Moving On - 27. Chapter 27 - Settling In

It was shortly before midnight when Noah and I drifted off into a contented slumber. I roused myself out of bed about an hour later to brush my teeth and use the bathroom before once again intertwining my limbs with Noah's. I think he did the same shortly after that because I remember waking briefly as he climbed back into the bed at one point.

I awoke for good around eight, feeling completely refreshed; the remnants of my past few nights of forced sleep-deprivation seemed to have worked their way out of my system thanks to the blissful sleep I had wrapped in Noah's warm embrace.

I was holding my boyfriend, who was spooned tightly against my naked body. The tip of my morning erection pressed against the cleft of his ass cheeks, the length of my cock nestled in his crack as my balls rested against the curve of his ass. The warmth of his naked body pressed against me had me turned on and I couldn't help but gently thrust, trying not to wake Noah as I humped against his firm ass.

After a few minutes, Noah stirred and he subconsciously thrust his hips back a couple times before letting out a quiet moan of pleasure.

"Mmmm. Good morning, babe;. Llast night was absolutely incredible, and I slept so wonderfully. Now you better stop that before you awaken a beast," Noah said, while continuing his gentle thrust back against my cock.

"Maybe that's what I was hoping for," I replied with a playful giggle and nibbled lightly on Noah's neck.

He rolled over onto his back and pulled me into a passionate kiss, my arm draped over his chest, and my erection straining against his hip bone. When we broke the kiss, I quickly suggested a toothbrush timeout.

"Are you saying I have bad breath?" Noah asked with a playful pout.

"Yours isn't too bad, but it's definitely morning breath. Even I can taste mine. There's no way I'm letting you put your tongue there in the condition it's in."

My cock led the way as the two of us went into the bathroom; Noah's large member was like a weapon, swinging back and forth as he followed me. I was surprised to see his toothbrush on my bathroom counter, but realized he must have just grabbed it quickly when he got up in the night.

Once our breath was freshened, we returned to the bed where I climbed on top of my boyfriend, kissing him, deeply probing his mouth with my tongue. Noah's hands held firmly onto my ass cheeks, forcing my thrusts in time with his.

I kissed down his body like I had the night before; kissing and licking every inch of his smooth, muscular flesh on my journey to his cock. I bypassed my goal and began licking his balls. he spread his legs wide to give me better access, and I took full advantage. I even ran my tongue over his perineum. Noah lifted his legs in the air, exposing his tight, pink hole to my view for the first time. Like most of his body, it was hairless, but I guessed it was shaved like his balls. Either way, I definitely enjoyed the view. As I began to suck on one of his balls, I ran my finger up and down his crack. While Noah was moaning softly throughout my ministrations, he groaned loudly with pleasure every time my finger brushed his hole.

I switched to sucking on Noah's other ball (I wouldn't want it to feel left out!) I began to focus my finger on his hole. I could tell Noah wanted more as he began to thrust against the finger, encouraging it to penetrate his ass.

"Oh, God, Scott, I need more! Stop teasing me and finger my ass!" Noah gasped.

"Maybe if you're good," I said with a chuckle. "First, I have unfinished business from last night that I want to accomplish. Just relax, enjoy, and try not to cum too quickly."

Before he could respond, I parted my lips and lowered my head, taking about half of his cock in my mouth. I bobbed up and down on Noah's long cock, taking more and more with each venture down. Like the night before, I hit a point where I couldn't take anymore. I was gagging a little, but it was more that I couldn't get the head to go any farther. I was glad he was only blessed with a long cock. Its girth was average, but had it been thicker I knew there was no way in hell I'd ever be able to get the whole thing in my mouth. After several minutes and countless attempts, I could tell Noah was getting frustrated.

"You don't have to deep throat me. I'm perfectly happy with you just sucking me off. I need to cum so badly, Scott."

I pulled off his cock long enough to say, "I'm not," before diving back down.

I don't know what I did differently on that first thrust, maybe I timed swallowing better, maybe it was just the extra force I used on the downward motion. All I know is one second my lips were encasing his glans, the next they were sealed around his base, my nose buried in his short pubes. My throat burned a little, and Noah's hands grabbed my head as he groaned, "Holy shit!"

I held my head in place as long as I could. When my lungs began to burn, I pulled off completely.

"Mission accomplished," I said with a huge grin on my face.

