Walls - 21. February 2016

“CJ!”

“Bloody hell. Again?” Owen smirked before closing his eyes and shaking his head. He and CJ were at The Tombs, having dinner with Levi and Ezra.

“Is he in trouble?” Ezra spoke perfect English with what CJ had already described as a sexy accent. The Israeli man was in the United States for a month visiting Levi.

“I don’t think so. More like he’s popular.” This was the first time Levi socialized with CJ and Owen outside a large group. “Every time he’s been to our office he seems to know everyone and they all know him by name. And the comments I’ve heard from Dr. Harding, Dr. Calhoun, and our head nurse, Helen, make it sound as if it’s the same wherever he goes.”

Owen leaned back in his chair and watched CJ stand. “You have no idea, mate. We were in New York and went to a gym down in Chelsea. We show up to work out, and the owner of the place and one of his personal trainers did the same thing. Whenever CJ walks in, somebody knows him and yells out his name.”

“Shut it, Ozzie. It ain’t that bad, Ezra. Plus, my boyfriend happens to know this guy too.” CJ hugged the good looking young man who had shouted his name. The guy dressed conservatively in khakis and a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up half-way up his muscular forearms. “How the hell are you, Spike? I haven’t seen you in ages. Sit down. Wanna join us for dinner?”

“Sorry, can’t. I’m meeting friends for drinks. How are you, Owen? Did I hear CJ call you his boyfriend? Have you finally made an honest man out of him?”

“Hey, mate. Not sure about the honest part but I’m trying.”

Spike glanced at the other two guys at the table and extended his hand. “Sorry for interrupting, guys. I’m Jacob Cruz but everyone calls me Spike. What’s―”

“My bad! I’m being rude.” CJ shook his head and then pointed at the couple sitting across from him and Owen. Spike, this is Levi Olken, a friend of ours. The good looking guy is Ezra, he’s visiting from Israel.”

“Oh, wow. I’ve always wanted to visit Israel. Mom has talked enough about the summer she spent in a kibbutz while she was in high school. One of these days—”

“You’re Jewish? I didn’t know that.” CJ was surprised he’d never heard about Spike’s mother before. He knew Spike was half-Cuban but had no idea his family was Jewish.

Spike reached for an empty chair from a nearby table and pulled it close. “May as well sit with you guys to wait. So yeah, Dad’s Cuban and I guess Catholic. And Mom’s Jewish. But neither one’s religious. Anyway, that’s how I got my nickname.”

“What do you mean?” Owen looked confused.

“Well, I’m half-spic and half-kike so I became Spike. A teammate in high school started it and it stuck.”

“Geez, Spike, not the most politically correct nickname.” CJ may have shaken his head in disbelief but he couldn’t stop chuckling. “Dude, you’re not going to believe this but I’ll be a freshman at the School of Foreign Service next fall. I took your advice!”

“Fuck, that’s awesome!” Spike raised a hand and high-fived CJ. “I have your e-mail address. I’ll send you some info on professors. There’s a couple you should try and avoid.”

“Cool! That would be great. So, how’s the State Department treating you?”

Spike stood and waved in the direction of the entrance. “Gotta go, my friends are here. I’m not with the State Department, CJ. Here’s my card. I’ll email you and we’ll make plans to get together. I may have some thoughts about where you can work after graduation. Owen, great seeing you again. Levi, Ezra, good meeting you guys. Hope you enjoy your time in Washington, Ezra.”

“Damn!” CJ stared at the business card as Spike walked away, his eyes wide open in surprise. “Fucker’s at the CIA!”

“Great! First he talks you into going to Georgetown and the SFS, now he’s going to convince you to become a spy.” Owen’s comment and eye roll earned him an elbow from CJ.

“Don’t start, Ozzie. I don’t want to hear it. I haven’t even registered for classes yet!”

Ezra’s eyes jumped back and forth between CJ and Owen, a confused look on his face. “How old are you, CJ?”

