Gus Peterson-Marcus was a very happy little boy. He was so happy that he was still awake an hour after his Mommy had put him to bed. He was going to go to a big boy sleepover at his Daddy and Justee’s house tomorrow. He remembered that he was supposed to call Justee Uncle Justin now. He remembered that the last time he had seen his Daddy and Uncle Justin when he had called Uncle Justin Justee, like he always had, his Daddy said, “Gus you're a big boy now. Call Justin Papa.” But Justee had said “No Brian, I'm not ready for that yet, Gussy can call me Uncle Justin.” So Gus had to remember to call him Uncle Justin, but that was going to be hard to do, he had been Justee forever and Uncle Justin for only a week. Gus had told his Mommy that he wanted to have a big boy sleepover with his Dads. “Mommy will you call Daddy and Uncle Justin for me.” “Sure Gus, they'll be happy to hear from you.” So Mommy had dialed the phone and after Daddy picked up she gave the phone to Gussy. “Daddy can I have a sleepover with you and Justee next weekend?” “Of course Gussy but you remember what we decided to call Justin don’t you?” “Yes Daddy, can I have a sleepover with you and Un-cle Jus-tin?” “OK Gus, let me talk to your Mommy so we can set up the details.” Gus was so thrilled that his Daddy agreed to let him sleepover next weekend that he was shivering with delight. Gus was so happy that the week actually flew by, which almost never happens to a 3-year old. Gus was in the car with his Mommy headed to his Dads place. Gus always liked going to the Loft, it was such a fun place to visit since it was so much different than his house. When they'd parked and his Mommy had unfastened him from his car seat and gotten him out of the car he marched over to the outside door of the building. “Mommy pick me up.” Gus more or less ordered his mother. Mommy picked him up with a smile which got even bigger when Gus leaned over to push the buzzer. Daddy answered the buzzer. “Who’s there?” “It's me Daddy can we come up?” “Sure” came Daddy’s answer. So Mommy opened the door and walked over to the elevator, as soon as they were in and the gate shut Gus insisted on pushing the #6 button. When they got to the top floor Mommy put Gus down while she closed the elevator gate. Daddy or Uncle Justin had opened the Loft door but when Gus and his Mommy got there he stopped and knocked on the door “May we come in?” asked the formal little boy. “Why do you think I left the door open ‘Sonnyboy’.” was Daddy’s comment. “Oh Daddy, big boys don’t just walk in without asking.” After putting Gus’s suitcase beside the couch Daddy asked “OK ‘Sonnyboy’ what do you want to do first?” “Big boy stuff.” “Well we’ll ask Justin what he wants to do then, how does that sound Gussy?” “Gus, Daddy call me Gus, I’m a big boy now.” “All right Gus, hey Justin get in here.” Gus was thrilled to see his Uncle Justin like always. “How are you doing Gus?” “Just fine Un-cle Jus-tin, what do you want to do today?” “Let’s go to the zoo I always like drawing pictures of the animals while you are petting them.” When they got to the petting zoo Gus went from animal to animal forgetting that Uncle Justin needed more time than he was giving him to draw a picture. Finally he heard his Uncle Justin ask him “Are you ready for lunch yet Gus?” “Yes Un-cle Jus-tin, I'm ready to eat lunch but lunch is on me.” “Gus there isn’t any food on you.” After looking at him for a while Gus said “Daddy you're fooling me aren’t you?” “You caught me ‘Sonnyboy’.” Daddy said with a laugh. “I meant that I'm buying lunch today, the money is in my pocket.” Gus stated with pride. “Well where are you taking us then?” Daddy asked his son. “It's up to Justee, I mean Un-cle Jus-tin.” Uncle Justin asked Gus “How much are you spending Gus?” “I don’t know, you count it for me.” Gus reached into his pocket to get the money but since his Mommy had pinned it into the pocket for safekeeping he couldn’t get it out. Uncle Justin unpinned the bills and counted it and then said “Well big spender let’s go to Debbie’s Diner” “Yes that sounds like a big boy place to me.” Gus squealed. Gus liked going to Debbie’s Diner more than any other eating out place since only his Dads took him there. Deb had said to them “What brings you guys to my humble establishment?” “Well Gus wanted big boy food and we couldn’t think of a better place could we Brian?” Uncle Justin had said. Then Debbie sat