Ash '05: Untitled

"It's a perfect day for this, folks! We've got bright sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, a beautiful 81 degrees with a nice breeze blowing – can't ask for any more than that, can we! And just look at all these kids! This is going to be a great year, folks! Welcome to the twenty-ninth annual Southwest Region Youth Championship Rodeo!"

"You boys know what you're up to today?"

"Yeah, got the schedules right here." Vin indicated a sheet of paper in his shirt pocket, while JD did the same for his own schedule. "Don't worry, guys, we're ready for this."

"Yeah, geez," JD added. "You worry too much."

Buck ruffled the thirteen-year-old's hair. "That's our job. Now get, go on. We'll be in the stands with your uncles and Raine if you need us for anything."

"Yeah, we know." Vin grinned. "We won't."

"We'll meet you after the barrel races for lunch," Chris said, digging for his wallet. He handed over ten dollars to each boy. "In case you get hungry between events." The boys nodded solemnly and tucked the money away as their foster father added, "Don't spend it all right away; I'm not giving you more later."

The boys nodded and turned to run off toward the holding area for competitors. The boys had been insistent that this year they be allowed to do everything without their two parents hovering five feet behind like they had last year. And the year before.

And the year before that…

"Okay, so how hard was it for you to stand here and let them go in on their own?" Chris asked, glancing at his partner. Buck was frozen in place like a statue, his hands stuffed deeply into his pockets.

"Do you really want to know?"

Chris grinned. Every time the boys took another step toward adulthood and independence, Buck behaved like they were being taken away from him. It reminded Chris of when Adam had taken his first steps and Sarah had burst into tears, declaring that she was `losing her baby' because he was growing up. Chris had never really understood Sarah's feelings before, and then she and Adam had been lost for real. So Buck's reaction could only amuse Chris, because Chris saw each new undertaking the boys faced as a wonderful gift for the two men who loved and raised them; the chance to witness it as he never had with Adam.

"They'll be fine," Chris smiled, putting a hand on his lover's shoulder. He would have loved to take Buck in his arms, but they just didn't do those things in public. Instead, he leaned in close and lowered his voice. "So, there's about an hour before the first event. What say we find some quiet little out of the way place and get reacquainted, hm?"

Buck turned his head, surprised. Chris was usually to reasonable,

practical one of their pairing, the one who reminded them why they couldn't have assignations here or there. He was *not* the one who suggested such things at a county fair ground. But the twinkle in hazel eyes suggested otherwise.

"Got an idea?"

Chris smiled broadly and cocked his head toward the far end of the grounds, away from the small collection of buildings where the rodeo was being held.

Buck grinned.

*******

"I thought we'd been meeting them here?" Raine asked as she and her husband settled into their seats in the viewing stands. Ezra and Josiah had already arrived and settled in, Josiah cheerfully munching on a hot dog while Ezra was noshing on his privately provided stash of gourmet wheat chips.

"We were supposed to." Nathan frowned.

"We guess they're probably hovering again." Ezra shrugged.

"Which is why I brought this." Josiah smiled, holding up his trusty video camera. "If they're hovering again, they'll miss really seeing the events."

"Again," Ezra added.

"So I'm going to tape everything."

"Again," Raine said. "I guess no matter how grown up the boys get…"

"Buck and Chris aren't going to be ready for them to BE grown up," Nathan nodded solemnly.

"Must be driving the boys crazy," Raine chuckled.

"Alright, kids, settle down," Josiah said, focusing the camera. "They're about to start the grand ceremony."

*******

"We're missing the opening ceremonies," Buck whimpered into Chris shoulder. The wall of the crafts stall was cool against his back, but the heat of Chris pressed against his front and the positively burning lips and tongue which were working their way along the tendon in his neck.

"Josiah's taping," Chris mumbled. "It's a goddamn parade with horses and no band – the boys won't care if we miss it."

"Oh, god," Buck breathed as Chris' hand worked its way into his pants with a practiced ease.

"God, I've missed you," Chris murmured as he pressed harder against his lover. The two of them – along with the rest of their team - had been working twelve hour days for the past six weeks, with what weekend time wasn't taken up with more work or with household requirements was spent helping the boys train for the rodeo. The two men had spent every night barely able to undress before collapsing into bed, much less finding any couple-time.

Chris smiled into Buck's skin as he nibbled his way down Buck's throat, the hand not occupied with Buck's pants working diligently on the buttons of Buck's shirt. Buck was grasping helplessly at whatever parts of Chris he could reach – shoulders, arms, back, ass – but mostly he just submitted to the assault with a quivering that Chris found thoroughly enjoyable.

Chris had Buck's shirt open in no time and worked his mouth down to his lover's left nipple, one of Buck's personal hot spots, and the quivering rose to a nice, violent shudder, the random grasping to several rough grabs. Chris chuckled around the aureole – something he knew really stroked Buck's sex drive - before he raised his face to receive a dazed but passionate kiss from his mate.

