The Ticklish Brotherhood - 14. Playful Bonding

The sparkly-eyed brothers got to their feet, then shared a glance, and the duo launched themselves at the family elder.

Tony grunted as he and his grandsons toppled to the floor, giggling, wrestling, and rolling around until Mikey pinned his hands under his knees so the brunette could tickle his armpit hollows, neck, and ears. He howled with laughter and kicked, but Anthony stopped that by straddling his animated legs. The volume and pitch of his laughs rose when the blonde targeted his stomach and just above his hips. "You Imps are gonna regret this sooo much when I get my hands on you," he threatened while boisterously cackling and struggling.

The upper body tickling stopped, so he thought it was over, but in seconds, he was squealing and giggling like crazy because Mickey and Airen decided to get in on the fun and tickled his feet. When the foot tickles ceased, Tony smiled as his youngest adult grandsons sat on either side of him, and their sons climbed onto his lap. All four sported bright, angelic smiles, hugging and kissing him. He wrapped his arms around them, and his life and love-filled eyes shined like the early morning sun as he returned the affection.

"The four of you are so dead."

"It was totally worth anything you dish out, Pappy."

"Mikey's right. You know how long we've waited to tickle you." Anthony said.

Tony shook his head when his grandsons and great-grandsons looked at him with their most innocent, angelic smiles and adorable dimpled cheeks.

"Hey, that's sooo cheating. You know I've got no defense against you two Imps' looking like angels with your dimples, let alone those of the Junior Imps."

Everyone giggled and nodded their heads in agreement.

Mikey got to his feet and said, "Okay, everyone under ten years old, give the adults hugs and kisses, then get in the shower and dressed for school. Breakfast's in about thirty minutes, and Uncle John's taking you to school this morning. He texted earlier and said that Raver's been driving him and Chance nuts wanting to see his brothers again."

"But, Mattie and me's already showered, Daddy," Aiden playfully whined. He lurched forward, yelping, and then rubbed the spot where his husband pinched his left butt cheek, clad in basketball-decorated lounge pants.

"I meant everyone physically under ten years old," Mikey added as he giggled.

Aiden growled at his younger brother, grabbing him in a headlock. He gave the squealing boy a noogie and a kiss before tickling the right side of his bare ribs, making Mikey howl with raucous laughter as his lower body danced and jumped around like a cricket.

"C'mon, Aireybug," Mickey said, giggling.

"Are you sure they're the adults," Airen innocently asked.

"S'posed to be, but sometimes I wonder, Baby Bro."

The giggly boys ran from the room before they could be trapped.

Dakota bent his knees, wrapped his arms around Tony's upper legs, and surprised his grandpa as he slung the yelping elder over his shoulder. "You're on breakfast duty with me, Pappy," he said with an amused smirk.

"Hey, this isn't supposed to happen to me," Tony whined in playful protest of being treated like a potato sack while still boyishly giggling.

Aiden, Mattie, Anthony, and Mikey got a kick from watching what happened since it was the first time they'd ever seen anyone do that to their pappy because he was usually the one to lift and carry someone.

"I wuv you, Pappy," Dakota said, giggling as he walked out of the bedroom with his animated passenger.

"Yeah, yeah, Cherokee boy. Just wait till I get my revenge on you."

Giggling, Aiden hollered, "It's about time, someone got ya, Pappy," when the pair was out of sight.

The new grandpa and grandson team worked well together, creating a hearty breakfast of pepper jack and mozzarella cheese omelets with diced ham and spinach. They also pulled a Ziplock bag of garlic and cheddar cheese biscuits that Mikey had prepared from the freezer and popped them in the oven.

Upstairs, Anthony pulled on his light blue jeans and was about to slip into a light green long-sleeved polo shirt when his Peter Pan-like brother crept up behind him, making him jump and squeal like a girl when he placed his ice-cold hands in the center of his back, and screamed.

Mikey fell back on the queen-sized bed, hysterically laughing and pointing at his brother while his legs kicked in the air.

"Holy shit, Mikey," he managed to say after holding his chest while his heart felt like it was gonna beat right out of his chest.

"I wish..." Mikey started to say but had to stop because he was laughing so hard. Finally, he calmed enough to say, "I wish I'd gotten a vid of your reaction, bro. That was epic."

"I'll give you something epic to laugh about."

