Between the Party and the Holiday
On the Monday morning, with the party now a happy memory, it was time for those non-residents that were still in the city to head home, but that was not before they exchanged gifts in some cases. Luke had brought gifts with him from Vermont for both Seth and Skylar; the two of them would be heading back to Ohio together, the addition of Skylar in the car giving Thad a relief driver. That turned out to be no bad thing, as Thad had woken up to a bout of stomach pain, which he put down to all of the spicy treats that Nick had made yesterday, and which he had devoured.
"This does seem to happen from time to time these days if I eat too much, and if the food is very spicy," he admitted to the other two. "The worst of it all is that I know that it is going to happen, and I know that I should stick to blander fare, but then I see that Nick has gone to the effort of making something with a good blend of spices, and well, it would seem rude to refuse."
"Maybe you should have a chat with Nick about it, and knowing him, he wouldn't make quite so many things that would tempt you," said Skylar sagely.
"And deprive the rest of you that are younger and have less digestive issues? No, I just need to learn better self control, and eat less of it. I mean, I am old enough now to know better!"
"That is easier said than done when Nick lays on a Hogwarts scale feast," said Seth.
"Very true," admitted Skylar, who was already planning an extra gym session or four to work off all of the calories he had consumed in the form of sausage rolls and sweet pie and cake. "Right, so I will drive. I will head straight for Dalton, and ask Julia to come and pick me up, or even just call a cab."
"Nonsense! I will be fine by then if experience is correct, and so Seth can start enjoying his hosts' company whilst I drive you home. It's not all that far, and in any case, I think there will probably be a shopping list waiting for me from Mrs Carmichael. She hates going to the supermarket at this time of year, as the lines are so long at the cash desk, and the aisles so crowded, and she starts to get annoyed by people being so slow and before you know it… Anyway, I expect that I will have to go and pick up all of the things she still needs."
As the three of them prepared to leave, the four musketeers had arranged to meet up that morning before Trent had to head back to Washington DC. Rory had volunteered to take Wes Christmas shopping at Macy's, which was either brave or stupid given the size of the crowds that were already thronging the sidewalks at 10am. It seemed that Christmas was the one time of the year when physical stores came into their own…
Meanwhile, his husband and his three friends were chatting over coffee in the kitchen of the West Village house, and the talk had naturally turned to what 2024 held in store for them. "Well, I think that we all know exactly what our Robin will be up to all year," said Nick with a grin, and the others laughed.
"I have actually been writing the basic outlines for his speeches in the run up to election day for the last six months," confided Trent. "Admittedly, I am in a position that many of my predecessors would have envied. Kennedy is still riding high in the polls, and his approval ratings are amongst the highest for any President in the past century. However, that does not make my task a walkover by any chalk. The Republicans have started to mumble about tax rises, and big government, and how we are turning America red and socialist. We expect them to start campaigning for tax cuts for the richer elements of society soon, and we will let them, before torpedoing them by pointing out that there will of course be no tax cuts for the poor, indeed for the majority of Americans. Then there is a rumour that they intend to reinstate all of the student debts that we have just managed to wipe out. Basically we have to ensure that we get our voters out, and not let them be complacent just because they see the numbers."
"So we can all look forward to some great motivational words written by yourself, and delivered by a man that is arguably amongst the greatest Presidents this nation has ever had then?" asked Sebastian. "If so, bring it on. You will want the Great White Way behind you naturally, and I am sure that I can get my Aunt Bette involved, along with Laurie and Meryl. As to where I will be performing on election day, that is still to be decided, as discussions are ongoing. It is probably safe to say that I won't be doing much singing though, and that is all you are getting from me."
The others nodded, knowing better than to push; Nick then took his turn. "Well, it isn't official yet, so don't repeat it, but it appears that the two senior staff in my department at the UN, Dr Schultz and Dr Hansen, are going to retire next year, and my immediate boss, Miss Worthington, will be taking over as the new head. The department is to be restructured, and she will apparently have two deputies, both of whom will have less responsibility than she has now. There will be more people reporting directly to her as department head, and the rumour mill has it that I will be one of them, with a salary increase to boot. It's like a promotion, but without the title of deputy. The word is that she wanted me to be one of her deputies, but it was felt that I was a little too young for the role by the hierarchy above her. I am actually quite relieved about that, as the workload would be so different; a lot more speech making and hobnobbing with the great and good, and less of the hands on stuff I like. There is also talk that I might be being sent to New Zealand for a week or so in early spring, and of course, my husband and son can join me…"
"I have to admit that when Nicky told me, I wasn't all that certain, but then it grew on me," said Jeff. "The idea of being in a different hemisphere, with different seasons intrigues me, and then there are the volcanoes, and we aren't talking extinct ones…" He smiled as he saw the looks on the faces of his two friends, realising that the latter was Trent's worst nightmare, but as much of a dream for Sebastian as it was for him. "By the time it comes around, I will be needing a break. I have been asked to do a portrait of the First Lady, and of the Obamas, and there might be a few other celebrities that I have agreed to portray. Then my author is releasing a new book, and that will need to be illustrated. Plus we will be heading to London in the summer, again courtesy of the UN. Let's be honest, I have a celebrity packed jet set lifestyle, and I absolutely love it!"
