Real Life Begins
May of 2018 marked the end of an era for many of the friends; their days of formal education were drawing to a close in a flurry of work. Even with the organisational skills that most of them had developed over the years, the last few weeks had been hectic; as was often the case, time had managed to outwit them. April had been a month when it felt as if the younger generation of partners had left the city for those at the Spotlight diner. Mike appeared on two occasions to cover shifts that had been allocated to Jeff, working on his own day off from the City Ballet to help out his friend whilst he finished off a lot of last minute work. He was overheard telling Elliott that he had not seen Nick for a fortnight, and if it wasn't for the fact that he was living there, he suspected that Caleb might have starved to death, deprived of food and affection. He also made the shocking admission that shop bought cookies had appeared for the first time in his memory in the new house - and takeaway cartons.
Indeed, it was wildly rumoured that Nick was actually living at the Law Library in one of the private study rooms. It wasn't true, of course, but he might have fallen asleep there one night, waking up at 3am to find himself alone in the darkness. He had let himself out with his staff pass, taken a subway back home, which had not been an experience that he wished to repeat in a hurry, and finally climbed into bed next to his husband just before 4am. He had been woken again by his alarm clock an hour later, and after a quick bite of breakfast and a fast shower, he was heading back uptown on the subway just after 6am…
Those at NYADA were under no less pressure, dealing with a heady mixture of written work, performances and individual practical assessments on every discipline under the sun. Even Artie found himself caught up in the maelstrom of work, sitting exams and submitting the final cuts of his last films; the only consolation at that time was that he was sitting there editing them as the award he had won at that year's Sundance Film Festival for Dalton Boys sat proudly in place on the shelf above his desk…
Then it was all over. The morning after his final exams, Nick stayed in bed until 10am, sound asleep until that time as his body caught up on the rest that it so badly needed. Jeff was already up and about by the time he stirred, the complete opposite of the usual pattern, and it had been his arrival in their bedroom with a breakfast tray that had finally stirred Nick back to wakefulness. He stretched himself leisurely first as Jeff stood and waited patiently, then once he had sat up in bed, his husband set the tray in front of him with a flourish. It was a simple enough repast of scrambled eggs and toast, but it had been made with care and love, and so it tasted like heaven. Jeff climbed back into bed beside Nick, sipping on a cup of tea, having already eaten when he woke up two hours earlier. He had concluded that today was as good a day as any to tell Nick what he had been thinking about non-stop for the last few weeks in his few spare moments. He snuggled up next to his husband as he ate, making Nick chuckle a little as he wondered what was on his mind. If it was that, then he would have no objections, as it had been a long time….
"Nicky?"
"Yes, my love?"
"I've been thinking…"
"Which is always a dangerous thing."
"Cheek! But I will forgive you for that statement as you are the love of my life and I adore you. The thing is, we are both finished college now, and you are going to be hired any day now and become the next big hot shot lawyer…"
"Hopefully…"
"There is no doubt about it in my mind. Anyway, so as you have insisted that I take time to concentrate on my art for now, that means I am going to be at home in the house all day, more or less, for a while. The only distraction I will have will be my shifts at the diner, and so, maybe this would be a good time to take the next big step…"
"The next step? And what would that be?"
"I think that we should have a baby Nicky. It is a good time, as we're both young. I will have the time to care for them being at home, and financially, we are sound. There is no reason whatsoever to wait."
Nick was silent for a moment, as he processed what Jeff had just said. They had talked about it before, and they both wanted to be a dad someday. They also both accepted that he would be the bio dad, as Jeff feared, irrationally of course, that the defective Clarington gene that had created his father and Hunter would somehow be passed on through him, and the last thing he wanted to do was to perpetuate that lineage. However, the idea of having a child now, just months after college had finished, was scary. True, a lot of what Jeff had pointed out was right, but it was a lifetime responsibility that he was talking about. He still hadn't managed to secure a position with any of the firms he had applied to. He had been offered a few roles, including one with the firm that Grace worked for, albeit in a different department. None of those were in the field he wanted to specialise in. Those jobs seemed to be very hard to find, and those that existed were low paid, if there was a salary attached at all. To be a father on top of all of that pressure…
"Unless of course you've changed your mind Nicky, and don't want to be a dad with me anymore."
