Two days later, in Tim and Johnny's kitchen, Tim stirred the pot of spaghetti sauce that Angie had dropped off a little earlier. He looked at Johnny in exasperation and asked, "What would you know about my mother missing me?"
"That's what she said. And she said your dad regrets the way he acted, too."
"She called? How did she find out where I am? Oh, damn, I bet it was Paul Hansen's investigation. I remember him saying that Frankie told him he was sorry for hitting me when I told him that I'm gay. Frankie must have told my parents where I am."
Johnny just looked at Tim and shook his head until he ran down. "Your mother didn't call. I called her."
Tim gaped at him. "I can't believe you would do that. Why, Johnny? You know how I feel about it."
"Yeah, Hon, I know." Johnny pulled him into his arms. "But I also know that you miss them, and I'm sure that they miss you, too. After all, you are their only child."
"Don't 'hon' me. I'm really upset with you," Tim said as he pulled away and turned back to the stove where he lifted the lid off the big pot of boiling water.
"I did it for your own good, Timmy. You've got to get past this bitterness." Johnny watched the steam billow up from the roiling water.
Tim measured out two good servings of fettuccini, dropped them into the water, added salt, stirred it and placed the lid back on the pot, then shaking the wooden spoon at Johnny, he said, "I spent the last five months of my senior year with my dad ignoring my existence, Johnny, and my mom acting like she was ashamed to even know me. Dammit, every time she'd look at me she'd burst into tears and shake her head. Dad just acted like I wasn't there. How am I supposed to feel? Neither one of them even came to my graduation, and I was the Salutatorian. Only one person had a higher grade average than I did, they should have been proud of me. It wasn't like I was an effeminate queen. Hell, I was a football jock. Nobody but Frank Davenport and my parents knew I was gay. They should've been proud of me."
Johnny stood there nodding his head, agreeing with him, but keeping his distance from the wooden spoon. Having been raised in an Italian home, he had a healthy respect for a cook wielding a wooden utensil. "They should have been proud of you, and they probably were, Tim. But they just didn't know how to handle your homosexuality. It was against everything they've ever been taught. They've been told all their lives that it was something one chooses to be, that it is wrong and sinful."
"My God, Johnny, why would I choose to be gay? That would be stupid. It would be so much easier to be like everyone else. Knowing how people feel about it, how could they believe for a moment that it was something I chose?" Tim laid the spoon down and turned to Johnny. "Couldn't they see the misery I was in?"
Johnny pulled Tim against him, holding Tim's head against his shoulder, he rubbed his other hand up and down his back. "I think that they saw your misery, and it confused them even more. You need to talk to them, Tim. They really do love you."
"I love them, too. But they really hurt me," Tim mumbled against Johnny's neck.
"I don't think they meant to, Babe. They were just floundering, not knowing how to react. You need to forgive them, Timmy. For your own benefit as well as theirs." He caressed Tim's hair. "I invited them to our commitment ceremony."
Tim tried to push away but Johnny held on to him watching the flow of emotions on Tim's face. Finally Tim found his tongue. "And they're...... coming?"
Johnny nodded. "They'll be here a week before the ceremony. They want to get to know the man to whom their son is committing his life and love."
"Oh...my...God," Tim whispered as he pulled away and collapsed onto a chair.
Johnny worried as he watched Tim, who had his head back with his eyes closed, but he knew things were going to be alright when Tim asked, "Where are we going to put them up?"
Johnny smiled as he knelt beside him and rubbed his thigh. "I talked to Joe and Dave about that. And they decided that it was only appropriate that they stay in the condo across from Dave's mom on the 29thfloor of the Tower. The new stairwell will be finished by then."
Tim shook his head. He still hadn't opened his eyes.
"What a family." He raised his head, opened his eyes and smiled at him. "I love you. And I love your whole family, and Dave's, too."
Johnny didn't return the smile, still concerned about his young lover. "You know I would not have done this if I didn't care about you, Timmy."
Tim's smile disappeared as he massaged the back of Johnny's neck. "I know. I just wish you loved me as much as I love you." Tim knew that Johnny loved him every bit as much, but he also knew that Johnny still had trouble saying the 'L' word.
"You know I do, Tim. I show you every day, in every way I can, that I do."
"So tell me. I need to hear it. Tell me, Johnny."
