(An O'Keefe Brothers Story)

(Thanksgiving)

Danny was slow to leave the choir loft after the church service ended. He knew he was just delaying the inevitable. At some point, he'd have to go back to the house and face the same delicious aromas and joyful sounds of a large family gathered for a big, traditional Thanksgiving feast. He'd been glad to volunteer for the sparsely attended Thanksgiving service; most people, if they went to church at all, went to the ecumenical service on Wednesday evening, which this year had been at the large Presbyterian Church in the center of town. The morning service was mainly for the older people in the congregation, those who still thought Thanksgiving was primarily for thanking God, rather than for overeating and watching football. Danny had liked this service best. Even when he was traveling, he tried to make it back home to play the organ and sing a few of the favorite hymns since he knew his mother would be one of the faithful in attendance.

Not this year. He blinked back tears as he forced himself to face the fact that this was just another "first" to make it through. He'd made it through his first birthday without her, as well as Briana's, which was almost as hard. Then there was his mother's to get past. Now there was just this holiday and one more big one, and he'd be pretty much okay until the year was up. Valentine's Day, but that was never a biggie with Mama. No more major firsts until the first anniversary of her death. At least by dying on Mother's Day, Rose hadn't given him two separate days to dread in the calendar. Thanksgiving would really be the dress rehearsal for Christmas, he told himself, ever the performer. If he could fool the family that he was doing okay without her today, maybe they would stop tip-toeing around him and start talking about her again. He missed his mother so much, and the fact that everyone was afraid to even mention her around him, afraid he would go off the deep end, "poor fragile Danny," was enough to make him crazy. It reminded him of when Luke died, and it was as though that older brother had never even existed. It was still hard to get most of his brothers and sisters to talk about him. Danny was so glad Brian had known him, and would talk shared memories of him sometimes.

Leaning over the railing, Danny saw that the last of the parishioners had left. Bless Father Baker. He appreciated Danny's wish for solitude and must have assured the old darlings that Danny had slipped away already. Which meant that he would be able to have some private time in the cemetery before heading to the house. With a sigh, he shrugged on his black leather jacket and picked up the bright colored flowers he'd brought with him, then headed down the stairs. Danny had always brought his mother flowers on Thanksgiving and he'd seen no reason to alter that tradition this year.

Father Baker didn't say a word as he watched the leanly muscled young man slip out the back door of the sacristy and head over to the cemetery that adjoined the church. The old priest knew that only time healed some hurts, but he prayed that Danny O'Keefe's pain began to ease soon. He hoped that the tall, hazel eyed man waiting to surprise the singer with a ride home after he visited his mother's grave would be able to help him.

*****************************************************************

"Bri! I didn't think you'd be back so soon! Early flight?" Danny sped up his pace as he recognized the man standing by the unfamiliar rental car.

"They were able to bump someone and for you, I flew coach...which must mean love. My legs may never recover. You so owe me." Brian pulled Danny close and cupped his face in his hands for a moment before kissing him. He didn't like the lost look that Danny was unsuccessful in hiding from him, although he did seem genuinely pleased with Brian's surprise and returned his kiss enthusiastically before answering with a dimpled smile.

"Then we're even, because you owe me for leaving me to deal with your family right before a holiday. Debbie was one thing, Michael was another, but Lindsay. Oh my God! Kiss me again, quick, and all is even. Kiss me again slowly and you'll pull ahead, perhaps," Danny grinned, the dimples even more in evidence, although the green eyes were still shadowed with sorrow.

"Ah, let me see if I can rise to the challenge..." Brian moved his hands down so that they were cupping the tight ass beneath the edge of the leather jacket, and he pressed the muscular body flush against him as his tongue made a leisurely exploration of the warm mouth that opened to him. Danny brought his hands up around Brian's neck, impervious to the fact that they were standing outside a church, next to a cemetery, as he ground his groin against the taller man's, his hardened cock aroused immediately by his partner's touch, his smell, his voice.

"Brian, let's drive somewhere," he murmured. "The loft, my place, a field," he finished on a slight laugh.

"Don't we have to go back to the house?"

"Eventually....I'll call and tell them I'm delayed."

*****************************************************

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Mary Pat O'Keefe commented to the room at large as two very satisfied looking men walked into the O'Keefe family home some three hours later. Brian flicked her on the chin on his way to the vegetable tray while Danny headed over to check on Briana in the playroom.

"Must have been a heckava long sermon today, Danny! You looked exhausted. Fr. Baker must have been filled with the Holy Spirit. That should count as Sunday's duty too," Joey O'Keefe teased as his youngest brother came back into the room. He knew better than to try teasing his former roommate; Brian's comebacks were always swift and brutal. Danny, however, could be counted on to be on his best behavior with the eldest siblings around, as they were today.

"Well, someone must've been filled with something, that's for sure," was Emmett's contribution. "Which one of you needs a pillow?"

Several of the O'Keefe males groaned while John got up and pretended to smother the tall queen with a pillow. "Mixed company, Honeycutt, by which I mean, straights and queers, so behave or the only use I see for a pillow is censoring you. Which reminds me, did someone say Mrs. Novotny is coming over later, Brian? If so, we may need to put the kid table in a separate room this year." Several of the sisters started debating the wisdom of that move: sacrificing family togetherness for peace of mind, while many of the men continued to joke about why it was needed. Brian ignored the topic for the most part, interjecting a scathing comment whenever he felt the need to lend Emmett some support or defend Debbie, although privately he agreed that Debbie was hardly fit company for impressionable ears.

Danny listened for several minutes without comment. When the debate grew heated, he finally intervened, speaking quietly, but projecting his voice in the way he had that always got attention. It was a trick he'd learned from his mother, who never raised her voice with her dozen children, yet was always listened to immediately when she spoke. It was particularly effective in his deep professionally trained voice, capable of being heard in the back rows of the largest theater. On most occasions, it was sufficient to get attention at an O'Keefe family gathering without being raised. This was one of those occasions. Once everyone was looking at him, Danny offered his solution.

"I will sit next to Debbie. At the kid table, which will remain in its usual spot. I'm sure she will enjoy being close to her granddaughter, J.R. We'll put one of the highchairs there and then Mel and Lindsay won't have to feed her. Debbie will watch her tongue when she has mainly children around her. Problem solved. Now, who's up for some scrabble?"

*****************************************************

After dinner was over, everyone was sitting around, trying to make room for the myriad desserts that were being set out. Daphne and Jamie had joined the gang, bringing the elder Dr. Chanders with them. Both Dr. Chanders and Jamie had worked shifts at the hospital that day; she as the heart surgeon called to perform emergency surgery and he as the emergency room attending who called her in to perform the surgery on a thirty-five year old man who was involved in a serious car accident driving home from work. He'd neglected to wear his seatbelt because it was "too confining." Daphne had been working in the ER also, as an MST, when the man was brought in. Having seen the condition he'd been in, she was awestruck that between her fiancé and her mother, the man was going to live. She was excitedly telling the family about the case as she sat down, forgetting all about eating.

"So now he's going to live, thanks to your hunky man and your brilliant mother; you must be so proud, sweetie," Emmett exclaimed as he brought her a plate with a nice selection of the day's favored dishes, including a few of his own specialities, which had won acclaim even among such talented cooks as Lynn and Mary Beth O'Keefe.

"No thanks to his own intelligence," Jamie commented wearily on his erstwhile patient as he speared some leftover turkey onto a fork.

"You mean lack of it," Josephine Chanders corrected him around a bite of sweet potato souffle. It was Danny who had served the tall, imposing woman, a strict vegetarian, presenting her with an impressive plate of all the best of the day's non-meat dishes when she sank down into one of the many comfortable armchairs with which the O'Keefe living room was blessed. Everyone else was either too intimidated by Dr. Chanders or too busy studying her, trying to figure out if cute little Daphne was adopted, to think of bringing her food. Josephine looked like central casting's idea of an African Queen. Regal, dramatic, beautiful. Daphne was...well, Daphne. Short, feisty, cute. Two by two, the dark heads could be seen bent together, discussing the lack of family resemblance. Even the others such as Debbie and Lindsay were getting into the discussion, as somehow none of them had ever met Daphne's mother before, despite all the years the girl had been around them as Justin's best friend.

Danny was annoyed, although he didn't show it, because, in his opinion, his sisters were being somewhat rude to the new guest. This was Dr. Chanders' first time to their home, and his mother would have wanted her treated as a guest of highest honor as Daphne's mother, but the girls were distracted and whispering, clearly planning something. He hoped that Josephine was too tired to notice, although he suspected little missed those sharp brown eyes.

In fact, Danny was correct that his brother Jamie's future mother-in-law didn't miss much, but in this case, Josephine Chanders had been let in on the O'Keefe girls' surprise for the engaged couple and was feeling tolerant. It was one of the reasons she had forced herself to come over and be sociable despite her rough day. She was not naturally a "people person" like her daughter was, and as her unlamented former husband was. Normally, she would have waited and met this large, overwhelming family on her own turf, a restaurant or somewhere else of her choosing. She certainly would not have elected to meet so many of them at once. It had been just her and Daphne during holidays for so many years, occasionally joined by Daphne's best friend Justin when he was escaping his own family. To suddenly inherit several dozen relatives, not to mention a family in which many of her prospective son-in-law's siblings were her age or older, was going to take some getting used to.

But, tonight, seeing how loved her daughter was, she relaxed. All would be well with her girl in this family, she sensed. And that included the extended family of gay men Daphne had picked up over the years. Other than Justin, her daughter had kept her gay friends away from her mother, out of fear of how Josephine would react, Josephine surmised, amused. That tall one with the bedroom eyes and aquiline nose looked more than capable of taking care of himself. He was teasing her little girl much like a cross between a big brother and a protective father. Lord knows, Daphne never had either. Maybe the child missed it more than she'd ever realized.

Jamie's one younger brother was a sweet young man. Sad green eyes, though. Not like all these other green-eyed people around her. Even when the hazel-eyed man's arms were around him, which was often, he retained his aura of sadness.

Josephine studied eyes. As a doctor, she'd learned many years ago that they told her much more than a patient's words did. Many a stoic denied pain even when his eyes were filled with suffering, and many a hypochondriac begged for a refill on pain pills when his eyes held only the guarded look of an addict. When this young man handed her the filled plate, somehow remembering that she was a vegetarian without her saying a word, his lovely mouth was smiling a charming smile, but Danny O'Keefe's beautiful eyes revealed a pain he wouldn't let go.

Dr. Chanders, her plate empty, put it and her thoughts aside, as the O'Keefe sisters insisted on all of the adults sitting down, with Daphne and Jamie in the center of the room, so they could bring out their big surprise. Mary Elizabeth, as the oldest, carried out the large box and handed it to Daphne.

"With our love, Daphne, Jamie, please accept this gift, from our mother Rose. She made it for Jamie, but it is a tradition in our family that this particular gift from our mama to each of her sons doesn't get given until he finds his true love. We were able to finish it for mama, using her notes, and, well..." Mary Beth paused, too choked up to go on.

"Well, open it already!" Mary Kate said briskly, causing Mary Fran and Mary Pat to laugh through their own tears. Jamie was holding Daphne on his lap, his usual practice, and the large box was on her lap. "Go on, love," he whispered, his voice husky.

Daphne lifted the wrapped lid of the box and Jamie took it out of her hands to toss it to the floor, the cavalier act earning another laugh. She reached in the box and pulled out a beautiful patchwork quilt, bringing forth gasps of awe from the assembled crowd.

"Wow, that is amazing..."... "Mama's best one, I think..."..."Can you see the pieces that are from you, Daphne..."... "You can't even tell Mama didn't do it all herself....".... "How did you girls keep it secret all this time?..." The comments overlapped one another as they always did in this house. Every inch of the lovely quilt was explored in detail and its significance explained as Daphne hugged and was hugged by most members of the immediate family. Josephine received her share of hugs as well, before escaping to a side chair, next to Mark O'Keefe, one of the older, quieter brothers. She offered to rock the grandchild in his arms so he could go catch the end of the football game playing in one of the many other rooms. He smiled at her whimsically and answered with a trace of his Irish accent still audible in his pleasant baritone.

"Ahh, I'd be happy to share the rocking duties with you, Dr. Chanders..." He placed the pretty green eyed child in her arms willingly. Josephine had no wish to rush Daphne, but she couldn't help wondering if she would be rocking one of these lovely creatures of her own sooner than later. She had Daphne in her last year of medical school and never regretted a day of their time together. Daphne's father, however, was another story. Could these strong O'Keefe genes defeat their mighty African genetics and give her green-eyed grandchildren with rich chocolate skin? At least Daphne's father's family's lack of height should not dominate another generation, she thought with satisfaction, looking at this room of giants. Her own height had not been passed on to her daughter, to Daphne's disappointment as much as her own. She still could remember the day Daphne got cut from the basketball team in eighth grade as though it were yesterday; how her baby cried at the unfairness. With a son-in-law who was six foot six, no grandchild of Josephine's should suffer being cut from the basketball team should he or she choose to play, especially if Daphne's ball handling skills were inherited. That was the unfair part, she really was the best player, but the coach wouldn't consider a short girl for the team.

"Please... call me Josephine," she gently corrected the Irishman next to her as he settled back down in his chair, looking perfectly comfortable to forego the football. She remembered that Daphne had told her that to these O'Keefes, football meant soccer, and they didn't have much interest in the American sport unless their cousins were playing. Perhaps basketball wouldn't even be the sport her grandchildren played, she mused, then laughed at herself for planning for the hobbies of children not yet conceived.

That dimpled smile, which seemed to be contagious in this house, was flashed at her. No wonder her level headed daughter was getting married so much sooner than she ever expected. These O'Keefe men were charmers. Even the grandfathers among them.

"Josephine it will be then. I'm Mark, the second son. I'll tell you a trick for remembering the first several of us, the men, that is. It's easy if you know your Gospel. Matthew, Mark, Luke, may he rest in peace, that's his picture up on the wall, the soldier, and then John. Next comes Joseph, named for the Lord's stepfather, don't you know? Next we have our James, named for the Lord's half brother. By then, Mama, and Dad were rather at a loss, as Dad wanted to name his seventh son Paul, after the great apostle, but Mama was never a big fan of Paul's. You being a career woman, I'm sure you can understand, as my sisters and Danny assure me St. Paul was not so good on women's rights. Mama wasn't what you would call a feminist but she didn't care for being told to be subservient to anyone. Anyway, mama, she held out for Daniel, moving into the Old Testament just for him. Since she'd allowed Dad to name one of the last girls in the family, Angel, which she argued wasn't really a Bible name at all, she should be allowed to give her last boy any name she wanted. God rest her soul, Angel isn't with us any longer either, and there was a wee girl baby who died between Jamie and Danny, Mary Martha was her name, although Dad called her his little Colleen and that is the name that has stuck." Mark flashed her another smile. "Sorry, that was no doubt far more than you wished to know. But you're family now and I thought I should start filling you in. Later, one of my sisters can cover the rest of the girls and then we'll give you a quiz. Such a smart lady as you, you'll pass in no time, Daphne did, but I'm thinking Danny was using flashcards to help her. I almost thought he was the one who was wanting to marry her."

Josephine smiled. She remembered back in the Spring when Daphne first met this remarkable family. She heard nothing but glowing comments about the youngest brother, and complaints about the "big stupid Irish brother." She had no doubt in her own mind which one it was her contrary daughter had lost her heart to: it had to have been the one who made her so angry.

"Tell me, Mark, about this tradition of the quilts. It is quite a gift, and I know that James and Daphne will treasure it always. Did your mother make one for each of you?"

"Each of us boys. Well, except for Danny, which is such a shame since they really were the closest. His quilt would have been something, like Joseph's coat of many colors it would have been. But Mama's tradition was to save the final assembly for when we found our true love. She died only a couple of weeks after meeting Daphne and giving her blessing to the two of them. But she'd already started on the final panels of the quilt to incorporate your lovely girl, and more importantly, the sisters were able to find her Jamie notebook." Josephine acknowledged the compliment with a smile and moved on with a question, as persistent as her daughter.

"Her 'Jamie' notebook?"

"Aye. That would be the notebook she had for each quilt until it was done, making notes of her ideas, which events to get something from, which people, what patterns to use for each section. That is how the girls were able to finish the quilt exactly the way Mama would have done it."

"You said Danny's quilt 'would have been something.' Aren't they going to finish your youngest brother's quilt as well?" Josephine thought as she rocked the small child how there really was nothing so soothing as rocking a sleeping child. Maybe having one of these of her own - a grandchild that is - wouldn't be so bad after all.

Mark looked surprised. The idea hadn't really occurred to him. He doubted the girls had thought of it either. He bit his lip, wondering how to explain it to this very intimidating woman. By silent vote, he'd been elected to keep her company since. Next to Danny, he was the brother who most easily chatted with new people, especially women of his own age group, although he suspected Daphne's mother was a few years younger than himself. But Danny was..., surveying the room quickly, it occurred to him that his baby brother was nowhere in sight. Come to think of it, he couldn't recall seeing him since the quilt had been presented. Mark tried to recall how Danny had looked then but could only picture him with a perfectly blank expression.

Mark smiled at Josephine again, and only his light green eyes betrayed his sudden concern that the girls had seriously screwed up. How could they have forgotten that Mama had given her blessing to two couples at that last family picnic? Simply because only one of them could get married legally wouldn't have made a difference to Mama - Danny would have received his quilt today, too. Mark was suddenly sure of it. He had to find Danny.

"Would you mind holding Fiona a little longer? I need to find my brother Danny and chat with him a bit."

"Not at all, take all the time you want. I could use the practice," she smiled, revealing for the first time the source of Daphne's lovely dimples. Jamie's little bride must not have been adopted after all, was Mark's random thought, before he rushed off..

**********************************************

"Brian, have you seen Danny?"

Brian was holding his sleeping son on his lap while he conversed with the Italian woman, Gianetta Rizzuteri, who was holding Matt's youngest grandchild. Mark wasn't quite sure what he thought of the latest development in his older brother's life. He'd known Matt had finally started dating again, at Danny's instigation, in fact, and he was all in favor of it. Five years was a long time for a man to be alone. But he'd been surprised when Matt told him he'd invited the woman and her son to the family Thanksgiving dinner. Like one of their cookouts, that was reserved for serious relationships and very close friends. With Lindsay Peterson and Melanie Marcus staying in what was still considered the family home, they'd broadened the usual "family" gathering to include many of the Liberty Avenue gang, which worked out well for Brian and Danny as it included their closest friends, such as Emmett, but the Rizzuteris fell in a different category. Normally they would have been in the "dessert only" group, in Mark's opinion, unless Matt were a good bit more serious about the mother than he'd realized. Mark shook his head. One family issue at a time. He had Danny to deal with at the moment. He caressed his sleeping niece's cheek, accepted grazie from Gianetta and returned a gracious compliment in the fluent Italian they'd all learned from Matt's still mourned first wife, while he waited for Brian's answer. After several seconds, during which the younger man merely gave him a considering look while Gianetta busied herself fussing with the baby, he grew impatient.

"Well, do you know? I thought you two were joined at the...never mind that image. Do you know where my baby brother is or not?"

Brian leaned back further on the sofa in order to give Mark the appropriate, raised eyebrow look.

"I know that he hates being called that and I can't fathom why you older ones persist in doing it. It's not like he calls you old geezers or anything of that nature, so why provoke him?"

Mark flushed. Kinney was right. It was a bad habit, and one he'd picked up from John and Joey. Matt never did it. For all that he and Matt had children older than Danny, there was no reason to treat him like a child; when they didn't treat their own grown sons with such disrespect. Unlike his brothers, Mark rarely revealed a temper. It was one of the things that made him so good in business. He thought first and then acted. Where most of the O'Keefes would have reacted angrily to the implied criticism of Brian's comment before considering its validity, Mark thought about it first. He knew that degree of reasonableness probably made him boring, but he knew it certainly made him happier in the long run.

