April 2008

"Which one would you have chosen: Noah or Lon?" Emmett asked while wiping his eyes as the credits rolled on The Notebook.

"Ooh, that's a tough one," Daphne said, sniffling. "Noah was Allie's true love, but Lon was rich, gorgeous, and seemed to love her."

"Ryan Gosling and James Marsden are both yummy."

Daphne thought about it while Emmett finished painting her toenails.

"I would have married Noah, too," she finally said.

Emmett nodded. "I agree. True love is more important than money. That Curtis of yours looks a lot like Ryan Gosling."

"Yeah, but student loans are going to leave him in debt for decades. If I marry him, it won't be for his money."

Daphne and Emmett were having one of their "Girl's Night" sleepovers at Daphne's apartment while Curtis was busy studying for an exam. After Justin had left Pittsburgh to move to New York City, Daphne had taken a part-time job with Emmett's party planning business as a server while earning her bachelor's degree, resulting in the two of them becoming good friends. Justin had recently returned to Pittsburgh and had an open invitation to their slumber parties, but he had "plans" with Brian on that particular evening.

"Of course, our little Sunshine gets to have it all: Brian is absolutely gorgeous, filthy rich, and loves Justin more than anything else in the world. It only took three years apart, a homewrecking weasel, and an eavesdropping fairy godmother for them to realize what they have. They've been happier than pigs in shit since Justin's been home and have barely left the bedroom."

"I know, that lucky little bitch," Daphne mumbled. "If I didn't love him so much, I'd hate his guts. Speaking of love, how's your love life going?"

Emmett cringed. "What love life? Why do you think I'm here with you and not at home with my legs in the air?"

"What happened to that one foreign guy you were seeing... Pedro, Paulo...?"

"Pierre?" Emmett waved his hand. "That's been over for ages... at least a week or two. He barely spoke English and was lousy in the sack. I'm sure there's been a Pedro or a Paulo sometime before, too."

Daphne snorted a laugh. "You go through lovers like most of us go through tissues."

"Well, that's the problem - every guy I meet is as disposable as a tissue. They're all either no good in bed, too dumb, drug addicts, bigger bottoms than I am, or broke as fuck. Or, even worse, they're too young for me. All the good men are either straight or taken."

Daphne picked up that month's issue of Cosmopolitan and looked at the model featured in the Brown Athletics advertisement on the back of the magazine, whom Emmett was very familiar with.

"You know, you did have a good man at one time... sexy, rich, nice, smart, a ten-inch cock, and awesome in bed, if I recall your extremely detailed stories."

Emmett glanced at the picture of the man in question. "Oh... yeah, him."

"Yeah, him," Daphne repeated in a husky voice. "Didn't he just sign with the Patriots?"

"How would I know? I don't keep up with sports," Emmett answered nonchalantly.

"Oh, bullshit. You can't tell me that you haven't stalked your ‘Drewsie' and his career since you guys split."

Emmett sighed, knowing that Daphne could see right through him. "It's only a one year contract as backup quarterback. This next season might be his last, due to his bad left ankle."

"Uh-huh," Daphne said with a shit-eating grin. "I wonder if he's seeing anyone or if he goes through them like tissues, too. I'm sure he has to beat the boys off with a stick. That is a beautiful man right there."

Emmett did not want to think about the one man he never got over being with other men, although the reason he broke up with Drew Boyd was so he could spread his wings and experience life as an out and proud gay man, which did not include being in a committed relationship.

"You still love him, don't you?" Daphne asked Emmett.

He began shuffling through the DVDs he had brought with him that evening to distract himself from thoughts of a certain sexy football player. "So, what do you want to watch next? We have Hairspray, P.S. I Love You, and The Nanny Diaries."

Daphne could see that talking about Drew was upsetting her friend, so she humored him. "Hairspray. That Zac Efron is growing up to be a hot little number. James Marsden is in it, too."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "You can have that infant and I'll take Mr. Marsden, thank you."

***************

The next day, Daphne called Justin and asked him to meet her at a coffee shop near the University of Pittsburgh campus so she could see him before her morning classes started.

"Hey Daph, what's up?" Justin asked when he found his best friend waiting for him, having already gotten coffee and pastries for them.

"Wow, I'm surprised I was actually able to tear you away from your beloved long enough for you to have breakfast," Daphne cracked.

"Brian does have a company to run, you know. I'm joining him there later to help out with a campaign."

"We need to do something to help Emmett," Daphne informed him. "He needs to get back together with Drew, stat. He is so lonely and I know that he still loves him. I mean, he was eating vanilla pudding and maple syrup last night."

"Oh shit," Justin said, knowing how serious that was.

"Out of everyone in the whole world, Emmett deserves to be happy with the man he loves."

Justin nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that he seemed out of sorts at Babylon last weekend. Disinterested, bored. I don't think he even got laid that night. It's going to be tough getting them together, since Drew doesn't play football here anymore."

As the friends chatted about what they could do for the fabulous queen who would do anything for his friends, a beautiful blonde woman walked up to their table.

"Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. Are you two talking about Drew Boyd and Emmett Honeycutt?"  

Daphne, never one to hold her tongue asked, "Who are you and why do you want to know?"

"I'm sorry, my name is Sierra Campbell and I was briefly married to Drew Boyd before he came out."

"Emmett is one of our best friends. I'm Daphne and this is Justin."

"It's nice to meet you both. After I got over the initial shock and heartbreak of finding out the truth, I realized that Drew needed to live his life. In fact, Emmett catered our engagement party and had started to plan our wedding before he quit, because I later found out he and Drew were having an affair. I know that they dated for a little bit and of course everyone saw them kiss on TV when Drew came out publically. Drew and I are still good friends, and I ended up marrying one of his teammates last year with his blessing."

"Is Drew currently seeing anyone?" Daphne asked.

"No, he hasn't had any real boyfriends since Emmett. He knows that Emmett was trying to help him by getting him to explore his newfound sexuality, but Drew told me before that he shouldn't have allowed Emmett to let him go so easily. I want Drew to be happy, and he and Emmett seemed to be a great fit. Drew really loved him and I'm sure he misses him, and I'd love to help you guys get the two of them back together." 

Daphne pushed out a chair with her foot. "Sit, please. We need an idea of how to get them somewhere together."

Suddenly, Sierra's eyes got really wide. "Does Emmett still plan parties for a living?"

Justin piped up, "Yes, his company is doing great, planning and catering all sorts of events. Why?"

"I'm planning to throw a retirement party for my husband next month. Drew already said that he'll be there."

"Doesn't Drew live in Boston, now that he plays for the Patriots?" Justin asked.

"Training camp doesn't start until July and he isn't moving to Boston permanently, since this may be his final season in the pros. He's in Pittsburgh now and plans to keep his home here, since his family lives here in town. I first thought about handling all of the food and drinks for the party by myself, but the guest list is getting a bit out of hand. I'd also like to have a bartender. I'll hire Emmett's company to cater the party," Sierra announced, excited that she would be able to do something to help her friend.

Sierra was very lucky that Emmett was able to squeeze in her husband's retirement party, since Emmett's Fabulous Festivities was nearly booked solid for the next several months. She had to push it back an hour, due to Emmett catering a large fundraiser earlier in the day.

Emmett had gotten curious about who would or wouldn't be at the party while on the phone with Sierra, specifically one person. "Um... will Drew Boyd be there?"

"Oh, probably not," Sierra said, blatantly lying. "Now that he's been picked up by the Patriots, he's busy finding a place in Boston and rehabbing his ankle."

Emmett arrived at Jeff and Sierra Campbell's mansion in the ultra-affluent Bradford Woods suburb about two hours before the party was to begin. He preferred to do his events with a minimum of two people handling food prep, two servers, and one bartender, adding more employees depending on the number of party attendees. Sierra had estimated that there would be about one hundred people at the party, including several football players with big appetites. Emmett decided to employ three cooks, four servers, and two bartenders that evening. There would be a variety of fancy hors d'oeuvres for the partygoers to enjoy along with an open bar.

With an hour left before the party was to begin, Emmett noticed that two of his servers had not yet arrived at the house as they were supposed to. He checked his phone and found that he had a voicemail from one of the servers claiming that she was unable to find a babysitter that evening. The second missing server called soon after, saying that he had a migraine and couldn't get out of bed.

"Okay, well you just rest up and get better," Emmett said into the phone, trying to keep his voice calm despite how much he was starting to freak out.

He hung up his phone a few moments later and yelled, "Fuck me, what am I going to do? I can't do a party of this size with only two servers!"

Sierra walked into the kitchen and noticed Emmett's frustration.

"What's wrong?" she asked, although she knew exactly what was going on and was glad to see that the first phase of the plan was going well.

Emmett bit his lip. "I'm afraid that I'm down two servers this evening. All of my other employees are still at the venue downtown where we had a big party earlier, cleaning up. I don't know if they'll make it here in time or if any of them will want to pull a double shift."

"Oh no," Sierra said, feigning concern. "There's no one else you know that can pitch in at the last minute?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Well, I have a friend who used to serve for me, but I don't know if she'll be able do it. She's in medical school and might be too busy with homework. She still helps me from time to time when she's free."

"Why don't you try to call her?" Sierra suggested.

Emmett did as his client said and called Daphne, who picked up on the first ring.

"Hey Emmett," Daphne answered as casually as she could manage, having been waiting for his call for the past hour.

"Hi Sweetie... um, I hate to ask you this, but do you think you can help me out at an event tonight? I had two servers punk out on me and-"

"Sure!" Daphne said. "Luckily, I'm all caught up with homework."

Emmett put his hand over his heart in relief. "Oh, thank you so much. I hate to do this on short notice, but the party starts at eight - it's a retirement party for Jeff Campbell with the Ironmen. Even with your help, we're still going to be cutting it close with only three servers for one hundred guests."

"Actually, I'm sitting here with Justin at my place..." Daphne said before asking Justin if he'd be willing to pitch in. Her fellow schemer happily agreed to help.

"Congratulations Em, you've just picked up two capable servers," Daphne said. "Just tell us where to go and we'll be right there."

Daphne and Justin showed up at the house fifteen minutes later, both in white button-up shirts and black pants that they had already been wearing when Emmett called.

Sierra became worried that Drew would notice Emmett's big pink catering van parked in the driveway out front and leave before coming in, so she offered to move it toward the back of her property, claiming that she wanted to have more parking available for her guests. Emmett, distracted by his preparations, handed over his keys without question.

The guests started trickling in soon after and Emmett had his four servers begin to circulate among them with food and drinks.

Drew arrived at the party around eight-thirty. Justin noticed him standing in the living room and brought a tray with plastic cups of Bud Light and fruit punch over to him.

"Hey Drew, it's nice to see you again," Justin said to the hunky football star. "Drink?"

Drew smiled at him and happily took a beer. "Thanks. You're Kinney's boyfriend... Justin, right?"

"Yes," he confirmed, glad that he remembered him. "How've you been?"

"Good, good," Drew said, not seeming to really mean it as he stared into his cup. "So, you've moved on from serving at the Liberty Diner to serving for a catering company?"

Justin was surprised that Drew recalled his previous occupation from so many years before, figuring that Emmett must have told him all about his friends and their lives.

"Oh, I'm sort of in between jobs now. I'm going back to school in the fall and plan to work with Brian in Kinnetik's art department after I get my degree. I'm just helping Emmett tonight, since-"

"Emmett?" Drew asked, suddenly looking around the room. "He's throwing this party?"

"Uh, yeah," Justin flippantly stated before walking away to continue serving the drinks.

Meanwhile, Daphne was in the Campbell's massive kitchen with Emmett, where she was exchanging her empty food tray for a new one.

"There are lots of people out there," she said to her friend. "Lots of hot, hunky football players. If only I were single... How about you grab a tray and help us serve?"

Emmett raised an eyebrow at the beautiful young lady, wondering if he needed to remind her who the boss was. He could see that Daphne seemed to be a bit frazzled, most likely out of practice from not working at his events very often, so he took a tray of finger sandwiches and walked out into the living room behind her.

Daphne soon saw Drew talking with a few of his old teammates in the living room, so she went to another part of the house so that Emmett would hopefully go into the living room where there was less serving coverage at the moment. Justin was hiding behind some big football players, peeking around them at where Emmett was walking.

The next phase of the reunification plan began when Emmett and Drew finally locked eyes with each other. Drew of course was not surprised to see Emmett there, but Emmett was shocked and nearly dropped his serving tray.

Drew excused himself from his friends to walk over to Emmett.

"Hey stranger," he said to his former lover, whom he hadn't seen or spoken to in three long years.

Emmett couldn't speak for several seconds. "Um, hey Drew. I didn't think you'd be here tonight."

"Jeff and I have been friends for years. I wouldn't have missed this for anything."

Emmett slowly nodded before he remembered that he was there in a professional capacity.

"Finger sandwich?" he asked, awkwardly holding out his tray. "We have turkey and brie, chicken salad with almonds, or roast beef and swiss."

Drew just smiled at him before openly checking him out head-to-toe. "You look really good, Em."

