A/N Happy Championship Sunday! It's Tom vs. Peyton round 17, and likely the last one we'll see. I hope. Peyton, I love him, but he's really on his last legs and I don't want him to stick around when he can't play anymore. But I am excited for it. I actually like 3 of the 4 teams in the championship games, (you can try to guess who is the odd man out) so that's exciting. The Super Bowl will be set. And then, darkness descends as football exits. Le sigh. You know how hard this time of year is on me! But, more writing time, so that'll be good.

I may have an entry in one of the many cool contests that are going on now. I can't say which one, but my words are out there to be found, along with many other talented writers! So, keep up with the contests, vote for your faves, and leave reviews! I can tell you that even though I can't respond, I check daily to see what people have said. haha I'd forgotten how nerve-wracking contest entries can be. But fun! And I love my story. Will post here at some point as well.

I hope those of you that got hit with the big storm this weekend are okay! I don't miss snow, but I do like looking at it on TV. As long as you've got food and power. I hope you're all safe and warm! Take care, stay off the roads if you can, and happy reading and footballing (if that's your thing, of course)

Here's a little more of the eldest male Cullen, and another rite of passage, so to speak. I thought it was fun, and hopefully you will as well. Thanks for all the love for little AJ last week. He is a chip off the old block. Have a great couple of weeks, and I'll see you on Super Bowl Sunday with the last outtake, at least the last for awhile. Hehe I can't wait to share that one! See you soon!

GB Outtake Ethan

"You have to go talk to your son," Reed Girl hissed as I walked into the kitchen.

A quick glance in the backyard showed me that AJ was tossing the ball with one of his friends. He'd be starting Pee Wee soon. I couldn't wait. Ethan was nowhere to be seen.

"Which one?"

"Ethan."

There was something about her tone that had me eying her warily. "Why?"

She sighed and shook her head. "I kind of, sort of, walked in on him while he was…you know!"

Oh, I had a damn good idea, but I bit back a laugh and kept a blank look on my face. "What? Practicing music?"

He was practicing music, all right. Fingering the flute. Sliding the trombone. Tuning the tuba? Hmm…there was a whole world of new euphemisms just waiting to be made there. The kid was thirteen. I knew damn well what he'd been doing that had his mother speechless.

She smacked my arm. "You know what he was doing. And if you play dumb, you'll be doing what he was doing for the foreseeable future. Got it?"

Suddenly it wasn't so funny. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her neck. "I'm sorry, baby. I've just never seen you incapable of talking about anything, let alone sex."

She leaned against me. "I'm not, unless it comes to that. And it's not that I'm embarrassed. I get that it's a natural thing and he's growing up and all that. I'm afraid that he is. It can't be good for him to have his mother walk in…" She trailed off. "He hasn't come out of his room since, and I don't want to make him uncomfortable. Would you just go talk to him?"

"I dunno. He'll come out eventually, right?" I had no clue what to say. What had my dad said? I should call him.

"Oh, no, you don't, Cullen! We had a deal. Remember? I take Dani; you take the boys. You agreed to that after she asked how babies were made and you ran away and left me alone to deal with it."

I had to laugh at that memory. Dani had been around six at the time. We'd been able to avoid the discussion when Reed Girl was pregnant with Ethan, because Dani was just too young. But with the baby boom among teammates and family, she'd piped up with it at a barbeque. I'd hightailed it to the other end of the yard while Reed Girl fed her some crap about love and such. I'd gotten my ass reamed after everyone left, and we'd agreed that I'd take boy stuff and she'd take girl stuff, and we'd both been happier for it. At least I was until now, anyway.

"I know, baby. I'm just teasing. I'll let him know that it's normal and all that good stuff." God help me.

"Okay. Thank you. Just make sure he knows that I'm not judging him or upset or anything. I don't want him to feel weird around me."

I kissed her nose. "Baby, it might be weird for a day or two, but he's your boy. He'll be back to normal soon enough."

"I hope so." She burrowed into me for a few more moments. "I'm going to get dinner on. Please get him to come down and join us."

I bit back a comment about coming and kissed her again. "I'm on it, Reed Girl. All your boys will be present and accounted for, I promise."

"Thanks, Champ."

I headed upstairs, wondering exactly what in the hell I was going to say. Rainbow trotted with me, so I scooped her up.

"Help me out, Rainbow. If he seems sullen or pissy, you soften him up."

