August 2027: A Three Way Partnership Part I.
Joan would end up meeting Nick that night after all; Adam spotted him coming home alone, and he went down to thank him for the cake. Nick smiled, and said, "It was nothing; I just hope that Joan enjoyed it. Jeff decided on the way home that he needed some candy to take to the big event tomorrow, so I left him and Wes heading into the drugstore. They will be there for a while, discussing the merits of the various candies on offer…"
Adam nodded and couldn't help but grin at the mental image he now had; he also knew from what other people had told him that such things could take the blond and his son over an hour to decide. He invited Nick to pop up and meet his grandmother, and he agreed. As they headed up, Adam said, "Could you pass on my regards to the three of them tomorrow, and my apologies as well? They did say to me that I could bring Joan with me, but I decided that it might be too much for her sensitivities to handle so soon into her visit. Lawrence and I are going to take her uptown to the Episcopal cathedral instead for the morning service. She rarely misses church back home. We did consider just taking her to St Luke's in the Fields as the closest one, but we decided that she would probably like to see St John the Devine at some point…"
Nick nodded, aware that the cathedral was the sixth largest church in the world by area, but that it also carried the unfortunate nickname of St John the Unfinished… Nevertheless, they did do good work in the neighborhood and surrounding communities, and a certain drawing by his husband might have been on display there for a few months before it had made its final move to the Met.
There was no time to say anymore to Adam as he was being introduced to Joan, who immediately praised him for his baking skills, going as far as to say that he should enter a TV baking contest, as he would undoubtedly win.
Nick just laughed at that suggestion, and said, "That is not the first time that someone has said as much to me, but my work keeps me much too busy to commit the time to it that it would require." He would then spend the next thirty minutes talking about his work at the United Nations, and then in response to her questions, had told Joan how it had felt to be present at the Coronation. He was relieved when Jeff called him on his phone to ask him where he was, as he and Wes had arrived home, the candy dilemma solved much faster than normal, as that allowed himself to excuse himself from the questioning and head home.
He shared his experience with his husband when he arrived home, and Jeff smiled. He wondered how Joan would react to having an experience like they had enjoyed that afternoon. They had gone expecting to have tea with Grace, the twins and Nils, Cooper being onstage of course on a Saturday afternoon. Just after they arrived, the doorbell had rung, and Pam had arrived unexpectedly and joined them, her presence an added pleasure. She had come straight from Bloomingdales, her stock now so high with the senior management that she had great flexibility in her working hours. Demand for her services had gone through the roof, but she stuck to her principles, and refused to drop a client just because a celebrity was asking for her attentions. Her boss had not been too happy at first, but then she had dropped the words Saks, Macy's, and own business into a conversation, and the issue had disappeared…
She regaled them all over tea with talk of the events that had taken place on Tuesday, her first day back after her return from London; she had gone in wearing the brooch that she had been given by the Queen Consort, and one of the oldest and most senior members of the board had been visiting. They had spotted it and gasped, recognising it at once. She had been a girl on the day that the late Queen had visited half a century ago and had been able to see her up close. The fact that Pam was now the owner of the piece of jewellery was quite a coup for the store, and she had been hustled into a hastily arranged photoshoot at the request of the board. She had allowed them to photograph her wearing it, and that image had now been placed on display at the entrance to the beauty department alongside a picture of the late Queen when she had been in the store…
She had the brooch with her, and she had allowed all of them to handle it; it was such a classic design, beautifully made and because of its royal connection, a priceless piece of jewellery. "I have already placed it on my insurance policy and have decided that when I pass away, it will come to you, Grace," Pam said with a smile. Then she turned her head in the other direction, and said, "I must also thank you once again, Jeff, for getting me into the whole business in the first place. Had it not been for your close connection to the Princess of Wales, then I would never have met the Queen Consort, and my only experience of the Coronation would have been watching it on the television…"
"It was my pleasure to make it all happen," said Jeff, blushing a little.
"I hear that you and Carole had a good week after it all as well," said Grace, and Pam smiled.