Jeff's words broke into Nick's thoughts, and he looked across at his husband, and saw his best poker face looking right back at him. "Of course I haven't changed my mind, Jeffie! I still want to be a father, and I still want to raise that child with you at my side. You've just taken me by surprise, that's all. I can't say yes or no to the timing just now, because there is still so much that is uncertain in our future; I haven't got a job yet for a start. Then there is the whole process of finding a willing surrogate, and that will not be an easy one. She will have to be prefect in both our eyes in every single way…"
"I have been thinking about it, and I have an idea of who we could ask. The best thing is that we know her already," replied Jeff. "But we don't need to talk about that now, because you are right, I did kind of spring it on you… In the meantime, Mike is at work, Caleb is sound asleep, and we both have nowhere we need to be today. There is a certain something that we haven't done for what seems like forever…"
"Yes, there is, isn't there," said Nick with a wink, lifting the breakfast tray off his lap and placing it carefully on the bedside cabinet. "What say we remedy that situation right now…."
The following day would find Nick at a loose end. After so long with the constant pressure of college work upon him, he found that not having anything to read or write as a matter of urgency a strange state of affairs. Jeff had a shift at the Spotlight, and he had left the house with quite the spring in his step, helped in no little part by the fact that he had ended up spending nearly the whole of the previous day in bed with his husband… They had only left it when they realised two things; firstly, Mike would be home very soon, and secondly, there was a plaintive scratching and miaowing noise coming from the other side of the door, generated by a seriously disgruntled and hungry cat. Caleb had stalked off down the stairs the moment that they opened the door, his tail held high in disgust, pausing only to yowl at the top of the stairs before he headed back down. He had refused to be mollified by either of them, even after food and drink had been provided, and went on to sulk in high dudgeon until Mike had come home. Then he had run across the room to miaow at him in greeting, then had rubbed himself against Mike's legs, purring in contentment as the dancer looked at him in confusion.
"That cat is spoiled," stated Nick bluntly, and Jeff had to agree that at times, Caleb could be a complete brat.
The morning after saw them both forgiven to a degree, although when it came down to it, Mike did seem to be getting more than his usual share of love and affection, much to his own mortification. When Jeff had left, Mike decided that it was time to discuss a subject that he had been putting off for a while, but had now reached a pivotal moment; thankfully he had a morning off, and it was always easier to talk to Nick on his own first. "So, Nick, I have been thinking…."
"Oh, Lord, not you too!" sighed Nick, then as Mike just stared at him curiously, he laughed, and continued, "Jeff started a conversation with more or less the same phrase yesterday. Then he dropped a bit of a bombshell on me. I figure that you are about to do the same, and I am pretty certain that I know exactly what that is too. You are going to be moving out and into your own place."
"Yeah, that's it in a nutshell. Now that Tina is finished at Brown, she is looking for a job here in New York, and that shouldn't be a problem with her level of qualification. That means that it is time for me to take the big step, and set up home with my girlfriend at long last," said Mike, with just a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Well, Jeff did give you that place at the end of the row for a reason. You were never going to be staying with us forever. We will miss you being around, especially Caleb, but this day had to come along, and it's not as if you will be going far; you'll still be close by for babysitting duties…"
Mike's eyes widened at Nick's statement, and then with a nervous chuckle he said, "That won't be any time soon though, will it?"
"Well, Caleb will need someone he trusts to take care of him when we go away, and I am planning a little break for myself and Jeff before I find my self tied up with a job and all those responsibilities that come with that…" Nick paused, then decided that he had to tell someone, and Mike was the perfect person. "In the other sense, well that might be sooner than you think; that was the bombshell Jeff dropped on me yesterday. He asked me to think about starting a family now, as he thinks that this is the perfect time for us. Me, I'm not quite so sure…"
Mike nodded, then spoke. "It is a big step to take, that much is true, but the thing is that if you wait until absolutely everything is perfect before starting a family, you might never end up having kids. None of us know what the future holds after all; sometimes you just have to live in the moment and go with the flow. For what it is worth, I think that the two of you will be great dads; you will be the firm but fair one, whilst Jeff will be the creative one that's a bit of an eternal kid himself."
Nick smiled, and replied, "It's still a frightening idea Mike. I mean, being so responsible for another human being. Anyway, we need to find someone to act as a surrogate for us, and that will take a while. Just now I am going to relax, enjoy my leisure time for a few weeks, and then decide. Something like this can't be rushed into after all."
