Soulmate - 1. Summer

 

Jeremy was only six when he met his ten year old cousin Alex on Friday during the summer. His uncle, his wife, and his cousin had come to visit one summer for a week.

“Jeremy come here, your uncle and aunt are here.” His mother called to him from the back porch.

Jeremy scrambled up from his position in the sandbox and after dusting himself off he ambled over to the small group of people standing on the back porch.

Jeremy had only met his uncle once, a long time ago, and barely remembered him. What he did remember though was that back then he didn’t have an aunt.

As he walked up the short stone steps Jeremy lost his footing and would had fallen face first onto the brick had his dad not caught him as he fell.

“Easy there Jeremy, be more careful.” His daddy said as he patted his small chest with his big hand.

“T’ank you daddy.” Jeremy said as he smiled up at his father.

“You’ll have to watch out for Jeremy while you’re here Ronald; don’t give him anything breakable, he has a balance condition.” Jeremy rolled his eyes as his mother spoke, the way she talked made it sound like he was falling down all the time.

“I’m not a klutz, my doctor said that I have cor…cored…daddy what’s ta word?” Jeremy asked as he looked up to his father.

“Coordination son.” James replied happily.

“Yea tat word daddy said. I have a problem with tat; he said I’ll grow out of it.” Jeremy said proudly.

“You…you talk funny.” A small, shy voice spoke from behind his uncle’s legs.

“Alex, that isn’t very polite. Apologize to your new cousin.” The woman next to his uncle spoke.

Jeremy looked up at her for the first time. She was tall and thin with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Jeremy supposed that she was pretty, but her shiny red lips, long red fingernails, and the sour look on her face made him think that even though she was pretty she was probably meaner than she looked.

“Don’t worry about it. I do talk funny. I have problems saying ta T H sound. Daddy says I have a weird tongue.” Jeremy said up to the lady, he assumed that this was his new aunt.

She looked down at him and arched one of her eyebrows at him but didn’t say anything. His mommy though smacked his daddy in the arm.

“Don’t tell him things like that James.” She said but dad just smiled.

“Oh Beth calm down, Jeremy knows I’m just funning him. Beside when he starts school this fall other kids will say it too, if he can’t joke about it then his feelings will get hurt.” Daddy answered and Jeremy patted him on the back of his leg in agreement before he walked around behind his uncle.

“Hi, I’m Jeremy; you’re my new cousin right?” Jeremy asked as he held his hand out to the taller boy.

Alex though didn’t answer; he just blushed and tucked his head against his step-fathers back.

“You’ll have to excuse Al Jeremy. He doesn’t do well around other people. Personally I think he’s a little touched in the head but that’s just me.” Ronald guffawed and Jeremy watched as Alex blushed darker and his lower lip wobbled a little bit.

Jeremy looked up at his uncle. He looked a lot like his daddy, tall, brown hair and brown eyes but he wasn’t as fit as his daddy, his belly stuck out over his jeans and his face was pudgy. No matter how much he looked like his daddy though he wasn’t as nice as him and the way he talked about Alex made Jeremy want to kick him.

Instead, he reached up and took one of Alex’s hands.

“Come on Alex, me and you can go play in ta sand box. You can help me make a sand castle; I have special buckets tat look like towers and everyting.” Jeremy said as he tugged gently on Alex’s hand.

Alex followed the little boy hesitantly, keeping his head down so he wouldn’t see him blushing.

“Jeremy, you didn’t even say hello to your uncle or introduce yourself to your aunt.” His mother called after him reprovingly.

Jeremy stopped for a minute and looked up at his new cousin, he didn’t want to take him back up there, he still looked sad. Instead, Jeremy turned around and waved to them.

“Hi Uncle Ron, Hi lady I don’t know; I’m Jeremy Blake.” With that, Jeremy turned back around and continued to lead Alex over to the sand box.

“You should take off your shoes so you don’t get sand in tem, mommy says tat sand is hell to get out of shoes…don’t tell her I said that word tough; mommy says it’s a grown up word.” Jeremy said seriously as he stepped over the barrier into the sand box.

As his feet met the warm sand he wiggled his toes, he liked the feeling of the sand under his feet.

“I…I won’t tell her.” Alex replied quietly as he pulled off his shoes and sat them on the ground.

“You take your socks off too; the sand feels really neat between your toes.” Jeremy said as Alex made to step into the sand box still dressed in his little white socks.

Alex smiled and pulled his socks off too before stepping into the sandbox with Jeremy. Just like Jeremy he wiggled his toes as he did, it did feel cool.

“I’ve never made a sand castle before… Are you sure you want my help? I don’t want to mess it up.” Alex asked quietly as Jeremy handed him a bucket and some digging tools.

“Yes I want you to help me. If you mess up we can do it over again, it’s not a big deal. Sometimes I mess tem up just so I can rebuild tem.” Jeremy said as he packed sand into his own bucket.

“Ok.” Alex said and followed Jeremy’s directions on what to do.

The boys spent the better part of two hours working on the sand castle and by the time lunch rolled around they had it completed.

“It looks great Alex, and you were worried you’d mess it up. Your towers are much straighter t’an mine.” Jeremy said as he wiped sweat off his forehead.

Alex blushed as he surveyed their castle. It wasn’t much of a castle really, just a big square with a tower in each corner of it.

“I think your towers look nice.” Alex said quietly and smiled when Jeremy smiled up at him.

“Come on Al, lets go see if there is any lunch ready.” Jeremy said as he grabbed Alex hand.

“Don’t call me that…only Ronald calls me that and I don’t like it.” Alex said as Jeremy led him up to the house.

“Ok, I’ll call you Lex; it’ll be your nick name. Is tat ok?” Jeremy asked as he looked up at Alex.