"Look, I will tell him I'm sorry for that along with some other things when I see him, but first I need to find him. Are you knowing where he is, or not, man?"

Brian bit his bottom lip and stared at Mark a moment longer. He didn't know this brother all that well. Matt had always been like a second, and in his opinion, better, father to Danny. Luke had been the hero, who taught the youngest of the clan how to protect himself, how to drink and pretty much all there was to being a man. John, Joey and Jamie were typical big brother tormenters, teasing constantly but at his side the second anyone or anything from outside ever threatened him. Mark defied labels. In a way, he had a bit of each of the others in him, including a large measure of Danny's charm. Brian felt his annoyance seep away as he remembered that when pressed to place a label on his second brother, Danny smilingly called him the "understander."

Danny elaborated on the term once to him, when they were discussing the older brothers over lunch. "Mark just always 'gets it.' You never have to explain things to him; you see him stand there quietly, putting the facts together in his head and a little while later, you just know he's drawn the right conclusion." Danny grinned. "I once suggested to John that Mark should have been a lawyer too, but John said no, Mark was too fair. If he suddenly realized in the middle of a trial that his client was in the wrong, there was no way he wouldn't tell the jury. Mama had that same quality."

Remembering that conversation, Brian softened his voice... and his attitude. "All this family togetherness was getting to him. He said he was going to his old hiding place for a while but would back in time to put the kids to bed. However, if Briana gets invited to a sleep-over and wants to go, I'm empowered to say yes." Brian added the last bit hopefully, knowing that Mark's second girl was a frequent and favored babysitter of Danny's niece/adopted daughter.

Mark laughed. "Fair enough. I have a sneaking suspicion I know where he is. Whether I can reach him...literally...is another question. But in exchange for that information, I think that I can arrange to have cousin Julie issue an invitation to her favorite little cousin for a sleep-over, thus giving 'Uncle Daddy' some quality time with his returned partner. Sound fair?"

"More than fair. But where is this secret hideout? Treehouse?" Brian grinned. Mark might be a grandfather but Brian doubted the man would have any trouble handling a little tree climbing. At forty-seven, Mark was as fit as any man of thirty. He was tall, about 6'3", and broad, with wide muscular shoulders and a deep, well-developed chest. He looked very much like his father, but with a more cheerful, easy-going expression on his good-looking face. Like Daphne, he too had received his dimples from his mother. They were very much in evidence as he grinned over his shoulder at Brian as he left the room.

"That's only the first part of the journey. You wouldn't expect our Danny to do anything easy, now would you?"

********************************************************

Mark crouched on the high, thick branch that led out from the old treehouse and contemplated the jump needed to safely navigate onto the slanted roof near the large dormer window along the west wing of the attic-the only attic window in the world kept locked on the outside, he suspected. He shook his head ruefully. It was an easy jump when he last made it...in his twenties. Trouble was, he was now a good twenty pounds heavier and he didn't dare crawl out as far on the branch as he used to, for fear it would break. Thus, the necessary jump was a bit wider than it used to be, on legs that weren't quite as limber. He'd have to trust on being able to go far enough to catch some part of the roof and then rely on his upper body strength to be enough to pull him up. Assuming the drains were strong enough to hold him....

The thought briefly crossed his mind that what he was about to do was insane, and not at all the type of thing he was prone to do. Madcap Joey, or hot-tempered John, or wild Jamie, they did things like this, not him. Brave as a lion Luke or courageous Matt would do it, sure...if Danny's life were at stake, he thought ruefully, but him? He could have tried to climb out from the attic by forcing the lock on the window, but pride forbade that he do such a cowardly thing rather than get onto the roof the traditional way. He could hear Mary Kate's voice as though she were speaking in his ear... after his ignominious fall, of course, and assuming he survived long enough to be nagged to death.

"What in the world were you thinking, Mark? You, of all people! We thought you were the sane one! Why didn't you just call Danny to come to you? He can practically fly, or near enough that it doesn't matter. Where was the sense in killing yourself to go to him?"

No sense at all. And that perhaps was why Mark was doing it. Something told him that he had to make this effort, and that it had to be him. Taking a steadying breath, he crouched as low as he could, and sprang.

"What the FUU...."

The aborted exclamation came out of the dark night sky. Strong arms were clasping him just as his hands were sliding off the gutter. Mark felt himself lifted up into mid-air and then his long body was being stretched out on the roof. His rescuer flopped down next to him. After a few minutes spent trying to catch their breath, Mark winced as Danny started yelling at him. He hoped all the windows were closed since this brother had a really powerful voice.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what were you trying to do, Mark Micah? Scare ten years off me life? If so, congratulations, I think you fucking did it. My God, I'm still shaking. I should throw you off this damn roof!"

"'Tis sorry I am, Daniel David, truly, I am. I thought I still could make the jump or I never would have tried it. I guessed you might have been on the other side, in your favorite corner there and I was wanting to talk to you. I didn't want to trouble you any but 'tis glad I am that you caught me. Go raibh maith agat." He pulled his youngest brother into a tight hug as he thanked him, waiting until Danny's shaking stopped before letting go.

"You're welcome, buíochas le Dia." After crossing himself, Danny would have shifted back to his separate resting place on the roof but Mark pressed his brother's head back down onto his broad shoulder. Since it was a lot softer spot than the roof's shingles for resting one's head, Danny settled his legs a little more comfortably and stayed put, waiting to find out why this, his most sensible brother, couldn't wait to talk to him somewhere a little less hazardous than some eighty feet from the ground. Given that Mark loved to talk, and tended to take a while to get to the point, the added body heat would be welcome. Mark had thought to wear a jacket, which Danny had neglected. Of course, that omission also meant Danny had been unencumbered by a coat when jumping from the branch to the roof, so it was a trade-off. Thinking about the close call his brother had, he repeated his thanks to God more fervently in his mind. It really was a miracle that Mark had made it to where Danny could grab him. Danny had crept around the dormer, thinking from the noise he'd heard that he'd catch one of his nephews. He planned to send the youngster packing since he'd discovered that the roof was a bit slippery when he made his own jump. Under those conditions, even he'd had trouble making the jump safely. While he naturally come up there seeking privacy, he'd been genuinely horrified when he realized that it was Mark crouching on the branch in preparation for jumping. He'd been about to shout out a warning when it was too late and all he could do was dash forward and hope he was in time to make the save.

Mark was looking up at the night sky now, seemingly without a care in the world.

"I'd forgotten how peaceful it is up here. Do you remember the first time we took you up here?"

Danny laughed. "I will remember it until my dying day. For a while, I thought it would be my dying day. Luke and Matt kept fighting over who would carry me over, with Matt saying he was the oldest so he should do it and Luke saying he should get to since he was home on leave and should have special privileges. Meanwhile, John kept arguing that it wasn't a good idea."

"And Joey and Jamie were teasing you over in the treehouse about how they could jump over to the roof by themselves and didn't need to be carried like a baby, and everyone was nattering on in English and Gaelic. Poor boy, no wonder you were ready to do or die. I was watching your face from over here and I said to myself, he's going to make that jump any second now."

"So that's how you were ready to catch me when I did it? I landed just like you did tonight, huh? About four inches shy of comfortable. But you made it look like you were slapping me on the back in congratulations, for which I was very grateful at the time."

"Well, we couldn't let Jamie and Joey get away with any more teasing now, could we? They got away with far too much as it was. You were what? All of seven? I cannae believe Matt and I allowed such a thing! I was older then than you are now and I permitted a seven year old to almost break his neck." Mark shook his head. It was a wonder they'd all grown to manhood. "We must've been insane," he declared.

"For which insanity I've been eternally grateful. If you'd said I was too young, I'd never have forgiven you," Danny assured him, with his deep chuckle. His family really was crazy, Danny thought to himself, with an upward quirk of his well shaped mouth. Recalling how close they'd all been once, despite the years that separated them, he couldn't help thinking of all the deaths the family had sustained in recent years, especially this year's hardest loss, and his mouth once more curved down sadly.

"You want to maybe tell me what has you hiding up here? Or shall I try guessing? Or we could just lie here and enjoy the view until my heart rate gets back under a hundred," Mark suggested.

Danny confessed sheepishly, "I already took your pulse a couple of times. It's back in the normal range again. Got there quicker than mine did." He paused. "You talk first; I think almost killing yourself earns you that privilege. I promise to tell you if you guess right."

"Fair enough," Mark agreed. He started to speak in his pleasantly cadenced voice, which still held more of a brogue than any of the other Ireland born siblings. He'd been seven when his family moved to the United States, the same age Danny had been when he made his leap into O'Keefe manhood, now that he thought about it.

"You know, you were the youngest to make that jump by yourself...I don't think I ever realized that before. John was seven also, but he was almost eight and you'd just turned seven about a week before the jump. John was also a lot bigger for his age than you were. You were just a little thing. Joey and Jamie didn't make the jump on their own until they were...well, let's just say they were a good bit older." Mark winked down at the grinning Danny. "Also, we used a safety rope for each of them, which is what we would have used on you had we known you were going to do such a fool thing as jump on your own, brat. But," he mused, "in a lot of ways, we were never ready for you, Danny. I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just that, with all of us having that four year gap, and then you coming just three years after Jamie, what with poor Colleen dying as a baby, and there being no sister between you two, to soften the competition, it's like you had to be extra quick with everything."

Mark gave Danny a gentle hug. "John used to complain that we older ones carried you all the time, saying you'd never learn to walk. Hell, we did that because otherwise you ran everywhere. Mary Kate used to say you flew everywhere. When you danced, I swear you did...fly, that is."

Danny waited patiently. He didn't mind the rambling as he knew Mark would get to the point eventually, and listening to that soft brogue, he finally was feeling the peace that had eluded him all day. Except for the all too brief time he'd spent alone with Brian earlier, he'd been out of sorts. Even church, which normally comforted him, failed him today. The family time had been extremely stressful, as he spent it trying to defuse one situation after another. He missed his mother's guiding hand immensely at this first major family gathering without her. In the lull after dinner, he'd been seriously considering whether to take a trip somewhere with Brian, Gus and Briana for Christmas, go to Rome or Salzburg maybe, when he'd been blindsided by the whole quilt thing. It had never occurred to him before that moment when he saw Jamie presented with his quilt that he wouldn't get his quilt like everyone else in the family. But of course he wouldn't now. Mama was gone.

"Danny, are you listening to me? Or did I put you to sleep?"

"I'm sorry. I'm listening. But I guess maybe I'm a little sleepy, too. You make a good pillow. You're not too cold are you? Do you want to go in? I'll unlatch the window for you."

"Not yet, I'm fine. You're like a blanket. But, I did get off track. Lynn says you have to put bumpers up on my train of thought, kind of like they have on kiddie bowling lanes. Though that would mean my thoughts go into the gutter, wouldn't it, and that isn't really my problem...which does remind me, you did a great job with Debbie Novotny at dinner. Once or twice I thought she had you but you steered her right out of trouble. And then when there was no hope but to answer one of her really pointed questions, doing it in Italian was clever of you. I should have realized she spoke Italian. All those older Italian ladies do in the Pub. Anyway, it left the young ones out, since none of Matt's grandkids were in earshot and his kids are old enough to hear pretty much anything now. Although I did think Gianetta was going to send her son out of the room at one point...how young is that boy?" Mark laughed again, his chest rumbling against Danny's ear. He was off on another tangent. "Did you see how Mary Kate was eying him as though he and not turkey were on the menu? Emmett told her he was gay but I'd swear the boy's a virgin. He has that innocent look to him, don't you think?"

The older O'Keefe siblings found it amusing that the handsome young president of a multi-national jewelry company was such a mama's boy, not to mention that he had such a blatant puppy love crush on their youngest brother. The twice divorced Mary Kate had mentioned more than once that she wouldn't mind having the young jewelry mogul madly in love with her.

"Well, Giancarlo may be inexperienced sexually, despite being over twenty-one, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know what type of person he dreams of giving his innocence to," Danny commented quietly. "Being gay isn't something one picks and chooses from day to day, like what type of cereal is your favorite this month."

Other than pulling his brother a little closer, Mark didn't react to that bitter sounding remark. He did take it as his opening for the subject he'd been working his way to since he made his leap.

"We kind of screwed up tonight, didn't we, lad? But you know it wasn't intentional, don't you? We love you, Danny, and we love Brian, too. What did Daphne used to call Jamie, your big dumb Irish brother? That's us. You have to forgive us when we step wrong, when we say and do dumb things, and disappoint you..."

"Shh, bí ciúin." Danny sighed. Like all the O'Keefes, he used Gaelic for emphasis, and emotional moments. "It was a lovely thing the girls did, to finish Jamie's quilt for him and Daphne. I hadn't thought of my quilt before tonight either, so why should any of you? It wasn't until I saw his that it hit me, and then it was just one more loss in a day filled with them." Danny didn't notice Mark's wince but continued on. "The quilt is a stupid thing to obsess over, when you weigh it against the reality of not having Mama here in person."

"It's not stupid at all, lad." Mark could feel the tears start to fall from his eyes into Danny's hair and tried to blink them back. Thank God he was with his kindest brother, was his automatic thought. Crying from one of his sons was never permitted by their father, unless you...no, come to think of it, broken bones and even loss of a loved one didn't qualify. Mark could remember holding Matt when his wife Julie died, and quickly brushing away both their tears so their father wouldn't catch them crying... like girls. Just as they hid them when they lost Luke. They were both well into their forties by then yet the habits of a lifetime were hard to break. It had been Danny who held him when Angel died, when by all rights, the roles should have been reversed. He suspected it was this strong younger brother who had supported each of the older siblings in the days after their father died.

For most of his children, Patrick O'Keefe had been a rock, the hero they thought would live forever. Sadly, the hero had feet of clay when it came to his youngest, and, in many ways, his bravest son. Mama had valued Danny much more than their father had. Danny's coming out had opened a breach between father and son that never really healed. It was just ignored. Mark brushed back the long dark hair, smoothing away the tears that had fallen into it.

"We all miss her too, lad, but she was closest to you, we know that, and 'tis a blessing you were to her, Danny. I don't think you realize how much of a comfort you'd always been to her, ever since you were born. Having you lifted her from the sadness that losing Colleen left her in. You were always such a joy to her, with your singing and dancing. She leaned on you, especially these last couple of years. If it weren't for you, I think she would have followed Dad right away, but you and Briana, you gave her a reason to live. Those last couple of months, however, her health was really failing. I don't think you saw it because you were with her all the time, but I'd see her only once a week or so, and each week, she was noticeably weaker. Seeing you so happy at last, as you were with Brian, I think she felt she didn't have to fight so hard any more and she could be at peace. You know how uncanny she was about knowing when we'd found our true loves. It's time you let yourself be at peace, lad. Mama would want that for you. Let yourself be happy with Brian as she wanted you to be." Mark waited a bit and when Danny didn't speak, he sighed and finally suggested that maybe they should go in before a search party came looking for them.

Danny waited until he'd helped his older brother walk across the icy roof and climb safely through the dormer window into the attic, before reaching out and stopping his brother before he left the dark attic.

"I can't face Christmas here, Mark, I just can't," Danny confessed. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to again."

Mark held him as his shoulders shook with the tears he wasn't able to cry. Mark wasn't yet sure what he was going to do, but he knew he had to do something to fix Christmas for Danny. He felt sure that the quilt was the place to start.

*************************************************************

(Black Friday)

Brian came out of the bathroom, toweling off his hair, a second towel wrapped around his waist. Danny was sitting cross-legged on the bed, playing his Spanish guitar. Brian smiled slightly, the picture was an enticing one. All Danny wore was his own towel, like a loincloth around his waist, and his long hair fell loosely over his shoulders as he bent over the gleaming wood of the guitar, intent on his music. His full bottom lip was caught in his upper teeth as he bit down slightly, reminding Brian of how he looked during sex when he was striving for control and Brian's cock twitched in reaction.

Tossing the towels away, Brian crawled behind Danny and slid his arms around the slim torso, careful not to interfere with the guitar playing. Danny made a contented noise and leaned back slightly, still strumming, but shifting the music from a minor key to something happier sounding. He adjusted his posture further so he could relax fully into Brian's embrace and the taller man brought his legs up and around his lover as he leaned back against the headboard.

"Much better," Danny approved before starting to croon the words to the Celtic song he'd been playing. He continued to play for another thirty minutes or so, singing several of the old Irish airs he knew Brian loved. Finally he reached over and placed the cherished instrument in its stand near the bed. He leaned back in Brian's arms again with a sigh.

"Long day?" Brian asked, although he already knew the answer. The day after Thanksgiving always was, it seemed, even for Brian, who managed to avoid many of the encumbrances that weighed Danny down. First was shepherding several of his youngest nieces and nephews, along with Briana, on a trip to see Santa. Brian was thankful Gus was happy with Danny as his adult male companion, as there was no way he was going to a Mall on Black Friday.

After returning the children, Danny had completed a grueling rehearsal for the Nutcracker Ballet, which, he assured the gang at the quick lunch he managed to grab at Kinnetik was aptly named; then he had fittings for a spring fashion shoot that was being photographed the following week in New York. Brian forgot the rest of Danny's schedule as his own had been fairly busy, with the two of them not meeting up again until a few hours ago. Danny had jumped him as soon as he walked in the door and pulled him in the bedroom for some no holds barred sex to burn off all the day's stress. Danny chuckled now.

"What was your first clue? Did I leave bruises? I'm sorry." He looked completely unrepentant.

"I'll survive," Brian looked back at him amused. "And I believe my tetanus shots are up to date so we're all good. You did let me have the good shower to myself while you went to Emmett's; although come to think of it, it would've been nicer had you stayed to wash my back for me." That elicited a deep husky laugh from his lover.

"I thought of it, but chances were, we just would have gotten started again and I thought we needed a break, you know? At least, I know I did. A four hour rehearsal wouldn't have been so bad, it was the three hours in the damn Santa line that wiped me out. I swear, next year I'm stuffing Joey in a Santa suit and saving myself the trouble and stress of worrying whether I've lost one. The boys aren't bad, it's the girls. They aren't as afraid of me. They just take off! Thank goodness for Emmett. Did you know he likes the mall at Christmas?" Danny gave Brian an incredulous look. "The kids stay with him like he's the Pied Piper."

Brian listened carefully to Danny's voice. He was doing a good job of sounding like his usual self but it was forced. Brian suspected Danny would start to feel better if he would just allow himself the time and luxury of feeling bad first. But he had this stupid idea that he had to keep everyone else up, and to do that, he had to appear cheerful even when he wasn't. Brian leaned down and nuzzled the sensitive neck area lying beneath the thick hair.

"Well, relax now...and thank you for the songs. The music was almost as good as the sex." As Danny laughed at that, Brian ran his hands down the sides of the slim torso stretched out in front of him.

"How was your talk with Mark last night?" Brian murmured in the ear tipped back invitingly toward his lips, his hands continuing their downward movement, stroking over the ridge of the sharply defined inguinal muscles and hip bones. Danny spread his thighs, inviting further caresses.

"Nice...we cuddled...not quite like this...I like this better....boyfriends are better than brothers... better than girls too...I keep telling them that but me silly brothers don't believe me," Danny whispered teasingly, in his lowest, sexiest tones.

"Well, never said your brothers were the brightest on the uptake, much as I like them. You were the pick of the litter," Brian agreed, his thumbs teasingly brushing down along the crease between thigh and groin. Danny's cock was hard, rising up toward him, demanding attention. Brian's own member was pressed into Danny's low back, enjoying the warm friction as the younger man shifted slightly in Brian's arms.

