The Ticklish Brotherhood - 5. Making A New Friend & Meeting New Brothers

"Have you got everything you need, sweetie," Florence asked as she stood at the front door of the two-story, hundred-year-old Victorian lake house and lovingly smoothed her newly acquired foster son's hair.

"Yes, Grandma Baker," Airen respectfully replied. His big eyes sparkled, his body squirmed, and he giggled when he was tickled on his sides. "You cheated, Grandpa Baker," he said as he turned to hug his smiling tickler.

"Not my fault, you see, they gave us this cute and adorable ticklish little boy," Walter replied.

Airen squealed happily and kicked his puppy-decorated sock-clad feet when he was lifted off the floor, thrown over the older man's shoulder, and spun around.

On Friday afternoon, the sixty-five-year-old housewife and her seventy-year-old husband, Walter Baker, had taken in a raven-haired seven-year-old, bright brown-eyed half-Cherokee and half-Blackfoot American Indian boy named Airen Playful Otter Blackhawk. This placement was temporary and just one of many for the boy as he was continuously shuffled through the foster care system.

Florence giggled. Then she kissed her husband and said, "Put the boy down so he can get his shoes on, and I can take him to his first day of school, Walt."

Walter boyishly grinned as he lowered the giggly kid to the light-colored hardwood flooring and loudly whispered, "Grandma doesn't let me have enough fun," he jumped and yelped when his wife pinched his arm. "I think she heard me."

Airen shook his head and laughed at the couple's playful antics. "You're both fun and loving," he said.

"Thank you, dear. We do try to make sure our charges stay with us is a happy one," Florence responded as she gently kissed the youngster's head. "I'll pick you up when school's let out."

"We'll also make sure you have some cookies and milk when you get home," Walter said.

"Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa."

Walter kissed his wife and lightly ruffled Airen's hair, then closed and locked the front door after he watched them get in his wife's Beige Twenty-Twenty Chevrolet Tahoe.

*****

Dakota flicked his blinker on, turned left into the parking lot of Lakeside Elementary, and parked his Twenty-Twenty-Two forest green Chevrolet Silverado along the sidewalk with the other parents dropping their kids off. The half-Irishman turned and smiled at his excited boy.

"I want you to be the best Mickey you can be, my little Warrior boy," Dakota said as he playfully tickled his blonde-haired son's side.

Mickey squirmed and sweetly giggled as his eyes brightly sparkled, like Mikey's. "I will, Daddy. I love you," he replied as he turned and wrapped his arms around his dad's neck.

"I love you too, my bright, shining star boy," Dakota said as tears dripped down his lightly tanned cheeks.

Mickey kissed his dad's cheek before jumping down from the pickup. He smiled, waved, and joined his other schoolmates entering the building as Dakota pulled away from the curb.

*****

Airen walked into the classroom and looked around as a feeling of being alone in another new school crept into him. He closed his eyes and shook his dark, shoulder-length hair as his attention was grabbed by a boy, who looked to be of American Indian descent, waving him over to an empty seat beside his.

"Hi, I'm Raven Smiling Fox Twocrow-Paxton," the smiling boy said.

"I'm Airen Playful Otter Blackhawk," Airen responded as he sat down and shook hands with the other boy.

"Are you American Indian?"

"I am,' Raven said.

"Do you know what tribe? "I'm Blackfoot and Cherokee, half and half," Airen said excitedly.

"I'm from the Appomattoc tribe."

"I think they were from the Virginia area."

"Yep, their region was between Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, Hopewell, and the Colonial Heights areas."

"You've got two daddies? That's cool," Airen said. "I'm a foster kid, and just this weekend, I was temporarily placed with a nice older couple. I call them Grandma and Grandpa Baker."

"My daddies are really fun and loving," Raven said, "I was a foster boy, but my daddies adopted me last year."

"I'm hoping to be adopted someday."

Raven thought Airen was too cute to start crying, so he grinned as he reached over and playfully poked his index finger between the new boy's ribs. Airen instantly squirmed and giggled before blushing.

"You cheated, Raven," Airen mock-whined.

"I needed to make you smile, and, well, I'm very ticklish, and decided to see if my new friend was ticklish too."

Airen looked into the other boy's light brown eyes and smiled.

"You want me to be your new friend?"

"If that's ok with you, Airen."

"I'd love to be friends with you, Raver," Airen happily said.

Raven giggled and said, "I love the nickname you gave me, Airey."

"I love your name for me too, Raver."

The boys settled down when the teacher walked into the room and began the day's lesson after having Airen introduce himself.

*****

Mikey was on cloud nine as he, Helen, and his brothers said goodbye to the kids and parents after story time.

