside us. Alex and I played footsie a bit and ended up spooning together with Blake face to face with me. I could feel Alex playing with my ass and blowing on my neck to get me worked up. I turned over so that I was facing him. "You know you're gonna give me a boner doing that, and I've got a 12 year old in front of me asshole," I whispered as quietly as I could into his ear. He reached down and slid his hand in to my pants to stroke me. "You're such a bitch," I whispered. He leaned in and kissed me. I gave in and kissed him back like we used to do. We pressed our bodies together and tried to be as quiet as we could. I froze when Blake cuddled up against me. "Let's wait until he's asleep," I whispered into his ear again. He let go which was disappointing but necessary. I can't be humping him or blowing my load with a kid right against my back. I'm good at covert sex, but not that good. Once we were sure Blake was asleep, I crawled on top of Alex and we made out as quietly as possible. We stopped short of dumping our loads in each other as it would be a real hassle to clean up afterwards, so we settled on 69ing and finishing ourselves that way. After I pulled my sweat pants back up, I spooned up against Alex and pulled Blake against me to keep him warm. We slept soundly until morning and I made sure to keep Blake tucked in so he wouldn't freeze. It was fun with all of us dressed alike in just our sweats. Blake woke up first and scrambled quickly to get out of the tent. I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go. He wasn't gone long and jumped back into the sleeping bag with us having chilled down to the temperature of a fridge.

He squirmed up against me and his cold skin was a shock to my nice warm chest. He put his hand on Alex's back causing him to shout out a complaint. Blake giggled and we pulled him into the middle between us to tickle him, which caused excessive screaming and kicking. Once we'd had enough, we crawled out of the tent and prepared breakfast. Blake helped cook and was incredibly useful. We'd have to bring him along on more of these adventures. He could be our Sherpa. We had fun as we loaded him up with the ropes, lights, batteries, food, water and warm clothes. He was being buried until he finally dropped everything and stuck his tongue out at us, grinning. We shared the load after that and made our way slowly up the cliff to the entrance to the caves. Once there, we paused to attach the ropes and carabineers to belt loops. Blake was positioned in the middle between us and we attached him securely using a couple carabineers. We gave him his headlamp and showed him how to work it after we fastened it to his head. The other flashlight was attached to his wrist by Velcro and we put a set of batteries into his jacket pocket.

"It's going to be super dark in there. There will be no light at all if your flashlight goes out, but we have nothing to worry about as we have lots of lights and plenty of spare batteries. If you get scared or find yourself in trouble, just yank on the rope which will alert us to stop," Alex explained. "Justin and I have done this lots of times so no worries."

"You okay buddy?" I asked crouching down in front of him to look him in the eyes. There was no fear but I could see the intensity in his face as he listened. He nodded and we headed into the cave. Once it got darker, we turned on our headlamps. Blake kept looking up at me. "Buddy, keep looking forward so you can see where you're going. If you shine your light at me, I'll be blinded." He smiled and looked at me again as he listened. So much for that point. We got to the first narrow part and I crawled through first, after turning on our wrist lights. Blake followed along and did a great job getting to the second cave easily. We took a look around with all our lights.

"So do you want to see how dark it really is? This is the coolest thing ever. This is the absolute absence of all light," I said as I turned off my lights. Alex turned off his and Blake stood there looking at us. "We're right here and if it's too scary, just turn it back on." He snapped off his headlamp and then turned off the wrist light. Almost immediately I felt his hand reach out and wrap around my leg.

"See how black it is buddy. You can't see anything at all. I mean even at home, you have stars or a street lamp or something, but this is probably what it would be like being in a black hole."

"I know another black hole," laughed Alex.

"Shhh, we have a 12 year old present," I warned him jokingly before he said what he was probably thinking. Blake turned his headlamp back on and we continued. He did really well as we went from cave to cave and there were only a few times he tugged on the rope to make sure we were still there. Once we got back out, we sat on the edge of the cliff looking across at the valley and had some snacks. I hugged Blake and told him how proud I was of him for handling it so well. Alex leaned across me and pressed his hand on my crotch as he hugged Blake as well. He deliberately squeezed my dick while pretending nothing was happening. I'd get even. He smiled and leaned against my leg as we rested and enjoyed the view. Blake was our second generation family spelunker. That's not actually as dirty as it sounds. Once back at the campsite, we had lunch, then Alex and I packed up while we let Blake ride around on the ATV again. It didn't take us long and we headed back home, keeping our promise to let Blake ride back himself while Alex and shared the other one, keeping close to him. He did really well and had a big smile on his face. I suppose that doing something so adult make it feel like a real accomplishment. I remember when my Dad let Jason and I drive the car when we were camping once. We were both 12 and he let us drive the forestry roads as long as we kept it a secret between us boys. It felt like the most adult thing we had ever done. We got back to the house and told the guys of our overnight adventure. Blake ran upstairs still pretending to be riding his ATV, which was fun to watch. Obviously that had been the highlight of his quick trip.

Monday we spent the day chillin until it was time for his diving lessons. He stuffed his speedo into his backpack along with a towel and we headed to the pool. The lessons were set for right after school as most kids would be unavailable in the afternoons. I went with Blake to meet the coach and explained the lack of talking at the moment. He remembered him from the last session he was in and welcomed him back. I was happy that it was a familiar face for him to deal with.

"Okay Blake go get changed and get your butt back here quickly," the coach told him. Blake scampered off and I filled the coach in quick on what had taken place.

"I heard something about that and wondered what had happened to him. Glad to see he's alright, although it's a shame about his family. Good people. Real supportive of him. Thanks for bringing him back to the pool. That boy has some real talent. Feel free to hang out down here if you want. Most parents go back to the bleachers, but you're welcome poolside if you want."

