Benjamin awoke to morning sunlight filtering through the window, the breeze which moved the curtains brought with it the smell of sagebrush. His wife, Melissa, was already up and around, judging by her absence from the bed. 

With a groan, he pulled himself out of bed and put on shorts and an undershirt. Usually, he would have been up and working on things around the ranch by now instead of oversleeping. There was work to be done on the irrigation ditches, animals to be fed, and he needed to check on the cattle up at the grazing lease. Even he deserved to sleep in from time to time, though.

As he headed down the stairs, the din of conversation and children laughing poured out of the kitchen and dining room. Stepping through the door, he smiled as he saw his children at the table with Shay.

“Good morning, kids,” he said as he walked by them.

He stopped and leaned down to give Shay a kiss on the forehead and run his hand through their hair, which brought a smile to their face. They beamed at Benjamin, sending a familiar warmth running through his body. His hand lingered on their cheek, Shay covering it with their own. They squeezed it as he walked towards the stove, his hand running down their neck and across their shoulder.

At the stove were Melissa and Sabrina. He could tell from the aroma she was making huevos rancheros and teaching the recipe to Sabrina. He came up behind Melissa, grabbing her waist and pulling her against him so she could feel that he was fully awake. Benjamin kissed her neck and then her lips.

“Good morning,” he said.

Melissa playfully slapped at his hands.

“Later,” she whispered. “I’m working on breakfast.”

Sabrina raised her eyebrows, a smirk coming to her face as she tried to focus on following Melissa’s instructions. She raised her face to greet Benjamin with a kiss, his hand on the small of her back. Her hand brushed the front of his shorts.

“You better get your coffee and sit down,” said Sabrina. “Ama Melissa and I will have breakfast finished soon. If I can ever flip the eggs over-easy instead of scrambling them.”

“You’re not supposed to flip them,” said Melissa with a small laugh. “They’re supposed to be sunny-side up.”

Sabrina cursed under her breath. Benjamin chuckled and poured himself a cup of coffee, sitting next to Shay. He placed his hand on their thigh and gave it a squeeze before taking a few tentative sips of coffee, the liquid pleasantly burning its way down to his stomach.

“The kids and I took care of the animals this morning,” said Shay. “The chickens had quite a few eggs waiting for us and the horses were happy to get some alfalfa for breakfast.”

“Thank you,” said Benjamin.

He took another sip of coffee and looked out the dining room window, towards Shay and Sabrina’s property. The house, which had belonged to Shay’s grandmother, had come a long way in being restored. Much of the property around it, though, still needed work.

It had been almost a year since they had arrived in Clearwater County, a plume of dust trailing behind their moving truck as they came down the county road. He still remembered that day, trying to get the flatbed up and running again while Melissa was in the kitchen working on lunch for the two of them. The kids had just started school, the school year beginning mid-August in Ashford.

The leaves were starting to turn, signaling fall was on its way, as if the cool mornings hadn’t already been doing that. The irrigation season was over, the Prescott Ranch fortunately getting just enough hay for 200 head of cattle. A grazing lease in the Medicine Bow National Forest which had been in his family since his father had founded the ranch meant the hay wouldn’t be completely consumed. Benjamin watched as the moving truck pulled up to Old Lady Donovan’s house.

Breakfast being placed on the table in front of him - with the aroma of fried eggs, salsa and cilantro - pulled Benjamin out of his thoughts. Melissa kissed his forehead before she sat down next to him. Sabrina did the same, setting breakfast in front of Shay and giving them a kiss before sitting down. 

“You looked lost in thought there, mi amor,” said Melissa. “What’s on your mind?”

Benjamin looked at Melissa, and then at Shay and Sabrina, a smile forming. 

“Just thinking about where things were last year, just as fall was arriving,” he said. “I was remembering the first time we saw Shay and Sabrina, having just driven down Coyote Creek Road and arrived at the Donovan house. I don’t know if we had any idea how important the two of them would become to the Prescott family.”

