Marriages Multiply
Jeff's show would continue to draw in the crowds as November eased into December, much to the delight of all that knew him. His image was seen all over the media, and he found himself having to give a lot of interviews, which did not please him one bit. The only thing he really enjoyed was a Zoom chat with Her Majesty on Thanksgiving, where she talked about the virtual tour of his exhibition she had enjoyed. He had arranged that they would be joined online by the Duchess of Cambridge, and also by his mother, who was still in some shock about how much her life had changed as a result of her son's gesture…
Just a month ago she had been living a quiet life in rural Vermont, her art just a source of pleasure and relaxation; now she was the talk of all the artistic journals, had been interviewed by more people than her son in the last two weeks, and was now chatting to a woman that was probably known to more people than any other person living on earth. If Jeff found his face burning as his mother referred to him as her precious little boy, then perhaps he deserved it, and he had to watch as Kate stifled her laughter. He did then get to watch his mother blush as hard as the Queen told her that it was clear that she was the source of her son's artistic talents.
Afterwards, mother and son talked alone for a while. "Some mother's would be very annoyed with their child if they had done what you have. You have turned my entire life upside down with your surprise. Two days I was asked if I could give a talk to a group of art students at a college nearby, which was fine - local celebrity and all of that. However, late yesterday I was called up by someone from Yale, my alma mater, asking if I would be willing to come and talk to the art students there as well!"
"I definitely think that you should accept that, and maybe, if the dates suit, I could join you as a special guest. The train journey is not that long after all, and if we tell them it has to be in the afternoon, I could be there and back in a day…"
As Jeff was convincing his mother to enjoy her new found fame, others close to him in the circle of friends were also making plans for the future. With the wedding of Marley and Ryder already scheduled for the start of January, Hilary had surprised Roderick by suggesting that they should schedule their own wedding for the following day. "It would make a lot of sense to do that," she said. "After all, you and Marley share so many friends, and it would be simplest for them all if we married at the same time. They will be in town anyway, so it saves them from having to make two trips to New York; we cut emissions and save them money at the same time. We both want to be together, so moving things up like this shouldn't be an issue."
Roderick took a breath, and realised she was right. "If you are sure, then okay, let's do it, although we might have difficulty in finding a venue at such short notice, and there will inevitably be people asking if you are expecting a happy event given how quickly it is all taking place…"
Hilary laughed, and said, "Let them think that if they want! As for the venue, well I might already have done a little bit of research there, just to be ready… NYU has an old chapel in one of its oldest buildings, and it happens to be free that day. I might have provisionally booked it as well, which I know was a bit forward, but I want to be your wife… If you don't like it, then we can change it…"
Roderick cleared his throat, rather stunned now at the turn of events, but then with a smile he said, "I actually know the place that you are talking about, as one of my friends from college actually got married there, and it is pretty much perfect. I guess now we need to get the word out there…"
There would be formal invitations sent out, of course, but they sent out an e-mail to everyone after they had informed their families first. The reaction to the news was overwhelmingly positive, with one major exception. The only negativity came from Hilary's brother, Barnaby, but they were both sure that was just because they would now precede the partnership ceremony he had been planning with his own two partners…
It was only logical that it would be Mason that found himself being asked to be Roderick's best man, and his immediate answer was an unequivocal yes. That said, he suggested that they offer both Spencer and Alistair a role on the day too, just so that everyone would feel involved in the ceremony, and Roderick had no issue with that at all. That was an easy call to make, whereas the earlier one to his parents had been far harder. They had met Hilary of course, and liked her a lot, but the speed with which it was all happening lead his father to jump to the inevitable conclusion; that he had managed to get her pregnant and was doing the honourable thing.
"Err, nope, you and mom aren't going to be grandparents quite yet, trust me! The only reason for the speed is that a very good friend of mine, a mutual friend of all of my closest friends, is getting married the day before, so it makes economic sense for everyone if we get married then too."