"I'll head to the bleachers. I'm trying to get him back to normal without special treatment if I can. Thanks coach. If you need something, I'll be close by though." I may have gone back to the bleachers, but I sat front row and had the big camera with the zoom lens at the ready. I had even brought a tripod for the video camera as well. I wanted to make sure the whole family got to see him. He looked so small as he came out of the change room in his tiny speedo carrying his towel. It's funny how he looked so much bigger at home. I think the speedo emphasized his small frame more than when he was nude. I pictured what Tom Daley must have looked like when he was 12 and could already see Blake at the Olympics with girls crawling all over him and gay boys drooling over getting with him. No, I'm not one of those parents who would push their kid to do something they didn't want to do, but I'd encourage him if I saw talent. Right now, he was still walking from the change room to the diving area. I hadn't even seen him make one dive yet. I laughed when he stood next to the other kids. He looked the youngest and certainly had the longest hair. I saw one of the guys hand him something and talk to him. Blake seemed to take his advice and wrapped his hair into a pony tail. I grinned at how much different he looked. A metrosexual 12 year old. All he needed now was a goatee. I was getting it all on the video as close up as the zoom would allow and was snapping pictures like the paparazzi. The coach had them all sit on a bench as he went over a few things. Then they headed one at a time to the springboard. I always thought they just took them to the 10 metre platform and made them jump. I'd be such a sadistic coach, but that gave me a great idea for one of the Q initiations. One at a time they dove off the low springboard and the coach made notes. There were about a dozen kids including girls and each one seemed pretty good to me, but none as good as Blake, obviously. I wasn't sure if I should cheer or not as he dove since none of the other parents had, but it was exciting nonetheless. I gave him three 10's and punched the Russian judge for only giving him a 9.5. He did a really good job and although I have no idea what the coach looks for, I was already seeing him in the 2016 games. We might have to put a diving platform in the house. Maybe he could leap off the deck into the pool, and the top of the house could be the 10 metre platform. The renovations were already under way in my head. The lessons were an hour and a half as they ran through a series of drills and practices, including diving off the side, sprinting across the pool and more springboard dives. Blake looked like he was having fun, which in my opinion was the only thing that counted. To me it didn't matter if he was good or not, as long as he enjoyed himself. Once it was over and the class was sent off, I packed up my stuff and went to wait for him. One by one the kids came out and met their parents, excitedly talking about their first lesson. I knew that Blake wouldn't be chattering, but his expressions would tell me all I needed to know. There was only one mother and I left as we waited.

"You know, I think my boy takes longer in the shower than he does in the actual pool. Do you have one in lessons as well?" She asked me making small talk.

"Yeah, my 12 year old Blake."

"Mine's 13 and I think he's part fish."

"Blake too. He's never out of the pools at home and now when he is, it looks like we're gonna be here. He's doing swim stroke classes next month, so that's another day out."

"Swim stroke? I thought that was for 14 and up," she said surprised.

"Yeah, but they allowed him in as he's slightly ahead of his age group when it comes to that. Like I said, he loves the water."

"Well if he's anything like my boy, the longest part of the lesson is the waiting for him to come out of the change room."

"I can take care of that. What's your son's name?"

"Warren."

"I'll see if I can speed them up," I said as I headed into the locker room. Sure enough both boys were standing naked in the shower, as still as mannequins while the water ran over them. I saw that they had at least gotten out the shampoo bottles to wash the chlorine out of their hair. Nothing worse than getting the blue/green chlorine hair if you don't wash properly. "You know they close in six hours right? You'll wrinkle up to the size of a raisin if you don't get out of that water soon," I grinned. Blake looked over and smiled. "You must be Warren. Your Mom is also waiting. If you stay in here much longer, I'm sure she'll come in looking for you. That might be embarrassing."

"Yeah, no shit, eh. One time she yelled in from the door. I just about crapped myself."

Blake giggled and turned off his shower and grabbed his towel as we headed for his locker. The older boy followed and was just a couple lockers down.

"So are you both in the same diving class?" I asked knowingly.

"Yeah," said Warren. "I was supposed to be in it last year, but I missed the cutoff. I'm 13, so I'm kinda late at getting started. How old are you Blake?"

"He's 12."

"How come he doesn't talk?"

"Probably nothing much to say right now. He's just quiet is all. I'm sure when something exciting happens, he'll talk." I looked at Warren and compared him to Blake. The difference between 12 and 13 seemed huge. Warren was easily 4 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier than Blake, and was as developed as any older teenager. I always thought boys that age were shy about their bodies but maybe swimmers were different. He'd fit in around our house no problem as he wasn't in a big hurry to get dressed. It would be nice to see Blake make a new friend with a common interest like diving and swimming. Blake dressed and dried his hair and was about to head out, but I suggested he go brush it first. He looked at me as if I were a parent embarrassing him or something in front of his buddy, but all I was doing was to make sure he looked as adorable as possible. We get a lot more attention that way. Warren was ready by the time Blake returned and we all headed out.

"Finally! What were you doing in there? A two minute shower and dressed. Or next time, you might find yourself walking home."

"Moms, sheesh!" Warren said as he rolled his eyes. "See you next week Blake," he waved. Blake waved back.

"Nice to see you've made a new friend," I said as I put my arm around his shoulder and we headed to the car. "I'll bet you're hungry aren't you?" He nodded. I texted the guys to ask if they'd like me to bring something home and suggested Micky D's. I got everyone's order and stopped to get it on the way home.

