North Meets South, Worlds Collide - 26. Chapter 26

Time change and long travel time we got up shortly before noon. Neither of us wanted to spend our honeymoon in the room. Well, we did want to do that, but we spent a lot of money to get here and both of us wanted to tour Scotland. There would always be later. We were married for life. We were only in Scotland for a few days. We got up, showered and got our things together to see Edinburgh. It would be nice weather wise, but we needed to be prepared. Jeans and pullover shirts with a jacket for each of us for when it got late.

Knowing Tony, he liked a meal where you were served. No buffets. We came to the hotel’s Pompadour restaurant and I made myself not look at the prices. They were in pounds, so it would make no real sense to me anyway. I knew the pound was more than the dollar, but I refused to look. Perhaps I should have studied Scottish food while preparing to come here. Tony got the pheasant and I got the venison. Of course, it was very good.

“I really didn’t book any tour of any sort. I figured if we saw one we wanted to take, we can book it here.” Tony told me. “I think maybe this afternoon we can just look around town. We can go to Loch Ness and the Highlands tomorrow. What do you think?”

I nodded. “Sounds good.” I grinned. “But we need to be back by seven tonight. I would like to see the Royal Edinburgh’s Military Tattoo one day. But be warned. There will be a lot of bagpipes tonight.”

Tony shook his head with a smile. “I don’t dislike it, baby. It’s just…different. The pipers at the wedding were great.”

I nodded at him. “I admit, you didn’t cringe like you did the first time.”

He shook his head again. “Let’s get the car.”

“I’ve got the camera.” I nodded. “And we need to take pictures. I’ll be sending these by email later. And we need to get postcards.”

“Postcards?” Tony asked.

“We need to send them to both our parents and your sisters.” I nodded. “It’s another rule.” I grinned.

Tony sighed. “Another rule. So why take pictures?” Tony asked.

“The postcards are just a thing I do. We’re some place nice and it’s a chronicle of where we’ve been. We have too many cousins, aunts, and uncles to cover them all.” I explained. “That’s why I created a group on my email address. I download these pictures and send, it goes to all of them.”

“Smart man.” Tony nodded. “We need to stop at the Concierge’s Desk. We’ll need local currency.”

That done we went to where he had told us where our rented car was. A Mini-Cooper. Then we hit the street.

Charleston prided itself on being an old city. It was, but this was much older. There were modern parts to the city, but old Edinburgh was old. And I was glad Tony was driving. He did just fine. We drove to the old parts of Edinburgh. Then we spotted some shops, so he parked and we walked. Who needs an antique shop when the store itself was an antique? Gay tolerance was increasing, no one really seemed to notice or care that we were very obviously together. Tony again had his arm around my shoulder and I rested my hand in his far back pocket as we walked. There were a few stares, but no one reacted adversely. There was a store that specialized in family Crests and Clans. I was amazed at all the different patterns and crests they had there. It was a very old store and going inside, it had a smell that just said, old. A unique smell of wool and wood polish. I found a plaque of the MacKenzie Family crest and got that for Dad. That’s MacKenzie, M.a.c., not M.c. I even found a large bag with our family pattern for Mom to use as a purse. Tony grinned when he saw the rosaries that were definitely Scottish with the Thistle and crucifix. The cross was Scottish…or Gaelic…or Celtic…whatever! He got one for each his mother and father. They even had lots of sweaters, made in Scotland from their Shetland wool! We had to get a couple.

And we took pictures. A lot of pictures. Of the town, where we were, with him featured in a few and me in some others. A few we got someone, usually a street vendor or store owner to take a picture of us to send.

Then Tony stopped suddenly and checked his watch. “It’s High Tea Time.”

“Then let’s do it.” I grinned as he led me to a pub. “In a pub?”

He shrugged. “Why not? Besides, it’s time for dinner.”

“I’m somewhat still on Eastern Standard Time. It’s lunchtime.”

