by Eden Winters
Through chuckles, Michael got out, “I was going to ask you tomorrow, after the parade.” All traces of humor fled his voice. “That is, if you’ll have me.”
“Always. If you’ll have me.”
Lips replaced fingers on Jay’s lips, a kiss answering better than words.
Chapter Four
“Jase and Mark are waiting downstairs for us,” Jay said, smoothing down his T-shirt. “Mark and I will be watching.” He crossed the floor the take Michael into his arms. “There’s still time to back out if you don’t want to do this.”
Michael flashed a genuine smile, not the “I’m okay, y’all can quit worrying now” smile he normally used, but an honest-to-goodness happy smile. Of course, Jay’d been grinning all morning. “I promised Jase I’d march with him.” Michael glanced down at his T-shirt and jeans. “I wish now I’d let you bring my uniform. Jase is wearing his.”
“Really? You mean that?”
“Yeah.”
Jay punched a few buttons on his phone. One of Michael’s brows rose in question. “Trust me.” He occupied his lover with a kiss until a knock sounded. Jay opened the door to find Gramps, holding a hanger aloft to keep Michael’s uniform off the floor.
“Can you believe this old things still fits?” Gramps asked, waving a hand to indicate his attire, a uniform much older than Michael’s. He passed over the hanger. “Hurry up. We don’t wanna be late.”
***
“Here’s a good spot,” Mark said.
Jay laughed. “I think over there is better.” Two red-haired women, one young, one older, frantically waved from a few feet away. Jay led Mark to where Michael’s mother and sister waited, in lounge chairs, removing a cooler and bags from two other chairs.
“Mark, I’d like you to meet Angie and Sarah, Michael’s sister and mom.”
The drone of their meet-and-greet dropped into background noise for, in the distance, The Star Spangled Banner began. Angie and Sarah jumped from their chairs, placing their hands over their hearts and Mark and Jay followed suit. The steady cadence of a bass drum pounded out a marching beat, ending the national anthem and leading into Stars and Stripes Forever.
“There they are!” Angie shouted, hopping up on the cooler for a better look. Jay wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her. The way she bounced up and down, she’d take a tumble at any moment. Then he glanced up, and his breath caught in his throat. There was Michael, his Michael, in full uniform, marching between Gramps and Jase, looking so much like the young soldier Jay first fell in love with while studying a photograph and hearing stories told by an adoring family. Michael had lived up to and surpassed every one of Jay’s expectations.
He kept his eyes on Michael until the three marchers vanished around a corner, and then, as he turned away, he caught sight of another familiar face. Gideon Rafferty, Michael’s counselor, kept time with a dozen other men about his age. He noticed Jay and winked, then followed his comrades down the street, to cheers and “Thank you for your service.”
Only then did he notice Sarah slumped down in a folding chair, tears streaking her cheeks. Oh shit. She’d come very close to losing her son. Jay dropped down beside her, taking her into his arms. “Shhh…” he soothed. “It’s okay. Michael’s fine.”
“It’s not that,” she said, a watery smile belying her tears. “He texted me this morning. Said y’all were getting married. I am so fucking proud of my boy.” For such a small woman, she was terribly strong, and her embrace cut off Jay’s air. “Welcome to the family, Son.”
Epilogue
“I told you it’d be warm,” Mark told his husband, helping Jase out of his jacket. Back home in Vermont the evening temperatures dipped into the teens at night, but here in Alabama temps in the 70s weren’t unusual for November.
They stood in an apple orchard, surrounded by people they didn’t know, except for Michael, Jay, Michael’s sister, Angie, and his mom and grandparents. Through the trees Mark caught glimpses of a log cabin, recently built, that’d be Michael and Jay’s new home, a few hundred yards from the farmhouse where Mark and Jase had spent the night.
Mark squeezed Jase’s hand, recalling their own vows. “That was us not too long ago,” he whispered.
“Happiest day of my life. Except for every day since,” Jase replied as he stroked Mark’s cheek. He cleared his throat before he asked, “Did you ever think we’d make it? After everything I did to you—”
Mark cut him off with a kiss. “Old news. And I never doubted we’d be together.”
Jase’s eyebrows arched. “Okay, fine. I did for a while. I knew you were it for me, though. I just needed you to see it, too. I fell so deeply in love with you and I worried that you’d never feel the same way.”
“I did. When you were clinging to my neck at the pool, I wanted to kiss you so bad. Tossing you into the deep end was one of the stupidest things Eric ever did, but it showed me how much I needed you in my life. Leaving you was hard for me and Eric. There were times I would have welcomed them kicking me out of the service, just so I could come back to you. I needed you to be proud of me, though. I didn’t want you to be ashamed because I couldn’t be strong for you. Then when the whole thing came to a head, I stuck it out, because I knew if I came back, you’d never again look at me like you used to.”
Mark cuffed Jase on the side of his head. “Idiot. No one would have thought any less of you. Mom and Dad still would have welcomed you with open arms. I would have been beside you every step of the way. But remember, if you had come home, my brother might not be alive today. You made sure my family wouldn’t suffer.”
Jase shrugged awkwardly. “He’s my family, too. When my folks told me they didn’t have a son, your family took me in and made me part of theirs. I think it’s me who owes you.”
Mark chuckled and stroked a finger over Jase’s palm. “Oh, don’t worry. I think we can work out a payment plan.”
Jase rolled his eyes and was about to make a comeback when a sound caught his attention. To his left, Michael’s sister and mother sniffled. A stereo began to play, “May I Have This Dance.” Michael and Jay stood together in front of their family and friends.
“Wow. Check them out,” Jase whispered.
Jay wore a dark blue suit, an ivory shirt, and a slender, light blue tie. Michael had put on a suit coat that had belonged to his grandfather, which his mother had said she’d saved, knowing one day her son would wear it. The coat was old and didn’t fit exactly right, but the man in it still commanded attention. They approached from different sides of the people in attendance and met in the middle. Jay reached out and took Michael’s hand in his, giving a look that radiated pure love.
“Michael Aaron Ritter… “ Jay began, “everything that I am, all that I own, with all of my being, I pledge my life to you.”
