The Nixon Wedding Part II

With Trent and Rory now husbands, and with the long photo session over, it was time to eat. When the doors to the main reception hall were finally opened, most people stopped for a moment on the threshold just to stare at the quantity of food on offer. Rachel had gasped in delight when she saw the table labelled as 'Vegan Friendly' and just how many options she had been provided with; normally at buffets, she had to stick to salads, and the odd canapé; here there were all of those things, plus little warm cheese and onion rolls and tiny tartlets. As Trent had guessed, as each of the Warblers had stepped in, they had paused, sighed, then stepped over to hug him for preparing the kind of feast they had dreamed off back at school.

Soon, everyone had a plate and a seat; there was no formal seating plan, as the two grooms had wanted everyone to mix and talk. Trent knew that it had worked when he saw Beats, Flint and Elliot in conversation with Sister Mary Agnes - he just hoped that they steered clear of discussing stripping; but then realised that if they did, then the good sister would probably surprise them all and not even bat an eyelid. Rory's Nana and Mrs Flynn had imposed themselves on Sue Sylvester, and when Trent pointed that out to his husband he had snorted with laughter as he imagined how that might be going. Cooper had assembled a small group of Warblers around him, and was telling them about the mix-up with the two Bristols; the grins on David and Thad's faces stretched from ear to ear at the prospects. They did, of course, point out that either the Flanagans themselves would twig, or someone would tell them. With the different time zones, however, it would be some time until they could arrive - and by then, it would all be over. Behind them, listening intently, Santana, Quinn and Puck plotted exactly what they would do to them if they did manage to appear.

Even the Warblers looked slightly horrified when the waiting staff came to remove the savoury dishes - or rather the empty plates were cleared away - and they were replaced by an equal quantity of desserts. "Ok, so the group diet starts tomorrow," joked the usually quiet Ethan; this set off a bout of laughter that made him smile.

Before they began on the desserts though, there were to be speeches. Séamus stood up, and tried to get a bit of hush in the otherwise noisy room. He was having no luck, until Thad realised that this was his cue; he pulled out Mr Bangy from his suit pocket, and bang him hard on the table in front of him a few times. This brought the room to total silence at once, but earned the Head Warbler a funny look from Agnes, who turned to Mrs Flynn and whispered "Does he think he is in a law court?" Séamus had the silence he needed, but he did not speak - instead there was movement amongst the guests in the room, and Sam made his way forward, to leap up onto the dais on which the top table sat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, before the brother of the groom makes his speech, we have a little tribute to pay to Rory, and I guess indirectly to him too. In case any of you are not aware of this, quite a few of us young people in the room like to sing from time to time, and Rory was a key member of the little school glee club I was a member of the year we won the national competition. So in honour of that, we have a little something planned." Sam smiled, and at once, music began to play - it was a tune that Agnes recognised at once, and then it clicked with both Rory and Séamus. Sam opened with the first line of When Irish Eyes are Smiling; Mike then took a line, followed by Artie, Ryder and finally Puck, before Jake and Joe joined in on the chorus. Whilst the attention of the room had been on them, the Warblers had made their move, and as the second verse started, all eyes had to swing to the opposite end of the dais, where Nick started to sing, followed in turn by Sebastian, Jeff, Thad and David. In the second chorus, all the Warblers joined in. the song moved many of them to tears, all the more so with the poignant choice of line for Thad - "And there's never real care or regret." On hearing him sing those words, Wes, who had been standing at the back impassively, suddenly burst into tears, as he could see in Thad's face that his boyfriend's heart was breaking as he sang words that were for him untrue. Wes suddenly felt an arm around his shoulder, and turned to smile at Finn, who nodded towards the dais; on turning back, Wes saw that David had placed an arm around Thad's shoulder too. Behind the singers, at their spot on the table, Trent was holding Rory's hand as his husband let the tears fall as he felt the love of all his friends come through in the way they sang the classic Irish song. The applause that followed their efforts was all the reward that his friends needed.

Then it was finally time for the speeches to be made. Séamus stood up, and first thanked the boys for their song, then cursed them roundly for making him cry. He went on "If someone had told me years ago that the day after my own wedding I would be at my little brother's, I would have told them to be quiet before laughing out loud. But here we all are… I am so pleased to welcome Trent into my heart as a brother-in-law; he is a good guy, and he is also the first person that I have known that has ever stood up to my mother, and won! My family has got a heck of a lot bigger this week, when you think about it - I gained my very beautiful wife and her family; I got my great-uncle and my second cousins; and now I have gained the Nixon family too. One day, hopefully not too soon, there may well be new little members of my family to welcome too. So, in conclusion, once again I welcome you to the madness Trent; and ask everyone to raise their glasses in a toast to him and my little brother. I give you all, The Grooms!"

