Chapter 4

“Are you awake, my sweet baby love,” Josh said softly peering into Peter’s open eyes.

“Yes, Mintaka. I’ve been watching you for a while. You are so beautiful when you sleep so peacefully. It makes me ache all over to think about how much I love this.”

“Love what?”

“Everything, you, being with you, being more in love with you every second than I was the second before. If there is a greater love possible in this universe, I don’t want it. I just want this one. With you.” He squeezed Josh who squeezed him back.

“Ditto,” Josh said. “Shall we just stay here for a while longer or go shower and have breakfast?”

“I’m 50-50.”

“So, you want me to decide.”

“Yes.”

“Ok, we will compromise. We will stay here like this for just long enough for you to tell me the story of how you realized you were first in love with me, again, and then we’ll hit the shower.”

“Oh, I see, so how fast I tell the story will determine the duration, and it’s back on me.”

“Shoot, you are on to me.”

“Babe, I’m stuck on you literally and figuratively,” Peter giggled. Which he seldom giggled. Josh, on the other hand, giggled all the time in this sort of ‘aw shucks’ kind of way which most people could barely resist not falling in love with him instantly when they heard it. It was so cute and so beguiling. Surely, it was the male version of a siren’s song. It was just such a charming, endearing and gracious, bashful, and lovely giggle that could mean everything from ‘I’m embarrassed’ to ‘I’m in love’.

After all these years, Peter knew now how to decode Josh’s giggles, and he received the ‘I’m in love’ giggle frequently. Most people got an in-between version which meant ‘I’m intrigued but don’t want to be too effusive about the idea’. Peter also loved this giggle. So, Peter told the story of how he first realized he was in love with Josh for the one-thousandth time. It was Josh’s favorite story ever, and he would hold Peter to every detail. Peter did not mind because the story would cause Josh to giggle in all of his different ways but mostly his ‘I’m in love’ way. At the end of the story, Josh would always rub his thumb from the middle of Peter’s forehead down his nose and lips to the dimple in his chin and then plant a glorious kiss on his mouth. This would be the sign that all was well in the universe. He loved Peter’s face every perfectly symmetrical aspect of it, and he was content beyond contentment. Peter in turn would pinch Josh’s ass cheek just enough to cause the slightest bit of a sting but not pain, and then kiss him on the very, very tip of his still boyish nose. Peter loved Josh’s nose. He loved his smile, his eyes, his eyebrows, and every single asymmetrical aspect of Josh’s face. He loved to trace out Orion’s belt on his birthmarks going from the one near the top of his smile line between his smile and his chin to the one on his chin, and then back up to the one that was above the top of his upper lip just near the more deeply dimpled line than the one on his left side of his face. He loved also to trace Josh’s eyebrows each of which had a path of its own. The one on Josh’s right side was more straight and thick. The one on his left was more curvy and thin. It was also a hair higher. Peter usually traced the right then left feeling it better to go straight before going astray.

Full disclosure, Peter positively loved all aspects of Josh’s face, but his nose above all. He was not sure what about it turned him on so much. It was kind of silly. I mean, what’s a nose? “A nose by any other name would still be able to smell as sweet,” he thought to himself corrupting one of his favorite Shakespeare lines but enjoying the pun. He loved how the bridge of Josh’s nose was deceiving. It looked thinner than it was. Something about the shading and the shadows of the light made it a bit slightly darker in pigmentation on the bridge, sort of like if you get tanner in one spot and it makes it look like it stands out more or is elevated relative to the other soft tissue surrounding it. This made the depth of his nose seem more powerful and his eyes more deeply protected by it. Then, as you traced down, it angled outward at the most perfect angle possible achieving in general a nose that was beyond perfection. Therefore, in the end, he would kiss just the very tip of Josh’s nose. At first, Josh found this kiss very disagreeable and odd. He found this nose kiss almost too motherly or something, he wasn’t sure. Over time, however, he came to love it. It was Peter. It was what Peter did to him and only him. He loved that they had things like this together that only they did. Plus, sometimes, he would use that nose kiss as an excuse to pull Peter’s mouth and tongue down into his own and the whole thing would start all over again. Which, of course, would cause him to giggle insanely, which would cause Peter’s sensibilities to recharge up and they could go at this for hours and hours never tiring in the least of each other no matter how strange or silly it might seem to other people.

