Priorities - Book Two

Chapter Nine: Together (Part 1)

 

*** ~~~ Roger ~~~ ***

The morning of my first day went pretty smoothly. That school was way different to what I was used to at the orphanage. The work was pretty easy, I guess we got a better education than I'd thought...even better than those who've gone to private schools their whole lives.

Trevor and I had our three morning classes, then came lunchtime. We left the classroom and headed toward the dining hall. I found it different that it was called that instead of a cafeteria.

As we approached, Eric met us and directed us to another, private dining room. This room was about one third the size of the main one and there was no serving line. There was a single long table with seats on either side, enough to seat about one hundred. The table was covered in fine linen, just like we saw earlier. We were taken to two seats that had been reserved for us next to where Eric sat, at the head of the table.

As soon as we were seated, about a dozen men came out with trays of food. We were served poached salmon, scalloped potatoes, and fresh spinach. Glasses of ice and pitchers of iced tea were also served. Once everyone was served we began to eat.

During our meal, Eric and another boy named Garrett, who was the Alliance's Vice President, explained more about how the Gay Student Alliance was formed. They explained that when Eric had first started at the school things were very different. Those students who were even suspected of being homosexual were at the very least ostracised. Eric, who's father is a fairly high priced attorney discussed it with Eric. Eric said he was afraid because he hadn't yet come out to his father, even though several of his friends, and his mother already knew.

"It was difficult. But, in the end, he simply asked and I told him the truth. His reply was very simply, 'I'm not going to say I'm not a bit disappointed...not because you did anything bad, but I was hoping for grandchildren from my only child. But, I have always, and will always love and support you.' I must say that I was a little upset at first, but then I realized that I couldn't find anything in what he said to be upset about. I discussed the issue with him and he helped me come up with the idea of the Alliance. He told me that laws had changed and that type of thing, should the school be aware of it, had serious legal repercussions." Eric explained.

"The next day, he came with me to school and had a meeting with the Headmaster. He explained what was going on and basically told him that the school would not hinder, in any way, the formation of this group, and, the school's policies had to change. The rest is history."

I was really taken aback by his story, and in a way, I was proud of him...and his father. "Eric, I'm amazed you had the courage to do that." I stated.

"It wasn't that much, Roger. My Dad also sits on the board of the Academy, so his word carries a bit of weight. It's like Trevor's dad calling the President of the board and having the Headmaster dismissed. You'll learn that being wealthy and well respected has it's perks...and responsibilities. Trevor's learned that to a point, and I'm sure you will as well."

Trevor took my hand under the table and looked at me with a smile and a nod. Eric then looked at his watch before tapping his glass with a knife to get everyone's attention.

"Gentlemen...Gentlemen...Thank You. First off I would like to thank Garret and his family for catering this meal today."

Everyone applauded then Eric got their attention again before continuing, "I also wanted to thank each of you for joining in on the welcome of our two newest members. Trevor King and Roger DuChamp. I know you all will have questions for them, but, give them time to acclimate to Wrigley before bombarding them with questions."

Trevor stood and asked Eric if he could say a word or two...which he was allowed. He started, "Gentlemen, on behalf of Roger and myself, I want to thank you for that most magnificent welcome. Eric has just told us of how this group was formed, and I was duly impressed. If any of you need anything, please, do not hesitate to reach out to me. I'll do whatever I can, Thank You."

"Me Too!" I added to some well meaning laughter.

"Trevor...thank you for your words. The reason I called for this meeting is that I have been at the helm of this group for the two years since its founding. I feel as if it's time for me to step back and let others lead." There was muffled conversation before Eric continued. "Gentlemen! I will still be quite active, but I feel it's time, if this organization is to grow, that it receive an influx of new ideas and new leadership. In so saying, I am calling for an election of officers to be organized.

One boy about halfway down the table stood and addressed the group, "Hello, I'm Jim, as most of you know. I, for one, am reticent to see Eric step down. A year ago, I was in a bad way. When I came out I didn't have a very good time of it with my parents. It was Eric Pressman and his father who helped me and my parents get through it. If he feels it's time for him to step down, I can say that I will fully support him and whomever succeeds him. Thank you."

