Before And After the Divorce - 31. The Date, and the Plans

I had to wait for an answer from Colton because the boys were so excited. I shushed them, but Colton and I looked like two Cheshire cats while waiting for them to calm down.

Colton took my hand in both of his. The smile he wore could have lit up the room. "Dylan, I would be honored to be your husband. Thank you. Yes, I will marry you. The rings are beautiful."

My hands shook as I slid the ring onto his finger. I held the box out toward him, and he took the other ring and placed it on my finger. We leaned across the table to seal our engagement with a kiss.

The boys whooped in delight, drawing the attention of the patrons at other tables. I didn't care. I kissed him again. That elicited quiet applause from the two adjacent tables. They heard the proposal and response. I was filled with so much joy. I turned to them, nodded, and smiled in thanks.

I returned my attention to my new fiancé. "I love you, Colton. I will do everything I possibly can to make you happy."

His beautiful dark eyes held my gaze. "I am already happy, Dylan. I am very glad you decided to sit with me when we first met. We would not be here right now if you had not decided to do that."

"Well, if you weren't staring at me, I probably wouldn't have done anything. I was so afraid of beginning another relationship, but it was the best decision I ever made, going to talk to you."

"Second best. Deciding to propose makes all other decisions pale in comparison."

I kissed him again.

"Daddy?"

I had almost forgotten the boys were here. "Yes, Dominic?"

"Does that mean Jiho and I will really be brothers?"

I looked at Colton a moment longer before responding, "Stepbrothers initially, but I can imagine making you brothers legally."

Colton smiled even wider. "You would adopt Jiho?"

"I would be happy to. I know I'm not replacing Anakin as a father, but I would like to attempt to fill in if I could. And you both would allow me to."

Jiho answered first. "I'd be happy to call you Father. Can I start now?"

My heart nearly burst with happiness, and tears welled in my eyes. I glanced at Colton. His eyes glimmered with moisture, too. He nodded. "Yes, Jiho. You can call me Dad, like Dominic does, if you prefer something less formal, but I’m happy with Father."

Jiho bounced in his seat, and Dominic whisper-shouted, “woo-hoo!”

Shortly after that, our food came. I was still drying the tears that flowed after Jiho's query. Colton and I somehow got food into our mouths while staring at each other. Dominic and Jiho were watching us so closely, it's a wonder how anybody ate. After a while, things started to return to normal, then the couple at the next table got up to leave and stopped by.

"That was a beautiful moment. We wish you all the luck in the world."

Both Colton and I thanked them. The other couple that had applauded earlier smiled and nodded to us as they left. The waiter brought us two glasses of champagne and refilled the boy's sodas.

"Compliments of the house."

We also thanked the waiter and were all finally able to finish our meals.

When we got home, Dominic asked to speak with me alone. So, we ventured into the cone of silence, my bedroom.

"I think it's really neat that you're going to marry Mr. Kang, and that Jiho wants to call you Dad. I don’t know why, but that would seem weird to me if I called Mr. Kang that. What do you think I should call him?"

I rubbed my jaw. "You've been going back and forth between Dad and Daddy with me lately. But I think he would like it if you called him Abeoji. You will have to ask him if that’s okay."

"Yeah, I wasn't thinking Korean, but that’s perfect! Thanks, Dad." Dominic hugged me tightly.

"You're welcome.” I ruffled his hair and kissed his head. “So, you're okay with us getting married?"

"Yeah. I get to have a real brother, and I already like him a lot. Well, I like Abeoji a lot too. I know he makes you happy."

We went back out to the living room. Colton raised an eyebrow in question.

Dominic’s nervous tic of tapping his thighs was apparent as he sat next to Colton. "I didn't know what to call you. I didn't want to use Father like Jiho. Dad suggested something else. Is it okay if I call you Abeoji?"

"Yes Dominic. I would be most proud for you to call me Abeoji."

"Thanks, Abeoji. Can we do a group hug?"

