“Yeah. Just what you said. We can find a surrogate and we can have another child. I’d like that. I’d like it to be your child. I want you to have a son so Tiger has a brother and you have what you’ve always wanted.”
He just stared at me for a few moments and then he kissed me, sweetly and gently.
“I love you. My God, how I love you! I swear to you, I won’t love Tiger any less if I do have a son of my own.”
“Just like I’m going to love your son as much as I love Tiger.”
“When…when…can…”
Brian was so excited he couldn’t get the words out.
“Why don’t we get married first and then have a baby? That’s the way it used to work and I’m kind of old-fashioned about children.”
“Yeah, I guess that would be a good idea.”
“Uhh…I might also suggest if we’re going to do anything, we get you out of that toga before you get precum stains on it and we have to have it dry cleaned before we take it back to the costume store.”
“Do we have time?”
“Not really. Paul and Troy are going to be here any minute to start the food.”
“Damn!”
“I might remind you, we are getting married tonight and Tiger is going to go stay at his Uncle Ted and Uncle Dalt’s house for the night and tomorrow. We’ll have plenty of time to get naked and fuck each other’s brains out.”
“Okay, but I’m going to hold you to that.”
“No problem!”
Brian got off me and I got up off the bed. I was about to say something when the doorbell rang. I went and answered it and there were Paul and Troy rolling in a cart with what looked like metal boxes on it.
“This is how we keep the food warm. Just lead us to the kitchen; we’ve got lots to do yet.”
They had already seen the kitchen the night they’d visited and had declared it the best kitchen they’d seen outside a restaurant. I told them it had better be considering what it cost me to remodel it and how long it took. They disappeared there now and I heard the clang and bang of pots and pans and people cooking.
I looked around for about the thirtieth time at the living room, which was all decorated with white roses, lily of the valley and, in keeping with Halloween, orange and black dyed chrysanthemums, which had been a suggestion of Tiger’s. Actually, Tiger insisted we had to have orange and black or it wasn’t Halloween. I think we have a budding Orthodox Druid on our hands. I just couldn’t believe how nice everything looked and how great it smelled. I leaned over and took a deep breath of a spray of lily of the valley, my favorite scent of any flower.
I then looked at the dining room. My dining room table held twelve but it had never been set for that many. Tonight there would be nine with Paul and Troy. That was the most people who had ever sat down for dinner in the dining room since Tiger and I moved in. I was always too busy to hold dinner parties and such and, since Mercer and Atherton didn’t need any more business, I wasn’t about to go throwing parties to get it.
The table was set with my grandmother’s Edition Paradis china by Limoges. The colorful gold and turquoise pattern sparkled brightly under the Waterford Crystal chandelier. The crystal stemware was Waterford as well. Gleaming beside the plates was my grandmother’s Tiffany sterling flatware in the chrysanthemum pattern. All this had been left to me for my home with my bride, as I was informed by my grandmother many times before her passing. I thought to myself, looking at the beautiful table of fine china, sterling, and crystal on an antique lace tablecloth said to be made by nuns, Well, Grandmother, I’m using your stuff for my wedding, but I’m sorry, there will be no bride. Just two grooms. Two grooms who love each other very much ‑‑ and that’s more important.
I went back into the bedroom, looking for Brian, but he wasn’t there. Then I heard the corny music and the crazy sounds and knew exactly where he was. I walked into Tiger’s room and there they were, my soon-to-be husband and my son, sitting on the floor next to each other, eagerly trying to whip each other’s ass at some video game. Of course, I knew who was going to get his ass whipped, but I’ll say this for Brian, he kept trying. I even caught him practicing when Tiger was at school.
I was about to say something about getting Tiger ready when the doorbell rang again. I just knew who this was going to be and, sure enough, there were Ted and Dalt at the door. Ted wore the red robes and long white wig of an English judge, which went with my costume of an English barrister since he was my best man. Dalt had acceded to my son’s wishes and, for one last time, wore his dress blue uniform with all his ribbons and medals ‑‑ and there were a shitload of them! I had never seen a more spit-and-polish marine in my life. Again, he looked like a Marine Corps recruiting poster. If I wasn’t already in love with Brian, he probably could have recruited me.