Emmett returned his smile and giggled a bit. "You do too, Drewsie... uh, Drew. Really, really good."

The head coach of the Ironmen called for a toast, ending the beautiful moment as everyone crowded into the living room. Many of Jeff's teammates and friends said a few words about the recently-retired linebacker's career, including Drew. Once the last person had spoken, Jeff and Sierra thanked their guests for coming.

"And..." Sierra added with a big smile, "we're pregnant!"  

The room erupted in cheers, with everyone raising their glasses to toast the happy couple.

Later on after most of the guests had left, Emmett noticed that Drew was still hanging around and figured that he was just waiting to say goodbye to Jeff and Sierra. Emmett walked into the pantry to put away some of Sierra's fancy dishes that she had wanted to use that evening when he heard the door shut.

Turning around, he saw Drew standing there smiling at him. Wondering what was going on, Emmett smiled back warily.

Walking up to Emmett, Drew took the confused queen's face in his hands. "I've missed you... a lot. If you're free after this, I'd really like to go somewhere and have a drink."

Emmett, whose heart was pounding so loud that he thought it might just burst out of his chest, could only nod. He remembered the last conversation he had with Drew, where he told him that they could have a drink once Drew turned twenty-one, the sign that the newly-out man was ready for a real relationship.

Walking out of the pantry, they saw Justin and Daphne smiling conspiratorially.

Justin smirked and said, "We can take care of everything from here Em, if you need to go. I have the keys to the van and I can drop it off at your office."

Emmett started to protest, but Drew grabbed his hand.

"Thanks, guys. See you later," he called out as he dragged the blue-eyed queen behind him out to his new black Range Rover parked down the street.

Justin, Daphne, Sierra, and Jeff were all very pleased to see their friends leaving together. Justin and Daphne gave each other high fives, thrilled that their plan had worked so perfectly.

Drew drove himself and Emmett to his house. After going inside and sitting on the couch, he told the still-quiet man, "I think we needed somewhere private to talk. I have a lot I need to say to you and I don't want any interruptions."  

Finally, Emmett found his voice. "Before you start, I just want you to know that I didn't plan for this and I really had no idea that you would be at the party tonight. If you're upset that I was there, I'm sorry. I wouldn't have taken the job if I thought you'd be coming. Something tells me that Justin and Daphne set this whole thing up, and Sierra may have had a hand in it, too. I wouldn't be surprised if they paid off my two servers who called out."

"Emmett, I'm thrilled that you were there tonight, and if any of our friends planned for this to happen, we owe them a huge thank you. I've been trying to find a way to run into you for the longest time, because I've missed you so much. I wanted to call, but I was too chickenshit, afraid that you'd turn me down or would be taken. You're not taken, are you?"

Emmett shook his head. "Single as a slice of American cheese."

Relieved, Drew continued. "Trust me, I've sewed all of my gay oats over these past few years. I know that you were trying to do what was best for me by letting me go, but I also know that you're the only man that I've ever really wanted to be with and loved. I never stopped loving you and I hope that you feel the same way."

Emmett had tears pouring down his cheeks. "Oh Drewsie, I love you, too."

The kiss that followed could have rivaled one of Brian and Justin's for the heat and sparks. Parting, they stared into each other's eyes as their clothes started flying off. Both desperate to be physically connected again and not wanting to take the time to go upstairs to the bedroom, the men got comfortable on the soft rug, exactly where they first had sex, which now seemed like a lifetime ago.

Emmett, always careful and prepared, grabbed the condom and lube that he carried in his satchel and handed them to the man that he knew in his heart he belonged with. Drew took the supplies and leaned down to continue kissing his man as he prepared him, wanting to make what would hopefully be their "final first time" something that they would both remember fondly. Emmett, who was not normally very vocal during sex unless it was especially good, was moaning and keening like a bitch in heat, so happy to be back with the man that he loved.

Drew was also much more vocal and romantic than usual, kissing and leaving hickeys all over Emmett's chest, causing him to arch his back and beg for his man's huge hard cock inside him. He wrapped Emmett's long legs around his back and slowly entered the man that had stolen his heart. Drew rarely ever fucked men face-to-face, but Emmett wasn't just any man. He wanted to see Emmett's handsome face as they reaquainted themselves with each other.

They both tried to keep things slow and sensual, but this being their first time together in a very long time, it was hard not to just race for the finish. Drew remembered well just how much Emmett had enjoyed being fucked by him, slowly and thoroughly. Emmett was crying silent tears as he realized that his Drewsie was using every special move that he had showed him during their time together.

"Please don't ever leave me again," Emmett panted.

"I dare you to try to get rid of me again," Drew answered.  

Finally, neither man could hold back any longer and they came together, screaming in ecstasy. After separating and getting their heart rates back to normal, the reunited lovers made their way up to the bedroom to continue their reunion into the early morning before finally falling asleep in each other's arms.

***************

Brian was getting out of the shower the following morning when he noticed that Justin was up and making a call on the cordless phone. The blond was naked and sitting on the couch, his hair tousled. Justin normally didn't get out of bed until he absolutely had to, so Brian listened from the bedroom to makes sure everything was alright.

"Hey Em, I didn't know if you'd be awake or not. I planned to just leave you a voice mail. I wanted to let you know I left the van at your catering office and gave your keys to Darren. How are you?" Brian heard Justin ask nervously.

Brian wondered why Justin would have been driving Emmett's catering van, so he continued to eavesdrop.

"Uh huh.... Yeah, you caught us..." Justin chuckled. "Well, that's great, Em. I'm glad everything worked out for you guys. I'll let Daphne know... You're very welcome, I did owe you after what you did for me and Brian... Okay, I'll talk to you later, bye."

Justin returned the phone to the charging dock on Brian's desk and turned to find Brian watching him with a curious look on his face.

"Uh...  hey Brian, I thought you'd still be in the shower," Justin said his partner, looking slightly guilty.

"And I thought you'd still be asleep, Sunshine. So, what's up? It's kind of early for you to be making phone calls, isn't it?" Brian asked, wondering what sneaky twink was up to.

"Yeah, well I was just letting Emmett know where I put his catering van," Justin said as he tried to get around Brian and head back to bed.

"Not so fast, Sunshine," Brian said, holding Justin's arms. "Why would you have been driving Emmett's van in the first place?"

"Um... he was shorthanded at a party last night, so Daph and I pitched in."

"Out of the kindness of your hearts?" Brian asked.

Justin shrugged and looked down at his bare feet. "There wasn't anything interesting on TV, so..."

Brian grabbed Justin's chin and forced him to look at him. "I smell bullshit. Spill."

With a loud exaggerated sigh, Justin confessed what he, Daphne, and Sierra had done to get Emmett and Drew back together. Brian listened intently, nodding and biting his lips to keep from smiling. He had also hoped that Emmett and Drew would get back together someday, but he wasn't going to interfere. He had asked his partner to stay out of it, too.

"... and the best part is, it worked! They're back together now, isn't that great?" Justin concluded, looking rather smug.

"Justin, didn't we agree that we were going to let nature take its course?"

"Yes, but we did owe Emmett for how he helped us get back together," Justin pointed out. "If it wasn't for him, I'd probably still be in New York. We may have even broken up, for good this time, if you-know-who's plan had been successful."

Brian knew that he was probably right, but he wasn't going to admit it. "Maybe you need to be punished for not listening to me, little boy."

"Yeah, I probably do deserve to be punished for disobeying you, Master," Justin said in a sensual tone, licking his lips.

"Bedroom, now," Brian ordered before opening their toy drawer and selecting a riding crop.

Brian was very late for work that day.

February 2009

"... and that is why today, I am formally announcing my retirement from football," Drew told the world at the press conference he called in the auditorium of the University of Pittsburgh, where he had been a Heisman Trophy finalist and the Panther's record holder for Most Yards Passing, among many other accomplishments as a college player.

Drew added, "You folks haven't heard the last of me, however. I'm very proud to announce that starting this fall season, I will be joining the broadcast team for the Panther's home games on their radio station."

There were some cheers and applause from the audience.

"I would like to thank all of my amazing fans, those in the media who have said kind words about me no matter what was going on in my personal life, all of my coaches and teammates I've gotten to work with over the years, and my agent. But most of all, I must thank my family, my friends, and my wonderful partner Emmett Honeycutt for their love and support."

Emmett, who was sitting in the front row and crying tears of joy, blew his man a kiss.

Drew left the stage soon after and spent some time shaking hands and posing for pictures. Later on, there was a gathering at Woody's to celebrate Drew's career and his new job. A recording of Drew's speech was playing on the TV over the bar.

"Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life, Mr. Boyd," Brian said to Drew, raising his glass to him.

"Besides the game commentary, what else are you planning to do with your time?" Justin asked.

Drew shrugged. "I have a few ideas."

"Do a few of those ideas involve you, Emmett, and an industrial-sized bottle of lube?" Daphne asked, winking.

Everyone laughed, with Emmett blushing.

"Maybe," Drew admitted with a big smile.

Later that night while relaxing after two rounds of sex, Drew brought up something that had been on his mind for a few months. "What do you think of maybe having a kid together?"

Emmett, who had been resting his head on his lover's heart sat up quickly. "You want to have a baby with me?"

"Well, not by ourselves - that would be a little bit impossible."

"Yeah and I wouldn't want to lose my figure," Emmett joked.

"I was thinking more of adopting. There are so many unwanted kids in this world and I think that we could do a great job of raising one or two. Now that I'm retired, I won't be traveling anymore, and we have lots of money and this big house. How about we have some kids to keep us young?"

"I think I love you more than ever and would love to raise a family with you," Emmett gushed.

Drew continued, hoping that Emmett would like his ideas. "What do you think of adopting from a foreign country? I hear that it takes a long time to get a baby in the US. I've been doing some reading online, and because we're not legally married, only one of us could adopt as a single person before the other could later petition for second-parent adoption. It might be better if you applied to adopt, since I've been a public figure. I'd hate for the media to find out about it before we even bring a baby back home."

"Where were you wanting to adopt from? I imagine that you have some ideas, since it seems like you've been thinking about this for a while."

"I was thinking of going to Pakistan. I was flipping through the channels one day and found a documentary about an orphanage there. It's just so sad how parents dump their unwanted babies like they're getting rid of the trash," Drew answered, tears in his eyes as he remembered how he felt while watching the program. "Luckily, they don't have any laws in Pakistan about adoption, so the fact you're an unmarried American won't hurt your chances of getting a baby from there. If I go with you, we would have to keep the fact that we're a couple a secret, since homosexuality is illegal there."

Emmett cupped his lover's face in his hands and kissed him softly. "How soon can we get this started? I want our child now."

The couple met with an adoption lawyer a few days later, who referred them to their state's adoption network. Emmett applied to become an adoptive parent, which included a visit to his doctor to prove that he was healthy, filling out a very lengthy and rather intrusive questionnaire about his life and background, providing a few years worth of tax returns, and giving a list of references. He was never so happy for having a large group of friends, and Debbie, Ted, Brian, Justin, and Daphne were all willing to vouch for him. He and Drew would each have criminal records checks, since they both lived in the home where the child would live.

Emmett had learned that Pakistan did not have adoption agencies, so adoptions were handled through the court system. Orphaned babies and children were not always pre-matched with their adopting families, especially newborns. They would simply go to an orphanage and choose a baby on the spot. While speaking about it one evening, Emmett and Drew agreed that it felt as if they were adopting a puppy from the pound, since they probably wouldn't even see a picture of their baby before taking it with them.

Emmett's adoption application would only be approved pending the success of a home study, which first required him to spend a couple of months taking parenting classes and attending interviews with a social worker in an office downtown. He was told that a social worker could show up at his home any time without notice, which may require him to rush home in the middle of one of his catering functions.

Drew's comment to Emmett when he heard this was, "Well, I guess we can't fuck anywhere we want or walk around the house naked anymore."

Emmett smiled and shook his head at his partner. "Nope, especially not after we have a baby in the house."

***************

Emmett spent the following week cleaning the house as if it had been a bloody crime scene, despite both men being fairly neat and having twice-weekly housekeeping. He made sure that the fire extinguisher in the kitchen was in working order and that the batteries in all of the smoke detectors were good. He also made sure that there was no expired food in the kitchen and no medications in plain site.

Emmett and Drew were cleaning up after dinner one evening when a social worker rang the doorbell.

"Good evening, I'm Beena Ahmad from the adoption network," the short, beautiful woman said.

Emmett stuck his hand out to her. "Hi, I'm Emmett Honeycutt and this is my... um..."

"Drew Boyd," the strapping man behind him filled in.

Beena warmly shook Drew's hand. "Of course, you're Drew Boyd! I'm a big fan of yours, even if you did play for the Pats last season."

All three of them laughed, with the men relieved that the social worker seemed nice so far.

"I'll need to take a look around your home and then ask you some questions," Beena said. "Please, pretend like I'm not here."

Despite Beena's request, Emmett and Drew couldn't help but nervously sit on the couch as the social worker poked through their property for nearly an hour. When she was finished inspecting the house, they all sat down at the dining room table for the interview.

