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Kurt and Sam were still following their plan of working 10-hour shifts four days a week. When they got off Friday, they headed straight from the shop to their place. They pulled up a little after 8:30. They took a quick shower, put pajamas on, and texted Jeff to open their patio door.
"Pizza's on the counter. Help yourselves. We've got the DVD loaded and ready to start."
"Thanks," Kurt said. "I like the new parking spaces. That was an inspired idea to put basically 8 sidewalks leading to our fence."
"I sort of zoned out when Jerry was explaining something about driveway restrictions and access and something about too much concrete."
Kurt laughed. "Well, what he did works, but makes it a longer walk for the two of you to your front door."
"Meh. We'll live. It's way, way closer than parking in a huge parking lot and walking to a dorm room. And plus, the street in front of this side house is a lot busier than the street your side of the house faces. That's probably why the garage opened to the side instead of the front to start with when it was built."
"That's true," Kurt agreed. "I didn't think about it the day you said you had to talk to the neighbors about standing on their property to clean and restain the fence. They were home. Does that mean that they aren't students?"
"They are not. The people behind us are about our parents' age. It was a lady about our parents' age that answered the door. Next to us is an older guy, maybe old enough to be our grandpa, maybe not quite that old. I didn't ask questions about any other people living in the houses, but if there are students living there, they live with an older family member or something."
Sam said, "That means there's a pretty good chance we won't be having keggers at the neighbors' to live through on the weekends."
"Unless they're middle-age to not-quite-old-enough-to-retire keg party throwers," Jeff said.
"Let's hope not," Kurt said, as he rolled his eyes.
He and Sam piled some slices of pizza onto their plates and sat down on the sofa. Nick pressed play. They watched three episodes before heading back to their place for the night.
"Tomorrow morning, we're going out on our walking tour of the area still, right?" Sam asked.
"Definitely, but not too early. We're sleeping in compared to Kurt. How about 9:00?"
Kurt said, "Sure. And if I knew where the 'sleep in' button in my brain was, I'd press it when I've stayed up late. Thanks for the pizza. We'll watch the two bonus episodes plus any other special features tomorrow night."
Nick said, "Sounds good. We'll see you in the morning." He opened the patio door and locked it after they were outside.
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Kurt pulled the covers back and flopped on the bed. Sam turned some music on, the overhead light off, and got in bed.
"C'mere," Sam said. "Come be the big spoon and snuggle me."
"As you wish." Kurt scooted up and wrapped himself all around Sam and slid his arm under Sam's pillow to get even closer.
Sam chuckled. "Westley would be impressed."
"We haven't watched that in a while. That should move to the top of our viewing list." He kissed Sam's shoulder. He pressed in and breathed in deeply through his nose. "You smell so good." He yawned. "I'm so tired. I love you."
"I love you too."
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"When your dad said it was three blocks from campus, he must have meant three long blocks to the point on the map that said Kent State," Kurt said as the four of them walked towards campus.
"I don't know where he was measuring from, but we're only around the corner and down one block from Main Street. The other is side of Main Street is the edge of campus," Nick said. "Walking past Taco Bell every day might test my willpower."
They turned left when the got to Main Street and walked for quite a while before crossing the street to the campus side.
"This Mexican restaurant looks like the end of the commercial part of the street," Nick said.
They started walking back towards campus.
Jeff looked through the photos on his phone and said, "We've seen a Mexican place, a Japanese place, a chicken place, a smoothie place, two mini-mart gas stations, a grocery store, a Chinese place, Arby's, a pizza place, a couple of restaurants that we couldn't tell what they serve including a buffet of some sort, a Thai place, Taco Bell, a grill, Starbucks, and Pizza Hut. We've walked the other direction before. There's Burger King, Dunkin' Donuts, Wendy's, Papa John's, Chipotle, another pizza place, a liquor store, an art supply place, and a used CD and DVD shop."
Sam said, "Taking pics was a good idea."
"It was faster than opening a note app and writing everything down."
"I want to check out the art store and the music and DVD store some time."
"Of all the things you just listed, I didn't hear anything about a coffee shop that isn't Starbucks," Kurt said. "That's something I'll have to look for – a place to indulge my coffee-loving side once in a while. And at some point, I'd like to try the ethnic foods I've never tried before."
When they got to the edge of campus they veered off the sidewalk along Main Street and headed into the campus itself. The walked around the outer edge of the campus and looked around. When they got around to the part that had a lot of the classroom buildings, they began to recognize the places they had been on their campus tour.
"This is where I'll be headed most the time, I think," Nick said, as they walked past the architecture department building. That art store is across Main Street and down just a little to the west, to the left."
"Anyone mind if we look?" Sam asked.
"Sure, why not?" Jeff asked.
They looked through the art store and the CD/DVD shop before they headed back in the direction of the house. They walked past all of the places that Jeff had named earlier.
"The upside is that there's no Panera along this street," Sam said. "Danger is not lurking in the immediately vicinity."
"Well, that's good to know that I'm safe from whatever danger Panera poses," Jeff said.
"Cookies and muffins and bagels and paninis and other things that are dangers to my waistline and bank account."
"I see. Oh, we forgot to tell you that our appeal was denied," Jeff said. "We're working on Plan B."
"What's Plan B?" Sam asked.
"Not quite complete yet," Nick said.
"Alright. You're still going with us to the lake to swim this afternoon, right?" Kurt asked.
"Definitely," Nick replied.
"Dress to swim," Kurt said. "Bring clothes to change into after we shower. We're going to go to Michael's, Target, and Dollar Tree afterwards. Plus, maybe some other places. I saw this place called Ollie's, which is some kind of discount store. There's a Plato's Closet and other stores."
"Download the coupon from Michael's and we'll give you cash for what we're going to get. We'll do the same thing once you figure out what you want to hang on the walls. We can all go and use four coupons at once."
"We can do that," Nick said.
They stopped at the edge of the sidewalk up to Kurt and Sam's.
Kurt asked, "So, does 30 minutes give you two enough time to be ready?"
"Yeah," Jeff said. "We'll meet you at the Nav in 30 minutes."
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"This isn't nearly as far away as I was expecting it to be," Jeff said, as they turned into the park.
"It's bigger than I expected it to be with this many parking spaces," Nick said.
Kurt pulled into the closest spot to the bathhouse that he could find. They walked over to the beach part of the lake and swam and horsed around for about an hour. They grabbed their clothes from the Nav, showered and changed before they left.
"So, worthy of a repeat visit?" Kurt asked, as they were heading toward Cuyahoga Falls to do their shopping.
"I thought it was fun," Jeff said. "There are trails too. We could go hiking when it get too chilly to swim."
"I saw some other parks in this general area too," Kurt said. "We can visit them at some point. Do you guys need to go anywhere in particular? We can stop at a grocery store or Sam's Club for you guys. We're not buying anything we're not eating today or tomorrow because we'll be in Tennessee next weekend and the weekend after that, we're staying in Lima because Dad will be back that weekend."
"I think we're fine. We're going back to Findlay on Monday," Nick said. "We're just along for the ride and the company. And to buy whatever it is you need from Michaels."
About 10 minutes later, Kurt turned into the strip mall shopping center. They went inside Dollar Tree and bought 12 dark wood 8x10 frames. A few other odds and ends ended up in their cart as well. Jeff insisted on buying the four of them Top Gun style sunglasses.
"Put them on," Jeff insisted when they got outside. "We have to position ourselves somehow for a selfie so the store name shows."
