by C. E. Wilson
“Yes, my love I got it. I wonder if John’s parents would let us get married on their back deck. Wait until you see it Cade it is awesome. His parents are great. His dad does a mean BBQ. What do you think about that?”
“Baby, I’d marry you on the moon if that’s what you wanted. I’m just so happy that we’re getting married.”
Charlie came into the kitchen. “We got the washer and dryer hooked up, and your beds are set up. Your dressers and chests are set up; all you have to do is move them where you want them. Mom is putting your clothes away, and Cade’s mom is putting the bathroom stuff in both bathrooms. What else do you guys need?”
Bradley smiled at his dad. “Do you want a snack, Dad?”
Charlie narrowed his eyes at Bradley. “What are you up to? You are offering me a snack something is up.”
“Look in the pantry, Dad.”
Charlie walked over to the pantry and opened the door. He looked inside and shut the door quickly. “What are you doing with all that junk food. That isn’t good for you. Your mother sees that she is going to tell you both off about it.”
“Um Dad, Mom and Cade’s mom are the ones that put that stuff there. I only had two boxes of pop tarts to put in there.”
Charlie shook his head. “Now I know why she wanted to use my pickup yesterday instead of driving her car. She wanted to get all that junk. Just do something with it but don’t tell her you did it. She will get her feelings hurt.”
“Yeah, we were going to take it to the boy and girls club for the kids that go there.”
“Good idea. Well, what else do you need done?”
“I don’t know Dad. I think that is pretty much all we need to be done. I’m just going to put the dishes and stuff up, and that will do. Cade and I can move the living room furniture where we want it and then we are fine. Oh, did you get the TV hooked up?”
“No, I’ll do that right now. Won’t take me a minute. You have a DVD player too?”
Cade said, “Yes, I’ll get it for you. We usually watch a movie and fall asleep on the couch and stay there all night. We have yet to get through a movie.”
Charlie laughed and followed Cade into the living room to hook up the TV.
After the parents, all left the boys went into their bedroom to make up the bed and get things ready for the night. It was still early, but they didn’t want to wait until the last minute to do it. After the bed was made up, they rearranged the furniture the way they wanted it. Cade sat down on the bed and was looking around. “Baby, do you think we can afford some curtains?”
Bradley laughed. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I know we are gay, but pink ruffled curtains are just too much. I want something in like a brown or navy blue. That would go with the carpet. Sometimes I wonder about our mothers. Do they think that gay men are wanna be women?”
“Who knows what they think. I just am not going to feel right sleeping in a room with pink curtains.”
“I’ll go see what they put in the other bedroom and maybe we can switch them out.”
Bradley went into the other bedroom and came back shaking his head. “The curtains in there are light lavender and more ruffles than in here. I don’t know what to think about them. At least the ones in the living room and kitchen are not that bad. We’ll get some better ones tomorrow. We have to go to Wal-Mart and get some groceries anyway.”
Cade got Bradley’s hand and pulled him into the kitchen and sat him down at the table. He got a notebook and pen and handed then to Bradley then sat down across from him. “What’s this for Cade?”
“Making a grocery list. You know if we go shopping without a list, we get a bunch of crap we don’t need and don’t get the stuff we do need.”
Bradley nodded. “You’re right. We always do that. First on the list is curtains. We get them first. It’s going to be bad waking up to pink curtains in the morning.”
“Get the stuff to make spaghetti. At least you learned to cook from Alex. We don’t have to eat TV dinners anymore.”
“You’re going to learn to cook too. I’ll teach you to cook starting tomorrow. You can make the spaghetti. I’ll just help you so you will learn like I did.”
“Yeah, that’s no problem. I want to learn to cook. What if you get sick? I’ll need to cook to take care of you.”
“We’ll take care of each other. What else do you want to eat for meals?”
“How about that stuff you made when Alex was home for whatever he was home for? I don’t remember what you called it, but it was good.”
“Are you talking about the macaroni and cheese with hamburger and tomatoes in it?”
“Yeah, that’s the stuff. I liked it better than that stuff Alex came up with. Half that stuff I never heard of before. I didn’t think it tasted all that good.”
“Yeah, some of it was tasteless. Once I learned the basics, then I could make my own stuff up. I did get a few of the recipes from boxes like for that pizza bake. Did you like that too?”
“Oh yeah, if you make that, make enough for leftovers because that was great. I loved it.”
“Let’s do this and get a few other things like lunch meat for sandwiches. I know we don’t need any chips or snack food. Maybe some orange juice and eggs. You can make your scrambled eggs, and I’ll make the toast. So, we need eggs, bread, butter, and some milk. Maybe some cereal too.”
“Give me your keys to your truck. I’ll go put both of them in the garage. You check out the food we have here and make sure we don’t need anything more baby. I love you.”
Chapter 18
Bradley gave Cade the keys to his truck, and he went to the cupboards and checked all that was there. He was surprised to see food in the freezer. There wasn’t any in there when their parents left the apartment with the appliances. He looked through what was in there, and he marked hamburger off his list. There were five packs in the freezer along with chicken and pretty much all types of meat.
