by P. S. Power
“I’ll try to find someone for that. Riley?” His day had been about the same, but he actually had a different problem, since his coming fight was against a southpaw. To that end he looked over at Tony.
“You’re little, but have the skills there. We can set up a light session?” The man had about fifty pounds on him, but as long as they weren’t trying to kill each other that would probably work.
“Yeah. I’ll try to get some video of the guy you’re fighting first. Call that… Two days?” That should let the other man be back from his hand injury. There was no mention of it, but he already was walking around without it being wrapped. It was another reason to go light on things.
“Thanks. We don’t really have anyone else here that can do that part. Some good guys about my size, but no southpaws.” Not that Tony was one either. He could just fake it all right.
Interestingly, given that he wasn’t in training himself, Rick nodded at him as he came around.
“Tony? What do you have planned?”
He glanced around, then shrugged.
“That running in the mornings. We need to get some other people out for it, too. It’s easy to get lazy due to the cold. I was thinking that Lexi could move to the grappling training at night? You were doing that for a while. So running and conditioning, then classes with the newbs. Chase is pretty decent that way. We need to get more standing training too, so you can sharpen up there. We’ll stagger things though, so we don’t overwork you?”
That got a blink from her, but a slow nod from Denny.
“That’s a good plan, actually. I’m about to go into heavy training, so won’t have much time for that. Tony is solid that way, at least enough to keep you moving between fights. At your current stage you could get fights with less than a week’s notice at times, if you can take them. Working basic skills is a great plan that way.”
Jen had been silent the whole meal, her face just kind of blank. Exhausted as well, though she’d had more sleep than Tony had gotten. That didn’t mean it was enough. She smiled at Tony then, as if it made sense for him to be in charge of anyone.
“That’s a hard turnaround, but you can do it, if you take it easy for the first week or so? Now, Thanksgiving… What are the plans for that?”
Everyone acted a bit glum on the matter, so Tony sat up a bit.
“I’ve been working on the skills to cook for it. I think I can do a turkey. Can we get one for practice first? Also, we need pies. Everything I’ve read on that says we should have at least three kinds. We can just buy them, though some say that’s cheating, so… I don’t know. It doesn’t look that hard to do, but I’ve never made one. I can manage the salad and rolls. Probably the mashed potatoes. I’ve got mad skills that way.” He didn’t really, but he could do more than just what he’d said. “I have a menu planned out. Are we doing ham as well? Some people do. We could also do tamales, but I haven’t looked that much into that, so if it’s the tradition, I need to know today.” Americans weren’t all white after all. Most of the people coming kind of were, as far as he knew.
Jen grinned at him as if he’d been being funny.
“You do know that you don’t have to become a master chef for this, right? Though, yes, we can get a practice bird for you. The tricky thing for me is always gravy…”
Ashley shook her head then, looking down at her half eaten plate of food.
“I’m going home for the day itself this year. Mom and Dad want me, since Daren isn’t going to show up and try to kill my date. Not that I have one for this, but…”
That got nods from almost everyone.
Daren had stalked her for years. Trying to kill her at one point. Then killed himself after being arrested. For stabbing Tony, as it turned out. The man had actually done it, but even the slight frame up that he’d been going for, claiming the man was going to kidnap Ash, probably hadn’t caused him to hang himself in his cell.
No, it was probably that even he had finally realized that Ashley wasn’t going to ever love him then. As if the thing where he’d tried to murder her hadn’t given him a clue years before that. It was a good thing that Ashley could go home now though, not having to hide away in a different state. Not that he wanted her to go away, even though it probably was going to happen sooner or later. For the time being she was doing well there, however. Eventually things would change.
That was the one constant in life, as far as he could tell. Everything changed, sooner or later.
Mark and Riley both had family in the area. Dani was at loose ends, but clearly didn’t expect to be given a place at anyone’s table.
Jen rolled her eyes.