"How long before we'll be missed?" Buck mumbled into the kiss.

"Mmm," Chris replied, pressing into the kiss harder. "Their first event is Vin in the calf roping, and he's last on the schedule. We have at least a half hour before we should head back."

That was all Buck needed to hear before his yanked Chris down to the floor.

*******

"You ready?" JD asked as Vin checked his gloves and rope.

"Yeah, and I think I can come in at least second. So far only Even Walker has had a decent time."

"Cool." The boys watched as the next competitor prepared to begin. JD's eyes turned to the grandstands on the far end of the arena. The stands were too large and too packed to pick out any particular person who wasn't in the first or second rows if you didn't know exactly where they were, and the boys didn't have any idea where their family was seated.

"Think they made it to their seats?" Vin asked. JD looked at him thoughtfully.

"Dunno. As twitchy as they've been the last few weeks, I'm thinking Buck took advantage of not being allowed to hover."

"Yeah, they haven't mentioned going to shower or sent us out to the barn with a list of chores a mile long lately," Vin chuckled.

"I'm thinking right now they're…"

"Showering?" JD grinned. Vin cuffed him on the back of the head.

"Have you gotten your gear ready? After all the work they've put into helping us practice, it'd be a shame if you screw up cuz your ropes weren't set."

*******

Chris screamed through his teeth as Buck swallowed. Considering how tightly they had been wound over the last few weeks, he was amazed he had lasted this long.

"Save some," he hissed, and Buck raised his head, eyes questioning. "Didn't bring anything we can use."

"Check my jeans," Buck muttered, going back to lap up anything he'd missed during the discussion. Chris reached behind him to where the aforementioned items had landed during the frantic disrobing session earlier, and plundered the pockets until he retrieved a small tube.

"Always prepared, Boy Scout?"

Buck chuckled around Chris' penis and Chris moaned appreciatively.

*******

"They've missed the first event entirely," Ezra noted, checking his watch.

"Maybe we should go down and pull them away?" Nathan suggested.

"Nah, if they were annoying the boys the boys would have sent them away," Josiah replied. "Vin can be very persuasive when he wants to be, and JD learned a long time ago how to play Buck with those big brown eyes of his. Let'em be."

"Maybe the boys decided to give their dads one more year of smothering before they break away," Raine offered. "Or even just a few more hours, and they'll kick them out after lunch."

"Could be," Josiah considered. "They're pretty perceptive kids."

"Well, for their own good I say we insist they stay with us after lunch," Nathan said firmly. "Every mama bird has to let her babies fly on their own at some point."

"Agreed," Josiah said. Then he grinned. "Just don't let Chris Larabee hear you call him a `mama bird'."

The group chuckled and went back to watching the competitions.

*******

Chris tightened his fingers around Buck's as he threw his head back and lifted again. "God!" he cried out, sinking back down. Buck grunted blissfully as Chris tightened around him, rolling his hips against the floor, and Chris lifted again. He dropped again, shuddering as Buck thrust against his prostate.

"Ride'em Cowboy!" Buck shouted.

*******

"Think they'll make lunch?" JD asked, handing Vin his gloves as the older boy prepared for bronco-riding.

Vin shrugged. "Maybe. If they remember to check their watches."

The boys grinned at each other.

*******

Chris curled up against his lover, pulling his head up to look in hazy blue eyes. "You still with me, Big Dog?"

Buck nodded slowly, his glazed face saying otherwise, and Chris chuckled. In the last three hours they had covered half of the Karma Sutra and at least a third of the Joys of Gay Sex, and he was sure they could probably go for another two hours. Except it was eleven-forty-five and they had told the boys they would meet them for lunch.

And the competitions would likely be breaking for lunch in no more than half an hour.

"You think they'll notice we missed the first part?" Buck asked softly.

"Not if we lie well," Chris replied, leaning in for a quick kiss. "Come on, get dressed. We need to meet up with them at lunch, and I'd really like to get a couple of minutes with the guys and Raine to perfect a cover story before that."

"You really think the guys will cover for us?" Buck asked, absently stroking Chris' hair. "After all, we're always saying how we never want to lie to the boys."

Chris sighed. "Yeah, you're right." Chris rolled onto his back. "God, I don't want to tell the kids we skipped out on their rodeo just to fuck in an empty shack used for selling souvenirs during the county fair."

Buck chuckled. "Well, one of the bright sides of them growing up is that they'd probably understand it."

Chris scowled. "I didn't say they wouldn't understand, I said I don't want to tell them!"

*******

Nathan checked his program. "There are two more competitors and then they'll be announcing the lunch break. Are we all set on our plan to separate the fathers from their sons for an entire afternoon?"

"We are prepared," Josiah said firmly. "I hope the boys aren't too upset with them

"They're not here?" a voice came over Ezra's shoulder, and the group looked up in surprise to see the two young men of their concerns looking rather happy. Even more surprising was when the boys slapped a high five at each other. "It worked!"