"I was told that you are intending to adopt a child from Pakistan," Beena began.

"Yes, I do want to adopt from there," Emmett confirmed.

"Well, I'm actually Pakistani, so I'm very happy to hear that. There are so many orphaned children there, it breaks my heart. Although you've filed as single, Mr. Honeycutt, I see that you and Mr. Boyd are a couple who share this home."

Emmett swallowed hard. "If it were legal for us to get married here, we would. Is there going to be a problem with that, since we're an unmarried gay couple and Pakistan is such a heavily-Muslim country?"

"From me, not at all. You seem to be a very loving couple and any child you adopt will be very blessed to live here with the two of you. I would like to offer you some advice: if you are approved to adopt and go to Pakistan together to find a baby, it needs to be just as friendly companions. You would have to be very discreet, because anything else would not be safe. Homosexuality isn't punishable by death in Pakistan, but gays do get murdered there by people who do not approve of their lifestyles, unfortunately. Homosexual acts are illegal. Also, you will each want to get vaccinated against the many diseases that are prevalent in the region several weeks prior to leaving. It usually takes around four to six weeks after the home study to be approved by the state, so I suggest making appointments to get vaccinated soon."

"I do plan to go with Emmett to Pakistan, so thank you very much for the advice," Drew said. "The fact that we're gay is a worry of ours going over there, but we plan to be very respectful of the laws and beliefs. The last thing we want is to end up being thrown in jail or worse."

Beena asked Emmett several personal questions, many directly from his questionnaire. His nervousness had mostly disappeared until Beena blindsided him.

"An employment check on you revealed that you once worked for a ‘Jerk at Work Enterprises'. From my understanding, that was a now-defunct gay porno website."

Emmett's face fell. "Um... yes, I worked there for a few months, many years ago."

If Beena had an opinion about Emmett's employment there, it did not show on her face. "And you were actually a performer on the website, correct?"

"Yes... I um, I only started working there to help out my friend, who started the website and was at risk of losing everything if it wasn't a success," Emmett explained as he tried not to queen out and burst into tears. "You see, I was a ‘solo performer.' I never actually had sex with anyone on camera. I quit way before the site was shut down."

Beena held up her hand. "Relax, Mr. Honeycutt. I just wanted to make sure that you would be honest with me about your past employment, no matter how questionable or immoral some members of society may view it to be. You didn't do anything illegal and you have a squeaky-clean criminal record. You are now a successful business owner and have a great reputation, from what I've heard. I think we're all allowed a skeleton or two in our closets."

She asked a few more questions about Emmett's life, how he planned to raise his adopted child, and his relationship with Drew.

Beena then asked Drew, "If Mr. Honeycutt is approved to adopt a child, brings one home, and the adoption is finalized, what role do you plan on playing in that child's life?"

"I would want to also adopt the child and raise it with Emmett as my own," he answered, threading his fingers through his partner's.

"He was actually the one who first brought up adopting," Emmett explained as he looked over at Drew and smiled.

Drew added, "I've always wanted a family, to be married with a few kids. This is the perfect time, now that I've retired from football. We're still waiting for Pennsylvania to legalize same-sex marriage, but in the meantime, we want to get started on building our family."

"That's wonderful," Beena said. "If you are cleared to adopt, I have relatives over in Pakistan that may be able to help you through the process. There's a couple there that runs an orphanage and they are friends with my family. I will call my aunt and get back to you with the details, once your application is approved."

Both Emmett and Drew received immunizations against hepatitis, typhoid, diphtheria, polio, and malaria in anticipation of traveling to Pakistan. In the meantime, they went about with their normal lives, despite the stressful wait for the adoption approval. Emmett stayed busy with his catering and party planning. Since announcing his retirement, Drew had been spending a few days a week volunteering at the Vic Grassi House AIDS Hospice, keeping the patients company and helping with some simple administrative tasks. He also visited children in local hospitals through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, something had done throughout his football career. They decided not to tell anyone about their adoption plans, in case Emmett did not receive approval.

May 2009

Soon after he moved in with Drew, Emmett began a ritual of leaving Post-It notes around the house for Drew to find. He would stick them on the bathroom mirror, on the refrigerator door, or somewhere else that Drew would certainly see almost on a daily basis. The notes would contain a short poem, a lyric from a love song, or a message telling Drew how much he loved him, how wonderful the previous night had been, or how gorgeous he was. Drew loved receiving the notes, but he didn't reciprocate by responding with his own notes. They both understood that Emmett was the more romantic one between them. Drew liked to show rather than tell Emmett how he felt about him, which he did very well.

That is why Emmett was surprised to find a Post-It note with Drew's handwriting stuck to the top of the coffeemaker a few days before their first anniversary. The traditional one-year anniversary gift is paper, and Emmett figured that a rare hand-written love note from his beau sufficed.

He pulled the Post-It off of the coffeemaker and read it.

I love you more than words could ever say. I want to know how it feels to have the person that I love make love to me.

Emmett read the note a few more times, his mouth hanging open in surprise. He and Drew "made love" every night, although Emmett would never dare call it that out loud. They had been doing it raw since their six-month anniversary after each of them had received two HIV-negative test results. Drew had become a little more adventurous in bed over the past year at Emmett's urging, but he always topped. Emmett didn't mind that one bit, since it was no secret that he loved bottoming and would often beg for his very well-endowed partner to fuck him. He had no idea that Drew was even curious about bottoming or had ever considered letting Emmett top.

Drew had left earlier that morning to go the gym and later to the hospice house, so Emmett was all alone to queen out.

"Oh my God... Holy shit... Oh my God..." he chanted as he ran back upstairs to the bedroom to grab his cell phone from the nightstand. His first instinct was to call his good friend Justin, who knew a thing or two about topping a top.

The blond picked up on the third ring, sounding groggy. "Hello?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Baby, did I wake you up?" Emmett asked, glancing at his alarm clock and seeing that it was shortly after 7 AM.

Justin giggled. "Brian, stop. No, we were already awake."

Emmett couldn't help but imagine what Justin and Brian could have been doing before he called. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Who died?" he heard Brian ask in the background.

"No one... at least I don't think anyone died. Is someone dead, Em?"

"Nobody died," Emmett confirmed. "Listen, you can call me back later if..."

"No, it's fine. Brian's about to get in the shower."

"You owe me a blowjob, Sunshine!" Emmett heard Brian yell, his voice farther away.

Justin giggled again. "Yeah, yeah... What's up, Em?"

He told Justin about the note he found.

"Ooh, that's hot," was the blond's reply.

"Thank you, Paris Hilton," Emmett snarled. "What the fuck am I supposed to do? I haven't topped anyone in years. Shit, I don't even know if I was ever any good at it, the few times I've actually done it. I don't know if Drew has ever been fucked before... I really doubt it. What if I'm a terrible top? What if I hurt him and he never wants to have sex with me ever again? What if he decides that he wants to go back to women? What if...?"

"Emmett, relax," Justin ordered. "Brian needs to be at the office at eight, but I was planning to go out to Britin to do some painting. Are you free to meet me out there sometime today?"

Emmett had back-to-back client meetings that morning, but he was able to drive out to Britin later around lunch time. He bought some sandwiches and pasta salad from their favorite deli, and he and Justin sat down at the breakfast nook to eat and chat.

"You know, as many dicks as I've taken up my ass over the years, you'd think I wouldn't be afraid of putting my dick up someone else's ass," Emmett said.

Justin nearly choked on his sandwich. "There's nothing to be afraid of. It's harder to bottom than it is to top."

"See, I don't agree with that. I like to just be able to let him take care of me, not that I just lay there like a dead fish or anything. Even when it was good in the past, I never enjoyed topping as much as I do bottoming. Drew is such a beast in the sack that I can hardly imagine him with his ass in the air, asking me to stick him."

"Well Em, it seems like Drew wants you to take care of him this time," Justin reasoned. "He loves you and he trusts you."

"That's what I'm afraid of , I don't want to disappoint him. I'd hate for him to be sorry that he asked me to do this. I don't want to hurt him, especially if it will be his first time."

"It's going to hurt, no matter how gentle you are," Justin said, remembering how he had screamed the first time he and Brian fucked. "The pain is part of it, you know that."

Emmett bit his bottom lip. "But Justin, Baby, umm... Well, did you ever see, umm..."

Justin stared at him, confused, waiting for him to continue. "What, Em? What are you trying to say?"

"Uh, well... Okay, did you ever see me on Teddy's website?"

Suddenly Justin realized what Emmett was so concerned about. He indeed saw him on the website once. He had been browsing for porn on Brian's computer one day and logged into jerkatwork.net under Brian's account, not realizing that Emmett was the current attraction. He only watched for a minute, feeling weird that he was watching his friend jerk off, but he couldn't help but notice that Emmett was, well, absolutely humongous. He almost made Brian's legendary cock look average.

"Oh... yeah," Justin said, blushing and unable to look Emmett in the eye.

"It's not a big deal, a lot of people saw me. At least now you understand part of why I'm so worried." 

"What a terrible problem to have... ‘Oh, my cock is too big.' We should all be so lucky," Justin mocked.

Emmett smiled before commenting, "You know, you've got quite a bit to brag about yourself."

Justin's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "How do you know that?"

"Back before you tamed the Stud of Liberty Avenue, you developed quite the reputation. Us queens aren't exactly known for being discreet, and your name used to be mentioned often when gossiping about the biggest and best tops in town. More than one tear was shed when it became known that you and Brian decided to be monogamous, and not just over Brian being off the market. I've caught a few of your live shows in the backroom, too. If we hadn't been such good friends..."

Justin covered his beet-red face with his hands. "Oh, God."

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Honey. You were taught by the best and you were blessed with a beautiful cock. I'll never forget this one night, after you had moved to New York and I ended up having to take Brian home from the club when he was too smashed to drive. Poor guy, he was so heart-sick over his Sunshine being gone. He kept talking about how much he missed having your huge cock in his ass and how great of a top you are. I have to admit, it shocked me at first - the Stud of Liberty Avenue admitting how much he loved to be fucked. As far as anyone knew, Brian Kinney never bottomed for anyone, especially not for an adorable little twink like you."

Emmett smiled at his friend, who he feared would never be able to stop blushing.

"But, back to my problem. What am I going to do about Drewsie and not disappointing him? I'm afraid of going too slow and being so careful that he won't enjoy it. Or of doing it wrong or too quickly and hurting him"

"Have you ever rimmed him?" Justin suddenly asked.

It was now Emmett's turn to blush. "No, I've never even thought to ask. I used to do it with past lovers, but..."

"Well, you can start there. There are some nights when Brian doesn't want to bottom, but all I have to do is eat his ass for a minute or two and he begs me to fuck him like a shameless whore. Sometimes I think he says no just so I'll rim him, the sneaky little bitch. It's so unbelievably hot... I've come more than once just from listening to him moan while I'm rimming him. He'd never admit it, but I think he likes getting fucked almost as much as I do."

Emmett felt himself leaking in his pants. "Jesus. How often do you top him?"

Justin shrugged. "Probably three, four times a week. It was a lot less frequent before I came back from New York and we stopped using condoms. Don't get me wrong, I love it when he fucks me, always have. There are some nights when all I want is his cock in my ass, but I'm definitely versatile. The second guy I was ever with let me fuck him, in the museum bathroom of all places, while my mother was looking at paintings.  

"Brian let me fuck him for the first time on my eighteenth birthday, and that was only after I had asked him about a million times. He had never bottomed before, and he didn't come out and say it, but I knew he was scared. I was so excited, I almost came before I was even halfway up his ass."

"So you're the only one who's ever topped Brian, ever? He didn't even bottom when he was younger?"

"Nope, never. Just for me," the blond proudly announced.

"Damn Baby, you really are something special, being the only man to ever get inside the Stud of Liberty Avenue," Emmett said, causing Justin's cheeks to pinken again.

"I do have another suggestion, Em: have you ever used toys on Drew at all?"

"No, I've never used anything on him, other than a cock ring and handcuffs. Hell, I've never even fingered him while giving him head or during foreplay."

"You need to get him used to being filled a few times before you actually fuck him. I'm not trying to be crass here, but I don't think starting him out with a cock as girthy as a fucking beer can is the best way to introduce him to anal," Justin told the tall queen with a smile.

Emmett laughed. "Yeah, you're probably right. It's bad enough that he had to learn how to give head on my cock, poor thing. I'm the only man he's ever blown."

Their conversation was interrupted when Emmett received a Google Hangouts message from Drew on his phone.

Hello handsome. Did you see my note? <3

Emmett smiled as he typed his reply: Hello gorgeous. Yes I did. I think we need to practice before the big game :D

Drew messaged back a few moments later: I agree. When are you going to be home?

Emmett replied: One hour. I want you showered, shaved, and naked.

"I have to go, my man beckons," Emmett said as he stood up to give Justin a hug. "Thank you so much for your help, Sweetie."

"Anytime. Good luck and have fun, Stud," Justin said with a swat on Emmett's ass.