“Hi, guys. Come on in. The caterers are here and busy. My God! Dalt! You look incredible in that uniform. I have to say the Marine Corps has the best dress uniform of any of the services.”
Dalt smiled at the compliment to the Corps. There is an old saying, “Once a marine, always a marine.” And I had the feeling where Dalton Kensington was concerned, that was doubly true.
“Well, little Tiger asked me to wear it. I’m not really supposed to now that I’m out of the Corps, but I figured this was a special occasion and I didn’t want to disappoint him.”
“On behalf of my son and his very grateful father, I thank you for bending regulations for tonight.”
“So where is my nephew?” Ted asked.
“He and my soon-to-be husband are in his room playing video games. That’s why he hasn’t flown out here the last two times the doorbell rang. I think you might as well go back and see them. You won’t get them out of there for a while unless you do. In the meantime, what do you want to drink? Ted, I know you want a scotch on the rocks, how about you, Dalt?”
“You got any Tennessee sippin’ whiskey?”
“I’ve got Jack Daniels and Wild Turkey ‑‑ take your pick.”
“Man! Some Wild Turkey and just a couple of cubes of ice.”
“Coming right up.”
I went over to the small bar in the corner of the living room and pulled out the bottle of the Glenlivet for Ted and dumped a couple of fingers over two ice cubes. I then pulled out the Wild Turkey and fixed Dalt’s drink. I decided to make myself a gin and tonic, pulling out the Bombay Sapphire gin and some Schweppes tonic and mixing them in a large, squat rocks glass with a couple of wedges of lime thrown in for color and flavor. Just as I was about to put the drinks onto a tray and take them to Dalt and Ted, they came out from the bedroom and I handed the drinks to them.
“What happened? They ignore you?”
“No, they’re coming out. Brian’s helping Tiger get into his costume. I take it he’s going to be a baseball player again this year.”
“Yep. Same as every year. But don’t say anything; I save a fortune in costumes this way.”
We all three laughed.
Brian and Tiger walked into the living room where we were standing.
“Okay, Daddy, I’m ready.”
Tiger held up a shopping bag he used every year to collect candy. I was surprised the thing lasted year to year but Tiger put it lovingly way each year and kept it in a drawer in his dresser.
“Is that the same bag as last year, Tiger?” Ted asked him.
“Sure is, Uncle Ted,” Tiger said proudly.
“I think he’s used that bag for the last four years,” I told Ted.
“Boy would make a good marine. The Corps never throws anything away. Makes do with what it has and fixes what breaks down. You can be sure, if a marine throws something away, it’s not worth having or fixing anymore.”
“I could be a marine?” Tiger asked in awe.
“Uhh…when you’re about ten years older.” I gulped.
I wasn’t sure I wanted Tiger being a marine. After all, marines go into combat and I didn’t want to lose my son. However, I wasn’t about to say th
at with a retired marine standing there ‑‑ a former recruiter to boot!
“Yes, Tiger, you’ve got a lot of time to make that decision,” Dalt agreed.
I was grateful he did.
“I probably shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. I’m used to talking to parents whose sons want to be marines but not this young.”
“Dalt, it’s okay. I admire the Marine Corps incredibly ‑‑ and not just from my contacts with your lover here. It’s just I’m not ready for Tiger to go marching off to war. Besides, he wanted to be a major league player yesterday.”
“I understand,” Dalt said. “The Corps isn’t for everyone. Looking back, there were only two things the Corps really did for me ‑‑ it made a man out of me, and it was because of the Corps I met Ted.”
With that, he looked at my law partner and I could see the love in their eyes as they smiled at each other.
“Daddy!”
Tiger was ready to go and that meant now!
“Okay, okay. Come on, we’ll go. Ted, Dalt, you can serve yourselves from the bar.”
