by A. E. Wasp
Benny’s laugh sounded like a moan, and Mikey ran his nails up the soft skin on his stomach.
“I would have, maybe, that night,” he said, shifting on the couch so he could press his erection against Benny’s hip. He wrapped his hand around Benny’s, both their hands dragging up and down Benny’s cock.
“Oh fuck. Fuck,” Benny whispered brokenly, hips thrusting up off the couch. There was no turning back now.
“If you had asked me,” Mikey said, then kissed Benny hard, tongue sliding in through Benny’s open mouth. “If you had asked me, I would have walked across that floor and dropped to my knees right between your legs.” His hand tightened on Benny, and Benny came with a loud shout, back arching up from the couch, muscles locked.
“God, Benny.” Mikey ripped his hand off Benny’s panting, sweating body and yanked his own sweatpants down. Benny was too out of it to do anything but watching in appreciation as Mikey stroked himself to orgasm in record time. He laughed breathlessly as Mikey collapsed down to the couch.
Mikey rolled his head boneless across the back of the couch, breathing heavily. “Forgive me?”
“Everything. Always,” Benny answered.
Mikey raised one eyebrow and looked at Benny out the side of his eyes. “That’s kind of a lot to ask. How about just for this one thing now?”
“Deal.” Benny leaned forward with a groan and grabbed his t-shirt up from the floor. He wiped them down as best he could, and they dragged themselves off to bed, both on the same page for the first time in a week.
chapter seven - oh, no, they didn’t
Eventually, they made it up to the bedroom. Benny sat on the bed and watched as Mikey set out his clothes for tomorrow and got ready for bed. He loved the way Mikey was so methodical and patient with everything he did. It soothed the part of Benny’s brain that was always racing. Now that he knew for sure he had the green light to believe the wedding was actually going to happen, Benny’s mind wandered to what the day might be like. “It will be interesting to see your parents. They probably hate me even more now.”
Mikey didn’t answer, but Benny can tell from the set of his shoulders he’d hit a nerve.
“What now?”
Mikey tied the scarf around his head and turned to face Benny. “I hadn’t actually told them about you. About us?”
“That we’re getting married?”
“That we’d even reconnected,” Mikey admitted sheepishly.
“What?” Benny rolled his eyes. He patted the bed next to him. “Get over here, you coward.”
Mikey finished what he was doing and climbed into his side of the bed. “You’re not mad?”
“No. I’m too relaxed to be mad. I recommend you sexing me up every time you have something bad to tell me. I promise it will work. I’m really easy. I’m not mad as long as you didn’t tell them because you’re scared of your parents and not because you’re embarrassed about me.”
“Of course I’m embarrassed about you. But that’s beside the point.” Mikey sighed and sunk back against the pillow. “I just didn’t want to deal with them, you know?”
“Oh, I know. James and Linda are terrifying.”
“They know anyway. Vanessa told them. Not on purpose, she just assumed like any normal person would that I might have mentioned to my parents that I was engaged.”
“So what did they say?” Benny slid down on the bed and rolled onto his side.
“I don’t know what they said to Vanessa, but I got a very cordial email from them this morning saying they can’t get away but they wished us luck if this is really what would bring me happiness and that we would talk later and make plans.” His mouth twisted as if he had expected nothing less, but Benny could see the hurt in his eyes. It wasn’t the first time James and Linda had let Mikey down.
Benny rolled forward and kissed him. “Fuck them.”
Mikey shrugged. “Yeah.” He closed his eyes and Benny took the hint.
Benny waited until he was sure Mikey was sound asleep before slipping out of bed. Poochie lifted his head, and Benny motioned for him to stay down. He padded quietly down the stairs, Poochie right behind him. He really needed to take him back to Roy for some more training.
Sitting on the couch, he fired up Mikey’s laptop. Poochie jumped on the couch next to him, head in Benny’s lap, and Benny rubbed his head. There was something comforting in the dog’s constant presence. It reminded him that he was never truly alone.
