By Royal Command
The following day saw Sebastian and his maman up early, to take Peter into the city on a quick excursion; they had little time to do more than head straight to the Tower of London, with its famous bridge right next door, then head straight back with a brief detour via St Paul's Cathedral en route. The previous afternoon Peter had been taken by his father to see the Kensington museums, so close to the hotel they were booked into after all; the plan was that after leaving the theatre that evening, they would head home via Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and of course, Buckingham Palace.
As they hurtled eastbound on the District Line tube, Peter had made the conversation, talking non-stop about Dalton and the Warblers, and their victory the previous week in Sectionals. He would fall silent though on seeing the crown jewels, and again as they strolled quickly through the great cathedral, so dominant a landmark in the city. In the end, they stopped for a spot of lunch at the National Gallery; there they parted, with Sebastian headed off to the theatre, and his maman showed Peter the major highlights in the gallery before heading back to Kensington in a black cab.
The show was scheduled to begin at 3pm, later than usual for a matinee show at the request of Her Majesty. They had however been told to be in their seats for 2.30pm, and there was also a heightened level of security, including a check point, given the size of the royal party. They were occupying the best seats in the house, naturally, and the other invited VIP guests would be joining them in the stalls. This meant that Sebastian's personal guests would be up in the circle, but at the front, which actually suited them all if they were being honest. Isabelle was able from her seat to keep them all informed of who was arriving downstairs; a virtual encyclopaedia of the great and the good of British acting. She was aided in this by the appearance at the last minute of two angels. Kurt and Blaine had intended to arrive much earlier, but they had found themselves tied up with their angelic work, and then a last minute collection. The situation was an odd one for Isabelle, as the only other person with her that could see them was Dave, and he was busy looking after his mother-in-law.
Kurt had stationed himself with a view of the door into the stalls, and was thus able to tell Blaine, hovering above him, who was coming through the door; he in turn passed it on to Isabelle, who announced it quietly to the group next to her. Sir Ian McKellan, Sir Derek Jacobi and Imelda Staunton arrived together, the latter immediately getting the attention of Peter, who whispered "Dolores Umbridge!" in such a reverent tone that they all smiled, as the adults all recognised her husband, who followed her, as a certain Downton butler. Isabelle had the added complication that as Peter had spoken, so had the ardent Harry Potter fan Blaine, and their tone had been remarkably similar...
Dame Judi Dench arrived on the arm of Ben Whishaw, helping the older woman to her seat; then Peter couldn't help but squeal as he saw two young men arrive with two other Dames of the British Empire. "It was nice of Ron to bring his mother, and of Harry to accompany Professor McGonigle," mused Julian as his son all but clambered over the safety barrier to get a better view…
The VIPs all in place, it was time for the main event; one by one the members of the Royal Family arrived, Isabelle scribbling her notes busily as to what the ladies in the party were wearing. Then the curtain rose, allowing them all to see the cast assembled on the stage, all in full costume. Then the PA system burst into life, asking them all to be upstanding for Her Majesty the Queen. As the lady in question walked in, Sebastian lead the cast on the stage in the singing of the national anthem, and around the theatre everyone joined in, including an overawed François and an enthusiastic Peter. Two angelic voices were also quite clear to those that had the ability to hear them, and Sebastian did glance in their direction as soon as he heard their distinctive tones. Then, once the Queen had taken her seat, the cast bowed to her, then left the stage; all they could do now was wait for the performance to begin…
Sebastian and his castmates had been nervous about the show since it had been agreed to, but it did not show in their performances, which were flawless. The applause at the end of the show was heartfelt, and deserved after such a peerless performance. To the surprise of Sebastian's family and friends, the royal party and the VIPs remained seated as the rest of the audience filed out. However, as the seven members of Sebastian's party went to head for the door, they were stopped by one of the ushers, who asked them to follow him. They had not been expecting this, but they followed him anyway, with a little bemusement, until it became clear that they were being taken backstage to the dressing rooms to join the cast. As they walked into the communal green room, they noticed firstly that all the cast were there, forming in a line and still in full costume, and that secondly, the person they had expected to see looked very flustered at their sudden arrival.
