Ashes to Asher

 

Danny seemed a little down after they went to their room to leave their suitcases. He had looked all through both rooms of the suite without saying a word about the accommodations. He had nodded his head vacantly and a bit dismissively when asked if he knew what size swimsuit that he would need to get. Once back in the car, he finally spoke. "Auntie Em, what did you ask me about in the hotel room?"

"I asked if you wanted to go back and trade this car for an orange and red polka dotted station wagon with fake wood grain down the sides," Emil told the boy seriously. "You said yes, so that's where we're going."

"You did not. I wouldn't be seen dead in a…. You're picking on me, aren't you?"

"Little bit, yeah," Emil chuckled. "You seemed pretty out of it as we looked over the suite, so I thought I would cheer you up by reminding you about swimming. I asked if you knew what size swimsuit you will need."

"Oh, I thought you asked if I liked the room," Danny explained. "I nodded because I thought that was the answer you would want to hear. I actually don't."

"Don't what? Don't know what size you need, or don't like the room?" Emil asked for clarification.

"Neither, or is it both?" Danny tried to figure out.

"Well, we'll get back to not knowing your size once we get to the store, but what's wrong with the suite at the hotel? I thought it was quite nice, very comfortable looking. Please tell me you're not homesick, or actually sick, that would be worse."

"I'm fine, not homesick or sick either one," Danny assured Emil. "It's nothing, I'm sure the room is just fine for old people like you."

"Watch it, I'm the same age as your mother, and I will tell her you think she's old," Emil teased. "Now, you can tell me, what do you not like about the rooms? I promise I won't be upset with you if there is a problem. You didn't see bugs or something, did you?"

"EWW no," Danny squealed. "Why would you go there? Now I'm going to be scared of bugs tonight. No, it's just that you and the hotel lady both said that there would be a bed for me, but I only saw one, and I don't really mind sharing, I guess, as long as you don't snore like Mom."

"We are NOT sharing the bed," Emil said quickly, then he grinned, giggled, and snorted all at the same time. "Your mother snores? Wait, does Asher snore too?"

"Oh no, Grandpa just tries to turn you into a teddy bear when he sleeps with you," Danny answered. "Mom says he never had a bed buddy plushie, so he makes up for it whenever someone shares the bed with him. He squeezes you really tight, and holds you super close all night. Mom calls him a psycho snuggler." He suddenly yelped as the car swerved a bit. "What was that? A hole in the road?"

"Yes, it was a hole… in the road," Emil said blushing profusely. He cleared his throat and continued, "You won't share with me. I'll show you when we get back to the hotel. Here's a hint, though. Think of that cartoon where the characters could shift from cars and trucks into robots."

"Oh, I remember them from when I was a little kid, I think," Danny shrugged. "At least it's not as lame as a race car bed." He sat up a little straighter and announced, "Oh, look there's the store. So how do I figure out what size I need?"

"Well, we start with the same size as your pants, and then we see if we need to go a size smaller maybe. We don't want them falling off underwater, even if you don't have a problem with that back home."

"Hey, I didn't know I was going to have company that day, ok?" Danny defended. "So…. Same size as my pants, huh?"

"You do know what size jeans you wear, don't you?" Emil asked him.

"Ummm… yeah, sure, whatever size Mom gives me," Danny said with a shy tuck of his chin to his chest.

"You're twelve years old, but you don't pick out your own clothes?" Emil gasped. "I thought all kids chose their own clothes in this day and age."

"Hello, have you met my mother?" Danny blurted sarcastically. "How do you think that conversation went?"

"Fair point," Emil conceded. "Sorry about that. Well, we can still figure this out, though, and today, the decision is all yours. You pick whatever swimsuit you want as long as it's the right size." As soon as they got into the store, Emil led them to the men's rest room. "Ok, go in there, and take your jeans off, check the size, then get dressed again and we're all set."

"How does taking my pants off tell you how big I am?" Danny asked, just as a woman walked past them. She glared and hurried away.

