Greetings Loyal Readers and welcome back. Larry and I apologize for the long delay, but we’re both retired, which, ironically, translates to being very busy. Plus, it takes a lot of work for the two of us to get the pieces to fit.
The next few chapters will be about the cruise that Drake and Pierce are on along with the new friends they make. We have tried to be as accurate as possible about how a cruise operates, but this is fiction and we do take a bit of literary license with some of the little things.
Enjoy your read and please write to tell us how you are enjoying the story.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8.
The Randall twins finished lunch in the Horizon Court buffet with their parents and grandparents. “Can we explore?” Blake asked.
“We’ll give you an hour. Our cabins should be ready for us to occupy by then,” their mother said. “So, meet us there unless the cabins haven’t been made available. In that case we’ll meet in the Atrium at the International Café.”
The first place they wanted to check out was the Youth Center on Deck 15 which was located on the deck above the Horizon Court.
“I’m glad mom and dad let us do some of our own exploring,” Blake said to his twin brother as they bounded up a set of outdoor stairs to Deck 15.
“I could tell grandpa wasn’t all that happy about it, though,” Bryce said.
“I think he wants us to do everything together for the whole week. That’s not really fair.”
“True. But I think we should do a lot of stuff together, maybe even most stuff, but not everything no matter who is paying. And no way we’ll get lost. There’s so many maps on the walls we’d have to work hard to get lost.”
They walked to a deck railing and stood between a small end table and a deck chair. They looked out over Elliot Bay and across Puget Sound. They could see the Olympic Mountains in the distance.
Blake looked down at the table and could see a small white object on the deck under it. He bent down and picked it up.
“Hey, look what I found under the table,” Blake said as he held up a small plastic duck.
“It looks like some little kid left his toy duckie behind,” Bryce said. “Leave it here in case he comes back looking for it.”
“Let’s take it to the Youth Center. Maybe they have a lost and found there.”
The ginger twins quickly found the Youth Center and entered. A young lady was standing at a counter, and they walked over to her. She was wearing a white blouse and blue shorts that covered her knees. The name tag on her blouse read “Janice, Assistant Cruise Director” and underneath her name “Calgary Canada”.
She broke into a big smile and welcomed the boys to the Youth Center. “Welcome, boys. I’m Janice and I’m the Youth Center director. Who might you two handsome gentlemen be?”
“I’m Blake, and he’s Bryce,” Blake said.
“We’re twins in case you couldn’t tell,” Bryce said.
“I had a feeling that might be the case,” Janice grinned.
“Do you have a lost and found here?” Blake asked.
“We do. Did you lose something?”
Blake opened his left hand and showed her the plastic duck. “No, we found something, this little duckie. We found it under a deck table just a few steps from here.”
“Say what?” both boys said in unison.
“It’s what’s known as a ‘cruise duck.’ It has become a rage on cruise ships. People leave the ducks for others to find. When somebody finds a duck, they can either keep it, leave it where it is, or hide it someplace else. What you do with it is up to you.”
“For real?” Bryce asked.
“For total real,” Janice said.
“Well, congratulations, boys. Stop by here sometime on your birthday if you can and enjoy a special treat. Now, let’s take a look at the Teen Center. There’s a boy your age in there right now for you to meet.”
The Teen Center was located in a separate room on the port side of the Youth Center. When they walked in they saw a young tween checking out the foosball table. He had blond hair that looked like it could use some grooming while looking close to perfect on him at the same time. His eyes lit up when he saw the twins whose fiery red hair had close to the same look as his.
“Hey guys,” the blond said. “My name is Tracy King, and I come from Bozeman, Montana.” He introduced himself in the manner he had learned on his first cruise two years ago.
“Hi, Tracy. I’m Bryce Randall from Bellingham, Washington.”
“Wow, you’re both from Bellingham. That has gotta be, like, the surprise of the cruise. Well, at least up to now.”
