Growing Josh Ch. 06

Trent had meant what he said about their lives together, for weeks he'd been carrying the ring he'd got Josh. The perfect time to propose just hadn't presented itself, and Trent knew it needed to be flawless. But he could wait, they loved their house, everything else would come in its own sweet time. It was just a matter of when.

As Trent got closer to the goats, he began shaking the feed to call them in. They soon were following him closely, all trying to stick their head in the bucket to steal some corn. Trent couldn't help but smile as the goats poured out of the brush. By the time he arrived at the elusive gate, he was fairly certain they were all following him. As he went through, he walked backward for a few steps and caught a metalic glint on the horn of one of the yearling does. But then she disappeared into the herd.

Once he thought the entire flock was in the new pasture, Trent began sprinkling feed in a long stream across the ground. The goats pounced on the grain and all were soon eating. He caught an odd glimmer again, and realized a young female had managed to get something caught on her horn. Looking up, he saw Josh and motioned him over.

"Something's on her horn. We need to catch her and cut it off."

Josh looked around. "Any suggestions?"

"How is Max at cornering one animal?"

Josh grinned. "Which one?"

Trent scanned the herd again and spotted the diminutive black and white female on its edge. "That one."

Josh whistled a series of commands to Max and he soon had her separated from the others. But the boys quickly discovered separating her and catching her were two very different things.

Josh looked up from the ground where his last diving attempt at catching her had left him. "Any other suggestions?"

"Got a rope?"

"Damn it! Of course, I'll be right back." Josh sprinted across the pasture as quickly as he could to find the horses who were grazing and the lariat he'd put over his saddlehorn this morning. In a handful of minutes, he had returned and had rope in hand. He swung the loop over his head and tossed it, only to see her jump through the closing loop.

"Well fuck!" yelled Josh.

A series of attempts followed, until chance was finally on Josh's side, and he managed to catch her. They dove on the small animal and soon had her immobilized. Josh was fishing his rope off her when he heard a gasp from Trent.

"Oh god, it can't be..."

"Why? What's wrong?"

Trent pointed to the small band of metal circling the goat's tiny horn. Josh leaned in closer and then let out a tight gasp. "It can't be! A tornado couldn't do something this slap ass crazy, could it?"

"I've heard of tornado's driving straw into posts, but this is just freaky," said Trent with a smile, "But I think that's your ring, well my ring, oh you know what I mean."

"The ring...yeah I think so too. Can we get it off?"

"Yeah, give me your knife. I think I can work it off."

Trent spent the next few minutes gently scrapping the horn. After several minutes of working on the squirming animal, it popped loose. Holding it tight in his fist, he released the goat and watched her go skittering off toward the other animals. He turned to Josh and slowly unfurled his hand.

Josh moved toward Trent like he was a skittish colt and with a shaking hand he lifted the offered ring. Tilting it in the bright sunlight, he could barely make out the inscription through the network of scratches imparted on the soft gold.

"To my husband, Trent" Josh read aloud.

Trent thought to himself, if this were a movie, there would be violins and every other indication this was the right time. Since they were both already kneeling, it didn't quite meet all the restrictions Josh had given him, but Trent thought it would still be okay.

Turning slightly so he was on both knees, but looking directly into Josh's eyes, Trent pulled the ring from his pocket. Threading it over his pinkie, he held it up to Josh and smiled as tears started down his face.

"Josh, will you marry me?"

Josh looked shocked, his mouth moved but no words emerged. Eventually he stopped trying to speak and just nodded and held out his left hand. Trent started to slide it onto Josh's hand, but paused. He flipped the ring so Josh could see the interior.

"Read it."

Josh looked carefully, tilting the ring to catch the light. He was touched, but not terribly surprised. It read, 'To my husband, Josh'.

"You goof. Put it on my finger." The pristine gold band slid up to his knuckle, and then with a little pressure popped on. Josh held it up like a new bride, happiness beaming from him.

Trent waited a few minutes, letting things settle. "Well?"

"Well what?" asked Josh.

"I don't have my ring?" Trent grinned at his husband.

"But it's all scratched up and a little lopsided. Let me get it fixed."

"Don't you dare. That ring is just like me, a little scuffed and out of round."

Josh smiled and without another word slid the ring onto Trent's finger. "Yes, I will marry you. Will you marry me?"

