by Alex Miska
“Wherever, whenever… It doesn’t matter. Just as long as I’m marrying you, Brat. That makes this my dream wedding.” Xander squeezed Julian’s hand, and it was as close to a bear hug as a hand-squeeze could possibly be.
“Oh. Good. Because… good.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to wait. We can still push the adoption paperwork through; it won’t affect our plans or our relationship.”
“Why would I want to wait?” Julian asked, a little surprised.
“Because we’ve gotten along for just over three months, but before that I spent three years being a total dickbag,” Xander said, his voice getting thick with emotion. “I don’t know how you’ve forgiven me as much as you have, and I would totally understand if you wanted to make sure I didn’t have a relapse.”
It was a very reasonable fear. But Julian wasn’t actually worried. But he couldn’t restrain himself from asking, “Dickbag?”
“Yeah, like that lovely package you sent me at work a couple of years ago.” After Xander had been especially assholish one Christmas, Julian just happened to stumble across a service that anonymously delivered a package of gummy dicks with the note, ‘Here’s a bag of dicks.’ For a little bit extra you could add glitter and/or penis-confetti. He couldn’t resist springing for the deluxe version. He’d waited for months for the inevitable retaliation, but none had come. He’d hoped that meant Xander hadn’t realized he’d been the one to send it.
Chance started snickering. “I’d wondered whom you’d pissed off so badly!”
“I was covered in glitter for a week, Brat. In fact, I’m still finding glitter and dicks in my keyboard,” Xander grumbled. “Anyway, I knew I’d been a dickbag and kind of deserved it.”
“I wasn’t exactly innocent either,” Julian admitted, and his husband-to-be chuckled.
“Julian, I love you. Even the obnoxious parts. I want to be yours and have you be mine and start a long, happy life together.” Xander dragged Julian’s hand into the room and treated his palm and fingers to a long, indecent kiss. Julian’s eyes fluttered shut at the sensation, and a purr escaped the back of his throat.
“Ummm… Xander?” Chance said from beside Julian, breaking into his reverie. “Your fiancé’s standing out here in his underwear and his dad’s coming down the hall. Maybe you can save whatever you’re doing to his hand for when he’s dressed or you’re alone?”
“Fine,” Xander grumbled, but didn’t release Julian’s hand. “Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe if we both keep our eyes closed-”
“Don’t be silly. We already spent the night apart. I can wait another hour or two.” And, oddly enough, he could. Julian felt settled, grounded just from being near Xander. “I know it’s important to you. And you shouldn’t see me half-made-up and mostly unclothed before we walk down that aisle.”
“Good idea,” Julian’s dad said from just behind him. “Because he looks like he’s about to do an obscene rain dance. Julian, you do know that no matter what obscure rituals you do, neither of you is going to get pregnant, right?”
Julian groaned; his dad thought he was sooooo funny.
“You groan now, but soon you’ll be a father too. All the neighborhood kids are going to love coming over your house, because your children will have twice as many embarrassing dads as everyone else.”
“I can’t wait!” Julian and his man said simultaneously. They were going to turn embarrassing their kids into an art form.
“Okay, I’m going back to my room. I loooove yoooouuuuu!”
He was halfway down the hall by the time he heard his dorky bridegroom shout, “Love you, Moore!”
Julian and Xander took turns peeking into the party room (it was too unique to be called a conference room and too intimate to be termed a ballroom). It looked gorgeous with all the fairy lights and the simple settings on the tables. Dean brought Cassius into Julian’s room when it was almost time to start, so Julian could dress up their little ring bearer in a starched white collar and purple brocade tie that matched his and Xander’s vests and a fancy white top hat. Attached to back of Cassius’ collar was the ring box.
When the music began, Xander and Julian entered from opposite sides of the room to meet in the center, where the officiant and Cassius waited. This way, there was no center aisle; their family and friends weren’t separated into ‘sides.’ As soon as Julian’s eyes met Xander’s, he couldn’t look away. This gorgeous, sweet man looked at him with such naked love that any and all nervousness melted away.