“Now that you’ve all met, I’m going to return to the main room to meet and greet. But before I go, I want to remind you about our teen scavenger contest tomorrow. It will start at nine in the morning and go until four. There will be prizes, so check out the bulletin board by the door for more information,” Janice said.
Tracy thought the twins looked a lot younger than thirteen. “How old are you guys?”
“We’re twelve,” Blake said, confirming Tracy’s suspicion that he wouldn’t be seeing the twins in the Teen Center during the cruise.
Even though they weren’t teenagers, Tracy hoped they could be friends. “Well, truth be told, I’m twelve, too. But I’ll be thirteen on Wednesday, so Janice said I could hang out here in the Teen Center.”
“Well, even more truth be told, Blake and I will be thirteen tomorrow. Janice said we could hang out here, too,” Bryce said.
“This is the bomb, us having our birthdays a day apart and we’ll all be teenagers. Have you met any other teenagers?”
“No. I’ve seen a few but we haven’t talked to anybody, yet,” Blake said.
“But these dudes out on the pier showed us pics of these two guys they know on the ship and Blake and I would love to meet them. Those two guys on the dock said they’d give a pic of us to their friends on the ship,” Bryce said.
“Well, we better get going or we’ll get the ‘rents in a tizzy,” Bryce said.
“But before we go let’s check out what the scavenger contest is about,” Tracy said. “The rules are posted over here on the wall.”
The three read the rules of the contest. They agreed the game looked like fun and that the prize looked good. “I’ll be back tomorrow,” Tracy said.
“So will we,” Bryce said.
Blake pulled the cruise duck he and Bryce had found from his pocket. “It looks like finding one of these won’t be part of the hunt.”
“What is it?” Tracy asked.
Bryce explained what a cruise duck was, and then the trio walked out of the Teen Center and into the main Youth Center room where five kids (two boys and three girls) who ranged from six to eight were playing where the toys were. They thanked Janice for her help. Blake told her that he and Bryce were going to keep their cruise duck. “But if we find any more of them, we’re going to hide them in new places.”
“Sounds good,” Janice said. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you boys again soon.”
Two high school aged girls entered the Youth Center as the boys left.
The twins were at their meeting place in the Atrium early. They sent a text through the medallion system that they had arrived. They asked if they should wait or go to their cabin. Their mom replied and told them to wait.
“Look who’s over there.” Bryce pointed to four adults walking around the Atrium opening toward them.
“Wouldn’t you know it. We get to our meeting place early, and they’re still here before us.” It was time to go with their parents and grandparents to their cabins, which were now available for them to occupy.
When they approached their stateroom, the twins were amazed when they saw how their medallions automatically unlocked the door a few feet before they reached it. “These medallions are so cool,” Blake said. “They do everything.”
“I bet we’ll find more things they can do before the day is over,” Bryce said.
“Look! My avatar popped up on our screen.” The family looked at the picture of Blake wearing his baseball uniform that popped up at the top right corner of the screen. “That is beyond cool—that is, like, totally epic. That’s one more thing the medallions can do.” The black screen was around 6x8 inches and was on the bulkhead on the handle side of the door.
“Why is your avatar on there and not mine?” Bryce asked. Bryce’s avatar was him holding the family cat, BBKitty. During the cruise the cat was being fed and watered by the neighbors across the street from their house who were also taking care of the litter box.
“It’s because Blake was closer to the door when it unlocked, which is why it picked up on his avatar,” Grandpa William said.
“If you were the closest, would your avatar have posted on the screen?” Blake asked his grandpa.
“Nope. Only the avatars of the passengers with access to the cabin will show up on the screen.”
“Well, the screen does have both of our names on there,” Blake said. “What does the white dot next to our names mean?”
“It means you’re first Princess cruise rookies. Mine and Grandma’s are platinum since we each have credit for ten Princess cruises. Oh, and by the way, if you push the red dot on your screen, the dot lights up, which means do not disturb.”
“And I bet the green light means we want our room cleaned,” Bryce said.
