Jason and Shaun 22

If you don't agree with guys being in love with guys, then you need to find someplace else to spend time.

Okay, these characters are not meant to resemble any living or dead persons.

I make no apology to anyone who is offended by anything in this story.

Let me know what you think of the story by emailing me at

Hnstskr4@aol.com

Jason and Shaun

Chapter 22

Shaun's Visit To Utah

Its 6:25 in the morning, as Jason and Shaun are sitting beside Shaun's luggage at the airport.

"I am going to miss you, Baby."

"I'm going to miss you too. I wish you could come with me."

Shaun had hoped to make this trip with Jason, but Jason cannot take time off work. He is scheduled for three presentations in the four days that Shaun will be gone. The call for Shaun's plane loading comes across the loud speaker so Shaun grabs his luggage.

"Love you Tiger, and I'll see you in few days."

"I love you too. I...I wish that I was coming with you."

Shaun picks up his luggage heads out towards the boarding area. Jason is already missing his husband and he isn't even out of sight. When Jason can no longer see him, he heads back towards the car. Jason's car ride home is both quiet and just a little sad.

***

Flashing forward to the next day so we can peek in on Jason's day, he had a rough night because he did not get to fall to sleep cuddling up next to Shaun. He is tired and sad and everyone around him can see it in his body language. Mr. Bowman notices his employee's mood right away and he decides to pull him in for a talk. Jason retires to the bird room so he can work with Damian, a five-year old cockatoo. Damian was dropped off by his owners three days ago, because they were moving into an apartment and couldn't keep him. You can tell he is used to being handled and that he has been worked with to be social, but he still needs to be worked with so he can go out in front of the public. Mr. Bowman enters the room and watches from the doorway as Jason bonds with the bird.

"Jason, put Damian back in his cage so we can talk."

Instantly, Jason's heart begins to race in fear. He has a hard time reading his boss' voice and body language. Jason puts the cockatoo away and then follows his boss to his office.

"Please sit down so we can talk."

Jason promptly follows the request and sits down.

"Did I do something wrong?"

He is freaking out, because Mr. Bowman does not take kindly to employee mistakes. In this month alone, there have been two employees fired for making mistakes, but of course, there may have been other issues as well. Jason knows this job is perfect for him, and he doesn't want to lose the job.

"Relax; I didn't call you in here today so I could fire you. I'm worried about you that's all, so tell me what is going on?"

Mr. Bowman eyes and ears are now focused on Jason.

"Shaun is out visiting his family and I miss him. I'm used to having him sleeping next to me, so I didn't sleep good last night."

His boss likes his employees to leave their worries at the door, so they can work unhampered so they can stay focused at work.

"I want you to get a good night's rest."

"Yes sir." Jason said yes but he isn't sure that he can accomplish it.

***

It's 9:03 in the evening when Shaun's flight arrives in Salt Lake City. He exits the plane and hopes that his dad is here. He finds himself feeling a little down because Jason isn't with him. At least his family will be with him to keep him occupied. Shaun looks around the arrival area, sees his dad, and waves. They walk towards each other and exchange hugs.

"Hi Dad, how are you? I'm ready to grab my luggage and head for home."

"I'm just glad you are home and that your flight wasn't late."

Shaun gives his dad a pat on the back. He retrieves his luggage and the duo head out to the car. The car ride gives Shaun a chance to rest before getting home.

***

As they pull into the driveway, Shaun's dad wakes his son up. Shaun feels like he could sleep for several more hours. Dad grabs the luggage and walks into the house followed by Shaun. The rest of the family is gathered in the living room. One by one, they greet him and exchange hugs before moving into the dining room for a late dinner. Shaun's step-mom picked up three pizzas; a cheese, pepperoni, and sausage. Shaun is not showing much interest in the pizza. His mind is on sleep so he heads up to his old bedroom, which is now the guest bedroom. On the way he thinks how good it is to be with his Dad and step-mom. After the wedding, Shaun woke up to the fact that his step-mom is more of a mom than his birth Mom. Shaun has a lot of respect for both women, but his step-mom has earned the title of Mom. Lying down, he falls asleep quickly.

***

When he gets up, he can smell breakfast being made. He makes his way into the kitchen where his Mom and Dad are working together on breakfast.

"Good morning Son, you look like you could still use some sleep."

"Nah, I'm good Dad."

"Okay."

Shaun can hear the sounds of his brothers coming from the living room. He peeks his head into the room to see what's going on in there. Trent and Josh have Joshua Ryan, Josh's son, on the floor playing. Seeing Joshua Ryan on the floor crawling around and laughing makes Shaun want to have a family.

"Hey Shaun, join us on the floor."

A second invite wasn't needed. Shaun immediately got down and was quickly accepted by Joshua Ryan. For a few minutes, the three brothers enjoy playing with the baby.

