No More!

PART ONE

It was the sunniest day of the summer. Folks were out and about enjoying the beaches and parks while they still could, because fall was just around the corner. School was due to start in a couple weeks, and kids of all ages wanted to squeeze every last piece of enjoyment out of it. Nobody wanted to sit inside playing video games at a time like this!

Well, nobody except for Phillip and Lee. Even now, they were cooped up in the play room, air conditioning blasting on max, music blaring from the speakers as they threw insults and banana peels at each other in a relatively friendly round of Mario Kart, the electricity bill creeping ever higher.

Well, I was having none of that. It may be just another day of summer vacation, a summer that was rapidly drawing to a close, but they shouldn't be wasting it on a stale racing game. Not on my watch.

I'd just stepped back into the house after a pleasant snooze in the warm sun, when I came across the sad mess. I walked into the play room, causing Phillip to scramble for the pause button, and I stepped dead center in front of the TV, resting against the shelving beneath it. "I don't get you boys," I said cheerfully. "It's a beautiful day outside, and you're cooped up inside playing your video games. You don't have long until you have to go back to school. You should be making the most of it!"

I wasn't expecting an outburst of eager cries declaring me the wisest person alive or anything, but I at least expected an answer. I'm afraid my words of encouragement fell on deaf ears. Phillip gaped at me, while Lee did his best not to look in my direction. Although I could tell he was covertly peeking at me through his fingers. Finally, Phillip groaned. "Oh my god, dad! Put some clothes on!"

I chuckled and scratched at the hairs across my pecs. I was only wearing a pair of gym shorts after all. "I've been outside, enjoying that glorious sun I just told you about. You've heard of the sun, right? Big ball of fire that provides warmth and life to the planet? When was the last time you saw that, huh?"

Daaaaaad!" Phillip moaned, which only made me grin harder. I did enjoy making him suffer from embarrassment from time to time. It made up for all the times he embarrassed me in similar situations. Lord knew the amount of times he'd walk around the house in his underwear when I had company round. "Just get out of the way, I'm so close to winning!"

"Not if my blue shell has anything to say about it," Lee chuckled, still trying to avoid looking in my general direction.

I stood up, stretching out my limbs with an exaggerated sigh. "Well, why don't I join you boys? I could play as the little dinosaur guy. What's he called again, Yogi?"

"Daaaad!" Phillip almost screamed. He knew I was joshing, and I knew that only made him more annoyed. I tried not to let myself grin too wide. Revenge is sweet after all. Phillip dropped his controller, stood up, and grabbed me by the arm, dragging me out of the room. "Why are you doing this? You know I had Lee over, there's no reason to parade your body and act out like this!".

"Hey, I'm just following your lead. At least I have shorts on. Remember the time Benny was here and you accidentally mooned him?"

"I'd rather forget... And that's different, I didn't know any better. You should know that no kid wants to see their friend's dad half naked" Phillip pinched the bridge of his nose, and grunted. "Look, we want to finish the tournament before Lee's mom picks him up. At least put some damn clothes on for her sake!"

--------------------

As I climbed upstairs to put something more appropriate on, I couldn't help but dwell on the past few months. It's been quite a wild time. After I'd solved that whole fiasco with Phillip and the mysterious remote control he found that swaps our ages, things were doing okay. To Phillip's sake, he did take our agreement seriously. He had a serious walk with Lee about my concerns over his grades, and that he needed to crack down on his studies, which is why they had to limit their hang-out times. Really, he was parroting my own concerns about my school life, since I was this close to being held back a year. But it seemed to work, and they kept all their inane chatter to Discord while we worked through my troubles.

Of course, it wasn't a total crackdown. Phillp still wanted a bit of time to himself as a teen. And I can't deny that I like spending time as the man of the house. And so, he managed to keep any use of the remote strictly to the weekends as he had done in those first few months of using it. I was impressed, and a little proud, that he managed to keep to his word.

It was nice getting to be young again for longer periods of time. I felt more energetic without needing excess caffeine to perk me up in the day. I could eat anything I wanted without worrying about indigestion or a slower metabolism. And having more flexibility without the creaks of aching joints was a plus. It's crazy I was even nostalgic, given that I was the young one in the first place. 

However, I'd also get more antsy about wanting to be the man of the house again. I'd miss the respect people gave me when out and about. And the authority I had over the household, even if some of it was just for show. Not to be vain, but I'd also miss my adult body. Can you blame me? Going from such a brawny, macho man to a thin, scrawny weakling was quite the difference. I tried adapting my usual gym routine for my teen self, but nothing seemed to help. Swings and roundabouts, I suppose.

