An Unexpected Celebration

The new year had arrived on schedule. It was barely thirty minutes old and our two guys were in their accustomed places in front of their fake fireplace with the flames dancing to and fro and casting giant shadows all over the loft. This was not according to plan but the best laid plans of mice and men oft get fouled up, and an over two-foot New Year's Eve snowfall had done that for Brian and Justin.

"I'm sorry our plans didn't work out," Brian was telling the kid. "We were supposed to have such a great time tonight."

"And you didn't have a great time?" Justin asked him. "I did. This may be the New Year's Eve that I remember most for the rest of my life."

"But we missed the great big party at the Gay and Lesbian Center with all the gang," Brian continued. "Didn't you want to go?"

"Yeah," Justin admitted, "I wanted to go because I wanted to spend New Year's Eve with you, but I did spend New Year's Eve with you, and sometimes unexpected things can be more fun than stuff that's planned. They'll reschedule the party at the Center and we'll still get to do that too."

"Unless it snows again," Brian cautioned him.

"So," Justin observed. "We can always improvise. We proved that tonight. Brian, this was the best New Year's Eve I've ever had. I'll never forget it. Other New Year's Eves are always pretty much the same but this one is one of a kind. I'll bet you'll never forget it either."

"And what exactly is there to remember?" Brian wanted to know.

"Well for starters, there was the sled riding," Justin began. "How did you know to borrow Ronny's sled before he went to Florida for the holidays, Bri? You couldn't have known about this snow then."

"Nope," Brian admitted, "But it does sometimes snow in Pittsburgh in late December and since he wasn't going to be using it, I just took a chance and borrowed it. The sledding was fun though. Maybe we ought to get two sleds for ourselves. It was a bit crowded with both of us on the one sled."

"Brian," Justin reasoned. "We don't have storage space around here for two sleds. It might be inconvenient but I think we should go with just the one sled and put up with the inconvenience."

"Well if you don't mind the inconvenience," Brian said.

"Not at all," Justin assured him. "It will be no inconvenience at all. One sled will be plenty."

Brian got the message. He smiled in agreement. It was a few minutes before the discussion of sleds resumed.

"You know," Justin said. "It was kind of romantic, you pulling me home from the park on the sled. It really was."

"So romantic," Brian recalled, "That you felt it was necessary to hit me in the back of the head with a snowball just as we got back here."

"I had to do it, Bri. I just did it because I love you so much," Justin explained.

"OK," Brian responded. "I'll let you pull me back to the park tomorrow. That will give me a chance to show you how much I love you."

"Never put off until tomorrow," Justin proverbed, "What you can do tonight."

It was a little while before the discussion resumed. Brian knew good advice when he got it.

"Where did you get that awful music that we danced to, Bri?" Justin eventually resumed the review of the evening. "Is there really a person named Guy Lombardo?"

"Well there used to be and he was big on New Year's Eve," Brian told him. "In fact he was the biggest thing about New Year's Eve for about thirty years. Ask your mother."

"Probably my grandmother would be better," Justin opined. "It would really be funny to watch a lot of people all dancing to that weird stuff at the same time."

"Well they did," Brian insisted, "And it didn't seem so funny to them. You've seen people dancing to that kind of music in some of the old movies, Baby."

"Yeah," Justin agreed, "But that was in the movies, not in real life."

"Well, if we had been able to go to the party," Brian mused, "We could have danced to the dulcet strains of The Goofus Five, but I guess Guy Lombardo served in a pinch. I kind of liked dancing with you to Guy Lombardo music. I even knew who I was dancing with. Sorry you didn't enjoy it."

"Gee whiz, Bri," Justin seemed surprised. "I don't know why you think I didn't enjoy it. I loved it. It was just that the music was a little bit weird, that's all."

"Next year I'll be sure to have some Goofus Five records on hand in case of snow," Brian smiled at him. "Anything to keep little Justin happy."

"Guy Lombardo will do fine, sir. Little Justin is always happy," Justin replied. "Just sometimes he is happier than at other times. This is one of the happier times, Bri. Tonight was just perfect."

"Maybe we should plan to do it again," Brian suggested.

"Yeah," Justin agreed, "But I'll bet it wouldn't be as much fun if we planned it. I think the surprise was part of the fun."

"Probably," Brian conceded, "But just being around you is always fun, so I guess we can try."

Justin smiled contentedly and put his head on Brian's shoulder. Brian cuddled the kid closer and a period of silence followed.

Justin broke the spell after a while. "I know you're not into New Year's resolutions," he started to say.

"And I see you're trying to prove that being with you is not always fun," Brian laughed at him.

"Cut it out, Brian," Justin objected. "I'm not asking you to make any resolutions. You wouldn't keep them anyhow. I was just thinking that I would make a resolution not to be such a pain this year."

"You don't have to do that," Brian told him with a smile on his face.

"You don't think I need to make a resolution," Justin wondered.

"Actually what I meant," Brian gibed, "Was that you don't have to pretend that you're going to be any less of a pain this year. You're not so hot at keeping resolutions yourself, if I recall correctly."

"You are a such a spoilsport, Brian Kinney," Justin groused good-naturedly. "You know I like to make resolutions. I was hoping to keep this year's resolutions till maybe January 15, but since you don't think I need to make any, maybe I won't."

"Yeah," Brian remarked. "That resolution business has to be worked on gradually. January 15 would be way longer than you usually keep your resolutions. I doubt you could make it that long though."

If a serious argument was developing, it was averted by the ringing of the telephone. Justin answered. It was Mikey, calling to wish the guys a happy new year.

"I'm glad it snowed, Mikey. We had a great night," Justin told the caller. "Just me and Brian. It was a great New Year's Eve. Hey, Mikey, did you ever hear of Guy Lombardo?"

Brian figured that the new year was going to be as happy as the past several had been.

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