“We’ll eat,” Tony growled.

This was a pub. Not a bar like in the United States, but still they served ales and beer.

The tea was forgotten, we got the pint instead. We were in Scotland! I had my first Belhaven Beer. Warm, of course. It was okay, but I wasn’t a drinker. There I had my first Haggis. I was a farm boy, eating the stomach of anything didn’t bother me, but I had to have one here in Scotland. Haggis and Potato Pie! Tony grimaced when I ordered it, but his opinion changed when it arrived. He had the Balmoral Chicken. Wimp. I loved his look when I told him the chicken was stuffed with haggis. It wasn’t long before he put his fork over and took some of mine.

Everyone was friendly. Staff and customers. We were delighted when a young man, who accidentally bumped Tony when passing heard Tony’s dismissal of the cultural blunder after the man apologized.

“American, huh?” The dark haired man smiled with that Scottish accent. “What part are you from?”

Tony smiled. “Well, I’m from New York City. He’s from Asheville, North Carolina.”

The man smiled wider. “And you came here on holiday?”

“Honeymoon actually,” Tony answered. “We got married last Saturday.”

The man wasn’t bothered or concerned about us being gay. He nodded. “So why here?”

“I’m a McKenzie. I wanted to see where my family came from.” I answered.

The man brightened. “My grandmother is a MacKenzie! I guess that makes us cousins!!”

Tony smiled. “We can always use more cousins.” He chuckled waggling his eyebrows at me.

I nodded. “I guess we are. Mitch McKenzie.” I held my hand out.

“Sean MacDougel.” The man shook mine. “Well…I don’t want to interrupt your dinner. Enjoy your stay!”

After he’d left, I shook my head. “I guess we’re not the predators everyone fears in the South.”

Tony shook his head. “We never were.” Then he looked at his watch. “We got to go back to the hotel. If we’re changing for the Edinburgh Castle thing…”

Thank god for credit cards. Whether it be dollars, pounds or Euros it paid what was necessary. We just told the bank it was going to happen and no problem.

Getting back to the hotel, we entered our suite. I was surprised when there was a basket on our table. Walking toward it, I looked at the contents.

“Ooh, champagne, caviar, crackers…” Tony grinned touching each item.

I chuckled. “Bath beads, lotions, soaps…” I grinned. “…massage oils. It’s a honeymoon basket.”

Tony wrapped his arms around me. “We are on our honeymoon, so it's appropriate.”

I looked at the clock. “We've got an hour and a half to get ready and get there.” I pulled his shirttail out. “We have a little time.”

He grinned at me, kissing me gently. “We do.” He reasoned and pointed out the window. “The castle’s right there.” He grinned. “You want to cause me to make some noise?”

“I love to,” I answered kissing him.

The big military tattoo wouldn’t be until August and happens once a year, but there was a smaller show every week and concerts throughout the year. We just happened to be there the night there was a show of another kind. These were going to be college students tonight. Learning to play the pipe and drums and to perform using them before they could participate in the big gathering, so they practiced now.

They were good. And as always, the drums, the pipes played sent that swell of pride into me. It was in the blood if you felt it. They were good.

The next day we drove to Loch Ness taking a scenic route, avoiding highways when we could and toured where Nessie was supposed to live. Never saw him or her. I did get a few T-Shirts with various comments on them about Nessie. Everything from “I Believe in Nessie” with Nessie on it, to “Cannot Sleep, Nessie will eat me.” There were others. For Nick, David, Michael, Chuck…well you get it. A lot of shirts.

“We’re not taking them back on the plane.” Tony groused as he dropped the stack of shirts in the trunk. “We’ll mail them back to us and deliver by mail, trips…whatever.”

I chuckled. “They will cost us if we put them on the plane.”

He grunted with a nod. And that put us right in the area where the McKenzies came from.

