NO MATTER WHAT
Page Three
Getting back to his usual workout routine had felt good, but Trent was also out of shape. The new whirlpool tub they had had installed was going to feel fantastic on his sore muscles. **And once my sore muscles are eased it'll feel even more fantastic,** Trent thought, grinning as he drove into the parking lot of the apartment and parked. Getting that tub had been a good idea, the lovemaking in it was beyond fantastic.
Getting out of the car, Trent flinched a little as his muscles complained at having to move again. He had taken it easy today, easing back into his routine, but he realized now he should have started even slower.
Once inside the apartment and not being greeted at the door by Carlos, Trent looked automatically towards Carlos's chair, expecting to find him asleep in front of the TV again. But he wasn't there. He wasn't on the couch either and the TV wasn't even on. Trent was a little concerned.
Heading into the bedroom Trent found Carlos in bed, but the TV wasn't on in here either. He moved quietly to the dresser and put his wallet, keys and watch on top. If Carlos was actually in bed sleeping, he needed the rest even more than if he had fallen asleep in front of the TV. He would just take the bath by himself, he decided, no matter how lonely it would feel. It would still feel good on his aching muscles. Carlos needed his sleep. Trent moved quietly towards the bathroom.
"Hi, baby," came a soft voice from the bed.
Trent was very surprised. He had assumed Carlos was asleep. He moved to the bed and sat down on the edge, his hand moving to Carlos's face. He didn't look good. He must have had another spell. "Hi yourself," Trent said, moving his hand to Carlos's hair and petting it, "You don't look so hot."
"Thanks for noticing," Carlos said, trying to use a kidding voice but not doing a very good job.
Trent smiled at Carlos's attempt at humor. He might be in pain, but that was coherent and pure Carlos. This was good. "You have a dizzy spell? Headache?" Trent asked, trying to get a handle on what was going on, what had gone on before he got there.
"I just have a headache, that's all," Carlos said, trying to make light of the situation, wincing a little.
The wince didn't escaped Trent's notice, nor did the fact Carlos closed his eyes again afterwards. He had obviously not been asleep when Trent got here, just had his eyes closed in pain. He continued to pet Carlos's hair and face. "You take anything for this?" Trent asked, knowing already the 'I can handle this' Carlos hadn't.
"Just aspirin," Carlos said, weakly, keeping his eyes shut.
**Well, even that much is something,** Trent thought, but it obviously hadn't done any good. Trent didn't like this -- not one bit. "Did you call your doctor?" Trent asked, sure if Carlos had only gotten as far as aspirin, he probably hadn't.
"No," Carlos said, simply, sounding very tired.
Trent looked at the time and decided he might still catch Carlos's doctor at his office before he left for the day. He got up and went and got the doctor's number, returned to the bed and picked up the phone.
"Who you calling?" Carlos asked, opening his eyes and looking at Trent.
"Your doctor," Trent answered as he waited for someone to pick up at the doctor's office.
"Oh, come on, that's not necessary," Carlos said, raising his voice and trying to sound indignant, but only managing to cause another stab of pain. He winced but didn't close his eyes.
Trent ignored Carlos's protests entirely as someone answered the phone and he explained why he was calling. The receptionist put him on hold and Trent looked back at Carlos who now looked both ticked at him for calling and relieved that he was, an odd combination. "Yes, it *is* necessary," Trent said to Carlos, in his best no-nonsense voice. He began to pet Carlos's hair again.
Carlos closed his eyes in resignation. He really didn't want the doctor called, but he was also pleased to no end the way Trent just took over and cared for him, doing what he really should have done for himself but didn't.
Trent continued to wait on the line and caress his lover's hair. He saw the faintest of smiles cross Carlos's face after he closed his eyes and he smiled himself. God how he loved this man, even if he was stubborn as heck sometimes.
Finally getting the doctor on the line, Trent told him who he was and why he was calling. The doctor asked a few questions, Trent asking Carlos what he didn't know the answers to, and after a few minutes of conversation, Trent thanked Dr. Bowman for his time and hung up the phone.
