Making Plans & Christmas Shows

In New York, Adam had adapted to his new found ability much more swiftly than he had expected to. He now did not flinch or stare when he saw someone in period costume walking past him on a busy street, or standing close by on a subway platform. He had learned not to in part due to a rather mortifying encounter with a very much alive hipster couple in the Union Square station, when he assumed their spot on 1920s outfits meant they were of that period…

In a city the size of New York, he had learned that it was inevitable that he would be surrounded by a lot of angels from times past, ghosts of their era. There was a part of him that would have loved to have started up a conversation with them, to ask them about the city that they had known back in their day. When he saw more than one of them at a time, he did overhear snippets of their conversation, and those words fascinated him. He listened in awe as a woman dressed in impeccable 1960s fashion turned to her equally well dressed companion, and lamented the loss of the luncheon counter in the store. He was standing in a CVS on the corner of 42nd and 3rd at the time, and a quick investigation revealed that back in the day, the premises had been occupied by a Woolworths store, a firm known for such counters…

He had been told by his grandmother many times as he was growing up that history was all around you, you only had to look for it, and now he had that confirmed. When he was at the studios with Sam, he could talk about all of it without fear; still, he was glad that he was there on the day that they both saw Betty White walk past. To see someone that had icon status was an immense thrill, and Adam was then left in stitches when Sam related the story of what had happened between the lady and Sebastian at the Tony Awards. Knowing that she had goosed the Broadway actor, he was grateful that angels and indeed ghosts were not corporeal; he could not have coped with it if she had decided to do the same to him now…

Then came news that made his life all the better. He was thrilled when the producer of the show, along with Ms Kudrow, announced that they would be taking a three week break after Christmas, rather than the week that they had originally been told. The one thing that detracted from the pleasure of living in New York for him was the fact was the fact that both distance and his career in the theater meant that he could not spend the Christmas season with his family. The fact that he was currently appearing on Broadway in a 'family' show made it even worse. There was no way he could take leave when the audiences were at their largest, and that was enhanced by the fact that it was the end of their run…

Now that he knew that he would have two weeks free after the show closed for good, he hurried home and logged in to his laptop, and to his delight he found a very good deal on seats on the last flight of the day on that first Monday in January, the day Marley would marry, and a similarly good deal on seats back from Heathrow the following Sunday. Knowing that he had a grace period of a day to cancel the booking without cost, he requested the seats be put on hold…

Then he did something that he knew could end up being awkward if his plan failed. He checked his emergency number list, and found the number of the hospital admin office, and made a call to the staff administrator. He had met her before, and after some small talk, he asked what he needed to; if it would be feasible for Lawrence to be booked off for the same time frame. There was a pause, and then she admitted that she was a romantic at heart, and as far as she could see, it would not be an issue for him to take the leave. "I will write it in in pencil for now; I will not make it official until he calls me up to request it, and even when he does, I will stall my response to make it look as if I have not been forewarned," she whispered, and that made Adam laugh.

With that confirmation, he felt emboldened, and returned to the booking site and his hold. He confirmed the booking, and then entered the code that he had from the production company on the off chance it might offer him an even better deal. He was shocked when the airline offered him the chance to fly in Upper Class for the exact same price as he had been willing to pay for Economy, and at that rate, it seemed churlish to stick to his principles and not take full advantage of the luxury option when offered. Now all he had to hope for was that his boyfriend would be happy to take a week off and travel with him to England to spend time with his parents and see his childhood home…

As luck would have it, Adam had been invited to have dinner with Lawrence at his place that evening, which the Englishman saw as fortuitous. As it was at his place, Dex would also be there, so that meant there would not need to be an extra visit to the elder brother of his boyfriend to inform him of his plan. It was the last Monday night that he would have free that year, the last one before the show was performed 7 days a week to satisfy the demand. He took his time getting ready, and dressed just a little more smartly than he might otherwise have done. He also made a point of getting to the house down the street just a little earlier than he might have done, and carried with him a card, containing a print off of the flight times, which he had then gift wrapped to hand over at an appropriate moment…

That moment came almost as soon as he arrived. The meal for the evening was cooking safely in the oven, and could be left unattended by both brothers as they greeted their guest. With the greetings done, Adam handed over the card to Lawrence with the greatest of ceremonial flourishes, which made the younger medical student laugh. "Now, this is not your Christmas gift, so I want you to open it right now," Adam said to him, and his instruction was immediately complied with. Lawrence tore the paper off to reveal a Christmas card with an image of Big Ben in the snow. "It doesn't actually snow in London for Christmas all that often," said Adam wryly, "but there is a much higher chance in January. December is usually too mild…"

"Yes, I have heard that they don't have the same biting cold as we have here," said Dex as his brother opened the card, and found the folded piece of A4 paper inside, which he opened. As he read it, his face was a picture of the emotions going through his mind; sadness first on seeing the dates and Adam's name, but then his eyes widening with shock and surprise as he saw his own name further down the page… "Oh my God! Adam! This is… I don't know if I can though, because of work…" exclaimed Lawrence, which left Dex curious….