"We saw all of the sights, and enjoyed day trips to Oxford and York, where we saw some more of the history of England before us. However, all of that pales a little in comparison to being in the same room as a group of acting Dames, all of whom were eager to hear my make-up tips; women that the world admires for their acting talents were hanging on my every word. Then there was my afternoon tea with the Princess Royal and the Duchess of Edinburgh, where Carole and I discussed with them all of the charitable work that they do, and well, we will be engaging in similar work here too. The First Lady is keen to be involved and we are hoping to have Isabelle Wright on board too, both directly and through the column that I am going to be writing for Vogue every month. I hear on the grapevine that the news of that has reached my dear ex-husband, and apparently Jonathan is furious about it, but as he is under an even tougher restraining order following his last escapade, I am not concerned…"
Jeff immediately looked at her with curiosity, wondering what she was referring to, but Nick swiftly managed to change the topic of conversation with great haste to the ceremony that would be taking place the following day, and Grace supported him at once. Pam looked at them both and suddenly realised that she had nearly told Jeff the truth about the events that had taken place before the Coronation, events that he was rightly unaware of. She mouthed the word "Sorry" to Nick the moment that she was sure that his husband's eyes were focused elsewhere…
Once Wes was safely tucked up in his bed, the conversation in the Sterling-Duval household turned to the ceremony that they would be attending the following day, something that they all referred to as Barnaby's wedding, although in reality it was a partnership ceremony. "It is funny to think that in our lifetime so much has changed in this nation of ours," remarked Jeff. "When we were born, two people of the same sex could not marry, or even have their relationship recognised at all in so many of the states that make up our nation. Now we are going to see three people uniting in a relationship, one that will be recognised as legal in the state of New York at the very least."
Nick sighed, then said, "That much might be true theoretically, but I think that in some of the more rural counties of the state such ceremonies will not be performed, nor will people there recognise the legitimacy of their union. Change is coming, but it happens at a different pace in the places away from the big cities. The concept of a three-way partnership isn't even up for discussion in most of the other major nations of the West. Even in our own nation, it is unlikely that the Southern States and the Bible Belt will ever accept it. There is an irony there, as polyamory is already practised by some of the religious sects that exist in those areas."
"It is just such a shame that he and Hillary will not be able to see that Seth will be there, watching with a smile on his face," Jeff continued. "I would like to think that they will be able to see him one day though. Our latest person to see angels, Pam, seems to have adjusted to the ability to see them pretty swiftly."
"She certainly didn't flinch when Blaine came to join us whilst Nils was putting the twins to bed, laughing and joking with him as if he was still alive and not an angel at all… What I am most curious about is his remark about their being two expectant people present at the ceremony tomorrow. I am assuming that he meant that two of our female friends are expecting a child, but the question now is who…"
Jeff smiled at his husband's curiosity, and replied, "Well, if one of those expectant people happens to be Audra, then the situation is even more interesting; we will all have to wait and see which of the two men in her life is the father…"
It turned out that it was a subject that would not leave Nick's head that night, no matter how hard he tried. Even as Jeff snored gently at his side, a new trait in his husband that he had become used to swiftly enough, his mind was awhirl. He concluded that Audra was actually the least likely candidate, as he recalled a conversation that he had had with Barnaby a few months before; from what he remembered, they took great precautions in that area…
He hoped that one of the people in question might be Marley, as she and Ryder deserved to be parents; she would be the perfect mother, not unlike Mary Poppins in her attitude, and her husband would be the most loving of fathers. That would leave one other person, and he went through all of the likely candidates in his head. Madison was a possibility, but her relationship with Matthew, Seth's cousin, was still in the early stages and a pregnancy was not always a welcome thing at that point…
Then he let out a little gasp as he realised that the truth was actually in plain sight if he thought about it. He remembered now that in one of his last meetings with Santana and Brittany, the latter had said that Hillary had changed to a later start in the day, as she was having problems in getting to work in the morning…. Could that be because she was suffering badly from morning sickness? It also made sense that none of them would be aware of it yet, as she would be keeping it quiet so that her news did not upstage her brother's big day. If he was right, then he knew something else; Roderick was going to be over the moon…
The following morning saw Adam and Lawrence be the first to leave the West Village, heading uptown with Joan to Morningside Heights and the cathedral of St John the Divine. Joan had done her research naturally and it was on her list of places to visit, so she was more than happy to head there for the Sunday service. After that, they would head in the direction of the Met, which was also high on her list of places to visit. Adam had pulled a few strings and had booked a table for dinner at Tavern on the Green, which would finish off her day nicely.