“Tony, you already put Dani on the list, didn’t you?” She gave him a knowing look, as if he had magical Dani-centric super powers.
So he lied.
“Yep. What I don’t know about is you, Lexi. So I have a place marked for you already, but if you can’t come, we can reset things a bit.”
That got a grateful look that he hadn’t expected at all. It was too much really. After all, she had to know that if they were willing to invite Mark, then she was good to show up.
“Yeah? What about Steve? We… You know, kind of broke up. It’s the Gloria thing. I can’t blame him, but I don’t want him to be uncomfortable either. That whole thing just hit him out of nowhere.”
Interestingly, Rick winced then shook his head.
“That’s up in the air.” He stared at the other guys, then looked at Tony directly. “You did say that at least one of the guys would have this happen. I was hoping it wouldn’t be any of our key fighters.”
He didn’t explain at all. Denny did, since he’d been there himself.
“Steve’s ex-girlfriend came back yesterday, having just given birth. The girl is Steve’s, as far as we know.”
Mark actually pounded a fist on the table.
“Freaking hell… He does not need that now… Things are really taking off for him.”
That was true. He had a perfect record as far as fights, a good patter on television and a job doing commentary work already. He was only twenty-six. None of that had to go away, except that Gloria was demanding on his time. The kind of person that simply by living might well end up being a constant drag on anyone she was near. How that was going to play out, no one knew at all.
Anthony shrugged then.
“So, everyone gets the message, right? Safe sex and make sure you have control over it. If you think having a woman get pregnant on you would mess things up… I can’t even imagine what having a baby would do to any of your careers right now.” He glanced at the different women at the table, including Jen in it. She was too young for Rick really, though they seemed pretty happy. Kids could eventually be coming from that direction, but it really would end her fighting career when it happened.
Dani at least nodded back. It was kind of telling. Jen just smiled and looked away, which was more data than he’d had on that issue moments before.
“Darned straight. We need to keep on top of that.”
Everyone picked at their plates for a while, since the news was kind of dark. That was always the way, when a baby was in the works, as far as Tony knew. Finally, and a little surprisingly, Riley changed that topic.
“So, Nick and Raul are getting married next month? Is that going to be on television? Otherwise I doubt that I rate an invitation, so won’t get to see it.” He grinned about it, but Tony bobbed his head around for a bit, thinking.
“If you’re willing to work, I bet we can get you in. That’s how I’m doing it. There will be chairs to set up and take down, things like that. Decorating. You secretly love playing with flowers, right?”
Laughing, the middleweight boxer seemed pleased with the idea.
“I can’t claim any skill there, but I can help. That sounds about right. We need to back our guys up, if we can. Even if they are a little gay. I mean, getting married? Man…”
It took a second to parse the meaning on all of that. It was layered, si
nce gay in this case wasn’t being used to mean homosexual, even though it could also work that way. More, the man had done it on purpose which was a little more intelligent that he normally seemed.
“Right. So, we’ll get you on the list that way. Anyone else that wants to help, get with me and we’ll set things up. If no one does…” He shrugged, then took the last bite of his beef strip. “In that case then I’ll volunteer you anyway. We’re on a time schedule here. Anyone not prepping for a fight should be stepping forward about now…”
That meant Lexi, Jen and Rick at the table. Tony as well, of course. Not that they weren’t busy people, but no one ran away screaming, so it was a good sign that way. Really, there were other people to get with as well. Other fighters, trainers and even just a few of the people that worked out there. Raul knew everyone after all. All the grapplers would want to help out, he bet.
Or, to be more exact, most of them probably wouldn’t, but they could be guilted into doing things, which was nearly the same as far as unskilled labor went.
When everyone stood up, being done, he waved at Lexi.
“Meet here at five? I’ll make dinner tonight.” The grappling team wouldn’t be in, but she needed to be distracted. It was probably a bit too assertive sounding, which he didn’t realize until Jen looked away, smiling as if he were planning to get the hot blonde girl into bed on the rebound. Honestly, that was temping, except for the chance that it would ruin her now promising fighting career.
