Brian nodded. After trying Broadway, then an acting company in Philadelphia, he had finally found where he truly belonged. “Yeah, I guess I should have stuck with ballet the whole time.”
“But at least you tried those other things. Not everyone goes for their dreams. You should be proud of yourself, son.” Malcolm placed a hand on Brian’s shoulder.
“Oh, is this your son?” a woman behind him asked.
He turned and pointed to Carey who was approaching. “No. That’s my son.” He gestured back to Brian. “This is my son’s husband. I couldn’t be prouder of either of them.”
Brian beamed.
“Oh,” the woman said. “Handsome couple.”
The young man standing with her frowned. “You can marry another boy?”
“Yes,” Carey said. “We got married six months ago.”
“And nobody minds?”
Carey smiled at his father. “I guess not.”
The boy looked back and forth between Carey and Brian, then glanced up at the woman. “I was only asking,” he mumbled and blushed. He began to walk away.
“Colin, I thought you wanted him to sign that,” the woman pointed to the slipper in the boy’s hand.
“Oh, yeah.” Colin walked back and handed it to Brian.
Brian scribbled his name on the shoe. “Are you a dancer?”
“No,” Colin replied. “I just like ballet and . . . stuff.”
“There’s nothing wrong with liking ballet and stuff,” Brian winked. “You keep right on liking it, no matter what anybody else says.”
The boy’s smile told Brian that perhaps he realized that he was talking about more than just ballet.
“Thank you,” Colin said, taking the slipper back. “I will.” He glanced back up at the woman they assumed to be his mother.
“Colin, why don’t you see if one of the other dancers can sign the slipper, too,” she suggested.
He moved over to another line, where three ballerinas stood. Before leaving, the woman spoke quietly to Brian.
“Thank you. He hasn’t told me yet, but I think he’s still figuring things out. Your advice may be just what he needed.” She turned to Malcolm and smiled. “You should indeed be proud.”
Malcolm nodded to her as she left.
“Did you really mean that, Dad?” Carey asked.
“I’ve always been proud of you, Carey. I thought you knew that.”
Carey impulsively hugged his father.
After taking several photos of Brian with other dancers, as well as alone, the Stricklands and Reids left the theater. Carey waited patiently for Brian to change and take off his stage make up, then the two headed off home.
As Carey drove to their apartment in a small suburb outside Philadelphia, he thought about how their lives turned out. Though he had always been certain Brian was the love of his life, he wasn’t always sure they’d actually end up together. He glanced over at Brian, who was sleeping after his exhausting evening. Carey’s phone rang and he quickly picked it up, so as not to wake Brian.
“Hello?” he answered softly.
“Carey?” Michelle’s voice replied. “Is everything okay? You sound funny.”
Carey chuckled. “Everything’s fine. I’m trying not to wake Brian up. We’re on our way back from the ballet.”
“Oh, how did it go? I wish I could have been there.”
“It was perfect. And Dad even liked it.” He began to get choked up thinking about the things his father said, things he’d been longing to hear since he was a teen.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked again.
“Yeah.” He paused. “Dad said he was proud of me. And Brian. I think he really meant it.”
“Carey, that’s great,” Michelle said. “But, you know Dad’s been okay with you and Brian for a long time, don’t you?”
“I guess. I mean, I thought he was, but he never came out and said it like that. He introduced Brian to someone as my husband.”
Michelle giggled. “Speaking of husbands . . .”
“What?” Carey asked, suspecting she may have news, but not wanting to spoil her fun of sharing it.
“Luke asked me to marry him,” she squealed. Carey had to pull the phone away from his ear.
“I had a feeling.”
“You did? How?”
“When I mentioned the ballet to him at Thanksgiving, he looked kind of panicked. He kept asking if there was another performance you guys could go to instead. But none of those other dates worked out for both of you. I told him not to worry about it, and that Brian would be in lots of other shows. But he still worried that you would choose to see Brian rather than go to his parents’ house.”
“I almost did.” Michelle laughed. “No offense to Brian, but I’m glad I didn’t. Luke took me on an old fashioned sleigh ride. There’s an estate near his parents’ house that does different holiday events. In winter, they do sleigh rides and caroling, and cocoa parties in front of a giant tree. And they grow pumpkins for Halloween and do a corn maze. Anyway, during the sleigh ride, he asked me to marry him. And when we went into the house for cocoa, his whole family was there. I wish you could have been there. That’s probably why Luke was upset when you told him about Brian dancing. He wanted to invite you guys, and Mom and Dad too.”
“Did you talk to Mom and Dad yet?” asked Carey.
“No. I called you first.”
Carey smiled. It warmed his heart that she thought of him first.
“Well, you’d better call,” he advised. “Before I slip up and say something.”
“I’m coming home tomorrow. Don’t say anything. I wanted to tell all of you in person, but I couldn’t wait to tell you.”
“Congratulations,” Carey said. “I’ll tell Brian. You know he’s going to expect to be involved, right? You won’t be able to go dress shopping without him,” Carey joked.
“Of course. I presumed as much,” she laughed. “I’ll see you sometime tomorrow. Don’t tell Mom and Dad I’m coming. I want to surprise them.”
“Okay.” Carey nodded, forgetting that she wouldn’t see it. “Michelle?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“Love you, too, Carey. Bye.”
Brian stirred in the seat next to Carey, then yawned.
“What was that all about?” he asked.
“Sorry, I was trying to be quiet then forgot.”
“It’s all right. That was Michelle?”
“Yeah. She and Luke are getting married.”
Brian gasped, suddenly appearing wide awake. “Really? When?”
Carey laughed. “I forgot to ask. But she wants you to go dress shopping with her.”
“Oh, she’s got to go with ivory. White is too harsh for her skin tone. I wonder what colors she’s picking for her theme.”
Brian talked about different colors for different seasons and wondered aloud who would be in the wedding party. As he went on, Carey thought about the future. Michelle and Luke would get married, probably within the next year. They’d probably start having kids in three or four. He smiled to himself thinking about how he was going to get the chance to tell his nieces and nephews, and maybe his own kids, about his and Brian’s sweet love story with the happy ending, after all.
Brian and Carey Page 30