Disclaimer: Buena Vista owns the Power Rangers. Erin's character belongs to Tigger and EstiRose, introduced in their story "Wallflowers" and used with permission. Utmost respect and appreciation to Crayola and the Waysmeet Center. Adri has a sig that says, "Look! A distraction!"
They let Blake pull out first, hopefully negating the need for directions entirely. He pulled over when they turned toward campus and lost Dustin at the first stoplight, which Hunter thought was probably smart. Just because Dustin had "already found it once" didn't meant that he wouldn't find a way to be late the second time.
They took spaces in the nearly deserted lot one right after another, and Hunter called to Shane through the open window. "Look familiar?"
"We actually parked out behind the chapel," Shane admitted, climbing out and slamming his door shut behind him. "In one of the handicapped spaces, while we tried to figure out where we were."
"Dude, I knew where we were," Dustin objected, as they gathered behind the vehicles and followed Blake toward the building. "I just didn't know how to get anywhere else."
"Someone left the door unlocked for you?" Cam asked.
Blake had already pushed the door open, but he stepped back onto the steps as though he was looking for someone. "It's always unlocked," he said absently. "There's always someone here--there's the van!"
Tori's old blue van was turning off the campus road, and as Dustin went to wave someone came around the corner of the building. "Rosie!" Blake called, lifting an arm in greeting and jumping down the steps to greet her. "I thought you'd be inside!"
Hunter exchanged glances with Cam. Rosie?
"I had the front door open for you," the elderly woman cried, smiling as Blake strode forward to--hug her? Why hadn't he heard anything about "Rosie"?
"Hi Rosie!" Tori's voice called, and a moment later she was sliding out of the van and her female minions were spilling out behind her. "Thank you so much for letting us use the building tonight!"
"You know it's my pleasure," the woman chided, enveloping Tori in the same hug she had given Blake. "You look wonderful, Tori. And Erin--"
Rosie let Tori go, and the next girl in line stepped into her arms. Hunter shifted uncomfortably, hoping they were not all going to be subjected to this welcome. Who the heck was Rosie?
"Lovely to see you," Rosie said, patting Erin's hands as she lifted her gaze to the others gathered on and around the steps. Her eye lit on Hunter, and he would swear she noted his discomfort and was amused by it. "And Blake, this must be your brother?"
"Yeah, this is Hunter," Blake said quickly. "Hunter, Rosie. She lives here at Waysmeet, and she runs the counseling and outreach program. She's gonna perform the ceremony tomorrow."
"Pleased to meet you." Hunter offered his hand, and the effusive woman shook it solemnly.
"This is Cam," Blake continued, waiting for Cam to come forward before he added, "and Shane, and Dustin. They're my groomsmen."
Their murmured greetings were interrupted by the arrival of two more cars, the first of which prompted Kapri to shriek, "Lila's here!" And she and Marah were gone, racing across the parking lot faster than anyone should be able to in heels.
"Some things don't change," Cam muttered in his ear, and Hunter grinned.
"That'll be my mom," Tori said distractedly. Marah was already helping Jeike get her daughter out of the car, while Kapri chatted away with "Lila." Even Blake didn't call Tori's mother by her first name... although maybe "Mom" was more familiar than "Lila," Hunter didn't know.
"And our grandparents," Blake added, staring toward the parking lot to accompany them up to the building. He offered his arm to their own grandmother, escorting her across the lot while Tori's grandparents followed with assorted female friends and relatives.
Blake had been right. The men were seriously outnumbered.
This was made even clearer to him as introductions continued, degenerating rapidly into recitals of personal histories, stories of first meetings, and far too much cooing for his taste. Cam, unfortunately, maintained a polite level of interest in the proceedings, leaving him with no one to commiserate. It could be a long couple of days.
Rosie finally led them inside, taking them on a tour of the building that could have been briefer. Personally, Hunter wasn't convinced that he needed to know where the kids' playroom was, but he hesitated when he saw the markers. Sidling in while the others filed past, he snagged a red Crayola and considered the label.
