It Takes All Kinds

Westward Ho!

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"Okay, sleepyheads, time to get your butts up out of bed!"

Gus groaned at his dad's sweetly sarcastic tone of voice and pulled a pillow over his head to drown out the sound. When the pillow was jerked out of his hold, he glared up at his dad and demanded, "Go 'way!"

Brian smirked at his son's expression then held up a bag of donuts and a carton of chocolate milk. "I'll just take these with me then."

Making a futile grab at the bag, Gus groaned as his side ached from the movement and flopped back onto the mattress. "I don't like you very much right now. This could be considered child abuse." He carefully sat up, holding his side and scooted back until his body was braced against the headboard. "I don't see you picking on Pops, and he's over there snoring away."

Brian handed Gus the bag, set the carton down on the bedside table and laying his finger against his lips to warn his son to be quiet, cautiously edged his way over toward the other bed. As he was about to pounce on Justin, a twinkling blue eye popped open.

"Don't even think about it, buster."

Ignoring the warning, Brian soon had Justin begging for mercy as he tickled him relentlessly. Gus merely rolled his eyes at his dads' antics and opened the sack, rummaging through the pastries until he found the one he wanted. "Cool, Dad. You got the chocolate crème filled kind."

"Geeze, Brian. Chocolate donuts AND chocolate milk? He's going to be bouncing off the ceiling with all that sugar." Justin pushed his partner off him and reached across the gap between the two beds. "Give me that, Gus."

Brian propped his head up on his hand as he lay on the bed, watching the others as they happily consumed their breakfast. "Well, I figured it wouldn't hurt him. The only thing they let him eat at the hospital was chicken broth and jell-o." Peeking over at Justin, he asked, "What do you think about staying here today, to give Gus a chance to rest? We can hit the road early tomorrow, and roll into Los Angeles Monday morning."

Justin considered the idea as he nibbled on a donut. Swallowing the last bite, he shook his head. "No. I think it would be better if we left later this afternoon and drive for eight or nine hours, then find a hotel. Gus can rest in the car, and that will break up the drive. We can finish the trip tomorrow, get a good night's sleep tomorrow night then hit the park on Monday."

"Whatever. I don't want Gus to do too much today." Brian rolled off the bed and crossed the room to their luggage. He pulled out a deck of cards and held them up. "Anyone up for a game?"

Gus nodded. "Let me get dressed then we can play something."

Climbing to his feet, Justin ruffled Gus' hair as he said, "You two play. I'm gonna take a shower then I want to sketch for a while." He meandered to the bathroom, grabbing his clothes on the way. Soon, an off-key voice could be heard rising above the sounds of the running water.

Brian cleared off the small table near the window while Gus slipped on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. Sitting down with a pencil and paper, he shuffled the cards and dealt two hands, giving one to Gus. "Now, sonny boy, I'm going to teach you the finer points of playing poker."

Justin was standing near the bathroom door toweling off his hair after his shower, turned to look at the card players. "Umm, Brian… I'm not sure…" His protest halted when he spotted Gus' impish wink. 'Oh Lord, he's trying to pull something over on Brian!' Raising an eyebrow, he nodded imperceptibly at his son before he finished getting dressed. He grabbed his sketchbook and a pencil and settled down on the bed. The little game between father and son should prove interesting - he was putting his money on Gus.

Gus nodded politely as he listened as his dad went over the rules of the game, an innocent expression on his face. With an inward grin, he picked up his cards and asked casually, "So, I think you're supposed to bet on this game, right? Are you going to show me how to do that?"

"Well, that's the whole point of poker, Gus. You're going to owe me your allowance for a year, sonny boy!"

An hour later, Brian gazed down incredulously at the cards splayed out on the table in front of him. He narrowed his eyes at his son, then shifted his glance to look at his lover, who was smirking behind the safety of his sketchbook. "Okay, who wants to explain this to me? This was NOT beginner's luck."

"Brian, I tried to warn you. I taught Gus and Rachel how to play over the summer - your son has a natural aptitude for it." Justin grinned unrepentantly at his partner.

Brian rolled his eyes. "Great - now I owe him one hundred twenty bucks."

Gus smiled sweetly at his dad and corrected, "Actually, Dad, it's one hundred twenty-two dollars and fifty-seven cents." His merry laugh rang out in the hotel room when his dad rolled his eyes again.

Getting to his feet, Brian stretched his arms up over his head to get out the kinks in his back. "So, what do you two want to do now?"

Justin tossed his sketchbook down on the bed and moved to stand behind Brian. Reaching up, he massaged the tense shoulders muscles for a few minutes, then pulled Brian's arm up so he could look at his watch. "Let's go - I have an idea how we can spend the afternoon."

After gathering their things, they went out to the SUV. Justin quickly got onto the highway and headed for High Springs. They were soon pulling up to a large building with a sign that said 'The Mammoth Site'. Justin twisted to look back at Gus. "I thought you might like the chance to play around in the dirt. Let's go."

