---

Kevin's Perspective

It was cooler when we woke up Sunday morning. It was already the end of October, and November would be here in a couple of days. We caught the change from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time that weekend, so we had an extra hour of sleep. Rick and I used it to make love.

Lying in bed, enjoying the afterglow, I thought about how fast the year was going by. In the real world of business and government and everyday enterprise, the year stretched from January 1st to December 31st. In a household with kids, the year started the day school began and ended with graduation or final exams. We measured time not with fiscal quarters but with report cards, nine weeks at a time. Holidays were suspensions of the year, and the summer break was a temporal no-man's land.

When we got home Sunday afternoon, only Trixie was there to greet us. Alex had stayed behind, of course, but he wasn't home. We hadn't yet dealt with the issue of a car for him, and I made a mental note to see about that first thing that coming week. Tim and Kyle went home, wherever home was going to be for them that night. Justin, Brian, and Denny disappeared, no doubt to do homework or simply to enjoy the privacy of being alone. Rick checked the phone messages, and there were none of any import.

"It was a good trip," he said, as we settled against each other on the sofa.

"Yeah," I said.

"Are you noticing the changes?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's hard to put a finger on, but Tim, Kyle, Justin, and Brian seem much closer than they used to be. I first noticed that when they came back from Boston, but I really noticed it on this trip. It's like the four of them are best friends," he said.

"I know what you mean. I can't get over how much Brian has emerged as his own person, so self-confident and so in control of his life. We see them all the time, but we spend so much more intense high-quality time with them on these trips," I said.

"Speaking of Brian, I was pretty shocked when I saw him in that suit. Did you know he had grown that much? When was the last time he wore that thing?"

"The last time was your grandfather's funeral, and, no, I didn't know he had grown that much. I was a little embarrassed. Did you hear my mother's comment?" I asked.

"No. What did she say?"

"Nothing much, but she said something like, 'I hope your new suit will be ready soon, Brian.' It was her way of saying, 'Rick and Kevin, get this kid a new suit the day you get back.'"

Rick laughed.

"Yeah, that's Beth's way, alright," he said.

Alex and Cody came in about then.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Alex asked.

"Hi, Bubba," Rick and I said in unison. "Did you miss us?"

"Yeah, I did. Do you guys have time to talk," Alex asked. His tone of voice made me know something was up.

"Sure, Bubba," I said.

He and Cody sat down.

"I called my mom while you guys were gone," he said. "I got to feeling really bad about not contacting her, and I was glad I did it after we talked."

"I'm glad you called, too," I said. Rick seconded what I said.

"My step-father is gone. He roughed up my brother, and my mom found out about it. I told her about what he had done to me, and she was horrified. She wanted to know why I hadn't told her before," he said.

"What did you tell her?" I asked.

"I told her the truth. I was afraid he'd kill me if I told on him. That made her cry, but I think it also made her more sure of her decision to leave him. The divorce is supposed to be final next month," he said.

"Tell them what else," Cody said.

"Oh. I told her I'm gay and am in love with Cody," he said.

Rick and I had suspected the "in love" part, but that was the first time we had confirmation of it.

"What did she say to that?" Rick asked.

"Something that surprised me, actually. She said she had thought that about me for several years. She said she never mentioned it to anybody, including her husband, but she's fine with it. Guys, she really wants me to come home," he said.

Rick and I both smiled big smiles.

"A happy ending," I said.

"Well, sort of. I don't want to leave Cody," he said. "I talked to her the first time on Thursday night, and again Friday and yesterday, and we're trying to work it out so that Cody can go with me. It's looking pretty good, but his parents are still reluctant to send him off," he said.

"Don't you think that's a normal reaction?" I asked.

"Well, sure, but he'd have to leave if he went away to college," Alex said. "We think they're going to come around. They're supposed to tell us tonight, in fact."

The phone rang, and Rick answered it. It was for Cody, and he took the cordless into the study for privacy. The parents of our guys' friends called here often to remind them of things, to ask them to stop for something on their way home, and for a million reasons parents would have to get in touch with their kids.

Cody came back into the den with a smile that rivaled a lighthouse in its brightness.

"They said 'yes,'" he said.

There was much whooping and hollering from both of them at that announcement. Rick and I were happy for them, too.

"When will this take place?" I asked.

"I'd like to stay here until the end of the semester, if that's okay. My last exam will be December 8th, and Cody will be finished by then, too. We'll probably leave the next day," he said.