“Eighteen. My birthday was last month.”

“Wow! I thought you were older. That’s how old Levi and I were when we joined the IDF.”

“What’s that?” Owen opened the menu and peered at Ezra across the top of it.

“The Israeli Defense Force. Our military.”

CJ looked at the dark-haired guy in surprise. “You served in the army with Levi? But I thought you were Palestinian and Christian.”

“I am. But I’m an Israeli citizen. Arabs make up twenty percent of the country’s population.”

“I didn’t know that.” CJ waited for their server to take their order before continuing. “So tell me about Israel. I’d love to visit one day.”

“You would like my country. It’s old and modern at the same time. There’s history, there’s great beaches, the architecture―”

“Ha! If you say there’s good architecture, my boyfriend’s going to book a bloody flight tonight.”

“Hush! No razzing allowed. Go on, Ezra. Ozzie picks on me because I love architecture. I dragged him around all over Australia looking at buildings.”

“I live in Tel Aviv. It’s a modern city with beautiful high rises and modern architecture. Jerusalem’s over 3,000 years old and some of the buildings are almost as old. Although there’s a lot of new construction, Old Jerusalem has streets and alleys paved in stones from Roman days. And of course there’s lots of old churches. Some built during the crusades, some even older.”

“I’m not religious so the churches would only interest me from a historical point of view.”

“Well, you should come visit. Levi goes back every summer to see his family and you could go with him. I work as a tour guide for American and European tourists. I would be happy to show you around.”

• • •

Two days later on Super Bowl Sunday, the house on Prospect Street was filled with young men ready to enjoy the game. CJ’s Squad was out in full force, and he and Owen had invited a handful of the Aussie’s fellow George Mason School of Law students and some of his teammates on the Washington Scandals Rugby Football Club. César and Brett had also invited their group of friends and all but Danno and Trip―who were busy with the crowd at Rogo’s Bar & Grill―showed up.

CJ had convinced his fathers to host the party instead of going to Rogo’s. He even offered to pay for the catering; he had accumulated a healthy balance in his checking account which he did not need in December since his dads footed the bill for the trip to Colorado.

“Stop it, dads!” He’d walked upstairs to fill an ice bucket and found Tank sitting between his dads on the living room couch, with the pre-game show muted on the TV. “You’ve met him already. You don’t have to interrogate my friends, you know? Sorry, Tank. They get a little over protective now and then and insist on playing twenty questions with anyone my brother or I invite to the house.”

“It’s okay, CJ. I don’t mind. Your dads were just trying to find out if I was really gay and if I wanted to spend the night with them.”

“WHAT?”

Brett was the first one to crack and start laughing with César and Tank quickly joining in. CJ stared at them, closed his mouth, and shook his head. “Papa put you up to that, didn’t he?”

“Sorry, bud. But he did say you'd react just the way you did. And anyway, he’s an officer so I had to obey him.”

“Not bad, swabbie. Not bad at all.” Brett high-fived the young man sitting next to him. “Too bad you had to join a secondary service. I get the feeling you would have made a kick-ass marine.”

Forgetting about his errand, a smirking CJ approached the men on the couch. “And why would he want to be a marine instead of a sailor, Papa?” Knowing his father, CJ was certain to elicit a smart assed remark from him.

“Well, you know what they say: ‘the United States Marine Corps, when it absolutely, positively must be destroyed overnight.’ Or something to that effect.”

“Yeah, right. Sure. Anyway, leave my friend alone. Tank, Brad was looking for you. He wants to ask you some questions.”

“Me? About what?”

“You’re the one around here who went through basic training most recently. He’s enlisting after high school and wants an idea of what to expect.” CJ gave Brett an evil look while a pleasant smile formed on his face. “His dad and mine are so old they prolly don’t even remember what the heck they went through.”

“Hey! Tom’s old but I’m not. I remember it all!”