When they met at the arch in the middle, Xander bent down and nearly met Julian’s lips, but Cassius nosed between them. Their officiant, Trip, cleared his throat quietly. “We’ll get to that part soon, I promise.”
The ceremony was relatively short and simple. After a brief introductory speech about love and togetherness and all that, Trip produced beautiful embroidered handkerchiefs and handed one to each man, which showed impressive foresight because both men were sniffling like crazy. They traded the traditional vows and after each groom had said his ‘I do,’ Trip announced: “Marriage is more than a single event. Because it involves a lifetime of adventures, Xander and Julian have decided to each come up with a new vow every year. Julian?”
Julian looked up at his future husband from beneath his lashes, suddenly shy. “Xander, every time I sat down to write my vow, all that came out was gobbledygook. I don’t think the words exist to adequately tell you everything you mean to me, but I will try my best to show you every single day. I can’t promise not to bait you every once in a while, because I do enjoy arguing with you. But no matter what, if I’m hurt or angry or happy or excited, I won’t bottle it up; I will share all of that with you because you are part of me now. In fact, I think you’ve always been a part of me.”
“You’re part of me too.” Xander leaned forward to kiss him before catching himself. He caressed Julian’s hands with his thumbs as he said, “Julian, it was like I was missing a piece of myself until I met you. It was overwhelming and spectacular and so frightening. I’m sorry I pushed you away for so long, and I am so incredibly happy that we finally opened our eyes and saw each other again. Our friendship has grown into something more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. As my first vow to you, I promise that I will try to minimize my freak-outs over your safety and that of our children, and that I will do my best to relax and talk things out every time you call me on my bullshit. You might have to do that a lot, but I’ll do my best to worry in the most constructive way possible.”
Tears came to Julian’s eyes and, despite batting his eyelashes furiously, he was unable to hold back his tears, so he blotted lightly with his handkerchief. In the brief silence, Cassius barked.
“Thank you, Cass,” Xander said, blotting his eyes at hearing the dog’s vow.
“Thank you, Cass. That was eloquent and touching.” Julian rubbed the boxer’s ear and, seeing Xander blot his eyes, added “See? You even made him cry.”
Julian removed the rings from Cassius’ collar, handed one to Xander, then took it back and gave him the other ring instead, hoping he’d chosen correctly. Stupid matching bands. People laughed quietly and Trip stage-whispered, “You should have labeled them.”
“Shut up.” Julian squinted at the engraving and, seeing his name, nearly swapped rings again until he remembered that he’d be putting it on Xander’s hand. “Okay, we’re good.”
Although he and Xander both repeated whatever the ring-exchange words were, Julian was only aware of the cool metal of the ring sliding onto his finger and his heart finally settling in his chest.
“By the power vested in me by the State of New York, as an official Jedi Knight of the Universal Life Church,” Trip intoned. Jedi Knight?! Oh, who cared? That was actually pretty neat. “I now pronounce you married. You may kiss your groom.”
When Julian lifted his gaze to meet sky blue eyes filled with love and happiness, Xander smiled and whispered, “Baby koala.” Julian gle
efully leaped up, wrapping himself around him, to bestow a long, sensual, but family-friendly kiss upon his husband. Cassius jumped up, and the two men included him in their embrace, laughing with all-encompassing joy.
Character Guide
When the music cut out at 11:40 p.m., his new husband’s face lit up and Julian grabbed his hand, dragging Xander to the dance floor. “Time to toss the garters!”
Same-sex weddings made simple traditions very complicated; despite what some people thought, neither of them was ‘the girl’ or ‘the guy’ in their relationship. Since they were both the grooms (and the florist had barely had time to order orchids and make some small boutonnieres), Julian and Xander had decided to toss two garters rather than two miniature bouquets or one of each. They gathered all their single friends together, and Xander sat Julian down on a chair and fell to his knees in front of him. The music changed to a strip tease, and their friends cheered and catcalled as he slowly began to caress Julian’s leg.
“I’m sorry,” Xander whispered, feeling sheepish as he looked at the chair.