"Wow," I said.

It was gradually dawning on me that our family was taking a hit. Of course, that was the way foster care was supposed to work, and Rick and I understood that on an intellectual level. Emotionally, though, it was a different story. We didn't kid ourselves into thinking we loved Alex the way we loved Brian or Justin, but we were certainly very fond of him. Since he had started dating Cody, we hadn't seen a great deal of Alex, but he was still one of our kids. On top of that, Cody was just like one of our kids, too, and he would soon be out of our lives on a daily basis as well.

"I'm glad we waited on doing something about a car for me," Alex said.

He had somehow worked it out so he was able to get by without one. Kyle, Tim, and Justin were very generous about letting him use their vehicles when he needed to, and he had used Rick's car and mine, too. Most of the time, though, Cody had been on the scene to give him a ride.

"Will you guys get an apartment?" Rick asked.

"We probably will eventually, but we won't be able to afford to at first," Alex said. "My mom said we can live at her house and that she'll respect our privacy."

"That's great. Things are really looking good for you two, aren't they?" I said.

"Yeah, they are. Kevin and Rick, I want you to know how grateful I am for everything you've done for me since last June. I mean, there is absolutely no telling where I'd be right now if you guys hadn't taken me in. Thank you. I'll never forget you or how happy I've been here. You guys are the best," he said.

Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he said that, and that set off the rest of us. We all hugged one another, and I thought, while I had Alex in my arms, Yes, I really do love you.

* * *

The next big event for the family was Kyle's eighteenth birthday on Saturday, November 13th. His parents wanted to give him a condo for his birthday. They would be moving soon to their new home near Destin, and, for some reason, they thought he needed a place of his own in Emerald Beach. They tended to be masters of extravagant gift-giving, but surely this would top the rest.

They owned quite a lot of rental property in Emerald Beach, and the one he would receive was one their rental property company already owned. There were several rather upscale ones that were vacant at that time, and they wanted Kyle to pick out his choice from the ones that were available. It wasn't clear to me whether they planned to deed the property over to Kyle or just let him occupy it rent-free. I suspected the latter. The furnishings for whichever one he selected would come from the Goodsons' home they were selling in Emerald Beach. The new place in Destin would be furnished mostly with new stuff, except for the antiques.

All of the boys, including Alex and Cody, even though they would be leaving the area, went to look at the six places on the list. With their help, Kyle was able to narrow it down to two: a townhouse on the bay and a penthouse condo in a building that stood right on the beach.

"I wish I could decide which one I want," Kyle said the night they finished looking at all of them. "Which one do you like best, Tim?"

"I'm like you. I love both of them, Babe. The townhouse has grass that would have to be cut, though," Tim said.

"Yeah, but it also has that great dock. We could keep The Clay there, and Kevin and Rick could get a boat for their dock," Kyle said.

"That view is good, but it's not as good as the view of the ocean," Tim said.

"True, but I'll bet that sun gets mighty hot in there during the summer," Kyle said. "The neighbors said it didn't, but I don't know if they were talking about the same kind of thing we were when we asked them."

"I'm sure the sun is hot in the townhouse, too, though. And you know it's never going to flood on the tenth floor of that baby," Tim said.

"Why don't you get both of 'em," Justin added to muddy the water, no doubt.

"I can't, Jus. There's only one pool table," Kyle said.

We all laughed.

"You poor thing," Justin said, and that made us laugh, too.

"Look, this wasn't my idea," Kyle said, a little defensively.

"I'm only teasing you, Bubba. You know that," Jus said, afraid he had offended Kyle. "Besides, it's going to be a home-away-from-home for me and Brian, too, isn't it?"

"Well, y'all are going to have your own bedroom and keys to the place," Kyle said.

"How many bedrooms are there," Rick asked.

"They each have three. They're about the same size, Rick, in square footage, I mean. The townhouse has a deck all across the back, and the condo has a pretty wide balcony on two sides, facing the water. There's a hot tub out there, too. I could easily put one in the townhouse, though," Kyle said.

That went on all evening. It was the time of year when many high school seniors were agonizing over which colleges to apply to. He was agonizing over which piece of prime real estate to get. I had to keep reminding myself that Kyle would remain as unspoiled by this gift as he was by the gift of the boat the previous year. I admired that quality in him, and I know the others appreciated it, too. As far as he was concerned, the new place would belong to all of us, not just to him.