“Whatever, Papa. What… ever.”

The golden anniversary edition of the National Football League’s championship was being held at Levi’s Stadium, home to the San Francisco 49ers, in Santa Clara, California. At half-time, the Denver Broncos―the American Football Conference champions―led the National Football Conference representatives, the Carolina Panthers, by a score of 13-7. Moments before the break in play after the second quarter, there was a mad rush to use the bathrooms. All seven were used but the half-bath with the urinal downstairs proved to be the most popular one.

“Check it out, Chipper! Chris Martin’s wearing a Global Citizen shirt.” CJ pumped his arm in the air while shouting. The lead singer for British band Coldplay started the show on one knee to the side of the mid-field stage and had jumped on it while hundreds of people stormed the field and surrounded the band.

“Oh, man. If we’d known that we could have worn ours.” Chipper had rushed over to bump fists with CJ when his name was called. “We should totally go back for this year’s.”

Ritchie, sitting on the floor next to his brother, looked up at the two older teens. “What’s Global Citizen, guys?”

“It’s a music festival organized by a great non-profit organization, bro”―CJ draped an arm around his brother while moving to the beat of the music―“dedicated to fighting all sorta problems facing the world.”

“They work on improving the environment, equality for women and girls, better educational opportunities, and a bunch of other projects.” Chipper was still up, dancing to “Viva La Vida,” singing along when not talking to Ritchie. “They have this yuuuge concert in Central Park every year. You can’t buy tickets. You have to earn them by completing projects to help their programs.”

“So have you guys been to it?” Ritchie’s head swiveled back and forth between CJ, Chipper, and the TV.

“Chipper’s been there a couple of times. We went with a few friends a couple of years ago. I’ll have to look at my schedule and figure out if we can make it this year. I’m gonna be busy with political stuff around that time. Plus starting school. So I’m not sure if I can make it this fall.”

Although the TV upstairs was tuned to the game, the majority of guests congregated in the basement to watch the show. When Bruno Mars took the stage and was then joined by Beyoncé in a duet of his song “Uptown Funk,” the younger set was up and dancing.

“You can tell they’re in the Bay area.” César elbowed JP to get his attention. “Check out all the rainbow flags, tie-dye shirts, and flowers. It’s like a 1960’s flashback.”

“Mate, I just can’t believe how far we’ve come. Those are actual rainbow flags, not just the colors, at a bloody Super Bowl. Way to go, NFL!”

César grew quiet when clips from previous half-time performances began scrolling on the screen. One of the first ones was of Bruce Springsteen sliding across the stage and CJ immediately looked at his father. When moments later the screen showed Springsteen and the late Clarence Clemons back-to-back silhouetted against a white background, CJ knew it was a bittersweet moment for his father. César had raved often enough about the chemistry between The Boss and The Big Man.

When he looked around again, his dad wasn’t standing in the same spot any longer. CJ realized where his father had gone when a fraction of a second after the show ended and commercials came on, the sound system in the house blared the opening bars of “Thunder Road” at maximum volume.

• • •

“Campeón!” Sebastián Abelló stood in front of the restaurant with his arms open, inviting CJ in for a hug.

“Hi, Abuelo. Where’s everyone else?”

“Inside. Drinking.” The man had already fixed his sight on Ritchie when he replied, holding his arms open once again. “Come here, Ritchie. How about a hug for me?”

The boy smiled and wrapped his arms around the much taller man’s torso. “Hi, Mr. Abelló.”

“It’s great to see you, buddy. But we need to do something about this Mr. Abelló thing. You make me feel like a stranger when you call me that.”

“I… I…” The boy looked at his brother and received a wink from a grinning CJ. “Would it be okay if I call you abuelo too?”

“Of course it’s okay. And I think you better start calling Rosario abuela. We’d both really like that. You too, Owen. You’re as much a part of this family as Ritchie. I mean, you’re still around even though I’m not sure how you put up with CJ.”