Carlos opened his eyes. Trent was looking at him with a mixture of pure love, pure exasperation and much relief. Carlos smiled his best smile under the circumstances at Trent who smiled back.
"The doctor said you need to take some of the pain medication you got when they released you from the hospital. If that doesn't help, or if there's no improvement in a few hours or things get worse, you're to go to the ER," Trent said, noting Carlos's immediate reaction to just the idea of going to the ER. "He said that shouldn't be necessary," Trent added, "It's just so we know." Carlos made another face and shut his eyes again.
Trent got up from the bed, his muscles protesting again at his movement. He had almost forgotten he was headed for a whirlpool bath a few minutes ago. He headed into the bathroom and got Carlos's pills and some water for him and went back to the bedroom and sat back down. He put down what he was carrying and helped Carlos to sit up.
Getting out two of the pills, as the doctor had instructed, Trent handed them to Carlos who took them and put them in his mouth. He handed over the water and Carlos took it and swallowed the pills, giving him a dirty look when he was done. Trent smiled at Carlos and took the glass from him. The dirty look increased, tinged by something looking alot like gratitude, as Carlos lay back down.
Trent watched his lover as he resettled on the bed, closing his eyes again once he was laying down. Trent's hand automatically returned to Carlos's hair, caressing it, soothing them both. He really wanted to crawl into bed with Carlos and hold him. His aching muscles really wanted him to crawl into a tub of hot water with whirlpool jets. **Actually, the bath might be good for Carlos. Let him relax and let the medication work,** Trent thought as he sat there looking at Carlos.
After a few minutes of thinking about it, Trent had made up his mind. Or maybe it was his aching muscles that made up his mind, as he shifted himself on the side of the bed only to be met with the soreness again. In either case, he decided.
Carlos opened his eyes when he felt the movement of the bed as Trent got up. He looked at Trent and saw him start to take his clothes off and smiled as much as he could at the moment. He wanted nothing more right now than Trent's arms around him making him feel better.
Trent finished taking off his clothes and smiled at Carlos, lying in the bed watching him. "Be right back," Trent said, and disappeared into the bathroom.
Carlos was a little surprised to hear the water start in the tub, but he didn't have much time to dwell on it, Trent was back before he had time to even think about it.
"Come on," Trent said, pulling the covers off of Carlos. Carlos just stayed where he was looking at him, not moving. "Come on," Trent said again, smiling at his bewildered lover as he moved to help him up.
"Where are we going?" Carlos asked, not wanting to move, but doing so anyway.
"China," Trent said, having gotten Carlos standing, "Where do you think?"
"But I don't want...," Carlos started to protest, stopping mid-sentence as it became clear he was going whether he wanted to or not since Trent already had him out of bed. He just smiled tiredly and let himself be helped into the bathroom.
Trent got Carlos into the tub and sitting, then turned off the water and turned on the whirlpool jets. He got into the tub behind his lover, who was watching him with a very tired look on his face. Once in, he pulled Carlos to him, Carlos's back resting against his chest, then leaned back in the tub, taking his lover with him.
Carlos was still not sure he wanted to be here in the tub, but he wanted to be in his lover's arms. He settled back against Trent, enjoying being held, but was met with a stab of pain. Moving really wasn't pleasant.
The water felt good on Trent's sore muscles. He relaxed back against the tub some more and tightened his hold around his lover.
There was no where else Carlos wanted to be but right here in Trent's arms, but his head hurt. He wasn't comfortable. He moved around a little bit and moved his head to the side, but it still wasn't good. He tried moving the other way but he still wasn't comfortable. He finally moved more, despite his head's protests, turning himself around in Trent's arms so he was facing him, putting his head against his lover's chest, over his heart, and hugging him tightly.
Trent loosened his arms as Carlos moved restlessly in his embrace. Once Carlos had settled against him again, Trent hugged his lover tightly, but not as tightly as Carlos was hugging him -- hanging on to him for dear life would be more accurate. Trent wondered if Carlos realized how hard he was hugging him. It didn't matter. Trent put his hand to Carlos's head and began to caress his hair again and kiss the top of his head. Slowly, as the minutes passed, and Trent continued to caress and kiss him, Carlos's grip on him eased up little by little, Carlos drawing comfort from Trent's arms even as Trent's muscles drew comfort from the whirlpool bath.