"Kevin and Rick, would y'all come see both of them with us to help us decide," Kyle finally asked.

I looked at Rick. Was this something we wanted to get involved in? I asked myself. Yeah, why not?

"Sure, Kyle," I said. "Do you want to go tomorrow?" The next day was Saturday.

"Yeah. That would be great. Both places are vacant, and I've got the keys."

The next morning Rick got up early for a long run. The Ironman Florida Triathlon was the next weekend, and, while he wasn't entered, several of his friends were. He was training with them for the run portion of the race. They were in wind-down mode by then, but they still ran a good fifteen miles that day.

When I got up, Kyle was sitting at the breakfast room table in just his underwear, which was usual, drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette, which was most unusual. I hadn't seen him smoking in so long that I had assumed he had quit altogether.

"Good morning, Kyle," I said.

I kissed him on the forehead out of impulse, and he grinned at me. All of the boys craved signs of affection like that, and I wished I thought to give them more often.

"Good morning," he said. "Are you ready to house hunt?"

"Yeah. Where's Tim?"

"He's still asleep. He looked so cute all wadded up I didn't have the heart to wake him up."

"Or the balls, either?"

He laughed.

"Or the balls, either," he said.

The only time Tim had ever been cross with Kyle, to my knowledge, was once when Kyle woke him up on a Saturday morning for no good reason. He hadn't done that again.

The others began drifting down shortly, and then Rick and Trixie came in from running. Rick was wringing wet, and Trixie was so excited I thought she would burst. They each got their usual dose of water, and then Rick joined us at the table for coffee.

"Let's go out to breakfast," I suggested.

"Good idea," Rick said. "Let me get a shower first, though."

The boys who showered in the morning had all had theirs. Denny liked to take a tub bath, and he did that in the evening before bed. He would get in a full tub with an ever-present book and read until the water got to cool for him to stand it. Then he would actually take a shower to wash himself. He was an interesting one, for sure.

After eating the breakfast bar at our favorite breakfast-bar place, we drove to the first house, the townhouse.

It was actually on a small island that was lined with similar structures around the rim. All of them were waterfront properties, and I knew that Goodson owned all the ones that weren't in private hands. The small center area of the island was landscaped like a park, and it had several very large, and therefore very old, oak trees. It was beautiful.

The townhouse itself was very, very nice. There was a double garage, a large kitchen, a separate dining area in an L shape with the living room, and a full bath downstairs. The living room had a two-story ceiling, and there was a fireplace in the corner. Upstairs there were three bedrooms, all of them fairly large and each with a walk-in closet. The laundry room was also up there. The master bedroom had a large bathroom that had a tub that looked like it was big enough for two. There was another bathroom in the hall.

"This is a whirlpool tub," Rick said.

"It is?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah. These are the jets. See? This is how you control it."

He showed Kyle and the others the controls. Alex and Cody had spent the night at Cody's house, so it was just Kyle, Tim, Brian, Justin, and Denny, along with Rick and me, of course.

"I'll bet it would be fun to take a bath in that tub," Denny said.

"If I get this one, I want you to be the first one to use it, okay, Bubba," Kyle said.

Denny grinned, as much at the attention from Kyle as at the prospect of bathing in the tub.

"There's no place for a pool table," Justin pointed out.

"The garage," Kyle said. "I've already though about that. I'd have that door taken out and a wall put in. It would be nice. I'd put a wet bar out there, too, and put carpet on the floor for when we play strip pool and have to take our shoes off."

Everybody laughed.

"You think of everything," Justin said.

"That's right. That's my job," Kyle said.

The back deck gave an absolutely magnificent view of the bay, as did the wall of sliding glass doors in the living room and dining room. The deck was roomy, and I mentally pictured a table or two and some lounge furniture out there. I could see myself sitting out there with Rick, sipping a drink and watching the sunset while Kyle and the boys got a scrumptious dinner ready for us in the kitchen. There were twelve steps down from the deck to the postage stamp-sized "yard," and the deck had enclosed storage space under it for tools and boat equipment, no doubt.

The dock was nice. It ran out about a hundred feet from the shore, and there was a platform at the end that would be a nice place for people to congregate during a party. Our dock ran parallel to the shore because it was on the lagoon, and perpendicular docks were off code. I noticed there were light fixtures all along the dock, and the platform at the end was fully wired, as well. There was a shower head on the platform, presumably for use after a swim in the bay.

"I could tie my crab traps up to the dock," Kyle said.

That place was basically a turnkey operation. Kyle would have to spend some time and money fixing up the garage the way he wanted it, but otherwise the place was immaculate. I figured it had been renovated after the last tenant left. The carpet looked and smelled new, and the walls had obviously been freshly painted.

"This is a very nice place," I said.

"I know. It's real nice, and there's a lot about it I like. But let's go look at the other one," he said.

That place was on Emerald Beach, meaning west of the bridge, but it was on the bay side. The other place, also on Emerald Beach, was on the Gulf side. It took about ten minutes for us to drive there.

The condo Kyle was interested in was on the tenth floor of a ten-story building. The elevator lobby was nice, but it wasn't anything spectacular. The first "floor" was open, and it was used for parking. Each condo had two parking places reserved for it, and there was also a parking lot surrounding the building, much like the one at the Goodson Building. There was a high wall with a gate across the front to screen out the road, and the wall extended past the building on both sides. There was a beautiful swimming pool out back on a very nicely-landscaped patio.

The elevator ride up was quick, and that was a good sign to me. The place was obviously well maintained.

That apartment featured the same kind of L-shaped living room-dining room combination. The difference was the view was unbelievable. The glass wall in the dining room faced west, and you had a view of the full beach as far as you could see. There would be some unbelievable sunsets, I thought. The kitchen was large, and the appliances were sparkling new. The counter tops were highly polished granite, and the floor in the kitchen and dining room were ceramic tile. Beautiful.

The living room had a high cathedral ceiling that was very dramatic. There was a fireplace there, too, and there was also a built-in entertainment center with room for a giant TV, a stereo, and even a few books. There was a small powder room off the foyer. The master suite was very large, and there would be room for a seating area, I was sure. The bathroom had a shower, a whirlpool tub, and a double vanity. The toilet was in a tiny separate room. There were two walk-in closets, but neither one was as big as the one in the master suite of the townhouse. The south wall of the master bedroom was all glass, with the Gulf exposed to view.

The two other bedrooms were on the road side of the building. They were large enough and serviceable, and they each had their own baths.

The feature Kyle seemed to like the best was the loft. It seemed to cover the dining room, kitchen, foyer, and both bedrooms. There was definitely enough room for a pool table and other furniture, and a wet bar was already in place up there. On either side of the loft were two large rooms that were unfinished and obviously intended for storage. There was a full bath on that level, presumably for use if the unfinished rooms were ever turned into bedrooms.

"Are you sure this place is the same size as the townhouse?" Rick asked. "It seems bigger to me."

"Let me check," Kyle said.

He pulled out some papers from his back pocket and studied them.

"No, you're right. This place has 2,600 square feet, and the townhouse has 1,800. There was another condo that was the same as the townhouse, but not this one," he said.

The covered balcony formed an L across the back and side of the condo, and it was accessible from the master bedroom, the living room, and the dining room. The hot tub was at the bedroom end of it. The balcony seemed to be about ten feet wide, and there would be plenty of room for furniture and lots of plants, if Kyle ever got interested in container gardening. I knew he liked the dock at the other place, but I was in love with that condo.

Back at our house after lunch at yet another buffet, we sat down to talk.

"What should I do," Kyle asked. "I love both of them, so y'all have to decide."

"We're not deciding," Rick said. "I'm willing to make a suggestion, but I'm not willing to decide for you."

"Rick's right, Babe. You have to decide," Tim said.

"Why don't we do this. Let's each write down our favorite on a slip of paper and give them to Kyle. Then he'll at least know how we feel, and he can decide," Brian said. "Oh, and we do it anonymously."

"That's a good idea, Bri. I'm willing to do that," Rick said.

"It's a damn good idea, Bubba," Kyle said.

Brian got the paper and pencils for us, and we each wrote down the one we liked. We folded them and gave them to Kyle.

He opened the first one, and it said "condo." He set it aside in the "condo" pile. He opened the second one, and it said "condo," too.

"I see a trend developing," Justin said.

We laughed.

It was more than a trend. It turned out to be a unanimous vote in favor of the condo. Kyle called his father immediately and told him of his decision.

"Yes, sir, I love it," he said.

Pause.

"They all do. The vote was unanimous for the condo."

Pause.

"Oh, Daddy, that's wonderful."

He put his hand over the mouthpiece.