Peter kissed Josh on the nose to end the story after tracing out his face. Josh then intensified his already smiling smile and they carefully got up out of bed still stuck together. They waddled like penguins wrapped in the covers to keep themselves warm on the way to the shower. Their bare feet darted across the cold tile and into the double shower bed which they had installed themselves because they loved taking showers together. Of course, they preferred to take long soaking bubble baths when there was time, but this was the best possible shower alternative. Josh reached over and switched on the wand, then Peter set the water to the perfect temperature. Josh waddled them over out of the way of the overhead rain shower head, while Peter switched the lever to change the flow of water from the wand to the rain mode. They had learned this technique the hard way to avoid getting blasted by the cold water in the pipe. They then moved under the water still stuck tightly together and embracing one another. As the warm water began to trickle between them, it also began to unstick them slowly. As their one body became two, they each fetched a few pumps from each’s favorite smelling body washes and worked up a thick and rich lather in their hands. Then they subsequently lathered up each other’s bodies from head to toe.

Sometimes, though not this morning, Josh would find himself unable to resist kissing up from Peter’s knees and then spending some time focused on his partner’s all-to-willing perfect member. ‘Peter’s Perfect Penis’ was the start of a new tongue twister Josh had written for him one Valentine’s Day a few years back. Today, however, he just lathered up every inch of Peter’s body from toe to head; and, then, he received the same treatment. There was one difference, however, when Peter got to Josh’s stomach region, he rubbed his face against Josh’s belly and cuddled his stomach. He knelt there for a while cuddling more than usual and pressing his ear against Josh’s slight six-pack muscles.

“What are you doing?”

“Shhhh, I’m trying to hear if there’s a baby in there,” Peter said. Josh accommodated his curiosity allowing him as much time as he wanted.

“Hear anything?”

“I’m not sure. Somebody is talking up there.”

“Sorry.” Josh remained quiet. Then Peter stood up, rinsed the rest of Josh’s gorgeous torso, and then washed the snowy lather out of Josh’s hair. If you thought Peter found Josh’s face irresistible before, imagine amplifying that by a factor of one thousand times when he was wet. First of all, the water made Josh’s normally full-bodied head of hair, though while cut short, still swirled up into a nice form like a hazelnut brown cotton swab with some highlights of strawberry blond wisps here and there, collapse into this perfect lampshade for his head. Wet Josh was even more irresistible than a dry Josh, so Peter had to control himself. He adored this complete transformation. Something about the wetness on Josh’s face also reflected or refracted out the little blemishes that made it look like he had freckles with his Orion birthmarks now in a full night sky. One thing that drove Peter crazy was freckles. They reminded him of his youth and an easier time in life when summers are endless, months take years, and days are so jam-packed as to be entirely memorable. He stopped there just gazing into the gorgeous eyes and smile of his adorable babe.

“Mintaka?”

“Yes, my love?”

“I love you. You are the most stunningly gorgeous and amazing person ever. I am weak for every cubic centimeter of your body, heart, mind, and soul. Thank you for being my love.”

Josh giggled, “But you didn’t answer if you heard anything?”

“No, I didn’t hear anything, but I’m not a human stethoscope. No telling what might be in there.”

“Probably just a growling stomach hungry for some bacon,” Josh giggled again.