"Thanks for sticking around to read to the kids, guys," Mikey said.

"It's been a long time since we've had the chance to do that," Aiden stated.

During the reading, the slightly older blonde-haired, playful men couldn't resist throwing in an unscripted capture of Peter Pan, complete with telling the boys and girls about the magical boy's secret and very ticklish weakness as they tickled Mikey's green tights-clad feet to get him to tell them the location of his hidden lair.

Aiden and Anthony helped Mikey and Helen clean up the reading area after changing out of the costumes they wore for the story.

"You three are still as playful with each other as you were when you were young boys and teens," Helen said as she dabbed her tears with a Kleenex. "It's beautiful to see."

Mikey, Anthony, and Aiden blushed and giggled as their arms wrapped around the older woman.

"Mikey, it's not that busy today. I think you can take the rest of the afternoon off and enjoy the time with your brothers," Helen said.

"Are you sure, Mam-Maw?"

"Yes, I'm sure, baby boy. Besides, Alec will be here in a couple hours. You three go on and have fun."

Mikey smiled, then kissed and hugged the head librarian. "I love ya, Mam-Maw. Call me if you need anything this weekend. I'll keep tabs on my messages."

"I will, my sweet boy," Helen giggled when Anthony and Aiden hugged and kissed her. "I love you, my adorable scamps," she said while playfully smacking the boys' behinds.

"We love you, too, Mam-Maw," the brothers said in unison.

Mikey's eyes sparkled as soon as they were outside in the bright sunlight. Before he knew what was happening, the giggly brunette tackled Aiden and tickled his sides as they fell to the lush green grass. The eldest of the brotherhood shrieked and howled with laughter as he and his jovial tickle attacker rolled around on the ground like little kids. Not wanting to be left out, Anthony jumped into the mix and tickled the blonde and brunette wherever he could reach. Their boisterous and playful roughhousing attracted the attention of the people walking by the library enjoying the autumn afternoon. Finally, the tickle fight ended with Mikey being pinned under his two older brothers, getting tickled into oblivion, and loving every minute of it.

Dakota pulled into the parking spot beside his husband's Corvette. The half-Cherokee shook his head, then giggled when he saw the three young men playing and acting like they were little boys in a schoolyard and not supposedly grown men.

They must be the famous Amazing Antboy and Aiden The Mighty I've heard so much about, he thought as he approached the sweat-soaked and giggling trio.

"I missed hearing my baby bro's laughter when he's happy and being tickled," Anthony said as he hugged and kissed his brothers.

"It's definitely an amazing sound," Dakota said with a bright smile.

Mikey lit up like a Christmas Tree, then jumped to his feet and ran at the newcomer. Dakota grunted when his childlike husband slammed into him, taking them both to the ground. He and Mikey wrapped their arms around each other, sharing a loving and slightly passionate kiss. "I love you," they said as their eyes locked.

"Aww, they're so cute," Aiden said as he wrapped his arms around Anthony's chest, hugging him.

"I take it this is Dakota," Anthony stated, giggling.

"If I'm not Dakota, then Mikey's gonna have to do a lot of explaining when he learns about his husband locking lips with another man."

Anthony and Aiden were doubled over, laughing like crazy and shaking their heads at the new arrival's statement.

"I think he's gonna be a perfect fit for the brotherhood. He's definitely the perfect match for our Super Mikey," Anthony said.

"Hold up, little bro," Aiden said, "Don't forget, I still get the final say," he stood with his arms crossed over his chest, grinning.

"Yes, Antboy, this is Dakota," Mikey said between his signature giggles.

"Nice to finally meet the famous Amazing Antboy," Dakota said as he stood up and held his hand out to the slightly shorter blonde male. He smiled when his arm was gently moved to the side and was given a very love-filled hug that reminded him of Mikey's hugs.

Before the embrace ended, a disturbing vision appeared to the half-Irishman, and not wanting to disrupt the light-hearted afternoon, Dakota quickly masked his expression, he hoped before Mikey could notice it, and then forced the images to the back of his mind, to be disclosed at a later time.

"Wow! Your hug is strong, loving, and protective," Anthony observed as he stepped back and gazed into the love-filled, soft brown eyes of the man holding him.

"Pale-faced new brother's hug is similar to his brother's famous hugs," Dakota replied.

"Hey, that's kinda racist, isn't it," Aiden exclaimed.

Dakota smirked and said, "Not if you've got American Indian blood in your veins."

Mikey giggled and smacked his husband's arm. "Pay no attention to the heap, big warrior." He squealed and squirmed as his laughter flowed like a mountain river when Dakota grabbed him in a chokehold, gave him a noogie, and tickled his side.

