Bradley James

by C. E. Wilson

  “Cade and I have to get our licenses in this state before we can do anything else. We are going in the morning to see what we need to do for this state.”

  “Ok when you get your licenses, then I’ll give you the number, and you can call him. Is this a social call, or did you need something?”

  “A little of both. I wanted to ask you to be my best man at our wedding.”

  “Sure, thank you for that honor. When are you getting married?”

  “We are getting our license in the morning while we are at the courthouse, and that brings me to another favor to ask.”

  “You need the money for your wedding. John and I will be happy to pay for it.”

  “No, we have the money to pay for it. I just wanted to get married at John’s parent’s house on the back deck. Cade and I will pay for everything, even the meat to BBQ and all the fixings. I loved your wedding, and it was awesome food. Do you think that his parents will let us?”

  “I will be more than happy to ask them. I’m sure they will, and Dad will have his friends there. Even a judge to marry you if you don’t have anyone else. I’m going to hang up and call them then call you right back so you can make plans.”

  “Thank you, Clayton. We want Jacob to be the ring bearer. If he will, that is.”

  “He said he would be in your wedding, but he wasn’t going to marry Cade. He wants to marry a girl. He is so funny sometimes.”

  Bradley laughed. “Tell him no he doesn’t have to marry Cade. He’s all mine.”

  Cade jerked his eyes up at Bradley and frowned.

  Clayton said, “I’ll call you right back, little brother.”

  “Thanks again.” He hung up the phone and smirked at Cade.

  “What was that all about someone else marrying me? You know that isn’t going to work babe. I don’t want anyone but you.”

  “Jacob misunderstood what I was talking about when I asked him to be in our wedding. He thought if he was in the wedding that he was marrying you too. He said he didn’t want to do that. He wanted to marry a girl, not a boy.”

  Cade laughed. “That’s so cute. He’s a cute kid. When we adopt, I want to get a little boy just like him. I also want a little girl like Gabrielle. She’s so pretty for a little tiny baby. I’m not sure I want a little baby. I think maybe a little girl about three or four. The little boy the same or a little older. I want our daughter to have a big brother to protect her.”

  “Clayton is calling Mr. and Mrs. Willis to see if we can have our wedding on their back deck. He said that if we do, then Mr. Willis will invite his rich friends and we will get some nice gifts like they did. He said that Mr. Willis will have his judge friend to come and marry us. I hope they do. Mr. Willis has two huge BBQ grills, and he always has them full of meat. We will have plenty to eat there. I told Clayton we would pay for everything. I hope that’s all right.”

  “Well, of course, it is. It’s our wedding, and we should be responsible for it.”

  A few minutes later Bradley’s phone rang. He answered it, and it was Clayton. “Dad and Mom said yes, they would love to have another wedding. Dad is going to call his friends, and they usually give cash as presents. Dad said that you’re not paying for anything. He looks at you as another one of his kids and wants you to have a nice wedding and reception, so he is paying. Trust me they can afford it just fine.”

  “When can they have it? I don’t want to intrude on their plans.”

  “Mom said they can do it this Saturday. This is Monday, and if you get your license tomorrow, you will have it Friday. There is a three-day waiting period, so Saturday will be a good time. Mom said she was going to call our mom and they will get everything organized. They are going shopping so be prepared for whatever they decide to buy. There is no telling what they are going to do.”

  “Thank you so much, Clayton. Is there anything we need to do? I never got married before.”

  “Just show up at their place on Saturday, and you’re going to be just fine.”

  “I’m not sure if I remember how to get there so can you stop by here on your way there so we can follow you and John?”

  “Yeah, sure. That won’t be a problem. It’s hard to see my baby brother get married, but I know that Cade is a good man, so I am happy for you.”

  “We will see you on Saturday then. Thank you, Clayton.”

  “My pleasure. Do you and Cade both have suits?”