down beside Gus and read part of the menu to him. “Well what are you guys having?” Deb finally asked. Daddy said “I’ll have my usual.” “Me too” was Uncle Justin’s answer. Gus stated “I’ll have a usual too.” Gus didn’t know why his Dads and Debbie started giggling. “OK honey I guess I'll have to start you a usual, how about a Corndog and French Fries?” “OK Debbie.” When they got back to the Loft Daddy said “Naptime Gus.” “But I don’t need a nap I’m a big boy now.” “Well you might not need a nap but I sure do.” Daddy told Gus “Let’s go lay down on the bed, Justin wake us up in an hour so we can do some more big boy stuff before supper.” “Sure Brian.” After getting up from the nap Gus and his Dads walked down to the park where they played and played, Uncle Justin pushed Gus higher in the swing than he'd ever gone before. But Gus really liked it when he and his Daddy slipped down the slide together, he made Daddy do it over and over. “Daddy I’m ready to go home.” Gus finally told his Daddy. “What do you want me to make tonight Gus?” Uncle Justin asked. “How about chicken noodle soup?” “With lots and lots of crackers?” “Yes lots and lots.” While he wanted to stay up til late Gus found himself yawning almost immediately after supper. “Looks like it's time to make a big boy bed on the couch.” Daddy told Gus and Uncle Justin. Pretty soon there was a bed on the couch and Daddy told Gus “Gus you go to the bathroom and get ready for bed, everything you need is in there, holler if you need any help.” “Oh Daddy big boys don’t need help getting ready for bed.” Gus was soon in his big boy bed and before he knew what hit him he was sound asleep. Gus heard noises that woke him up. Being a brave little boy he knew that the night monsters must be sneaking up on his Dads and he would have to go protect them. Grownups, for some reason he didn’t understand, never could see the night monsters and so couldn’t protect themselves. So Gus got out of his bed, the ottoman caused him a little trouble but soon he was up looking through the slightly opened panel at his Dads’s bed trying to see the night monsters. Gus was surprised to see that instead of night monsters making the noises he was hearing it was his Dads playing horsie. Gus didn’t know that grownups played horsie with each other. As he watched Uncle Justin was bucked off of the horsie and then the horsie fell down as well. Pretty soon he could tell that Daddy and Uncle Justin were asleep. Thinking about why he had gotten up in the first place Gus decided that he better get into bed with his Dads so he could protect them if the night monsters showed up later. So he slipped into the bedroom climbed under the covers at the foot of the bed and wriggled his way up to the pillows. Soon Gus was asleep on Uncle Justin’s pillow. Gus woke up when his Daddy started tickling his feet. “Gussy why're you in bed with us instead of in your big boy bed on the couch?” “Well Daddy I thought I heard the night monsters up here with you and Un-cle Jus-tin so I snuck up so I could protect you from them. I didn’t see them so I decided that I better sleep with you in case they showed up later.” “What a brave boy you are.” Uncle Justin said. Gus just beamed at him. “What do you want for breakfast?” “Pancakes Justee.” “OK they'll be ready before you know it, Brian why don’t you take and give Gus a bath before breakfast.” Once Gus was in the tub he told his Daddy “Daddy I can wash myself you can go help Un-cle Jus-tin make breakfast.” “No Gus I can’t; Justin likes to cook all by himself. I’ll just get cleaned up myself while you finish your bath.” Gus started splashing the water and playing while his Daddy shaved. Gus wished that he was big enough to shave with his Daddy. After the bath Gus put on the clothes Daddy gave him. Gus surprised himself when he ate two pancakes, an egg and some bacon along with a big glass of milk. He thought, I really am a big boy now. “Thank you for making breakfast Un-cle Jus-tin.” "What do you want to do this morning Gus?” “Let’s watch cartoons Daddy.” While watching a cartoon there was a horse and Gus remembered what he had seen the night before so he climbed up on his Daddy and started playing horsie. “Giddyup horsie” he yipped before getting bucked off. Like a true cowboy he climbed back on his horsie and started over again. After a while he tired of the game and just lay down next to his Daddy and fell asleep. Uncle Justin