More Repercussions

Part 8

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Placing the phone back in its cradle, Brian picked up a sheet of paper off the desk. Justin's doctor had just informed him that flying would not cause any further neurological damage. However, he couldn't guarantee that Justin's current condition would allow for a comfortable flight. He offered to give the boy some strong sedatives to make the trip tolerable. Dr. Lewis had been thrilled to hear that the insurance issues were solved and would contact the specialist immediately.

I don't want him drugged when we get married. I want him to be clear-headed for this. I, on the other, will require a few drinks, he thought to himself.

Looking over to see Justin's peaceful form, he smiled. He hasn't slept this well in a long time. He heard the elevator going and then there was a knock at the door. He opened the door to find six very excited ladies and a toddler.

"We are so happy for you," gushed Debbie as she pushed him aside to enter the loft.

"I am so happy that it only took you a night to convince him," smiled Jennifer.

"Must have threatened to stop fucking him, huh?" Whispered Daphne as she passed Brian.

"This is going to be so romantic," sighed Lindsay.

"I still can't believe it," Mel admitted.

"There is so much to do," exclaimed Emmett, clapping his hands and jumping up and down.

"Jusin," squealed Gus, as he raced into the loft. Brian chased him and caught him before he was able to wake the younger man.

"He's still sleeping."

"It's one o'clock in the afternoon." Said Jennifer, concerned.

"We were up until after seven in this morning, but I guess you know all about that or you wouldn't be here," he replied.

"Seven? You left my house before five. There's no way it took you two hours to drive home."

"It didn't," he smiled.

"Oh, then…Ooohhh," she laughed. "I should have known."

"Known what?" Asked Jennifer.

"You don't want to think about it," explained Daphne.

Jennifer blushed while Brian smirked.

"Bri, if all it takes to make him sleep is a good fuck, then what's the problem? Or is your reputation one of those urban legends?"

"Fuck you."

"That's what I mean, I've never had the pleas… Or maybe I should say experience," Emmett smiled wickedly.

"And you never will."

The visitors made themselves comfortable in the living room. Magazines, catalogues, and brochures soon covered the coffee table.

"What the fuck?" Brian said, noticing what they were doing.

"We want to help. Let's face it, your gatherings leave a lot to be desired so we discussed this over brunch and we are going to plan the whole thing."

"Oh, you are. Are you?"

"Brian, Emmett's right. This is supposed to be a happy occasion and that's never been the result of your parties. Justin isn't up to doing all the details so here we are," explained Lindsay.

"What details? We go somewhere, find an official, get married, sign some forms, and come home. We need travel arrangements, a hotel room, and the local phone book. No big deal."

"If you think my baby is getting married without me being there, you are sadly mistaken," stated Jennifer evenly.

"Mom," said Justin, yawning, walking toward the group, and rubbing his eyes. "I think we are going to do this alone."

"Jusin!"

"Hey Gus, how's my big man?" He asked lifting the boy into his arms.

"Play," the toddler responded, pointing to the trucks on the floor next to his father.

"Okay," the teen said through a yawn. He put Gus down and joined him on the floor. He turned to greet his fiancé. "Morning." They kissed.

"More like afternoon," said the older man, holding up his wrist so his watch was visible.

"What's all this?" The blond asked looking at the coffee table.

"The wedding planners from hell have arrived!"

Deb responded by smacking Brian in the head with a bridal magazine. Brian instinctively put his hand up to protect Justin's head. Realizing his instincts had taken over, he was slightly embarrassed by his reaction. The others noticed and smiled at his show of concern. "Owww," he yelped.

"I thought we were eloping? What's to plan?"

"Just because you have to go somewhere else to get married, doesn't mean that we aren't all going to be there," explained Deb.

Justin could feel his lover's body tense. Brian's mind started to wander. He saw himself running. Just like Forrest Gump, he could see himself running for miles and miles, from one state and through another. Lost in thought, he didn't hear when Justin asked him a question.

"Brian, where do you think we should go?" He repeated.

"Huh? Oh, actually I talked to Dr. Lewis earlier and he said that travelling wouldn't cause any more damage, but if we flew the altitude might bring on severe headaches."

"I could always take an extra pill."

"I think we should drive to Vermont. It will be easier. You could sleep the whole way there."

"Wait, the best thing happened a few days ago," said Daphne.

"Besides the obvious, what?" Her best friend replied. He knew that if he started to get sentimental and emotional, Brian would pull away a bit.

"Gay marriage became legal in Canada. At least in two provinces, but soon the whole country."

"Which provinces? And when will the whole country legalize it?"

"British Colombia and Ontario. A few months, I think."

"There are places in Ontario that are closer than Vermont." Brian said.

"Niagara Falls would be great," said Deb. "When I was young everybody went there to get married.

Brian left the group and sat at his computer, Justin assumed that Brian was finished indulging the women. He was trying to figure out a way to keep his mother from accompanying them. This wasn't going to be easy, he sighed to himself.

Brian immediately looked up at the sound. He glanced at his watch and disappeared into the bathroom. No one noticed that Brian was making something to eat in the kitchen except, Emmett. I can't believe he isn't even offering us anything. He can be so rude. Maybe he thinks if he feeds us, we will stay longer.

After a few minutes, Brian returned with a bagel and banana on a plate and a bottle of water. Handing them to Justin he held out his hand. Justin took the pills and placed them on his thigh.

"Eat." Brian said, before returning to his computer.

After finishing his breakfast, Justin took the five pills. He noticed Emmett looking at them sadly. "I'm okay, Em. I ate first so I won't get sick from them."