Tomorrow was Blake's birthday and none of us had mentioned it to him as we wanted him to have a surprise when he woke up. He went to bed early and I thought about giving him another bedtime story, but I hadn't brushed up on them yet. The only one that came to mind right away was Pinocchio, but in my version the boy next door came over, sat on Pinocchio's face and made him tell lies. Plus the kid was a manipulative little asshole as he kept pulling Pinocchio's strings until he did what he wanted. Probably not the correct version. I also wondered about The Cat in the Hat, but every time I thought about Thing 1 and Thing 2, I giggled. I might have to read him one of the Twilight novels. Those always put me to sleep, but the movies keep me awake with Taylor Lautner. How I'd like to be ravaged by that wolf! Where was I? Right, bedtime stories. There was also Hansel and Gretel, but something about luring kids into your candy house to put them in a stew seemed a little politically incorrect. Just a tad; which is little more than a smidgen. Or is it the other way around? Who knows. It's like feeding a cold and starving a fever, or feeding the fever and starving a cold. I gotta look this stuff up and know it if I'm looking after a kid. I can't be feeding him when I'm supposed to be starving him now can I?

After Blake headed for bed, and we were sure he was asleep, the rest of us sprang into action. We got everything ready so that he would have a great birthday from the moment he woke up. Originally we talked about making it a surprise and pretending that we had forgotten until dinner, but all greed that for a kid that was just cruel. Especially in Blake's case where this would be his first birthday without his family. We wanted it to be the most special day in his life. We didn't want to go so far over the top that it was ridiculous, but we wanted him to be the king of his day. It took us a few hours to get things ready and we were all exhausted. The first part of the day was almost automatic, but none of us wanted to miss it, so we were all waiting downstairs for his arrival. Almost like waiting for Santa Claus. We heard him at the top of the stairs and he slowly came down one at a time following the trail of loonies we had laid down for him. We had put a sign at his door that said pick up the coins and follow them. As he picked up each one, he put it in his pocket carefully and went to the next one. We had miscalculated how expensive this would be and ended up with almost 300 dollars in coins. We probably should have used nickels, or perhaps the now defunct penny. The first trail stopped in the kitchen at a red stop sign. He paused and looked at us from under his morning mop of hair. So much for the haircut. He brushed it out of his eyes and smiled as he stood in front of the stop sign, obeying it completely.

"Happy Birthday Blake!" We all yelled as Colin pulled out a bar stool for him to climb onto. He was clinking loudly from all the coins in his pocket. He must have weighed another 10 pounds and he wasn't done yet. "Today is your special day and it's all about you, so for breakfast Troy made you his famous pancakes," I grinned. Blake's head snapped around to look at me in horror and he giggled.

"Just kidding. We have French toast, waffles, bacon, eggs, and orange juice," I said as Alex and Jason pulled stuff out of the oven and laid platters of food out. He grinned and picked the French toast first and covered it with the powdered sugar and maple syrup. He was served orange juice in a champagne glass and gulped it down and looked for more. We all ate and talked about him being 12 and what it was like when we were 12, back in the olden days'. Yeesh! After breakfast, we were ready for round two and pointed him to the start of the next loonie trail. He followed it to the front door and out into the driveway. He got halfway to the garage when his pants fell down from all the weight. He chuckled and tried to pull them back up, but it was obvious they were too heavy. I offered to take some of the coins and hold onto them for him. He unloaded and both Colin and I followed as he picked up more and handed them to us. The trail led him to outside the first new garage. The note on the door said press your thumb against the wall pad'. It was a biometric scanner that had now been programmed to recognize him. We still didn't have his voice in the system, so this was the next best thing. As the door opened, he bent over to peek inside as we all watched. Once it was open all the way, hundreds of balloons floated out and he laughed and tried to catch them as they flew away. As he did it, we watched his face light up with excitement. In the middle of a garage was a brand new mountain bike and a dozen boxes all wrapped up with numbers on them. The whole garage looked like party central with streamers and shiny bits of things hanging everywhere. The four foot birthday card at the side of the bike was signed by all of us, Cory and his Mom, as well as J.P., and my Mom and Dad, who all promised to come over for dinner tonight. It also told him that he could open the presents in order, so he looked through them to find number 1. It started with new sneakers that he wanted, followed by some cool clothes for his mountain biking including a leather jacket and racing gloves. Another box had a new helmet which he immediately put on. That was followed by high tech elbow and knee pads. There was a pair of roller blades from Troy which he inspected closely and tried on as he sat on the floor. Then he opened a bunch of boxes with camping equipment from tent to sleeping bag, fishing pole and other assorted items. We had kept the presents to a minimum and one of the things he really liked was from Kyle who gave him nanodots. I'd never even heard of them, but he was almost as excited about those as the mountain bike. They were just a bunch of small magnetic balls that could be formed into shapes. Apparently they were the new fascination. Kyle had bought him ten tubes of the things which I found out later weren't cheap at all. He stood up on his rollerblades and skated over and gave each one of us a long hard hug. We watched him skate around the driveway for a bit before he came back to the garage. He was way better on the skates than me, so I figured this was probably something he could teach me.

"Okay Blake. If you go back in the house and put your hand on the wall monitor we have another surprise before we head out for the day. He skated into the house and while we'd have to give him rules about that later, today wasn't that day. He put his hand on the panel and the large blinds on the far windows started to come down, revealing a hug banner that said `HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY, Blake!' Then when it was almost to the bottom of the floor to ceiling window, several party poppers went off around the room spraying confetti and streamers everywhere. We had tied fishing line from the blinds to the pull tabs on the poppers which activated them. Blake jumped a mile as they exploded around him. The house was covered in confetti. We hadn't actually thought that one out really well, but the whole kitchen and dining area certainly looked festive. He went and scooped up some of the stuff and threw it at us, which caused a massive confetti fight, and with his long hair, he was soon covered. I had to admit, he sure knew how to rollerblade as he turned and twisted and used the wheels to stop himself. We were going to need to buff a hell of a lot of black marks out of the hardwood floor, but that was what housecleaners were for. Once the excitement died down, Jason and Alex said they would join us for dinner tonight but had to work right now.