His dad had laughed, partly in relief, before asking, "So will you be moving up to the echelons of the Upper East Side, or is she coming to live with you in Murray Hill?"
Roderick didn't know what to say then, as he realised it was not something that he and Hilary had discussed. However, when he thought about it… "Well, Hilary owns her place in the Upper East Side, so it is most likely that we will move there," he replied, before changing the subject.
As soon as he had finished the conversation, he decided to put the same question to his future wife in a text. He was surprised when she actually called him back straight away. "I'm like you; I really hadn't considered it, and I guess that we really do have to. I think that what might be best is if we place my current apartment on the market. It should sell in no time, trust me, and then we can move somewhere new to both of us, somewhere that will be our home. Burnaby will soon be moving to the Garment District, so I am not averse to moving downtown to Murray Hill or Gramercy. It will cut my commute to work, and will save adding to yours."
"You would be willing to do that?"
"Of course. If we want our marriage to start well, then we should have a place that we both chose as our location…"
With that decision made, Roderick realised that he needed to pop upstairs and see Cooper, his landlord. He wanted to tell him face to face about the wedding, and also about the future plans for his living arrangements as a consequence. After he had done so, the actor nodded, then sighed. "I will miss you being downstairs, but I have always known that you would leave one day. I am not going to be in any great rush to find a new tenant this time, although in the longer term I do have an idea of someone that it might well suit…"
"Oh, so you have been thinking about my leaving?" said Roderick jokingly.
"In the long term, yes I have. At some point in the distant future I can see my mom living down there, when she gets to that age when she still wants to be as independent as she can be, but we all know that she needs a little supervision, so to speak, and help with certain things. Then there is Nils, who can't be our au pair forever, so he is another person that might end up in your current home as he spreads his wings. As for right now, well there is Dex as a possible. Lawrence and Adam are a couple, and them moving in soon is almost inevitable in my view, but he and his young lady are not at that stage yet. He wants them to be married before that happens, and he won't agree to that until he is employed permanently and secure. He can't stay in the West Village house forever, so yes, your home would be a good stop gap for him."
Cooper paused then, before saying, "Anyway, I think you should tell Hilary to get in touch with Grace, with details of your budget and the sort of home you would like. She has contacts in real estate, and she will ensure that they get you a good deal, and even early access to properties that aren't yet on the open market." Roderick thanked him, and then headed home to call Hilary again, to pass on what he had just been told…
They had a date already scheduled for that evening, and he would be going up to her place for dinner. He arrived bang on schedule, and found himself greeted with a big hug and a multitude of kisses. "This is all moving so much faster than I even imagined it would," she said as she lead him through into the kitchen, where their meal was ready to be served. "I decided to bite the bullet after your second call, and spoke to Grace, and the realtor that she put me in touch with, a friend of hers from her women in business association, well… I have a buyer for this place already lined up, a client of hers that is desperate to live in this neighbourhood, who is returning from abroad in the new year. She will pay 25% more than I paid for it, so that is perfect. She has also supplied me with the particulars of a number of places in both Murray Hill and Gramercy that are within budget…"
"I want to make it clear at this point that I will be contributing to the purchase of our new home," said Roderick, anxious to make it a joint purchase.
"I would not have expected otherwise, but as I see it, it makes much more sense for you to pay me back each month for what I put in over my half now, than have you take out a loan and pay a broker and interest on it every month. I mentioned that to Grace by the way, and she can draw up papers to that effect if it will make you happier about it all."
"It would. I want to be sure that we are equal partners in all that we do."
"That is fine by me. Now, dinner is ready, so let's eat, and then we can look through all of the particulars together."
An hour later, Roderick was smiling as he observed the papers of an upper half of a brownstone like Cooper's; indeed, it was only a few blocks from the place he lived in now, and closer still to Mason and Jane's home. It was well within their budget and had all of the period features they both loved. It also provided them with ample space for when they wanted to start a family. They both agreed it was a no-brainer to request a viewing…
Roderick had a daytime shift the following day, but given that the house was vacant and the owners desired a quick sale, plus the fact that they were friends of Grace, the realtor was happy to agree to meet the engaged couple at 9pm. Even that time meant that Roderick had to run straight from the hospital, and as he had been held up a little, he had to inspect the place whilst still in his scrubs. The realtor had no problem with that at all, even if the man himself did.