"What are we doing this for?" Kurt asked.
"Just get over here and stand in front of Sam, next to Nick." He handed his phone to Nick to try to get them all in the frame. He took his phone back and looked at the photo. "That's good."
"What are you doing with it?"
"Posting it to Sebastian's Facebook page." He finished what he was typing. "There."
Kurt asked, "What did you type?"
"Paris may be the fashion capital, but you can't find a place where you look as cool as we do for $4.00."
Kurt laughed. He opened the back of the Navigator and they put their bags in. He drove across the parking lot and reparked. "Let's go see what Ollie's is."
They looked around for about 10 minutes. They picked up a few food items, paid for them, and left.
Once they were outside, Kurt said, "It does sort of have a Big Lots feel to it. I don't think we could count on buying anything in particular in there, but it would be a good place to stop if you already have a list of things you need to see if they have it cheaper than everywhere else." He opened the back and they put their bags in. He drove them across the street to Michaels.
When they got out, Jeff said, "Cover Sam's eyes quick!"
Sam tried to look around.
Jeff intervened and ushered him quickly towards the entrance to Michaels. "It's for his own protection," Jeff continued, acting like there was some real danger and he was some kind of bodyguard. "Move along. Inside the building, sir." He pushed Sam through the door, still acting silly.
"What is going on?" Sam asked, thoroughly confused.
"Nothing you need to be concerned about now. You're safe in here," Jeff teased. "Come on. Let's go find what we need."
Kurt led the way to the canvases and the other items. He gave the other two the cash to buy what he handed them before they got in line. On the way out, Jeff used the large canvas he was carrying to block Sam's view to the right.
Once they got the canvas in the cargo area nice and flat, Sam took the opportunity to look around quickly. He started cracking up. "There's a Panera." He pointed. "Jeff's saving me from myself. Thank you." He was still laughing as he got in the passenger seat. "Let's get in Target before the siren bagels lure me inside."
Kurt drove closer to Target and parked again. They went inside. Kurt grabbed two carts, sliding one to Sam, and made a beeline for the home storage area. He put a folding clothes-drying rack and a collapsible garment rack in Sam's cart and the two largest laundry baskets that would fit under their bed in his. "Done," he said.
"You're sure?" Jeff said.
"Actually let's check to see if they have grill covers here. We still haven't gotten one."
Twenty minutes later, Kurt pulled out of the parking lot. "Last requests?" He didn't get any response, so he pulled out and headed back to the house.
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Sam threw their swimming stuff in the washer and then joined Kurt in the shower.
"Hey, sweetie. Come closer and I'll wash your hair. How about we shower quickly and then we soak in the tub for a while?"
"That sounds nice." He let Kurt wash his hair and then picked up Kurt's shampoo to do his. "When we get out I was thinking of going ahead and gluing all of the 8x10 frames together. We can let them dry for nearly 24 hours before we put the paintings in." He rinsed Kurt's hair. "Are you listening?"
"Not really. Sorry. I feels so good when you do my hair that I can't really think."
Sam kissed him. "It's okay." He grabbed his rag and began to wash and rinse quickly.
Kurt did the same. "You said something about the frames."
As soon as Kurt rinsed off, Sam pulled the sprayer down and rinsed the tub. He pressed the lever to fill the tub and hung the sprayer back up. He pulled Kurt close and kissed him. "I was thinking of gluing them together when we get out. That way we can put the paintings in and hang it up before we head back to Lima tomorrow."
"That's a good idea. Why don't we save the bath for tomorrow."
"Okay." Sam turned the water off and let the little bit that had started to fill the tub out. He got out and grabbed their towels and handed Kurt's to him.
They redressed in some shorts and threw what they had worn that morning and that afternoon into the washer with what was already in there and turned it on.
Kurt grabbed some newspaper and laid it out on the dining table and they disassembled the frames and wrapped the glass in the newspaper and taped each one so the glass couldn't slip out. Once they finished, they laid all 12 frames out and worked together to glue them together and use the staple gun to hold the frames together to dry.
"I think we're going to need to cut the box the drying rack came in to fit the back," Kurt said.
"You're right. I don't think this is going to be sturdy enough to not bend or sag or something once we put all of the canvases in. We can use the staple gun and staple the cardboard to the back once we've gotten the paintings secured in the frames the way we want them."
"We'll just cut a little area out of the cardboard at the top where the saw blade hangers are."
Once they had all of the frames together, they warmed up food they had defrosted and ate dinner before going over to Nick and Jeff's to play their next round of Mouse Guard, after which they watched the remaining episodes of Warehouse 13 and the special features.
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Kurt attempted to inch his way towards the edge of the bed, but the second time he moved just slightly, Sam's arm tightened and pulled him back. He snuffled and buried his nose into the back of Kurt's neck.
"Stay."
"I was going to make you breakfast."
"Cuddles."
"You're adorable and you know it, and you use it to keep me in bed."
"Mmm."
"I never use to lie around in bed. Before we moved, my bed was a convertible sofa."
"Happier now," he said with utmost confidence.
"Lying around in bed makes me happier? Interesting sleepy hypothesis."
"Not hyopethsis. S'true."
"Hyopethsis?" Kurt giggled. "You are sleepy."
"Cuddles 'n giggles." He pressed his lips to the back of Kurt's neck. "Love you."
"I love you too." Kurt relaxed in Sam's arms. Why am I trying to get up? I have what I've always wanted – someone who loves me just the way I am. This is one of his favorite things to do. Holding ME close is one of his favorite things to do. He smiled and closed his eyes.
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Kurt plated Sam's omelette and handed it to him. Sam took it and kissed Kurt. They sat down in chairs, but held their plates and ate since the frames were still on the table drying.
"Let's figure out the layout after we finish," Sam said.
"I hope that using the staple gun and taping them was good enough since we don't own 34 mini-clamps."
"I guess we'll see, but I hope so too. I'm going to get started on the fish tank canvas. I thought maybe you could prep the 11x14 boards so we can work on the illuminated letters during the week this week in the evenings. We can work on them in the dining room or outside if it's nice. We just need to pick a style and get started."
"I can do that."
"You mentioned sewing."
"I can work on that too."
"I didn't think you had any more projects you were working on."
"Well, I came up with one."
"Imagine that," he teased. He leaned towards Kurt and offered him a kiss.
Kurt smiled and kissed him. "Remember that other fabric I bought and didn't end up using for any of the curtains."
"Vaguely."
"I'll show you before I do anything to it. It's lightweight drapery fabric, so it's 60 inches wide and I have three yards of it. I want to make floor-to-ceiling curtains to hang at the edge of our doorframe, blocking off that 3-foot section of the hall. I hang a lot of my clothes up to dry and with the washer and dryer being stacked, there's nowhere to hang clothes to dry in the laundry closet. I want to stand that garment rack up and leave it up behind the curtain. We can put the folding rack in our room when we need to use it for our clothes. I'll probably have both racks in our study some of the time too for projects I'm working on to keep the pieces neat and easy to get to as I'm working on something."
"How are you going to hang it?"
"I was thinking a tension rod, but I'm not dead set on that option. I was going to use those rolling stainless hangers like we have for the shower curtain and I was going to put buttonholes in the top of the curtains like I did on the shower curtain. That was I can open them back easily. Trying to fight with the curtain while I'm hanging up wet clothes will just be annoying."
"That makes sense."
"We can ask Jerry his preferred method of hanging it when he's here for Nick's and Jeff's birthday party in three weeks. We're not going to be back here until that weekend anyway, but since we brought all of our stuff over here, I can't really sew in Lima anymore."