Trent and Sebastian turned to look at each other, and the expression they saw on the other's face made them burst out laughing. Nick meanwhile just smiled indulgently at his husband. A moment later and Jeff was also laughing, realising that a decade ago everything had been so very different. All four of them had still been getting over the trauma of everything that Hunter had done to them at that point, and he had been living with his big secret; at that point, no-one else had been aware of how closely bound to the whole affair he had been. They had all known that Hunter was going to face justice in a few weeks time, that the worst of the nightmare was over, but that had come at a terrible price. He and Nick had been living in the loft in Bushwick then, once the home of Kurt and Blaine; they had moved in just before Christmas, had headed back to Ohio for the day itself at the insistence of Burt Hummel, and when they had returned days later, they found themselves with Sebastian for a roommate…
They had all been different people then, still much closer to the scared school boys of Dalton than the successful men that they were today. They had five children between them; Trent had always had his family, but now they all had the kind of support from happy extended families… Jeff tuned back in to hear Sebastian telling them all how he would be joining Julian and Isabelle for Christmas lunch; how they would have a full house, given that his father, his maman, and Julian's mom were all coming to join the celebrations. Paul Karofsky would be invited as well, and just to add to the extended family, Mrs Carr, Sebastian's nanny, would also be there.
"Her son is staying in Florida this year, and although she was invited to go down and join him, she decided that she didn't feel like heading down at the busiest time of the year for just a couple of days. The children love her, and well, she is like family to me and Dave too. She also gets on really well with Paul, which is a big bonus," said Sebastian. "The fact that he is coming to join us put a smile on her face. They sit and talk to each other for hours every time he comes to be honest; someone of a similar age and background I guess…"
Across the table, Trent was listening intently, as his mind started to play ticks on him; it was after all a very childish thing to imagine that the woman that looked after Sebastian's children would have a crush on Dave's father…
When it came to his turn to speak again, Trent's plans for the break were simple. He and Rory would be having dinner with Burt and Carole at their place in Washington. It was his turn this year to be the on call speech writer, ready to drop everything at a moment's notice in a national emergency to write a speech for the Commander in Chief to deliver; for that reason, they could not leave the city. In any case, the idea of travelling with the rest of the holiday rush, accompanied by two small children, made him shudder. They would head up to Delaware the following day, to spend a couple of days with Séamus and Becca.
They would of course see him the day before, along with the redoubtable Agnes, on a group chat on Zoom. Rory's grandmother had in the end surprised them all with the speed at which she had learnt how to use the internet, albeit not without a few issues… She had somehow managed one afternoon to find herself in a Zoom chat that was not the one she was meant to be in; instead of her grandsons, she was in one involving the Irish President, the Prime Minister, and the head of the Garda. She had also been given a Portal, but in the end had given it away. That had occurred because she forgot that it was on, and Rory, on tuning in to say hello, had found her in the middle of a conversation with Mrs Flynn, and had been left blushing as he overheard a few very choice opinions about a lot of the people that he had known as a boy back in Clane..
It would be Mrs Flynn that shared her Christmas dinner with Agnes. She had not yet been forgiven by Rory's parents for what they had done to them when they had tried to spoil their son's wedding - they were still banned from the United States - and if she was honest, Agnes did not really care. In fact, she now told a lot of people that as Rory had been adopted by Burt, he had adopted the better parts of his family too, and he was now more or less her son. That did not help her relationship with her daughter one bit. As for Burt, when Rory had quietly told him, he had laughed, and then admitted that he could have done much worse than have her in the family…
Nick and Jeff were expecting to have a fairly quiet family Christmas too. Cooper and Grace would be hosting Pam and Roderick, whilst Mrs Duval and her parents would be coming to the West Village. Elspeth had invited the Sterlings to join her in Vermont with her sisters, and they had accepted, but all three planned to spend the New Year holiday with Nick and Jeff.