"I must apologise, but I am afraid that I was a little presumptuous in thinking that you would say yes, and I might have called the staff administrator earlier," Adam replied. "She has pencilled the dates in, but you need to ask to make it official. Of course, the last thing you might want to do in the first week of January is fly all the way to England with me to stay with my parents, meet my extended family, and see a few of the sights of London too…"

Dex stared at Adam for a moment, shocked by what was happening, but then he smiled, and said, "If he doesn't want to come with you, then I would be more than willing to stand in." That made all three of them laugh…

Lawrence was the first to stop, and responded, "Normally I would not be the least bit happy that you went behind my back and called my bosses to arrange time off for me, but in this case, I haven't got any issue. I am sorry, big brother, but you will need to book your own flights to Europe. Okay, so I will go and check on dinner, and yeah, call the staff administrator and tell her to ink it in, because she should still be there." He got up, and headed for the kitchen, but as he reached the door, he turned back, and said, "Oh, and by the way, I love you very much, Adam Crawford…"

Lawrence hastened out, conscious of the tears that were starting to well up in his eyes, although had be looked, he would have seen that Adam's eyes were moist too. "He has always wanted to got to London, ever since he was little, so this is a big deal for him," said Dex with a smile, before handing a tissue to Adam.

"It's nothing really; I have some extra time off, and it has been a while since I have seen all of my folks. I am just so glad that he will be able to join me, because I really want to introduce him to my grandmother, as she is so keen to meet him too. The only thing is that the weather will probably not be the greatest, as it is usually wet, if mild. I think that the warmth of the welcome he will receive will make up for that, however…"

"Adam, it could be raining so much that they would call it a monsoon and he wouldn't bother as long as he was with you. Anyway, he does like art galleries and museums, and well, they and stuff like the Crown Jewels are all inside, aren't they?"

After dinner, Dex left the couple alone, and that let them discuss all of the places that the younger man was most keen to see. Adam made a mental note of those he wanted to see most, so that he could plan an itinerary that would permit him to see as many of them as possible. His parents home, his childhood one, was rural, but within a short walk of a railway station with regular direct trains to London; going to see the Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the National Gallery would be no issue. It wouldn't be a problem to see Platform 9¾ at King's Cross station either… "I also want to ride upstairs on a red London bus, which you probably think is rather weird, but here we can only go upstairs on the tour buses, and that is not the same," finished Lawrence.

"That will not be a problem," Adam replied smiling, "as we will be taking them to and from some of the things that we will be visiting. The only thing that I would like to add to the list is the Victoria & Albert Museum, as it was my favourite as a child, and I want to share it with you…"

"Of course we can; I have heard all about it from, of all people, little Wes. He talks about his short time in London so fondly, and of course, Evie talks about all of the museums too. The only thing that confuses me is their talk of Dippy, because I have no idea who or what that is, if I am being honest."

"Ah," said Adam with a grin, "he is in the Natural History Museum, and he is a diplodocus. When I was a child, he was the first thing that you saw as you walked in. When they moved him from that spot, there was an outcry…" Adam then spent the rest of the evening relating tales of his life in London with his boyfriend…

Adam and Lawrence would ironically see less of each other after that first Monday in December for the remainder of the month. With just over three weeks of the show left to run, every house at Mary Poppins was a full one, and the extra Monday performances for those three weeks had helped to satisfy the demand for tickets as they moved to the final performance of all on the 3rd of January. It was an exhausting schedule for the entire cast, although Adam himself was still absent for his arranged two performances a week for the first fortnight, which meant that he was in a more fortunate position than Marley was, for example.

She had already prepared for her wedding, of course, with her dress for the 4th of January already purchased, and every last detail of the event had already been dealt with too. She was lucky too that Ryder was more than capable of handling the few things that came up with great confidence. He was the one that liased with the caterers, the car service and the celebrant as well. If there was anything that he was unsure about, he turned to Jane and Kitty for advice, using them as sounding boards to be sure that all he did would leave his wife satisfied.