"Okay everyone, Mom says that it's time to eat."

Everyone gets up and heads into the dining room. Breakfast is Shaun's favorite meal because Jason has him spoiled with crepes, omelets, and whatever else he can whip up.

***

After breakfast, Dad suggests to Shaun that he should hang out with Trent for part of the day. Being the good son, he makes his way up to Trent's room to talk with his brother. He knocks on the door to the bedroom and then enters.

"You want to hang out today, maybe go out and do something."

Trent smiles, he cannot wait to hang out with his older brother.

"Sure, is it okay if Alex comes with us?"

"Yeah, I've been wanting to see the guy that my brother is dating."

Shaun hopes that Alex is good for his brother. He wants his brother to be happy. There has always been a bond between the brothers. Josh and Trent have special places in their older brother's heart. It's a bond that has been there from the moment of their birth, and they mean everything to him.

***

Trent calls Alex to see if he is free to spend the day with Shaun and him. It sounds like Alex is coming with them. They agree to meet at Trent's house. It doesn't take long for Alex to arrive at the house. Meeting Shaun encouraged Alex to arrive a little earlier at the house. When he arrives, there he is sweating slightly and his heart is beating fast. Shaun hears the knock at the front door and gets up to answer it. Opening the door, Shaun sees the guy in the picture that he saw at the wedding. Alex looks up at Shaun and gives him an awkward smile.

"You must be Shaun?"

"I am and that means you're Alex."

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you; can I come in?"

Shaun signals for the teen to enter. Shaun is quick to close the door behind him. For the next few minutes, Shaun, Trent, and Alex talk about life and what has been going on in each other's lives.

***

Back in Indiana, because two of Jason's presentations have cancelled, Mr. Bowman is trying to purchase a two-way ticket so that Jason can be with Shaun. It's not going to be cheap but he can pull this scheme off. Hopefully in the next hour, he hopes to have the ticket for his top employee. He knows Jason cannot afford it, so this ticket is an investment in his employee's morale.

***

On the next day, Mr. Bowman waits till the end of Jason's shift to pull him aside.

"Are you still missing your husband?"

Jason's face says it all and Mr. Bowman feels for him. It sucks being away from your loved ones. Jason sits at his boss' desk and gets handed the print out from the purchase of the ticket. Jason tears up as he looks over the paper.

"Thank you Mr. Bowman. I don't know what to say."

He smiles at his boss and then looks down at the print out.

`No one in the world has a boss like mine.'

For a second, he thinks of how he might surprise his husband.

"You need to go home and pack for four days."

Jason looks concerned because he does not want to leave work. Mr. Bowman points to the door and tells Jason to go home. This time, he gets up and as he leaves the office, Mr. Bowman calls after him.

"You need to be ready by ten o'clock in the morning, because I am picking you up at that time. Now you need to go home."

Jason leaves work and heads home to pack.

***

At exactly nine fifty-six, Jason's boss is there to pick him up. Seeing that he's here, Jason hurries out the door. Mr. Bowman opens the trunk so the luggage can be put away. Jason sets it in the trunk and then closes it. In less than three minutes, they are on their way to the airport. About an hour later, they arrive. After parking the car and getting the luggage out, the two men enter the airport. Jason is pointed in the right direction for the check in counter. After once again thanking Mr. Bowman for his generosity , he heads off to get his luggage checked in the car. Jason wants to see Shaun so bad that he hopes security and boarding doesn't take forever. Jason has just enough time to take care of something important.

***

Meanwhile back in Utah, Shaun's dad is receiving a call.

"Hey Jason, what's up?"

Jason is excited and it shows through a little. If you could see his face then it would be obvious.

"I'm getting ready to board a flight to Salt Lake City."

Mr. Clark is surprised by Jason's news.

"Do you want Shaun to know?"

Jason thinks for a second before responding to his father-in-law's question.

"No, I want to surprise him."

He knows that Shaun is missing him too so he thought it would be fun to surprise him.

"Can you pick me up?"

"Sure, I can pick up. What time are you arriving in Salt Lake City?"

"I'll be there at 8:18 in the morning."

Mr. Clark looks at his watch and smiles. He can't wait to see his son-in-law and he can't wait to see how Shaun reacts to seeing his guy. Mr. Clark and Jason have pieced together a little bit of the surprise.

"Don't worry Jason, I'll be there son."

"Thanks, I can't wait to see everyone. Talk to you later."

In a few minutes, Jason is boarding the plane so he can see his baby.

***

Mr. Clark gets out his cell phone so he can talk with Trent without Shaun knowing. Rather than calling he texts the conversation with his son.

"Trent, I need you to keep my texts from your brother."