At the last moment, they had added two other guests to the table. They had discovered the previous day that Dexter and Lawrence, the two brothers in the house next door, would be spending the day alone, and probably having pizza for dinner. Nick had immediately heard echoes of himself and Jeff a decade ago, and with his husband's blessing, had asked them to dinner. They had declined the invitation at first, saying that it was a time for family. Jeff had immediately responded that the Warblers were family, and that was for life. Faced with that argument, and seeing that the two older men would not back down, they had agreed, and by the time they had left the party the previous night, both of them had to admit that they were looking forward to it…
The only thing that had bothered them was the fact that they had been told to bring nothing but themselves. They were setting out that morning to ignore that instruction, and buy small gifts for their hosts; several packets of Red Vines for Jeff, a few bars of Nick's favourite chocolate, and suitable gifts for Wes and Caleb too. It would make them happier, as neither wanted to take charity…
Of course, Nick had already made most of the preparations for the dinner. His stuffing was already made, and a turkey was on order from the butcher, along with a gammon joint, both of which he would collect on Christmas Eve. The Christmas Pudding would also be served, along with English custard. A tin of Bird's Custard Powder had been sent by a bemused Miss Frobisher, and in return she had been sent a parcel containing several packs of candy; she had fallen for Spearmint Leaves whilst visiting that summer, and they were unobtainable in even specialist stores in the UK. Their gift would be greatly appreciated…
Eventually Rory returned with Wes, looking tired but happy, and it was time for the four musketeers to go their separate ways. As Nick handed over the boxes of cookies, he produced another square parcel and handed it to Sebastian. He looked at it, and noted the UK stamp on it at once, which roused his curiosity no end. "We thought that whilst Miss Frobisher was buying our little request, she could pick up half a dozen packets for you to enjoy. Merry Christmas, Seb!" said Nick with a grin. As realisation dawned on Sebastian, and he mouthed the words 'Custard Creams', Trent and Rory could only laugh at the way his face had suddenly taken on a far off, dreamy look…
Later that day, and the three young men returning to Ohio from the city were nearly at their destination. It had taken them longer than they had anticipated, as the nearer they came to the state, the worse the weather seemed to get. Seth had found himself dozing off in the warmth of the car, and Thad and Skylar had been content to allow him to do so. They did not talk much either as they drove along, both of them worried about the future of their friend in the back seat. Skylar was doing his best to stay positive, but the indications were not good, no matter how good a spin you put upon them. The condition that was killing his best friend was relentless, and he was not helped with all the material that he was reading online. That his best friend might eventually end up needing a feeding tube, and losing all control over his bodily functions was bad enough, but the fact that he could also lose his voice… He wished now that he had never read all of the facts, but he had, and now it was stuck there in his brain, haunting him…
"The worst case is not a certainty. If he is lucky, then he will pass away in his sleep long before that… I know that sounds callous and cruel, but it is the best that we can hope for him," Thad suddenly said in a barely audible whisper. "It could still slow down in its progress, particularly now that he is not pushing himself quite so hard every day. The chair was something that he never wished to contemplate, but adopting it has given his legs a long needed rest. Ollie tells me that Seth has reported fewer bad attacks since he started to use it fulltime, at least in his legs. It is now his hands and arms that are the problem. Maybe we all need to club together and get him a motorised chair, so that he does not need to propel himself and can rest his arms."
"I think that he would regard using one of them as a failure, plus they weigh so much more," replied Skylar sagely. Thad nodded, and concentrated on the road ahead once more. Meanwhile, in the back seat, his eyes till closed, a wide awake Seth agreed with every word that his best friend had said about it being a failure, but at the same time, he saw the wisdom in such an item…
Seth would say his farewells to Skylar at Dalton. He handed him a bag of gifts for himself and Julia, and then as Thad drove off again to take Skylar home, Seth wheeled himself into the Carmichaels house, managing the slight bump at the front door with no problem. The wide hallway of the old house caused him no issues either, and he was even able to hang his coat on one of the low pegs, all the time being watched by the former Principal and his wife.
"There is coffee waiting in the sitting room," Edith Carmichael said after he had done so. "You two head in, and I will place your bag in the bedroom down here."
"The bedroom… Since when have you had a bedroom downstairs? All of the bedrooms used to be upstairs. Please tell me that you haven't…" exclaimed Seth.
"We have, and I am not in the least bit sorry," said the former Principal. "I am not getting any younger, and the time will come when the stairs become too much for both of us to manage; they will become like the slopes of the highest Rockies to us. Based on that, it made sense to have a bedroom down here, and as we never know when the day will come, it seemed silly not to do it now. You will be the first person to stay in our new guest suite, so to speak. It was half of the garage; we only have one car now, so having a large garage no longer made sense."