"I'll pack up the colors of paint we'll need for the illuminated letters and take it with us – and all of my paintbrushes." He reached for Kurt's plate and fork. He loaded them into the dishwasher and washed his hands before he went down the hall to the study to get the 12 paintings.
Kurt was drying his hands when Sam came back in the room. "I had everyone put their names on the bottom right corner on the back. That will help us figure out which side is up."
They laid them all out on the floor and kept rearranging them until they came up with a layout that they both liked.
"Alright. To the study to paint and sew!" Sam said, using a Buzz Lightyear voice.
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After lunch, they went to Nick and Jeff's and played foosball and video games for a while. About 2:00, the four of them went to Kurt and Sam's.
"So, Nick, if you could hold the bottom right corner and the center down. And Jeff take the top left corner and somewhere near here. Sam can hold the bottom left corner and here."
Everyone put their hands where Kurt had pointed. He picked up the first painting for the top left and put it in the frame. He used the staple gun around the edges to hold it in place. He grabbed the center painting next. They worked their way to the bottom.
"Now, the backing." Sam grabbed the piece they had carefully cut earlier and lined it up on the back. "Same thing as before. Just help keep the cardboard exactly where it is for Kurt to staple it in place."
Kurt stapled it in about 30 places. "Alright, let's see it."
They flipped it over carefully and laid it back on the table.
"It looks really cool," Sam said. "I like it."
"Me too," Kurt said.
"They somehow look better than they did when we finished them," Jeff said.
"Oh, I put two coats of gloss varnish on them to give them a finished look."
They turned it back over to make a template to use to hang it up. They measured really carefully twice before Kurt put the small screw anchors in the wall. He inserted the long thin screws they bought and left just enough room for the saw blade hangers.
"Alright, let's put it up," Sam said.
He and Kurt carefully hooked the hangers over the screws and slowly let go and stepped back.
"It looks good," Kurt said.
"I agree," Sam said.
"Well, that's done. Thank you for your help, kind sirs." Kurt tipped an imaginary top hat.
Sam asked, "Have you two come up with any ideas?"
"We have, sort of," Nick said. "In the living and dining room, what about just painting directly on the walls? We can get some small containers of whatever type of paint you'd need. That way when we have people over and they're playing foosball and hanging around in the kitchen, there won't be any chance of the actually knocking things off the walls."
"You'd have to talk to your dad about that. Artistically, the only difference would be that I would have to spend time at your place to do it, rather than doing the artwork in our study. But if you want geometric patterns or words spelled out or whatever, we can cut those out of newspaper and trace them with pencil onto the walls and I can paint them. You could just give us a key to your place so I can work on it even if you're not here at some point."
Nick nodded.
"If you want to get an idea of what it would look like, take a picture of each wall where you can see part of the room too. Then use Word and the blank publishing layout option and drop the photo in. Then you can put shapes and words using different fonts and colors directly on the photo and see what you like the best," Sam said.
"Good idea," Jeff said. "Let's go back and do that. We can show your dad what it looks like when we ask him." He opened the patio door and stepped out.
"I'll ask my dad and let you know. We'll see you in a few weeks. Have fun in Tennessee. We'll have our minds made up by the time we see you again."
Kurt said, "Have fun playing around. We'll see you in a few weeks."
Nick said, "See ya!" and slid the door shut.
Sam wrapped his arms around Kurt. "I like it."
"Me too. When I see it, I remember them all sitting and standing around in the dining room laughing and talking and painting."
Sam kissed the side of his neck. "I love you."
Kurt leaned back into him. "I love you too. I'll sew and you can get the gesso out and tackle those huge canvases."
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A couple of hours later, Kurt and Sam were finally in the tub for the bath they had postponed the day before.
"I think I've decided the last thing I'm going to splurge on," Kurt said.
"What?"
"A waterproof Bluetooth speaker. I like having the stereo in our room so we can listen to books on CD and all of our music CDs, but I'd like to be able to listen to music in the kitchen and in here and in the living room. I'm going to do some research and find a good one."
"M'kay." He ran his hands down Kurt's arms and kissed the back of his neck.
"We'll do the sheets and towels before we go so they'll be clean when we come back in a few weeks. We need to pack still."
"You're not really relaxing."
"You're right. I'm sorry." He took a deep breath and rotated a bit so he could kiss Sam. "Better?"
"Much."
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Kurt walked through one last time, making notes and checking everything before they left. He took a photo of the dining area with the collage to show everyone and to send to Sebastian and Dylan.
"I'll be really glad that when we come back, the internet will finally be on. I've missed not being able to Skype when we're here. We can give Dylan and Sebastian a virtual tour after we get the paintings up." He stopped in the study. "I like the way the study looks now. The Wicked poster and our photo collages in the black frames and the three paintings from the day at the museum in Cleveland all make the room feel finished now." Satisfied nothing needed done in there, he moved on to their bedroom. "And our room feels complete with your paintings up too."
"You were quick with those curtains today."
"Just a bunch of straight seams, so it didn't take that long. I still have the button holes to do along the top edge." He looked around again. "I don't see anything that we've missed." He zipped up their suitcase, put it on the floor, and then grabbed the duffle and his satchel.
Sam grabbed his as well and popped the handle up on the suitcase. "Ready then?"
"Yeah." He followed Sam out of the room. "It seems weird to not come back for so long, but I'm glad we've gotten everything ready for when we come back to stay. I gave Cassius my notice for the 9th. It seems so weird. I saw that tire shop when we were out on our walk. I'll apply there if we run into money issues. I could walk there."
"I know you feel torn about not working. I've been there." He opened the front door and let Kurt step through. He locked the door.
"I know." Kurt hit the unlock on his remote and they put everything in the back of the Navigator. "Hopefully, we didn't leave anything we really need behind." He shut the back and got in the driver's seat.
Sam climbed in, shut his door, and leaned over to kiss Kurt before he put his seat belt on. "You were very thorough. If we have to have something, we'll just have to buy whatever it is."
"You pick the music." He backed out and headed to Lima.
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Monday evening when they got home from work, they worked on sketching the illuminated letters on the canvas boards until it was time for the season premiere of Warehouse 13. When the episode ended, they took the four boards upstairs and put them on the shelves in their room.
"Well, that was a depressing episode," Kurt said. "I'm glad it wasn't the season finale. Maybe they come up with some way to undo all of that."
"I hope. The scene of Claudia running up the stairs and going in that room, ugh."
"Next week's episode better be at least a little fun. It's supposed to be fantasy and sci fi, not a tragedy. Escapism. If I wanted tragedy, I'd watch the news."
"Let's just get ready for bed. I think we should go shopping tomorrow for one of those speakers you were talking about. I miss our music already."
"We'll do it when we get off." Kurt tossed his clothes into the basket in the closet. "It's weird with the closet half empty."
"All the more space to make out with you, my dear," Sam said in his best big bad wolf imitating a granny voice.
Kurt broke out laughing. "That was fantastic. Absolutely perfect. I love you so much. You bring so much joy to my life." Kurt wrapped his arms around Sam and hugged him.
"I love hearing you laugh. And I love you too. Let's go make out in the shower."
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"That's everything," Kurt said, as he closed the back door. "All that's left is to shower and change."
"And grab our sandwiches and carrots and our coffee and water."
"That too."
