Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Wyatt finished eating quickly before jetting down the hallway. “Wait for me. I need to find warmer pants.”
A shy smile crept into the corners of Oliver’s mouth. It had been so long since they’d done anything fun together.
Once they had finally made it outside, Oliver realized the conditions weren’t as bad as he had imagined them. The wind had died down now that the snow had arrived and the way their backyard was lit up with floodlights and strands of Christmas lights—white, red, blue, yellow, green, flashing and still alike—the way the huge flakes drifted silently to join the billions of others already on the ground, Oliver couldn’t help but laugh from the sheer joy the scene brought to his heart.
Wyatt, apparently caught up in the magic of the moment, gathered Oliver into his arms and the two spun and laughed in a pool of festive lights and snow while the rest of the world was dark and quiet. This was their time and theirs alone.
Oliver giggled at the snow collecting in Wyatt’s soft curls. He brushed the hair off his husband’s forehead and gave him a tender kiss full on the lips—their first real kiss in days. Weeks. Wyatt let out a playful growl and trailed his kisses from his husband’s adorable crooked smile along his stubbled jawline and down his neck. Oliver’s knees buckled at the attention. Thrills of electric excitement rippled down his body to his nipples and farther still. Wyatt could excite him like no man ever had. He grabbed a fistful of Wyatt’s hair and held his husband’s head against him and released a throaty moan.
“Cool your jets there, Sparky,” Wyatt said with a laugh. “If you think I’m taking my pants off in these conditions, you’ve got another thing coming.”
Oliver’s hand traveled down to cup Wyatt’s impressive bulge. “I don’t think shrinkage will be an issue.”
Wyatt tore himself away and threw a handful of snow behind him to cover his retreat. Oliver squealed in delight and pursued, gathering snow for his own frosty projectile. Wyatt tried to hide behind their snow-covered grill but he slipped and landed with a thud. Oliver pounced and began playfully shoving snow down Wyatt’s shirt and into his mouth. Wyatt was tall and thin, but he was no match for Oliver’s scrappy bulk.
“Uncle! Uncle!” Wyatt screamed between gales of laughter and squeals of protest. “Get off me you, bastard!”
Oliver could have held Wyatt down indefinitely but was laughing too hard himself to give it much more of an effort. They collapsed into tender heap of chuckles and kisses.
“Let’s go in,” Wyatt said. “I’m freezing.”
“No!” Oliver clung to the front of Wyatt’s jacket. “Not yet. Please?”
Wyatt sent one sidelong glance at the house before looking back down into Oliver’s sparkling blue eyes, so large and full of love. With a sigh, he nodded his consent to stay. “You want to build a snowman?”
“Hell yeah!” Oliver rocketed to his feet and brushed off as much snow as he could from his jacket and pants. “Stellar idea!”
The base of the snowman was the easiest part to construct. What started out as a small snowball rolled around on the ground quickly grew to substantial size. The next layer also quickly took shape, but when the two men tried to lift it off the ground to place it on the base, they struggled. Oliver dissolved into laughter every time they tried to lift together and failed. They were eventually able to awkwardly roll the snowman’s torso up his base and into place. His head quickly followed and the men stood back to admire their work.
“Where in the hell are we going to get coal?” Wyatt mused.
Oliver rubbed his chin in thought. “I have an idea. Can you find some sticks? I’m going inside for one second. I’ll be right back.”
The interior of their refrigerator was neat and orderly. Oliver didn’t have much to do with his time these days. Everything from their recycling bins to their sock drawers was neat and orderly. It made finding the carrot a snap and he placed it on the kitchen island next to the scarf and knit hat he’d grabbed from the hall closet on his way in.
Once he was back outside with all of his snowman-making supplies, he found that Wyatt had spent a long time sorting through the pile of sticks they stacked to one side of the garage before mowing. The pile came in handy whenever they wanted to have a small bonfire. And by the look of the spindly, roughly symmetrical snowman arms already in place, the pile had other uses as well.
“Hat, scarf, nose, and…” Oliver dropped each item in turn in the snow before their creation before reaching into the plastic shopping bag he had threaded his arm through to pull out a can of ground coffee. “Coal! Well, coffee, but I figure it would not only make great eyes and buttons but he could have a cute buzz cut. Ooh, maybe some manly facial hair too.”
Wyatt chuckled. “That’s great thinking outside the box. Hand me the carrot.”
Oliver obliged with a quick peck on Wyatt’s cheek. “You arefreezing. Sorry. I shouldn’t make you stay outside. I’m being selfish.”
A cloud passed over Wyatt’s expression. Damn. Oliver knew he should have kept his mouth shut
“Yeah, well…” Wyatt wrapped the scarf around the snowman’s neck and loosely knotted it in place.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone