S pring had arrived and with it the excitement of
the school year ending. In this case there was the
added anticipation of graduation for Dakota and Liam.
Liam knew he would be attending a local university
and Dakota still hadn't decided on staying close or
going out of state to school. Now the prom was the
focus of their attention.
Liam couldn't care less about yet another dance.
They were boring and the jocks generally got drunk,
making them more annoying than usual. Which
sucked as he couldn't use magic and turn them into
the pigs they really were. It required more strength of
will than he wanted to expend just to spend a few
hours with bad dance music and Dakota.
Of course he hadn't reckoned on Lisa, a romantic
of the highest order.
"I'll take you." Liam said to Dakota one sunny
afternoon. "Lisa insists I go and we've been friends
forever so why not go with me."
216 Magical Moonlight
"Well if you put it like that, how can I say no."
Dakota punched him on the arm. The two of them
ended up wrestling on the sofa in Lisa's living room.
"Break it up you too." Richard yelled from the
kitchen. He was happy though that Liam had decided
to attend his prom. He suspected the boy secretly
wanted to go with Aiden. But that never would have
happened.
"It's Aiden's birthday in a week, he's going to be
30." Liam confided in Dakota. "I think he's freaked
about it."
"You would be too." Dakota laughed. "What are
you getting him for his birthday?"
"I've thought about a lot. I mean Aiden doesn't
even acknowledge birthdays much, he says he
celebrates achievements and being born is the luck of
the draw."
"He won't be happy then if you give him
something for his birthday." Dakota leaned back on
the sofa. "What do you think Richard, should Liam
get Aiden something for his birthday?"
"Aiden has always been funny about birthdays.
Even when he was hanging around here as a teenager,
he would never let Lisa make him a cake. Birthdays
are usually important when you're young, not so much
when you get older."
"Thirty isn't old." Liam defended. "Aiden has had
a bunch of shitty birthdays when he was a kid. I'm
going to fix it if I can."
ER Bryant 217
"How can you do that? I mean you don't have a
time machine." Dakota snickered. "You don't, do
you?"
"Sure, it's in the basement."
"So that's where I left it." Richard chuckled. "I
want to go back to when I was twenty one and no
cares in the world."
"Sorry Rick, only Aiden gets to ride on my
machine." Liam wiggled his eyebrows up and down.
"Ewwwwe. You're so gross." Dakota said.
"Well I know that Daniel and the gang plan on
giving him a surprise party complete with gravestone
cake. I'm baking the cake." Richard looked at the two
kids. "It's a surprise so don't say anything."
Later that night when everyone in the house was
asleep, Aiden popped into Liam's room and snuggled
close. "Hey there." He whispered to the sleeping red
head. "I wanted to say goodnight and let you know I
have to go out of town for a couple of days on
business."
Liam moved so that his head was under Aiden's
chin. "Do you remember your first birthday?" It
wasn't an unusual question, for Wahjee had excellent
early childhood memories.
"Yes, a bit." Aiden sighed. "I remember a cake, I
think it had blue icing and it looked a lot like a
lopsided bear."
Liam giggled. "What about your second
birthday?"
"I was staying at my grandmothers. She was a
miserable old bat. I remember my mother phoning and
218 Magical Moonlight
wishing me happy birthday. It was the first time I'd
ever talked on the phone. No cake that year, blue or
otherwise."
"What about when you were three, do you
remember that birthday?"
"What's with the questions, my childhood wasn't
all that pleasant, I don't particularly want to remember
it."
"I just want to get to know you better. I mean you
never tell me anything, but you usually answer direct
questions." Liam kissed him under his chin.
"I don't remember much about birthday number
three, except I had it in my head that I was going to
get a kitten for some reason. Which was ridiculous, as
I might as well have asked for leopard. There was a
hell of a fight between my parents about it. I think a
neighbor family had kittens to give away. I liked an
orange one. I think it was a male."
"Of course it would be a male." Liam snickered.
"You would have been the right age for a Wah cat."
"Don't bother asking about the rest of my
birthdays. From that point on there were no
acknowledgements of my passing age." Aiden
shuddered. It was barely perceptible, but it was there
nevertheless.
"But you must have known when your birthday
came around. Did you ever maybe kind of hope for
something?"