"What are you all doing here? Her Majesty is about to come in for a meet and greet! How did you manage to get in here?" said Sebastian, panic filling his face.
Before anyone could respond, the usher spoke. "I was asked to bring them here; a note came from the Palace requesting it. I believe that someone called Jeff had a word with the Duchess of Cambridge, and they are here to be introduced to Her Majesty along with the cast…"
The reactions to that were varied. Sebastian's eyes shot wide open, as he tried to decide exactly how he was going to kill Jeff for doing this to him. Isabelle just gasped, then grabbed the arm of Sebastian's maman, who suddenly felt quite faint. Julian and his father both just cursed under their breath, as François exclaimed, "Mon Dieu!"
As for Peter, he turned to Dave, and asked, "Did he really just say that we are about to meet the actual Queen of England?"
Before his husband could speak, Sebastian replied, "Yes, you are, so be as formal and polite as Dalton Academy has trained you to be." That done, he quickly ran his guests through all of the necessary protocol…
It fell to Sebastian to make all the introductions to his family in the end; the director had dealt with the cast members, but he had no idea where to begin with the newest arrivals. He introduced Dave first, who managed to stop looking like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment, and bow, before answering questions about his role on the football field. Then he went on to his maman, who answered in French out of shock, and was more than pleased when the monarch replied in her mother tongue. His father had never been more deferential in his life than when he was introduced to her; Julian and Peter both just looked a little overawed, but Her Majesty was used to that kind of thing. François came next, and he too spoke in French, and praised the monarch for her accent and her fluency. Finally he came to Isabelle; she complimented the monarch on her outfit, and how she was still a fashion icon after seven decades on the throne. She was delighted when the Queen responded with the news that Dame Anna had told her all about her, and how she felt that the only person that could replace her at the helm at Vogue was Isabelle. Then she was gone, heading off to a small reception which all of the VIP guests were attending, at which they would all be most welcome…
"Okay, so Jeff is dead," said Dave once the royal party had left, which made them all chuckle.
"That was my first instinct too," replied Sebastian, "but not so much now. She is quite the lady, and I hope that she managed to put you all at ease as you talked to her."
"It was certainly the highlight of my life so far," said François, and Sebastian's parents and Isabelle nodded in agreement.
"She is so small though," said Peter, making them all smile. "I do know thought that all the other boys at Dalton are going to be so jealous that I have met her." Sebastian smiled at him, then handed his nephew a book he had bought en route to the theatre that day; a hardback copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Peter looked at it, then at his uncle for a moment, puzzled as to why he had suddenly given him this.
It was Julian that spoke though. "Now that is a good idea, Bazzy; after all, not many people will be able to say that they have a copy of the book signed by a large percentage of the film's cast…" He turned to look at his son as his eyes went wide as he realised that having just met the Queen, he was about to meet a large number of those VIP guests as well…
They would all attend that small gathering of course; Sebastian, with Dave proudly at his side was introduced to a generation of acting talent that he had admired as a child. He was beyond thrilled when, on being introduced to Sir Ian McKellan, the latter had smiled, and said, "That's the show saving Sebastian Smythe to be precise…" That had lead into a conversation about his school days, the Warblers, and of course, Book of Mormon.
Meanwhile, Peter walked around with his father and grandfather, and thanks to a combination of good looks, charm and big eyed school boy hero worship, they managed to persuade everyone that had been involved with the Harry Potter films to sign his book; the book that would now be one of his most prized possessions for the remainder of his life. At his back, an angel was attempting not to be too envious of the young man, however much he would have loved his own copies annotated that way. In any case, he was still getting over the fact that Maggie Smith appeared to have spotted him and smiled...