My return to school was mostly uneventful, thankfully. I managed to maintain a perfect attendance, I caught up in all of my classes, and just about managed to scrape by with Bs across the board! However, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. If my friends had merely drifted away from me during the past year, they were now flat-out ignoring me. It didn't help that any free time I had was being spent as a middle-aged man who was balancing a self-made photography business with the pressures of being a single father. I didn't have time to keep up with the latest TV shows or YouTube drama. And the less said about TikTok, the better. Which meant I had become a social outcast.

Also, having experienced life as a middle-aged man for cumulative months, I felt as if I'd matured beyond my years. I used to only feel "old" when I was the man of the house. Mainly because I'd gain the knowledge a man of my age would need, while losing anything a teenager would know. But those feelings of maturity had bled into my teenaged life too. I couldn't take any of the typical school drama seriously because it all felt so petty and insignificant compared to what I had to deal with as a man. None of these kids knew what it's like to face tax season head on. But Jaxon & Heather's will-they-won't-they relationship would fuel gossip for weeks. It was a waking nightmare. I found myself hanging out with the teachers during recess, at least they had sensible discussions. Though, it didn't help my social standing one bit. 

By the year's end, I was glad to see the back of it. Once the new school year starts, I'll have a clean slate to work towards graduation. And after that, who knows? Maybe Phillip would have had his fill of swaps by then. But that day wasn't today. The second my summer vacation started, he fell back into his old habits. Quite literally, actually, as I woke up the first morning as a 47-year-old man. It's lucky I'd got into the habit of sleeping nude, since I figured it would happen eventually, and I didn't want to end up with more ripped clothes. I could also tell this was going to be a longer exchange than usual, as Phillip had already left the house to meet up with Lee and a few other kids he'd somehow befriended. I would have complained, but I was happy to face an extended period as the man of the house. I settled into my usual adult habits with ease, and waited until Phillip grew bored with being treated like a teenager once more.

The following week was when everything changed. I'd spent the weekend as a teenager, so I was prepared for a morning as a man. What I wasn't prepared for was a pile of bags at the front door, and Phillip informing me at the last minute that he was going to summer camp! I knew he did it on purpose, invoking the 8 hour blackout between swaps, so I had no way of stopping him or taking his place. Not that I wanted to, a summer surrounded by pubescent teens doing hokey campground activities was not my definition of fun. Besides, he'd paid for the trip, and Lee was tagging along. Of course. There wasn't much I could do.

So I drove the boys to the pick-up site, watched them board the coach to Camp Who Knows Where, and drove back home, astutely aware it'd be another month until I saw him again. An entire month where I was the man of the house. I hadn't even spent a full week as an adult, let alone a whole month! It was like a test of endurance, to see if I could cope with the pitfalls of adulthood without any trouble. There was a twisting in my gut the whole way home comparable to waiting for an intense rollercoaster. Apprehensive, anxious, yet excited. 

While I'd spent many, many days living as an adult by now, it had always been either as a father or a freelancer. Outside of clients, I'd never really spent quality time with other adults. Sure, I've gone out to bars or had some chats with guys at the gym. But I hadn't made any friends like Phillip had. I hadn't even noticed until this summer just how isolated I'd been. All of my school friends had abandoned me, and I had nobody to confide in. So this was my chance to change that. I joined a book club at the library, and found an art class to take part in too. Anything to get me out there and chatting to people.

I also struck up a friendly relationship with Mei, Lee's mother, who was missing her own son terribly. The two of them only had each other, just like Phillip and myself. I invited her out for dinner, and after a little miscommunication, we actually bonded as adults. Who knew it would be so much fun sharing a few bottles of wine, watching a trashy romcom, and bitching about our co-workers and clients? And she didn't seem too disappointed to find out I swung for the other team. She spilled about being a second generation immigrant, and not wanting to put her own son through the ordeals of being perfect that her parents had done to her. While I may have made up some stuff about my own life. Technically, it was mostly true, it was just Phillip's life I was half-remembering from stories he told me of his life. Looking back, I could see why being a teenager again appealed so much to him. My grandparents weren't the greatest people...

