"If we get caught we'll probably end up going down for fraud," Daniel said. "We'll have to be careful who we tell that this is fake."
"Yeah," Johnny agreed with a nod.
"Amanda we can trust, but I don't think we should risk telling the kids," Daniel said.
"Don't you think Sam and Anthony might find it a bit strange if we're suddenly together?" Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We can't let Sam know it's fake," Daniel said. "Her and the other kids have a group WhatsApp chat where they post all the gossip. It'll be across half the valley in minutes if we tell her."
"So I have to tell Robby this is real, too?" Johnny asked.
"You worried about how he'll react to you marrying a guy?" Daniel asked with a wry smile.
"Nah," Johnny said. "I'm worried how he'll react when I tell him it's you."
"Gee, thanks," Daniel said.
~#~
~#~
"I'm so happy for you!" Sam said, as she wrapped her arms around Daniel.
"Told you she'd be happy I was her new step dad," Johnny said with a grin.
"What about you, Antonio?" Daniel said, as Sam pulled away. "You OK with this?"
"Whatever, dad," Anthony replied, rolling his eyes.
"Well," Daniel said, as he turned to Johnny. "That was easier than I thought it'd be."
"Yeah," Johnny said, looking pensive. "Gotta tell Robby and Miguel next."
~#~
~#~
"Yeah, OK," Robby said with a snorting laugh, as he rolled his eyes.
"Did you hear what I said?" Johnny asked. "Me and LaRusso are getting married."
"If you say so," Robby said sarcastically.
"You don't believe us?" Daniel asked.
"I don't believe you two can even stand to be in the same room as each other for more than a hour without a fight breaking out," Robby replied.
"That's the unresolved sexual tension," Johnny said.
"It's the what?" Daniel asked, turning towards him.
"We've been banging for months," Johnny continued. "Any chance we can get. In the car or in the dojo after class. I let LaRusso rail me, or I rail hi-"
"Oh my goddddd," Robby said, putting his hands over his ears. "I don't need to hear this!"
"So you'll come to the wedding?" Johnny asked.
"Yes, yes," Robby snapped. "Just go! Leave and never ever tell me anything about what you two do again!"
"OK," Johnny said. They moved towards the door, and as he opened it he turned and said, "The wedding is a week on Saturday. I'll send you an invitation."
As they stepped out of the apartment, Johnny said, "I think that went well."
As Robby slammed the door behind them Daniel said, "Well? I think you just scarred him for life."
"What? No," Johnny replied. "He'll be fine."
"And what was that about unresolved sexual tension?" Daniel asked as they stepped out into the street. "Where the hell did you learn that one?"
"It was in some article Miguel sent me when we merged the dojos," Johnny replied, as he opened the car door. "Shit. We need to tell Miguel."
~#~
~#~
"Hey," Miguel said, a soft smile on his face. "Come in, come in. I've been waiting for you to get here."
"Sam already told you," Daniel said with a sigh.
"Yeah, she did," Miguel replied, then he leaned over and pulled Johnny into a hug. "I'm so happy for you both!"
"You're OK with this?" Johnny asked as he pulled away.
"My Sensei and my other Sensei getting married?" Miguel said. "What is there to not be OK about?"
"I just thought it might be weird after I dated your mom," Johnny said. "Does she know?"
"Yeah, I told her," Miguel replied.
"Is she pissed?" Johnny asked. "I mean, she only dumped me last month and I'm getting married already."
"Actually she's fine with it. She said she wasn't surprised," Miguel replied.
"Huh?" Johnny said.
"So when's the big day?" Miguel asked excitedly.
"A week on Saturday," Daniel replied.
"Wow, you guys move fast," Miguel said, then he laughed. "Or not so fast. I mean it's been 35 years."
Johnny turned to Daniel, and asked, "Why do people keep saying that?"
Daniel shrugged, then asked Miguel, "So you'll come to the wedding?"
"Absolutely," Miguel replied. "Where are you having it?"
~#~
~#~
"I know a few good bars," Johnny said, as he slumped in his dirty yellow arm chair with a beer in one hand.
"I'm not getting married in any bar you go to," Daniel said, as he twisted the cap off his bottle then flipped it across the room. "I don't want my guests getting god knows what diseases from the toilets."
"We can't have it at Applebee's," Johnny said.
"We were never going to get married at Applebee's, believe me," Daniel replied, rolling his eyes. "What about at Miyagi-Do?"
"Why does it get to be your Dojo?" Johnny asked. "Why can't it be mine?"
"Because your Dojo is a warehouse that should be condemned," Daniel replied. "We'd have to write that people need Tetanus shots on the invitations if we held it there."
"Hmm, true," Johnny said. "OK, so we hold it at Miyagi-Do, but I get to choose the music."
