Chapter 64

The Fourth of July week was a small week at camp, only around 250 campers. My staff worked smoothly. Everyone was in the routine needed to run our camp successfully. I played cornerback against Dave Mitchell as we practiced after lunch, challenging him to do better on both speed and possession routes.

Will, Abby and I called home Tuesday evening as the quarter mile swim got started. All of us wished Hunter a happy birthday. We had mailed our presents to him earlier. Mom reported they had arrived on time. Hunter wasn't much of a conversationalist on the phone but he recognized our voices and was happy we called.

Mom reported that the entire family would spend my birthday evening visiting with Will, Abby, Rose and me. We would end the evening with cake and ice cream for my troop, as we always did. The best news was that Penny was coming too! I would get to see my girlfriend for an hour or two, when I wasn't on duty at the pool.

Week 2 was easy, week 3 wasn't. The second week of July traditionally was a big week of camp. My troop would be there. Josh and Christian's troop from Manheim would be there too. The camp was expecting over five hundred scouts.

The first troop showed up at the pool at a quarter to two on Sunday afternoon for their swim tests. John Holloway assigned all the CITs who had worked the pool this summer to assist the aquatics staff. Will and I did the safety lectures while Dustin and Eric kept things organized in the pool. The handicraft staff and the commissioners came down to help prepare buddy tags after the kids finished their tests. It was organized chaos, but it worked.

The Manheim troop showed up around mid-afternoon. When I finished the pool talk to his troop, Christian came up to greet me.

Hey Coach, it's good to see you," Christian said as he shook my hand.

"Good to see you too," I agreed. "How's your summer been?"

"I'm getting myself ready for August," Christian replied. "We got a lot of work to do to get our team to Phoenix in January. Do you have time free to hear my report on the other receivers' progress?"

"Not now," I answered. "Tell me tomorrow after lunch. I assume you're meeting us at the parade field to practice like usual. Things are a little busy right now."

"I can see that," Christian agreed. "I'll talk to you then unless you're working the polar bear swim. I volunteered to bring our scouts down tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, I'm working polar bear tomorrow," I agreed. "We'll talk then."

Christian followed his troop into the shower house while I sat the next scout troop down for my tenth pool talk that afternoon. My troop came through about half an hour after Christian's. I greeted the young scouts in my troop along with the leaders. Mr. Clark was still the scoutmaster even though his son had graduated from college a couple years ago. I didn't know the rest of the leaders in our troop as well. Their kids were much younger than me or my brother Andy.

My staff and I wrapped up testing the last of 517 scouts around 5:15 pm that afternoon. We closed the pool quickly and hurried back to the staff area to change for dinner. Our chaplain, Todd Weller, caught me after dinner.

"We're on duty for the polar bear swim tomorrow, right?" Todd asked. Todd had sat in with me the days I ran the polar bear swim to provide the required adult supervision of the swim. The BSA required someone over twenty-one to be present at all times when we were running the pool.

"Didn't you hear?" I teased. "You get to sleep as late as you want. My birthday is tomorrow and I no longer need training wheels to run the pool. I turn twenty-one in around seven hours."

"Let me be the first to wish you a happy birthday, Kyle," Todd said. "I will enjoy my extra hour of sleep tomorrow." He gave me a wink. "I hope John and Rob don't notice that I don't get up early to help you with the polar bear swim but I bet they will rearrange the rotation of adults helping Eric and Dustin to include me."

"Yeah, you're probably right," I agreed.

"It's all good," Todd added. "Up early two times every three weeks – that's not too bad."

"You have three to go this season, I have five before I leave for football camp," I replied. "Enjoy your sleep tomorrow."

I liked Todd a lot. He was very good at counseling the younger scouts who got homesick. This was his second year on staff and most likely his last. He was going to finish divinity school in the spring and would be looking for a permanent job next summer. I knew that feeling.

--oooOooo--

I left my tent quietly on Monday morning. I hadn't planned out the polar bear swim duty schedule very well. My tent mate Patrick and I worked opposite mornings. I was on duty Monday and Friday this week. Patrick worked the early swim Tuesday and Thursday. If I had been smart, I would have had him work the same mornings I did so noise wouldn't matter when we got up.

