Don't Shout - 10. Chapter 10 - Epilogue

Black Rock Farm – 10 years later

***

Caden Sathie had needed to direct the taxi driver for the last part of his journey home. The car jerked along the gravel drive, and Caden had been almost surprised that his phone key-code still worked on the gate. He paid the taxi driver, took his little executive suitcase from the boot and watched the car drive off, thankful to get back to civilisation. Black Rock farm house hadn’t changed and Caden was astounded to find that coming home after all these years actually felt like coming home. He hadn’t realised he’d missed it so much. The boot room door opened to the left to the main doors and dogs exploded through it barking and yapping like a very effective doorbell.

“Well hey big brother,” a young woman stood in the doorway, grinning at him, “Welcome back.”

“I so cannot believe that you’re eighteen,” Caden abandoned his bag to hug his little sister and smiled, “Happy birthday little sis.”

Apart from her obvious curves, Cory Sathie was the spitting image of her eldest brother. Long blonde hair fell in a thick plait down her spine, and she looked every inch the horse woman; well cut jeans, tall riding boots, checked shirt and short twisted scarf. She let go of him and looked her rebellious older brother. Caden had left Black Rock as soon as he could, away to London, fast paced life and civilisation with clubs. He’d finished art school, gotten a job with an advertising firm while still being cool enough to hang with ridiculously fantastical people with odd names and odder jobs. His hair was short, his clothes deeply fashionable and therefore totally impractical, and he looked truly like the black sheep of the family.

“So where is everyone?”

“Duh? Where do you think?” Cory rolled her eyes and signed for horse, “Come on.” She leapt up onto the Gator, the little quad-style pick up that was used for getting about the farm in the hurry, usually with all sorts of stuff, “Or are your clothes to precious?”

Caden went to cuff his sister round the head, but she was too quick for him. Caden got onto the Gator with her and gripped the dash with white knuckles. Cory had been taught to drive by Cole and Clayton and she drove like they did. Like hell on earth.

The route to the stables took them past The Granary. Who would have known that Clayton would have turned out to be a fine architecture hiding under all that farm rough muscle? Unless you knew The Granary was a recent build, anyone would have thought it of equal age to the main house, with the same worn red bricks and black slate roof. Cole and Jared’s house was an impressive long building and Caden couldn’t wait to see what they’d done with the inside since his last visit.

Most of the Sathie clan was arranged at the stables when they arrived, joining the mess of dogs and people. Chase had turned twenty one to look like an Australian surfer, and Clayton looked just like their father, a bear of a man, taller than everyone except Cole. Jared stuck out like a sore thumb still. His brown hair short but smooth now, the spikes being just to adolescent to have lasted, his stubble turned into a well-shaped box and beard, and he was over a head shorter than everyone else. When Jared Parker had first come to live with them, learning sign language had become de rigeur at Black Rock, but Caden hadn’t practiced in many years. He waved.

Carla Sathie hugged her middle child hard before letting him go.

“I’m so glad you’re here. I love having the whole family home again.”

“Where is he?” Caden asked, “Do I finally get to see him now?”

Jared made a scoffing noise and Cory, by far the quickest of them translated for him.

“It’s your fault you never come to visit us.”

‘Sorry.’ Caden moved his fist in circles over his heart.

“They are in the school son,” William smiled at his rogue boy, “Go see for yourself.”

Ten years looked good on Cole Sathie. His shoulders were broader, his hair longer, golden against his brown skin. His hot-blue eyes shone. Dune was the same, though he was no longer a young horse, his lovely coat touched faintly with white. Cole rode without a saddle, his feet gripped around the belly band his horse wore. He glittered in the sun. Sitting in front of him, moving with him as the horse rose and feel in trot was a small boy with brown skin and brown hair. The boy grinned, gripped the reins tightly as his father supported him on the back of the horse. Caden couldn’t help but smile at his five year old nephew.

Boy, man and horse finished up an the little one was skipping from the school, running straight to Jared.