A few minutes later, Dad receives a text from Trent. Trent has no idea what is going with everyone.

"Okay."

"Jason is flying into Salt Lake City and will be here around eight-eighteen am. Get Shaun out of the house and keep him busy until I tell you to come home. Can you do that for me?"

Trent will do anything for his brother; even keep a secret from him. Trent laughs a little bit inside of him as he considers how fun this could end up being.

"Sure Dad, I can keep him busy."

Dad doesn't want to go into this venture without knowing every single detail, and he wants a plan. Trent needs to figure out how to keep his older brother busy.

"So how do you plan to?"

"I don't know but I'll figure something out Dad."

"Keep me informed Trent."

As he stops texting with his Dad, Trent turns and smiles at his brother. He then takes Alex's hand and holds it tight. They've been quiet for way too long.

***

Shaun is ready to go anywhere that isn't home. Hopefully, the guys have an idea of where they would like to go. If not it's too bad, Trent and Alex will have to deal with Shaun's choices.

"Shaun, where would you like to go?"

Shaun thinks for a minute and then smiles. It's been a long time since he's been up by the Great Salt Lake. He loves the hiking out at Antelope Island State Park.

"How about some hiking at Antelope Island State Park?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Which trail do you think you'll want to hike?"

"I want to go out to Buffalo Point."

Shaun starts driving out to the Great Salt Lake. Shaun`s intended hike out to Buffalo Pointis only 0.9 miles. Trent had recently been out there with Alex's family, and knew they needed more time, so he going to suggest taking the Frary Peak Trail, which is a little longer.

"Hey Shaun, Alex and I hiked the trail to Buffalo Point last weekend. Could we do Frary Peak Trail?"

"Okay, we have all day to hike it."

The band of hikers continues onward towards the park. Trent quietly takes out his cell phone and sends a quick text to Dad letting him their destination. It takes a while to get there so the group gets out and immediately begins their hike. They are not too far of the finish of the hike, when Trent's phone goes off.

"Trent, I am at the airport to pick up Jason. You need to start to heading home. Text me when you get to our street."

"Okay Dad."

Trent quietly whispers the news to Alex. Thinking quickly, he tries to come up with an excuse to head home. Much to his disappointment, nothing comes to mind.

"Shaun, Alex's dad needs him to come home."

What Trent just said has Alex feeling a little surprised. His dad should have called him not Trent. Trent knows Alex is confused so he takes his boyfriend's hand. Something in his boyfriend's touch tells him to trust in Trent.

"Well, then I guess, we should head for home."

They head back towards the beginning of the trail and back to the car. It takes a little longer than expected for them to reach the car

***

Jason's flight arrives as Shaun's dad enters the arrival area. At first Jason is fears that Shaun's dad forgot to pick him up but then he sees a sign saying "Jason let's go home". Jason hurries towards his father in-law.

"Hello Dad. Thanks for being here."

"No problem Jason, now let's get your luggage and head for home."

It doesn't take long for Jason to find his luggage. It seems like forever since Jason has seen Shaun's family, so it will be nice to be around them again.

"Shaun is out with Trent and Alex on a hike. He's being kept busy, so we can get you home before he arrives."

Jason is amazed at how well the family acted on his behalf. He knew from the minute he met Shaun's dad that he loved them.

"I can't wait to see my husband."

"I bet you can't. I know he can't wait to see you.

Jason is so excited but what he doesn't know is that in under fifteen minutes, he'll be standing in the Clark's house. His excitement is keeping sleep at bay. The trip to the Clark home seems to be taking forever, and then suddenly they arrive. The car comes to a stop and Jason gets out of the car, opens the back passenger car door, and grabs his luggage. Mr. Clark opens the front door to the house and he welcomes Jason into the home.

"Hey everyone, Jason is here."

From out of nowhere, Mrs. Clark and Joshua holding Joshua Ryan come running into the living room to meet Jason. There are a couple hugs before Jason is pulled into the living room so everyone can catch up. He tells them about Ms. White passing away and the revelation that she had a lot in common with Shaun and him besides being neighbors and friends. Mrs. Clark excuses herself to work on a simple brunch for everyone, and Jason gets up to help.

"You go back to the boys and relax."

"Mom, I would rather stay and help you cook. What would you like me to do?"

Thinking back to some conversations with her step-son, she remembers him mentioning the crepes.

"Look we have just under an hour before Shaun will be here. Can you show me how to make crepes?"

Jason goes through the recipe that he uses back home, and then Mrs. Clark makes up the batter.

"Okay show me how to pour the batter, and then I want you to go relax."

He shows her how to get started and then heads back into the living room. He kicks back while Joshua Ryan crawls around on the floor until he comes to his uncle's feet. The little guy looks up at his uncle who is doing his best to get a smile out of his little nephew.

