Wedding Bell Blues

Chapter 18

June 14, 2007

It was two days before the wedding and Emmett had given the groom and groom implicit instructions to relax and leave the rest of the preparations to him and to his elves. The elves included Claire, Hunter, Ted, and Brian and Justin if necessary. His instructions to Brian and Justin were to keep the affianced couple out of his way. Emmett had booked his waiters and waitresses into a local B & B so that they wouldn't have to drive up on the day of the wedding. They all planned to be there on Friday.

Emmett led his elves to the barn, their plan was to erect the tent and set up the tables and chairs. John, Bobby, Brian and Justin were sitting in the screened porch sipping iced tea and relaxing. A piercing scream broke the serene quiet of the country side.

"He's going to kill me!" Emmett gasped and began to hyperventilate.

"Emmett, breathe, it's not your fault. I should have checked when they put everything in the barn." Claire tried to calm the six foot mass of shaking queen.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Emmett kept screaming. As Justin ran to see what all the noise was about, a delivery truck drove up the drive. It was the company that was going to deliver and set up the temporary dance floor. When the men climbed out of the truck they asked John where the floor was going to be laid. John showed them the cleared and leveled space that they all helped to prepare.

"Sorry, no can do," the head man stated.

"What? What do you mean, no can do? Why?"

"Look buddy, this is a polished parquet floor. It goes over a deck or a slab of cement. We don't put it on the ground." As the deliverymen were about to leave, Bobby began to threaten them with a lawsuit, John began shouting and the deliverymen began cursing and shouting back. Between Emmett's shrieking and all the shouting Brian's head began to throb.

"Will everyone shut the fuck up!" Brian bellowed so loud that the birds took flight, the crickets stopped cricketing and the frogs became silent.

"You," Brian pointed at the one of the largest bear of a man he had ever seen. "You said the floor has to be put together over a deck."

"That's right."

"Any kind of decking?"

"Yes, just as long as it's not on the ground."

"Hold on, let me think a minute." Brian closed his eyes but John and Bobby could see the wheels turning.

"Brian, I know I'm fast but even I can't build a twenty foot square deck in less than two days." Brian opened his eyes and stared at his brother.

"John, it doesn't have to be a deck, just act like one."

"What the hell does that mean?" John growled at his brother. Ignoring John for the moment, Brian addressed Bobby.

"Bobby, the Honey Bear, do you get your deliveries on palettes?"

"Yeah, we do but I don't see how that solves anything."

"The palettes are about four feet square, right?"

"Yeah, but..." Bobby started.

Turning to John. "John, if we were able to strap them together, how many would we need to make the base for the floor?"

The light bulb snapped on over John's head and he quickly calculated the minimum number of palettes they would need.  "If each palette is four feet square, four times five is twenty feet, five times five is twenty-five, I'd say thirty palettes just in case we get some with broken or rotting wood."

"Bobby, how many does the Honey Bear have?" Brian asked.

"We have some but not that many."

"Okay, I want you and John to start calling all the merchants in town and ask if they have the palettes. We can make a list so you know which stores to go to. We'll need Steve and Bill with their pick up trucks and Hunter's truck."

"Brian, I don't have what we need to strap the palettes together."

"Then call Smittie's, I'm sure he'll have the extra palettes and what you need to connect them."

"Brian if I haven't said it before, you are a fucking genius."

John and Bobby scurried away to make their phone calls as Brian went to make a deal with the bear and personally put up the cash as collateral against any breakage. The delivery men began to offload the flooring.

"Brian, Brian!" Justin came running into the yard and straight into Brian's arms.

"Justin, what was Emmett screaming about?"

"The tent, the tent wasn't delivered with the tables and chairs. He called the rental company. They were going to deliver it today but their truck broke an axel and they can't guarantee delivery by the wedding."

"Fuck, what else can go wrong?" Brian asked the sky as he looked up. "Justin, where is the tent company?"

"I think it's in Harrisburg."

"Okay, that'll work. Go get me Hunter."