They would be followed out to the street a short time later by most of the other long term residents, all of whom were heading to the partnership ceremony. A babysitter had been found that was willing to take care of both the Chang and Wilde-Abrams children, which meant that both couples were free to attend. Joining them all was Ethel, who had been told about what was happening that day by Ethan; she had looked thoughtful for a moment, before she asked if he thought the thruple would mind if she accompanied them to the ceremony.
"I realised a long time ago that the standard model of marriage had a lot of issues, so the idea of three people being in a committed long term relationship does intrigue me. If they are prepared to commit to each other for life, then it must work for them and something like that is to be celebrated."
There had been no issue with Ethel joining Ethan, Drew and Evie at the ceremony as another guest and they all agreed that it would be a good way to mark the end of her visit. She was flying home on Monday night, having seen Evie head back to school for a new year. She would be heading home to England with a lot of happy memories and if all was well, then the intention was that she would host the three people that she had been staying with in Maidenhead the following year…
The venue for the partnership ceremony was in the Garment District, not far from the apartment that Barnaby now saw as his true home. The place that he had inherited on the Upper East Side was now rented out to a trusted friend, earning him an income that allowed him to do the work that made him happy instead of an office job that would have left him miserable. Now that the day for his commitment ceremony had finally dawned, he did feel a little nervous, as in the back of his mind he imagined that somehow, through friends of theirs, his parents might have found out that he was about to make a long-term commitment to two people and arrive to stop it taking place. The fact that one of those two people was male would make everything ten times worse for them. He had even gone so far as to provide the venue with the most recent image of them that he could find online, with strict instructions that they were not to be admitted under any circumstances…
What he did not know of course was that Seth had been keeping half an eye on their neglectful parents for the last few months, and he had been delighted when they had embarked on a month long Caribbean cruise just a couple of weeks ago. They had been cruising from one tropical island to another when a text message had arrived from someone that described themselves as a concerned and loving friend to inform them that their son was getting married, and that they need to check it out. They had not said any more than that, and as the couple now regarded all of their children as part of their past existence that no longer had relevance, they did not seek out further information. As a result, they would be entirely oblivious to the truth until it was much too late to do anything about it; indeed, even if they hadn't been, intervening would only have widened the group of people that were privy to the information…
Barnaby had not spent the night before his big day at home in the Garment District; although he certainly wasn't one for old traditions, he had agreed that he should stay overnight with Hillary and Roderick in the home they now shared in Murray Hill. It had been an enjoyable evening, and once again Barnaby thought how lucky he was to have Roderick as a brother-in-law. He would indeed go so far as to admit that if he had not already asked his cousin Matthew to be his best man, then Roderick would have been the obvious choice for the role.
Barnaby also suspected that Matthew would have news for him that morning of his own, something that he might want to share with the world once the partnership ceremony was over. Madison was now settled in the city, her shop doing well and her relationship with Matthew was going from strength to strength; Barnaby suspected that there might well be a proposal of marriage in the offing there…
On top of that, he wondered if his sister would also be wanting to share some news with the world that day, given what he had stumbled upon inadvertently the previous night. He had been looking for the extra pillows that she had told him were in a storage closet; he had opened the wrong one and found a box that contained baby clothes, all new and designed for newborns. It had only taken him a moment to realise what that meant. He had shut the door and said nothing to his sister or indeed brother-in-law about what he had seen. The main thing it meant to him was that his sister loved him enough to supress her own desire to let the world know she was expecting her first child to give him the limelight, at least for the day…
However, he had woken up much later than he had initially intended; he still had plenty of time to do all he needed to as long as everything ran like clockwork, but there was little or no leeway now if it didn't. He jumped out of bed and rushed down to the kitchen to discover Roderick there, preparing him breakfast; there was French Toast and maple cure bacon, a combo which was heaven to him, but he had not intended to eat a hot breakfast that day, planning instead on a simple bowl of granola…
"I know what you are thinking, and I also know that you were planning on cereal this morning, but that is not enough on such an important day," said Roderick before he could speak up. "I can also see that you are looking at the clock and thinking that you do not have time to sit down and enjoy a proper breakfast, but trust me, you have plenty of time to do just that! Matthew and I sat down together and have everything planned out and timed to the second. So, sit down and eat, because let us be honest, nobody really wants to hear your stomach grumbling during the ceremony, nor do we want to see cringing from the pain of heartburn when you should be smiling. Whilst you are eating, I will be upstairs preparing you a nice hot bath – yes, a bath, not a shower, because it will also help you to relax, and that is what is required on your big day. By the way, none of this is up for discussion…"
As he had spoken, Roderick had been plating up the food, and he set it down on the table, then steered Barnaby into the chair in front of it. He poured him a cup of coffee, and then stared at him until he picked up his knife and fork and started to eat. Content with that, Roderick headed out of the room, presumably to run the bath he had prescribed for him. As he savoured the food, Barnaby did wonder one thing; where was his sister on this special morning for him?
