Snow was falling as we prepared dinner on the gas stove. Austin seemed to be concerned.

"We could have a good dump of snow. Before we go to bed, I wanna go up and check the current forecast on the pickup radio. I'll charge my cell phone at the same time. Anybody else need that service?"

Aiden spoke up. "I'll go along. We can use my truck for that too. It's got a heavy duty battery, and I carry a spare in the back."

These were ranch boys, always prepared for anything. I was still learning, but I was proud to be a ranch boy and have these guys for my friends. Tears came to my eyes. Aiden noticed.

"You okay, Toby?"

"Yeah. I was thinkin' about how good it is to have friends like you guys."

He put a hand on my shoulder. "It works both ways, buddy, and you know it,"

That did it. My emotions were strung thin. I sat down and cried some more. Aiden came over and massaged my shoulder. "Let it all out, buddy. And remember we're always here for you."

By the time I had myself together, dinner was ready. I looked at Austin.

"This casserole tastes familiar. Did your mom make it?"

He smiled. "It tastes familiar because your mom made it. My mom made some of the food, but your mom and Grams spent the mornin' organizing food for us to bring. They sent a lot. Enough for a couple of days."

Tears came to my eyes again. I had the best mom in the whole world. I'd have to remember to tell her that more often.

Austin and Aiden made their trip to the pickups while Andy and I cleaned up. Then we sat around the fire reminiscing, well into the evening. We talked about everything we'd done together. Rusty and Nate were featured in a lot of the stories, without restraint. I shed a few tears from time to time, but it started the healing process. I'd been there for all of these guys at one time or another, and now they were there for me.

We went to bed fairly early. Austin and Andy took one of the double beds. Aiden and I were in the other. Before I got into bed, I looked out at the snow. It was falling heavily.

It was silently understood that this was a no-sex night, but after we were both in bed, Aiden put an arm around me and gave me a kiss.

"I love you, Hot Kid."

I smiled. "They told you."

"Uh-huh."

"I love you too, Aiden. Thanks for everything."

************

Aiden woke up first in the morning. I sat up as he got out of bed and looked out the window.

"What do you see?"

"Nothing. Come on, Hot Kid. You and I have work to do."

Austin and Andy woke up as we were dressing. Aiden, the oldest by two years, was taking charge.

"Toby and I are gonna shovel snow. Why don't you think about breakfast?"

Austin rubbed his eyes sleepily and then stood up. "Okay."

The snow shovels stood inside the door. We each grabbed one and opened the door to a wall of drifted snow. Now I knew why Aiden reported seeing nothing.

We cleaned the snow away from the entrance, uncovered the food coolers, and made access to the firewood pile. Then we began working our way out into the area in front of the cabin. Within fifteen feet or so, it was easier. The snow was now about three feet deep. We looked up towards the pickups. They were standing in less snow than we were. Aiden leaned on his shovel.

"That's why we park them up there. The wind keeps the summit relatively free of snow. But over the hill, there will be lots of drifts. Now we need snowshoes. We'll go up there and dig the trucks out."

We went inside and found breakfast ready. Austin looked at Aiden.

"How bad is it?"

"I've seen worse, but not here. After we eat we'll go up and dig out the trucks. They fared a lot better than the cabin."

"After we eat, why don't you guys stay here and clean up? We'll go out and freeze our asses for a while."

Aiden smiled. "Fair enough. Thanks."

As we ate, we held a strategy session. Aiden was the leader, and I knew that what he said was mostly for my benefit.

"I'm gonna go over some things we all know, but we need to make sure we're on the same page. First, nobody goes out alone. Always take a companion. Second, watch for frostbite and hypothermia. We can get out of here on our own, but not if we're sick or wounded."

"As to getting out on our own, we're only a little over two miles from Austin and Andy's house by snowshoe if we can't get the trucks out. That's a two-to-three hour jaunt in this weather, assuming we don't find unexpected problems. We won't need rescuing. Austin, check the forecast when you go up. Unless this is gonna happen again tonight, the best thing we can do is sit it out for a day and see what happens."