Soften…shit. I really needed to stop thinking like a twelve-year-old. Or maybe I needed to keep thinking that way, since he was one? We could laugh and look at porn mags. Christ. I was losing my damn mind. Kids caused that shit, let me tell you.

I knocked on Ethan's door, not wanting a repeat of Reed Girl's trauma.

"What?" he called without bothering to come answer it. That was rare for him. Dani did that shit all the time, but not Ethan. Fabulous.

"It's your dad. Can I come in?"

Several seconds went by before he answered. "I guess."

"Here we go," I muttered to Rainbow as I pushed open the door.

She hopped out of my arms and onto Ethan's bed, giving him some head butts. He reached out to stroke her fur, so at least he wasn't shutting her out. Not that anybody could shut Rainbow out for long. She wouldn't allow it.

I glanced at his bed, but figured I knew what he'd been doing there, so I pulled his desk chair over and sat in it. "Hi, bud. How are you?"

He glanced up at me before turning his eyes back to Rainbow. "You really came in to ask how I am?" he demanded.

The kid was smart. Too damn smart. That's okay. So was I.

"Well, no. But I thought I'd wean us into the whole masturbation discussion. If you'd rather we dive right in, we can do that."

"Jeez, Dad!" He jerked his shoulder, Cullen-style, and glared at me.

I grinned at him. He looked so much like his mother when he was pissed off, those brown eyes snapping with temper. Thankfully it didn't have the same effect on me that his mother's anger did, though that might jump-start the conversation as well, albeit way more awkwardly.

"Well, you know why I'm here. I know why I'm here. So we can pretend I'm here for other reasons, or we can get to it. Totally up to you. I'd be happy to discuss my game plan for the Cowboys this weekend, if you're interested."

He rolled his eyes. "You know I'm not."

No. He wasn't. I had to admit, even though I'd never once regretted his musical talents, that I had been a little disappointed that sports held no interest for him. His football room had been transformed into a music room by the time he was four. I was incredibly proud of him, but it had smarted a bit at first. I'd gotten over it, though. Each of my kids was an individual, and I loved them for it.

"Well, then. What would you like to discuss? Beethoven's Fifth? Some Bach, perhaps?"

He snorted out a laugh. "You don't know anything about Beethoven or Bach."

I grinned at him. "Not true. I know that both of them are good for getting me to sleep." I tapped his shoulder. "Unless you're playing them."

"Nice save, Dad."

"I'm good like that, Ethan."

I sat back, watching as he continued to pet Rainbow. She had an uncanny sense for whoever needed her the most. Normally she'd be planted on me, but she could tell Ethan was off and went to him instead. Best animal ever.

"Look. I'm not going to get all technical and clinical and crap. I just wanted to make sure you weren't embarrassed about what happened. It's normal. If you have any doctor-type questions, we can call Grandpa."

He winced. "I don't have any questions, Dad. It's not like it was the first-" He broke off and shook his head. "It just sucks that Mom knows."

Poor kid. That would suck. I'd been spared the obligatory parental walk-in, probably thanks to Emmett being older. I was sure he'd traumatized one or both my parents a time or ten.

"I know it sucks, but your mom doesn't judge you for it." See, Reed Girl, got that in right at the start. "She knows that you have needs. We all do. Even her."

"Ew! Gross, Dad! I don't want to think about Mom that way! God!"

Okay. I got that. My bad. Though the thought of Bella touching herself was extremely hot. I was going to try to convince her to put on a show for me tonight after the kids went to bed.

"I'm just saying. It's a normal, natural thing. You're nearly a teenager, and the hormones are shooting around, and your body is doing things. I get it. So does she. And neither of us want you to feel bad about it. It's totally normal."

"It is?" he asked softly.

Fuck. I had to tone it down. I didn't want to fuck him up. Where was Jasper? I should call him to handle this.

"It is. You're changing inside, and you're starting to notice girls." I reached out and tilted his head up so I could meet his eyes. "You are, right?"

He gulped and nodded. "Dani's friend Lisa was over earlier."

Ah, Lisa. The cheerleader. Maybe the kid was a chip off the old block after all. I almost asked if she was wearing her uniform but thought better of it. That might make me sound like a pervert or a dirty old man, and I was neither. I just remembered the effect those uniforms used to have on me back in the day.

"So, older girls, huh? Gotta say, I'm pretty proud of that."

