18. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Sig spent an hour with him in the aftercare room. He was held, a cool cloth washing away the dried sweat like another had washed away the cum on him.

He was given sips of room-temperature water, kissed all over his face, and told how wonderful he was, and more.

Covered with a thin blanket, held on the sofa by his big, beautiful man, Rowan knew he wanted that for the rest of his life. He’d never been so happy.

“Did we do it?”

Sig whispered, “What’s that?”

“Change our memories?”

“For me, sure. What about you?”

The incident was far from his thoughts, and he could barely remember the man’s face. “Yes. Yes, this is…it’s only us now.”

“Good. I love you. You were incredible tonight. You were…I can’t believe how great you took that.”

He wouldn’t tell Sig about floating to the beams. Some things were best kept to a person’s own memories.

They didn’t leave once he was better. He redressed completely, and they went out to the main floor, where they watched a couple of shows and a dance by the go-go dancers while they drank juice with their friends.

He was congratulated over and over, told how incredible his face had been through the entire scene.

When they went back to the cabin, Sig held him until they both fell asleep, him cradled in his fiancé’s arms.

He woke around ten, groaning from the aching of his lower body. “Sig, ibuprofen!”

Sig wasn’t in bed with him, and for a second, he was scared. “Sig?”

His man came in with a tray of coffee, juice, eggs, bacon, and one of the wooden roses.

“Sorry, tried to get in here before I woke you.”

“I don’t think I can sit up.”

From his pocket, he brought out two pills. “Just what you asked for.”

“You’re an angel.”

After swallowing the pills with some juice, he did sit up, though it wasn’t terribly comfortable. Sig sat with him while he ate.

“So, were you serious about wanting a long engagement?”

“I said that so you wouldn’t freak out, Sig. I know how fast all this has moved.”

“I’m not worried about that anymore if I ever was. Rowan, I have a plan and it’s up to you if you want to go through with it.”

Rowan’s eyes narrowed at him. “What are you up to?”

“Getting married. I know, we have a ton of shit to work out, but this feels right.”

Rowan’s heart began to thrum, and he couldn’t help the blooming smile. He felt like the life he’d led was finally on the track it was supposed to travel, and he saw the engineer right there, smiling nervously.

“That chapel in town?”

“Yes. I spoke to Jace yesterday. I spoke to the preacher. I know, neither of us are exactly religious, but it’s such a pretty little church, and the preacher is a gay man with two partners. One is that doctor that looked after you last time we were here.”

“Dr. Lee? Really?”

“And the chef in town, too.”

Rowan’s eyes filled with tears as he whispered, “I’d love to. I…I don’t want a lot of people there, though. If that’s okay.”

“No, I feel the same. I don’t want it to be some show. We had that last night. I thought the preacher to marry us and Jace and his boys for witnesses.”

Rowan nodded because if he tried to speak, he’d break out in sobs.

“I’ll go make the call. Love you,” he said as he got off the bed and headed for the door, before he realized he had forgotten something and hurried back to Rowan to give him a quick kiss. “Heavens to Betsy, we’re getting married.”

Rowan picked at his food, but even though it was delicious, he was suddenly nervous and happier than ever.

He took the tray to the kitchen and cleaned the dishes. Sig was outside making arrangements, so Rowan returned to the bedroom to go through his clothes.

He’d brought nice clothes, of course, but nothing like he’d imagined wearing for his wedding. He thought about the apparel store in town, so he called the coach quickly.

Sig came in right after, and he told Sig what he planned. “Just for something…I don’t know, a little nicer.”

“I’ll have to go with you. This is one of two outfits I brought.”

“Okay, good! Then we can coordinate.”

“Coordinate. Good lord.”

They washed up and got ready to go, the coach coming ten minutes after they’d called. They were alone in the coach, prompting Sig to begin a make-out session. They kissed all the way to town.

They found two matching gray suits, deep-red vests and black shirts, and both chose cowboy boots, Rowan choosing black and Sig gray.

They got home and took showers, separately, in their own cabins before they dressed and met up outside as Jace pulled up in a jeep to fetch them. “You two look great,” he called as he came around the jeep.

“Thanks,” they both said, and Sig added, “Thanks for doing all this.”

“Hey, it’s only the third wedding we’ve had here, and Pappy is excited. Dante said you all can stay for a free week as his guests for the honeymoon, but I told him you had different plans.”

That was the first Rowan had heard about it. “What plans?”

“Never you mind,” Sig said, and Rowan smiled as he took Sig’s hand.

They got to the little chapel in town, and the preacher was at the front, too, to greet them. “Welcome! My name is Mark, but everyone calls me Pappy. My partner, Nathan, told me what a beauty you were, Rowan, and I see his eyesight is still perfect.”

As Rowan blushed, Sig said, “Thank you for doing this on short notice.”

“Please! I know it’s hard to believe, but I get very few parishioners, so weddings have become my main job. Come in, please, and let’s get started.”

The church inside was simple but beautiful. There were stained glass windows in the front and heavy, thick glass on each side of the building.

The benches were simple wood benches with no backrests, and on each seat was a bible.

They walked up the aisle together silently as the others stood near Pappy.

The service was so lovely, quiet, and sweet that Rowan knew they’d done the right thing. All they needed was each other. There were no guests, no music, just them and their few friends to witness their marriage.

As they kissed, Rowan remembered the time before he met Sigmund. How lonely he’d been, the only time he felt good was on stage, dancing. Sig made him feel like that every minute of every day.

They left the ranch that afternoon, on the private plane, but it didn’t take them home to New Mexico. No, they were taken to California, where Sig had rented a beach house on the Northern California coast.

“I want to live your old life a little, being that you’ve chosen to live mine with me, but your house is empty.”

A glorious week at the beach, with the sun shining during the day and gentle rain falling each night. They held one another, talked about a million things, made love, and learned a lot about one another.

When Rowan was taken to his new home, there should have been few surprises. Sigmund talked about his home for hours, telling him about the horses, the landscape, and the house itself. Nothing prepared Rowan for it, though.

Meeting the horses Sig had rescued alone made Rowan love the man more. They surrounded him, all nudging him and snorting for attention. They loved Sig, and Rowan knew that no animal would so love a human without that human being good to them.

That night, they sat on Sig’s porch and watched the most beautiful sunset Rowan had ever seen. He let tears fall from the emotion, and sitting with Sig made it even more beautiful.

Waking up together on the first of hundreds of mornings, he would wake up to the man, which made Rowan smile. Their big bed, their home, and their bond that had been made in a place far away just grew stronger each moment they were together.

The End

Dreams can always come true, and Christmas presents come in many forms. Have a joyous holiday, everyone!