In the course of doing so, Julian found himself being introduced to two young Dukes, who he would later admit were really just two normal young men doing an extraordinary job. They talked about children, as fathers do, and somehow the talk came to the L.A. quake, and how Julian thought that he had lost Peter… He felt such empathy from the two Dukes at that moment, then recalled that Harry's own mother-in-law had narrowly avoided being caught up in it all; the plane that she was leaving on to pay her daughter a surprise visit had taken off from LAX just twenty minutes before the disaster struck… Isabelle and Sebastian's maman found themselves with the two young Duchesses, and the latest fashion trends were naturally high on the agenda, given that Vogue had such influence still, and the two women were also quite the trendsetters. Behind the two ladies stood Kurt, still fanboying Kate Middleton after all these years, and when she mentioned that she had loved the article Isabelle had written on the KEH Collection, and wished she could have had something from it, he was instantly whispering in Isabelle's ear that she could have whatever she wanted from the stock in the Vogue closet.
As the party drew to a natural conclusion, there were opportunities for photos, with much of the masterminding being carried out by a composed but quietly starstruck Gideon. With his help, Isabelle managed to arrange a photograph of Peter, surrounded by the two young royal couples, Rupert, Daniel, Imelda and Dame Julie; as she took the shot, they were photo bombed by Dame Maggie and Her Majesty, which made them all laugh. It did however leave Peter with a picture that would prove to his envious school friends that he had met them all, and thus record the most momentous day of his life so far…
It had also been a pretty momentous day for Kurt and Blaine; after all, they had just overheard Maggie Smith tell the Queen that there were angels in the room, and although she looked a little sceptical, they were not unsure that Her Majesty disbelieved what she had just been told either. She might not be able to see them, but she obviously believed in them; that Maggie Smith could see them was pretty special in any case...
Sebastian and the cast had another show to perform that evening, so after a quiet chat, he parted from them all once more. Dave had always planned at this point that he would head straight back to South Kensington to get his daughter back from Jeff; he was tempted to leave her with him for longer, but then realised that he would be able to torment him sooner about his little 'surprise' if he went back as expected. Isabelle joined him, anxious to collect her own daughter, and then head back to the hotel to join Gideon, thus ensuring that the photos they had taken would be sent back as soon as possible, and then to write the article that would go with them. François opted to join them too, as he wanted to call his mother and tell her all about his momentous afternoon.
As the four of them headed off in one taxi, the rest of the group followed the path along the River Thames, passing the London Eye and crossing over Westminster Bridge to pass the Houses of Parliament, with its famous clock tower and sonorous bell, which struck as they walked by, almost on cue. They carried on, passing Westminster Abbey, before striking up towards St James' Park, with its vista towards Buckingham Palace. They stopped thereafter in a small café, catching it just before they closed, to enjoy a warm drink, as the chill of a London night in November began to tell…
"Well, this has been quite the day," said Mr Smythe as they all sat down. "I never imagined that a son of mine would meet royalty; never in a million years did I imagine that I would have the opportunity myself. Say what you like about the concept of monarchy, but that woman is just something.."
"She is quite the inspiration to all of us as old age creeps steadily up on us; such vitality, and a sharp, keen mind. I lapse into French in shock, and she immediately replies in my mother tongue, word perfect, with an impeccable accent," agreed his ex-wife with a smile.
"I want to come back here for longer next time," said Peter, looking hopefully at the adults with him. "Uncle Jeff mentioned something about a Harry Potter shop and a real Platform 9¾…"
"Yes, I had heard about that too," said Julian coolly, who thanks to the late departure time of their flight home the next day had made plans to take his son there already. "We could maybe come over next summer and see it; maybe we could have a couple of weeks in Europe, split between here and Paris…" Julian looked up, to see that Peter was staring at him, and as he realised his father was being deadly serious, he developed a massive grin on his face…
In the cab on the way back to South Kensington, Dave and Isabelle had agreed on a course of action with Jeff, one which François would go along with as well. As the cab pulled away from the house in Thurloe Square, taking Gideon back to the hotel to start the process of editing the photos, Nick suddenly appeared, arriving home from his work. "Hey guys, how did it go?" he asked cheerfully, as he dug for his house key.