"Okay Blake, go get cleaned up as we have lots more surprises." He took off the rollerblades, and like a typical kid, left them right there on the floor, and ran upstairs. I followed him to his room and dumped the pile of loonies on his bed. I was sure he'd want to count them later. When we got all the confetti out of his hair, he jumped in the shower and dressed to go out. He ran and got his new jacket and sneakers from the garage where all his gifts were. We were finally ready to go and the timing was perfect as the limo pulled up.

The driver got out and opened the door for him. "Good morning, Mr. Jones, happy birthday." Blake looked up and beamed at being acknowledged.

Kyle, Troy, Colin and myself piled in and we took off for the Helijet. It was a short trip but Blake sat watching everything to see if he could figure out where we were going. Once he saw the helicopter, he eyes went wide and looked at us.

"Yep, we're going up in the chopper to our next adventure," Colin grinned. We hadn't even told Kyle or Troy where we were going, as it was more fun that way. More excitement for everyone. The 20 minute ride to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island was phenomenal, and Blake looked so professional with the headset on. If he had been talking I was sure he wouldn't have shut up the whole way. Kyle had been smart enough to bring the cameras and Blake was using one to take hundreds of pictures of everything including us. We landed at the Heliport where another limousine met us and took us to the Wildplay Adventure Park. Blake still wasn't sure what we were doing and when we arrived at the Bungee zone, his eyes almost popped out of his head, especially when he looked over the side and saw the 200 foot drop.

"It was on your list, and now that you're 12, you can make the jump if you want to," I told him. "You can go by yourself or with one of us. That's up to you. Would you like to go by yourself?" He shook his head no, and I smiled. Who could blame him? I was almost terrified myself at the thought of watching my boy being thrown over a railing attached to a rubber band. "Okay, pick one of us that you'd like to go with. You get strapped together and jump at the same time."

He looked at us as if trying to make a major decision and being a bit of a smart ass, he walked up and down looking each of us up and down like a drill sergeant. Then he grinned and wrapped his arms around me. My bonding with him was working. The first jump for each person was a hundred bucks and if you wanted to go again, it was only 50, so we paid and told the operator that Blake and I would be jumping together. They strapped us into the harnesses and then attached us together face to face. Blake kept making faces at me as he pressed up tight and wrapped his arms around me. I hugged him back and could feel him shaking, but he was a real trooper as we stood on the platform ready to go. Once we were cleared, I asked him if he was ready and he nodded and closed his eyes. We jumped and he almost crushed me as he clamped on so tight. Once we reached the full drop he relaxed, only to clamp harder as we shot back up into the air. Once we stopped bouncing and hung upside down waiting to be lowered to the boat, he looked at me and smiled and then put his head against my chest as he relaxed. We were lowered onto the boat, unhooked and taken to shore. Blake gave me another hug and such a huge grin that I thought he might break his face.

"Wanna go again?" I asked. He nodded furiously so we ran back up. You had a choice in length of bungee. Some stopped short of the water, while others dunked you into the freezing river. Blake and I had opted for the drier approach. When we got back up Kyle was ready to go by himself, so we got out the camera, flipped it to video mode and taped his jump. He was shirtless and had chosen to go for the full adventure and hit the water. It looked wild as he splashed into the water and it sprayed everywhere. We filmed it until he was back on shore. I asked Blake if he wanted to go by himself this time but he shook his head no.

"Would you like to go with someone else?" I asked. He said no again and held my hand. After we watched Troy and Colin jump by themselves it was our turn again. This time he knew what to expect so he was a little less nervous and kept his eyes open. From the bungee, we went to the zipline where he was a little braver and did it by himself after watching Kyle and Troy go first. It was a great present for his birthday as you had to be 12 years of age to participate in all the adult things, so we couldn't have brought Cory if we wanted to. As it was we had to fudge Blake's weight a bit as he was 5 pounds too light for their minimum, but no one questioned it, especially since he was with us and looked his age. From the zipline we hit the primal swing which was a 140km an hour slingshot thing from the bridge. You sat on the edge and then were catapulted out and down like a pendulum. Blake chose Kyle for the first ride on that one and Colin for the second one. He was getting to do the most of all of us, which was encouraged since it was his day. From there we got something to eat and then did the Monkido which was an obstacle course suspended in the air through the trees. We offered to let Blake do the kids version, but he wanted to try the adult one and you could see he was really challenging himself to do the first level, but after what we'd just done, he wasn't scared on it at all, especially since he was fastened into a safety harness that wouldn't let him fall.

All in all he had an amazing day, as did the rest of us. It was outrageously expensive, but you only turn 12 once...unless you believe in reincarnation and then who knows how many times. I don't think I believe in reincarnation. I did when I was one of the Knights of the Round Table, but in today's world I think there are just too many people to bring them all back. We got home before dinner and while he ran to get cleaned up, I checked my shorts to make sure I hadn't scared anything out of myself. Our guests arrived and Cory bounced in the door like Tigger with his Mom, and announced his arrival. He rushed to Blake and gave him a present as he wished him a happy birthday. As he handed it to him, apparently surprises weren't in his dictionary.

"It's a video game that we can play together later," he announced as Blake began to open it. Why wrap it if you're just going to say what it is? But both boys seemed excited at the gift. Cory explained the game in great detail and insisted they play right after dinner. My Mom and Dad arrived and gave him a telescope which was pretty cool. Now I'd be able to watch for that invading planet Alex mentioned, Nimrod, Nibutoo, Nincompoop, whatever...J.P. showed up and gave Blake a couple magic tricks to add to his collection. We had one of the best dinners we could with all Blake's favorite foods as well as stuff for everyone else. Of course we had the cake with 12 candles that Cory assisted in blowing out. We sang happy birthday that had an additional ending from Cory. "...you look like a zombie and you smell like one too!" His Mom told him off for it, but Blake just giggled. Blake took everyone out to the garage to show them what he got, and after dinner we watched Cory and Blake play their video game, until it was time for Cory to go home.