CJ put his hands on his waist and glared at his grandfather. “Hey! Don’t you start picking on me, old man.”

“I’ll give you old man. Where are Rod and that beautiful girl of his?”

“He drove us from the airport and since our luggage’s in the rental car, he didn’t want to valet. He and Taisha went to park and the dads went with them. There they are.” CJ pointed down the sidewalk towards the two couples approaching them.

The group now surrounding the elder Abelló left Washington in late afternoon and after landing in Chicago, had driven to the restaurant were both grooms’ families were gathering for dinner.

“Hi, Papi. Is everyone else inside?” César gave his father a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Yes. Let me say hello to my other grandson and his girlfriend and I’ll be in.” The man grasped Brett’s hand and pulled him in for a hug too. “How the hell are you, rubio?”

“Doing well, Sebastián. Doing well.”

CJ followed his brother and boyfriend inside the restaurant and was quickly enveloped in his uncle Rico’s arms. He had a feeling the evening was going to be a hugfest. Rico repeated the greeting with Owen but he held Ritchie by the shoulders and stared him up and down. “You’ve grown, buddy! What the heck are they feeding you? You’re taller than you were when we last saw you over Thanksgiving.”

Ritchie blushed and giggled. “Yeah, I’ve gotten taller. The dads had to buy me a new suit for this weekend. The other one looked real funny when I put it on. The pants and the sleeves were real short.”

“Damn, it’s cold outside!” Brett was removing his overcoat, standing in front of the coat check area. “Why couldn’t these two get married in summer? Like normal people.”

César was behind him and smacked the back of his head. “Quit bitching, Jarhead. Although you have a point. It’s colder here than it was in Colorado back in December. At least it isn’t snowing.”

“That’s coming, Dad. Forecast says it’ll snow most of the day tomorrow. So where’s everybody else?” CJ peeked into the main dining room but didn’t recognize anyone.

“They’re all upstairs. We have twenty people here tonight so we have a private room.” Rico offered his arm to Taisha after kissing her on both cheeks. “Come on, follow me.”

Even though the temperature was frigid and it was a weeknight, Carmine’s was crowded. Its location on Chicago’s Rush Street may have had something to do with it. From previous visits to the city, CJ knew the street and surrounding ones were a haven for tourists and locals alike looking for nightlife. With a high concentration of bars and restaurants, the area attracted people year round.

“CJ! Ozzie!” Randy and Tyler both shot out of their chairs when the new arrivals entered the room. CJ wasn’t sure which one called out to him and which one shouted Owen’s name. He and his boyfriend were smothered by the grooms before Randy and Tyler moved on to greet the rest of the group.

An arm draped across CJ’s shoulders, Tyler steered him towards a group of people CJ had never met. “Hey, guys, I want you to meet CJ. You all know he’s Randy’s cousin and he’s one of my favorite Abellós.”

“And what? The rest of us are chopped liver?” César stood behind his son, extending his arm to shake hands. “Hi, I’m César.”

Introductions took a while to complete while a server walked around taking drink orders. Tyler’s parents, two grandfathers, one grandmother, a sister, and a younger brother had all heard about the Washington branch of the Abelló family and appeared to enjoy meeting the people they had been told about.

CJ ended up sitting between Owen and Wesley Scott―Ty’s brother and one of two best men at the upcoming wedding―talking to them while trying to pay attention to the other conversations going on around him. César was talking with Tyler’s parents while Taisha and the groom’s sister apparently hit it off. Snippets of their comments about the Scotts and Abellós reached his ears and he assumed they were gossiping about the two families.

“How’s your lamb chop?”

CJ used a napkin to wipe his mouth before replying to Wes. “Awesome! But my favorite’s the roasted potatoes, carrots, and onions. I could eat a plate of the stuff by itself.”

“Are you a closet vegetarian?”