Still, she smiled hugely.
“Sure. We can go over the menu for Thanksgiving?”
He agreed to that plan, since it needed to be done with someone that had attended such a meal before. He’d read up on it, but that wasn’t the same as having done it. Rick seemed amused by the whole thing, at first. Until he slapped Tony on the shoulder, as soon as everyone else had left the room. They were both walking toward the office.
“So, plans for today? Until you go off to seduce one of my fighters, I mean?” He did not seem approving of that part.
Tony shook his head.
“Keeping her busy is all. This sucks all the way around. I was the one that suggested to Steve that he meet with her in the first place, so… Yeah. That went well. As for plans… Calling bakeries? They should be open today. I need to find one for a cake tasting thing. First, I need to find out what kind of schedule Raul and Nick have. Who’s doing the venue for it? For that matter, what kind of budget do we have?”
His uncle looked baffled then, going wide eyed at the idea.
“I don’t know? I’m not really a pro at this kind of thing. We can get a cake though, so that’s all right. Other than that…”
Tony knew the feeling well enough. The trick to new things was almost always in finding out what was needed, then just doing it. That might come across as bossy, but if no one did it at all, then nothing would get done. That reminded him to get back in touch with Sandy.
Otherwise she might not think he meant it.
Rick patted him on the shoulder then walked away before he could be hit with more questions about things he didn’t really care about. The man wasn’t being mean, but the whole idea of two men getting married clearly left him feeling uncomfortable. It was the gay part of it, too. Not just the one where marriage almost never worked. There was a green card on the line though, so the guys had to hurry a bit. Plus, they really wanted to be married. As hard as that was to understand.
Camping out in Rick’s office, he called the bakeries first, finding three that were willing to set up meetings with them. All of them were fine with it being a wedding cake for two men as well. He asked, since they didn’t need that kind of controversy, since two high profile men getting married was enough to get in the news without it.
That meant he had to call Nick and Raul to set up a time for each of the tastings. Two of the bakeries were fine doing it the next day, the last one being willing for Tuesday at one. Then he called Sandy, who seemed happy to hear from him again.
“There you are. I was going to call last night, but Uncle Bill had to send things up the line, to get checked out. We haven’t heard back yet. If they don’t want to do it, he has some other industry contacts, so that will still get you coverage. We could probably have five teams there, if you want. Even on short notice.” There was a soft laugh then, which sounded like bells. “That’s me taking you to task for not starting sooner. I get it, you were training and it isn’t your wedding, but still…”
That got him to laugh back.
“I know. I just got with the cake people. We don’t have a place for it yet at all. I need to research that kind of thing next. On the good side, it’s in mid-December. That means the wedding locations won’t be solidly booked up. Trying to do it in June would be impossible.” Stopping, Tony felt a smile come to his face. “Before you get too impressed with my insane wedding planning skills, I’ve been looking all of this stuff up. The rules for football, too. I don’t really understand it yet, but I guess that we will be watching the big game on Thanksgiving. Oh! Do you want to come down for that?” He figured that she’d be with her parents, but asking wouldn’t hurt anything.
She chuckled happily.
“Heh. I can’t, having to stay home, or else. Thanks. I mean that. You’re a great guy, you know that?”
It probably wasn’t true, but going into how he was just pretending to be one wasn’t going to help anything.
“You’re pretty great, too. So, you get me, don’t get another date for the wedding or anything, right?”
“Okay. That… I’ve never gone to a wedding with anyone before. Do you think I can catch the bouquet?”
“Nope. They aren’t having one. It will just be slave rings being exchanged and manly suits. There will be flowers, but I think we’re skipping that tradition. It would just look wrong.” Besides, getting Nick a dress that fit would be hard to manage. He was just too boxy shaped. Raul would be easier, but not much. They both lacked the hips for that kind of thing.