He boxed up half the snacks in the pantry to find that not everything in the pantry was snacks. They had all kinds of staples in there, including canned goods and coffee. He marked off the list the things they had in the pantry and the only thing left on the list was the last things he put on it.
Cade came to the door leading to the garage. “Hey baby, can you come here for a minute?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I wanted you to see this stuff. We now have a brand-new freezer, I guess. It still has all the paperwork on it. Open it.”
Bradley opened the freezer, and there were loads of casserole dishes in the freezer. Each had writing on the top telling how long to cook it in the oven at what temperature. Each lid said what was in the dish. Bradley sighed. “Are they ever going to let us grow up and take care of ourselves?”
“I doubt it, but this will be nice when we start to work. All we have to do is heat it up. It will make it easier for us.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Oh, we don’t need to buy meat. The freezer in the house is full of meat. The pantry doesn’t just have snack food in it. I started to box it up, and there was a lot of stuff behind the snacks. The only thing we need to buy is the stuff for the refrigerator.”
“Did you look in the refrigerator? It probably has the rest of your list on it.”
“No, I didn’t look, but I guess I better after seeing all this stuff.” Bradley sighed and walked back into the house. Sure enough, when he opened the door, the refrigerator was full. He just wadded up his list and threw it into the trash can.
Cade came in from the garage after parking the trucks inside. Bradley was sitting at the table, looking like he was lost. “What’s wrong, baby?”
He pointed to the refrigerator and shook his head. Cade opened the door and stepped back. He also shook his head. “What are we going to do with them, baby?”
“What can we do? Nothing. They are just trying to help us, I guess, but I would rather try and make it on our own. It’s like we never left home at all.”
“Maybe t
hey will settle once we are working. I tried to give Dad the money back from the security deposit and last month’s rent, but he told me to keep it. He said we might need it before we start getting checks. I told him about the money we saved, but he didn’t care.”
“Yeah, Dad put the five hundred in my account for groceries. Just like he had been doing for the last four years. I swear if they don’t stop, Cade, I am going to go postal on them.”
“Well, as soon as we get jobs, maybe they will stop.”
“How much is our rent here?”
“I don’t know. Dad wouldn’t say. He just said he would take care of it until we got jobs. I guess your dad is going to take care of the utilities until then too. That’s what Dad told me.”
“Well, then we don’t need to look for a job. We can just sit on our backsides and let our dads take care of everything.”
“Baby, you don’t mean that. I know you better than that.”
“You’re right, but that’s what it feels like. Our parents are making it way to easy to do just that. Why aren’t they encouraging us to get jobs so we can pay our bills?”
Cade pulled Bradley to his feet and wrapped his arms around him. “Because baby, they know we don’t need to be encouraged to look for jobs. We’ll do it because that’s what we want to do. I agree they need to let us take care of ourselves, but they are parents, and that’s what they do.”
“Well, if I do this with our children slap me upside my head. I can’t even think about doing this to them.”
Cade laughed. “I would never hit you, baby. I might take your checkbook away from you but never lay a hand on you.”
“Yeah, I guess that would do it.”
They stood there for a while in the embrace. It was ended when there was a knock on the door. Bradley rolled his eyes. “Did they have dinner delivered too?”
He went and answered the door, and it was Alex. “Hi Alex. What’s going on?”
“I moved here. I just wanted to stop by and say hello. Is Cade here too?”
“Yeah, come on in. We were just talking about parents.”
“Lovely, aren’t they? What did you do now?”
“Paying for everything until we get jobs.”
“You’re complaining? I would be in hog heaven. Mine said to get a job. He paid for college, so I had to use my degree in business. He said he wanted me to take over his company, but I guess not. That’s why I moved here. If I had known that, I would have gotten a degree in culinary. That’s where my passion lies.”
They walked to the dining room where Cade was sitting there looking at a newspaper. When he saw Alex, he stood and shook his hand. “What are you doing here?”
“I moved here. I was just stopping by to tell you guys that I’m here. If you know any single guys looking for a relationship give them my number. I’m ready for what you two have.”
“Well, we really don’t know many gay guys. We didn’t really come out until we were in college. Our parents knew before that, but not the guys at school. Our brother in law might know some. He has been openly gay since he was a kid. Now he’s the best cardiologist there is.”
“You must be talking about Dr. John Willis.”
“You know John?”
“Not yet. I have an appointment with Dr. Willis tomorrow about doing his business management. Is he a good guy?”
“Yeah, John is down to earth even though he has a lot of money. What will you be doing for him?”
“Handling his investments and his property. Things like that. He’s loaded. I guess I don’t have to tell you guys that since he’s your family. Just put in a good word for me.”
Cade started to say something, but another knock on the door interrupted him. He left and went to the front door. He was shocked when he opened the door. It was his brother, Link.
“What are you doing here?”
“Can’t I come and see my brother? I was just going to visit you and your boyfriend or is it, husband, now?”
