End of an Era Part III.
Adam would touch base with the rest of the cast of his sitcom the following morning on a group video call and he was immediately touched about how concerned they all were with how he was feeling after the news. At the end of the call, Ms Kudrow asked him to remain online for a moment and he did, wondering why. Once the others had gone, she spoke. "So, now that it is just the two of us, I want you to be completely honest with me. How are you really feeling?"
"Honestly?" Adam replied. "I am feeling more than a little lost, and shocked at how bereft I feel at this precise moment. Part of me feels that I should be back there, surrounded by it all…"
"If that is how you are feeling, then you should follow that impulse and go back. You aren't your usual self, and if you think that going back to the UK will make your loss less hard to bear, then you have my full permission to go. We are well ahead in the shooting schedule, and we can rearrange the order of what we need to shoot to accommodate your absence."
"I don't want to put everyone else to any inconvenience," Adam said immediately.
"If your mind is going to be thousands of miles away on the other side of the Atlantic then it would be much better for the rest of us if you weren't there, trust me."
Adam knew that she was right, and thanked her at once, promising that he would come back just as soon as the funeral was over. With permission to go with his feelings, he knew that there was another call he had to make, and that was to Lawrence, to tell him what he was going to do. That he would have to postpone until later in the day though, as firstly he would be asleep at that moment, getting ready for his nightshift, and more importantly, the new King was going to make his first address to the nation on the television just after 1pm New York time. He had to listen to that, not even able to contemplate how hard it must be to have to make such a speech to the world when you were still processing the death of your mother. It had to be hard, because no matter who you were, the death of the second of your parents had to be tough. It was even harder he imagined when it meant you had to take over her job as well…
When Adam spoke to him later that day, Lawrence was not in the least surprised to hear that he was going to be travelling back to England. The call had come just before he headed out to the hospital to start his week of nightshifts, and after listening, he had replied, "I shall be thinking of you constantly whilst you are away. Unfortunately, there is no way that I can come with you, which does worry me, thinking of you heading back alone…"
"I'll have mum, dad and granny once I am there, so I won't be completely alone… I think that had all of this happened whilst we were there, then I would not have flown home with you either…"
"I understand that entirely. Just promise me one thing, and that is that you check in with me daily, okay?"
"Of course I will, my love. Do you know, in a funny way, all of this has brought into focus just how much I adore you…"
"Likewise… Maybe I should pop over right now and propose before you go, and give your family something other than outside events to talk about…"
"That is a lovely thought, but we need to take that step when we are both completely ready, and my head is just not in that mindset right now…"
"Let me know when you are, and I will be right there, with a ring," replied Lawrence. Then he noticed the time, and with profuse apologies, he ended the call.
With that duty done, Lawrence turned back to the BBC livestream again. He tuned in just as they were setting out what was to happen over the next few days, all of the actions set out in the well planned operation now being implemented one by one. The departure from Balmoral had now been scheduled for Tuesday, as the next day would see the accession ceremony taking place in London. That meant that she would return to London on Wednesday, and that the Lying in State would begin on Thursday.
The newsreader was saying that the estimated length of time people might spend in the queue could peak at 15 to 16 hours; a route had already been designated for the queue, and barriers were already being set up along the south bank of the Thames, through the inner city and out to a park in the inner suburbs which was almost 7 miles from the ultimate destination by the route. The very idea of having to stand for that long in the chill of London in January, quite possibly overnight, made Adam shiver involuntarily. However, he also felt compelled to join that queue and pay his respects in a very public way.
The following morning, having risen at 6am to watch the accession ceremony live on television, another example of the tradition and pomp that his country did so well, Adam found his footsteps guiding him to the house next door to visit Jeff. The artist was home alone of course, as it was Monday; Nick had returned to the office, and Wes was at school, no doubt talking about how he had met the Queen… Jeff made him coffee and pulled out his special cookie tin, then indicated that Adam should join him on the sofa in front of the television.