"Honestly? Well the play was magnificent; Sebby gave the performance of his life and they all loved it, but then..." said Dave, pausing to shake his head…
Isabelle took over. "It seems that your husband had decided to interfere with arrangements, and we were all landed with being in a line-up to meet the Queen, and that was an unmitigated disaster." She paused, then went on, "I guess when people are put under sudden stress they say the wrong things, and then…"
Before Dave could speak, François piped up. "Mr Smythe might have said something deeply hurtful to Her Majesty; the fact that his maman was then violently sick and Peter promptly fainted made it a total disaster…"
As Dave and Isabelle nodded, Nick, who had gone paler by the moment as they had spoken, suddenly exclaimed, "Oh good grief!" Then he had the door open, and he was shouting for his husband to join them. As soon as he did, Nick repeated everything that he had just been told, word for word. "This will be all over the papers, here and in the States; it could potentially ruin Sebastian's career! Please tell me that you didn't have a hand in arranging all of this, and it was someone else!"
Jeff's eyes were out on stalks by then, his lip trembling as he felt the guilt pile up. Then he took a breath, and said, "I can't Nicky. It was me that suggested it. I thought it would be something nice…"
Before Nick could reply, or indeed Jeff burst into tears, Isabelle looked at Dave and he nodded. "They said as much at the meeting, and so we would just like to thank you for giving us one of the most memorable experiences of our lives."
"A little warning though next time would be nice," said Dave. "Fortunately, nothing we just said did happen, but it could have. So maybe just tell us so that we can all practice what we need to do, instead of having Sebby trying to explain a whole book of royal protocol in just a minute."
"Although that in itself was quite memorable," admitted François…
"I didn't really think about that," said Jeff. "I just thought it would be nice, given how far you had all travelled, for you to have the best possible experience. I guess I should have mentioned something…"
"Yes, you probably should have, Jeffie," said Nick, putting an arm around his husband to show that he was not mad with him now that he knew there had been no nasty incidents. "You just wanted to give all of our friends the same experiences that we had. I take it that you might have met some of the rest of the family too?"
"We did, and they are such wonderful people. Peter was quite overwhelmed not just by that, but by the fact that he got to meet most of the cast of the Harry Potter films too," said Isabelle.
"What! He got to meet… If I had known that I would have called in sick just to come," exclaimed Nick. Jeff rolled his eyes just a little, knowing what a big fan of the whole saga his husband was, but aware that being jealous of a young boy in your late twenties was just a little off… It only got worse when Isabelle showed him the picture she had taken, and Nick whined… Jeff knew he would have to do something very special to make it up to his husband and stop him going into a total sulk…
The following day, as those friends and family that had travelled to London to see Sebastian perform prepared to head to the airport, Peter now agog given that he had actually been to Platform 9¾, back in New York Beats was sitting at his desk, trying his best to make some headway with the latest project he was assisting on for the MTA, a radical scheme that would see the return of trolleys to much of Brooklyn, an extension of the project that was nearing completion, which would see them run along the East River shoreline from Queens to Brooklyn. The project was particularly ambitious as it envisioned the return of the trolleys to the most iconic of structure, the Brooklyn Bridge, in the long term, where it would connect with the Second Avenue subway line at City Hall. He was deep in thought as he concentrated on the report which weighed up the benefits of the various routes through Park Slope, his glasses halfway down his nose, when his phone began to buzz; he was going to ignore it until he saw that it was Grace on the line. He dropped the report and snatched up his phone, answering it quickly.
"I am sorry to bother you at work, but you needed to hear this right away; the city council has just formally replied to me in connection with the petition. They will be examining the adoption rules at a special meeting of the committee, in the light of the overwhelming response to our submission. They have scheduled the meeting for a week today at 9am; you and Elliott will be required to attend as key witnesses and the originators of the document…"
"A week today! I thought that it would take months!" gasped Beats.