After some time had passed, enough for Trent's muscles to benefit from the whirlpool and Carlos to relax and let the pills he took work, Trent decided it was time to get out. "Carlos?" Trent said softly, "You awake?" Trent squeezed his lover ever so slightly.
"No," Carlos said, not moving, not wanting to move.
Trent chuckled, both for what Carlos said as well as how he said it. The pain in his voice was all but gone and he mostly just sounded sleepy now. "Why don't we get out of here, humm?" Trent asked, "Get you back into bed so you can get some sleep? How's that sound?"
"Do I have to move?" Carlos asked, still not moving, still not wanting to, but willing to.
Trent laughed harder. "Yes, you have to move," he answered, even happier with this response. "Come on," Trent said, moving with Carlos slowly and carefully.
Trent managed to get them both out of the tub and dried off and Carlos back to bed. Once Carlos was settled, Trent again started debating with himself. He was hungry, Carlos was all but asleep, and he had a few things he needed to do. He also wanted to crawl into bed with Carlos and hold him. As he sat there, petting Carlos's hair again, he felt a hand on his knee.
"Go get something to eat, you must be hungry," Carlos said, sleepily.
Trent smiled. His lover knew him too well. "You gonna be OK here by yourself?" Trent asked, wondering if Carlos even heard him he was so close to asleep.
"Mmm humm...," Carlos managed, finding Trent's pillow, as he turned on his side, snuggling it to himself.
Trent smiled again and laughed softly, leaning over and kissing the face of his now sleeping lover. What Carlos needed was sleep, what Trent needed was dinner.
Trent found his robe then headed to the kitchen to fix something to eat. He marveled at how much better his muscles felt. **Nice to know that tub has *other* uses,** he smiled wickedly to himself.
After he ate, Trent checked on Carlos who was still sound asleep. He then called his mother, who hadn't been home earlier when he tried her from the office, and made arrangements for them to go over to see her tomorrow. Trent wasn't looking forward to this at all, but he was looking forward to getting it over with as well as being honest with her.
It had been hard on him not to be able to share his love for Bryan with her. He had wanted to, but decided not to, since he hadn't wanted to put her in a position to have to keep it from his father. His father wouldn't have understood, Trent had decided, he hadn't wanted Thunder to know.
Trent sighed, pushing the far away memory out of his head and went to check on Carlos again. Finding him still sound asleep, Trent did a few things that needed to be done around the apartment and then, after one more check on his lover, sat down to watch an hour or so of TV before he went and joined Carlos.
Finally ready for bed himself, Trent turned off the TV and headed into the bedroom. Carlos had rolled over and was facing away from him leaving most of the bed free. Trent took off his robe and tried to climb in the bed without disturbing Carlos too much. Once he was in bed, Carlos turned over and looked at him sleepily and smiled. "Sorry, I was trying not to disturb you," Trent said, gathering Carlos to him as he cuddled up to him.
"That's OK, baby, you could never disturb me," Carlos said, still obviously sleepy but awake and alert. He snuggled in closer to Trent, sighing happily.
"You feeling better? You look better," Trent said, rubbing Carlos's back as Carlos nuzzled his chest contentedly.
"Mmm humm...," Carlos said, breathing in his lover's scent, sighing again, feeling better, feeling relieved, feeling grateful, feeling loved.
"You want something to eat?" Trent asked, knowing Carlos had missed dinner.
"Not sure I have enough energy for that," Carlos teased, knowing perfectly well his lover meant food, but letting the double meaning win.
"That is *not* what I meant," Trent chuckled, as Carlos started nibbling and licking his chest now, "And you know it."
"I know no such thing," Carlos said, finding a nipple and latching onto it with his mouth, sucking it between his teeth. At the same time his hand found Trent's shaft and began to caress it.
"Carlos, you don't have to...," Trent started to protest, but Carlos tightened his grip on his shaft and moved his hand more aggressively and bit the nipple in his mouth as he sucked harder. "Oh...," Trent moaned, giving up the protesting in favor of Carlos's wonderful attentions to him.
