Jason jumped up from his computer chair as his dad dropped a suitcase on the floor next to him. "Time for you to pack." He said with a stern look for his son. "You're going to your uncle's for a few months." The glare was something Jason could almost feel. His dad was an intimidating man, well over six feet, heavily muscled with just a bit of padding. Dark hair that was slicked back and a neatly trimmed bear only now beginning to show some grey, and piercingly icy blue eyes. He had raised his son alone for the last ten years, but the two could not have been more different.
"Wait! The farm? No way." Jason looked at his screen where his character had just fallen over dead in the few minutes distraction his father had made. Jason had his dad's black hair and blue eyes, but that's where family resemblance ended. Jason was barely five foot eight, and lanky. His dad always made him feel like a kid despite his eighteenth birthday having been two months ago.
"We had a deal Jason. Either you pick a college, you get a job by today, or you go to the farm to work for the summer." His father crossed his arms over his chest while Jason looked at the stack of half-filled applications to both jobs and schools. Nothing really had seemed that interesting to him.
"I'm eighteen, dad. You can't order me around anymore." Jason tried to stand up, but his father just snorted.
"Or I can kick you out. If you want to keep living here come fall, pack. If I can't get some work ethic into you, maybe your uncle Rex can. Besides, your cousin Dean might like someone his own age around for a few months." Jason cringed. He hadn't seen his cousin since they were both twelve, but he remembered a blond haired, buck toothed weirdo who only wanted to roll around in the mud. No interest in video games at all. They had nothing in common. "Pack. You have a flight first thing in the morning." His father ordered one last time before walking out of the room. Jason sighed and got to it. Maybe he could hide some of his handheld consoles in the luggage if he buried them deep enough.
Twenty four hours later Jason was standing outside an rinky-dink airport in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. Flying over had just shown him a patchwork of farms and fields, barely any grouping of buildings even worth being called a town. The plane had only had twelve seats and wasn't even full, how did an airport even survive out in this backend of nowhere? He frowned at his cell in his hand. It hadn't shown more than one or two bars since he landed, he could barely get the web browser to function. And it was hot, the summer heat seemingly rolling in weeks early. This was going to suck.
A dusty brown pickup finally pulled up in front of him and a window rolled down. Oh, power windows, maybe this place wasn't completely backwards, Jason thought sarcastically. The face he saw was almost the spitting image of his dad. They were twins after all, but uncle Rex was definitely scruffier. His black hair was long and pulled back in a ponytail, his beard bushy and full. And he might have actually been even bulkier than his father. He reminded Jason of a bear. Then he grinned, not an expression he was used to seeing on his father's face, but uncle Rex seemed to grin easily. "Is that Jason? Look at you boy? What's my brother been feeding you? Well, don't stand there all day, throw your luggage in the back and hop in."
Not the greeting he had been expecting. He thought his uncle was going to be the hard handed taskmaster right of the bat the way his dad had talked about it. But he hoisted his suitcase into the truck bed and climbed in. He felt dwarfed by the giant pick up, much less his uncle. There was also a smell he couldn't pinpoint. Something musky and earthy, not unpleasant but certainly nothing Jason had smelled before. Apparently, the closest airport to the farm wasn't all that close, and he had to spend a couple hours with his uncle, alone, foisting off questions with one word, non-committal answers. Uncle Rex never grew frustrated with being put off though, seemingly doing everything in his power to get Jason to open up, but Jason was good at keeping to himself. The cherry slushy pushed into his hands when they stopped at the gas station was a welcome gift though. Maybe it wouldn't be completely awful.
It was sunset by the time they pulled up the gravel lined road into the family farm. And it really was the family farm, his father had grown up here, too. He technically still owned part of it, but left it to uncle Rex to care for it. A few buildings dotted the property, a couple of barns, a stable, the large farmhouse, and a chicken coop. Jason wrinkled his nose as a stray breeze wafted the stench of the pig sty in his direction. "Should be just in time for dinner." Rex said cheerily as he parked the truck out front of the farm house and hopped out. Jason followed, only to catch sight of another man leaving one of the barns.
Blond hair tucked behind ears brushed muscular shoulders, a ratty old cap shading his brow. He wore only boots and overalls, and those overalls' shoulder straps had been left to hang down, exposing a broad muscular chest covered in curly blond hairs darkened to light brown by sweat and a taught, also somewhat furry, six pack. He had short blond scruff on his cleft chin and jaw, and a brilliantly white-toothed smile that split his face when he set eyes on Jason. He had something of a farmer's tan, showing he did wear those overalls properly once in a while, but rarely a shirt. As the blond goliath neared, Jason found himself having to look up, he might have even been taller than Jason's dad. The man was younger than Jason had thought at first. Maybe only eighteen.. "Dean?!" He asked, shocked at his cousin's appearance.
"Jason!" He bellowed, his voice loud and deep as he pulled Jason into a rib-cracking hug. Den had that same, oddly musky smell as uncle Rex, though this was mixed with the smell of cow and horse. "Damn, am I glad to see you!" Jason was a little stunned by his cousin's exuberance, but that at least fit with what he remembered of him.
