Unexpected Guest, Chapter 14
After the winter holidays, the new school term took off like a contender in the Indy 500. Despite their schedules, Dalton and Shelby were happy and fairly relaxed. They had learned to take some things in stride and not get stressed in the process. The lesson from last summer's unhappiness over an untidy kitchen had not been forgotten. Sometimes housework had to take a backseat to more important things, like quietly talking and cuddling. While they didn't live like pigs, the house wasn't always spotless. It didn't have to be perfect as long as they were happy.
Something that gave them a pleasant diversion from the day to day pressure was planning their wedding. They decided it would be a very simple affair since it would take place in the middle of spring term. While Dalton thought it would be great to have his Canadian family in attendance, entertaining guests at that point in the school year might create more hassle. Shel mentioned postponing the rite until summer, but Dalton was adamant that he wanted to be married on his birthday, which was also the one-year anniversary of his moving in, and Shelby wanted him to have whatever he desired.
"Here's a thought, let's email Grandma and your uncles and tell them when we're planning to have our ceremony, and why that date is important to you. We could ask them to come a few days before your birthday so we could have a visit ahead of the wedding. Since spring break begins at the end of the day on March 14th this year, we could plan our honeymoon for somewhere warm and fly out on Saturday evening. They could stay longer at our house and leave the key with Wally, or maybe Wanda across the street when they left.
Shelby wondered how Grandma would feel about attending a same-sex wedding. While Pope Francis had taken a more conciliatory stance toward gays, the Church still considered sex between two men as a sin. Marie, despite having become a more tolerant person in the last year, was still a devout Catholic. She had become quite attached to her grandson and seemed to be open to his relationship with Shelby, but would that be enough to motivate her to come? They would have to figure out some way to let her know they would love to have her there without making her feel it would be a command performance, in case the idea offended her.
Dalton and Shelby eventually sat down and worked out the wording of their invitation. When they were satisfied, they emailed it to Steve so he could translate it into French. They asked him to let them know if they should say anything differently before he sent it on to Grandma.
Winter storms in Iowa can be difficult to predict, and the meteorologists on the local TV stations frequently miss the mark. Some viewers complain that being a weather forecaster is the only job in which one can be wrong a high percentage of the time and still get paid. This year was no exception.
Originally, the week of January 25th was supposed to be milder than normal. That was great news to Dalton because it would be good weather for Shelby's birthday on the 28th. It wasn't that he'd planned a surprise party or anything, but he had saved up his money to treat his fiancé to dinner at a trendy restaurant that had recently opened.
The previous week had been unseasonably warm, but by Sunday night, a strong storm system formed over Nebraska and quickly moved eastward. Despite the change, many schools opened as usual on Monday morning. The forecasters claimed that the path of the blizzard would veer sharply northward into Minnesota. However, they had screwed up once again and had to quickly revise their predictions. At noon schools across eastern Iowa began to dismiss students early. That included the community college.
By the time Dalton got home, the streets were already slick and he needed to take evasive actions twice to avoid being hit at intersections. Once his car was parked in the garage and he was safe, he began to worry about Shelby. An hour passed. The snow was beginning to pile up, and Dalton's fears increased. He kept checking out the window every few minutes.
Just when he thought he'd go nuts if something didn't happen soon, he heard the garage door go up. Rushing to open the kitchen door, he watched Shelby's SUV pull into the stall.
"I've been going crazy here!" he exclaimed. "What happened?"
"Didn't you get my text?"
"Text?"
Dalton pulled his phone from his pocket and discovered it was off. When he turned it on, there was a message from Shel telling him that all teachers had to stay at school until every kid had been picked up or loaded on a bus.
"I must not have turned it on after my last class. That teacher is really strict about cell phones. Sorry to have pounced on you!"
"No problem. It's great to have someone who cares about my wellbeing," Shel insisted as he hugged his lover. "Um, could you grab those shovels and help me clear the snow from the garage door? It seems to have packed down so that the door won't seal tightly. There's enough snow melting off our cars to make a mess; we don't need more blowing in!"
With that chore taken care of, the men hurried back to the warmth of the kitchen. They turned on the TV to get the breaking news about the storm. Predictions seemed to be worsening by the minute. Given the size of the cold front and the fact that it was stalling overhead, it looked like schools, and most of businesses, would be closed for at least two or three days.