Carlos kept up the movements of his hand and mouth, then after a few minutes, moved his mouth to kiss his lover before returning to his nipple to suck and nip it some more.
Trent kissed Carlos back eagerly. As soon as he returned to his nipple, once again taking it in his mouth, Trent put back his head, closed his eyes and moaned loudly.
Knowing from the sounds Trent was near his release, Carlos sped up his hand movements and nipped down just a little harder on his lover's nipple. That was it, with a brief cry of passion, followed by a loud moan, Trent came. After his major spasms were easing, Carlos kissed his lover once again before settling his head on his chest, smiling a sleepy smile of satisfaction as Trent wrapped his arms around him.
After allowing Trent some time to recover, Carlos said, "Thank you for taking such good care of me." He turned and looked up at Trent not taking his head from the place it lay against his chest.
"I think you got that backwards, didn't you just take care of me?" Trent asked, totally missing the point.
"I meant earlier," Carlos clarified, smiling at Trent, ready to go back to sleep.
"Oh," Trent said simply, "You're welcome. And thank you for taking such good care of me now," he added, kissing Carlos's sleepy face.
"You're welcome," Carlos said, yawning.
Trent tightened his hold on Carlos. "Time for you to go back to sleep," he said, kissing Carlos again, "Night, Lucky Bear. Glad you're feeling better." This time he kissed the top of Carlos's head, Carlos having settled it on his chest, putting his arm around his waist, almost asleep again.
"Night, baby," Carlos mumbled, barely loud enough for Trent to hear him.
Once Carlos was asleep in his arms, Trent got more comfortable in the bed and allowed himself to fall asleep.
Trent woke to Carlos kissing and caressing his chest. He watched his lover for a few moments smiling at him and the fact Carlos hadn't even noticed he had opened his eyes. "Don't let me disturb you or anything," Trent said, watching Carlos who increased his activities.
Carlos didn't stop what he was doing for a minute. He just smiled and kept up the caresses of his mouth and hand. "That's OK, you're not in the way," he said, teasing Trent right back. He felt good this morning, very good. And he intended to show Trent just how good and thank him properly for the loving care he took of him last night.
"Glad to see you're feeling better," Trent said, trying to concentrate on talking and not moaning.
Carlos chuckled as he said, "And you're just about to find out how MUCH better." With that, Carlos found one of Trent's nipples with his mouth and nipped it and at the same time found the other nipple with his hand and pinched it. This drew a load moan from Trent causing Carlos to laugh happily around the nipple in his mouth.
Carlos made love to Trent with much enthusiasm. They rested in each other's arms for awhile afterwards, then got up and ate breakfast, showered and got ready to go to Trent's mom's house.
Trent wasn't as apprehensive this time, not like he had been with telling Walker, but he still wasn't looking forward to it.
Once they were ready to leave, Carlos hugged Trent to him and kissed him. He noted the difference in his lover's attitude. He was pleased. He just hoped it remained that way. "You ready to leave?" Carlos asked, looking at Trent to be sure he was.
"Yup," Trent said, smiling.
Carlos smiled back, a questioning, tentative smile.
"I really don't expect this to be bad," Trent said, to his lover's obvious, unasked question. "I wanted to tell mom about Bryan and me when we were together, but didn't only 'cos of Thunder. I really don't think mom's going to have a problem with this."
"I'm sure you're right, baby," Carlos said, smiling. He was also remembering what Trent had said about not really knowing how a person was going to react until they did. But Trent knew his mom better than he did, so he hoped for the best. "Let's go," he added, giving Trent one more kiss, then letting go of him so they could leave.
Returning later that afternoon, carrying the homemade cookies Katie had insisted they take with them, they entered the apartment.
"I can't believe Mom gave us all of these," Trent said, referring to the several packages of different kinds of cookies they were carrying. "Nice of her to have some chocolate chip ones for you, humm, Carlos?" Trent grinned at Carlos who was just putting another cookie in his mouth.