"He's going to rent the townhouse to Jeff and Tyler real cheap, if they want to live there," he said to us.

"Cool," Justin said.

"Yes, sir, they all like the idea. I'll be able to keep my boat there some, too, I guess."

Pause. Kyle got a quizzical look on his face.

"No, sir, I'll make sure they have privacy. Daddy, I don't think you know how close me and Jeff are."

Pause.

"Yeah, I think about him every day, Dad. He's smiling down on Jeff, though. I'm convinced of that."

Pause.

"I love you, too, Daddy, and thanks. Tell Mama I love her, too."

Pause.

"Goodbye, Daddy."

He hung up.

"I take it Gene approves," Rick said.

"Yeah. He said that's the one he wanted me to have. Why didn't he just say it and save us all this?"

"Because your father respects you, Kyle, and he wanted you to have to make a big decision. Are you happy with your decision?" Rick asked.

"Yes, sir. Very happy. Let's have a spend-the-night party there tonight. You want to?"

"Absolutely, Kyle. Your first party in your new home," Rick said.

"Well, let's get busy," Kyle said.

* * *

Kyle had put together plenty of parties before, but he had never done one that fast. He put everybody on a cell phone--everybody but Denny, that is, who didn't really know many of our people--and we got that party organized for that night. It was truly bare bones, and every bit of food came from the deli at Publix. Fortunately, they had a very good one, and Kyle had made friends with the deli manager. He made one phone call, and that party was catered, last minute or not. It would all be ready by two o'clock.

We were billing it as a sunset party, and there were enough clouds in the sky, and the humidity was up high enough, to guarantee the sunset would be spectacular. The people on Key West gathered at the park at the end of their island every night to watch the sunset, and we were doing the same thing, only a good bit farther north.

We told people to bring sleeping bags or bedrolls if they wanted to spend the night. Everything was going to be paper and plastic, and Tim and Brian were in charge of that. Rick and Justin were in charge of the bar, which included ice, and Denny was in charge of the music.

"We're going to be listening and dancing, so I'm counting on you to get us a good mix, you hear, Bubba?" Kyle said to Denny.

"I won't let you down, Kyle. Thank you for trusting me with something this important," Denny said.

"I know you won't let me down. That's why I'm giving you this job," Kyle said.

Denny was beaming. Kyle kissed him on his forehead, and Denny got hard as a rock in about three seconds. Oh, shit, I thought. Another one with a crush on Kyle.

Kyle and I were in charge of the food.

"Do you think I ordered enough?" he asked.

"Well, let's go through what you've got. Ribs, roast beef, chicken wings, sausage. Two kinds of vegetable casserole, potato skins, green salad and macaroni salad. Carrot cake for dessert. That's very good. Cheese and crackers, raw vegetables, pickled okra, and raw oysters for before. That's a damn good party, Kyle," I said.

"We need to get the oyster knives and gloves and something to shuck them on," he said.

"Do the oysters at the bar between the kitchen and dining room. That'll work," I said.

"That's where we're going to put out the buffet, though," he said.

"So what? We clean up the oysters and put out the buffet. It'll work."

"Kevin, I'm so excited about my first party," Kyle said.

"Your first party? More like your hundred and first," I said.

"I mean my first in my own house," Kyle said.

"I know what you meant, Bubba. I was just teasing you. Kyle, Rick and I are really proud of you. Do you know that?"

He got big tears in his eyes.

"Yes, sir, I know that, but I like to hear you say it," he said.

I grabbed him into a hug, and I kissed his forehead for the second time that day. He was so independent, so in control. But he needed us in ways I think Rick and I forgot about sometimes.

He broke away from me.

"Can we get some wood from your house for the fireplace tonight. I think it's going to be cool enough for a fire," he said.

"Of course you can. Do you want me to get it?"

"Yes, sir, please."

"You've got it, Kyle," I said.

I immediately called Jeff and Tyler and told them to meet me at our house. They were coming to the party, of course, but I was going to need Tyler's truck to haul the wood here. I got Jeff on the phone.

"So why the hell am I not included in getting this party organized," he asked.

"Jeff, it was real impromptu. You weren't left out on purpose, and now you're needed. Can you and Ty help out with the firewood?"

"Of course we can. Meet at your house?"

"Yeah," I said, and we hung up.

When I went out into the parking lot, Alex and Cody were just driving up with a pickup truck load of folding chairs and card tables.