Smiling Alex blushed a bit as he nodded in agreement with Jeremy.

“Mom can we have some food?” Jeremy asked without preamble as the two of them stumbled into the kitchen.

“Of course honey, what would you boys like?” She asked as she smiled down at their entwined hands.

“PB&J wit apple slices and some Kool Aid please.” Jeremy piped up at once, his favorite lunch.

“Ok honey, now what would you like Alex?” His mom smiled down at Alex, who blushed and ducked his head.

While his mother frowned, wondering how to get the boy to talk to her; he really was a little awkward for his age; Jeremy just smiled and tugged on his hand.

“Come on Lex, don’t be shy; mom won’t bite.” Alex smiled at the use of his new nickname.

Alex looked up at his knew aunt and with his cheeks blushing the whole time answered her.

“Can I have the same thing as Jeremy, only with milk instead of Kool-Aid?”

“Of course you can. You boys wash up and I’ll get started.” She answered with a smile.

After the boys washed their hands, Jeremy surprised Alex by hugging him tightly around his waist.

“You did really good Alex,” Jeremy said as he let him go but grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the table, “Uncle Ron was mean to say you were touched in the head. You’re just shy.”

“I…I try not to be…I just can’t help it.” Alex said quietly as the two of them waited for their lunch.

“It’s ok Lex, you just have to remember to try and be brave.” Jeremy replied happily.

“I…I feel brave when I’m around you.” Alex said with a smile at his little friend.

Jeremy smiled back happily as his mother brought them their lunch.

They watched each other as they ate and Jeremy noticed that Alex looked a lot like his mommy, shaggy blond hair and blue eyes, but with the way he smiled and the slight redness that always stayed in his cheeks, even when he wasn’t blushing, made him look prettier than his mom; at least to Jeremy.

Similarly Alex was taking in the way his little step cousin looked. He had brown hair like both his step dad and his uncle but he had blue eyes too, but his were darker than Alex’s.

Somewhere during their inspection the two of them just started staring at one another, watching each other’s movements. Their staring contest was broken though when Jeremy’s mother came back into the room.

“After lunch you boys can go up to Jeremy’s room and play. It is getting awfully hot outside and I don’t want you two out in the heat.” Her voice snapped the boys out of their staring, making them both blush at what they had been doing.

“Ok mommy.” Jeremy answered his voice squeaky from embarrassment.

“Where are my mom and Ron?” Alex asked before she left the kitchen.

“Oh...um they ran out for a little while honey. They should be back soon though.” She smiled slightly but looked uncomfortable.

“Oh…ok…thanks Aunt Beth.” Alex answered quietly.

“It wasn’t nice of tem to leave without saying goodbye.” Jeremy huffed next to Alex.

“Don’t be rude Jeremy. I’m sure that they just didn’t want to interrupt you boys, you were having a very fun time out there after all.” Beth said with a smile.

Jeremy just huffed and finished off his food. Once both boys were done Jeremy grabbed Alex’s hand and led him upstairs to his room.

“Wow this place is so cool.” Alex said as he walked around the large room looking at everything.

Jeremy’s room was larger than most six year olds would have. His parents had decided the other of the two upstairs rooms was too small for Jeremy to grow into and since his dad had a bit of a bad knee they took the downstairs bedroom and turned the other into a guest room.

Because of the larger space, he had a lot of room to spread out. His walls had posters of super heroes alongside pictures of him and his parents and some of his friends. At the foot of his full sized bed were two tubs, one with toys and action figures and another full of Lego blocks and up against the wall was a bookcase with books.

“You really like it?” Jeremy asked shyly.

“Yea, it’s a lot bigger than my room.” Alex as he walked over to the toy box.

“Really, tat’s dumb, you’re bigger tan I am but your room is smaller, tat doesn’t make sense. Your room should be at least as big as mine.” Jeremy shook his head as he walked up next to Alex.

“I used to have a bigger room but Mom and Ron decided that they needed it for something else so they moved me to a smaller room.” Alex said as he looked through Jeremy’s toys.

“Tat isn’t fair.” Jeremy said as he pulled a bunch of action figures out of the toy box.

“Want to play Batman with me?” He asked and Alex nodded excitedly.

“You can be Batman, I like Robin better anyway.” Jeremy said as he handed the black and gray figure to Alex.

“Cool.” Alex smiled and the two of them settled down to play.

As the boys played, they subconsciously shifted closer and closer to each other until they were lying side by side playing with their action figures. After several battles between Batman, Robin and their various enemies, only some of which Jeremy have figures for, Jeremy grew tired. He tried to cover his yawns but Alex saw them.

“What time is your bed time?” Alex asked as he looked up at the clock, it was only a little past one pm.

“Mommy and Daddy let me stay up till nine on Friday and Saturday nights, why?” Jeremy asked he was sleepy and a little confused.

“Because you’re sleepy, I think you need a nap. You could sleep for a half an hour and not be too awake tonight at bedtime.” Alex said as he pulled the younger boy to his feet.

“I don’t wanna sleep, I’m not tired.” Jeremy said stubbornly, but his sentence was ruined by a yawn.

“Come on Lil Cousin, you lay down and I’ll pick up the toys.” Alex said as he led Jeremy over to his bed.

Jeremy didn’t protest anymore as he crawled on his bed and shimmied under his blue and green plaid blanket.

Alex worked as quietly as he could as he picked up the toys and put them into the toy box. Once he was finished, he crept toward the door, wondering if his mom and Ron were back and if he could watch TV downstairs.

“You don’t have to go. If you want, you can stay in here and play or read…or you could take a nap with me if you want. I don’t mind sharing.” Jeremy’s sleepy voice called out from the bed.