There was scattered applause before Garrett stood. "Gentlemen, it's nearly time for us to return to classes. Let us discuss this matter over the next week and one week from today, let us meet again and discuss it further. Is there someone who would volunteer to cater the luncheon?"

"It would be my honor to do that. My Dad owns Chez Henri and I am sure he'd be willing to cater the lunch." I said to much applause.

With that the meeting ended and we returned to classes.

Over the next few days, I became one of the group at Wrigley. Nobody treated us poorly. Dad happily agreed to cater the luncheon, at no cost, of course. He explained to me that those boys parents are some of his most loyal customers, some of whom were at my celebration.

Finally, it was the end of the day on Friday and I was ready to spend some 'quality time' with Trevor.

*** ~~~ Trevor ~~~ ***

Roger and I got into the car with Daddy. Over the past couple of days, I'd been planning what I wanted to do with Roger this weekend. Come on, I know what you're thinking...I was talking about what we would do when we weren't at home...lol

As much as Roger was asking me to tell him what my plans were I wouldn't tell him. When we arrived at home we found Dad in the kitchen with Henri and Marine. They had prepared dinner so Daddy wouldn't need to.

During dinner, we talked about the past few days. Dad made a comment that I don't think Daddy was all that fond of. He suggested that we hire someone to cook for us during the week. After Daddy voiced his opinions he agreed that it did make sense. Henri offered a recommendation for one person. The wife of one of his chefs who was very capable. It was agreed that we, as a family, would interview her on Sunday afternoon before Roger returned home.

Roger and I said goodbye to his parents then mine before we retired to my room. Once inside, Roger closed and locked my door then pushed me backward onto my bed. What transpired over the next two hours was nothing short of magical. I am not going to go into details here...I know you're all not happy with that, but, it was our first night as a couple, after his adoption. There will be more to talk about this weekend.

Saturday morning arrived with Roger sleeping in my arms. I couldn't think of a better way to wake up. Watching him sleep filled me with such love, I actually began to shed tears. After about ten minutes of watching him, he stirred. He looked at me with a smile then noticed my tears.

"Is everything okay, Babe?" He asked, the concern in his voice was truly moving.

"Watching you sleep...it made me realize how lucky I am to have you in my life...I guess I got emotional. I love you with every breath I take, Roger."

"I love you more, Trevor! So, what do you have planned for us today?"

"Nope, Sorry. Not going to tell you. It's a surprise. Now, why don't we shower, get something on, and go get some breakfast."

We showered together, washing each other from head to toe. I remembered something that made me laugh. I'd heard once someone say about showering...they said, 'Wash up as far as possible...then down as far as possible...then wash possible.' I laughed because with Roger...it wasn't 'possible' it was 'certainty'.

Sex play, for us, in the shower was a given. Roger and I traded blow jobs, but, other than kisses, that was all that happened. But...I've made a decision...tonight, I plan on allowing Roger to 'go all the way' with me. I'm sure I want that, and I'm sure it's the right time.

On Thursday morning, I'd asked Dad if it would be okay for Roger and I to go to Tony's ranch and ride horses for the day. He thought that would be a good thing for us to do and promised to work it out, so, after we'd had breakfast we got into the car and headed out.

I'd made sure Roger and I were properly dressed and refused to tell him where we were going.

As Dad pulled into the ranch we saw a black truck with a horse trailer attached to it. On the door was a sign which read "Another Chance Ranch, Cody WY". I asked Dad about it and he said that Tony was probably either buying or selling a horse or two.

Roger and I got out of the car and walked over to Tony who was talking to two young guys. They were wearing, from the bottom up, boots, jeans, western shirts, and cowboy hats. Roger looked over to me and said, "Are those REAL cowboys?"

I guess they heard him because one of the guys laughed, turned to Roger and said in a bad southern drawl, "Yup, Pardner, we're real cowboys! Hi, my name is Jim and this is Zac."

I shook his hand then Roger did. At that time, Tony turned to us and said, "You know guys, Jim and Zac are married?" I could tell that Zac was a little surprised with Tony saying that until Tony turned and introduced Roger and me. He told them that we were boyfriends and he thought it would be nice if we got to see what might be in our future.