Not surprisingly, it was still tuned to the BBC, and the footage onscreen at that moment was of the floral tributes that were now stacking up outside the palace gates, a veritable carpet of blooms stretching well out into the road along the entire frontage. Adam was so focused on those images that the sudden weight in his lap came as a surprise. He knew what it was though, and he did not fight it. Once Caleb had decided he was sitting on your lap then you had no real option other than to accept it, and in any case, Adam realised that he was honoured by the animal's presence; the cat was notoriously fussy.
"He always seems to know instinctively when someone needs his love," said Jeff quietly, offering Adam the now opened cookie tin. "I feel so sad about all of this, but it must be so much worse for you…" Adam nodded, but didn't speak, just took a bite out of the cookie he had selected. Jeff wished that he could do more for his friend and neighbour, but before he could speak, he felt a familiar draught, and looking up, he saw that Wes was now standing in front of them, putting away his wings. Caleb miaowed in slight annoyance at the draught, but then snuggled back down on Adam's lap….
Wes nodded to him, then spoke. "I have a confession of a sort to make, and the fact that both of you are here is excellent, as it is something that you will both wish to know. Because of a certain drawing by someone not a million miles away from here, I might have been sent to Scotland for a collection on Saturday…"
Jeff's mouth dropped open, his eyes wide; beside him, Adam just looked completely stunned. "You mean that you were the one that…" the Englishman began, before words failed him.
"I was, and it was the greatest honour to be selected for the task. She has been reunited with her husband, and the rest of her family. She asked that I pass on her regards to you both…"
If it had been possible for Adam's mouth to fall open any further, then it would have done at that line. He just stared as Jeff said, "She will stay in my thoughts too. She helped to keep my career going forward after all, especially when I won that competition. Having said that, I don't suppose that you will be in her company all that frequently?"
"I have been asked to join her and her family next week for tea; although I haven't told them yet, that invitation is extended to Kurt, Blaine, Finn, Emily and Seth as well. They want to meet us all…" Jeff chuckled at that, knowing how much Kurt in particular had loved the Royal Family, and picturing his reaction. "The irony of it all is that she has scheduled it for the day of her funeral, so she will not be sitting high up in Westminster Abbey observing the whole event. I guess that having witnessed one royal funeral, you've seen them all, giving that it is ruled by centuries of tradition and protocol. It will just be a different group of mourners present, each playing their own specific part…"
"She would have been in attendance at the funeral of the previous monarch naturally," mused Jeff, "and her mother's would also have been a similar affair."
"She was, although her father's funeral was a very different affair in another era. His Lying in State was not the round the clock scenario that hers will be. I suppose that is partly down to how much smaller the world has become with improved travel links through the evolution of the jet age. There will be far more people able to come; I doubt that there were any people who were based overseas at that funeral. Even if they lived here in New York, for example, and had boarded the fastest liners of the day the moment the news broke, it would have been such an exhausting voyage. What was once a journey of several days has been cut to hours, and there will be people attending the events from Australia and New Zealand, of that I have no doubt…"
Wes did not specifically refer to Adam with his remarks, although he knew of the Englishman's intentions; the conversation moved on to a discussion of how she now appeared, once more the young woman that had found herself on the throne quite unexpectedly after the tragic early death of her father. Then, as the BBC began to speculate on the guest list for the funeral itself, they did some speculating of their own…
"I think that every nation on earth will want to have someone representing them at the event, alongside every royal household that is still in existence. I am told that the Emperor of Japan is intending to be there, and as part of their culture as a nation is that he never attends funerals, he must hold her in the highest level of respect to break the rule. All of the European royal households will be in attendance, in the majority of cases as relations of Her Majesty, thanks to her wily great-great-grandmother marrying her children into all the other royal houses of the continent. Then there will be all of the British politicians to fit in, along with the world leaders, and representatives of the charities that she supported. Finally, I hear that they're picking ten names from the New Year's Honours list to be there as well," said Wes.
He continued, "The eyes of the world will be on London that day and rightly so in my opinion. She deserves nothing less than the gratitude of us all for everything that she did to ensure the peace and well-being of the planet. The people of the world will also turn out to line the streets of the city on the day of the funeral, just as they will do in Scotland tomorrow. The weather will be kind, trust me; nothing will impede the passage of the cortege, and both she and the loyal daughter that has been by her side since she knew her time had come will arrive in Edinburgh safely."
