A New Life & a Last Night

For most of those that celebrated it, Christmas of 2019 was a family affair. The few that had no time to go home, or no wish to do so gathered at the house occupied by the younger men in the West Village. They managed between them to prepare an adequate meal, though not quite a full Christmas feast. The fact that they had done so without resorting to calling for takeout, or dialling 911 for the fire brigade made them all pleased.

In the house next door, little Wes was deluged with gifts, not that to him there as yet appeared to be anything particularly special about the day. Caleb was in high dudgeon at the lack of attention he was receiving, and also at the fact that his gift pile was so small in comparison. He recovered however when Mike popped in with Tina on their way to the hotel that her family were spending Christmas in that year for a well deserved break. As soon as Caleb saw him, he anticipated what he would have for him, and Mike did not disappoint his little friend. With a new catnip filled mouse held in his teeth, and his tail held high, the little cat headed to his bed, where he would remain content, enveloped in that heavenly aroma, until he noticed his portion of the roast dinner being placed in his bowl…

Meanwhile in Washington DC, Trent and Rory found themselves accompanying the latter's feisty Nana to Christmas Day mass at the cathedral, her biggest complaint being that the sermon delivered by the archbishop lacked the necessary spark. That made Rory laugh; he was quite convinced that had Bishop Curry been in town that morning, his Nana would have ditched Catholicism altogether, and embraced the Episcopal Church in its place…

When 2020 did finally arrive, it did so quietly, as reflected the increasing age of all those involved, and the need to be more mature in outlook. The Spotlight so no sign of Nick and Jeff as the ball dropped, the two of them being fast asleep on the couch after a day spent dealing with a son that was crying as his teething pains intensified. As for Sebastian, he had arrived home from the city in Maplewood just in time to join his husband, brother and sister-in-law in watching the whole thing on television, still trying to forgive himself for cursing at how the revellers had nearly caused him to miss his train home. They were also joined by an excitable Peter, allowed to stay up late for the first time ever to see the new decade arrive.

As the moment arrived, Sebastian noticed that Isabelle was toasting the New Year with a glass of sparkling apple juice, not her usual champagne… and then it hit him. She had not drunk during Christmas dinner either… Ten minutes into the new decade, Julian declared that it was time for Peter to head to bed, and the young man did not argue, particularly when Dave offered to read to him for a few minutes once he was in there. That left Sebastian alone with his sister-in-law, and as soon as he could, he asked the question that was on his mind.

"Don't tell your brother that you have guessed, as he is intending on telling you when he comes back downstairs. I am excited at the prospect, but he is ecstatic. The only worry that I have now is how Peter will respond to the arrival of a much younger half sibling…" Isabelle replied in hushed tones.

Sebastian nodded, recalling all that he had been told by his own mother about how Julian had reacted to his own arrival on the scene. He could only hope that Peter was not like his father in that respect…

As a professional that performed on the Broadway stage, Sebastian managed to act as surprised as was necessary when Julian arrived back with Dave and informed them both of his and Isabelle's big news. The delight on Julian's face was obvious, and his wife was every bit as pleased. "Anyway, you can expect to be uncles to another child by the end of May," Julian said after receiving the congratulations of his brother and Dave. "Of course, I hope that you will return the favour one of these days and give me a little niece or nephew to spoil. We did tell our respective mothers yesterday, and they are both ecstatic for us. As for father, we intend to tell him tomorrow…"

"What does Peter think about the fact he is getting a little brother or sister?" said Dave, and Sebastian quietly thanked him for asking the awkward question that he had not wanted to broach himself. He turned and looked at his brother questioningly as the response was slow in coming.

"We haven't actually told him yet; we have been waiting for the right moment to break it to him," Julian replied in a sheepish tone.

"I hate to be the one to say this, Jules," said Sebastian, "but maybe he should have been the first person you told. If he finds out that everyone else in the family knew this before him…"

"I did tell him that, Sebastian," said Isabelle, "but he was just so pleased when the doctor confirmed it yesterday that he blurted it out to his mom when she called, and having done that, he was desperate to tell you."

"I know that he needs to know, and soon, but it is going to be a tricky conversation. It will be a big adjustment for him to no longer be an only child," conceded Julian.

"It will be an even more difficult conversation if he overhears something, or finds out when someone else who thinks he would surely be aware of the fact mentions it to him in all innocence. I know that it isn't my place, Jules, but I think that tomorrow morning you need to sit him down, and let him know. Dave and I can both act surprised when he tells us next time we see him."

