Realism
It is what it is. Pompous Pep.
(~0*0~)
The wedding ceremony was quiet enough; certainly nothing that the two had come to expect from celebrity marriages. No fountains, no red carpet or shiny gold ticket lines, no hulking barristers to check names from a given list at the door, and no security guards lurking in corners.
Well, in all fairness there WAS an officer nearby, but he was sleeping off a hangover in the last pew and so, he does not count.
There were no cameras flashing, no enormous, dazzling wedding cake. No private jets waiting to whisk the happy newlyweds off to some distant tropical paradise. No orchestral music, no glittering chandeliers or busboys or priceless wines or jewels or video crews.
It must be said that the absence of all these things is rather ironic, considering the groom could have easily paid for all of this without a wince from his heavy pocket.
There was just a small, dingy chapel in the middle of a grungy city, and a slightly confused, elderly bishop who had forgotten twice that day why he was there. In terms of flowers, there was only a daisy, plucked from the weed-strewn parking lot out back, which had been tucked behind an ear.
The golden organ behind the man was dusty; chances were, you'd find more charm in a gaudy Vegas wedding chapel.
Nonetheless, it was perfect, and it was lovely, although those precise words hadn't been Vladimir Masters' choice ones when they'd stumbled onto this old place. But when you're a middle-aged billionaire hoping to avoid the scandal of a lifetime, you typically take what you can get.
Twenty-one year old Daniel Fenton was standing beside him at the altar, his cerulean blue eyes glittering with happiness as the balding man before them, scratched his head, adjusted his spectacles, and squinted at the vows on the paper before him.
"Now, um….ah…hmm. You, young lady," he said, looking up at Vlad, "Do ye take this man to be your lawfully wedded-"
The wealthy hybrid blustered; Danny squeezed his hand tightly and bit his lip, but tears were running down his face from the effort of not laughing. The bishop started, than smiled apologetically.
"Mmm….yes. Terribly sorry, my mistake. Now, Vlad," he said, looking at Danny, "Are you sure you wish to take thy young woman as thy lawfully wedded wife?"
Danny scowled. Vlad trembled with mirth.
"I'm Danny. He's Vlad."
The man just stared at them.
"What?" he asked loudly, reaching for a hearing trumpet inside of his pocket. "What was that?"
"I'm Danny Fenton. He's Vlad Masters. We came here to get married, uh, Mr. DiNico….?"
The man frowned.
"Good God, you mean you're both men?"
Vlad's mouth fell open. Danny hastily added:
"Well, um, you didn't really seem to have a problem when you agreed to marry us, Mr. DiNico," he said, doubt starting to creep into his voice. Did he even remember that far back?
The man grumbled as he flipped a page in the good book, looking slightly crestfallen.
"Mmm. I thought you were both girls, to be honest. Now, Vlad Masters, are you quite sure you wish to enter in the holy sacrament of baptism?"
~(*0*)~
Well, Vlad had been pulling at silver hair by the end of it, and Danny was clutching at the stitch he had in his gut from laughing, but at last, the time-old "kiss the bride" moment did come to pass, (There was some fierce dispute over whom was whom) and the marriage certificate was signed. They wished Mr. DiNico a good day, gave him a bottle of rum for his services, and he in turn wished them a Merry Christmas. Neither of them bothered to correct him.
The two ran out of the chapel in the daylight, listening to the grungy old bell above them heavily toll the hour twice. No one threw rice at them, though a wanderer down the street did stop to throw some foul obscenities their way.
Still hand in hand, the two sprinted back to the nearly deserted parking lot, to where Vlad's limo was parked. The man's shaking fingers kept fumbling with the door handle, until he gave up and phased the two of them through, tugging Danny against him as he did so. The two crashed against the velvet seats, and, for the chauffeur's sake and yours, I don't really think I need to go into details on what happened those moments frozen away on time on a most extraordinary afternoon.