Wes ended up staying for much longer than he had intended, and was quite shocked when Drew suddenly appeared with Wes and Evie in tow. The two children went to start on their homework at once, leaving Drew to join the others on the sofa. That woke Caleb up and he miaowed, to indicate firstly that he was hungry, and secondly, that he was unhappy at being woken from his slumbers. Jeff hurried to remedy the former by filling his dish with a prime quality cat food, as Wes told Drew what he had been privileged to do the other day. That done, the angel took his leave, knowing that he had a pile of paperwork to attend to, and he couldn't leave all of it to Seth.
As Jeff returned to the sofa with a fresh pot of tea, the BBC newsreader started to announce the now confirmed details of the Lying in State. They all listened intently, then turned to each other as he finished. Adam looked at the other two, took a breath, and announced, "I am going back to England as soon as I can. I have thought about it and I feel that I need to be there. I intend to join the queue and walk past her coffin like everyone else, to say thank you for all of those years of service, dedication and devotion to us, her subjects. It is the least that I can do in the circumstances. Hopefully, as Wes predicts, the weather will not be too unkind. I can't even begin to imagine how cold it might be standing out all night in a slow moving queue…"
There was silence for a moment, then Drew said quietly, "So they will be letting anyone that wants to join the queue join it? There won't be any need to apply for tickets or a passport check?"
"Not by the sound of it," replied Adam. "Why do you ask?"
Drew looked down at the floor, then said, "Other than the events brought about by my dear ex-wife, the United Kingdom was very kind to me. I would also like to pay my respects to her, and well… would you object if I came to England with you?"
Adam looked surprised, but that was only about to increase. Before he could respond to Drew, Jeff blurted out, "I think that I want to be there too, so could I join you as well...?"
Nick arrived home from the office slightly later than normal that evening, delayed by a broken down train on the shuttle from Grand Central to Times Square that had coincided with a signal fault on the 4/5 train. He had managed to force his way onto an already overcrowded 6 train to Union Square, only to discover there that the L train also had issues which had left the platform full and lengthy delays promised. Nick had turned round, left the station and taken the bus along 14th Street instead, which had the advantage of priority lanes at least, even if it still got held up at the traffic signals at each of the Avenues along the way…
He came in quietly, nobody coming to greet him as a result. He sniffed the air, and was surprised to be able to smell roast chicken, which was not what he had arranged for that evening's meal. He smiled, thinking that his husband must have seen the bird on special somewhere, and as the casserole he had already made was frozen, it would keep for another day. Heading downstairs, he was not in the least surprised to see Adam sitting on the sofa with his husband and son, watching a live news report from Edinburgh, as the city's cathedral was being prepared for Her Majesty's coffin coming to rest there the following day…
Jeff jumped up and came over to hug him as soon as he saw him, and then, as soon as Jeff headed for the kitchen to serve up the meal, he was replaced by his son. Wes indicated for his father to kneel down, which he did, and as soon as he was on his knees, Wes whispered in his ear conspiratorially, "Papa is planning to ask you something. Don't tell him I told you, but I am not sure that you are going to like it, so I thought I should warn you…" Nick nodded, then as Wes walked away, he got up and crossed over to see how Adam was. He found that the Englishman was a little cagey with his responses, which made him a little worried, and he immediately wondered if his attitude had something to do with the plan that Wes had hinted at. He said nothing though and went to wash his hands…
The moment he had been expecting finally came just as they were almost finished their dessert. Jeff suddenly blurted out, "Adam is going back to London for the funeral, and I want to go with him. Drew is intending to go too. I know that it is a big ask, and we will need a plan for how Wes and Evie will be looked after for the part of the day when you and Ethan are still in the office, but it just feels important to me that I am there…"
Nick took a moment, then said, "I understand that, but there are far more logistics to consider than just childcare problems. Firstly, where are you going to stay when you get to London? I would bet that every hotel will have been booked up by now, and you cannot expect Adam's family to put you up at short notice. Will you even be able to get a flight, as you will not be the only people that want to go there? And assuming that you do, how long do you intend to stay, because the flights home afterwards will be just as congested…"
"Drew spoke to Miss Frobisher, and she offered the use of her spare bedroom, and her couch as well if need be, so that covers where we will stay, and it will be a comfort to her as well. She wants to go to the Lying in State, but was not looking forward to standing in the queue on her own, so the two of us being there will make it better for her. As for flights, we already have four seats on standby…"
"I insisted that we do that," interrupted Adam, as he could see Nick looking angry at that presumption. "We booked an extra seat just in case something changes; I mean, Lawrence might be able to get the time off and come with me, or if there are childcare issues that are insurmountable, we could even take Wes…"
Nick stared straight at Jeff, and shook his head at that, and nearly laughed when he saw how horrified his son was at the idea too. "Not happening; he has school for a start, and by the look on his face, I don't think the prospect of standing outside for hours in the winter in a queue is appealing to him at all!" Nick sighed, the took a deep breath, knowing what he had to do... "I daresay that Mike might be able to help out with collecting the kids from school, or Dex for that matter, and between us, Ethan and I could be able to get away from the office earlier if we promise to work from home…"
"I love you so much!" said Jeff, before he launched himself at his husband and smothered him with kisses.