"Great. Now can I cum?" Noah asked, desperation evident in his voice.

"I'm getting to that," I said, sticking my tongue out at him before returning my attention to my new favorite toy.

This time, I managed to bob up and down the entire length of Noah's long cock. It wasn't the smoothest motion ever, but I was definitely getting the hang of deep-throating his monster. I resumed running my finger around his sphincter, teasing him as he repeatedly clenched and loosened his hole in time with his gentle thrusts into my mouth. I slowly applied pressure, and the next time he relaxed his ass, I was surprised when my finger slipped in nearly to the second knuckle.

I wasn't nearly as surprised as Noah, who threw his head back and his eyes shot open as he screamed out, "Oh, fuck! I'm so close; don't stop now, babe!"

I didn't stop, but there wasn't much I could do, since the only lube being used was his sweat. As I continued to suck up and down the length of his cock, he began to relax his hole, and I was able to gently thrust my finger back and forth. When I first grazed his prostate, his muscles clamped down so tightly on my finger, I almost thought he was going to break it off. I didn't get a chance to really think about it, though, because an instant later he coated my mouth and throat with his cum. I hungrily swallowed it all, which wasn't an issue; while still a sizable load, it was far smaller than the massive one he shot the night before.

As Noah came down from his orgasm he pulled me up and kissed me passionately. My cock up to this point had been ignored, and I couldn't help but grind it against his softening member.

"Let's move to the shower," he said after breaking the kiss.

I was about to protest, but he kissed me gently on the lips. "Trust me, we're not finished yet."

We got off the bed, and Noah wrapped his arms from behind, nibbling gently on my neck as he guided me to the bathroom. He continued to tease me from behind, kissing my neck, rubbing my nipples, and occasionally playing with my cock.

As the warm water cascaded down our naked bodies, Noah began by giving me the most fantastic scalp massage while taking care of my hair. He then thoroughly scrubbed down my front, paying special attention to every sensitive area he found. He knelt down in front of me as he washed my groin, his cock proudly showing he was enjoying his exploration of my crotch nearly as much as I was. With the soap rinsed off, he licked and gently sucked my balls and throbbing cock. I could tell he wasn't trying to get me to cum, but I was so close I was struggling to not go over the edge.

After only a few minutes, Noah stood up and turned me around, repeating his soapy caress on my back. Like with my front, he knelt down to wash my ass to get a good view while exploring my body, his face just mere inches away from my exposed hole. As his soapy fingers explored my crack, I gasped each time he brushed against my pucker. Noah rinsed the soap away and kissed my ass cheek before slowly running his tongue down my crack. I reached behind me to spread my cheeks as he neared my hole, and before long, I was moaning uncontrollably as he gave one of the best rimjobs I'd ever had. That man's tongue was incredible.

Soon I couldn't wait any longer. I began to beg him for more. I pleaded for his finger, and even his cock, but he never pulled his mouth away from my hole to acknowledge me.

"Noah, pleeeaaase, I just need to cum!"

Without a word, he spun me around and took all of my cock into his mouth at once. That was all it took, and I exploded.

I pulled Noah up for a kiss, feeling his hard cock press against me again. I wasted no time in washing him the same way he washed me. Either I was a little over-enthusiastic or just oblivious to how close he was, since he shot his load while I had my tongue buried in his hole.

After the shower, as we dried each other off, I said to him, "I think that was the most intense shower I've ever had."

"Me too, babe. Hell, that may have been the most intense sex I've ever had, period."

"I guess we'll just have to work harder to top it in the future!" I said with a laugh.

We still had another hour before we needed to pick up Zach, and neither of us wanted to bring this period of closeness to an end, so we lay back down on the bed, naked. I had my head on his chest and wrapped my arm around his waist, while he gently rubbed my back as we talked.

"I guess we're approaching the point where we should probably figure out bedroom logistics before too long," I said at one point, stroking Noah's chest absent-mindedly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, before meeting Steve, I was exclusively a top, but so was Steve. There were a few times in our relationship where he would bottom, but for the most part, I took on that role in the bedroom. It took a little getting used to at first, but I really grew to like it," I explained.

"Well, I witnessed first-hand how much you enjoyed a tongue probing your ass, especially when you started begging me to fuck you" Noah said with a laugh.

I playfully smacked his chest.