"Brian, touch me," he begged quietly, his arms coming up to encircle Brian's neck. He arched his back slightly, pulling it away from Brian's cock, trying to push his own into the grasp of those teasing fingers. He turned his head to kiss Brian, but instead of the hard, demanding kiss Brian was expecting, it was a soft, tentative brush of lips and a tender touch of tongue to the corner of his mouth that melted all of his resistance and ended his teasing.

Brian rolled over on top of his man, and returned the kiss fully, even as his long fingers closed over their dripping shafts and he stroked both of their cocks together, mingling their precum around the heads as he aligned their most sensitive areas, matching his strokes with the stroking of his tongue against Danny's, who was clinging to him, gasping his pleasure, his long legs wrapping around Brian's hips. They continued to kiss, deep, slow, tender kisses, their unshaved faces scratching against each other, adding to their pleasure. Danny moved his hands to the back of Brian's head and held it firmly, as though to keep his face anchored to those lush lips. His fingers wove into the thick hair lovingly and it felt so good that Brian moved one of his hands up to do the same to Danny, combing his fingers through the long black hair. They both were so caught up in the pleasure of touching and kissing the other, neither one wanted to stop long enough to put on a condom and progress to the next level of love making; that before long, the intensity of the stroking increased and they were gasping their orgasms into each other's mouth.

After they came, they continued to hold each other and leisurely kiss for several minutes, until their heart rates and breathing slowed. Brian finally lifted his head and looked into Danny's eyes, which were the softest shade of forest green. He smiled and the answering smile was such that it made him wish he were able to write poetry.

"I liked that," Danny confessed, reaching up to rub a calloused thumb over Brian's rough cheek. "I also kind of like this. Maybe you should wear it with that day's growth look?" A gleam appeared in his eyes and his hand moved down to his chest; he dragged his long index finger through the mix of come there and raised it to his mouth. At the erotic sight, Brian could feel himself harden. So much for being exhausted, he thought, as he opened his mouth to suck the second finger Danny was offering to him. He could always talk to Danny tomorrow, this way of cheering him up was a good one too.

***********************************************************

(Last week of November)

"Wow, lunch with my investment banker brother! Is this to tell me I lost all my money or that I'm now rich and don't have to return to the grindstone after lunch?" Mary Fran grinned.

"Well, neither actually, but if it helps, I'm buying," Mark told her, returning the grin. "You can pick the place, even. Not only that, but I charmed an extra hour out of that boss of yours." Since Mary Frances, the third of the O'Keefe girls had taken a job in their brother John's law firm once her children had all reached high school age, scoring her a long lunch wasn't too hard. Combining the two O'Keefes with the most volatile tempers had been expected to be a disaster by the rest of the family when their mother first suggested it a few years earlier, when Mary Fran let it be known that she and her husband Liam needed the extra money with six children to put through college.

A brief stint at one of their father's pubs, which Matt managed, hadn't worked out well at all, since Mary Fran had what Danny euphemistically termed "issues" with men who drank away too much of their paychecks. When Brian, who shared that same "issue" due to a father who had that same problem, asked him somewhat sharply what was wrong with that, Danny was quick to explain that Matt was careful not to allow any man to drink to excess, nor to allow the family men in the neighborhood to drink more than they could afford; but the oldest O'Keefe brother's ways of coping with such problems didn't include screaming at the poor man in the middle of the pub and throwing his ale in his face with the admonition to go home to his "starving children."

Danny frowned as he said, "Such heavy handed methods, if they turned that type of man off drink forever, would be fine, Bri, but you probably know better than me what they're more likely to do. Matt sure does. The man gets angry, and because he can't hit the pub-owner's mouthy sister, who happens to swing a mean fist herself, he goes home in a foul mood and knocks around his own wife and kids. Not a good thing. Matt's way is better, which is to get some of the former heavy drinkers to befriend the man and slowly wean him away from the drinking, and into AA. Sometimes he'll have Fr. Baker or Fr. Tom talk to him to find out what makes him drink so much, working at the root of the problem. They are unhappy men, Bri, or angry men, or shamed men who've lost their jobs, and making them angrier or unhappier or more ashamed just exacerbates the situation."

Brian nodded his head thoughtfully. He could see that. There was many a time when the union work slowed down that his father drank even more, or when his mother's nagging grew worse, and Jack sought to restore his manhood in the bottle. Once "found," it reasserted itself in violence toward his wife, and later, toward his only son. Danny's arm had come around his shoulder in a comforting way as he turned Brian's thoughts back to more humorous paths.

"Still, you should have heard the commotion in the house when Mary Fran told Dad that Matt had fired her. I was home on a visit with Briana and I thought Dad was going to have to protect Matt! Mama was out at a church thing or something, stupid planning on Matt's part if you ask me. He should have known Dad never could control any of his girls. Anyway, Dad is standing there helpless, and Mary Fran's screaming to bring down the roof. I was holding the baby and she was terrified so I couldn't put her down to help poor Matt, who would never hit a girl, which is a problem I don't have, not when she's as crazy as Mary Fran, who was getting ready to take a swing at Matt when Mary Kate arrived. Funniest damn thing, Mary Kate walked right up to Mary Fran, who has a couple inches on her normally, being the only one of the girls taller than me. She must be at least 6'1" damn her, but anyway, MK had these three inch spike heels on that took her eye level with our virago, and she gave her the mother of all bitch slaps, which shut Mary Fran up, Briana too, as a matter of fact, who, up till then had been crying fit to break my eardrums. So there everyone was, just staring at each other like we're frozen in place, Dad, Matt, me and Briana, Mary Fran with this bright red handprint on her cheek, and Mary Kate, and Mary Kate says," and at this point Danny shifted into a deadly accurate imitation of his second eldest sister's cool tones, "'if you lay one finger on Matt, who, I might remind you has been in less than stellar health lately, I will stoop to your level of unladylike behavior, and kick the devil out of you, Mary Frances O'Keefe Lennon. Now you stop terrifying Danny's baby girl and our poor father and go make some tea for everyone. And don't you return to this room until you can do so with some semblance of self control. Oh damn, did I break a nail? You'd better get in that kitchen fast, I'm really annoyed now.'"

Danny gave the whole speech the same inflection his sister had, and since the only time the icy Mary Kate had revealed any emotion was over the broken nail, Brian was holding his stomach laughing by the time the story ended. This was a performance Danny had delivered several times to his family members until the day he found Mary Frances crying over the incident with his mother. Properly chastened, he quietly arranged to help her out with college expenses, as a "loan" until things got easier. Thanks to soccer scholarships, tuition was never a problem for his siblings and himself, and often the O'Keefes were offered free rides, but this generation didn't want their children forced to play soccer if they didn't want to do so. Also, as Danny well knew, there were many expenses at college that scholarships didn't cover. So he helped out his financially burdened sister, who was too embarrassed to go to the siblings closer to her in age for financial help. She knew they looked down on her husband.

Taking her mother's advice, she asked John, the lawyer, for a job. He hired her, knowing it wasn't easy for a middle-aged woman, who hadn't worked since high school and who's biggest talent was playing soccer to get a job that paid well. But John soon learned to his pleased surprise that years of helping her children type and research papers for school gave Mary Fran excellent computer skills and she was a born organizer. John also found that clients were very impressed by her imposing stature and O'Keefe good looks. Best of all, he finally had an assistant who didn't burst into tears the first time he lost his own temper, or one who got a crush on him.

Mary Kate helped by taking her "little" sister out for a make-over to turn the barroom brawler into a smartly dressed office professional. John paid for her to attend seminars and eventually community college and she earned an associates' degree. The brother and sister had titanic battles about once a week, but once he taught her never to lose control in front of a client, and once she realized that he would never treat her rudely in front of others, they got along great.

There was one time, John confessed to Mark, when she lost her temper and went so far as to hit him. John was so surprised that the sudden blow knocked him to the ground.

"Did you hit her back?" Mark asked, awestruck. John, although slimmer in build, was both taller than he was, and a martial arts specialist like Danny. Few men were fast enough to knock him to the ground. John rubbed his chin reminiscently, then gave a rueful smile.

"No, I thought it better to borrow a page from Mary Kate's book and shock her out of the tantrum. I put on my coldest voice and told her that if she wished to give notice, she could communicate it on paper, like a civilized person and not my jaw. I added that I knew that we both had tempers and would yell, but if she ever touched me in anger again, she was fired. And that was that." John saw no reason to tell Mark about the remorseful crying their toughest sister had indulged in after that, soaking the shoulder of his favorite suit.

Mark smiled now, thinking of how the two tigers of the family had tamed each other. Mary Fran smiled back at him.

"Oh goodie, that means the favor needs to be paid by you and not me since it 'twas you who asked for the extra time!"

"Actually, no," Mark confessed. "John has been on this new kick for a couple of months now, ever since the separation with Carol and getting back with Michelle, I think. He's tired of all the family bartering of favors. He wants to help when he can, no strings. Danny does too. Well, Danny always did. God, if we all had to pay Danny back what we owe him, I think we'd have to give up vital organs, don't you?"

Mary Fran looked uncomfortable. Of course, Mark had no way of knowing that he was touching on a sore spot, since he didn't know about all the money she owed their youngest brother. He was thinking more of all the times Danny had babysat, or performed at weddings and birthday parties. At least, that's what she hoped.

"Did Danny say something to you about being owed?" She asked sharply. The waiter came up then and Mark waited until after they ordered to respond. This, unfortunately, gave Mary Fran more time to work herself up. By the time the waiter walked away, she'd convinced herself that Mark's words meant something other than what they had.

"I can't believe him," she fumed. "He promised it would stay just between the two of us. I suppose if you know, then the whole damn family knows. Is that what this lunch is about? Danny wants his money back and sent you to get it for him?"

"Mary Fran, what in the hell are you talking about? What money? I wanted to talk to you about Danny's quilt." Mark had no idea what had set her off but after forty-one years with this volatile sister, knew the signs and figured he had about thirty seconds before she lost all capacity for rational thought. "Franny, darlin', Danny doesn't know I'm meeting with you and I don't know anything about you and him and money. So unless you want to tell me, stop talking about it, or it will be yeself as has told me, love." He knew to avoid the deadly words, "calm down" as nothing made her crazier; something his hapless brother-in-law had failed to learn in over twenty years of marriage. Mark, who could feel sympathy for practically anyone, had trouble finding any for Liam Lennon, who was a lazy, drunken sod. At least, that was his opinion. His brothers weren't as generous. Mark kept his face serene as he buttered a roll and waited to see if the storm had been averted.

"What quilt? Danny doesn't have a quilt. Mama never finished his." Mary Fran looked confused. Mark let out his breath silently; sister successfully distracted, he thought, as Mary Fran reached for the bread basket. He passed her the butter without comment, waiting a moment to see if she said more. Indeed, after chewing thoughtfully, she continued, "There is part of a quilt, of course. Mama worked on all of your quilts through the years, you know. But his has a lot more to go. All that's there are bits and pieces of squares and her notebook. Well, maybe more than that, but it's nowhere near done. Not like Jamie's, which was mainly finished."

Mark beamed at her encouragingly. Finally, he was getting the information he needed.

"Well, with Jamie's quilt, didn't you all just work from Mama's notebook to finish off the last bits? Why can't you do that with Danny's?"

Mary Fran looked at him perplexed. Their soups and salads had arrived but she wasn't one to wait until a stranger left before continuing a private discussion. "Well, what would be the point? You know the tradition, Mark. The quilt goes to a son when he is getting married and it looks like Danny's never getting married now, doesn't it? So even if we could figure out Mama's notes, which would be harder on Danny's since it's so much less along and you'd really have to understand her funny shorthand way of writing things, which none of us do completely, it would be pointless since there will never be an occasion to give it to Danny, now will there?" She flashed her wide grin at him. "Don't know how you missed the memo, but our baby bro is gay."

The waiter, to his credit, merely blinked but didn't drop anything, although he almost spilled some of the soup on Mark. Mark bit back his annoyance with Mary Fran. He forced his voice to stay light, sticking with her childhood nickname that had been just his to use.

"Franny, I'm sure Mama had every intention of giving Danny his quilt once he found his true love. She wouldn't have blamed him that the law doesn't permit him to marry. That's why she kept working on the quilt even after Danny told us all about himself and it's why we left the Roman Catholic Church to become Episcopalians. Besides, you know as well as I do that in the Episcopal Church, they are looking to allow gays to marry..."

"Not here in Pittsburgh." Mary Fran's mouth was set. "You know this diocese wasn't happy with that and a lot of people aren't happy with that new lady presiding bishop, Mark. Now, I love Danny, you know I do, and I love Brian...as long as he's good to Danny. But, I can't help wishing our Danny would go back to dating girls, like before. Who knows, maybe when he's a little older, he'll change his mind and..."

"Mary Fran, Danny's twenty-eight years old! Do you honestly think he's going to wake up one day and decide he's not gay?"

She mumbled something under her breath. Mark didn't ask her to repeat it. He was too afraid he'd heard her right the first time: if Mary Beth's and my prayers get answered he will.

Mark wondered when it would occur to these two sisters that God had answered their prayers. It was just that He said no. God was just fine with Danny the way He made him, beautiful, gifted, generous, loving...and gay. With the faint smile of someone who knows a lost cause when he sees it, Mark asked Mary Fran about her nineteen year old twin girls, who were expected to be the stand-out stars on their college basketball team that year. As the proud mother chattered excitedly, Mark smiled and appeared to listen, while he thought about who to approach next.

***************************************************

(Last Day of November)

"Bri? Sorry to interrupt but do you have a minute?"

Brian looked up from the boards he was reviewing with one of his design teams. In the week since Thanksgiving, Danny and he'd barely had time to see each other outside of bed. Which, he reflected, was where he'd choose to see him if he had to choose, but, nonetheless, he missed the rest of their usual together time. Both of them had been swamped. With Danny performing in the Pittsburgh Ballet's "Nutcracker," quality time was hard to come by. Hard and come being the operative words, Brian thought with an inward smirk, as he excused himself and walked over to the doorway. Knowing Danny's aversion to displays of affection in the workplace, he contented himself with merely brushing back the long hair, which had fallen forward on one side, lightly caressing his music director's cheek. His restraint met with a smile that promised later rewards.

"Any chance I can steal you away for an hour or so to have lunch in the park around one? Em packed me enough for both of us, including some of your favorites, and I thought the time we saved not going to some place and waiting in these crowds we could use to take a walk around the lake and talk. I wanted to run an idea past you." Danny played absently with the buttons on Brian's jacket and ran his tongue over his bottom lip as he waited for a reply.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. O'Keefe?" Brian spoke softly so as not to be overheard.

The dimples deepened on either side of that incredible mouth. "Would I do that to a chaste, proper business man such as yourself?" Danny countered in an even softer voice.

"I fucking hope so. I'll meet you by the elevators at one sharp. Don't be late." Brian leaned forward and sucked on that full bottom lip for just a taste, unable to resist. Firm hands pushed him away, but not immediately, Brian noted, pleased.

"So like you to try to eat dessert first," Danny murmured, a wicked light in his eyes. "Later," he called over his shoulder. Brian admired his graceful carriage for a moment before going back into the conference room.

*************************************************

"You want to spend Christmas in Italy?" Brian was dumbfounded.

"Or Germany. Germany is really gorgeous this time of year. We could ski," Danny suggested enthusiastically. They were walking briskly around the small lake in the park, hands clasped tightly.

Brian looked out across the lake. How best to handle this? He knew that this suggestion had nothing to do with skiing, or the beauties of Europe, and everything to do with avoiding memories of Christmases past. He should have gotten Danny to talk over Thanksgiving weekend, but the man was good at avoidance tactics, certainly as good as Brian ever was. Now Danny and his grief issues were so deeply sunk in the River Denial it would take a miracle to bring them to the surface. Brian proceeded cautiously, pretending to consider the idea.

"What about the kids? I'd really hate to miss seeing Gus a second year in a row and you aren't thinking of leaving Briana behind, are you?"

"Of course not!" Danny seemed relieved that Brian wasn't rejecting the idea outright. "I think I can talk Mel into it, especially if I offer to pay for her and Lindsay to take a trip somewhere after the holidays and we watch both their kids for them. She'll talk Lindsay into it then, I know she will. Michael may prefer to watch J.R. at his house, or Debbie may offer to help, but either way, if the girls can get to go somewhere for a second honeymoon, free of charge and their pint size charges, they should be willing to let us have Gus for a week or so, don't you think? Plus, foreign travel would be good for him. He's been picking up some Italian from Gianetta and Gian, you know. I can start to teach him German if we choose to go there instead. I kind of sounded Lindsay out about him spending more time with us in the future, maybe taking a vacation with us, and she was open to it."

Brian thought Lindsay would see a vacation in the unspecified future and Gus spending this Christmas Day an ocean away as two different things, but he didn't waste time quibbling over that point. He moved to the next one.

"What about your obligation to the Ballet? Aren't you committed to the Nutcracker? I thought that ran through New Year's Day?"

"It does, but that's the reason I've been doing so many of the performances early in the run. I only contracted to do a certain number of shows, and I worked it out with the other guy dancing the role so that I could be done by the 22nd. He has another gig right now so that was fine with him. The exposure is better during Christmas week so he was happy to do all of them then."

That left just one more obligation. Brian was about to mention it when a cheery voice was heard behind them.

"Danny! Danny O'Keefe!" To Brian's surprise, Danny grimaced before stopping and turning with a smile. Brian felt the grip on his hand tighten and he tried to rub his thumb soothingly over Danny's palm as a sign of support or comfort or something. As far as he knew, Danny loved the old priest, so he was perplexed by Danny's reaction.

"Fr. Baker, what a pleasant surprise. You remember my friend, Brian Kinney, don't you?" The elderly cleric beamed at Brian. He was the one who'd told Brian where to find Danny on Thanksgiving morning, but Danny didn't know that. The two men had actually spoken a few times about their mutual concern for Danny...but the young man didn't know that either. Fr. Baker was very good at keeping confidences and as a rule Brian Kinney didn't let people know when he was worried about them.

"Of course, of course. Your young man. Nice to see you again, Brian. You boys getting your walking in? Good for you. I try to get out for a walk every day while the weather stays warm enough, but the chill off the lake will soon chase these old bones inside among the mall walkers. Then it will be the need to outwalk the ladies that'll keep my pace brisk! Mind if an old man keeps company with you youngsters for a little bit? I didn't get a chance to talk to you Thursday morning after the service, Danny, and you were busy with the choir again on Sunday. Soon it will be December first and it seems like we keep missing each other."

"Not at all, Father," Brian answered the priest's request before Danny could make up some excuse. He was prepared to slow their pace, but to his surprise, they had to pick it up a little to stay with the eighty plus year old priest. Danny's lips twitched in amusement when he saw the surprise on Brian's face before it was quickly masked. Fr. Baker's stamina was the marvel of his congregation, and his remarkable health was a testament to regular exercise and healthy habits. He might be bent from severe osteoporosis, and as homely and bald as all get out, but he had the energy of a man half his age, and such good humor and kindliness that he was beloved wherever he went. Right now, however, Danny wished to avoid him more than he could remember ever wanting to avoid almost anyone. Feeling guilty, he turned away from Brian to look across the lake, which was starting to freeze over.

"So, Daniel, the thing I've been chasing after you to ask is, what song did Rose pick out for you to sing at this year's service? I can't believe I didn't wheedle it out of her before she died."

Brian couldn't stop himself from wincing. Maybe to an eighty-four year old man, discussing a recently deceased person so casually was less taboo. But surely Fr. Baker knew that this was hard for Danny? Or maybe that was why he did it? When Danny didn't answer, Brian broke the awkward silence.