"Aww Mom, it's a special occasion. I'm allowed to stay up until midnight on special occasions," he complained.

"Who made that rule up?" She asked looking at Jason.

"Me. Seems only fair. His birthday doesn't end until midnight, so we gotta party hard."

"Well, it's not your birthday, and you have school tomorrow. You can party hard on your own birthday," she said knowing his was on a Friday.

"Whatever. I can't wait until I'm a teenager so I can stay up all night," he complained. "I guess I gotta go, Blake. The warden is putting us in lockdown."

I couldn't help but laugh. He comes up with the strangest things sometimes. The boys gave each other fist bumps and blew it up as they ran to the door together. Blake waved and watched as they left. He turned and hugged all of us again and smiled. He managed to stay awake for another hour before falling asleep in front of the TV as we watched a movie. I carried him up to bed and tucked him in.

"He's a pretty amazing boy," my Mom said as I came back down. "I just hope that you're not spoiling him too much. What happens if he gets adopted?"

"I don't want to think about it Mom. I really don't. Never mind being a foster son. He's like the brother I never had." Jason punched me hard. "I do love the kid and even if he's adopted, at least he'll have had some fun while he was here and he'll have lots of things to take with him that are his."

"Just don't fall too hard for him, son. This could hurt you as much as him."

"I know, but maybe they'd let us visit him or something."

"Not to burst your bubble, but I know from some past experiences that once he's adopted, not only will they not let you visit, they probably won't even tell you where he's gone. I hope you're ready for that."

I wasn't and it was as if she had driven a giant sword through my heart and then twisted it while pulling out all my fingernails and pouring salt on me. Never being allowed to see him again? That would be the worst thing in the history of worst things. I choked back my feelings and changed the subject. They left shortly afterwards and the rest of us hung out and watched another movie. I had had the most amazing day, until my Mom shattered my happy bubble. We still had a big party to plan and that would keep me busy. I'm going to look into forming my own country and taking Blake with me. They'd have a hell of a fight taking him away then. The republic of Justin. Justinopolis, Blaktin? I'll work on the name after I get official U.N. status.

Chad showed up the next day and we had turned Cory's old bedroom into a bit of a classroom so that Blake could focus better than in his own room. Jason and Colin had helped me with some of the things we needed like a proper desk, whiteboard and notebooks, etc. Blake already had a laptop that he could use when necessary. I left Chad and Blake alone for the morning and resisted the urge to check on them every 15 minutes. They took a couple breaks, and at one point they went into the yard for half an hour and it looked like there was some sort of lesson going on out there. I covertly watched Blake and he seemed to be paying attention and participating. Looks like I could add that to my list of amazing parenting skills. Only a couple more things and I'd get my merit badge for sure.

The next week went by quickly and it was finally time for the big birthday extravaganza. Jason and Colin had done a lot of the work as I kept Blake out of the way, but from the plans we had it was going to be good. Neither Cory nor Blake knew what was going to happen and from the replies to the invitations we sent out it was going to be huge. I even managed to get Blake's diving coach to contact the parents from his lessons to invite them. Some replies had questioned the location as we were holding it at the only place where we knew we could do what we wanted...the Slam'r. We deliberately set it up for Sunday instead of Saturday as it would be easier to set up and tear down when we didn't need the entire club for the evening. All Blake's friends and half his old class had replied that they would attend and I was happy about that. I hoped it wouldn't be too overwhelming, but you don't know if you don't try. I even invited Colleen, the Social worker and she said she would love to attend. My guess is she was going to be checking it out to make sure it was age appropriate. Perhaps holding it at a gay club wasn't the best start. The party was starting at 1pm and everyone had been in a last minute frenzy as I just tried to keep Blake occupied. Cory of course was phoning every five minutes or texting Blake to see how things were going. Once the limo arrived, Blake jumped in looking amazing in some cool designer clothes. Everyone seemed a lot calmer and the phones stopped tweeting and buzzing. We arrived at Cory's and he flung the front door open with a big smile. He was looking as classy as Blake and they almost looked like twins by how they'd dressed in similar clothes. Their texting had been efficient.

"Happy Birthday to us!" Cory said as he piled in the limo with Sheila. The boys fist bumped again and we smiled at their antics. Cory looked through the limo and into the fridge. "No Champagne? It's a birthday party you know?" he said sitting back staring at us.

"A party for an 11 and 12 year old who are 7 and 8 years too young to drink yet," Sheila reminded him.

"Geez Mom, you gotta lighten up. Kids in Italy drink wine like kool-aid when they're our age. You gotta put your western idea logically stuff aside and relax babe." I suppressed a laugh and as I looked at Sheila she was trying as well.

"Well, when you live in Italy, you can live like they do, BABE. Meanwhile, you live in Canada and my rules apply."

"This is what they call a dictatorship," Cory said to Blake who just giggled. "I think I'll write to the Prime Minister and complain...after the party though."

I texted Jason to let him know that we were on our way. As we pulled up at the club, the first thing I noticed is that the big sign outside had been covered and it was now a banner that said `Blake and Cory's Birthday Spectacular.' The boys pointed excitedly to it and had to have several pictures taken under it on the red carpet that led to the entrance. We had even arranged one of the Hollywood premiere spotlights at the entrance. The boy headed inside and the doorman welcomed them, dressed in a tuxedo. As we got into the club it had been completely transformed. The first thing I noticed was that all inappropriate things had vanished, like the vending machines that had dispensed condoms and lube were covered, posters announcing upcoming events were gone, and the entrance to the Cell'r was not only locked, the stairs were blocked from sight. The place looked like a night club version of a Chuck e Cheese. The other thing that was missing was people. On all the screens was a countdown clock and it was almost at zero.