“Bingo.”
The twins entered the room, and the rest of the family followed them. Their mother, Helen, was pleased to see that the twins had two twin beds instead of the single queen bed their cabin and Grandpa William and Grandma Margaret’s cabin had. The twins weren’t at all pleased by that part of the layout, but they thought the rest of the cabin was awesome, from the TV, to the refrigerator, to the balcony.
“Wow, Grandpa really went big time with this,” Blake said.
“Except for the beds,” Bryce said.
“What’s wrong with the beds?” Helen asked, as if she didn’t know.
“You know how Blake and I like to sleep.” Bryce was careful with his grammar, hoping that would earn him points with his schoolteacher mother.
“I think you’ll do just fine sleeping separately for a week.”
The twins knew better than to argue, but their hopes were raised a notch when they saw Jeff, their dad, give them a wink.
“How come gramps didn’t get us one of those suite thingies?” Bryce asked.
“Maybe because he’s such a sourpuss?” Jeff said.
“Jeff, you know that’s not true. Besides, the boys meant s-u-i-t-e, not s-w-e-e-t. A college professor should know this, especially when he’s having a conversation with his cheeky twin sons.”
“Ahh, I totally misunderstood. My apologies to everybody. In that case, the reason is because the suites were sold out when he booked this cruise. He felt fortunate to get three staterooms this close together.” The family had been assigned staterooms C215, C 219, and C 227, with C 223 located between 219 and 227. The twins were in C 219, their parents in C 215, and grandparents in C 227. Cabins C 217, 221, and 225 were interior staterooms located across the passageway from the Randall family cabins.
The Haladay family occupied C 223. They were a family of three: mom, dad, and 12-year-old daughter Linda.
“But your grandpa wanted the best for us, which is why we got nice balcony cabins,” Helen said.
As the family chatted, they heard a knock on the door and a voice calling out, “Housekeeping.”
Blake scooted over to the door and opened it. He was greeted by a smiling, dark-haired man wearing the uniform of a room steward. “Hello, young sir,” the man smiled. “I am Chai and am your room steward. And you are?”
“I am Blake. And over there is my brother Bryce, my father Jeff, and my mother Helen. I’ll let you guess which one is which.”
Chai smiled wider. He could tell he was going to like this family. “Your brother, he looks very much like you. How am I going to tell you apart?”
“I am the good looking one,” Blake replied.
“In your dreams bro,” Bryce said as he held out his hand for Chai to shake, which Chai did. “As you can tell, I am the polite brother.”
“I see that you’re from Thailand,” Blake said. “Do people call you Chai the Thai?”
Bryce glared at his twin and said, “See, I told you I was the polite brother.”
Jeff and Helen also shook Chai’s hand. “We’re both pleased to meet you, Chai. Please forgive my sons; they sometimes become so full of themselves they forget their manners.”
Blake then shook Chai’s hand. “But usually we remember our manners,” he grinned.
“I will also be cleaning your room,” he told Jeff and Helen. “And by their name I assume the couple in C 227 is related.”
“They are my parents,” Jeff said.
“Plus, they’re our grandparents,” Blake said.
“I will take extra care of your entire family,” Chai told them. He reached into a pocket. “Here is my card and a number to call. Anytime you need something I will find a way to have it taken care of. And in case you weren’t aware of it, your grandparents purchased sodas and water for all of you. You will find it in your refrigerator.”
“Thank you. My dad never told us,” Jeff said.
“Never told you what?” came the voice of an older man who came in through the open door.
“About filling our refrigerators.”
“I can’t have the family suffering from dehydration,” William Randall said.
The twins gave their grandpa simultaneous hugs. “Thanks, grandpa,” they said simultaneously.
“You’re welcome. I have to make sure my favorite grandsons are comfortable.”
Chai then said, “I must go and help bring luggage to the cabins. I enjoyed meeting the Randall family and look forward to helping all of you and making sure you have a clean cabin. I’ll do major cleaning in the morning and take care of what needs taking care of in the evening if you wish.”