"Like you're one to talk, Mister 'Finger My Ass'!"

"What can I say, I appreciate all aspects of gay sex, both giving and receiving. I know I'm big, and I really don't go for size-queens. A lot of guys see what I'm working with, and suddenly the self-proclaimed 'exclusive bottom' is more interested in seeing what the big deal about being a top is. If push came to shove, I'd probably consider myself to be more of a bottom than a top, but I'm very adaptable."

"A lot of guys, huh? Not that it matters as long as it's only me now, but how many is 'a lot of guys'?" I kept my tone light, but I couldn't help but wonder. He knew about most of my sex life, but all I knew of his was that he went on two dates with Will.

"I don't really know off hand, but not really that many, all things considered. In some form or another, I've probably hooked up with maybe twenty people in the past nine years or so. Considering since Zach was born, I haven't found a guy willing to date a guy with a kid, and I've had to rely on Grindr when my hand wouldn't cut it, I'm not really ashamed by the number."

"Damn, I think I hit twenty by the time I met Steve. I couldn't count the number of guys I went through in DC if I wanted to."

"So do I, as your one-millionth customer, get any special perks when I get a piece of your worn-out mineshaft?" Noah asked, gently poking me in the ribs.

"Haha, very funny, a 'Scott's a slut' joke. I didn't see that one coming," I responded teasingly. "Actually, I'll have you know, despite my exhaustive resume, I've only ever bottomed for people I loved, which will eventually make you officially customer number two."

"For real? Now that makes me feel like a slut!"

"Honestly, if it weren't for the fact Steve was the only person to fuck me, you wouldn't be too far from the truth after the past year. Even when I was trying to use sex to escape my pain, I never considered giving up my ass because that felt too much like … cheating, I guess."

"Do you feel at all guilty after what we did?" Noah asked sincerely.

"Not in the slightest," I responded quickly, kissing his chest. "And I can promise you that I won't whenever you finally fuck me."

Noah squeezed my back tightly before saying, "But I'm not going to fuck you, I'm going to ma–"

I buried my face in his chest and poked him in the ribs.

"Oh no, don't say it!"

"I'll make looooooooove to you," Noah hollered loudly, as over-the-top and sappy as he could.

We both laughed for a moment, before I looked into his eyes and asked with as much sincerity as I could, "After that, will you fuck me?"

"By the way, what was up with your persistence at trying to deep-throat me this morning? Not that I'm complaining, mind you," Noah said, after we'd finally calmed down from an impromptu tickle-fight.

"I don't really know. You're the largest guy I've ever gone down on before. I guess I just wanted a challenge. It's been over a year now since I last sucked a dick, and was a little disappointed how little I could handle at first."

"Did you ever have problems deep-throating Steve?"

"Not at all, which is why I was a little frustrated you're cock wouldn't cooperate with me. Then again, he was easy to deep-throat. His dick was about an inch shorter than mine, was thinner than yours, and had a little bit of a downward curve to it. It just slid down my throat without really having to work at it. Does it bother you for me to compare you to Steve a little bit in the bedroom?"

"Not really, no. Or at least, as far as the comparisons you've given so far. I guess if you were preoccupied comparing and thinking about him while we were going at it, it would bother me. It's kinda like last night on the date. It didn't bother me that you were making the comparisons between us like you were, but it bothered me that you brought them up while we were out. It just made me feel like you were thinking about him more than me. I know you weren't, but that's how my mind interpreted it at the time."

"Good, because I never once thought about him after we got home last night until just now. It's only looking back that I'm making these comparisons. For the record, I can't compare performances. Most of the time, sex with Steve was incredible, but I can't remember a night with him that was as intense as last night with you. Then there was the shower. That was just ridiculously sensual and I wasn't lying when I said it was one of the most intense bouts of shower-sex I've ever had."

Noah kissed the top of my head before responding, "I know, and I'm trying really hard to not let it get to me, because I know you're not grading me and my performance against Steve. He's always going to be on your mind to an extent, and that just comes with being with you. You have no idea how much I appreciate you taking the time to explain when I start thinking irrationally instead of just getting angry with me."

We continued to chat for a while. Some was cutesy, lovey-dovey stuff; some was about the plans for the day and the weekend with Steve's parents.

"So I noticed your toothbrush made its way into my bathroom last night..." I said, turning serious, during a lull in the conversation.