"Trust me, I have seen much worse attire at viewings than that of a man that obviously works hard and cares deeply for his patients. I actually realised after we arranged this that your name rang a bell, and I think you might be the nurse that cared for my grandmother during the summer, after she had a bad fall and fractured her hip. She was in hospital for some time, and she said that you were like a ray of sunshine, always taking time to pop in, just to see how she was doing…"
Roderick blushed, then said, "Would that have been a Mrs Arbuthnott? She is such a lovely lady, and she told me such wonderful stories about her own career as a nurse before she married."
"You remember her! That does not surprise me at all given what she said about you. I will look forward to telling her that I met you!"
"And please give her my best regards when you do."
With that exchange over, they began the house tour, and it turned out to be every bit as perfect in reality as it had been in the particulars. The young couple looked at each other when they returned to the starting point, and they both knew that it was the one. With a grin, Hilary turned to the realtor, and said, "We don't need time to think on this or discuss it; we would like to make an offer at once, of…"
"You will offer this figure," said the realtor, showing them a price she had written on her own papers which was 10% less than the asking price. "As I stated, this house is vacant, and the owner is already abroad, and needs the money from the sale of this home to complete the purchase of his new one there urgently. He has already told me that he will accept this amount, so anything you offer over and above that is just gravy to him. I will be honest here - his line of work is not the most honourable, shall we say, as either of your careers, so in my opinion, he doesn't deserve any more."
She paused, and almost laughed at the look of shock on her buyers faces. "Okay, so I can have your purchase of this property and the sale of the apartment in the Upper East Side completed within seven days. Better yet, the purchaser of the apartment is cash rich, and will not have an issue with you remaining in the property until the end of January if required…"
Hilary smiled, and replied, "Well, we would hope to leave before that; we would hope to move in here immediately after we are married."
"As you should. It will not be an issue either way."
"It is all happening so fast," remarked Hilary to her future husband.
"It is, but I am quite happy about all of it," Roderick replied. Turning to the realtor he added, "And we are most grateful to you for your assistance. In fact, I think my future wife will agree that you must attend our wedding, and bring your grandmother as well, if she wishes to attend, and is able to do so…"
The pace of events for the couple was not just taking them by surprise, but also all of those looking in from outside. It affected one person most of all, and that was Barnaby. His own relationship was also going very well, and when Clyde and Audra had asked him to take vows with them to cement their unconventional ménage à trois as official, if not entirely legally recognised, to all their friends, he had been elated and agreed readily. He had expected that he would be the first of the two siblings to enter into such a long term commitment, so when he found out that his sister was now only a few weeks away from her wedding day, he felt a little irked by it all. It would have done so even more had his two level headed partners not recognised that there was something wrong, and intervened early to avoid it being an issue.
"I am guessing that as she is your elder sister, she has always been the one of you to do everything first, and well, you thought that for once you were going to be the pioneer. The fact is that you still will be in so many ways. She might be the first of the two of you to be getting married, but you will still be the first amongst everyone you know to be entering into a commitment ceremony for three. She will be conventional, but you will be the one to break new ground," Clyde had said to him softly.