"Just be careful when you are there," replied Nick when he could get a moment to do so…
Nick would leave his husband to confirm the flight bookings and think about packing after dinner; after checking that his son was getting ready to head to bed, his bath no longer needing supervised by his parents, the brunet headed for his study and fired up his laptop. His first job was to send an e-mail to Miss Worthington to let her know ASAP what was going on. That done, he planned to call Ethan so that they could co-ordinate a plan of attack, but in the end, that task had to wait. As soon as he went on Zoom to video call his neighbour, he found that he was being called by Sebastian…
"Hey," his friend said as soon as he connected, "I saw you come online so I thought I would check in to see how things are going with you two, now that the initial shock has died down a little…"
Nick chuckled at that, then replied, "If I said that there has been a dramatic twist tonight, and that far from calming down, it has all just got even more hectic, would you believe me?" Sebastian nodded, and Nick continued, "So Jeff and Drew heard that Adam was heading to London for the funeral, and have announced they are going with him, possibly as soon as tomorrow night. They intend to walk past her coffin as well, naturally…"
"Well, jeez, that does sound pretty chaotic! Honestly though, the fact that Jeff wants to go does not really surprise me; Drew on the other hand does, as London still must hold some really bad memories for him. On top of that, I suspect that when they are there, both Adam and Jeff could end up as emotional wrecks… I take it that you won't be going with them?"
"Nope, but now that you have mentioned it, I am really worried about all of the emotional stuff that will be going on! I wish that there was someone that would be much less emotional going with them; I'd feel much happier…"
Sebastian ended his call to Nick shortly after that, knowing that his friend had a lot on his plate and needed to arrange emergency childcare if his husband was intending to be out of town for quite a few days. He felt more than a little guilty that his casual words seemed to have upset Nick and maybe even added to his burden, by flagging up the potential for emotional meltdown on a grand scale. There was a prospect of poor Drew having to deal with an overemotional Jeff and then, in the stress of it all, suffering a breakdown of his own!
He noticed then that he had a notification on Facebook and saw that it was from Russell, who was now at JFK, having finished his filming earlier than planned. He was waiting to catch his flight back to his family home in Essex. The message that he had put on his page was simple; 'I performed for her twice and she remembered me, and knew so much about all I had done in my career. As one of her subjects, I owe it to her to return home to mark the end of a reign that defined a century in so many ways. She is the last of the greatest generation.'
Seeing that made Sebastian think, and he decided to call Thad. The Head Warbler answered quickly, and before he even greeted him, Sebastian spoke. "I know that this is unorthodox, but would I be greatly missed at Dalton if I was to take a trip abroad and not be in school for the majority of next week?"
"Okay, hello Sebastian, yes, I am fine thanks…" said Thad with a hint of sarcasm, before continuing, "So, what has prompted this sudden urge to leave the country? It's not troble with the mafia or anything like that, is it?"