Having sworn Mike to silence, Nick headed out to do a big food shop, as he noted that the cupboards were more or less bare. He took the subway over to Brooklyn to pick up all the necessary essentials; everything he would need to whip up a huge batch of cookies, given that he felt shame on seeing the pack of Chips Ahoy! Jeff had been forced to buy to satisfy his cravings, and something wholesome for this evening's dinner, to make up for all the takeout. He had taken his rucksack for the heavier goods, along with a number of reusable bags, all of which were full to the brim by the time he headed back to the subway, laden like a pack horse. As he waited for his train, he spotted just a little way down the platform a pair of guys, just a little bit older than himself and Jeff, one of whom was wearing a baby carrier. He watched as the two of them cooed over the child inside, and felt his heart swell. He could just picture himself and Jeff like that…
Once he was on the train, Nick knew that once he had found a job, he would tell Jeff that they should go ahead and try and find a surrogate. His husband had named someone yesterday, and although the name had been a bit of a surprise, what he had followed it up with had been true; they had offered to do it for someone else in the past. That did not in any way imply that they would be prepared to do it for them, as they were nowhere near as close… The fact was that he wanted a child of his own and if they only had one, that would be fine, much as he would have loved to have helped raise a child of Jeff's too… Yes, they were young, and people would try and talk them out of it, but his husband had a point, not that he would say anything to him just yet. After all, having a child would mean sacrifices and at least two decades of dedication.
The subject of children did not come up again for a week or so. Jeff had a lot of shifts to work at the Spotlight, which did come as a bit of a shock to him. He knew that the people that had covered for him, Sam and Santana during their last weeks at school needed holidays, but for some reason he seemed to be working far more than the other two put together. That was the case because of Nick; he had made the necessary calls, and having received the positive answer he had been hoping for, he had asked Michelle to arrange a vacation of just over two weeks for Jeff at the start of June. He had managed to find them good deals on flights, and had also done well on securing accommodations for the second part of their trip, having decided that they should see a bit more of the continent whilst they were there. That had left him a bit of money over from the budget he had set for a little treat…
That done, Nick had been left to await for the outcome of the interviews he had had with various law firms in the last few weeks, to see if any of them would actually be willing to offer him a position. In the end, he found himself with only three actual job offers, although the others had all been interested, just not in a position to be able to recruit him. The first offer he ruled out at once, as it was for a post in the property law department of the firm in question, and although he was fully conversant with all the ins and outs of that area of law, it was not what he wanted to do, even short term. The second offer was better, but it was only for a short term contract, not a permanent role. Even if it had been, he would have had second thoughts, given that there were rumours that the firm in question was considering its entire rights based legal operations to Washington DC, and he did not want to move.
That left the third option. It looked good on paper, and he had been promised that he would only be used for prosecution cases by the firm, and would not be forced to defend anyone that had breached the simple laws on rights. The drawbacks were that firstly, that was not down in black and white, and secondly, it was from the same firm that Grace worked for; he was not entirely convinced that such a thing might not throw up some issues in the longer term. At the end of the week, he took the bull by the horns, so to speak, and arranged to meet his sister for lunch. He told her about his predicament, but her reply was simple.
"I know that the idea of the two of us working together freaks you out, and to be honest it does the same for me. The thing is that we won't be really, just working in the same building. The department that you will be in is on the 7th floor; my department is on the 18th. Trust me when I tell you that we don't mix; each floor keeps itself to itself. The only downside that I can see in the whole thing is the guy you will ultimately be working under; he is one of the senior partners, and is known to all of us as being a bit of an asshole. Still, if you do your work, and do it as well as I know you can, you won't have any worries…."
