If the Stars Fall

by Diane Adams

  "I want to check and make sure everything is ready for tomorrow. They'll be here bright and early to get the tents and stages set up. You still determined to desert me tonight?" Jared slowed the truck to a stop in front of the porch.

  "We can't see each other before the wedding." Alex reminded him with a laugh. "It's tradition."

  "I thought that was the groom seeing the bride…" Jared cocked a brow.

  Alex shoved his shoulder. "Bride/Groom, Groom/Groom doesn't matter. Tradition is tradition and after midnight you won't see me again until you're ready to say 'I do'."

  His good feelings from the party lingered, and that combined with the sight of their home looking perfect, had him walking on cloud nine. He caught up with Jared as he went around the side of the house and slid his hand into Jared's, bumping shoulders and entwining their fingers. Jared spared a smile for him, perusing the paint job with a pleased eye.

  "Terry's guys did a great job on the house. I'm glad the weather held so they could get it done."

  Glancing towards the bank of clouds forming on the horizon, Alex squeezed his hand. "It just needs to hold one more day."

  Jared gave a half shrug. "Warm or cold, wet or dry, we're getting married tomorrow, even if there's no one present but you, me, and the preacher."

  "Glad you realize it."

  They rounded the corner of the house and Alex gave a little gasp of surprise. The backyard stretched out in a field of green, huge stately trees rose from it, budding with new green leaves. Carol had already started bringing flowers. Live hydrangeas in pots lined the back of the house, around the new deck, and filled in the spaces between the roots of the huge old trees.

  "Wow, it looks amazing back here. We could just stand under a tree and forget all the hoopla." Alex ducked his head pretending not to see the look Jared gave him.

  Jared chuckled and roughed his hair as if he were a boy again. "After everything you've put me through, there will be hoopla."

  "Hoopla it is." Alex glanced around and couldn't see anything that was less than perfect. "Are we done? I'd like to eat at Leo's tonight."

  "Sounds good to me, but there is one more thing I want to take a look at."

  "Okay, I'll wait in the truck." He turned to head back around the house but Jared caught him by a belt loop.

  He stumbled to a stop and looked over his shoulder. "What?"

  "Come with me." Jared tilted his head towards the house.

  Shaking his head, Alex fell into step beside him. "We've got stuff to do at home."

  Jared smiled at the gentle hint to get going, unlocked the door, and opened it. "People will want to see inside after the wedding. I want to make sure the boys cleaned it out like I asked them to."

  "Fine, let's hurry. I'm starving." Alex moved ahead, tugging him along by the hand, eager to get done. He loved the place as much as Jared but there'd be time to worry about the inside of it after the wedding. All the rooms downstairs were swept and mopped, not a single cobweb dared linger in a corner. The sun glinted through clean window glass. "Looks like they did a good job."

  "It's great. Come on, one quick look upstairs and we'll go. Promise."

  With an indulgent smile, Alex followed him to the stairs. The banister held firm under his hand with no sign of the wobble he'd noticed on his last visit. Affection warmed his heart. Jared really loved the house. He couldn't keep from working on it even in the midst of pre-wedding madness. Alex thought he loved the place as much as Jared did, but sometimes the evidence suggested he didn't come close.

  Jared led him through the rooms to the left of the stairs, and in the second found a loose board in the floor. He glanced up from where he knelt on one knee to look at it. "I left a hammer in our room. Do you mind getting it for me?"

  Alex started to protest. He didn't understand why the errant board had to be fixed at that second, but decided doing would be faster than arguing and headed for the room they already thought of as theirs. Wondering why the door was shut, he turned the crystal-faceted knob and pushed it open. He froze at the sight that met his eyes, so shocked he didn't feel Jared's hand settle on his hip.

  "You finished it." Alex still didn't move, could only stare at the impossibility in front of him.