"I'm pretty sure those aren't aimed at your age group," Cam's voice remarked from the doorway.
Hunter looked up, grinning at Cam's dry expression. "What do you wanna bet I can make Erin laugh during the rehearsal?"
Cam raised an eyebrow, and Hunter uncapped the marker. He drew a smiley face on his palm, then put an eyebrow over the left eye. He held up his hand for inspection. Cam's expression smoothed out, the eyebrow going down as he shook his head. "I hope that's not permanent."
"Nah," Hunter said, tossing the marker back in the box. "It's only funny the first time."
Cam stopped him before he could head for the door. "Give me a green one."
He grabbed the first green one he saw, and Cam amended sternly, "Washable."
Handing over a washable green marker, Hunter watched Cam turn over his left hand and carefully draw something on his palm. Carefully, because he was using the wrong hand, but it must have occurred to him that they might be shaking a lot more hands before the day was over. A moment later, he held up his hand for inspection.
Hunter smirked. It wasn't exactly a smiley face--or if it was, it was a smiley with a lopsided grin. Cam looked from him to his palm and back again, nodding in apparent satisfaction. "Yup," he decided. "That's the expression."
"Guys--" Shane caught the doorframe and stared in at them. "We're trying to have a rehearsal, here?"
He must have seen them exchange glances, for he added, "What are you doing?"
Hunter held up his left hand, and Shane frowned. When Cam reluctantly turned his palm up, though, Shane grinned and reached for the marker basket. "Tori's gonna kill us," he remarked conversationally.
Scribbling a wide-eyed smiley face on the inside of his left hand, he dropped the red marker and stuffed an orange one into his pocket. "Come on," he said, jerking his head toward the door. "Sensei's got nothing on Rosie when it comes to getting people in line."
He meant that literally, Hunter realized as they followed the hall to its end and found everyone in neat rows outside what must be the chapel entrance. The girls were all up against the far wall, while the adults stood ready to walk through the door. "Groomsmen inside," Rosie said, as soon as she caught sight of them.
"Your first job is to seat people and look nice," she added, standing in the doorway as they filed past. "Except for you, Hunter; you'll be out back with Blake. Everyone else will be seating guests as they arrive, except for those here tonight."
She walked them through the seating arrangements, stopping to consult with Tori whenever there was a question. Then she made them all try it, down to a mock-laying of the runner and several false starts with their "flower princess". Once everyone was where they were supposed to be, Tori's mom walked her slowly down the aisle.
"Beautiful," Rosie praised, when they came to a halt at the front of the chapel. "Now, Tori doesn't want to be presented, so as soon as you lift her veil you may be seated and I'll welcome everyone to the ceremony."
Erin caught his eye just as Tori's mom stepped away, and he couldn't resist. He lifted his left hand slightly in a casual wave. Erin's polite smile turned into a full-fledged grin, and she glanced back to whisper to the bridesmaid behind her. Hunter folded his hands again and looked innocently toward Blake and Tori. Kapri would make a scene no matter what, and he'd just as soon not have to explain.
Rosie was already ticking through the facets of the ceremony itself, and he heard Shane shift behind him. Hunter turned just enough to see Shane slipping the orange marker to Dustin. They couldn't have done that while they were walking in? The two of them had no subtlety.
Jeike's daughter, seated between her grandparents, began to swing her legs against the basket under her chair. Hunter smiled over at her, sympathizing. For anyone but his brother, he would have found an excuse not to be here. At least the kid got to sit down.
"Then I'll ask for the rings," Rosie was saying, and he turned as though he had been paying attention the whole time. "If you'll set the bride's ring on the book," she told him, "I'll ask the maid of honor for the groom's ring, and we'll proceed with the vows."
Obediently, he pretended to set a ring on the book she offered him, wondering what book it was. It didn't look like a bible. Not that he had expected one, since Blake and Tori had agreed on a non-denominational service. Their choice of chapel was unusual in and of itself, but he supposed "Waysmeet" would be easier to remember on their anniversary than "St. Whatever's."