Emmett stopped by a sex shop on his way home, spending some time browsing through the vast selection of dildos and butt plugs. He was happy to find what was called an anal starter kit, which contained three differently-sized plugs. He also chose a slim dildo and a small vibrating plug for fun.

He and Drew spent the next few days practicing before leaving on a weekend trip to the Poconos. Emmett had booked a gay-friendly Bed and Breakfast in the mountains, his anniversary gift. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, but they didn't plan to spend very much time outside.

Checking in at the B&B was pretty painless until the bellboy started making eyes at Drew while showing them to their room. Drew was doing his best to ignore the guy, but finally Emmett stepped between them as they entered their room.

He glared at the pest, practically growling, "We won't be needing anything else from you." He shoved a five dollar bill into his hand and slammed the door in his face.

Emmett had ordered champagne and strawberries to be delivered later, wanting to treat his lover to a romantic time. Drew had taken very well to the practice sessions, with Emmett being very careful and gentle with him. Emmett was determined to make this weekend something they would both remember fondly.

They looked around the room and decided that there wasn't much reason to stay dressed. After drawing the drapes, Drew started to do a slow strip tease for Emmett, wanting to show him how much he was looking forward to this. Emmett sat down on the bed, smiling at his lover as he enjoyed the show. When Drew was finished, he stood there with a shy smile on his face.

"I feel like a virgin again," the brawny ex-football star confessed.

Emmett stood up and began to undress. "Well, you are, sort of... I mean, I'm assuming-"

"Of course, Em. You're the first," Drew confirmed.

Emmett smiled, now completely naked. They turned the bedcovers down, and Drew climbed onto the bed while Emmett pulled a small travel bag out of his suitcase. He got in bed and placed the bag between them, which contained a big bottle of lube and the new toys that Emmett had bought for Drew.

Emmett unzipped the bag and started rooting around, coming up with the slim dildo. Drew pulled it out of his hand and put it back in the bag.

"I just want you," he said to his lover before kissing him.

Rolling Drew onto his back, Emmett deepened the kiss, thoroughly exploring Drew's mouth with his tongue. Emmett instinctively wrapped his hand around Drew's hard cock before remembering that his wasn't the one they were going to be using this time. He moved his hand up and started playing with Drew's nipples, pinching them and then running his finger over the hard nubs. He followed his hands with his tongue, licking and nipping his way down Drew's chest.

Now at Drew's bellybutton, he licked and nipped at it, having found out when they were playing around before that it drove his man crazy. When Drew started raising his hips up, Emmett backed off.

"Turn over, Hot Stuff," he said in a raspy tone.

Drew moaned, knowing what was coming next. When Emmett had rimmed him a few days before for the first time, he had enjoyed it so much that he came twice without having his cock touched at all. Drew moved up to the top left corner of the bed, since they were both tall and he didn't want Emmett to be hanging off the edge of the mattress. Emmett climbed between Drew's legs and ran his hands over the tanned, muscular ass of the man he loved. He parted the cheeks and licked a path from behind his balls all the way to his tailbone. Drew moaned again and pulled his knees up, wanting more.

Emmett compiled and used all his expertise to relax his lover, stabbing his stiffened tongue in as far as it would go. Drew was moaning very loudly and Emmett hoped the room was sound-proofed. He also hoped that he wouldn't come like a teenager before the main event had even begun.

"Alright, practice is over, Boyd. It's time for the championship game," Emmett said as he sat back on his haunches. "Turn over, I want to see your face when I'm inside you."

Once Drew was on his back, Emmett took the lube out of the bag, warming some on his right hand. He thought about how he liked to be prepared and started slowly, using one and then two fingers. Drew seemed very relaxed, so Emmett added two more fingers and continued to stretch his lover for a few minutes, knowing that he needed to be well-prepared to take him comfortably.

When Drew seemed as ready as he could be, Emmett coated his cock with lube, his hands shaking. He placed the head of his cock at Drew's entrance.

"Are you ready?" he asked his man, who was looking back at him with pure trust in his eyes. If he was nervous, his face didn't show it.

Drew nodded. "Make love to me, Em."

Emmett inhaled sharply, telling himself not to cry. He slowly pushed into his lover, not wanting to cause him any pain, pausing every few seconds to be sure Drew was comfortable. Drew kept his breathing slow and steady, his eyes locked on Emmett's the entire time. Once he was fully imbedded in his lover, Emmett paused again to let him adjust. Drew smiled and raised his hips, silently telling Emmett to move.

Emmett pulled back slowly and pushed back in, causing Drew to make the most incredible noises Emmett had ever heard. They were soon making love as if they had been doing it like that forever, both men moaning and loving the feeling of being joined this way.

"I love you, Baby," Emmett said between breaths.

Drew answered by pulling Emmett's head down and kissing him furiously.

The pleasure soon became too much for both of them. Drew dug his nails into Emmett's back as he came, Emmett following him a moment later.

"I think I may need you to do that again, that was amazing," Drew said when his breathing returned to normal, Emmett still buried inside of him.

Emmett smiled, glowing at the praise and happy that he could make his lover feel as good as he made him feel. "I didn't hurt you?"

Drew shook his head. "It burns a little, but I like it. I should have asked you to fuck me a long time ago. I was almost afraid that you wouldn't fit."

"We fit together like a lock and a key," Emmett said.

"You're the only one with the key to my castle," Drew confirmed with a smile. "Now, fuck me again."

Emmett finally got the phone call he had been waiting for five grueling weeks after Beena's visit while catering the birthday party of Pittsburgh's oldest citizen in a nursing home. He had run over to an empty stretch of hallway to answer his cell.

"I don't usually make these calls myself, but I insisted," Beena said to him. "Congratulations Mr. Honeycutt, you have been approved by the state of Pennsylvania to receive an adopted child into your home. You'll be getting a packet including your approval certificate in the mail in the next couple of days."

"Oh my God, thank you so much," he said, tears instantly pouring out of his eyes.

"I called my aunt and uncle in Karachi, and they offered to have you and your partner stay with them. There will be no issues with you two sharing a room, as long as you respect the fact that there are five children living in their home. The adoption process could take a couple of months before you're allowed to bring your new baby back to the states, and staying with them will be much easier on the both of you and your baby rather than staying in a hotel. They were thrilled that they could help. My uncle had a brother many years ago who was murdered for being gay. I will email you their information along with the phone number for the US Embassy in Islamabad. You will need to get an attorney locally before you can begin looking for a child. Keep in mind that they are nine hours ahead of us when you call."

"Beena, you are an angel," Emmett said. "Thank you for everything."

When Drew got home from the hospice that evening, Emmett had a feast waiting.

Looking around he asked, "What's all this for, Em?"

"Well my dear, I received a very exciting phone call from Beena Ahmad today."

Drew rushed over and gathered Emmett in his arms. "You mean...?"

"I've been approved to adopt," he happily answered.

After a few minutes of hugging, kissing, and crying, Emmett said, "Beena arranged for us to stay with her aunt and uncle in Pakistan, so that we can be together except for when we're out in public."

Emmett then told his lover about the rest of his conversation with "our angel," as he had decided to call the sweet woman who was helping to make their dreams to come true.

He got up very early the next morning to call the embassy. It took him a few days, but Emmett heard back from an adoption attorney in Karachi who was willing to meet with him the following week. Emmett also contacted Beena's Aunt Mala, who was just as sweet as her niece. Mala offered to contact her friend who ran an orphanage. No one at the orphanage spoke English, so Mala got back with Emmett and let him know that once they had received all of his paperwork, he could make an appointment to choose a baby in person at the orphanage.

After making their travel arrangements, Emmett spent the next couple of days making sure that his company would survive in his absence, since he would be in Pakistan for at least three months. He had two women that worked for him as planners he trusted to keep the company afloat. He called a meeting with his employees to finally let them know that he was going to be a father, and they were all very excited for him and promised that they would work their asses off while he was gone.

The couple also finally let their family and friends know that they would be bringing a baby home in a few months. Everyone was very happy for them and supportive, even Brian who offered to take them to the airport. Debbie hosted dinner at her house the night before they were to leave for Pakistan.

***************

Three days later, Brian had a limo at their front door to pick them up. He and Justin wanted them to ride in style, since they were about to fly for ninety minutes to Boston, then ten hours to Istanbul, then another five and a half hours to Karachi. Beena's Uncle Tariq and Aunt Mala would meet them at the Karachi airport and take them to their home, where they could rest and get used to the time difference for a couple of days before meeting with Emmett's lawyer.

Once they got to their departure gate, they were called to the front of the line. Worried that something was wrong with their tickets or luggage, they were both very relieved when they were told that they had been upgraded to first-class with priority boarding.

"Not that we're ungrateful, but why are we being upgraded?" Drew asked the lady at the counter.

She gave him a smile. "Mr. Kinney insisted that you get the best seats and any other accommodations that you gentleman will need during all of your flights."

Emmett couldn't help but start to cry, so touched by Brian's gesture.

"Of course, our first leg is on Liberty Air," Emmett blubbered as they walked along the ramp that took them to the plane. "Brian is their advertising god... surprised that his face isn't plastered on the side of their planes."

When they were seated, Emmett almost moaned out loud. The first-class seats were like sitting in a cloud. Liberty Air was touted as being one of the few regional airlines in the world that had first-class seating.

Drew had picked up the envelope addressed to him that was waiting for him on his seat, finding that it was a note from Brian.

Tell Honeycutt to stop blubbering. You two need to be comfortable and rested when you get there. Have a great trip and let us know if there is ANYTHING you need while you're gone. Peace, Brian and Justin, uncles-in-waiting.

Drew handed the note to Emmett, who made a face and then tried to dry the tears that were still falling.

After the short hop to Boston, they once again had priority boarding for their international flight. The food in first-class was wonderful and Emmett ate slowly, tasting carefully as he made notes, hoping to be able to add some of the dishes to his catering menu. They watched movies and tried to relax, both feeling nervous anticipation about what would be happening in the next month and beyond.

Once the couple landed in Istanbul, both men were very careful not to touch each other as they walked to the gate for the final leg of their trip. Emmett was especially careful to turn off his flame and act as butch as possible. Sitting in coach on this plane, they were even more grateful to Brian for the upgrade on the first flight. The local airline had a much smaller plane and was definitely not made for comfort. With both of them being over six feet tall, they didn't have much leg room.

They were met in Karachi by Beena's aunt and uncle. The couple greeted the men warmly as they met them near the security area. Getting through customs and collecting their luggage was a much quicker process than it would have been if the men had gone through without the two locals accompanying them.

On the way to the house, Emmett asked about the orphanage and if they knew how they were run. Mala told them that orphanages in Pakistan were very different from the ones in America, and they were often very sad places.

"The people who run the orphanages here do the best they can, but unfortunately they don't have the resources needed and have to make due with what they can get. When you take a child from here, you are likely saving that child's life."

When they got to the house, the men were amazed by the size of it compared to the other homes in the area. Going inside, Tariq directed the men into the living room so they could talk while Mala went to check on her children.

"First, welcome to our home. We want you to know that you will be totally safe showing affection to each other and being yourselves. Everyone here, including the servants, are very open-minded. Once you are outside these walls however, you must not show any loving affection for each other. I know that Beena told you about my brother. We were very close and I loved him very much. Unfortunately, he and his lover became careless one day and were seen by some of the hateful people that seem to have nothing better to do than turn people into the authorities for things that shouldn't be controlled by laws. My brother was beaten to death in prison. Just be careful and you will be fine. Mala and I are thrilled that you are staying with us and allowing us to help you. We will try to get things with the adoption done and settled as quickly as possible. In fact, the adoption attorney called this morning. You will be meeting him at his office tomorrow morning and then you can head on to the orphanage to pick out your baby."

"Wow," Emmett said in surprise. "Our meeting with him wasn't for another couple of days. How...?"

"Along with being the owner of some restaurants and a beach resort, I am also a member of Parliament," Tariq admitted. "I have lots of friends in the city."

"Thank you for your help and opening your home to us," Drew said.

Tariq shook their hands and led them to the room they would be staying in. The "room" was actually a suite, complete with a sitting room, a huge bedroom, and a bathroom that made Brian's bathroom in his loft look like a closet. Attached to the bedroom was a small nursery completely set up, including unisex clothes for a baby.

As usual, Emmett couldn't control the waterworks.

Coming up behind the men, Mala touched Emmett's back. "I hope you two will be comfortable here for as long as you need to stay."

"Thank you so much for everything, this is amazing," Emmett said, unable to stop himself from giving Mala a hug, which she warmly accepted.

"We are happy to be able to help," Tariq said. "You two unpack and rest. Dinner will be in about three hours and you are probably tired from your trip."

Later that evening when Emmett and Drew laid down to go to sleep, reality hit Emmett like a ton of bricks.

"This time tomorrow, we're going to have a baby," he said to his partner.

Drew wrapped his arms around his man. "I know... we'll be a family."

***************

Accompanied by his lawyer Nasim Khan, Mala, and Drew, Emmett walked into the orphanage the next day more nervous than he'd ever felt in his life.