Then it was the turn of Mitch to stand up. "Ladies; Gentleman; Warblers; New Directions; Friends and family, what a day this is! I feel so fortunate to be here today at the side of someone that I can honestly say is the most loyal friend I have. Trent is a man of morals; a respecter of standards; the kind of guy you want your child to bring home and introduce as their boyfriend. Now, from what I have been told, much the same could be said of his new husband, Rory. He and Trent just seem so perfect together. When I first meant the freshman Trent Nixon at Dalton Academy, he was bruised and battered; now he is happy, smiling, and in darn good shape - obviously having Rory in his life agrees with him! I guess that is what love does to you. It makes you happy, gives you comfort, makes you feel whole. As I said, I am so honoured to be here because I lost my place - I deserted Trent just when he most needed a friend. I know for a fact that Rory will never do that to him, or vice versa. It just fills my heart with joy to look at the pair of them and see how happy they are, because if we are all honest with ourselves, they have what most of us are seeking in life, and few of us are lucky enough to find - real, true, love. So a toast, but not just to them; I know they would wish to make a toast to the four friends that are not here in body, but may well be in spirit - I say that because I'm pretty sure I heard Wes earlier, but that is wishful thinking. The toast is the happy couple, and absent friends!"

As they all drank a second toast, Trent's eyes had shifted to focus on Wes, who was trying his best to look innocent, even as three other angels around him looked at him with broad smiles. Trent realised that the eyes of all the other Warblers in the room, with the exception of Mitch and Gabriel, had shifted to the back of the room where their late leader was standing. They all knew what had to be done now; they would have to test just how clearly Mitch was hearing him, and then once they had established that he really was, Trent would take him to one side and tell him the truth. With that thought in his mind, he turned his attention back to the room, where once again Séamus was on his feet, and everyone had once again fallen silent. "Well the feast that we have just eaten, and the one of desserts that is waiting for us are all part of a good traditional Irish wedding reception; the main thing missing here is copious quantities of alcohol, but that was something that my brother insisted we forego. So, we have to move on to something that is another tradition, in a way… Normally at some point the priest would make a speech of blessing for the couple he has just married. Well, we have no priest, but what we do have is someone much better, and they have been prepared for this moment by my Nana. Ladies and Gentlemen, please be silent for a lady that entered my brother's life at Dublin Airport as he waited for his flight here to attend Blaine's funeral - Sister Mary-Agnes."

The lady in question rose to her feet; she was small in stature, but she got respect from everyone in the room, of all faiths and none. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I promise that I will keep this short, as like all of you I am really looking forward to trying some of those delicious looking desserts! This is my first time in the United States, and I would like to thank all of you for making me feel so welcome. A lot has been said today about fate; that it is only due to that, that the lovely young couple I see before me came to be reunited. If that is indeed true, then it was fate that guided me to sit next to young Rory that morning in the airport departure lounge, to see if I could help him with the distress that he was quite obviously feeling. He told me his story, and he did mention Trent to me - and I told him that if it was meant to be… The fact that we are all here tells me that it was. Some people in my Order think that the world has deviated too far from 'the proper paths', but are the paths that were established in my youth the right ones now? I don't think they are, but don't tell my Mother Superior that!" She paused as there was a ripple of laughter around the room. "I am positive that God will bless Rory and Trent, as he blesses all of us gathered in this room today. I believe that a loving God will bless everyone that is in love, and these two lovely boys are in love. So, my toast is to love and happiness; to a long and peaceful life together; and when and if they want to hear them, may they be blessed with the patter of tiny feet - and that goes for all of the young couples here. To love!"

Glasses were raised; a few people felt compelled to say Amen, whilst others just marvelled at the fact that she had made such an honest speech. As for Rory, he stood up, and pulled the nun into a hug. "Thank you Sister. May God bless you too!" he whispered, grateful for her kind heart, her wise words, and whatever guiding hand had directed such a wise woman into his path.

