Weds Brief

Well it's that time of the week.     Today Tom and Ben are having dinner and you're all invited to the party.

Weds Brief April 3^rd

“Hey, Ben?”   Tom spotted his fella in the living room, bent in front of the fireplace, putting the kindling together to get a roaring fire started. 

“Yeah, Tom?”   Looking at Ben’s beautiful face made Tom’s heart just swell with the love he felt for his husband.

“What would you like for dinner?”  Both men knew how to cook; Tom regularly tried out different recipes at the firehouse.   The men took turns cooking during their shifts and Tom took the opportunity to hone his skills.  

“Well, since you’re asking, how about some baked salmon and rice?”   Ben loved Tom’s cooking;, it was especially fun when they cooked together. 

“Okay, I’ll run over to the fish market and pick up what I need.”

“Are you going to BBQ or use our new indoor grill?”    After living in their house for many years, they had a list of things they were going to upgrade or fix. The kitchen had been on their to-do list; they finally got around to switching things up.   They put in new quartz countertops, new cabinets.   Updated the appliances, including putting in a new stove with six burners and a grill top.   

“I think this is a great opportunity to initiate our new grill.” Tom didn’t mind them going out for dinner every now and then, but he much preferred cooking their own meals and spending time together at home with his honey.

The trip to the market turned into a trip to the gas station, hardware store, and pet shop; the latter trip was so he could get Love more food and cat litter.  They used the natural stuff made from corn.

When he got back home, his nose was assailed by the delicious aroma of something baking.

“Ben, what have you been up to while I’ve been gone?”

“Baking,” Ben said from the kitchen doorway.  “Since you’re making dinne, I thought it was only fair I make dessert.”

“Smells good.”

“Can you guess what it is?”

“Some kind of pie, I think.” Tom didn’t really need to guess, his nose knew.

“What kind of pie?”

“You know my favorite kind of pie is apple.”

“And that’s what my man is getting.”

“Ben you didn’t have to do that.”  Tom put the groceries on the kitchen counter and grabbed his man by the shoulders and kissed him.

“Well, I’m going to cook my man the best baked salmon he’s ever eaten.”

“Honey, you’re the best cook in the whole world.  I can’t wait to dig into the salmon.  Can I help?” Ben wrapped his arms around Tom’s neck and they gazed into each other’s eyes.

“Of course, I love cooking with my man.”

“Okay, I’ll be your sous chef.”

They spent the rest of the time cooking together.   Ben cut up some vegetables and Tom put together all the ingredients for rosemary salmon.  It wasn’t long before everything was done. Ben set up the dining room table, complete with two candles burning in the center.

“How is it, Ben?” 

“Excellent, like always honey,”  Ben said over another forkful of salmon.

“I wanted to ask you something. Some of the guys at the station are playing poker on Sunday and I was wondering if it would be okay if I went.  I know we usually hang out together if we’re not working, but I thought it might be nice to go over and hang out with the guys.”  Tom wasn’t sure how Ben would feel; if they weren’t working, they always spent time together.  He was feeling guilty for even asking.  “I could find out if spouses are invited too?  I didn’t think to ask.”

“Tom, it’s okay if you want to go hang out with your friends at the station.  You know that it’s okay if we do our own thing.  You never complain about me going to my book club once a month.”   Which was true.  Ben loved reading and Tom wasn’t much into it. He liked reading the sports page of the newspaper or an occasional novel every now and then. But he was not the bibliophile Ben was.

“Oh, honey, thank you.”  Tom got up and took his empty plate and Ben’s into the kitchen; he gave Ben a quick liplock on the way.   Ben came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Tom’s waist and kissed the back of his neck.  

“I love you, Tom.  I never knew I could love someone this much.”    Ben took a knife and cut into the apple pie.  “Do you want me to warm it up and put some ice cream on it?”

“You mean ala mode, like I like it?”  Tom wiggled his eyebrows and had a smile on his face from ear to ear.

“Okay, baby.”   Ben took two pieces and warmed them up in the microwave and put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on each.  They ate at the kitchen island. 

“Here, for my baker.”  Tom took a piece of pie and ice cream off his plate and fed it to Ben.   Ben did the same for him.

“You know what?  I’m going to ask Scott if I can bring you to the poker game.”

“You don’t have to do that, Tom. It’s okay if you have your own night out.”

“I’d miss you too much.  I’ll do something else with the fellas.  Besides, I think their wives are going to be there so why shouldn’t I bring my husband.”

“Tom…”  Ben leaned over and kissed him.   

They finished off their dessert and moved onto another kind of dessert in the bedroom.

TBC 

My fellow Flashers:

Cia Nordwell      MA Church     Julie Lynn Hayes  Nephylim