He had to hand it to Rosie; the rehearsal took only as much time as the introductions and the tour combined. Whether that said more about the rehearsal itself or the introductions, it was hard to tell, but she even encouraged them to kiss at the end of the mock ceremony and that made Tori and Blake happy. They walked back down the aisle together, and Hunter offered his arm to Erin.
"Slowly," Rosie called after them as they headed toward the back of the chapel. "People are taking pictures. Pretend you're modeling!"
"You could wave," Erin whispered, and he grinned.
"At an empty room?" He lifted his free hand and displayed the smiley face for all of the imaginary people to see. "Talk to the hand," he told the assembled chairs, and Erin giggled.
He had known Erin before she had been Tori's roommate, and luckily they had compatible senses of humor. Tori and Blake had deliberately arranged it so that Shane and Dustin would be partnered with Kapri and Marah, which meant that Jeike was the only real unknown. He hoped she had an affinity for either the smart or the sarcastic, since Cam was both and would be bored out of his mind if his partner didn't get his jokes.
"The bridesmaids will wait outside the chapel doors," Rosie said, projecting her voice from the front of the room. "The groomsmen will come back inside to escort the women of the family out. Go," she added, when they all looked at each other.
"No microphone for her," Erin murmured under her breath, and Hunter smirked. He let go of her arm and turned to head down the side of the room.
"Follow the best man," Rosie called. "No one walks on the runner alone except for the bridesmaids at the beginning of the ceremony. Go around the edges... that's right. This time Hunter will escort the mother of the bride, and the rest of you can argue amongst yourselves."
"Evening, Mrs. Hanson," Hunter said politely, offering Lila Hanson his arm.
"Call me Mom," she invited, smiling up at him as they turned toward the aisle. "Blake does."
"Give me some time to get used to it," he told her. Privately, he couldn't imagine calling anyone "Mom" again, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He led her out through the doors at the back of the chapel, were the girls were already chatting excitedly to each other. Blake and Tori were gone, presumably practicing their "fake exit". Rosie was very thorough.
Shane and Dustin emerged with the grandmothers, and Hunter couldn't help grinning as Cam emerged from the chapel with Jeike's three-or-four year old daughter. She ran over to her mom as soon as Jeike held out her hand, and Cam offered, "I'll help you watch her while we take pictures, if you want."
"Thanks," Jeike answered, with a grateful smile. "My boyfriend should be here tomorrow, but I appreciate the offer."
Then Blake and Tori were coming through the doors again, with Rosie right behind them. "That was wonderful," she told them all, beaming at each of them in turn. "You're all wonderful performers, I can tell. Now, I'll be here tomorrow at two--will that be early enough?"
Blake made his way to Hunter while Tori engaged Rosie. "It's gonna take us a while to finish here," he said under his breath. "D'you mind checking on the neighbors, see how they're doing with the grill?'
"Sure," Hunter agreed, grateful for the excuse to get out of the overly female socializing. "I'll give 'em a hand. You inviting Rosie?" he added, jerking his head back toward the chapel.
"We already did," Blake said with a grin. "She's great, isn't she? She's going to try to come, but she has to wait for someone to come in and hang out in the building while she's gone. If they keep talking, we could be here until then."
"Got it." He was even more glad to get out if there wasn't a set departure time. "Let me just see if Cam wants to wait and catch a ride over with someone else."
Cam must have heard his name, because he looked up and started making his way toward them. "What's up?" he asked quietly, glancing back at Jeike's daughter as she stomped her sandals against the ground impatiently.
"I'm gonna head over to the apartment," Hunter told him. "See if the neighbors need any help with the grill. You wanna come, or get a ride over later?"
Cam shrugged. "I'm ready," he offered. "I'd just as soon go now."
"We'll catch up," Blake said, clapping Hunter's shoulder. "Don't let them burn all the chicken, okay?"
"We got it, bro. No worries."
Their departure went mostly unnoticed by the group gathered in front of the chapel, and Hunter glanced over at Cam when the silence stretched. "You okay?"