Now it was Josh’s turn to lather up and rinse off Peter. He would start with Peter’s gorgeous and very big feet. While Peter loved Josh’s nose. Josh felt the same way about Peter’s feet. Since he was a boy, he had had a foot fetish. He wanted to be barefoot all the time, and he had always been drawn to feet. He neither knew why nor why everyone else was not. He thought his feet were nice to look at, but the feet of other guys were practically intoxicating to him. He loved the sound guy’s bare feet make when they walk on the ground, the floor, the grass, the tile, the hardwood floor, the hot pavement, and the sand at the beach. He found each sound unique. He could easily tell if a guy was walking around wearing shoes or not. There was something to the power in the way guys walked when barefoot, something more natural, more graceful, more majestic. Peter’s feet were the first thing he noticed about Peter after his face which he adored and to which he found himself instantly attracted. The first sighting occurred in PE class when they had to change into their gym uniforms. When Peter took off his shoes and socks, and Josh got a look at his feet, he could barely take his eyes off of them. Josh thought if someone were going to sit down one day with the mission of designing the most perfectly beautiful male feet, he or she could not create ones better than Peter’s. Everything about them was absolute perfection. Josh realized soon into their relationship that the symmetry in Peter’s face trickled down to his feet. Some people have wildly different feet that do not even look like they should both be on the same person. They have a right or left that is superior to the other in both appearance and size, length of toes, shape, or height of the arch. Peter’s were absolutely identical mirror images of each other right down to the smallest details. Even the flattened part of the baby toe that gets that way from years of wearing slightly too small shoes as a kid were the same. Parents do not get that people were not born to wear shoes. Not to blame parents, society does not get it. There was nothing ever designed more perfectly for humans to walk on than their own bare feet.

When left out free, they do not stink. Stinky feet are created by trapping them in socks and shoes where moisture, fungal and bacterial spores, and heat create the perfect growing conditions for microorganisms which, subsequently release an array of smelly gasses as they digest and war with each other over this welcome new terrain. Feet get no dirtier otherwise than do hands and can be washed just as easily. Josh, believed feet, especially strong and sexy male feet should live free outside of shoes. Therefore, he insisted they were always barefoot at home, with no socks or shoes in the house. Peter had not resisted. He was not as into feet as Josh, but he was from California — the place where the ‘no shirts, no shoes, no problem’ sign was born. So, when Josh made the no socks and shoes rule he did not flinch at the idea.

Therefore, Peter was not surprised as all when Josh sat down on the floor of the shower between Peter’s legs with his back to him, took Peter’s feet into his hands one by one, and washed them ever so carefully feeling every nuance of each toe. He liked each of Peter’s toes for different reasons. He loved the strength and sheer size of his big toes, and then there were the darling baby toes. There was something about the second toe though — the one that is equivalent to the pointer finger on the hand — that he adored the most. In the case of Peter’s feet, this was the longest of his toes by several millimeters. It stood out among the rest for its thin length and majority position on Peter’s feet. Plus, Peter’s feet were just a little bit hairy, and these pointer toes were the hairiest of the toes. He cherished these big, handsome feet tops and bottoms and took care of them, more so than Peter did himself. Peter felt if Josh wanted to care for his feet, he was just fine with that. He routinely encouraged Josh to give him pedicures and even permitted him to paint his toenails different colors if he wanted. Josh usually jumped at the chance. He was quite fond of painting them royal blue.

Peter stood on his right foot while Josh washed his left foot very thoroughly and carefully including a welcome massage of his arch, heels, and Achilles tendon, between his toes and the joints of his toes. Then he switched feet. Truth be told, Peter shuddered with pure elation at the feeling of Josh caring for his feet, but he also loved knowing how must satisfaction it gave his partner. He was willing to do almost anything for Josh and vice versa. With two extremely perfectly washed feet, Josh then kneeled and worked his way up lathering Peter’s calves and shins, then knees, thighs inside and out, groin area, of course, ass crack. He lathered and then used the dual stream shower wand on the massage setting to rinse off Peter’s body protecting his member from what could be potentially harmful blasts of hot and high-pressure water, and then he carefully lathered and bathed Peter’s perfect penis, of course. He dared not dawdle too much on that area for obvious reasons and then worked up the torso, armpits, shoulders neck, and head. Of course, he could never resist kissing some parts along the way as neither could Peter when their roles were reversed.