By the time the car had started to drive out the lot and the two were sitting up again, exhausted, sweating, mostly undressed, and very happy, Danny buried his face in his lover's arm, and despite the euphoric glow that was emanating from him, felt a sharp, sweet sadness twinge at his heart.
How he would have liked his loved ones to be there!
Perhaps Vlad understood how he felt, because he squeezed his husband against him tenderly, and directed the driver to Danny's favorite (And his least favorite) restaurant, The Nasty Burger.
A five-star gourmet reception.
(~*0*~)
He has to admit, that it does hurt when his Christmas cards return to him unopened three years later. He's not really sure what's better: A blunt cold shoulder, or a nasty message on his voice mail from Sam telling him that the whole thing would end any day now, and be tossed onto the curb by his sadistic bastard of a life partner like the money fuck he was.
Now, Danny wasn't the biggest fan of the holidays, but he was fairly certain they shouldn't entail that. Not pitying letters from Jasmine urging him to leave the man he loved, not finding out that his best friend since childhood-Tucker-was getting married and he hadn't been invited, and not a tearful, disastrous lunch with Mom that had ended with Danny storming out, and Maddie weeping helplessly in the booth.
He supposed he could understand Dad's shame, and Mom's pain. They hadn't believed him when he'd came out a few years ago-and had even tried to enlist him in a special program experts said helped cure people of homosexuality. And it didn't help that he got married in secret three years ago with a man 25 years older than him. Their best friend. Check that, former best friend. Vlad's name had gone on the blacklist, too.
Putting his returned mail down on the counter, Danny quietly excused himself from the parlor where they'd been watching the football game, went down to the basement, and cried.
It wasn't long before a familiar knock sounded at the door, and a pair of arms wrapped around his waist.
(~*0*~)
Dumb stories that he'd read online made marriage look so easy; so effortless, the key to a happy ending. Both Vlad and Danny learned that it was not; maintaining a happy home was much harder than it looked. Whether it was Vlad staying too late at the office or Danny skipping dates to ghost-fight, there was often something that meant one or the other wasn't going to be sleeping in the bedroom that night. The two always tried to make up promptly, however-the miserable feeling of a grudge settled into the house like tar, and it got remarkably lonely very quickly.
(~*0*~)
Oh, how Danny would have liked to have a child! Weird, dumb stuff like baby clothes and books and toys were oddly adorable now, and they often found their way into his cart when he went shopping. He stored it in a box in his closet, deep underneath a mountain of suitcases.
Vlad was less keen on the idea; if they were to have a child, he would want a half-ghost one, and that was impossible to obtain. As males, neither of them could bear offspring, and Danny adamantly refused the idea of allowing an infant to be placed in a portal to have its DNA altered by ectoplasmic energy.
Vlad pointed out that a normal human child was a liability-either he and Danny would have to lie to it their whole lives about its identity, or trust a young child with an enormous secret that could possibly get them all killed. Danny would counter that the child could be trained from an early age, but the billionaire was still set firmly against it. It was one of their few, more painful arguments that neither of them could ever win, and usually ended in a few tears from Danny. Finally, after years of pleading and cajoling, Danny simply gave up, and tried to get over the matter entirely. The baby clothes he'd saved remained in the closet, unused.
Uncomfortable and unhappy with the boy's crestfallen mood, Vlad tried everything: A yacht for Danny's birthday, trips around the world, and spoiling him relentlessly with presents and pets and experiences. Deep sea-diving in the Bahamas, mountain climbing in New Zealand, flying over Paris, the City of Lights, at the dead of night….
But while these things sometimes pleased Danny, there was still a general discontentment that Vlad sensed, and knew all too well.
So, after six years of marriage, he caved.
(~*0*~)
The girl was not a plump, cooing, pretty baby like the ones you saw so often on television commercial ads. In Danny's eyes, she was a world better. Or, as he would whisper to her every night before she would fall asleep, "A galaxy more awesome. A whole universe more amazing."
