A Proposal and a Return Confirmed.

That weekend in Boston, Mitch was finally convinced that the time was right to do something that he had been contemplating for a long time. He had initially planned to take the step in question a month before, but then, in a random discussion with Gideon, he had discovered that the younger man that he loved with all of his heart thought that romantic gestures made on a particular day in February were sickening.

"I can see why people do it, and why people love the whole idea, but it isn't for me. I love Italian food, but the idea of paying through the nose for it so you can get a table on that one day in a restaurant? Having to sit there in an overcrowded and noisy room, with red roses everywhere and the cheesiest of music - yuck! And anyone that proposes on that date is obviously completely lacking in imagination. It is hardly the spur of the moment stuff that makes your heart swell now, is it? Why any man or woman that receives a proposal on that night doesn't just ditch the proposer at once I do not know! I certainly would if I was in that situation! Fortunately for me, I am with a lovely man that avoids everything that is clichéd and vile, and surprises me everyday."

"Of course you are, my love!" Mitch had replied, before he excused himself for half an hour to run to the store for an urgent purchase. He bought what he wanted, but the main purpose of the trip was to cancel the reservation he had made for the 14th of the month at the best Italian restaurant in town; he then cancelled the bouquet of red roses he had ordered to be delivered to Gideon the same morning, then had made a call to the Hannafords, to tell then that he was postponing his proposal, and the reasons why. Mr Hannaford had laughed, then admitted that his wife felt the same way about Valentine's Day, and obviously it had rubbed off on their youngest son….

So it was that on the 14th of February, Mitch took Gideon out for an Indian meal, full of hot spices, and then on to see a horror film at the local arthouse cinema. As they headed for home, Gideon had kissed him on the cheek, and said, "That was everything that I could have wished for on a date today. I mean, curry and gore is the least cheesy combination in the world."

"If it is what you want, then I will always do my best to deliver it for you; I mean, you asked for a no mush zone, and that is what you got."

"Well next year we can do what you want, even if that involves Italian food."

"Pizza maybe, but certainly not spaghetti - no Lady and the Tramp stuff for the two of us…"

Gideon smiled at the Disney cartoon reference, and answered, "Penne or fusilli only, in separate plates - or we could have lasagne. All of that is possible, and of course, we both like tiramisu…"

Now, four weeks later, and midweek, Mitch had decided that he would go ahead. Yes, he had concerns; it was after all the 13th day of the month, although fortunately a Wednesday, not a Friday, and a greasy takeout pizza was hardly the most romantic of meals, even if Gideon had loved every bite of it as much as he had. However, when he brought out the tiramisu for dessert, he had been smothered in loving kisses, and had he not been a strong willed and determined man, the dessert might well have ended up abandoned in the throes of passion. Admittedly, they had fed it to each other, spoonfuls of coffee flavoured dessert punctuated by kissing, but he had not allowed it to go any further…

With the last morsel of dessert gone, Gideon smiled at him, and said, "That was one of the best meals I have ever had; two of my favourite guilty pleasure foods in the company of my favourite man. I am so lucky to have met you…"

"No, I'm the lucky one," replied Mitch, sensing this was his opening. "I thought that love had passed me by, and that I was too old to find someone that I could happily spend the rest of my life with. When you walked into the room on the night we met, you lit the whole room up for me with your smile. I never in my wildest dreams ever thought that someone as beautiful as you could feel the same way about me…"

"I do though. I saw you, and I knew we had to talk; when we started to chat, it all suddenly made sense. You made me laugh and smile; you treated me as an equal, when I was still such a naïve boy, wet behind the ears. You took my corner, and since then, life has been so much easier for me. I am doing all the things that I always wanted to do, and never imagined could be possible. I am building a future, one that I hope will always have you in it…"

Mitch fell silent, smiling, and then replied, "I had an interesting chat with your dad last month. It was just him at first, but in no time your mom was involved, and then your grandmother; even your brother managed to get in on the act. Luckily for me, they all approved of what I was saying to them. Of course, that lead to a plan, but all of that fell apart when a certain someone said something that made it all moot…"

Gideon looked confused for a moment, then responded, "I don't understand… Who said something, and what did it stop?"

"Well, I was going to do something that was described as cheesy, but by good fortune, someone stopped me with his words. However, now the timing is right, and you know what, here and now will do. I am not going to bother with the one knee stuff, because that might be clichéd too… I am just going to say, Gideon Hannaford, will you marry me? Not right away, but soon?"

Gideon sat open mouthed for a moment, then whispered, "Oh my… You were going to propose on the 14th, weren't you? And then I said… I didn't mean it, you know. Yes, it would have been so cheesy, but had you gone ahead, my answer then would have been the same as it is now. Yes, yes, a million times yes!"