"This must be how men feel when their wife is about to give birth," he whispered to his partner, who was walking right beside him but was keeping his hands to himself.

Drew gave him a smile, wishing that he could at least offer Emmett his hand to hold.

They all went back into an office before Mr. Khan and Mala spoke to the owner of the orphanage, an older lady named Parsa, in Urdu for a little while. Some paperwork was exchanged between Parsa and Mr. Khan before the lawyer explained the documents that Emmett needed to sign.

Once the legal business was concluded, the group was shown into the area where the orphaned children were kept. There was a large room with older toddlers and children, but they bypassed it since Emmett had expressed his wish to adopt a baby. They then went into the nursery, where there were at least a dozen cribs placed around the room.

There was a baby in almost every crib and a few of them were crying. A young worker was holding one of the babies, trying to comfort it.

Emmett and Drew walked through the room slowly, looking into each of the cribs. They didn't really have a gender preference but most of the babies were girls, or at least they were dressed in feminine-colored clothing.

Seeing all of those abandoned babies made Emmett very emotional and he couldn't help but grab Drew's arm as he started to cry.

They came upon a crib where the baby lying inside was asleep. She was wearing a plain white onesie and a pink knit cap, and she was very small.

"Oh my God," Emmett said when he saw her. "She looks so frail."

Parsa was chattering beside them and Mala translated for her. "That one was found outside the door yesterday morning. It appears as if the mother gave birth to her and immediately dumped her here. She weighs about 2.3 kilos, that's a little over five pounds. She was either born a few weeks early or her mother was unhealthy, probably very poor and didn't get prenatal care."

Emmett couldn't look away from the tiny baby girl. "Can I hold her?"

Mala put her hand on his arm. "You may want to choose another child, Emmett. Parsa doubts that this one will live very long... many babies like her die within days of birth. They didn't think she'd make it through the night and they can hardly get her to eat."

Emmett didn't wait for Parsa's permission to pick the baby up.

"She's burning up!" he yelled. "She needs to get to a hospital!"

"The orphanage can't afford that," Mala said. "They can only have a doctor come to treat sick children, but they can only do so much for them here. She needs care that they can't provide."

"Well then, I'm taking her!" Emmett said, holding the baby close to his chest. He could feel that her sweat had soaked through her clothes, she was so hot. Her body was also very limp.

"Are you sure?" Drew asked, although he knew that the man had made up his mind.

Emmett looked at his lawyer. "I want this one. I'm not leaving without her."

He walked out of the orphanage with the baby still in his arms about fifteen minutes later. Mala called Tariq and told him about the baby and that they were headed to the hospital. Mala's chauffeur took them to the university hospital about ten miles away.

Armed with paperwork showing that he was the baby's temporary guardian, Emmett demanded that "my daughter" get treated. He handed her over to a nurse who promised that they would take great care of the baby. Tariq had already called ahead to the head of pediatrics and informed him of the situation.

They had not decided on a name for their child yet, so Emmett simply wrote "Baby Honeycutt" on the admission paperwork. He listed her date of birth as being three days prior, since Parsa had guessed that the baby had been born no more than a day or two before she was dropped at the orphanage. He then paced as he waited to hear something for what felt like an eternity, already in love with the tiny girl and very scared. He could hardly believe how strongly he felt for the baby already. Drew wished that there was something he could do to comfort his partner, but knew that would have to wait until they got back to the Baqais' residence.

A nurse finally came out and asked Emmett to follow her. When he walked into the room where many other children were being treated, he saw that the baby was lying still with an IV in her tiny arm. It was then that Emmett realized that he hadn't heard the baby cry or see her with her eyes open yet.

An older man approached him and said, "Mr. Honeycutt, I am Dr. Patel. I have spoken with Tariq Baqai and know that you are staying with him. I have the child on an antibiotic IV, which will be finished soon. What I suggest is that you take the child to the house with you, because what she needs is care and attention, which unfortunately is not easy to do here at this hospital. We are very understaffed and overcrowded with patients. I will send a nurse with you so that medications can be given and the child can be closely monitored. There will be another nurse that comes later to relieve this one. You are very lucky to know Mr. and Mrs. Baqai. If the child makes it through the next three days, she should be fine. Although she is underweight, her lungs seem well developed. I wish you the best of luck and I will come to the house tomorrow to check on the child."

When the antibiotic finished an hour later, Mala's driver came in with a new carseat for the baby. Her fever had broken and she rested quietly on the way back to the house. Emmett watched her tiny chest rise and fall with each breath.

The nurse had followed in her own car, so Mala closed the partition in the limo and spoke quietly to Emmett and Drew. "Since there will be nurses in the house for a few days, I had the maid make up the room across the hall for Drew. Your safety is very important and it is very hard to know who you can trust. As soon as they are gone, you will be moved back into the other room."

The men held hands on the way back to the house, hating that they would have to be separated but knowing they were doing it for their daughter.

The next three days passed quickly. The morning of the fourth day, Dr. Patel came to check they baby, dismissing the nurse. Once she had left he spoke to Emmett and Drew.

"You two will be wonderful fathers to this child,"

Emmett gave the doctor a confused look. "How did you know that...?"

"Tariq and I have been friends since grammar school. I was also friends with his brother, good friends. Just love your child and continue to take care of her, and she will be fine."

Later that night, lying in bed after having made love, they continued the discussion they'd been having for the past few months - what they would name their baby.

"Okay, how about I choose the first name and you choose the middle name?" Emmett offered as he thumbed through the baby name book he'd brought along with him.

"I like all of the names you've suggested, so okay," Drew agreed.

Emmett smiled. "How about Lyla? It means ‘dark beauty.' I like that one the most and I think it fits her."

"Lyla Mae, after my mother," Drew said.

"I love it!" the flamboyant man trilled. "But what about the last name?"

Drew shrugged. "I figured she'd have to have ‘Honeycutt' on all of her legal documents here, which would carry over when we get home."

"Yeah, but after you adopt her later, she'll get a new birth certificate with both of our names on it. We can change her last name to ‘Boyd' then. Once the lawmakers finally get their heads out of their asses and let us get married, I'm going to take your last name."

"Really?" Drew asked, surprised.

"Of course, I'm an old-fashioned girl," Emmett said with a big smile.

Realizing that it was afternoon in Pittsburgh, Emmett called Justin to let him know what had been going on. Justin asked if they had everything they would need for the baby and was told that because they weren't sure what sex their baby would be that all they had gotten was a bassinet and would get everything else when they got home. Emmett told Justin her name and how small she was, still hardly believing that he was now a father. Justin listen happily, hearing the emotion in his friend's voice.

"I'm so happy for you guys," Justin said, trying not to be jealous as he told himself not to dream that he'd someday be in Emmett's shoes.

"If it wasn't for you and Daphne being sneaky bitches, I'd still be a lonely old queen, sitting at the house on my fat ass by myself eating pudding," Emmett pointed out. "Now I have my king and a little princess, thanks to my two lovely friends."

That evening, Justin and Brian got together with Ted and Blake and decided to surprise the new dads by finishing up the nursery for them. Brian and Ted went furniture shopping while Justin and Blake went "baby stuff" shopping. Justin then spent several days painting a beautiful garden-themed mural with lots of butterflies. The areas not covered by the mural were painted peony pink. All of the uncles had fun preparing for the baby's arrival and nothing was too good for their new niece.  

***************

Emmett and Drew spent the next three months in Pakistan getting all of Lyla's legal documents sorted out. Emmett had to have Lyla legally classified an orphan, get her a birth certificate, file for permanent legal custody, register her with the country's national database, and get her a passport and visa so she could legally go to America with him. In the meantime, Lyla was getting healthier each day and her two daddies couldn't have adored her more. Everyone at the Baqai residence loved the baby, too. By the time she was three months old, Lyla weighed eleven pounds and had a head of thick, curly dark brown hair.

Finally the day they had been waiting for came when the court granted Emmett custody of his daughter, allowing the new family to return home to Pittsburgh. It was a sad goodbye with their wonderful host family, but they could hardly wait to get back home with their new baby. It was not a moment too soon, since Drew was due to start his new sports announcer job in just a few days and had been worried that he'd have no choice but to return alone if the court had delayed their ruling.

After the first leg of the flight home on the local airlines the new family spent the rest of the trip in first class thanks again to Brian and Liberty Air. Luckily Lyla had slept for most of the last flight so she was well rested when they landed in Pittsburgh. As soon as the new family got through customs, which took quite a while given the special little package they were carrying in the baby seat, they found Brian and Justin standing near baggage claim holding a banner and balloons. The banner said Welcome Home Emmett, Drew, and Lyla!

Emmett hugged Brian and Justin, thanking them.

Justin looked at the tiny bundle in the baby carrier that Drew was toting. "She looks like a little doll! She is so beautiful, guys."

Lyla responded by blowing a spit bubble and smiling.

"This banner and balloon stuff was all Sunshine's idea," Brian snarked.

"Sure it was, Honey," Emmett replied, kissing the brunet's cheek.

As they were walking to the parking garage after getting their baggage, Drew commented, "Not that we don't appreciate you coming to pick us up, but were you planning to tie us to the top of the Corvette to get us home?"

Giggling, Justin answered, "We brought something a little larger."

Brian clicked the remote in his hand and the back hatch opened on a shiny silver Cadillac Escalade.

"Ohhh, pretty, it looks like foil," Emmett remarked.

"Wait until you see it in the sunlight, it looks like a prism." Justin said.

When they pulled up to Drew and Emmett's house, Ted opened the door to greet the new family. Blake and Daphne were waiting for them in the living room.

"This is so sweet of you to welcome us home, guys," Emmett told his friends as he gave Ted a big hug.

"We wanted to meet our new niece... oh, she is so precious," Ted replied as he looked at the newest edition to the family.

Emmett picked Lyla up and gave her to her Uncle Ted to hold her.

After cooing at the baby for a moment, Ted said, "Oh yeah, we bought a couple of things for the nursery, come look."

Emmett and Drew looked at each other and shrugged, wondering what their friends had done. They all made their way to the door of the nursery and stood back as Emmett opened the door. Both Drew and Emmett stood there with shocked looks on their faces.

"Oh my God, this is so amazing," Emmett cried as he looked into the beautifully decorated and furnished nursery. Pink walls, a beautiful mural done by Justin, white furniture, a rainbow-colored rocker, stuffed animals of all sizes, a high chair, a stroller, and a closet and dresser full of freshly washed baby clothes. Hanging over the crib was a handmade crocheted mobile, most likely made by Daphne.

Emmett sobbed as he hugged each of his friends.

"One more thing Honeycutt - you are not driving my niece around in that crazy pink van. Here," Brian said as he tossed the tall queen the keys for the Escalade, which he actually managed to catch. "The little princess deserves a nice car and so does her daddy."

Emmett and Drew both teared up, unable to believe how lucky they were to have these wonderful men in their lives.

June 2011

Life was pretty great in the Honeycutt-Boyd household. Six months after bringing Lyla home to Pittsburgh, her adoption was finalized by the state, giving Emmett full legal custody of the beautiful baby girl. Drew then filed for second-parent adoption, which was soon granted thereafter. The two fathers were greatly enjoying raising their little Lyla Mae Boyd together as a family.

Daphne had gotten married shortly after Lyla's first birthday. The ceremony and reception were held at Britin and the plans and catering were of course handled by Emmett's Fabulous Festivities. Daphne, who looked like a beautiful princess in a white satin Vera Wang gown, had chosen Justin to be her Best Man along with her sister Delia and Justin's sister Molly as bridesmaids. Emmett and Drew sat together in the audience during the ceremony with Drew holding baby Lyla in his lap. Emmett being Emmett cried throughout, especially during the vows. Drew blinked back tears as Daphne and Curtis said "I do." While they were happy for their friend, they were sad for themselves, since it was uncertain as to whether they would ever be legally permitted to get married in their home state.

When Lyla was two and almost potty trained, Drew was about to begin his third season as a radio announcer for Pitt's football team along with working as a coaching assistant. He also did guest announcing for the Ironmen's televised home games once in awhile. Emmett's Fabulous Festivities was busier than ever, with Emmett doubling the size of his staff and making three of his employees partners in the company, including Head Chef Darren a.k.a. Shanda Leer, since coming back from Pakistan. He reduced the number of parties he worked so he could spend more time at home with Drew and Lyla. Drew's mother, Debbie, or one of their many friends babysat for them when they were both busy or needed an evening out.

Drew and Emmett decided that they wanted to add to their family. As much as he adored his daughter, Emmett knew that Drew wanted a son to share his love of sports and other manly interests.

"We should probably call Beena and ask what needs to be done," Drew told his partner.

"No need, our angel is due to visit her niece soon," the happy father answered. "She hasn't been here for almost a month; she must be very busy. I'm surprised Lyla hasn't started bugging me about her. She sure loves her Auntie Bee."

Beena called the next morning wanting to come by for a visit. When the doorbell rang just before lunchtime, Emmett picked his daughter up and carried her over to the security monitor screen by the front door.

Lyla looked at the monitor and started squealing excitedly. "Daddy, Auntie Bee's here. Open, open!"

