The Ticklish Brotherhood - 7. Time For Playfulness And Truth

"Holy shit," Aiden exclaimed as he and Anthony drove past part of the ten-acre plot the original family home was built on.

"No wonder Mikey didn't realize this is where we grew up," Anthony said, shaking his head as his brother turned onto the long gravel driveway leading up to Mikey's lake house. "I see why Dakota has bad vibes about that property. It doesn't look like anything with even an inkling of what love is ever stepped foot on the property."

"Ant, Don't you think Kota and Mikey are overreacting just a little? C'mon, it's just property made up of dirt, grass, and trees, bro."

"Aiden, you don't have the same connection with Mikey I do, and I don't think you felt the spike in anxiety and trepidation when we talked about the old home place."

"I think they're just trying to keep up appearances so Mickey doesn't wander over there and get hurt. How about this? After we get the luggage into the house, you and I will walk across the street. I'm sure nothing will happen before Mikey can join us."

Anthony felt conflicted and couldn't shake the feeling Aiden was being too cavalier and careless about their brother's concerns. "I don't know, Aid. We should wait for Mikey and follow his lead like Kota asked."

Aiden smirked and lightly tickled his younger brother's side. Anthony playfully swatted at his brother's hand while squirming and giggling.

"What happened to the brave Amazing Antboy? Don't you trust Aiden The Mighty? You know I'd never let anything ever hurt you or any one of our family. Besides, there's nothing so horrible that Super Mikey, Amazing Antboy, and Aiden The Mighty can't face. I promise, Anthony Ryan, nothing's gonna happen, and we'll stay on the grass near the road. I'm sure we'll be fine."

Anthony closed his eyes, sighed, and said, "Ok, we'll go over there and let Mikey catch up."

Mikey pulled the Corvette into the garage, pointed to the empty spot beside him, and locked the antique sports car. Aiden shut off the engine, then locked the doors as the automatic garage door closed. The trio walked into the house, each with a piece of luggage in hand.

"I just realized you guys haven't seen the place before," Mikey said after locking the door to the garage and setting the suitcases by the staircase.

"Yeah, sorry about that, baby bro. With everything that's happened in all our lives, we haven't had time to get over here," Anthony said.

"I do love what you and Kota have done with the house. The remodel looked great from the outside," Aiden complimented.

Mikey grinned and blushed. "So, do you guys want to rest up a little before going over to look around across the street," he asked.

The blondes said nothing before tackling their brother and pinning him face-up to the floor. Boyish giggling, squeals, and verbal threats about ticklish retaliation of an atomic proportions filled the room. The trapped homeowner's soft brown eyes brightly sparkled as he struggled under the older men's combined weight, and his sock-clad heels slid back and forth across the light-colored hardwood flooring in search of traction so he could escape. Aiden gained control of the animated legs and pulled them together just before wrapping an arm around the writhing captive's ankles and removing his socks. Anthony pulled his sibling's arms over his head and kept them stationary by pinning the upturned palms under his knees.

"You're both gonna regret this and incur the wrath of Super Mikey."

"That would be scary," Aiden said, giggling.

"Except, we know how ticklish Super Mikey really is," Anthony said, continuing the statement. His lips almost touched his helpless brother's left ear, and he lightly blew a thin line of air across the tip.

Mikey girlishly squealed as he scrunched the left side of his neck, and his body squirmed and spased.

Aiden chuckled and finished the tag-teamed claim, "And we know all the best spots." He looked back at his giggling brother's face and smiled before his fingertips lightly stroked up and down, then side to side along the back of his sibling's knees.

"Not there," Mikey squealed before giving in to the uncontrollable high-pitched giggles that came from deep inside and erupted like a volcano as his Adam's apple bobbed up and down with every swallow and mouth movement.

Aiden left the knees and tickled the tops and sides of the slightly smaller feet as Anthony drew circles with his slender index fingers in the center of the exposed pit hollows and blew raspberries on the taut stomach. Their brother's back arched while his struggling and laughter increased from the combined tickle assault.

"Hey, No... Fair... Double... Teaming... The... Cute... Mikey," Mikey playfully protested.

Outwardly, it looked like the lone brunette was experiencing a ticklish person's nightmare. However, inside told the real story. He felt alive and rejuvenated as the love-born energy constantly flowed between the young men and strengthened their unbreakable bond.

A minute or two after Aiden started in on his inner thighs, Mikey hollered, "I gotta pee." He was instantly let go and giggled as he bolted for the downstairs bathroom.

Once Mikey left the room, Aiden chuckled and said, "Wow! Mikey lasted longer than he used to."

Anthony turned to his brother and softly said, "I've changed my mind. We need to honor our promise to Dakota. Also, if you think back on what you said and wanted to do, you'll find that it's something we'd expect from Adam, not you or me. Just think how hurt and betrayed Mikey'd feel, Aiden, not to mention how pissed and disappointed Dakota would be. Do you really want to see that man angry with us because we knowingly did something we said we wouldn't?"

Mental images of their half-Cherokee brother-in-law when he was pissed off sent shivers up and down the thirty-year-old, and tears dripped down his cheeks because he couldn't bear seeing Mikey hurt and feeling betrayed. "Thank you, little brother, for making me see that I'd be making a huge mistake," Aiden said.

The brothers embraced and were about to separate when Mikey pounced on them, tickling wherever he could reach. The youthful trio wrestled with each other and laughed like little boys.

"Oh fuck," Aiden hollered as he was overpowered by the younger pair and got pinned. He struggled and grunted while attempting to dislodge his giggly celebratory siblings. Anthony kneaded his bare sides just above his hips, making his ass bounce up and down on the floor while he screeched and howled with laughter. Mikey removed his socks, and once the brunette's fingernails lightly and rapidly strummed along his wrinkling soles, he was hurled into a bottomless chasm of hysterical boisterous cackles and shrill squeals. "Uncle," he cried out when he couldn't take anymore.

