From Memorial to Mary...
After the shock of seeing Albert at the spot where Wes had passed away, there was a lot that needed to be discussed, but it would have to be done at a later time, as Thad too had to head off not long afterwards. The new term at Dalton would commence in a week's time, and he had to get back to the school to help with the preparations. There would be new freshman arriving during the week, boys that would still be getting used to the uniform that they would now be wearing for the next four years. Then there was the tie, the part that would stay with them for the rest of their lives, a continual reminder of the brotherhood that they had become part of the moment that they stepped inside those hallowed halls. Some would adapt quickly and be comfortable, but for others it would be strange, and leave them pining for home. It was part of Thad's job to look out for the latter, and do his best to make them feel at home…
He had a phalanx of seniors that would assist, the equivalent of prefects at an English public school. That had been something that Wes had done as a senior, something that he and David had done too in their time. Had it not been for the bad choice of the then board for a new Principal the year after, who had abolished the notion, then Sebastian, Trent, Nick and Jeff would have carried on the same tradition….
David said his goodbyes at the same time, wanting the opportunity to accompany Thad to the airport before his flight back. "Well," David said to Thad once they were sitting on the T together, "that was certainly a turn up for the books! He seemed okay though on first impression; a decent man."
"I think that he is now, but when he was under the influence of his older brother, he was not the kindest of people. His wife is lovely, so Michelle tells me. She works as an art historian at the Uffuzi Gallery in Florence, though to be entirely honest I am not sure exactly what he does. I will have to remember and let Niff know that he is here, as they are the only others of our group that have ever met him." Thad noticed the curious expression on his best friend's face, and said, "He passed them on his way out of the Spotlight that fateful New Year's Eve, and then they saw him again when they were in Italy the year before little Wes arrived. They are the only other people I want to know he is here; there has always been a lot of curiosity about him, and I don't think he would appreciate being turned into a sideshow for all of us whilst he was in New York…"
"Well, my lips are sealed, trust me. Of course, it will be interesting to see what the thoughts of a certain angel are on the matter. I am sure by now that the fact that we all met him will have come to his attention. He's an all seeing eye, just as he was at school…"
David would happily have travelled all the way to the airport with Thad had he been allowed to, but the Head Warbler was insistent that he headed home when they had to alight from the train from Harvard in downtown Boston. "You cannot come past the check in desks at the airport, so there's no point in you jumping on the Sliverline with me, just to end up riding straight back into the city ten minutes later. Get yourself home and give my love to Mercedes and your kids."
David had to admit that Thad had a point, so with a long, tight brotherly hug, they parted at the South Station, Thad heading outside to board the airport bus, and found one at the stop, preparing to leave. He climbed on, paid his fare, and then realised that the bus was empty apart from him, which was extremely unusual. His face must have given away what he was thinking, as the driver spoke. "The reason that we are empty is because the bus in front of this one was 7 minutes late, on an 8 minute frequency, and people will insist on cramming themselves onto the first bus that comes, even if there is another one waiting behind it…"
So it was that Thad was still the only person on board when the bus drove away, at least in the view of the driver. He watched in the mirror as the younger man smiled, and then pulled out his phone, starting a conversation moments later. He turned to concentrate on the road, unaware that the phone in Thad's hand was a mere prop, allowing him to converse with his husband, who had come to sit at his side the minute that the bus moved away from the kerb.
"I honestly didn't know that Bertie was going to show up at that precise moment at that junction. I knew he was in town, and I knew he was intending to go, but…" Wes began.
"It's okay; I know that you couldn't have said anything even if you had been aware of his intentions. He seems to be doing well…"
"He certainly is; he started up a business that imports American candy and such like to Italy, and vice versa. When he started it up, I admit that I had my doubts about the scheme at first, but Bertie was always the one with the sweet tooth when he was younger, and he always wanted something new and exotic. Kids haven't changed, and so he knew his market I suppose. He will be getting an injection of capital later this year that will allow him to expand, not that he is aware of that yet, as I'm afraid that his grandmother will pass very soon. She had settled the bulk of the estate, in trust, on his daughters, but there is some for him, and he will make good use of it. I have to admit that I am very pleased for him; he left looking for his happiness, and he has found it…"
"Right, so enough of Albert; how are you doing just now? It must be strange, being back here on Boston on the anniversary…"
"It does feel strange, which is why I stayed away from the spot when you were all there. I have been though, and the roses that you left for me were beautiful, although nowhere near as fragrant as those that grow from the spot that you buried my earthly remains in. I might see you there this evening, if you have time…"
"I will certainly be able to get away, before everything starts to get hectic once more, so yes, it's a date. I would bring a picnic, but maybe that kind of thing is not allowed..."