  “Yes, we have matching suits. We had to have them for graduation. We are also going to wear them for our wedding. We got our rings and all, so we are set. We just needed a venue. Link is going to be Cade’s best man. That’s his older brother too.”

  “I look forward to meeting him then. See you then, little brother.”

  When John’s mom, Alisa, called Bradley’s Mom, Martha, she, in turn, called Cade’s mom, Alice, and all three of them met in a wedding shop in town. They picked out things for decorations. John’s mom got the cake, and all of them bought stuff for gifts and food. It was going to be a big reception with all three families and friends.

  They all decided to meet up at Alisa’s house on Friday to start with the cooking and decorating. Alisa would have her three cooks there to do the food, and that would free the three women up to do the decorating. Alisa knew this would probably be the last wedding they had here, so she wanted to go all out for it. It suited Sam just fine because he would be able to keep his grills going for a long while. Charlie and George decided to go with the women on Friday to see if they could help set up seating and cleaning the deck or whatever they needed to do to help get the deck ready for a wedding.

  Friday morning Charlie picked up George and Alice and they went to Sam and Alisa’s house. When they got there, the men went to the deck, and the women went into the house. Sam was out back cleaning his grills and had some brooms sitting against the rail. The men looked at the brooms, and each grabbed one, and they started to sweep the leaves and dirt off the deck. Sam had given each one a cold soda, and they were all three workings to get the deck in shape. It wasn’t filthy just not used much lately.

  George looked out over the view from the deck and gasped. “Charlie come and look at this view. It is just beautiful here.”

  “Yes, my oldest son married Sam’s son, and the wedding was here as well. I have seen the view, but I never get tired of looking at it.”

  George pulled out his phone and took some pictures of the view. He said, “I think I am going to paint this view. It is gorgeous. It will look good on our wall.”

  “You’re an artist?”

  “Oh, I dabble in it yes. I wanted to be famous for selling my art, but no one wanted to buy it. It was scenery, and they wanted portraits, and I can’t do them. When I get it done, I’ll show it to you.”

  “I’d love to see it. Thanks. Maybe you could paint me one too. I’ll buy it from you if it’s good.”

  “Wait and see what you think about the first one, then we can talk about another one.”

  Charlie nodded and then they started placing chairs on the deck for the people coming to the wedding. After all the chairs were placed, they set up tables for the food and cake and another one for gifts.

  Sam walked over to them and asked, “Can I talk to you two for a few minutes? It’s imperative?”

  Charlie nodded, and they all sat down at a picnic table over by the grills. Sam said, “I know Bradley isn’t my child, but he’s the brother of my child now. I gave all my children a house for their wedding present, and I wanted to do that for Bradley and Cade. I don’t want to step on any toes, but the house you rented from me isn’t big enough if they are going to have children. I want to give them a nice big house in a good neighborhood if they are going to adopt.”

  Charlie said, “As far as I’m concerned it’s fine. I would love to do that, but I just don’t have the money extra to give them a big house.”

  George said, “That’s very generous of you, Sam. It’s fine with me too. Maybe Charlie and I can help with the furnishings for
it. I want to give our boys the best start we can.”

  Charlie nodded. “I’m right with you, George. I’ll help all I can with the furnishings. I think we just need to give them some money and let them get their own furniture and such. They will know what they want to put in the house.”

  George laughed. “That’s if we can keep our wives out of the mix. You know how they love to shop and now that they are good friends, there is no telling what they will do to make things good for the boys if they want it or not.”

  Sam said, “Wait until after the wedding. Alisa invited all our friends, and all of them are very well off. They will give envelopes full of money since they don’t know the boys. That’s what they did to John and Clayton. I think they got about fifty thousand. They knew John though, so I don’t know how much Bradley and Cade will get, but I’m sure probably enough to furnish the house. John invited his doctor friends, so they will probably give cash too.”

  George said, “Yeah, all our friends are coming as well. Most of them are well off. How about you, Charlie?”