“Dude, really? You’re asking me if I’m in the closet about anything? I blew the hinges off the damn doors when I was fifteen!” Next to him, Owen started coughing and CJ reached over to pat his back. “You okay, Ozzie?”

“Give me a minute, mate. Last bite went down the wrong way.” Owen leaned forward and looked at Wesley with a grin on his face. “CJ and closet don’t belong together in the same sentence, mate. I wasn’t around at the time but I’ve heard stories. My boyfriend came out to his entire high school a short time after he started his tenth grade. And he’s not looked back. When we were in Colorado in December, he made it a point to tell anyone who even smiled at me I was his boyfriend. Didn’t matter if it was a guy or a girl. He made sure they knew we were a couple.”

“Jealous much, CJ?” Wesley’s laughter made a few of the relatives glance at him for a moment. “And speaking of Colorado, I’m pissed I wasn’t invited to your birthday party.”

“Dude, I just met you! How the fuck was I supposed to invite you?” CJ shook his head and chuckled. He realized the three of them seemed to be having as much or more fun as the other guests. Their laughter was definitely louder.

“I don’t give a shit! Hell, you should be inviting me to Washington and Miami too. Every time Ty goes anywhere you guys are, he comes back raving about what a great time he had.”

“You do realize you’d end up hanging out with mostly gay men if you came to Washington, right?”

“Really, CJ?’ Wesley looked around the table and you could tell he was counting the way he kept folding fingers over. “The way I see it, there’s at least six gay men at this table. That means over twenty-five percent. Tomorrow, my brother marries your male cousin and I’m Ty’s best man. Why the fuck do you think I’d care about how many gay guys went to Colorado or hang around your place in Washington.”

“I… I don’t know.” CJ felt embarrassed and upset with himself. “I guess that was pretty stupid. I keep saying people shouldn’t care and here I am making a big deal because you’re willing to do exactly what I wish everyone would do. Sorry.”

“Screw sorry. You make it up to me by inviting me to hang out sometime soon.”

“How about we start tomorrow night? I hear a few of Randy’s and Ty’s friends are planning an outing to Boystown. It’ll prolly be all gay bars.”

“Too late, bud. That invite doesn’t count. I’m already planning on going. And I understand you and your boyfriend won’t mind me bringing a little something something to smoke.”

CJ’s face lit up and he raised his fist to bump with Wesley. “Fucking A!”

• • •

Brett pressed the elevator button for their floor and rested his head against the door after it closed. “I’m exhausted!”

“What’s the problem, Papa? Old age catching up with you?” CJ’s snarky grin and comment earned him a pinch to the butt from Owen and elicited giggles from Ritchie. César just rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Don’t pick on your father, mate.” Owen lowered his voice to a stage whisper. “He must have drunk at least a bottle by himself. He was pounding the wine like it was water.”

“Screw both of you! You too, Ritchie. For giggling.” Brett jumped back when the doors to their floor opened. His surprised expression broke the dam and the rest of the guys gave in to laughter.

The Park Hyatt on Michigan Avenue―a luxury boutique hotel―offered breathtaking views of Chicago and Ritchie couldn’t stop staring out the window of the sitting area. He and the dads were sharing a two bedroom suite while CJ and Owen had a separate room across the hallway.

“Everything okay, buddy?” Brett stood behind the boy, staring at the twinkling city lights over Ritchie’s head.

“Yes, sir. But I’m tired too.”

“Well then, I guess it’s time to call it a night. Come knock on our door if you need anything, okay?”

“Yes, sir. Good night, Captain.”

Brett kissed the top of the kid’s head and walked to his own room, closing the door while taking off his shirt―the overcoat and jacket had already been discarded atop an armchair the moment they’d walked into the room.

“How are you doing, Jarhead?” César was already stripped and in the process of carrying their toiletry bags to the bathroom.

“Tired, very tired. I’m ready for sleep. Hey, what were you and Ty’s father talking about there at the end?”