“Uhh…could we go?” Ted asked and I could see the eagerness in their eyes.
I guess my boy could work his magic ‑‑ even on veteran lawyers and marines.
“Sure! Come on! You’ll really enjoy this. We just go a few blocks. There are some guys I swear just wait for Tiger every year. Oh! Let me check on Paul and Troy before we leave.”
I ran back to the kitchen. The two guys were evidently hard at work on dinner.
“We’re taking Tiger out for trick-or-treating. We should be back in about an hour. Is that okay?”
“Oh, sure,” said Paul.
“Everything’s on schedule. It should all be ready in a couple of hours. Just go and enjoy yourselves.”
“Okay, thank you. Maybe next year the two of you can come with us. After all, we’ll need an anniversary dinner.”
“Do you want to book that now?” Paul grinned at me.
“Yes, I do. And I want to do more but I want to talk to you both later. I’ve got to go now; my very impatient son is seeing other children getting his candy bars because he’s not out there.”
“Go on, we’re fine. We’ve got lots to keep us busy,” Troy said, pulling what looked like an entire half a cow out the oven and checking the temperature gauge to see how done it was.
“Yes, I can see you do! I’ll be back.”
When I got back to the living room, Matt had arrived and decided he’d like to go with us as well. It was quite a little parade we had going as we left for Tiger’s annual AIDS begging rounds. I knew my son found out about AIDS in school. What I wasn’t aware of, at first, was how much it had affected him. He learned gay men all over the city, but especially here in the Castro, were dying of AIDS and Tiger decided he’d do something about it. Every Halloween, besides candy, Tiger shamelessly begs for money to go to the AIDS Health Project at UCSF, a charity he found with the help of his teacher. The first year he did it, he got about thirty dollars, but Tiger decided he could get more. He got pamphlets telling what the money could do for people with HIV/AIDS and ever since, he’s been pulling in several hundred dollars a year from this Halloween swing through the Castro.
I didn’t realize Matt was as well known in the Castro as he was. After several apartments we visited where Tiger did his little presentation on the AIDS Health Project, my curiosity was aroused. Many of the residents of the apartments, seeing us standing a little ways away, greeted Matt by name.
“How does everybody know you?”
“Well, some of them know me from saying Mass for the Dignity meetings and others know me from the volunteer therapy I do at the very place Tiger’s raising money for ‑‑ the AIDS Health Project.”
“So you know about the place. I take Tiger there every year to give them his donation of the money he raises.”
“Yes, I not only know the place, I know about Tiger. I wondered if he was the one the counselors and staff talk about. They told me about this young boy who brings in a sizeable donation he collects on Halloween while he trick-or-treats. They just never mentioned Tiger’s name, but when he went to the first place and did the pitch for the Project, I knew it had to be him.”
“Yes, that’s my boy. I couldn’t be more proud of him for what he does if I tried. Tiger has a heart bigger than he is. You know, earlier, Dalt was telling Tiger about the Marine Corps and Tiger was very interested. However, to tell you the truth, I could more see Tiger, unfortunately, following in his uncle Matt’s footsteps than in his uncle Dalt’s.”
“Why unfortunately, other than how much you hate the Roman Church? He could be an Episcopal priest.”
“Well, yes, that might work. I just don’t want him vowing celibacy. I know what it’s like to be alone and I know what it’s like to have someone to love you and to love and, believe me, it’s better with somebody. Even though, I admit, if you had asked me that a year ago, I would have given you the exact opposite answer. Your brother has made me a believer in love and now I hate to see anyone alone.”
“I think I know where Tiger got that heart that’s bigger than he is.”
“Me? Nah! I’m a lawyer, remember. We’re tougher than vampires to kill because we’ve got no heart to shove a stake in.”
“Tommy, you keep telling people that and you just might get someone to believe it.”
This came from behind us. I turned and there was Brian, reaching out to put his arm around my shoulders.
“You’ve got more heart than anybody I know. You just try so desperately to hide it,” my lover asserted. “Come on, you two, we’re done with this floor and we going up to the next.”