After taking the thirty-minute guided tour of the dig, they watched for a while as the paleontologists carefully brushed the dirt off the various exposed skeletons of the prehistoric beasts. Brian glanced down at his son with a smile. "So, interested in giving it a try?" When Gus nodded enthusiastically, they walked over to the Junior Paleontologist area.

Gus was fascinated as he listened to the lecture showing the proper way to excavate and identify fossils. After the talk was over, the kids were allowed into a special pit, where a replica of a mammoth skeleton was buried. Gus beamed up at his dads seated in the bleachers when he discovered a thighbone. He held it up above his head as Brian snapped several photos.

Bouncing over to his dads, Gus enthused, "Wow, that was fun. This is so neat. It's hard to believe there were mammoths here thousands of years ago." He showed them the book on fossil identification he'd been given and pointed to the bone he'd found. "This would be a cool job to have when I grow up."

Both Justin and Brian chuckled at the statement. "Okay, you're going to be a paleontologist who races cars in his spare time, huh?" Brian teased lightly as they walked back out to the car.

Gus looked confused. "Maybe that's too much to want, huh?"

Brian shook his head. "No, Gus. You can do whatever you want to when you grow up." Smiling affectionately at him, he unlocked the car doors and continued, "The best way to figure out what you want to be is to go with what you like. If you're interested in racecars, then do it. If paleontology fascinates you, then maybe that's what you should set your goals toward." He quickly walked around the car and climbed into the driver's seat. "After all, that's what both Justin and I did. I enjoy selling ideas to people, so I went into advertising. Justin's love is art, so he puts his efforts into that."

Remaining quiet as he thought about what his dad said, Gus finally stated, "What if I don't know what I want to do? That's bad, isn't it?"

"Absolutely not. You're only nine, Gus. You have plenty of time to work out your future."

After checking out of the hotel and grabbing some dinner, they began the long drive to California. Gus was feeling tired and a bit sore from his escapades in the pit and was quickly fast asleep. He barely roused when his dad carried him into the hotel and was out again as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next morning, Gus woke up to the sound of the shower running. He glanced at the other bed and saw that it was empty. Just wonderful - his dads were taking a shower together, which meant they wouldn't be out for a while. He groggily got up and fetched his backpack - he might as well write in his journal while he waited for the bathroom.

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Vacation Diary of Gus the Great

Sunday, November 22, 2009-Day 9

Wow, I sure missed some days. I got really sick and Dad and Pops took me to the hospital. I had to have surgry to get better. The docters and nurses were nice, but they kept giving me shots. I hate needles. They also made me eat a lot of jello - I don't want to see any more jello for a long time.

I still hurt a bit. I am glad Dad and Pops aren't mad at me for messing up our trip. They are being really nice to me to.

We went to a place called the Mammoth site yesterday. I got to dig in the dirt for bones, which is really neat. I wonder what I have to do to do that when I grow up? Dad said I can be whatever I want. It's kinda scary to think about growing up.

We are going strait to California today. Tomorrow, we get to go to Disney Land. I can't wait. I want to ride each ride twice. I hope Dad will ride the Matterhorn with me, even thogh he doesn't like roller coasters. He turns a funny green color when he does. I'm glad that Pops loves them as much as me.

I've taken lots of pictures so far. I'm going to have a hard time picking out the best ones for my project. I really want to show people how great my dads are, plus I want to show some stuff about my moms to. I guess I should show the rest of the guys to. They are part of my family.

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After putting away his diary, Gus went to the bathroom door and banged on it as loud as he could. He'd learned that sometimes his dads needed some encouragement to get out quicker. A few seconds passed then he heard the water turn off and some muttering from his dad about wanting some private time. He wondered why they took such long showers together but the one time he asked his dad, he'd been told to mind his own business.

The door finally opened and his dads came out, each wrapped in a towel. His Pops' cheeks were pink and his dad had a huge grin on his face.

"It's about time - I gotta pee."

"The bathroom's all yours, Gus."

"Geeze, how long a shower do you two need? You didn't get that dirty yesterday." Gus' eyes widened when his Pops' face flushed an even brighter red. He rolled his eyes as he went into the bathroom to get ready for the day. There were some things a kid just didn't need to think about, and this was obviously one of them.

The time passed quickly as they traveled. Gus kept himself entertained with his Gameboy™ and several puzzle books he'd brought along. They made several stops along the way, but mainly the day was spent driving. Nighttime was falling as they passed the Los Angeles city limits sign. The directions Justin had printed out directed them straight to the hotel. Quickly checking in, they headed to their room for the night.

Gus climbed into bed after brushing his teeth, but was almost too excited to sleep. He could hardly wait until the next day. His mind raced as he made plans for their visit to Disney Land. There were so many things to see and he didn't want to miss a single one. Gradually though, his eyelids grew heavy, and sleep claimed him.

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