Makarovia? Where The Hell Is That? Freshman Year - 8. Chapter 8

“Good evening. I’m Anderson Cooper.” Anderson said to the camera. “You are watching this because you heard or saw reports that a very unique marriage is in the works as a member of a royal family, a prince is marrying a man from the United States. I will introduce you.” He waved to Peter, who sat on the couch next to me. “This is Prince Petro Ivanov of Makarovia.” He nodded to Peter. “I want to thank you for letting me in to give this…” Anderson gave a sort of shrug as he couldn’t explain it any other way, “…situation a voice. You are a prince.”

Peter nodded. “I am.”

“Beside him is Eric Richards who is an American.”

I nodded. “Born and raised.”

“On the other side of Prince Petro sits his mother, Queen Alla Ivanov of Makarovia who…” Anderson smiled, “tells me, not only do you not object to this marriage but support your son’s choice in marriage.”

Queen Alla nodded with a smile. “I most certainly do.” Hearing her speak English, I heard the accent like Peter had. “My son loves Eric. Why would I object to my son’s choice in who he loves?”

Anderson nodded. “I agree, but…most people are surprised hearing this. Marriage for those of us who want this with someone the same gender was a hard-won victory to even have that right. It wasn’t until the turn of this century did the idea of a woman marrying a woman…a man marrying a man was accepted.” He waved at Peter and me. “But saying that a member of a royal family…that’s very…unusual; you two will be the first in known history.” He smiled. “So, let me start with…and just to get this out of the way. There is a growing international military presence consisting of several nations growing in Makarovia. Do you know what that’s about?”

Peter nodded smiling. “We do, my brother King Olek will be telling about that on Friday.”

Anderson nodded. “Okay, moving on…” he grinned. “How did you two meet?”

“We attend the same university.” Peter took my hand smiling. “It was because they feared my use of the English language would lack…some ability to translate, that we were assigned to the same project.”

“And that’s another question!” Anderson said. “How does an American boy…raised in the South, manage to speak Makarovian!?” He asked incredibly. “Fluently!”

“My grandmother,” I answered. “She was raised in Kiev in Ukraine. She danced with the Bolshoi in Moscow until she defected to the United States. She spoke Russian and Ukrainian. She and my mother insisted I learn to as well. Except for some words and pronunciation is a little different with some words, it’s basically the same language.”

“That almost sounds like it was planned,” Anderson said.

I smiled. “Who’s to say it wasn’t?”

“Makarovia stands alone in their approach to differences in human nature where it comes to this sort of relationship,” Anderson said.

Queen Alla gave a tilt of her head. “It’s not that different, nor is it perverse or deviant. When there are love and respect, it’s what we’re made to do; find someone to spend our lives with. It’s simply part of being human. You spend five minutes with Peter and Eric and that is more than evident.” She smiled. “When I met Peter’s father, King Olek the first, his country’s view of the world was just one of the reasons I was glad to be a part of Makarovia.” She leveled a look at Anderson. “The real concern about this in royal families is the successful birth of future rulers. There are more ways now to see that it happens. The fact is; future leaders were bred, raised and educated in times where that was difficult. That isn’t a concern now. Peter found someone to share his life with.” She shrugged. “Choosing someone that is equally raised is not the deciding factor now. I know Eric will be a good addition to Makarovia. That choice should not be because of beliefs, race or even gender.”

Anderson was nodding the whole time Queen Alla spoke and his smile grew the more he heard. “Eric is going to a prince, right?” Anderson asked both Queen Alla and Peter.

Peter nodded and took my hand. “He will be.”

Anderson nodded again. “It’s just never been done.”

“Now, it is.” Queen Alla said simply.

The discussion went briefly to my family’s history and Peter’s history. I was very pleased to see…whatever Peter had felt before the interview, was gone. Now sat a confident, smart and articulate man…no pauses to gather his thoughts…no “ums” or “wells.” Peter knew what he needed to say and didn’t retreat once! At the end, some plans for Makarovia were discussed. Anderson did what he said. He talked more about the marriage and future plans, but less about the gay aspect. He did allude to the fact that I was American, a commoner, and an outsider; the gay aspect was just one issue that made our upcoming marriage noteworthy and controversial.

“Now, we’ve all been told about this first in history,” Anderson said. He leaned forward and stuck his hand out to us. “Thank you again…for letting me be the one to tell this amazing event about to happen.” He smiled. “I know there’s something very big happening in Makarovia that has nothing to do with this marriage. I know things are going to be good for you. Good wishes to both of you in the future.”

Peter nodded. “Thank you.” He leaned in and kissed me. “It will be very good.” He hugged me to his side as he smiled.

We all saw the red light go out. All of us, including Anderson, sighed when that happened.

Anderson nodded appreciatively. “And we’re done.” He stood up and smiled. “That was a great interview. I look forward to hearing more.”

I was pleased to see Peter was smiling. His mother, however, was smiling bigger and hugged Peter. “You were fantastic!” She said kissing Peter on the cheek. “I don’t need to know how or why, but you were perfect!” She said hugging her son again.