"They're from my church," Cody said. "Ten tables and forty chairs. Will that be enough?"

"Yeah, that'll be great," I said. I had no idea how many people would be there that night, but I knew Kyle had enough food to feed sixty. I figured there would be leftovers.

Jeff, Tyler, and I got the firewood, and we got a fire going in time for the first guests to arrive right at 4:30. In all, we had forty-four people, and everybody had a good time. Tim and Kyle led tours of the place for the first hour or so as people arrived, and after that we just had fun.

The people who spent the night were pretty predictable. It was all of us from North Lagoon Drive, of course, including Alex and Cody. Philip and Ryan were there, as were Monte and Terry, Sam and Fred, Chad and Gage, and Chip. Nineteen guys spending the night, and we had only decided to have that party after lunch that day. Remarkable.

On Sunday morning, Kyle scrambled four dozen eggs. He cooked three pounds of bacon in the two microwaves in the kitchen, baked two dozen biscuits, and made toast out of half a loaf of bread. He had bought himself a coffee maker, which came in real handy, and juice, butter, and jelly for everything.

"Goodson, you little fuck," Philip said to Kyle as he and Ryan were leaving.

"What?" Kyle demanded.

"This place, that's what!"

"Philip, you know how my parents are. That master bedroom belongs to me and Tim, and the next biggest one belongs to Justin and Brian. But that third one belongs to you and Ryan anytime you want it, man. I'll give you keys to the place. You don't even have to tell me when you're using it," Kyle said.

Philip and Ryan both laughed.

"We're going to take you up on that as soon as you get some furniture in here," Philip said.

"Good. That's what I want. I want the place to be used by my friends," Kyle said. "You're going to have to make the sheets good before you leave, though, okay? No cum left behind."

Philip and Ryan laughed, and Kyle did, too.

"I mean it," Kyle said. "Other people will be using that room, too, and nobody likes to get into a bed covered with somebody else's cum."

"That's the least we can do, Kyle," Philip said.

"Cool," Kyle said.

* * *

Tim's Perspective

Having Kyle as my boyfriend was absolutely the best thing in my life, and I loved him more than I had words to express. The only problem I had was trying to figure out what gifts to give him. In one sense it was easy because I knew he'd carry on about whatever I gave him like it was the best gift in the world. He would come up with six or seven reasons why it was perfect, and he'd go on about how much he appreciated it. At the several gift-giving occasions that we had been together for, though, I had never heard him say, "This is just what I always wanted." The reason is, Kyle didn't really want anything.

"What do you want for your birthday," I asked. We were naked in bed, having just made love a couple of times.

"Just this right here," he said, taking my penis into his hand.

"Come on. Be serious," I said.

"I am being serious. I can't ever think of anything," he said. "Except this."

He still had my penis in his hand, and he was playing with the foreskin, as he liked to do. I liked it, too, of course.

"I think I want to tell everybody that the only gift I want from them is for them to make a donation to the United Cerebral Palsy. What do you think about that?"

"Make it optional. Some people might have already gotten you something. I know if I had put a lot of thought into a gift and you said you didn't want it, I'd be pissed off," I said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he said. "Maybe somebody will give us another trip. That's the best present, to me. I know that's a lot more expensive than most people want to spend, but everybody could chip in whatever they would spend on a present. Even if they only got enough for one airplane ticket, that would be good. You and I could buy the second ticket."

"Do you want me to put the word out?" I asked.

"Yeah. Make sure Kevin and Rick know," he said.

"You stinker," I said.

We both laughed.

"In fact, four tickets to the same place would be the best, don't you think?"

"Yeah. I wonder if you can get volume discounts," I said.

"I doubt it. I think I'm going to suggest to my dad that he buy a travel agency. What do you think?"

"You don't think he's investigated that?" I asked.

"I don't know. If he hasn't, he ought to," he said.

"Your parents can afford to do anything they want. They sure don't need discounted airline tickets," I said.

He was still playing with my penis. He would get it half hard and then stop for a few minutes. I loved having him do that. He was running his finger very gently up and down the bottom side of it, and that felt so good.

"Do you think people resent it that my parents have a lot of money?" he asked.

"Some might, but your parents don't act conceited or anything about it. They just act like normal people, and you do, too," I said.

"Promise me you'll tell me if I'm acting conceited or if I'm showing off because of what I have, okay?"