The speeches finished, there was an almost immediate attack on the desserts. As they made their way over, pretending in some cases just to be strolling nonchalantly, the doors to the room burst open, and staff appeared with more trays, carrying dishes of ice cream, sorbet and mousse from the cold cabinets in the next room. "Oh my, just how many kinds of ice cream are there?" said Kitty as she watched the bowls being deposited on the table in front of her.

"Six of ice cream, three of sorbet and four different kinds of mousse," said Trent, as he walked over to collect a dish of blackcurrant sorbet for Sister Mary-Agnes, and a bowl of pistachio ice cream for himself. "Everyone has a different favourite, so we decided to cater for it as best as we could."

As he walked away, Kitty turned to Artie at her side, and whispered quietly "There is such a thing as too many options. I mean, how on earth do we decide?"

"Simple, my dear. We each select two, and then share them, if you don't mind?"

"Of course not. It is one of the reasons that I love you Artie Abrams. You always seem to be thinking of other people in your choices. Ok, so there are several different kinds of mini muffins as well! When we get married, we will be having fewer choices…" Kitty stopped, as she realised what she had just said. For his part, Artie said nothing; he just took her hand and smiled broadly. "I mean…"

"I know what you mean, and your point is hereby noted, my love. Not as many choices. I think that we can agree on that…" The two of them made their selections, and went back to sit in a quiet corner, where everyone made a point of ignoring the fact that the two of them proceeded to feed each other ice cream.

In another quiet corner of the room, Flint found himself sitting on his own with a plate of coffee flavoured ice cream and a couple of buttermilk pancakes. He had been sitting there with Beats and Elliot for the majority of the meal, but upon returning with his dessert, having left the other two sitting there talking, he found them gone. He could not spy them anywhere, but then again, the French windows had been opened, and some people had made their way into the gardens, as the sun had started to shine. He had momentarily considered joining them, and seeking out his two friends, but then he had resolved instead to sit inside in comfort and eat his dessert first; plus there was a large pile of baby cupcakes which he could be tempted by afterwards….

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Flint looked up and found himself staring straight into a pair of beautiful brown eyes, set in a warm smiling face, framed by shoulder length auburn hair. "Well, no, not really… My friends were sitting here, but they aren't now, obviously… so yeah, it isn't taken. And I sounded like a complete idiot there, didn't I?"

"Not really," the young lady said with a smile and a giggle. "I caught you by surprise, and as you don't know me, you felt tongue-tied and awkward. So let's resolve that with introductions. My name is Isadora Bernstein, but people call me Izzy. I am here at this festival of food, with side order of wedding, because Rory officially became my brother-in-law yesterday."

"I'm Flint, Flint Wilson. Trent and I were at Dalton Academy together. So you are Becca's sister?"

"Yes, I have that honour; which means that I now have the privilege of being the one that my dear sweet aunts will be seeking a husband for… That is the joy of being stuck with meddling Jewish aunts!"

"I know that feeling, only I have something much worse - a Jewish mother!"

"Now there I am lucky, I guess. They have always said, my parents, that Becca and I could marry who we choose. She chose to marry a not unattractive Irish Catholic. The aunts were up in arms about that one, and boycotted the wedding, so yesterday was a great day."

"Do you think your parents would consider adopting me? My mother has kind of promised me to the daughter of her best friend; a frankly ugly girl called Berniece Rubens."

"Well that will not do! We can't have one of the gorgeous Preppy Boys marrying someone ugly!" Flint was suddenly frozen in his seat, and felt as if his entire meal was about to come back up. Seeing his discomfort, Izzy leant towards him and whispered in his ear. "It's alright, trust me." She took his hand, now trembling slightly, and continued. "We had planned to head to the bar in Princeton for the bachelorette party, but the moment that Becca mentioned it to Rory, just in passing, he told us that it would be a very bad idea indeed. Which did make me curious, to be honest, and so I did some research. I went looking online, and found a lot of images; and a lot of information about the stars of the show, the Preppy Boys. Then on Thursday night, at the pre-wedding tea party, I looked across the room, and…"

"You saw me and Beats," said Flint with a sigh. "My little job is one of many reasons why my mother and I do not currently see eye to eye. My aunt, her sister, might just have turned up at the bar for a bachelorette party; and then one night, when she was drunk, and my mom had a dig at her, she blurted out what she had seen. Needless to say, things have gone well since then…"

"You poor thing! I don't see anything wrong with what you are doing; I doubt that my parents would bat an eyelid either! You are a very buff, handsome guy, and I don't think it is a terrible thing to share that with other people. I mean, your friend is nice too, but you are far more the type of guy I like. So tell me, Mr Wilson, are you like Trent and Rory?"