Julian blinked, then looked concerned. “Why? What happened?”
“I don’t give a fuck about these chairs. I mean, I’ll probably gripe about them when we show our grandkids the wedding photos, but they really weren’t worth the arguments.”
“Wasn’t the makeup sex worth the arguments?” Julian asked, and Xander’s heart skipped a beat at the sparkle of mischief in his husband’s emerald eyes as he added, “Besides, it was worth it because I won.”
With that, Julian booped his nose with the tip of his finger.
This was the man he had tied himself to for life.
Xander was so fucking lucky.
He tried to make a show of feeling up Julian’s leg to get to the garter, but the pants were so tight that Xander could barely get his hand up to his knee. He knew they stretched, but he didn’t want to test the seams and destroy his husband’s tuxedo, so he just slid the garter off and twirled it around his finger before switching positions.
“We should totally do this later tonight,” Julian murmured.
“Do what? Undress each other?”
“No. Switch positions. It’s been forever since we flip-fucked,” the evil man answered quietly as he slid his hand up Xander’s calf, aware that Xander was now seated and fully exposed to their family and friends. His already fitted pants began to feel a whole lot tighter.
Xander tapped him with his other foot. “It’s on this leg, remember?”
“Is it now?” Julian chuckled, his warm hand caressing Xander’s calf and slender fingers slid higher to dance across his inner thigh. Snickers and a renewed tide of catcalls marked the moment everyone noticed his reaction to Julian’s ministrations. Xander’s husband brought his hand to his lips and loudly announced “Oops! It’s on the other leg!”
“Please finish this. There are children watching,” Xander begged.
Xander covered his fiery face with his hands and his husband, taking pity on him, slid off the garter that was clearly visible to everyone, having fallen around Xander’s ankle as soon as Julian started his groping. Julian kissed the back of his hands and pried them away from his face. He laughed and kissed Julian lightly before standing up.
“Everybody ready?!” Julian yelled and, without waiting, both men turned around and tossed the garters over their shoulders. Xander’s happened to fly straight to Tommy while Julian’s sailed over the crowd onto Frankie the pug, who was sitting on Trip’s lap. If they hadn’t played horse-basketball together, Xander would have accused his husband of doing that on purpose.
The music changed, and the sea of singles parted to allow Tommy to cross to Trip. Whispering something no one could hear, Tommy took Trip’s dog and proceeded to the dance floor. The pug looked extremely flustered as Tommy twirled around to the music with him in his arms, and Trip’s astonishment was priceless. Xander worried about his friend. Although Trip had fallen hard for the cute nurse months ago, something must have happened in his life to cause him to ghost on Tommy, because both men were devastated.
“We can’t fix this for them,” Julian murmured at his side. “Now, it’s past time we dance with Cassius.”
The poor boxer did look forlorn, watching them from the edge of the dancing crowd. But Cassius wasn’t looking for ‘them,’ he was looking for Julian, whom he’d been head-over-paws in love with since the moment they met. Xander bowed out of the dance and watched his dog hop onto his hind legs to rest his paws on Julian’s shoulders. The two of them swayed back and forth, and Xander didn’t have to ask the photographer to catch that moment. Kendall and Marcus took it upon themselves to bring the remaining dogs onto the dance floor; Luna and Roger were sleepy but excited to be included.
At the end of the song, the New Year’s countdown began. One of the twins (Jackson?) took the pug from Tommy’s arms as Trip crossed the room. Xander returned to Julian’s side. He decided not to wait and lowered his head to his husband’s in a tender brush of the lips. Julian’s hand snaked around his neck, and he nipped and licked at Xander’s lips until he opened to him. Their tongues danced and tangled and he pulled Julian closer. His husband fit so perfectly against Xander, and he wondered how he had fought this for so long. They didn’t just have chemistry or mutual admiration. They had perfection. Around them, everyone else counted down to midnight, shouted “Happy New Year!” and then were conspicuously silent.
