Ladies of Liberty

Chapter 10

“Did you enjoy Yellowstone?” Carl asked as he headed the Winnebago in the direction of home.

Debbie sighed. “You’ve seen one geyser, you’ve seen them all.”

“You’re just homesick,” Carl chuckled.

“Yeah, I am.”

“Well, if we head straight through, we’ll be home in a few days,” Carl advised.

“Sounds good to me.”

“Deb, I really have enjoyed this trip. We’ve seen a lot and met some interesting people.”

“Yeah, we have,” Debbie agreed touching Carl’s arm as he drove. “When we take the next trip I promise not to get homesick on you.”

“You think there’ll be another trip?” Carl asked.

“Don’t you want to go on another one?”

“Yes, yes I do.”

“But…?” Debbie asked raising an eyebrow in a manner worthy of Brian Kinney.

“But I don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want to do.”

“Since when have I ever allowed myself to be forced into anything?”

“I got you to marry me, didn’t I?” Carl smirked.

“Well, that was a very special circumstance.” Debbie smiled at her husband.

Carl smiled back. “How can you promise that you won’t get homesick?” Carl asked. “I would think it just happens. How can you prevent it?”

“I’ll know that things are stable at home before we go anywhere again. We left right after Jennifer’s wedding and Molly had her new baby and the kids will almost be through school by the time we get back and…”

“Okay, okay!” Carl said throwing up his hands.

“Keep those hands on the steering wheel,” Debbie ordered immediately. “This thing drives like a tank. I don’t want to end up in the ditch.”

“I got it,” Carl said straightening the course of the big vehicle. “So, when do you think this calm and stable period in our lives might be?” he asked after a minute.

Debbie laughed. “Tomorrow, next month, next year, never.” She looked at Carl’s face which showed his displeasure at that answer. “We’ll play it by ear, honey, okay?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s what we will have to do.”

“I promise we’ll take another trip,” Debbie said crossing her heart. “How about the fall?”

“I may hold you to that.”

“That’s fine. I love being with you whatever we’re doing.”

Carl stared at his wife and smiled broadly. “You are quite a dame.”

“And don’t you ever forget that!” Debbie replied with her familiar laugh.

 

*****
 

“We should be landing in about an hour,” Seth said looking at his watch.

“I can hardly wait,” Jennifer said scrunching up her shoulders in anticipation.

“I’ll have to hire one of those extra large vans to transport us and all our luggage from the airport to my condo,” Seth said winking at Jennifer.

“Thanks for calling it our luggage,” Jennifer laughed.

“Well it is. I hope I’ll get some credit for helping you make all your purchases?”

“I’ll give you as much credit as you’d like.”

Seth laughed. “Nobody will believe I had anything to do with it.”

“Why? A man can’t enjoy shopping?”

“Of course he can, but most men don’t. And I like to think ‘the family’ has gotten to know me well enough to know I wouldn’t be the one who bought all the stuff we’re bringing home.”

Jennifer giggled. “But you are the one who bought the time share.”

“Yes, I am.”

“It was a lovely gesture, Seth. I look forward to going back to Aruba many times. I had such a wonderful time there.” Jennifer reached over and laid her hand on top of Seth’s.

Seth picked up her hand with his other hand and pressed the back of it to his lips. “I still love you, Mrs. Harris, even after spending weeks alone together.”

Jennifer laughed and then her face sobered. “What does that mean exactly?” she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

“It means that we passed the honeymoon test.”

“There’s a test?”

“Oh yes, I have it on good authority that once the passion of the first few nights of sex wears off, many couples find they really don’t like each other very much, let alone love each other.”

“And just who would this authority be?”

“He shall remain nameless,” Seth declared staring straight ahead.

“It wouldn’t be a certain son-in-law of mine, would it?” Jennifer asked.

“Owen would never say something like that.”

“I didn’t mean Owe…” Jennifer stopped. “You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”

“Yes, my dear, I’m teasing you,” Seth chuckled.

“It did sound like something Brian might say,” Jennifer said in her own defense.

“I thought you might think that,” Seth chuckled.

“You have a wicked side, don’t you?” Jennifer looked at her husband with appraising eyes.

“Are you just figuring that out, my dear?”