"Like… Oh, no, I am not even remotely bisexual; maybe a bit of a bromance with Beats, who is my best friend, but no. I'm straight, and at the moment, single."

"Now that is a pity - a cute guy like you should certainly have a girlfriend."

"My job doesn't exactly help with my prospects there. Not many woman would want a part-time stripper as a boyfriend."

"I wouldn't mind - it's a job, and I take it that you don't…"

"Oh, Lord, no. Nothing like that, ever. Not Beats either."

"Good. So, I am going to be studying at Princeton next year, and I know that girls are not supposed to do this, but hey it is the 21st century! What I'm saying is this - would you like to go out with me for a coffee sometime? I mean, I would totally understand if you didn't want to…"

Flint looked back at Izzy in shock. For the first time in his life, a beautiful girl was asking him out. And she was so beautiful… "I guess that would be nice, yeah, but I would like to know a bit more about you first; so why don't the two of us just sit here, and you can tell me all I need to know about Izzy…"

It was Kurt that noticed it first; that the usually quiet Flint was talking with increasing animation to a young lady that he did not recognise, and she was talking back to him just as happily. He said nothing at first - just stood and observed as she began to play with her hair; as Flint puffed out his chest slightly, sat up straight, and kept gazing right into her eyes. It was when the two of them began to edge closer together and started to giggle that he felt obliged to give Blaine a gentle nudge, then gesture discretely over in the direction of the pair. Blaine looked, smiled, and then went to whisper to Wes, who came over and joined them. "Who is she?" said Kurt. "I have no idea…"

"If I am not mistaken then that is Rory's new sister-in-law; yes, that's it. Her name escapes me for the moment, but that's who she is. From what I can see, she seems to like our Flint, and from his actions, I would suggest that the feeling is mutual. This is maybe exactly what he needs to get himself out of the funk that he has been in since everything blew up with his mother; and if it does turn out to be 'something' then his mother would at least be mollified by the fact that she is a good Jewish girl," said Wes.

"I'd think that his mother would be overjoyed," said a smiling Blaine, "but do you think that she knows about his sideline?" That factor was all that dimmed the happiness of Flint's angelic friends as they watched; the idea that he could be set up for a major disappointment.

"Let's not worry about that just now, Blaine. He looks happy, so does she, and they look good together. Fingers crossed that this is just the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship," said Wes. Then his eyes turned to elsewhere in the room, and saw Ethan and Drew talking with David and Thad. He knew that there, a longstanding friendship was about to be a little less close…

"So, the time has come for us to tell you two guys something that might come as a bit of a shock to some of you at first; but let's all be honest, we are getting older, and friends do sometimes drift apart as they age…" Drew stopped speaking and took in the expression on the faces of his two L.A. based friends; they had grown more and more concerned as he had continued speaking. At his side, he could also see that Ethan's smile had wavered slightly, and he could understand why; he had felt it himself for the last few weeks, ever since Ethan had told him his decision. "As you know, the courses that we were on in England were for three years, and then we had the option to stay on for another year, or more, for further study. Which is what I intend to do at Oxford. I've made a lot of good friends there - and then there is Lucy. I really like - no, love her, and I don't want to lose her; she's the Wes to my Thad, the Mercedes to my David, if you like…"

"Whereas I have accepted a place for a further year of study at Princeton," said Ethan sadly. "Don't get me wrong, I have loved being at Cambridge - the history, the teaching, the atmosphere. Don't get me wrong, England has been great, but the thing is, I don't have as many close friends there and I kind of miss you guys and all of the Warbler drama! I will miss Drew so much - after all, we were like you and Wes, David - best friends before we came to Dalton, but I want to come home. So all of my stuff is on its way here in a container…"

"Whilst mine is at Lucy's flat," said Drew, "because we are going to be moving in together. Although if my parents ask, I am moving in with George Lucy, not Lucy George…"

There was silence for a minute, as David and Thad just looked at each other, then at the two young men sitting before them. In the end, David spoke. "Well, what can we say but that it is the end of an era. One of the epic bromances of our time will be tested by over 3000 miles of ocean, a five hour time difference, and two different sets of commitments."