"Yeah, I just thought it was easier to grab it quickly to make me getting back to bed a little faster. I hope you don't mind."

I thought in silence for a moment, finally having the chance to bring up something that had been on my mind a lot for the past two days.

Finally having gathered my thoughts, I said, "Well, I guess I do a little. It's just that –"

"Oh my God, Scott, I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking. You know I'm really trying to not overstep boundaries. I'll move it back before we get Zach," he interjected. I couldn't help but chuckle at his sincerity, since it was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to happen.

"What's so funny?" Noah asked.

"Well, you big doofus, if you hadn't interrupted me, you would have realized my issue is that you only have your toothbrush in here."

"Wait. What?"

"I want you to move the rest of your stuff in here. I want you to move in with me for real," I explained.

"Are you sure?" Noah asked. It was clear he was thrilled by the idea, but he was doing his best to make sure I wasn't feeling pressured or rushed into this decision.

"I'm very sure. We both knew when you moved into the house that it was only a matter of time, and that came up again when we bought the new mattress. The last time I slept as peacefully as I did the last two nights was with Steve."

I felt Noah tense under me at the mention of Steve. I was worried he was going to get jealous again, but before I could say anything, he said, "Scott, look me in the eyes and promise me that you want me to share a bed with you because you love me and not because you miss what you used to have."

Without hesitation, I lifted my head and locked my eyes with his. The usual hypnotic shimmer usually there was absent, and I could tell just how serious he was.

"Noah, I swear to you with every fiber of my being I want you to move into the bedroom because when we go to bed in separate rooms I feel incomplete for the first time all day. Yes, I loved Steve, and always will, but I'm with you, and I want to share my whole world with you for as long as you'll have me. That includes my house, my possessions, my bed, and even my body. I want you; not just someone to fill a void Steve left."

Noah didn't speak, but his eyes lit up again as a single tear slipped from one eye. He pulled me up and gently kissed me.

"I'd love to," he responded after breaking the kiss.

I sat up a little and turned to face him.

"You realize this means you and I will have to go through a lot of Steve's stuff, right? I mean, we need to clean out his dresser and his closet to give you the space you need. It shouldn't take too long, but I really need your help, because I honestly don't know how hard it will be for me," I confessed, my voice cracking a little as the first sad tear fell from my eye in a long time.

Noah pulled me back down and rubbed my back while I took a moment to calm down.

"Everything in my life has changed so dramatically since he died. Going through his clothes just seems like it's that final act of removing him from my life."

"It's ok if you aren't ready for this step, Scott. I'm fine sleeping in here but keeping my clothes in the other room if it makes it easier for you," Noah responded soothingly.

"That's just it, I don't want 'easy'; I want you. It wouldn't be fair to you to constantly have to live in the shadow of Steve, and it makes it that much harder for me to come to terms with things. I want you to move in with me so badly that I'd do anything to make that happen. As painful as losing Steve was, I’d rather fight through the emotions of reliving some memories of him than risk not being able to have the chance to make happy ones with you."

"In that case, I'll help in any way I can. When do you want to take care of it?"

"I'd love for you to move in today. I know we talked about doing a lot of stuff today, but I really want you to sleep in your room tonight. Do you think we can manage that?"

"Well, we talked about moving Zach and painting his room, remaking the office for you, and cleaning out the basement. You'll probably need new furniture for the office to make it feel like your space. If not, you can use the things that were in Steve's office, but I'll need new furniture before school starts. How much of this do you want to do today?"

"Hmm. We can recruit Tom, and possibly Sarah to help a little; they may enjoy the painting. If we actually go through all the boxes in the basement, instead of just moving them around, I want Tom there as well. There are lots of Steve's things down there, and he may want some or think his parents will. I really think we can knock it all out without too many headaches.

"I just need to double-check that all my work was properly submitted, along with the invoices, but otherwise, I don't need to worry about any work today. Hell, we still have thirty minutes before we're supposed to pick up Zach, so we can at least clear out the dresser and closet. Then all we have to do is move your stuff in here when we get the chance."

Noah agreed, so we got off the bed and reluctantly dressed.

"What do you want to do with Steve's clothes?" Noah asked, sliding a pair of boxers on. I stared at the front of the pouch, hoping for a moment of x-ray vision to gain one last look of his manhood for the day, but apparently my ability to see through objects is no match for King Cotton.