Alex wasn’t sure what to do; he didn’t really want to leave the room. He was still a little scared to be around his newly acquired aunt and uncle; he had only just met them after all, despite what Jeremy had told him he still had a problem being brave…without Jeremy holding his hand.

“You sure you wouldn’t mind me sharing with you?” Alex asked shyly, his face heating up a bit; he was a little tired after all.

“Nope I don’t mind. Come on.” Jeremy said as he scooted over and patted the bed next to him.

Alex walked over to the bed, crawled under the blanket next to Jeremy, and settled down on one of the pillows.

Without a second of hesitation, Jeremy snuggled close to Alex, tucking his head against the older boy’s chest. Alex just giggled and wrapped an arm around the smaller boy.

“Have a good nap Jeremy.” Alex said quietly.

“You too Lex.” Jeremy yawned before he fell asleep.

                                                              *      *      *

Alex’s mom (Joanne) and Ron didn’t get back until it was nearly dinner time; but Alex didn’t care. He woke up from his nap with Jeremy, a small little furnace tucked against his chest.

After they woke up and a little snack the two of them played the rest of the afternoon, acting out more super hero adventures with Jeremy’s action figures and building futuristic cars and space ships out of Legos.

“Alex, Jeremy, dinner’s ready.” Jeremy’s mother called up the stairs around six o’clock.

The boys put their toys and Legos away before going downstairs.

“Did you have fun today Al?” Ron asked as the boys came into the dining room.

Jeremy and Alex sat down next to each other, scooting their chairs closer to each other, before Alex answered.

“Yes I did, I played with Jeremy all afternoon.” Alex said proudly.

“That’s very nice, I’m glad you had fun.” His mother said as she picked up her glass of wine.

“Where did you two go today, and why didn’t you tell Alex you were leaving?” Jeremy piped up bravely.

Both Joanne and Ron sent glares at Jeremy but the little boy didn’t back down. The two of them stared at the boy until his parent’s came in the dining room, his father carrying plates and silverware and his mother with a large casserole pan.

“I really want to thank you for watching Alex while we were gone today,” Joanne addressed Jeremy’s parents as they passed out plates, “It really was unavoidable and Alex would have been bored out of his mind if he had had to come with us.”

“It wasn’t a problem; the boys spent most of the evening playing. Out of curiosity though where did you go when you left; you were a bit vague on the details.” James asked, sending a small wink to his son and Jeremy smiled, they didn’t have to answer him but they did his daddy.

“We had to meet with a lawyer about Alex’s custody. I’ve been trying to legally adopt him but we’ve run into a hiccup.” Ron answered as he dished Shepard’s pie onto his and Joanne’s plate.

“What sort of a hiccup?” Beth asked but Ron cleared his throat.

“Perhaps that should wait until the boys have gone to bed; it is a rather sensitive topic.” Ron said as he glanced over to Alex, who was sitting with is head bowed toward his plate with his eyes closed tightly, as if he was holding back tears.

Unseen by any of the adults Jeremy laid his small hand on Alex’s knee under the table and gripped it as tightly as he could.

The small gesture snapped Alex out of his painful state and he opened his eyes and looked over at Jeremy with a small smile.

“Yes, maybe waiting would be better.” Beth agreed as she watched the silent exchange between her son and Alex.

Conversation around the table from then on was nothing exciting or even very interesting, at least not to the boys. Once dinner was over Jeremy and Alex helped Beth clear the dishes taking them to the kitchen to be loaded into the dishwasher.

Once they were done, the boys convinced their parents to let them watch a couple of movies in the living room until bedtime.

Once bed time rolled around Beth got up to look around for some bedding, intending to make a pallet on the floor in Jeremy’s room for Alex to sleep on, but Jeremy spoke up.

“Don’t worry about it mom, Alex can share my bed, it is big enough for bof of us.”

“Are you sure honey, I don’t want you boys to kick each other and one of you end up in the floor.” Beth said with a smile.

“Of course I’m sure mommy, we took a nap together earlier and we bof fit just fine; especially if we cuddle up like we did before.” Jeremy stated unabashedly, completely missing the curious looks of the adults in the room.

“Maybe you should ask Alex if it’s ok first Jeremy.” James admonished his son gently, noting that Alex was blushing furiously.

Jeremy looked concerned for a moment before turning to Alex; it had never crossed his mind that Alex wouldn’t want to share with him again.

“Is that ok with you Alex, if not I can sleep on the floor and you can have my bed. You’re a guest after all; you shouldn’t have to sleep on ta floor. That’s what mommy says at least, that guests always get treated nice.” Jeremy said quietly but Alex shook his head.

“YAY, we get to sleep together again!” Jeremy whooped happily.

“Well now that that is settled why don’t you boys go get washed up and changed for bed and then I’ll come up and tuck you in.” James said as he ruffled the boys’ hair.

Both Joanne and Ronald had stayed quiet during the exchange but as the boys headed upstairs, the two of them exchanged knowing looks.

Fifteen minutes later found Alex and Jeremy washed up, stripped out of their play clothes from earlier, and dressed in tank tops and smaller sleep shorts waiting in bed for James.

James came into the room a short time later and smiled when he saw the boys laying close together, Jeremy’s head resting on Alex’s shoulder with an arm around his waist.

“I want you boys to get straight to sleep ok? No playing around. I don’t know about everyone else but I have plans for the two of you tomorrow.” James said as he smiled down at the boys and tucked the covers in loosely around them.

“Ooooh what are we going to be doing Daddy?” Jeremy asked his father but James shook his head.

“That’s a surprise little man, can’t tell you.”

Jeremy play-pouted for a few moments but started giggling when his father ruffled his hair before leaning down to kiss his forehead.