  The wall between the two bedrooms on the right side of the house had been removed. The hardwood floor had been stripped and refinished, and now it gleamed with a welcoming patina. The walls were painted a soft gray and the trim glistened white. Area rugs marked off the sleeping area from the sitting area, where two recliners faced the fireplace. A table between them held a lamp, and a novel Alex wanted to read but hadn't had time to start. A flat-screen TV hung over the fireplace where logs were laid for a fire.

  The bed held Alex's attention and he made his way over to stand beside it. He'd recognized the craftsmanship in the head- and footboard anywhere. With a small smile quirking his mouth, he walked around and tried to lift the end of the bed. Unsurprisingly it weighed a ton. Jared's work, with metal bars reinforcing each slat. Solid oak, stained dark with a rich shine, Alex ran his fingers over the smooth-as-satin wood, wondering when Jared had time to craft something so magnificent. He lifted his head to look around the finished room.

  "When?"

  "I hired a crew from JD Construction. I wasn't sure we'd finish in time until the last couple days." Jared hesitated. "We aren't going anywhere for our honeymoon but I thought… do you like it?"

  "Like it? Jared, oh my God." Alex didn't turn to face him, unwilling to expose the depth of his emotion.

  The photographs on a far wall caught his attention, giving him a reason to walk away and take a minute to compose himself. Except it didn't work. There were pictures from early in their relationship in simple black frames. Alex barely recognized the boy he'd been in the images. A grouping of frames handcrafted from rough wood held images of them later in their relationship, the central one of them in the yard of their brand new house, faces filled with pride, love, and hope. He reached out and touched the smooth glass over the picture. He remembered that moment as clearly as if it happened yesterday. Lost in the memory, he became aware of Jared beside him, arm wrapped firm around his waist.

  "I saved wood from our house and made the frames with it. Stevie put everyone we know to work digging up whatever pictures they had of us. She picked the best ones to frame, and then she and our moms put together albums for us." Jared motioned to the shelf under the display where a row of photo albums stood, the black bindings inscribed with gold letters; one read 'Alex' and another 'Jared'. "Presents from our mothers, a bunch of embarrassing growing up pictures. I haven't looked all the way through them. I thought you might like to do that together and the other ones…"

  Alex pulled out the one marked 'Part One' and opened it to reveal pictures of him and Jared from the earliest days of their relationship, before Jared would admit there was a relationship. Clark was in most of them.

  Alex laughed. "I forgot how he was always there."

  "Always. Sometimes I wanted to just throw him into the lake or lock him in a closet."

  "It wouldn't have helped. He'd have just come back and dripped water all over your floor. I can't believe how many pictures there are." Alex left the album open and pulled out 'Part Two'. He opened it and found pictures of his college days, both with Jared and away at MIT, along with images of Jared while Alex was gone. 'Part Three' beckoned, but he closed the two he had out and put them back on the shelf. He and Jared had two weeks of being together to look at their leisure. He looked back up at the frames Jared had made from their home, his heart full to bursting.

  "One of the things I couldn't get over was losing so many of our pictures, everything except the ones in our memory boxes."

  "A lot of these are ours. I gave Stevie access to icloud, Picasa, and Facebook. She's worked her ass off getting the albums finished. Between her and Clark one thing is for sure, you were a two-year-old with one hell of friend-picking radar."

  Alex shook his head. "I don't know why I d
eserve any of you." He turned back to the room and noticed the empty corner. "What's that?"

  "Well, it's where your work computers are going. Clark's bringing them and our chair later tonight. I told him he could have those two recliners, if that's okay with you." Jared pressed a kiss against his temple, his fingers sliding under the edge of his T-shirt and brushing the bare skin of his hip.

  Alex's pulse quickened under the casual caress. "I don't mind, but what's the rush with the computers. Two weeks off, remember?"

  Jared tugged him around to face him. "If you are going to get that Bank of America job, you can't wait two weeks to start."

  Alex's forehead furrowed. "But I can't just…"

  A single finger on his lips stopped him. "You can and you will. It's our new life, Alex, and it looks like you are going to start it with a bang. I'll enjoy lazing around watching you slave."