Thanks to Mei's encouragement to "get back out there," I also decided to give dating a try. I can be a little flirty with the guys at the gym from time to time. I mean, look at me. It comes with the territory. But I'm all talk, no bite. I rarely get time to myself as a man. I'm either playing dad to Phillip or working with clients. Besides, it's difficult enough forming a meaningful relationship at the best of times, let alone when you're constantly swapping lives with your father. So with a full month to play with, I decided to take the leap.

Admittedly, it took a few days to gather up the courage. While I'd love a proper relationship, I wasn't looking for anything long-term just yet. I wanted to play the field a little, and it turns out that plenty of guys have the same mindset. So the next time I flirted with one of the gym bros, I bit the bullet and invited him home, where things escalated quickly. He was a few years younger than myself, forty-two to be exact, while his salt and pepper beard and shaved head gave him a more mature appearance. The moment he ripped off his shirt to reveal his fireplug body, and I pressed myself against his hair-covered skin, any anxiety was stripped away. There was a sense of familiarity to it all. As if I'd ravenously made out with a man in heat countless times before. Slipped on a condom and pressed my stiff cock against his asshole, delicately teasing him until I glided straight in. Grunted and moaned in his ear as I grabbed him by the pecs, my rhythmic thrusts getting ever more impatient. The guttoral cries of euphoria as we came to a much celebrated conclusion. Even the afterglow of laying side by side in comraderie, my hefty load still dangling from the used condom on my softening cock was deja vu. It was a sweet release I didn't know I'd missed until experiencing it for the first time.

After tasting the salty fruits of my labor, I knew I couldn't stop there. I joined a couple of apps, and started to get more acquainted with the guys at the gym and the bar. Men half my age who would call me daddy and moan when I called them good boys. Men several years older than myself with the whitest of hair, and surprising dexterity. I wasn't picky. I even fucked the guy at the book club who gave me his number, with the bleached hair and waxed chest. He made the best coffee the morning after.

The month just rushed by. I was almost sad to see Phillip come home from camp. I'd gotten a proper taste of adulthood, and it was hard to go back to life as a forgettable shrimp of a teen. We celebrated my birthday that week. I'd almost forgotten it was coming up. Normally your 18th was the day, where you're finally considered an adult in the eyes of everyone around you. But I'd been a man for far longer than that, since that very first day we swapped. The recognition was sour at this point. All it did was remind me I was still the son, and Phillip was my dad. The very next day, we were back to the usual schtick, as Phillip wanted to celebrate his 18th with Lee and his friends from camp. 

I was getting tired of the antics. The constant swapping. It was ruining my life. So I decided enough was enough. Usually, I was the one who reminded Phillip just how long we'd been swapped for. So I stopped reminding him, to see if he'd notice. Since then, my time spent as man of the house has only increased. We swapped a couple of times at first, but he hasn't even reached for the remote in nearly 2 weeks. Believe me, I'd know. He was far more concerned with his sleepover tonight. Something I arranged with Mei the other day, since I have a hot date with a particularly sexy man planned. We met at a bar downtown, and got to chatting. He's a single dad, like me. Slightly older, too. With a son who lives abroad. It must be nice...

----------

The doorbell rang while I was picking out something to wear, and I could tell nobody else was going to answer it. I ran downstairs, and opened the door to Mei. She looked down at my exposed torso, and I flushed red. "Sorry," I grumbled. "I've been out in the sun all morning."

"No need to apologize," she said with a wink. "I'd love to stop and chat, but we're already running late for Lee's appointment." I turned to see the boys perform their patented handshake farewell before Lee bolted out of the door with a hasty goodbye. "Oh, before I leave, here's the schedule and materials we discussed last week. Have a look through, and we'll finalise the details tomorrow."

Mei handed me a sizable folder, which I stared at, confused. "What's all this about? I don't remember..."

"The homeschooling stuff, we were on the phone for ages discussing your need for more official teaching materials, especially considering Lee is a couple years younger than Phillip. They require different workloads."

"Aha..." Something fishy was going on. We'd never discussed homeschooling. I'd left Phillip to decide how he wanted to break things off with the Chens before I went back to school. Judging by the size of the folder, he'd done a bad job of it. But I had to play along for now. I gave a little chuckle and said "Right, how could I forget? Must've been that head cold I had."

"Yes, you did sound a little husky. I barely recognised your voice." She patted me on the arm and said, "Well I'd best be off. I hope your little date with Charles goes well."