Dave, Josh, Alex, Gary and Zac worked with me that morning. Danny Crawford, one of this week's pool CITs, joined us. The same crew would work on Wednesday for Zac's brother Eric. A crowd of scouts and leaders were at the gate to the pool when we arrived at 6:20.

Some scoutmasters woke the poor kids up at Oh-Dark:30 and dragged everyone down to the pool to swim on Mondays. As the week went by both the scoutmasters and the kids wanted sleep more than swimming time. On Friday I would see roughly half this size crowd. [Oh-Dark:30 is military slang for 'too damn early' that Kyle picked up from a friend doing ROTC.]

Dave and Josh both wished me a happy birthday as we set up for the swim. Alex, Zac, Danny and Gary overheard and wished me a happy birthday too. We opened up the gate for the campers exactly on time and let them have their forty minutes of early morning swimming.

Dave manned the buddy board, ensuring everyone checked in with a buddy and left with the same buddy. Zac manned the lookout chair. Josh, Alex, Danny and Gary spread out along the sides of the pool, guarding the swimmers. We were a well-oiled machine by the time we hit this, our third week of campers.

I leaned back against the fence around the swim area and watched the campers play as my staff supervised. I was relaxed and at peace. I had looked forward to this day for a decade as I wished grown-ups would stop treating me like a little child when I was younger, wishing I was older as I progressed through my teens, and dreaming of the day I would be liberated when I turned twenty-one.

That day was today. Legally in all respects I was an adult. I didn't feel any different. My debt to my parents was about four summers of my camp salary. I knew that debt was going to grow this year too. I still had to go to school. I had no permanent job. Was I really different from yesterday, last month or last year? A scoutmaster interrupted my reverie to talk Penn State football. I obliged him. Someday I might figure out the answers to my questions.

My birthday went smoothly. I was looking forward to the evening. My family was coming to visit Will, Abby, Rose and me in the evening. Penny was coming along. I was going to get to see my sweetie!

I had one dread during the day. I knew at one of the meals Will would get up and make me stand in front of the group and make a big deal about my birthday. He had done this every year for ten years. He let me have my breakfast in peace. He didn't bother me at lunch either.

The afternoon went well. Will and I were hanging out by the fence sixth period, watching the scouts enjoy our pool to avoid the hot weather. My staff had just finished the next to last buddy check when I heard two high pitched voices call out, "Unka Wih', Unka Ky, we here!" Will and I spun around to find our two nephews with their noses pressed through the fences.

"Hey guys, you're early," I said. "I didn't expect for another couple hours. How'd you get here?"

"Mom-mom's car," Noah said, pointing back towards the rest of my family. Little Hunter was running as fast as his little legs could go to catch up to his larger nephews. Andy, Liz, Mom and Dad were trailing the boys, trying to catch up to the little dynamos.

"Hey guys, it's really good to see you," I said.

"Yeah, welcome to Boy Scout camp," Will added.

"We swim now?" Connor asked as he pointed towards the crowded pool.

"Not now," I said. "The big kids would run over you if you went in the pool now."

"P'ease, we swim?" Noah begged.

"Yeah ... yeah ... yeah ... swim!" Hunter added enthusiastically.

"I don't know if you have time, guys," I replied.

"Maybe we can work something out," Will added.

"Be careful what you promise, Will," Andy said. "My boys will hold you to it."

I hoisted one twin over the fence. Will picked up Hunter. Andy held the other twin up at fence level while we greeted our young ones with kisses and hugs. After exchanging Hunter and Noah and greeting them properly, Will returned Noah to his dad, while I gave Hunter to ours. Will picked up Connor, greeted him, and then let me greet my nephew.

The rest of us exchanged verbal greeting and hugs over the fence. "I'm shocked you're here so soon. I didn't expect you until 7:00 or 7:30. What's up?" I asked.

"Thank your big brother," Mom said.

"I thought we should do things up right for your twenty-first," Will said. "At least as well as we can at a scout camp. I arranged with John for the whole family and Penny to have dinner at the dining hall tonight."

"That's wonderful," I said. "Speaking of Penny, where is my girlfriend?"

"She's about fifteen or twenty minutes behind us. She got off work late and needed to shower before she came up here."