3...2...1' "SURPRISE!!" Everyone yelled as they popped out from everywhere. It wasn't really a surprise, but kids love doing that, so why not. The screens lit up with Happy Birthday Cory and Blake' and kids started coming out of everywhere. One of the rear walls moved to reveal that the whole section had been turned into a giant arcade with tons of free games. In the main area was a bouncy house, (still a kid favorite) and a giant inflatable slide came from the second floor all the way down to a large ball pit using half the sunken dance floor. The bars had been changed to look like an old fashioned ice cream parlor where kids could get sundaes, milkshakes, pop and whatever else they wanted. A long counter beside it had every kind of topping you could imagine and I had no doubt that some parents would have either sick kids on their hands by the end of the day, or they'd be so wired on sugar they wouldn't sleep until Wednesday. Everything about the place screamed kid party and there was no indication that it was a gay nightclub at all. There must have been 300 kids running around as Blake and Cory made their way to the main stage, escorted by Jason and Kyle.

"Guys, this is insane. I can't believe this," I said as I hugged them.

"The good thing is that we're leaving it like this for the club tonight. That way we can write the expense off to the Slam'r and watch the reactions of a few hundred gay guys as they get turned into kids. Once Blake and Cory got to the stage, the curtains opened and there were two big thrones for them to sit in. Colin and Alex brought out two crowns for them and a big deal was made about proclaiming them kings for the day.

The LED displays lit up with pictures of the boys from the past few months and all the things that they had got up to. We couldn't go back further as we didn't have pictures of Blake, so we kept it from when they became friends.

"Guys, we have a lot of party ahead of us, but first things first. We have to start it off right by singing Happy Birthday," the DJ said over the sound system. "Is everyone ready?" The kids all screamed yes. "I can't hear you. Is everyone ready to sing?" The kids screamed again and several parents plugged their ears. It was like being around 10 year old girls at a Justin Bieber concert.

"Okay on three, we sing. One...two...two and a half... Wait! Does everyone know the words? Should we put them up on the screen?" He flashed up the words on a few monitors and a bouncing ball appeared. Cheesy but funny, especially since the ball had a happy face. "Okay, we're ready now. On three. One...two...wait wait. I forgot something." The kids groaned and laughed. The giant screen on the stage lowered down behind Cory and Blake so that everyone in the club could see it. The birthday boys could see all the other screens easily enough. "We need some help singing so we invited a few people to help us keep the song in tune. Guys, are you ready?" The kids screamed and then the whole place went silent as the monitors changed to the five guys from One Direction standing on a stage somewhere.

"Hi Cory good to see you again buddy. Happy birthday!! Blake, we haven't met you yet, but hopefully we will when we're over at the house in July. We've just finished a concert here in Manchester England, but there's no way we could miss your birthdays. So is everyone ready to sing Happy Birthday with us," Harry said as the kids stood absolutely stunned.

Cory was smiling as proudly as he could as he waved at the guys. The lads (notice my use of the English term for guys) began singing happy birthday and everyone joined in. Once they were finished and the cheering had settled down, Niall took to the microphone and asked everyone if they would like to start the birthday off with a couple songs. Of course the whole place screamed and when Niall asked Cory which song he'd like, Cory yelled back Live While We're Young'. The DJ started the tune and One Direction sang along. It was the only way we could think to make it work over such a long distance and have it loud enough. Fortunately we had found out that Blake like the song `One Thing' so when it was his time to pick, Cory yelled it out for him and Blake nodded. The videos of both songs played on half the screens while the other half showed the boys playing live on stage. Once they were finished, all five guys wished the two boys a happy birthday and told them they'd see them backstage on July 27th. The guys even took a little time to interact with some of the kids in the club by answering a few questions. I think the party could have ended after that as nothing was going top it. Once One Direction left, the DJ announced some of the party things around the club and the music began. Kids ran everywhere and parents cowered in corners like trapped rodents. The slide into the ball pit was popular as were all the video games. The music was all clean versions of popular songs and the volume was kept to a reasonable level. Cory and Blake joined in with everything and hardly left each others sides the entire time, even when their friends came up to say hi. Colleen found me and shook my hand.

"This is one unbelievable party. Isn't this a gay club at night?"

"Yeah. Jason is the main owner with Colin and I as partners. We couldn't get BC place, so we figured this would have to do," I joked.

"Who are all these children?"

I shrugged a bit. "Friends of both Cory and Blake, or at the very least, people who know them and wanted to come to a birthday party. We figured that if they had lots of people around perhaps it could help Blake get back to normal. He did well on his play dates, so the principal helped us with some of his old class."

"I must admit Justin, I had my doubts, but this is impressive. No matter what happens, I think everyone here, including Blake, will remember this birthday party."