“G’night son, have sweet dreams.” James said as he stood up straight.

“I’ll try Daddy, but don’t forget about Alex.” Jeremy said as he reached up and took his father’s hand to keep him from walking away.

James hesitated for only a moment before he leaned down and gave the older boy another gentle kiss on the forehead before smiling down at him, a little sadly. He knew his brother wasn’t the most affectionate of people, and Joanne didn’t seem to be a very loving person either…and he didn’t know anything about the boy’s natural father.

“You sleep well too Alex, sweet dreams.” James said quietly.

“Thank you…Uncle James…you too.” Alex’s reply was barely above a whisper.

James frowned a little as the boys closed their eyes. He didn’t quite know what it was but there was something off about the whole situation with his brother and his new wife. He wasn’t sure what it was but he was sure that the sweet little boy his son was currently wrapped tightly around would be the one left with the short end of the stick.

Knowing there wasn’t much that he could do though James left the room; he would do what he could to make the next seven days as fun as he could for Alex. Knowing his brother’s propensity for staying out of contact with the family, he knew that this could very well be the first, and last, time he ever saw the boy.

Quietly as he could, James crept out of the room, leaving the boys to rest.

No sooner had the door shut, Alex rolled over, dislodging Jeremy in the process, and curled up onto himself; bring his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them as he cried.

Jeremy was scared for a moment before plucking up his courage and moving closer to the older boy, wiping tears off his face with his small hand.

“Shh, it’s ok Alex, what’s wrong?” Jeremy asked quietly.

“I…I’m…m…miss my dad.” Alex answered between sobs.

“What happened to him, where is he?” Jeremy asked worriedly. He knew that Uncle Ron wasn’t Alex’s real dad so he wondered where he was.

“I…I don’t know. I haven’t seen him in three years. Mommy picked me up from school one day and said we were leaving and I haven’t seen him since then.” Alex answered, his voice steadying out as he spoke.

Jeremy felt the prickle of tears as Alex spoke; he didn’t even want to think about not seeing his daddy for three years; it was such a long time.

“I’m so sorry Alex, it isn’t fair tat you haven’t seen him so long, tat your mommy took you away.” Jeremy said as he wiped tears off his cheeks.

Catching what he was doing Alex uncurled himself and reached up to wipe away Jeremy’s stray tears.

“I’m sorry Jeremy…I didn’t mean to make you cry…Uncle James kissing me on the head reminded me of my dad, he used to do the same thing every night before bed. Sometimes he would read to me. Mom always said that I was too old for it but he did it anyway.” Alex whispered; a small smile on his face as he remembered happy times.

Jeremy moved closer and wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist, snuggling his head against his chest.

“It’s ok Alex…it just made me a little sad. I wouldn’t like being away from my daddy for so long either. Do…do you know why your mom took you away?” Jeremy asked quietly, he didn’t want to upset Alex again but he was curious, he didn’t understand.

“I…I don’t know. Mom said that he didn’t want us around anymore but I don’t believe her, daddy wouldn’t do that…wouldn’t send me away. I know it.” Alex said quietly, though with conviction.

Jeremy ran a hand up and down Alex’s back; it’s what his mom always did when he was sad.

“I bet you’re right, and I bet that your daddy has been looking for you.” Jeremy said quietly and Alex tightened his grip around him.

“I keep hoping he will, every day I hope he’ll come find me.” Alex replied gently.

“He’ll find you one of these days.” Jeremy said against Alex’s chest.

Jeremy blushed when he felt Alex nuzzle the top of his head.

“Thank you Jeremy…goodnight.” Alex whispered.

“You’re welcome Alex.” Jeremy replied, smiling his way into sleep.

                                                             *      *      *

Saturday morning found Jeremy and Alex wrapped up around each other when Beth came in to wake them up for breakfast. The sight of the two little boys snuggled close together, Alex curled protectively around Jeremy and Jeremy holding Alex tightly around the middle, was almost too cute for her to disturb. Indeed, she managed to wait long enough to retrieve her camera and snap a few pictures before she woke them.

“Come on you two, time to get up. James has big plans for you boys today.” Beth called as she shook them awake.

The boys both grumbled unintelligibly before pulling apart ever so slightly and scrubbing sleep from their eyes.

After a few moments, two sets of sleepy, bright blue eyes focused on her and the boys smiled up at her.

“Morning Mommy, what’s for breakfast?” Jeremy asked as he pushed the blanket away, revealing that the boys weren’t only using their arms to keep hold of each other but their legs as well.

After a little maneuvering, the two of them managed to separate themselves and sit up, both yawning expansively and scratching their mussed up hair.

“Always to the point aren’t you son?” Beth asked with a smile.

“I’m a growing boy; daddy says tat means I need a lot of fuel.” Jeremy smiled.

Beth just smiled and shook her head at her son’s antics.

“Breakfast is on the table, but you’ll only find out what it is when you get downstairs. So use the bathroom if you need to, and be sure to wash your hands after, and then come downstairs. You can change after you eat.” Beth smiled as the two boys managed to wiggle around each other and get out bed, in the process Jeremy landed flat on his backside on the floor.

“I’m sorry Jeremy, did I bump you?” Alex asked, looking worried as he helped his cousin to his feet.

Jeremy just laughed and took Alex’s outstretched hand and stood up.

“You didn’t bump me Lex, I’m always a little extra clumsy in ta morning.” The boys laughed, and Beth with them, as they headed downstairs for breakfast.

Breakfast turned out to be eggs, bacon, and waffles. Both boys smiled and eagerly took their places at the table, taking the same too close together chairs they had occupied the night before.

“Where are Uncle Ron and Aunt Joanne?” Jeremy asked as he poured syrup onto his waffles.