"I got things covered here, Kyle," Will suggested. "Why don't you take the family on a tour of camp?"

"That's a great idea," Dad said. "You can start by showing us the camp's freezer. I have ten gallons of ice cream melting in coolers in the car. We need to get them somewhere cold PDQ."

"What PDQ?" Noah asked from his perch on Andy's shoulders.

"Pop-Pop means very quick," I said. "If we don't hurry, the ice cream will be a big puddle in the back of Pop-Pop's car."

"Ewww!" a chorus of ice cream lovers moaned, myself included.

We went back to the car and picked up the ice cream and cake for the night and carried it over to the dining hall. Nancy Lantz was nice enough to interrupt her supper prep to help us put my treats in a safe place until later in the evening.

I hoisted Connor up on my shoulders like his brother, who was on Andy's shoulders. Dad gave Hunter a ride. I took the family around the center of camp. We stopped in the office to introduce the boys to John Holloway and our camp clerk, Kayla Hastings, our Ranger's sixteen year old daughter.

I took my family down to the staff area and showed the kids how we lived in camp. Noah and Connor were dumbfounded that I lived in a tent all summer. I teased Andy that it was time to get his kids out camping in the back yard. It wouldn't do for Martin boys to dislike camping.

Abby and Rose met us at my tent. She announced that Will called and said he could get the kids a little time at the pool at the end of the staff swim. I grabbed my uniform so I could dress at the pool and have more time with my family. Dad and Andy took Noah, Connor and Hunter into the changing area to get their swim suits on.

When they came out, Andy outfitted Noah and Connor with water wings on each arm and then strapped them into small PFDs. He lowered Connor into the water first. He bobbed up and down in the water at chest level. He splashed and laughed as Andy prepped his brother.

Dad walked out to the pool with Hunter. He had no wings, no PFD, nothing at all. Hunter stepped up to the edge of the pool and jumped in feet first. He swept his arms to come back to the surface, rolled on his back and did a couple strokes of backstroke. Hunter rolled back on his stomach again and dove down using a pretty decent breast stroke.

"What the heck have you been doing with Hunter?" I asked.

"You haven't seen him at his swim lessons before, have you? Liz asked. "Our brother is a swimming prodigy."

"This is amazing," Will commented. "How young do they start swim lessons for kids now?"

"As young as eighteen months," Dad replied.

Will, who was holding Rose at that time, nuzzled her. "Rose sweetie, it looks like you're going swimming next summer. Won't that be fun?" She giggled at her dad's attention.

"Are Noah and Connor afraid of the water, Andy?" I asked.

"No, they're fine," Andy replied. "The boys can swim a little but they like the comfort of wearing the flotation. They enjoy playing without worrying about staying above water. Boys, can you show Uncle Kyle and Uncle Will how well you can swim?"

"Sure," "OK," the twins answered. They paddled to the side. Liz and Andy helped them pull their wings and PFDs off. The two boys slipped into the water and doggie paddled for about thirty seconds before coming back to the side and climbing out. They were outfitted with their flotation again and returned to the pool to happily splash and play while their nephew swam around them.

"Am I late?" a sweet familiar voice asked from behind us.

"SWEETIE!" I exclaimed as I turned to face my lover. "I'm so glad you made it."

"Happy birthday, Kyle," Penny replied. I started to hop the fence so we could hug.

"Bad example, Kyle," Will commanded. "Use the gate." I jogged for the gate and my reunion. "No running on the pool deck!" I slowed to a fast walk until I cleared the gate and then I dashed to join Penny.

"Oh, God! I missed you so much," I exclaimed as I met and hugged Penny. Her first words were equally gushy, but lost in our deep kiss.

"No public performances," Will teased. "Let's keep this G rated."

Penny and I parted, blushing.

"It's twenty-five to six everyone," Will said. "Let's get the kids,..." he waved towards me, "the big one and the little ones, changed for dinner. Kyle and I are required to be at the retreat ceremony at 5:45, no exceptions allowed."

"Give me a minute, honey," I said. "My uniform is in the pool office. I'll change and rejoin you."

Penny smirked and asked, "Need help changing?"

"Oh ... that's a lovely thought," I agreed. "But I don't have enough time for you to 'help' me as much as I want."