Once they were back downstairs, they grabbed their stuff from the kitchen. They set the house alarm on the way out and got in Carole's car. Sam put the thermoses of coffee in the cup holders for the backseat and the water in the front. He put their food between them. They buckled up and headed out.
Kurt looked at the clock on the dash. "6:35. We did good. We should get there in time to read to them before they go to sleep." He backed out of the driveway. "It's weird driving a car. It will save us about $75 in gas by taking it instead of the Navigator, though."
"It was nice of Carole to let us take it."
"She so sweet to me – and you. I honestly didn't know what to expect when they started dating and then when they got married. But she's just blended right in and been a mother figure without trying to take my mom's place."
"She is super nice. She's been like that with me too. She's just very mom-like – maternal and nurturing." He switched subjects. "I haven't been to the Smoky Mountains in ages."
"My dad and I went once when I was 11. We went to Dollywood. It was between fourth and fifth grade. It was a lot of fun."
"I've never been to Dollywood. I bet it was cool."
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They pulled up and parked in front of the Evans' place at 9:15. They grabbed their bags and headed up to the house. Sam texted Mary that they were there. She opened the door a couple of minutes later. They stepped inside and she closed the door.
She immediately hugged Sam, and then Kurt. "I'm so glad to see the two of you. I've been asked at least fifteen times how much longer they had to wait for you to get here."
Sam laughed. "Let's see what happens." He reached back and opened the door quietly and shut it much more loudly than necessary.
"SAMMY!" Stacey squealed as she barreled out of the hallway. She crashed into Sam and hugged him.
Stevie wasn't far behind. "You're finally here."
"We are. We got caught in some unexpected traffic on the north side of Cincinnati. Do you have the book ready?" Kurt asked.
"We do," Stacey said.
"Then, let's go get reading. You need to go to sleep soon. We have big plans for tomorrow."
"We know," Stevie said. "Well, we don't exactly know, since it's a surprise, but we're excited.
Kurt and Sam dropped their bag in Stevie's room and went into Stacey's room. Both kids had climbed into Stacey's bed. Sam pulled the covers up. Kurt picked up the book and began to read to them. When he finished, he put the book on dresser.
"We'll see you two in the morning," Sam said. He kissed them both on the forehead.
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They went out into the living room and sat down to talk to Dwight and Mary.
"So, you're taking them to the children's museum in Knoxville?" Mary asked.
"Yes," Sam answered. "And to a natural history museum that I can't remember the name of right now."
"Okay. You have the directions to the cabin. Quite a few people will already be there when you arrive. We won't get there until somewhere around 10:00."
Dwight pulled his wallet out and handed Sam a $20 bill. "Use this to get lunch for the four of you."
Sam didn't immediately reach for it.
Mary said, "Sam, honey. Take the money. If you don't want to use it for the four of you, at least buy Stevie and Stacey lunch with it and use the other half towards their tickets."
He nodded and put the money in his own wallet.
Kurt broke the tension by pulling his phone out and showing the two of them the photos of their place in Kent.
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Kurt and Sam went out in the backyard, around to the side away from where Stevie and Stacey were sleeping. Kurt took his phone out and Skyped Sebastian. As soon as he picked up, the two of them started to sing.
… Happy Birthday to you!
Sebastian said, " You two are crazy. Thank you. It's what 6:00 in the morning there? Where are you two?"
"Yep. We're outside the Evans' house so we won't wake Stevie and Stacey up," Kurt said.
Sam asked, "Any fun plans?"
"Dylan and I are going out dancing tonight. A dinner and movie before that. We're getting ready to eat lunch with Maman and my aunt, uncle and cousins. Maman invited them over for lunch."
"That sounds like fun. We're taking Stevie and Stacey to two museums in Knoxville and then driving to the cabin from there. We'll email you pictures and maybe post some on Facebook next week."
Sam said, "Tomorrow we're going up to the top of the mountain. Then, a day at the cabin. Monday, the aquarium is on our agenda."
"Sounds fun. Dylan and I should go to the aquarium here. I've never been and I doubt he has. I'm going to go start visiting a lot of places."
"Good. If I were there, I'd visit every place I possibly could."
"I know. You made me think about a lot of things. My Maman is very pleased with my reformation."
Kurt laughed. "Tell her 'hi' from us. I hope you have a really great birthday."
"It's been enjoyable so far." He waggled his eyebrows.
Kurt shook his head and rolled his eyes. "The internet will be on the next time we're in Kent and we're planning a virtual tour for the two of you. We'll set a time soon."
"Okay. Thanks for calling." Sebastian disconnected the call.
"I miss him still. We need to go to Paris."
"We'll save up."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Later that evening after spending the day at the two museums in Knoxville, the four of them pulled up to the cabin. Sam got out and went up on the porch and knocked to make sure they were in the right place. When his Aunt Martha opened the door, he motioned for everyone to get out of the car. Stevie and Stacey came barreling up to the porch. They stopped briefly to hug Martha, and then headed straight through the door in search of their cousins.
"Downstairs," she pointed towards the stairway. "Go around the back. The stairs down are on the other end."
Kurt had their bags and followed Sam and Martha inside.
"It's so nice to finally meet you, Kurt. Mary has told me such nice things about you."
"It's nice to meet you too. Where should we put these?"
She led them downstairs to a room with a queen bed and a small closet and a small bathroom. "This room has its own bathroom, but it's so small no one with kids could use it since there's no room for anyone to do anything but walk around the bed in here."
"A phenomenal private bathroom and an itty bitty living space," Sam said, imitating the genie in Aladdin.
Kurt and Martha both laughed.
"The bathroom opens on the other side, so be sure to lock both doors if you don't want company. Dinner will be ready in about 30 minutes."
"Thanks," Sam said.
"I'll let you settle in and then you can introduce Kurt to everyone." Martha left them to go check on the kids.
Kurt and Sam unpacked their clothes. They hung the shirts in the small closet and put their other stuff on the shelf above the hanging rod. When they finished, they grabbed Stevie and Stacey's sleeping bags with their pajamas rolled inside to take back upstairs with them.
When they got upstairs, Sam asked, "Aunt Martha, where's my parents' room. We have the kids' sleeping bags."
She led them to a room down a hall. "In there."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Before everyone sat down to eat, Sam had everyone group up quickly.
"You met Aunt Martha. That's her husband John and their kids, Sarah and Billy."
Kurt stepped forwards and shook hands with John. "It's nice to meet you, sir."
"You too."
Kurt nodded and smiled.
Sam continued. "My dad's brother Uncle Daryl and his wife Aunt Kenna. Lisa, Robby and Bonnie."
Kurt shook Daryl's hand as well.
"My dad's sister Aunt Denise and her husband Uncle Larry. Gina, Benji, and Danny."
Kurt shook Larry's hand.
"And my dad's parents, Mark and Kim, but we all call them Nana and Pawpaw."
Kurt shook Mark's hand.
"It's nice to meet all of you."
"My mom's parents' names are Charlie and Helen Nelson, but everyone calls them Granny and Grandpa. They will be here tomorrow morning, along with Auntie Margaret and Auntie Caroline. They're Granny's twin sisters and they're best friends with Nana."
Kurt nodded. "I'll do my best to remember."
"Honey, it's fine," Kim said. We know there's a lot of people to meet all at once. Everyone sit down so we can get the food served."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Mary and Dwight made it right at bedtime for the kids. Mary came downstairs after they were finally lying down.
"Thanks for taking them today. They were both talking non-stop about how cool both of the museums were."
"We had fun too," Sam said.
"Did you decide what you're going to do on Monday?"