“Oh, they decided to sleep in. They have no problem with Alex coming with us today.” James answered as he and his wife sat down.

“You’re not coming wit us today, Mommy?” Jeremy asked as he struggled to cut his waffles with his fork.

“No, not today honey, today it’s just you boys.” She answered with a smile.

The answer satisfied Jeremy and Alex didn’t mind spending the day with his uncle and Jeremy. His mom and Ron not joining them also wasn’t something that bothered him; he didn’t spend much time with them anyway, really.

Soon breakfast was done and the boys were sent upstairs to get dressed.

“Make sure you boys dress in light colors, we might be outside for quite a while today.” James called up the stairs after them.

As the boys pulled off their tank tops and shorts, they couldn’t help but look each other over curiously, Jeremy more so than Alex. Given that Alex was bigger than he was, Jeremy was very curious about his body.
Alex’s arms and legs were longer than his and even though he hadn’t gone through puberty yet his muscles were fuller and more defined, especially those of his arms and chest.

Without thinking about it, Jeremy reached over and squeezed the lump of muscle between Alex’s shoulder and elbow, remembering that his daddy had called it a bicep. He noted that while not as hard as his daddies, (his daddy had a weight set in the basement and Jeremy often watched him work out and would, on occasion, prod or squeeze the muscles of his dad’s arms, just to see what they felt like), that they were still harder than his own skinny arms.

Given how shy he was, some people would probably figure that Alex would have a problem with Jeremy touching him like that; honestly, however, the reverse was true. Since being separated from his father, physical contact wasn’t something that was a common occurrence in Alex’s life, not even a hug or a kiss, the lack of it made Alex very curious. So as Jeremy continued to explore the muscles of his shoulder and arm he let his own hand slide cautiously over the younger boys’ bare stomach.

As he did so, he realized that Jeremy’s skin was very soft, softer than his own; but his attention was drawn to Jeremy’s belly button. Unlike his own, which was like a tiny little cave in the middle of his stomach, Jeremy’s was different. Instead of a little hollow like his, Jeremy’s looked like a small flat bump.

“You’re belly button is different than mine.” Alex said in wonder, touching his own navel in explanation.

Jeremy blushed a little bit and moved the hand that wasn’t on Alex’s arm to his belly button, running his fingers over the bump.

“Daddy says that it is different tan some peoples, he calls it an outie, he says most people have an innie, like yours. Daddies’ is even more different. His is like yours and mine because it is in his stomach like yours but he has a little bump tat sorta sticks out of it too.” Jeremy said before turning his attention back to Alex’s arm.

“Your muscles are bigger tan mine.” He said in a matter of fact way.

“Because I’m older silly. Yours will get bigger as you get older too.” Alex reassured the younger boy with a smile.

“Tey’d better,” Jeremy said as he turned away and padded over to his dresser, “I hope tey get as big as my dad’s he’s got really big arms. He can lift me up over his head wit just one arm.” As he spoke, Jeremy pulled on a bright yellow shirt over his skinny torso and covered his Batman briefs in denim shorts.

“Wow…that’s cool.” Alex said as he dug into his duffle bag for clothes. Aunt Beth had brought it in when she came to wake them.

“Alex will you help me wit my shoes. I still have a hard time tying tem.” Jeremy asked once they were both dressed.

“Sure, I’ll show you how my daddy taught me, then you can try,” Alex said as he knelt down in front of Jeremy, “First you make two loops like this then you cross them like this, push one over the other then under and pull tight.” Alex described as he tied a knot for Jeremy.

“Hmm, tat is different tan what mom and dad showed me. I wonder if I can do it tat way.” Jeremy said as he pulled his leg up and tried for himself.

Alex watched as Jeremy fumbled for a few seconds before he managed to get it. He was smiling as he pulled the knot tight.

Jeremy launched himself off the bed and wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist.

“Tank you, tank you, tank you, Alex.” Jeremy squealed happily as he hugged the older boy.

“You’re welcome Jeremy,” Alex squeezed the boy tight as he spoke; “We’d better get downstairs.” Alex said quietly, even though he was reluctant to pull away.

Jeremy though smiled up at him, grabbed his hand, and pulled him downstairs.

“It’s about time you boys got down here; I thought I would have to send a search party up.” James smiled at the boys, noting their linked hands.

“Sorry Uncle James, we got sidetracked.” Alex piped up, making Jeremy giggle.

“Yea daddy, look at what Alex helped me do.” Jeremy said happily as he balanced on one foot and held up the other, he probably would have fallen over if he hadn’t been holding onto Alex.

James bent down and inspected the knot on the shoe Jeremy held up to him.

“Well Alex, thank you very much for helping Jeremy. He’s been having problems with it.” James smiled at Alex and ruffled the older boy’s hair.

“You’re welcome Uncle James.” Alex blushed and managed to keep eye contact with his uncle.

“Well come on you two, we have a big day ahead of us.” James said as he stood up and after giving his wife a kiss on the cheek and letting the boys do the same, Alex blushing furiously as he did so, he led them out to the garage.

“What are we doing daddy?”

“I thought we would head to the park first, play some catch and you boys could play for a while. Then after that, we’re going to go swimming. My friend Dean is out of town but he gave me the keys to his house and said we could use his pool.” Both boys smiled eagerly at James plans.

“But Uncle James I don’t have any swimming trunks.” Alex said dejectedly.

“That’s ok Alex; we’ll pick up a pair while we’re out; Jeremy needs new ones too.” James smiled when Alex’s face lit up.

Soon the three of them were at the park, bathed in hot sunlight with James teaching them how properly to throw and catch a baseball.