“Still boyfriend until we get married which will be very soon. Do you like Bradley?”
“He seemed all right. I would like to get to know him better. He’s going to by my brother too. Isn’t he?”
“Yes, come on in. Our roommate is here too. He moved here and was just letting us know that he had to our town. His name is Alex. He comes from a loaded family too.”
“Is he gay too?”
“Yes, I know you don’t like gay people, Link, but be nice to him and Bradley.”
“Who said I don’t like gay people?”
“The way you acted when I came out. You said you don’t like gay people. Please be nice to Bradley at least. He is the love of my life.”
“I don’t plan on being mean to Bradley. From what I know of him, he seems to be a good guy. I’m happy that you found him. He makes you happy, and that’s what I care about.”
“That’s a shock. I didn’t think you cared about me at all. I haven’t heard from you for four years.”
“That’s because while you were in college at Penn State, I was in college at Ohio State. I graduated this year the same as you did. I am now a certified teacher. It is something I have wanted to do since I was a little kid. I just didn’t think it possible, but it was. If I could just find the love of my life, I would be thrilled.”
“I’m afraid I can’t help you there, Link. I don’t know any girls around here anymore. The ones I knew in school are probably married by now.”
Link didn’t say anything but followed Cade into the kitchen. He walked up to Bradley and gave him a big hug. Bradley hugged him back then raised a brow at Cade. Cade just shrugged his shoulders.
Bradley poured them all coffee, and they sat around the table talking. Link kept glancing over at Alex, and each time he found Alex staring at him. Cade watched both of them and then looked over at Bradley. He was watching them too.
Link asked, “So when are you and Bradley getting married?”
Cade said, “We are getting our license tomorrow and then as soon as possible. I want you to be my best man if you will.”
Link smiled. “It would be an honor. Thank you for picking me, Cade. Bradley, who is your best man going to be?”
Alex grinned until Bradley answered. “My brother Clayton, of course.
Alex said, “Am I even going to be invited to the wedding?”
Link smiled. “You can be my plus one. If I am the best man for my brother, I know I’ll be invited to it. You always get a plus one, so since I’m not in a relationship, then you can be mine.”
Alex grinned. “You bet I’m yours.”
Cade laughed. “Don’t get all excited Alex. Link is straight. It won’t be like that.”
Alex glanced at Link and then frowned at Cade. He took a small notebook out of his pocket and wrote his name and phone number on it and handed it to Link. He looked at it and stuck it in his pocket. Then Link nodded to Alex. Cade was wondering what that was all about but didn’t say anything.
They talked for a while afterward then Link decided to go home. He was still living with his parents until he could get to work and find a house or apartment. His father had offered to get him a place, but Link didn’t want to do that. He tried to do everything on his own.
Alex left shortly after Link. Cade was staring at the driveway. Bradley put his arms around Cade. “What’s wrong love?”
“I have a strange feeling that Link is gay and so far in the closet, he doesn’t even know it. Do you think Link is gay?”
“Babe, that is the second time I’ve seen him, so I have no idea. It seemed funny that he invited Alex to be his date at our wedding. You said he was straight and dated girls. I guess if you want to know you’re just going to have to ask him.”
“I can’t ask Link that. He will think I’m crazy. How about you ask him?”
“Babe I don’t even know him that well. As well as your parents took you being gay, why would he want to stay in the closet? He’s already through college. I’m sure he will teach soon so
there would be no reason for him not to come out.”
“Yeah that’s true, so I guess he isn’t gay, or we would have already heard about that. He just kept looking at Alex strangely and then telling him that he is his plus one was weird.”
“Aren’t we supposed to have something called gaydar that tells us people are gay or not? I don’t have it, or I would have been with you the moment I saw you. I guess you don’t either.”
Cade shook his head and guided Bradley back into the house. Bradley went to the kitchen to make them dinner. Cade sat down at the table and sipped his coffee. He was deep in thought.
Chapter 19
Bradley made some spaghetti, and they sat and ate. After dinner and Cade did the dishes, they sat down at the table and talked about the wedding. Cade said, “If you want us to get married at John’s parent’s house; don’t you think it would be a good idea if you called him and ask him about it?”
“Yeah, I guess I better. I also have to ask Clayton to be my best man.”
“You promised Jacob he could be in our wedding too. Are you planning on him being the ring bearer?”
“Yes, I don’t want him to be the flower girl. That was supposed to be a joke babe.”
“Oh, sorry baby. My mind is still freaking out about Link making a date for our wedding.”
“If we don’t get this planned out there won’t be a wedding for us to have.”
“Call Clayton first and ask him to be your best man then bring up the fact that we want to have it at John’s parent’s house.”
Bradley nodded and pulled out his phone. He dialed Clayton’s number. Clayton answered after the first ring. “Hey, little brother I was just going to call you. I have a guy in the office that just bought some land and wants a house built on it. I told him you were an engineer, and he wants to talk to you about designing it, so it works on his land.”