"We're going to the aquarium first thing in the morning in hopes that it will be less crowded then."
"That should be fun," Mary said.
"Burt and Carole gave both of us some money for graduation and we were both admonished that we were supposed to spend on something fun."
"I see. Sounds like something they would say. They're always saying how hard the two of you work and how you need to spend a little more time being young and having fun because you'll be hardworking adults for the rest of your lives when you get out of college."
"We hear the same thing from him," Kurt said.
"We're going up to the top of the mountains tomorrow. You two can ride with my parents so you can focus on the view rather than the road."
"Thanks," Kurt said. "That will make it more fun for us. We'll see you in the morning."
"Good night," she said, as she stepped out the door, closing in behind her.
"Well, we have our own private room with a bathroom. It's perfect. Time to go to bed."
Kurt turned the lock on the door. He stripped down to his underwear, grabbed their toiletries bag, and went into the bathroom. Sam followed him. When they came back out, they lay down facing each other. They spent quite a while kissing before Sam turned over to be the little spoon. He scooted back and they got comfortable. "I love you."
"I love you too."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}J-28{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
At 7:02, there was a faint knock at their door. "Kurt, Sammy, let me in, please?"
Sam got up and opened the door just a little bit. "Hey Stacey. Give us a few minutes to get dressed, okay?"
"Okay, but hurry. I'll wait right here by your door."
He saw her turn around and sit down on the floor as he closed the door and locked it quietly.
Kurt sat up and stretched. "We've been summoned by her royal highness, haven't we?"
"Yep."
They got dressed, made the bed, and then let her in. She sat in the middle talking to them while they finished getting ready.
"I'm super excited were here. It's going to be so cool to go up the rest of the way to the top of the mountains. Mommy says you can see really far from up there."
"You can," Sam assured her. "You never said anything about it yesterday. How is summer camp?"
"More fun that school, but also more boring."
"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.
"Well, we do more fun stuff like art projects and we play more games, but we also don't really learn any cool stuff about science or read any books. Maybe school could be just a little more fun and summer camp could be a little more interesting. It would be better that way."
"I see your point," Kurt said.
Stevie came barreling in the room. "Sammy!" He put his hand up to high-five Sam and then moved it before Sam managed to reach it. "Too slow old man."
"Old man? I'm 19."
"You're married and have your own place. That makes you an old man." He plopped onto the bed.
"Nah, that makes me a content and happy man."
"Sammy's not old. He just loves Kurt a lot."
"That's right, Stacey," Kurt said. "And I love him a lot too."
"You're old too, Kurt." Stevie laughed.
"Daddy didn't say they were OLD men. He said they were GROWN men."
"I know. I'm teasing them."
"Are you two ready yet?" Stacey asked.
"Almost. We need coffee."
"You ARE old," Stevie said. "Old people drink coffee. Yuck! Mom let me taste hers once and it was disgusting."
"Why don't you run back upstairs and help Mom make us some coffee and we'll be up in a few minutes. We need to fix our hair."
Stacey added, "And put your shoes on. I'll go help Mommy make coffee or maybe Aunt Martha already made some. She loves coffee."
The two of them ran off.
"Old!" Kurt rolled his eyes. "He's the one getting old – old enough to hassle you."
"I know." Sam went in the bathroom to finish up. He put his shoes on while Kurt finished up. "Ready?" he asked when Kurt came out of the bathroom.
"Not quite yet."
He edged around the bed and shut and locked the door. He lured Sam over with his index finger. When he got close enough, he surprised him by pushing him back toward the bed and making him fall into a sitting position when his calves hit the bed. Kurt straddled his lap and sat down. He pushed him back again, pinning him to the bed and kissed him passionately, much to Sam's delight. Sam wrapped his arms around Kurt and kissed back enthusiastically and pulled Kurt down on top of him.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
As soon as they walked into the room, Stacey said, "That was more than a few minutes."
Stevie said, "Your coffee is on the table. Sam's is in the red cup."
"Thanks," Sam said.
"Your food is in the oven," Stacey said. "Mommy went up stairs to get her bag and stuff. So did Aunt Martha. Everyone else is outside already."
"We'll eat quickly," Kurt assured her.
"I'm going to stay here to make sure you do. You must have been lollygagging around down there. No more of that." She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.
Kurt struggled not to laugh because she looked absolutely adorable trying to look stern. "We'll not lollygag anymore this morning." He pulled their plates out and put them on the table. Sam handed him a fork when he sat down. He slipped the oven mitts off and took the fork.
Stacey grabbed the oven mitts and put them back in the drawer that Kurt had gotten them out of. She sat back down at the table with them. "Granny and Grandpa are already here too. You two are riding up with them."
"Okay," Sam said. "What else do you know?"
"Everyone is outside playing around or looking at the view or something. Auntie Caroline and Auntie Margaret are riding with Nana and Pawpaw."
"Got it," Sam said, stuffing the last bite in his mouth.
She snatched his plate and put it in the dishwasher. Kurt was done when she came back. She took his plate too. She looked under the sink for something and pulled out a bottle of dishwasher detergent. She looked at the door carefully, filled the right slot, and shut the cover. She put the bottle back, went to the table, took their forks and cups, and put them in the dishwasher. She shut it, latched it, and read the buttons before pushing the right one. "Done. Let's go, slowpokes."
"No hugs for us?"
"You stayed downstairs during hug time."
"When did you turn into Miss Bossy Pants?" Sam asked, holding his arms out for a hug.
She looked at him and caved. She ran into his arms. "I'm sorry. I'm just really excited and I've waited for ages go to the top of the mountain. I didn't mean to sound ugly. I just want to go. Come on."
"A word of advice for the future," Sam said.
"Yes?" She looked up at him.
"We would not have lollygagged, if you had told us that everyone else was already dressed and ready to go. You had knowledge you did not share."
"Oh. I didn't think about how you hadn't been up here to see that everyone else had already eaten. Sorry."
"I'm not upset, but you got upset that we were too slow."
"Next time, I'll tell you who else is up."
"Thank you," Sam said. "And you've only known we were coming here for a few weeks."
"Doesn't matter. I've been waiting a long time." She backed up and pulled him to the door.
Kurt followed behind them. Once they were outside, Dwight locked the cabin and the introductions started again.
Mary said, "These are my parents Helen and Charlie."
Kurt extended his hand. "It's nice to meet you, sir."
Helen stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. "From everything we've heard, you're a perfect match for our Sam. I'm so glad to meet you. These are my sisters, Caroline and Margaret."
Kurt got pulled into two more hugs.
"Alright. Everyone's met Kurt. Let's head out," Dwight said.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
They toured Cades Cove first. They stopped at several churches and a couple of log cabins. They spent a while hiking around Abrams Falls. Kurt and Sam took photos with Kurt's camera. After they left the falls, they visited the mill and watched the milling process. They stopped in the gift store and all of the kids were taken to the bathroom before they continued on. They stopped at several more cabins before they stopped at the picnic area.
Kurt and Sam helped Mary, Martha, and Kim hand out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bananas to all of the kids. After the kids were all settled at picnic tables eating, the adults sat down and ate their sandwiches. They talked a little and Kurt learned a little about everyone.
Once the kids were finished, Dwight and Mary let them play for a little bit and took them all to the bathroom again. Kurt and Sam continued to talk to everyone else while they cleaned up and repacked the car.
