One Step At A Time [boyxboy]

Chapter 1 : Moving to Arkansas

Although the sun was beaming down on the young Californian, and the waves on the beach were as perfect as ever – not to mention the girls... and guys – the day did nothing to explain how the young boy of sixteen was feeling. David Desrosiers loved California; everything about it was absolutely perfect for him. The beaches, the warm water, he had great friends, and oh, the parties were fabulous. Yes, California definitely held everything he would ever need; everything he ever had needed. So why, then, would a boy who was so happy where he was, be leaving it all behind? Well, if asked, several words could come out of his mouth, most of which wouldn’t be pleasant. But they would all lead down to the same, single word: mom. 

David didn’t think that sending his mom, Joanne, on a singles cruise would be a bad idea. In fact, he liked the idea of his mom getting out there again and being happy for a change. She did deserve happiness, he thought. She had always been a fair enough mother to him. When she and his father got divorced, he chose to stay with her for that reason. The fact that she got all of his father’s money and could buy him his little, sporty, red, Mazda Miata, was only a small bonus, of course. Not that she really needed to, but she always worked hard, as well, so money was never an issue. So, considering she generally worked fifty to sixty hours a week, why shouldn’t she go away for the weekened and try and meet a nice man? 

And then she came home with Dan, David wasn’t too terribly upset. In fact, he was so happy that his mom had actually managed to stop moping, that when his mother had introduced him to Dan, he actually hugged him. Dan was a little bit taken back at first, but he was rather pleased with the fact that Joanne’s son had taken such a liking to him. It didn’t take long for the two to bond, and the more David heard of him, the more David approved. He’d been married once before, almost had a child, but lost it and his wife in child birth, and ever since he’d been single. The second Dan saw Joanne he just knew his problems were over and he could heal. 

Everything was all fine and dandy. That was, until the one small detail arose that he hadn’t taken into account; where the bastard lived. The two had gone the whole fucking weekend without even so much as muttering that Dan lived in Arkansas. Not only did he live in Arkansas, but he owned a farm. And what was worse than that was they actually expected him to move there. To live on a farm. With chickens and cows. A farm was no place for a child to grow up, much less David Desrosiers. 

When they’d told him finally, he just sort of looked at them as if they were crazy. Their conversation went something like this:

“David, honey, we have something important to tell you,” Joanne started slowly as she approached the breakfast table. 

David looked up at her, placing his glass of fresh squeezed orange juice back on the table. “You two aren’t getting hitched already?” he asked with a laugh. 

Dan stood from where he was sitting, putting his arm around her shoulder slowly. “Well, not really...” he started, looking over to Joanne for help. 

“What d’you mean, ‘not really’?” David asked, looking a bit confused. 

“Well, honey, you see...” Joanne was nervous, that much was obvious. Either his mom was getting married, or she was pregnant or something. “Dan... he’s not from around here...”

David was silent for a moment, waiting for his mom to continue, although she didn’t. He looked at her cautiously, not really liking where this conversation was going. “So... where does he live, then?” 

Dan opened his mouth, a bit of a nervous smile on his lips. “I own a farm in Arkansas,” Dan blurted out.

David blinked at the two, his mind not making any connections. “David, honey, do you get what we’re trying to tell you?” His mother asked, reaching forward and grabbing his hand.