Wedding Bell Blues

Chapter 10

June 3, 2007

"Wake up, Sunshine," Brian whispered against Justin's ear. He felt his lover tremble at the hot breath against his skin. He also felt something else happening in his hand which was wrapped around Justin's morning wood. It throbbed at his words. "Sunshine," Brian repeated giving the cock a little tug.

"Umm," Justin murmured thrusting slightly into Brian's hand. "Tired."

"Not too tired by the feel of it."

"Umm," Justin groaned. "Didn't you get enough payback for the nude? You fucked me four times before I fell asleep."

"And once after," Brian whispered.

Justin's blue eyes opened and turned to look at Brian with a question written all over his face. "You didn't."

"No, I didn't, twat. I like my partners to be at least semi-conscious."

"You know, I'm never sure when you're serious or not."

"Keeps you on your toes," Brian smirked.

"What time is it?"

"Eight-thirty."

"But it's Sunday. I thought we could sleep in."

"Did you forget? We're taking Edna to church."

"You're taking Edna to church."

"Un unh. If I have to go, you have to come with me."

"And what epistle is that written in?"

"The one in my hand." Brian gave Justin's dick another tug.

"Unhh," Justin gasped. "The gospel of the cock?"

"Yeah," Brian chuckled.

"Are you going to make it worth my while?"

"I thought I did last night."

"That was for the nude. This is something else altogether."

"Excuse me for not making that distinction."

"You're usually pretty good at making distinctions … and at other things," Justin gasped as Brian took his dick deep into his mouth.

Some time later having sucked each other off, they were dressing when Brian said, "Fuck!"

"What's wrong?" Justin asked with a frown.

"Why the fuck am I doing this?"

"Because Edna asked you," was the matter of fact reply. "What church are we going to anyway?"

"Reverend Buttfuck's church."

"Brian," Justin giggled. "We're heading for church so behave. Why are we going there? Why not some other church?"

"It's not like I have vast experience in churches. It's the only one I know."

"But your mother might be there," Justin replied suddenly realizing how unpleasant that could be for them all.

"She goes to the later service. That's why we're getting up early."

"Oh, okay," Justin said relieved that he wouldn't have to face Joan.

"Let's go or we'll be late."

A couple of hours later they were filing out of the church with the rest of the congregation. Brian breathed a sigh of relief as they neared the door. God had not struck him down this time either. His mother was still wrong about that.

They stepped out into the fresh air Justin on one side of Edna, Brian on the other. Brian was thinking how well this had gone, all things considered, when Edna said, "I'd like to speak to the minister."

"What the fuck for?" Brian demanded before he even realized what he was saying.

"It's customary, Brian," Edna said patiently. "It's just good manners."

"I've never been noted for those," Brian replied glancing at Reverend Tom who was talking to … his fucking mother. He groaned inwardly.

"Where's my gallant knight from the plane?" Edna teased.

"Brian," Reverend Tom said noticing them standing to the side. "It's nice to see you here today, although somewhat … unexpected."

"Reverend But…terfield, you remember Justin?" Brian asked unable to stop the smirk. Justin breathed a sigh of relief when Brian completed the minister's name correctly instead of the way he usually did. Meanwhile Brian was watching Tom blanch in recognition of Justin who he obviously remembered from their encounter at the baths.

Tom cleared his throat. "And who is this lovely lady?"

"This is Edna Galloway. She's visiting me from Panama," Brian said evenly as he stared right at his mother.

"Brian," Joan said icily. "What in heaven's name are you doing here?"

"Heaven has nothing to do with it, mother," Brian replied. He saw Edna give him a confused glance as he said 'mother'. "Edna was married to a minister and she wanted to attend church as she has every Sunday for many years. So I brought her here."

"I'm shocked to see you in church."

"I'm sure you are, but the place is still standing."

"Do you always have to be so offensive?"

"I didn't realize that's what I was doing. I thought it was you."

"How could I have such an ungrateful, rude, selfish son?"

"You have a wonderful, kind son from what I've seen of him. You're very lucky. Too bad you don't recognize that fact," Edna felt compelled to say amazed at the words coming out of Joan's mouth. There wasn't even a hint of Christian charity or concern in them.

Joan huffed a breath and hastily said, "I better be going." She didn't want to be anymore embarrassed than she already was. She shook Tom's hand and hurried away.

"Things are no better between you two, I see," Tom said to Brian. Brian shook his head.

"It's was a lovely service, Reverend," Edna said before Brian took her arm and they quickly walked away. "I didn't know your mother was alive," Edna said as she climbed into the Cherokee.

"That's debatable," Brian replied with a rueful grimace.

"When you said Debbie was like your mother, I just assumed that your actual mother was dead."

"I should be so lucky."

"Brian," Justin said softly as they settled into the car.

"She … she wants me to burn in Hell for being gay," Brian whispered.

"Then she's a fucking fool!" Edna retorted. "She's missing out on a huge part of her life."

"That's what I think too," Justin agreed. "The bitch!"

"She makes the name bitch look good," Brian contributed.

"Let's just forget about her, and you can take me back to the hotel. We'll have brunch there before you drive me over to Debbie's. It's so nice of her to ask me to stay with her until the wedding. She said I could ride up with her and Carl. I'm looking forward to meeting Carl. He must be some man to have captured Debbie," Edna laughed.