"Uh huh," Carlos said happily around a mouth full of cookie as he followed Trent into the kitchen.
It had gone well with his mother, more or less what Trent had expected. She had asked some questions, pointed out some pitfalls, but in the end, when she saw how happy he was, how happy *they* were, it was all that mattered, that her son was happy.
The only dark spot was Tommy, his younger brother. He had hoped to talk to him alone on another day, but Tommy had come home in the middle of their visit with Katie. Knowing something was up, it was obvious from their expressions, Trent decided to just go ahead and tell Tommy. It hadn't been bad, but it hadn't been good either.
Tommy, a young man just discovering his own sexuality, needed time to get used to the idea, he thought. He would wait awhile then talk to him again alone and answer his questions if he had any. It would be OK, Trent told himself.
"I think it was a good idea your mom had about her telling Tandy and Tyler," Carlos said, putting another cookie in his mouth and grabbing a few more before Trent put the rest away.
"Yeah, me too," Trent said, "I wasn't sure just what or how much to tell them. I mean, I don't want to hide anything from them, but at their ages, it's hard to know how much information is too much information."
"Yeah," Carlos said, still munching happily on cookies and now following Trent back out into the livingroom.
"I think coming from her as well as her knowing better how much to tell them and how detailed to get is best," Trent commented as he sat on the couch and waited for Carlos and his cookies to join him.
After sitting down, Carlos put the last of the last cookie he was carrying in his mouth and grinned at Trent who was watching him and smiling. "What?" he asked.
"You're just too cute sometimes," Trent commented, looking at Carlos who was still chewing happily.
"I could say the same thing about you," Carlos said, sensuously.
"But I'm not the one with cookie crumbs all over my face," Trent chuckled.
Carlos grinned and moved to wipe the crumbs off his face, but Trent stopped his hand. "Oh no you don't," he said, "That's my job." With that, Trent leaned into Carlos and started licking the crumbs off his lover's face.
Once the crumbs were cleaned up and Carlos was purring nicely, Trent moved to his lover's mouth, kissing him thoroughly. "After eating all those cookies, I hope you saved room for the main course," Trent said, grinning wickedly at Carlos.
"I always have room for the main course," Carlos said, his lover's grin adding to his growing arousal, "As long as you're the one doing the serving."
"Oh, I'm doing the serving, all right," Trent said, as he moved them both so they were lying down on the couch, Trent on top of Carlos. He rubbed his growing erection against Carlos's, drawing a moan from Carlos. "How do you feel about hot dogs?" he added as he went back for more of Carlos's mouth, always sweet, but extra sweet this time from the cookies.
After Trent served Carlos his hot dog, they we lying on the couch in each other's arms. Trent looked down at Carlos and smiled at him, kissing the top of his head. This caused Carlos to look up at him. "Want to watch some more Highlander before dinner?" he asked, not really wanting to do anything more than hold Carlos and have Carlos hold him.
"Sounds good, baby," Carlos agreed, wanting to be held some more, and a few more cookies might be nice, "How about we head into the bedroom to watch?"
"OK," Trent said as he moved to sit up, kissing Carlos before he got very far, "I'll get the tape and meet you in there?" he got the rest of the way up into a sitting position, Carlos beside him.
"I'm going to get a few more cookies first," Carlos said as they both got up, Carlos heading into the kitchen, "You want any?"
"No, thanks," Trent said, chuckling as he shook his head. He wasn't sure how he felt about cohabitating with The Cookie Monster. Trent was busy finding the next tape in the series when Carlos walked past him on his way to the bedroom, buck naked and happily eating cookies. Trent watched him and shook his head again, grinning from ear to ear and memorizing the sight.
Trent found the tape he was looking for then went to the couch and picked up their clothes that had been shed during their lovemaking and headed into the bedroom. He put their clothes in the hamper before heading to the VCR with the tape.
Getting into bed, Trent gathered his lover into his arms. Trent looked down at Carlos before starting the tape. He smiled again at his wonderful lover, still eating cookies and now getting crumbs all over Trent's chest. He sighed and started the tape. How could one man be as happy as he was at this moment?