“Thank you, Chai, we appreciate it,” Jeff said.
“Hello, in there,” came a man’s voice. “Your luggage has arrived.” When the crewman saw the crowd in the stateroom, he said, “That is the luggage for whichever ones of you will be staying here in 219.” He dropped off the bags at the doorway. “I will bring luggage to 215 next.”
“That would be us,” Helen said. She left the stateroom followed by Grandpa William and Grandma Margaret.
Jeff stopped and put an arm around the shoulders of each twin. “I will see to it that Chai takes care of what you asked for. You should have one bed by bedtime.”
“But what about mom?” Blake asked.
“No worries. I’ll take care of your mother for you. I sometimes have to remind her that boys have to be allowed to be boys, especially if they’re twin brothers.”
“Thanks dad. You’re the best,” Bryce said.
4:00 PM
After watching and waving to Trajan and Levi from the Sky Deck, Drake and Pierce headed for the elevator. They wanted to check out the Teen Center located on Deck 15.
"I hope we can meet some younger peeps," Pierce said. "So far, it seems like all I've seen on the ship is adults." They would be finding out over the next couple of days that there were more tweens and teens than they thought on board the ship.
"Maybe we'll meet those two gingers that Trajan sent us the pictures of," Drake said as he pressed the button to call the elevator.
"Well, I guess that would be okay," Pierce said. "But they're just kids. I want to meet some older dudes that we can shoot the shit with."
The elevator came, the boys entered, and Drake pressed the button for Deck 15. "We'll know soon enough."
Pierce hugged his boyfriend tightly and kissed him. "I love you so much."
Drake returned Pierce's kiss, adding a little tongue to it. "I love you, too."
The elevator door opened and they headed toward the Teen Center. "Do you suppose anybody saw us kissing through those glass elevator walls?" Pierce asked.
"Ask me if I care," Drake replied casually.
"Do you care?"
Drake kissed his boyfriend again. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Both boys chuckled out loud at Drake's quote of Clark Gable's famous line in "Gone With The Wind."
A minute later, Drake and Pierce walked into the Teen Center. It was obviously designed to appeal to teens and tweens - there were lots of video screens (one with MTV continuously running on it), video games, a foosball table, a jukebox activated by medallions instead of money, a surround-sound music system, multi-colored LED lighting, and a bar tended by a neatly groomed young man serving non-alcoholic mocktails as well as assorted soft drinks and water.
The four mocktails served in the Teen Center were pina coladas, mojitos, strawberry daiquiris, and margaritas and they were the same non-alcoholic versions of those drinks that were available in the Wheelhouse bar on Deck 7. They were great tasting, full-flavored drinks - enjoyed by both of-age passengers who preferred to avoid alcohol and patrons of the Teen Center.
Two apparently teenaged boys were sitting at the bar, the older looking one wearing a Western Washington University T-shirt and the other wearing a Death Cab For Cutie T-shirt. Both were wearing blue shorts and flipflops. Never ones to be afraid of meeting new people, Drake and Pierce walked over to where they were sitting. The two boys at the bar were obviously interested in meeting boys their own age - they spoke first and introduced themselves.
"What's up?" the older-looking of the two said. "I'm Gary - this is my brother, Dennis."
"I'm Drake - this is my boyfriend, Pierce." The four teens exchanged handshakes, fist bumps, and ages. Gary was 18 and Dennis was 16. Drake and Pierce took seats at the bar. Drake asked for a strawberry daiquiri while Pierce asked for a Dr. Pepper.