"Carl's a good guy," Brian said grateful to have moved on to a topic that was less painful than his mother. "I hope you'll be okay at Debbie's. Sometimes a little of her goes a long way."

"She has a good heart and that's all that matters." Unlike another woman that she had just met, Edna thought to herself.

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

Some time later Brian and Justin returned to the loft. Justin had some material to go over in preparation for his final the following day. Brian worked on the computer for a while, and then decided to make a phone call. Justin was reading in the alcove, so Brian quietly placed the call at his desk hoping he wouldn't disturb his lover.

"Yeah, I'm picking up a custom order tomorrow around noon. I wanted to make sure it was ready. Kinney. Two platinum rings … engraved. What? What the fuck are you talking about? Well, you better fucking find it, and right now. No, you can't call me back. I'll wait. All right. All right. Ten minutes and I better fucking hear from you or there'll be Hell to pay!" Brian's voice had continued to rise in first astonishment and then anger.

"What the hell was that all about?" Justin asked distracted from his studying.

"I called about the rings that John and Bobby had designed at Kressler's jewelry. They can't find any record of the fucking order."

"You're kidding."

"I wish I fucking was."

"What are you going to do?"

"First, not a word about this to John or Bobby. They're apoplectic enough already. This will send them over the edge for sure."

"I won't breathe a word," Justin promised.

"I told them they better fucking find the order and fast! They're supposed to call me back in ten minutes."

"I hope they do."

"Shit! I thought Lindsay and Mel's wedding was a fucking fiasco. It's starting to look good compared to this one."

"Calm down, Brian. At least for the next ten minutes. They'll probably find the order and everything will be all right."

"It fucking better be."

Justin tried to get back to his studying, but he was praying that the jewelry store would call back as scheduled. After fifteen minutes and no call, Brian was prowling back and forth like a caged tiger. Finally he grabbed the phone and punched in the number.

"It's Brian Kinney. Have you found that fucking order? I will not calm down. Where is it? I don't want your fucking excuses. Yes, I fucking have the order form. The number's 070521B. It's your problem. I have the receipt and the date it was to be done. That's tomorrow by noon. I will be there at that time, and the fucking ring better be waiting for me!" Brian slammed down the receiver. "Assholes!"

"I take it they didn't find it."

"No such luck."

"Are they going to make another one or something?"

"Or something. I don't care what the fuck they have to do, but it better be ready tomorrow when I get there."

"Give me a half hour and I'll help you relieve some of that tension."

"I didn't mean to take you away from your studies," Brian said calming a bit.

"It's okay. I'm almost finished."

"Then get that ass of yours ready. I have some serious action for it."

Justin felt his groin tighten as he quickly scanned the last few pages.

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

As this latest crisis was about to unfold, Debbie had Edna settled into Mikey's old room.

"Debbie, thank you again for inviting me to stay here with you until the wedding. I was beginning to feel guilty about the expense to Brian. Although he wouldn't complain."

"Hey, no fucking problem. It's nice to have another lady staying here. I think it's a first. The bedroom you're staying in has seen its share of men over the years. This is the first time a woman's ever slept in it!" The two shared a laugh then got serious.

"Debbie, would you mind telling me something about Brian. He took me to church this morning."

"Brian Kinney? In a church and the church is still standing?"

"Yes, it is, but I had the unfortunate displeasure of meeting his mother."

"Oh, Joan, how is the old battleaxe?"

"Apparently nothing has changed. Is it always like that between the two of them?"

"Yes, and worse. I thought maybe it would have changed when Joan found out about Brian's cancer, but it didn't."

"Oh dear lord! Brian had cancer? I didn't know."

"No, you wouldn't have. No one would have known except that Sunshine found out and Brian couldn't hide it from Ted. Teddy works for Brian and Brian is actually very fond of him but you didn't hear that from me."

"Not a word. Brian is all right now, isn't he?"

"Yes, thank God. He's fine and he will stay that way if I have anything to say about it. I love him as if he were my own."

Edna could see the tears in Debbie's eyes as she was talking about the big lummox.

"I love that boy and we need him. I know we make fun of him sometimes and he does act like an asshole, on occasion, but it's all an act he puts on to stop hurting, he's always there when the family needs him. His parents hurt that boy so much when he was a kid. I can't tell you how many times he showed up here tired and bruised. I'd clean him up as best as I could, feed him, he was always so skinny, then put him to bed with Michael. That's why we thought it would be the two of them together. But now I see it wouldn't have worked. They love each other as brothers. Michael is happy with Ben. You'll meet them soon and Justin is right for Brian."

"Yes, Justin is right for Brian." Edna couldn't see anyone else for Brian. "Is that what turned Brian away from God and religion?"

"I guess so. I've never been one to go to church on a regular basis but I was raised a Catholic and I do pray. Brian believes in his own way. But when you've been told that you'll burn in Hell all your life by the one person who should love you unconditionally, well it does affect you."

"Yes, it does." Edna nodded with a new understanding about her gallant knight.

"We're sounding like a bunch of bitter old queens. So tell me about the time those boys spent with you in Panama, it must have been one hell of a time!"

Debbie and Edna dished about the four queers well into the night.