"Um, I hadn't thought about it. I guess if anything fits you that you want to keep, feel free. Tom and Steve had different styles, so I know Tom doesn't want anything. Let's just donate it all, but I still want to go through everything."

"Didn't you say he was shorter and slightly skinnier than you?" Noah asked as I looked up into his face.

"Ok, you're right, nothing will fit. Hey, you could always use his socks. I know those will!"

"How about not," Noah said with an awkward grin. "There's just something about wearing clothes that belonged to your dead husband that freak me out a little," he added before giving me a gentle kiss on the cheek.

I couldn't help but smile, realizing it would probably be a bit uncomfortable for me with Noah walking around in Steve's clothes. Noah went to the kitchen to grab a few trash bags. When he returned, I dumped Steve's top drawer on the bed. In addition to a wide variety of underwear, to my embarrassment, a pair of handcuffs and a dildo came tumbling out.

"That's where those went!" I exclaimed, but immediately clamped my hands over my mouth as I turned bright red.

Noah doubled over with laughter, and it wasn't long before I joined him.

"I take it you misplaced a few toys at one point?" Noah asked after regaining composure.

"Yeah, we had some good times with those, but one day, I just couldn't find them. I swore I searched both dressers, but maybe I didn't. God, I'm so embarrassed. I know you don't care, but what a way to discover your boyfriend's sex toys?"

Noah responded, "Well, maybe one day, I'll show you the few I have. Granted, I keep mine in the sock drawer."

Once the underwear was sorted through, and a few pairs that were more thread-bare discarded, I repeated the process with Steve's sock drawer. I practically erupted with anger as another surprise fluttered out from the bottom of the drawer. Noah managed to get a glimpse at the photograph before I grabbed it and ripped it to shreds.

"Who was that?"

"Mother-fucking Ian! That goddamn son of a bitch told me he had gotten over that piece of shit years ago!"

Noah wrapped his arms around me as I buried my face in his chest, my heart aching and the waterworks flowing freely.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Noah asked, trying to help me through my pain. In response, I just began to cry harder, as I shook my head violently against his chest.

"Do you have any reason to think Steve was lying?" Noah tried again, once I began to calm down a little.

"Other than finding the picture, you mean? That was so long ago there's no way it could have just accidently slipped in there. Hell, we didn't even have this dresser until we moved down here."

"Maybe he couldn't quite bring himself to part with the photo, for whatever reason, but knew how much it would hurt you, so he kept it hidden. Maybe it didn't mean as much to him as you think it did."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. C'mon, we need to hurry up if we're going to finish before getting Zach," I said, breaking the embrace and wiping my eyes dry.

"You sure you want to keep going? We don't have a lot of time."

"I am, but I'm just going to dump it all in bags without sorting through anymore. I don't want any more surprises."

"At some point, when you're feeling up to it, I'd like to hear about this whole drama. Hell, I'd like to hear more about all the aspects of your life. I know so much about the past year, but only bits and pieces about your life with Steve."

"And I'm sure you'd get a sense of schadenfreude hearing about that, too, since all I ever seem to bring up are the perfect times," I responded, managing a grin.

"Well, I can't say I wouldn't get a bit of perverse pleasure seeing some flaws on the caricature of Steve you've created for me, but I promise I'm far more interested in getting to know your past than trying to mentally compete with him."

"I'll tell you all about it at some point, I promise. Now let's finish this up!"

Still a little angry, I quickly grabbed the last two drawers and dumped the contents directly in trash bags, before grabbing an empty bag and quickly going to Steve's closet, Noah close behind. I began to pull his dress shirts off the bar and stuff them into the bag, hanger and all. Noah grabbed my arm to stop me.

"Scott, take a deep breath," Noah said calmly.

I glared at him but did as he requested.

"Now I want you to think rationally for a minute. Whatever happened between the two of them, it was a long time ago, and you two found a way to move past it. Unfortunately, Steve's not here to explain himself, but isn't it possible there's a logical explanation as to why Steve kept that picture?

"But he –"

"I'm not saying it would have been the best reason in the world, but right now you're acting like you want to wipe the memory of Steve from your mind. I'm worried you're overreacting a bit, and will come to regret doing this so quickly."