***

Almost an hour later, Mr. Clark gets a text from Trent. It is the message that he's been waiting on to let him know that they're on the street. He knows they have just a few minutes before the car will pull up. Running up from the basement, he emerges into the kitchen and then heads into the living room.

"Jason, Shaun is almost here. I don't know how you want to surprise him, but you had better figure it out soon."

"Oh man...I am literally shaking."

"Go!" Joshua says as his brother in law gets up and heads for a corner of the house. Hopefully, he'll be able to pull off this surprise.

***

Jason takes Josh's word to heart and takes off to hide. His excitement makes him feel like a little kid inside; the one who while playing hide and go seek starts to laugh and blows their cover. Time is running out and he knows it. He's not even sure where to hide, if this were their house he would know the perfect spot. Shaun's mom comes up behind him and puts her hand on his shoulder.

"Why don't you hide in our bedroom? The boys know better than to enter the room without knocking."

"I don't know where the master bedroom is Mom."

She leads him down a short hallway and points to a closed door right across from the bathroom. Opening the door, he heads to the walk in closet whose door is hanging wide open. He then closes the closet doors just enough to hide his form. From here, he can see whoever passes by the bedroom or enters the bathroom.

***

Jason is only in the room for two minutes when he thinks he hears the front door open. His suspicions are confirmed when he hears Shaun's voice "Mom, you're cooking again?" It's not unusual for her to be cooking or baking throughout the day, so no one else in the family seems to have any concern over it. After spending time out at the park hiking, Shaun decides he wants a shower. He walks to the guest bedroom and grabs a change of clothes, but before he heads in to take the shower, he says, "Does anyone need to use the bathroom?" No one responded so Shaun heads to the bathroom. Entering, he sets his stuff on the counter and then closes the door. He strips, putting his dirty clothes into his dirty clothes bag. As the water is turned on, his thoughts turn to his husband, whom he believes is still in Indiana some one thousand four hundred and nineteen miles away. Stepping into the shower, he begins to lather himself up.

***

Jason can wait no longer to surprise his husband. Taking off his shoes at the door, he quietly opens the bathroom door. Through the clouded shower doors, he can sort of make out his husbands naked form. Pausing, he enjoys the view before quietly closing the bathroom door. He sits down softly on the toilet seat and waits for Shaun to finish his shower. Shaun never once turns his head towards the toilet. He starts to wash his hair, and once the shampoo is rinsed out, with his eyes closed, he carefully slides the shower door open and steps out. As he steps out, Jason takes his hand and guides him out of the shower.

"Careful getting out of the shower, you might trip."

At first, he doesn't pick up on the voice, and then it hits him.

"Jason?"

"Umm...Yeah, it's me."

Shaun grabs his towel and dries off his hair before he opens his eyes to look at his husband. When he does open them, he can't believe his eyes. There in the flesh is the guy he loves. A couple tears run down his face.

"What are you doing here?"

"Mr. Bowman paid for my tickets, and here I am."

The guys wrap their arms around each other. Even with Shaun being naked, Jason ignores his damp body and just enjoys that they and holding onto each other, and exchanging kisses.

"Did you miss me Baby?"

Shaun stares at Jason in total disbelief.

"Did you not see me shedding a tear when I first saw you?"

"I thought it was shampoo in your eyes." Jason teases as he sits down on the toilet seat and watches Shaun finish getting ready. Watching him is giving Jason a bit of erection, but with the family being around he decides to just ignore the beast. When they leave the bathroom, Josh catches them and gives the couple a funny look.

"What haven't you seen two gay guys coming out of a shower before?"

"Yeah, I have but I think maybe Jason should have stayed in there alone for a little bit. I think little Jason wants to come out and play."

Shaun glances down at his husband and smiles as he opens the linen closet and grabs another towel. He wraps it around Jason's waist and then the couple continues walking towards the guest bedroom.

***

Mom and Dad were going to treat the family to a lunch buffet at a local Chinese buffet, but Mom decided to just have a small brunch at home. It will give her a chance to use up a few leftovers from breakfast. She has the crepes made up and filled some with cherry pie filling, some with a chocolate-hazelnut spread, and blueberry pie filling. There are several cold cut sandwiches. There are also pancakes, French toast, along with some eggs that she had her husband help make. As the family comes down to eat, she smiles as she sees Jason and Shaun enter the dining room holding each other's hands. Jason's eyes get big as he sees all the food.

"I was raised on a farm, and my mom and grandma always made big breakfasts. Then again, there was plenty of food period."

Mom explained to Jason the reason why there is so much food to be eaten or chosen from at brunch.

