Confused - Until Bart Met Noah - 7. Cohabitation and More

The next morning, Bart woke before Noah. He laid there a while, just looking at his boyfriend; no, his lover. Finally, Noah started coming awake.

"Good morning, Bart."

"Good morning, Noah."

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"I feel great."

"No regrets?"

"No. Definitely not. It was a wonderful night."

"Yeah, it was pretty great."

"Um, do you want to do it again?"

"Bart. Now that we've demolished that wall, you never have to ask that. The answer will always be yes."

While the previous night was rushed and intense, the second time was more tender and patient. After using the bathroom, Bart took Noah into his mouth first, getting Noah all hot and bothered. He then knelt and presented his ass to Noah, who lubricated him and stretched his anus somewhat.

"Condom?"

"Not yet. I want to feel you completely. We'll avoid the mess in the future, as long as you don't mind."

Noah leaned down, kissed the back of Bart's neck, and whispered, "I don't mind, but you're washing the sheets."

Bart chuckled, then gasped as Noah entered him. Noah made love to Bart slowly, knowing there was no need to hurry to keep the wall from rising. After Noah came inside Bart, they switched positions and repeated the slow, gentle, lovemaking session. When both were sated, they laid down together and dozed.

Noah woke first this time, just a few minutes later, "Were you serious about what you asked last night, Hammer?"

"Moving in together? Yes. I want to go to sleep in your arms every night and wake up next to you every morning. Do you still think it's an awesome idea?"

"It becomes more awesome every minute."

"Good."

"Let's get dressed, hit the Metro Diner for breakfast, and start looking for a place somewhere in between our jobs."

"I think we'll need to talk finances a little bit, too."

"Sounds fair. But you could always become a professional poker player and support both of us."

Bart laughed, "I don't want to have to make love with you in our home, the refrigerator box. Let's stick with the careers we have."

"It would be cozy living in a place that small."

Bart looked at the weather app on his phone, "It's 34 degrees (1 C). Cozy doesn't quite describe it."

"You're no fun. OK. Another condo, or house it is."

After breakfast, Noah powered up his laptop and opened Google maps. The Palencia section of St. Augustine was almost exactly the midpoint between their two jobs. Looking at Realtor sites, they discovered there weren't any condo complexes in the area, only an apartment complex about five miles west.

"Well, the area looks good, but it seems like a house would be the way to go, Bart."

"I agree. But it's a hell of a commitment. Do you think we're ready for it?"

Noah leaned toward Bart and kissed him deeply.

Bart understood the implication, "Yeah, we're ready."

There were quite a few houses available in the area. They marked a few as favorites and agreed Bart would call the listing agents the next day and try to set up appointments for a few of them Thursday evening or the following Sunday, as Noah had to work the next day. Location and size came into play in filtering some out, there were eight that seemed they would work. A few were quite a bit more expensive than the others.

"I know it's way too early to think about this, but how do you feel about having kids, Nomes?"

"I think it would be great if we could do that at some point. Maybe two might be good, so they had a sibling to keep them company."

They had a short discussion about finances to estimate what they might be able to afford.

"We'd probably want to have a home office, so four bedrooms would probably work better, just in case it was one of each, they'd need their own rooms."

"Good thinking, Hammer. I think we can discount the most expensive ones. I think the ones in the middle of the range might be a little pricey, too."

Bart pointed at the screen, "So I think that leaves these three."

"Agreed. See what you can set up when you call tomorrow, we'll take a look at all three."

Bart was able to set up an appointment for one on Thursday evening at 6 PM, and the other two on Sunday, one right after the other starting at one. After looking at all three, they decided to try to get pre-approved for the most expensive one, which was $13,000 more than number two. A few days later, their pre-approval came through and they put in an offer on that one, a four-bedroom, three-bathroom rancher. Their offer was accepted, and they started the process of purchasing their first home together. Inspections, arranging for movers, negotiating out of their current leases, all needed to happen.