"Did Rose get to choose the Christmas song, Father? I always thought that was the prerogative of the choir director, or the priest? It was when I was an altar boy, many years ago. Or are you Episcopalians more egalitarian?"

Father Baker's blue eyes twinkled appreciatively at him, and said, "Well we are that, but as far as choosing the songs for the services, even in most of our congregations it would be done like you suggest, but not in those blessed by a force of nature such as Rose Feeney O"Keefe! Danny, as you know, has been good enough to be our soloist at Christmas for years, even when he hasn't been around to serve as our organist or choir director, which he does when he can, since he is certainly the most qualified, by education and talent, he still managed to get home for Christmas and sing our Christmas solo. However, even he didn't choose the song with which our congregation would be blessed. Every Christmas Eve, correct me if I'm wrong, my boy, but each year, Rose would walk home from the late Christmas Eve service with Danny here, and I do believe it wasn't Christmas to her unless she got that walk in with her favorite son. Forget the sermon, forget the Eucharist, and I'm sorry, Danny lad, but much as she loved your singing when it was going on, and she did, that mother of yours, what she loved most was looking forward to the next year and how you were going to be even better."

Fr. Baker laughed and Brian smiled slightly; he could see Rose doing that. Patrick the father would do the same to his sons after a brilliantly played soccer game-start right in with how they could do better at the next game.

"So, you see, Brian, on that walk home, she used to tell Danny, who she didn't want getting a swelled head and all vain, that he did a fine job, but the next year, she really would like it better if he would do a different song, and then she'd tell him the song she wanted for his solo the following year. Poor boy, he didn't even get ten seconds to bask. It would be right on to next year with her. Yet to everyone else on Christmas morning, it would be, my Danny, wasn't he perfect last night?"

Fr. Baker smiled warmly. "Rose didn't have a lick of vanity in her about herself, but she was proud of her children, every one of them, and I'm sure the good Lord forgave her if she was perhaps most proud of this one. She used to tell me that she was sure that if God had to choose a service to attend on Christmas Eve, He undoubtedly chose ours so He could listen to her Danny sing, as it surely beat anything the angels could offer, and besides, He could hear the angels every day."

"Well, it doesn't matter this year, does it, Father? It doesn't matter a damn what is sung or not sung. She's not here to hear it." Danny's normally musical voice was harsh as he interrupted the gentle old priest's reminiscences.

Father Baker didn't slow his pace at all; Danny tried to quicken his but Brian held firmly onto his hand so that he would have had to drag his lover along the path, which he wasn't that lost to his senses to do. After a moment, the pressure on Brian's arm eased, and Brian took the chance of letting go long enough to move his arm to around Danny's waist, as though he were waiting for some sign that Danny had calmed, or been calmed, enough to listen.

Fr. Baker continued. "That's where you're wrong, Daniel. This is the year Rose had patiently waited for almost all your life. She used to tell me that she hadn't had a great career, or achieved any wonderful things in her life as many women today think is important for a woman to do, but she knew that she'd raised wonderful children. Joey is a great teacher, and Mary Pat a wonderful nurse, Mary Beth and Mary Fran are wonderful wives and mothers, and Mary Kate a strong, brilliant businesswoman and mother, John a great lawyer and Matt and Mark good, honest businessmen and fathers. Jamie is a great healer. Luke was a brave soldier who gave his life for his country. She was proud of every one of you. But you were her special gift from and to God. She told me, and she knew this with a faith as strong as anything I'd ever seen, that when she went to heaven, and that first Christmas Eve came around, God Himself was going to call her up, and say, 'Rose O'Keefe, come, it's time to listen to your boy Danny sing. I can't wait to hear the song you picked out for me this year.' She'd tell me, 'And there I'll be Father, reunited with my Patrick and Luke and Angel, and even my wee Mary Martha, though Patrick will still be calling her his Colleen no doubt, at God's right hand, there with Jesus, at the birthday party, listening to my Angel boy sing. Isn't that a lovely thought?' And of course, I had to agree, it was. So, ever since Rose died, I've been comforted by the thought of her dream coming true."

The old man cleared his throat, which had become a trifle hoarse in the telling of his tale. "Now that Christmas is here, I can't help wondering, son, which song was it that she picked last Christmas, for you to sing this year?"

Danny swore under his breath and with a muttered apology, broke away from the two men.

As Danny went running down the path, Fr. Baker turned to Brian and asked, "Do you think I was too heavy handed with the boy? You know him best, what do you think this running away means?"

"Well, Padre, I think you were damn heavy handed, but I also think nothing less would have gotten through to him. My best guess is that his running away now means he won't run away later, and I won't have to learn how to say Merry Christmas in German after all." Brian replied as he watched the graceful runner sprint around the mile path that encircled the lake. He hoped Danny was wearing those shoes that were really sneakers in disguise or his feet would be killing him tonight when he had to dance. He turned to the priest.

"Did Rose really tell you all that or are you just a manipulative old bastard?"

Father Baker smiled and nodded his head. "Yes."

****************************************************

(First week in December)

Daphne got off her mobile phone with a sigh. Her mother looked up from her book and peered at her daughter from over her glasses.

"Since that sigh was almost enough to turn my page for me, do you want to tell me what is wrong or shall I guess?" When the younger woman flopped down on the floor at her feet without answering right away, Josephine very deliberately marked her page and set the book down. It wasn't often that Daphne came to her with problems anymore, so the fact that she appeared to be doing so now was worth her mother's full attention.

"It's Jamie's sisters. Mark, he's the..."

"The second oldest brother. The quietly charming one with the dimples most similar to the youngest one who is the dancer and singer. Mark works in finance, has six children, I believe, and a very nice wife named Lynn, as well as the most adorable grandchild. What did the sisters do to Mark?"

Daphne was awed, as always, by her mother's ability to retain facts about people, as well as by her intuition. It had taken Daphne months to distinguish Mark from the others, as he struck her as the most forgettable of the brothers.

"Mark thinks Danny should get his quilt now too," Daphne explained, and her mother nodded in agreement. Josephine and Daphne had already discussed this, the morning after Thanksgiving and reached the same conclusion. "But apparently the girls either think it should wait until Danny is getting married, which of course he can't do as a gay man in Pennsylvania, or isn't likely to do so as a gay man even if the law should at some point change and allow gays to marry here. I'm not sure where Danny stands on this issue but Brian isn't really big on marriage even though he was willing to marry Justin at one point. But worse than the sisters who think giving him the quilt should depend on him getting married are the ones who apparently feel that it would be wrong to finish off and present one of their mother's quilts to an 'alternative couple' even where that alternative couple had their mother's blessing! Jamie and the other brothers want to help Mark but none of the boys know how to quilt. As you know, I wouldn't be much help either. John isn't married, Matt is widowed, Joey's wife Sally might help, as might Lynn, but neither of them can do more than assist with the grunt work, and this project needs careful guidance. The guys aren't even sure where they could work on it that he wouldn't see it. To top it off, Jamie says Mark has this idea that it has to be done by Christmas, so he thinks it's all..."

"Perfectly doable," Josephine pronounced.

Daphne stared.

"Well, as I understand it, the quilt is well underway. Perhaps not as far along as Jamie's was, and also it's more complex in design, according to what Mark was telling me, but the mother left a notebook with each son's quilt plan in it. Call Mark, have him assemble his brothers here. Our house is certainly large enough and with you gone, it's empty most of the time. I've actually been thinking about this and I think I've a plan to rescue his plan, Daphne."

Daphne made the call. When her mother had a plan, she knew better than to interfere.

**************************************************

The O'Keefe brothers sat around the Chanders' living room the next day and tried to come up with a miracle while Dr. Josephine Chanders serenely watched the clock. Joey, the math teacher, had the floor.

"Mark, I think you just have to face facts. It's a wonderful thing that you want us to do for Danny and Brian, and I agree that the little guy's not been himself, and it could well perk him up, but there just isn't enough time to do it in time for the holiday, especially with everything else we all have to do. It's a simple matter of numbers. We have twenty-three days until Christmas at this point, slightly over three weeks. Between us, we've only about two or three women who can quilt at all, and none of them real masters at it, plus whatever help the daughters can give. Unlike Jamie's quilt, Danny's is only about half done and based on what Sally says about its design, it was intended to be the biggest fucker...excuse me, Doctor, I mean, Josephine, the biggest quilt of the lot, not to mention the most complicated."

"It does rather look like she planned something to outdo the AIDs memorial quilt," Mark agreed, with his gentle smile. "But that's our Danny, isn't it? Larger than life? I mean, he isn't one thing, or even two or three. Look at you, Joey, you're a husband, a teacher. Your quilt includes those things, and also your soccer. Church. The quilts reflect our lives up until we found our true loves and were getting married, and for most of us, that was our lives up until what? Twenty-one, twenty-two? Thirty-one in Jamie's case but quite frankly, becoming a doctor left little room for much else other than soccer and his music. If it weren't for Daphne being so interesting, he'd have a boring quilt," Mark teased. Jamie laughed and nodded his head in agreement. The inclusion of Daphne's African heritage had apparently given his sisters pause but he loved that his mother had thought to include it in his quilt. Josephine had been immeasurably pleased by it too, and it was partly why she wanted to see the wishes of this remarkable woman, whom she never got to meet in life, honored.

Mark continued on with his theme. "Look at all that Danny's been through and done in his young life so far! And look at his partner compared to our young brides. Brian's certainly older and has done a lot of living as of the time he and Danny have made this commitment to each other."

There were a few snickers at that. Mark looked to Matt for backup and the oldest brother didn't let him down. He stood and addressed them, like a coach talking to a losing team at half-time.

"Listen up, you guys. Mark's right. Danny is seriously down about these holidays, and never receiving his quilt from Mama is just a part of it but it's the one thing we can fix for him. Our sisters are letting him and all of us down. That's their choice, but are we going to let Danny and Mama down? She wanted him...and Brian, to have this quilt. He needs it most now after all he and Brian have been through, not some time in the future. I don't remember ever hearing an O'Keefe say something couldn't be done without first doing his damnedest to do it. So stop giving Mark excuses and start saying what you can do. I think Josephine has a plan for us so why don't we listen to it?"

Matt nodded to the imposing black woman to indicate she had the floor as the younger brothers sat up straighter, properly chastened. Josephine surveyed each man in turn. Every one of them met her measuring gaze squarely. John had been quiet during the debate, except for his brief amusement at the thought of Brian's past, but he was quietly attentive now. Jamie looked back at his future mother-in-law hopefully; he was already convinced that Dr. Chanders did everything short of walking of water, and he wasn't too sure she couldn't do that also. Joey smiled at the tall woman; he didn't know her well but he appreciated her willingness to jump in and help. Family was all important to Joey, and to him, little Daphne was now family. This indication that her mother felt the same way about them was heartwarming to him.

Matt and Mark saw something different than their younger brothers when they met her gaze. Where Jamie, John and Joey were looking back at a "mom", they were looking at a woman. To them, it was Daphne who was the child, and Josephine who was the beautiful woman. They couldn't help responding to her, the elder with a twinkle in his forest green eyes and the younger with his trademark dimples. Josephine felt herself flush slightly. They all were really very good looking...for white men. She could see why her daughter had fallen for one. She couldn't help wondering how serious Matt was about that Italian woman he'd been with at Thanksgiving. It had been awhile....but that was a thought for another day. Today was a day with a purpose. After completing her visual survey, she cleared her throat.

"You each have an assignment. I want you to come up with a surrogate quilter...within three days. A quilter and a piecer or sewer. I understand that Joey and Mark are already a step ahead in that they have wives who are willing to work on the quilt. Good for them! Workers are important and as I understand it, Sally and Lynn will probably be sewers. Jamie, I see you frowning, but you are ahead of them a bit, in that you have not only a sewer, but also a quilter, if you but ask."

"I do? Daphne?" The big man turned to his fiancee in surprise. Daphne rolled her eyes.

John rolled his almost as expressively and nudged his large brother. "Try again, Jamie, and this time, engage your brain. What is it that Brian calls you? Jock Doc? Or is it Doc Jock?"

"Now, now, no jealousy, Jack, just because they offered him a soccer scholarship to medical school and you had to actually study to get into law school," Joey laughed.

Daphne giggled as Jamie worked to control his temper. Josephine was torn between losing her patience and giving in to the levity. She wondered for a moment if the very large Jamie actually had received a nathletic scholarship to medical school, then reprimanded herself; she knew he really was a very good doctor.

Mark calmly intervened before things got out of hand between his two most volatile brothers. "I believe Josephine was kindly offering her services as your quilter, Jamie and if you don't say yes fast enough, I'm going to fall on my knees and beg her to be mine."

"Really? Josephine? You would do that for me?"

At her solemn nod, Jamie was stunned speechless for a moment but then got up and walked over to hug his future mother-in-law, who told him, "Daphne can be your piecer, which she used to do for her grandmother and me when she was younger. My daughter will learn more of the craft in this project, and it will be good for her to work on this for Brian, who has done so much for her."

Joey spoke next. "One of the retired teachers from my school is an excellent quilter. She loved Mama and knew of Danny. If I tell her about the unfinished quilt, she might be willing to work on this project. I think I know just how to approach her. I was over there doing some repairs in her kitchen just the other week and she was saying how she wished there was something she could do for me. I'll call her as soon as I get home."

Mark had a frown on his face as his brothers sat brainstorming. John was quiet also, his face its usual impassive mask. Josephine called for a break as she was waiting for another arrival, she told them.

"What is wrong, my friend Mark, named for that most earnest of the gospel writers?" The surgeon sat down next to the banker and handed him a cup of herbal tea. Marklooked at it skeptically but was too polite not to drink it. He took a sip and found it was as unpleasant as expected. Manfully, he took a second sip before answering.

"I'm at a loss," he confessed. "After striking out with the girls, I actually sounded out all of Mama's friends at church, and none of them were willing to touch the quilt if the girls weren't working on it. Didn't want to step on any toes, I guess. I don't really know any other women, to ask. Well, my daughters, but I can't quite see them being more than sewers at best, and while they would do that if I asked...." His voice faded away.

Josephine smiled. "I thought that might be the case, which is why I've saved the best for you, Mark, because you've worked so hard on this already. Every battle needs a general. And with five quilters, unless there is a clear leader, the quilt could be ruined. So, for you, I invited someone special to join us. I think I just heard the taxi pull up out front with your Master quilter."

Mark got to his feet and followed Josephine out the door. A woman was just disembarking. He moved forward automatically to pay the driver and take her bags. She thanked him in a low melodic voice, with a trace of Canadian accent. 'Wait until Jamie hears that,' he thought, amused. Jamie had a bit of a fetish for Canadians.

"My dear friend, thank you for coming. It's so wonderful to see you again," Josephine said as the two women hugged. "Mark, this is one of my dearest friends, Thyme Summers. Thyme, this is Mark O'Keefe."

Thyme Summers was a lovely woman of indeterminate age, her youthful face somewhat at odds with the short silver hair that framed it. She was wearing an expensive gray suede pants suit, but by far the most striking item of her ensemble was the long, fuchsia boa draped stylishly around her neck. She gave him a somewhat roguish smile.

"I believe I've met one of your brothers, Mr. O'Keefe. An even taller young man, a doctor?"

Mark smiled. Jamie and his penchant for Canadian accents. That mischievous look was explained. In part. He was going to have to quiz his younger brother later. He bent low over the lady's hand.

"My dear lady, it's such a pleasure to meet you. And yes, that would be my brother Jamie. He's inside, along with most of the rest of my brothers. Are you really willing to help us with this project of finishing my mother's quilt for my youngest brother? Or was that catch not revealed to you, and you were expecting a relaxing vacation in..."

"In lovely downtown Pittsburgh?" Thyme finished with her musical laugh. "No, I love the idea and I agreed after being given all due warnings. Let's go inside and I'll share my ideas with your brothers."

Mark carried the heavy bags, one of which contained a specialized sewing machine, into the house. His step was lighter than when he'd exited the house. Something about this woman gave him hope. Just as Josephine's offer of help renewed Jamie's spirits, this total stranger, with her air of quiet confidence, picked up Mark's mood immeasurably.

********************************************************

"So, how is project quilt coming along?" Emmett had talked John into a late lunch at the diner before the harried lawyer headed back to the office. John looked up from his steak and considered the question thoughtfully.

"Well, in some ways great. Joey and Mark are set, and this friend of Daphne's mom is amazing. One of the objections the girls had is that trying to read Mama's notebook is like interpreting hieroglyphics. So, with so much left undone of the pattern, they felt it really can't be completed in a manner true to the spirit of what she wanted since no one knows her code. But Thyme had the idea of each of us bringing in our quilts and the notebooks that go with them so she could figure out Mama's style of notemaking by comparing them. Made perfect sense once she figured it out, but none of us thought of it."

"So why the long face, handsome? Sounds like you've overcome a major obstacle and it should be clear sailing, or quilting, rather, from this point on." Emmett looked at his second favorite O'Keefe. He'd gotten very good at reading John's seemingly impassive face over the past couple of months. Like Brian, the less expression he showed, the more he was feeling. Right now, it was Emmett's impression that John was pretty down.

"Somehow I need to come up with a quilter and a sewer. I don't know where I'm going to find either. Michelle doesn't know how to do any of that stuff. She was never into it even when we were married and she sure didn't have time afterward. She'd love to help, she adores Danny, but I don't want to make her feel bad by asking her to do something she is incapable of doing."

"Then ask me instead," came a voice from left field. The two men looked up. Debbie was standing behind John, hands on her hips, jaw working her gum.

"Uh, Debbie, that's really nice of you, but..." John paused, not quite sure how to phrase his reply. This quilt was a special project and there was nothing about Debbie to suggest she had the requisite skill. Emmett, however, clapped his hands.

"Debbie, you doll!" He turned to John. "I know what you're thinking and you can just stop your fretting. Underneath that red wig and those x-rated t-shirts beats the heart of an old fashioned girl with all the old fashioned skills, like sewing and baking and fellatio...."

"Enough of the testimonial, Honeycutt, he gets the point. But yes, John, I do know how to quilt. I worked with your mother on our PFLAG chapter's addition to the AIDs quilt years ago. I may even be able to help out with interpreting her notes. All of you older boys were married by then but she was already working on Jamie and Danny's quilts and I saw the beginnings of both of them. I'd be honored if I could be your quilter. The asshole is like a son to me so this would kinda be like being there as Danny's mother-in-law, or the closest thing he's ever going to have, Joan being what she is. So, if you'll have me?"

John stood and gave Debbie a tight hug and a kiss to the cheek. "I'd be honored."

"Now all you need is your worker bee. I can help keep the troops well fed for you, sweetie, but my flame sputters out when it comes to the manly art of quilting. But you know..."

"Ask Julie." Hunter leaned over the booth.

"Huh?" The boy smirked at the handsome lawyer. It wasn't often that John was caught off balance but Hunter had found that he was able to do it about once a week on the average. Danny found it hilarious and even John wryly conceded that Hunter should probably give serious consideration to a legal career if the music didn't pan out. After glaring for a moment to restore the proper balance to the world, (or the food chain, as his son Johnny irreverently commented sotto voce before slipping into the booth next to Emmett to mooch a meal off his father), John asked, "Do you mean Julie, my niece?"

"Well, chances are he doesn't mean Julie Andrews," Emmett interjected brightly. Debbie guffawed before leaving to retrieve an order for which the cook had been ringing the bell for about five minutes. "Hold your balls, why don'cha?" she yelled as she strolled over.