Sebastian didn't quite know what to say to that last suggestion, so he decided to ignore it. "It's a mercy mission; a blond artist, an English actor and a divorced man are heading to a big funeral, and the husband of the blond thinks that emotional chaos has the potential to ensue…"
"I am afraid that I must concur with Nick if the funeral in question is in London. However, I do not see this urge as just you stepping up as a chaperone; I get the feeling that something makes you want to be there too."
"Oh, you are good… I read a message that Russell Tovey posted online, and it just suddenly feels like something that I ought to do. She requested that I perform for her; she loved the drawing that she got of me in that part for Christmas as well. Unlike the rest of the party, I don't think I will blub…"
Thad thought for a moment on that statement, and wasn't quite so sure about that, but kept that to himself. "I guess I can cover the Warbler rehearsals, and the drama club isn't meeting for the next couple of weeks. One of the staff in the English department can take your drama classes. It should be okay, but you need to clear it with the Principal of course…"
"Naturally, but I wanted to see if you could cover the extracurriculars first. I will call her now, and then the most difficult conversation comes; telling Dave. Hopefully he will be as understanding…"
Dave arrived home from a late evening training session with the team to find his husband being especially attentive. He knew at once that something was going on of course, and said, "Just come out with it; I can only say no, and in all honesty, I would rather we got it over and done with, as much as I love a loving Sebby…"
"I'm going to London to chaperone free emotional people at the funeral."
"Wow, and here was me thinking that you might just be taking a trip to NYC To see a show or something! I'm suspect i am safe on guessing on Jeff and Adam, but as for the third…"
"Drew, which I admit is totally from the left field. Nick, Ethan and Lawrence can't go, so I am going to volunteer to go with them if that is OK with you."
"I'll miss you, but it's in a good cause. You should call Isabelle too, offer to be her eyes and ears at the funeral. She'll have the British staff on the ground, but you'll be an invaluable extra correspondent amongst the general public."
"I'll call Nick first, but yeah, my sister-in-law would love to know I am going."
To say that Nick was surprised to have Sebastian call him back just an hour and a half after their first call was a slight understatement, but what he had to say to him was an even bigger shock. "Well, I wasn't suggesting anything when I spoke, but I have to admit that I feel better about all of this now in the knowledge that you'll be there to hold hands. Stay on the line for me as Adam is still here and would probably like to talk to you…"
Nick turned to the actor, who was sitting next to him on the couch, and had turned to look at him the moment he heard his name. "Still have that fourth seat on the plane on standby? Put the name Sebastian Karofsky-Smythe on it. He's going to be joining you…"
"Wait, what?" said Jeff.
"I know how emotional you can get, my love, so I'll be much happier letting you go if you have a chaperone, and Sebastian has volunteered. He also feels a need to go and pay his respects as an actor asked to perform on royal command."
"It's done," responded Adam, "and tell him thanks…"
With the flight now confirmed, Sebastian made his call to his sister-in-law. He was not in the least surprised to hear his brother answer with the words, "The personal secretary of Ms. Isabelle Wright. How may I assist you?"
"Hello Jules, I take it that she is busy with all that is going on…"
"Oh, she certainly is, little brother; deadlines, special pages and new layouts aplenty here. She also has Gideon on duty as the constant watcher of the stream on the BBC… I feel sorry for him already, and it will be even worse when the Lying in State stuff starts because he will be doing a watching brief, in case a celebrity attends, every day from 7pm to 1am to avoid the British staff having to pull a nightshift…"
"Well tell her that she might see me," Sebastian quipped; barely 30 seconds later he found himself in conversation with the Vogue editor. As Dave had suspected, she wanted daily updates, and any pictures that he could take legally, knowing that all photography and filming had been declared illegal in the bounds of Westminster Hall.
"Will you be staying for the actual funeral, because I would appreciate any images that you can get of the public reaction during that."
"I will try my best, but I will not be taking any images of Adam and Jeff if they do breakdown."
"Accepted, and I would not expect you too anyway. In a way, I am jealous that you will be there to witness everything first hand as it happens. You will be in the midst of history as it takes place. I needn't be there, as Ms Wintour is based in London these days, and as a Dame of the British Empire, she is the perfect special correspondent…"