Emmett smiled but his eyes were still sad. Baby deserves so much more than this. We have to make this the wedding of his dreams. He thought to himself.

Jennifer pushed a magazine into his lap. "Here, look at this."

"Mom, this is full of wedding dresses. I don't really think I need one of those."

"No, but there are rings, flowers, tuxes, cakes."

"I don't really think we need all of that stuff. We'll go to a justice of the peace or the courthouse or wherever and say what we have to say and sign what we have to sign. No problem."

"But baby, don't you want a wedding. This should be a big deal. It's a celebration of love, hope, and faith."

Justin could tell that Brian was listening to this conversation, which made it much harder to explain to the wedding planners what this particular ceremony was about. "This is essentially a marriage of convenience," Justin began. He noticed Brian stiffen in his chair. "The significance of this wedding is for Brian and me to decide."

Brian could see how his lover was trying to walk the fence between Brian's ideas about marriage and everybody else's. He almost felt sorry for the boy. I'm sure if I wasn't here, he would just say Brian wouldn't go for that to hold off the women. I'll rescue him in a minute before he gets a headache, he thought.

Jennifer was lost in her own thoughts. I am very thankful that Brian is willing to do this to help Justin get well, but I can't help but think that a marriage on these terms will never work. If Justin continues to see this as some kind of favor that Brian is making for his sake, they don't stand a chance of making it work. I know Brian loves him. We can all see it. He would do anything for him and I guess he is proving that. Debbie and Vic told me this morning what he said last night. Oh, my God, Vic is right! Brian has taken some huge steps in the last day or so, but coming here like this is pushing. That's why Vic refused to come with us. This was a mistake. We should leave. We all know that Brian doesn't like to be pushed. That's why he went to the computer, so he could escape into his work. She watched her future son-in-law for a few minutes and then started to gather the magazines.

"Honey, I think we should be going. You are absolutely right. These decisions are up to you and Brian. I really would like to be there, but if you have to do this alone, I will understand. Just a picture will do."

Brian looked up and knew what she was doing and smiled. She might not be the worst mother-in-law after all.

"What the fuck are you talking about? We haven't planned anything," said Deb.

Justin, who had been thankful that his mother had sensed his dilemma, now hung his head.

At this point, Brian returned to the group dropping some papers onto the coffee table.

"What's this?" Lindsay asked.

"Instead of focusing on unimportant details, I did some research. Ontario is closer than Vermont. It's only about four hours to Niagara Falls and five and a half to Toronto."

"Niagara Falls would be so romantic," sighed Debbie.

"Or incredibly tacky, depends on your point of view, I guess," mumbled Brian.

Justin couldn't help but smile.

"From what I could get on the net, Niagara Falls is like a little Las Vegas. Lots of places to get married quickly. The question is do all these places conform to the new law. Religions don't have to follow it. I will have Cynthia check it out. There have been several gay marriages at city hall in Toronto, so that's a possibility but there may be more red tape there."

"What do you mean by red tape?" Jennifer asked.

"It seems that Niagara Falls is kind of like one stop shopping. Toronto might require blood tests and the license could have more restrictions like waiting periods or residency. All of this has to be looked into."

Justin looked through the information Brian had printed off the computer.

"What do you think?" Brian asked.

"It doesn't really matter. If it's easier to do it in Niagara Falls, then that's fine with me."

"Yeah, it might be easier," Brian said as he picked up a page with pictures on it. "I don't want to go to a chapel, though. Even just the appearance of religion is a little weird for me, not to mention the fact that they are incredibly cheesy. I mean look at this," he continued, pointing to an overdone bride on a glittery altar.

Justin and Daphne looked at the picture and burst out laughing.

"I agree way too…" The teen paused looking for the right word. "Shiny."

Daphne took the picture out of Brian's hand, "I wonder how she gets her hair to stay like that."

"I don't want to know," said Brian.

"If not the chapels, then where?" Jennifer questioned.

"There are several places. An embankment overlooking the Falls, in an old mansion, hotel suites, the Minolta Tower, a park with a nice view, a gazebo in a park, hell you can even do it on that boat that goes near the Falls."

"That would be kind of cool," said Emmett.

Daphne handed him the picture, "yeah, but you have to wear blue rain slickers."

Emmett made a disgusted face, "Forget it. Absolutely NOT!!"

"Has anyone been there? It seems to me it would be very loud," Justin wondered.

"It is incredibly loud," answered Deb.

"I think this will be a process of elimination. Since you don't want a chapel, I think I'll eliminate the embankment thing. I don't want us to have to scream to hear each other."

"Good idea, the noise might bother you too. Since Em eliminated the boat, I'll cross off the Minolta Tower. The view might be good, but an elevator ride up thirtysomething floors will make me dizzy, so it is out of the question for you."

"I know this is all too hetero for you, so I'll eliminate the gazebo so your head doesn't literally explode," smiled Justin.

"Thank you, Sunshine," replied Brian, giving him a kiss. "See you look out for me, too."

"So what's left?" Lindsay asked.

"The mansion, the park, or a hotel suite," answered Daphne looking at the list.

"We still don't know if we can find someone who does same-sex marriages," said Justin.

Mel grabbed the paper and took it to the phone on the desk. Everyone listened, as she called several numbers.

"I called four places, one refused on `moral grounds' and two others are booked, the last one agreed to the mansion or the park. She doesn't do hotels because of all the competition in the area," Mel explained.

"Did you book it?'

"No, I didn't know when you wanted to go."

"As soon as possible, what about the end of this week?" Brian inquired.

"Sounds good. It's not like I have any plans," responded Justin.

"That doesn't give us much time to plan," said Lindsay.

"Good."

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