"Sure," Cam said. He was staring out the window as they turned across the outskirts of campus, following streets that were mostly deserted now with only one summer term still in session. It didn't take a genius to know what he was thinking.
"You want that I should drop you off at the library on the way?" Hunter teased.
Cam actually chuckled at that, and he looked a little more relaxed as he leaned back in his seat. "That would be my dream wedding," he admitted. "One where you were never bored."
"Where you were never bored," Hunter corrected. "The other guests would probably riot."
"Leaving me alone with the books," Cam pointed out. "Like I said. A dream wedding."
"Is this your wedding that you're picturing, or someone else's?" Hunter wanted to know.
"Do you see me getting married in the near future?" Cam countered. "Someone else's, obviously. Tori and Blake are great," he added quickly, "but I'm just not cut out for this sort of formal socializing."
"You and me both," Hunter agreed. "Anywhere you can't go in racing gear..."
"Isn't worth going," Cam finished. "Yeah, I know. It's not even the dressing up that I object to, though, it's the constant politeness. Who knows what anyone's really thinking?"
Hunter smirked. "Who's constantly polite?"
"Everyone but you," Cam replied promptly.
"What's Jeike like?" Hunter wanted to know. "She into your kind of sarcasm?"
"I can be un-sarcastic," Cam informed him with dignity. "And she's nice, thank you very much."
"Hey," Hunter protested, slowing as they turned onto Tori and Blake's road. "I was just asking."
Tori and Blake occupied one side of a two-story house in the middle of a street crawling with AGU students. They had three housemates, or "neighbors" as Blake referred to them, and all were students that one or the other of them had known prior to moving in at the beginning of the summer. Their good relations made a backyard dinner not only possible but practical when the neighbors had offered to help.
He parked on the street, figuring they had less of a chance of getting blocked in that way, and they headed around behind the building without bothering to go up to the door. They could hear noise before they even got down the driveway, and he recognized one of the housemates' distinctive drawl as a door slammed. "N'all folks like their corn drenched, y'know!"
"Drenched in what?" Hunter muttered to Cam, and had the satisfaction of seeing his mouth quirk at the corner.
"Well, not all folks are cooking, are they!" someone shouted back. "You mind your own business, Anna Mae!"
"Hey, Chantal," Hunter said with a grin. The blonde-haired girl at the grill looked up as they made their way between the cars parked off to the side of the house, and her face positively lit up when she caught sight of them.
"My people!" she cried, dropping the tongs and running toward them. "Let's have some queer solidarity, here! How much butter do you put on corn?"
Hunter exchanged glances with Cam. "A lot?" he guessed.
"A lot!" she crowed. "Thank you!" She clasped his hand and pulled him into a one-armed hug, kissing the air beside each cheek. He tolerated the gesture with fond amusement, knowing she cut him some slack in the gay department because he was what she termed "a straight queer".
"Cam!" she exclaimed, as soon as she'd let him go. "Can you or can you not serve asparagus with corn and chicken?"
"You can," Cam said gravely, and Hunter rolled his eyes. She didn't have to make excuses for Cam, who obligingly fit into whatever stereotype she picked for him. And he wasn't even gay.
Chantal squealed in delight. Cam, who was one of the least physical people Hunter knew, not only returned her embrace but also copied her kissing mannerism. This from the guy who had just been complaining about false politeness?
"Ain't that sweet," Anna Mae's voice drawled from the porch. "S'like a rainbow bar out here. You cookin' that corn or what?"
"When the chicken's ready you can hassle me about the corn," Chantal shot back. Then she turned a sweet smile on Cam and inquired, "Have you come to help me grill?"
"Hey," Hunter interrupted. "What am I for?"
"To look pretty?" She laughed at his expression, putting a hand on his arm and steering him toward the porch. "You can barely fry an egg! Help Anna Mae with the tables, will you?"
"So much for queer solidarity," he grumbled good-naturedly.
"Ah heard that!" Anna Mae called from inside. "Trus' me, Hunter, y'all are way more 'mah people' then y'are Chana's."