“Sorry, we got talking. I found out Matt works at the project Tiger’s raising money for.”
“Really, bro? That’s great! What do you do there?” Brian asked.
I’d forgotten Matt and I had decided that perhaps it wasn’t a good idea for Matt to tell Brian that besides the doctorate in theology, he also had one in psychology. We didn’t want Matt feeling any more inferior to his older brother.
“Uhh…I help out. Talk to people who are hurting. That kind of thing,” Matt answered nebulously.
“That’s great, bro. So the money Tiger’s raising will help, huh?”
“Believe me, it helps a great deal.”
“Tommy, do we give money to the project?”
“Ever since Tiger started raising money for them, I send them a separate donation of ten thousand dollars every year.”
“Good. I’m glad. See what I mean about your heart?”
And with this, Brian laughed and then pulled me close, kissing me on the neck.
We were done with the circuit of apartments and homes Tiger hit every year soon and we all walked home together. I noticed Brian, who had his arm around me, was shivering somewhat because of the very skimpy costume, but we were quickly back at the house. We walked in to the heavenly smells of food. You could smell the standing rib roast and the spices Paul and Troy were putting in other dishes.
“Oh, God! I hope we eat soon. I don’t think I can take smelling that much longer,” Brian said, heading with Tiger to his room to count his money and put his candy away.
“Well, we still have to wait for Anne. She should be along any time now,” I said.
“Who’s Anne?” Matt asked.
“My secretary, without whom we would not be having this wonderful dinner tonight. She was the one who introduced me to Paul and Troy.”
“And who are they?”
“They are the two lovers who are out in the kitchen making dinner. They do catering. Don’t worry; you’ll get to meet them. They’re joining us for dinner.”
“You’re having the caterers and your secretary join us for dinner and the wedding as well, I take it?” Matt asked, surprised.
“Well…yeah. Brian and I don’t know any male couples except for Ted and Dalt. We kind of wanted to make friends with them. And, as far as Anne is concerned, I couldn’t practice without her
. She’s never been anything but unfailingly nice and I really wanted to invite her.”
“Let me go find a stake,” Matt said, laughing. “I’m sure no matter where I poke you, I’ll find heart.”
“Okay. Okay, enough. But you’re ruining my reputation! I won’t scare judges and opposing counsels without it.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can use your intellect for that. I was goofing off the other day and I Googled you, Tommy. Editor of Law Review, Magna Cum Laude, valedictorian of your law school class at Harvard. Quite an impressive read.”
“Oh, shit. Please, just keep that to yourself. I don’t want Brian having the same reaction to me he had to you. I had enough trouble with him getting over the fact I was rich.”
“Yes, he told me about that. I told him what somebody has or doesn’t have doesn’t matter. It’s what they are as a person that matters.”
“That’s right. That’s the idea the entire Marine Corps is built on. It doesn’t matter where a man comes from, what kind of economic circumstances. What matters is his spirit and his ability to lead others. You know, many of the generals who have served in the Corps have been men of very modest backgrounds,” Dalt said, coming over to Matt and me.
“I have always had a true respect for men who work with their hands, the so-called blue-collar men. I’m proud as hell of Brian learning how to build buildings. With all my brains and schooling, I couldn’t build a building if I tried. I always hated the way my father treated other people. My father classed everyone as being in three categories: those who were above him, of which he didn’t think there were but three or four; those who were his equals, again not very many ‑‑ maybe twenty or so; and those who were beneath him ‑‑ the rest of humanity. Anyone he felt was above him, he kissed their asses. Anyone he thought was his equal, he tried to stab in the back. And anyone who was beneath him was treated as subhuman,” I stated.
“God, babe. No wonder you never want him to meet me.”
I turned and Brian was standing there, a look of horror on his face. He’d evidently heard most or all of my little rant.
“Love, my father isn’t worthy to clean your construction boots. You are a thousand times better man than he could ever hope to be. I hope you heard the part about how proud I am of you.”
Rock Paper Scissors Page 16