Peter smiled a bit bashful. “That was pretty nice.”

Then I realized Penelope Baldwin was still here. “Ms. Baldwin! I’m sorry, I forgot you were here!”

She nodded smiling. “And that’s the way I will always be. I assist and don’t intrude.”

“I’ll say.” I nodded. “You’ve been great!”

Peter nodded in agreement. “Go home, Ms. Baldwin. Thank you.”

“That’s why I’m here. Trust me, there will be plenty of requests to sort through in the morning.” She chuckled and cocked her head. “And, could you call me Penny?”

“Sure…Penny.” Peter smiled and turned to me. “Now, if you’ll all excuse us. I want to spend some time with my future husband.” He took my hand. “Excuse us.”

Up in our room, he closed the door by pressing me against it as he gave me a smoldering kiss as his hands came up and around me. “Now, to keep my promise.” He said as he began pulling on my shirt to get it out of my pants and at the same time he was pulling on my belt to get rid of that as well.

“The only promise I will ever hold you to…” I said as he went from my lips to my neck and began to nibble and kiss sending volts of lightning through me. “You promise to always love me?”

Peter grabbed me and moved us back to the bed. “I promise.”

“I will hold you to that,” I said enjoying the sensations but brought his face up to kiss him one long moment. “I will always love you.”

He grinned. “You promise?”

“Oh, yes!” I promised as he pulled my pants down and slowly gave me what I gave him right before the interview. Damn, he was good.

Whatever he was dealing with, he was suddenly…passionate! The man was on fire! He and I enjoyed a good sex life, but NOW!!! I don’t know how many times I came, I lost count for him. We started out on the bed, then in the shower and then the bed again. He did insist I do what I loved and did what he loved. Finally, we climaxed together one last time, but we’d done it so often that night, there was nothing to come out, hardly. We were left panting to catch our breaths.

“Damn,” I said hoarsely, rolling back nearly out of breath holding my head against the swirling dizziness. It wasn’t uncomfortable, it was very satisfying. “That…” I said, “…was…intense.” I propped up looking down at him as he smiled nodding. “What just happened to you!?”

He looked a little…he didn’t know? “We were…with that…Anderson guy.” He shook his head. “I just…had this urge…I needed you right then. I wanted you so badly.”

I smiled kissing him. “I’m always going to be with you, you can have me whenever you want.” I chuckled and looked at his grey-green eyes. “Sex is never bad with you, but that was over the top!” I put my nose to his chest hairs and down into his armpit, which he didn’t mind at all. He even moved so I would have better access.

“Okay.” Peter smiled. “I don’t care, but what is it that you get by doing this?”

“You,” I said simply.

“Me.” He repeated. “I’m sort of sweaty.”

I nodded. “That’s when it’s the strongest,” I explained. “I want to take as much of you into me as possible. You have a distinct odor.”

“Not a bad odor, obviously.” He said logically.

“No. It’s just you.”

“Okay.” He smiled. “Knock yourself out.” He said raising his arms up to give me a choice. “One more thing.” He said with a tone of seriousness. “You know I need you.”

I nodded. “I hope so.”

“I never felt so…confident as I did tonight.” He kissed me. “That’s because of you.”

“I’ll be here whenever you need me.”

In the morning, I came down to see Queen Alla sitting enjoying her coffee. She was a real queen. Dressed in a nice robe and her hair done, she smiled at me, her eyes were telling me she knew what happened last night.

“Good morning.” She greeted putting her coffee down. “I trust you two got some sleep last night.” Yes, she knew.

I looked at her surprised. “Were we too loud?”

She shook her head. “No.” She took a breath. “My son…” she thought carefully and said, “…is very sensitive.” Then she laughed lightly. “I’m not telling you something you don’t know. You know him better than anyone…even me.” She said a little sadly.

“I don’t…” I began to defend against that.

“No!” She smiled. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be.” She said simply. “The two of you chose to be that one person in each other’s lives.” She said. “It was for me and his father. I knew him better than anyone…except maybe his first wife.” She smiled at the memory. “There were times…I would be jealous sometimes of her…but she bore him Olek. She was a Russian woman like me.”

“I love one that’s mostly Russian.” I smiled.

“We are all mostly Russian.” Queen Alla said. “Peter’s great-great-grandmother fell in love with a Russian Nobleman.” She leaned in. “She asked him to marry her.” She said nodding as my eyes grew.

“That was sort of brazen.”

“For the time…maybe…but she was Queen.” Queen Alla said. “But she did it. That’s why the last name is Ivanov.” She explained. “He agreed to marry her if she took his name.” She said. “My Olek, Olek the first, was also very sensitive. The reason I bring it up…my Olek became…” she again thought of a way to say it, “not dependent, but…he needed me. I see that Peter needs you just like his father needed me.” She looked again to the heavens. “When he got this acne…it was just one more thing after his father’s death to drive him into himself. What I saw last night!” She shook her head. “He really needs you.”

I frowned. “He’s a grown, very capable man, but…I don’t want to baby him too much.”