"Timmy, I... Oh, hell! You know I love you. I love you." Tim's face lit up with delight. "I love you with all my heart and soul. I love you more than life itself. I couldn't live without you. I love you, Tim. I love you so very much."
"Look at what those words do to me."
Johnny looked at the swelling in Tim's pants and reached out and caressed it with his fingertips, then took squeezed it. Tim pulled Johnny's head against his chest. "Saying those words does the same thing to me. I want you, Tim. I need to feel you inside me." He reached up to touch his lips to Tim's, but Tim pulled him into a hard opened-mouth kiss. Johnny finally pulled back. "Let's take this to the bedroom where I can take care of you properly." He took Tim's hands and pulled him up, leading him toward the bedroom.
Tim suddenly stopped in the hall outside the bedroom door, pulling Johnny to a halt. Johnny looked back at him, questioning with his eyes. "Did they really say they want to get to know you?"
"Yes, Timmy, they did."
"I guess they really are trying to accept me."
Johnny tugged on his hand and Tim was eager to follow.
Later Tim threw out the very overcooked fettuccini and they ordered a pizza. They'd enjoy Angie's sauce another day.
* * *
After their morning run, Joe and Dave showered, and Joe dressed like a construction worker. It had been a while since Dave had seen him do that. Usually Joe dressed in a suit and tie since he was dealing with business men potentially interested in leasing offices in his new tower. Joe turned from the mirror when he saw Dave's reflection beside him. Dave took his hand and opened it palm up. "Reading my palm?" Joe asked.
"No, just checking the callouses. They're almost gone. It's been months since you got out and worked along side your men."
"I know and I've missed it."
"Wear some gloves. You don't need to be getting any blisters."
Joe grinned, loving the concern. "I will, Mommy. I promise I'll be a good boy," he said in a little boy voice.
Dave grinned back. "Fuck you, you smart-ass Italian hunk."
"Do you really think I'm a hunk, Dave?" Joe's voice was grave
Dave searched his eyes. "You know I do. Where is this insecurity coming from?"
"I don't know. It just popped out." Joe pulled away and walked across the bedroom to pick up his wallet and keys. "Maybe seeing Jason the other morning." Jason and Pete had been on the outs over Pete kissing Arlen. "He and I are kind of in the same boat, you know."
"No, I don't know. What are you saying?"
"You and Pete are the ones with the big money in our respective relationships. I think that I would be feeling like Jason looked if we ever had a serious fight."
"Joe, every bit of the Way fortune is legally yours. You could go out right now and spend every red cent of it without having to confer with me. Don't you understand that?"
"Yes, I do. But do you think I would touch a cent of it if you were to leave me?"
Dave stared at Joe, opened mouth. The thought of anything ever happening to separate him from Joe devastated him. He shook his head and stared some more. How could Joe think that he'd ever leave him? He shook his head again, turned on his heels and left the room before he could say something he'd regret.
Joe mentally kicked himself in the head. 'What the fuck did I just do?' he screamed silently at himself. He ran after Dave and found him sitting at the kitchen table. He pulled him up and embraced him.
"I don't believe you'd ever leave me, unless I did something monstrously horrible that forced you to."
Dave didn't move his head from Joe's chest for several moments while his mind processed everything, and then he pushed back and looked Joe in the eyes. Everything was okay, still on an even keel. He grinned. "Conceited, aren't you?"
Joe grinned, knowing everything was alright. "There's no conceit, simply self-assurance? Yeah. And the assurance of your love is even stronger. I love you so much, Dave."
"I'm glad you know that I love you. Now, no more doubts."
* * *
Hugging his books to his chest as he daydreamed with a goofy grin, David leaned against the wall next to the classroom door that Eve would soon be exiting. He felt a finger poke him in the belly as a warm lilting contralto voice said, "Must be someone special you're thinking about. Who is she?"
David opened one eye and looked at Eve. "Oh, you caught me. I was dreaming about this beautiful blonde. She has the most beautiful big brown eyes you ever saw. And she's got the sweetest smile when she looks at me. You should be very jealous of her 'cause she's won my heart."
Eve grinned, playing along with him. "So what is this tart's name that's playing around with my man?"
"Ah, the lady is no tart, but she does play the most wonderful music on my heart strings."
Eve leaned back against the wall next to David making sure her shoulder and hip was touching his. "So.... if I'm going to be jealous of this woman, I want to know her name. Tell me."
"You probably wouldn't know her if I did tell you her name."