Cassius licked their cheeks, and Xander and Julian came up for air to pet their dog and took in the sight of all the kissing going on around them. The teens kissed the dogs. The established couples embraced. And some unlikely pairings dotted the room. Quinn and Julian’s cousins, Konrad and Annabelle, were kissing the ‘security dudes,’ Buzzard, Specter, and Max, respectively. Chance’s Nana hugged Poppy, the director of Safe Harbor. And Trip kissed Tommy before striding out of the hall, leaving the nurse dumbfounded and lightly touching his lips, in a manner reminiscent of Rhett and Scarlet from Gone with the Wind.
“What just happened?” Julian asked.
Xander knew what his husband was asking. But he had no idea what was going on in anyone’s mind, so the only answer he had to offer was, “Trip didn’t forget his dog. The twins are taking Frankie and Cassius home with them tonight, remember?”
“Come on. It’s midnight, we’ve said ‘I do,’ cut the cake, tossed the garters, and talked to everyone. Let’s go to our room,” Julian said, linking his arm with Xander’s and leaning into his side.
Before they could leave, however, Xander’s sister Veronica and her husband stepped into their path. Veronica held out an envelope to them. “I know you’re probably ready to go, but could you open our gift before you leave? It requires… a little explanation.”
They were the only members of the Griffith family that had come to his wedding, everyone else having prior engagements (which was partially why they’d chosen this date). Xander and his sister were finally on good terms after years of contention, and he couldn’t mess with that just because he couldn’t wait to get his hands on his gorgeous husband.
Xander couldn’t imagine what Veronica could give them that slipped inside a card. A vacation, maybe? Julian took the envelope from her and opened it to reveal a business card for a cryogenic lab and the serial number of an egg donor. Xander knew his family expected him to carry on the family name by having a biological child via a surrogate, but selecting his ‘mate’ crossed a line. He tried to hold back his anger; his sister probably meant well in her own misguided way.
“We’re not quite… ready for a baby right now.” Julian lowered his voice so it couldn’t carry, “In fact, we’re in the middle of an adoption process for-”
“Those sweet teenagers,” Veronica said. “Kendall and Marcus are wonderful, by the way, and I couldn’t be happier for you. This isn’t a heavy-handed hint. I’m told the eggs will keep for a decade or more.”
“What Verry is trying to say,” her husband Donald interr
upted, “is that she went a little overboard when she turned thirty and froze over a dozen of her eggs. Three children are plenty for us, and there are ten eggs left. They’re yours, if you want them.”
“You’ll have to find someone else to carry them, but your husband is extraordinary and his genes need to be passed on to a new generation too,” Veronica told him. Xander could barely see her through the tears welling up in his eyes. “This way, your children will be Griffiths, but they will also be Julian’s.”
Xander pulled his big sister into a hug. When was the last time he’d hugged her? Ten years ago? Twenty? As a teen, he’d been too cool for hugs, and then they’d drifted so far apart… it had taken Julian to bridge that chasm. His amazing, smart, gorgeous, loving husband was hugging Donald, and then they switched. When he could find his voice, Xander rasped, “Thank you. Both of you. This means… thank you.”
“You’re very welcome. You deserve to be happy, Xander, and I love you,” Veronica said. Her sky blue eyes sparkled as she swatted his arm and added, “Now go on, enjoy your wedding night!”
They said their goodbyes and, when they reached the door, Julian grinned and cried, “Baby koala!”
Strong legs wrapped securely around Xander’s waist, and their lips met in a kiss that spoke more eloquently of love and promise than words ever could. Julian was his present and his future, and they had a lifetime of adventures to share.
Character Guide
‘I still don’t understand why they have to do this so far apart,’ Cassius complained. The boxer had become remarkably paternal ever since Kendall and Marcus moved in with Cassius and his human-husbands, Julian and Xander. ‘I don’t know where to be.’
Frankie’s best friend knew exactly why his people were on two different floors, he just didn’t like the answer. Although Cassius’ big new house gave him plenty of room to run, it was difficult to contain his humans within an acceptable radius, which caused the dog no end of worry. Frankie explained, yet again, ‘The teen-pups want to have privacy to talk about the adults, and the adults want privacy to talk about the teens.’