Sentinel Mountain

Chapter Forty-five
Homecoming

Walt had a patch of rough weather flying to Atlanta, but the flight back was perfect. Even though the moon was not quite full, it was very bright and the landscape below was visible as gently rolling mounds of light and shadow. As Sentinel Mountain drew near, Josh said, "Hang on to your tummies!" as he made his favorite approach, up and over Sentinel Rock. As they crested the ridge, he said, "Below is Sentinel Rock, on the side of Sentinel Mountain." As he swung around to make his first approach, he said, "Those of you on my left can see it silhouetted against the night sky. I'll make a turn so those of you on the right can see it. I'll be there Monday to cast Elijah's ashes on the winds." He made the turn and then headed for the brilliantly lit runway down the valley from the house.

Rob met them at the runway and grabbed Josh in a bear hug. "Good to have you home, Josh."

"Rob, Alex; Alex, Rob."

Rob embraced Alex in a bear hug as well and said, "Alex, good to have you home as well."

"Good to be home, Rob," Alex responded, as a tear rolled down each cheek.

Josh's breath caught in his throat, but he gave no indication he had heard. "Rob, this is Nelson Rogers, he will be around for a while. I want you to make sure he doesn't slack off working."

"He does and I'll give him to Janie for a day," Rob laughed.

"Janie still here?"

"No, she finally left when Walt and Cam did. Tomorrow there's a big do at her church and she's running it, of course." All who knew Janie laughed. "She left food for a snack when you got in and said you could call Sally to fix breakfast."

"No way. We're capable of fixing breakfast, besides, I'm sure Mrs. Mason and Susan can help if we need it. The kids home?"

"No. Jan went to Asheville with friends and they are staying overnight with a friend from summer camp. She'll be back tomorrow morning. I don't know how he managed it, but Randy's got an internship with a vet in Montana."

The luggage was loaded in a SUV and everyone climbed in for the ride to the house. When they arrived, they were greeted by Susan and Mrs. Mason. "Welcome home!" both exclaimed and ran down the steps to give Josh a hug.

"Alex, thank God you're here!" Susan said, as she embraced Alex and held him close, tears in her eyes. "Thank God. Well, come on inside."

"Susan, Mrs. Mason, this is Nelson Rogers who will be here until we can't stand him or he can't stand us." Nelson shook hands with the two. "Well, let's get things inside and grab a snack before bed."

"Josh, the six bedrooms are vacant. I have one of the suites for Winston, me and the boys and Walt and Cam another, at least for now. Mom took a bedroom, not wanting a suite."

"Nelson, take the third suite. You can turn the second bedroom into your study. We'll see about switching furniture later. And you, Mr. Bledsoe, will be spending the night in the master suite with me!"

Alex got a pouty look on his face and asked, "Do I have to?"

"Of course not!" Josh said, "There are several barns and hay lofts available." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Josh remembered the hay loft was where Alex and Dek and been caught having sex. Josh didn't know what to do as he saw from Alex's face he remembered as well.

Alex did know what to do, what he needed to do. He grabbed Josh, covered his mouth with his, pushed open his lover's mouth with his tongue as he, somehow or other, managed to wrap his legs around Josh's hips, his arms about Josh's neck, suspended. He finally broke the kiss, looked around and said, "Now you know, if you didn't. Sorry if I embarrassed you, but it was that or fall in the floor in tears or worse. I'll try not to let it happen again, but no promises. Josh and I have seven years of loving to make up!"

Josh was red-faced as Alex dropped his legs to the floor, but his face was split by a smile. What had been obvious to him—and was now obvious to the others—was that Alex had a full erection and hadn't thrown up or anything.

"Are you two queer?" Cam spoke after finally getting his jaw off the floor.

"Gay? Of course," Alex said, "but I don't like queer and I think you'll find gay easier to live with, at least around me."

"What did the church do about it? And by the way, when and where is church tomorrow?" Nelson asked.

"Actually, so far as I know, nothing," Alex said, and said nothing about Josh's status, figuring that was Josh's to tell or not.

Josh laughed, "I was excommunicated for what was a peck on the cheek compared to that. Someone took a picture when we were sixteen and sent it to the bishop, among others. Church? LDS? it's about an hour's drive to an LDS church, only about forty-five miles, but along mountainous roads. You may have a vehicle if you want to go, but no one else from here will be going. Several people here go to the Episcopal church. When it comes to church here, you are on your own."

"I'll think about it."

"Well, how about a snack?" Susan asked.

They went to the kitchen and Susan asked Josh to get glasses from the cabinet while she sat cold cuts, cheese, crackers, bread, tea, juice, colas and condiments on the table. She started back to the table and said, "Oh!" turned and walked back to a cabinet, opened it and returned carrying a huge box of animal crackers and peanut butter. "Janie thought I had lost it when I bought two huge boxes of animal crackers since the boys actually prefer saltines…"

"No!" Alex exclaimed. "I will have to educate the young Masons."