Neither of them had eaten lunch, and it was long past time. They pulled out leftovers from the fridge and heated them up.
"We'd better start cooking our stew for dinner now in case we lose power. We can always reheat it later if we're not hungry by the time it's done. In fact, we should probably make a big pot of soup as well," Shel suggested.
"That's a good idea. We have everything in the pantry to make minestrone and that's something we could warm up on the camping stove if we had to," Dalton agreed.
"If we don't lose electricity, this could be a real break for us. Being housebound with no other responsibilities, we might be able to work ahead on our school obligations," Shel thought aloud.
"We might be able to get in some cuddle-time too," Dalton grinned.
They spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between cooking and doing school work. Dalton also got the laundry caught up around the other things he did.
Their stew had cooked very slowly so it wasn't overdone by dinner time. It wasn't as elaborate as Grandma's beef burgundy, but it was especially comforting on a stormy evening. There would be enough left over for another dinner, so they could skip cooking tomorrow.
The soup had been ready earlier and was now cooling in the garage, which was about the same temperature as the refrigerator. Having food made ahead gave the guys the secure feeling that they could survive okay even in a worst-case scenario.
As the night grew later, the howling wind outside made their bed seem all the more like a snug hideaway, or maybe a warm cave in which to hibernate for the winter.
"Do you think we should dig out long underwear to sleep in?" Shelby asked.
"Nah. We could lay out sweats to put on if the heat goes out in the night, but I want to cuddle skin to skin."
"You know where that might lead, don't you?"
"Yeah, that's what I'm counting on!"
Being used to rising early, the guys didn't sleep in too late despite their bedtime activities. It was their internal clocks which awakened them rather than sunlight. Outside, it was almost as dark as night.
"Wow, we still have power!" Dalton exclaimed, sensing that the furnace was running.
"I'll bet some parts of town are experiencing outages."
"Why do you think we're not?"
"The city buried the lines in this area because it's considered part of the historical district even though my house isn't half as old as some of them. I guess they thought the overhead lines spoiled the look. They put in those antique-looking streetlights at the same time."
"I'm glad they did. Then I guess you don't have a backup generator like some of characters in your stories."
"Man, you remember lots of details."
"I told you that I've read every single word you've posted and some of the stories two or three times."
"That reminds me that I should start to post again."
"Like you've had any spare moments since you took me in! I know I've taken up a lot of your time."
"Would you stop worrying about that? All the changes have been positive ones. I've been living awesome experiences of love instead of writing about them. And I don't want you to say `taken me in' like you're some kind of charity case. You're my soul-mate!"
"I love hearing you say that. If our breath didn't smell like decaying sperm, I'd French you until you cried uncle!"
"We can do that later. I think we should brush our teeth, shower, and make breakfast. I know you're gonna be hungry."
Despite their plans to eat soon, they couldn't keep their hands off of each other in the shower, so breakfast was about 10 minutes later than originally anticipated.
After breakfast, Shelby called Wally to see how Lew and he were faring. It turned out that they had lost power and their heat had gone out in the wee hours. At the moment, they were bundled up in bed to stay warm.
Shel invited them to come over if they could figure out some kind of transportation. Wally thanked them and said they could get there on their cross-country skis. Shel told him to plan to stay for the duration of the storm.
About 15 minutes later, there was a knock on the kitchen door.
"Welcome to our humble abode," Shelby said as they shed their heavy apparel.
"This is like heaven after getting chilled in the night," Lew said.
"I'll bet you guys found a way to keep warm," Dalton snickered.
"Yeah, that was a side benefit," Lew admitted. "You know the joys of cuddling as much as we do!"
"Are you guys hungry?" Shel asked.
"Well, um, we didn't have anything but cold cereal."
"We have a big pot of soup that we can heat up. There's bread, cheese, and cold cuts for sandwiches. How about we have an early lunch?"
Although Dalton and Shelby had eaten breakfast only an hour and a half before, they joined their friends by having a bowl of soup. Wally and Lew really appreciated the hot food and the fellowship of a shared meal on a winter day.
"You will stay until the power is restored all over town, won't you?"
"We hate to impose," Wally demurred.
"We're glad to help. Please stay as long as you need to. We have the room and we have plenty of food in the house."