Finally, at last, they were done. They shut off the water together and then helped each other to an exhilarating towel dry. After hanging their towels, they then returned to the bedroom to grab clothes and then back to the bathroom for dressing and styling. Along with the double shower, they had insisted on installing double sinks, and this was, perhaps, the one time when they pretty much left each other alone though darting glances back and forth between mirrors and side to side was certainly customary. The first one finished — Josh usually finished first due to his less complicated hairstyles — would dart out and start making breakfast. The other would appear soon after and join in the next of their morning rituals.

After breakfast, Peter toyed with the idea of making one more run at them going to the doctor but a sudden phone call interrupted his thought process. Peter answered it.

“Muriel?” Peter spoke into the phone as Josh looked on. “Let me put you on speaker so Josh can join.” Peter pressed the speaker button on his phone and placed it on the table between them.

“Peter?” Muriel said with some crackles due to a poor connection on her side of the call.

“Yes, M., we can hear you perfectly now,” Peter said.

“Hi, Peter! Sorry Boys, I’m in Aspen, and I don’t get the best reception in the ski lodge.”

“Oh, that’s ok, M.,” Josh reassured her. “We can hear you just fine!” Partly because she tended to talk a bit too loud even when the situation did not require it, and who knew about this one.

“Great, great! I just wanted to call and firstly say, ‘congratulations’. Angel told me that you two were becoming forever partners officially; and, secondly, I wanted to let you know that if you are looking for an acceptable venue for the event, I’d like to offer you my desert home in Palm Springs as a sort of forever partnering ceremony gift.”

“What?” Josh exclaimed.

“First of all, Muriel,” Peter took over, “Thank you so much for your congratulations. Of course, we would have liked to tell you ourselves, but we don’t mind if our ‘nosy neighbor’ shares all of our secrets. Second, of all, I can guess by the look on Josh’s face that it’s okay for me to say, we accept.”

“Palm Springs! Muriel? How can we ever thank you enough?”

“Oh Boys, don’t worry about that. You’ve been very good to me over the years, we have a mutually beneficial relationship. My adult children live overseas, as you know, preferring to be as far away from their mother as possible.”

“No, we’re sure it has nothing to do with you, M.” Peter insisted.

“Anyway, I also know a great caterer down there, florist, and forever partnering ceremony photographer, if you need any of those kinds of support.”

“Wow, momma M., we’d be so grateful for any help we can get! Certain recent events have caused us to decide to move things up. We shall become forever partners sooner rather than later.”

“Really, when are you thinking?”

“Next month?” Peter blasted out.

“Next month, Peter?” Muriel shouted back.

“Yes,” Josh confirmed.

“Well, I’ve never heard of such a quick forever partnering ceremony plan, but let’s do this! I’ll text you over the referrals, and you guys can get working on it. Do you need a planner? I think I have one from a few years ago, or do you want to handle all of the details yourself?”

“I think Josh wants to do most of it himself,” Peter spoke up again.

“Yes, I do, but I appreciate everybody’s help,” Josh said.

“Ok, then, wonderful boys, as soon as you pick the exact date, let me know. I’ve got to run now, nature calls.” Muriel disconnected.

“Do you think she means ‘nature calls’ or literally she’s being called outdoors for skiing?” Josh asked somewhat rhetorically.

“Ok, Mintaka, this is getting very real now, we’ve got to get things figured out.”

“Yes! I’m very excited about it. How about you interface with Muriel’s contacts and handle venue logistics, photography, and food? I will take care of the attire, cake, decorations, invitations, and event plan.”

“Does this mean…”.

“Yes, you also get to plan the honeymoon.”

“Now, I’m excited too!”

“Wait, you are not excited about the forever partnering ceremony just the honeymoon?”