We all felt that was a wonderful idea. The hug lasted more than a minute. Later, after the boys went to bed, Colton questioned me when I decided to ask him.

"After we chatted about Anakin. It was when we held each other and cried together."

"But did you not need to order the rings ahead of time?"

"I would have had to wait to ask you if I couldn't find anything Monday when I went looking. But these were in stock and the right sizes. We'll order matching wedding bands later."

"This is why you were happier all week than I have seen you before."

I shrugged. "Yes. I wanted to surprise you."

"You accomplished that. But it was a very nice surprise. I believe we should celebrate the engagement in our very special way tonight."

With an evil grin, I replied, "I think you're right."

I wrapped my arms around Colton and led him to our bed. We kissed passionately for a few minutes, then began to undress each other. I removed his shirt, and he removed mine. I removed his undershirt, and he followed likewise. We continued trading the removal of a single garment until we were both naked. We made love quietly but were still passionate. We lay together afterward.

"I love you so much, Colton. Every time we make love, it just gets better and better."

"I love you too, Dylan. I feel the same way about our lovemaking. If it continues like that, we will die of happiness. But not anytime soon, please."

I grinned. "No, not anytime soon."

Saturday

Colton and I woke up early but stayed in bed a little longer. We had to test our theory about our making love improving each time. We agreed we were still on the upswing. Colton left for work, and I missed him immediately. When the boys got up, we had breakfast together.

Mid-morning, my cell phone rang. I had to look for it; I didn’t remember where it was. It was Dave.

"You dog, you. Congratulations. When were you going to tell me?"

"I was planning on calling you and Dad later this morning. How the hell did you find out?"

"Where was your cell phone this morning?"

"On the living room... table..."

We both said "Dominic" at the same time. I looked at the text message history, and there it was from earlier that morning:

Hi Uncle Dave, it's Dominic. Dad and Mr. Kang are getting married.

Are they? When did this happen?

Dad asked him last night.

Good for him. Are you happy about it?

Yeah!!! K, I gotta tell Grandpa now. Bye.

LOL, bye.

I went back to the main messages page and saw a similar interaction with my Dad. No sooner had I finished reading it and disconnected with Dave when my phone rang again.

"Hi, Dad. I see Dominic beat me to the punch with you. too."

Dad chuckled. "That he did. Congratulations. I knew this was going to happen. A little quicker than I was figuring, but it didn't surprise me in the least."

We chatted for a while, and he closed by indicating he would come by later to congratulate Colton, too.

I tried to sound angry, "Dominic!"

He slunk into the living room with his eyes directed at the floor. When he looked up at me, he saw through my false anger and smiled. "Hi, Daddy."

"I guess my angry voice didn't fool you."

"Only for a minute. You're not mad, are you?"

"No. Telling Uncle Dave and Grandpa the news confirms that you're just as happy about it as I am. Come over here and give me a hug."

He bounded across the room, launching himself the last two feet into my lap. Jiho entered the room a moment later.

"Is this a solo hug, or can anyone join in?"

"Get over here."

I had one boy on either side of me. One arm wrapped around each. I could have sat like that for hours. The boys quickly got antsy, and then asked if they could play video games. Oh, well. At least I had those few minutes.

When Colton got home from work, after a long hello kiss, we started talking about the next steps.

"Would you want to go to the jewelry store tomorrow to look at wedding bands?"

"That would be fine, Dylan. We must also decide on the type of ceremony we desire. I do have a request in that regard."

"Anything you want, if I can do it, you know I will."

"Anakin insisted on a simple, civil ceremony. I would prefer a more traditional Korean ceremony. While there are no gay traditions, I would still like to follow the basic process."

"I think that's a great idea! I already had a traditional wedding with Lacy.” I had no idea what a Korean wedding ceremony was like, but I was curious. “I'll need a lot of guidance on what to do, but if that's what you want, we'll do it."

Colton’s posture relaxed. I saw how much this meant to him. "Thank you very much. It is what I would like. I know my parents will appreciate it as well."