Having cleared his plate, he got up and headed in the direction of the sitting room in search of his sister, but before he could get there, he found himself grabbed and pushed in the direction of the bathroom by Roderick instead. His brother-in-law pushed him through the door then shut it behind him, leaving Barnaby alone. The water was hot, and the air was scented with a nice pine fragranced bath oil; he realised that it would be a great shame to waste all of the effort and let the water cool. He undressed and climbed in, and it was only once he was immersed in the water that he noticed the alarm clock sitting on the counter beside the basin; he obviously had time for a bath, but that time was not unlimited…
He decided to make the most of it and relaxed back in the water, which was at the perfect point between too hot and lukewarm. As he did, he heard the sound of Roderick talking to someone, and he was pleased to hear his sister's voice respond, but the conversation was too muffled for him to make out exactly what was being said. For that reason, he decided to just ignore it and chill… That was disturbed by the sound of someone ringing the doorbell, and the door then being answered. He heard the sound of approaching footsteps and then there was a sharp rap on the bathroom door; it opened just a little and Matthew's head appeared.
"Okay, so the alarm clock will ring in exactly 5 minutes or so, so you will need to use the soap now if you haven't done so already; it is also pine-scented, like the bath oil, so it will just enhance the fragrance. There is also a nice shampoo there, so chop, chop!"
Barnaby laughed as his cousin vanished again, thinking how his big day seemed to have turned Matthew and Roderick, normally two of the most easy-going guys he knew, into a pair of army officers yelling at a new recruit, shouting out orders and commands. Nevertheless, he picked up the bottle of shampoo and washed his hair, before using the soap to lather up the rest of his body. He had no sooner finished that and washed off the remaining suds when the alarm sounded; he jumped right out of the water and began to towel himself dry…
He had a towel wrapped around his waist and was about to reach for the razor that he had brought with him the night before when the door opened again, and Matthew was standing there. Before Barnaby could ask him if he had ever heard of knocking, his cousin said, "Step away from that razor; you are now heading back to the spare bedroom, where a barber is waiting to give you a proper shave, and then assess, trim if necessary, and style your hair."
"A barber! How much did that cost?"
"Nothing. He is the older brother of a guy that I went to school with, and he is doing this as a favour to repay one that I did for his brother many years ago. Anyway, time is wasting, so let's go!"
An hour later, Barnaby found himself standing in front of the mirror in the spare bedroom of his sister's home, wondering exactly who the devilishly handsome young man was that was looking back at him; quite frankly, he had never seen himself look so good before. The barber had worked wonders on his normally unruly locks, trimming it and restyling it in no time. All that had come after the closest shave that he had ever had; the fact that he had used an old-fashioned cutthroat razor had been a little scary at first, but he knew just how to handle the blade in question, and he had no cuts of any sort. He hated to admit it, but if he didn't nick himself at least once when he shaved normally, it was a miracle…
The barber had already tidied up Matthew's hair whilst Barnaby had been in the bath, and on leaving Barnaby to get dressed, he was headed to do the same for Roderick. Before he put on his wedding clothes, he applied the aftershave balm that the barber had left for him, which soothed and moisturised his skin, and left it glowing with health. He turned to Matthew, who was sitting on the bed, and asked, "Does your friend's brother have a shop?"
