by C. E. Wilson
“As long as he knows, then I guess that’s fine.”
“Charlie wants you to carry him down for dinner tonight. You think you can do that for him?”
Simon got a big grin on his face. “You know I can, Dad. I’ll be happy to carry him anywhere.”
“I hope he gets some strength back soon so he can run and play like the other boys do. Jordan come here. I want to talk to you about Charlie.”
Jordan got up and came over and crawled up on Justin’s lap. “I don’t think I can carry him without dropping him, Dad. I think it would be better if Simon did that.”
“That’s not what I want to talk to you about Jordan. Why don’t you ever go and visit him? He’s your brother, and you barely talk to him. It hurts his feelings.”
“Carson doesn’t let me in the room with Charlie. He says that he is taking care of him and doesn’t want me messing that up. He said I was just a little kid, and I don’t know what Charlie needs. I have tried a couple of times, but he always stops me before I can go inside.”
“Ok, tomorrow I don’t have to go anywhere, and I plan on keeping Charlie with me all the time. You can come and spend some time with him after school. When Simon gets home from school, he can get Charlie and bring him in here and both of you can spend some time with him. How does that sound? Now after dinner tomorrow you both have to come out of Simon’s room so he can do his studying.”
“That works for me, Daddy. Simon lets me come in here before dinner and plays with me, then I have to leave him alone after dinner anyway, so it’ll be good.”
“Simon, after dinner, you can take him back to Carson’s room and then they can spend some time together. Maybe everyone will be happy then.”
Justin got up to leave and told Simon when he was called for dinner, just go get Charlie and bring him down for dinner. Simon agreed he would.
Justin was getting nervous about proposing to Hunter at dinner. What if he embarrassed him? Hunter would be upset; then, he might never say yes. No, Hunter wouldn’t be angry. These boys were his family. They all loved him, and he loved them. He would want to share this moment with them. The thoughts were running through his head at breakneck speed.
Justin was pacing back and forth in the living room behind the couch. Steve was sitting on the couch, watching him. Steve asked, “Justin, are you all right?”
Justin was so in his head he didn’t even hear Steve. Steve asked again, but Justin still didn’t pay any attention. Steve went out to the kitchen and told Hunter, “You need to come and see about Justin. There is something wrong with him. He just keeps walking back and forth behind the couch, and I asked him if he was alright twice, but he didn’t answer me.”
Hunter got up and walked into the living room. “Justin, are you all right?”
Justin kept pacing back and forth, lost in his head. Hunter came up behind him and just stood there as he made another round then he came face to face with Hunter. Justin stopped and smiled at Hunter. “Hey, babe. Did you need something?”
“Yes, I need to know if your all right. You have been pacing back and forth and won’t even answer Steve or me.”
“Oh, I just have something on my mind, and I’m trying to figure it out. I need to make an important decision, and I don’t know for sure what way to go with it.”
“Do you want to talk to me about it and see if I can give you some insight into it?”
“I would love to have your insight, but I don’t want you to know about it until I make my decision.”
“What Justin? Did you get an offer for a better paying job and you’re going to leave us?”
“What? No, Hunter, I don’t want to leave here. I love living and working with the boys. I’m not going to go anywhere.”
“You can’t tell me about it. Must be that you met someone, and you want to wait and see what happens with him before you go any farther with me.” Hunter spun around and stomped back into the kitchen.
Justin shook his head and followed him into the kitchen. “Where in the hell did that come from? Haven’t I showed you time and time again that I want you. I love you, Hunter. I have told you that every day so why would I look for someone else?”
“Well, it has to be something that I can’t know about. I don’t know what else is a secret that you need to keep from me. I don’t understand at all.”
“I’ll tell you after dinner. I don’t want to spoil dinner.”
“You’re going to spoil dinner with your news, but it isn’t about me, and it isn’t about your job here. What news could you possibly have that would affect dinner?”