They headed back towards the Sugarland Visitor's Center and started the trek up the mountainside. They stopped at the lookout out points on the way up. They did a little hiking along a stream as well. When they got to the top, they took in the view from the parking lot area before they hiked their way up to Clingmans Dome.
Stacey said, "The trees up here aren't pretty. The pretty ones were all lower."
"We're too high up for those types of tress," Kurt said. "This is the wrong biome for them."
"What's a biome?"
"It the word scientists use to describe the area a plant or animal lives in. You know that there are no butterflies where it's frozen all year round and polar bears don't live in Tennessee."
"There are mostly black bears here."
"Right. Well, as you go higher up a mountain, there are tree lines. Those lines are where certain types of trees can't grow. The higher up you go, the fewer types of trees can survive in the environment."
"Why?"
Sam said, "Usually due to a lack of rain or because it's too cold."
"Oh. Okay. It is a lot colder up here than it was at the park at lunch. So, if we planted some of the pretty trees up here, they would just die?"
Kurt nodded. "Yeah."
"Alright. It's really cool that we can see so far from up here, though."
"It is," Sam agreed.
Kurt turned the map he was holding and showed her places on the map, and then pointed out in the distance where they could see the place in the distance. Stevie came over to see what they were doing and the other kids followed him. After about ten minutes, the kids got tired of looking out at the trees and wanted to go back to the area where they could hike around and play. Kurt and Sam stayed back just a few minutes to enjoy the view on their own.
Sam stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around Kurt and turned them around. He took his phone out and took a selfie of them with the mountains in the background. Kurt handed Sam his camera and he took another couple shots. They turned back around and took in the view one more time before leaving the lookout area. They walked back down hand in hand and met up with everyone at the bottom.
When they got in the car, Helen said, "We're going to go into Gatlinburg while everyone else heads back to the cabin or to the grocery store. We figured the two of you might like at least a little time to browse the shops. Charlie and I will go sit down by the stream and get a drink or browse for a while ourselves."
"Thanks, Granny. That would be nice. It's been years since I was here and Kurt came once when he was 11."
"Maybe I can find something nice for Carole for Mother's Day."
"Mother's Day was ages ago," Helen said.
"We'll next weekend we are having a Parent's Day because my dad and Carole were in DC on Mother's Day and Father's Day this year."
"I see. I imagine being a Congressman keeps him busy."
"It does. He hasn't given up the shop and turned it over to Cassius, the manager, so when he's in town, he still goes in and works when he can. And he still keeps tabs on everything."
They didn't talk too much on the way down because they didn't want to distract Charlie. They stopped a few times on the way down to let the brakes cool down and they got out and walked around and talked then. When they got down to Gatlinburg, Charlie pulled into a parking garage. They decided on a time to meet back up and went their separate ways.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
"So what did you two find that you couldn't live without?" Helen asked good-naturedly, as they got in the car.
"Well, our friend Sebastian got us these key chains that we both really like with swivel claw clasps and we saw some leather ones we thought my dad and Carole might like." He took them out and showed them to her. "This one can slide onto my dad's belt and blend in and it has this nice stainless chain down to a swivel claw clasp that can fasten to his key ring, so it will hang in his pocket and not fall out or get pickpocketed."
"Nice." She put Burt's back and pulled the other one out. "I like this one. I might think about getting one of these." She examined the one for Carole. "I like how it has the claw clasp instead of a snap to open it to fasten around a purse strap. I've seen the snap ones before, but eventually snaps give out. This could be replaced if it breaks."
"That's what I thought. And she can fasten it to a belt loop if she's wearing casual clothes and not taking her big purse."
"Nice choices." She handed them back to Kurt. "What's in your bag Sam?"
"Belts. I got this really nice soft smooth black leather belt and Kurt got one like it except that it has these stainless steel studs in it that will go with his combat boots."
"The belts here are usually really durable."
"That's what I'm hoping," Kurt said. "I've bought several that just didn't hold up."
They talked about school and the things they both wanted to study on their drive back to the cabin.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
When they got there, the grill was going and a lot of cooking and food prep was going on inside. Kurt and Sam took their shopping bags down to their room and found that all of the kids were in the lower level playing ping pong, pool, and foosball.
"Sammy! Kurt! You're back!" Stacey hug tackled Sam.
"We are. Let's us put our bags in our room and then we'll watch you play foosball."
They pulled a couple of stools over and sat against the wall and watched them all play. About a half-hour later, they were all summoned upstairs. The kids got in line and were helped by the adults to get their food. They sat around the table and ate while more food was cooked and grilled. Kurt and Sam waited to eat with the adults. Once the kids finished they took off back downstairs and the adults filled their plates and sat around the table and ate.
Dwight said, "If you two want to go hiking before it gets dark, there's a trail that leads from the back for about a mile and a half and comes out down the road a bit. You can just walk back up the road when you come out."
"That sounds nice," Kurt said.
"The guy we rented the cabin from said there's a clearing about two-thirds of the way around starting from this end. There's some trees that have been turned into benches and you can see the sunset."
Sam said, "We'll definitely go check it out."
"I'd say the best time would be from about 8-8:30, so I suggest you head out about 7:00. It's not a super hard trail, but you certainly can't walk it at the same clip you can walk on a flat surface. I walked down it a ways this morning."
Kurt mostly listened through dinner, learning about what each person did for work still trying to get to know a little bit more about each person. When they finished, Kurt and Sam helped with the dishes. Once they were done, they grabbed hoodies and set out to hike the trail.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Kurt reached for Sam's hand as they started down the path.
"Different place, but same activity," Sam said. "You told me you loved me the first time when we were hiking."
"I did. I loved you then. And I love you even more now." Kurt squeezed his hand.
"The same is true for me." He started to swing their hands as they walked. "Are you going to lure me into making out with you on the log bench?"
"Ma-ay-be."
"Only maybe?"
"Maybe it's your turn to lure me. Your family is nice. They've been really fun so far. I think the kids are really going to like what we brought."
"Me too."
They continued to follow the trail enjoying each other's company. As they approached the clearing, the sunset came into view. The sky was changing from blue to pink. There were a few scattered cirrus clouds above the horizon, but not so many as to block the color from coming through them. They sat down on the log together. Kurt leaned towards Sam and kissed him and sat back up.
"A peck?"
"For now. We're watching the sunset, remember?"
"And taking pictures so I can paint it later."
They used the camera and both of their phones to see if they could capture the sky as it turned orange right below the top of the mountains. Kurt used the panorama feature on his phone and changed his camera settings to sunset. After a couple of minutes of photos, they put the camera and phones away and focused on watching the sunset. Kurt scooted closer to Sam and wrapped his arm behind him. Sam wrapped his arm around Kurt as well.
Once the sky started darkening, Kurt straddled the log and waited for Sam to do the same. He scooted closer and put his feet up behind Sam on the log. They wrapped their arms around each other and just sat that way for a few minutes. Sam pulled back just enough that he could kiss Kurt.
"As much as I would like to make out with you, I just remembered one key difference between where we were making out before and now."
"What's that?"
"There are bears here and I'd rather not spook one on the way back. Let's go while we can still see most of the way back."
"Good idea." He gave Sam one more quick peck and unwrapped his legs from around Sam's waist and got up.
They had to turn their flashlights on the last ten minutes of the trail. They made their way back to the cabin still using the flashlights since there were no street lights on the gravel road the cabins were on. They knocked and were let back in.
"What did you think," Mary asked.
"It was really beautiful," Sam said.
"It was."
"We're putting the kids to bed now. If you want to join us, we're all going to watch a movie downstairs as soon as we get them all in their sleeping bags."