"Hunter, what the fuck do you need Hunter for?" Justin asked Brian's back as he turned to supervise the offloading of the flooring, not really wanting to hear the answer. Not getting any answer from his lover, Justin grumbled but he went to fetch Hunter as requested. He returned with Hunter, Claire, who was still trying to console Emmett, and Ted who was on the phone with the tent company.

"Brian, we're all here. Now will you please tell us what's going on?" Brian was about to explain the other crisis when John and Bobby returned with their accounting of how many palettes were in town. Between all the stores and the Honey Bear, there were eighteen.

"Okay, so that means we need twelve more and the stuff to put them together," Brian said out loud, to no one in particular.

"Ted, where's the tent place?" Ted told Brian the address and the tent would be waiting there for him.

"Hunter, do you know where that is?" Brian asked Hunter.

"Yeah, sure, it's not too far from school." Hunter replied.

"And Smittie's?"

"Yeah, that's nearby."

"Okay, kid, let's hustle, uh, get moving. John, call Smittie's. Let him know we're on the way and to have the supplies you need ready, and check to see if he has the remaining palettes. Ted, tell the tent people we'll be there in about an hour. Emmett, stop sniveling, pull yourself together, go cook something. John, rally Steve and Bill, you'll need them to help collect the palettes. Let's go, people! We have a wedding to prepare for!"

Everyone who had an assignment went to go fulfill it.

"Brian, what do you want me to do?" Claire asked Brian.

"My dear woman, you have the hardest job of all."

"What's that?"

"You have to keep this group together and on track. I'm counting on you," Brian whispered into Claire's ear.

"Of course, dear. I'll keep an eye on them." She nodded as she went into the house.

"Brian?" A quiet voice broke through the mayhem in Brian's head.

"Brian, what am I supposed to do while you're driving all over the place with Hunter?" Justin asked with just a touch of jealousy in his question.

"Justin, when I get back in a couple of hours, I am going to be tired, sweaty, cranky and probably have a blinding headache. I won't be able to stop until the floor is done and the tent is erected. I will need you to be strong and quiet, especially quiet. When we finally get to bed, I'll need a massage and a rim job and you will have to do all the work. And I mean, all the work."

Justin's face lit up as he nodded, understanding the 'work' he'd be doing later that night. He then kissed Brian and sent him on his way.

John rode with Steve, and Bobby went with Bill. They split the list and as Hunter and Brian made it into Harrisburg, the palette team was heading back to the Anderson farm. For the most part, Hunter and Brian drove in silence, which was okay by Brian. He knew once they got back to the farm, it would become very noisy.

"Brian?" Hunter quietly asked.

"Hmm?"

"How do you come up with these things?"

"What things?"

"You know, using the palettes as a deck."

"I don't know. No, wait, I do know. When Mikey and I were kids, we wanted to be like other kids and go camping. My dear old dad wouldn't take us and could you see Debbie in the woods?"

Hunter laughed and added, "I don't think so."

"We decided on the next best thing, to camp out in Debbie's back yard. She gave us an old sheet to use as a tent, and a tarp to cover the dirt. We didn't have sleeping bags but she had some old bed spreads. Mikey and I got everything together and we thought we were so cool, going sleep outside until we sat down on the tarp. It was hard and we thought we could see bugs and things crawling underneath. It was gross."

"You had an appreciation for the finer things in life way back then, I see."

"Watch it, bitch. Anywaaaay, we didn't want to sleep directly on the ground. We didn't have cots and Debbie's yard didn't have a deck. The picnic table was too high. We were about to can the whole idea so the two of us decided to take a walk on Liberty. We were goofing around in the alley near the diner and saw some old palettes. We started jumping on them. They were kind of bouncy. Mikey said they looked like a deck. That's when I got the idea of putting them together to make a deck. We only needed four but it took us all day to find the ones we wanted, clean them up and make our deck. I think we passed out by eight that night, we were so tired. Debbie kept laughing at us, calling us budding queens."

"You guys knew back then?"

"Yeah, we did."