It didn’t take long to travel to the area of Ross-shire. Well, stopping for a picture along the route to take pictures, it took a few hours. We stopped at scenic look over the countryside. It was beautiful. Scotland was green this time of year and it was breathtaking. My problem was I had no town or city to start from. Feeling frustration, I became sullen. Tony picked up on it immediately.

“What’s wrong, honey?” He asked me.

I closed my eyes feeling angry. “When we go to Italy. You will take me to the town your grandfather came from, right?”

He nodded. “You know that. Even the house where three or four generations of Delveccios lived.”

I waved at the countryside. “I don’t even know what village my ancestor came from, or even which McKenzie he was!”

Tony frowned. “Why not?”

“Because they didn’t think it was important!” I said through gritted teeth. “The family goes back to the eighteenth century in America. Pre-revolution. And like most Scottish families, ours in particular, we were very prolific. A lot of sons and daughters. Meaning there were lots of McKenzies. What’s worse is they had no imagination.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Do you know how many Carls, Roberts, Jameses, Earls and all the others there are? And each one of them all had Carls, Roberts, Jameses and Earls and others.” I scratched through my hair. “My grandfather Carl is the son of Thomas, who is the son of Robert…this is in their Bible.” Then I laughed. “But which one!?”

Tony nodded as he put his arm around my shoulder. “Perhaps because my family arrived more recently…our connection with Italy is fresher.” He shook his head. “Okay, so you don’t know what village, but you are Scottish!” He pointed to me. “You are a McKenzie!” Then he waved to the countryside that I pointed to. “Because you know that, you know this is where you came from! I hate to break it to you, but you might be descended from kings, queens, knights, geniuses….but you’re also descended from thieves, rapists, and murderers. We all are.”

I frowned at him. “That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

He chuckled. “Sure, you and I are in the same boat.” He said putting his arms around me. “I love the McKenzies, they gave me you and I love this McKenzie in particular.” He kissed me gently. “You’re better off than a friend I had in high school.”

“Why?”

“He was a dumpster baby,” Tony confessed. “Born and dumped like garbage. They never found his mother or father, he has no idea what ethnicity he is.” He shrugged. “He was biracial but one thing is known, he was born to some woman who didn’t think to keep him was a good idea, for whatever reason.”

I cringed. “That’s a shame. Not the biracial part, but being dumped not knowing.” I clarified. “Ted was…”

Tony was nodding and said. “…biracial.” …with me. “You told me,” Tony grumbled. “He also had a great ass.”

I chuckled and let my hand drift down to his ass. “None is better than yours.”

Tony smiled at that.

I sighed sadly. “But there’s a difference between me and your school friend.” I pointed out. “He doesn’t know because no one knew and told him who he was. We don’t know because the ones that knew didn’t think it was important. It was forgotten.”

Tony shrugged. “And David, Michael, Chuck, and all your other cousins are in that boat.”

I nodded. “It’s just a crime,” I said. “Scottish culture is all about clans, family and knowing their history. To let it be forgotten because you don’t see it as important..that is a crime!.”

Tony nodded. “And I bet all those McKenzie ghosts are giving him hell now.” He chuckled. Then he pointed. “Isn’t that the family castle?”

I nodded with a smile. “That’s Castle Leod. MacKenzie Castle.” I grinned taking his hand.

“So, it’s part of you.”

“There is another in Ireland,” I said to him as we headed to the car.

He looked surprised. “How many castles did you need?” Then he stopped. “If there were McKenzies in Ireland, you could be Irish.”

“That we were told.” I chuckled. “How many castles does the Delveccios have?”

Looked at me with the you’ve got to be kidding look. “We have a house to visit.” He griped.

I chuckled. “The McKenzies are all related, closer than most people if we trace the genealogy. Even the Irish ones. But this one’s bigger. Do you want to see it?”

Tony shrugged. “That is why we’re here.”

I brought him in for a kiss, a slow kiss of passion and love. “That’s one reason. Loving each other is the other reason.”