Audra had smiled at them both, and then added, "Siblings always compete, but the best ones allow each other to win as well. If you approve of her relationship with Roderick, then you must accept that this is their moment. An old chapel is a conventional location, whereas our bonding ceremony will be, well, a little off the wall in comparison. It will also be much more intimate. Your sister's wedding will be big because of all of the groom's friends and family too. We know that you and Hilary will have very few guests of your own there - three family at the most, and some close colleagues. Of course, we wanted our ceremony outside in nature, and that is why we are waiting until the summer…"
However, when Barnaby found out that his sister had sold her apartment and bought a new place more or less overnight, he felt less content about the whole situation again. She had sent him pictures of her new home, and although it wasn't his style, he found that he was jealous all over again. This time it would be his cousin Matthew that would bring him out of the clutches of the green-eyed monster…
"I have to say that on seeing the pictures, I am a little jealous too," he said when they met for a coffee the day after the viewing. "It is a beautiful place, and in an idyllic neighbourhood, and close to some of their friends too. However, it is a block to the east of Cooper and Mason's homes, and well, that could actually bring a lot of construction noise to them in a few months time…"
He paused, as Barnaby looked a little concerned, before going on, "They will be digging an air shaft for the Second Avenue subway a block to the north of their new apartment, and they will be building an entrance to the new station that is to serve the neighborhood only a couple of blocks downtown. True, in time it will add value to the place, but all of the forthcoming noise, dust and construction traffic might be the reason why they got such a good price, not just the owner going abroad. Anyway, you much prefer the loft style apartments of the Garment District; they are your style, not these old brownstones from the turn of the century…"
Barnaby smiled at the man in front of him then, knowing that with his work at City Hall, he knew exactly what was going on. He had become good friends with his cousin since the death of Seth, the brother that Barnaby had never even known he had, had brought their two families back together. "Yeah, that is true, although the building in which Clyde and Audra's place is located isn't that much younger than the one that Hilary and Roderick are buying; it has just been extensively renovated on the inside. I suppose though that there will be all kinds of construction work near the Garment District at some point too, given the plans for the inter-airports subway…"
Matthew chuckled, and then winked at his cousin. "I have already checked the detailed drawings, and it comes nowhere near your future home." He paused, and then continued in a serious tone, "Look, I know that you really wanted to be the first of the two of you to have your relationship formalised, but the only reason that Hilary is getting married so quickly is for convenience for others. Roderick and Marley share so many friends, and well, some of them are not as wealthy as others in their circle, so coming to the city twice in a year might be beyond their budgets. That is the only reason for their rush. Hilary was fully intending to wait, and told my mother as much only in October. What you must also remember is that had she waited until after your ceremony, there would have been comparisons made, what with your ceremony being less, how can I put this…"
"…traditional?" said Barnaby, finishing his cousin's sentence. "I suppose that her wedding was always going to be overshadowed by mine, and she accepted it; even now, her big day will be overshadowed by Marley's. At least now, I won't be the one doing that to her…"
"No, which will hopefully keep sibling relations harmonious. As for your big day, I have to admit I am really looking forward to it," his cousin replied.
"I'm glad you said that, because there is something that I have been putting off asking you. I would like it if you would be my sort of best man that day. Strictly I do not need a groomsman at all, as I am not actually going to be a groom per se, but it would be nice to have someone to support me…"
"It would be an honour, and would please me immensely to do that for you!"
Barnaby laughed then at just how eager his cousin seemed to be to accept, particularly as his other cousin, Matthew's sister, was horrified by the whole thing. He could not help but wonder if the sibling rivalry that he felt with Hilary was just as strong between his two cousins…
The planning and build up to the two weddings would dominate much of the month of December in the minds of the little circle of friends. Jeff's exhibition would of course continue to run in the background, although all of the major pieces that had been on sale had been snapped up. Only one item had been removed from display though, and that was the drawing of Sebastian as Hamlet; the buyers of all the rest of the works had known that they would remain in situ until the exhibition closed. Jeff had removed it himself, and had made a quick video of it being taken off the wall, swathed in tissue paper and bubble wrap, still in its handcrafted frame, before it was packed into a shipping box. It was only as the lid was placed on it that the name of the purchaser was to be seen, written on it. Jeff then spun the phone round, and stated why the person in question had wished to buy it…
He despatched the video then to Sebastian. He would open it as he sat in the Senior Commons, allowing the current group of Warblers free rein for a heated discussion on who merited the upcoming solos in the Christmas Carol Concert. His gasp and subsequent squeal of delight made the whole room fall silent, but it took him a few moments to realise that all of the young men in the place were now staring at him in wonder and confusion.