“Please, Hunter, just trust me, and after dinner, you’ll know what’s bothering me. I promise you’ll understand then.”
“It doesn’t look like I have a choice. You won’t tell me because it will spoil dinner. I don’t think I can understand that. It would have to be horrible to spoil dinner. I don’t think I want to know if it’s that bad.”
Justin stood there and stared at Hunter for a few minutes and shook his head before he turned and went upstairs. He went into his room and shut the door. He laid down on his back on the bed. Now he didn’t know what to do. He loved Hunter so much and wanted him to be his husband. They would have a beautiful wedding at the house, and he could invite the James family and friends. Of course, they would have the judge marry them. Mr. Willis and his lovely wife would be welcomed. Hunter just had to say yes.
With a stiff talking to himself, Justin got the courage to ask Hunter to be his husband in front of all the boys. He was laying there thinking of what to say when someone knocked on the door. He got up and answered the door and Steve was there. “Dad said that dinner is ready, and he said for you to get all the boys to come down to eat.”
“Ok, thanks Steve.” Justin went up and down the hall telling all the boys that dinner was ready. He heard an argument in Carson’s room, so he went in there. Carson was arguing with Simon about who would carry Charlie. Justin stepped into the room. “Simon, get your little brother and go downstairs. Carson and I need to have a little chat.”
When Simon, Jordan, and Charlie left the room, Justin said, “Come here Carson. I want you to understand that Charlie is a person. He isn’t your personal pet. I appreciate all you have done for him and he appreciates it too. He can’t be in this room all the time and I’m not sure you’re strong enough to carry him and not drop him on the stairs. I don’t want Charlie to hurt any more than he does now. Simon and Jordan are his brothers and they want to get to know him. If you feel that it’s too much on you, I can move a bed into my room and keep him with me all day.”
“No, Justin, please don’t take Charlie away from me. He’s my best friend. I don’t think of him as a pet but I’m afraid if he gets to know Simon and Jordan that he’ll want to sleep in their room. I can’t lose him. I already lost Steve as my best friend. He doesn’t do anything but play games with Jordan.”
“Steve and Jordan only play games for an hour a day now. You stay in here too much. Tomorrow I’m going to keep Charlie with me all day, and I want you to get out and spend some time with Steve and yes, even Jordan. I don’t want you to be tied down all the time with Charlie. After dinner, Simon will bring Charlie to you and you can spend the rest of the evening with him. That gives both of you time to do what you want.”
“I guess that’s ok. I don’t really have a choice about it, do I?”
“No, you don’t. I want Jordan to come in here to spend time with Charlie too. They need to get to know each other.”
“Ok, Justin. He can come in and spend time with Charlie and me.”
Justin hugged Carson, and they went down to dinner.
Chapter 26
Justin came in and sat down at the table beside Simon. He took Charlie from Simon, and Hunter sat Charlie’s plate in front of Justin. He started feeding Charlie and he was able to clean his plate. That was a first and Justin was thrilled. Simon had finished his dinner, so he took Charlie so that Justin could eat his dinner. Hunter took Cha
rlie’s plate and sat Justin’s plate in front of him.
Dalton came over to Justin. “Can I hold Charlie for a little while? I promise not to hurt him or anything like that.”
Justin said, “Sure, he probably gets tired of the same ones holding him all the time.” Simon stood up and passed the pillow over to Dalton and showed him how to hold Charlie, so it didn’t hurt him. Dalton went back and sat down beside Michael. Both boys were carrying on a conversation with Charlie.
Justin glanced at Hunter, wondering when the best time to propose to him and he noticed that Hunter wasn’t eating. He was just staring off toward the kitchen. Justin figured this was the best time. He got up and walked over beside Hunter. He got down on one knee and everyone got quiet. Hunter noticed the silence, so he turned to look at the boys and they were all staring at his side. He looked beside him and saw Justin down on one knee and he gasped. He turned his body toward Justin.