"What movie?" Sam asked.
"Smoky and the Bandit," Mary said. "Your pawpaw and grandpa love that movie. They found a DVD of it downstairs earlier."
"Sure," Sam said. "We'll go shower and put our pajamas on, if that's okay."
"Sure, honey."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
"That was funnier than I had anticipated it being," Kurt said, as he got comfortable with his head on Sam's chest.
"It was pretty funny." He wrapped his arm around Kurt and played with the back of his hair.
"Are you sad that we didn't wait until we could find a way for everyone to be in one place for our wedding?"
"No, not at all. I loved our wedding. It was perfect. Coming here with everyone is good enough. They all get to meet you and it's kind of like the days we had with everyone in Lima after the wedding."
"Okay."
"I feel like we should contribute to the cost of being here. How can your parents afford this?"
"I'm not sure. I didn't ask. I figured if they wanted me to know, they'd tell me. They are splitting the cost seven ways though, so that makes a big difference."
"That's true." He reached up and guided Sam's face towards his and kissed him. "I love you. I'm glad we came."
"Me too. I love you too."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}J-29{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Stacey knocked on their door. "Kurt and Sammy, come upstairs to eat, even in your pajamas. Daddy said to tell you that part."
Sam responded, "Okay. We'll be right up."
"No lollygagging," she insisted.
"We won't."
They went right upstairs and sat down at the table. Kurt and Sam started to eat what was on their plates.
Dwight said, "Mary and I have news to share. We're moving back home."
"Really Daddy? When?" Stacey asked.
"In two weeks. You and Stevie will go back to school where you went to Kindergarten."
Stacey asked, "Where are we going to live?"
"In a house we found, honey," Mary answered.
"I gave my 2-week notice last week, so I'll have the week off that we're moving and I'll start the new job the next week. Mary's going to work as a substitute teacher, if she doesn't find something before school starts."
"That's really great, Dad," Sam said. "I know how much you've wanted to move back."
Stacey said, "So, I get to go back to school with all of my old friends and Sarah and Lisa and Bonnie and Gina?"
"Yes, honey."
"YAY! And we get to go to the nice church with nice people who won't hate Sammy and Kurt, right?"
"Yes."
Stacey threw her arms around Dwight. "Thank you, Daddy. I wanted to be a good girl and not complain, but I don't like it where we live now."
He picked her up and sat her on his lap. "I know. I appreciate you not complaining, but I knew you and Stevie didn't like it there. That's why I've been trying so hard to get us back to where Nana, Pawpaw, Granny, and Grandpa live."
Stevie finally spoke. "I can go back to Boy Scouts with Billy, Benji, Robby, and Danny, right?"
"Of course, honey."
"I'd like that."
"Robby just outgrew his stuff," Kenna said. "I know your stuff from before won't fit. You can have his uniform."
"Thank you, Aunt Kenna." He hugged her.
"You're welcome, honey. I'm so glad you're moving back."
"Me too." He walked over to Mary and sat in her lap. "So, just two weeks?"
"Less, honey. Daddy will work this week and the three of us will pack. He'll be off next week and we'll move our stuff to the new house then."
"We'll be super good and help you pack, won't we Stacey?"
"Mmm hmm. I promise to be the best helper ever."
Mary hugged her and held her close. "You always are, honey."
She hopped down. "Can we go play now?"
Mary nodded.
All of the kids took off down the stairs.
Mark said, "I'm glad you're moving back. I know you've not enjoyed the last year in Kentucky. And the last half of your time in Ohio was miserable."
Dwight nodded. "But as much as being in Lima was hard, that was the bank's fault for their unsavory business practices. I didn't hate it there, but it's not a very friendly-to-newcomers place."
Kurt spoke up. "It's a not-very friendly-to-a-lot-of-people kind of place."
They had both finished their breakfast. Sam got up and took Kurt's dishes with him and put them in the dishwasher.
"We brought something for the kids. You might want to come watch," Sam said.
Kurt got up and followed him downstairs. Sam rounded up all of the kids while Kurt went to their room to retrieve the surprise.
"Everyone close your eyes," Sam said.
Kurt unfolded a twin-sized sheet that he found in the closet from Finn's old bed. He and Sam spread it out on the carpeted floor.
"Okay. Open your eyes," Sam said.
"Oh, wow, Sammy it's so cool," Stacey said. "It's the biggest Twister mat I've ever seen."
"That's because Kurt and I made it special so everyone could play at once instead of having to take turns. Who wants to play?"
"Me! Me! Me! Me!"
"Alright. Get ready. We're going to spin…"
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Sunday night came more quickly than anyone wanted it to, but they had enjoyed the full day they had spent in the cabin and in the woods around the area.
Helen, Charlie, Margaret, and Caroline were all staying the night again with Kurt and Sam so they could drive home in the daylight. After dinner and more rounds of Twister and a movie, the six of them said their goodbyes to everyone else and the hugging lasted for quite sometime.
"I looked on the map on Mommy's phone. Now, we're going to live even farther away from you." A few tears streamed down Stacey's cheeks.
"Daddy told me that they're getting the internet right away this time. We'll be able to talk and Skype. It won't be like when you first moved to Kentucky."
"Okay. I'll still miss you."
"Me too." He hugged her.
She hugged Kurt next. "Thank you for letting us keep the big Twister. We can play it all together once we move back near everyone. Nana's taking it to her house for now."
"You're welcome."
Stevie hugged Sam last. "I'm going to miss you too. Maybe you can come visit us in our new house."
"We'll see what we can do."
Stevie was the last one in the car. Dwight and Mary waved as they drove off. They were the last ones to leave.
The eight of them headed back inside the cabin. They sat in the dining room and played card games for a while before they went to bed.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}J-30{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Kurt and Sam said their goodbyes and drove into Gatlinburg to go to the aquarium. The line wasn't too long, and about ten minutes later, they were inside.
"Let's see when the feeding times are, so we can plan to see the ones that sound the most fun," Sam said.
They looked at the list and made their choices. They wandered through the whole building. They loved every bit of it and stayed until 2:00.
When they got back to the car, Kurt said, "Let's go be very touristy before we leave the area and buy $5 t-shirts."
After they stopped in Pigeon Forge to get the t-shirts, they went to the knife works shop along the highway to get to Knoxville. Kurt had been there before, so he wanted to stop to show Sam.
"Oh, I don't remember these. I would have wanted some. Fun money?"
"Definitely."
They sorted through the practice swords and bought two bokens, two short swords, two katanas, two pirate swords, and two rubber peacekeeper knives. They each also picked out a multi-use folding tool for their bags. They had mini scissors, tweezers, tiny screwdrivers, a nail file, and a bunch of other things.
"You know what?" Kurt asked.
"What?"
"We should pick one type of sword and buy two more for Nick and Jeff for their birthdays so they can play with us."
"The katanas. There were two more of those. I'll go grab them. Get in line."
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
They carried everything in and got right in the shower and did nothing but shower. Afterwards, they went right to bed.
"I had a lot of fun today, but we're going to be tired tomorrow. It's after midnight," Kurt said.
"Come snuggle me." Sam extended his arm. "Mmm." He kissed the top of Kurt's head. "I had fun too. It was a nice mix of time together and time with my family – our family."
"I have lots of young cousins-in-law," Kurt laughed.
"My mom and dad are the oldest in their families and they had me young, so all of the rest of them are around Stevie and Stacey's age."
"I can't imagine already preparing for a baby like your parents were at our age."