At first, I wanted to lash out at Noah, but I restrained myself and thought for a moment. Finally, with a sigh, I managed to calmly say, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I mean I forgave him, and he never really gave me a reason not to trust him again. Don't get me wrong, I'd be furious at him if he was here, but I guess I just have to accept that he may have had his reasons."

I found the process of folding the clothes somewhat cathartic, and I calmed down as we folded up his shirts and pants and placed them in trash bags. Before long, we had finished. We carried the bags out to the car, and tossed them in the trunk. Since we had a few errands to run, we just hopped in and drove up the street to pick up Zach.

As soon as we got inside Sarah's house, Zach leapt into Noah's arms, excitedly babbling on about all the amazing things he had done with Tom and Sarah. Honestly, from what I could decipher, the only difference between last night and a usual night in our house was that Zach helped Sarah bake cookies, which he insisted we had to try.

Sarah informed us she caught Zach trying to call me several times over the course of the evening and repeatedly reminded us that Zach would appreciate us calling to check in with him in the future. I immediately felt a little guilty when I realized Zach had almost completely slipped my mind during our date, and the sheepish look on Noah's face made it clear he had done the same. Knowing how special Zach was to Noah, it made me feel a little special that Noah had clearly put me first on our evening out, but I vowed to myself to remember Zach's needs next time.

Tom was interested in joining us on our errands, but surprisingly Sarah was not. Noah asked Zach if he wanted a bigger bedroom. Initially Zach refused, since his current room was 'small like him', but his tune changed completely when Noah said we would paint his bedroom any color he wanted. To no one's surprise, Zach immediately announced it would be purple.

With Tom and Zach now in tow, we hit up the hardware store for paint and supplies before going to IKEA to find new office furniture. We tried our best to convince Zach to spend the time in the play area, but he wanted to spend time with us, so we gave in. We hadn't even gotten twenty feet into the showroom before he started complaining about being bored, and ten minutes later, Noah put his foot down and gave Zach his first-ever timeout when Zach decided to throw a temper tantrum after not being allowed to change his mind about the playroom. I was about to give in to the little terrorist's demands, but surprisingly it was Noah who told him he'd have to sit in the car, by himself, for ten minutes if he didn't calm down.

After kissing my cheek, Noah hauled the screaming tyke off. Tom and I looked around a little, but didn't venture too far. Sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, Noah and a pouting Zach met up with us. That evening, Noah told me Zach screamed for the first few minutes before beginning to calm down. Apparently a young child seemingly unattended in a car had attracted a decent amount of attention from other shoppers, but Noah had been close enough to put potential good Samaritans' minds at ease.

Zach meekly padded up to me, and I knelt down to embrace my little boy.

"I sowwy, Scott. I'll be good now, I pwomise," Zach said shyly into my shoulder.

I squeezed him tightly and told him it was ok. Except for the few times I wanted to take a closer look at something or take a measurement, I carried Zach the rest of the time we were in the showroom, the little boy clutching my neck tightly the entire time. When we got to the marketplace, I put Zach in a cart; my arms were tired, and I wanted the ability to breathe freely again.

"Sorry," Noah whispered in my ear as I began to push the cart, "I may have laid the guilt trip on him a little too heavily. I told him how disappointed you were with his behavior and how he hurt your feelings."

"I don't think that fully explains how he's acting. He seems more clingy and emotional than usual today. Maybe he just missed us that badly last night, or he didn't sleep well, or something," I replied.

Somehow between Noah and me, we managed to fill the cart with the random trinkets in the marketplace. Even Tom grabbed a couple items. Granted, I can't remember a time I haven't escaped that store without buying far more than I intended.

Just after my brain had hit critical mass, we finally hit the warehouse. Noah grabbed a flat cart for the furniture. As we wandered through the expanse, Zach looked around wide-eyed, sucking on his fingers. After struggling to take in everything in the showroom and marketplace, the warehouse can be flat-out overwhelming. We eventually found everything we wanted to get.

As we took the elevator back to the car, my stomach rumbled. I checked my watch and was surprised to see how late it was. I asked Zach if he was hungry, and his response made it clear he was overdue for some nourishment. I couldn't believe he hadn't asked earlier, but I guessed he was afraid to rock the boat and upset us by making any demands. After loading up the car, we ventured back inside and had a quick lunch in the cafeteria. Then it was back to the house, where our day was just beginning.