“Babe, when you carry me across the threshold the first night of our honeymoon, that will be a bucket list item for me. Forgive me, but I’ve dreamed of that for years now.”

Josh giggled, “I know! And I will.”

Peter suddenly got a little quiet. “Speaking of invitations, I still haven’t told my parents.”

Josh froze for a moment. “You haven’t told your parents we are getting forever partnered?”

“No.”

“Peter, don’t you think you should? Or do you not want to invite them?”

“I think I should, invite them, of course. Of course, I should. I just thought maybe they might find out some other way, show up uninvited, raise a fuss which would make them look kind of foolish, and I might never have to be face to face with their faces again.”

“It’s totally your call, but, they’ve been thawing. Haven’t they.”

“What do you mean? It’s the arctic circle! They’ve still never come to our house even once for dinner. Do you know how many times I’ve invited them, Josh?”

“I’m guessing it is many more times than I realized. Forgive me.”

“No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get short with you.” Peter got out of his chair and sat on the floor between Josh’s feet spreading his legs apart as he sat. He put his arms over Josh’s knees and nestled back. Josh caressed his shoulders, and neck, and gave him a much-needed scalp massage.

“Pumpkin eater, it’s going to be ok. I am going to take very good care of you forever.”

“Thank you, Mintaka, I know.”

“Maybe we should just elope, you know go to the courthouse and just get it done, no ceremony no nothing, just for us.” Josh knew that Peter probably would prefer this and was primarily into the whole forever partnering ceremony thing more because he knew that was what Josh had always talked about wanting.

“Absolutely not!” Peter said unexpectedly while also redirecting Josh’s strong fingers back into their job on his scalp.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, at first, I thought that would be fine, but, however, now, no! In fact, Mintaka, I think the Palm Springs plan is going to be amazing. And, I just need to get over it and deal with my parents once and for all. They can come or not. My parents can walk me down the aisle or not. Their choice.”

“Wait you’re going to walk down the aisle?” Josh was surprised to hear this.

“You proposed to me, so, therefore, yes, I will walk down the aisle.”

“Fine, works for me, as long as you promise also to wear a veil. I don’t want to risk getting a boner during the ceremony when I see that handsome devilish face and gorgeous body all decked out in a tux top, surfer shorts, and barefoot groom heading towards me.” Peter started giggling effusively like Josh had not heard out of him since high school when sometimes he would laugh so hard he would snort his carbonated beverage out his nostrils. Josh squeezed him between his legs and wrapped his arms around his chest. “I love you so much Pumpkin.”

“Since when did you start calling me, Pumpkin, so much?” Peter asked.

“I don’t know. It just sort of came to me recently that I haven’t really had a good, sweet, adoring nickname for you like you have so many for me.”

“Well, I like it. I want to be your Peter Pumpkin forever.” Josh kissed him upside down. When their lips met, Peter’s tongue lashed out a bit piercing into Josh’s mouth unexpectedly. Josh, accepted it and welcomed it. The kiss lingered for far longer than expected neither really wanting it to end. Finally, however, Peter had a thought.

“Speaking of which,” Peter hopped up suddenly and then went over to his jacket which was hanging on the back of a chair. He reached in and pulled out a typical-looking candy bar which happened to be known to him as Josh’s absolute favorite. “I was saving this for the weekend, but since we have the day off together, I’ll give it to you now.” It arrived in the mail yesterday.” He then kneeled back down between Josh’s open thighs and handed it over to him. Josh took the candy bar very curiously, inspected it, and smiled from ear to ear.

“You are so sweet.” He then examined the wrapper more carefully. “Bacon-flavored chocolate? Oh…my…gosh!” The excitement level in his voice jumped from one hundred to one thousand. “How did you ever acquire this? I thought they only sold these in Japan.” He stared at it and coveted it like a prize-winning lottery ticket. As he examined it further, indeed, the could now see that the small print was, indeed, in Japanese. “Right there ベーコン風味 (bacon - fuumi).”