Austin replied. "I'll do that. I'll also see if I can text my folks and tell them we're okay. Now that I think about it, Hot Kid, why don't ya come with me? You can text your folks too. Andy can stay here. I want ya to get a good look at what happens around here in the winter. Aiden, I'll have my folks contact yours. Does that work for ya?"

Aiden nodded his head. "Perfect. Okay, guys let's go do it."

************

Snowshoeing was a little more difficult than the day before. The snow was softer and deeper, and the snowshoes sank in further. Even at that, it only took us fifteen minutes to walk the quarter mile to the top.

From where the trucks were parked, we had an unobstructed view to the west. The clouds were breaking up. Austin pulled down his tailgate.

"Sit down and rest for a minute. We worked up a sweat comin' up, and that's a good way to get wet and chilled. We won't stay here long." He looked out to the west again. "That's a good sign."

We cleaned up around the pickups. Downhill, the snowdrifts rose and fell, sometimes less than a foot, in other places three feet or more. Austin pointed in the direction of the drifts.

"That's the problem with a snowstorm and driftin'. It doesn't take a lot of snow to make big drifts. We may or may not be able to get the trucks out. One advantage we have is that monster of Aiden's. It has more than two feet of clearance. He might be able to break his way through. If he can, my truck can make it behind his. We'll let him evaluate that later. Now, let's listen to the radio."

What we learned was good news and bad news. The good news was that the storm appeared to be over. The bad news was that it was spread over a wide area, interrupting holiday travel and causing widespread power outages. Austin's expression was neutral.

"Okay, now we know that. Let's do some communicating."

We walked around a little to find the best signal. While Austin texted his folks, I turned on my phone and sent a text to both my parents.

"Mom and Dad, we're all fine up here. We're warm and well-fed (thanks Mom). We plan to sit it out until tomorrow. Getting out in the trucks may not be possible. We've all got snowshoes, and can get out that way with no problem. Pass the word along."

The response from Dad was immediate. "Good to hear from you. We've got power, but a lot of people don't. If you came down today, you'd be stuck at Austin and Andy's because the roads are all closed. It should be better tomorrow. Sit tight and stay safe."

"Will do. I'm turning off the phone. I'll message again when I can. Give my love to Mom."

I shut down the phone. Austin waited for me to finish.

"Only the generator for power at our house, but other than that, all is good. Also no roads to drive on."

I added my knowledge. "My folks have power, but other than that the story was the same. They approve of the plan to sit it out for a day."

"Same here. Now, we've completed our mission. Let's head for the cabin."

As we walked downhill, I thought about Austin's phrase "completed our mission". This was, in fact, like a military operation. Aiden was the captain, Austin and Andy were his lieutenants, and I was... well, I was a buck private, I decided.

Back in the cabin, we shared our information. Aiden and Andy had inventoried our supplies. Andy reported.

"We're in good shape for days with everything except propane. The tank didn't get filled last fall. But we've got the Coleman stove and canisters if we need them."

Aiden summarized. "Okay, thanks for all of the information. Unless there are objections, we'll hunker down until morning and make decisions then."

There were no objections. I looked out the window. The sun was shining, and water was dripping off the trees.

"Could we take a short walk if we all go together?"

Aiden smiled. "I think that's a great idea. Let's wait until after lunch when you and Austin are warm and dry again, and the temperature is perhaps a little warmer. In the meantime, I'd suggest a game of poker, but that game has bad vibes for all of us."

Andy laughed. "I think it's a good idea, so long as it's not strip poker."

I smiled. "In this weather, strip poker doesn't have a lot of appeal. By the way, I just had a thought. Do you guys realize it's Christmas Eve?"

I looked around at three surprised faces. Aiden laughed.

"It completely escaped all of us. But we've been rather intensely occupied all morning. Let's chill out a bit. How about some harmless game like crazy eights?"

That met with unanimous approval.

************

After lunch, we put on snowshoes and went outside. The sky was blue and the air still. The three of them had sunglasses. Aiden looked at me.