Nick nodded, but now found that he was concerned about his boss. Still, he had coped with Hunter Clarington, and his dad, so he was used to dealing with that type. He accepted the offer that afternoon, with the caveat that he started in July…
For those that were fresh out of NYADA, fortunes were a little more mixed. Sam had auditioned for a number of roles as the end of his time at school approached, but he had not succeeded in getting past callbacks. Then, the day after school finished, he had been called up out of the blue by the director of the revival of My Fair Lady. He had auditioned for the show, and had been down to the last three, but had just missed out; now the man he had been beaten by had major issues, and his understudy was going on more often than not. They in their turn did not want the role full time, and so there was a vacancy… Within a week, the name Sam Evans was printed in the Playbill, and the week after, his parents, brother and sister found themselves seated in the audience of the show next to Burt and Carole as Sam gave it his all, and earned a large round of applause… What was even better was that he had also managed to attract the attention of the casting director of a proposed Broadway revival of the sixties musical Hair…
Santana on the other hand had found her footsteps leading her back to Brooklyn, working once more as she had for the last few summers with the youth theatre project. She had decided that she would not audition for shows that spring as all the other seniors at NYADA did, relishing the idea of helping out with the kids again during the summer, and just enjoying some more time with her wife. She found that she loved the whole teaching aspect of the Brooklyn job, and that did not go unnoticed by the Dean of NYADA. Just after the end of term, Carmen asked Santana to come and see her, and to her surprise, she was offered a role amongst the staff in the school, on a rolling contract, so that she could still audition for her big Broadway break when she wished. After only a moment of consideration, Santana said yes.
Marley was also in luck. Her big dream had always been to be a singer on the radio, but such positions were limited in the modern age. Luck was with her though, and she found herself auditioning for a vocalist position with one of the best known performing orchestras in the city, who regularly gave broadcast concerts on the radio. Just before the end of the month, she received a letter which informed her that her dream had come true…
As for Sebastian, he too was living the dream. On the day he finished school, he had to hurry away to get to the theatre for his Friday night performance. On arriving at the stage door, he was told that he had to report to the director's office at once. He had no idea why, but he feared the worst. Instead, he was finally let in on the secret that the rest of the cast had known for the last three weeks. The current actor in the role of Elder Price had handed in his notice, and after consultation with all of the others, they had all agreed that there was only one of them that could fill the man's shoes… Once he got over the shock, he accepted the part. He made a quick call to Dave, his brother and his mom to tell them first hand his good news; the others found out from a post he made on Facebook; a simple photo of the Elder Price badge with no words at all, just a big smile emoji. They all knew what it meant, and they were all without exception delighted for him. The celebrations got all the greater when a couple of hours later, Mason revealed that he had been offered Sebastian's old role in swing, for the four performances a week, from the moment he took the lead…
For the official graduation ceremonies, a lot of family and friends came to town, and Nick and Jeff made arrangements to accommodate several of them, seeing as they had the space. They had a houseful themselves, with both the Sterlings and Elspeth in town, whilst Cooper and Grace provided space for Mrs Duval and her parents. Santana's mother and grandmother both came to the city, and although there was plenty of room in Bushwick, she had asked if they could provide a room for them to stay in in the West Village; Santana had cited her abuela's age and the difficulty of travelling on the congested 'L' train as her reasons for it, along with the presence of Rachel Berry in the loft. The two young men were not stupid, however, and quickly surmised that the real reason for the request was that her grandmother still had some issues with Santana and Brittany being together, and so it was easier for everyone if she did not have to see it every morning.
In the case of the Evans family, it was just far easier for them to stay in Manhattan, as it meant they could have their own space. As it was also the first time that Sam's younger siblings had been in the city, they also had a lot of sights to go and see, there was a lot of convenience in being at the heart of things. Marley's mom was staying with her daughter, Kitty having agreed to move in temporarily with Artie; his mom would be coming to the city too, but as his graduation was several days after that at NYADA, there was no clash, and Kitty would be back home before Mrs Abrams arrived in town.
As for Sebastian's maman, she had tried to reserve a hotel room, given that she knew how small Sebastian and Dave's spare room was. However, Julian had extended an invitation to come and stay with him in New Jersey, and she had accepted happily; all the old enmity between them having long since been forgotten. After all, it was thanks to her that he had his own mom back from the dead. All in all, the whole graduation season was a hectic one. It was soon over though, ending almost as soon as it began, in a blur of celebration, cheering and happy faces…
It was then time to face the reality of the world of work. Sebastian was now on the stage eight times a week, and at first his schedule was a punishing one. On his first official night as Elder Price, the critics were in the audience en masse, ready to pick apart the performance of the recent drama school graduate, even if he did already have a share in a Tony. That was bad enough, but when he was handed a note with an hour to go telling him that the regular Elder McKinley was not going to be in that night, he nearly freaked out. Reading on, he felt sick to the stomach when he saw that they had found a one night relief to replace him. However, when Mason strolled in ten minutes later in costume and pointed to his name badge, Sebastian went from stressed out to overjoyed. His presence would be a great help on his first official night in the role; true, he did kind of wish that Trent was also in the building… The actor that played the current Elder Cunningham was a good guy though, and they worked well together; the current Nabilungi was also highly skilled, so that was another relief.