Anthony growled as he jumped on the bed. After struggling with and pinning the squealing and giggling overgrown boy, he issued the ultimate punishment of an atomic noogie followed by a pink belly. His symphonic golden-toned laughs blended with his captive's shrieks and laughter as the sound echoed throughout the bedroom. After a minute or two, he released Mikey, pulled his brightly smiling brother onto his lap, wrapped his arms around the slender male, and cuddled him.

"Damn, I've missed this."

Mikey sighed as he leaned his head back against the warm, firm chest supporting him.

"I did too, Ant."

"Mikey, I... I need to apologize to you."

The blonde sat up, turned his head, and gazed into the sapphire blue eyes of his brotherly soul mate.

"What for?"

Anthony sniffed. He dried the tears welling in his eyes before resting his chin on Mikey's shoulder as he rocked them back and forth, tightening the love-filled embrace in which he held his brother.

"Well, first, for not being better at staying in touch or finding the time to come see you."

Mikey took a breath, but Anthony's index finger quickly touched his lips, and he closed his mouth.

"Second, I need to apologize for not noticing, or maybe it's simply that I didn't want to realize and accept how much you've matured. At first, when you were so agreeable to your husband's requests outside of the library and weren't the instant reactive running headlong into a situation boy that Aiden and I knew you to be, my first thought was Dakota held too much influence over you or was overbearing and stifled your Mikeyness. I even maintained that thought when you didn't drop everything to go running after Kota when he left to work with the police at the house that was broken into. However, after hearing your explanation, I realized I was probably in one of the neighboring states with how off-base my conclusion was. Mikey, after thinking about what happened on the old property next door and watching you decide your reactions and actions based on what's best for Mickey and Dakota, baby bro, I'm so fuckin' proud of you. Not only are you still a loving brother and my nonromantic soul mate, but you're the perfect mate and father for your husband and son."

Tears streamed down their cheeks as the brothers hugged and kissed each other.

"You never have to apologize for anything, Antboy. Staying in constant communication and making time for visits are two-way streets. As far as Dakota's influence goes, it goes both ways. I hope we influence, inspire, and ultimately make each other a better person and active participant in our marriage and fatherhood. In case you haven't noticed, my dear big brother, Airen, is already bonding with you and calling you his daddy. I know in my heart that you're on your way to becoming a kick-ass father and one hell of an uncle to Mickey." Mikey paused and giggled, then added, "I can't wait for you to meet Raven because he'll be an honorary nephew to you, the rest of our brothers, and Pappy's next great-grandson."

"Who are his parents?"

Mikey grinned like the Cheshire Cat, saying, "You'll see." He yelped when his brother's arm wrapped around his neck, trapping him in an inescapable headlock.

"Not gonna talk, huh,” Anthony asked as his fingers pressed into the spaces between his brother's bare ribs.

Mikey's wild shrieking laughter poured from his open mouth, his arms and legs flailed, his body writhed on the blonde's lap, and he kept hollering, "No tickle rule... No tickle rule."

Aiden leaned in the doorway, smiling and watching his little brothers, who weren't so little anymore, at least not physically. He quietly chuckled as happy memories of their games and antics played like a movie in his mind.

"They've grown up, haven't they, my loverboy."

Matthieu softly giggled when Aiden jumped because of the unobserved appearance.

"I love every one of our brothers, Mattie, but Mikey and Ant…"

Aiden smiled and wiped the tears from his cheeks as his husband's arms wrapped around him, and the shorter brunette kissed his shoulder blade before resting his head against his back.

"I know, Aiden. Mikey and Ant are our angel brothers and will always be the brotherhood's magical boys."

The light and slightly darker-haired men smiled as they rubbed noses, and their love flowed between them until they separated.

Aiden's sapphire blue eyes sparkled with mischief as he said, "I swear, I'll never know who the biggest kid is in this house." He smirked, sucked his teeth, then shook his head and continued, "Mikey, if you could see fit to stop tickling your brother, maybe you two children can come and eat breakfast with the rest of us." The looks he received from the younger pair almost caused the teasing blonde to abandon his commentary because of the laughter that threatened to break free. "Honestly, you two should know better than engaging in all this frivolity and horseplay at your age when there are two starving little boys and two famished mature young men waiting to eat."

Mikey growled before launching himself at the eldest of the Giovanni twins as he started backing out of the doorway with his palms facing the room. His compact, slender body collided with the nervously giggling thirty-year-old, taking him down and straddling the blonde's waist.