Tony tilted his head then.
“I have heard that several fighters are being invited. Even Fox Rends. Really, I should get with her and ask about that, so she knows that it’s a real thing. Everyone is good with it, as mind boggling as that is. Oh, um, Raul suggested that you and Joey the commenter guy, do that part? That way he can cover any fights that break out. There better not be any, but that means you’ll need to be up to date on the fashion stuff. That and cakes. I can get that part for you. I’m sneaking into the cake tasting’s, after all. Well, I should try. I might not make it.”
If only to take notes. The next big thing was a place for the whole thing and a florist. Then… Probably suit rentals. Maybe a limo to take them on their honeymoon.
“How do we plan a honeymoon? Or even a vacation?”
There was silence for a moment, then the girl on the other end of the line let out a sigh. “Well, for us, I think we’d need an adult to get the reservations. Where do you want to go?”
Instead of seeing it as a trap, he just nodded.
“The coast? I love the ocean, but haven’t been a lot.”
He meant for them, which would be a vacation not a honeymoon.
“That sounds great. Thanks for asking me. As for the two getting married… Um, ask them? They might have a favorite place or both like the mountains or something. Also, do you need male strippers for the stag party? That… I actually want to know on that one. We can use it for background data if nothing else. Plus, you get me, naked hunks…”
Which did nothing for him, but was kind of a tradition, he thought.
“There is a lot to get to. Good point. Let me… Can I get back to you on all of this? We can go to the beach in June?”
That sounded like fun, anyway.
“If I’m alive. I should be, by the way. My last set of pictures, MRI, those looked decent. Better actually, which could be the angle, but I’m holding out some false hope, you know? I can go my whole life without dying, if it’s all the same.”
&n
bsp; “Also a good point. Fingers crossed? That would be much better, if things looked more positive like that?” Tony liked the sound of it, even though he understood that one set of pictures like that didn’t mean she was well again. It would be nice if that were the case however.
Just not a thing to count on yet.
“Yeah. I think so at least. So, wedding thing first, then the beach, later? My birthday is in June, so we can go for that. Not that my parents will be thrilled on that score. Then again, the whole dying thing means I don’t have a lot of time to do that kind of stuff, which should get them to lighten up a bit.”
“Sounds like we have a plan then. I’ll call you back… Probably tomorrow? Keep me in the loop as far as the television things? It might have bearing on the location we get. That kind of stuff.”
“Got it! Talk to you soon. I need to go now, or my mom is going to ask why I’m talking to boys on the phone. Making plans to run off on a sexy beach vacation…” That got a negative, but playful sounding response from a woman in the background.
“Later then! Soon.”
He hung up, since it was clear that there were family type things going on in the background. The real kind. Not like his wonderful home life. Though, to be fair, Rick and Jen were good that way. Even his Grandmother, Samantha, had seemed all right. It was just his horrible mom that was a big problem for him.
Now that he thought about it however, Deidre hadn’t ruined Adam’s life by plopping him out on the man’s doorstep like Gloria was doing at the moment to Steve. That was a totally different thing, but one that got him to think for a bit. There was a bit of cross over between the two situations.
Shaking himself, Tony made a point of looking up good places to hold a wedding and reception in the area. Then he tried to call for those, but had to leave messages at several of them. After that, Tony sat there for a bit, wondering what he was missing. The wedding stuff was being handled well enough, he figured. For the time being. After that…
Well, he didn’t know.
Having thought about Adam Forsythe not long before, he wondered if he was supposed to be keeping in touch with the man at all. He hadn’t done that in the last three months. Then, Adam hadn’t gotten in touch either. That was a thing that he’d taken as a sign that they weren’t going to have a close relationship. Which, now that he thought about it, could have been him just taking the easy way out. Adam had been talking to Rick though, clearly. After all, the man was planning to come for the holiday.