"My big fear is that he will hate the idea of this; that he will think that having a sibling will mean that I will love him less," admitted Julian. "But you're right, Bazzy; I can't procrastinate any longer. We will tell him tomorrow at breakfast…"

Not long after that, Dave and Sebastian headed home, but promised to come back for lunch the following day. They heard nothing else until they returned, knocking at the door as usual before letting themselves in. The fact that as they walked in they were not met by an excited Peter running to tell them the news meant only one thing in their minds. Sure enough, the moment that Sebastian saw his brother's face, he knew that something was up.

"It didn't go well," Julian said before anyone could speak. "The idea of having a sibling horrifies him. Then he asked if we had chosen to have a baby because we didn't love him anymore. That broke my heart, and as for Isabelle… He went up to his room after that, and he hasn't come back down, or even answered my knocks on the door. This is all such a darn mess…."

"It could have been worse; he could have trashed the room, thrown things at you and then physically attacked you both," said Sebastian quietly, looking pointedly at his brother, whose face fell. "My maman tells me everything, Jules…"

Julian sighed, and replied, "I guess that my reaction was a trifle more dramatic and violent…"

"Right, so I guess that it is time that Uncle Bazzy went and tried to have a chat with someone," said Sebastian. Julian nodded, and leaving Dave with him, Sebastian headed up to his nephew's room. He knocked gently on the door, and when there was no response, he opened it anyway and stuck his head in. The sight of his nephew lying curled up, face down on the bed, his head buried in his pillow, and his toy rabbit clutched to his side broke his heart. He walked in, closing the door behind him, then went to sit on the bed by Peter's head.

"Your daddy told me what is going on Peter. He of all people knows only too well what it is like to go from being an only child to the eldest after a good many years. He had a massive tantrum and threw plates at his parents from what my maman tells me when he heard I was coming along…"

"My daddy threw plates?" came a little voice, muffled by the pillow.

"That was just the start of it all; he hated me for the first few months of my life; called me The Thing. He came to love me in the end though, and he quickly realised that he wasn't getting any less love just because there were two of us now… You do know that your daddy will never stop loving you as much as he does now, nor will Isabelle for that matter. Yes, there will be changes, because there will be a fourth person in the house, but they both have spare love aplenty for the new arrival. I'm not saying nothing will change, because it will, as babies need a lot of attention. The thing is that you are growing up, Peter; very soon you will want less parental attention, not more, trust me. And if things do get tough, then you will always have me and Dave to run to for peace and quiet."

"Do you promise me that Uncle Bazzy; that they will still love me?"

"Of course I do. Parents will always love their children deep down, unless they are mad. I did a lot of bad things when I was in high school, but they never stopped loving me as much." Sebastian was conscious that he had just told a little white lie of sorts, but it did the trick. Peter lifted his head up to reveal eyes that were red raw from crying, and the fact that his usual smile was gone. "Hey, so why don't you and I go down and see your dad and Isabelle? They're both so worried about you…" Peter nodded, then pulled his Uncle Bazzy in for a hug, a gesture that was quickly reciprocated by the older man.

After the events of New Year's day, Isabelle's news began to filter out slowly amongst the circle of friends. Sebastian himself had said nothing, not wanting to damage the fragile acceptance that he had obtained from Peter; he still wondered just how much the new arrival would alter the relationship between himself, his father and his stepmother. Kurt waited until Isabelle had returned to work to pay her a visit and congratulate her on the news, and also to wish her good luck when she had to tell Ms Wintour that she was expecting. Isabelle knew where he was coming from, but decided that it was best to get it over with; to her surprise, the fierce editor of the magazine was all smiles, and just as happy for her as everyone else had been, even going so far as to state that she could consider blogging about her pregnancy for the magazine. She agreed, but with the caveat that she would only do so if her stepson was okay with it.

The gossip had however begun by that point; someone at the magazine must have sussed it out, and within a few days the rumour mill had gone into overdrive as they tried to identify which influential person at Vogue was pregnant. That forced Isabelle to ask Peter if he would be okay with her talking about her pregnancy in the magazine, and to her surprise, he agreed it would be okay. She announced the fact on the website a day or two later. Everyone was more or less supportive of her and pleased from that first moment, although some desperate fashionistas did suggest that the magazine should replace her with someone younger to allow her to go off and play at mommy. That sparked a twitter storm on the scale of #MeToo. Sebastian also got his fair share of congratulations on gaining a new niece or nephew, and he had to admit that the broody feelings he had started to have when little Wes came along had now intensified. He was even starting to look out for potential ladies to be his and Dave's surrogate, not that it was a long list at present. To be honest, unlike Nick and Jeff, he had come to the conclusion that they might be better with a stranger. In any case, it would all have to wait until after he had changed shows and he had bedded in in his new role…