woke Gus and Daddy up in time for lunch. “What do you guys want for lunch?” “I want to have Cowboy food” Gus stated. “Well what's Cowboy food Gus?” Uncle Justin asked. “Beans and wieners and BBQ Beef, pardner, don’t you know anything?” Daddy told Uncle Justin. “I doubt we have any of that in the house, I’ll go down to the store and get some.” After what seemed forever to Gus Uncle Justin came back with several paper sacks of Cowboy food. “Pittsburgh isn't a hot seat for Cowboy food Brian. I had to go to 3 places before I was able to get the fixins.” Gus ate a big BBQ sandwich and lots of beans and wieners. His Daddy was amazed at how much he ate. “Well pardner it's time to pack up your suitcase so we can take you home. Where do you want to go on the way?” “Let’s go to the park again Daddy.” Gus was thrilled to get to play with his Dads again but way too soon Uncle Justin said “Well Gus we have to get you home before your Mommies come looking for us with a posse.” “Un-cle Jus-tin I had so much fun with you and Daddy on my sleepover, when can I do it again?” “We’ll talk to your Mommies and let you know ‘Sonnyboy’.” Daddy answered. Daddy and Uncle Justin dropped Gus off at his house and left in the Jeep. Gus was so happy that he started telling his Mommies all about his sleepover before they got in the door. “First we went to the zoo, and I bought lunch at Debbie’s Diner and then we went and played in the park, and then we had chicken noodle soup with lots and lots of crackers then I went to sleep. I heard noises coming from the bedroom so I had to go protect Daddy and Justee from the night monsters but they were playing horsie. After they fell asleep I climbed into the bed so I could protect them from the night monsters if they showed up after all. Then Daddy woke me up by tickling my feet, you know, he did the same thing to Un-cle Jus-tin. Then Justee made pancakes while I took a bath and Daddy shaved his whiskers. Then we watched cartoons and I played horsie with Daddy and then we fell asleep and Un-cle Jus-tin woke us up and then he went and got Cowboy food and we ate lunch. We stopped at another park on the way here and played again and then we came here.” Mel and Linds got tired just listening to the boy. “All right Gus, it sounds like you had a great time.” “Yes I did and Daddy is going to call you to find out when I can do it again.” “Well not too soon Gussy, big boys don’t wear out their welcome.” Mama said. “Let’s go eat supper and then get you ready for bed.” “Mama do I have to go to bed early tonight?” “Let’s see how you are feeling after you eat.” After supper Gus started humming a tune and Mommy asked “What song is that Gus?” “Oh it's a song that I made up.” “You made up a song?” “Yes it's about Daddy and Justee and what I saw them doing in the bed.” Mommy and Mama looked at one another with some alarm. “Does this song have any words?” “Yes Mommy” “Can we hear them?” “OK here they are.” “Daddy and Justee play horsie Daddy and Justee play horsie And Daddy was the horsie And Daddy was the horsie” The two women just gaped at each other, their son continued singing the song over and over. Lindsay then called Brian, got his machine and left the following message “Call when you get home Brian.” Gus eventually quit singing his song and dozed off while watching TV. Around 9 Brian called. “Hi Lindsay what’s up?” “Did anything happen last night that you forgot to tell me?" “I don’t think so.” “Where did Gus sleep on his sleepover?” “He started out on the couch but sometime in the night he came into the bedroom to protect Justin and me from the night monsters and he decided to stay in our bed to be better able to protect us from them.” “Is that all?” “What are you getting at Lindsay?” “Well Gus composed a little song about last night and was singing it over and over until he dozed off.” “A song, he didn’t sing anything to us.” “Get Justin so he can hear it too and I’ll have Gussy sing it to you.” After a minute Brian said “Justin is here, let’s hear our son’s song.” “Daddy and Uncle Justin are ready to hear your song Gus.” Mama told the boy. So Gus started singing his song again. “Daddy and Justee play horsie Daddy and Justee play horsie And Daddy was the horsie And Daddy was the horsie” Gus didn’t understand why his Mommies started laughing and laughing and why Uncle Justin was laughing over the phone while Daddy was just saying OH MY GOD over and over.