"It usually does; it often takes years. However, given the amount of attention that has been drawn to the situation by so many high profile people, I think they decided it was best to bring it to the forefront of their minds, and get it put to bed. Now I must warn you that this speed is not necessarily a good thing for our case. Snap judgements are not always for the best. Also, although it will remove the tension brought on by the waiting and not knowing, it does also mean that if it does all go wrong…" Grace didn't say anymore, as she didn't have to. Beats knew that she was saying that if they lost, then Dante would be removed from them in just over a week's time.
Then something else hit him, even more painful. "Wait, that's the day before Thanksgiving…"
"Yes. That would mean that if we did have to lodge an appeal, it would not even be considered before Monday morning; the instruction that Dante should be taken from you would however be issued on the same day as the hearing, and someone would probably be sent to remove him that night… We are going to win though, I am certain of it. Right, so I am now going to call Elliott, talk to him just as I have to you. You will then need to decide between you what you want to say to Dante. All I will say is that the City Council publishes details of these hearings, so the media will be aware, so you do have to let him know that it has been scheduled…"
After the usual pleasantries, Grace rang off to call Elliott, leaving Beats deep in thought. How would all of them cope if, God forbid, it did all go wrong? It would be bad enough for all of them to lose each other, but for it to happen just before Thanksgiving would be a heartbreaking disaster…
That night, when he and Elliott sat down and broke the news to Dante, he had expected tears, but they did not come from the young man in their care. He had just nodded, then announced that he was going up to his room to start his homework. It was later that night that they realised that he had also begun to pack his bags, which had left them both in floods of tears… They tried to keep life as normal as possible with all the usual routines. Rabbi Hirsch called them on Thursday, to say that she too had been summoned as a witness, and would see them at City Hall. She would be joined by Dante's headmaster, Lachlan's mother and their long term social worker from Children's Services. The latter would be allowed to provide evidence of how they had performed as foster parents, but was strictly forbidden to back them publicly. There would also be a written submission from Burt Hummel, unable to attend in person due to important House business.
A surprise did arrive that afternoon in the form of an E-Mail from Nick, sent to his sister and his two friends; it turned out to be a detailed study of adoption policy in the rest of the world, all of them showing that the rules for both fostering and adoption were identical in the main. That information would sit well with the stats from California, Washington state and New Hampshire, where couples in their situation could adopt the children they had been foster carers too without any question…
Even so, tension was running high. Dante spent most of the weekend in the company of Lachlan, whose mother agreed that he could spend the night, anxious that the two boys got to spend as much time together as possible. He had an ulterior motive; he made it look like he had decided on a whim to introduce his boyfriend to Mercedes and David, then made an excuse to head to the restroom. They had left him to go alone of course, and he had quickly snuck down to the kitchen and taken one of the sets of keys to the beach house in Port Jefferson that resided in the drawers there…. If the verdict did turn out bad, he could head out, jump on the train to Long island and vanish in the crowds of people that made up the Thanksgiving traffic…
It was of course a very testing time for Wes and his fellow angels; they had inadvertently discovered what the outcome would be when a document was left lying around by another angel, and now they had an issue to deal with. Wes had an excellent poker face, and he had managed to go and pay Beats a reassuring visit; thankfully he did not press him for any more information. Kurt had considered going to see Elliott, being an old friend, but in the end he had come to the conclusion that it was best that he did not. He knew that if Elliott asked him if he knew anything, then he would in all likelihood crack and say things that he shouldn't; for the same reasons, Blaine stayed clear of his brother and sister-in-law…
In the latter case, doing so was not actually necessary. As was so often the case in these matters, Grace had already been contacted by someone within the council; they informed her that based on all the evidence, and with the weight of public opinion to consider, a decision had already been made, and that verdict was unlikely to be altered… When they had rung off, Grace sat and contemplated what she should do next, given that she knew the outcome. She concluded that she needed to do some swift research, and make preparations by collecting a few extra documents in advance…