Mental Games - 29. Soak City

By the time Mike, Adam, Jack and Megan reached the end of the trail again, they saw their parents had returned from shopping and were unloading the van. In order to see if they could help, the four of them hurried back and were greeted by their parents as they approached.

"And where have you been?" Judy asked playfully, and Jack and Megan quickly looked at Mike and Adam to see how they were going to respond.

"We just went for a little walk, that's all," Mike told his mother. Jack and Megan both looked relieved when they heard Mike's answer.

"Well now you can help us carry these things inside," his father countered, as he picked up some more items to take into the cabin.

"Why is your shirt wrapped around Megan's leg?" Rita followed after noticing Adam was shirtless and Megan had one tied around her calf.

"She got scratched by a twig while we were out there, so I used my shirt to cover it. I'm going to take her inside to clean and bandage it, but it's really not too bad," Adam advised them. "I just wanted to make sure it was kept clean, so it didn't get infected."

Jim went over to check out Megan's leg too, and quickly agreed with Adam's assessment. As Adam led her into their cabin, Jack jumped in and grabbed a few of the bags his father had pointed out. As Jack was carrying those items to the cabin, Jim carried his wife inside and put her back into her wheelchair so she could help put things away.

For the rest of Saturday and Sunday, the families passed the time swimming and taking more walks. Since they had picked up some special items during their shopping trip too, they also had another cookout on Sunday afternoon. After they finished eating, they were all enjoying another round of bocce and horseshoes when they began to hear a commotion and looked around to see where it was coming from and what was causing it. That's when they noticed there was a fairly large group of people on the other side of the lake that seemed to be having a party. What they heard was the sound of the loud music they were playing, along with their shouting to each other and the firecrackers they were setting off that had caught their attention in the first place.

Mike and Adam quickly decided that they wanted to check this out and planned to take a canoe ride over to the other side of the lake so they could see what was going on. As soon as they told their parents what they were going to do, Jack and Megan announced that they wanted to go with them, but Jim didn't think it would be a good idea. His kids, however, continued to plead and beg him to let them go too, when Melinda finally spoke up and said she thought it would be all right, as long as they didn't stop over there. After she had said this, Jim relented and allowed the kids to go along with Mike and Adam.

Once that had been decided, a new discussion arose. That was due to the fact that Jim wanted his kids to put on the life jackets again, but they didn't want to wear them. After pleading with their father about it, they turned to Mike and Adam for support, but the boys said they didn't want to get involved and stated it was up to their parents. That's when Jack asked his father to get Mike and Adam to tell him whether they thought they needed to wear the life jackets or not.

"Ok, since you two taught them how to swim, you are probably the best qualified to judge their ability too, so I'll leave it up to you," Jim offered, which caused Mike and Adam to look at each other so they could gauge if they thought they should be honest or not. Jim saw them doing this and quickly spoke again. "Please tell me what you really think and not what you believe I want to hear."

"In that case, I think Jack and Megan are doing well enough that they really don't need the life jackets," Mike answered. "They should have no problems on the lake, but we'll stay close to shore just to be safe. I also have a feeling your two kids will probably want to go all the way around the lake too and not just over to the other side, if that's alright with you."

"Can we, Dad?" Megan immediately began to beg.

"Ok, just don't do anything foolish out there," Jim replied as he smiled at his son and daughter.

This caused both kids to rush over so they hug him and Melinda, as they thanked their parents for allowing them to do this. Excited, they went and grabbed the canoe paddles first, before helping Mike and Adam to carry the canoes down to the water's edge. Once the boys allowed them to get into the canoe, they took their place in front and got ready to paddle to the other side."

"Thank you. I didn't think my dad was going to let us do this, but you convinced him," Jack told Mike after they started their journey toward the other shore.

"I only told him what I truly believed," Mike responded, as he began to scan the area from a distance and checked out the people on the other side of the lake.