Chantal nodded in mock disappointment. "Sad, but true," she agreed. "Cam's more gay than you are. But you fit right in with the butch crowd!"
Hunter rolled his eyes. "As long as I have a place," he said, allowing himself to be pushed inside. The lesbians next door, he thought, glancing around at the perfectly normal kitchen. Chantal and Anna Mae were out with a capital "O", and one almost expected to see rainbows painted across the ceiling.
"Here," Anna Mae said, thrusting a stack of paper plates, napkins, and plastic silverware into his arms. "The napkins go underneath the plates, y'hear? Ah'll be right behind ya with cups an' place holders t'make sure they don' blow away."
"You're using real drink glasses?" Hunter asked, watching her sweep an array of mismatched tumblers and juice glasses to one side of the counter. They must have combined every dish set in the house to come up with enough.
"Y'all can't drink alcohol out of paper cups," Anna Mae informed him. "This ain't the southland, y'know."
"Right," Hunter said dryly. "What was I thinking?"
"Get along now." She shooed him out the door, plastic cups and a bag of marbles in one hand as she followed him. "See here, on the deck? Start here an' see how far ya get. We're goin' t'put plates out on the picnic table an' the foldin' table, too. With a li'l luck, there'll be room f'r all twenty."
He spilled the silverware onto the middle of the table on the porch, then started setting out napkins with paper plates on top of them. Anna Mae dropped flat-sided marbles into plastic cups as he went, placing them on top of the plates to hold everything down. "The bes' thing," she confided as they went, "i'sat if someone forgets and don' take the place holders out, they can drink up anyway an' jus' leave 'em in there."
They managed to fit eight places on the porch table, and six more on each of the tables in the yard. Cam and Chantal were bickering amiably by the grill, arguing over the insulating properties of various metals as far as Hunter could tell, but Chantal broke off as soon as she saw them finish. "Anna Mae, whenever you can stir y'self to bring out the chicken we'll start cookin'!"
"Ya don' mock my accent, chere," Anna Mae shouted back. "Watch y'self or y'all ain't gettin' any utensils with y'supper!"
"All talk and no action!" Chantal retorted sweetly. "Bring some dishes for the corn, too!"
Anna Mae stomped back into the house, muttering to herself the whole way. Hunter glanced around, belatedly realizing that they were missing someone. "Hey, Chantal, where's Jerico?"
"Jeri chickened out," Chantal said blithely. "He's road tripping with some guy from his Eastern Philosophy class. I doubt he'll be back before the semester starts."
"This good 'nuff for ya?" Anna Mae called from the porch. She was holding a large casserole in each hand, balanced at shoulder height as she struck a pose at the top of the steps.
"You'll do!" Chantal answered. Then she added, "Oh, you mean the dishes? Those are fine. Did you turn the stove on?"
"Ah turned the oven on years back." Anna Mae made her way down the steps and over to the grill, handing off one casserole to Cam and setting the other down on the card table they'd set up for food. Cam put the other dish down immediately and went back to spearing asparagus, or whatever Chantal had him doing. "Y'all want something t'drink?"
"If you want anything to eat," Chantal threatened, "you'll get the chicken!"
"Jus' tryin' to be friendly," Anna Mae grumbled. "Keep y'skirt on."
The sound of a car pulling into the driveway prompted Chantal to lean back, peering around the corner of the house from where she was. "Tori's van," she announced. "It looks like we're going to need that chicken sometime tonight, Anna Mae."
Marah and Kapri appeared first, greeting Chantal and Anna Mae with the enthusiasm of old friends, and Erin followed a little more sedately. Hunter caught her eye through the crowd and smiled in welcome. Jeike was nowhere to be seen, nor did Tori come around the corner with them. She must be coming with Blake.
Anna Mae finally allowed herself to be prodded back into the house for chicken, taking the corn with her to keep it warm in the oven. She emerged with the chicken and an empty platter just as the grandparents arrived. Shane and Dustin pulled up minutes later with Tori, Blake, and Rosie right behind them, and the yard degenerated into amicable chaos.
tbc