Drake's introduction that essentially outed him and Pierce left Gary and Dennis totally unfazed. It was as though they had thought to themselves 'OK, so you're gay - let's move on to a more important subject'. A high school graduate the previous June, Gary was a solidly built 6-footer who obviously spent time in the weight room - his muscular chest and bulging biceps filled out his T-shirt very nicely. His shoulder length blond hair and glowing green eyes had Drake and Pierce salivating, as did the thick blond hair that covered his legs. Dennis's appearance was a bit more on the push-the-envelope side: frosted tips on his curly dark hair, sky blue eyes sporting a just-barely-discernable application of eye shadow, a small hardly noticeable silver ring in his nose, and dark blue nail polish. He was the same height as his brother but much slimmer. Both boys had very resonant voices.
"This is our first day on our first cruise," Drake said. "We're here with Pierce's dad and his friend. It's great to meet you guys. It seems like all we've seen so far on the ship is adults."
"This is our first day on our second cruise," Gary said. "We're here with our 'rents. Great to meet you, too. We live in Bellingham - I graduated from Bellingham High last June."
"I'll be a junior there this year," Dennis added. "And I agree with you about a lot of adults. Not that we hate our 'rents or other adults, but one of the first places we come on the ship is the Teen Center. Lots of great peeps to meet and talk with."
"We both live in Seattle," Pierce said. "Well, actually only I do - the Duck lives across the lake in Kirkland."
"The Duck?" Gary asked.
"Oh, sorry. That's his nickname. Drake. Duck. Get it?"
"Pierce's nickname is Pooka," Drake said with a grin, "and how the hell we came up with that is lost to history."
Pierce checked out Dennis's nails. "We've got a great friend at home named Madison who paints his toenails all the time - the left side's Mariner green and the other side's Mariner blue. It all kind of goes with his blue hair. I don't remember ever seeing him with painted fingernails, though."
"I don't either," Drake added. "Although knowing the Madman, he's prolly done it."
"Madison sounds like a piece of work," Dennis chuckled.
"He is, for sure," Drake said. "Every other word out of his mouth is 'like'. He's really a very fun, friendly, intelligent kid - and a huge Mariners fan."
"My aunt Patty is a nail tech," Dennis explained as he held out his fingers. "She did my nails. Sometimes I wear polish, sometimes I don't - it just depends on my mood. Patty does a neater job than I do so she does them for me.
"And by the way, just so you know, I do have a boyfriend back home. His name is Mark and we've been together almost two years. He's with his family visiting family in Denver this week otherwise I guarantee you he'd be here with us." Dennis grabbed his phone and pulled up a picture of his boyfriend. "That's Mark," Dennis said as he showed off a picture of a boy with dark curly hair in a broccoli style, very kissable-looking lips, and deep brown eyes. "I love him very much. And we fit each other very nicely." Drake and Pierce bumped fists with Dennis. They knew what he meant.
"Our whole family loves Mark to death," Gary said. "He's a beautiful dude. And one hell of a second baseman."
"You gotta tell them about Mallory," Dennis told his brother.
"Yeah, she's my girlfriend," Gary said with a grin. "We've been dating about two years. Lately things have been getting a little more serious, though."
"You never told me that, bro," Dennis said with a faked look of shock.
Gary tapped his brother on the shoulder with his fist. "Hey bro, I don't always tell you EVERYTHING, ya know."
"Yeah, and I don't tell YOU everything, either."
"Well, it's probably better that way," Gary said with a wink at Drake and Pierce.
"Could be," Dennis said. "Oh, by the way, did I tell you what Mark and I did together the night before we started our cruise?"
Gary held up his hands in the classic T-shaped time out formation - all four teens roared with laughter.
"You guys Mariner fans?" Pierce asked as the laughter subsided.
"None other. I'm into baseball and wrestling," Gary said. "And the Seahawks. And cars."
"Baseball, soccer, golf, and track for me," Dennis said. "I love running. Oh, and studying the history of rock bands in the Pacific Northwest. How about you dudes?"
"Baseball for me," Pierce said. "Usually first base. And I do love to cook and bake."
"I love baseball but I don't play it," Drake said. "I'm on the track team for Lake Washington High. I love running, too. I can tell a few stories about my job working at a deli. And just an FYI, you haven't tasted real chocolate chip cookies until you taste the ones my boyfriend bakes."