"Deal," Daniel said.
"And there has to be decent food," Johnny said. "I don't want that raw fish you keep trying to make me eat."
"How about a Sushi bar and a hog roast?" Daniel said.
"And beer," Johnny said. "We'll need lots of beer."
"We can get a keg?" Daniel asked, and when Johnny raised his eyebrows, he added, "Or two kegs."
"I thought wedding planning was supposed to be hard?" Johnny asked. "We rule at this."
"I know," Daniel replied with a shrug. "I don't know what all the fuss is about."
~#~
~#~
"So this is the final list of who we're inviting?" Daniel asked.
"I dunno, man," Johnny said, looking over it. "That's a lot names. I thought we were keeping this low key. I mean, your mother is on this list."
"I can't have a wedding without inviting my mother, Johnny," Daniel said. "She'd disown me if she found out that I got married and she wasn't there."
"Yeah, but you're marrying me," Johnny pointed out. "Is she gonna remember I used to knock you around a bit?"
"She might remember you used to knock me around a lot," Daniel said.
"And how's she gonna react to that?" Johnny said, as he folded his arms across his chest. "She's gonna slap me on my wedding day, Daniel. I don't want a red handprint on my face on the wedding photos."
"That's true," Daniel said, rubbing his fingers across his chin.
"You need to tell her now," Johnny said.
~#~
~#~
Johnny was in the other room, pacing nervously.
Daniel had no idea what he was going to say, but it was time to wash that dirty laundry in public and get it over with.
"Daniel!" his mother said excitedly as she picked. "I didn't know you were gonna be calling today."
"Hey, ma," Daniel replied. "I'm just calling with some good news."
"Good news? What's happening?"
"I just thought I'd let you know to keep next Saturday open because I'm having a bit of an event."
"Daniel, I'm not coming all that way just to sit at some stuffy car dealership party."
"Ma-"
"You know I don't like them."
"Ma-"
"Asking me to get on a plane just to come to a car dealership."
"Ma," Daniel shouted, finally able to get a word in. "I'm getting married."
"You're what?"
"I'm getting married."
"I didn't even know you were seeing anyone. You aren't remarrying Amanda are you?"
"No, ma," Daniel said with a laugh. "I've been seeing someone since Amanda and I split, but we've been keeping it secret, because, well... it's a guy."
"You're marrying a man?"
"I know it's a bit of a surprise, but are you OK with that?"
"Daniel, you should know your mother well enough to know that I love you more than anyone in the world. If you want to marry a man, then that's fine by me."
"Wow," Daniel said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"So who is he?" she asked, almost sounding excited. "Is he cute? Let me guess, is he a film star? Some handsome actor who came to buy a car from you and swept you off your feet?"
"You know him actually," Daniel said.
"I know him?" she asked. "Is it John Stamos? He's cute."
Daniel chuckled. "I'm pretty sure John Stamos is already married. No, it's, ah, it's Johnny Lawrence, Ma."
"The kid from Blossom? Isn't he a little young for you, Daniel?"
"No, ma, that's Joey Lawrence," Daniel said with a sigh. "Johnny Lawrence, from High School."
There was silence at the other end of then line, then she asked, "Isn't he the boy who used to beat you up?"
"Yeah," Daniel sighed. "That's him."
"Did he bully you into marrying him, Daniel?" she asked. "I'm your mother. You can tell me the truth, and I'll come down there and give him the spanking he should have had as a boy."
"No, ma, ma," Daniel hissed down the line. He whispered, "Everything's fine. It was a long time ago. He's changed now. No one needs... spanking."
She paused, then asked, "And he treats you good?"
"He does, yeah."
"And you're happy?"
"Very happy," Daniel said with a smile.
"OK, text me the details and I'll be there."
"Thanks, ma," Daniel said. "I'll get you a flight booked straight away."
"I'll see you soon honey," she said. "Love you."
"I love you too," Daniel replied, then hung up the phone.
Johnny was curiously still in the next room when Daniel walked in.
"How did it go?" Johnny asked.
"A bit rough at first, but she's fine with it," Daniel lied as he opened the refrigerator door.
"So she's coming to the wedding?"
"Yeah, she is."
"OK," Johnny said. "'Cause I thought I heard you say something about spanking."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Daniel said, as he passed Johnny a beer.
~#~
~#~
It was just over a week till the wedding, but everything was falling into place easily. They had a venue, the license, and Bobby would perform the service. They had catering booked and Johnny said he was taking care of the music. They decided not to get a photographer, but to ask everyone to take plenty of photos on their phones during the day and tag them on Facebook in them.
In all of the getting ready for the big day, Daniel realised they hadn't really considered what they would do in the time between the wedding and Robby graduating.
