Snow and Shadow
Chapter 3



Justin rolled over and reached for Brian.  The bed was empty.  He sat up rubbing his eyes and wondering where his partner had gone.  He noted that light streamed in through the bedroom window.  They hadn’t bothered to close the drapes with the storm raging outside.  But there didn’t seem to be any snow falling now.  The sun shone in brightly.

Justin smiled to himself.  He and Brian had fucked long and hard into the night with the wind howling outside and Gus and Shadow sleeping up in the loft.  They had thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  Justin shifted on the bed and felt the familiar burn in his ass.  He was going to have to sit gingerly today after the workout his bottom had received.

He got out of bed and headed for the shower wondering if that was where Brian was.  When he found the bathroom empty, he climbed in the shower deciding that he needed to wash off the smell of sex before he faced Gus.

A little while later Justin came out of the bedroom, dressed and freshly showered.  The sight he saw when he entered the main room of the chalet made him stop and grin.  Brian and Gus were sitting cross legged on the carpet in front of the fireplace where a fire burned cheerfully.  They were playing some kind of board game by the looks of it, both of them engrossed in the game.  In the middle of Brian’s legs was Shadow curled into a little ball and sleeping happily.

“Five, Daddy,” Gus said as he threw the die.  He counted five on the board.

“Uh oh,” Brian reacted.

“Poop,” Gus said.

“Slither on down the snake, Sonny Boy,” Brian ordered watching gleefully as Gus took his board piece and slid part way down the board.

“I don’t like them snakes,” Gus declared.

“You don’t like those snakes,” Brian corrected.

“That’s what I said, Daddy.”

Brian chuckled.  “Nobody likes the snakes.”

“What are you two doing?” Justin asked as he joined them.

“Playing Snakes and Ladders,” Gus informed him.  “You slept a looooong time, Justin.”

“I had quite a workout last night,” Justin said with a wink at Brian.

“Do tell,” Brian said with a smirk.

“I don’t think that would be wise,” Justin replied with a smirk of his own.

“Be careful how you sit.”

“I will,” Justin laughed.

“You two are weird,” Gus interrupted.  “Daddy, it’s your turn.”

“Right.”

“Did you guys have some breakfast?” Justin asked.

“There’s coffee made and we had cereal,” Brian said as he rolled the die.  “Ah, two, I’m going up the ladder to the top.”

“Not fair, Daddy,” Gus objected.

“And why is it not fair?” Brian wanted to know as he positioned his man only a few spaces from the finish line.

“’Cause I’m way down here,” Gus pouted, pointing to his man now near the bottom of the board.

“Them’s the breaks, Sonny Boy,” Brian said as he handed Gus the die.

Gus glowered at his father and then threw the die.  This time he landed at the bottom of a ladder and rose much closer to his father’s position at the top.  “I’m going to catch you,” Gus boasted.

“Wanna bet?”  Brian threw the die and sure enough he got what he needed to win the game.  He pumped his arm in victory.

“Let’s play something else,” Gus said quickly not liking to lose.

“Where did you find the game?” Justin asked pointing to the board with his cereal spoon.  He sat down on the sofa munching on his Cheerios.

“There’s a bunch of them in that basket,” Brian said indicating a large woven container in one corner.

“I see Shadow has found his spot,” Justin observed.

Brian snorted.  “What can I say?  Animals love me.”

Justin snorted in reply.  “Yeah, that’s why you have so many pets.”

“Just you.”

Justin stuck out his tongue at Brian, before asking, “Did you see that it’s stopped snowing.”

“I did notice that.  However, we seem to be snowed in.  There’s a huge drift across the driveway.  It will take all day to dig it out.”

“Shit!  I didn’t come up here to shovel snow.”

“Me either.  That’s why I’m playing games with Gus.”

“I’ll help you shovel, Daddy,” Gus volunteered.

Brian heaved a sigh.  “I guess we should do something about it, if we want to go snowboarding.”

“Let me finish my cereal and I’ll help,” Justin said.

“Me too,” Gus added.

“Put the game away, Gus.  I’m going to see if there’s a shovel outside the front door,” Brian replied.

While Brian went to look for shovels, Gus packed up the board game and Justin ate the rest of his Cheerios.


*****


“Hey, Sunshine,” Brian called.  As Justin turned around he got hit full on with a shovelful of the soft, fluffy snow.

“You…!” Justin sputtered as he wiped the snow off his face.

“No fair, Daddy,” Gus yelled, just before he got hit with a shovelful too.

“Let’s get him, Gus,” Justin called and they both attacked, throwing as much snow at Brian as they could.

Brian dodged and sent his own snow back at them.  Shadow who had come outside with them darted out of the way, running under a bush from where he could watch safely.

After throwing shovelful after shovelful of snow at each other, until they were out of breath and exhausted, they collapsed side by side in a mound of snow in front of the chalet.  They lay there gasping, trying to get their breath.  Shadow ventured out from under his bush and ran over to Gus.  He licked the little boy’s face.  Gus held the kitten against his chest.

“Do you give?” Justin asked Brian, gulping for air as he spoke.