He shrugged. "She's really pretty. And she was wearing her uniform and…" He sighed. "Dad, is it normal that I had to run into my room right after I saw her?"

Oh boy. "Yeah, son, it is. Look, I'll tell you a not-so-secret secret."

He met my eyes. "What?"

"Men are visual creatures. It doesn't take much to excite us, especially when we're younger. A pretty girl in a short skirt will do it easily enough."

"So, I'm not a freak or something?"

"Of course not. I can't tell you the number of times I jerked off to cheerleaders when I was your age. And as you know, I was around cheerleaders a lot."

He laughed. "I guess you were. Still are, for that matter. Some of the Giant's ones are really, really h-pretty."

I chuckled. "You can say hot, son. I get it. And I'll take your word for it. I haven't noticed."

He studied me for a minute, and I met his look head-on. "You really haven't?"

"No. I only have eyes for your mother. One day, you'll settle on the right girl, cheerleader or no, and all the rest will do nothing for you."

"So, then, I won't be constantly…" He gestured at his lap.

I laughed. "Oh no. You will, but just for one girl. And if you're lucky, she'll help you out, so you won't get carpal tunnel. That would be bad for a musician."

"So you still get…"

"Hard? Of course I do." All the fucking time, thank you very much. "I'm thirty-five, not eighty-five." Though I better still get hard at that age, too. If not, just shoot me and end my misery.

"But not just from one look or whatever? You learn how to control it?"

Ah, I got it. "Yes and no. There can be times when one look at your mom-"

"Dad!" He threw up his hands, which made Rainbow growl and head back my way.

I picked her up, and she curled into my chest.

"Well, I just told you that she's the only one that does it for me. What I'm trying to say is, you'll still be visually stimulated, but you'll get to the point where you're more in control of it. You won't have to beat off right away. You'll learn how to calm yourself down without touching, if you don't want to."

"So, I should think of things that aren't exciting, so that I won't be?"

I smiled. "Exactly. I just visualize my linemen…or Roseanne Barr."

"Who?" he asked, making me laugh.

"Never mind. You'll figure it out, but until you do, I just want you to know that you have nothing to be ashamed of. Every guy around your age starts to get those feelings. And they don't go away, thank God. They just get more manageable."

"Okay." He was silent for a few moments. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"When did you first get a girl to…help?"

He was definitely my boy. I couldn't be prouder. "It took me a few more years, bud. But once I did, there was no looking back."

"How did you get her to?"

Well, hell. I wasn't sure how to answer that, considering my first hand job came from an older woman. I didn't want that shit for him.

"It takes time to get that to point, Ethan. You have to talk to her, get to know her, what she likes, what she doesn't, kiss her when she gives you the go-ahead. Once all that goes well, then you can work on touching and exploring and stuff. Hell, you're a musical genius. Write her a song. If your mother's songs can turn me mushy, imagine what they can do for a girl your age." They'd be putty in the kids' hands.

"So, Lisa…"

"Probably not, at least not for a few years." I had to nip that in the bud. Because if Lisa was old enough to touch, then Dani would be, and since she would never be old enough, that didn't bear discussing. "And going after your older sister's friends, while ambitious, is probably not a good idea. She'd kick your butt, and your mother might help her."

He laughed. "Probably. But she's really pretty."

"There will be lots of pretty girls in your path, Eth. One day you'll get lucky and one will like you back. In the meantime, you have your hand."

He snorted out another laugh. "Dad! I have a feeling Mom didn't want our talk to go like this when she sent you up to speak to me."

I grinned at him. "Probably not, but then again, your mom knows me better than anybody else. She knows I'm pretty brutally honest. I tell it like it is. And I'm telling you that your mother loves you. She wants everything to be the same with you as it was this morning. Do you think you can give her that?"

"I'll try. I hate knowing that she knows what I was doing."

"Well, I can make you even and tell you that just last night she was-" I stopped at the look of horror on his face. "Just kidding, kid."

"So bad."

"That's the Cullen in me. Yours will activate one day, and watch out." I stood and ruffled his hair. "Come on. Dinner should be ready soon. Go in and give your mom a hug."

"Okay. I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Good." Rainbow and I headed to the door. I paused before opening it. "Oh, and Ethan?"

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Don't forget to wash your hands."

He laughed and tossed a balled-up sock at me, hopefully not the sock he was using to-no, it didn't bear thinking about. He was still laughing as I headed down the hallway. All in all, I thought I did pretty well. Right?