"Me neither." Sam tipped Kurt's chin up and kissed him. "I love you. I know we could talk all night, but we have to work tomorrow."
"I love you too." Kurt snuggled in tight.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}A-5{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Kurt knocked on Finn's door.
"Yeah? Come in." Finn said, obviously not awake yet.
Kurt opened the door slightly. "You were supposed to be up 10 minutes ago. Parents' Day brunch, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Crap." He sat up. "I guess I forgot to set my alarm. I'll shower super fast and be right down."
Kurt went back downstairs and helped Sam cook. Finn came rushing in 10 minutes later.
"Sorry. What can I do?"
Kurt said, "Start setting the table."
Ten minutes later, everything was on the table. The smell of bacon had lured Burt out of their room. He and Carole sat at the table.
"This looks great, boys," Burt said. "Lets eat."
They passed the platters around, filled their plates, and started to eat. Once they had finished, they were given their gifts to open. They opened Finn's card first.
"Ooh, I love that place," Carole said.
"Me too. Thanks, Finn."
Carole opened the small box from Sam and Kurt next. "Now that's interesting."
"It's a key chain that you can fasten around your purse strap and it keeps your keys from ending up lost in the bottom of your bag. You can also fasten around belt loops for when you go out in DC without your bag."
"That's really nice. Thank you."
"You're welcome," they said in unison.
Burt opened his. "Mine's something similar."
"The leather piece slides over your belt and use the clasp on the chain to fasten to your keyring. It keeps you from getting pickpocketed or having them fall out of your pocket when you sit down."
"Very handy. Thanks."
Finn cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher. Kurt and Sam went down and brought games up. By the time they had everything set up, Trish had arrived for their afternoon of games.
{}o{}o{}o{}o{}A-13{}o{}o{}o{}o{}
Happy Birthday, dear Nick and Jeff.
Happy Birthday to you!
"We missed you two this weekend. Close your eyes," Kurt said. "Step forward." He adjusted them a little so they were side by side. "Put your hands in front of you like you're going to clap."
Sam grabbed the swords outside the patio door while Kurt was adjusting them. They put the swords in their hands.
Kurt said, "Open your eyes."
"No way!" Jeff squealed. "Grown up swords? We can actually fight with these, right?"
"They're practice swords," Sam assured him. "We have some too. We can all fight together."
Nick said, "This is awesome. I think I might just like being an adult if people make cool adult toys like this. Did you get these in Tennessee?"
"We did. There are other types. You can order them online if you want more."
Jeff gave his mom puppy eyes.
Lynn laughed. "Yes, Jeff, you can add the adult sword toys to your Christmas list."
"Yes! Let's go out and fight for a few minutes before we eat the cake."
Nick followed him out the door and into the yard. They started whacking at each other like they were in the Princes Bride. After a couple of minutes they stopped and went back inside. Everyone followed them back in.
Jeff said, "Ice cream cake time. Before they melt. We'll fight more another time."
Kurt was the last one to pick up his plate of cake. "These are both really good."
"Thanks," Lynn said.
Once everyone finished, Natalie put the leftover cake in their freezer. "So are you two going to tell us what this adventure tomorrow is going to be?"
Jeff said, "Nope, not yet. We'll tell you tomorrow morning."
Kurt said, "Well, then, I guess we'll go get some sleep since we're leaving at 8:00?"
"We'll be over at 8:00," Nick said.
"See you tomorrow morning." They let themselves out and went back home.
"I wonder what on earth we're doing tomorrow," Kurt said. "What interesting things happen on a Tuesday?"
"No idea."
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At 8:00, Jeff knocked on their patio door and Kurt opened and let him in.
"Good morning!" Jeff proclaimed cheerfully.
"Well, you're even more upbeat than usual," Kurt remarked.
"I am. It's not every day that you invite your best friends and parents to elope with you."
"What? You didn't even tell us that you were engaged. Sam! We're going to a wedding!"
Sam came down the hall. "Then I think we're wearing the wrong clothes."
"You definitely are. I'm here to chose for you." Jeff walked down the hall and into their bedroom. "May I?"
Kurt nodded.
Jeff opened their closet. He picked out two blue shirts and two ties with blue and black patterns. "These with black slacks and black shoes."
"Alright. Give us 15 minutes?"
"Yep. Our moms are getting ready right now. We snagged two of their dresses and dress clothes for our dads yesterday morning after they went to work and we brought them with us." He took off toward the patio door. "Meet us out by the cars when you're ready."
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A little before 11:00, they pulled up to the courthouse in Ripley, New York. They went inside and let the clerk in the office know that they were there for their appointment. They were ushered into the judge's office. He greeted everyone. Nick and Jeff stood together and faced each other. The other six of them stood across the back of the small room in a row. They had written vows and said them to each other.
After they finished, the judge asked, "Do you Jeff Stirling take Nick Duval to be your husband?"
"I do." Jeff put a wedding band on Nick's finger.
"Do you Nick Duval take Jeff Stirling to be your husband?"
"I do." Nick put Jeff's ring on him.
"By the authority invested in my by the town of Ripley, New York, I now pronounce you legally married."
They stepped towards each other and kissed sweetly. They turned and faced the judge. He signed their marriage license and handed Jeff the pen, and then Nick.
"Congratulations." He shook hands with each of them. "I wish you a long and happy life together."
"Thank you," Nick said.
Jeff smiled and said, "That's the plan."
Kurt handed his camera to the judge's secretary and asked her to take a photo of all of them, which she graciously agreed to do. They only had to wait about 10 minutes to get their official marriage certificates. Kurt took a few more photos of the two of them while they waited.
On the way through the small section of Pennsylvania they drove through, they stopped at a restaurant in East End that Nick and Jeff had found online. They each ordered something unique from the eclectic menu.
Lynn said, "So, how did this all come about? We didn't even know you were officially engaged."
Nick answered, "Well, after we got the final rejection on our appeal, we made an appointment and we asked what would make a difference. We actually asked why Kurt and Sam's appeal had been approved, but of course we were told that we couldn't be given that information. The secretary must have overheard us because when left, she called us over to her desk and gave us a photocopy of the housing guidelines with a small section highlighted that said 'Single students must live on campus.'"
"So, we realized that despite the fact that Ohio itself doesn't recognize gay marriages, the university itself does. So, we set out on our plan to get married. We've been together forever and you knew we were going to get married once Ohio legalized it. We just didn't want to see you guys spend so much money on a room for us that we weren't going to live in. $30,000 is a lot of money. Kurt and Sam would have only had to stay in the dorms for one year because they could have met the requirements of having junior standing next fall, but we'd have to stay for two years."
Nick said, "You can throw whatever kind reception that you want to, whenever works. We can do it next weekend before school starts or sometime this fall or whatever. We've been together forever and we know we're young and a lot of people won't approve, but you know us."
Jerry said, "We do. That's why we came and supported you. We wanted to be there and we're glad you included us and didn't run off on your own."
Howard said, "I agree with Jerry. We knew this was coming. It's just a little sooner than we had expected, but I understand your reasoning. And you're right. The $30,000 can go right into paying the house off as soon as you get an official letter from the school granting you the approval to live off campus."
Their food arrived quickly. They sampled each other's choices and everyone was impressed with the food.
Natalie said, "You guys found a great place. You'll have to see what you can find closer to Kent for special occasions. You did a great job being sneaky wedding planners. We all look smashing." She struck a pose and made everyone laugh. "We're really happy for the two of you."