"Ok, I think he's gonna be an awesome addition to the brotherhood," Aiden said, giggling.

Dakota smiled, then said, "Thanks for accepting me, Aiden The Mighty."

Aiden squealed and squirmed before boyishly giggling when the slightly shorter raven-haired man picked him up in a bear hug. "You're definitely amazing, Dakota. I'm not used to many guys being able to lift me off the ground," he said when he was back on his feet. His eyes sparkled when he decided to play the "confusion" trick he and his twin Jordan loved playing on people. "How do you know I'm Aiden?"

"I asked Mikey which one was Aiden and which one was Jordan when I saw the pictures of you two. Mikey would point to the twin with his hair parted to the left and say, that's Jordan. Your hair is parted on the right, so you're Aiden."

"He's good," Anthony said as he smiled and wrapped his arms around Mikey's waist, hugging his brother.

"I know, just wait," Mikey said, giggling.

Aiden's eyes sparkled a bit more. He loved that Dakota was giving him a challenge. "Nice job noticing that difference. However, how do you know I'm not Jordan pretending to be Aiden," the thirty-year-old smirked. He was sure he'd stumped his new brother.

Dakota grinned as he stared into Aiden's mesmerizing, life-filled, playful blue eyes.

"If you were Jordan, trying to impersonate Aiden, then your hair would show signs of the part being forced to go against the way the strands were trained. Your hair is naturally parted to the right, so you're Aiden."

"I don't believe it. Dakota didn't fall for the trick Aiden and Jordan play on new people," Anthony said as his eyes blinked.

"That's my brave warrior,' Mikey proudly stated.

"I'm soooo tickling you, Super Mikey, for telling him about the parts in our hair," Aiden playfully growled before giggling like a little kid.

"I never told him about the hair part, Aidenator. Kota-Bear noticed that on his own," Mikey punctuated his testimony with a blown raspberry at his older brother and his boyish giggles.

"There's another difference," Dakota said. He giggled when the three brothers turned and stared, open-mouthed at him.

"Well," Mikey asked with his arms in the air.

"Well, what, my warrior angel?"

"Are you gonna tell us, or do I need to tickle it out of you?"

"Why give him the option? Let's tickle him," Anthony and Aiden exclaimed.

Dakota had no chance against the giggling trio. They pounced on him, pinned him to the ground, then after Mikey removed his shoes and socks, he was hurled into a bottomless chasm of hysterical tickle-induced roaring laughter. Anthony's slender fingers massaged and kneaded the deep and hairy hollows of his armpits. Meanwhile, Aiden's ten, experienced, nimble digits explored the lightly tanned man's stomach, ribs, and hips. Mikey put the knowledge of his husband's very ticklish feet to good use by lightly stroking and strumming his manicured fingernails along the soft, bare soles and gently nibbling on the plump, wiggling toes. After a couple of minutes, he cried uncle. The tickles ceased. They were replaced with six arms wrapped around him, and three giggling young men cuddled him and kissed his cheeks.

"That was fuckin' awesome!" Dakota exclaimed as he continued giggling from the residual ticklish tingles. "I love this family."

"So, Aiden The Mighty," Mikey asked amidst his giggles, "did my Kota-Bear pass his test?"

Aiden's smile was wide, and his eyes were filled with love and playfulness. "With flying colors, little brother. Dakota's a perfect match for our brotherhood, and more importantly, he's your perfectly matched husband. Welcome to the ticklish brotherhood, Dakota," he said.

"Ok, brave warrior," Anthony said, giggling, "What's this other difference between Aiden and Jordan?"

Dakota grinned and replied, "His eyes."

"What about my eyes," Aiden asked. He was truly curious because other than he and Jordan being mirror images of one another, neither they nor their brothers realized there was another difference between them.

"Your eyes have a playful sparkle that Jordan's don't have. It's similar but subtle and not as bright or pronounced as Mikey's eyes."

Dakota tossed his head back, boisterously laughing at the shocked expressions on his new brothers' and husband's faces.

"I wonder if anyone else has noticed this difference," Anthony mused.

"I never did," Mikey said.

"Yeah, neither have Jordan or I," Aiden offered. He giggled and said, "I'll bet Pappy's noticed it. He notices everything about us."

"We'll have to ask him when he gets here," Mikey said.

Dakota put his socks and shoes back on, grabbed his mate's waist, and tossed him over his shoulder, saying, "C'mon, angel boy, I'm taking you to lunch at the ice cream parlor."

Mikey whooped and hollered as he kicked his legs. "You guys are coming, right," he asked.

"Oh, yeah," Anthony and Aiden said.

The young men piled into Dakota's four-door Silverado. Mikey happily squealed when his husband placed him in the driver's seat.