"Are you going to keep your apartment?" Daniel asked, as they sat on the deck after class with the beer cooler between them.
"Huh?" Johnny asked.
"We're getting married, Johnny," Daniel said. "We can't live in separate places after that."
"You wanna move into my place?" Johnny asked.
"Why would I move into your place?" Daniel asked. "It's probably infested with black mould."
"You want me to move into yours?"
"It's big enough," Daniel said. "When the kids visit we'll have to come up with some way of making it seem like we're sleeping in the same room."
"We could just sleep in the same room when they're over," Johnny said with a shrug. "Unless you're too scared to share a bed with me."
"Hmm," Daniel hummed. "That could work I suppose."
"Hey, but now we need to get onto planning the really important thing," Johnny said.
"What's that?" Daniel asked.
"The Bachelor party," Johnny replied with a grin.
~#~
~#~
They decided on separate parties.
Daniel spent the evening eating steaks and smoking cigars with Louis and Anoush, while Johnny headed off up to Big Bear with Bobby and Jimmy.
"Behave yourself," Daniel told him as climbed onto the hired Motorbike.
"Me? Never," Johnny said with a grin, as he pulled on his helmet then roared away.
Daniel looked around the quiet restaurant as he placed his knife and fork on the plate, and the waitress came over.
"Can I get you guys another round?" she asked, as she gathered the plates.
"I'll have a Coors Banquet," Daniel said without thinking.
"Awwwww," Anoush said. "Someone's missing his boyfriend."
"Don't be stupid," Daniel replied, as he finished the last of his wine.
The waitress returned and placed the open bottle of Banquet in front of Daniel, and as he looked down at the bottle he kinda wished he'd gone to Big Bear.
~#~
~#~
Daniel was awake bright and early the next morning. He made breakfast and went over the wedding invites again, as he waited to hear from Johnny.
About 9am his phone started to ring with an unknown number.
"Hello?" Daniel asked, as he picked it up.
"Hey, Daniel, this is Bobby Brown," a voice said wearily at the other end of the line. "You need to come get your boy."
~#~
~#~
"There's my husband to be!" Johnny shouted, as Daniel stepped out of the car.
"Oh god," Daniel said, as Johnny staggered towards him, half held up by Bobby.
"You know how long I've been waiting to get you LaRusso?" Johnny slurred, as he slung an arm around Daniel's shoulders.
"How much has he had to drink?" Daniel asked, as Johnny sagged against him.
"We stopped about 1am," Bobby said. "Apparently he didn't."
"There was two full six packs when I fell asleep," Jimmy said. "All the bottles are empty now."
"I got 35 years of blue balls waiting for you, LaRusso," Johnny said, as he leaned forward and stuck his tongue in Daniel's ear.
"Jesus, Johnny!" Daniel said, pushing his face away, then he realised that probably wasn't the action of someone who was getting married in a week, so he quickly added, "Not in front of everyone."
Bobby was smiling. "Yeah, we had a whole night of that. As soon as he got a couple of drinks inside him he did not stop talking about you."
"He's got it bad," Jimmy said with a grin. "We've never seen him like this about anyone, not even Ali."
"What's going to happen to the bike?" Daniel asked.
"We already called the company," Bobby said. "They're sending someone to collect it."
"Thanks, guys," Daniel said, as he pulled Johnny's arm over his shoulder.
"Whur," Johnny slurred, as he leaned against Daniel's shoulder.
"Are you even capable of speaking right now?" Daniel asked. "We have to get back to the car."
"I don," Johnny muttered. "Don. Don. Can dry."
"I don't even know what that means," Daniel said, as he tried to keep Johnny upright.
"I think he's trying to say he can't drive," Bobby said, as he grabbed Johnny's arm.
"No shit," Daniel laughed.
~#~
~#~
Bobby and Jimmy helped Daniel get Johnny into the car, and thankfully he slept most of the way of home, apart from the two times Daniel had to pull over for him to vomit at the side of the road.
Johnny was still drunk when they got back, and Daniel helped him out of the car then walked him slowly into the house and up the stairs. Daniel dumped him bodily onto the bed and started pulling his shoes off.
"You know, it's a good job we didn't hold the bachelor parties the night before the wedding," Daniel said. "You wouldn't have made it."
"Gettin' married," Johnny slurred. "Me n' you."
"That's right," Daniel said. He sat on the edge of the bed, his back to Johnny. He turned. "Why did you get so drunk? Are you upset that it's me you're marrying? You know we're only doing it for Robby, right?"
"Yep," Johnny said, as he closed his eyes and pulled the pillow under his chin. "Just for Robby."
"Just for Robby," Daniel repeated.
They were only doing this for Robby, he reminded himself.