They closed on the house a few days before the eight-month anniversary of the day they first met.

Things went extremely well for the pair once they decided to move in together. The day they moved in was hectic, but they only needed to move a few things from their current places right away. They'd both arranged to leave their current residences on March 31st, which gave them ten days between the closing and needing to be cleared out completely. Bart's place was smaller, a one-bedroom apartment, so the move from there wasn't difficult. He decided to donate his kitchen set, since it was only large enough for two and Noah's sat six. His full-size bed and bedroom set went into what would be the guest room. Noah's California king bed would be in their master. Noah's feet would have overhung Bart's bed, anyway, being six foot five. Bart's minimal living room set was the basis of the family room, while Noah's much better living room set would occupy the same place in the new house. The rest, they would figure out as they went along.

With Bart's inhibitions gone, they made love nearly every night. Occasionally, one or the other would have a long day at work and they'd skip. After living together two months, Noah made reservations at Donovan's Irish Pub, just a short distance down route one from the entrance to their community. It was a Sunday evening, and both were off that day. Noah didn't mention the dinner until late in the afternoon.

"Why so secretive, Nomes?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret, would it?"

Bart decided he'd just have to be patient to find out what the special occasion was. Not that Donovan's was a fancy place, but making a dinner reservation wasn't something they often needed to do.

Neither drank wine, nor champagne, so Noah ordered two bottles of Smithwick's Red Ale and proposed a toast.

"To us, and hopefully many happy years together."

"Hear, hear!"

"I have something I want to ask you, Bartlett Finlay Hamilton."

"Bartlett... My full name? How did you find that out?"

"I have my ways. I snagged your social off the house paperwork and ran a soft credit pull. I felt it would be important to know the full name of the man I was proposing marriage to."

Bart was pleasantly shocked, "What? Marriage?"

"Yeah, you know the way two people who love each other often spend the rest of their lives together?"

"Oh, my God."

"I know neither of us wear rings, or jewelry of any kind, really. But I wanted some symbol we could both have. So, I made an appointment for us at Sailor Cher's Tattoo & Body Piercing for Thursday evening. I thought matching tattoos would be nice."

"Well, I've never thought about having a tattoo, but your unicorn is beautiful."

"That has multiple meanings. Obviously, the origin of how I was named Noah, but also, it's directly related to my heritage, being the official national animal of Scotland."

"No kidding?"

"Seriously."

"Hell, I'm mostly Scottish too. Would you mind getting another unicorn?"

"Not at all."

"In that case, yes, I'll marry you, Noah Malcolm Hankins."

Fortunately, Donovan's was LGBTQ+ friendly. When they leaned in to kiss each other, the people at the nearest tables cheered for them. They, in turn, raised their bottles in recognition.

"I have some more good news to tell you, Hammer."

"OK, this evening just keeps getting better."

"I'm getting a promotion at work."

"No shit?"

"No shit. I'll still be a Finance Manager, but for Coggin Automotive Group."

Bart raised his bottle once again, "Congratulations!"

"Thanks. That was the clincher about proposing. I was planning on doing it sometime soon, but when they told me that last week, well, I knew it would make things easier for us. I'll have slightly more regular hours, since I'll be one of seven that support the south end of Jacksonville. The Toyota, Nissan, and Chevrolet dealerships will be my stores. They're all within a couple miles of each other. I'll still get a number of late nights, but not as many. Not to mention a bump in salary."

"That's awesome."

Thursday came and they arrived at the tattoo parlor on time at 6:00 PM. They decided on two unicorns, facing each other. Noah's unicorn was on his right thigh. Bart didn't want to go that large, so they settled for smaller pairs on their upper arms. The unicorns each wore a necklace with one of their names on them, but otherwise, were mirror images of each other. It took them two sittings each to complete, but in the end, they were very happy with them.

Next up - "Wedding Plans and More"