Dennis punched his brother on the shoulder. "Ya hear that, bro? I told ya there had to be at least one more dude on this ship that was into running." Drake and Dennis bumped fists.
"We have a couple good friends that came to the dock to see us off this morning," Pierce said. "They play lacrosse - they're really into it. You guys know any lacrosse players?"
Dennis gave Gary a questioning look. "Do we know any dudes that are into lacrosse? I don't think I do."
"I don't think I do, either," Gary replied. "I know there's a lacrosse team at Bellingham High but I don't know any of the guys on it."
"Our dad has owned an auto parts store in Bellingham for as long as we can remember," Dennis said. "He's a car dude and Gary and I are car dudes, too. I don't have a car yet, but Gary does - actually a truck. We all love working on cars."
"Oh, and I work weekends during the summer in the lumber yard at Home Depot," Gary said. "Lots of lifting and exercise - a good body work out."
"And trust me, there are some hot dudes that work at that lumber yard," Dennis said with a leer.
"Yeah, and they're all straight," Gary said with finality.
"I'll be the judge of that," Dennis said with a huge smile.
The next half hour was spent with the boys sharing conversations ranging from Pierce's love of cooking and Drake's experiences working in a deli to Gary's love for eclectic car accessories and Dennis's love and knowledge of obscure Pacific Northwest rock bands like the Frantics, the Wailers, and the Sonics. Their conversations were punctuated with frequent laughter and fist bumps and it was obvious the four of them were truly enjoying each other's company.
Drake checked the time on his phone. "We gotta head back to the cabin, Pooka. It's almost time for dinner."
"Hey, it's been AWESOME meeting you dudes and shootin' the shit," Gary said. "Let's share numbers. Tomorrow is a day at sea. Maybe we could hook up again."
The four boys shared phone numbers and hugs and Drake and Pierce left the Teen Center. As they approached the elevator, Pierce squeezed Drake's hand and said, "Something tells me that in spite of the girlfriend and the boyfriend, Gary and Dennis share some powerful boy sex once in a while, and I don’t mean just blowjobs."
Drake put his arm around Pierce's shoulder and smiled at him. "You're reading my mind, my love."
While Drake and Pierce went to check out the Teen Center, Walker and Christian took the elevator down to Deck 6 to check out the Grand Casino.
The casino was not open but the lights were on and the large windows afforded a good view of the interior. There was a huge assortment of slot machines along with several roulette and blackjack tables.
"Looks pretty much like what you'd expect for a casino of this scale," Walker said.
"I see a separate area over in the corner with a sign that says 'High Rollerz'," Christian said. "That's probably where the guys go that make the big bets."
"I think that's a safe bet," Walker said with a smile.
"Would you like to go upstairs to the Wheelhouse and have a cocktail before dinner?"
Walker nodded. "Sounds good to me."
The two men took the elevator up to Deck 7 and took seats at the Wheelhouse bar - Christian ordered a mojito while Walker ordered a brandy alexander. Walker and Christian had known each other for a little over a year and had dated occasionally but during the past month, their friendship had become much closer and more serious. This cruise was Christian's first.
"Thanks for inviting me," Christian said sincerely. "I love being with you."
"You're very welcome," Walker replied. "I love having you with me. It should be a great time together."
"I still can't get over how beautifully Pierce and Drake dance together," Christian said. "I can hold my own fairly well on the dance floor but those two are unreal."
"Dana Rutledge at Pierce's school has really taught them a lot - and it seems like they both have a natural sense of rhythm."
Christian took a sip of his drink. "When I watched them dance to that combo earlier today, it seemed like Pierce was playing the "female" role as they danced. He was doing many of the various moves and steps and spins while Drake was basically just keeping the two of them together in rhythm."
"I think you've just answered your earlier question of who leads when they dance," Walker said with a grin.