"I am so sorry, gentlemen," the former Warbler said. "I just received a small item of personal news that has a connection to the upcoming festivities. On which note, your debate has now been going on for a little too long. You need to make a decision on who will be singing those solos, and in my honest opinion, from what I could hear, your debate was not about to progress us to that conclusion in any way, shape or form this side of the big day! As I see it, you have two main candidates for the main solo, but neither of them has sung it for you as of yet, so how can you decide? I suggest that we remedy that now, or frankly, we will end up celebrating Christmas together in this room…"
As Sebastian had anticipated, once the two young men in question had both sung the solo part, the debate was no longer quite so heated, and it was quickly apparent that one of the two was the clear frontrunner. He approved of that choice no end; it was one of the boys that normally shunned the limelight; he had taken a leap into the unknown by putting his name forward, and that sudden burst of confidence was now about to pay dividends. With that big choice made, all of the remaining solos for the concert were quickly allocated. Then the Warbler meeting was over for the day, and the boys dispersed, heading off to their dorms to start on their homework before their evening meal…
Sebastian did not leave his seat however, staying there to watch the video from Jeff one more time, barely able to suppressing his giggles of delight now he was alone. He was so happy to see that the picture of him was being packed up to be sent to Windsor and thence to Her Majesty as a Christmas gift. He was so engrossed in watching it for the fourth time that he jumped when Thad cleared his throat as he stood right beside him….
Having calmed down, he paused the video, then started it from the beginning again for the benefit of Thad. The older man watched intently, and then laughed as the big reveal was made. "Well, well, and to think that you got all huffy and upset when Bette didn't buy it…"
"I did, but it must already have been too late by then, or I am sure that she would…" Sebastian began in reply, but he paused as his phone buzzed with a new message, also from Jeff, and also in picture form. He opened it at once, and this time he saw a half finished sketch of himself in his lead role from Oklahoma! Beside it there was a note, which said quite clearly, 'A commission for Ms Bette Midler.'
Thad laughed even louder at the expression that now came over Sebastian's face, and the fact that there had been a squeak of pure delight as his friend had read those words. "Ohmigod, she has commissioned Jeff to draw me in my role in the show that we appeared in together on Broadway! Oh, that beats her buying the picture of me as Hamlet hands down!"
"It would seem that your are her favourite nephew after all, not that the fact was ever really in doubt," replied Thad. "Still, as she must have asked Jeff to make the drawing back on his opening day in November, they have decided to leave you in the dark for a little while. That has been no bad thing for your ego, and maybe a little punishment for the way you reacted…"
Sebastian felt his cheeks redden as he got the point that Thad was making. "Yeah, I did act up like a petulant, stroppy teenage brat for a bit. Maybe I should apologise to both Bette and Russell over that…"
"I would suggest it needs to be done more to the latter than the former, because she has had much longer to get used to you and your ways after all. Right, to get back to the reason that I came in search of you in the first place. The Principal has had a phone call from the current mayor of Westerville. He is coming to the Christmas concert, and is hoping to hear his nephew sing a solo. She would like to know if the boy in question has one, because is not, she can start work on placating the man from this point on, which will save the whole thing becoming an issue on the night of the show."
Sebastian laughed, and replied, "The good news is that Principal Lefevre will not need to do any placating at all, as not only does he have a solo, but better yet it is the prestigious opening one, which he has earned entirely through his own talents, as decided upon by his peers." He paused for a moment then continued, with an evil glint in his eyes, "That does not mean that I am not annoyed that the mayor would make such a phone call. I feel like calling him up to say that his nephew did have one, but due to our strict policy against familial intervention, I now have no option in the wake of his call but to withdraw it."
As he saw the colour drain from Thad's face, he laughed again, and said, "Don't worry, I won't, but perhaps someone should let the man in question know that it was a possibility nonetheless…"