"I promise I will, but it hasn't happened yet. And I don't think it ever will," I said.

"Does this feel good?" he asked.

"Yeah, it feels good. Why are you doing it? Do you want to make love again?"

He shook his head no. His penis was completely soft, so I figured that wasn't it.

"I don't know. Just to have something to do with my hands, I reckon," he said.

I laughed.

"Let's get up and go see what's going on," I said.

We had jumped in the sack as soon as we had gotten home from school. We were at my house, and I knew my dad would be home soon. It was a Thursday, and he and Kyle had to go to church for Kyle's class. I'd meet them after the class, which only lasted an hour, and go out to eat. That had become our routine.

We both had to pee, and we did it standing side by side in front of the toilet. After we peed, we both washed the sticky stuff off our dicks in the sink, got dressed, and went out to wait for Dad.

* * *

The party for Kyle was great, just as I knew it would be. The New Orleans Foleys came for it, as did my dad and Sonya, Kyle's mom and dad, and a ton of friends. It was too cool to use the pool, so we just had a standard dinner party in the clubhouse. After dinner, Kyle opened his presents.

Kevin and Rick came through with two airline tickets to Washington, DC, and a week's stay at one of "our" brands of hotel. Quite coincidentally, Grandma and Grandpa Foley, and Cherie and Craig came through with two more tickets and a week's stay in Washington at the same place for exactly the same week, the week of our Spring Break. Imagine that.

"This is the best," Kyle said about the trip. "I hope we can find two friends to go with us."

That made everybody laugh hard. Everyone knew that two of those tickets were for Justin and Brian, and they were grinning, enjoying Kyle's teasing.

The big surprise came from Kyle's parents, who really weren't supposed to give him anything other than the condo. It was three tickets for a week in Orlando and admission tickets to the big attractions there. Kyle counted them and looked at me funny. The mystery of the odd number of tickets was solved when he opened the gift from my dad and Sonya. It was three more sets of tickets to the Orlando attractions and three more hotel vouchers. The dates were in June, and it turned out to be for Gay Days at Disney World.

He had a fit, of course, and our parents looked really pleased that he liked them so well.

We danced and played pool and ping pong and darts after dinner. Philip and Ryan, and Chip were all spending the night. We had wanted Jeff and Tyler, and Chad and Gage to, also, but they had something they had to do the next morning and couldn't stay. The eight boys were going to camp out in the clubhouse. It was chilly enough for a fire, and we made one after we settled down in there.

"Denny, are you and Chip boyfriends," Philip asked.

"No, just best friends," Denny said. "Chip isn't gay."

"You're not?" Philip asked, somewhat surprised.

"No, I'm straight," Chip said.

"You don't mind hanging out with a bunch of gay guys?" Philip asked.

"No, of course not. You guys are my friends," Chip said. "If I was gay, Denny would definitely be my boyfriend, though."

"You've gotten a lot bigger from the first time I saw you, Chip," Ryan said.

"That dude's getting bigger everywhere," Justin said. "Not just the parts you can see. I used to call him peanut because his dick was so small. Now I call him gherkin."

"Gherkin? What the hell is that?" Kyle asked.

"It's a pickle, Kyle. Damn, I thought that if anybody knew that word you would. I can't believe I knew a food term you didn't know," Jus said.

The older guys had had several drinks during the party. In fact, they were having a drink right then, too.

"Do you believe in jerkin' the gherkin, Chip?" Kyle asked.

We all laughed, even Chip. One of the things I liked about him was he never got mad when we teased him. I know he did when other guys teased him, but we could get by with just about anything. Of course, we were never mean in our teasing, and he knew that.

"Ain't y'all hot with this fire going?" Kyle asked.

"Yeah," Justin said. "Let's get comfortable, Stud."

He and Kyle stripped down to their briefs, and the rest of us did the same thing in just a minute.

"Whoa! Look at this," Justin said. He was rubbing the bulge in Kyle's briefs. "What is this shit?"

"They're silk. I just bought 'em. They're my sleep-over drawers," Kyle said. "How about leaving my gherkin alone. If you keep that up, you're going to turn it into a full-blown cucumber."

"It ain't going to be blown by me," Jus said, "cucumber or not."

We kept up that kind of banter until one by one everybody got quiet. I thought about the story of Beowulf that we had studied in English class. After a night of partying, all the warriors slept in the mead hall surrounding their king. What we were doing wasn't exactly the same, but it was close.