As they drew closer, Mike and Adam quickly realized this group seemed to be comprised entirely of older teens and others in their early to mid twenties. What he couldn't tell was if they were locals or had just come here for the day to party and unwind. Mike could see there were a couple of kegs on one of the picnic tables, but he also noticed that some of the girls appeared to be drinking wine coolers from bottles too. Seeing that, the boys also assumed there was probably some liquor there as well, so they kept on paddling and continued their journey around the lake.

That group seemed to get rowdier as the day progressed, but since they were on the other side of the lake, the others decided to leave them alone. Although they were quite noisy and totally disrupted the serenity of the day, they weren't causing any harm. If anyone were to complain about what they were doing and the noise they were making, it would probably be their neighbors on that side of the lake.

After it started to get dark, the families decided to play games again, so they went to the cabin the Washburns and Bermans were renting. They had been playing the games for about a hour when they heard an explosion, so the men raced out to the porch to see if they could find out what had caused it. That's when they realized the group on the other side was setting off fireworks. After telling the others in the cabin what was going on, they all stood on the porch and watched the unexpected entertainment. Although it wasn't a massive display, it was still enjoyable to watch and they all stayed outside until no other colorful explosions lit up the nighttime sky. Then, they went back inside and finished their games.

Once Mike and Adam were alone in their room after the others had gone home, they finally got a chance to discuss what had happened that morning. "I'm sure glad we spotted the kids when they were going out in the woods earlier, because I'm afraid neither one would still be a virgin if we hadn't," Adam stated, looking concerned.

"I know and I'm glad you were able to break up that little sex party without us having to run out there and chase the others off," Mike chimed in. "I think Paul, Ken and Rachel are probably all sexually active with each other and looking to break Jack and Megan in. I was just surprised that it took you so long to react to what was going on and finally do something."

"I was actually hoping they would stop before it went too far, but then I realized that wasn't going to happen," Adam confessed, looking slightly guilty. "I know all kids experiment and I didn't want to do something that would cause Jack and Megan to think sex was bad or dirty, but I didn't want to let what they were doing go too far either. I had a very strong feeling that Paul and Ken were getting ready to take Megan's cherry, because I noticed they were both spitting into their hands and then rubbing it onto their dicks, which seemed to indicate they were lubing them up for some action."

"Yeah, you're probably right about that," Mike agreed, and then they cuddled together and fell asleep.

Monday morning, Jack and Megan were knocking on the cabin door before the boys were up, so Judy went to let the boys know the kids were there. Adam mumbled something barely recognizable, but Judy was pretty sure he said, "Tell them we'll be right out." Honoring his request, that's exactly what she did, as Mike and Adam hurriedly got up and got dressed.

The boys spent the next hour in the lake with Jack and Megan, but after they told the kids they had done enough for now, Megan had something else she wanted to ask them. "Would you take my mom and dad out in the canoe with us today?" she wanted to know. "I think my mom would really like to try that and I think she'll help talk my dad into it too."

"Yeah, I don't have a problem with doing it for them, but just give us a chance to have some breakfast first," Mike relented after looking at Adam to see him nodding his agreement.

"No problem," Megan quickly agreed. "Just come over and let us know when you're ready."

Everyone then went to their own cabin, and as the boys ate they also informed their parents about Megan's request. "Aw, how sweet," Rita responded, since she felt Megan was trying to do something special for her mother.

"Maybe, but it might also just be her way to get us to take them out in the canoes again," Adam sneered, thinking it might be more for Jack and Megan than to do something nice for their parents.

Shortly after the boys finished eating, they walked next door to see if Jim and Melinda were ready. "So is everyone up for a canoe ride?" Mike asked when he entered their cabin.

"I am," Melinda immediately replied, but Jim didn't look quite as enthusiastic about doing this.

"I suppose," he eventually followed, "but my wife and I will need life jackets."

"We thought you'd probably say that, so we have two of them out on the porch that you can use," Adam quickly agreed.

After Jim carried Melinda outside and placed her in the Landeez, he wheeled her down to the water, as the other four carried the canoes down to the water's edge. Once they were ready, Mike and Adam helped them into the life jackets and made sure they were fastened correctly, before Jim carried Melinda to the canoe and placed her in the middle. Then he got in the front of the same canoe, as Mike pushed it out into the water before getting into the back.

Jack had already climbed into the front of the other canoe, after he got Megan to agree to sit in the middle this time, and then Adam pushed them out into the water too. Once he got in, Adam told Mike to take the lead and they would follow them. Mike nodded his head in agreement and they set out.

When they got over to the other side of the lake, they all noticed the mess the partiers had left at the cabin they had been using. There didn't seem to be anyone around now, but there was garbage strewn all over the place, along with a bunch of empty bottles. The owner of the cabin had quite a fairly big cleanup ahead of him, unless he could get some of the partiers to come back and do it, or he hired someone else to clean up the mess. Adam quickly pointed out to both kids that he'd be extremely disappointed in them if he ever learned that they had left someone else's property in such bad shape. Right after he finished telling them this, they both agreed they would never do that.

The rest of the canoe trip was fairly uneventful, although a few people along the banks waved at them as they paddled by. They would all wave back whenever it happened and it gave them a nice feeling that people were being so friendly. By the time they got back to the dock they had started out from, they could tell Jim was tired, but Melinda was beaming from ear-to-ear.

"That was fun!" she announced as they were pulling the canoes farther onshore. "Thank you for taking me to do this."

"Yes, thank you very much," Jim added. "I enjoyed it too, although I'm sure my arms are going to be swearing at you later, because that was quite a workout. It was worth it though, seeing how happy it has made my wife."

"We enjoyed it too, but thank your kids. It was their idea," Mike offered in reply.

"Yes, I know. They were hounding me all morning long to do this," Jim stated while eyeing his kids. "I hope they didn't convince you to do it against your will though."

"No, not at all," Adam answered. "We probably would have done this anyway, so having different passengers was not a problem at all."

Jim then carried Melinda back to the Landeez and they took off their life jackets and handed them back to Mike and Adam. They were all still chatting about what they had just done when the others came down to join them.

"So did you all have a good time?" Dave asked, as he looked from one to the other.

"Yes, it was fun," Melinda stated again. "I liked doing that a lot." It seemed that was the only response anyone needed, because they all broke into huge grins after they noted how excited she was.

"Maybe we can all go for another walk later," George offered a few seconds later.

"Yes, I think I need to exercise my legs now, to even up for what I just did to my arms," Jim responded as he groaned and rotated his arms around in large circles.

"Yes, we've all experienced that," George quickly agreed, as he smiled at Jim.

They all spent the rest of the morning and afternoon outdoors, only taking a quick break for lunch. During that time, they chatted and went for another hike, and Jim eagerly let his children push their mother again, since he was trying to give the muscles in his arms a rest. They also agreed to get together to play games after dinner, so they had a very full day.

Before it got too late though, Jim had something to tell Jack and Megan. "It's time for you two to head next door and hop in bed."

"But it's still early!" Jack protested.

"You're going to need your rest, because you'll be getting up early in the morning," Jim advised him. "Adam and Mike have asked our permission to take you to Kings Dominion again, but this time to go to the Soak City Water Park. When you get up, just remember that you will need to wear your swimsuits under your other clothing."

Both kids were jumping around as Jim was finishing his comment and then Jim got his response. "Yeah, we can do that," Jack quickly agreed. "Come on, Megan. We need to get to bed."

Before they left, however, Jack and Megan hugged their parents, but they also hugged Mike and Adam before they left. Jim just sat there shaking his head as he watched them going out the door.

"Damn, it's never that easy to get them to go to bed," he mused, as he looked over at Mike and Adam. "Maybe we should have you two come home with us so you can train them to do that all the time." They all had a good laugh over his comment, before Jim helped Melinda get back into the Landeez so they could go over to check on their kids.