"It's all good. I haven't eaten anything to heavy since I got on the plane so, I'm ready to devour the food." Jason said in response to his mother-in-law as he looks over the food. Shaun, Alex, and Trent had worked off the calories from earlier today, and were ready to eat again. Everyone passed around the food until their plates were loaded with food. Shaun's dad said blessing on the food, and then everyone started eating.

"Jason is there anything you would like to see or do while you're here in Salt Lake City?"

Jason thought about it for a second. He has heard of different places from Shaun but not all of them are of interest to him.

"Shaun has talked about temple square, so I wouldn't mind see it. I would love to see Hogle zoo, Red Butte Garden and Arboretum, the Aviary, but if we can't do that then I will settle for some hikes, but yeah I would love to see the zoo."

"Well, I think we could do the zoo as a family and then Shaun and you could see some sites by yourselves. Do you know where you might want to hike?"

Shaun shouted out "Porter Fork Trail or Terraces � Elbow Fork Trail." Jason has no idea what his husband is in store for him. Shaun seems excited and that excitement only helps to make Jason eager to hit the trails. When the family is done with brunch, Shaun and Jason want to rest for an hour before they do anything.

***

Jason heads up to the guest bedroom along with Shaun. Jason and Shaun don't undress at all. They simply want to rest their heads, and spend a few moments in the house together.

"Babe, I am so happy that you're here."

Shaun smiles as he feels Jason spooning up next to him. He loves the contact between him and his lover.

"Thanks for having me."

"I am not about to send you away."

Shaun turns to Jason and delivers a slow, passionate kiss to his guy. The guys end up falling asleep wrapped in each other arms. Trent peeks in at them and smiles as he walks out of the room. A part of him wants this for him and Alex.

***

When they wake up, they each head for the bathroom to comb their hair. They make themselves look a little sharper, and then head out to their Dad's car. Shaun plans to take Jason to see Temple square, because it is a part of his heritage and a part of Utah experience. They will also visit the Museum of Church history and art, Church's conference center, and end at the Beehive house. As they arrive at Temple Square, they join a tour group and soon Jason gains more respect for the church that his husband use to belong too. They spoke quietly and tried to show respect to the place they are touring. Over the course of several hours, Jason and Shaun get a chance to enjoy the history and culture of the church. All the while, Jason and Shaun are enjoying each other's company. Walking back to the car, Shaun and Jason hold their hands once they reach the car, they enjoy a quick kiss.

***

At home, the guys enjoy an early dinner. Jason and Shaun sit with the family in the living room. Josh comes into the house with Joshua Ryan. In a heartbeat, Grandma Clark takes Joshua Ryan from his daddy, and after she holds him for a while, she passes him to Uncle Jason. Jason enjoys holding Joshua until the little guy wets himself, and then the little guy starts to cry.

"Here you guy, Daddy is right here."

Jason hands Joshua over to his brother in-law. Shaun reaches out for Joshua and Josh hands him over to him. "Go get his wipes and his diaper. I want to see if I can still do a change." Shaun says as he looks at his brother.

"The diapers and the wipes are on the changing table in my bedroom."

Shaun gets up and takes his crying nephew to the bedroom to get him changed. Once in the room, Shaun starts changing him and softly talks to him doing his best to calm the little guy down. Jason walks up to the doorway and watches as Shaun changes the little guy's diaper. Jason knows that Shaun is good with kids because he's seen him with Adam; Jason's nephew. When the new diaper is in place, Shaun gently picks Joshua up and holds him in his arms. "I love you." He quietly whispers as stands there with his back to Jason. There is something very special and tender about the scene in front of Jason. `He'll make a good dad.' Jason thinks to himself as he turns and rejoins the family in the family room. A few minutes later, Shaun brings Joshua back into the room also. Josh reaches out for his son who reaches for his daddy too. Shaun and Jason go and sit in the backyard and just relax and make small talk.

***

Knowing their son and his husband would only be in town for four to five days; Mr. and Mrs. Clark took the time off from work and claimed it as vacation time. Tomorrow, they are taking the family to the zoo. The whole family will enjoy it. Shaun had his asked for a day set aside for the zoo. He knows it won't take all day to see the zoo, but he wanted to give Jason time to enjoy it. Time for bed, Jason and Shaun take their shower together and then head to bed.

***

In the morning, they take off for the zoo. Twenty minutes later, the family arrived at the zoo. They started with the African Savanna. Jason couldn't help but take Shaun's hand despite the stares from other zoo visitors. After seeing the lions, they decide to take the train around the rest of the exhibit.

"Favorite part of the exhibit babe?"

"I think feeding the giraffes. I have never done that before. What are we seeing next?"

They stopped to see the great apes. Shaun has marveled at the size of the male gorillas. From there they move to the Primate Forest exhibit. Jason's next favorite exhibit is the small animal building. This place is home to crocodiles and tortoises but there housed outside of the building. It's what is inside the building that makes that makes Jason's heart melt, sand cats, the smallest species of wild cat.