He was also more than ready for the arrival of his mother-in-law the day before Christmas for what would be an extended stay. His own parents would not be able to arrive until the day before the ceremony, and they would stay in a hotel. He had made one important decision of his own however, and that was that he, like Roderick, would not have a large bachelor party. Instead, there would be a simple meal at the Spotlight for his groomsmen and a few chosen friends…

With their shorter lead up to their wedding, pulling everything together was not quite as easy for Roderick and Hilary. The former knew however that he had it a lot easier than his bride-to-be, as he had only to arrange his own suit, as Mason already had one that would be perfect for his best man duties. He thus insisted that he would take on full responsibility for the wedding reception, and there he found that his task was not as simple as he might have anticipated. He rejected the idea of having it at the Spotlight straight away, as although the food was good, they did not host private parties, and could not cater for the more formal sort of meal that both he and his future wife desired.

He needed to find a venue that was much closer to NYU and the chapel in any case, as that would permit the guests to walk from the wedding to the meal afterwards. He also had to remember that there would be children present, as not all of the possible venues in the area were able to accept them. His search was frustrating and felt as if it would be fruitless, and after several days of trying, he let vent his woes whilst he was in the staff room at work. When he finished his shift that day, he was shocked to find a note tucked into the door of his locker, which had come from the legendary Nurse Crane of all people… In it, she waxed lyrical about an Italian inspired restaurant in the vicinity of Washington Square that had a good reputation, happened to be owned by friends of hers, and that gave a discount to medical staff on private parties.

It all sounded a little too good to be true, so Roderick decided that he would pop by the place on his way home that evening. The moment that he stepped through the door he was impressed by the ambiance, and more importantly, by the delicious aromas that were wafting through the air. The only thing that made his heart sink was how busy the place seemed to be, and he knew at once that fate would decree that it would already be booked up on the 5th of January. He then found himself talking to the owner, and he was delighted to discover that their upstairs function room was not booked on the day in question. They took him up to see it, and the appearance of the place, combined with the price that he was quoted, made him reserve the room there and then…

With that task now completed, Roderick was able to focus on his work properly once again, but not before he made a point of seeking out the lady that had helped him to find the perfect reception venue. He wished to thank her, and with Hilary's blessing, to invite her to join them for their wedding. She was a little surprised at the invite to the ceremony, but then she accepted it only too happily. "I do like a good wedding, and when it is between two such well suited young people as you and your future spouse, then it is even better. As it happens, your wedding falls on my day off, so it would be my pleasure to be there to wish you both well."

Smiling at her obvious delight, Roderick headed off to start his shift in the ER, a place that he found himself enjoying working in more every time that his roster brought him there. He had begun to realise that whilst working in that environment, he as a nurse could do so much more than he was able to do in the in-patient wards. The nurses there were able to carry out some basic procedures themselves, which freed up the doctors, and with the right training, he would be able to do the same. Yes, it would mean more time at college, but that was something that he could easily do, his finances much healthier than they had been. Thanks to his monthly column in the nursing journal, and his other freelance journalism work, he had enough put aside to pay the necessary fees…

Best of all, Hilary was entirely behind him wanting to gain more qualifications as a nurse. The same applied to the editor of the nursing journal, who was impressed that he wanted to go further, and indeed, was hopeful he would carry on writing his column as he moved through all of that as well. The plain truth was that he loved his role in the world of nursing, and he was eternally grateful for the nudge to change the direction of his career that had come when Grace had gone into labour early, and he had been the only mortal present. Nursing was his main focus, although his writing came a very healthy second to it all…

In all of the flurry of wedding invitations and preparations, Christmas came almost as an anti-climax to everyone bar the children that year. Even Jeff was not his usual excited self, his show taking up so much of his time. Nick observed this with a degree of resignation, as if he had been expecting the day to come when his husband would grow up, and now that had finally arrived. What he had not expected was how much it would change his beloved blond, and he was shocked when he realised that their big Christmas tree in the hallway was still unadorned for the third day in a row, and he concluded with a degree of sadness that he would have to take charge of decorating it for a change…

Naturally, he would arrive back from the office on that fourth night to find that there was tinsel and glitter everywhere, his husband and son absorbed in a decorating frenzy, and Nick right assumed that Wes had been the one to remind his papa that he was neglecting his duties. He watched the scene with a grin, even though he noted that there was no smell of cooking coming up from the kitchen as there normally would be. He double checked, and then ordered a takeout from their favourite Chinese restaurant. That was when he noticed something else that perturbed him…