“Papa! Papa!” he signed even as he ran, Jared sweeping him up into his arms as the boy planted kissed over his neck. “Did you see me? I rode on Dune!”

Jared signed back with one hand, supporting his son as Cole removed the horse’s tack, letting dune roll off his exercise in the sand.

‘I did! You did so well.’

“Who’s that?” the boy pointed at Caden, looking much posher than anyone who ever came to Black Rock.

“That’s your other uncle,” Cole voice was loud and hearty, “River this is Uncle Caden.”

“Da!” the little boy scrambled from one father to the other and Cole managed to wrap both son and husband firmly in his arms.

“Rivar!” Caden was shocked to hear the word originating from Jared, ‘Don’t be rude. Say hello.’

“Hello Uncle Caden.” River blushed and hid his face in his father’s long hair.

“He’s still shy sometimes,” Cole explained, “Oh Cory couldn’t you get him to go and change into something more appropriate? I was going to throw him into the hay loft.”

“You spoke?” Caden framed the question at Jared, frowning.

“Leearning,” came the reply, not quite right but perfectly understandable, “Maakes lif easer.”

Caden grinned at the man who had married into his family. It was good to be home.

*

Cole handed his son back to his husband, it still felt great to say that even after six years, and went about the regular duties of being Head Groom and Stable Master of your own business. He brushed the sand off Dune and turned the horse out into the nearest paddock, setting the tack away safely. Jared had always thought that they would have serious problems adopting, but Cole knew better. A ten year relationship, a happy marriage, their own house and land, with Jared doing well as a freelance editor and Cole with his own business employing three staff they had been well set up. When they call had come through about a small boy of Mediterranean descent with hearing loss in one ear Cole had known that his son had arrived. River Sathie was perfect. After six months with them he had almost completely come out of his shell, happy and vibrant and excited by everything.

About a month after they’d applied to be parents Jared had finally given in to him and gone back to speech therapy and started to learn to talk. He’d become more vocal in the years they’d been together, both in the bedroom and out of it, sometimes because it made them happy, sometimes because the physical size and distance of the farm required it. Now Cole stood and watched his husband and son, his family, chatting in the afternoon sunlight. The deep timbre of Jared’s voice pleased him, made his heart thrum in a most distracting manner. When Jared broke his conversation to look across at him, Cole felt his heart jump and jam like a rusted machine. Just like always.

His son. Jared stood there smiling like the sun shone from him cradling the little brown boy who was his son. River smiled and waggled his fingers at his ‘Da’ which was how Cole had managed to become affectionately known. His whole family was here, and Cole felt that he had never been so happy in his whole life. His life was perfect. Sure, running the stables sometimes gave him a headache and managing staff and customers was sometimes such a pain in the backside that he wondered why he did it at all. And then Jared smiled at him and Cole never had to wonder why he did anything. He would do anything to make Jared smile at him. it was worth all the gold and sunlight in the world.

He draped an arm around his love and set River onto his shoulders, so that he could be ’the tallest’ again and laughing, he lead the way to their house.

The Granary was a long low building and Cole had spent nearly a year building it with the help of two actual house builders and his brother. Clayton was the best kind of architect, the kind who got his hands dirty, and his enthusiasm and dedication to the project had made him popular with those rich enough to be designing their own family homes. The Granary had been Clayton’s first project, but Cole thought it was still his best one. River ran ahead of them, letting himself in at the heavy wooden door and Cole spent a few minutes tidying up the assortment of family shoes and boots in the back room before following his loved ones inside the house proper.

The kitchen was the biggest room in the house, with big double doors which looked out over the stables and a fireplace at the far end of the room which served as a longue with a couple of sofa’s and many pillows and blankets. The first few nights River had come to live with them all three of them had slept in the main room, sort of like an extended sleepover. Cole hugged his lover as he came in, an arm circling Jared’s narrow waist as he stood at the Aga. It had taken Jared a while to learn to cook, it wasn’t something he was naturally good at, but standing there with the old waffle iron, borrowed from the main house and never returned, he looked at peace.