Aiden grunted and struggled under his brother's muscle-toned body as he wriggled side to side. His sock-clad feet slid back and forth on the lightly colored hardwood flooring until his husband and youngest birth brother grabbed his ankles and straightened his legs, keeping them stationary. "Sooo not fair, ganging up on me," he childishly whined in protest.

With matching grins and big bright eyes, Mickey and Airen sat on the floor, facing the long, slightly wide pair of size twelves wiggling and twisting like crazy. The giggly duo licked their lips before tickling their uncle's trapped soles and watching with wonderous excitement as the man's toes flexed and scrunched inside the soft, cushioned, ankle-length white fabric with gray toe and heel patches.

"You're all cheaters," Aiden exclaimed as his youthful squeals and giggles filled the second-floor hallway.

"Boys, I think Uncle Aiden's tickled your feet long enough," Mikey said, giggling as his mischief-filled eyes sparkled like diamonds. He snapped his fingers and called out, "Mickey."

"Yeah, Daddy?"

"Why don't you whisper in your brother's ear, tell him what a magical, super duper, special deluxe Mickey kiss is, and the two of you give one to your Uncle so he can enjoy the one-of-a-kind experience for himself."

Mikey giggled when Mickey did what was asked while his oldest brother glared at him.

Aiden's head turned left to right as the smiling boys sat on either side of him, wrapped their arms around his chest, leaned close to his face, and blew raspberries on his cheeks while tickling his sides. His body squirmed, his legs kicked as he giggled and squealed like a little kid.

"We love you," Mickey said.

"I've never had Unkies or anyone as loving, giggly, and ticklish as my new family is," Airen stated with a butter-melting smile.

The angelic brothers gave their uncle a hug and kiss filled with so much love that he almost gasped.

Tears dripped down Aiden's cheeks as the emotional male wrapped his arms around their smaller glowing bodies, pulling them into a warm and loving embrace with his head between theirs, and kissed their cheeks. "I love you two so much that words would never express the depth and strength of my feelings," he said.

Anthony, Mattie, and Mikey held one another as each dried his brother's tears, and a second later, they giggled when Aiden looked straight at Mikey, mouthing, "Payback."

Matthieu clapped his hands, and Anthony said, "Okay, all those in favor of riding the Giggly Boys Express, raise your hand and cheer."

Mickey and Airen jumped up and down, cheering with their hands raised.

Airen stopped and asked, "What's a Giggly Boys Express, Daddy."

Anthony grinned as he got on one knee and hugged his hopefully soon-to-be son.

“Would you like me or one of your Unkies to show you?"

The dark-haired boy looked between the adults and giggled as he pointed to Matthieu.

"I'll choose my Uncle Ant," Mickey excitedly announced.

Anthony stood up just in time for the energized boy to plow into his legs, knocking him back on the floor. He squirmed and giggled with his nephew as the youth tickled him before kissing his cheek. After getting to his feet, Mickey got on his back for a ride.

Airen learned what the GBE was because, during the ride downstairs, his and Mickey's feet were tickled, making them both very giggly boys.

Mikey giggled, bent over, picked Aiden up off the floor, and held his brother like someone being carried over a threshold on their honeymoon.

"What the... How is it that all my little brothers can pick me up," Aiden squawked as he kicked his legs in midair.

"You know you love being played with, big bro. Just sit back and enjoy the ride," Mikey teased before kissing his brother's cheek.

"Oh, your payback's gonna be so astronomical it won't be calculable."

"Wow! You used two big words in one sentence. You've been reading, haven't you?"

Aiden growled at his giggling brother and continued to protest his being carried as they headed down the stairs. He was still going strong with the playful rant when they entered the kitchen. "Someone, tell my kid brother to put me down.” The kitchen erupted with laughter from his whiny request.

"Unkie Mikey, Unkie Aiden's gonna need a refund for his ride because he's not a giggly boy," Airen innocently said with an angelic grin.

"Let's see if we can't change that because I already spent what he paid me."

The second he felt fingers pressing into and kneading his sides, Aiden's body rocked back and forth, his legs kicked, and howling laughter flew from his mouth, blending with the other laughs in the room.

"Love ya, Aidenator," Mikey said as he giggled and put his brother down.

As soon as he was on his feet, Aiden turned, grabbed the giggly retreating brunette in a bear hug, and smiled as he kissed his brother's nose. "Love ya so much more, Mikey," he said.

And the fun keeps going. 
 
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