"You, too." Jason put in awkwardly. Rex stood off to the side watching the two teens proudly. "You, uh... got big."
"You didn't." Dean retorted as he released Jason and slapped him on the back with a laugh. "Don't worry, a few months of farm work and you'll have plenty to show for it." Dean flexed one of his arms and slapped his bicep. Jason thought that muscle might actually be bigger than his own head. A bell sounded from the farmhouse and Dean perked right up. "There's dinner!" He was about to jog off when Rex grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Why don't you take Jason's luggage up to Roy's old room." Dean nodded and jogged over to the truck. He plucked the suitcase out of the back like it weighed nothing and headed back into the house, Rex and Jason following behind. "Glad to see you two getting along. Dean's going to be showing you around until I think you can do some things on your own. We don't have many hands, here, so I do expect you to buckle down and work. I don't want to have to bother your pa, understood. I know it wasn't your idea to come spend the summer here."
Jason looked at Rex. He actually kind of liked his uncle, a little. After a moment he nodded. "Yeah, well, don't have much choice do I?"
"You always have a choice." Rex responded, gruffly but not unkind. "You can choose to give this a chance, you might like it here." Rex slapped Jason on the back making him stumble a few steps. What was with all the back slapping? They stepped into the house and right to the dining room where a large table was set for six. There was enough food for a Thanksgiving dinner spread out. Somehow Dean was already in one of the chairs and motioned Jason to take the one next to him, which he did. Rex sat at the head, putting Jason between him and Dean.
Another man, maybe a few years younger than Rex stepped out of the kitchen holding some glass pitchers beaded with condensation and full of.. milk? Two were set in the middle of the table and one right by Jason. The man was tall, by Jason's view anyway though a couple inches shorter than Rex, and lean instead of bulky, though he still looked fit and athletic. His brown hair was medium length and brushed back from his head. He sported a goatee that had a few flecks of grey in it. "You must be Jason, I'm Silas." He took the foot of the table across from Rex. Something seemed to pass between the two men that Jason couldn't quite pin down.
"Silas does most of the cooking and chores around the house." Dean chimed in. We'd be completely buried in smelly clothes and towels and starving without him. Another man stepped in, looking like a younger, slightly shorter, and more muscular Silas. "Shiloh. This is Jason." The man grunted what might be a greeting as he took the chair across from Jason. "Shiloh is Silas' younger brother. He doesn't talk much but he's great with the horses."
Rex looked at the empty chair with a frown. "No May tonight?"
Silas shook his head. "She's spending the night with friends."
"May is Silas' daughter." Dean provided in just above a whisper for Jason.
"I was hoping for a full welcome for Jason here, but, I guess that girl can do what she wants." Rex reached out and grabbed the pitcher by Jason, pouring some of the cold milk into Jason's glass. "Eat as much as you want, but this pitcher is yours." His uncle said as he set it back down. "You'll drink a whole pitcher at every meal until I say otherwise. I'm going to put some meat on those bones of yours."
Jason opened his mouth to protest that he really didn't like milk, and might even be lactose intolerant, but something in the way his uncle pinned him with his stare told him it might be best not to argue this one just yet. Maybe he could wiggle out of this rule in a few days. He instead grabbed the glass and chugged it, trying to show he was going to be a good sport about this. Rex nodded approvingly and they all dug in to the meal.
Dinner was mostly quiet as everyone ate, Silas and Rex going over some farm business, talking about repairs that needed to be done and the like. It was surprising to Jason how much food everyone put away. He tried not to eat that much himself, but as soon as Rex caught him holding back his uncle loaded his plate and told him he expected him to finish it. So by the end of dinner Jason felt groggy and stuffed, barely keeping his head up.
"Dean, want to show your cousin to his room so he can rest up? We got a lot of work to start tomorrow." At Rex's suggestion Dean nudged Jason out of the chair, and motioned him to follow.
At the top of the stairs were a pair of rooms. "That one's mine." Dean said, pointing at one door. "And yours." He opened the other. "Used to be our dad's rooms when they were kids." Jason stepped inside and looked around expecting maybe something of his father's to be there, but there was just a large bed, a table and chair, a dresser, and a set of empty shelves. His suitcase sat next to a bunch of cardboard boxes. Jason walked over to flip open the top. He picked up the denim overalls on top and pulled them free.
"Oh yeah! Dad had me pull out some of my old work clothes for you to wear. You're not gonna want to wear your normal clothes while working. They might be a little big for you, but they're too small for me. You'll grow into 'em." Dean said perhaps a bit too cheerily. "There's boots, too." Dean reached into the box and pulled out a pair of old work boots that still looked too big.
"Thanks." Jason said dully as he sat on the edge of the bed. The last couple days finally catching up with him.
Dean seemed to catch Jason's mood and wilted a little. "Um, if you need anything, you know where to find me. It really is good to have you here. May doesn't like me much and well.." Dean let his words drift off as he set down the boots. "See you tomorrow, cuz."
Jason flopped back on the bed, only bothering to wiggle out of his jeans which felt too tight in the waist after that dinner. He stared up at the ceiling until he drifted off.