"I'd think that would sort of be obvious for a college boy. Yes, of course I'll marry you."

Josh grabbed Trent and pressed their lips hard against each other. Trent could feel his muscles tense from the sensations, holding Josh tight in his arms. The heat of the moment flooded his system and his cock began to stiffen. A moan escaped his lips as Josh gripped his ass and squeezed it tight. Before he could lose himself in what he was doing, Trent pushed back slightly from Josh. He gave Josh a light kiss on the tip of his nose and then for good measure groped his crotch and found his cock as swollen as his own.

"Babe, as much as I'd love to fuck you silly out here. I think we need to get the horses and Max and get everything home. Then we can see about a celebration fuck."

"Is it going to make me squeal?"

"Guaranteed!"

<><><>

Trent looked at the envelope with a return address of Ketchikan, Alaska and felt a mixture of joy and dread. After weeks of searching, he had found a man he thought was his father's uncle. Trent had been lucky and gotten help from Sheriff White Cloud's friend from college. Tony was Hiada and had used his tribal connections to help Trent in his search.

He had taken the information and carefully crafted a letter to the person Tony thought was his great-uncle, but there was no way of telling if this person even knew his dad. Trent was so young when he'd died that he didn't remember much about his Hiada background, or relatives.

Josh walked up behind him and started rubbing his shoulder. "Go ahead, it's not going to get any better, or worse, from waiting."

"I know, but if this guy says he's never heard of my dad, then..."

"Then you're no worse than you were before."

Trent twisted his head and pulled Josh in for a kiss. "True. Let's open it."

Josh pulled Trent down to the step and laid his hand across Trent's shoulders. "Go ahead. It can't be any worse than the worst you've already imagined."

Trent looked at the letter, and tears started rolling down his cheeks. He looked into Josh's eyes when he patted Trent's back.

"It's not that big of a deal. No matter what they think, I still love you," said Josh.

Trent turned to him, tears now dripping from his chin. "No, it's good. They've been trying to find me since they found out Dad died. They were right behind me for years, until I disappeared off the map when I ran away from the last foster home."

Trent held up a plane ticket. "They want me to come visit. They said they're having some kind of party." Trent glanced down to see the word. "A potlatch*..." Trent looked at Josh, who shrugged.

"Never heard of it, but I don't know a whole lot about tribes out of Oklahoma."

"Well, they sound excited about it."

Josh nodded, hiding his disappointment that he wasn't going with Trent.

"We'll have fun, regardless. I can't wait to take my white boy husband to meet my relatives."

Josh glanced at Trent's face. "I'm going?"

"Of course you are. Why wouldn't you?"

"Well, for one thing they didn't send me a ticket. And the second thing, do they know you're..."

"Two-spirit?"

Josh grinned. "Yeah, two-spirit."

"Oh yeah, they were fine I'm gay."

"Really? Well that's good."

"And so far as the plane ticket, I'm buying it for you."

"I can get my own. I just didn't know if I was welcome."

"Josh, don't fuck with me about this, I'm getting your ticket. And if you're not welcome, then I'm not staying."

"Ok..." said Josh, looking more than a little hesitant.

<><><>

Mitch lay under the sheet, his foot sticking out into the air as Darrin fussed over his clothes.

"You realized that they give tenure to people who go into the meeting wearing spurs and smelling like cow shit."

"And those people are so straight they can barely handle their own dick, much less someone else's." Darrin pointed out.

Mitch chuckled and slid the sheet between his legs. "Yeah, what was the guys name last year who got it and had a ton of kids."

"Evans. Oh god, he has five girls. If we're a sausage fest here, he's whatever is the opposite."

"A clam bake? A taco convention?"

"Eww! Stop it, that's just nasty."

Mitch laughed and laid back against the bed, stretching and pushing the sheet off his bare body. The sight in front of him was enough to make Darrin want nothing more than climb back into bed with Mitch and enjoy making love with his husband all day long. He was still the most handsome man he'd ever seen and he'd like nothing better than to spend the day screwing his hairy butt. But today he was making his case for getting tenure. He'd already submitted his materials to the personnel office, now it was a matter of convincing a bunch of conservative good-ole-boys that they wanted to give an out and proud fag a permanent job.