"Aren't they cute? I would love to work with them."

"Someday, you will be working them or any other animal that you want."

Jason wants to kiss Shaun but they are already attracting too much mention. In one area of the exhibit, they have two critters that remind Jason of work; an emperor scorpion and a red-kneed Tarantula. At this point, Shaun and Jason separate from the group for lunch. They decide to head to one of the eateries at the zoo. Shaun and Jason order their meal and then sit down.

***

Jason and Shaun start eating their meal. A guy and a lady about the same age as them interrupt their meal.

"Shaun Allen is that you?"

Shaun looks at the couple at the next table with their daughter. He instantly recognizes them from both high school and church. Chad served his mission and Jessica waited for him back home. He came home, went straight into college, got married and a few years later, they had their first child.

"Hi Chad, Hi Jessica, it's been forever. Who is this little girl?"

"This is Cassie, she is our two old, and in the next 8 months we are hoping to have another little one."

Jessica keeps eyeing Jason who keeps staring at Shaun. Shaun isn't sure how to introduce Jason. Jason can see Shaun is thinking something through, so he gives him a second to hash things out.

`I have to introduce Jason, but do I introduce him as my husband or lie and tell them that he is my friend.'

After looking at Jason, he decides that he doesn't want to ruin the trip or his relationship with his husband. Even though he is a bit worried about their response, he can't lie about what he has with husband. Pointing to Jason, he smiles and he says "Jessica, Chad, I know you may not be happy with what I am about to say and that is okay. This is Jason, and he is my husband." Jessica gives the guys a look that says "You need to get away from me." Chad simply nods and then tells Shaun "You need to talk to your bishop. Do your parents know?"

"Yeah, my parents know and they love Jason and me."

"We'll see you around."

Chad and Jessica grab their daughter and take off for parts of the zoo that they have not seen. Jason can tell that Shaun is upset. He's seen the look in his husband's face a dozen times before and it sucks for Shaun.

"Babe, I am sorry. I wish coming out was easier and that people were more accepting."

"Jason, there isn't a lot to say. I suspected that Chad and Jessica might react this way. It's just hard to face the fact that a good friend of mine won't talk to me again because I am gay."

Shaun looks into Jason's eyes who's smiling and showing his support for him. "Thanks Babe." He says as they start eating their lunch.

***

The guys texted Shaun's parents to find out what part of the zoo they are currently seeing. They meet Mr. and Mrs. Clark in the back of the zoo looking at the Markhor, a species of wild goat. Slowly, they make their way towards the front of the zoo. Jason loves the different big cat displays in the next exhibit. He loves the use of different elements in the exhibit. There have been multiple times that Jason stopped and started to geek out over an animal or its exhibit. Even Shaun had to admit that the snow leopard were cool. By the time the guys finished the zoo by looking at the Rocky Shores exhibit, Jason and Shaun were kind of dragging a bit, but they still enjoyed themselves. On the way home, Jason falls asleep and has to be woken up to get inside the house.

***

Their trip to the zoo has the guys feeling a little tired. They are ready for a nap and the guys head up towards the guest bedroom.

"Jason, did you enjoy yourself at the zoo?"

"Shaun, I loved it thanks for so much for the wonderful day."

Jason sits on the bed and soon he's lying down on the bed along with Shaun. It doesn't take long before sleep overcomes them. They end up again falling asleep in each other arms. Something sparks a dream in Shaun's mind. His dream involves a baby that resembles Jason. The child starts to cry and it wakes up Shaun from his sleep. A part of him is scared and excited, they've already had this discussion but there hasn't been any other dreams until just know. This dream feels so right to him and maybe he was wrong when he told Jason "Well, not this year, but before we're both forty. I want to really be able to play with them and keep up with them." Shaun knows he has to come clean to Jason sooner than later. Shaun falls back to sleep.

***

They don't sleep for much longer when Trent comes into the room. "Guys wake up." He says as he turns on the light.

"Get out Trent before I get up and throw you out."

"Shaun, I forgot how big of pain you are when you're woken up. Anyway, Mom ordered pizza and it just arrived so if you want some come downstairs."

At the mention of food, the guys are awake and coming down the stairs. Nothing is said about the dream. The family concentrates instead on Jason and Shaun. Shaun's parents want to know how the job hunt is going. He tells them that it's moving along and he's had some good leads. Sensing that her son might be getting upset, she changes the subject to ask Jason about work with the animal presentations. Soon, dinner is done and the rest of the family goes to get ready for bed. Shaun and Jason head downstairs to the family room. Jason and Shaun pick a movie to watch and cuddle up next to each other.