Emmett opened the door for Beena, who took her favorite little girl into her arms.

"Hello, my beautiful princess," Beena said as she held Lyla.

She gave Emmett a kiss on his cheek before following him over to the couch, sitting Lyla in her lap.

"I spoke with Aunt Mala the other day and she loves the pictures you sent her of Lyla. I think it's so sweet of you to send pictures and let them know how she's doing, they really appreciate it. Also, Dr. Patel said that he knew your love could save Lyla, and he wanted you to know that you and Drew are amazing fathers."

Emmett teared up thinking about how important the Baqai family and Dr. Patel were in helping them to get their precious daughter.

"Drew and I really appreciate what all of them did for us and we want them to see what their efforts have done. We're actually thinking of adopting another child. We'd like to get a boy from South Korea, since we know that there are so many orphaned children in that region."

Beena smiled, happy to hear that the men wanted to expand their family. "It should be quicker to get approved by the state this time, since you've been approved once before. I can put in recent reports of how things are with Lyla since I'm here often, even if it is just to visit with the little princess as a friend. We actually have a caseworker at our office whose parents are Korean immigrants, and she has placed Korean children with a few local families."

"See, I knew it was a good idea to stay friends with you," Emmett said with a smile.

Beena laughed. "I know that a lot of the application process with South Korean adoption agencies can be done over the internet, so you won't need to go and spend months over there before bringing home a child. Unfortunately, it can take a while to get approved to adopt and be matched with a child before you're able to go. Unlike when you first got Lyla, you won't be able to get a newborn from South Korea; the youngest child you'd get would probably be about six months old, since orphans are usually placed with foster families in hopes of matching the baby with a local adoptive family. They don't grant as many international adoptions as they used to."

"Yeah, I read somewhere that they're going to be tightening their adoption laws soon, so we want to get the process started before then," Emmett said.

"You'll need to go through the application process with the state as you did previously, which will take a couple of months. It will be a bit different this time, since you won't be required to go through the new parent classes and you already have one adopted child in your home. There will be a focus on how adding a second child may affect Lyla, as well as taking your experience as a parent so far into account. I'm assuming that you'll be the one applying again?"

"Yes, Drew and I decided that I'll file as a single parent again. I just wish that we could apply as a couple, so that he won't have to adopt as a second parent later," Emmett admitted sadly. "We always intended on both of us having parental rights to our children, but I know it bums him out that we can't apply together from the get-go."

"Well, maybe one day people will finally realize that good parents come in a variety of packages, even two men or two women."

After having a nice lunch, Beena took her little princess to her room to play before having to go back to the office. Lyla loved spending girl time with her Auntie Bee.

Emmett was approved by the state to adopt a second child two months later. He received a call the following day from Beena's coworker, Jayoung Pak, asking if she could come to the house to discuss the prospective South Korean adoption. He asked her to come over in the afternoon when Lyla would be napping so that they would be able to talk without interruption.

Jayoung was right on time, and Emmett opened the door before she had a chance to ring the bell. They sat down in the living room and Emmett brought out some hors d'oeuvres he had made.

"Beena said I would enjoy coming here, and she was right," Jayoung commented as she tasted Emmett's crostinis. "According to Beena, you and your partner have done an amazing job with Lyla. She just loves coming here to visit and always brings pictures back to the office with her. Any child would be lucky to be included in your family."

Emmett beamed. "Thank you."

"The process of adopting from South Korea is very different than when you adopted from Pakistan," Jayoung began to explain as she opened up her laptop. "Nearly everything can be done over the computer beforehand, including registering with adoption agencies and selecting a child. Most people pick two or three children that they would like to see when they get to South Korea. Once you are approved by the local government to adopt, you will go to South Korea, visit with the children you have chosen, and make your final decision. You will probably only need to be in the country for a week or two at the most; that time will be spent getting the child's final paperwork in order so that you can bring him home with you to the states."

Emmett nodded, very happy to hear that he and Drew wouldn't have to spend much time away from home, especially when they had Lyla to take care of. "Beena explained some things with me already. I do like the fact that it will be done faster than it was with Lyla; Drew and I were in Pakistan for three months before we could bring her home. How do we get started on this?"

"I need to get you registered with our partner agency in South Korea, and then we wait for approval. In the meantime, you will need to get a lawyer over there; I know of one who lives in Seoul. When you get the approval, you will be sent a list of available children with their pictures, birth dates, and anything else that is known about the child. Some of them may be in orphanages while other will be in foster homes. You pick out a few and then arrangements are made for you to go meet them. I don't want you to stress, but I must warn you that they are not very fast about approvals; many adoptive parents take at least a year to get approved. The good news is that once you are approved, you may be able to find a child very quickly."

Emmett and Jayoung spoke a while longer before Emmett began to walk the lady to the door.

"Thank you for coming, and please keep me informed about how things are going," he said while shaking Jayoung's hand.

"I will. As I said, you and your partner seem to be wonderful parents. I'm very happy to help you expand your family."

Lyla came toddling down the stairs and into the foyer after waking up from her nap.

"Are you the lady who's going to help me get a little brother?" she asked Jayoung.

"I sure am going to try," Jayoung replied, impressed with how well the adorable little girl spoke at her age.

"Good, because Papa needs a boy to play with," Lyla said with a smile. "I don't like football. They get too dirty and I don't like dirt."

***************

August 2012

It was a Tuesday evening and the Honeycutt-Boyd family was watching The Little Mermaid when the doorbell rang. Drew and Emmett looked at each other curiously, since they weren't expecting anyone. Emmett got up to answer the door.

Standing on the porch was a very excited Jayoung, who had become close with Emmett and Drew over the past year as they waited for their approval to adopt their second child.

"Sorry, I couldn't wait till morning to come by," she said with a big smile.

Drew and Lyla had joined them in the foyer just as Jayoung announced, "You've finally been approved to adopt from South Korea!"

Drew was so excited that he picked up the petite woman and spun her around. "Yes, finally!"

Although he knew that it would take many months, Emmett had been growing more discouraged about getting approved for another child as the months had gone by. He bent down to pick up his daughter, and Lyla threw her arms around her father's neck and kissed him on his cheek.

"See Daddy, I told you that you just have to believe. Now Papa will have a boy to play boy stuff with and I'll have a baby brother! I'm so happy."

Emmett looked at his little girl with tears flowing down his face. "I'm happy too, Sweetie."

Once the initial excitement had passed, Jayoung took out her laptop and put in the code that would show them a list of available baby boys. Looking through the pictures, they all had their favorites. Lyla liked one baby in particular, one of the youngest on the list who had just turned six months old.

"Look at this one," she said as she pointed at the screen. "He's smiling and has happy eyes."

"Okay Princess, but remember that we need to pick a few more, in case this one isn't still available when Daddy and I go to South Korea," Drew reminded his daughter. "He may already be adopted by the time we get there. There are lots of other families who want babies, too."

They always tried to explain things to her in terms that her three year-old brain would understand.

Lyla nodded. "Okay Papa, but you and Daddy should go right away so that maybe we can get the happy one."

After making appointments to visit three children in Seoul that they were interested in, including the "happy one" that Lyla picked out, Drew made plane reservations for himself and Emmett to go to get their second child, leaving in two weeks. All three babies they had chosen to look at would all be at least six months old and able to be adopted.

Lyla would stay with her Auntie Bee for the week that Emmett and Drew would be gone. Beena had been wanting to take a vacation and this gave her the perfect reason to do it. Beena loved being with her little "niece", and she planned to take her on some day trips and just generally have a great time with the darling little girl.

After Emmett and Drew had left for South Korea, Justin, Brian, Daphne, Ted, and Blake went to the Honeycutt/Boyd home to get the nursery set up for their new nephew. Emmett had refrained from setting it up himself while waiting for word on the adoption application, not wanting to jinx it by over-planning.

The group knew that Drew would probably love a sports-themed room for his son, but they agreed that it was a little too mature for a baby. They decided on a zoo theme and of course Justin wanted to contribute by painting a mural. While he and Daphne were out buying paint, Brian and Ted found some beautiful chocolate-brown baby furniture at Pottery Barn. They ordered a crib, changing table, rocking chair, dresser, nightstand, and book shelf. It would all be delivered in five days, when the walls would hopefully be finished. The room that would become the new nursery only had a few pieces of furniture left over from Lyla's babyhood. While the others were out, Blake stayed at the house while a local charity came to pick the old furniture up.

Since they were short on time, Justin spent a day drawing the outline for his mural on only one of the walls while the rest of the group painted the other three walls sky blue. They also helped with painting some of the larger areas of the mural while Justin worked on the finer details. Normally, Justin wouldn't think of allowing someone else to help on one of his masterpieces, but he was working against a clock and needed all the help he could get. He was very impressed by how well his partner and their three good friends did.

Once the walls were finished and dry, the group spread out and went shopping for baby clothes and supplies. While talking on the phone with Emmett, Justin found out how old the baby was so they could get the right clothing and diaper sizes. One thing that the former twink was still very good at was innocently asking questions without arousing suspicions. Brian tried not to contemplate that too hard.

Brian's idea of baby shopping was not going to Babies R Us or any place like that, opting instead for an upscale boutique located in the affluent Regent Square suburb. His nephew would be dressed "properly", just as his niece had been when she came home. He had already made sure that the absolute best car seat would be waiting in South Korea when Emmett and Drew got there, with help from Beena and some sleuthing to find out where the couple would be staying during their trip.

***************

Brian and Justin had again made sure that the "About to be Dads Again" couple had first-class travel arrangements. As usual, Emmett's waterworks started up when he discovered the upgrade. This time around, the couple was a little less anxious and able to get some much-needed rest on their flights, which took them from Pittsburgh to Newark, Newark to Beijing, and Beijing to Seoul.

When they finally landed in Seoul, they were met by the lawyer that Jayoung had referred them to handle the adoption, a family friend. She had made the arrangements because she knew that it was important to get someone who spoke both languages fluently, so that there wouldn't be any complications with the adoption.

As soon as they got through customs, a Korean man walked over to them.

"Hello, you must be Emmett Honeycutt and Drew Boyd," the man said in an American accent. "My name is Peter Chung, I'll be your lawyer and tour guide while you're here in Seoul."

Emmett and Drew must have looked surprised, because Peter smiled and said, "I grew up in the states; my parents immigrated after the war. I'm licensed to practice law here in Seoul, in Pennsylvania, and in New York."

Peter continued to speak as they made their way to the baggage claim. "I would like to offer you gentleman the choice of staying in my home while you're here. I can assure you that there is plenty of room."

"That is very kind of you, Mr. Chung," Drew said. "Are you sure it won't be a problem?"

"Not at all, and please call me Peter. My partner and I love to have company. It's not always easy to find people who are like us. Maybe one day the world will see that we are just people and we can all live in peace."

"Ohhh..." Emmett said just a little surprised, as he finally got it.

Peter nodded and continued. "Yes. We still need to be careful, and that's another reason I thought you might like to stay with us. This is a very conservative country. If you two tried to share a room in a hotel, there could be a problem. People here just assume that Andy is my brother and we let them think what they want; we actually met in law school and just happen to have the same last name. We travel between here and the states."

Once they got to the Chung home and met Peter's partner Andy, Emmett and Drew decided it would be a lot better and safer to stay with the couple. Peter called the hotel that they had booked and canceled on their behalf, even talking the manager into refunding their deposit.

"Guys, this was delivered here for you earlier today" Andy announced, pointing at a large brown box sitting on the living room floor.

"Why would someone send something here for us?" Emmett asked, thoroughly confused as he took the box and looked at the return address label. There was no name, only a P.O. box in Pittsburgh. Taped to the inside flap of the box was an envelope with a greeting card congratulating the couple on their new baby boy. Emmett opened the card and recognized Brian's handwriting.

You're going to need this to bring your little prince home, Brian and Justin XOXO.

Justin had signed and added his own little touch at the end.

Emmett dissolved into tears at the site of Consumer Reports' best-rated car seat/carrier for their future son inside the box.

"You guys have great friends," Peter commented.

"Yeah, they are the best," Drew answered, shaking his head in disbelief at the wonderful gift as he hugged his partner.

"I have arranged appointments tomorrow for you to meet with the three babies that you selected," Peter said as he showed them to their room. "Two of them are in foster homes while the other is in an orphanage. I'm happy that they are all still available for adoption, since it sometimes doesn't work out that way when a prospective adopter gets here to see them."

The guest room was fairly large, with a four poster king sized bed and a private bathroom. Emmett and Drew had been spoiled by the extravagant suite they had stayed in at the Baqai home in Pakistan, but they knew they'd be comfortable in the Chung's guest room.

"We rarely have guests stay with us, unless a friend or family member from the states comes to visit and doesn't want to stay at a hotel. When we were looking for a house, we had to get a two-bedroom or it would have raised suspicions."

There was a crib in the corner of the room.

"That is on loan from Andy's sister," Peter said, pointing to it. "She had a little girl a couple years ago and just bought her a big-girl bed."