"Great," Emil mumbled. "Ok, listen, when you get the pants off, there will be a little tag in them that will tell you what size they are.

A moment later a soft voice called out, "Uncle Em, can you come in here please?"

"What is the hold… Danny, why aren't you in one of the stalls?" Emil whispered in shock at the boy in nothing but a shirt, undies, and socks.

"You didn't tell me to go in a stall," Danny explained, rolling his eyes as if that answer should have been obvious. "Besides, if I can't read the tag out here, I definitely won't be able to see it in a dark stall. Can you read that?" he asked handing the jeans over to Emil.

"No, that's pretty much washed out completely," Emil sighed. "Ok, this time, go into a stall, and check the size of your underwear, then get completely dressed and come back out here." He handed Danny the jeans and shoes before walking back out to the main store.

Danny came out of the restroom a moment later to find Emil surrounded by store employees and he himself being confronted by the store manager. "Son, are you okay? Did he touch you or make you feel uncomfortable at all?"

"Uncle Em didn't do nothing," Danny snapped. "The only one making me feel uncomfortable is you. All my uncle did was tell me how to find the size I need for the swimsuit we were going to buy here. I wouldn't take one from here now if you gave it to me for free. You just jump to the conclusion that I'm being molested? Did you ask Uncle Em who he was or who I am or what our relationship is? Wait until my mom hears you were mean to her favorite, special brother. You better hope my dad the sheriff gets to you first, because Mom's got a temper about Uncle Em." He finally turned to Emil and started patting his hand and speaking in an overly calm and soothing voice. "Uncle Em, are you okay? Did these mean guys hurt you?"

"I'm fine, Danny, but I want to talk to Ashley now. She should know about this place," Emil played along.

"I see this was a terrible misunderstanding," the manager started stammering nervously.

"Yeah, the misunderstanding was us coming here in the first place," Danny blurted. "My uncle gave me directions on how to check my pants size myself, in private. He never did anything bad ever, and you scared him half to death. Look, he's shaking," Danny practically yelled.

Emil was indeed shaking, but it was due to him trying not to laugh at how the grown man and manager of the store was being torn apart by a twelve-year-old boy. It wasn't really that surprising, given his family, but still, the manager looked like he was about to wet himself. "Let's just go, Danny. I want to go now," he spoke softly.

"You people are mean and dumb," the boy called out as he started pulling Emil toward the store exit.

"It's not nice to call people dumb, Danny," Emil said in a stage whisper that he knew they all heard. "Maybe they didn't know better."

"You're so nice to everyone, Uncle Em," Danny responded. He turned and walked a few steps back toward the still gathered group of store personnel. "I'm sorry for calling you dumb. That was mean of me, and just because you were mean first, doesn't give me the right to be mean back. You probably really thought that you were helping me out of a bad situation, which was a good thing to do, but my dad the sheriff says that before you try to help someone out of a situation like that, you should make sure they really need your help first, and then do it carefully and intelligently, so no one gets hurt."

"Please reconsider shopping here, gentlemen," the store manager practically begged. "I will personally cover the cost of whatever you were here to buy. You mentioned swimwear, yes?" He turned and found that all but two of the other employees had walked away getting back to their work. He pointed to the two male employees near him, and ordered, "You two, take these nice folks through the store and help them with their shopping. I have a phone call to make." He did not look happy as he stomped away into a nearby office, almost slamming the door. Even with the door shut, his voice could be heard yelling, "Answer the damn call, Karen."

The two employees ushered Emil and Danny away from the area, headed toward the clothing section of the store. "The men and boys' departments are this way," one of the two said politely. His name tag was backwards so Emil couldn't read it.

"I sincerely hope we might could tempt you into picking up more than just a couple of swimsuits, though," the other said with a grin. His store identification revealed his name to be Dantae.

"Oh, yeah, swimwear needs swimming toys," the first one agreed excitedly.