"And it's warm!" Lew grinned. "Thanks for taking us in, we were hoping you might. Wally is too polite for his own good sometimes!"
The only things that the men had put in their backpacks were a couple of changes of underwear, their toiletries, and notebooks. They were pleased to be able to connect to the wireless and to get work done despite being snowed in.
Lew and Wally napped after lunch. Dalton wondered how much actual rest they got, but was convinced that they had slept when they came downstairs later wiping the sleep from their eyes.
While their guests had been napping, Shel and Dalton cooked extra carrots, potatoes, and onions to extend the leftover stew. Dalton had set up the bread-maker to make the dough for French bread which was currently rising in the oven.
When dinner was served later, there was plenty. Of course the fresh bread and a bottle of red wine helped turn leftovers into a feast.
It was a rare luxury to have the time to watch TV. The men all liked detective shows, so watching CSI was part of the evening's entertainment.
After it was over, they played a few hands of poker. Lew seemed to be the luckiest of them and jokingly said he'd have opted for strip poker had he known how well he would do. As it turned out, he had won enough toothpicks to host an hors d'oeurve party.
During the game, the conversation centered on Shel and Dalton's wedding plans. Wally and Lew both expressed their pleasure at being asked to be in the wedding party. They thought it was cool that Dalton had asked a couple of his former classmates to be in it too.
"We'll make sure to keep March 20th clear of any conflicts," Wally said. "I've never even been to a same-sex ceremony and I'm really excited to be in one that I may have helped to nurture in some small way."
"You helped in a big way," Dalton insisted. "If it weren't for you, I'd have been paranoid that someone could mess up Shel's certification and ruin his livelihood. Having your legal advice helped both of us let go of our anxiety and take things as they came. I think lovers who have less worry are more likely to make a go of their relationship."
"My lover is a very sensitive man," Shelby grinned proudly.
"I think this should be the last hand so we don't keep you lovers up past your bedtime, Shelby," Lew smiled.
"I'm not particularly tired," Shel said innocently.
"No one mentioned fatigue in the same sentence as bed," Wally shook his head.
"I love bedtime when my man isn't particularly tired," Dalton chimed in.
Shelby stood, taking Dalton's hand to pull him up too. "I think we'll retire. You two may do as you please. I hope you remembered not to bring anything to sleep in..."
On Tuesday morning, the whole area looked like the North Pole. The snow had ceased falling, but the wind was still high. From their bedroom window, the guys could watch the drifts rise and fall, rather like waves on the ocean.
"A guy could almost surf out there," Dalton observed.
"If you had one of the boards with a sail on it, you probably could," Shelby agreed.
After watching the shifting landscape for a few more minutes, the guys showered, dressed, and went downstairs to the kitchen to start breakfast. By the time their guests joined them, there were coffee, bacon, and waffles ready, the latter two keeping warm in the oven.
Shelby made scrambled eggs to complete the menu as soon as Wally and Lew got seated.
A check of the weather on a local TV's website showed that practically everything in the city would be closed again on Wednesday even if some of the streets could be cleared. At present, plowing the roads was futile because they simply filled back up due to the gale-force wind.
Even before the kitchen was cleaned up again, Shelby had a pork loin out of the freezer to thaw. He had to plan ahead for dinner that night. It was obvious that he would be cooking for four again.
In the afternoon, the wind finally died down; and with that, Alliant Energy began to repair downed lines to restore power to a number of the neighborhoods in the city. Wally and Lew put on their cross-country skis to check on the house. To their delight, their lights were on.
When they called Shel with the good news, he told them they still had to come to dinner because he was fixing too much food for Dalton and him to eat up before they got tired of it. Wally was relieved not to have to scrabble something together at home because his supplies were low on several staples and many of the supermarkets were still shut down.
Shelby didn't mind having no school on Wednesday. Though Dalton and he would have a mountain of snow to remove from the driveway, it was cool to have his birthday off.
There was no rush to get around because the streets in their neighborhood had yet to see a snowplow. Knowing where their shared shower would lead, they made breakfast first. After that, Dalton brought out a neatly wrapped package with a big pink bow on it.
"Happy Birthday," he grinned.
"Thanks, I hope you didn't spend a fortune on me."
"Nope, it isn't expensive, but I think even guys turning to ripe old age of 24 still need toys."