“Hunter, you are the love of my life. I feel that you’re the soulmate I have looked for, for so long now. I love you and I’ll always love you. I think together as husbands, we could make this a good house and make all our boys into good men. Will you do me the honor of being my husband?”
Hunter stared at him for a few minutes then smiled. “Yes, Justin, I will be your husband. I love you too.”
All the boys cheered and grinned. Justin slipped the ring he bought on Hunter’s left hand and then stood and pulled him into his arms and kissed him. Dalton had turned Charlie so he could see too when it got quiet. He started waving his arms and cheering more than the rest of them. “Yeaaaa I got two daddies now. I won’t ever eat dog food again.”
Justin and Hunter started laughing even though it wasn’t that funny. The poor child was thrilled; he didn’t have to eat dog food again. He was right. He would never eat dog food ever again. Hunter asked, “Did you have an idea when you want to get married?”
“As soon as possible. I thought we could have it here in the back garden. Invite the James brother’s family and friends. I don’t have anyone I want here except for them. I don’t want my family here at all. What about you? Do you have a family that you want to invite?”
“Justin, do you know why I get along with these boys so well?”
“Sure, you love them, and they love you.”
“Yes, but that isn’t the only reason. I’m one of these boys. I lived through just as much as anyone here except Charlie. I was given one meal a day. I was given more beatings in one day than the food I can tell you that. I don’t have anyone but Judge Stone to invite and I’m sure he’ll want to marry us.”
“I didn’t know that, Hunter. I’m so sorry you went through that. I’m sorry all our boys have gone through that. I love you and all the boys. Let’s see how quickly we can get this marriage done. I thought that Mr. and Mrs. Willis should be invited since they have done so much for the boys. It’s only right.”
“Who is going to be your best man?”
“Simon, he’s the oldest of my sons. How about you?”
“I think I’ll have two. Carson and Steve. They are my two sons, so it’s only right to have them be my best men.”
“As far as I’m concerned, you can have all the boys except my sons. I’ll need maybe Dalton to hold Charlie so he can be there. I wouldn’t think of getting married without him at the wedding.”
“All eighteen of the boys can be at the wedding. But I think maybe only our sons in the wedding party.”
“Sounds good to me. I’m thinking of Jordan as the ring bearer. What do you think about that? He can be in the wedding if he does that.”
“Sure, I don’t mind if he carries the rings. I just want you to know that I’m a man. I love a man, but that doesn’t make me any less of a man. I’m not going to be a feminine man.”
“Thank goodness for that. I want a man, not a girl wanna be. If I wanted a feminine person, I would have gotten a woman.”
“Seems we are together on that one. What date do you want?
“A week from Saturday. Is that time enough to get a suit and we can get our rings? I think we should get the wedding catered. That way, you don’t have to cook or anything like that.”
“If we’re inviting the Willis’ then don’t worry about food. Mr. Willis will bring his big grill, and Mrs. Willis will get her women cooking for two days. There will be enough food here to feed an army.”
“You get on the list of people you want to invite, and I’ll see about getting some invitations made up. I think we can pull this off in a week, don’t you?”
“Before we do all that, we need to make sure that Judge Stone can come and marry us. I don’t want anyone else to marry us but him. If he is free that day, then we can start doing everything else to get it ready.”
Justin pulled out his phone and handed it to Hunter. “Call him right now, and while the boys clean up the dishes and kitchen, we can sit down here and make some lists and design our invitations.”
Michael said, “Justin, if you tell me what you want it to say, then I can design it and print them off on my computer. I promise they will be really nice. I am taking the graphic design in school now and will take other classes when I graduate and go to the trade school.”
“That will work out good, Michael. Thank you. I’ll get some good card stock and ink for your printer so you can do that. You can print up the envelopes with the names on them if we give you a list?”
“Oh yeah, that is easy to do.”
“Well, we got that settled. I like that idea.”