"Not trying to tell you what to do at all, but if it was me, I would go on a true shopping spree," Dantae said quietly. "It was his wife that saw you two and started this mess for you. Believe me, she is the most appropriately named woman I have ever met. She is everything that you would expect from a Karen."

"Yeah, and she's always in here spying on any of the employees that aren't 'her sort of people'," the other young man said with air quotes around the last four words. "Always trying to get any of us in trouble that she can." He then asked Emil directly, "Why didn't you just come back here to the clothing department and turn the kid around and check for yourself? That's what Mama Shandra would always do when I was growing up."

"Because he's my nephew, not my son, and that would not be appropriate," Emil explained. "Uncles don't get the same rules that parents do, and even if I were, that would have set the hag off even worse, I would bet."

"True that," Dantae nodded. "She is a real… umm not nice person." He had changed his wording as he looked down at Danny.

"I've got streaming services on my phone, I've heard the b word before," Danny scoffed, clearly pouting a bit at being perceived as too young for a conversation. "As for checking the size of my undies, now that you mention it, Grandpa did that once when he needed to order a uniform for me over the phone."

"Yes, and he was probably in a much more private place than we were at the front of this store," Emil countered.

"We were at the cash register in the diner," Danny shrugged.

"Were there people in the diner at the time?" Emil continued.

"Only Miss Mooney, but she don't count, because she told him what to do," Danny replied.

"Nevertheless, you do not live with me, so it would not be something I would ever do," Emil told him firmly.

"Yeah, and just look how much trouble you avoided," Dantae snorted.

"Okay, point taken," Emil surrendered. He looked down at Danny and asked, "So what size do you need?"

Danny blushed and squirmed. "I forgot."

"This would be why I never had children, this and one other reason," the still unnamed clerk said with a sigh.

"Hey, that's like the line from those dragon movies," Danny giggled. "It's supposed to be 'this is why I never married', though." He saw the looks from all three men and added, "What? I watched them a lot back when I was a little kid. I still do, even though they are pretty old now."

"Tae, he called me old," the clerk whined to his companion.

"I'm sure my sister still thinks you're a kid, Jase," Dantae said, rolling his eyes where the other man couldn't see, but Emil did.

"Your sister is like almost 30," Jase pouted.

"Yeah, well she still talks about changing your diapers," Dantae told him.

"She was my babysitter when I was TWO!" Jase fumed. "Don't say stuff like that like it happened last week or something."

"First you complain because you're not old, now you complain because you're not young," Dantae pointed out. "Make up your mind."

"I'm gonna make up a bed for you on the couch when we get home, that's what I'm gonna make up," Jase threatened.

"Okay, back to business," Dantae sighed once again. He looked at Emil with a frown. "Do we really need to go back to the front of the store?"

"I don't mind if you do it," Danny said as he turned to face away from Emil and sucked in his tummy. "Just do it quick; I ate too many snacks on the plane," he added as he rubbed said tummy.

Emil blushed profusely, but did what was needed, making sure to focus solely on the little tag in the underwear, not the skin exposed in the process. "All right, you are a medium," he announced.

"Okay, so that means it's time for the main question," Jase said as he squatted in front of Danny to be at eye level. "Do you want to be a big little kid, or a little big kid?" Danny blinked at him in confusion. "A big little kid goes for cartoon characters; a little big kid does not."

"I think I would rather be a little big kid, please, sir," Danny told him.

"Tae, he did it again," Jase whined. "Make him stop calling me old."

"He's as funny as you are, Auntie Em," Danny giggled and then gasped. "I mean Uncle Em."

"Don't worry, little bud," Dantae assured the boy. "We won't tell anyone about your auntie here."

"If he does, he will sleep on that couch for a week instead of just a night," Jase added.

"Yeah, no secret worth that," Dantae said with a grimace.

"Now I understand why you were nervous," Jase smiled at Emil.

"No, no, no, no, nothing is going on with me and Danny," Emil protested instantly.

"EWW! No, ICK," Danny blurted. "He likes my grandpa, not me."