Twenty minutes later, Josh and Alex went to the master suite. When they reached the door, Joshed opened it, scooped Alex into his arms and carried him into the suite, while Alex kissed his face and lips. Inside, Josh carried his lover through the suite without comment. Alex had stopped kissing him to look around in amazement. "Wow," he said.

"My first reaction also. We can look over the whole house tomorrow and it's all as impressive as this," he said. "Not only are all the furnishings designed for the House—that's what the people call it." He laughed. "They say, I'm going to the house, meaning I am going home, and I am going to the House, meaning coming here. And there is never any confusion. Anyway, the furniture was made by skilled craftsmen from lumber cut here on Sentinel Mountain, but we'll talk about all that tomorrow. Right now, it's time to try out a specially designed, made-from-Sentinel-Mountain-hardwood bed."

Josh pushed open the bedroom door and carried Alex in and laid him on the large bed, leaned over him and gazed into his eyes. Suddenly his eyes filled with tears as his emotions overcame him. He leaned over Alex slowly and touched his lips tenderly. "Babe, I have dreamed of this moment and hoped against hope that it would come true, now it's here and I am afraid I'll wake up and it will be just a dream."

Alex pulled Josh on top of himself and said, "My beautiful lover, it is a dream, but a true one."

Josh stood, pulled Alex to his feet and started undressing him. After he had removed his shirt, he reached for his belt when Alex caught his wrist and said, "Lover, I intend to push the limits, so unpack your handy dandy butt sticker and put in on the nightstand in case you need it in a hurry."

Josh did so, but as he put the vial and syringe on the nightstand he said, "Babe, just try to stay this side of needing that."

Alex at grinned him and said, "I'll try but no promises."

Josh went back to undressing Alex, opening his belt and allowing his pants to fall to the floor. His hands on his shoulders, he stepped back and said, "Alex, how could anyone have done horrible things to someone so beautiful and loving?" A tear rolled down Josh's cheek as he looked at the man he dreamed of for seven long years. He leaned forward and kissed first one, then the other of Alex's nipples.

Alex shushed him and said, "Josh, beloved, that is in the past and we are putting it behind us. They can't hurt us anymore unless we let them." He slipped Josh's shirt over his head and kissed his nipples. He lowered his lover's zipper, expecting his pants to slide to the floor, but Josh's hard, precum-streaming cock held them up. Alex laughed, leaned over and licked the precum from Josh's cock head, unsnapped the waist and the pants slid down.

They stepped out of their pants and Josh again laid Alex on the bed, then he, too, leaned over to lick the precum from Alex's long, hard cock. As his tongue touched that beautiful cock, Alex's body became rigid, his back arching up off the bed, his eyes rolled back in his head. Still rigid, he shot cum into the air and it fell back on his stomach as his body twitched. Josh was instantly soft. He reached for the syringe, but before his hand touched it, Alex sighed, turned on his side and seemed to be sleeping normally. Josh decided to wait and just observe Alex. Half an hour later, he was convinced Alex was sleeping normally, so he went to the bathroom, wet a cloth in warm water and wiped the cum from Alex and himself.

When he finished, he was aching from the hard-on which had returned as soon as he was sure Alex was ok and, streaming precum, he quickly rubbed one off. He and Alex had talked about Josh aching and messing the bed with his wet dreams and Alex had convinced him he should stroke one off occasionally. "Just think of me when you do!" That was not hard to do and to do so made him even harder. Watching his naked lover on the bed where he had often dreamed of his being made short work of the task in hand.

While the summer days were quite warm and sunny, the nights in the valley could be cool. During the night, Alex had tried to get closer to him and Josh realized both of them were chilly. He covered them with the sheet and a light blanket and went back to sleep. That he had covered them proved to be a wise move because he was awakened by Susan shouting, "Alexander! Joshua! Come back here!"

He was disoriented and had raised himself on his elbows when the bedroom door burst open and two bundles of energy landed on him, and began bouncing up and down as they shouted, "Uncle Josh! Uncle Josh!" Alex raised up to see what the commotion was all about. As soon as the twins saw him, they wrapped their arms around Josh's neck and stared at Alex as though he was some mystical beast rising up beside their Uncle Josh.

Susan called from outside the door, "Are you two decent?"

"Fortunately," Josh called back, "Come on in."

When she walked in and said, "I am very sorry. Janie called to make sure everything was ok and I said, 'Yes, Josh got here about ten thirty.' The two overheard me and before I could catch them, they were down the hall like shots."

The boys were still staring at Alex and hanging on to Josh. Alex had turned, facing Josh, so Josh couldn't resist. He leaned over and kissed Alex and said, "Good morning, Barefoot Boy. Let me introduce our namesakes, Alexander and Joshua."

As Josh spoke their names, he touched the twin on the head. "Zander, I told you Uncle Josh would remember."

"Alexander, Joshua, this is your Uncle Alexander, but you can call him Uncle Alex," Josh said.