"Thought through logically by the computer expert you are," Christian said with a wink. "Another thing I noticed was the way Drake puts his hand around Pierce's waist on the slower songs."
"You're right on that," Walker said. "The hand at the waist is really a very old and traditional thing that goes back to the earliest days of ballroom dancing, particularly on waltzes. I'm thinking that, again, it's something Dana has pointed out to them and they employed it.
"I think it also conveys, in a simple way, how much Drake loves Pierce. Drake feels proud of Pierce when he does it."
"Probably true," Walker agreed. "One thing I've admired about their dancing on the faster, old school, rock and roll songs is that there's a playfulness to their steps and moves. They really, truly, love dancing and it shows."
The two men spent some time talking about Walker's business, their lives and their futures. After half an hour, Walker checked the time.
"We better head up to the cabin," he said. "It's coming up on dinner time."
5:00 pm
Walker/Christian/Drake/Pierce
After enjoying a delicious steak dinner at the Pacific Moon restaurant, the Bledsoe family went to the Princess Theatre to take in a spectacular musical production featuring rock and roll music and a troupe of great young dancers. Drake and Pierce were amazed at some of the dance steps and moves the troupe did and applauded them enthusiastically. One of the young male dancers spied Pierce in the audience and repeatedly made eye contact with him. On one occasion, he looked closely at Pierce and made a kissing motion with his lips.
Drake grabbed Pierce's hand. "Did that guy send you a kiss?"
"Yeah, and I returned it," Pierce said with a smile. "Damn, these guys can dance. Their moves and footwork are awesome."
As the show approached its conclusion, the cast did some final moves including the boys holding the girls over their heads. At the end, the band played a rocking finale and the entire cast came together and held their hands out to the audience.
Drake and Pierce jumped to their feet along with everyone else in the audience and offered a deafening round of applause. The dancer who had earlier sent Pierce a kiss gave him a very obvious wink and Pierce applauded even more vigorously.
When the show concluded, Walker said, "Christian and I want to go to the Grand Casino - I'm sure it's open now."
"We're going to head back to the cabin, dad," Pierce said. "It's been a long day - we're bushed."
"Ok, son. See you later." Walker knew that when Pierce said they were bushed, he was really saying he and Drake were insatiably horny for each other.
7:00 PM
When the twins entered their stateroom after dinner, the first thing they noticed was that the beds had been moved. The two twin beds had been combined to make one queen bed covered by appropriate bedding and the nightstands had been moved to accommodate the new set up. They were beyond happy with what they saw and had shared a prolonged French kiss and crotch grope to celebrate. Their stateroom was now perfect.
The family then went to the Princess Theater where they watched the production show replete with dancing, singing, the Princess band, great staging, and amazing lighting. Even though they attended the show, Pierce and Drake didn’t notice the twins, who were sitting on a higher level of the theater, plus they weren’t on the lookout for the younger boys. Still, the teens had red hair to home in on, but the twins were never in position to be seen before, during, or after the show. The twins didn’t have a good enough description of the teens in their mind to recognize them from a distance. The twins weren’t looking for Pierce and Drake and would probably have missed them even if they’d caught a glimpse of them.
Blake and Bryce raved about what they saw as the family headed down to the International Café on Deck 5 for a late-night snack.
“After watching those dancers, I don’t think I can say that boys don’t dance, because it looks like they do,” Blake said.
“But those were men, not boys,” Bryce said.
“Well, they were boys before they became men,” Jeff said. “I doubt they took up dancing after growing up—I’m sure they started dancing when they were boys.”
“I know I took dancing lessons when I was a boy, but it wasn’t because I wanted to. It was because my mother, your great grandmother, dragged me screaming and kicking to the dance lessons,” Grandpa William said. “And I gotta say this, I have long ago forgiven my mother for dragging me to those dance lessons.”
“Speaking of dancing, I see couples on the dance floor and, believe it or not, they’re dancing,” Grandma Margaret said.
William stood and held out his right hand. “I can take a hint. Shall we dance, my dear?”