“Very good Alex, be sure to keep your eye on the ball, don’t let it get away from you.” James called as Jeremy threw the ball to his cousin.

“Ok Uncle James.” Alex called happily.

James smiled as he watched the boys throw the ball back and forth to each other. They worked very well together for a pair that hadn’t even known each other for a day. Jeremy was a very laid back, likeable kid, if he did say so himself, and he was also brave and brash for his age. The strange combination made it easy for him to make friends, he wasn’t afraid to approach other kids.

Alex on the other hand seemed to be a very shy kid, clinically even, but there was nothing really wrong with the boy. James suspected that there was a lot more going on with the boy’s situation than what his brother was letting on, James just had no way of proving it.

As shy as the boy was a friend like Jeremy was exactly what he needed, someone who wasn’t afraid to go up to someone else and make friends and didn’t blush whenever they spoke to someone they didn’t know.

It saddened James a bit that the boys wouldn’t have more than a week with each other.

“Daaady, come play wit us.” Jeremy’s voice called him out of his thoughts.

Quickly James hinged on a smile and went to join the boys.

                                                             *      *      *

“Wow Uncle James, Jeremy was right; you do have big muscles.” Alex said as his Uncle came outside form changing into his swim trunks. He and Jeremy had been waiting patiently by the pool’s edge while he was inside.

“When were you boys talking about my muscles?” James asked with a smile as he slipped down into the pool, motioning for the boys to do the same.

Both boys looked at each other before smiling and cannon balling into the pool, splashing James with water. Both boys surfaced a few moments later, smiling and blinking water out of their eyes.

“It was tis morning,” Jeremy said as he swam over to his dad, “When we were getting dressed. I saw tat Alex muscles were bigger tan mine and I told him tat you had really big muscles, tat you could even lift me up wit one arm.”

“You mean like this.” James said before reaching under the water and scooped his son into the air with one arm, his hand braced on the little boy’s sternum.

“See Alex, I told you.” Jeremy squealed happily as his dad lowered him back into the pool.

Alex smiled and swam over to the pair. The water wasn’t very deep for his uncle so he could see his belly button. Shyly he reached out and ran his finger tip over it.

“Jeremy’s right yours is like both of ours but different too.” Alex said curiously.

“Yep, you have an innie and Jeremy has an outie and I have a cross between.” James said in a bemused sort of way, wondering what else the boys had talked about.

Both Jeremy and Alex giggled a bit and swam away, racing each other to the far end of the pool. James smiled at their enthusiasm and was glad that the water wasn’t very deep, only coming up to his own waist.

He dunked himself under the water, getting wet and enjoying the coolness of the water as he submerged.

Once he surfaced he joined the boys in a few rounds of Marco polo and more than a few splashing competitions. After one of their splash war ended the boys pulled themselves up out of the water to sit on the edge of the pool to catch their breaths while James excused himself to use the bathroom inside.

When James came back outside he found that the boys had retreated to the shade under one of the trees and had lain down together. James smiled at the pair; Alex lying on his back with Jeremy curled up next to him, his head on Alex’s shoulder and an arm around his waist.

Deciding to get the obviously tired boys home he went inside and changed back into his clothes from earlier before going to wake them.

Before he woke them though he took a picture of the pair with his phone, to show his wife, he knew it would make her laugh.

“Come on sleepy heads, time to get up. You boys can nap when we get home, after you’ve washed off the chlorine.” James said as he lightly shook the boys.

“Nooo, I don’t want to go home yet…we’re having fun.” Jeremy childishly groaned as he sat up.

“Don’t worry, we can still have fun. You boys need some lunch, a shower and a nap first. Then we’ll have some more fun; I promise.” James promised as the boys blinked up at him.

Alex stood up and helped Jeremy to his feet, though didn’t relinquish his hold on the younger boy’s hand.

“Come on Jeremy…we can still have fun at home too.” Alex said as he pulled him sluggishly to the car.

The boys were asleep by the time they got home again and James had a much more difficult time getting them to wake up again.

“You boys can go on upstairs and get washed off, you don’t have to worry about soap and shampoo right now, just wash off the chlorine with some hot water and change back into your clothes from earlier.” James said as he handed them a bag that had their clothes from earlier.

“Ok Daddy.” Jeremy said sluggishly, he was still groggy from his two micro naps.

“When you boys are done come down and have lunch. If you’re still tired afterward you can go up and take a nap.” Beth said sweetly as the boys ambled off up the stairs.

“You can get in first; I’ll wait in the hall for you.” Alex said as the two of them pushed open the bathroom door.

“Tat’s silly. You can come in too and we can turn ta shower on and wash off togeter.” Jeremy said as he pulled them into the bathroom.

“I don’t know if that would be ok, the two of us taking a bath together.” Alex said worriedly.

“We’re not taking a baf silly, we are taking a shower. And we don’t have to take our suits off. We can wash off like daddy said and when I get done I can get out and change and ten you can when I get done.” Jeremy said, happy with his plan.

“Ok, that sounds like a good idea.” Alex agreed happily.

Jeremy opened the frosted glass shower door, reached in, and turned on the water.

“Is it too hot for you?” He asked as he pulled Alex over to feel the water stream.

Alex reached in and let the water glide over his hand.

“No, this is good for me,” He replied, making Jeremy smile.

“Me too.” Jeremy said and pulled Alex under the water.

The boys let the water cascade down on them, rubbing it through their hair and down their arms and legs.

“Alex, will you rub some down over my back, it itches.” Jeremy asked as he turned his back to Alex.

“Sure.” Alex said and ran his hands up and down over Jeremy’s smooth back and sides.

“Is that better?” Alex asked happily.

“Yes, tank you Alex. Do you need help?” Jeremy asked as he turned to the older boy.