‘We did well don’t you think?’ Cole didn’t speak out loud as he signed, keeping the words just for his beloved.

‘Yes my love,’ Jared looked over his shoulder at their assembled family. River had lost his shyness, here in his own house, and was now dragging Caden around by the hand, showing him the things in their house and telling stories, ‘We did very well.’

Cole busied himself being host and making coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Jared still didn’t drink anything ‘grown up’ as his Dad called it, and Cole made sure that he touched Jared’s hand as he exchanged mug for platter, carrying the honey dripped waffles over to the main table.

Cole knew that he had hit the life-love jackpot. Most men his age were just starting out in life, just finding out who they were and what they wanted to be. Few owned houses, or businesses, fewer still had kids, or knew that they’d found ‘the one.’ Cole knew his smile was immensely smug when he thought of the decade he had on all those guys his age. Sure, he and Jared had their fights, their disagreements, but they never let an argument go to bed with them, refused to let it hang over like a black cloud. Cole settled into his chair, the big one at the end of the table, and barely had time to put an arm around his husband before River scrambled into his lap, dropping crumbs and depositing sticky finger prints everywhere. Cole kissed his son’s head and tickled the little boy gently.

“So I’m going to Texas.”

Everyone turned to stare at Cory, sitting at the other end of the table.

“You’re doing what?”

“Wow, when did this happen?”

“Cory no!”

The youngest of the Sathie children held up her hands to physically block of torrent of protests.

“Just for the summer.”

“It’s our birthday gift,” Cole said, “What else do you buy the girl who wants nothing?”

“Can we go to Texas?” River piped up, twisting to look up at his father.

“Maybe one day Riv, but it’s a long trip. Dune would miss you.”

“Huh?”

Jared smiled and signed to his boy across the table.

‘Texas is in America, River. You have to go for a long time.’

“Oh,” river climbed from Cole’s lap to Jared’s, “Then we should stay here.”

“Yes buddy,” William Sathie reached over and ruffled his first grandchild’s hair, “Now are we eating nothing buy waffles for Cory’s birthday dinner? Surely there must be a big joint of meat roasting somewhere?

*

Jared finishing buttoning his son into his Texas rancher pyjamas and tucked him under the covers. River mumbled sleepily and Jared hugged the boy tight for a moment before tucking him in properly and turning out the main light. A little star shaped night light glowed softly in the corner of the room, illuminating River’s obsession with all things cowboy. He was just like his dad. River rolled over, grabbing at the little stuffed dog toy he had arrived with and Jared sighed to see his son, exhausted and happy, curled up in his room. He would owe River a bed time story. It was their son’s favourite way to fall asleep, cushioned against the vibrating chest of Cole while Jared translated the words into pictures and symbols with his hands.

Jared turned and left the boy dreaming of the magical land of Texas and paced the dozen yards down the polished wooden hallway to his bedroom. Cole had built their room at the far end of the house, in the sloped roof space, the lower height walls boasting their wardrobes and Jared’s collections of little objects. Cole was no better at shopping, Jared still loved to go with his sister and had learnt pretty early on that Cole was best left out of the experience. Besides, everything looked great on him. Cole was standing in their en suite bathroom brushing his teeth. He wore black boxers and a decade old super faded red shirt with the barely decipherable legend ‘cowboy’ written across the chest.

‘I cannot believe you still wear that,’ Jared shucked his own shirt over his head and dumped it onto the sheepskin rug on his side of the bed, ‘It’s more hole than shirt.’

Cole plucked at the thin cotton, worn down by love and many washings.

‘I like it,’ he smiled around the tooth brush, ‘It was the first thing you ever bought me.”

“Luve yoo.” Jared knew it pleased Cole when he spoke, though he knew that whatever he pronounced was slightly wrong. Learning to talk was a slow process, but he was trying. Cole made a heart with his hands, then turned away to spit in the sink.