Ok, no one here had ever called him a fag, at least not to his face, but he still worried. Boorman had been very quiet since he and Mitch had rescued him from the date gone bad. But Darrin still wouldn't put it past him to try and cause trouble. The agony of preparing for this day had been going on for months. There was no way he could be any more ready than he was right now. He gathered the rest of his papers from where he'd left them the night before and carefully slid them into his messenger bag.

Adjusting the strap over his chest, he leaned in to give Mitch a goodbye kiss. The strong aroma of Mitch's morning scent curled through Darrin's nostrils and caused his cock to stiffen. Mitch gave him a sharp tug on the strap and Darrin tumbled into bed on top of Mitch.

"Damnit, Mitch! I was ready to go!"

Mitch grabbed his crotch and squeezed his semi-hard dick. "It feels almost ready to go to me."

He put his hand in the middle of Mitch's chest and pushed himself up. "Behave. Besides, the toddlers could show up any minute now."

"Oh yeah, they were coming to help me weren't they." Mitch rolled to the edge of the bed and then made his way to the bathroom.

Darrin watched through the doorway as Mitch's hairy butt clenched with each step until he stopped in front of the toilet and the crashing sound of his morning piss started. Darrin quickly gathered the rest of what he needed, and checked his hair in the mirror, finishing just as Mitch walked out of the bathroom, his plump cock arching over his dangling balls. He grabbed a pair of jeans from the closet, tugged them over his bare ass and then carefully zipped them shut.

A very familiar set of arms wrapped around Darrin's torso. "You're going to do fine. You've worked hard to get tenure."

Giving Mitch another kiss, Darrin allowed himself the luxury of running his hand over Mitch's hairy chest. "You're going to be here for dinner, right? I may need someone to pickup the pieces."

"I'm here, and I'll cook."

Darrin's eyebrows shot up and his mouth twitched.

"Ok, I'll get it from the cafe."

Darrin swatted Mitch's ass and headed for the door. As he went through, he shot back, "I want coconut cream pie too. Lots of pie."

Mitch chuckled and waved him out.

<><><>

Darrin sat in the chair, trying not to squirm as his nerves grew more and more raw. The meeting was dragging on as always, but his entire career never had hung in the balance before. He did not have any interest in the reports on the training status of the various labs through the department, which was one of the more interesting part of the reports.

Finally the endless minutia that is academia ended, the director cleared his throat, and in the same monotonal delivery named off the people who were up for review, ending with Darrin.

Darrin sat quietly, his nerves frayed beyond belief as the seemingly endless stream of colleagues gave their presentations. He knew he should be more focused, what they were doing was just as important to them as his presentation was to him. But he couldn't do it, today the focus just wasn't there. The afternoon droned on until Darrin could understand how a trapped animal could chew off it's own leg to escape a trap.

"Darrin, you're up." Darrin almost shot through the ceiling, his nerves so worn he couldn't have lasted much longer. But he thought about Mitch, who would kick his ass if he didn't give it his all, and began.

The next twenty minutes raced like a Formula V car. Darrin covered each requirement in detail, showing chart, table and graph to drive home his point. After a few introductory slides, he dropped into his comfort zone as an instructor and began to deliver it like no presentation he'd done in the past.

The minutes rolled past and Darrin concluded the talk with a flourish, knowing he had delivered on his promise to do his best. The questions came, as he knew they must, and he answered each one with a thoroughness that had even Emma smiling. The director stood and looked around the room. "If there are no further questions, I'll ask Darrin to step out while we discuss his application for tenure."

"Excuse me, but I'd like to make my comments before he leaves."

Darrin turned at the sound of a voice he knew, Boorman.

"Ok, Kevin. If you'd like. I'll give you the floor."

Darrin wasn't sure what to expect, he had hoped they were over the battle, but he couldn't be certain. He braced himself for the worst, and hoped for the best as Boorman started.

"I give Darrin my enthusiastic endorsement. As he has clearly demonstrated, he is a prolific researcher and a popular and caring teacher. If he were to be denied tenure it would be the biggest mistake this university has ever made."

As Kevin sat back down, Darrin did something he thought he would never do in his lifetime. He smiled at Kevin Boorman.

<><><>

Darrin carried the sealed envelope in like it was a dead rat. He'd found it in his faculty mailbox in the late afternoon and wasn't sure he wanted to open it at the office, in case it was bad news. He already knew his recommendation from the department had been positive, but it had to be approved by administration. Darrin realized he always was looking at the dark side, and honestly there was no reason he shouldn't get the promotion. But doubts still hovered in his mind. He walked into the kitchen, dropped his bag on the counter and walked toward Mitch, who was doing paperwork.