***

For their last day in Salt Lake City, Shaun wants to treat Jason to breakfast. They head out to this place that does breakfast and only breakfast. Jason and Shaun order and in no time their food comes out. They eat and enjoy each other's company. During the breakfast, Shaun's mind, while it should be on the incredible guy in front of him, is dwelling on work or the lack thereof. He wants to be able to help support Jason and whatever the future may hold. Shaun has always wanted to write for a magazine or gone on to something bigger like a master's degree. He wants a good paying job, something that he wants to get up for in the morning or stay up late working. For now, he's going to enjoy his meal and focus on his man.

***

After their meal, they got home and rested a little while, then Shaun throws another surprise at Jason. He wants to take Jason out to experience a little bit of the wilderness that Salt Lake City has to offer. Course, much of the wilderness that Shaun likes is up in the foothills and the mountains.

"Before, we leave today, are you up for hiking?"

"Where at?"

Shaun takes him outside to look at the mountains. He points towards them and says "Up in the canyons." Jason didn't even have to think about it. He gets up and gets himself ready for a hike. Shaun grabs water bottles for him and Jason, while Jason grabs bug spray and two hats. In ten minutes, they are heading up to the canyon that Shaun wants to share with him. As they arrive at trailhead, Jason takes in the surroundings. There is a stream and a bunch of vegetation surrounding it. It's beautiful here and the sounds are amazing. There is nothing like the sound of water moving across the rocks. It's so tranquil and amazing. As they move through the hike, Shaun is reminded about why he loves Utah so much and Jason is seeing for the first time how wonderful the mountains are. He is seeing plants and bird life that he has never seen before in Indiana. They may look similar but they are different, and wonderful. As they climb up through the canyon, the plant life changes and the scenery begins to change. As they climb higher still, Shaun stops taps Jason on the shoulder.

"Look out towards the west."

As he does, he can see the city. It's not sprawled out across the valley just yet, but that will come as they climb higher.

"It's beautiful."

"You haven't seen anything yet."

They take a drink of water and then begin their ascent some more. Finally, they reach the top and now the whole city is visible. Jason is taken in by the beauty and just takes it into his soul. It's a memory that Jason wants to hold with him forever. Not only has he seen this wilderness, but he's experienced it with the man he loves. As they begin their climb down, Jason wonders how the animals are doing back home.

"We need to call Eric when we get to your parent's house."

"Why?"

"I want to check on the animals."

"Okay Babe!"

Jason legs may be tired but he is still taking in the view as they descend. A few hours later, they end the hike and head for home.

***

When they get home, Jason goes up to the bedroom and Shaun looks for his step-mom. She is out in the backyard doing some gardening. Shaun comes up behind her.

"Mom, can we talk for a little bit?"

"Sure as long as you don't mind helping me out with the gardening."

"Okay." He says as he starts the process of weeding the beans in his parent's garden. He has to come up with the words to say.

"Mom, I have only have had a few potential job leads, and I really need to find something."

"Honey, have you tried searching in Chicago?"

Suddenly, Shaun remembers that he's only put in one or two applications in Chicago itself. He feels a little stupid now that he thinks about it. Still, the talk will do him some good, and who knows maybe she will have other ideas.

"I have, but do you have other ideas of what I might try?"

She was quiet as she thought about his question, then she looked at him.

"Shaun, have you considered looking in Salt Lake City?"

He couldn't do that, Jason loves his job. No matter what he's said, Jason has his dream job and they have a home back in Indiana. They don't need to uproot themselves and start again in Utah.

"I know there might be jobs here in Salt Lake City, but this wouldn't be a good time for me to be seeking employment here in Utah."

"Why not Shaun, you and Jason are both still young both of you could still find work here in Utah without any problem."

"Our lives are in Indiana."

"Okay, and what happens when you adopt? Who is going to watch the kids? How often are we going to see the kids?"

"Mom, I get it you want us close by but well, Jason has his job and I need to consider his feelings."

She looks down at the ground and frowns.

"Shaun, you know that I love you and that I love Jason, but you also need to live your life as well."

A part of Shaun breaks as she says that, and it hurts. She can say that she loves them, but how can she suggest that he's not living his life. He doesn't get it.

"I can't Mom. I just can't."

There isn't a sound as they go back to gardening. Shaun can't just leave her out here to do the weeding by herself. Something happens as they work side by side. He remembers how awesome his step-mom was at the wedding and how great she has been with her brothers. It can't be easy to have two gay sons and another one that is a teen dad.

"Shaun, I'm going inside and figure out what's for dinner."

"Okay, do you want me to do anything else?"

"Could check the bell peppers and the eggplants? If there are any that are ready to be picked grab them for me."

Shaun follows his mom's request and hits the garden up for whatever might be ripe. True to her word, she disappears into the house.