"Ok, see ya," Anthony said as he started to jump to his feet. He yelped when a pair of arms wrapped around his chest and pulled him to the floor. Despite his best efforts, the struggle for freedom was useless. "No," the blonde squealed when he was rendered helpless, rolled onto his stomach, and pinned by Aiden while Mikey's arm wrapped around his ankles and the ankle socks were removed from his wriggling feet. "I'm sooo getting you two back for this," was the last thing he said before the tickle-induced hyena-like laughter spewed from his mouth.

Aiden lightly tickled his birth brother's lumbar region and blew raspberries on his neck. "Coochie coochie, Antboy," he teased.

"Not the tickle teasing," Anthony managed to say between his screeching laughter. "Besides, you didn't tickle tease Mikey."

"Yeah, you didn't..." Mikey started to say. "Wait! Never mind," he said, giggling.

"Equal opportunity isn't observed when I administer tickle teases," Aiden stated as he smirked.

"Sleep with one eye open, big bro," Anthony threatened just before he shrieked and bucked like crazy when Mikey tickled his secret spot where his legs met his ass. "That goes for you too, Super Mikey." After another few minutes, he hollered, "Ok...Uncle...I Give."

"We totally needed that," Mikey exclaimed with a bright and wide smile. He removed his shirt, jumped into his brothers' laps, kissed their cheeks, and said, "I really missed my older bros."

Aiden and Anthony wrapped their arms around the younger blonde, cuddling him, and said, "Not more than we missed our giggly and adorable Mikey."

When he looked down at his scarred, bare skin, Mikey realized what he'd just done and that his brothers were seeing his scars for the first time. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he curled into himself and visibly shook.

It took Anthony and Aiden a minute to figure out why their boy was upset and another second for their arms to wrap around their brother.

"Shh, it's ok, my sweet Super Mikey," Anthony said as he kissed Mikey's cheeks and cuddled him.

"I... I know," Mikey stuttered. "It's just…"

"We love you, little bro. You don't have to hide anything from us. We're never gonna judge or think less of you," Aiden said as he lightly stroked the light brown locks of hair. "We know you weren't thinking, but the fact that you didn't instantly put your shirt back on shows how brave you are."

Mikey nodded, looked at his brothers, laid his head on their shoulders, and said, "I'm sorry for being a baby. It's been over two years, and I shouldn't be so self-conscious about my scars."

Aiden gently lifted Mikey's chin and said, "You're not a baby, and if you say that again, I'm not letting you have any more hot fudge for two days."

"You can't take my fudge away."

Anthony's giggles stopped as he and Mikey gasped and visibly shivered when their eldest brother's smile morphed into a serious expression, and his eyes slightly darkened and narrowed, looking just like their dearly departed grandmother when she finally had enough and put her foot down.

"Don't try me, baby bro," Aiden said in a firm, low tone, similar to their grandfather's voice when he had to be the disciplinarian.

"Fine, I'm not being a baby," Mikey said. He tried to pout but couldn't stop giggling long enough to make one. "You're scary when you put your mind to it, Aidenator." He squeaked when Aiden pulled him onto his lap and sighed as he leaned against the warm, toned, slightly hairy chest.

"Yeah, big bro," Anthony said as he grinned and ruffled Mikey's soft hair, "you totally looked like Gamma Cat and sounded like Pappy Tony when they were upset with us."

Aiden giggled and kissed his brothers.

"Who do you think I got it from," he asked with sparkly sapphire blue eyes. "Someone's gotta be scary enough to keep you two in line." He squeaked when his brothers pushed him down and squealed when they gave him a double-sided noogie. Mikey and Anthony smiled innocently after releasing him.

"Alright, Amazing Antboy," Mikey said, looking at his brotherly soul mate, "time to come clean about you and James."

"Ok, I guess I can't put it off any longer," Anthony said with a heavy sigh.

Mikey got up, walked into the kitchen, and returned with three open bottles of Heineken. The trio clinked the rims and took a sip.

"First, let me say this," Anthony started. "James has legally added Giovanni to his last name. Pappy gave his blessing, so he's forever part of the family. However, he's not my boyfriend anymore. Last week, we talked and realized we're not romantically into each other and that we moved too fast after I broke the curse on his family. It was mutually decided that we're meant to be brothers, and he's happy to be part of the brotherhood." He smiled when Aiden and Mikey hugged him and laid their heads on his shoulders. "I thought he was gonna at least come out here with Mattie and Pappy tomorrow, then leave the next day, but he sent me a text while we were at Sam's letting me know he'd decided to start his travels.

"Where's James now," Mikey asked.

"I don't know, Mikey, he's supposed to message me when he finds somewhere to stay overnight. He wanted to travel the world since he'd been cooped up in that castle all his life."

"What about the castle," Aiden asked.

"He signed the deed over to the family trust last Monday so that Jordan and Jayce could go ahead with their plans to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast resort. I'll message Mattie later to let him know that James won't be joining him and Pappy."

"Does he have enough money," Aiden and Mikey asked.

Anthony smiled, kissed his brothers, and responded, "Yeah, he's got more than enough money to live comfortably without worrying about finding a job or having a steady income."

Mikey looked at the clock, saying, "Guys, if we're gonna go across the street, we should get to it. Mickey's gonna be home in an hour and a half, and I don't want him asking if he can go with us. I've gotta grab the pendant from upstairs, go to the bathroom, and we can take the Explorer."

"We'll be waiting for ya," Aiden and Anthony said.