Shel was intrigued as he carefully opened his present. Inside was a shoebox. On opening it, Shel found a small assortment of dildos, two of which vibrated. There were also condoms and a fancy lube in an applicator.
"Wow! We'll have to try these babies out."
"Yeah, I figured since it's less than two months until our wedding that we'd better start, um, stretching ourselves, so this is kind of a gift for both of us. My other present might have to wait, depending on how soon everything gets back to normal."
"This is the perfect gift for a big boy of my age and his lover," Shelby agreed.
"And because you ARE a BIG boy, I'm gonna appreciate this as much as you are when we're on our honeymoon," Dalton giggled.
"I'm going to be thankful for it too when I try to accommodate that weapon between your legs!"
This time, Dalton didn't jump to conclusions about the beach towels Shelby spread on the bed after their shower. He knew things might get messy. He was familiar with the term, "Santorum" and how Dan Savage had described it. Of course, it didn't exactly fit their situation since they weren't going to be adding ejaculate to the mix, but the thought made him smile.
After making out for a short time, the guys assumed the 69 position in order to lick each other's perineum. As their lust built, the moved further toward the most intimate aperture.
Then they used their lubed fingers to make the first penetration. Next, they took turns inserting the applicator to thoroughly lubricate each other's chute. Both of them produced a copious amount of precum in anticipation.
Starting with the smallest dildos, they gently worked them in.
"Man, that feels as big as a baseball bat!" Dalton exclaimed. "I'm glad you didn't take me back when I was sure I wanted to get fucked."
"Is it painful?"
"No, I just feel stretched and full."
"Me too."
It wasn't long before the stimulation on their prostate glands was beginning to have the desired effect. At that point, Dalton swallowed Shel as deeply as he could and Shel followed his lead. That was all it took to send them over the edge.
The sound of a snowplow blade coincided almost perfectly with their orgasms. In the afterglow, they shared cum-filled kisses and joked about their earth-moving climaxes.
They took another quick shower before dressing warmly to dig out the driveway. Shelby's big two-stage machine was challenged by the height of some of the drifts. Dalton used a big shovel to top the worst of them. Eventually they we able to clear it and the walkways.
After helping Wanda with her drive, and having a bite of lunch, the guys made it to the supermarket on the freshly plowed streets. Even though they were relatively clear, there were places where the four-wheel drive option on the SUV was greatly appreciated.
Dalton was happy to see that Herman and Ethan had been able to get to the store to work. There were practically no other baggers in sight, but that was fine since there weren't many customers. Evidently, many were still trying to dig out.
Mr. Fagan asked Dalton if he could work on Thursday, which was usually his day off, because he expected a huge crowd then. Dalton agreed that he could come in as soon as his classes had finished. He didn't mind making up for at least part of the time he's been off.
While there, the guys replenished their emergency supplies, and Dalton purchased what he needed for his lover's special meal, including a chocolate cake mix which he would improve by adding vanilla and almond extracts. The restaurant he had planned to treat Shelby to was still without power, so he was going for plan "B".
After the groceries were put away, Dalton chased Shel out of the kitchen while he made the celebratory cake and began dinner preparations. Various aromas filled the house as Shel tried to finish the work on a presentation he would soon give in his next evening seminar.
"Come and get it before I throw it out!" Dalton joked when it was time to eat.
"It smells delicious; I hope it's what I think it is."
I hope you were anticipating the only specialty I seem to make," Dalton replied.
"Yup, it's your famous linguini Alfredo with shrimp!"
Shelby probably enjoyed the home-cooked meal more than he would have going out. However, Dalton insisted that he had to take a "snow check" on it and go another time, explaining that it had been intended to be the major part of Shel's birthday gift. Shel wasn't going to argue in that case.
Author's notes: I heard from the following this past week, Bill K, Richard S, Richie W, Tony W, Larry S, Don S, Dick M, Bill W, Mendy D, Jim W, Chandra B, Wayne, Jim L, David G, Lawrence and Douglas, Zero, Eric S, Tom A, and Jeremy R. Thanks one and all for your encouragement. Chapter 15 will be the final chapter of this tale.
Ron has a new story, "Other Sinful Things."
http://www.themustardjar.com/othersinfulthingshome.html
I have a couple of my early tale being re-posted at Castle Roland
http://www.castleroland.net/library.php
Don't forget to support Nifty if you are able.
David