“Don’t you ‘my dear me’, Seth Harris,” Jennifer threatened. “I can sic Brian Kinney after you.”

“Idle threats will do you no good. Brian and I have an agreement.”

“An agreement?”

“Yes, an agreement. He likes to think he’s responsible for getting us together, and I tend to let him think so,” Seth stated.

“Well, he did sort of get us together,” Jennifer had to admit. “So, what’s this agreement?” she asked with a frown.

“I make you ecstatically happy and he doesn’t kill me,” Seth said keeping a straight face.

Jennifer let out a laugh worthy of Debbie. “God, you are a nut. I love you so much.”

“It’s lucky for me that I love you just as much or more in return,” Seth chuckled.

“Very lucky, I’m sure,” Jennifer said with love in her eyes for her husband. “And I’m just as lucky having you in my life.”

“I think that was the perfect ending to a perfect honeymoon,” Seth observed, as the pilot announced they would be landing in Pittsburgh in the next few minutes.

“Yes, perfect,” Jennifer agreed, and she meant every word of it.

 

*****
 

“Do we really have to go home?” Emmett pouted.

“Our week is up,” Drew said reasonably.

“Couldn’t we see where the ship’s going next and just stay aboard?”

“I guess we could,” Drew replied slowly. “But you have parties to plan and businesses to run, and so do I.”

“You’re in party planning now?” Emmett asked with a big grin. He could never pass up a chance for a joke, even when he was feeling down.

Drew laughed, as he always did at Emmett’s sense of humor. He loved his new husband so much. “I don’t think anyone would pay me for my party planning skills.”

“This was a pretty great party you invited me to,” Emmett declared referring to the cruise and the proposal.

“Well, maybe for once I did it right. But don’t count on it ever happening again.”

“That’s okay. I think one commitment ceremony will be plenty for me.”

“I should hope so,” Drew said as he wrapped his arms around Emmett’s waist. They stared out at the ocean over the rail of the ship. Each thought that this trip couldn’t have been better. It was just perfect.

“So, are we going to stay longer?” Emmett asked after a few minutes.

“Don’t you want to go home so that you can tell everyone our big news?” Drew asked, deciding to take a slightly different tack.

“Hm, let me think. No!”

“You are so full of shit, my love. You know you can’t wait to tell them.”

“They are going to be so pissed.” Emmett couldn’t help but grin.

“They won’t be pissed,” Drew averred. “They will be very happy for us.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

“You … you didn’t tell Brian, did you?”

“How could I tell Brian when I didn’t even really know that I was going to ask you to marry me?”

“It was spur of the moment?” Emmett asked, his face clouding over. “Didn’t you really think it through?”

“Emmett, I love you. I’ve been thinking about this for a while. The timing seemed perfect … finally, so I asked you.”

Emmett smiled, his toothy grin lighting up the deck of the ship and reflecting the setting sun. “I’m ready to go home,” he said out of the blue.

“You are, but…?”

“This has been lovely, Drew, but it isn’t real.”

“What do you mean, it isn’t real?”

“This ship and sailing from port to port is nice, but our life is back in Pittsburgh and out at Edna’s Treasures. This was a lovely fantasy, and I enjoyed the break very much. However, it’s time to go home. As you said, I’ve got parties to plan and businesses to run.”

“I see,” Drew said, although he was having trouble figuring out which way the wind was blowing where his mercurial mate was concerned.

“I like my life at home. I’m ready to go back to it,” Emmett restated.

“I guess that’s good.”

“But maybe we could go on a cruise next year?” Emmett wheedled.

“I don’t see why not,” Drew laughed.

“Oh Drewsie, you’ve made me the happiest bride in the world.”

“Happy to oblige, ma’am,” Drew laughed as he hugged Emmett tight and swung him around.

The other people on the deck watched with amusement and maybe a touch of envy. The pure happiness of the two men was evident to all of them.

 

*****
 

“So, what did Debbie have to say?” Justin asked as he finished putting his brushes away. He was quite pleased with the portrait of Molly, Owen and Taylor that was almost finished. He stood back to admire his work.

“She and Carl are on their way back. They think they’ve done enough traveling for now. Maybe they will go off again in the fall.”

“I hope they do. Debbie deserves to enjoy some of the finer things in life.”