"For husbands, I am sure that it is. Some sparkling grape juice, and some of those little pastry things that we both like?"
"That can be done, although I will leave the spicier of the pastries to you. My stomach has been playing up a little again lately, so better safe than sorry." Wes nodded, but he wished quietly that Thad would go to the doctor and get his bouts of heartburn checked out, in case it was something more serious… He chastised himself for thinking that way, because after all, the problem did not occur as long as he stayed away from spicy foods. Unfortunately, that was exactly the sort of food that he loved most…
With the two big anniversaries of the year out of the way, life for everyone resumed a more normal course. The newly engaged François and Yves would divide the remainder of their brief visit to New York between touristy sightseeing, and spending time with Sebastian and Dave. In amongst it all, Sebastian and his oldest friend managed to get some time alone to have a proper catch up, and inevitably they came to discuss Sebastian's decision to quit Broadway to aid Dave's career prospects…
"I must be getting old, mon ami," said François, "because I understand exactly why you are doing this, and if you had told me six months ago, then I doubt that I would have. When you realise that you have met the man that you want to spend the rest of your time here on earth with, they become the epicentre of your universe. These days I find myself getting worried if Yves is more than 10 minutes late in arriving home; he tells me that I am ridiculous to feel that way, and then acts exactly the same way if I am late in returning! When you are in deep love, you cease to be an individual; you become part of a team, one entity in two parts, so to speak… You knew when Dave was hurt instinctively because you have such a strong bond. I can feel that coming with Yves. He completes me, as Dave does you. Nevertheless, I still think that it is a very brave thing that you are doing…"
"Well, it certainly comes with a degree of risk. I am sure that at first I will enjoy the quiet life, not having to learn scripts, and rehearse, but by the same token, I cannot see myself being content to be a house husband. In any case, Mrs Carr will be coming to Ohio with us, and probably will end up being Dave's stepmother one day. In the meantime, she will carry on taking care of the kids, and fuss around the place doing the housework and chores; she will be the one in charge of the house, make no mistake! So, there will be very little for me to do, and I have never been good with boredom and idleness. I shall have to see what I can find to do to fill my days, whether that is theater work in Columbus, or even talking about my career to groups. Thad has already suggested that I could come to Dalton, and give talks to those boys that are interested in a career in the performing arts, but then again, I don't know if I would be all that good at that. I never imagined myself as a teacher, and my teachers certainly wouldn't have!"
"I have to admit that it does seem unlikely, if I base my view on the boy I met in Paris all that time ago. But, you are no longer that boy, Guillaume. The man you have become is a legend, not a liability. In any case, is there not a similarity between teaching and the stage? Is it not just a performance of a different kind?" François said no more, but Sebastian had to admit that maybe he had a point in his analogy…
Back in Ohio, Skylar and Julia were adapting to their life as new parents. Like his namesake, young Seth was no trouble to have in the house. He slept when he was supposed to, took his feeds without complaint, and was content and smiling most of the time. He had impressed two sets of grandparents the moment that they saw him, and he had his biggest fan of all in Edith Carmichael. He had been a little bit grizzly on the days that the Carmichaels had come to first meet him, but the moment that Skylar had placed his son into her arms he had stopped, and was soon gurgling away in complete contentment. That the woman holding him was also smiling broadly made them all very pleased indeed. Uncle Thad was also a hit, although he had only seen the new arrival once before he had to head to New York, then Harvard, and then the start of the school year ate up most of his days…
Skylar had been worried about how he would cope with fatherhood, and although the dirty diapers were a challenge at first, he came to see them as one part of the whole; a necessary evil in a way. The look that his son gave him as he held him in his arms, the sounds of contentment he made, all made his heart sing with happiness again. That he still had the other Seth around as well was a bonus, and he was every bit as attentive to the new born as his two parents….
On his first night at home, Skylar walked into the nursery, Julia tucked up in bed and sleeping, to find the angel in question staring down into his son's crib. "I hope you don't mind, Sky; I just wanted to get a proper look at him," Seth said apologetically.
"I don't mind at all; I just wish that you were still here to nurse him in your arms," Skylar answered him quietly.
Seth replied almost at once. "I'm glad that I am not, in a way. What if I had been holding him, and my arms had gone into spasm, and as a result, I dropped him? I don't think that I would ever have trusted myself to hold him if I had still been here, and that would have upset me, which in turn, would have upset you… No, this is for the best. Of course, I am corporeal, so maybe, one day, when we know Julia is not going to return unannounced, I could hold him now…"
"Of course you can," said Skylar, thinking that they would have to ensure no-one could see them that day, as to everyone else, it would look as if his son was levitating in thin air…
On the Monday after Wes' anniversary, his young namesake was walked for the first time to his new elementary school by his proud papa, the boy dressed smartly at his own choice, to begin the next step of his education. He did not know that the night before, his fathers had for the first time discussed an issue for the future. Would they send their son to Dalton, as they were entitled to do free of charge by the settlement for the Hunter affair, when the time came? It wasn't as if that day was as far away as it had seemed once now. Could they live without his presence in the house for those term times? Could they bear it, even knowing that he was perfectly safe with his Uncle Thad keeping an eye on him, not to mention the Carmichaels, and of course, Jeff's cousin Dylan present too?