Mitch couldn't help but smile at the sheer delight on Gideon's face, the joy from what had just been said. He dug into his pocket, and took out the little cloth bag in which he had placed a gold ring, one that had been given to him by his great-grandfather a decade ago, just before he had passed away. His words had been simple; "I was given this ring by your great-grandmother, the day after I asked her to marry me. Then it was not conventional for a lady to present her fiancé with a ring, but she was never one for societal rules and conventions. My father did not know what to make of it when he found out, let me tell you that much! I want you to give it to the person that you decide to spend the rest of your life with, whoever they may be. It doesn't matter what they are, as long as you love them, and they love you. Always be happy, my boy. Always be happy…"

Those words echoed in his head now as he reached for Gideon's hand. He had checked, and if by some miracle, his ring finger was exactly the right fit for the ring. He smiled as he heard his breath hitch as he saw the ring for the first time, then saw the look in his eyes as he slid it onto his finger, his new fiancé marvelling at the perfection of the fit. The simplicity of the ring was something that Mitch knew Gideon would love too, but there was one secret, which he now revealed by turning the ring on his finger, to show the tiny diamond inset into it.

"This was my great-grandfather's engagement ring. He wore it with the diamond facing down, on his palm side; conventions at the time would have labelled it strange for a man to wear a diamond ring. I would hope that you would wish to wear it with the diamond showing, but if not, I will understand…"

"No, I will definitely be wearing it this way up; if people see the diamond, they will know instantly that I am engaged to the only man I love, the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with. I will have to get you a ring too, eventually, when I can afford it…"

"You don't need to; save the money for a wedding ring."

"Need doesn't come into it. I want to buy you one because I want people to know that the most handsome man in the whole of Boston is now strictly off limits…"

Before a blushing Mitch could respond, his phone pinged with an incoming message. He checked it, smiled, and then sent back a one word reply. Almost immediately he heard Gideon's phone ring; he watched as he picked it up and checked who was calling him. Looking right at Mitch, he said, "Did you tell them that you were going to ask me that question tonight?" Mitch nodded, and Gideon chuckled, before answering the call. "Yes, I did say yes, and I have just told him that I do not want to wait any longer, so he is online booking our flights to Vegas right now…"

Mitch laughed out loud at what he had just heard, then wagged his finger, as he heard his fiancé continue, "I'm joking dad, of course I am in no hurry to get married! I have always said that I was going to finish college first, and I meant it; Mitch respects my choice. Is that… Oh, hey mom, yes, I am so happy, and he has also given me an heirloom ring for an engagement one, and it fits perfectly. In fact, give me a minute…"

Gideon handed his phone over to Mitch for a moment, mouthing the word 'Camera' to him, before holding up his hand. Mitch took a shot, ensuring that he got a good close up of the ring, before handing the phone back over to the younger man. He grinned, then sent the image to his mother's own phone. "Go and check your phone mom, and you will see… Mom? Mom? Oh, hello, grandma, yes, I can put him on, but it would be pointless; he already knows that you will kill him slowly and painfully if he ever hurts me, trust me! So, you like the ring? Yes, I do too. It is perfect, just like my fiancé…"

The Hannafords would eventually ring off, by which time Gideon had received a text from his brother, wishing him all the best in the world, warning Mitch of what he would do if he hurt his brother, and lamenting his own single status. "Well, now that your family know, what do we do? Keep the news to ourselves for a while, or tell all of our friends?" asked Mitch.

"Do you not want to tell your own family the news first? I know that you don't exactly see eye to eye with them, but isn't it better that you tell them yourself, rather than have them find out from the grapevine?"

Mitch nodded, and made the call to his parents. Their initial reaction to the news was stunned silence, but eventually his mother spoke, saying that she hoped that he would be happy, but it was not their first choice for his future. "We can't help who we fall in love with, mom. For me, it is Gideon. I still hope that one day we will be able to give you the grandchild that you want so much; it isn't impossible these days…"

"I honestly don't care about that, I just want you to be happy," she replied guardedly. "Your father is shocked, but I think that he will eventually come round to my way of thinking. I think that in the summer you should bring Gideon home with you for a long weekend, and that way we can all get to know each other better…"

Mitch had to agree that was a good idea, and he just hoped that Gideon would agree it was after the fact. With their family now told, it was time to update the rest of the world via their Facebook pages…

The news that Mitch and Gideon were planning to join the ranks of the married in the future was greeted by their friends with the kind of happiness that they had both anticipated. Mitch was the last of the close Warbler brotherhood to achieve the happy state, and given that recently most of their group conversations had revolved around Seth and his health, it was nice to have something happier to share. Isabelle was of course delighted for her former intern, and sent him not just her congratulations, but a promise that he and his husband to be could both have unlimited access to the Vogue closet when the time came for them to choose their wedding outfits.