In no time at all, January was past, and it was the 2nd of February 2020, which marked the final time that Sebastian would play the part of Elder Price. He had agreed to perform the matinee the previous day to give Mason a final Saturday off before he took on the part. It would be his last for the foreseeable future. As the week had gone on, the applause for Sebastian after each performance seemed to be louder, and go on much longer. The theatre was sold out, any returned tickets selling in seconds. The show on Sunday the 2nd had sold out within three hours of the announcement he was leaving, and the date. This was down to the combination of people wishing to see him for the first time, or wanting to see him one final time. The sell out meant that none of his closest friends would be there in the audience to see his final show; Julian and Peter would be, but only by the skin of their teeth, Sebastian having booked them the final seats in the house.

That day his dressing room was full of flowers, boxes of chocolates and cards from so many different people. He had eschewed a leaving party with his co-stars, telling them to just have a drink on him instead. He wasn't quite so pleased by the fact that they had chosen to do so the previous night, but it would not be the first time in the history of Broadway that someone had performed with a hangover, and he was certain that it would not be the last. He looked up at himself in the mirror, his preparations all complete; he smiled at the reflection, thinking how smart and neat he looked in his usual pristine white shirt and tie - tonight he was wearing his old Dalton one, just as he had done on that first night, so long ago now, when he had played Price…

His calm mood was shattered as the door to his dressing room flew open to reveal a wild eyed director. "Sebastian, we have a problem. Last night… Well, you know how they say that history repeats itself? Well, it has. Those idiots went out for that drink last night and decided it would be a good idea to have seafood…"

"What idiots…" began Sebastian, and then it dawned on him what the director was referring to. "You mean… you are kidding me, right? This is a wind up…" At that moment, one of the other Mormons suddenly appeared in his dressing room doorway, framed for a second as they ran past, clutching his stomach and retching. Seconds later there was the sound of something splattering on the floor and the noise of vomiting. "Okay, that is just gross!" screamed Sebastian, covering his ears. Why had he ever considered letting them go out and have a drink for him was a good idea…

"The worst thing is that this time we only have about 15 minutes to curtain up. We have no choice tonight; we will have to cancel the performance. There is nothing else that we can do this time," said the director. Sebastian nodded sadly, as his heart broke in two. Could this really be how his time at Book of Mormon would end? "By the way, Sebastian, we have had a discussion, and we think the news would be best coming from you…" Before a shocked Sebastian could respond, the director was gone….

That was how Sebastian found himself walking all alone on to the stage at the exact moment that the opening music should have been playing, to make an announcement that would disappoint the audience and tear at his own heart anew….

"Ladies and Gentlemen, firstly I would like to thank you all for coming here today, and for all your kind messages; it really means so much to me, and makes what I have to say now even harder. Some of you will probably recall the circumstances surrounding my first performance in this role; it was a one off, because my fellow Mormons had all managed to give themselves food poisoning… Well I am sorry to have to tell you that whilst missionaries come and go, they never seem to learn. That's right, once again seafood, in this case dodgy prawns, have incapacitated half the cast. This time, the notice was just too short to even attempt to summon my friends…"

"Apart from me," said a voice, and Mason walked on to the stage to stand beside him, in costume and wearing the Elder McKinley badge. "I am still here, mainly because I detest prawns. I know that this will probably be scant consolation Elder, but at least they will be my problem, not yours, as of Tuesday…"

Someone in the audience started to laugh at that, and it began to grow through the auditorium. Sebastian shook his head, but it did mean one thing… "Well, meanwhile it remains only You and Me; we can't go on with the show, but maybe we could sing something for the good people gathered here today…"

"And I could help," came a new voice.

Sebastian recognised the voice at once, and spun round to face the other side of the stage, his eyes wide. "Jenny? Oh my… What are you doing here?"