"It just won't be the same for any of us without Drethan; I mean, we barely survived the loss of Wevid," said Thad, smiling sadly. "But, you have both done the right thing and made choices that suited your own needs. It would have been so easy to say nothing to try and preserve the status quo, but then you would have put the taint of misery on your friendship. So, Ethan, if it is Princeton that you will be going to, then you will be seeing a lot of Beats and Flint, and not in the stripper way." Ethan burst out laughing, and that was the catalyst to make all four of them start.

Once they had calmed down, Drew turned to his friend with a serious face, and said, "So, Ethan, what will you do if they ask you to make the Preppy Boys a trio?"

"It would be a firm, but gentle, no on that score. Speaking of them, they don't even know yet, so I guess that I should talk to them next." He scanned the room; he could not see Beats, but he could see Flint… "Ok, guys, just who is that girl that Flint is flirting with…?"

Those words immediately drew the attention of the other three, and they all turned to look across the room towards Flint, albeit as discretely as possible. It did make them all smile to see Flint with her, even if she was a complete stranger to them all. It did not take Wes long to spy that they were all looking, and he made his way over to them, carefully avoiding guests that could not see him. "Ok, so I take it that you guys have also spotted Mr Wilson and his new lady. Well, let me inform you that she is Rory's sister-in-law, and her name, which had alluded me until now, is Izzy Bernstein. She might even be heading to Princeton to study next year, I believe, for her third year at college. There is hope there for us all that it might even work out long term, because they do seem to be very enamoured with each other…"

"They do, don't they Wessie," said Thad, a grin on his face. "But wait, she is getting up, and walking back over to her sister!"

"Yes, but Flint is still smiling like a cat that has just got the cream, so it can't be bad," said David. "Hang on, she is coming back with a pen, and she is writing something on that bit of paper - because we all left our phones in the cloakroom. Yes, he's got her number!" David said those last words just a little too loudly as there was a sudden lull in the conversation, and suddenly Flint spun his gaze in their direction, and went bright red, as did David. Then they all heard the sound of Izzy laughing, and eventually, that of Flint joining in.

He had to admit that he was mortified by his friend's outburst; not for himself, but for Izzy, but she just laughed it off, and told him that she would speak to him later, after he had been grilled by his friends. She was correct of course - no sooner had she walked away than he found himself being joined by his four friends and three angels. "Ok, yes, I like her! She is nice, she laughs at my lame jokes, but best of all, she knows all about my job, and she doesn't care! In fact, she thinks that it is kind of hot… So, she is going to be up in New York for the next month, and she is single…"

"So ask her out! Take her to see the diner that you own a share in, and buy her dinner, or take her to a show! She likes you, so go for it! If you don't Warbler Wilson, I will feel compelled to hit you hard with Mr Bangy!" said Thad, with such vehemence that all the others chuckled.

"I was going to ask her out for coffee, but yeah, dinner is better. Only, maybe not at the Spotlight, because (a) she might think that I am a bit of a cheapskate that doesn't want to pay too much for a meal; and (b) because I would rather not have half the staff staring at us for the whole night! Chinese food - I wonder is she likes Chinese food?"

"Ask Rory. He can ask her sister, and find out for you - or you could just ask her yourself… Now, changing the subject, where is your partner in crime? I need to talk to the two of you," said Ethan.

"I have no idea, to be honest. I guess that I should go and find him - after all, I have a lot to tell him…"

As Flint headed out into the gardens in search of Beats, the attention of everyone inside was attracted once again by Séamus, who had a smiling Rory at his side. He announced that he and his brother were going to sing a little song for their beloved Nana. The song was An Irish Lullaby, with the words changed just a little to make it more fitting for the situation. None of them had heard Séamus sing before, but his voice was a perfect fit with Rory's; the song brought a tear to their Nana's eye, not to mention the eyes of many others in the room. Some did wonder where their mother was that day, as not everyone was appraised of the full story. Others knew that at that moment, she was somewhere near Seattle, probably cursing the fact that her two sons even existed, after she had flown thousands of miles, having been lead up the garden path by her own mother…

In the gardens, meanwhile, Flint was having difficulty in finding Beats. There were a lot of people out and about, admiring the landscaping, or just soaking up the warmth as the sun broke through the clouds all the more strongly. He smiled as he past Mike and Tina, talking in whispers. Life was finally getting better, he thought. It was such a wonderful day for them all.

Then he rounded a hedge in a much quieter, more secluded part of the garden - and what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks.

There was Beats, his best friend.

There was Beats, with his tongue in Elliot's mouth, in the middle of a heated and passionate kiss….