Eve sighed, "Well, I guess I'll just have to sic my big brothers on you."
David, trying to look horrified, said, "Oh please, don't do that. I'll tell you, I'll tell you."
Eve looked at him as he cut his eyes towards her and whispered, "I'm in love with her. And I think she may love me."
"She may. Who is she?"
"Her name is Eve Paolini."
Eve pushed off the wall, rolled against David and kissed him on the cheek. "I know that wench, and I know she's in love with you."
David grinned. "You really think so?"
"I know so, you big goof. Come on, we're going to be late for our next class," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the wall.
"Your class. I'm free next period. Want to ditch it and go someplace private?"
"I can't do that. Daddy would shoot me, even if I am old enough to vote."
"Well, I guess I'll just have to go catch up on my studies."
"Oh, poor you. Are we still on for a movie tomorrow night?"
"Are your parents Italian?"
"Dumb question."
"There's your answer." He kissed her on the lips and broke away before she could respond. "Call me when you get home," he called out to her as he walked away.
Eve put her fist on her hip. "The boy is supposed to call the girl. That's what my mother taught me," she yelled.
"Well, tell your mother that this is the twenty-first century," David yelled back and disappeared around the corner.
Eve stood in the middle of the hall smiling until someone accidently bumped her and brought her back to the reality of the moment. She could hardly wait to get home to call David.
As the professor droned on about some ancient event in history, she thought about how her feelings for David were growing. A couple of weeks ago she'd told him that he was too young for her. And now she was dreaming of a future with him. She shook her head in disbelief, and tried to pay attention to what the professor was saying.
* * *
Tim and Johnny sat in his mother's kitchen. They sat on one side of the table while Angie and her two daughters sat on the other. They glared across the table at each other like they were having a battle royal.
"We've let you do the flower thing, make up the guest list, plan all the food, even pick out our tuxes. But as far as the actual ceremony... that is ours," Johnny said.
Tim turned on Johnny."I still insist that I am not walking down the aisle like a bride."
"Well, I'm the older one here, and it's sure not going to be me. Besides, it was you that started this."
"Are you saying you don't want to have a commitment?"
"Tim, I love you, of course I want it." Johnny cupped the back of Tim's neck and pulled him into a hug.
Tim pushed away. "So I have to be the bride and walk down the aisle to you? My parents will die of embarrassment on the spot."
"Stop it. Stop. Both of you... stop," Eve yelled jumping into the middle of it. "I have a compromise. Why don't you both walk down the aisle together. Or better yet, walk down the outside aisles and meet in the front. And then when it's over, walk up the center aisle together."
Her older sister, Miki, and her mother looked hopefully at the two men as they considered it.
"I like that idea," Tim said.
"Me too," Johnny agreed.
"Eve you're a genius," Miki said, hugging her sister. "Okay, now what music?"
"Definitely not the wedding march," Tim said.
"Absolutely out," Johnny agreed.
"One of my favorite pieces of music is Beethoven's 'A theme for Elise'," Tim said. "One cool thing about it, it can be extended indefinitely to fit the time it takes to walk that far. It's quiet, contemplative, and peaceful."
"Oh, that is perfect," Miki agreed. Her mother and sister nodded approval.
"I'm not familiar with it, but if you like it, Babe, let's go for it," Johnny said.
"And for the recessional?" Angie asked.
"What's that?" Tim asked.
"The music you walk out by," Eve said.
"I know what would be perfect," Johnny said.
His sisters and mother groaned at the delight in his voice that was accompanied by a malicious grin. Tim looked at him wondering what they knew that he didn't.
"So tell me," he said.
"Wagner's Ride of the Valkuries."
The women groaned again.
"That's hardly the kind of music to play at a wedding. The Valkuries are riding off to commit mayhem," Angie protested.
"No, wait." Tim yelled. "I like it. Just picture it." Tim pushed his chair back and stood. With words and hands and body gestures he built the picture. "We've just exchanged vows and rings... the music starts off quiet, you can barely hear it... we kiss... the music builds... we turn to the audience... the music crescendos... and we march out triumphantly. It will leave everyone breathless and laughing at the unexpectedness of it."
"Let's do it," Miki and Eve said simultaneously, clapping their hands. Johnny grabbed Tim and kissed him.
"You kids are crazy. But it's your ceremony, and it sounds like fun. It's unanimous," Angie conceded.