“Nope I’m ok. Let’s get out of here and go get some food. I’m hungry.” Alex said and both boys stepped out of the shower together, forgetting their earlier idea.

“You get changed first. I’ll close my eyes till you’re done.” Jeremy suggested and Alex nodded.

Jeremy closed his eyes and for extra measure put his hands over them too.

Alex, quickly as he could, changed from his swimming trunks and pulled on his clothes from earlier.

“Ok I’m done, you can change now and I’ll wait outside.” Alex said and Jeremy nodded.

Soon the boys were changed and downstairs having lunch.

“So what did you boys do today so far?” Beth asked as the boys tucked into their sandwiches.

“Uncle James took us to the park to play catch and then we went swimming.” Alex answered; Jeremy was busy wolfing down his lunch.

“Well that sounds like a fun time. What do you have planned for the rest of the day?” Beth asked, directing her question to her husband.

“I’m not sure yet, if the boys are still tired after lunch then they are going up for a nap. After that I’m not sure,” James smiled at the two boys as he spoke, “They fell asleep at Dean’s place and in the car on the way home, they’re quite cute when they’re curled up to each other.”

Alex blushed as Beth smiled over at them, but Jeremy just smiled back and went back to eating. Once they were done they both decided that they wanted to take a short nap and made for the stairs.

“Are my mom and Ron home?” Alex asked, pausing halfway up the stairs.

“No honey they left a few hours ago, said they might not be back till late.” Beth answered, worried that her answer might upset the boy.

To the contrary, though, Alex smiled and nodded his head before heading up the stairs after his little cousin.

Alex found Jeremy lying in just his shorts on top of his blanket; he was already scooted up next to the wall, leaving Alex enough space to lie down.

“How come you took your shirt off?” Alex asked as he sat down on the bed.

“It was too hot…you can take yours off too if you want.” Jeremy said sleepily, sliding one hand up under his pillow.

Alex thought about it for a minute before deciding, it was a little hot and his shirt did itch a bit so he decided to follow Jeremy’s example. He pulled off his shirt and lay down next to Jeremy, close enough that their stomachs brushed against each other.

The boys woke up a short time later and after pulling their shirts back on went downstairs.

“The four of us are going to a movie and then to dinner so you boys need to get your shoes and socks back on.” James said to the boys once he saw them at the foot of the stairs.

Both boys cheered at the news and ran to do as they were told.

The smile never left Alex or Jeremy’s face the rest of the evening and never once did they give any thought to Ron or Joanne.

Later that night after taking separate showers, the boys were curled up in Jeremy’s bed, wrapped up around each other as had become their custom.

“I had a lot of fun today. I hope tomorrow is just as fun.” Alex said sleepily and Jeremy snuggled closer to him.

“Me too, Goodnight Alex.” Jeremy replied quietly.

“Goodnight Jeremy.”

* * *

The rest of the week was indeed as fun as the first day, at least to the boys. They didn’t go swimming or to the park and movies every day but even on days when all they did was stay home and played with the actions figures or in the back yard they had fun.

The boys had completely forgotten that Alex was only visiting and only for a short period of time but they were reminded bright and early Friday morning when Ron and Joanne told Alex that he needed to make sure all his clothes were packed up after dinner since they would be leaving Saturday morning.

“Where are you moving to? Will me and Alex be able to see each oter?” Jeremy asked as he lay down his spoon, his Cap’n Crunch didn’t look very good anymore.

“I don’t know about that Jer,” His uncle had taken to calling him Jer and Jeremy wasn’t fond of it at all. “We will be moving out to Texas from here, Houston to be exact. It might be some time before we can get up here again.” Jeremy felt the prickle of tears at the back of his eyes and he blinked rapidly, not wanting to cry in front of everyone.

“Oh…Ok. Is it ok if I go upstairs now? I’m full.” Jeremy asked as he pushed his mostly full bowl of cereal away.

Beth, seeing the tell tail signs of Jeremy being upset, allowed it.

Jeremy said a quick thank you and quickly left the table without looking at anyone.

Alex, knowing his mother hated it when he didn’t finish his meals, ate what was left of his own food as quickly as he could before excusing himself and going up to find Jeremy.

Alex found him sitting on his bed crying and holding onto two action figures, Batman and Robin, the same ones that the boys had played with all week. Seeing Jeremy crying caused his own tears to break free. Tears slipping down his face silently he crawled up on the bed and sat next to Jeremy.

Immediately Jeremy crawled on to the older boy’s lap, wrapped his arms around his neck, and cried into his shoulder.

Alex, likewise, wrapped his arms around the young boy and cried.

“I…I don’t…don’t want you to go.” Jeremy managed between sobs.

Alex felt the same way, he wasn’t sure how far Texas was from Ohio but he had seen maps before and there were a lot of states between the two.

“I don’t want to go either…I…I wish I could stay here with you and Aunt Beth and Uncle James.” Alex said as he held the boy tightly.

“I wish you could too…maybe tey will let you stay.” Jeremy wondered quietly.

Alex smiled sadly but shook head gently; somehow he knew that his mom would never let him stay…even though he thought Ronald might like the idea.

The two of them just sat there holding each other and crying quietly until they had no more tears left. Slowly, Jeremy pulled away but didn’t move off of Alex’s lap.

“I’m sorry I got your shirt wet.” Jeremy whispered worriedly.

“It’s ok Jeremy, I got yours wet too.” Alex just shrugged.

After a few moments, Alex decided that he didn’t want to spend the whole day sad and crying, he didn’t know when he’d get to see Jeremy again.

“Come on Jeremy, me and you are going to go play and we’re going to make today the best day of the whole week.” Alex said seriously and Jeremy gave him a watery smile.