"I guess," admitted Seth, and then he wheeled himself forward and into the sitting room, stopping near the table on which the coffee and cake had been set out. He said nothing as Aaron Carmichael poured him a coffee, serving it just the way that he liked it. As his cup was handed to him, the former Principal continued. "The fact that you will be able to benefit from the room now is just a coincidence, trust me. My arthritis, which has been mild for about a decade now is getting much worse, and the stairs - well I admit that there have been nights when my dear wife has to assist me up, and that is unfair on her. My sister suggested that we get a stairlift, or better yet, move to a condo in Florida, or one on a Caribbean island, and enjoy the heat. It is tempting, but this house, this place is not just my physical home, but our spiritual one too. This is where our family are, and as long as Dalton is here, this is where we stay. I mean, we left once, and that didn't turn out too well…"
Thad returned for dinner that evening, a much simpler meal in comparison to the feast of the night before, and the one that would be coming on Christmas Day. Thad kept the conversation going with his observations from the party the night before, sharing his own thoughts with the others at the table. "It occurred to me last night that very soon we shall be a group in which most of the members are over thirty; most of us in a marriage, or a committed relationship, with children. When I look back to how we were a decade ago…"
"At the risk of sounding controversial," said Seth all of a sudden, "maybe in a strange way Hunter did us all a favour. He strengthened the bonds between the last of Wes' boys and the three year groups that followed, and that tied us to all of the boys that had gone before. We became a family to each other in a time of trouble, and have stayed that way. For this generation in particular, the words Once a Warbler, Always a Warbler mean a lot more than they did before. I have my troubles now, and they are huge, and constant, and there is nothing that can be done to make them go away. You are my bird brothers, always at my side when I need you, and if you weren't around, if you all didn't care so much, I doubt that I would be coping at all. I also know that when the time comes when I am not around any longer, you will be there for each other, and particularly for Skylar. I am so grateful that in all of the bad things that have happened to me in my life, I have Dalton to cling to. My real family don't care. And well…"
Seth stopped then, his emotions getting the better of him. He looked down at the table, but soon felt Thad's arm around his shoulders, and Mrs Carmichael's hand on his own. In those simple gestures, he felt great love…
Christmas Eve son came along, and with it all the usual rush of last minute preparations. Nick was of course every well organised by now, his systems honed by several years of having to undertake the task. He sent Jeff out to the store with Wes to purchase some last minute items that they might require over the next couple of days, and they set off without complaint. In reality, it was to allow him to wrap the last of his son's gifts, and transfer them all to his study from their hiding places around the house, the door then locked tightly against young visitors. He then placed his own gifts for Jeff in the same place, as he knew his husband liked to check out his parcels as much as any child, and added the stocking that they had created for Caleb.
The latter made an appearance in the room just as he was about to lock up, and he was forced to lift him up and hold him tightly to his chest as he closed then locked the door. As for Caleb, he just stared up at Nick, wondering what harm he had been doing in sitting in the room, sniffing at the parcels. He allowed himself to be carried down the stairs, and found himself by his dish, in which there was a surprise. Nick was making a fish pie for their evening meal, and he had placed some scraps of salmon in Caleb's bowl. At the sight, all of Caleb's curiosity about the packages in the study disappeared as he enjoyed his favourite fish…
It was early afternoon when Mrs Duval arrived with her parents, and all of them commented on the well decorated hallway and the magnificent tree. This made Jeff smile, his new décor scheme now having been approved by everyone that had come to visit. Nick had drinks and snacks prepared in case they were hungry after their trip. Nick's grandmother was more interested however in his plans for the following day's meal, and he quickly ran through all of it with her, including telling her what he would actually need help with, as he knew she would not be happy to just sit back and relax.
Dinner was early that night, and after they had all enjoyed the fish pie, they headed uptown to watch the City Ballet perform. The Christmas themed show that Mike was headlining had them all enchanted. The star joined them all on the journey back home, and of course took the opportunity to show off the latest photos of his son to them all, scrolling through dozens on his cellphone. He declined the offer to pop in when they arrived back home, as he was keen to see his wife and son. He did promise however that they would pop in to visit the following afternoon…
As Wes was being tucked into his bed by his great grandparents, down the street two young men sat in companionable silence, wrapping a few final items of doll's clothing for the little girl that was asleep in her room down the hall. There would just be the three of them for dinner the next day, neither of them having wanted to invite family to the city, nor wishing to join the throng in the Christmas exodus and head to a parental home in Ohio. They would make that trip on the 26th, when the majority of the traffic would be in the other direction as people headed back to their work… As a result, they would have another two Christmas celebrations; the joy of being the visitors was that they could insist that the number of gifts for Evie was limited, and that they be small in size.
The most precious gift of all however was not one that had been purchased from a store, but one that had come in an envelope in the post that morning. It was the official confirmation that the paperwork had been accepted and all the approvals had been given; Evie was now officially recognised as being the daughter of both Drew and Ethan. They had not broken the news to her that morning the moment they had read it themselves, although they had both wanted to dance around the kitchen in delight. Nor had they told either set of parents. No, they would save the news for the following day, when it would be a perfect Christmas gift, something that she had dreamed about as much as her two fathers; they would celebrate just as much themselves the next day. They had managed to keep a lid on their delight all day, not wanting Evie to question why they looked so cheerful, but once she knew…