“I know.” She smiled. “My Olek was that way, too. I know Peter’s success at the interview was because of you.”

“I promised Peter, and I will assure you; I will always be with him,” I said.

“He’s very happy.” She smiled at me. “He has that love in life at last. That’s what I’ve always wanted for him.” She said pulling me over and kissing me on the cheek. Queen Alla and I backed away from each other when Peter walked in and froze.

“Okay, were you both talking about me?”

“Yes, we were.” His mother answered simply. “But you’re not allowed to ask about what.”

I smiled at Peter. “I’m learning a lot about this family. I’m glad you invited me in it.”

“Okay,” Peter said coming over kissing his mother on the cheek. “How long are you staying, Mom?”

“I have to leave tomorrow.” She sighed. “I’m talking with some people about some medical support for Makarovia. In time, we’ll have the money to improve medical coverage…until then…we have to have people willing to do it.”

“Aren’t the military coming in bringing their own medical people?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes, for them.” She shook her head. “But more serious cases that occur are simply flown out. We need people for our people.”

Peter shrugged. “Well, we’ll spend the day with you. Take you to lunch or anywhere you want to go.”

“Don’t you have school today?” She asked a little worried.

“One day without all those lectures…we’ll be fine.” Peter said a little sourly. “It’s cold out.”

Queen Alla let out a short breath to say; big deal. “It’s cold in Makarovia. I’m used to it. We can do lunch, but it might be better to stay here after that.”

It was later that we came home; going in our room there was the soft chime again.

“Olek,” Peter said going to the computer. He read the message and looked at his watch. “He wants a video call tonight at eight.”

“Sounds good,” I said pulling my jacket off, but Peter smiled, rushed at me and I was tackled on the bed. He began kissing me in a consuming, almost devouring way. I said before…even to Peter, he was like this flower opening. We’d been together a few months now, but…we became intimate in October. I knew him and I love him, but…I really liked this side of Peter. He was…playful! His mother had said, his father was like Peter and Olek the first relied on her. I would do the same for Peter. Gladly. Saying we loved each other was…just part of what we did together. I couldn’t ignore what was happening. He was growing more secure with me. I would not let him down. I arms went up his back, loving the solid feel of him, his warmth that radiated from him.

Dinner was good, but a little early because of Olek’s call. At eight sharp, we let Olek know we were ready.

A couple of minutes later, Olek’s smiling face came on the screen. “Hello, brothers.”

Peter chuckled. “Hello, Olek.”

“I saw what you did yesterday.” He said smiling, then he shrugged. “Okay, I recorded it to watch later, but I watched it! That was sensational!”

“All we did was talk about our upcoming wedding.” Peter shrugged.

“No.” Olek shook his head. “That’s not all you did. You were strong and assertive. You answered the questions well. You didn’t back down! You presented Makarovia very positively; our stance and philosophies…you made a good first impression.”

“We did?” Peter asked.

“We brought the world’s attention to Makarovia!” I said to Peter.

Olek nodded quickly. “Yes! Until now, the only ones that even knew about us were some of the world’s leaders…and some of them didn’t even know who we were. Now, everyone on the entire planet practically knows where we are and what we are about; because of you two!” He said happily and did what he always did moving closer to the camera so his face grew on our end. “I want you to know, little brother…how proud I am of you. You showed the world we are a proud people and has solid leadership.” His eyes got a little softer. “I know a lot has to do with this magnificent person you have in your life. I was always proud of you, Peter, but…last night. You were amazing. Never again do I want you to say or think that you aren’t needed or useful. Your mother, me and Eric are now ambassadors for the world for Makarovia. So, when I say I was proud, I was, but I was never so proud as I was with that interview. I love you, Peter.” I watched as Peter smiled, but he was moved so much by his brother’s words. “You’re my brother. You are most definitely needed by a whole population in Makarovia. I know they saw that broadcast, too. All of Makarovia is proud of you.” He chuckled. “I just had to tell you.”

I took Peter’s hand when I saw moisture in his grey-green eyes. “Thanks, Olek. I love you, too.”

Then, in very unlike king breech of protocol, Olek stretched and let out a yawn.

I chuckled. “Where are you now?”

Olek grimaced again. “Berlin, but I’m going back to Makarovia tomorrow. I have a kingdom to run, as well as all this.” He stated. “Most of the negotiations are done now. It’s back to business at home.” He brightened. “How are things going with the new web page?”

“I got the Dean of the College, Thomas Sutton getting things ready,” I said. “We’ll be bringing a few photographers with us at the end of May.” I looked at Olek. “Are there pictures of your mother available?”

Olek nodded. “Sure.” He said sadly. “When I get back, I’ll forward some to you.” He sighed. “She died when I was young, so…I remember mostly feelings about her.”

“She raised you.” I pointed out. “She must have been a good woman.”

“What I do remember..she was.” Olek smiled at me. “You are very needed, too, Eric. I can’t tell you how glad I am you’re joining us. I love you, too.” He smiled. “Just love my brother.”

“I do and will.”

Olek nodded. “I know you do and will.”