"Daniel, could you please stop oversharing, please?" Emil hissed.

"You like Grandpa?" Dantae snickered. "That's… different. Not bad, just different. Whatever floats your boat, man. I just don't need any mental images. No offense."

"Let's just get the swimsuits and go," Emil whined to Danny. All of a sudden, he made a noise of surprise. "Oh no. I forgot all about ordering a dolly and blankets with the truck for moving the furniture, and I'm sure it's too late to do it now."

"What good would a doll and blankets do?" Danny questioned. "Do we have to read the furniture a bedtime story before we tuck it in?" he giggled.

"Not a doll, a dolly. It's also called a hand truck," Emil corrected. "It's to help move heavy things, and the blankets are to keep the furniture from getting scratched as we drive back home."

"Oh, well, we won't need help, then," Danny dismissed. "You brought me to be the muscle man." He started posing and grunting like a body builder.

"How much furniture do you have to move when and where?" Dantae asked curiously.

"Well, we can't get the truck to load until the day after tomorrow," Emil told him. "It's not a crazy amount of heavy stuff, just one room of furniture really. Although it is the office furniture and that is rather bulky and awkward. I had three guys paid to help put it all into storage and now it's just me and Danny to get it out again."

"No offense to the insignificant hulk here," Dantae began, gesturing to the still posturing boy who was being encouraged by cheers from Jase. "But I'm not sure he's going to be up to the work of three men. Here's what you're going to do; you're going to give me the address and time to be there and me and Jase will show up to help you load that truck." He saw Emil about to protest and held up his hand. "Stop right there, you didn't ask us to give you one of our two days off, so don't start feeling guilty there."

"Now, what are you doing tomorrow," Jase questioned as Danny started looking at the swimsuits finally.

"Probably just more swimming in the hotel pool," Emil said with a shrug.

"Wrong," Dantae announced with a big smile. "I mean you can do that if you really want to, or afterwards for sure, but we would really like it if you joined us at the park for a very family friendly pride picnic. No parades, no skimpy leather bar outfits, just a group of same sex and supportive families getting together to do some barbecue. My whole family will be there for Jase and me, so I know the food will be good."

"My very first pride event," Danny gushed excitedly as he walked back over to Emil. "I thought I would have to wait until I was a grown up and had a boyfriend."

"Oh, so you're a little rainbow prince, too?" Jase grinned. "Oh… stay here. I will be right back. I have a present for you two." He turned and practically ran through the store.

"I like these, Auntie Em," Danny spoke up again, as he held up a pair of board short style swim trunks. It wasn't pride striped, but it did have all six traditional colors of the flag in a tropical floral print. Emil nodded his approval, eliciting a little victorious cheer from the boy.

Jase reappeared then with T shirts for both of them. The one for Danny was a bit big, since it was meant more for an adult, but being a size small, it wouldn't be enormous on him. It was a white shirt with lettering on the front that read, 'I'm PROUD of my FAMILY'. The words proud and family were printed in rainbow pride colors.

"I thought it best to keep you at least just inside the closet door, since you're still a bit young, and might not be out to everyone just yet," Jase told him.

"His family knows, but the public does not," Emil confirmed. "The thought is definitely appreciated."

"Yeah, this is awesome," Danny said with a tiny sniffle. He wiped his eyes and smiled up at Jase. "Thank you so much. I'm going to keep it forever."

There was a shirt for Emil as well. It was white as well with text on the front that read, 'My FAMILY says that I'm SPECIAL'. In this case the words family and special were in the rainbow print.

"I'll keep mine forever, too," Emil whispered as he, too, wiped his eyes.

After that emotional moment, Emil picked out a pair of dark purple board shorts for himself. At the urging of their new friends, he also got a furniture dolly and several quilted blue furniture blankets. Once outside in the parking lot, they discovered that Mustang convertibles were not built for hauling furniture dollies. It fit with the top down, but not if they were going to put the top up, so when they got back to the hotel, they took the dolly into their suite so they could adequately seal up the car overnight.