“They’re going to love that,” Brian said as he looked at the painting.

“I hope so,” Justin said wistfully.

“What?” Brian demanded. “What brought that note to your voice?”

“Do … do you ever think about us having another child?” Justin asked hesitantly.

“No.”

Justin laughed in spite of himself. “You don’t? Ever?”

“No, I don’t. Gus and Bree and Patrick and JR and Taylor and Ashley and…”

“Okay, okay, you can stop the list,” Justin chuckled. “I see what you’re getting at.”

“We don’t need more kids. There’s plenty around when you want one,” Brian declared. “And then they go home at the end of the day.”

“Except for Bree.”

“Except for our daughter,” Brian agreed.

“And that suits you just fine.”

“We have two great kids of our own. I see no need for more.”

“It’s just that having Taylor around kind of got me thinking,” Justin said.

“Taylor is cute, but we don’t need another child.”

“I know. It will be great having Molly and the baby out here once their cottage is built.”

“It might be okay,” Brian smirked.

“You are incorrigible. You know you love that baby.”

“Taylor’s okay.”

“Better than okay.”

Brian sucked in his lips and merely stared at the portrait.

“Has John drawn up any plans for their cottage?” Justin asked as he covered his painting.

“I think so. I imagine it will look something like ours.”

“You think so?”

“Everyone wants a cottage like ours,” Brian said smugly. “Cottage envy.”

“What the hell is cottage envy?” Justin laughed.

“It’s what you get when you visit Edna’s Treasures and see how … okay our life is here.”

“Okay! Okay? Our life is not okay. It’s fabulous!”

“See, we have everything we could want. We don’t need another child,” Brian reminded his mate.

Justin shook his head. “There is no point in arguing with you,” he said.

“That’s because I’m always right,” Brian smirked.

“Mom and Seth should be home by now,” Justin said looking at his watch and deciding it was time to change the subject. “I could use a drink.”

“Sounds good. Beer?” Brian asked heading for the kitchen.

“Yeah.” Justin followed him out to the kitchen and they took their beers and sat at the kitchen table.

“I wish they had let us pick them up at the airport,” Justin said after he had a long drink of his beer.

“We wouldn’t have had room for them and all their luggage. You know your mother will have bought half the island of Aruba.”

“My mother is not a spendthrift,” Justin objected.

“I seem to remember a time or two that she took you shopping and you came back laden with bags of every description.”

“Well, maybe,” Justin had to admit.

“And she certainly bought enough outfits and things for Bree.”

“Yeah, I guess she did.”

“So, given her track record, I’m sure she will appear with multitudinous gifts for Bree and Taylor and … everyone.”

“Okay, I can’t argue with you there. I just hope they had a good time.”

“How could they not on their honeymoon?” Brian snarked.

“It’s not all about sex, you know,” Justin told his husband.

“Of course it is.”

Justin shook his head. He sure wasn’t winning any arguments with Brian today. “I guess Drew and Emmett will be back soon too.”

“Yep.”

“Why didn’t you tell me when you were helping Drew organize the surprise for Emmett?”

“Because then it wouldn’t have been a surprise.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise for Emmett, not for me.”

“Same difference,” Brian declared.

Justin stared at his husband. Sometimes Brian could be very exasperating, but mostly Justin loved the big goof. “Should we have a get-together this weekend, so everybody can tell us about their exploits while on vacation?”

“I suppose … if we have to,” Brian said in his long-suffering voice.

“You are so busted. You know you enjoy hearing all about the fruits of your labor.”

“Fruits of my labor?” Brian asked. He wasn’t at all sure what Justin meant by that.

“Yes, fruits of your labor, O mastermind of the gay cruise, purveyor of the Winnebago and matchmaker extraordinaire for my mother.”

Brian couldn’t help but laugh. “I guess I can’t fool you.”

“Better not even try.”

“Daddy! Dada!” a little voice screeched, as Bree came bounding through the front door of the cottage closely followed by Patrick. “I’m home!”

“Now you see why we don’t need another one,” Brian whispered.

“Come tell us about your day at school, sweetheart,” Justin said as he got up to get the children a snack, and a beer for Bobby who had just walked in behind them.
 

Return to Ladies of Liberty