I didn't like the way she said `no matter what happens'. The sounded so ominous. What's with these women popping my happy bubble? Is it a chick thing? "Well we wanted it to be special as it was his first birthday without his family and a birthday should never be a sad occasion. Make sure you get a sundae before the kids tear the bars apart," I laughed. I am sure that our bartenders had no idea what they agreed to do when they signed up for this event. They looked good though in their red and white striped shirts like the old fashioned soda shoppes. The kids looked like they were having an amazing time and at about the halfway point, the music stopped and the kids were all asked to sit on the floor in front of the stage where they were treated to a magic show. Not just a kid party magic show, but a very impressive illusionist with magic that even impressed the adults. His final trick was to make a giant cake appear out of thin air and invite Blake and Cory up to blow out the candles, which of course were trick candles that kept relighting. They invited dozens of other kids up to try and blow them out and of course they couldn't. One smart ass 12 year old wet his fingers and doused the candle. It didn't take long after that for others to follow. I could see us needing a few hundred band-aids for burnt fingers. Once the candles were out, the DJ announced that cake was available at all counters. Probably a good thing they didn't use the magic cake after hundreds of kids had blown and spit on it. Kids could care less, but parents might have had something to say. After a giant dragon raced around the LED lights and scared half the kids, balloons were dropped from the ceiling as Cory and Blake's faces appeared on the walls again with their ages. It was completely over the tops, but the two boys loved it and whenever they slowed down, they put their crowns back on. Dancing wasn't a big part of the day, but video games, the giant slide and bouncy house, along with unlimited food and ice cream treats made it quite the amazing afternoon. Slowly parents started to leave as they had enough and all of them thanked us for the party. If we're good at anything it's parties. Each kid was also given a bag of goodies to take home. It was larger than your average kids party bag, but not as large as gift bag for presenting at the Oscars. I saw Blake interacting with many boys his own age and smiling nonstop. Cory never left him alone for long, if ever, and I was actually proud of him considering all the temptations. It was like Cory was the older brother looking out for the younger one, but I'm sure that neither of them saw it that way. I didn't envy the cleanup crew as there was food everywhere, and despite leaving most of it set up for the club tonight, it was going to take some work to put the place back together. I was exhausted. One thing I hadn't noticed was when Colleen left, but I hoped she was okay with our event.

Sheila came up and gave us all a hug. "I think you made the boy's birthday something to remember. God knows how we'll top this next year. I doubt if Cory will sleep at all this week. Thank you for doing all this for them."

"It was our pleasure," Jason told her. "Next year, we'll give them each a cupcake and a gift certificate to McDonald's while we stay home and sleep."

She laughed. "You've met Cory right? He'll probably start planning next year's party as soon as he gets home. You may have shot yourself in the foot after this one."

"I'll buy him a motorcycle. No party required after that," Jason grinned.

We rounded up the boys and herded them to the limo to take them home. Cory asked if Blake could stay over for a while and when Sheila gave in after being verbally worn down by her son, we left them there with instructions to call when she'd had enough. The limo took us home and we felt absolutely worn out. Even a night of drinking, sex and dancing isn't as tiring as a birthday party with a few hundred pre-teens. But we'd done it. The only thing left was Cory's actual birthday in a couple weeks and from the sounds of it, it would be a simple dinner at their house with Blake spending the night. I'd make sure to get lots of sleep during the day for the constant texts and phone calls that came with a sleepover.

The next morning Colin and I were woken up with a banging at the door as Blake and Kyle entered carrying trays of food. It looked like we were getting breakfast in bed. Blake handed me one tray as I sat up and put it over my lap and Kyle gave Colin the other one.

"What's this for?" Colin asked.

"I have no idea. Blake was done making it all by the time I got to the kitchen, so I just helped him carry it up," Kyle smiled as he shrugged. "Enjoy, and good morning." He turned and left as Blake crawled up the bed to sit between us. He was shirtless and in his flannel lounge pants, which I thought was such a good look for him. He lifted the covers and got under them and wiggled his butt until he was comfortably propped up against the pillows to watch us. There was so much food on the tray that I wondered if we were feeding others afterwards. He smiled as we began to eat. I wouldn't need any more food all day. I looked at Blake and he was watching each mouthful of food as we picked it up.

"Are you hungry Blake? You should join us. I don't think we're gonna be able to eat all this." He grinned and his eyes widened as he reached under the covers and brought out a knife and fork that he must have had in his pant pocket. He started to help himself to the things he liked like the waffles and bacon. I wondered why he'd given each of us half a packet of bacon each. Now I knew. He tried my coffee and his face showed his displeasure with it quickly as he put it down and drank some of my orange juice. Once he was done, he let out a large belch which caused Colin and I to laugh.

"That's my boy," Colin said ruffling his hair. "With all this food, I think I'm too full to move," he said as he put the tray on the floor beside the bed and leaned back. He put his arms behind his head and Blake copied him. Where was my camera when I needed it? I put my tray down and slid down the bed a bit to let the food digest. That was one hell of a breakfast and I could certainly get used to being served in bed. I felt like royalty. Maybe we should hire a butler to do it every day from now on. Of course my type of butler would probably also take care of my other morning needs too. Just one of those things I look for in a man servant.

We hung out for another 10 minutes before moving. Colin got up first and wandered off to the bathroom. Blake snuggled up to me and I put my arm around him as he threw his leg over mine to get closer. With his head on my chest I felt comfortable, but I wondered if I smelled bad at all. Plus my mind was also thinking about Colin in the shower and I wanted to go and join him. I was torn between hanging with Blake and going to get some morning entertainment with my hubby. Now I know why married couples don't have sex as often. The kids are in the way. Then by the time the kids move out, the couple are in their 40's and too old to have sex. I should write a book about it. Blake moved and sat on top of me crushing my nuts. It's a good thing he was wearing pants or this could have been awkward. I opened my legs slightly to let them drop out of the way and inched him up slightly so that it wasn't uncomfortable. He crossed his arms and leaned down onto my chest so we were nose to nose as he stared at me. I almost had to go cross-eyed to see him. Then he kissed my nose and giggled.

"You're one crazy dude, buddy, but I love you anyway. I have no idea what you're up to today, but I kinda like all the attention," I smiled as I kissed his nose in return. He giggled and lay on top of me until Colin came out of the bathroom wrapped in his towel.

"Oh, so that's what happens when I'm not here," he laughed.

"Yep, you've been replaced. I have a new blanket to keep me warm at night," I laughed. "Have you had a shower yet Blake?" He shook his head. "Well, you should go have one and we can get on with our day. We're gonna have to do something to work off all this food." I did my best to throw him to the side of the bed and he scrambled back across me to get out. He could just as easily have gone out the other side, but apparently climbing over me was more interesting. He stood waiting.