Dalton said, “I got Charlie for the wedding. I’ll sit in the front row with him so he can watch his two dads get married. I’ll keep him with me until you want him, or Simon wants him. I’ll take good care of him. I promise.”
“I know you will, Dalton. He’ll be glad you are in the front row so he can see.”
Mark spoke up. “Justin, I have my camera Mr. Willis bought me, and I have been practicing and I can take pictures of the wedding for you and Hunter. I’ll even make you a nice wedding album. I have been working on doing that too. I mean if you want me to.”
“You bet we do. We want to have a nice album to show our grandchildren.”
Hunter called Judge Stone. “Hi, Judge. Justin and I want to get married. We were thinking of a week from Saturday. Are you free that day?”
“Sure. I knew that you two would get together. Justin is a good man, and you know how I feel about you. I’ll be sure and be there. What time?”
“How about two in the afternoon. We have to make the invitations and send them out. Get a cater in here for the food. So, we’ll have time to decorate the garden for the guests.”
“You’re going to invite Sam and Alisa, aren’t you?”
“Yes sir, we are going to invite them and then the James brothers and their families and friends.”
“Don’t worry about food. Sam and Alisa will take care of that. They always make enough to feed an army. How is the little one doing?”
“Charlie is doing very well. His back is almost healed, and we have been feeding him as much as he can eat. He’s starting to put on a little weight, but he still can’t sit up on his own. We carry him around on a pillow. I think he said you gave him that pillow.”
“That poor little fellow. He was in such pain. I’m glad that Justin didn’t mind my hoodwinking him into adopting him. He needed a good father. I’m glad he’s with you and Justin. He’s going to need a lot of help. Ok, let me get off here and I’ll call Sam. Do you have a big BBQ grill?”
“No, we don’t have a grill. Sorry.”
“That’s no problem. Sam will bring one of his. We’ll see you a week from Saturday then. Have a good evening.”
Hunter hung up the phone and looked at Justin with a smile on his face. “We have a lot of work to do. We’re getting married a week from Saturday. I’ll get a tablet, and we are going to sit down and make some lists. Specifically, who we are going to invite and what we want the invitations to say so Michael can get on them. The
y need to be sent out at least a week before the wedding which is this Saturday.”
“What about food for the reception? We need cake too.”
“Judge Stone said not to worry about the food that the Willis’ will deal with that, and Mr. Willis will bring one of his big grills here to cook on. I can make the cake just fine. I took some online classes for cake decorating. I do really well.”
“Let’s make a list of who does what, then we will know what we have to line up.”
Hunter got a tablet and started making the lists. Michael would do the invitations and print them up. Mark would do the photographs. Simon would be Justin’s best man. Jordan would be the ring bearer. Carson and Steve would be Hunter’s best men. Dalton would take care of Charlie. Hunter and Justin would need suits, as would Carson, Simon, Jordan, and Steve. Justin wanted to get Charlie a suit so he could feel part of everything.
***********
After the mad rush to get everything done and ready, the day finally came. All the boys looked excellent and were all pleased to see Hunter so happy. Charlie and Simon were keeping a secret from Justin. They had been working toward Charlie walking. He was able to sit up by himself, but they didn’t let Justin know. Simon had been holding him up and allowing him to practice walking. He wanted to surprise his Dad by walking.
Simon was in the room with Charlie and was dressing him in his suit. He wanted Simon to let go of him and let him try and walk alone. Simon said he would, but he would be right behind him with his arms out to catch Charlie if he fell. Charlie walked from one side of the room to the other. Simon picked him up in his arms and swung him around. He was thrilled that Charlie could walk now. When Charlie was dressed, Simon put him on the pillow, and Simon carried him down and gave him to Dalton.
They had decided that since both were men, they wouldn’t walk down the aisle, they would just both be in front of the Judge together. Jordan stood with Simon with the wedding rings on the pillow that Hunter made. Charlie whispered to Dalton, “When the wedding is over, stand me up on my feet so I can walk to my dad.”