Their eyes got big and Alexander said, "See, Josha, I told you I got an uncle too."

"Boys, you need to run along so Uncle Alexander and I can get dressed and we'll have breakfast with you." The two hopped off the bed and holding hands walked to the door, turned and looked at the two in bed, then left as Susan closed the door.

"Why didn't you tell me they were named after us?" Alex asked. "You always said 'the boys' or 'the twins'."

"I don't know, maybe in my mind you knew their names. Oh, and this is important, if you want to impress them, call them by their names, their right names."

"Alexander and Joshua?"

"Well, yeah, but call each of them by his right name."

"How can you possibly tell them apart?"

"Joshua has a tiny mole on his left ear. How are you, Alex?"

"I'm fine, kinda sore for some reason. The last thing I remember is leaning over to kiss your cock."

"You went rigid and your back arched off the bed, so no wonder you're sore. You started shooting and shot a huge load. When you quit cumming, you relaxed and snuggled against me, sleeping perfectly normally."

"No shot?"

"No, when I reached for it, you relaxed and seemed to be sleeping normally. I finally cleaned you up and…"

"Did you get off?"

Josh blushed. "I did. Man, I was so hard I could have poked a hole in the wall."

"Well, I'd say we're making progress, but we're going to have a wet bed if I don't piss."

Both went to the toilet, pissed and then went to the huge shower. Josh set the temperature, turned on the water, tested it, stepped in and pulled Alex in with him. The shower, which was installed before the foolishness about water-restricted shower heads, had six shower heads on the sides and an overhead rain shower head. The two played in the shower, washing each other, kissing in the 'rain', and kissing nipples. Alex stroked Josh a few times, but stopped when he he felt himself getting an odd feeling. As Josh was drying him he said, "Josh, I think I am on to something. I think there is a warning signal, a funny feeling before I trip out. Maybe I developed that to warn me to remember those horrible pictures of cocks dripping pus and covered by maggots. When I push beyond that, my mind seeks to keep me safe by causing me to black out and all."

"Makes sense, Babe. Sounds like something you need to talk with Shawn about."

"I will."

The master suite had French doors which opened onto a deck. Unlike the front deck, this one had only a side view of the meadow, but the view of the mountains to the east was majestic. When the two men were dressed, Josh said, "Come, I want you to see something before we go to breakfast." Holding Alex's hand, he opened the French doors and stepped out on the deck. He wrapped his arm around Alex's waist and the two drank in the beauty before them.

"Josh, remember last night when Rob said it was good to have me home and I said it was good to be home?" Josh nodded. "Josh, I meant that. It was dark and I could see very little—actually, practically nothing—but I knew I was home, and safe and loved."

"You are, you are," Josh said, teary-eyed. He drew Alex to himself for a long, slow, tender kiss.

They went inside and when they went through the kitchen door, were again attacked. Alex managed a quick peek and saw the large leech attached to his legs was Alexander. He picked him up, swung him around and said, "So how are you this fine morning Master Alexander Mason?" and sat down at the kitchen table, Alexander on his lap.

He giggled and said, "I am fine, Master Uncle Alexander. How can you and Uncle Josh be Zander and Josha? You not twins."

"You don't have to be twins, Alexander. You just have to want to be together."

"Was that why you sleeped in Uncle Josh's big bed?"

"That's the reason, but how do you know that was Uncle Josh's big bed and not my big bed?"

Alexander covered his mouth with a hand, got very big-eyed and said, "Oh!"

"Alexander, that's our big bed, Uncle Josh's and mine."

"So you be together?"

"So we can be together."

"Well, Josha and me have two little beds, but we want to be together."

Alex got a 'help, rescue me' look on his face. Susan and Josh just looked at him and laughed. "Well," he said, "big beds are for big people. For people your size, you have your own small beds, but you have a room, right?" Alexander nodded. "Well, that's how people your size can be together."

"Oh," Alexander said. 'Why did you kiss Uncle Josh on the mouf?"

"Why does your daddy kiss your mommy on the mouth?"

"Silly, they're a mommy and a daddy."

"I bet he kissed her before they were a mommy and a daddy."

Alexander put a finger beside the corner of his mouth, looked deep in thought, wiggled out of Alex's arms and walked over to Susan. As solemn as a judge, he asked, "Mommy, did daddy kiss you before you were a mommy and a daddy?"

"He sure did."

"Why he do that?"

"Because he loved me."

"Oh." Alexander walked back over to Alex and climbed in his lap and asked, "You love Uncle Josh the way Daddy loves Mommy?"

"I sure do."

"That why you kiss him?"

"That's why I kiss him."

"Good!" Alexander said and patted Alex on the cheek.

"Handled like a master," Susan smiled. "I suspect you have acquired a permanent appendage."

In a few minutes, the upstairs residents came down and Susan handed everyone juice and all except Cam and Nelson coffee—Cam because he hadn't developed a taste for it and Nelson because he was a Mormon and didn't drink coffee.

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