"Move it!" Will directed. I headed for the pool house. Andy and Dad took Noah, Connor and Hunter back to the camper's changing area to get dressed. I threw my scout pants over my swim suit, since the suit was dry. I hadn't been in the water since about 2:30 that afternoon. I was dressed in full Class A uniform in about two minutes.

The three little kids took longer to dress. Will and I headed over to the parade field accompanied by Penny and Liz. Mom, Dad and Andy would bring the little kids along as soon as they were ready.

Unknown to me, Will had been busy. He had the dining hall staff set up an extra table for my family so we could eat together. There was only room for ten of us. Will, Abby and Rose sat at the head table like normal.

Noah, Connor and Hunter loved eating dinner with the big kids, as they called the scouts. I loved eating dinner and talking with Penny. Every moment we could have together was precious.

When dinner was over, Will walked to the front of the dining hall and raised his hand in the scout sign to silence the assembled scouts and leaders. It took about thirty seconds to quiet the crowd. I knew what was coming.

"Today is a special day for one of our scouts..." Will began in a voice strong enough to carry through the big dining hall. "Excuse me, I guess I need to say, today is a special day for one of our leaders. Kyle Martin, please join me up front."

The scouts cheered and clapped as I jogged to the front of the crowd. One of my staff, I don't know who, blew a whistle and yelled, "No running on the pool deck!"

"I'm in the dining hall," I called back.

Nathan Howard, the dining hall steward, yelled, "No running in my dining hall!" I slowed to a walk as I neared the front. The scouts laughed at our ribbing.

"Today is my little brother's birthday," Will announced as he made me climb on a chair so everyone could see me. "Kyle is twenty-one years old today." The scouts cheered the announcement. No surprise. Will and I are probably the two most visible and well known staffers in the camp. Everyone, every single person, comes to our pool every day to swim or do our merit badges.

"Let's sing 'Happy Birthday' to my LITTLE brother," Will announced as the din quieted. The 642 people (plus my family and girlfriend) did a passable job of singing the song. I gave everyone a smile and a wave as I started to climb off the chair.

"Show us your touchdown dance, Coach!" a loud voice from someone at a staff table demanded. I ignored the request. Will stopped me from getting off the chair.

"Your fans want to see a touchdown dance," Will announced for the crowd to hear. That drew a loud cheer from the assembly.

"No ... no thank you," I answered to the demand.

"Come on, Coach," another staffer yelled. "You can do it. Let's see your touchdown dance."

"No ... No, I'm not doing that!" I protested. The demands from the staff continued and some scouts voiced their wishes too.

"You can do it!" a loud voice called from the back of the room. It sounded a lot like Christian's voice.

"I don't have a touchdown dance," I protested. "I score too often. I don't have time to figure one out every time I get in the end zone."

The "Touch ... Down ... Dance!" chant began among the staff. The campers quickly took it up. They began banging on the table in time to the chant. "Touch ... Down ... Dance!"

John, Rob and Will let the chant continue for a minute or so. I steadfastly refused. Finally Rob came up and whispered in my ear, "Just do it and end this."

An idea popped in my head before I had to concede defeat and dance. I held up my right hand in the scout sign, demanding quiet from the audience. It took about forty-five seconds, but they got quiet.

"I will make a deal with you," I announced. "If all of you promise to turn your TVs to the national championship game next January 7th and to cheer for Penn State when we play ... when my team wins, I will go to the fifty yard line and do a national championship dance." That drew loud cheers from the crowd. I added, " ... and Christian Hunsecker will join me ... right Christian?"

"When we win the national championship, we'll dance!" Christian shouted from his seat near the back of the dining hall. I finally got off the chair as they cheered Christian's promise.

I started back to my table but Will stopped me. "Not yet," he said.

"Enough silliness," Will announced. "It's time to sing a song. All of you know it. Kyle and I are going to lead you in it. Everyone knows 'God Bless America, ' but we're not doing that one. We're doing 'God Bless my Underwear.' Let's go.

God bless my underwear, my only pair.

Stand beside them, and guide them,

Through the rips, through holes, through the tears,

From the washer, to the dryer, to the clothesline in the air.

God bless my underwear, my only pair,

God bless my underwear, my only pair.