"I still don't know." Brian and Hunter grew silent again as they pulled up to the tent company. Before getting out of the truck, Brian turned to Hunter.

"Hunter, Gay or straight, it doesn't matter, they're only labels." Putting on his best sexy and androgynous look, Brian remarked. "Some of us don't need labels, we're in a class by ourselves."

Hunter gaped at the beautiful man before him then smiled and nodded. "Yeah! I can do that."

Clapping the boy on the shoulder as they climbed out of the truck, "I have no doubts that you can. Now let's go get us a tent."

Within twenty minutes, Brian and Hunter had the wedding tent secured in the back of the truck and an added discount since they came to pick it up. The rental company would pick it up from the farm on the following Monday. Next, was Smittie's Hardware store.

As the two pulled up in front of Smittie's, the man himself with several of his employees were outside waiting and ready to load up the bed of the truck with the remaining palettes and the supplies John would need to strap them all together. Brian shook Smittie's hand and within the next half hour he and Hunter were back on the road heading for the Andersons.

While they were waiting for Hunter and Brian, Claire, Emmett and Justin were busy preparing lunch. John, Bobby, Steve and Bill were offloading their palettes and began arranging them in the space provided. John was carefully inspecting each one and directed Bobby to get his tools so they would be ready when Brian and Hunter brought the remaining palettes. Teddy helped the 'cooks' by setting the table in the screened porch so that the hard working men could enjoy lunch. It was about two in the afternoon when Brian and Hunter drove up the lane to the sound of cheers. John was the first to greet them.

"My heroes!" John exclaimed as he hugged them both and guided them to the porch for lunch and a cool drink. Handing Brian a glass of iced tea, John couldn't help but express his appreciation. "Brian, I mean it. You've really saved the day and the wedding."

"I didn't do shit. We'd have this wedding even if we had to sit on the grass all day. I just hope this will work," Brian answered back.

"It will work but I'm going need you and your tool belt to help me."

Looking down at his once soft and well manicured hands, Brian sighed. "My hands will never be the same again."

They all burst into laughter as Emmett stated, "Oh, don't worry, sweetie, when all your manual labor is done, Auntie Em will give each one of you his special manicure and pedicures."

"I don't know if I should be happy about that or worried," Brian quipped.

"Hey, if anyone is going to give Brian a manicure, it's going to be me!" Justin snarked as he plopped himself into Brian's lap and gave the hero of the day a loud wet kiss.

"Get a room!" Hunter grumbled.

"But only after we're done putting the palettes together, laying the floor on them and erecting the tent," Bobby ordered.

"I have something else I'd rather erect with you," Brian whispered into Justin's ear. The lover's shared another kiss then finished their lunch so that they all could get to the business at hand.

A few hours later it was all done. While John secured each palette to its neighbor, Bobby, Bill, Steve, and Brian inspected the next one as John instructed for any nails that were poking up. They hammered in the offending nails so that the surface was as smooth as they could make it. The parquet floor snapped together and they all helped to get it on the 'deck.'

After that, the tent. Emmett tried to assist but he found out he was best suited to supervision rather than construction. He took Ted's advice and stayed out of the way. Besides, when it was all complete, the 'construction crew' was going to need dinner. Emmett decided his talents lay somewhere else. That's when Sam showed up.

By eight that night, it was all done and the group scattered to shower and rest their weary bones. The table and chairs could wait until the next day. John and Bobby went to the Honey Bear to relax. Emmett went with Sam to relax. Hunter went to do some reading and Claire decided to do some knitting and spend the remainder of the evening with Steve. Bill went home to relax with his partner. Ted was staying in the cottage with Brian and Justin. He went to his room, popped an opera in the CD player and prayed that the music would drown out the noises that were inevitably going to come from the next room. Justin decided that Brian did indeed need one of his special manicure and pedicures and they were lustfully preparing themselves for it.

Beau, the wisest of all dogs, had made himself scarce while this latest crisis was solved. He decided he was best at playing 'let's chase the bullfrogs', so he went to the stream to play.

All was right in the world again.