Hunter hopped down into the seat next to John, sliding from over the booth behind him, as he knew John would never slide down to make room. Tall men needed the aisle. Tall men who weren't as accommodating as Emmett; that is, although in all fairness, Johnny was almost as tall as his dad and could make a good argument that he too needed the aisle seat for leg room. Hunter, on the other hand, was not as tall as his taller adoptive father and would be lucky if he made it to his shorter dad's height. For a moment he thought wistfully of Ben's physique, but was recalled to the conversation by an elbow from John.

"Do you think Julie would do it?" John pushed his side order of fries in front of the perpetually hungry teen. Hunter mumbled thanks as he and Johnny fell upon them. This of course did not slow down Hunter's answer.

"She's gotten wind of the project. She always knows everything, like me." John considered correcting the kid's grammar but rejected the idea as it would just slow the story. From the twinkle in Hunter's eye the boy read his mind and paused as if to go back, but when John shot him a glare, he grinned his toothy grin and went on. "Seems she was really hoping her dad would ask her but he got help from that Thyme lady and that way her mom is his sewer, and then her Uncle Matt found out that the rich Italian lady loves to quilt too, and he has as his slave labor one of his daughters or maybe even Julie's sister. Who can keep them all straight? The one named Rose, like the grandmother. So, there is poor Julie, dying to be asked, but so far, a quilting wallflower, although she used to sit at her grandmother's knee for hours and hand her pieces of material and listen to her ideas for the quilt..." Hunter heaved a big sigh as Johnny grinned.

John already had his cell phone out. He paused, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I assume one of you is going to tell me her cell phone number...you think I know every one of my nieces and nephews' phone numbers by heart?"

"They know yours," his son pointed out.

"I'm the family lawyer. They all learn mine when they reach driving and drinking age, if not before. They know Danny's too, since he is the source of largesse...and bail money I suspect," John commented dryly. After Hunter provided the number, he placed the call.

"Julie, it's your Uncle John, how are you?...I'm good, thanks. Listen I have the biggest favor to ask of you..." The others could hear the squeal of excitement from where they sat. Emmett grinned.

"I can't be sure, but I think that's a yes," Em stage whispered.

***************************************************

Mary Fran looked up from the legal pad on her lap. It was Friday afternoon. She and John had been going over the week's new cases as well as any major events coming up on the calendar on the old ones before closing up the office for the weekend. It was their way of ensuring that nothing fell through the cracks and it also gave Mary Fran a chance to bring to John's attention any little problems that she noticed in the practice. He'd come to rely on her common sense, and she'd come to appreciate someone thinking she had common sense. She knew the accepted view of her in the family was that of a big, scatter-brained girl, good at following another's lead but not one for taking initiative. That had been her mother's opinion of her and her sisters and sisters-in-law good naturedly accepted it. She thought she'd been close to John's glamorous second wife, mainly because Carol treated her well, but found, to her humiliation, that the woman had been using her to cover her affairs and when confronted, actually expected her to continue to cover for her. She'd underestimated Mary Fran's family loyalty.

That same strong sense of loyalty was troubling Mary Fran now. She'd never turned down one of her brothers when they'd asked her for help before. Saying no to Mark, and for something for Danny, no less, made her feel very uncomfortable. She wished she had Mary Beth's strong sense of right and wrong. How could something right feel this wrong? John had seemed abstracted all week and she was convinced it was because he knew she'd refused to help with the quilt and was angry with her. Steeling her nerves, she decided to get it out in the open and clear the air.

"Jack? May I ask you something?"

"Hmm?" John looked up from the last file they'd just finished going over. One of the associates was supposed to arbitrate it the following week and John wasn't satisfied it was properly prepared. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" His dark brows were drawn together in a frown still.

Mary Fran swallowed, but forged ahead. "Are you pissed off at me?"

One of the eyebrows shot up quizzically. "Should I be? Are you the one who fucked up this case?" John smiled suddenly; his smile changed his appearance so much it was always startling. "What a relief. Here I was thinking a lawyer messed this up so badly, but if it was you, then relatively speaking, it isn't so bad after all. You really shouldn't try prepping the cases yet though, Franny."

Actually, she had done most of the prep on that file because the associate in question gave her a sob story about needing to get home to his sick wife, but now that she thought about it, that was something she should have run past John. He was fair, and he might have reassigned the case...if the man really did have a sick wife. She'd seen the man meet up with the other associates in the parking lot earlier and he seemed to be going with them for the usual Friday afternoon happy hour and not home to a sick wife. She concluded that she'd been suckered into doing his work for him.

"Well, I think you might want to take another look at it this weekend. Young Davis gave me a load of bull, I think but I was the one who fell for it," she confessed. John smiled at her sympathetically but there was a look in his eyes that didn't bode well for the young lawyer. "But that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about. I wanted to know if you were mad at me over the quilt business...are you?"

John closed the file and set it aside. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully for a few minutes before finally looking back at her. After a couple of years working with him, Mary Frances was used to his ways so she didn't let him intimidate her. She knew that was one of his tricks to get people to say more. She waited him out. Finally, after staring at her for a long moment, he answered, "no."

"That's it? Just, 'no.' No explanation? No questions for me, or trying to talk me into it?" She felt a little... she wasn't sure what she felt. Let down or something.

"What do you want me to say, Franny? You're a grown woman. You made up your mind, from what I understand. If that is wrong, and believe me, I know it wouldn't be the first time someone in this family was misunderstood, then tell me. But Mark is pretty good about these things. More than the rest of us, he tends to listen before he reaches a conclusion. But, if he's correct, you and the others, mainly following our eldest sister's lead, feel that Danny's quilt should not be completed and given to him at this time. The reasons are twofold. First, he isn't getting married. The second and bigger reason, however, is that he hasn't settled on a female partner. Now, you've shown a real talent for the law, Franny, so much talent that it's my hope that when you finish getting your bachelor's degree you apply to law school. So, you tell me, applying legal reasoning to your two points: one, how can Danny be held accountable for not marrying Brian when the law won't let him marry, and two, how do you hold him accountable for loving a man instead of a woman when that's the way God made him?"

John spoke softly, as was his custom with everyone. Except maybe Jamie. Mary Fran stared back at him, totally at a loss for an answer. She knew there were answers that Mary Beth would make, references to the Bible, to what it says about men lying with men, but Mary Fran also knew what her children's science books said. She also couldn't help thinking that Mark was right, Mama would have wanted Danny to have his quilt, especially now. It had broken her heart to see him struggling at Thanksgiving to keep things running smoothly when he was so clearly grieving. It was Brian who made him happy. Mama knew that and Mary Fran knew that Mama had started to include Brian in Danny's quilt. But any attempt to suggest as much to her oldest sister was met with religious quotations. Mary Beth was usually the meekest of the O'Keefe girls but when she dug in her heels, no one could move her.

Mary Fran held up her hands in supplication and began, "Mary Elizabeth says that..."

John shook his head, cutting her off. "Stop right there. I don't need to hear what Mary Beth or Mary Kate or even Mary Pat has to say. I want to know what you think. When are you going to learn, Franny, that you don't have to live in anyone's shadow? My God, you're as smart, beautiful and gifted as any of your sisters, and you live with the world's biggest inferiority complex! If you don't think you should work on the quilt, fine, but if the only reason you aren't doing it is because you're afraid of what your sisters will say, then I'm still not mad at you, I am sorry for you."

Face pale, Mary Frances got up and walked out of the office. John looked after her sadly, wondering if she would be back on Monday. He hoped she would, for his firm's sake, but even more, he hoped she would be back for her own sake.

****************************************************

(Second Week of December)

"It should be on that shelf right up there, Mary Fran, aren't you finding it?"

The following Saturday morning found the three oldest O'Keefe girls at the family house, in their mother's old bedroom. Mary Pat was out with the Marcus and Peterson women, taking the children to breakfast with Santa before attending one of Danny's matinee performances of "The Nutcracker." Several of the younger nieces and nephews, as well as the older grandchildren were attending that day, since Danny had arranged for a backstage visit with the cast after the show. The three sisters had begged off, claiming they preferred to attend an evening performance with adults for once. In part, that was true. They also wanted to take advantage of the empty house to search for Danny's quilt and see for themselves just how far along it was. Mary Fran had talked to Mary Kate about her belief that Mama had included Brian in the quilt already and the stronger willed Kate had convinced Mary Beth to at least take a look at the notebook and quilt.

"It isn't here," announced Mary Fran, who'd been chosen to search the high shelf of the closet where the unfinished quilts were always kept due to her superior height and reach. Although she was almost as tall, Mary Kate avoided tasks likely to involve dust and cobwebs whenever a sister was around to push the job onto.

"What do you mean it isn't there? It was there when we got Jamie's down last June! It has to be there. Look again." Mary Beth ordered from her perch on the bed. Mary Fran bit back a sharp retort and climbed onto a small stepstool. The added inches weren't really necessary but she thought she may as well be doubly sure she wasn't missing anything. This particular quilt was in an extremely large box as she recalled, and took up more than the width of the shelf, besides being four feet long and two feet deep. The unfolded quilt was going to be huge, by far the biggest one in the family...if it were ever finished, she added to herself.

"Trust me, there's no large box up here," she called over her shoulder finally. "There's not even a hat box up here. No sign of the notebook either, though that should be in the quilt box anyway."

"Let Mary Kate look," was Mary Beth's next suggestion. Mary Fran rolled her eyes but dutifully stepped aside while her elegant older sister reluctantly stepped up onto the stool and not only looked into the closet and through its depths, but stretched her slim arm up along the shelf and ran a hand down along the dusty shelf.

"Nothing there but a few dust bunnies. We really must discuss the cleaning service with Mary Pat, although it would be better to raise it with Danny, I suppose. Mary Pat wouldn't notice dust tigers unless they grew teeth and bit her in the ass."

Mary Fran almost giggled but the look on the usually serene Mary Beth's face stopped her.

"I bet that boy came and took it!," Mary Beth fumed, shocking her sisters with the venom in her voice. "He had no right! 'Tis nae the tradition. I'm going to go tae his room right now and bring the quilt back where it belongs!"

"Mary Beth, you can't go searching through Danny's bedroom!" Mary Frances was shocked. She could just imagine the types of things that might be found there. Mama wouldn't even go into Danny's room since he returned home as an adult. All three women were the mothers of sons, but for some reason, Mary Frances had this idea that Danny's room had more, oh, decadent items in it than would be found in the average adult male's room. Liam had suggested as much in some of his more inebriated joking. Not that Mary Fran would go into her college age daughters' room and snoop, either, since she realized that what a mother didn't know couldn't upset her.

"Let her look, she won't be satisfied until she really ticks him off," Mary Kate advised, reclining gracefully on the chaise they'd bought their mother two Christmases ago. Rose used to relax on it and work on the squares for some of her quilts. Or crochet baby blankets, another favorite hobby. It seemed odd to see Kate's long legs stretched out where Rose's short ones used to rest.

After Mary Beth stormed out in her flurry of righteous, or would that be religious, Mary Fran wondered, indignation, the younger sister sat on the edge of the bed and looked out of the window. She jumped, startled, when Mary Kate asked her a question.

"So, if this is how you felt, why all that PFLAG work all those years?"

"What do you mean?" Mary Fran looked at the floor rather than face those cold green eyes. Mary Kate was four years older but she'd always intimidated everyone...even as a child.

"If you felt that homosexuality was wrong, why did you work with the PFLAG group? Did you just do it to please Mama? I can see Mary Beth doing that, she'd do whatever Mama said, even when it killed her on the inside, and that's why she has all this pent up anger now, but you could have gotten out of it, you had the little ones at home. Yet you and Mary Pat were right there at every activity and fundraiser, even when Mama and Mary Beth weren't. I thought you did it for Danny and really cared about the people there. Wasn't Vic Grassi a friend to you?"

"I did. And he was, a good friend. More than that, Danny's my brother and I love him," Mary Frances protested hotly, glaring at her sister.

"So you love him but you hate that he's gay?"

"I don't see you agreeing to work on the quilt! Why didn't you tell Mark yes?"

"Ah, but I asked you first," Mary Kate smiled coolly. Sometimes Mary Frances wondered if this sister had ever been warm. Once in a while, when chatting with Matt, or laughing with Danny, she warmed up slightly, but that was the extent of it. Matt said that life had disappointed Mary Kate, which seemed ironic to her sister, who was married to a drunken husband and never had enough to make ends meet. To Mary Fran, Mary Kate had it all. She'd left two men who adored her, held one glamorous, high-paying job after another, had just two children, both of whom were brilliant and successful. What was there not to be happy about? Mary Kate was looking at her now, a slight amusement warming the light green eyes.

"Tell you what, I'll let you in on why I said no, then you tell me why you didn't say yes. Deal?"

Mary Frances found herself nodding her head.

"I said no because I've known Brian Kinney for a very long time and I watched his single-minded ascent through the advertising business in this City, as well as his exploits of the seamier sort. I'm not convinced he is the right person for our romantic, idealistic baby brother." A well manicured hand was held up as Mary Frances started to interrupt. "Ah, ah, I said I would go first. Wait until I finish. I know you all think Mama was foolproof. She gave a union her blessing so it was a match made in heaven, right? Like you and Liam. And me and my first husband, that two timing gambler. Don't look so shocked, little sister, that isn't the kind of thing one tells one's little sister. You were all of twelve when I got divorced the first time. I had a baby and no means of support besides my job in the pub. Mama wanted me to go back to Gary, said it was my duty as a good Catholic girl. Best thing Danny ever did was free us of that Church if you ask me, although I know Mary Beth doesn't feel that way. My second husband was my ticket out of the shame and embarrassment. He loved me dearly and I loved his money. Again, I say, don't look so shocked. It was an accepted way for a girl to get ahead back then. But, enough about all that. My point was, Mama was wrong about what I should do and what was best for me, just as she was about Luke, and look at how John's marriages turned out. Mama's track record wasn't all that great."

"But John and Michelle are getting back together," Mary Frances pointed out. She also wanted to argue that she loved her husband Liam as much as ever, which was true, but she didn't think it would help convince her sister she had any sense. For all his flaws, and she knew they were many, Liam could still make her laugh, and he loved her and the kids. He put up with her too, bad temper and all.

"Sure, after almost twenty years apart and his other marriage and couple of kids in between, they might be working things out. Good for them. Still, this myth that Mama's blessing is all that's needed for it to be your true love is nonsense. Brian Kinney is a slut, and he'd have to show me that he's truly committed to changing his ways before I'd want to see him with Danny. I don't think the kid can take much more of what he was put through with Judith and Etienne, do you? He's had enough disappointment and disillusionment. But as far as this idea that Danny shouldn't get his quilt because he's gay, that's just bullshit. Mama's been working on his quilt as her masterpiece for more than the past decade and she figured out he was gay before he did." As Mary Fran tried to digest that tidbit of information, Mary Kate smirked at her, "So, now it's your turn. Why aren't you doing it?"

Before she could answer, Mary Beth came back into the room, distraught.

"I can't find it anywhere. It isn't in his room or Mary Pat's! Mark must have taken it. If he has Lynn trying to do it on her own, it's ruined, I just know it's ruined!"

"Well, since you didn't want it to be finished ever, does it matter really? Ruined or never seen?" Mary Kate asked her, once more surveying her perfect nails as though she hadn't a care.

"Of course it makes a difference. It's Mama's legacy, her last quilt, Mary Kate. Sometimes I wonder at you. Don't you have any proper feelings? We have to get it back and fix it."

Both of the younger sisters started to speak, but seeing how upset Mary Beth was, with a glance at each other, an unspoken truce was reached. Perhaps later, when she calmed down, they could try to get through to her. In the meantime, Mary Frances was beginning to realize that she did know her own mind on this quilt issue, and to her surprise, it was very different from her sisters. She decided, however, to talk to Mary Pat before taking any action. Just to be sure.

*************************************************

(Second Week of December)

Brian let himself into Danny's townhouse with his key. He followed the sound of voices to the master bedroom where his lover was stretched out on his stomach, clad only in a tiny pair of cotton shorts that were riding very low on his hips. Emmett was straddling those hips while he massaged the broad back attached to them. The amused gaze of one very annoying blond lounging in the armchair next to the bed met his eyes as Brian looked in from the doorway.

"Uh oh, guys, orgy's over, the boyfriend's back. Quick, Danny, get dressed," Brandon drawled.

"I can't do anything quickly, not until my massage is over," Danny responded calmly. "You try dancing nine performances of the Nutcracker in four days and see how fast you move. Lower, Em, my legs and ass need it most. Hey, Bri, I'll get up and greet you properly in a little bit, if you don't mind, this feels too good to stop him."

Emmett turned and looked over his shoulder at Brian with a somewhat apologetic smile. "You know, I think I would feel better if Danny would act like there was some chance I could inspire jealousy, being caught in this position. Instead, he makes me feel like a maiden aunt or something."

"Instead of the hot bottom we all know you are," Brian agreed in mock sympathy. "If it makes you feel better, I am feeling annoyed, and I'm about two seconds from kicking your ass down those stairs outside, Honeycutt. So, move it. If anyone is going to massage his delectable ass now that I'm home, it's me, and Brendon here isn't going to watch, drooling, while I do it."

"Stay right where you are, Em!" Danny protested as Emmett laughed and began to dismount. "Brian says he'll give me a massage but I know him. I'll get two minutes of massage and then he'll get distracted and start rimming or fucking and ..."

"And you're complaining?" Brandon and Emmett asked in synchronized disbelief, causing Danny to laugh even as he groaned at a particularly sore muscle being kneaded by Emmett, who had gone back to work until Brian was ready to take over.

Brian smirked, as he walked over to the closet to hang up his jacket and slacks, exchanging them for jeans and a t-shirt. Brandon was torn between annoying Brian by continuing to leer at Danny, or turning to get a front row view of the Kinney physique fully exposed as the Stud of Liberty changed. He was chagrined to see that Brian's toned body wasn't losing any of its appeal as he entered his mid-thirties. No sign of sag. Must be genetics, he reasoned. Kinney didn't work out anywhere near as much as Danny and he did through their dancing alone. The little bit the guy did at the gym a few hours a week didn't explain that beautiful body. O'Keefe was a lucky man.

Having second thoughts, Brian pulled off the t-shirt he'd just donned and strolled over to the bed, finally nudging Emmett aside.

"I'm keeping my jeans on as a sign of my good faith. I'll give you a thorough massage, my tiny dancer," he promised.

"Not so tiny," Emmett murmured, causing Brian to glare and Brandon to snicker. He gave his friend an innocent look. "What? A gay man is going to look, isn't he? And you can't expect a gay man, not this gay man anyway, to ignore that package, sweetie! What would you say, Brandon, ten inches?"

Brian's eyes were shooting flames at the onlookers by this point as he straddled the suspiciously silent subject of this debate. He suspected Danny was holding back his laughter, waiting to see how Brian reacted.

Brandon, the future lawyer, played it safe, claiming, "Damned if I know, Em, I wasn't looking when you had him on his back." At least, he played it safe as far as he was concerned. Danny he threw to the fire, adding with an impish gleam in his eye, "All that loud moaning and thrashing around he was doing was kind of distracting."

That blatant lie caused the other three to lose it. Brian almost lost his balance and fell off as Danny came up on his elbows suddenly to exclaim, "You are such a good liar! I hope you get that job with John's firm, he could use someone like you."

Brian gently pushed him back down, saying, "Well, I for one, believe Berman. The non-looking part, that is. He knows better than to look at what he can't have. And you do get kind of loudly appreciative during a massage, so that part is probably true too." The others laughed while Danny protested that description of his vocalization. Brian simply ignored them and continued. "But while I appreciate his playing chaperone for Emmett while you received your massage, and I'm grateful, as always, to Auntie Em here for taking care of your needs...some of your needs..." Brian glared menacingly at Emmett as a matter of form, which Emmett acknowledged as such, "In my absence. Now that I'm back I can take over...without an audience." As he spoke, Brian had been moving his strong hands in slow, hard strokes down the length of Danny's muscular back, from his shoulders to the top of his buttocks, sliding the shorts lower with each stroke.