"One more time," Will demanded. The group repeated the song, louder than the first time as the first year scouts caught on too. Everyone was laughing and having a grand time as they repeated the goofy song. "Kyle, dismiss everyone," Will commanded when the song finished.

"Everyone who is taking BSA Lifeguard is dismissed," I announced. The six kids and a leader got up and headed for the exits to the dining hall. "Everyone taking Lifesaving Merit Badge is dismissed." About forty kids headed for the exits.

"Everyone taking Swimming Merit Badge is dismissed." Seventy or eighty kids got up to leave. "Everyone who has been in the pool this week is dismissed," I announced. Finally I said, "All the rest of you dirty, stinky scouts, you are DISMISSED!" Everyone got up and headed outside.

"All you smelly scouts who left last," I shouted. "Come to the pool and get a shower. Your tent mate will appreciate it."

I headed back to my family at our table. "Is it always like this?" Penny asked.

"No, it isn't," I answered. "Unlike tonight, we can get really silly sometimes." Penny cracked up.

Will, Abby and Rose joined us at our table. "When is a good time for the whole family to get together to do presents for Kyle?" Dad asked.

"I have to work from 7:00 to about 8:45 tonight," I said. "After that, I guess." My watch said I had about twelve minutes until the Swimming Merit Badges students descended on the pool to do inflation while the Lifesaving scouts did disrobing and rescue throws.

"You can all get together now," Will said. "Abby and I will have two presents for Kyle. I can give him the first now. We'll do the other one later in the evening." Will turned to me. "Happy birthday, Kyle," Will said dramatically. "You're first present is the night off. I'll run your classes this evening. You can entertain Penny."

"Thank you, Will," I said. "That is an excellent and most appreciated gift."

"Feel free to relax over at my cabin. Watch TV or whatever," Will said. "I will not be back to the cabin until after cake and ice cream at our troop site tonight."

"I'm going to be with Mom, Dad and the rest of our family to show them camp," Abby said. "The two of you can enjoy the quiet and the privacy." Abby gave me a wink that I totally understood. She and Will didn't mind of Penny and I satisfied our baser urges tonight at their cabin. I had the greatest brother and sister-in-law.

Abby volunteered to be the waiter for our table and clear the dishes, sweep and wipe down the table while the rest of us headed outside. We were to meet at the picnic tables in the staff area in five minutes. Abby sent Rose to the pool with Will for the evening.

I went straight to the staff area while the rest of the group headed to the cars to get their presents. I did very well that evening. Mom and Dad bought me a set of pots and pans for my apartment. Damian and I were going to enjoy them. We had some old, beat up hand-me-downs last year.

Liz gave me a gift card to download music. Andy, Noah and Connor bought me a year's membership in the Penn State Lettermen's Club. Hunter bought me a pair of leather driving gloves for the winter. Mom insisted Hunter actually did help pick out the gloves.

Penny saved her gift for last. She handed me a fifteen by twenty inch box about three inches tall. I tore the paper off to find that the box was from Deerskin Leather, the quality leather goods store in Park City. I opened the box and found the leather jacket I had admired back in May when Penny and I went window shopping while we were looking for presents for the twins.

"This is wonderful, honey," I said. " ... but it is too much. I bought you a case of beer for your birthday. I saw how much this jacket cost. You should save your money for things you need."

"Nonsense, Dr. Chu pays me well," Penny replied. "You will look good in this and I want a handsome gentleman to escort me around campus next spring when you are living in Philly."

"OK, I love you," I said before giving her a big kiss.

My family decided to go up and visit our troop's campsite and show the little boys how Boy Scouts lived when they went camping. After that, Andy and Abby would take them down to the boat docks to watch scouts canoeing and rowing during the evening open boating and then over to the pool to watch the Swimming Merit Badge students inflate their shirts and pants after they disrobed in the deep end of the pool. Penny and I wished my family a fun evening. We headed over to Will and Abby's cabin.

I set my MP3 player in Will's docking station to provide some nice music to set the mood for Penny and me. We relaxed on the couch and talked for a couple minutes. It wasn't long before we were kissing and making out feverishly.

"God, it's been too long!" Penny moaned after a couple minutes. "Little Kyle just doesn't satisfy me."

"You still have Little Kyle?" I asked. That was the name she gave her dildo when we were dating in high school.