Cole grabbed Jared as he tried to walk into the bathroom, grabbing the shorter man around the waist and throwing him onto the bed. The big springy mattress didn’t even creak. Jared thought the damn thing must have been built more solidly than the house for all the abuse the bed took. Jared looked up at his lover with dark blue eyes that glittered. He’d been right all those years ago, sex with Cole was never boring. Making love was great, but tonight Cole shone and shuddered with raw sex, and Jared couldn’t wait to fuck him senseless.

Cole stripped and somehow managed to be kissing him all at the same time. Jared rolled him over to get top position and twisted under the hands that ran up his smooth ribs, hard fingers flicking at his sensitive nipples. Jared moaned. He puddled his trousers on the floor and pinned Cole down with his hands, taking the time to admire the body of his lover. Cole was as beautiful as ever, lanky and long with muscles that made Jared hard every time he looked at him naked. He was still basically hairless, though his blond glittery treasure trail had managed to fill out. Jared knew that his husband could pass for a much younger man. Jared leant down and began to lick and nip a trail from ear to shoulder, pausing to bite hard at the join where Cole’s throat met his collar bone. The mark he raised there made him smile. Claiming his other half was something at they both loved to do, especially when the small bruises could cause embarrassment. Cole’s fingers raked down his spine.

Jared broke his next kiss to scramble for the lube, then found that his hands shook too much to open the bottle. Cole did it for him and Jared sat back on his haunches, eyes huge and lust drunk to watch his husband prepare himself with two slick fingers, rocking his hips to get maximum pleasure, his chest heaving as he struggled to draw breath. Jared couldn’t take the visual teasing torture anymore and gripped Cole’s wrists, pinned the big blond man’s arms above his head and thrust into him in one long smooth movement even as Cole wrapped his legs around Jared’s hips.

The timbre of Cole’s half snarl - half moan shook Jared as he moved inside his husband, the familiar and all too exciting sensation of flesh on flesh as they rocked together. Jared bent his head over Cole’s body and kissed him, deep but brief, before he pulled out and ploughed on in as hard as he could. Cole’s hands grabbed at the sheets, the pillows as Jared gripped him, held him fast and stopped him from trying to talk at all. Cole responded by bucking his hips, seeking deeper, further, more. He panted with the effort, moaning and whimpering a string of litanies and nothingness and adoration as the man he loved pulled in and out him with torturous half slowness. Cole arched his back, curled up to snap at Jared’s neck, proud of the red grazes his teeth left and Jared began to fuck him in earnest, slamming into him with all his strength and force, those epic shocks inside him fuelled further as he moved in tandem with his partner.

Jared let go of his wrists, short nails dragging down Cole’s ridged chest, his thrusts taking on a sharp hard finality. Cole wrapped a hand into the back of his lover’s hair and tightened his fingers as Jared panted and moaned, and stroked his own aching cock with his other hand. Cole came at the same moment that Jared plunged into him and split his own seed. They fell together in a mess of stickiness and sweat, both breathing hard and panting for more oxygen than could fill the space between their mouths. Cole eventually made it as far as the en suite, cleaned his husband and himself with a cool cloth and slipped into be behind his dream man. Jared turned, half asleep already, murmuring noises he couldn’t hear and made no sense at all. Cole pillowed himself on Jared’s shoulder and wrapped both his arms loosely around the shorter man. Jared turned and kissed his forehead. He didn’t speak out loud, didn’t sign that Cole could see, but the big blond had gotten pretty got at lip reading in a decade.

‘You remember that photo?’

‘I remember. I knew I loved you then.’

‘Soppy cowboy.’

Cole kissed him, angled up to catch the full lips, felt the beard and stubble scrape his skin.

‘Your cowboy.’

Jared touched the purple bruise he had raised on Cole’s collarbone and chuckled. He knew they had better get some sleep, River would be awake in six hours, crawling onto their bed with his own blanket to finish sleeping in the space between his parents. Somehow, Jared couldn’t resist the dark shadows between Cole’s lips, the loving, soft brightness in his eyes. Jared kissed his husband like a man claiming his territory and smiled in his head at Cole vibrated with the response he wanted.

Together they loved each other into the future.

*******

The End