***

Mrs. Clark did disappear into the house but it wasn't to come up with something for dinner. She wants to talk to Jason about life, then bring up her discussion with Shaun. Jason is ending his call with Eric as his mother-in-law enters the bedroom.

"Jason, I was wondering if we could talk for a few minutes."

"Okay, what did you have in mind?"

"I just thought we would talk about your goals, your personal goals and relationship goals."

He didn't know what to think of what Shaun's mom just said. It felt a little weird to be getting ready to discuss his goals with her.

"So are you planning on going on with your education?"

"I haven't really thought about it, and right now, I don't see it happening unless I take out grants or student loans."

She seems to frown on the fact that Jason has no plans of continuing his education. Of course, there is a reason because everyone knows that the higher up you go in your education, the more money you can make. The time is not right for even considering looking for a master.

"Have you and Shaun discussed any more on having or adopting kids?"

She knows that Shaun and I have discussed the whole kids thing. Unlike Shaun's birth mom, Shaun's step-mom wants to see her son and son-in-law become fathers, so she can spoil her grandkids.

"No, we haven't really talked about being dads since Shaun's dream."

Again, she seems to be frowning, however she seems to be excited over the possibility of grandkids. Jason didn't say anything that hinted at kids, but his body language hinted at his underlying desire to have kids.

"So I know you are still working with the Bowman Company, but how long do you plan on staying with them?"

"I would like to stay with them for a while unless we move. I have benefits and good hours considering that I am in school still. I'll do more presentations once I graduate. My boss is good to me. He actually paid for my ticket to get out here. I plan on job hunting and seeing what I can find that may pay more but at this point, I love getting up in the morning and going to work."

Hearing him say, that he'll job hunt after graduating gave her hope that the guys living in Salt Lake City could happen.

"Take care Jason, I hope you and Shaun have nothing but happiness."

"Thanks Mom."

Jason and Mrs. Clark head out of the room.

***

Jason and Shaun both want to talk to one another, so they decide to simply walk around the block. The guys are holding hands down the streets.

"Jason, I know this is going to sound bad, but could we afford to adopt a kid sooner than later?"

He knows they had talked about adopting but he figured it would come later in their relationship. He wants to bring up everything from his talk with his Mom. There was a lot of stuff that came up in the discussion.

"Shaun, what makes you want to adopt sooner than we had talked about?"

"I guess being around Joshua Ryan and then talking with my mom."

"I guess we both had a talk with Mom."

"Really did, she talk to you about having kids?"

"Yeah, we also talked about my job and my education."

Shaun begins to piece together the discussion.

"You know my mom might be trying to get us to move to Salt Lake City. I really don't want to move to Salt Lake City. Would you want to move here?"

"Maybe at some point, Salt Lake City might be cool, but I am really loving Indiana."

Shaun smiles as he leans in and kisses his man. This walk will be their last one here in Utah, because they head home in a few hours. The walk continued for another fifteen minutes before they headed back home.

***

Jason and Shaun have three hours to get to the airport. The guys pack up their luggage and head for the airport. Between Mom and Dad, they are able to fit everyone into the cars. They head out to the airport with a little sadness in their hearts because they don't want to leave family behind, but it will be nice to be in their own bed. When they get inside the airport, Jason and Shaun take turns saying goodbye to everyone, but they find it hard to leave Mom and Joshua Ryan behind. After dealing with luggage, security, and a small wait to load, the guys are soon up in the air and headed for home.

***

Jason had called Eric back at the house in Salt Lake City, so he knew what time the guys would be arriving in Chicago. Mark was able to be at the airport right on the nick of time, and met the guys inside. Together, they grabbed their luggage and headed out to the car. Shaun looks at Mark and says "Thanks for picking us up Mark, we really appreciate it."

"No sweat guys. So how was the trip?"

Jason smiles as he replies, "Utah is beautiful and I know that I saw only a small portion of it. I wish you could have seen the area that Shaun took me to hike. It was amazing." Shaun was quiet as Mark unlocked the car and opened the trunk. The guys got into the back of the car and Mark got into the front seat. In a few seconds, the guys are on the road headed for home. It wasn't too long before Shaun and Jason are sleeping in the back. Luckily, Mark didn't need to wake them up when they got home. Jason woke up about a mile from the house, and he woke Shaun up when they arrived at home.

***

Erik left an hour ago before the guys got home, so the animals are fed and the house is empty. They lock up the house, set the luggage down on the couch, and then retire to the bedroom. They enjoy the night in each other's room. Sometime in the night, Jason gets up and lets the cats out of the kennels. They follow the Jason into the bedroom and when he climbs into the bed, the cats climb on to the bed also. Jason rests his body against his husband and falls asleep.

***

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