Seth was also delighted for the two of them, but he knew in his heart that the chances of him being around to attend the nuptials were very slim; even if by some chance he had not passed away, then he would not be in any sort of state to be present. There was another reason for him to smile later that day, when it emerged that Edward and Colin had found themselves a surrogate, and would begin the process of starting a family of their own in the very near future. Seth received the news personally, in one of the regular phone calls that they made to him. The biggest thing that Seth had noticed in these conversations was that it was now Edward who seemed to be overwhelmed by his emotions at times as they talked about his condition; Colin seemed to be able to stand the changes in his friend much better now. He wondered if that was down to the fact that the younger man had had knowledge of his travails a little sooner than the others, or if it was because he had not been quite so close, knowing him a little less time that Edward had. Seth's own health was quite good, at least for now, although that did give him cause for concern and not celebration in his eyes. After all, he had felt like this several times before, and it was nearly always followed by a severe attack…

Amongst those that added their best wishes to Mitch and Gideon on Facebook was Roderick, although he had reasons of his own to smile much more at the moment. It was not just down to the fact that his nursing course was proceeding well, and that he was loving every minute. He was finding the work challenging at times, but also very rewarding. He found that much of what he was being taught was basic common sense; simple rules that he already knew, although the more technical stuff was also no problem for him. Some of the procedures that he was being taught seemed quite complex, but he absorbed it all easily, and mastered them in no time.

There was a great satisfaction in being able to help out so many people on a daily basis when he was given a practical shift, although the hours were long, and he was already dreading the overnight shifts that would come along in time. He had quickly discovered that he was fortunate enough to have a strong stomach, able to witness things that some of his fellow students regarded as gruesome without turning a hair, which was both a blessing and a curse; he seemed to be allocated more shifts in the ER than his fellows as he could cope.

The staff that he worked with liked him for his personality and his can do attitude; the patients liked him too, with those in the long stay wards regarding him as a ray of sunshine, his smile able to brighten their day. When it came to testing, he was almost continually at the top, and it was even suggested to him that when he had left McKinley, he should have headed to medical school, and trained to be a doctor. He was flattered by that, but secretly he felt that he would not have enjoyed that at all. As a nurse, he always had someone that he could pass the buck too, someone who was supposedly better qualified and had the final say; as a doctor, he would have had to bear that responsibility.

That was not the only reason for Roderick's happiness at the moment by any means; no, his pleasure was down to the fact that he knew that Mason and Jane would be back in the city at the end of the month…

In London, the comfortable apartment that had been the young couple's home for some time had been mostly packed away; the large bulk of their personal property had already been shipped, and only the bear essentials remained. Mason would perform in Book of Mormon for the final time just a week before they headed home, whereas Jane had already stopped work, and was on a combination of first holiday and then maternity leave. It had been the latter that had been the major catalyst in their decision to return to the United States, both of them wishing their child to be born there. They would miss England, though, and their life in London; they had made good friends, and had enjoyed being able to travel to Europe with relative ease. Going to Paris or Brussels for the day had been no problem, and they had visited the former for what might be the last time at the start of the month…

At the same time, as Jane had moved on through her pregnancy, she had begun to miss home all the more. It was ironic that the place that she would be calling home when they returned stateside would be somewhere she had never visited or seen other than in a video; she trusted Grace's judgement though, and the apartment that she had found them in Murray Hill did look amazing.

Mason was also looking forward to getting back, to catching up with friends and family, and then embarking on a brand new adventure on stage. He had been taking vocal lessons several times a week since he had secured the role, and he could now speak with a perfect cockney accent; he had spent a day talking in nothing else, and many people had been shocked to discover that he was not actually a Londoner… More importantly, he had learned how to sing and maintain it, no easy task, and had managed to reduce his cast mates in Book of Mormon to tears one afternoon when during a run through of the show for a new member of the chorus, he had managed to sing the whole of Turn it off! in cockney voice.

Although he was looking forward to catching up with everyone in person, their was one person in particular that was first on his list for people to visit, and that was the young man that had spent Thanksgiving with him when his plans had fallen apart. He knew that Seth had to be his first port of call…

On the evening of the 22nd of March, Nick arrived home from the office looking more than a little flustered, and to be honest, a little bit angry. Jeff noticed it in his husband's face at once, but little Wes did not, and he proceeded to chat away to his father as if it were a perfectly normal evening. Like any good parent, Nick listened intently to his son, and gave his replies with the level of interest he normally had. It was only when Jeff sent Wes to wash his hands before dinner, as they were stained with traces of the colouring pens that he had been using, that Nick was able to tell him exactly what had caused his current state of annoyance.

"It turns out that someone in the diary and planning office made an error, and managed to get the dates wrong for the conference in New Zealand - well, that is what they are saying, but I suspect, as does Miss Worthington, that one of the other keynote speakers has found a diary clash, and the timings have been altered to suit them, at the expense of everyone else!"