They passed the rest of the evening as usual, eating dinner, which Trent did notice Carlos didn't eat as much of thanks to all the cookies he had eaten, making love and spending quiet time together.
Laying in each other's arms before sleep, they talked about the day and who they still needed to talk to.
"I think we should see if Roscoe has some time tomorrow after church," Trent suggested, "I know we still need to talk to Theresa, but it makes sense to go ahead and talk with Roscoe. We're going to be there anyway."
"Makes sense to me," Carlos agreed, yawning as he said it, "Everyone has to be told eventually anyway."
Trent grinned at Carlos and reached up to kiss him goodnight. After he released his lover's mouth, he smiled again, "You still taste like cookies."
Carlos smiled sleepily at Trent. "I did get kinda carried away, didn't I?" he asked, yawning again.
"Mom's cookies will do that to you," Trent smiled, "I'm just more immune to their effects, I guess." He smiled again at his barely awake lover. "Night, Lucky Bear. Sweet dreams," he said, wondering how they could be anything but sweet after all that sugar.
"Night, baby," Carlos said, barely awake, sleep claiming him almost immediately.
Trent put his head down on Carlos's chest and breathed in his scent before closing his own eyes and waiting for sleep himself.
After returning from church, and having the rest of that afternoon free, Trent suggested they see if Theresa was going to be home this afternoon and could see them. Carlos called, found out she would be home and happy to have a visit from him. He only hoped she would be as happy after the visit.
The ride home from Theresa's had been very quiet. It hadn't gone well. Her parting words to them, to Carlos, still rang in Trent's ears, "You're my brother Carlos, and I love you, but I'm just not sure I can accept this." She then hugged Carlos like she would never see him again and walked back into the house.
Jesse, Carlos's nephew, had looked at his mom as she left Carlos standing there. "Don't worry, Uncle Carlos, she'll come around," Jesse had said. Jesse had taken the news very well, quite in stride. He honestly seemed more worried about this division that now existed between his mom and Carlos.
Carlos had hugged Jesse and said a simple, "Thanks, Jesse," before releasing him and heading to the car. Trent knew his lover didn't trust his voice to speak further. Trent and Jesse had exchanged sad and anxious smiles, both concerned about the ones they loved so much, before Trent joined Carlos in the car.
Theresa needed time, Trent knew that. Time to let it sink in, time to think about it and get used to it, but he was afraid once she did, the ending would be bad. It really could go either way, he thought. He feared the worst, but hoped for the best. Maybe they would get something in between.
Trent closed the door to the apartment and moved to Carlos who was just standing inside the door, his back to him, looking very sad, even from the back. He went up to his lover and hugged him from behind, putting his head on his shoulder as he did. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to. There wasn't much to be said anyway.
"Thank you, baby," Carlos said, his voice very sad, even though he was trying not to let it sound that way. Carlos hugged Trent's arms that were around him.
They stood there for a few minutes like that, just absorbing each other's love and drawing strength from their bond. Finally, Trent kissed Carlos's neck and gave him a squeeze before letting him go and taking his hand, leading him to the couch. He turned Carlos around and got him sitting before sitting down himself and gathering his lover into his arms.
It really hurt Trent to see Carlos like this but he didn't know what to say or do to make it better. He wasn't sure he could make it better. He kissed the top of Carlos's head, which was resting against his shoulder, then put his own head against Carlos's.
They really had been lucky up until now with the reactions they had gotten. Trent just wished it had lasted. He couldn't help but remember Kim's total delight at the news, Walker's nonchalant acceptance, and his own mother's ability to deal with it. Then he thought of Roscoe, their pastor, and his reaction to the news earlier today.
Roscoe's expression had changed very little as they told him. When they were through, he was still giving them the same neutral look. They had waited, neither one sure exactly what Roscoe was thinking. Finally he spoke, his expression still unchanging.
"I've always wondered if this might happen between the two of you," Roscoe had said. Noting Trent and Carlos's surprised expressions, he had continued, "There's so much love between the two of you and there always has been. I thought it might go in this direction."