"You could just go back to your room for a shower, you know," I smiled. He crossed his arms again and frowned. "Fine," I conceded and got out of bed. As I walked past Colin, I gave him a kiss. "Morning Babe. So much for our wake up fun."

"I think this was just as much fun," he smiled.

I put my hand to his forehead. "Nope, you don't have a fever, so you can't be delusional," I laughed. "You'll have to be twice as good tomorrow." I headed into the shower where Blake had already gotten the water going and dropped his pants. I turned my back to him and took my morning piss and then joined him in the shower. I washed his hair, which I had to admit was becoming a regular routine and one I almost looked forward to. It would be a shame when he was too old to have his hair washed. I'd have to get Jason or Kyle to get on their knees so I could wash their hair after that, but no doubt with them at that level, more than just hair washing would happen. Blake's long curly hair was just so soft that it was nice to run your finger through, plus his antics trying to keep the soap off his face were fun to watch too.

The only thing I hated about sharing a shower with someone was that you couldn't just stand there and enjoy the hot water running over you, and with Blake, the temperature had to be less than what I normally like. I figure giving the kid second degree burns might not look good on the social services report. Plus the showers were always shorter too. I like a nice long morning shower. If Chad had been here to tutor Blake on a Monday, I could have spent the morning in the hot tub, but since he wasn't, Blake and I ended up going for bike ride. We went all the way to the Grind'r for a morning visit with Alex and the staff, before riding back. Then later it was back to the pool for diving lesson number two. I sat next to the woman I had met last week and we chatted for a bit as the boys had their lesson. Many parents just dropped their kids off or the kids showed up on their own. I wanted to watch Blake and take an interest, plus there was more than enough eye candy in the pool to keep me interested if nothing was happening in the diving lessons. I took lots of pictures of the hot semi naked guys running around in other parts of the pool. I almost leapt over the railing as I saw one stunning guy I wanted. He looked about my age and twice as cute. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking `but Justin, how is that possible? You're the hottest guy on the planet. No guy could look better than you.' Now while that's true, this guy had made it on my to do list. No doubt he was straight, which gave him a couple extra hotness points. Nothing is hotter than a challenging cute straight boy. But my obsession was short lived as he vanished into the change room and I refocused on watching Blake who seemed fearless as he dove off the board into the water. Each dive seemed to be getting better and better. What I did notice is that he interacted with the other kids pretty well and the one I met last week, Warren, seemed to be coming a friend. Like last week, the longest part of the lesson was waiting for them to come out of the shower, and like last week, I had to go in to retrieve them from the showers. This time there were four guys hanging out under the spray. It seemed like the thing to do as they just stood there with water pouring over them. Blake was the smallest guy and the oldest seemed about 16 or 17, but I wasn't sure if they were all in the same diving class or not as there was a lot of stuff going on in the complex. I got Blake out of the water and as I turned, I bumped right into the hot guy I had seen earlier. He was naked and I couldn't help but check him out while apologizing.

"You're either Justin or Jason, right?" the guy said smiling at me.

"Justin," I replied surprised that he knew me and somewhat flattered.

"I'm Kirby. We went to school together," he smiled. I scrambled through all the drawers in my brain to see if I could remember him, but I was drawing a blank.

"Sorry, I don't remember you," I said quietly.

"No big deal. It was a big school and I've changed a lot since then. I used to be a skinny nerd with zits and long hair."

"Well, you're sure not that now," I said a bit too quickly, looking at his short brown hair, chiselled jaw and perfect pecs and abs, and don't even get me started on the rest of him.

"Yeah, I've been working out a lot and finally outgrew the nerd phase."

"Fuck, I'll say. I guess some guys really do get better with age," I said hoping I wasn't drooling.

"Thanks. And some stay good looking all the time," he replied. Was he hitting on me, because that would be super. I'd do him right there in the locker room in front of everyone. "Is that your brother or something?"

"No, that's Blake. He's my son," I said proudly.

"You're son? What did you have him when you were 10?" he smiled.

"8 actually. I was a stud at an early age."

"And straight, apparently," he laughed.

"Well, you know how confusing sex can be for an 8 year old. Didn't know I disliked girls at that age. Thought you could just poke and squirt anyone. He's my foster son, actually."

"He looks so much like you that I was sure he was your brother."

"We should catch up sometime, and I'm sorry I didn't remember you."

"No worries, at least you weren't one of those assholes in school that bullied me or anything, so you win points for that," he smiled. "Probably the reason I worked out so hard."

"Well it paid off. You're pretty hot, if you don't mind me saying."

He smiled. "I don't mind at all. I'd love to catch up. See what we've been up to since school."

I gave him my phone and he put his number in it, and as he did I checked out the rest of his body. Damn, how could I have missed a guy this hot at school? I followed him back to his locker and almost grabbed his ass a few times to see how it felt. I gave him my number and we agreed to get together soon. By the time I said goodbye to him I had one hell of an erection and almost forgot Blake as I thought about heading home. Fortunately he stepped in front of me all dressed, brushed and ready to go. Warren was with him and I tried to covertly adjust my erection so that it wouldn't be obvious. Not the best impression to give Warren's Mom as we exited the change room.

We were into a regular routine and tomorrow would be back to tutoring until the weekend when we'd think of activities to do. Pretty routine. I love routine, or as they say in some cultures, a rut. A big stinking rut. Where's a fiscal cliff when you need one. The only way to cure a bad guy in a rut is a good guy in a rut. Yeah, that saying just isn't working anymore. I'll get out my shovel and dig my way out of the rut myself. Wait...digging a hole to get out of a rut. Doesn't that make the rut bigger? Has anyone noticed what a stupid word, rut, is?

End of Chapter.

Comments and emails always welcome, unless you're going to talk about a rut. In which case, I'll pass. outinwest@gmail.com. Other adventures are available on my yahoo group at http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/pridecanadabc or on my website at www.pridecanadabc.com.

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