A Fluffy Tale
Page 16
Zachary gestured with the hand holding his glass of orange juice over the heads of the many, many relatives and friends it had been apparently necessary to invite to this thing. “Over there, talking to a woman with unfeasibly red hair.”
Julian looked where he indicated, and groaned. “Oh, no. Aunt Judy. She probably wants to make him husband number three. Or is four? I can’t keep up.”
“Four husbands?”
“She wears them out. I need a drink. Pyon, just the one, okay?” Pyon chirped and Julian petted him. His kem had been so well-behaved—everyone had commented on it.
“There’s a table over—”
“Oh…Julian, isn’t it?”
He made himself smile at the short, sharp-featured woman who’d come to his side. “Hello, Mrs Arrowsmith. Zachary? This is Bea’s mother—the bride. Mrs Arrowsmith, Zachary Ledbetter.”
Zachary bowed slightly. “Very nice to meet you. This is the loveliest wedding I’ve ever been to.”
She blushed. “Why, thank you. We tried to make it nice for everyone—midwinter’s such a difficult time, but Bea and Michael wanted a skiing honeymoon.”
“It’s all gone very smoothly. I’ve never seen it done better.”
“Oh good…oh, excuse me, I need to…”
She rushed off, hands waving at someone doing something not in the script, and Julian turned to his companion. “Exactly how many weddings have you been to before, Mr Ledbetter?”
“Just this one. I spoke the exact truth.”
“Huh.” Julian was getting used to the creative use of honesty on that side of the family. Leo was a master of it too.
“Julian! You took your tie off—what if they want more photos?”
His mother’s hat was crooked, but he didn’t mention it. Her kem was nowhere in sight—probably banished for the duration. “Then they’ll have to put up with me not wearing it again. They’ve taken hundreds of the damn things, Mum—how many can Bea and Michael want?”
“It’s not just for them—oh, hello.” She smiled uncertainly at Zachary. “Julian, I don’t think I’ve met…”
“Uh, that’s right.” They’d been staying in a hotel, since his parents’ house and his sisters’ were overflowing with guests. Leo and Zachary had stayed well out of harm’s way while Julian had done the brotherly duty thing. “Mum, this is Zachary Ledbetter. Zachary, my mum, Mrs Godwin.”
She held out her hand. “Call me Alice, Zachary. Julian’s told me so much about you. He said you work at his old firm?”
Zachary shook her hand briefly and let it go. “Yes. He works for my uncle now, as you know. He’s been of great help to us both.”
“Yes, he said you’ve become good friends.”
Zachary smiled at her. “Indeed. He’s my lover.”
She froze, her hand still on its way back to her side. Julian gaped while Zachary continued to smile politely at his mother.
“L-lover?”
“Yes, for some time now. We're very happy together.”
Her mouth opened, shut, opened again, but no sound came out. Julian wanted to run away and then murder Zachary—or possibly the other way around.
“Well, well, here’s a treat indeed—the mother of one of my favourite young men.” Leo smiled brightly at them all and held his hand out to Julian’s mother. “Mrs Godwin, how delightful to meet you in person—Leo Underwood. Julian’s told me so much about you, although he failed to mention how very attractive you are.”
She scraped a slight smile onto her rigid lips as Leo inserted himself neatly into their group. “Oh…thank you…er…”
“And I see you’ve finally met Zachary. Don’t they make a charming couple? Julian’s such a lovely young man—Zachary’s so lucky to have found him. Do you know Maggie Tadstone? From Greenwich? She was telling me her son’s had an awful time with his lover—the wretched man ran off with someone else, and her son’s devastated. She said she was so very jealous of me with Zachary. Julian’s such a reliable, steady person. A perfect credit to you, indeed.”
“M-Maggie Tadstone? The actress? The one who married Lord Uffield?”
“That’s the one. I went to their wedding—delightful, delightful occasion. Quite a lovely lady—no airs and graces, even with all the awards. The son’s the television presenter, poor fellow. Charming man, so very kind.” He took her arm. “Tell me, Julian says that you collect antique silver figurines. I wanted to know what you thought of something I saw the other day in Springwood—excuse me, Julian, Zachary…”
Leo led her away, talking a mile a minute, Julian’s mother still smiling fixedly, dazed by the sheer blizzard of words. Julian saw him hand her a large glass of champagne. Maybe if he got her tiddly, she’d forget…no, that wasn’t very likely, was it. He was so screwed.
“By the time Uncle Leo’s finished with her, he’ll have her convinced that a gay son is a status symbol,” Zachary remarked calmly, taking a sip of his drink.
Julian turned and gave the man his fiercest glare. “By the time I’ve finished with you, you’re going to need medical attention. What the hell do you mean by outing me to my mum?”
“She’ll find out eventually, unless you were planning to lie to her forever. Besides…perhaps I want her to organise our wedding.”
Julian had to grab a chair and sit down. “Zachary! D-did you just propose?”
“Hmmm—yes, I think so. Were you expecting a bended knee and a ring? I thought that was considered old-fashioned now.”
“You just proposed.”
“That’s right. I take it that you’re not averse?”
Julian opened his mouth to yell something about it not being very romantic and how about a little warning, hmmm? But then he looked up at Zachary’s slight, evil smile, and knew that his lover had planned this exactly so—and Leo had been a willing conspirator. “I hate you.”
“Yes, I know. Pyon, what do you think?”
Pyon chirped, licked Julian’s face, then jumped over to Zachary for a cuddle. He ran up Zachary’s arm and sat precariously on his shoulder next to Linis, who gazed at them all with a vague air of kemmish superiority. “He approves,” Zachary announced.
“My father’s going to faint.”
“I doubt it. Uncle Leo will convince your mother, and he assures me that if the mother approves, the husband will go along. I don’t know about such matters, but he does.” He tilted his head. “Didn’t you want to tell them?”
“Yes! Just not at my brother’s wedding!”
“Leo said it’s the perfect place for a proposal. Did I do it wrong?”
Julian sighed. Pyon and Linis stared at him with big innocent eyes as he stood up and took Zachary’s hand. He leaned in for a kiss, not caring who could see them, not after everything else. “No, you did it perfectly, and I accept. I expect a wedding ring, though. And a honeymoon.”
“Of course. Uncle Leo told me these things are necessary. I want to do everything correctly, Julian.”
He looked so worried. Julian grinned and kissed him again. “You did, you do. Well, come on—if you’re going to be part of my family, then I better start introducing you as my fiancé. I warn you though, you might regret it later.”
“No,” Zachary said firmly, “I won’t. I'll be brave.”
“Good for you.”
Julian took his hand, took a deep breath, and plunged into the crowd of relatives. Zachary had no idea what he was getting into—but that was okay. Julian did, and he was good at this stuff. Zachary could be good at lots of other things instead. They made a great team—Zachary, him, Leo and their meddling kems.
His family wouldn’t know what hit them.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12