Trent and Carlos had looked at each other, a look passing between them, a look of surprise. They had looked back at Roscoe who was now grinning at them which had surprised them yet again.
"Don't look so surprised," Roscoe had said, "Love is what life is about."
They had both smiled at this, happy he understood.
"You're both smart men who've seen life up close, sometimes too close," Roscoe had said, smiling at both of them before continuing, with a question in his tone of voice, "I have to assume you've thought this through, know the risks you're taking and that you know not everyone is going to be pleased about you two as a couple."
They had nodded at him.
"Then I couldn't be happier for you," Roscoe had said, then stood up, as had Trent and Carlos. He had hugged each of them in turn. Putting an arm around each of their shoulders as they started to walk out of the church, he had said, "If you need anything from me -- anything -- you ask me, you hear?"
Trent squeezed Carlos in his embrace. "How about asking Roscoe to talk with Theresa? Most of her objections were religiously based. It might help to have a man of God, who obviously accepts us, talk to her," Trent suggested, "What do you think?"
Carlos brightened perceptibly. He looked up at Trent with real hope in his eyes for the first time since they had left his sister's.
"That's a wonderful idea," Carlos said, smiling and reaching up to touch Trent's face. "Thank you, baby," he added, pulling Trent down for a brief kiss.
Trent smiled his most loving, tender smile at Carlos. "You're welcome," he said, glad to see some of the pain gone from his lover's eyes. "Now," Trent said, looking at his watch, "We have about an hour before Snoopy starts doing his suppertime song and dance," he moved his hand to Carlos's stomach and rubbed it, still smiling lovingly at Carlos, "And I had this really good idea of how to spend that time."
How did Trent always know what to do to make him feel better? Always? Carlos was beginning to suspect that some of Walker's Cherokee ways had rubbed off on Trent over the years. "And just what did you have in mind? A game of Monopoly?" Carlos asked, smiling and putting his hand over Trent's that was still on his stomach.
Trent smiled and chuckled lightly. He was glad Carlos was feeling better enough to tease him. "No, not exactly," he teased back, "I was thinking more of a nice game of Twister."
Carlos grinned at Trent. Trent stood up then pulled Carlos to his feet and into his embrace. He ran his hands down his lover's back to his backside and patted it lightly. "Come on, the game is in the bedroom," he said, grinning at Carlos.
They headed into the bedroom with their arms around each other's waists. Trent's hand did stray down to pat Carlos's behind again, but then went back to his waist.
Trent made slow and gentle love to his beloved Carlos. He wished he could make the pain of the day go away entirely, but he knew he couldn't. He could do this for him though, he could make the pain more bearable.
The rest of the evening was subdued, but not as hard as it might have been. Trent was glad he had thought of Roscoe and his offer of help. It really did give Carlos something to feel hope about. As they fell asleep in each other's arms, Trent realized this was almost over, almost everyone was told. That, atleast, made him feel good.
The next day at the office was uneventful. They met with a new client, one who's case hadn't sounded too strenuous or time consuming, and worked on a few more. One of the cases needed some minor field work, which Trent was going to do alone.
They headed out of the office, Trent headed to work on the case, Carlos headed home. Trent was still nervous about Carlos driving alone, but it was getting better. Other than the headache the other day, Carlos had been doing very well. Having already kissed and said their real good-byes upstairs, they headed to their respective cars.
"I'll take care of dinner, baby, OK?" Carlos said, hoping he wasn't going to get an argument. He had plans.
Trent didn't like it, not one bit, but he didn't let it show. He wanted Carlos to go straight home and go to bed, or atleast rest, but he knew he was being over protective again. Instead, he smiled his best smile and said, "Sounds good, but something other than an all cookie feast, humm?"
"Of course!" Carlos said, rolling his eyes and pretending to be insulted. He actually thought it was funny. He was also sure there weren't enough cookies left for that anyway.
Trent smiled at his lover and got in his car. "Drive safe, Lucky Bear. See you when I get home," he said as he started the engine.
"Bye, baby," Carlos said as Trent put his car in gear and headed out of the parking space. He got into his truck, deciding where he needed to stop first. He had a few places to stop before home.
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