Matthew laughed, and replied, "Yes, he does; he has a small place in the Meatpacking District; I will give you his address…"
"Thanks, because after this, I think that I will be changing my allegiance for all barbering over to him…"
Matthew smiled at that, although he wasn't willing to admit that he was already a regular at the place. He got up and began the next task, which was assisting his cousin into his wedding clothes; he was wearing a highly tailored suit, made to a design that would have been contemporary a century ago. That was the image that Barnaby now saw in the mirror, and he approved of it wholeheartedly. He knew that Clyde would be wearing a kilt, having just enough Scottish heritage in his mixed-up genealogy to justify it, but he had no idea what Audra would be wearing that day. She had decided to keep the mystique of the groom not seeing the dress before the wedding, but she had told both of her grooms that she definitely would not be wearing a white dress of the kind that she said, in her own words, would make her look like a walking pavlova…
Suddenly Matthew was standing at his side in a more or less identical suit, albeit one that was a lot less tight and tailored, and hence less revealing. "Well, we are ready in plenty of time, you are looking very sharp, and all in all, I would say that they are very lucky to be entering into a partnership with you today…"
Barnaby smiled, glad that his cousin had avoided the word marry, as strictly he wasn't getting married. "Actually, I think that I am the lucky one in this situation; I met them by chance, and they altered my world. They helped me throw off all of the inhibitions and restrictions that I still had; the ones instilled in me by my parents. It would have been bad enough for them to have a son that was bisexual, but when they find out about today, it will be the final nail in the coffin for our relationship. I know that I should not have any pride in that fact, but I do, and I am not ashamed to say it." Matthew nodded, secretly agreeing that his aunt and uncle deserved it, after what they had done to his mother, and by extension, him, in withholding their inheritance. Barnaby then continued, "What they did to Seth was cruel and sadistic, and this is payback for that too. He should be here with us now…"
"I would like to think that he is around somewhere right now, watching over us," replied Matthew. He knew that had Seth been alive right now, and had he not been sick, then he would not have been the best man at this partnership ceremony…
"Okay, so how about you tell me how you and Madison are getting on? All still going well with your older woman?"
"She is not that much older!" huffed Matthew. "When you say that it makes me sound like I am a toyboy dating an octogenarian!" Barnaby laughed, and then looked at his best man expectantly. "Okay, it is all going very well as it happens; to be honest, she is my soulmate, and we are at the point where I want to get down on one knee and ask her the big question…"
"That is fantastic news," replied Barnaby, a broad smile on his face. "I know I joke about the age difference, but she makes you so happy. Well, if you feel like getting down on one knee in front of everyone today, then I don't think that anyone would have an issue with it, certainly not me, Clyde and Audra – unless of course you did it before or in the middle of the ceremony, which would just be wrong…"
Matthew nodded but said nothing. He was however extremely glad that Barnaby had just said that, as there was a ring box burning a hole in his trouser pocket…
It was only as he was about to leave that Barnaby finally caught sight of his sister. She smiled at him, then said, "You do scrub up well when you want to, little brother. You look like a film star on his way to a Hollywood Gala or the Oscars. They are both extremely lucky to have you joining their lives. I wish the three of you every possible happiness, and from what I am told, I think that Seth would have been rooting for you as well."
Matthew left them to have a moment as Barnaby nodded, and then hugged. That was before he pulled back and said quietly, "Are you feeling alright? I haven't seen you all morning, and although this will sound awful, you are looking a little pale…"
"I had a bit of a disturbed night; sometimes the heat and humidity of this city in August gets to me."
"Yeah, it can be like that, and it must be a nightmare for someone in your condition…"
Barnaby stopped as he heard his sister's breath hitch, and her face went red. "How on earth did you…"
"I might have been looking for something in the wrong closet and come across your stash of baby clothes instead; I take it that what they call the nesting instinct is a real thing… I am beyond pleased for you and Roderick; my niece or nephew could not have a better set of parents."
"I have kept it quiet so that I did not steal the focus from you again. Roderick is the only other person that actually knows, and it has been quite a struggle for him, because he wants to broadcast the news to his family and then from the rooftops of the city…"
Barnaby chuckled and said, "That I can believe; tell him I am very grateful to him. Now, as I said to someone else, once the ceremony is over, I want you to feel free to tell the world; in fact, I might even announce it for you…"
"Please don't, not even in jest. Roderick would never forgive you if you stole his thunder."
"Well, tell him he needs to scream from those rooftops today; in fact, maybe he should call his folks just now, before the ceremony, so that they can be the first to know," her brother replied. Then he looked at the clock, and said, "Okay, so I need to go before Matthew drags me out of here. I hope that your morning sickness passes soon too, because I assume that is why you have been in absentia. I also hope that you have an easy pregnancy."
"I hope so too," Hillary replied, before she pulled her brother into another hug.