"Guys, you should know that Roger and Trevor were adopted just a couple days ago…Well, Trevor a couple weeks ago, and Roger just this past week. They lived in the same orphanage just outside of town. They were roomies and Cupid got 'em both with a couple-a arrows." Tony explained. I blushed but I didn't mind.

"I was actually adopted, that is, when my mom got married, the man she married adopted me even though I was already seventeen," Zac stated. "And then, Jim and I adopted a little five year old right after we came home from our honeymoon."

When Zac said that, he looked like he regretted it a little. Jim pulled out his phone and started showing pictures while talking about their adopted son.

The little boy, Jake, was just so cute! In a few years I think Roger and I will probably adopt.

Dad was just standing there letting us talk. Tony then turned to us and asked if we wanted to invite Jim and Zac to ride with us. "That would be cool!" Roger exclaimed.

Jim looked at Zac and asked, "What do you think, Babe?"

Zac smiled and said, "I've been cooped up in that truck for seven hours yesterday and we're gonna be cooped up another seven tomorrow so yeah, a bit of outdoors sounds good to me!"

Jim laughed and again in that bad southern drawl said, "Looks like we got ourselves a posse!"

Tony had a few of his ranch hands get horses ready for all five of us while Tony introduced Dad to the guys.

"I understand you'll be in town tonight and leaving tomorrow?" Dad asked.

Zac looked in his direction, shook his hand and said, "Yes. Tomorrow we'll head back and get these two beautiful yearling Appaloosa colts back to the ranch."

"Well, if you two don't have any other plans, please join us for dinner tonight." Dad offered.

Jim replied, "We don't want to be a bother, Sir."

"Nonsense! My husband and Roger's parents would love to get to know you."

Zac looked a little surprised. "Your Husband?"

Dad laughed and said, "You two think you cornered the market on two guys getting married?"

"Definitely not, our boss is gay," Zac responded, "And his husband is a judge."

Jim looked at Zac and you could see the love in his eyes. He then turned back to us and said, "We would be honored to join you, thank you for the offer."

Tony's guys had four horses ready for us in just a few minutes. While we were talking I noticed Jim staring at the guys as they were preparing the horses with a kinda weird look in his eye. I guess Zac noticed because he said, "He's not used to not saddling his own horse. I guess he wants to make sure they do it right. Besides, I'm sure that, like any good rider, he'll check the horse's bindings before riding. It's important especially if someone else saddles the horse."

Roger then asked, "Why aren't you guys riding the horses you're buying?"

"Well, Roger, those colts are just yearlings. they're really less than a year old and far too young to ride. If you ride a horse too soon, you can hurt it. Remember like any 'child' it's still developing. Usually, we don't ride a horse until it's about 3."

"That makes sense, I'm sorry if I'm asking stupid questions. This is the closest I've ever been to a horse." Roger said, blushing.

Jim spoke up at this point saying, "You know, Roger; In my opinion there are no stupid questions. Asking what might seem to be a simple question to us may be something that helps build a foundation in your knowledge of a particular subject."

Zac turned to Jim and smiled, then gave him a kiss, "How did I get so lucky as to marry such a smart AND cute guy?"

About this time Tony's men finished saddling up our four horses. Jim and Zac showed us how to check the saddles before they checked their own. Once we had all mounted our horses, Tony came by with a shotgun which he handed to Zac. Zac nodded before placing it in the proper place on his saddle...just in case. Then we took off on our ride.

We'd been riding for a few minutes when I asked, "Why do we always take a gun when we ride?"

"Trevor, my horse, Gold, and I are like one when I'm riding him, but, there was a day when I wasn't paying attention and we came across a snake that spooked Gold and I was hurt pretty bad. It was entirely my fault because I wasn't paying attention. I had a gun and had I been paying attention I could have shot the snake before it had a chance to spook Gold."

"Oh, okay, thanks! So, you two are married? You don't look old enough."