  “Yeah, we have quite a few friends coming that are rich too. Plus, my parents and they are very well off. So is Martha’s parents. They live in Florida and are flying in tonight.”

  All three men looked around the deck to see what else they could do, but everything was done, and the wedding should go off without a hitch.

  Chapter 20

  Neither Bradley nor Cade slept very well, but they were up at sunrise to get ready for their wedding. Cade kissed Bradley and told him to take his shower first. He would make eggs and toast while Bradley showered. Bradley nodded and went to the bathroom and took his shower. He came into the kitchen in his boxers and sat down at the table. Cade poured him a cup of coffee and set it in front of him. Bradley stared at it like it was something he had never seen before.

  Cade laughed. “I swear baby I am not going to poison you anytime soon. Maybe in a few years but today is our wedding day, and I want you there.”

  Bradley shook his head to clear it. He laughed. “I guess I was lost in my mind. I thought that I’ll mess up my vows. If I do, don’t laugh at me. I’ll be so embarrassed.”

  “I promise I won’t laugh at you baby, but you have to promise not to laugh at me either. I was awake most of the night worried about the same thing.”

  “Well, we will be saying them to each other so we will just say them low enough that only we can hear them. That way if we mess them up no one will know but us.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Cade said as he sat their breakfast on the table.

  “Are you as nervous as I am?”

  “Yes, I’m sure I am. I want this to be perfect, and now that we have our licenses, we are going to be set. We can go show the license to that company and maybe start to work soon. I’m ready to get out there and work. At least we only had to show our Pennsylvania license to get our Ohio license.”

  “Clayton has some men at his office that wants us to design some houses for them. I think that would be on our own. I don’t want to share the money with the firm. I think we can do that all ourselves. Maybe it would be a start for us to open our own business.”

  “You don’t think we need some experience from another company before we set out on our own? I think we do. At least there they can check our work and know if anything is wrong with the plans. I don’t want to get a bad reputation already.”

  “Cade, you are as good as I am. We have made hundreds of plans in school, and both of us got straight 100s. So where is your confidence?”

  “I don’t know baby. I just want things perfect for us. Our careers are important to both of us.”

  “My career is never going to be more important to me than you are. You’re first to me, and everything else comes after you.”

  “I feel the same about you, but you know we have to work to support ourselves. I just want us to be good and well known so we can get the babies we want. I guess it’s time to get dressed. John and Clayton will be here soon, and we need to be ready.”

  Clayton was in charge of the rings since Jacob was going to be the ring bearer. Bradley’s mom had gotten a pillow to tie the rings to for Jacob to carry. Clayton tied the rings on the pillow and made sure it was in the car. Jacob and Gabriella were in their car seats. Clayton was behind the wheel and was waiting for John to come to get into the car.

  Finally, John got into the car. Clayton asked, “What were you doing John? We are going to be late.”

  “I was making out a check for Bradley and Cade. I figured they could use the money. Dad is going to buy them a house like he did us. He said that Bradley was my brother, so he was his child, and he buys houses for his children.”

  “That’s so nice of him. How much did you write the check for?”

  “I wrote it for twenty thousand. Do you think that is enough?”

  “Yeah, that’s plenty. I’m sure that some of the other people that will be there will give them checks and cash like they did us.”

  “Let’s go get the happy grooms then and get this show on the road.”

  They drove over to Bradley and Cade’s house and blew the horn. The boys came out and got into Cade’s truck and then followed Clayton and John to John’s parent’s house. When they got there, they were shocked to see all the cars there already. They barely got a parking spot. They got out of the truck, and Bradley had Cade by the hand and went around the house to the back deck. Cade’s mouth fell open as he took in the view from the deck.

  Cade said, “Oh my goodness, Bradley. Now I know why you wanted to have our wedding here on their deck. That’s just beautiful. I have to get a picture of you standing at the rail with that view behind you.”

  “All right, but only if I get the same thing from you. I want you in front of the view too.”

  “Yes, of course. Go to the rail and turn your back to it and let me see that beautiful face of yours.”