Emmett and Drew talked about what they would name their son later that evening. They had both been thinking of names for months but had been holding off on revealing their choices. Since Emmett had gotten to choose Lyla's name, they decided that Drew would pick their son's first name and Emmett would pick the middle name.

"Okay, what do you think of Sawyer?" Drew asked.

"Sawyer," Emmett repeated. "That's not very common for a first name. Where'd you come up with that?"

"I remember my grandma giving me The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for my birthday when I was twelve, right before she died. I loved that book and have been a Mark Twain fan ever since."

"I would have guessed it'd be from the Rush song, although they say it more like ‘Tom Soy' rather than ‘Tom Sawyer,'" Emmett said, knowing that he was playing with fire.

"Hey, Geddy Lee is a fucking musical genius, the best bassist in all of rock," Drew shot back, wagging his finger at his partner. "He'll pronounce it however the fuck he wants. ‘Tom Sawyer' is one of the greatest songs ever composed and arguably the band's most popular."

Emmett laughed and gave the angry man a kiss, having heard him defend his favorite band many times over the years. "I know, Drewsie, I know."

"Besides, the song is about the book. ‘Tom' and ‘Thomas' are such common names, but ‘Sawyer' is a little more unique. Plus, I think it'd be cool for both of our kids to have a ‘y' in the middle of their first names and last names."

"I like it," Emmett said. "How about Sawyer Vic?"

Drew had heard a lot about dearly departed Vic Grassi since meeting Emmett, becoming one of Debbie's "sons," and volunteering at the man's namesake AIDS hospice. Drew always wished that he could have met Vic before his passing, because he sounded like a pretty remarkable man.

"Sawyer Vic Boyd - it's perfect."

"Very butch... Brian will approve," Emmett added.

Because they were both excited about meeting the babies the next day, as well as the thirteen-hour time difference, they had a very hard time sleeping. Emmett got up early having managed to get a couple of hours of sleep.

Andy and Peter were sitting in the kitchen having coffee when Emmett staggered in, his hair a hot mess.

"Good morning," Peter said. "Would you like some coffee or something to eat?"

Emmett raked his fingers through his hair. "Definitely yes on the coffee, two sugars, but please let me make something for us for breakfast."

"Oh no, you're our guest," Andy said as he began to pour a cup.

He was already digging through the refrigerator to see what ingredients the men had. "I insist. You made us a lovely dinner last night, so it's the least I can do. Besides, it will help me relax. I'm a caterer - food is my life."

Seeing that they had everything to make nice quiche, Emmett got started on the meal.

"Are you going to wake Drew up?" Peter asked as the quiche went into the oven.

"No, he'll be up before this comes out. I swear, he has an alarm attached to his nose. He always gets to the table by the time the food is ready," Emmett answered, laughing.

Just before the quiche came out of the oven, Drew walked into the kitchen.

"What smells so good?" he asked.

"See what I mean?" Emmett said, a smug smile on his face as their hosts chuckled.

Drew just smiled back and gave his partner a good morning kiss.

After breakfast, Emmett, Drew, and Peter all got dressed to go to their appointments. They visited the two foster homes first. Emmett asked several questions of the foster families through Peter, since neither of the families spoke English.

The first baby was cute, but Emmett didn't get any special feelings when he held him, the way he had when he first saw and held Lyla.

The second baby cried and screamed the whole time they were there. Nothing that any of them did to soothe him seemed to make a difference. Neither Emmett nor Drew wanted to try to handle a baby who seemed to be terrified of them.

They went to the orphanage last, where they were led into a small room with a couch and a couple of armchairs. A caretaker at the orphanage was holding the baby boy, the one Lyla called the "happy one."

One of the caseworkers at the orphanage spoke English and she happily told the men about the baby.

"He had been left in a box on the doorstep, and he was found when one of our workers got here in the morning. He was cold, wet, and hungry, but even though he was whimpering, he still tried to smile. We got him cleaned up and fed. In spite of the rough start he had gotten in life, he always seems to be happy and smiling. He's teething, but he hardly ever cries. He's a sweetheart."

Emmett was glad that this baby had been Lyla's favorite, just based on one photograph of the little boy's smiling face. She had always been a great judge of character. Once she got older, she would probably be amazed to hear that she and this little boy had similar stories of how they were each abandoned by their real parents.

"Can I hold him?" he asked, being handed the baby a few moments later.

"Hi, Sweetie," Emmett said to the child. "You sure are handsome."

The baby looked up at Emmett and gave him a gummy smile. He then grabbed onto Emmett's index finger, squeezing tight. Emmett couldn't help but tear up as he felt his chest constrict.

Emmett looked at his partner and found a smile on his face. It was obvious that they both wanted this child to be their Sawyer Vic.

Once they were in the car and on the way back to the Chung home, they told Peter their decision. Peter called the adoption agency and informed them that Emmett wanted the baby from the orphanage once they were back at the house.

It took a little over a week to get the legal documents sorted and to get Emmett appointed as the child's temporary guardian. Emmett and Drew were permitted to pick the baby up from the orphanage and take him back to the Chung's home while they waited for their new little Sawyer to be approved to leave the country with them. Twelve days after arriving in Seoul, Emmett and Drew were headed home with their son.

***************

The day before Emmett and Drew were due home with the new baby, the guys were at the house putting the finishing touches on the nursery. The walls were finished, the furniture had been delivered and set up, and the clothes had been washed and put away. There were tons of stuffed zoo animals around the room, as well as some framed photos of Drew, Emmett, and Lyla on a recent trip to the zoo.

Once they were all finished, they let Lyla and Beena see the nursery.

"Wow, it's almost as beautiful as my room," Lyla said, hugging Justin. "Uncle Jussy, I like your painting, it's just like going to the zoo."

Brian smirked. "Yeah, ‘Uncle Jussy,' maybe you could get a job doing this."

His comment earned him a whack on the arm with a stuffed elephant.

Brian and Justin drove the Escalade to the airport the following day to pick up Emmett, Drew, and Sawyer Vic. The couple happily showed off their newest addition. On the way home, Drew sat up front with Brian while Justin and Emmett sat in the back with Sawyer.

"Oh, I can hardly wait for Lyla to meet her new baby brother," Emmett gushed. "She's been looking forward to us adopting another baby as much as we have."

"I know, it's all she's talked about every time I've seen her this past year," Justin said.

Justin tried not to feel too envious of his friend for having two beautiful children with his partner. Justin loved Gus and JR like they were his own, but he sometimes wished that he could be a real father to his own children, whether adopted or born with the help of surrogate. He knew that full-time fatherhood was only a pipe dream.

When they pulled into the driveway of the massive home, Lyla ran out to greet them, followed by Beena and Daphne. As much as she loved spending time with her Auntie Bee, she had missed her fathers being there. She also could not wait any longer to meet her baby brother.

"Which one did you get, Daddy?" the curious little girl asked.

Lowering the car seat so that she could see the baby, Emmett smiled. "This is your new brother, Sawyer."

"Oh Daddy, it's the happy one! Thank you so much!" Lyla squealed and clapped, excited that they had gotten the baby that she wanted. She had recognized him from his picture immediately, since she had gotten Beena to print it out for her.

Once they got inside the house, Lyla sat on the sofa so that she could hold her new brother. She was so excited to see him, she hadn't even bothered to hug her fathers. When Emmett put the baby in her arms, she started crying softly.

"Sweetie, are you okay?" Emmett asked, concerned for his daughter.

She looked at him and nodded, a big smile on her adorable face. "Yes Daddy, I'm just so happy."

Justin snapped some pictures to permanently capture the beautiful moment, deciding that he would make a painting out of one of the pictures and give it to Emmett and Drew for Christmas.

"Well Honeycutt, she sure is your daughter," Brian quipped, smirking.

Emmett just glared at him, shaking his head.

"Daddy, we should show Sawyer his room," Lyla said, giggling.

Beena had been coaching her so that she didn't give away the surprise.

"Yes, I guess we should," Emmett said. "We need to get it fixed up for him soon, too."

Drew took his son and they all walked upstairs to Sawyer's room. He had known what the others had done as a surprise and couldn't wait to see his partner's reaction.

Emmett opened the door to his son's room and couldn't hold back the tears.

"Oh my God, you guys!" he sobbed. "You didn't have to do this... again!"

Ted and Blake were waiting inside the room so that they could get video of his reaction.

Emmett looked down at his daughter, who was squirming beside him. "I did it, Daddy, I kept the surprise a secret!"

"You did a great job, Princess," Drew said to her.

She looked up at her fathers with a smirk on her face.

Emmett then looked at Brian, king of the smirk. "Ugh, did you have to teach her that?"

Brian gave Emmett a smirk of his own.

Emmett grabbed Justin in a hug. "I love it, and the mural is perfect Baby. I can't believe that you guys got this done so fast, it's beautiful and amazing. I really do have the best family in the whole world."

Justin hugged the tall queen tightly. "We love you guys, too."

Brian put his arm around Emmett's shoulder. "Yeah, what he said."

He then took Justin's hand and said, "We need to go, Sunshine. Time to let the little family get settled in with their new rugrat."

Brian was getting better, but true heart-felt emotions were still sometimes too much for him to stomach.

Everyone soon went home, leaving Emmett and Drew alone with their two children. Ted and Blake were sweet enough to bring them a casserole for dinner so they wouldn't have to cook their first night home.

They had a bit of trouble getting Lyla to bed, since she wanted to stay up to spend more time with her new baby brother, despite Sawyer being conked out in his crib.

"Sawyer is going to be your brother forever, Princess," Emmett reminded her as he and Drew tucked her in after reading her a story.

"You'll have plenty of time to play with him in the future," Drew added. "Trust me, there will come a day when you'll want to take a break from him. I grew up with a little brother and I would often have to beg him to leave me alone."

He refrained from telling his daughter that he used to beat the shit out of his brother when telling him to piss off didn't work.

Lyla shook her head before letting out a big yawn. "Nope, me and him are going to be best friends."

Both fathers hoped that would be the case.

Exhausted from the excitement of the day, the time change, and the long flight, the couple relaxed on their back deck after both kids were asleep. Emmett was sipping a glass of red wine while Drew was enjoying some of the very expensive scotch that Brian had bought them for Christmas the previous year. They had two baby monitors close by in case either of the kids needed them.

"We now have two beautiful children," Emmett said before breaking out into song, as the queen was known to do when he was happy. "I got rhythm, I got music, I got my man. Who could ask for anything more?"

Drew chuckled, deciding not to burst his partner's bubble by mentioning marriage.

June 2015

Pittsburgh Pride began on the first Friday of June, lasting ten days with the parade being on the final Sunday afternoon. Pride 2015 couldn't have occurred at a better time, as the Supreme Court would be making their decision soon over whether same-sex couples had the right to marry nationwide, and everyone was very hopeful that love would win.

As always, the gang went to the parade and stood outside of Woody's while dozens of floats, convertibles, and people marching made their way down Liberty Avenue. Emmett and Drew brought the kids, dressed in rainbow outfits. They loved seeing all of the colorful contingents pass by and enjoyed all the attention from marchers, who would come over and remark how adorable the whole family looked.

After the parade ended, Beena took Lyla and Sawyer to her house while their fathers stayed to dance and mingle with their friends. Drew and Emmett were in the street dancing to "Brave" by Sara Bareilles.

Say what you wanna say and let the words fall out. Honestly, I wanna see you be brave...

Taking Sara's advice, Drew dropped down on his knee and took Emmett's hand, kissing it. "Emmett, I love you and I love our children. Will you do me the honor of becoming my lawfully-wedded husband?"

Emmett stood there with his mouth open and tears pouring down his face. Realizing that he should say something, he nodded his head, shaking tears all over Drew who stood up and picked up his partner, spinning him around as if he were lighter than a feather.

"I'm gonna be a bride!" Emmett screamed.

Their friends and the crowd around them cheered.

He never thought he'd have the opportunity to plan his own wedding, so Emmett wanted to start planning right away. He discussed his ideas as Drew drove them to Beena's to pick up the kids.

"I intentionally leave Halloween open each year, so everyone at the company with kids can take them Trick or Treating and the others can go out and party," Emmett said as he looked at the calendar app on his phone. "But you know what? I think Halloween would be the perfect wedding day, don't you? It's on a Saturday this year and it's the only Saturday we have open through March, minus the Saturdays around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. I don't want to wait until March to get married and I would never ask them to work on the weekends during the holiday season. You would hope that my employees wouldn't mind working on Halloween, since the party is for their boss. We could have a costume party and give out candy. Everyone can bring their kids. Lyla and Sawyer will love it. I hope Melanie and Lindsay can bring Gus and JR. I bet Brian and Justin will let us have the ceremony and reception out at their place. They let Daphne get married there, so why not us? Ooh, we could have a costume contest! We could do most original, prettiest, scariest, best homemade..."

Drew could only nod as his fiance chattered away, a big smile on his face as he listened to the party planning extraordinaire doing what he did best.

Emmett walked into Kinnetik the following day and asked to see Brian. He was permitted into the boss's inner sanctum a minute later.