Her name had been Esperanza Maria Leon, and she had been a tangled, shy mess of a thing in her picture the agency from El Salvador had sent the two hopeful parents. She had large, dark eyes, thin limbs, a fondness for anything glittery and/or purple, a bad ankle, and a cleft lip. Vlad had been bewildered when Danny had taken one look at the simple-looking girl's face, and started tearing up.
"That's her," he kept saying, sounding hoarse and awestruck. "That's our little girl."
Vlad hadn't been able to really understand it, but he did admit to being somewhat captivated by the woebegone creature's eyes. There was something to her, though he wasn't sure what that something actually was.
So they filed the paperwork, and the agency, keen to appease one of the world's most wealthy and powerful men, soon approved the adoption, and all that was left to do was fly out to South America, finish the paperwork, and collect the child herself.
Vlad had had some serious misgivings on the plane. The child was said to have PTSD, and to be very shy. She only spoke a little English, and was already six years old. Surely she wouldn't be happy to be taken out of her native land. Surely she would be disgusted with the idea that she had two fathers-the child very likely had a Roman Catholic upbringing in St. Francesco's orphanage.
That was before the two landed, and, for the third time in his life, Vlad fell in love.
(~*0*~)
Esperanza was a smiling, very quiet child, who upon greeting her new parents timidly accepted the doll Danny had picked out for her, murmured a thank you, and hid her eyes in her hands, grinning from ear to ear when Vlad uncertainly scooped her up, fingertips brushing the fragile little face.
They were at the courthouse to finalize the adoption four hours later, in that span Vlad had over two dozen shopping bags all laden with toys and dresses waiting in their private jet.
(~*0*~)
She'd needed some counseling, language sessions, some surgeries, and some physical therapy, but soon enough, Esperanza Masters was a happy, healthy teenage girl, arguing with her friends on the phone, pleading with her parents when she broke curfew, and very possibly the most loved child in the state of Wisconsin.
In the meantime, Vlad was growing older. He tired out more easily, attention slipped, and threw the business world for a loop when he'd announced his retirement. After twenty years of marriage with Danny, he now needed a cane to walk around, and went through a midlife crisis. Suspicious and tormented by the idea that Danny would be looking for something younger, less decrepit, he started working out more than ever, though it left him physically exhausted, and Danny chose to sleep with the man more as a substitute and as a way to keep his mind off things.
(~*0*~)
Esperanza graduated High School, earned her degree in college, and eventually married. Hers was a small wedding party; just a few guests, who were all close friends, but much to her embarrassment, Danny and Vlad insisted on sparing no expense. In the wedding that they themselves could not have, Esperanza looked like a princess in her diamond-studded, custom made tiara, drifting down the isle under entire archways made of flowers. She seemed to glow softly as she came down the isle, arm in arm with her fathers. Vlad had needed a little help from Danny to make the trek.
(~*0*~)
Well, running a collection of missions with the Peace Corps wasn't exactly what they'd had in mind for their daughter, but neither Vlad nor Danny could be any prouder. Danny would read aloud their child's postcards and messages for Vlad, whilst he patiently pushed his husband's wheelchair down a flowery pass they knew quite well in the wood, and wondered aloud on the gender of their coming grandchild.
(~*0*~)
"Momma, is Grampa going to die soon?"
Will was shushed almost immediately by his mother, but Danny was frozen, stricken over Vlad's bed, and so the words were meaningless noise in his ears.
Esperanza's husband Peter draped an arm over his wife's shoulders, and cast a somber look at the man kneeling on the floor next to a bed where a shrunken shadow lay, breathing painfully. Peter's brown eyes were filled with sadness; Esperanza's, tears.
"Let's leave them alone," she murmured softly, taking her youngest daughter's hand in hers.
The family quietly trooped out from the Master bedroom, but Danny still didn't notice. He massaged the pale hand that was still clung in his, and kissed the man's ring finger, where his plain wedding band still lay. The man's dark, hazy blue eyes fluttered open.