"I came to see my first Elder Price, the man that had the vision, the courage and the sheer audacity to use his untrained friends to save the day, perform the role one last time. After all, I doubt that I would have got the part of Nabalungi on the tour if it wasn't for you. I had just popped in to see the young lady currently playing the part when everything went wrong. So as she ran to the bathroom, I decided to put on her costume, and here I am…"

"Thank goodness for that. To be honest, I was kind of dreading the two of us performing Baptise Me, Sebastian," said Mason with a wink, which earned him another outburst of laughter. Sebastian just shook his head, trying his hardest not to laugh himself. Then the hilarity amongst the audience turned into light applause, and Sebastian turned away from Jenny to see…

"Substitute Elder Grant reporting for duty; unfortunately, we can't find any trace of the wig we used last time, so my dear husband will only be able to take the role of Moroni today," said Nick. As he finished, Jeff appeared at his side, dressed in robes, angel wings, and that wonderful halo…

Jeff was struggling to keep a straight face as Sebastian just gawped at the two of them, then said deadpan, "We just happened to be in the area when we heard what was happening. The bad news is that we might have created an issue at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory instead. You see, Willy Wonka is babysitting for us until his sister gets there." He pointed at Nick as he said that and smiled, his teeth sparkling white thanks to a quick bit of work by the lighting technician…

As the audience chuckled at the notion that Willy Wonka might have to appear on stage with a child in a papoose, Sebastian just shook his head. "Well, okay, so we have two more people to play with. Nick, I think we might have to upgrade you to Elder Cunningham though. I know you've never done it, but I suppose we could let you stand there with the script…. Does anyone mind if he acts with the script in his hand?" Sebastian asked, causing the audience to laugh even louder.

"That is not very professional Elder, and I would expect better from a Tony winner," came a voice from the auditorium. Sebastian stared into the darkness, and then did a double take as Thad was suddenly revealed by a spotlight, walking down the centre aisle in Mormon costume. Nick and Jeff ran over to help him up onto the stage, as behind them the star of the show began to wonder if he had fallen asleep in his dressing room, and all of this was a dream…

"Luckily for you, I was in the city for a meeting tomorrow; I only intended to pop in and say Hello!" The fact that Thad sang the last word, holding it as long as his character did in the opening number earned him a round of applause when he stopped. He took a quick bow, then headed over to Sebastian.

"This is just… it is so good to see you, Thad!" said Sebastian, shaking his head in disbelief. "How come you never mentioned you would be in town?"

"You didn't know I was going to be in town either…" came the voice of David, as he walked out onto the stage in the costume of the general.

"What the…?" Sebastian began, but then the stage lights came on, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he saw that everyone else was there too; the stage behind him had filled with Beats, Flint, Ethan, Seth, Colin, Edward and Rory.

Skylar walked up to stand by Nick, and stated "Substitute for the substitute of Elder Young at the ready…"

Sebastian couldn't help but stare at the whole scene. He shook his head, then said, "Okay, so this is all just too…" He stopped as he was interrupted by someone saying three little words…

"Hello, best friend!"

The sight of Trent walking out to stand at his side was all that it took for Sebastian to say "What! Okay, so… this is all a set up, isn't it? There were no dodgy prawns consumed last night, were there?"

"None whatsoever," said Trent loudly, "just a lot of Campbell's condensed Cream of Shrimp soup splattered about." As the audience roared with laughter, Trent whispered in Sebastian's ear, "This was your Aunt Bette's idea; to be honest, if anyone else had asked, we would have said no…"

"Okay, gentlemen, places I think," came the voice of the lady in question, and suddenly the audience was applauding loudly as she walked across the stage towards a stunned Sebastian. As swiftly as they had appeared, the others all vanished, leaving the two of them alone. "I hope that you can forgive me, dear boy; I could not resist the chance to make your last show in the role as memorable as the first," Bette whispered in his ear.

Sebastian for his part nodded his head slightly, ignoring the tears that had started to form in his eyes, and replied, "I guess…"

"Right, so dry your eyes, go to your mark, and make them beg for more," Bette said much more loudly. Sebastian responded by saluting her, then headed off to his usual opening mark. Ms Midler then took centre stage. "Ladies and Gentleman, we are a little late, but nonetheless, welcome to Book of Mormon, today starring Sebastian Smythe as Elder Price for the final time, before he moves to the Imperial Theater in Oklahoma! later this month. I have my ticket for his opening night; do you?" The audience laughed at the blatant plug for his new show, but quickly stopped as the great lady raised a hand. "Tonight, Sebastian will be assisted by the same friends that helped him out that legendary Tuesday, when he became a Broadway legend and earned a Tony Award, so you should hold on to your tickets, and I believe there will be a replacement Playbill at the interval. Anyway, you didn't come to see me; I give you all, for the second and final time, the Dalton Academy Warbler's version of Book of Mormon…."