Mike and Adam set the alarm to wake up early the next morning, because they had a long drive and wanted to have plenty of time to spend with the kids on the water rides. Their mothers must have done the same, because they had breakfast ready for them when they came out of their room. After the boys stuffed themselves, they went next door to get Jack and Megan. They were waiting on the porch with their father when the boys arrived and both were dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, although they most likely had their swimsuits on underneath, but they also were wearing flip-flops. Mike and Adam were dressed the same way, but they were wearing their deck shoes instead.

"Not only did they go to bed early, but they got up early as well," Jim stated with a smirk. "I hope you can tire them out again, like you did the last time."

Mike and Adam jokingly assured Jim they'd do their best as they helped Jack and Megan get situated in the car. Then they waved goodbye to Jim as they started the long drive to the park.

Jack and Megan were totally wired again and weren't about to fall asleep during the ride. However, they did ask the boys a whole lot of questions about what the water park was like, since they hadn't really paid too much attention to it the last time they were there.

Once they got to the park, Mike and Adam led them over to rent a locker first. Then, they all took off their shorts, shirts and footwear and put everything in the locker, where it would be safe until later. Now, they were just in their swimsuits and ready to have some fun.

Mike and Adam led Jack and Megan over to Big Wave Bay to start out, just to get them wet and to loosen up a bit first. They played in the wave pool for a while and let the 4-foot (1.2 m) high waves crash into their bodies, and then Mike made a comment.

"This will give you sort of an idea about what it would be like if you were to go to the ocean, with the waves coming in toward the shore," he advised them. "Although the waves at the beach might be higher and more forceful, the biggest difference would be that here there is no undertow that could pull you down and drag you away."

"Yeah, I don't think I'd like that at all," Megan countered while making a face.

"But this isn't very exciting," Jack pointed out. "Let's do something else now."

Since Jack wanted to try something a little more exciting, they took him over to the Baja Bends next, which was a step up from what they had started with, but it still wasn't one of the most exciting attractions. This was a 'body slide', which meant they would just slide down and wouldn't 'ride' on anything. It was also an open water slide, which meant it was merely a flat surface, but they encountered multiple twists and dips as they went down it, until their bodies dropped into the pool at the bottom.

"That was better, but isn't there something even more exciting?" Jack wanted to know, as his expression pleaded with Mike and Adam to honor his request.

"Ok, this next one might be more to your liking then," Adam told him, as he led them to their next destination.

When they reached Hurricane Heights, a tower that extended 65 feet (19.8m) above the ground, the boys told the kids they would have to climb to the top of the tower to get to the next attraction. When they reached the top, Jack and Megan discovered it was the starting point for three different attractions and each one had three separate branches or courses extending from it.

Adam had decided to take them down the Aqua Blast first, which was another 'body slide'. The boys were hoping Jack and Megan would be all right on this, since it all happened within an enclosed tube and they wouldn't be able to see the kids on the way down. However, judging by the kids' reactions when they first saw it, this wasn't going to be a problem and they were going to be fine.

Mike lined up behind Jack and Adam lined up behind Megan, so they would go down right behind them. Jack and Megan were then told to sit down and cross their ankles, but then they had to wait to be told they could go, before they pushed their bodies forward until gravity and the water took them the rest of the way into the enclosed tube. Almost immediately the tube bent around into the first of four twisting and spiraling 360-degree loops, which came one right after the other. When they reached the end of the 449 foot (136.9 m) long slide, the kids found their bodies dropping into a pool of water.

"That was pretty fun, but most of it was dark so I couldn't see a thing," Jack complained, although he had a big smile on his face as he was saying this.

"Well it was dark to add to the thrill, but this had to be in a closed tube or else you might have been thrown out in one of those loops. If that happened, then you would have had a long fall before you hit the ground," Adam told him, tongue-in-cheek.

"I know, but they could have used clear plastic to make the tubes. I think it would have been better if we could see how high up we were and then be able to watch as we were dropping down, not just feel like you were falling," Jack shot back, thinking he'd outsmarted Adam. "So what are we going on next?"