  Bradley walked to the rail and turned so that Cade could get some pictures of him and the view. They switched places, and Bradley got several pictures of Cade in front of the view. It was time for the ceremony.

  Cade gave the judge their marriage license, and they stood in front of him, and he performed the ceremony. Neither one of them forgot their vows, and they were proud of that. Jacob brought them the ring on the pillow and Cade untied the rings and handed his ring to Bradley. They put their rings on each other. The judge declared them husbands and Cade kissed Bradley. The judge let out a whoop and said, “Let’s eat some of that BBQ.”

  They let Bradley and Cade get their plates first and had a small table set up just for them. It was at the rail, and most people took photos of them with the view behind them. Alice told Cade she was going to make them a wedding album so they could have all the picture to show the children when they got them.

  Alex was there with Link. They seemed to have hit it off and were sitting at a table talking. Cade noticed them and told Bradley to look. He glanced over at Link and just shrugged his shoulders. Cade didn’t say anything more. He was just enjoying the food and the fact he now was married to the love of his life.

  After they ate, they cut the cake and fed each other a bite. The two men toasted each other with sparkling water. The music started, and they danced the first dance alone. After that others joined in. All the gifts that were on the table disappeared, and Clayton came up to Bradley and handed him a large stack of envelopes, and he stuck them in the inside pocket of his suit. He and Cade still danced for a few more hours.

  Bradley danced a dance with Cade’s mom, and Cade danced a dance with Bradley’s mom. Then they were back in each other’s arms. It didn’t seem like they could stay away from each other. It was early evening when Cade was ready to take Bradley home. They found their parents and said goodnight and thanked them for all they had done. Then they found Sam and Alisa and gave them both hugs and thanked them profusely. Sam said, “When you get settled, I want to talk to you boys about some work. I want plans for some houses and one big bu
ilding on a lot I bought just outside of town.”

  Bradley smiled. “Yes, sir Mr. Willis. We will be more than happy to help you out. I’ll call you the first of the week, and we can come here, and you can let us know what you want.”

  “You boys do a good job for me, and I’ll send you more business than you know what to do with. None of my buddies will use that place in town. It’s a real joke. I will help you both open an office, but first I want to see your work. Then we will talk about the office.”

  “We will do a good job for you. That’s my promise. We are both good at what we do.”

  They got into Cade’s truck, and they found all the gifts that were on the table. Cade drove home and parked his truck in the garage next to Bradley’s vehicle. “Let’s wait until tomorrow to bring these in. I’m a little tired tonight. I think it was too much food.”

  “Yeah, we can do this tomorrow. Come on, and I’ll make you some coffee. I’m not ready to go to sleep right now, husband.”

  Cade flashed him a big grin. “Yeah, I’m your husband now just like you’re my husband too.”

  They went into the house, and both pulled off their suit jackets. They had shed their ties a long while ago. Bradley put his coat on the back of the chair at the table, and Cade tossed his onto the same chair. Bradley made coffee and poured them each a cup. He brought them over to the table and set them down. He sat in the chair next to the jackets and reached over and pulled out the big stack of envelopes and set them on the table. He gave Cade half of the envelopes. “What is this baby?”

  “I’m not sure. Clayton gave them to me, and I stuck them in my pocket. I think maybe congratulation cards or something?”

  “Strange looking envelopes for cards.”

  Bradley shrugged and opened one of them. His eyes got big as he looked into the envelope. Cade was watching him and frowned. “What’s in there, baby?”

  Bradley pulled out a hand full of cash and set it on the table. It was Cade’s turn to have big eyes. It was all hundred-dollar bills. There was no name on it, so they didn’t even know who gave it to them. Cade opened one, and it was more cash. They piled the money together. Bradley opened another one, and it only had a piece of paper in it saying, ‘one house.’ Sam and Alisa. Bradley couldn’t figure out what that meant, so he handed it to Cade. “Cade, I don’t understand what this means.”