"So we aren't going to be going any more?" said Jeff sadly.

"Oh, no, I still have to go, so we are all going, and I insisted, as did Miss Worthington, that everything we had booked was rebooked on our behalf; the accommodation, the car hire, even meals. After all, this will be the last time that such a trip as a family will be easy in all probability; Wes will be heading to elementary school very soon, and then we will not be able to just pull him out of class whenever we want."

"That is true; he will soon be five, and there are times that I still find that hard to believe," admitted Jeff.

"So, anyway," said Nick hesitantly, "our flight to New Zealand is now next Saturday, the 30th…"

Jeff stared at Nick for a second, shook his head, then said, "Next Saturday! They want us to go next week! Now I can see exactly why you look so angry; if it wasn't for the fact that I am looking forward to the trip, I would be telling you that you were going alone!"

Nick nodded, not blaming Jeff in the slightest for his reaction. "Right, so after dinner we can get the packing list worked out, order all the things that we want to take that we do not have, and inform Mike that his cat sitting duties are now a fortnight earlier than anticipated."

"And I will need to sort out a rota of visitors for Seth. I know that Artie has a meeting for a film project which means he will be away that weekend, and Kitty will be going with him, so we will need to find other volunteers to pop in on him that weekend at least. It is going to be a rush job, so maybe the word volunteers is the wrong one…"

"It will be worth it to get the opportunity to see one of the most special countries in the Southern Hemisphere in the autumn, of course…" Nick paled for a moment, and then said, "Actually, I have just realised that we have another problem. We will not have a Sunday that week, and that means specifically that we won't be having…"

"…Easter Sunday," gasped Jeff.

"Exactly. We need to break it to our boy that he will be having his chocolate treats a day late…"

The next week was as a result a hectic one for Niff. Nick still had his normal work to get through, but he also had to finalise his contributions to the conference on top of that; that in turn meant extra jobs for Jeff. He also had to finish some of his own illustration work sooner than he had planned. Nevertheless, he managed to find the time to get everything done, and was also able to get his visitor rota for Seth finished too, although that turned out to be harder than he had imagined, given that it was Easter…

Beats and Elliott would not be home, as they had scheduled a family trip to Zanesville to see the Harpers. Mr Harper was turning 60 on that Sunday, and they wanted to be there to celebrate that landmark with him. He knew that it risked a confrontation with his sister, but he was determined that she was not going to stop him being there with all of his family.

Mike would be able to ensure that Caleb was fed morning and night, and Tina would pop in at lunchtime, but that was already at the limit of what they could do. Mike was rehearsing for a new show, and that involved long hours, and Tina would be working that weekend, as they were short staffed, and the rest of the week she would be tied up caring for Harry.

Ethan and Drew would also be out of town for the holiday, and Jeff was left despairing, until he stumbled on his Seth sitters by accident. As he was walking back from speaking to Ethan, he literally ran into Dex as he was heading home; Jeff explained the situation that had him so distracted, and he immediately offered to take on the role…

Thus it was to Dex that Jeff handed the spare key for Seth's place on the morning of the 29th. He took it, then said, "Thanks for this, but I will only use it if Seth does not answer when I come to the door, and even then only after I have come round three times and had no response on any visit. He might be sick, but he still deserves his dignity and privacy."

"I am just glad that there is going to be someone around that can keep a watch on him," replied Jeff. "To be honest, I know that he knows that is what is going on, and he accepts it."

"Well, either Lawrence or I will pop in at least twice a day, and before you say it, you have already given me Ollie's number in case something should go wrong. Don't forget that my brother is also a trainee medic, so if the worst does happen, there will be someone around that can put what they now into practice right away. Now go and enjoy New Zealand; I am more than a little envious of you…"

Jeff nodded, and it was a comfort to know that Seth would be taken care of, but he still felt guilty that it had been entrusted to the youngest on the street, people that knew him least well. Still, there was nothing else for it…

The advantage of having a mid-afternoon departure the following day was that Jeff could pop in and see Seth the following morning himself, bringing little Wes along at the latter's insistence. He found that the younger man was in good health physically, but that he was having one of his melancholy days, when he wished for all of the things that he was no longer able to do thanks to his condition.

"I am so jealous of you all; I have seen so many books on the nations of the Southern Hemisphere, and of course, Principal Carmichael taught us all about his travels there at Dalton. Everything looks so wonderful; good climate, breath-taking landscapes and friendly people. It's the whole package… I would love to have visited them some day, but now…"

"We will bring back lots of photos, and we can have an evening where we can tell you all about it. I know it's not the same, but a fair compromise…."

Seth had nodded, and then began to chat away to Wes about his origami. When they left, Jeff felt a little concerned. Seth seemed more down than usual, and that was not to his liking at all…