"Daniel."
"I'm coming with you."
The man took a painful gasp and shot him a reproaching look that made Danny both want to scoff and break down in tears. The man was slowly wasting away on the inside from ectoplasmic poisoning, which had reemerged in his later years. His once tanned skin was now a frightening white, and his once warm, strong hands were cold and feeble in Danny's shaking ones.
Thirty-five years. It wasn't long enough. The unfairness of it all sprung tears from the younger hybrid's eyes, and his head dipped to the floor in despair. Vlad tenderly stroked away the tears with a trembling hand.
"Little badger," he said, using the same endearingly annoying nickname he'd used for over twenty years. "Shhh, shhh. Don't cry. And don't talk nonsense. You can't follow me."
Danny raised a tearstained face, looking frantic.
"Then you have to stay here. It's not fair of you to go and leave me like this."
"Daniel."
"I need to be with you. I've already seen everything there is in the world there's to see. I love you."
Vlad's eyes glowed, and he awkwardly held his arms open. Uncertainly, Danny crawled into the frail limbs, slipping under a number of wires Vlad had slipped into him from various IVs.
The dying man sighed, and then cast a small smile at his husband.
"You know, after thirty plus years, I never get tired of hearing that."
"Fruitloop."
"Alas, I can't say the same for that one."
Danny smiled faintly, and closed his eyes, feeling at peace. Then:
"Do you think Anza will hate me for what I'm about to do?"
"I don't know, darling. It's remarkably cruel of you."
"…..I know."
Danny's face contorted into sorrow once again, and he buried his face in the crook of Vlad's neck.
"…..I know I have to be there for Anza, for the children, etc. But Vlad, I don't want you to go alone. I can't stand the idea of you being all alone again."
Vlad had a coughing spasm that took a few moments to subside. Then, he sighed wearily, and shrugged helplessly.
At that moment, the door opened, and a resigned-looking Esperanza came in alone, her eyes full of sadness. Danny looked up as she came in, clutching a bag in her hands.
"Papa?" she said softly, her voice cracking. "Father?"
Both Vlad and Danny looked up; Esperanza came in closer, tears still streaming down her face.
"Papa….your physician did some bloodwork, and says the same thing is in store for Daddy," she said quietly. "About…the ectoplasmic particles starting to break down. So I thought I'd….if he was sure….give him his birthday present early this year."
Danny stood up, walked to his daughter, and took one look inside the bag she was offering in her shaking hands. A look of immense relief came over his face, and his eyes dewed up again.
"Are you sure?"
"I am if you are," she said gently, hiccupping. "It's just that I…..oh, Daddy, I love you so much."
She flew at him for a hug, and Danny held her close, kissing the crying girl tenderly on the brow, smoothing her hair, and loving her unbearably. Then, Esperanza hurried to Vlad, and seized him an embrace, too.
There was a lot of collective squeezing and tears, until Esperanza finally withdrew with a small smile and a "I love you guys," before she at last left the room again, wiping her eyes.
With his bag, Danny got back under the sheets with Vlad, the older man wrapping the comforters carefully around his lover.
"Are you warm, darling?"
"Yep."
"Then goodnight."
"Goodnight."
They kissed. It was long, simple, and sweet, and both snuggled in for the night.
(~*0*~)
Vlad never woke up.
His pacer beats became slower, farther, and fewer inbetween, until at last, there was just a dull beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep in the room, and then, nothing.
The pacer's alarm had woken Danny, who eyed it as groggily as if it were an alarm clock. With a sigh, he sat up, hugged the dear, dead man who was still beside him, withdrew Esperanza's present from the bedside table, and cradled it to his temple.
Then, there was an explosive bang that could only be made by a CZ-75 pistol, and Danny fell against his husband, and moved no more.
And so it was in this way that the two entered the next world.
-Fin
(~*0*~)