Grandma Margaret grinned, took his hand, and followed him onto the dance floor where a pianist, cellist, and clarinet player were performing classic swing music.
“Your mom and I are going to dance as well, right dear?” Jeff said. Helen grinned and nodded. “How about you boys go up to Deck 6 and watch us from above to free up the table for eaters and drinkers,” he told the twins.
It didn’t take long for the twins to hop up the staircase to Deck 6 and find a spot where they could look down on the dance floor. “Your parents must be dancing down there,” the friendly lady next to them said.
“Yep, and so are our grandparents,” Bryce said.
“Do you boys dance at all?”
“Nope. It’s never interested us.” But thinking how he and Blake liked jumping up and down together to music in their room, he was wondering if it might be more fun than it looked. Bryce pulled his phone out of his pocket and took several pictures of the dancers. The elevated vantage point gave an interesting perspective to the pictures.
It was after nine when the Randalls reached their staterooms. They said their goodnights and entered their respective rooms. Blake and Bryce were happy that their mom hadn’t asked to come into their room. That meant they would get a one-night reprieve from her going ballistic when she saw their beds had been put together into one queen bed.
What they didn’t know was that their dad had told her that he had okayed the joining of the beds. Helen decided that the cruise wasn’t the place to make a scene. She elected to accept the situation for what it was and let everyone have their fun. Besides, the queen bed in their stateroom was the perfect place for her to remind Jeff that wives will be wives and husbands will be husbands. That turned out to be the case as the couple felt like honeymooners enjoying their first night on a cruise ship.
Blake and Bryce stripped naked quickly and took care of their bathroom business. They cuddled under the covers and traded a long, wet kiss.
“Are we going to do it tonight?” Blake asked.
“Well, bro, I know that you know that we agreed to do it for the first time on our thirteenth birthday and that’s still a couple of days away,” Bryce replied.
“I know, but today was such a special day, so I thought I’d ask. And I know what you’re going to say—that nothing is more special than us becoming teenagers.”
“Amen to that, bro.” They talked for a few minutes about how they thought being teenagers would affect their life, but the talk quickly petered out.
After a minute of silence, Bryce, who was feeling horny, decided he and Blake should have their first cruise orgasm their first night on the ship, and he knew just how to get it. “Hey, little bro, how about a good old sixty-nine on our first night.”
When Blake didn’t answer Bryce knew exactly why; his little bro had fallen asleep. He rolled over and joined his twin in slumberland. But Bryce did get some satisfaction, however. He ended up having the first wet dream of his young life.
After returning to the cabin, Drake and Pierce spent about 15 minutes watching TV. Their need for each other finally overpowered all other thoughts. Drake turned the LED lights in the bedroom to their lowest level. The boys brushed, flossed, lubed themselves.
They stood naked in the bedroom facing each other. They didn't say anything - they just stood quietly with each boy admiring the utter beauty of the other. The tough-to-define scent of teenage boys lusting for each other wafted around them. Pierce gently traced circles around Drake's nipples with his fingertips - he felt Drake's body quiver with desire and excitement. They exchanged a tender kiss as they moved to the bed. They were rock hard. They were lubed. They were ready.
Drake made love to Pierce. Deep, passionate, heartfelt love. Love that filled Pierce's soul.
"You're so beautiful," he whispered to Pierce as the afterglow surrounded them. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
After sharing a final kiss, they drifted off to sleep.
Walker and Christian returned to the cabin just after 11:00pm. Walker took a quick glance into Drake and Pierce's bedroom. The two teens were lying in their usual fall-asleep position with Pierce's body spooned against Drake's, his back pressed against Drake's chest, his ass pressed against Drake's groin, and Drake's right arm lying over Pierce's hip. The smell of sex still lingered in the air. Walker smiled at the scene of love and contentment then joined an already-naked-and-hard Christian in their bedroom for what turned out to be a very rewarding session of man sex.
Next: Cruise Day 2-At Sea