Whistling under his breath, he loaded up Skype and tried to log into Mikey’s account. Lucky for him, Mikey still used the same passwords he did in college. And there were James and Linda, at the bottom of the contact list.
He wondered briefly what time it was in India and then realized he didn’t care. He clicked on their names. The program rang a couple of times before someone answered.
Linda’s confused face filled the screen. “Michael?” It must be daytime. She looked perfectly poised and made up. Then again, Benny had never seen her otherwise.
Benny smiled wide. “Nope. Sorry, Mrs. Washington. It’s just me.”
Her eyebrows raised. “Benny. What a surprise. I hear congratulations are in order.” Her voice made it clear how she felt.
“You’d think they would be. So I hear you’re not coming to the wedding?”
She had the grace to look embarrassed for a second, then her expression hardened. “It’s not like our son invited us.”
Okay. Point to Linda. “It’s late, and I’m too tired to be diplomatic, so I’m just going to say what I have to say. He was scared to tell you. He knows you don’t like me, and he didn’t think you’d be happy to hear oh, by the way, I’m bisexual.”
Linda frowned. “I’ll admit. That did take us by surprise.”
Benny ruffled Poochie’s ears. “I’m not going to argue with you. Come to the wedding. You are officially invited. It would mean a lot to Mikey. But if you won’t do it for your son, who I assume you love, if you want to be part of Jasmine’s life, and whatever future grandchildren you might have, you’ll take a good hard look at your choices. The wedding is on Valentine’s Day at the Unitarian Church in Red Deer. Vanessa has the details. Do what you want.” Benny signed off before she had the chance to respond. If he spent any longer talking to her, he was going to say things he couldn’t take back.
He shut the lid and leaned back with a sigh. “We did what we could, Poochie. Let’s go back to bed.”
chapter eight - closure
“Are you sure you want me here?” Benny said, trailing Mikey on the path through the tall pine trees. An unusually thick layer of fog hung heavy under the branches, muffling sounds and distorting the distances.
“Please. If you don’t mind.” Mikey took a side path, to a smaller section of the cemetery.
Benny followed close behind. “Of course not. I’m honored.”
Picking his way unerringly across the grass despite the fog, boots sinking into ground softened by the recent thaw, Mikey stopped in front of Julia’s gravestone. He’d been here before, of course, but this was his first time bringing Benny. It felt like it was time.
Mikey always felt awkward standing in front of the grave, not really sure why he was there. He hadn’t been raised particularly religious and didn’t have strong beliefs about an afterlife. This was more about him talking to himself. Things had a way of sounding different when they were spoken out loud. Maybe it was his version of therapy.
Benny had brought a small bouquet of flowers, and he bent down and placed them on the ground in front of the stone. It was a simple stone with her name, Julia Ann Young, and the dates. July 17, 1992 - August 4, 2014. Way too short of a life.
Benny stood next to Mikey, hands in the pockets of his jacket. He felt calm to Mikey as if he would stay there all day if Mikey needed him to.
“Hey, Julia,” Mikey said to the air above her grave. “I always feel stupid talking to you like this, and I hope you’re laughing at me if you somehow can see this.”
Benny put
a hand on Mikey’s back, rubbing a small, comforting circle.
“So, this is Benny. We’re, uh, getting married. I kind of thought you two should meet. I wish you had met for real, you guys would really have gotten along.” Mikey stuck his hands into the pockets of his pea coat, He guessed it was weird, and he would never want to have to pick between them, but he did wish they had met. They would have been great friends. He wondered if he would have ever had Jasmine if he had kept Benny in his life. Probably not, but luckily that was a question that could never be answered.
“Jasmine loves him,” he continued. “I think it’s because they have the same mental age.”
“I can’t believe you’re dissing me in front of Jasmine’s mom. That’s cold,” Benny joked softly.
“anyway. I just wanted you to know.” He usually gave her an update on Jasmine, talked to her about whatever was bothering him. Sometimes he could hear her voice in his head, telling him things he imagined she would say if she were around. Sometimes it was just good to say things out loud.