“Stop showing off your high school Japanese. You remember that?”

“Yep, I swear. Did you forget I did study Japanese for a semester in college too?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot, so…, taste it.”

“No way, I’m saving this for a special occasion. Like for our honeymoon first-night, late-night snack — you know to recharge everything up for more action.”

Peter knew Josh too well. “I thought you might say that, so…”. He reached back over and pulled the jacket off the chair and reached into the pocket. He pulled out five more bars. “So, I got you a six-pack. So, go ahead and eat that one now. I want to see the look on your face.”

“Pumpkin, awww…”. Josh carefully opened the end of the wrapper. “…how did you even get these?”

“Your soon-to-be forever partner has his ways.” Josh tipped the wrapper carefully to empty the sweet, bacon-flavored chocolate bar from its sheath dumping it into his hand. Something else, however also appeared to fall out with the bar, something that glimmered in the light.

“What’s this?” Josh lifted the object realizing almost instantly what it was. Peter snatched it out of his fingers and then pushed it onto Josh’s ring finger.

“There,” Peter said, “now officially we are both engaged to each other.” Josh admired the ring which was nearly identical to the one he had gotten for Peter with one very interesting exception.

“Pumpkin, this is not a sapphire like I got you? What is it?”

“Oh? Mintaka, how can you tell? Are you also now both pregnant and a gemologist overnight?”

“This has a violet tint mixed within the blue.”

“Correct, sir, that is tanzanite.”

“What?”

“It’s tanzanite. They are only found near Mt. Kilimanjaro and are one thousand times rarer than diamonds. Because you, Mintaka, are one thousand times more rare than anyone on this earth. And I wanted you to have this.”

A couple of tears started to roll down Josh’s cheek. He pulled Peter up and turned him so he could look very deeply into his eyes. “Who are you, Peter Sven Palisade?”

“That is I! Just me.” Peter hugged Josh tightly to his chest. Of all the things Peter had ever done for him in their life so far together, this just about topped them all added together. “Now don’t forget to take a bite of that chocolate bar. I really want to see your face after that.” Josh traced the line down Peter’s nose down to the dimple of his chin then Peter kissed him just gently on the tip of his nose. Then Josh took a smallish bite through the chocolate bar and chewed it up slowly obviously savoring every taste sensation it provided. Inside was a blend of hazelnuts, chocolate, and a creamy bacon-toffee-flavored nougat. Josh did not want to swallow it. He wanted those flavors to hang around on his tongue for a while, but he also wanted to fully kiss Peter. So, after chewing for what started to seem like minutes, Peter finally urged him. “Go ahead, swallow it, there’s more. I can see from your face you love it.”

Josh obeyed and then interjected, “No, I don’t love it. I love only you, but that’s my new backup plan.”

“If something happens to me, you’re going to become forever partners with a bacon-flavored chocolate bar?”

“Yes.”

“Ok, it’s nice to know that only such a thing as rare and wonderful as that could replace me.” Josh giggled and the two then kissed. Aside from the residual bacon-chocolate taste, there was something else wonderful about this particular kiss. It was something they both felt but could never later describe. Whatever it was, it called for a longer-than-usual lip lock that might have made onlookers a bit uncomfortable. When they popped apart with a smacking sound. Peter locked eyes with his strikingly handsome fiancé. “Did I ever tell you I wished for you as my fifth birthday wish?”

“No, what?” Josh looked surprised.

“Yes,” Peter continued. “My parents told me to make a wish and blow out the candles.”

“How could you wish for me? We didn’t even meet until high school, and you didn’t know you were gay. As I recall from your first boner story, you were adamantly not gay.”

“Shsshh,” Peter said pressing his pointer finger against Josh’s lips, “I wished that someday, I would be the happiest person in the history of the world.”

“Wow, that’s some wish. I think I was wishing for the latest Jonas Bros. video download for my MP3 video player.”

“Well, my wish came true. How about yours?”

“No. But now I have something better.”