Emmett, leaned on the back of the chair Brandon was in, and gave Brian a teasing look. "Oh, we don't mind staying and watching, do we, Brandon? Besides, I don't know if it's a good idea for us to leave. If we do, Danny might not get the rest of his massage and then he'll be all tight...you wouldn't want his ass to get tight now, would you?"

Brandon covered a smirk, and assumed a serious face as he added his own advice. "Of course he wouldn't. By the way, I must give my considered opinion, as a dancer, Kinney, that you're doing a half decent job there, but it would be far better if you slid those shorts out of the way."

Brian snorted. He pointed to the door. "Out, you two. Show's over. Go cook something, or watch a loud movie or something...we'll catch up with you in a couple of hours. Maybe."

Emmett knew when to quit. With a wave of his hand, he laughingly left, dragging Brandon with him. Brian waited until the door clicked behind them to edge Danny's shorts off.

"Ahh, so you are taking Brandon's advice," the deep voice murmured, as he obligingly lifted his hips to facilitate the shorts removal.

"I had every intention of getting you naked as soon as possible," Brian retorted, slapping the firm ass now revealed to him before kneading it with his long fingers. "I love your ass, you know. The curves, the dents in the cheeks, every luscious inch of it," Brian continued in a husky voice as he bent down and licked his way around the lovely globes, nipping lightly with his teeth, his hands continuing to mold and squeeze.

"You're really pretty good at this," Danny told him, his breath catching. "I may have to fire my other masseuse."

"When are you going to learn that I'm here to take care of all your needs?" Brian posed the question lightly but there was an undercurrent of seriousness. Danny had been avoiding talking to him about his depression for weeks now. He'd been rushing from activity to activity, never giving himself a moment of downtime. It was as if once he decided he had to stay for this holiday, he was determined to do everything he could to ensure it was perfect for everyone...except himself. The tree in the townhouse was a work of art, as were all the decorations, and he spent a day with Emmett and the children baking every imaginable Christmas cookie. He had caroling planned for those evenings he wasn't dancing or rehearsing at the church. He even scheduled time with Brian...nothing was left out. Except time just to think and feel. Those were the things Brian suspected he was actively avoiding.

Brian felt bad because he'd never been a Christmas person himself and was at a complete loss as to how to help. Danny knew this wasn't an important holiday to him and had no expectations of him; Brian was free to participate if he wanted to and free to pass if he didn't. Without the pressure, he found himself joining in far more than anyone expected and enjoying it much more than he ever thought he could. Brian found it ironic that Danny's saddest Christmas ever was turning out to be Brian's happiest. Danny had a way of keeping up a frenetic pace without seeming to rush around and making anyone else feel hectic or stressed. Emmett was a big help in that. It was only in unguarded moments that Brian would catch the look of intense sadness in Danny's eyes. At such times, he would walk over and wrap his arms around his man, forcing a moment of real peace on him. Danny would lean back, eyes closed, and Brian felt as though he were literally holding him up. But the other man continued to say nothing, pretending everything was fine. If Danny were ready to talk about it, he would, Brian reasoned. In the meantime, the best that he could do for the man he loved was be on the watch for those moments when he needed strong arms to hold him up.

*********************************************

It was quite a while before Danny and Brian rejoined Emmett and Brandon. Danny curled in Brian's arms on the sofa and good naturedly accepted the other men's teasing, which by now included his brother John's, as they ate a late supper in the living room and watched "It's A Wonderful Life" to please Emmett.

"That was one hell of a massage, Danny. You were in there for about three hours," Emmett teased. "I thought I'd have to cater dinner in there so poor Brian didn't pass out from lack of food."

"Well, he does have a lot of muscles," Brandon pointed out, "no doubt Kinney was giving each and every one of them personal attention."

"I'm sure that Danny was fair, and reciprocated by giving Kinney something in return...like a backrub," John said blandly, reaching for more fried chicken. Emmett had been so happy when John moved in and he could actually cook some real food for a change, and not just the non-fattening dishes that Danny and Brian insisted upon. John was as skinny as Emmett but could eat anything; something about his metabolism, he claimed. Danny, on the other hand, only ate high protein, low fat foods, and never any red meat. His one regular indulgence was chocolate cake, which he adored. He was looking longingly at some now.

Emmett got up to slice him a large piece, as he continued the conversation. "Was that it, baby? You were giving Brian a nice, long...backrub?" Emmett suggestively sucked on his finger, which he'd gotten covered in the chocolate icing. Brandon smiled while John made a mock protest, "Hey, this is my baby brother we're talking about! I'm sure he doesn't do anything like that!"

Danny cocked an eyebrow at John before replying blandly in his deep voice, "I rimmed him, blew him, then fucked him up the ass. The massage was that good."

John groaned and covered his ears while Em squealed in delight and begged for more details as he handed Danny a large piece of cake.

Brian, however, noted dryly, "I think we've covered the subject sufficiently. Anymore and John will need CPR and just the thought of one of us performing mouth to mouth on him may be enough to send him off to that great courtroom in the sky. So, new subject, what have you two been up to lately that we haven't seen much of you in the evenings before now, John? I've been wondering if Emmett has been showing you the life, since it seems you two are always coming in together these days."

Emmett immediately assumed his deer in the headlights look, while John looked as blank as he always did when confronted with something. Brandon saved the day by offering an alibi.

"I sure hope he isn't, since Em and I have been seeing each other," he commented dryly as he reached for his own slice of cake. "Competing with Danny is one thing, competing with the big guy there is more than I'm willing to put up with Em," he drawled, with just the right amount of nonchalance, mingled with a hint of annoyance.

"Down boy, and that's big boss to you, isn't it?" John replied easily, slipping into the story fed to him by the other man to cover the time spent working on the quilt together. Brandon had been spending time at the Chanders house also, cutting and fetching. He'd also brought along a shy middle-aged uncle of his who proved remarkably good at keeping the sewing machines running smoothly and who conversed knowledgeably with Thyme and Josephine about patterns and materials.

The distraction worked with Danny. He turned to his friend.

"So you did get the job! You didn't tell me, you ass!" he exclaimed, pleased.

"Yep, I start as a law clerk the second my last final for this semester is over, and will be full time as soon as I finish in the Spring, with some time off to study for the bar. The only scary part is working for that giantess he has in charge of the paralegals and law clerks...she looks kind of like you only less feminine. And I didn't tell you because I just found out myself when John arrived and you were otherwise...engaged. Had I known it was so important to you I would have barged right in and let you know."

Brian laughed at that as Danny tossed one of his handy throw pillows...which lived up to their name in his house.

"Mary Frances must tower over you, poor little Brandon. I wouldn't get on her bad side if I were you," Brian recommended.

"If I thought she had a good side, I would find it and stay there, trust me. As it is, I am going to work hard and hope that John and Emmett protect me from her."

"I'd keep my hopes pinned on the hard work," Danny advised with a wide grin. "Those two can barely keep themselves out of trouble."

Brian was looking at the pair in question thoughtfully as Danny and Brandon continued to banter. He'd noticed, even if Danny hadn't, that Brandon's job didn't explain why the other two kept coming in late together. He also strongly doubted that Emmett and Brandon were a couple. An odder pairing could hardly be conceived, although, he admitted, John and Emmett would indeed be it. Clearly, something was up, and whatever it was, Brandon was in on it. He would catch Emmett alone. He'd have the secret out of him within two minutes.

*********************************************

"Brian, I can't tell you, it's a sacred secret! Please don't make me," Emmett begged, his puppy dog eyes wide and pitiful. "You know you can, and I know you can, so please...don't."

Brian had caught the tall queen at the bottom of the stairs after everyone else had headed to bed, and Brandon had finally gone home, his claimed affair with Emmett notwithstanding. To the Hazelhurst native's dismay, Brian had demanded the truth, making it clear that he hadn't bought the whole Brandon and Emmett, sitting in a tree, story.

Brian sighed. "You know, Honeycutt, you really do take all the fun out of bullying. Just tell me, would I approve of whatever it is you and the others are up to?"

When Emmett smiled, he put his whole face into it, Brian noticed. "It's the best thing and even your Grinch-like heart will grow a few sizes when you do find out, especially if it breaks that delicious man of yours out of his Christmas blues."

Brian waved his hand magnanimously, allowing Emmett to proceed up to his room. "Go on then. But I'd better not be disappointed, or I'll go grinch all over your ass, little Susie Who."

"Ooo, sounds like that could be fun," Emmett couldn't resist saying from a safe distance as he scampered up the stairs. Brian just shook his head. The man was irrepressible.

***********************************************

(Third week of December)

"Okay, once more, altos, this time I want you a little stronger from the third measure, the dynamics call for you to be forte` as the sopranos drop down there, see that? It's the reverse of the second verse. On three...one...two.."

Danny was leading the women's choir in their rehearsal for the Christmas Eve service and normally the songs would be progressing very nicely by now. This choir was a focal point of the service. The men joined them on several numbers, but the women put far and away more time into their singing and were of professional level. The four O'Keefe sisters, especially Mary Beth and Mary Kate, soprano and alto, respectively, were stand-outs. This year, Danny was having trouble with his star soprano and whereas in the past, the lead alto would help whip her into line if there were a discipline problem, this year, Mary Kate was surprisingly reticent. With John's ex, Carol, the former assistant organists and choir director gone, Danny's workload was increased. Lynn was helping as much as she could, as were his nieces Rose and Francesca, but they kept showing up late for practices.

Within seconds, Danny called another halt. He got up from the piano and walked around in front of the choir, sitting on the edge of the railing that separated their section from the altar. They were practicing in the lower choir area, rather than the loft, since this was where they sang the Christmas Eve late service and he wanted them to accustom their voices to the acoustics. The earlier service would be sung from the choir loft and the children's and youth choirs sang then also.

"Well, we seem to have a difference of opinion as to how this song should be sung," he began softly.

Brian, who'd stopped in to listen and was going to take Danny out to dinner afterward, admired his restraint. From his perspective, Mary Beth had spent the entire rehearsal deliberately undermining every instruction Danny had given, and was trying to take the choir with her. Since she had a powerful voice with true pitch, the others were used to following her lead. Thus, she took the whole section with her when she went wrong. Without Mary Kate's help, Danny had an uphill battle going against her. Brian was sorely tempted to say something to the two of them but he bit his tongue. Fr. Baker had taken a seat in the pew next to him and also was watching quietly. Brian didn't think any of the singers had noticed him or surely the level of cooperation would have increased.

Danny ran a hand through his hair, pulling it back, then continued speaking, still in a calm reflective voice. "I want to try something new. First verse, I want just Mary Kate and Mary Beth to sing it through. Then, on the second verse, I want the soprano and alto sections to sing it without the two of them. Third and final verse, altogether, soloists and sections. I want full dynamics, as written, with each verse please, so soloists, please be sure to make it clear when you sing it so your section can replicate it when they are singing it without you."

"Clever boy," Fr. Baker whispered to Brian. "Now his sisters will have to show whether they can do it or not, in front of their group, and if they can't, he will have a reason to replace them."

Just then, Mary Beth spoke up, in her gentle voice, but with the words as sharp as nails.

"Perhaps you should keep in mind, Danny, that this is a house of worship and not a piano bar, as much as you've been encouraged to think of it as your personal stage. We are preparing for the holiest night of the year and not a fundraiser at Babylon."

Some of the ladies gasped. Others started whispering to their neighbors, no doubt explaining what Babylon was, Brian surmised.

Danny merely tapped his fingers on the railing as he met his oldest sister's deceptively mild gaze evenly. After a long moment, he spoke, his voice firm. "Quiet, please."

Instantly, the other women all hushed, eager, no doubt, to hear what he would say to his sister's challenge. If they were looking for scandal, Brian thought, they were disappointed..

When Danny spoke, his voice too was gentle, as were his words. "I never forget that for even a second, Mary Elizabeth. I just happen to think that the fact that we're in Church, singing for God, is even more reason to do our best to do justice to the music as written. The composer had a certain effect in mind when he wrote the notes, and in this case, it was the composer who included the dynamics. We are fortunate in this Church to have skilled musicians to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. God gave us our voices, and I see no reason to do something wrong, certainly not deliberately wrong, any more than an artist would put up a sloppily crafted stained glass window above the altar or a carpenter would build an uneven altar that slanted so that the bread and wine could go sliding off. If it's ego for me to demand that this choir do something correctly when I know it is capable of singing beautifully, then fine, I'm an egoist, but to me, it's false humility to do something wrong, and then sayyou don't want praise. What you're doing here is a praise offering to God, not a showcase of our own talents. Now, if you have a problem with singing a solo, or with doing your best, tell me and I will select someone else. If you have a problem with me as the choir director, take it up with Fr. Baker some other time, but we're not spending any more time on this now. Anyone else feel the need to express herself?"

One of those mobile dark eyebrows cocked up as Danny waited, glancing specifically over at Mary Kate, but seemingly paying no attention as Mary Beth gathered her things together and walked out. Mary Kate sat staring straight ahead, her eyes suspiciously bright.

Mary Pat and Mary Frances sat in the row behind the two older sisters, stunned. Never had they seen an O'Keefe go against a family member in public as Mary Beth had just done, backing Danny into a corner like that. Yet, for the youngest not to back down to the elder was also unheard of, although Danny was the choir director. It was all so confusing and upsetting. Mary Pat would have supported Danny no matter what, of course, but she was surprised to see that Mary Kate and Mary Fran stayed, along with all the rest of the O'Keefe women, the nieces, as well as Lynn and Sally. Mary Beth was the unofficial leader of the women, especially on Church matters. Now that Mama was gone, she was viewed as their spiritual leader. Mary Pat wished they'd never thought to complete Jamie's quilt, as that seemed to have started this whole breakdown of their family this Christmas. Even as she thought it, she knew the problems went far deeper. Maybe it was time she stopped by the Chander's house. Unlike her sisters, she was no good at quilting, but she could do something. Rock the babies, or make tea. Something to show her support for the boys' effort. Her mother's quilt for Danny shouldn't be finished by total strangers.

From the pews, and with a heavy sigh, Fr. Baker got up to see if he could find his most devout parishioner and talk her off her high horse.

"Tell Danny, if he has any second thoughts, that I thought he handled that difficult situation as well as could be expected," the old man whispered. Brian nodded. If he knew Danny, second thoughts didn't even begin to cover it.

*****************************************

"Well, that kind of sucked, huh?" Danny slumped over his piano. The last woman had left after having her well intentioned attempts to backstab Danny's sister to him forestalled by his earnestly voiced hope that Mary Beth would be back in her usual spot by the next rehearsal. The last thirty minutes had been spent in several variations on that theme, or its counterpart. Old timers wanted his assurances that he would be doing everything in his power to grovel to her and bring her back because the Church would fall without her. Younger women either wanted to audition for her parts on the solos or to voice their support for the handsome young choir director.

"She asked for it," Brian pointed out as he folded his arms around the tired musician.

From the sacristy, Mary Beth lifted her tear stained face at the sound of their voices. She'd crept back inside after seeing the last of the choir members drive away. She'd missed seeing Brian's car still there since he'd parked on a side street on the other side of the Church and she'd thought they too had left. She'd been hiding from Fr. Baker. She knew he would take Danny's side; everyone always did, it seemed. She missed her father so much. He was the only one who ever seemed to see any flaws in "perfect Danny." She loved her little brother, she truly did, but sometimes it was hard having someone like him in the family, who always went his own way, always so sure of himself.

Mary Beth didn't want to eavesdrop, but she was afraid if she moved now, they would hear her and know she'd heard them talking. With a heavy heart, she sat on a small stool and smoothed her hand over Fr. Baker's vestment, which she'd laid out earlier for the next service. She really didn't want to hear Danny complain about her bad behavior at practice but she saw no help for it now. Given her frame of mind and expectations, she was shocked by her brother's next words.

"She didn't ask for anything, Bri. She was hurting, and I should have been able to see that hurt sooner, and do something. But I've been so focused on my own feelings this Christmas, and my sense of loss, that I haven't been much good to anyone else. The end result was that I practically forced that confrontation, knowing she would be the loser, and so is the choir, because Mary Beth is the finest singer they have and she'd been in it the longest. I've come and gone but she'd been in that choir for years. I failed, Brian."

Brian held Danny even tighter. "I don't see it that way, green eyes. You've been doing everything you can this Christmas, despite how you feel, to make it as festive as it always is for everyone else. You didn't even want to stay here in Pittsburgh, but you did. Hell, you wanted to run away to Europe with me and the kids, but you stayed here, knowing it wouldn't be Christmas for a lot of your family without you here to sing and dance in the Nutcracker and take the kids to Santa at the mall, and bake the damn cookies, and open presents at the big house on Christmas morning....you're their fucking six foot tall Tiny Tim, God blessing them every one, and you do a damn fine job of it even when your own heart is breaking. So no beating up on yourself."

Danny laughed shakily at the image Brian painted with his words as his listening sister sat shocked. Danny had thought of going to Europe? While part of her recoiled at Brian's language, so close to the altar, no less, she was even more distressed at the idea that this youngest of her brothers and sisters, whatever their current differences might be, had felt so alienated from them that he'd consider spending Christmas among strangers. Her tears started falling anew.

"I can't help it, Bri. Every time I think I'm holding together okay, something else about this Christmas seems to fall apart on me. Now it's Mary Beth. I'm not Mama, and I can't replace her. Maybe this Christmas is doomed. I can't even get this song right. I need to find something else to sing, because this is going to be a disaster."

"Bullshit." No one could see it, but Mary Beth and Danny had identical winces on their faces at the harsh exclamation from the tall man. Brian stepped back from Danny in order to look him in the eyes.

Silently, Mary Kate opened the back door to the sacristy to join her sister. As she walked up and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, Mary Beth turned and raised a finger to her lips to win her silence. She motioned for her to sit. Mystified, Mary Kate complied.

"You can do this. Sing your song for me, the one Mama Rose picked out for this Christmas."

"I just told you, it isn't working. The song doesn't suit my voice or style or something, I don't know, maybe if..."

"No, it isn't the song," Brian interrupted gently. He kneeled at Danny's feet. The sisters could see the two men in the rounded mirror that was mounted in a corner of the sacristy. It was designed to give the priest a view of the inside of the church when he stood inside the sacristy getting ready. The microphone on the piano must have been left on, Mary Kate realized, because they could hear even Brian's whispered words to Danny.

"I've been listening to you practice and I've been thinking about what Fr. Baker said, about how Mama Rose was looking forward to hearing you sing this song when she's up there with God and your Dad and how it's going to be a party, Danny. You're singing it like it's one of those sad Irish songs you've been playing for me each night. I love those, don't get me wrong. They're beautiful. But Mama Rose, she's going to be at a birthday party, and she has all these questions that she's been wanting to ask the Holy Mother, and correct me if I'm wrong, but your mom had a bit of a Mary fetish, didn't she? I mean, how many daughters did she name Mary?"

Danny's lips twitched in amusement and Brian leaned forward to give him a quick kiss.

"So, the way I see it, you should be singing that song with joy and wonder, the way your mama would be asking the questions. Make sense?"

Danny nodded, his head tilted to the side as he gave it some thought. Brian brushed his hand caressingly over the other man's cheek for a moment, then, raising his voice slightly, he asked, "Want to give it a try now? Maybe one of the two mice in the sacristy will come out and play for you so you can stand and sing instead of having to accompany yourself."

The two women stared at each other blankly, then Mary Kate laughed ruefully before pulling her older sister to her feet.