  "Ass." Alex gave his shoulder a halfhearted shove. "What about a bathroom and food?"

  "Finished master bath is right back there." Jared indicated a door on the wall near Alex's corner. "We'll have to go out and eat; we are a long away from a useable kitchen."

  He nodded. "Enforced breaks will probably be a good thing." Alex met Jared's eyes, feeling incredulous that they'd made it through everything to arrive at this moment. "We really did make it."

  "We made it."

  Jared slid one hand to the small of his back, the other he moved to lie against his neck, thumb on the cut of his jaw, tilting his face to brush their lips together. Heart pounding, blood racing, Alex opened his mouth for Jared's tongue as he surged into his arms.

  Panting, he broke away. "I love you, Jared, but we can't do this right now." His body betrayed him, hips rocking against the hard thigh Jared thrust between his.

  "Of course we can." Jared tried to snare him back into a kiss but he turned away laughing.

  "No, we have more to do than ever."

  Jared pulled back to look at him. "What do you mean?"

  "We don't just have to eat and make sure we have everything for tomorrow, we have to move."

  Jared blinked. "Move? Tonight?"

  "Tonight."

  "Okay, then." Jared took a deep breath and let him out of his arms. "We better get started. Call and see if Leo's can fit us in, and we'll have to stop somewhere for boxes."

  Alex nodded, distracted. "We won't need many boxes. Jared, this is unbelievable, I don't know how to thank you." He motioned to the room.

  "You don't have to. I was as motivated by selfish reasons as much wanting to make you happy." The confession made Alex stop and look at him.

  "Always the truth with you." he laughed. "Fine, I won't thank you, but if we aren't moved by midnight, you'll be working on your own."

  He turned and fled down the stairs.

  There for You

  Alex dropped his bag full of packing tape and labels on the floor beside the flattened boxes Jared had carried up the stairs. Looking around, he wondered why it looked like they had so much stuff now that packing it up had become reality.

  "I hope we can finish before midnight." He picked up one of the boxes to assemble it. "I didn't really want you to do it by yourself."

  Jared shrugged. "No big deal if there's stuff left to do afterwards, but I don't think we'll have a problem getting it all boxed up. We're packing, not sorting. Once we're done, we can load up the truck and I'll stack the boxes in the closet under the stairs. We can sort and unpack after the wedding."

  "Sounds like a plan but it's already eight so we better get started." He tossed Jared the box he'd just taped. "You take the kitchen. I'll do the bedroom."

  "Aye-aye!" Jared mock saluted and ducked the slap he aimed at the back of his head.

  After assembling another box, Alex headed for the bedroom, excitement bubbling at the thought of leaving. He had no regrets at putting the apartment and all its dark memories behind him. A knock on the door surprised him, and with Jared already in the kitchen, he detoured to answer it.

  "Are you expecting someone?" he called over his shoulder.

  "Maybe." Jared's head, buried in a cabinet, muffled his voice, lending Alex no clue to who he'd find when he opened the door.

  "Thanks for telling me," he muttered without heat, and pulled the door open to find his parents standing there. "Mom… Dad!" Thrilled to see his father, Alex grabbed him and hugged him hard. "You made it."

  Frank returned his hug and he held on tight. "Of course I made it. A man's son doesn't get married every day. Now let me look at you."

  He stepped back and met his father's eyes. He grinned as his dad looked him over, inspecting him carefully from shoes to hair.

  Finally satisfied, Frank stepped back and nodded. "You look good, a hell of a lot better than when I saw you six months ago." He reached out and touched Alex's face. "It's like a miracle."

  "Naw, just good medical care." He backed into the apartment, opening the door wide in invitation. "Come on in. What are you guys doing here? When do you have to go back?"

  His parents followed him into the apartment. "Jared called and asked if we'd help pack. We weren't doing anything else so here we are." Frank smiled at Janet who had been lingering in the background watching the reunion between father and son.

  "Jared knew you were home?" Alex turned an accusing look towards the kitchen where Jared stood braced on a counter with both hands, observing the happy reunion.

