Celebrating Holidays

The fireplace was lit. The guys were in position. It seemed like a pleasant but uneventful evening was ahead. But it wasn't.

"St. Patrick's day is coming up," Justin announced to Brian, "You're all Irish and I'm a good part Irish so will we be celebrating it?"

"You know I celebrate all holidays - any holiday," Brian smiled at him, "It's better than listening to you whine about not celebrating. So in a way, you are the reason I celebrate the season."

"Well it's just that we didn't do much for Valentine's Day so I wondered ….," Justin remarked before being interrupted.

"What do you mean we didn't celebrate Valentine's Day?" Brian protested, "Didn't we exchange cards and gifts? I asked you if you wanted to go out to dinner and you said the restaurants would be too crowded. Isn't that celebrating Valentine's Day?"

"Brian," Justin groused, "You gave me paint brushes for Valentine's Day. Now that's really romantic."

"You said you needed paint brushes, Baby," Brian gritted his teeth ever so slightly, "And they are the best paint brushes made."

"The best paint brushes made are not very romantic, Sweetheart," Justin responded, "You may as well have given me a vacuum cleaner."

"Why the hell would I give you a vacuum cleaner?" Brian wondered, "I have never seen you using a vacuum cleaner. The cleaning ladies do the vacuuming, and when you happen to spill something, I do the sweeping."

"That's because you said vacuuming helped build up your muscles," Justin came back, "You are so vain about your body."

"Tell me that the day you comb your hair in less than twenty minutes, Twink," Brian replied.

"Well I gave you a five-pound box of imported chocolates for Valentine's Day," Justin remarked, changing the subject while checking his hair. "That was romantic."

"Honey," Brian reasoned, "I will never use the paint brushes that I gave you. On the other hand, you ate about four pounds out of the five pounds of candy you gave me. It was all gone in a week."

"Well, you eat candy so slow that it was bound to go moldy, " Justin reasoned back, "That candy was too good and too expensive to let it get moldy."

"I only eat one or at most two pieces a day," Brian told him, "It's that obsessive vanity about my body."

"Well then it's a good thing I helped you with that candy, Brian, " Justin told him, "But I don't know why we're talking about Valentine's Day, " Justin questioned, "I asked about St. Patrick's Day."

"Maybe you better decide what we'll do," Brian said, "But I guess we could go to Gino's for dinner."

"Gino's is pretty Italian for an Irish holiday," Justin remarked.

"It's renamed O'Gino's for St. Patrick's Day, Baby," Brian insisted, "So it's Irish at least for that one day. Remember Gino wanted you to make him some Irish table decorations and you were too busy on some other projects and you sent Malcolm up to do them? So Gino's will be Irish on St. Patrick's Day. You'll probably order spaghetti anyway but if you'd feel more Irish at Hoolihan's, you can get your spaghetti there. Gino's is better though."

"I think Hoolihan's," Justin decided, "It's more Irish."

"Well I was thinking we ought to stop up at Gino's sometime and see Malcolm's decorations in any case," Brian added, "Malcolm may feel insulted if we don't. After all, you got him to do them"

"I don't think that's necessary," Justin told him.

"You know," Brian smiled at the kid, "I 'm beginning to think it is. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"What ever gave you that idea, Bri?" Justin protested.

"Because I know you too well, little Justin," Brian pointed out, "Now are you going to tell me or am I going up to Gino's myself this week and see what it is you don't want me to see? It has to be something about Malcolm's decorations."

"I wish I hadn't even brought up the subject of St. Patrick's Day, Brian," Justin admitted, "That little fink Malcolm painted my face on an elf. It was supposed to be a surprise but some of the other guys warned me."

"I think that's kind of funny, Kiddo," Brian laughed, "I'm sure Malcolm didn't mean anything by it. The best thing to do would be a good sport about it. We ought to go up and see it."

"No," Justin insisted.

"OK, Baby," Brian answered, "But I am surprised that with your great sense of humor you don't see anything funny in this at all. I hope you'll cut Malcolm some slack though. I'm sure he didn't mean anything insulting. He is a bit far out but he likes you."

"Brian," Justin concluded, "Living with you has its problems. Please don't go up to Gino's, and let's drop this subject."

"What's up, Baby?" Brian responded, "It's not like you to get so upset about something like this and you are pretty upset. I don't want you to be upset. I want to know what's wrong and I want to know all of it."

"He painted me and Hunter as elves, Brian," Justin complained, "And Mikey, Ben and you as leprechauns. I could kill him."

"Not if I get him first, the little creep," Brian replied. "Maybe we shouldn't let Mikey and Ben know, though. They aren't as reasonable as we are."

"They know," Justin told him, "Hunter found out and he thought he better tell them before somebody else did. Mikey said I should never lie to you, but he also said it would be better if you didn't know. I'm sorry I brought up St. Patrick's Day but I was afraid you might want to go to Gino's and I was trying to avoid that. I knew you'd be mad."

"Because of my obsessive vanity, I suppose," Brian laughed. "Honey, the more I think about it, the less mad I get. You ought to be glad Malcolm is around. He makes you look pretty good."

"If I only look good to you compared to Malcolm, Brian," Justin told him, "Then I really am upset.'

"Baby," Brian consoled him, "I picked you, or let you pick me, or whatever, long before Malcolm came into the picture at all. I've seen just about all the guys there are and you are the only one I want. It doesn't matter to me if you're an elf on Gino's decorations, and if I have you, I don't really care if I'm a leprechaun."

"You're right, Brian," Justin decided, "You're always right. I shouldn't get upset at little things. You know, I wasn't really upset about me. I was upset about you. Maybe I'm a little bit obsessed about your body too - or maybe just about you. I don't want anybody picking on you."

"Does Malcolm know that we know what he's done?" Brian asked.

"Oh, yeah," Justin responded, "He did it as a joke but he doesn't think it's so funny now. He's scared out of his wits. He's afraid you'll kill him and that Mikey and Ben will foul things up for him with Hunter. He really is crazy about Hunter and vice-versa."

"Like us, maybe?" Brian wondered.

"Nothing could be like us, Bri," Justin told him, "Can I please put my head on your shoulder?"

"I can't think of any better place for it," Brian encouraged him, "But I don't understand why you think you have to ask."

"I know you love me, Brian." Justin whispered, "If you didn't love me you would never have had the guts to give me paint brushes on Valentine's Day."

"Or take you to Gino's for St. Patrick's Day?" Brian whispered back.

"You got it," Justin smiled at him.

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P.S. For those readers who think the story above is not finished, Brian and Justin did go to Gino's on St. Patrick's Day. They saw themselves in the decorations but nobody else seemed to notice. Nobody paid much attention to the decorations at all. Even Gino hadn't noticed, and Nancy, the wise-cracking waitress who had a kind of a "thing" for Justin, didn't notice either. Brian and Justin were surprised at that.

Justin ordered lasagna which further surprised Brian, but not so much as when he turned down Gino's offer to refill his platter. Brian decided that it would take a lifetime to figure out the twink, but concluded that it would be an interesting and happy lifetime. Justin learned that, when things aren't broken, it's not a good idea to try to fix them. He didn't like the lasagna all that well.

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