Given how long it had been since the group had performed the show, Sebastian could have been forgiven for thinking that apart from Mason and Jenny, there would have been great potential for slip ups. Strangely enough, however, there were none, almost as if they had all practiced in advance. Sure, it was odd for all of them to see Nick and Skylar dancing and fooling around together, but there was no way that Jeff's hair could now easily have fitted under that wig. He did make a most marvellous Moroni though, particularly in All American Prophet, where he made the most of his stage time. The dance skills of his compatriots had also come on in leaps and bounds since that first night; Mason now owned Turn it off! with steps that were sure and confident in the accompanying dance number. Nick was almost as good, but it was Thad that was the revelation, and not just to Sebastian. In the wings, David watched with Jenny as his best friend's feet flew in perfect rhythm, spellbound and in awe.

When Thad came off stage, David asked at once when he had become just quite so good at tap. Thad shrugged, and said that he had begun taking classes in it as part of a fitness routine; there was a good instructor in Westerville, and he had taken full advantage of their teaching skills, just glad that he wasn't the oldest one in the class as he learnt. "In any case, it does come in useful when I am assisting the Warblers with their choreography. The theme at Nationals this year, if we get that far, is Broadway's Golden Age; we obviously can't do this show, but there are other numbers that we could, and if we can do a reasonably competent tap routine as we sing, it might earn us a few brownie points."

Once again, Trent stole the show with his comic timing, and the way that he interacted with the others on the stage. As for Sebastian himself, he found he was enjoying the show afresh, and felt up to playing a little fast and loose with the lyrics himself. In the middle of Two by Two, he substituted Oklahoma for Orlando, complete with a line about "Cornfields, and Cowmen, and a golden haze on the meadow…" The song had to stop for a moment as his fellow cast members giggled, and the audience roared with laughter, even more so after he had winked at them with a grin…

But then it was time for the finale, and as the Africans sang their version of Hello! in promotion of the Book of Arnold, Sebastian suddenly felt his emotions start to get the better of him. He had played the part for so long now, and he had loved every second of it. It had given him his first share of a Tony, and his place on Broadway. Sure, he had a new mission to embark on, but that was scant consolation for all he would be leaving behind… As he stepped out to take his bow that evening, last on as was always the case, he was overwhelmed by the roar of noise, and looking round he saw that the entire audience was on its feet, and the cast were applauding him too, including those that were standing in the wings. He took his bow, tears streaming down his face. Mason and Jenny rushed over and wrapped an arm each around him, which made things a little better…

Then the applause died down, and he suddenly heard a familiar piece of music start, and before he knew it, everyone around him was singing those words "We know we belong to the land, and the land we belong to is grand!" and he had to join in, as did half of the audience, so well known was the number. At the end of that impromptu number, there was more applause, and bows, and then finally the curtain came down. Once it did, Sebastian burst into floods of tears, as did some of the others. An era had ended for the show in the same way that it had begun…

It was a later train than usual that took Sebastian home to Maplewood that night, as he had wanted to catch up with Jenny, and he had been deluged with well-wishers at the stage door. Even more unusual was the fact that Peter was sat at his side, half asleep, as he and Julian had waited for him; as a result, Peter had been rewarded with the rare treat of a takeout meal; he had even deigned to let Sebastian have a few of his fries, which he knew was an immense honour.

"Well, little bro, one door has closed, but a new one has opened. Mormon was good, and it got you onto the Broadway stage, but I think that Oklahoma! will be the making of you. A whole new set of people will be coming to see you perform; folks that would never have come to see a show written by the creators of South Park, but who love Rodgers and Hammerstein. I mean, according to Isabelle, your new show is already this year's second biggest show, after Evita. I hear that there is even talk of a possible West End transfer…" said Julian.

"Yes, that has been suggested, but that might not be for a few years yet, and who is to say that they will want me in it by then. It is all going to depend on how the previews go, and that all starts in a little over three weeks. I am just grateful that I have managed to have some success; so many people aspire to be on a Broadway stage, but never make it. I just got lucky…" replied Sebastian with a sheepish smile.

"Uncle Bazzy, what is Oklahoma like? The real one?" Peter suddenly asked.

"Well, it is still a little bit like the one I will be singing about, but at the same time, a little bit like here too. I've never been, but David and Thad have, and they found a soda shop that sells hundreds of different flavours…"

"Hundreds! That sounds so cool," exclaimed Peter.

"Yes, but there are some strange flavours amongst the good ones, like Chocolate Bacon flavour…" Sebastian grimaced at the memory of it as around him, Peter and Julian just shook their heads in horror at the very idea…