"We're going to climb back up the tower again, but this time we're going to go on the Paradise Plunge," Adam told him.

After they climbed to the top again, Adam let Mike and the kids go ahead of him, so they would be able to get in the three identical chambers and go at basically the same time. Even though Jack and Megan knew what to expect, Adam wanted to watch their reactions when the platform gave way beneath them. As they got ready, they leaned back against the portion of the slide that extended behind them, but they were also told to cross their ankles and place their arms across their chest, with their hands resting against their shoulders. Then, they waited, with Jack on the 'red' ride, Megan on the 'orange' ride and Mike on the 'yellow' ride.

When the trapdoor opened beneath them, they all went into a brief vertical freefall, before starting a high speed journey through a series of s-curves in the translucent flume. Their bodies were jerked from side to side as they descended down the steep vertical shaft, and when they reached the bottom, their bodies dropped into the pool again. Adam followed them down as soon as he could and he found Jack literally bouncing around as he waited for Adam to join him.

"That was wicked," Jack announced with glee as he hopped around. "It was kinda scary at first, because I was falling and didn't know how long I would do that, but then I started sliding the rest of the way and it was fast and exciting."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I think I heard some screams from you and Megan when those trap doors opened," Adam teased.

"I didn't scream!" Jack protested, although he was starting to turn red, so maybe he did after all and just didn't want to admit it.

"I know I did," Megan confessed. "That part scared me for a second."

"Are you ready to climb up there again for the last of those rides?" Adam asked, looking at the other two.

"Could we do something else first?" Megan begged. "I don't want to go up all those stairs again just yet."

"Ok," Adam agreed, as he took them over to some of the other attractions.

They continued to try out a number of those attractions until Mike and Adam decided it was time to stop for lunch. After talking it over with Jack and Megan, Adam grabbed his wallet out of the locker they were using and they picked out a place to eat. Then, they relaxed and caught their breath for a little while, as they enjoyed their food. At the same time, the kids were busy letting the boys know that they were having a great time.

"This is a lot of fun, just like the last time when we went on the other rides," Megan stated, as she looked at Mike and Adam. "I'm so glad my parents let us come with you again."

"Me too!" Jack eagerly chimed in. "This has been so great and you two are really awesome. I'm glad we rented the cabin and got to meet you both last year."

"We're glad we got to meet you too," Adam agreed, as they all finished eating.

Once they were done with their meals, they decided they should use the restrooms next. Mike and Adam were a little hesitant about letting Megan go off alone, but they knew they couldn't take her into the men's room with them, since she was a little too old for that. They did, however, tell her they would be waiting for her out in front when she was done, since they knew it would take her a little longer than them to do this. Then they went in to utilize the men's room, so they could get back before she came out.

Adam was a little surprised that Jack came over and stood right next to him while he was urinating, but then he figured Jack probably felt he had nothing left to hide, since they had already seen him naked in the woods. Anyway, they all finished up, washed their hands and then went back out to wait for Megan. They were watching the girls and women going in and out of the Ladies' room as they looked for her, but then Adam noticed something odd. Even though the girl appeared to be blond, was wearing a floppy hat and had on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, he recognized the scratch on her leg. Seeing that, he hurried over to confront the woman who seemed to be guiding the girl away.

"Excuse me, but may I ask what you're think you're doing?" Adam demanded, as he got right in the woman's face.

"My granddaughter isn't feeling well, so I'm taking her home," the lady

answered. "My husband went to pull the car up so she won't have to walk so far."

"That's not your granddaughter -- it's his sister!" Adam snapped, as he indicated Jack. At the same time he reached up and grabbed the hat and was soon holding the hat and a blond wig in his hand. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but we need to get security here to sort this out. Mike, will you go do that for me?"

Mike agreed and the woman looked as if she was about to take off when Adam sent her a mental message. 'You stay right where you are and don't move. I don't want to, but if I need to I will tackle you to the pavement and then hold you down until security arrives.'

The woman froze after receiving Adam's message, and then they waited to get this sorted out.