  He quirked a brow and raised his hands in a gesture of innocence. "It was a surprise."

  Torn between being annoyed about not knowing his dad would be there for the wedding, and his intense joy at having him home, Alex gave Jared a look promising payback. He got a grin in return, an entirely unsatisfactory response. He decided he needed to work on his glower and turned back to his parents.

  "It'll be great to have help. We need to be packed and have the boxes unloaded by midnight. Clark's expecting me." He slung an arm around his mother and hugged her close. "Hi, Mom," he whispered, and felt well rewarded by her answering hug and smile.

  "Janet, want to help in here?" Jared called, pulling out a drawer to dump the contents in his box without looking to see what it held.

  Janet's eyes widened. "It looks like I better."

  Jared looked between the drawer and his box, expression puzzled. "What?"

  "Never mind, just don't 'pack' anything else. I'm coming." Janet expertly put together a couple more boxes and headed for the kitchen, determination to set things right written all over her face.

  "If we hurry in the bedroom we can get it finished before she gets done in the kitchen," Frank whispered to him.

  He led his dad to the back of the apartment without argument. Alex knew enough not to get caught in his mother's 'how to pack' trap. He'd have warned Jared if he'd asked. All things considered, packing under his mother’s keen eye might be payback enough for keeping secrets.

  In the bedroom Frank pulled Alex to him for another long hug. "I'm sorry I haven't been here for you and your mother." Frank's voice filled with pain and regret, twisted his heart.

  "Dad, you'd been out of work for almost a year after IBM downsized, and already signed the government contract. What were you supposed to do? Stay here and go bankrupt while you watched me go crazy?" Alex shook his head and moved away picking things up off the nightstand to pack.

  "You weren't crazy." The vehemence in his father's voice stunned him and he looked up in surprise. "I should have been here."

  "I went pretty far off the deep end, Dad, and you couldn't have done a thing. I had to come to terms with everything and the only person who had any influence was right here with me. Stop beating yourself up." Heart sore and tired, Alex sat on the edge of the bed. "It was awful and I hope nothing like it ever happens to me again, but it wasn't anyone's fault. Least of all yours."

  Frank's hand on his shoulder made him look up. "I'm your father." The words were heavy with the weight of responsibility.

  As quickly as it had come his morose mood fled and his smile
lit his face. "That's true, Dad, and I love you. But you have to remember I'm an adult. If I'm accountable to anyone these days, it's Jared, and has been for a long time."

  "It's not easy for a dad to just hand his child over to someone. I know I've left you in his care for years, but this feels different. Permanent." Frank studied him, searching his eyes and face. "You are happy?"

  Alex laughed. "I'm getting married, to Jared. I'm so happy I'm giddy."

  Frank squeezed his shoulder. "That's what I want to hear."

  "You better be working in there and not just sitting around gabbing!" Janet called from the kitchen, and the sound of her voice brought Alex to his feet.

  "We better get busy before Mom catches us slacking off," he teased his dad who grabbed a box and headed for the dresser.

  "I'll be home for the whole month, so we'll have time to get together after the wedding. Have dinner together and talk." Frank began dumping the drawer contents into his box without discrimination.

  "That sounds fantastic. Tell me about what you're doing over there." Alex returned to emptying the nightstand, carefully wrapping the lamp from the bedside table before adding it to the box. Perhaps not all the memories from the apartment were bad.

  He couldn't keep from stealing glances at his dad as they worked and talked, hardly able to believe the man had made the arrangements in only four weeks to fly halfway around the world for a wedding. He felt incredibly lucky considering the fact there were gay men in the world whose fathers wouldn't cross the street to say hello.

  "Dad."

  Frank looked up from clearing off the top of the chest of drawers to meet Alex's eyes. "What is it?"

  "Thanks, you know? That's all, just thank you."

  "I love you, Alex."

  Their gazes held for a long moment. "I know you do, Dad, and something I've learned makes that mean a lot. Little boys think their fathers have to love them. Men understand no one has to love."