“Never!” Brian declared.

“Give, Daddy!  Justin and me won.”

“Did not!” Brian retorted.

“Do we have to bury you to prove that we won?” Justin teased inching closer to Brian.

“Then you’ll have to shovel the rest of the driveway by yourselves,” Brian snarked.

“We can do it,” Gus replied with a giggle.  He shoved Shadow inside his jacket where the kitten would be warm.

“What’s that noise?” Brian asked sitting up.

They all sat up then, and saw a pickup truck with a snowplow on the front coming up the driveway to the chalet.

“Yay!” Justin yelled.  “No more shoveling.”

“Even to bury me?” Brian asked pinning Justin back on the ground.

“How about you bury yourself in me?” Justin whispered against Brian’s ear.

Brian chuckled and licked Justin’s lips which were cold and frosty, yet warm at the same time.  “Later, Sunshine.”

The truck shoved its load of snow to the other side of the drive, and then backed up.  Justin, Gus and Brian stood up and waved at the driver.  The truck pulled up near them and stopped.  A man got out.

“I’m Paul Jacoby,” the man said shaking hands.  “I own three of the chalets up here, including this one.  Hope you found everything satisfactory.”

“Brian Kinney.  We didn’t know you’d be here to plow the driveway, so we were shoveling,” Brian explained.

“Isn’t it hard to shovel from a horizontal position?” Paul asked with a spark of humor in his voice.

“You saw us?” Justin asked, to which Paul nodded.  “I’m Justin Taylor.  I rented the chalet.”

“Right, nice to meet you all.”

“I’m Gus,” Gus said holding out his hand.

“Nice to meet you too, Gus.”

Shadow took that moment to meow from inside Gus’ coat.

“Is that a kitten I hear?” Paul asked.

“Yeah,” Gus said pulling Shadow out of his coat.  “Shadow came to the door last night and I let him in.”

Paul laughed.  “Shadow?  That’s actually one of the kittens from the latest litter my cat had.  Somehow she wandered away yesterday before the storm got too bad.  We looked for her, but then the snow got too heavy.  I’m glad she’s okay.”  Paul rubbed Shadow’s head.  “We’ve been letting the kittens out with their mother so we don’t need to use a litterbox.  Oh, and she’s a girl,” Paul added pointing to the kitten.

“She is?” Gus asked looking strangely at the animal.

“She is,” Paul affirmed.

“I guess you’ll be wanting to take her home with you,” Brian said.

“Daaad,” Gus said with a frown.

“I see you’ve gotten attached to this little one,” Paul said scratching the kitten behind the ears.  “The kittens have just been weaned.  I’ll be looking for a home for them.  Perhaps…”

“I don’t think so,” Brian said quickly.  “We have to go back into Canada.”

“Please, Daddy,” Gus begged.

“No, Gus.  They won’t let the cat across the border.  And your mothers would kill me.”

Gus looked forlorn.

“Perhaps Gus would like to keep Shadow here with him … until you leave,” Paul suggested.

“Please, Daddy.”

Brian wavered.  He wanted his son to have a good trip, but he knew Gus was getting very attached to the kitten.

“Pleeeze,” Gus begged.

“Okay, but we can’t take him home with us.  Do you understand that?”

“Okay,” Gus agreed, happy to have some more time with his new friend.

“I’ll bring over some food for the kitten,” Paul said as he walked around his truck to get back in.  “I’ll finish your driveway first.”

“Are the ski resorts open?” Justin asked.

“They’re grooming the runs.  Not much in the way of skiing today.  Some of the roads to the resorts aren’t too great either.  I’d wait until tomorrow,” Paul advised.  “The skiing should be great then.”

“Thanks,” Justin said as Paul got back into his truck and started it up.  “I guess we should probably wait till tomorrow before hitting the slopes.”

“We can play some more games,” Gus suggested.

“You just want to beat me at Snakes and Ladders,” Brian laughed.

“Yep,” Gus replied with a nod of his head.

“Then let’s get to it,” Brian said dragging his shovel towards the house.

Gus and Justin followed him.


*****


Later that evening, Gus and Shadow had been fed and were sound asleep in the loft.  Justin and Brian had just had a very satisfying bout of fucking.  They were lying side by side in the big bed in their bedroom.

“How many times did Gus beat you at Snakes and Ladders?” Justin asked with a mischievous glimmer in his eye.

“It’s five to two in his favor,” Brian griped.
Justin chuckled.  “Be brave.  You’ll likely get another crack at the Snakes and Ladders championship before we leave.”

Brian snorted.  “We both beat you at Parcheesi.”

“I just had a run of bad luck,” Justin replied.

“Yeah, right.”

“What are we going to do about Shadow?  I know Gus is getting attached to him … her,” Justin said.

“I know.  That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Maybe if we’re out skiing tomorrow, he’ll forget about the kitten.”

“We can always hope…”

“I don’t want Gus to be sad,” Justin said.

“Me either.”  Brian rolled atop his lover.  But right now, I don’t want to think about it.”

And neither of them did for the rest of the night.