“He was complimenting me―us really―on how well behaved CJ and Ritchie are. And how much he’d enjoyed talking to them. He wanted to know how we’d gotten two teenagers to be so comfortable dealing with adults.”

“So what’d you tell him?”

“The usual… We treat them with respect. We’re always honest with them. And we make it clear we expect the same in return. And I admitted we couldn’t take all the credit. Although Lourdes and Rich may not have been the best of parents, they did some things right. Even though I’ve been part of CJ’s life since I found out about him, I wasn’t there on a day-to-day basis. His mother and step-father deserve a little praise.”

“Not too much though. The guy was a dick.”

“I’m going to take a shower, wanna join me?”

“Yeah, give me a minute.” Brett was taking their suits out of the garment bag and hanging them in the closet. “We’re gonna have to iron out a few wrinkles on these suckers before the wedding.”

“You can iron if you want. I suck at it. I’d rather have the hotel press them for us. Anyway, the other thing Mr. Scott mentioned was how mature CJ was for his age.”

“You mean our curse? Having a kid who’s barely legal but acts like he’s our age?”

“Yeah. I told him about how we’ve allowed CJ to travel alone. How we felt it was good for him to experience other people and places on his own. And how we would be doing the same with Ritchie as he gets older.”

“That’s the way it should be. It’s a big planet out there, full of adventure. Being helicopter parents would leave the kids unprepared to face real world issues. Too many people put things on the shelf and wait to explore until they’re old. We’re lucky money’s not an issue with us. We can have our sons travel and experience things.”

“I think even if we had no money we’d be doing the same, Jarhead. You don’t need to fly off to Australia or South Florida. As long as we get them out there, even day trips around Washington, dealing with different people is the best way for them to learn.”

• • •

Cold winds, snow, and single digit temperatures on Friday limited the amount of time the guys spent outdoors. The one thing Ritchie expressed an interest in doing was seeing Wrigley Field and Owen concurred. He had enjoyed the tour of Fenway Park in Boston and the games he had attended at Nationals Park in Washington. The Aussie had become a baseball fan in his short time in the United States.

César and Brett decided to hang out with their sons and were joined by Rod and Taisha for the excursion to Boystown and the iconic baseball stadium. This was Taisha’s first trip to Chicago and she wanted to get a feel for the city. The visitors from Washington enjoyed lunch at The Signature Room at the 95^th in the John Hancock Center but missed out on the customary great views due to an overcast sky and falling snow.

“What are you doing tonight when the boys go out, Taisha?” César had come to like the woman a lot over the time she’d been working as Brett’s assistant. And the way she and his nephew related to each other made him think there would be another Abelló wedding in the foreseeable future. CJ listened to his father’s conversation while trying to also pay attention to Owen and Rod bringing up the rear.

“I’m going out with Ty’s sister and a few of their girlfriends. What about you and the captain? Are you guys going out bar hopping with the boys?”

“Nah… We don’t want Ritchie thinking we’re stuck with him and unable to party because of it.” CJ was walking behind his father and Taisha and smiled when he heard how concerned César was about not making Ritchie feel left out. “So we made it clear tonight was for the younger crowd. We’ll go out to dinner with Lynne, Rico, and my parents and then we’ll figure something out.”

In the early evening, CJ and Owen caught the L back to Boystown and the house owned by Randy and Tyler. Rod and Wes, along with a handful of friends of the grooms met them there and the group braved the cold heading out to dinner. They returned to the brownstone to pre-party and someone broke out a couple of joints. Before heading out again to hit the bars, CJ texted his fathers, letting them know he and Owen might crash at his cousin’s place.

In an exuberant mood, the group headed out an hour before midnight. They bar hopped until closing time with CJ’s fake ID passing muster without problem. By the end of the evening, even the straight guys had removed their shirts and were on the dance floor, gyrating to the music and enjoying themselves.