"Come on, Mary Beth, sounds like we've been caught. Besides, I don't know about you, but I'm dying to find out what song it is, though I have an idea." Raising her voice slightly, she called out, "We're coming out, copper, no need to shoot. I'm bringing my moll with me."

Walking out, and bowing theirs heads as usual at the cross, the women stepped down to the men at the piano. Mary Kate walked nonchalantly over to the bench while Mary Beth lagged slightly behind, head down as she took a seat in the choir area.

"What song do you have, child? I'll play it for you if it isn't too tricky."

"It's far from tricky. Take a look, but give me a minute with Mary Beth first, please," Danny quietly requested. He relinquished the bench to his tall sister with a quick kiss to her cheek and walked over to kneel by his oldest sister's side.

"Please forgive me, I'm sorry," he began, speaking quietly, for her ears only, looking up at her, his eyes sorrowful. "I'm so sorry for the way today went and I wish I'd handled it differently, but I was upset. I know you've been angry with me for weeks and if I knew what I did to start it, I would change it if I could, Mary Beth, but I don't quite know what it was that got it started." He paused, then took a deep breath and went on. "If it's because I'm gay, I can't change that, but I'm sorry if that makes you unhappy. I did everything I could do to change myself for Dad but I'm not going to deny who I am anymore. If that costs me your love, I will regret that for the rest of my life, but please know that nothing will stop me from loving you. You will always be my big sister, and I will always think of you as more than a sister, you've been like a second mother to me."

Mary Beth couldn't listen any more, she fell on him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Oh Danny, 'tis me who is sorry, I should be asking for your forgiveness! I've been evil and wicked and a terrible sister. Forgive me, please."

Mary Kate and Brian watched as Danny patted the violently crying Mary Beth on the back and assured her that he forgave her readily.

"You think maybe we should take a quick walk around the block and give him ten minutes or so to calm her down?" she suggested in a low voice.

"No, I think we should help him calm her down so he can get done here and get dinner at a reasonable hour...come on, you take one arm and I'll take the other and together we peel her off."

*********************************************

While the drama was being enacted at the church, Mary Frances and Mary Pat, independent of each other, were arriving at the Chanders' home. Due to the large number of vehicles parked in front, they had to park down the street, so they ended up walking up to the house from opposite directions and didn't see each other until they reached the front walkway.

"What are you doing here?" Mary Fran asked accusingly. "Have you been working on the quilt all along?"

"No! I decided today during choir to come check it out. What about you? Have you been here before? I guess they're glad to have your help, one of the real quilters in the family. I thought you girls weren't helping?" Mary Pat felt foolish. If they had Mary Fran, maybe they wouldn't welcome her little bit of help after all. She'd never been one of the handy girls when it came to sewing or baking. She was much better at sports or fixing things, although in all fairness, Mary Fran was the better athlete too. It occurred to Mary Pat that if Mary Fran had been working on the quilt, she wouldn't have accused Mary Pat of having done so behind her back; she would have known she hadn't been here. She felt foolish for jumping to conclusions.

"I kind of made up my mind finally today, too," Mary Fran confided as they walked up to the door. "It seemed funny to see Mary Beth embarrass Danny like that in front of everyone, don't you think? And Mary Kate not doing anything about it? I don't think even Papa would have approved of that, do you?" Mary Pat was surprised. Mary Fran was asking her opinion? Not only that, she was expressing one of her own, one that went against the two oldest girls? Seeing the uncertainty in the other woman's eyes, Mary Pat put an arm around her sister's waist.

"I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have, and I know I sure as hell didn't like it. So, good for you, sis. Let's go in together and see what we can do to help this project along."

***********************************************

It was with a somewhat different attitude that Mary Beth and Mary Kate stood on the Chanders' doorstep the next day.

"Well, according to Mark's Rose, this is where everyone is. Are you ready?" Mary Kate looked at Mary Beth. She still wasn't sure this was a good idea. While the older sister had made peace with their little brother after his heart-felt speech, Mary Kate wasn't convinced Mary Beth was capable of changing over night. Seeing how Brian had cared for Danny yesterday had convinced her that the Brian Kinney who once slept his way through most of gay Pittsburgh had changed - and it was that former reputation that had formed the strongest basis for her own objection to their relationship being worthy of their mother's quilt. There was more to them than mere physical compatibility, she now conceded. Brian really cared for Danny and wasn't afraid to show it. The Brian Kinney she used to know never would have helped her brother through an ordeal like yesterday, much less understood how to help him.

"I think it's time we stepped in and salvaged whatever we can of the quilt," Mary Beth said firmly, interrupting Mary Kate's thoughts as she knocked on the door.

Oh dear, was Mary Kate's thought just before the door was opened by their oldest brother.

"Mary Beth, Mary Kate, what a pleasant surprise!" Matt stepped back to make way for them to enter.

They did so slowly, eyes opening wide. Spread over a large expanse of open space on the floor in a huge room that opened off the entranceway was the quilt top. Mary Kate whistled under her breath as she gazed at it, for it really was an amazing sight, their mother's masterpiece, measuring twenty feet by fourteen feet, by her estimation, and containing every color of the rainbow. She took a step forward, but Mary Beth stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Who is responsible for this? I cannae believe you have taken our mother's quilt and are doing such things to it! It's a good thing we've arrived when we have, so we can still set things to right!" Her voice shook with righteous indignation. Mary Kate's heart sank as the two dozen or so people in the room, which included all of their brothers except Danny, looked at them in shocked disbelief. Daphne's mother, Josephine, stood up angrily but she was stopped by a shorter woman who had a pretty face capped with feathery white hair. The woman, who was a stranger to Mary Kate, calmly signaled for everyone to keep quiet and remain at work. With an odd smile, Matt left his sisters' side and took a seat between Gianetta and his niece Rose.

Thyme walked over to the two newcomers. She held out her hand.

"You must be Mary Elizabeth and Mary Katherine. I'm Thyme. It's a pleasure to meet both of you at last. How nice that you've decided to join us in working on Danny and Brian's quilt..."

Mary Beth bristled and very pointedly ignored the offered hand. Mary Kate hesitated. She hated to go against Mary Beth in front of this room full of people, but by the same token, she hadn't been raised to be rude; moreover, to act in such a manner in front of her nieces especially bothered her. Seeing Matt frowning at her, she quickly clasped the woman's hand, trying to place her accent. Who could she be connected to and where in the world did she come from? Why was she working on the quilt? Did she say her name was Time? Or that she was Time? What the hell did that mean? Mary Kate thought perhaps it was "time" she took control of the situation. She drew herself up to her full height, which in her usual four inch heels was an impressive six foot three. She had a good foot on this stranger.

"There seems to be a misunderstanding, Miss Time. My sister and I have come to retrieve my mother's quilt, which was removed from our family house." At the angry murmurings of the group, including her brothers, and she knew she was on weak ground with them, Mary Kate was quick to add, "Please don't get me wrong, we have every intention of finishing it for Danny, and indeed, I can see where some very good work has been done, although I'm not quite sure...well, perhaps some of it will have to be redone as it isn't quite like our mother's usual designs, but with so many people working on it, that's to be expected, and we're sure everyone had the best of intentions..."

"That will be quite enough out of both of you. Excuse us for a moment, please," and with that, Thyme firmly gripped both of the elder O'Keefe sisters by the arm, and marched them into a small den that sat off the other side of the entranceway. She kicked the door shut with her heel, and the group heard it lock with an audible click,

Mark looked over at Matt. "Do you think she'll need any help with those two?"

One of the nurses from the hospital, Sabina, shared a look with Jamie and Josephine, both of whom knew Thyme's methods, and the three of them burst into laughter. John looked over at the trio.

"Care to share the joke with the rest of us? Thyme is a very sweet woman. I'd hate to have her abused by our sisters, verbally or otherwise."

Sabina answered him. "I've known our Lady Thyme for a good many years. She's more than capable of coping with unruly sisters, no matter how big they are. She was a teacher up in Canada for a number of years. Before that...well, I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." She winked at him, and he wasn't totally convinced she was joking. She continued, "In fact, we had this basically sweet, adorable, charming doctor on staff at Allegheny, who, on occasion, exhibited the meanest temper this side of the jungle, taking his bad moods out on everyone around him. So, we called on Thyme to administer some discipline and do some wild beast taming. Now our former tiger is a pussycat, wouldn't you say so, Daphne?"

Daphne giggled and refused to answer on the grounds that it would incriminate someone while Jamie turned bright red. His brothers took over the teasing, inquiring as to the methods of discipline administered, while Debbie and Emmett speculated on the possible uses of the feather boas that Thyme favored as accessories.

**********************************************

"So, you think you two can come waltzing in here at the last minute and start giving orders to everyone?" Thyme stood in front of the two "girls" whom she'd sat down in straight back chairs in front of her, very much like recalcitrant schoolgirls, Mary Beth thought rebelliously.

"But you don't..." Mary Kate began.

"You will not interrupt me. Please have the courtesy to wait until I am done speaking. I traveled a very long way, at the request of Dr. Chanders, to do a favor for your brother Mark, because you two refused to help him when he made a simple request of you that, as I understand it, was well within your ability to fulfill. You persist in calling that quilt your mother's quilt. Forgive me for being blunt, but not only has your mother passed on, but in your mother's notebook about that quilt, she herself called it 'Danny's quilt.' That is, until last April, when she started to designate it 'Danny and Brian's quilt' in her notebook."

Mary Kate felt her sister start at that news. It didn't surprise her. She knew her mother considered Brian "the one" for Danny, and had for some time. She just felt she had to reach her own decision on that, and hoped her mother was correct in her faith that Brian was the right one to make Danny happy. Right now, she wished that her sister could come to terms with the two men's relationship, realizing that she alone of the siblings thought that Mary Beth's feelings were as important as Danny's, this Christmas. It wasn't because Mary Beth was right; it was simply because Mary Kate couldn't bear to see another of her sisters have to stand alone again. She'd allowed that to happen once before, and that time it was Danny who stepped up to the plate...for Angel, their lost sister. She felt sure he'd understand if she ever had the chance to explain herself to him. Mary Kate just hoped that Mary Beth came to her senses eventually as she hated this role she was forced to play.

"Each of the people out there has spent weeks working on that beautiful quilt, trying to bring your mother's design to life. Yes, it is different that any of your other brother's quilts. We've carefully compared the design notes to the other designs, Mary Beth, and in this one, your mother combined traditional quilt patterns with applique; she has squares with pictures and others that have a repeating pattern utilizing material from important events in Danny and Brian's lives. If you took the time to study it better, you would have seen the overriding theme incorporates your mother's favorite nickname for your brother, Angel, and she also wanted it to remind him of his sister, who never got a quilt, which is why it is so large, as she added the pieces of Angel's quilt to his to symbolize his taking Briana into his life. She chose to do that rather than make another quilt, leaving that to you girls to do for her. She explains it all in his quilt notebook."

Mary Beth brushed away her tears. She'd never even thought to start a quilt for Briana...she should have when the little girl turned five in the fall. But she'd been so upset when Mama died that it had completely slipped her mind to start gathering the pieces together. Her recital dresses and the dress she wore to kindergarten. Mama would have been collecting things over the years, her christening dress, the outfit she wore home from the hospital, they were all part of an O'Keefe girl's quilt. It was their tradition, all their girls had a box for such things that their Papa made for them. Briana had one. Did Danny know to save the dress Briana wore on her first day to kindergarten, she wondered, or the lovely dress she wore in the Benefit?

Thyme watched her sympathetically. She seemed able to read her mind the younger woman's mind.

"That's the trouble with digging in your heels and thinking only of yourself. Opportunities are lost that may never come again, eh? You aren't just hurting Danny and Brian, although you are doing that, make no mistake. You're also hurting that small motherless girl, and your other brothers, your own girls and your sisters, but most of all, you're hurting yourself. You let yourself down when you failed to live up to the example of love your mother set for this family and which she placed into every stitch of every quilt she made. That's the example you know you can continue to be for your family, Mary Beth O'Keefe McMillan, if you'd only let go of your bitterness and stubborn pride. Now, we'll welcome your help, and your sister's, but not as the bosses of this operation." Thyme gave her charming smile. "We have one of those already and I'm it, in case you haven't figured it out by now. You passed on that role some weeks ago. There is plenty to do, stitching the backing on, sewing the edges, setting the corners, all work you both are well able to do. But let me make it very clear, you'll be following orders, not giving them. If you can't do that, much as we could use the help if we're to get this done in time for Christmas Eve, you can march yourselves right back out of here. No one needs negativity or insults. We may not be proceeding in the order you would have done it, since we are making the most efficient use of the talents we have when we have them, and we're on a tight deadline, and this may not be the type of pattern you're used to seeing from your mother, but I'm confident it's the one your mother planned. It's a unique and special quilt for a very special man and a unique relationship. I think it's the most beautiful patchwork quilt I've ever seen, and I've seen hundreds. So, with that understanding, are you with us?"

Mary Kate held her breath as she waited for Mary Beth to answer.

********************************************************

(Christmas Eve)

Brian watched Danny getting ready for the late service at the Church. So far, Danny had helped out with the children's pageant and party early in the day, directed the youth choir and played the organ and piano, as well as sang, for the early evening service, and now was rushing in order to lead the adult choir at the eleven o'clock service. He would sing his solo then as well. At least his nephew Johnny would be playing the piano and his niece Rose was playing the organ for this service. Brian got up off the bed and stood behind Danny at the mirror as he adjusted his tie for the third time.

"Did I ever tell you how hot you look in your white and black choir robes...do you have to wear anything under them...I have the most erotic fantasies about fucking you in them." He spoke in a low voice, putting his arms around Danny's waist, their eyes meeting in the mirror.

Danny raised an eyebrow. "You and half the blue haired old ladies in the church...I feel stripped every time I stand up there."

At Brian's face, he laughed and turned around in his arms. "Aww, sorry for that mental image. Tell you what, I'll bring my robes home tonight and maybe this weekend we'll play innocent choir boy and naughty priest, deal? I should have a spare cassock around for you, with a handy rope belt that could come in useful. I can see it now....forgive me, father, for I have sinned, I have had impure thoughts...." Danny pressed his hips against him suggestively. "You'd have to think of some way to punish me for my sins."

Brian bent his head and kissed him. Danny relaxed into his arms, returning the kiss for several long moments, before pushing away with a regretful look. "I don't have much time, but I promise to make up for all this lost time tonight. Mary Pat has all of my presents for Briana and the other kids, so she'll do the Santa thing for me under the tree at the house so we can sleep in a little bit. You're staying there with us, aren't you?"

Brian smiled. "Wouldn't miss it. This will be my first Christmas morning with Gus, actually, so having you and him together is my present...my God, listen to what you've done to me. Emmett tells me I'm like the Grinch at the end of the movie and I'm beginning to be afraid he's right."

Danny's deep chuckle could be heard as he turned back to the mirror. "Only you would worry about not being the Grinch at Christmas. By the way, don't get pissed off at me but I sent a flower arrangement to your mother."

Brian frowned. "Why? Joan's a..."

Danny turned, his tie finally arranged to his satisfaction. In his dark suit and crisp white shirt, his black hair pulled back, and his face freshly shaved, he was a stunningly handsome man. His tie had touches of green which highlighted the brilliant green of his eyes. He turned his attention to Brian's tie now, retying it as he explained himself.

"I know. She was not a good mother to you, and I have trouble with that. But...it's Christmas. This is really stupid but I found myself in the florist where I always ordered Mama's Christmas centerpiece, and it just struck me that I wanted to send a mother flowers. Maybe it was all part of the fact that if we were a real couple..." Brian started to interrupt him there but Danny gave him a look that made him realize the words were not necessary. It wasn't Brian's feelings about their relationship that were troubling him. "Anyway, I've been feeling rather angry over the past several weeks at all the people who reject us, and see what we have as something less, just because we're two men, and I realized that I had to let that go. My mother didn't feel that way. So, as a symbolic act of letting it go, I sent your mother flowers, from the two of us, and Gus and Briana," Danny grinned then, "which should really confuse her. I signed it 'with love at Christmas,' from the four of us. I meant it as an olive branch by the time I was done at least, even if it didn't start out that way."

"She won't acknowledge it," Brian warned.

"I don't expect her to, but I thought I'd better tell you, just in case, as I don't like to do things behind your back. It was spur of the moment or I would have said something beforehand."

"Did it make you feel better?" Brian asked.

"Actually...yeah, it did. Plus, it got me out of there without looking kind of silly since all my other flowers had been ordered the week before. I'd gone in unthinkingly, with this sense of something missing. Ordering the flowers for Joan took that feeling away."

"Then I'm glad you did it," Brian shrugged. His own Christmas offering to his mother took the form of a check, which Cynthia sent off like clockwork the second week of Christmas, along with a tasteful basket of fruit and cheese similar to those sent to his clients, which would have been delivered sometime early in the month. He believed his mother re-gifted it to Fr. Tom so he made sure it got there early.

"Come on, let's get you to the Church on time so I can get you home all the sooner and in bed before Santa arrives." He handed Danny his suit jacket then put on his own. This was more church than he'd been to in twenty years, the one down side to loving an incredibly hot, but religious man, but at least with Danny leading the choir, he could count on the music being good.

*******************************************

Father Baker sat down to listen to the Offertory Anthem Danny had prepared for the late Christmas Eve service. Despite all his wheedling, the young man had smilingly refused to tell him what the song was, and would only rehearse when the Church was empty, although he knew, as he tended to know everything that happened among his flock, that a reconciliation had occurred between Danny and his eldest sister, and she had quietly resumed her place in the women's choir. Even the program only said "Anthem" so it offered no clue as to what the song was that would be sung that evening.

To the old priest's surprise, when it came time to sing, Danny came down from the choir and took a seat on the steps leading up to the altar. To the simple strains of the piano, played by his nephew, he started singing, in a low, but carrying voice that reached to the back of the overflowing church, his eyes looking up the simple Nativity set, which the children had put in place at the earlier service.

Mary, did you know, That your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Did you know, That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know, That your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you've delivered, Will soon deliver you.

With the second verse, Danny stood and looked at the choir, his voice rising in volume and wonder as his gaze met that of each of his sisters, his mother's "Marys" of whom she was so proud, as well as his sisters by marriage, Lynn and Sally. Watching from the pews, Thyme and Josephine smiled as their eyes met and misted over. This remarkable young man, who held so much grief in his heart, was healing the grief of the women in his family with his song as he reminded them of their mother's strong faith, her love for the greatest mother of all, and her love for each of them, her daughters. Danny sang with joy and power and smiles came to the faces of all who listened as they could hear his mother in each line of the simple song and they could picture her quizzing the mother of God.

Mary, did you know, That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Did you know, That your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know, That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little boy, You've kissed the face of God?

Brian watched as Danny walked down to the congregation. He reached his cousin's husband, who was struggling with Fiona. The poor baby had awoken from a poorly timed nap with both her mother and grandmother out of reach, and she was about to start wailing. Danny, without missing a beat, picked the baby up and held her in the crook of his arm, rocking her slightly. His head tilted in that quizzical way he'd picked up from his mother, he finished his song, singing strongly enough to reach Rose in heaven, yet in such a way that even the baby in his arms knew it was a cause for joy and not tears and she started to laugh.

Mary, did you know, The blind will see

The deaf will hear, And the dead will live again

The lame will leap, The dumb will speak

The praises of the lamb?

Mary, did you know, That your baby boy is lord of all creation?

Did you know, That your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know, That your baby boy is heaven's perfect lamb?

This sleeping child you're holding

Is the great I am!

Danny finished on his knees, at the creche, still holding Fiona, his head bowed. Only the strong adherence to tradition of the Episcopalians prevented them from applauding. After a moment, he rose, and keeping Fiona with him with a nod from her mother, he began to lead the congregation in the Doxology.