"I think that we should allow him to decide what he wants to do, when the time comes, and then we abide by his choice," Jeff eventually concluded. "We enjoyed most of our time at Dalton, but our son might not like the idea of it at all."
"Well, just in case he does decide against following in our footsteps, we should consider starting a fund to pay for him to attend a good school here. Ever since we met Matthew, I have been curious about whether Browning might be an alternative for us to Dalton, here in the city. It has an excellent reputation after all, and it might just be the Plan B we need for our son's high school days…" replied Nick.
For some, though, the world was less normal than it had been, of course. Brittany had begun to crave strange food combinations already, some of which were enough to make Santana's stomach turn over, if she was being honest. She had not suffered too much from those cravings when she had been expecting, which frankly made it all the worse when she walked in to find Brittany tucking into a slice of a chocolate cake she had made; it looked delicious, until you were close enough to realise that the yellow filling between the layers was not butter cream, but mustard. Later that day, she was startled when a suggestion that they order pizza for a treat was met by a request for one topped with anchovies, pineapple and banana. At that moment, Santana decided that until the cravings stopped, it was best they ate separately….
For Trent, life had become even more hectic than normal, with the fact that there were now weeks rather than months to the Presidential elections. Although there was nobody predicting that Kennedy would not be re-elected for a second term, nobody trusted the polls quite as faithfully as they once had done, given the predictions made for 2016 and what then happened. The speeches that Trent was writing for the President were sincere, and admitted that they had made some mistakes along the way since 2020, and that not all of the people of the nation would be satisfied with what they had achieved and carried out. There was no direct attack on their Republican rivals though; they had a policy of unity, of working to heal the divisions and wounds that were still there from the dark four years, and vitriolic statements would only serve to exacerbate them.
One of the biggest surprises in the Congressional races was the fact that Sue Sylvester, running once again in Ohio, had actually taken a much more moderate stance in her speeches than before, and was no longer trying to whip her supporters into a frenzy of hate for all things liberal minded. Age it appeared had mellowed her, and if some of her actions still managed to raise more than a few eyebrows, it was because they were no longer verging on fascism. There were rumours, which Mrs Duval refused to confirm or deny to her son, that there might be someone special in Sue's life these days; even though she had made so many people's lives a living hell in the past, none of them could find any reason to deny her a little happiness now.
Then along came the 15th of September, and the excitement of an Opening Night to break up the humdrum normality was more than welcome. The previews had all gone down well, and although the esteemed critics had yet to pronounce official judgment, ticket sales had already begun to boom, and a sell out was already the case for the remainder of the year. There was talk of an extension to the engagement too, and that was good news for the cast.
Despite all of that, on the morning of the big day Mason woke up a bag of nerves, as if all of the applause and adulation of the last few weeks had never happened. A bad response from the men and women of the media could after all put the nail in the coffin of even the most successful and popular of shows, and the great and the good of Broadway could attest to that. There had been shows over the year where bad reviews had caused the run to be cut drastically short, to have closed early, where the casts had gone on to win Tony Awards…
Jane could see that her husband was overthinking things, and that was because he had time on his hands; to that end, she set him to taking care of young Bertram, to distract him from what lay ahead that night. Her parents had already been to see the show, and had thoroughly enjoyed it; they would be babysitting that evening to allow Jane to be there on the big night, alongside her parents-in-law and Madison. The three of them had been accompanied from Ohio by Alistair and Spencer; they had spent the night at Roderick's place, the young man in question being out at work on a night shift. He would return home, head to bed, and then be awake in good time to attend the show. Whilst the fact that they would all be there was a comfort to Mason, the fact that Carmen Tibideaux would also be there was not so great….