He was surprised to see that Caleb was in his basket, but he was not asleep. Usually the cat would have been in the thick of things upstairs too. As Nick knelt down to stroke him, he cat miaowed at him, and for the first time, Nick realised that his husband's pet was starting to reflect his age. With a smile on his face, he carried on stroking Caleb, then whispered, "I am getting older too, if it is any consolation; the idea of being caught up in all that is going on upstairs makes me exhausted too. In any case, you probably think that we are stupid, bringing a tree into the house every year at this time…" He chuckled then as Caleb miaowed loudly at him as if agreeing, and nuzzled into his hand…

At Dalton meanwhile, the Warblers' Christmas concert was a major focal point. Thad had agreed to assist Sebastian with it as the latter also had the drama club to work with, and they were exceptionally busy, given that they had opted to go with a very different type of show this year. As part of their discussions in their classes that year, the very different theatrical traditions of the nations of the world had come up more than once. Sebastian had been at pains to point out to his pupils that as well as the works of William Shakespeare, for which England was rightly famed, the United Kingdom also had the light operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, and the most joyous of all, the annual end of year pantomime…

That latter proved to be a topic that captured their collective interest, and so Sebastian had gone online to find a very traditional one they could watch in class, one where the Principal Boy was female, and the Dame was a man. He would later complain to Thad that doing so had perhaps been one of the biggest mistakes of his life so far, as that had been the factor that had lead to the entire class demanding that instead of their usual Shakespeare performance, they would this year bring the magic of panto to Dalton Academy…

The show that they settled on was Cinderella, and the first big shock to Sebastian was just how many of the boys in the class were eager to take on the role of one of the two ugly sisters, one of the most traditional parts for men in drag in the British theatre. One of the girls from Crawford would take on the title role, as having a boy play the female lead would be a step too far. The script was filled with all of the innuendo and slapstick that a traditional British show would contain, albeit some of it rewritten for an American audience…

To say that Thad was a little concerned by the choice at first would have been an understatement, worrying what the school authorities would think, but he had reckoned without Sebastian, who dressed the show up as a light hearted tribute to Her Majesty the Queen on her centenary. The Principal had also agreed to it, as long as he was not too bawdy with his humour, keeping the entendre as mild as possible. Thad had managed to get himself a preview of the show by sneaking into one of the rehearsals and he had to admit that it would be a winner. He had given himself away when he had guffawed loudly as he had watched the two seniors that were playing the ugly sisters, both of whom had large feet, trying to slip on the tiny glass slipper that Cinderella had worn to the ball. On the night of the actual performances, he predicted mild hysteria…

When word got out the demand for tickets had surged to such an extent that the usual three performances had needed to be doubled, and that had left Sebastian with an issue. For that reason, he asked Thad to take over as the teacher presence at the Christmas Concert. He had agreed, with a little reluctance. It was just enough of the festive season for him, as the whole festival was now starting to impact on him. All of the joy and merriment, and the family time was something that he felt left him on the sidelines. To that end, he had agreed to be the member of staff that took care of the handful of boys that would still be on the premises on Christmas Day that year.

For the last few years that job had fallen to Jeff's cousin Dylan, the Deputy Principal, but this year he and his family were to spend the festive period back at his home in Vermont. As for the Carmichaels, they would be in the company of the former Principal's sister in New Jersey. Taking on the role gave Thad a valid excuse as well not to spend the day with his brother and 'nephew' in New York. He would be in the city of course early in the New Year, and he had agreed to stay with Ollie and Michelle at that time. He had accepted the invitation to Marley and Ryder's wedding, but he had declined an invite to Roderick and Hilary's sadly, citing his teaching commitments, something that they both understood.

The trouble with being at his brother's place was the fact that little Thaddeus was growing up, and as he did so, he had begun to look more like his 'uncle' than his 'father', and Thad feared that there could be awkward questions if they were seen together too often. That thought was one that filled his mind as he sat there at the Christmas Concert, the boys performing a mix of carols and popular Christmas songs with their usual aplomb. The event went down a storm, and they raised a lot of money for the hospice. If anyone noticed that amidst all of the joy the face of Mr Harwood looked a little glum, nobody said anything. After all, they all knew that it was a time of year that could be depressing for singletons like him, alone in an ocean of family fun and games…