“Ok Alex.” Jeremy said as he crawled off Alex’s lap and onto the floor.

Hand in hand, the boys headed downstairs and went outside.

“Let’s build another sand castle.” Jeremy smiled as he pulled Alex over to the sand box.

“Ok, Jeremy.” Alex replied as he pulled off his shoes and socks.

Jeremy followed suit and soon the boys were covered in sand and smiling, for now all thoughts of their impending separation put off from their minds.

The boys spent the entire afternoon together, playing outside or upstairs in Jeremy’s room. Both sets of parents tried to bring the boys attention elsewhere several times but to no avail. Jeremy and Alex were too enamored with each other to give their parents much heed, especially giving that they would soon be separated.

Given that it was the last night of their stay, and the fact that they knew Jeremy and Alex were upset about Alex leaving, Beth and James decided that they would have a little party at dinner.

They got a few movies that both boys mentioned wanting to see and ordered pizza and after spreading a blanket on the living room floor allowed them to eat there while they watched the movies. Once the pizza was gone they had ice cream with caramel sauce.

Soon though it was over and as the credits for the last movie ended the boys ambled upstairs to Jeremy’s room.

The boys lay down and immediately Jeremy moved next to Alex, wrapping his arms tightly around the older boy and hustling his head under his chin. Alex in turn held his younger cousin tightly, as though hoping if he held him tight enough that he wouldn’t have to be separated from him.

“I’ll miss you after tonight Jeremy.” Alex whispered quietly, trying to hold back his tears.

“I’ll miss you too Alex…I…I hope you won’t forget about me…You’re ta best friend I ever had.” Jeremy replied brokenly, unable to be strong like Alex and keep from crying.

“I won’t ever forget you Jeremy…I’ll write you letters all the time and I’ll call you as often as I can and I’ll do my best to get mom and Ron to come back to visit….You’re my best friend too.” Alex finally lost the battle with his tears and cried brokenly along with Jeremy.

The boys lay there just crying and clinging to each other until they cried themselves into sleep.

Saturday morning both boys were very depressed and would hardly touch their food and several times both Alex and Jeremy had to wipe a stray tear off their cheeks.

“Well Al it’s time to go. You need to say your goodbyes.” Ronald said shortly after breakfast.

Alex gave a hug and a kiss on the cheek to both his Aunt and Uncle, telling them thank you for everything they had done saying much he’d miss them.

“Well miss you too Alex…you be sure to keep that baseball glove in good condition for when you visit next.” James said as he hugged the boy extra tightly.

Alex smiled at the mention of the glove; his uncle had bought it for him the day they went to play catch in the park.

“I will Uncle James.” Alex said quietly as he walked up to Jeremy, who stood trembling a little ways away.

“I’ll…I’ll miss you so much Jeremy…but I’ll send you a letter as soon as we get there and I’ll call as soon as I can.” He reassured the younger boy, tears sliding down his face.

“I’ll miss you too Alex…I want you to have tis.” Jeremy said quietly as he pulled a red and yellow Robin action figure out of his pocket.

The figure was part of a set; it went along with a Batman action figure and were the same two figures the boys had played with all week. At first Jeremy considered giving Alex the Batman figure since that was the one he played with but he didn’t want Alex to forget about him so he decided the Robin figure made more sense…Jeremy was always Robin after all.

“Are…are you sure Jeremy?” Alex asked quietly.

“I’m sure…I have lots of toys and I want you to have it. So…so when you play with it you’ll tink about me…so you won’t forget.” Jeremy said as he pushed the figure into Alex’s hand.

Alex wished he had something that he could give Jeremy in return but he didn’t so he pushed the toy into his pocket and pulled Jeremy into a tight hug, holding him close and giving him a kiss on the cheek, which Jeremy returned.

The boys stayed like that for several minutes and would have stayed much longer except the strong, but gentle hands that pried them apart.

Alex, knowing he had to go, surrendered to the gentle push of his uncle but Jeremy was much more reluctant and when Alex was finally free of his grip he clung to his father tightly.

After a final round of good byes and promises to visit as soon as they could Ronald and Joanne turned to leave, leaving Alex to reluctantly follow; his thumb rubbing across the action figure in his pocket through the clothe.

Jeremy, unable to watch his best friend walk away, hid his face in his fathers’ leg until he heard the front door close. When the door thudded closed Jeremy ran up to his room threw himself on to his bed and cried into his pillow.

Reaching under the pillow he closed his little hand around the Batman figure that Alex had played with all week.

He heard his door open but didn’t look up when he felt his bed dip and two hands, one brush through his hair and another, larger one, stroking his back. His parents had come in to comfort him.

“It’s ok son, I know it hurts right now but it won’t be the last time you see Alex, we’ll make sure of it.” James tried to comfort the crying child. He knew after that first day that it would be difficult for Jeremy when Alex had to leave. In the short time they had known each other the two of them had become completely enamored with one other, joined at the hip.

James figured most men would be worried about their son being so attached to another boy but it didn’t bother James in the slightest. Jeremy was a very sweet, loving boy, very open with his affection and Alex was a very lovable kid.

Besides, James knew what it was like to have someone you cared about so fully be taken away from you after too short of a time. He felt a pang in his chest at the memories but pushed it away.

“Your father is right Jeremy. We’ll make sure that we see Alex as much as we can, and until then, we took lots of pictures. If you want we can frame one and put it up on the wall.” Beth spoke softly as she carded her fingers through the boy’s hair.

“I…I’d like tat…can we put it by my bed” Jeremy asked quietly as he turned over to look at his parents, tears streaks down his face.

“Of course honey, we’ll do it tomorrow.” Beth said quietly and James nodded in agreement.