“I’m going to go take a walk around, give you some privacy,” Benny said. “See if I can’t get some pictures of this fog. It’s amazing.” Benny laid a hand on top of the gravestone. “Julia, I’m sorry we never met. But I do love Mikey and your daughter very much, and I promise to take good care of both of them. Don’t you worry.” He kissed Mikey on the cheek, and then walked away, disappearing into the thick fog.
About twenty minutes later he felt Benny hovering just out of earshot. He’d said everything he needed to say to Julia, to himself. His heart felt lighter than it had for a long time and fully ready to move on to the next amazing stage of his life.
chapter nine - it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding
Honey D and Venus de Mile-High Lo had flown in from San Diego in a flurry of luggage and kisses and hugs. Benny couldn’t believe how amazingly good it had been to see them. Out of drag, Honey was Raul, a small forty-something Latino with warm brown eyes and a smile that could light up a room. He reminded Benny of many of his uncles and cousins. Knowing they would be underdressed for the weather, Benny had brought an extra jacket for him, a shearling lined denim jacket. All he needed was a cowboy hat, and he would disappear into the crowd.
Patrick was ten years younger and a foot taller. A six-foot tall, slender guy with the whitest skin and reddest hair Benny had ever seen, he wore a zebra-striped faux fur coat with a matching hat. In or out of drag, Patrick stood out. Chris was going to eat him up.
Getting rescued from the streets by Honey and Venus in full drag had been one of the best things that had ever happened to Benny. Getting sent away from the San Diego club scene by both of them had been another. Getting married was going to be the number one best thing.
They had hugged him until he couldn’t breathe when he’d picked them up at the airport.
“Little Benito!” Raul exclaimed. “Getting married. And to a gorgeous hunk of a man. Oh, my God, he is to die for.” He smiled down at Poochie. “And who is this beautiful puppy?” Raul loved dogs.
“This is Poochie, my service dog. You can play with him when we get home. He’s probably dying to lick you.”
“I don’t suppose he has any brothers,” Paul said in his slow southern drawl.
“Poochie? I think he does actually.” Benny smiled when Paul smack him on the chest.
“You know what I mean. That husband-to-be of yours.
Benny grabbed one of their giant suitcases. “He has a gorgeous sister.”
Patrick rolled his eyes.
“Don’t be like that. You had better be nice to Vanessa.”
“Maybe he has a hot dad,” Raul said, tucking his arm into Patrick’s.
“You might not get to meet his dad. I don’t know if his parents are coming. They aren’t too happy about the whole me thing.”
“Is it because you’re a boy or is it because you’re you?” Raul asked bluntly.
“Little bit of column A, a little bit of column B.”
Raul shook his head. “Well, it’s not the first time that’s happened to somebody. I’m sure your parents will make up for it.”
“Oh, my parents love Mikey. He’s the son they wished they’d had.”
Patrick smacked him on the arm. “Your parents love you.”
“Everybody loves me,” Benny grinned.
That time Raul smacked him. Benny was going to be bruised before he got back from the airport.
The morning of the wedding, Jasmine watched wide-eyed as Raul and Patrick transformed into Venus de Mile-High Lo and Honey Dijon. “You’re so beautiful,” she whispered. Her hand reached out to touch the butterflies on Venus’ cheek.
“You are beautiful, too, mija,” Honey told her. “That dress is stunning.”
Jasmine smiled and twirled around. Her dress was pink as pink could be with layers of ruffles falling to the floor. She had fallen in love with it the instant she had seen it. Vanessa and Mikey had spent ages that morning doing her hair, braiding in rows of paper roses that she and Benny had made earlier. “I’m going to be just like you when I grow up,” she announced.
“Fifteen-minute warning, ladies!” Chris called up the stairs.
“Is your daddy ready, babydoll?” Venus asked.
“I think so. But Benny isn’t. He’s still putting a bowtie on Poochie.”