"Fuck Liam, I don't want to talk about it." Silence
filled the small bedroom. "I remember when I was
five I just wanted my mother to tell me she loved me
ER Bryant 219
and maybe kiss me goodnight or something. When I
was six I lusted after a car, one of those ones that
transform into something else. At seven I wanted a
book, one about Egypt. At eight I was determined to
get a dog. One who could defend me and bite Jack's
head off. The bigger the better." He snickered. "I
spent a long time weaving fantasies about that. I even
went so far as to try and entice any dog that wandered
by to come into the house."
"At nine I was back to books, at ten I discovered
the joys of pulling on my dick, so I didn't really want
anything that year. Other than privacy to play with my
toy." Aiden kissed Liam on the forehead.
"At eleven the other altar boys proved interesting,
at twelve I wanted to get picked for the soccer team, at
thirteen, I panted in my room after Tommy James, he
was the captain of the soccer team. By the time I was
fourteen, I gave up even thinking of my birthday other
than when Lisa or Danny bugged the shit out of me
about it. It was a constant battle to convince them I
wasn't interested in a fucking birthday cake or useless
gifts that I couldn't bring home even if I wanted
them."
Again silence filled the room, Liam felt a tear
drop onto his forehead. "I'm sorry I brought this up
Aiden." He whispered.
"No, no it's alright. I do it a lot you know. Think
of my early years. It keeps me honest. It reminds me
of what I've become and how I got there."
220 Magical Moonlight
"You are one of the kindest, most gentle men I
know." Liam said. "Are we going to have sex
tonight?"
"I think I'll just hold you until you go to sleep."
Aiden whispered. "It isn't my birthday, but that's what
I want to do tonight."
"I love you Aiden." Liam wiggled until he was
wrapped under Aiden, the older man's legs over his.
"I know you do." Aiden sighed. "It's the only
thing that gets me through the day." His eyes shut as
did Liam's and they drifted off to sleep.
Aiden was gone when Liam woke up. It was
always like that. He'd come in the shadowed night and
disappear back to his loft lair before dawn, like some
kind of Wahjee vampire. The boy felt more anger for
Aiden's parents than he did pity for his lover. It
strengthened his resolve to make Aiden's 30th
birthday something special.
"Hey Rick, something smells good." Liam said as
he bounced down the stairs already dressed for school.
"I made waffles with raspberry sauce." The older
man put a plate of waffles on the table. "I noticed you
haven't seen much of Aiden lately. Is everything okay
between the two of you?"
"Yeah, I have school and stuff and Aiden is busy
with work. I'm seeing him on his birthday though.
He'll need to be rescued from his well-meaning
friends. You know how much he'd hate what they're
planning."
"I know, but after Danny's party, I think this is a
kind of get even thing."
ER Bryant 221
"Well it sucks and I don't like it."
"What Aiden did for Daniel sucked too Liam."
Richard's voice was quiet.
"He was trying to get your stupid nephew to grow
up and admit who he is. And to stop mooning over
what he's never going to have."
"I know, but there could have been a better way."
Richard sat down at the table, putting a full mug of
coffee in front of Liam and one for himself.
"Yeah, any ideas?" Liam snickered. "I don't want
to fight Rick. Aiden is important to me. I think
sometimes I'm the only one who really gets what he's
all about. There's a lot more to him than what
everyone sees."
"Hey, any waffles left for me?" Daniel asked as
he walked in the front door. He looked at Liam,
"Don't you have to get to school?"
"I'm eating my breakfast." Liam was almost
finished, but he slowed down just to annoy the other
man.
"Uncle Rick, have you got the drawings for the
cake?" Daniel asked, ignoring Liam.
"Bob brought them over the other day." Richard
confirmed. "It seems a shame to make something I
know no one is going to actually eat."
"I'll eat it." Liam grinned.
"You aren't invited Brat, this party is adults
only." Daniel sneered.
Liam threw his head back and laughed. "I
wouldn't dream of being part of your scheme to piss
Aiden off about his age. But I will be glad to eat
222 Magical Moonlight
Rick's cake. He's the best cake maker I've ever
known and trust me, my family are kind of cake nuts,
I've had cakes from famous bakeries all over the
world."
"That's some compliment." Richard was grinning
ear to ear. "Thanks Liam."
"Just telling the truth." He got up and grabbed his
backpack. "See you after school Uncle Rick." He
kissed the older man on his cheek.
"I put your lunch in your bag." Rick said as Liam
ran out the door.
"You make his fucking lunch?" Daniel was
outraged.
"Why not, he has to eat you know." Daniel's
Uncle began to clear away breakfast. "Don't you have
to go to work?"
"I'm on the late shift. I work until nine tonight."
Daniel mumbled. He was eating the left over waffles.