I waved her off, before turning to the folder at hand. Through the transluscent plastic, I could make out a timesheet of sorts. I slipped the sheet out of the folder with a sigh, and dug a hand into my pockets, pulling out my reading glasses. I didn't really like wearing them, but these things happen when you're older. The timesheet came into focus and I immediately regretted reading it. My brow furrowed, and my lips pursed. What had that stupid boy done? 

I stumbled into the kitchen, flipping through the pages of lesson plans and class materials, my heart pounding faster. Eventually, I fell back against the wall with a choked laugh. Maybe this was it. My opportunity. I just had to play it right. I cleared my throat, put on a frown, and shouted, "Phillip! Come here this instant!". He came shuffling into the kitchen, about to complain about making him mess up his game again, until he noticed the timesheet in my hand. A worried yet guilty expression washed over him. "Care to explain what this is?"

Phillip shuffled his feet a little, and sighed. "So when I was at camp with Lee, he may have told me that his mom had been been struggling to balance her job and teach Lee, and the less said about her divorce, the better." I scoffed, sounds like someone I know. "They had a talk before we went to camp, and if she couldn't find a way to lighten the load, she was going to have to enroll him in public school." 

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "It sounds like a decent plan. The boy could do with some structure."

"Not everyone can handle school. Lee's a fragile kid, and he's been homeschooled most of his life. He couldn't cope with such a drastic change. So when we got home, I drew up a plan. The last time I was the man of the house, I got on the phone to Mrs. Chen, pretending to be you. We had a lovely chat about combining our resources together. She was so grateful. We decided that Mondays and Wednesdays, you'll teach us, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Mrs. Chen will teach us, then Fridays will alternate every other week".

I pinched the bridge of my nose, took off my glasses, and gave Phillip a hard stare. That was indeed the schedule I found on the timesheet. "You do realise this means I'll be man of the house 5 days a week, right?" I asked curtly. "Not only would I be your father, I'd be your tutor, Lee's tutor, and I'd still have to run photography sessions on top of it. Your regulars are starting to ask if I've taken over your company for good. I never know how to respond because you make it so hard..." I tapped my glasses on the timesheet, and growled, "5 days a week to give you an education you already have! Well, what about me? When do I go to school? Because you haven't stuck that in your fucking timesheet!"

"Yeah, about that..." Lee twiddled his thumbs, getting ever more guilty. "I may have already withdrawn you from your school."

"You WHAT!?"

Phillip threw his hands up in defence. "Hey, hey! You're 18 now anyway! I had to sign some papers to make it official, but it's not like they can stop you. You'll just have to take a GED exam if you're that desperate to graduate."

The last few months flashed through my mind. All that time spent getting my grades up to scratch. Wasted... I could have graduated already if I'd started school a year earlier like Mom wanted, the struggles of being a Summer baby...

"It's not like you were thriving. You said it yourself, those last few months were a struggle. You haven't even kept in touch with anyone. If anything, I've freed you from the banality!" Phillip kicked his heel against the floor in frustration. "I don't see what the big deal is, you've always been cool about this stuff."

"The big deal is that you arranged this entire thing behind my back, and now I fear that there's no turning back. You've taken away any agency I could have had!" I sighed, and tried to make sense of it all. "Why didn't you talk to me about this? Did you think I'd say no? I might have agreed to it if you sat down with me and talked it out. But no, you left me out of this huge decision! We're talking 5 days a week here. Then all it takes is a sleepover, or a day trip, or whatever, and I could be looking at weeks before I'm back to my proper age. Fuck, I may as well be your dad full-time at this rate!"

"Why not," Phillip grumbled. "You already act like it. Bossing me around, parading around the house half-naked. And don't think I haven't noticed your little nighttime rendezvous..."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright then," I said, reaching up onto the high shelves, past the protein powders and keto flour. "If that's how you really feel." I pulled out a familiar looking device. 

Phillip's eyes widened and he stuttered, "Thats... That's the remote! When did you... How did... Give it back!" 

He swung his arms at me, trying to clamour up my torso and my upheld arm in a desperate attempt to reach the remote. But I was a little taller, and far far stronger than the little guy. Maybe if he'd spent more time lifting weights instead of his video game controllers, he'd have more luck. I couldn't help but laugh as he wore himself out.

"How did you even find it?" Phillip panted. "I hid it somewhere secret..."