Melissa nodded in agreement as Shay and Sabrina looked down at their plates, their faces flushing. They continued talking over the clink of forks and knives against porcelain plates, thoughts interrupted by full mouths. 

“We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, to be honest,” said Shay, their face flushed from the heat of the salsa. “Sabrina and I had only ever really heard about Ashford. It was hard to imagine the ruralness.”

Sabrina nodded, wiping her mouth with a napkin before taking a drink of orange juice. She reached out and grabbed Shay’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“For me, growing up in Pueblo, while there was access to rural areas, there was also so much urban sprawl,” Shay continued. “A visit to Colorado Springs or Denver was fairly easy. Sure, there’s still the winters, but Wyoming winters seem much more isolating than those in Colorado. At least where I grew up.”

The children had already finished their breakfast and had been excused from the table. Jessica, the oldest and who would be entering her freshman year, was on her phone scrolling through social media. She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, likely at something a friend had posted. The sounds of Mateo outside and running around with the dogs drifted in through the windows. Partway through middle school, he was now on the border of adolescence and maturity. Emily, the youngest and nearly finished with primary school, could be heard calling the names of the horses as she approached the barn.

Benjamin wiped up the last of his eggs with a tortilla - homemade by Melissa - and wiped his mouth and beard. The others also finished up their breakfast, and Sabrina moved around the table to gather the plates.

“We’ll need to go and check on the cattle up at the lease,” said Benjamin, looking at Shay. “I want to make sure they didn’t break through the buckrail or that some out-of-state bow hunter didn’t confuse one for a moose.”

Shay snorted at the last part and nodded. Benjamin stood up from the table and headed upstairs to change. He heard the strain of the spring on the screen door as it opened and closed, signaling Shay had already headed outside to get things prepared. He smiled, thinking about how quickly both Shay and Sabrina had adapted. As he entered the bedroom, he began to undress, not concerned with closing the door as all the children were occupied. He heard Sabrina ask Jessica for help washing dishes.

When he turned around after grabbing underwear and socks from his dresser, Melissa was standing in the doorway.

“You know,” she said. “I may have eaten breakfast, but I’m still hungry.”

Benjamin smiled as his wife looked him up and down, licking her lips with one hand grabbing at her breast. Melissa closed the door to their bedroom and approached him, standing on the balls of her feet to give him a kiss as her hand began stroking him. The two of them moaned into each other.

Without a word, Melissa dropped her pants - she wasn’t wearing any underwear - and bent over the bed. Benjamin smiled as he came up behind her, reaching between her thighs to feel her heat and wetness. She let out a small moan as he pulled his hand away and tasted her on his fingers. Quietly and with the experience of having performed this dance multiple times, he slid inside her before grabbing her hips.

“Oh, mi amor,” moaned Melissa. “You fill me up just right. So thick, so long.”

Benjamin began thrusting, pulling her towards him as he pushed into her. The sound of flesh colliding together filled the room as Melissa gripped the blankets on the bed and moaned into the mattress. He leaned forward, kissing and licking along her back, tasting the sweat forming on her skin. His grunts punctuated each thrust until she climaxed, coating him in her juices as she nearly screamed into the bed. He followed soon after, emptying deep inside her.

“Fuck,” said Melissa, panting. “I really needed that.”

Benjamin laughed, low and from deep in his chest, as he smirked at her. He slapped her ass, making her jump.

“You weren’t the only one,” he said with a smile. “Now, I really do need to get dressed.”

Melissa pulled her pants back up and gave Benjamin another kiss.

“Too bad you can’t just work naked because I like seeing all this,” she said.

“What? A bald, fuzzy fat man?” he replied with a laugh.

Melissa shook her head, playfully slapping his arm.

“No,” she said as she ran her hands through his beard. “The body of the man I love. A perfect body, made better by its imperfections.”

She walked out of the room, swaying her hips as she hummed. Benjamin resumed getting dressed.