***************************************

After the service, Danny accepted the congregation's accolades quietly, smiling his thanks, nuzzling Fiona's soft head. Rose was happy to let him keep her. The baby was notoriously difficult to handle late at night, but it was difficult to find a babysitter for this service. Her sister was at the big house, staying with Briana, since the Marcus/Petersons were with the Novotny/Bruckners tonight and wouldn't be back until late.

"Don't you think the anthem went over wonderfully, mom?" It was Colleen, one of Mary Fran's tall twins, home for the holiday who asked, as they stood outside on the front step, everyone getting ready to head off to the cars. Brian, who stood off to the side, waiting patiently for Danny to hand off the baby, held his breath as the question fell into one of those silences that happen once in a while and give the answer extra portent.

Mary Fran took a long moment putting on her gloves before glancing over at her brother. Then, she very deliberately took the baby from his arms and handed her to her daughter.

"Why don't you take Fiona over to her Grandpa Mark? And Brian? Why don't you meet Danny and me back at the house? Colleen, you too, you can give me a ride home from there. I want to walk home with my brother, and talk to him about the anthem. Don't get me wrong Danny, the anthem was really quite nice and you did a beautiful job with it, but I was thinking about next year..."

Mary Fran took hold of Danny's arm and dragged him off, a smile breaking out over his face.

Fr. Baker came up behind Brian and put and arm around his shoulders. "I think you can delay your Christmas for another half hour, son. I suspect what our Mary Frances is doing is ensuring that you won't need to worry about saying Fröliche Weinächten next year either."

Brian smiled ruefully as he looked at his watch. Eleven-thirty. He really had wanted to see Christmas in with Danny by his side. The young female giant next to him nudged him.

"If I were you, I'd hurry. Mom walks really fast, and if I know her, she only knows about three Christmas songs off the top of her head, and they won't have a lot to talk about. This is more form than substance, if you catch my drift, but you have to give her credit for trying. So, unless you have a damn fast car, they'll be at the house before you."

Brian smirked. He had a fucking fast car. He wished the girl a Merry Christmas and left.

*******************************************

Danny leaned back in Brian's arms, as he watched Briana play with her miniature electric keyboard. He'd managed to find one that was small, but not a toy, incurring rolled eyes from Mary Pat at the expense, but his argument was that it was more of a waste to spend money on a tinny sounding piece of junk that would ruin her ear and annoy him so much that he'd throw it out after a day or two. He used the same reasoning when buying Gus a good quality electric guitar, sized for his small hands, along with a real amp. He told the boy's mothers that the benefit to an electric guitar was that it could be turned down, but Brian saw the mischievous twinkle in his eyes when he said it.

"Why am I suspicious?" he pondered, nibbling an ear as he spoke, careful not to let the munchers hear.

"Maybe because you're a suspicious man?" Danny looked up at him innocently. "Although I will confess that I've never actually turned the volume down on any amplifier I've owned. But I understand the knob moves both ways."

"You're evil. Must be why I love you," Brian told him, delighted at the mental image of Mel coping with a rock and roll playing Gus. Since they approved of "educational" gifts, and Danny promised to teach him to play, which thrilled Gus, he knew there was no way they would reject the gift. The opportunity to have an internationally known composer teach their son music was not one the prestige seeking Lindsay was likely to pass up.

"Gus loved the train set you gave him too. When are you going to start assembling it?"

"When dinner is being prepared, and the football is being watched, when else? Mary Pat built a great platform for it. Thank goodness one of you has manly skills," he teased.

Danny turned and wrestled him to the ground. "I'll show you my 'manly' skills," he promised in a husky whisper. "We have time now, the kids are caught up in their toys, and the girls are busy talking in the kitchen, let's go back to bed."

Brian looked up at him. "You sure? Isn't this 'family time?' What if some of your relatives stop by?" Danny's expression went from teasing to tired in a flash.

"I've really done my best, Bri... for weeks. But I'm about tapped. Last night was better than I expected, but it's all been a bit much. Way too much emotion, and I feel raw. If I could hide in bed with you for the next twenty-four hours I would, but we have the kids to think of." He gave a humorless laugh. "If it weren't for you, I'd be wishing I were a kid again, when getting the right present could make everything okay again. I'll be alright for a little while, and then something happens and I feel it hit me, like a wave, and I feel like I'm being pulled under again. Fr. Baker says it's normal and it takes time but for right now, it hurts...a lot. I promised to start attending a grief counseling group after the holiday."

Brian was surprised. Danny had been in such denial for months since his mother died, saying he didn't need any kind of help, yet it made sense that eventually it would all catch up to him. He'd thrown himself right into the Babylon Benefit within days of his mother's funeral, then they went away, only to return when Briana became ill. Immediately after that, matters with Justin and Simon came to a head and there was that whole mess last fall. Danny never had time to cope with his loss.

"If Fr. Baker runs the thing it should be pretty good," he commented.

"Actually, what convinced me was that he doesn't run it, he attends it." At Brian's surprised look, Danny nodded. "He still grieves for his wife, Doris, and even though it's been a couple of years since she died, he told me the holidays are still the hardest for him too. He has a friend, a woman priest in another parish, who conducts this informal get together once a week, for people who've lost a loved one, a spouse or someone significant, whose loss they haven't come to terms with," like Jack, Brian thought. "and she facilitates the group session. She is trained in hospice work and grief therapy. I spoke to her last week after my scene with Mary Beth, and one of the things she told me was that the longer I delay dealing with Mama's death, the harder it will be for me. Also, with so much accumulated grief, from Angel and Luke, it's like a time bomb. I guess it's only fair to you and Briana that I do something to defuse it, instead of walking around so fucked up."

Brian pulled him into his arms and placed their foreheads together. "You are the most non-fucked up person I've ever known. Do you know how much I love you?"

Danny inhaled deeply of the other man's scent, molding his body even closer. "I do, but I don't object to hearing again. And again. Do you know the feeling is mutual?"

Their kiss was deep and leisurely. It may have progressed past that but the doorbell sounded. Gus and Briana helpfully ran to get it as the two men reluctantly pulled apart. "So much for disappearing when we had the chance," Danny sighed. "I bet Mary Pat and Corinne did. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Mel and Lindsay did too, it is suspiciously quiet in the kitchen."

Gus and Briana came back in leading a white haired woman, who was carrying a cake plate. Brian jumped to his feet, shocked speechless. Danny recovered his aplomb more quickly, although he too was surprised by their Christmas morning visitor.

"Mrs. Kinney, what a pleasant surprise, welcome and Merry Christmas. Let me take your coat."

"I can't stay long," she protested weakly, staring hungrily at her grandson before raising her eyes to her son. She permitted Danny to help her take her coat off, offering the cake plate toward Brian. "I received the lovely flower arrangement yesterday, Brian. I can't tell you...it...it made me very happy, thank you. It makes the whole house look and smell lovely. Thank you also, Mr...."Joan paused.

"Danny, please call me Danny. We met a number of years ago, Mrs. Kinney, at St. Pat's. I'm sure you don't recall, but I was introduced to you by Fr. Tom." Seeing that Brian was still frozen by shock, Danny continued to speak easily. "This is my niece, Briana, who I'm raising, and of course, this is your grandson, Gus." Danny wasn't sure if Joan did know Gus so he smoothed the way over that introduction. The two children were watching wide-eyed. Brian was holding the cake as though he might drop it. "That looks like a chocolate cake. Guys, you know my rule about chocolate cake, it must be tasted right away so go to the kitchen and get some paper plates and plastic forks, can you do that? Napkins too, please, and if you want some, you have to wash your hands."

The kids eagerly ran off. Danny looked at mother and son and debated whether he should leave them alone, using the excuse that the children needed help. He'd heard the comments over the years of Joan Kinney's freely expressed disapproval of his mother's championship of her gay son, and her shock over the way Rose had left the Catholic Church over it; he also knew the of the cruel way she'd rejected Brian when she finally learned of his homosexuality. But Danny was a man who believed in miracles and the power of love. Especially on Christmas.

"Bri, do you want me to set the cake down for you?" Brian seemed to break out of his trance. He turned to his lover and very deliberately set the cake plate down and reaching for Danny's hand, pulled him to his side before addressing his mother.

"I'm pleased that you liked the flowers, mom. They were Danny's idea, actually. But, I'm glad he sent them if they made you happy and got you to come over here and see your grandson. We'd...we'd like it if you'd stay and visit for awhile." The words came out haltingly, Brian more than half expecting to be rejected. Danny squeezed his hand in encouragement.

"That would be lovely, Brian. I made your favorite cake, chocolate, chocolate chip." Brian carefully refrained from gagging. He had all too clear a memory of the last time his mother brought him that particular cake; it was the day she'd caught him with Justin and discovered he was gay. Seeing Danny's eyes light up though, he forgot his own bad association with the cake.

"I love chocolate cake too, Mrs. Kinney. Please have a seat. Can I bring you some coffee or tea?"

"Some tea would be nice," she agreed. "And Danny, please accept my belated condolences on the loss of your mother. She was a fine woman and a good mother. I'm sure you must miss her very much, especially now. But having your large family all around you at Christmas must be a great comfort to you. Big families are such a blessing."

Danny paused, looking down at the stern looking woman who resembled the man he loved so much. With an effort, he controlled his temper and smiled at her gently, his slight brogue showing, Brian noted, always a sign that he was emotional. "Yes, they are. But in truth, 'tis Brian's love that sustains me most. He and the two little ones you saw are my main family now and my greatest comfort this Christmas."

********************************************

While Danny helped Brian entertain Joan in the small den, which is where they'd opened their gifts with the children that morning, he heard with his sharp ears the front door opening and new arrivals coming repeatedly over the next hour. He glanced surreptitiously at his watch. It was only a couple of hours until dinner, which most of the siblings celebrated at their own homes, traditionally gathering in the late evening for singing and dessert. Mary Pat and he were expecting John's family, including Michelle and Johnny this year, and the younger boys since Carol was away on a cruise, and Emmett should be arriving soon to help Mel and Lindsay cook, since no one trusted Mary Pat with that task. But to his knowledge, no one else was invited for dinner. To his surprise, Mark peeked in the room.

"Excuse me, but could I interrupt for a bit? Your presence is requested in the main living room, please. Mrs. Kinney, we'd like very much if you'd join us also, we have something special for Danny and Brian and it would be nice if you were with us as part of the family. I'm Mark O'Keefe, by the way, one of Danny's brothers." Mark offered his arm to escort Joan to the other room, which she took, bewildered. Briana and Gus had been retrieved by Mary Pat a short while before, and had left giggling, whispering about secrets. Danny and Brian looked at each other as Mark and Joan left the room.

"What's that all about?" Danny asked, tilting his head to the side. Brian stood and pulled him to his feet. He had a feeling the mystery that had kept Emmett and John so busy for weeks was about to be revealed.

"Why don't we go check it out? Maybe it's a new house for the munchers...all four of them."

Mary Pat O'Keefe had finally admitted her own homosexuality, or at least bi-sexuality. With her friend Corinne a frequent guest at the house, Brian was always complaining that between them and Mel and Lindsay, he and Danny were outnumbered two to one.

Danny laughed. 'I think it would be easier for you and me to simply stay at one of our places and cede this place to them, don't you?"

"And give up your rooftop retreat? Never!" Brian teased as they walked to the other room arm in arm. At some point they really should discuss living arrangements; having three different residences, this house, his loft and Danny's townhouse, was rather inconvenient, but there was plenty of time for that. At the moment, Brian was more contented than he could ever recall being.

When the two men entered the room, they were greeted by a large gathering of family, friends, and even some total strangers. Right away, Brian's eye was caught by a youngish looking woman with white hair standing with Daphne's striking looking mother. What particularly drew his eye was the red and white striped feather boa draped festively around her shoulders. Josephine was wearing a similar boa, hers in green and white stripes.

Gus and Briana, with some whispered prompting from Mark and Mary Pat, ran up to Brian and Danny and led them to a seat of honor in the middle of the room. Danny looked around, trying to imagine the purpose of the gathering. All of his brothers and sisters were present, as well as their spouses and significant others, and many of the nieces and nephews. Brian's closest friends were there too, Emmett, of course, and Debbie and her family, plus Brandon and an older man who looked a little bit like him. Fr. Baker was in a chair in a corner, sitting with Joan, along with Fr. Tom, and some ladies he recognized as his mother's friends from PFLAG, as well as one woman he knew to be a nurse from Jamie's ER. Before he could ask any questions, Mark took the floor, as Julie, Johnny and Hunter moved through the group, quickly passing out glasses of champagne..

"This has been quite a Christmas season for all of us. In the midst of sorrow, we O'Keefes found that we had plenty to be thankful for." Danny looked down and Brian held him even closer. Mark smiled at them gently.

"Danny, I see you bowing your head, and we all know that the losses of the last few years often fell heaviest on you. It may have seemed at times that we took it for granted that you were strong and could take whatever God threw at you without any help from us. Because you've always been so strong, we tend to lean on you in times of need." Danny lifted his head in surprise as his brothers and sisters nodded in agreement, more than a few of them were openly crying already.

"But we want you to know not only that you always have us, but we also know, accept, and are truly happy, that you now have the love of a strong man to be by your side and help you through life's good times and its bad times. We wanted to do something to show you and Brian that our support for the two of you is as strong and firm as Mama's was, and the best way we could come up with to do that was to finish her quilt for the two of you."

Danny's eyes opened wide in disbelief at this point; he squeezed Brian's hand tightly as he leaned back against the taller man's chest. Mark grinned at him.

"They say it takes a village to raise a child...well, your quilt took all these people and more, including the help of a very special lady from Canada, our Lady Thyme here in her candy cane boa, but we were able to make Mama's dream quilt a reality, and well, here it is."

With that, the four O'Keefe brothers stepped forward and unfolded the quilt and spread it out on the floor in front of the men so it could be fully seen and appreciated. As the brilliant colors and full pattern was revealed for the first time to many of the people who'd worked on it for so long, and were finally seeing the quilt completed, there were gasps of awe. Danny and Brian were speechless as they gazed at it, their hands clasped tightly together.

Once the quilt was spread out for everyone to see, Matt called for a toast, "To Brian and Danny, may their love always warm them much as this quilt will, and may the mingled threads of their lives continue to strengthen and sustain them, for all their days."

The sound of glasses clinking seemed to break Danny and Brian out of their trance. After taking a gulp, Brian held his glass to Danny's lips and whispered, "sip some, it's good luck, then one of us should say something. And it should be you, as you know this quilt thing better than me."

Danny looked up and saw that everyone was looking at him expectantly. He took a deep breath.

"I don't know where to start. This is the most amazing gift...thank you...every one of you. I used to watch Mama working on the quilts sometimes, and I confess, I peeked when she worked on mine over the years. I used to imagine what it would look like when it was done, and dream about the day I would have the love of my life by my side and Mama would give me my quilt finally." Danny's voice shook slightly. "Several months ago, I told Brian that dreams can come true if you wait long enough. And then there came a time, after Mama died, when I thought that maybe I'd been mistaken and dreams are only for the young and foolish. Well, Mama never let me give up on my dreams, even after her death, she'd found a way to send me that message, it seems. She knew me better than anyone, and she knew that this beautiful, complex Irishman was exactly right for me, even if he wasn't perfect," Mel Marcus made a rude noise at that, and Danny shot her a grin, "but he's close enough for me, since I'm not perfect either. I've also learned lately that this family I take for granted will go to any lengths for me, even insane lengths like climbing trees and jumping onto roofs to talk me out of moods," Mark winked at him, "and that even the deepest differences won't stop us from loving each other." He shared a smile with Mary Beth. "Also that we've been blessed with the best friends that anyone could ever ask for." He smiled his dimpled smile at Emmett and Brandon, then turned to look toward Debbie and Daphne, before sweeping the room with his gaze. "But one of the most important things I've learned this holiday season, which I almost ran away from out of cowardice, before good Fr. Baker and Brian kind of tricked me into staying," the two men named looked at each other in surprise as Danny revealed his awareness of their machinations, "is that sometimes coping with loss isn't letting go, so much as finding something new to hold onto. It's walking home with your sister from church and sharing memories of your parents," Mary Fran blushed, "and ordering flowers for a new mother in your life Christmas week," Joan was given a sweet smile which she returned shyly.

Danny blinked back his tears. "It's being oh so grateful for all the memories sewn into a quilt, in which you can see a lifetime worth of wisdom and advice from a precious mother, who will never really leave you. Thank you, every one. This will be treasured, by both of us."

There wasn't a dry eye in the room by the time Danny finished speaking.

************************************************

"So, tell me about the quilt." Brian and Danny were resting on the big chair in his bedroom. Danny had spread the quilt out on his bed in order to examine it. Brian had suggested hanging it in his dance studio, but on a bar so it could be taken down easily and used, since Danny and Briana both frequently napped up there after dancing.

"It would be nice not to have to hunt down blankets to warm up frozen dancers. Your sisters assured me these things are designed to be functional and not just beautiful," Brian commented. "Plus that room is one of the few in the townhouse with a big enough wall to do it justice and you're in there all the time so you can enjoy it the most there." The suggestion was inspired.

Danny smiled as he considered the quilt. He flipped through the notebook his mother had written, then set it down and picked up a second notebook which the Lady Thyme had given him, which was the account of the finishing of the quilt. He'd read it a little while ago and was amazed, and humbled, at all the effort that had gone into finishing it by Christmas. Quietly, he began to point out the features of the quilt to his love, from the rows of angel "feathers" comprised of material from various garments, mainly his, but also those from important people in his life, with different rows representing different periods of his life, such as when Brian watched over him, then Luke, and even George for a bit, until when he stood on his own, his wings spread, until it was his wings spreading over his sister Angel, and then Briana, and taking on others in the family, and the community, the wingspan growing. There were quilted feathers representing Brian appearing separate on the quilt for a time, but eventually they blended back into the final, widest wingspan, with material from Briana and Gus incorporated into the section that represented their lives together. The outer squares contained material from their early lives, and Danny smiled to see material from a Captain Astro t-shirt on one side balanced by a Meatloaf t-shirt and ballet slippers. But soccer was on both sides, he noted with satisfaction.

"Are you okay?" Brian asked, as he stroked the long hair. He should get up and fold the quilt, Danny was almost asleep in his arms and they should be getting to bed.

"Yeah, very okay. I feel like something that was missing is filled in. I know there aren't any easy answers, but the fact that everyone was willing to do this...it means a lot to me, you know?"

Brian could understand. That Debbie had given up so many hours to the project, as had Hunter, and even Ted and Cynthia, along with Daphne. Apparently even Mikey and Ben had stopped by one day for a few hours at Hunter's insistence. Jen Taylor had contributed some material as well. The quilt seemed to symbolize a blending of their two "families" far more than any wedding ceremony could have done for him. Rose's act of showing how their lives were blended together in this piece of cloth made him feel truly connected to Danny. The fact that everyone showed their support in this way to put it together...Brian had never experienced anything like it in his life. The fact that his mother had finally taken a step toward accepting him, on his terms, was in its way a Christmas miracle in and of itself.

"I know, kiddo, I do." His words were rewarded with one of Danny's dimpled smiles. Struck by a sudden thought, Brian stood and instead of putting the quilt away, simply turned a corner of it back, then picked Danny up and laid him down in the bed before crawling in next to him and covering them both up with their Christmas present.

He leaned over to kiss his dark haired angel good night.

"So, Christmas in Germany next year?" he asked innocently.

"I think maybe we'll pass on Germany for the holidays...and visit it in the spring." Danny cuddled up close to him. "Merry Christmas, Bri."

"Merry Christmas, Danny."