Mitch looked up and grinned at Darrin. "Hey, babe. How was your day?"

"It came." Darrin held out the official notice to Mitch.

"Well? What did it say?"

"I don't know. I didn't open it yet. I needed a little moral support."

"Well, you have it. Open that sonna bitch!"

The letter opener from Mitch's desk made quick work of the envelope and Darrin had the letter in his hand reading it. With a smile he turned it over to Mitch, who skimmed through it quickly.

"Well there's what I was looking for. 'Have received tenure'. The magic words we've been working five years for."

Mitch let out a whoop, grabbed Darrin and held him tight. Darrin made a token attempt to calm Mitch, but was actually ecstatic at Mitch's reaction.

"We're having a party. Tonight! I'm calling all our friends, and the boys."

"Babe, it's kinda short notice. They won't want to come out here."

Mitch gave a mischievous grin. "Oh yes they will. I've been planning this for months. I just need to make a couple of calls."

An hour later found them with a house full of friends. The food and drink had miraculously appeared and everyone had a filled plate in one hand and a drink in the other. Mitch walked up and clinked his beer bottle against Darrin's.

"Good job, college."

Darrin leaned in and kissed Mitch's cheek. "Thanks, babe. For putting up with me."

Mitch let out a deep chuckle and then took a swig of beer. "It was a two-way street. You were always there when I needed you. This last year has really been a bitch."

"It has, but when you fell down the embankment it wasn't good either."

"No, but we're still here. So I guess we're lucky."

"Or stubborn." Darrin chuckled and spun Mitch and pushed him toward the crowd. "Come on, we have guests to entertain."

That began a very enjoyable evening of drinking and conversation. Everyone expressed their happiness at Darrin's tenure, but none of them were surprised. As the food began to dwindle, and the night grew late, the guests began to say their goodbyes.

Emma appeared at his side, clasping Darrin on the shoulder and squeezing it. "Was all the stress worth it?"

Darrin was grinning. "It's pretty amazing. Yes, it was worth it."

She chuckled and patted him again. "Just don't get lazy now that you have tenure."

Darrin was beginning to feel the effects of the booze and almost managed a giggle. "No worries, Mitch would kill me if I started slacking off at this point."

Emma gave him a peck on the cheek. "As well he should. Enjoy today, it's not going to be perfect from here out but at least you've managed that first big hurtle."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you for all the help too."

"Posh! I didn't do much. Just a few well placed kicks when you needed it."

Mitch had wandered to the group after he'd seen the last of the other guests out. He was still chuckling at the kicks comment when Emma tapped him on the cheek.

"Don't get smart there, mister. You need him to keep you in line too."

"Yup, you're right."

"Of course I am. Now go, celebrate with each other."

Mitch winked at Emma. "Oh, I plan to do just that."

Emma grinned and followed Mitch to the door. With hugs all around, Mitch and Darrin said goodbye to the last couple, and walked back into their empty living room.

"You know, its been a long time since we have had a night alone. We haven't taken advantage of it with me being so stressed for the past several months."

Mitch let his hands trail down Darrin's back, grabbed his ass with both hands and squeezed tight. "And just what are you proposing, stud."

"I was thinking about fucking your ass until you walk funny tomorrow. I was thinking we could try out every horizontal surface in this house and see how it is to fuck on them."

"So let me get this right. You want to stick your fat hard dick, into my tight hairy hole, using as many places in this house as possible."

"Yup!"

Mitch smiled and grabbed the bottom of his shirt and yanked it apart, the snaps sounding like a machine gun burst in the quiet house. "You better get busy then. Cause my ass is all twitchy about getting fucked."

Darrin unbuttoned his shirt, rippled his shoulders and then let it fall to the floor behind him. He reached out and grabbed Mitch by the crotch and pulled him in tight. His other hand slid inside the back of Mitch's jeans, as always he enjoyed the texture of his ass. His fingers drifted downward until he found Mitch's tight pucker and rubbed his finger across it.

"Oh, that feels nice."

Darrin pulled Mitch tight against him, and let out a low rumble. "Just wait, nice isn't what I have in mind."