"Yeah, in your underwear drawer." I chuckled. "I found it the very first month we ever swapped. But I never touched it, because it's your remote, and I trusted your judgement. I may grumble and and complain when you use it recklessly, but if I took control then you'd never trust me again. You'd hide the remote somewhere else, and I'd likely never see it again."

"So why do you have it now!?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, I wanted to see if you'd even notice. I would have put it back if you got suspicious. But It's been 12 days since we last swapped, and you haven't even looked. I doubt you even noticed it had been that long." I smirked as I watched him count the days out on his fingers, his shocked face getting ever wider. "I've already spent most of the summer as your father. 7 of the last 9 weeks, by my count. But maybe I don't want it to end this time. Maybe I want to be the man of the house full time. I should crush this thing, and end it all..."

I felt my fist tighten around the remote. I really did want to destroy it. To end the constant back and forth, and assert my true dominance. But when I looked up at Phillip, and saw how scared he was, my grip loosened.

"Let's not make any hasty decisions here," He said softly. "Let's do what I should have done in the first place, and talk."

I sighed, it had all been leading up to this moment... I pulled up a chair, and gestured to Phillip to sit in the opposing chair. I took a deep breath, and laid out the terms. "I'm giving you an ultimatum. One, we swap back right now, and from this point onwards, I control when or if we swap. Which means we scrap this whole homeschool situation, and you break ties with Lee. Tell him that I've had a sudden job offer across the country or something, and pretend to be long distance friends."

Phillip scoffed, and rolled his eyes. "Well clearly I refuse to do that."

"Okay then. Two, we don't swap back. Ever again. I crush this remote, and destroy any attempts for us to go back to our old lives. We stick to the homeschool schedule, and you stay friends with Lee. But you'll never be the man you once were ever again, and I'll be your father from here on out."

He stroked his chin in thought. "So one of those punishes me, while the other punishes you? It doesn't seem fair to pick."

"Who said I was punishing myself?" I said with a smirk, gesturing to my brawny, hairy, adult body. "No, the punishment is knowing you'll never be able to return to your old life again. And also knowing that you've essentially stolen my youth. By the time you're 47 again, I'll be an old man in my seventies."

"It does put a lot of things into perspective..." Phillip muttered as he stroked his chin.

I felt a twisting in my stomach myself. This was what everything was culminating to. I hadn't even realised the implications until they left my mouth. I was giving up 3 decades of my life, and for what? Some muscles, and stability in my life? But I couldn't back down now.

There was a brief silence as Phillip pondered over the options. Finally, he exhaled and stared me in the eyes. "You're my only son, you know you mean so much to me. I would never intentionally do something that would hurt you."

"But?"

"But Lee is something different. It's like we're soul mates, kindred spirits, he's my brother from another mother, you know? He's a lot like you, in a way. And while I can trust you to do what's right, I know that he needs my help. I don't think I can do that in any meaningful way if I'm not his friend. So go ahead. Destroy the remote."

"Are you absolutely sure? There's no going back." Phillip nodded his head. "Well okay then. But remember, this was your decision." 

Before either of us could have second thoughts, I squeezed my fist as hard as I could. The remote was even more brittle than I expected, and within seconds, a cascade of plastic and metal rained down onto the dining room table. We both stared at the pile, a deathly silence surrounded us. 

"So... That's it?"

"That's it..."

A single chuckle left my lips. A few giggles broke from Phillip. The dam burst, and we couldn't stop ourselves from a wave of high-spirited laughter. We whooped, and hollered, and hugged each other for a few minutes. I couldn't even descibe how freeing it felt to finally be rid of that accursed remote! And Phillp was in just as high spirits, I hadn't seen him smile that way in quite a while.

"I'd better get ready to head to Lee's," Phillip said, finally breaking free of my grip. "And you'd better get ready for your date. Nobody wants dinner with a sweaty man."

"Who says I have a date?"

"It's pretty obvious. The early morning workout, the tanning, the sending me off to a sleepover so you can be alone with the lucky lady."

I grinned to myself. So he didn't know everything. "Enough out of you. For all you know, I'm going to Chili's with a client."

"Chili's? Oh no, you can do better than that!"

"Have you seen our bills this month? He's lucky we're even eating out. You know, you could stand to get a job now that you're 18."

"Don't start that now... Wait, he?"

I swung an arm around Phillip as we left the kitchen, looking back at the table. A small shiver went up my spine, thinking back on all the trouble that remote had caused me over the last year. And now it was a pile of debris. It wasn't going to bother us any longer. We were free.