"Of course I do," Penny answered after another kiss. "I did rename it about three years ago, but I still have it. I want to test your Big Kyle tonight." She gave me another kiss before asking, "Do you think it's all right if we use Will and Abby's bedroom?"

"I've done it here on this couch already," I replied without thinking. That comment drew a hard stare from my lover. "Sorry, that was a dumb thing to say. Remember, both of us have been with other people since we broke up three years ago."

"I'm not mad, Kyle," Penny said. " ... though it is a bit of a buzz kill to have you tell me where you and Kelly had sex."

"Let's forget about that," I said. "We're together now and Kelly and Harrison aren't part of our lives any longer." We went back to kissing again. It didn't take long to recapture the feeling we had a few minutes earlier.

"Let's check out the bedroom," I suggested after a couple minutes. I led Penny by the hand back to the bedroom in the small cabin.

"You don't think Will and Abby will mind, do you?" Penny asked as we stepped into the bedroom. I laughed in response. "What?"

"They left us a note on the bed," I declared. I picked it up and scanned it. "It says: 'Please put the spare sheets on the bed when you are done. Love, Will & Abby.' I think that answers the question about whether they mind us using their bed."

I pulled the bedspread down while Penny drew the curtains closed on the room. Neither of us wanted to give an educational show to any scouts who might happen by and be curious about the light in this cabin.

I started to unbutton my scout shirt. Penny said, "Make it sexy, honey. Let's have some fun with this." Penny hummed musical accompaniment as I endeavored to strip seductively out of my Boy Scout uniform. That is a hard thing to do, if you've ever tried it. Penny made a good audience, shouting out encouragement as I disrobed piece by piece. I felt more natural by the time I was down to my swim suit.

"It's your turn now, you big tease," I said after I inched my suit down a couple inches but didn't reveal all.

I hummed a seductive tune while Penny put a show on for me. I shouted out encouragement as she took off her clothes piece by piece. "God, I'm the luckiest man in the world," I declared when she dropped her bra, leaving my vision of loveliness clad only in skimpy panties.

"Tell me more, loverboy," Penny teased.

"I love your golden hair and the graceful curves it makes as it frames your face," I said. "Your breasts ... Venus De Milo has nothing on you. They are full, firm and shapely. You slim waist is perfectly proportioned to your size. I love the shapely curve of your hips ... and then your legs ... Mmmmm ... Perfection."

"Let me look you over, Kyle," Penny asked. I spun around so she could see me better. "Take it all off ... I want to see everything." I dropped my boxers and spun around again. "Michelangelo could have used you as the model for David. You look very handsome with your shorter haircut. It makes you look older and more professional."

"That's why I cut it," I agreed. "I needed to look like a school teacher rather than a student this spring."

"Your muscles ... oh my, they are amazing," Penny continued. "A girl dreams of a strong, handsome prince. You are so strong that I know you can handle anyone if they bother us. Still, you have a sweet and gentle side that makes me want you even more. I AM the luckiest woman on the face of the earth."

Penny dropped her panties and we embraced, sharing a deep, soul searing kiss. We meant to be slow and romantic but our postponed needs and desires were too much. We kissed on the bed for minute or so, rubbing our naked bodies together. I took her as soon as she demanded that I mount her.

I'd like to say it was slow and loving. Fast and feverish is a better description. Both of us needed this too much to make it last. Our nearly mutual climaxes may have been quick, but they were glorious.

As we lay cuddling in the afterglow, I commented, "We have an unusual relationship. Our separations are excruciatingly painful. But damn, our reunions are spectacular."

"Don't talk about this reunion in the past tense, Kyle," Penny said. "I'm expecting a lot more loving before I will be satisfied."

"Give me a few minutes," I replied. "I certainly am planning on an encore. Now that we've taken the edge off, maybe we can make our second time last a good, long time."

"That would be lovely," Penny agreed.

We cuddled for a minute or so before giving each other some 69 stimulation. I brought Penny off. She got my 'Big Kyle' hard again. We made love the second time, slowly and wonderfully. We collapsed into a sweaty heap when we completed our coupling.

"God, that was great, sweetie," I gushed as I gave Penny little kisses on her cheeks and neck.