Life was better than it had ever been in what Parrish liked to think was their whole entire lives. They’d worked hard to get to this point, lots of tears and struggles and turmoil from both of them as they worked and worked on themselves and their relationship and getting their lives on a good track to ultimate happiness, and now it seemed that they’d finally found that peace they were looking for, on the vast acres of farmland that had been owned by Parrish’s family and had fallen into his hands when his relatives got too old to care for it properly. And here they were now, a year into things, deciding by now that they loved the place enough to make it their forever home, and in the back of his mind, but the forefront of his thoughts, Parrish was thinking of ways to propose to Elliot here, maybe he’d even craft a ring himself, he was getting quite into the concept of metal work since they’d lived here.
The days were long and beautiful and well-spent, finding they could go at a leisurely pace even with the farm work and still be able to make the most of the day, and never feeling rushed or particularly stressed, just Parrish sometimes getting a bit tired and in need of a nap when he spent hours in the fields planting and tending to the crops or busied himself removing tree stumps or boulders that were an eyesore or an obstacle for the property, or making small repairs to the house where he saw they were needed. He’d often find Elliot in the kitchen, trying his hand at baking because he said he wanted a new hobby to kickstart their new lives here, and while he often ended up with flour and sugar on his face, slowly, he started finding that he could churn out rather delicious products, putting a smile on Parrish’s face as he kissed him and then playfully smooched some icing off the tip of his nose.
Parrish woke with the sun and the roosters most mornings, having to blink his eyes and struggle to roll himself out of bed, because that meant leaving Elliot who was still dead asleep and curled up beside him, and would be out for a few more hours, but even in the heat of summer, Parrish didn’t want to leave him, wishing for just a few more minutes before he finally sighed and left his love with a soft caress of his cheek and petting fingers through his hair. Then it was usually off to work, trying to avoid the hottest point of the day by getting done a majority of what was needed before noon, but today, he decided that he’d take things easy, simply feeding the animals their allotted hay before he went off to the marketplace, enjoying the lovely scenic stroll that he and Elliot would so often take to get to town, holding hands and pointing out the birds and the sound of crashing waves to indicate the beach was nearby. He was just out to buy some essentials for dinner, fish that they didn’t catch themselves for once, some vegetables for cooking, and as he passed by a bakery, caught sight of a little cupcake that he thought would have Elliot smiling despite how grumpy he might have been to be woken up.
He returned home with the groceries and the cupcake, bringing it in its transparent container along with some coffee with extra cream and sugar, just the way Elliot liked it, so much sugar that Parrish would tease him and argue he was getting more energy from the sugar rush than the caffeine. He came to the bedroom to find Elliot still sound asleep, despite the time nearly approaching noon at this point, and he sat down on the bed as it creaked and dipped under his weight, leaning down to kiss Elliot’s cheek over and over to the point where Elliot might be woken up by the firm, repetitive pressure, giggling softly when he heard Elliot grumble and groan like he expected he might. “El, are you gonna sleep all day? I really could use some company to go to brunch at the diner today, unless you’d rather just eat here at home, but either way, come on, sleepyhead, I miss you! Look, I got you this cute cupcake from town as a treat, and I made you some coffee, just the way you like it.”