"You mean you knew? Wait, how did you know where we were sitting?" Ezra managed to ask while everyone else did impressions of fish out of the bowl.

"I'm sure Chris and Buck told them," Raine said.

"Nah." Vin shrugged. "We were supposed to meet the guys at the hot dog stand for lunch. But we really wanted to see if they made it here or not."

"Chris paid for the tickets on his credit card," JD continued. "Which means the ticket office could look up the seats he bought based on his name."

"I'm surprised they'd do that for two teens," Josiah frowned.

"They probably wouldn't," JD grinned. "But they would for a single lost little ten-year-old boy and the nice teen who was helping him find his daddy."

The group stared at the boys as JD shrank a little and softened his features into that of a younger boy who was trying hard not to look scared. Complete with tears.

"That's it, he's spending way too much time you with you," Nathan told Ezra firmly.

"So really? They never made it to their seats?" Vin asked.

"We thought they were with you," Nathan said.

"Cool," JD chuckled, while Vin just smiled knowingly. The adults looked at the boys in confusion, until finally their young friends took pity on them.

"They're off somewhere boffing."

Ezra choked. Raine's eyes bugged. Nathan's lips pursed tightly. Josiah blinked.

Vin laughed. "Guys, breathe already. Chris and Buck have been mondo-stressed for weeks. Between all the extra time you all have been spending at work and then taking care of us and the ranch and training with us for today, they haven't had any time for themselves in ages."

"So we put the screw to them and insisted they let us do this on our own today," JD said.

"We figured after the last few weeks, Buck wouldn't be able to resist taking advantage of the hour between when they dropped us off and when the first event started."

"I guess it ended up being more than an hour." JD elbowed his brother lightly and the two of them laughed. "Come on, we have lunch money and I'm starving."

"They gave you enough for lunch?" Ezra asked.

"Actually, Chris gave us each ten bucks for snacks between events, and Buck gave us twenty bucks each for spending money," Vin smiled. "Just another sign of how distracted they really are."

"Yeah, if they're getting boffed regularly they're much more focused," JD sighed. "Not to mention tighter on the wallet."

"Good lord," Ezra muttered. "They're not growing up, they're mutating."

"Come on," Josiah said, standing. "Before this conversation goes down a path that should only be taken in sex ed class and before I lose my appetite, can we *please* go to lunch?"

"Sure," Vin said brightly. "Maybe Chris and Buck will even meet us."

The boys led the way as the four befuddled adults wandered along behind them, wondering exactly when they'd stepped into the twilight zone.

*******

Chris and Buck hovered nervously near the hot dog stand, waiting for the boy to join them. They hoped the other adults would arrive first, so they could compare notes, but their hopes were dashed when they saw all six people approaching en masse.

"Now what do we do?" Buck asked under his breath.

Chris shrugged. "Grovel?"

"Hey guys!" Vin called to his fathers. "How was your morning?"

Chris frowned and glanced at his lover, then over the boys' shoulders to his friends.

"They know," Josiah said quietly. "And God in heaven, they know what you don't even imagine they know."

"Yeah, Buck, how was your morning?" JD asked. He grinned mischievously. "You're looking more… relaxed."

Buck made a strangled noise. "Really? Well, you know, must be all the fresh air…"

"Uh-huh." Vin chuckled. "Didn't have anything to do with your extra-curricular activities this morning?" He made a point of glancing up and down Buck's clothing. "You're misbuttoned."

Buck glanced down in alarm as JD added, "Chris, is that a new hickey?"

Chris turned beet red and yanked his collar to close the top button.

"Relax guys, it's totally cool," JD said brightly.

"Though, we might bring this up someday down the road when we come home late from a date," Vin said. "Now, I want a chili-cheese dog and a box of curly fries with hot sauce and a chocolate shake."

"That's disgusting." JD made a face. "Chocolate and hot sauce? Yuck. Strawberry goes with hot sauce."

The boys headed toward the order line at Nathan looked at Ezra. "Definitely, too much time with you."

Chris and Buck watched as Ezra and Nathan started arguing as they followed after the boys with Raine in tow as referee. They glanced at Josiah in shock.

"Told you." Josiah shrugged and walked after the group.

Chris looked to Buck bleakly. "We're totally screwed, aren't we?" Buck asked, his eyes slightly sad.

"Completely," Chris sighed. "We're raising two kids who are way smarter than we are."

Buck shrugged and started to pull Chris after the group. "Well, the bright side is that we don't have to grovel."

"True," Chris agreed. "Not sure that's a good thing, necessarily."

"Sure it is," Buck smiled. He leaned down and whispered into Chris' ear. "It means you can save your groveling for tonight." He pulled back to enjoy the look of panicked anticipation flash through Chris' eyes. "And think! The boys even approve!"

Buck walked away, leaving Chris to pause as he waited for his jeans to loosen again.

"Dear God, I am so screwed."

End