"Yes, I know how close you are to your parents. I want to make all three of you happy."

"You are most wonderful. I am afraid to ask for more."

"Don't be afraid. Like I said, if I can do it, I will."

"I have a brother in South Korea, Shi-Woo, whom I have not seen in a very long time. I know we have not discussed finances or a budget yet, but I would like to bring my brother here for the ceremony. Plane tickets can be expensive, and I do not wish to presume it is alright with you.”

I was surprised. "You never mentioned you had a brother."

"I did not believe I would ever see him again. He chose to stay in Korea. It saddened my parents, and I refrained from mentioning him to keep them from being upset. I am sorry."

My heart went out to the Kangs. I couldn’t imagine being so far away from Dominic and never seeing him. "No. I don't have a problem with your brother coming over. Whatever it takes, do it. I’ll help with the cost of the plane fare, if necessary. I'd be happy to do that for you."

Colton smiled. "Thank you. I knew you were a wonderful man. This is more than I could have ever hoped for. My parents will be very happy."

I had an idea. "Would you and your brother be willing to surprise them?"

"How would we do this?"

"We won't tell them he's coming. When he arrives, we bring him to the house to see them."

"I do not know. I will have to think about that. Although it is an interesting idea."

Sunday

We dropped the boys off at Dad’s on our way to the store. The man who sold me the rings on Monday was there again. We discovered he owned the place.

After seeing the rings on our fingers, he welcomed us. “Is this the happy couple?”

Colton answered, “Very happy, yes.”

“I take it you like the rings then? I’m glad.”

“Yes, they are beautiful. We would like to look at wedding bands if you do not mind.”

The owner beamed, “I’d be happy to.”

He explained the types of rings we could get and showed us some samples. After looking at nearly a dozen styles, we decided on simple gold bands with diamond chips spaced all along the ring. He didn’t have our sizes in stock but said they would take seven to ten days and asked if that timing was okay.

I answered, “Yes, we haven’t decided on a date yet. Neither of us is pregnant, so we don’t need a shotgun wedding.”

He laughed at my joke and said he would call when they were in. We bade him farewell and went to pick up the boys. It had been a few weeks since we’d been to the spa, so we decided to go. They were happy with that choice.

Dad came along too, wanting to see more than the same four walls of the condo. Afterward, he took us to dinner to celebrate our engagement. It wasn’t Valentino’s, but he did splurge a little and chose a fairly nice place.

Tuesday

Colton had the day off, so he investigated what it would take to bring his brother over for a visit. After some investigation, he emailed Shi-Woo explaining what we wanted to do. Because of the time difference, Colton suggested a Skype call between six and seven PM our time, which would be between eight and nine AM tomorrow morning in Goyang, a suburb of Seoul.

Colton left his laptop open on the coffee table in the living room. At just after six, we heard the ringing of the Skype app. After a long greeting in Korean, Colton introduced me to his brother.

Shi-Woo only spoke some English but expressed his happiness visually well. “It is very good of you to invite me, Dylan. I will be happy to come if the timing is right.”

“We don’t have a specific timeframe in mind. We can choose a date that is convenient for you.” Colton repeated my words in Korean.

He smiled. “That would be most generous, gamsahabnida, thank you.”

I left Colton so he could catch up with Shi-Woo, retrieving Jiho so he could speak with his uncle. When they finished, Colton said his brother could come for three weeks any time after May twenty-ninth. After researching flight options, I found a reasonable fare, departing Seoul on May 31st and returning on June 21st. Colton had Shi-Woo’s passport information, so we booked the flights and emailed him the itinerary. His brother would need the information to apply for a tourist visa. I charged the ticket to my credit card and told Colton it was a wedding gift. His look of gratitude was worth the cost.

We decided to hold the big event on June 8th. Colton took care of the wedding plans, including our gowns, or hanbok, and the facility, soup to nuts. All we had to do was wait for the day.

Next up – “The Visit, The Wedding, and The Future”