Benny, Honey Dijon, and Venus de Mile-High Lo piled into the Black Ford Expedition Chris had borrowed from Jay-Cee. “Isn’t Jay-Cee coming?” Benny had asked.
“He’ll meet us there,” Chris told him. “He had some stuff to do in the studio. It is a workday you know.”
Mikey buckled Jasmine into her car seat in the Altima. He and Vanessa were driving to the church in his car.
“Why can’t we all go together?” Benny had protested. He hadn’t seen Mikey since he woke up this morning. Honey D had done her best to keep them separated. It was stressing Benny out.
“It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding,” Honey-D told him, climbing into the front seat. The skirt of her dress was too wide for her to fit in the back.
“Which one of us is the bride?”
“You’re both the brides, baby. Now get in the damn car.”
“So many people!” Benny looked out at the crowd gathering in the courtyard of the church. “Did we invite this many people? Do we know this many people?” It looked like half of the congregation had shown up. People Benny had talked to once or twice were milling about the courtyard separating the Sanctuary from the Religious Education building. They’d set up a last minute prep room in one of the classrooms there. There were enough couches and bathrooms for everyone.
Chris still wouldn’t let Benny see Mikey, and it was driving him nuts. He’d seen the black tux hanging in Mikey’s garment bag, and he really wanted to see it on Mikey.
“Everybody loves a wedding, especially a gay wedding. Makes them feel all progressive and ally-ish.” Chris said. “Fix your tie.”
“My tie is fine,” Benny snapped. He checked himself in the mirror. “Do I look okay?” He’d gone with a black tuxedo with a vest and a bowtie. Now he was worried he looked like he was going to the prom.
“You look gorgeous, baby.” For someone who spent most of his life in jeans and a t-shirt, Chris wore his black suit like it was his everyday clothing. He’d slicked back his usually spiky platinum hair and put in his smallest silver stud. He looked classy, Benny realized.
“You’re looking like a million bucks yourself, stud. Trying to impress the ladies?” Benny pulled out the white rose corsage he had made out of silk. He’d wanted something that would last.
“Yeah, I’m trying to get myself a sugar momma. Think it will work?” Chris took the corsage out of Benny’s hand and started to pin it to the lapel of his jacket.
“Can’t hurt to try.”
Chris stepped back and gave Benny one last critical look.
“All good?”
“All good.” He smiled at Benny and held his ar
ms out.
Benny walked into the hug. Chris had been his first friend in Red Deer and was his best friend. He never would have survived the year sober without his help. “I love you,” he whispered into Chris’ ear.
“I love you, too. And I’m so happy for you. You deserve it. You’re a lucky man.”
“Don’t I know it. Thank you for everything. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Chris squeezed his hand and kissed him firmly on the cheek. “Don’t make me cry, you’ll ruin my mascara. Now go get your pinche ass out there and get married.”
“It’s okay. My ass has made many a grown man weep.” Laughing, he dodged the smack Chris aimed at his butt.
He was still laughing as he walked out the door and smack into Vanessa.
“Sorry, V.”
She barely registered him, staring out into the parking lot.
Benny looked around her. The first thing he saw was Mikey looking like a GQ model in his slim-fitting tux, his dreadlocks pulled back from his face and hanging long down his back. Mikey was also staring at the parking lot.
The second thing he saw was James and Linda Washington, followed by an elegant looking Indian couple stepping out of what looked like a stretch SUV. The woman wore a gorgeous jeweled sari and the man a classic black suit. Benny wondered briefly who they were.
He desperately wanted to go over to Mikey, but he knew they needed a moment alone with their parents, so he told Vanessa he’d be in the church whenever they were ready. She nodded silently.
“Oh, god, my parents are here,” a voice Benny didn’t recognize said. It was a young Indian kid standing next to the guy Benny recognized as Danny, the bus boy from Vincent’s. Well, that made sense. They would be his parents.
Chris guided Benny away. “Come on, let’s get people rounded up and moved inside.”
Mikey stopped dead as he parents got out of the limo and walked over to him. “Mom. Dad. What are you doing here?”