When they at last called it a night, Owen collapsed on the bed and was asleep, still wearing his jeans and sweatshirt, before CJ had taken his clothes off. The younger man snuggled next to his boyfriend and was asleep before he realized it.

• • •

Ritchie tugged on CJ’s suit sleeve until his brother lowered his head close to his own. “This is weird. The weddings I went to with Mom and Dad were real different.”

“How so?”

“They have all these tables in here and I guess we get to sit first?”

CJ glanced at the small cards in his hand, each one had a table number below their names. “Yep. And there’s our spot.” He pointed to where his dads and Taisha were already sitting.

“But there’s like no aisle for the bride to walk down!” Ritchie’s innocent, surprised comment made CJ laugh.

“For real, bro? And which one of them’s supposed to be the bride?”

“Oh…”

“That’s right, kiddo. No bride. Here, you can sit between me and Ozzie.” CJ pulled back a chair motioning with his head for his brother to take it. “Anyway, Randy and Ty explained what they were planning last night. They want their wedding to be different. Having the bride walk down the aisle with her dad’s an old tradition. Dating back to when a father gave his daughter away to another man. They said since neither one of them was a piece of property to be handed over, they didn’t want to do anything implying one of them was inferior to the other one. Like when a woman admits she belongs to her dad and accepts being passed to her husband-to-be.”

“Watch it, buster! I may want to walk down the aisle the day I get married but that doesn’t mean I belong to either my father or the groom.” No doubt Taisha was listening to the conversation. “But now you got me thinking I may want to do it by myself.”

Brett chuckled at her comment. “Crap! Now your family’s going to think we screwed up your mind.”

“I don’t think so, Captain. They already know I have a mind of my own. You should have seen their reaction when I cussed out one of my cousins at a family gathering. The jerk made a comment about me being a traitor ’cause I’m dating Rod and he’s not black.”

“Jeez! In this day and age? My friend Thiago had a similar problem with his old girlfriend. She complained all his friends were white. So, what did you say?” CJ shook his head in disbelief.

“CJ, you’re growing up in a family that doesn’t care about skin color, social standing, or sexual orientation. You’re lucky. But prejudice’s alive and well in America. You hear it from political candidates, hidden in generic comments. All you have to do’s pay attention to the crap coming out of the orange Teletubby’s mouth or some of his fellow Republicans. You hear it straight forward from people like my cousin. And don’t even get me started on social media. Anyway, I said I wanted an apology on the spot or I was walking out. And I swore I’d never go back if the rest of the family allowed racists like my cousin around.”

CJ extended his arm in front of his dads to bump fists with the woman. “Way to go, Taisha!”

The actual ceremony was short, Randy and Tyler had written a joint vow and the minister from the Metropolitan Community Church guided them through it. Wesley and Rodney stood with their brothers serving as best men. After pronouncing them married, but before inviting the grooms to kiss, the minister asked everyone in the room to stand and raise a glass in a toast to the newly wedded couple.

While loud applause and cheering rang throughout the banquet hall, the sound of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” coming from the speakers placed around the room brought even larger smiles to the two men. It was the song they’d selected for their first dance.

• • •

“How you feeling, Oz?” CJ kicked off his shoes and hung up his coat while Owen headed for the bathroom. They’d decided to skip the after-hours club most of the gay men at the ceremony had headed to when the party was over.

“Pretty good. I noticed you didn’t do a lot of drinking tonight either.” Owen shouted to be heard above the toilet flushing.

“Last night was enough for me. What’d you think of the whole thing?”

“I liked it. And I liked the way you explained the differences from traditional weddings to Ritchie. I agree with you. It’s silly for gay men to follow conventions which make no sense for them.”

“Hell, even Taisha agreed with me. I think when she and Rod get married it’ll be a different type of event too.”

“You think they’ll end up getting married?”

“Oh, please. Those two will be married and she’ll be spitting out kids before the end of the year.”

“I sure hope so! It’ll be fun to have a baby in the family.”