Across town, in complete contrast, Marley was serene, and was spending the morning out with Ryder and her mother, taking the latter on a tour of the sights. Mrs Rose had never been to New York until now, so its landmarks, tastes and people were all a new experience for her in person, only seen before in images or television. They would have lunch, and then she would carry on the tour with Ryder, whilst her daughter went in to the theater to prepare. There was also a new dress waiting for her to put on for the moment that she headed to the show and saw the official start of her daughter's Broadway career…
In the West Village that morning, there was great excitement amongst the youngest residents of a certain street, as Evie, Ty and Wes would all be attending their first Opening Night; for Ty especially, it was a marker of just how much his life had changed in such a short time. Dante and Lachlan were coming as well, although they had stated that they really felt they were too old for the show; then Elliott and Beats caught them singing Chim Chim Cher-ee together with smiles on their faces…
Along the street, Nick found that he had two overexcited males to deal with; the way that they were acting, he suspected that they might have had more than A Spoonful of Sugar to make them so hyper… Despite that, he would not have wanted things to be any other way, and just smiled indulgently, before laughing as an indignant furry creature, disturbed from yet another nap, miaowed in annoyance, then stalked off with his tail in the air to find a quiet sanctuary. Nick expected that he would find that in his study, the usually closed door left slightly ajar to allow Caleb in.
Meanwhile, Trent and Rory were en-route, taking what would be their last peaceful day for a good while, given that there were only seven weeks left until polling day, with early voting already started in some states. Carole had offered to sit for them, and they had accepted, knowing that she would be more than content to enjoy the company of her grandchildren. They would meet with Sebastian, Dave and Russell Tovey for an early dinner near Penn Station; this would be their first opportunity to meet the English actor, and they were both looking forward to it. He would be joining them at the Opening Night, grateful for the chance for some escapism; the fact that he would be on the arm of Bette Midler as he did so was no major issue either…
After dinner, the little party headed for the theater, to discover that they were not the first ones of their circle there. Nick looked smart, as always, but also extremely tired. "Your kids worn you out already?" quipped Sebastian mischievously, and Nick could only nod.
"They have been beyond excitable all day, and in a moment of stupidity, I agreed that they could have their dinner at McDonalds before the show… I swear they put something in the dips to make the kids hyperactive! Worse yet, Jeff is now in a bit of a sulk, because the woman on the counter told him he was too old to have a Happy Meal…"
Nick stopped as his four friends burst out laughing, whilst Russell just shook his head in disbelief. "Look on the bright side Nick," said Trent, the quickest of them to regain his composure. "He is bound to cheer up once we get inside and the show starts."
"Yes…but given how they have been all day, I am not sure that is a good thing!"
"Look on the positive side, Nick; he will be back to his normal self then," added Sebastian. "It could be much worse; neither of them is at the stage where they are licking the curtains to see how they taste…"
Russell was left confused as Nick went bright red, and muttered, "Once! It was only once!" David gently cuffed his husband for his words, and Trent and Rory stared at their feet, trying not to laugh, in case Sebastian reminded them what they had done that night. Russell could only conclude that it was a private joke from the past, and as such, it was probably best that he remain in the dark… For that reason, he would question Sebastian about it when they were in their shared dressing room at the theater on Tuesday.
At that moment Jeff appeared, with little Wes clutching his hand, and the blond was smiling happily. "Papa is feeling much better. The lady at the refreshment stand asked why he was so unhappy, and I told her that he was sad because the lady at McDonalds had told him he was too old for a Happy Meal, and he hadn't got a toy. She looked surprised at first, but then she just shook her head, and asked if I knew what would cheer him up. So I told her, and she gave him a free jumbo sized cookie along with our candy. She said that he wasn't the first father she had seen like that…"
Nick could only bury his face in his hands as Sebastian and Trent looked at each other, then howled with laughter, made all the worse by the fact that Jeff was now eating said cookie as his son did his Cookie Monster impression….
When they arrived, Mrs Rose was shocked to discover that she and Ryder would be sitting in a box. They headed up, and found that Jane was already sitting there, along with Madison and Mason's parents. They had barely greeted each other when the door to the private area opened again to admit Carmen Tibideaux. It was the first time that Mrs Rose had met the Dean of NYADA, having been unable to attend Marley's graduation, and she smiled with pride as the older woman spoke highly of both of her students.
"They have both lived up to my expectations and more besides. Mason is already being tipped as the new Sebastian Smythe by many in the know in Broadway, and as for Marley, well they are saying that tonight we will see the official birth of a new star on the Great White Way. I resisted the temptation to come incognito to a preview, but those that have already attended tell me that they are part of one of the best musical casts they have seen for quite some time."
She did not mention of course the other gossip that was doing the rounds amongst the theater folk; the news about the young woman that had originally been cast as Mary in the production. It was now rumoured that she was mixed up in a tax evasion scandal that was being investigated not just by the police in the UK, but by Interpol. Worse, a poll of theatre performers on the other side of the Atlantic had seen her voted as the worst possible co-star. Finally, it was widely tipped that at some point in the next week, one of the less kindly British tabloid newspapers would be making a particularly unsavory expose on her private life. Marley had not only saved the show but kept it from being mired in a scandal as well…