When, with ten minutes to places, a bunch of flowers arrived, he blushed a little, then on reading the card was delighted to see that they had been sent by Jenny. When the door opened again two minutes later and the lady herself stepped in to tell him she was going to be in the audience, he had jumped out of his seat and hugged her. He was able to step out to his opening mark with total confidence, knowing that a whole gang of Warblers, along with his maman and brother, where in the crowd to support him. He was more than ready to show the world that his performance in the role before had not been a one night fluke… The glowing reviews that filled the media the next day were testament to his talents.
As all of this happened, Jeff was starting to feel concerned. He had a funny feeling that Nick was up to something behind his back. As theirs was a marriage built on the implicit understanding that there were to be no secrets or lies, this was an issue. When he overheard Michelle telling Nick over the phone one afternoon that she had sorted out some more extra shifts for Jeff, he was left confused and worried. He tried hard not to have the irrational thoughts, but they crept in anyway. He began to think that Nick might be cheating on him, and if he was, then that in his book was completely unforgivable. He was angry at himself for even thinking that of his husband, but all of the signs were there; phone calls that ended as he walked into the room, keeping him at work all day whilst Nick stayed at home, strange purchases being made on the bank statements, and worst of all, a brochure for a cattery being hidden away at the back of a drawer…
He let it go on for a week, and then he decided that enough was enough, and that for the sake of his own sanity, he had to confront his husband with the fact he knew he was up to something, and find out the truth, good or bad. On the night he intended for the showdown, he came home to find the whole house filled with the delicious aroma of beouf bourguignon, and the promise of Tarte Tartin for afters. It was as he ate the last morsel of pie on his plate that Nick spoke.
"Jeffie, there is something that I need to tell you…."
In Jeff's head, all the worst case scenarios began to play out one by one, and he was so distracted by them that he almost didn't hear Nick continue.
"We deserve a holiday; we are both going to be working hard all the time soon; and we might even have a baby to bring up in the near future too, so I decided to do something about a promise that I made to you four years ago…"
With that, he handed Jeff a sheet of paper, on which were printed out the details of their flight to Paris the following week…
Jeff was silent for a moment, then, much to Nick's shock, he said, "Oh, Nicky! I am so sorry…"
"Why on earth are you sorry? If you are worried that you won't be able to get the time off, then don't, because I have already booked it with Michelle; that is why you have been at work so much over the last few weeks. I thought that this would be a nice surprise…"
"It is, and I am so very pleased that we are going back, but the thing is, I overheard you talking to Michelle, and I thought a lot of things that I knew couldn't be true, but I still thought them…"
Nick looked confused for a minute, then suddenly it dawned on him what his husband was alluding to. "Well, that was a bit silly; you know that I would never, ever, ever cheat on you. My chest is tattooed with your name, and nobody else's. My heart belongs solely to you for all eternity."
"And mine belongs to you, but you have to admit, you were doing all of the things that people do do when they cheat. Secretive calls, trying to keep me away from home. Still, I guess I was being a bit of an idiot!"
Nick smiled. "Just a little, but you are my idiot, and I am so sorry that I did things that made you feel that way. It's all forgotten now in any case, and speaking of cases, we'd better start to think about packing. By the way, we're only spending a few days in Paris with François; after that, we are heading down to Rome, via Venice and Florence…"
"Italy!" squealed Jeff. "I have always wanted to go to Italy! Wait, does that mean I will be able to see…"
"The Sistine Chapel? It is all booked and sorted, along with a few other things. Whilst we are away, we can also discuss our thoughts on a surrogate, and how we are going to manage being fathers. It is quite a big responsibility that we are taking on; one that will last a lifetime. We will need to talk through all of our options; I mean, what if for some reason it turns out that you won't be at home after all? What do we do then?"
"I don't see any reason why I wouldn't be, Nicky, but I guess that we do need to talk about it. Then there are all the other things that we will need to consider; the whole question of schooling, and a college fund - and a name. We need to discuss a name for our child…."
Nick smiled, and nodded. He realised that this was what life was like when you became an adult; when all of a sudden you had big responsibilities not just to yourself, but to so many other people. It was scary, but he knew that with Jeff at his side, he could handle anything that life threw at him.