"There's an extra pair in my truck."

The plan was to walk about a half mile down the road. By sticking to the less-drifted areas, we were able to proceed with minimal difficulty. In a few places, we had to climb over drifts several feet deep. Aiden was evaluating our potential departure.

"The snow should settle some this afternoon and tonight. I think we can do it tomorrow. I've got a couple of shovels in the truck to dig out if we get stuck, but we'll take the snow shovels along too. We may have to clear drifts. So far, no downed trees. If we find any, I've got an eighteen-inch chain saw. In my opinion, it's looking good."

I'd noticed a lot of animal tracks on the way down. Going back, Aiden identified them as coyote, fox and rabbit tracks. There were a few from smaller animals that he couldn't identify.

One set of rabbit tracks wandered into the woods. Out of curiosity, Aiden and I followed them until they went under a tree. Aiden put a hand on my shoulder and pointed.

"Look."

At first I couldn't see it, so we moved a little closer. In a small opening between bent snow-covered branches, a small brown rabbit looked out at us, pretending to be invisible. We stood there sharing the experience for a couple of minutes before rejoining the others.

************

Dusk was falling by the time we got back. The activity had taken most of the afternoon. We got the food out again - another hot dish supplemented by brownies I recognized as coming from Grams. A question suddenly came to mind.

"Andy, how long did you guys originally plan to stay here?"

He smiled at me. "As long as necessary. Until noon today at least, but it wasn't cast in cement. Your mom planned for two days."

"And you'd have skipped Christmas for me?"

"Of course. We'd have stayed until New Year's if it was helpful."

After dinner, we sat by the fire talking again until Aiden had an idea.

"Hot Kid, why don't you model your rings for us?"

I grinned. "I'll do that if ya want me to. It's definitely warm enough in here to do it naked."

The twins were enthusiastic about the idea. I went to the bed and stripped. Using the lube Mom had packed, I put on the decorations and returned to stand by the fire.

"What do ya think?"

"Cool!"

"Sexy!"

"Awesome!"

Aiden reached up and stroked my pole, laughing at how my knees buckled.

"I think Hot Kid likes it."

Andy and Austin stood on each side, their hands roaming over my upper body, kissing me, licking and biting my ears. I put my hands on their shoulders for support and closed my eyes in bliss.

Then there was something new. Something wet toyed with my glans ring. Austin had deployed his tongue.

"Oh, fuck, Aiden. That could be dangerous."

"I know."

Then his mouth enveloped my pole. I gasped with pleasure as he worked up and down, his fingers toying with my cock ring and balls.

It didn't take long. As my knees buckled completely, my full weight rested on Austin and Andy. I gasped with pleasure as I fired shot after shot of jizz down Aiden's throat.

They eased me to the floor, where I sat cross-legged with tears running down my cheeks. They all squatted down around me. Aiden took my hand.

"What's wrong, buddy?"

I wiped away the tears, and smiled. "Nothing's wrong. Those are tears of happiness. You couldn't have done anything more special right now. You guys are awesome beyond belief."

"You know you are too."

The twins wandered off to their bed. I looked over and saw them kneeling facing each other, hands around each other's necks. Then they were removing each other's clothing and caressing each other's bodies. I turned around and found Aiden naked. He grinned at me.

"Basset Hound on the rug?"

"Just a minute."

I removed my rings and put them away, noting that Austin and Andy were hard at it. Returning, I knelt on the carpet.

"I'm ready."

Aiden moved in behind me. We'd done this several times during the summer. Far less roughly than in the past, he eased himself inside. As he probed me deeply, it was clear that he now understood what "gentle" meant. My first clue he had finished was a brief gasp before he pushed in all the way and unloaded.

Then he really surprised me. Leaning over, he gently kissed me on the neck. I suppressed the urge to laugh, and smiled down at the rug instead.

"I guess you've added the romantic kiss-me shit."

He chuckled and kissed me again. "Let's call it the brotherly kiss-me shit."

To be continued...

Posted: 09/17/2021