"Well, I just turned 17 a little more than a month before we married, Zac turned 18 a couple months after. I had to get permission from my Mom before I could, but that wasn't a problem. We only had to wait until it was legal in Wyoming to do it. Zac and I are soul mates, we'd be together...married or not. I'm sure of that." Jim answered.

"Well, I think it's legal here and when Roger and I are older I hope he'll agree to marry me too. I feel in my heart that we're soul mates too." I looked over at Roger who had a huge grin on his face.

"You know we are, Babe." Roger replied.

"Man, this area is pretty nice. Almost as nice as back home." Zac stated.

"Yeah, and it even has a pond like Jackson's ranch. Anyone up for a swim?"

"Yeah, that sounds great! Roger, what do you think?"

"I'd like to, it's kinda hot, but, we're here with two others...and I don't have anything to swim in."

"We can just skinny dip...that is if Jim and Zac don't mind."

Jim looked over at Zac who nodded before saying, "We skinny dip with our son all the time...as we told him, as long as it's just guys, who cares. We're up for it!"

That's all it took and we dismounted, tied the horses to a tree, then had a race to see who could get naked first. I could see that Roger was checking out the older guys, and I'll admit I was too. They had awesome bodies, I hope I look that good in four or five years when I'm their age.

We swam for about 30 minutes before Jim mentioned that he was getting a bit hungry so we got out of the water and sat down by the same tree Dad and I had our talk at. Zac walked over to his saddle bag and got out a bag that Tony had given him. It had sandwiches, chips, and a couple of bottles of water. We sat naked by the tree eating. "Um, I hope you guys don't get the wrong impression, but I couldn't help notice that both of you have really nice bodies."

Zac laughed before he said, "You know, Trevor, we're gay, it's absolutely normal to check out another guy. I heard from Jim's brother Joe that he'd read in a story on Nifty where a writer...I think his name was True Fan or something like that said in one of his stories, 'It shouldn't matter where you get your appetite as long as you only eat at home.' That means it's okay to look, but Roger should be the only one for you. Lots of gay guys hop from bed to bed, having sex with just about anyone, but, when you're truly in love, that guy should be all you ever need."

Roger was laughing at that quote then said, "That quote was pretty cool. The restaurant we're going to for dinner is called, Chez Henri. Henri, the owner, is my dad. I was thinking of what you said and well, how about this one, 'I may own the restaurant, but, I still like to look at the menu!'"

We all laughed at that one, but, Roger's reminder of our dinner plans reminded me that it was probably time to start heading back. We cleaned up our mess and put it back into the bag to bring back with us, got dressed, and with the help of the older guys, mounted our horses and started on the way back. During the ride we chatted some more. We told them of our time in the orphanage, about finding out that we liked each other. About how Alex had treated us and how, eventually, he came out to everyone.

I showed them some pictures on my phone, especially the one of Nigel wearing his underoos, and yes, I even showed them the picture of me in my flower pajamas. We had a good time.

About 3:00pm we arrived back at Tony's ranch. Dad was there talking with Tony when we rode up.

The four of us dismounted. I was about to walk away when Jim called me back. "Trevor. If you're going to ride, you need to remember that after you ride it's your responsibility to groom the horse. I know Tony has people to do that, but, it shows respect for the horse if you do it yourself. Think of it like telling the horse 'Thank you'. Come over and I'll show you how."

I was a little embarrassed by his statement, but I knew he was right. It was actually kind of fun brushing the horse and stuff. In the future, I know I will, and I'm pretty sure Roger will remember to do this.

After finishing our 'chores', we joined Dad and Tony. "How was your ride, guys?" Dad asked.

"We had lots of fun, we even went skinny dipping in the lake!" Roger enthused.

Dad looked over at the older guys all skeptical before I told him it was my idea, not theirs. This seemed to appease him. We chatted for a bit before Dad said we needed to get going so we could shower and change for dinner. Dad explained how to get to the restaurant to Jim and Zac before we said goodbye.

I really liked meeting those two and I'm looking forward to dinner. I know Roger is too!

Author's Note:

This Chapter and the next were written in collaboration with Zarek Dragon author of Another Chance. He and I plan on more of this in the future.

[To Be Continued]