"Nice to see you've finally gotten over the shock of the proposal and closed your mouth," Brian said, smirking. "So, what can I do for you, soon-to-be Mrs. Boyd?"

"Drewsie and I decided that we want to get married on Halloween, complete with a costume party. I came to ask if we could have it at Britin."

"I don't see a problem with it, as long as it's alright with Justin," Brian answered with a shrug.

He picked up the phone and called his partner in the art department. "Hey Sunshine, Emmy Lou is here with a request: the happily engaged couple would like to have Halloween nuptials at Britin. What do you think?"

Brian listened for a minute, nodding a few times. "Mm-hmm... We'll see... Okay, hold on. Justin has one condition, non-negotiable."

Emmett suddenly felt nervous. "What is it?"

"He wants to have a face painting booth."

"Of course!" Emmett said, rubbing his hand over his brow. "You nearly scared the shit out of me."

Brian then said into the phone, "Alright, goofy ass, you have your face painting booth... Yeah, probably around six... I love you too, Sunshine. Later."

He then hung up and said, "Okay, Honeycutt. You've got the venue, plan away."

"Oh, thank you, Brian! This is so great of you guys!" Emmett gushed before grabbing Brian into a hug.

"Yeah, that's me, the Great One," Brian said, lightly patting Emmett on his back before showing him to the door. "Now, this is a place of business, so go away and plan your wedding. Oh yeah, call Sunshine later tonight. He said he hopes that we can wear costumes. He wants us to go as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

When Emmett got home, he saw that Drew was on the phone.

"Yes Mom, of course Emmett is already starting to plan the wedding... I don't know if he needs help. He does do this for a living, you know... I'll tell him that you're available."

Drew then mouthed help.

Emmett took the phone from his frazzled fiance. "Hi, Mae."

"Hi, Sweetheart!" his future mother-in-law greeted. "Congratulations! Frank and I couldn't be happier that the two of you are finally tying the knot. Now, I know that you have a whole staff of people to help plan the wedding, but I'd really like to be a part of the planning. This may be the last time one of my children gets married, since Jason and Rachel are both happily married."

"I'd love to have your help. Why don't you come for dinner tomorrow around six and you can visit with your grandchildren? We can talk about the wedding after they go to bed."

"Frank meets with his bowling league tomorrow evening, so that will be perfect. Oh, I love the date you've chosen. A Halloween party for your reception is going to be so fun! You-"

"Sorry Mae," Emmett interrupted. "Drew just went to check on the kids. They're being very quiet, never a good sign. I'd better go provide back-up. Last week, we found Sawyer trying to see how many M&Ms he could fit up his nose."

"Oh, my," Mae said, giggling. "Did I ever tell you about the time that Drew got ahold of one of my beaded necklaces when he was two or three, broke the string, and stuffed several of the beads up his nose? We had to take him to the emergency room."

"Uh, no. See you tomorrow. Love you," Emmett said before hanging up the phone, receiving a grateful kiss from his fiance.

"I couldn't get her to shut up, she's so excited. Thank you for saving me. I didn't know what else to say to her. You have such a way with my mother."

"Good thing you're marrying me," Emmett replied before giving his fiance another kiss. "Now, what is this I hear about a beaded necklace and a trip to the ER?"

Drew groaned. "She told you about that?"

***************

Emmett and Drew were sitting at the dining room table the following evening with Drew's mother discussing their upcoming nuptials. Mae was working on a guest list when she started to press Emmett about how many people he could expect from his side of the family.

"Let's see," Emmett said as he began to count on his fingers. "Of course there's Brian, Justin, Teddy, Blake-"

"No, I meant your real family," Mae said. "You've said before that you're from Mississippi, right? Don't you have some family that lives down there, like your parents? Are they still alive?"

Emmett shifted in his chair. "Um... yeah, my parents still live in Hazlehurst."

"Do you have any siblings? I imagine being from the south, you'd come from a big family."

"That's kind of rude of you to presume that, Mom," Drew said. "Like you think that southern people have nothing better to do than pop out kids."

"Well, she's right - I'm one of seven kids," Emmett answered, although his fiance knew that. "I'm smack-dab in the middle, three brothers and three sisters. All but one of them moved away from Hazlehurst, but I don't speak to any of them. They're not my kind of people."

"Oh," Mae said, beginning to understand why Emmett had built himself a surrogate family. "What about your parents?"

"I haven't seen them since June 1993, when I was eighteen. I talk to my mother on the phone once in a blue moon, but I never talk to my father. Right after I graduated high school, I took what I could carry and bought a ticket for the first Greyhound that was heading north. I had saved up some money working at a burger joint. I wasn't staying where I wasn't welcome anymore. The only one who even cared that I was leaving was my Aunt Lula; she's the only kin I still speak to regularly. My childhood would have been unbearable if it hadn't been for her."

Mae placed her hand on Emmett's. "How did you end up here in Pittsburgh?"

"I wanted to go to New York, because I had grand dreams of performing on Broadway. I only had enough money to ride the bus here, after traveling north for nearly three weeks. I lived in the bus station for a few days before they kicked me out. Long story short, I eventually found a roommate."

"You never told me you lived on the streets," Drew said.

Emmett shrugged. "It was a long time ago and it was only for a few months. I would have ended up homeless or worse if I hadn't left Hazlehurst. It's a town full of small-minded folks. Aunt Lula was different though; she loved me for me and didn't care that I was gay. She offered to take me in, but she already had enough mouths to feed in her own house."

"Maybe enough time has passed that you could ask your parents if they would come to your wedding," Mae said. "Kind of like offering an olive branch. The worst they could say is ‘no.'"

"They could say a lot worse than ‘no,'" Emmett sadly informed her.

"Well, you should definitely invite your Aunt Lula," Mae told her future son-in-law.

After another hour of making lists and discussing details, Mae had to get home. Frank would be getting back from bowling soon, and they liked to sit and watch the news together before going to bed. One thing that the Boyds knew was that it was important for them to make time for each other every day. Mae was happy to see that she had successfully instilled that lesson on all three of her children, as they were all very attentive and committed to their current partners.

Emmett and Drew were relaxing after having made love later that night, talking some more about the wedding. Drew was holding Emmett in his arms and felt the need to say something that had been on his mind since his mother had commented on Emmett's family.

"I want to apologize for what Mom said earlier."

Emmett looked confused before he spoke. "What did she say that you think you should apologize for?"

"That comment she made about you having a big family, just because you're from the south."

"I do come from a big family... hell, I don't even know how many nieces and nephews I have, probably dozens. I certainly didn't take offence to anything she said. She wasn't being mean."

"But she shouldn't generalize like that. That's how a lot of problems between people start."

"Baby, believe me, I've been called a lot worse things in my life than a southern kid from a big family. I love your mother and I know she only means well. Stop worrying so much about what other people say to me. I'm a big boy and I can handle it," Emmett told his fiance before giving him a tender kiss. "Drewsie, what would you think about taking the kids on a little trip?"

"Where are you thinking of taking them?"

"Hazlehurst. Maybe your mother is right and I should try to reach out to my parents. I'm getting married and that's a big deal. If they won't come to the wedding, at least we can't say we didn't try. This is too big to just make a phone call about and I would like the kids to meet their grandparents, if they'll accept them. I haven't gone down to see Aunt Lula since before you and I got back together, and I know she'd love to meet the kids."

"I think it sounds like we need to take a little family trip down south before I start my new job next month," Drew answered, hugging his fiance.

Emmett and Drew scheduled a trip to Gulfport, Mississippi for a few days to relax before going to Hazlehurst. Gulfport was a beautiful beach town, and Lyla and Sawyer loved playing in the sand and wading in the ocean. The family got a few dirty looks from some of the other tourists, but they ignored them, as they were unfortunately used to that kind of treatment outside of gay-friendly areas.

After their visit to Gulfport, they rented a car and drove the three hours north to Hazelhurst. Emmett had let his Aunt Lula know they were coming and the old lady was waiting for them at the door when they approached the front porch.

"Oh my goodness, look who's here!" Lula yelled when she saw Emmett, grabbing him in a big hug. "How ya doin', darlin'?"

"I'm finer than a frog hair split three ways," he replied, earning a raised eyebrow from his fiance at hearing the funny Southern expression and the pronounced twang in his voice.

Lula then looked down and saw Lyla and Sawyer standing beside their daddy.

"Oh, would ya look at these beautiful babies!" she said as she knelt down to see them. "Even more beautiful than the pictures ya sent me."

"Kids, this is your Great Aunt Lula," Emmett said, looking at his favorite aunt. "Why don't you give her a hug?"

Lyla and Sawyer both threw their arms around her neck and the old lady burst into tears.

"Finally meetin' yer babies makes me happier than a tornado in a trailer park," she said to her favorite nephew.

Lula stood up a minute later to greet Drew. "And you must be the world-famous Drewsie."

Drew chuckled. "That would be me."

He was then nearly smothered when the five-foot-nothing Lula pulled him down to her large bosom for a hug, much like one of Debbie's hugs.

Having said hello to everyone, Lula opened the door for them to go into her house. "Ya'll get inside now, it's hotter than a billy goat in a pepper patch out here."

Lula had a pitcher of sweet tea and a plate of snickerdoodles sitting out on the coffee table for them. The kids looked to their fathers, silently asking permission to take a cookie.

"Make yourselves at home, little darlins'!" Lula said to them. "Yer daddy spent more time in this house growin' up than he did in his own. He'd scream like an angry rooster if I didn't have snickerdoodles made for him, wouldn't ya, Bubbles?"

"Yes, I would," Emmett confirmed as he handed a cookie to each of his children.

"Bubbles?" Drew questioned.

"I call ‘em that on account of his bubbly personality," Lula explained.

Drew smiled at his fiance. "It certainly fits."

Everyone suddenly heard the toilet flush down the hall.

"Who's that?" Emmett asked.

Lula smiled. "You'll see soon... just depends on whether or not she's kept her southern manners from traveling all over the world and washes her hands after she takes the Browns to the Superbowl."

A beautiful brunette walked into the living room a minute later.

"Holy shit!" the lady yelled before running over to Emmett and throwing herself in his arms. "What the fuck ya doing here, Bubbles? I ain't seen ya since dirt was young."

Emmett lifted the short, thin lady off the floor and spun her around as he hugged her. "I was about to ask you the same thing!"

"I came to visit Mama for a few days before my next job. I'ma be gone to Japan for a couple months."

"Damn Sticks, you sure do get around this big ol' world!" the tall queen replied, wiping tears. "Weren't you just in Antarctica, taking pictures of penguins or something?"

"Naw, that was last year. I just got in from Greece last night. If ya ever get the chance to go to Athens, ya should."

"Papa, who's that lady?" Lyla asked Drew, wanting to know why her daddy was crying.

"I'm wondering the same thing," he said to his daughter.

"Rebecca Sue, are ya gonna introduce yourself to our guests or are ya gonna brag ‘bout that fancy job of yers all day?" Lula said to her daughter.

Emmett finally let her go and turned to his family sitting on the couch. "Guys, this is Cousin Reba. Reba, this is-"

"Good Lord, he's even hotter in person!" Reba yelled after seeing Drew. "Too bad yer gayer than Liberace singing a duet with Elton John or else I'd take a crack at ya myself! I remember seeing ya kissin' Bubbles on Sports Center when ya came out. I tell ya what, that set tongues a waggin' ‘round here for months!"

Drew, having quickly learned that the standard greeting down south was a hug, wrapped his arms around Reba as he laughed at her comment. "It's great to finally meet you, Cousin Reba. Emmett's told me all about you."

"Uh oh," Reba said. "I hope some of it was good."

Drew smiled. "Of course it was. I'm glad you're here too Reba, because we have an announcement to make. Emmett and I are getting married, and we would love it if you could both be there. Each of you are important people in Emmett's life and it wouldn't be the same without you. We're having our wedding at a friend's house just outside of Pittsburgh on Halloween."

"That's great. I'll be back in the country from my job assignment by then," Reba answered before going over to visit with Lyla and Sawyer.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Lula said. "Ya'll didn't have to come all the way down here to tell me ya was gettin' hitched, ya know, although I love havin' ya here fer a visit."

Emmett looked down at his lap. "We mostly came down to talk to my folks, to see if they'd want to come to the wedding."

Lula's eyes widened. "Well, I wouldn't hold my breath over that request. I ain't talked to yer daddy in a month of Sundays, but I'm sure he's still the same hateful old cuss he always was. I still don't fergive him for running ya out of town like he did all those years ago, just ‘cause you're different. He's plum ignorant and dumber ‘n a box of rocks... no surprise that he didn't make it past the sixth grade. Can't believe we're related."

"Do you mind watching the kids while Drew and I go over there? I really don't want to expose them to any more negativity than necessary."

"I'd love to watch them babies for ya!" Lula happily answered. "I might could have a photo album or two ‘round here I can show ‘em, full up o' pictures of ya when ya was a pup."

"And I'm sure I could think of a story or five to tell ‘em," Reba said, winking.

"Oh God," Emmett said, covering his eyes as he recalled what a goofy kid he had been. "Alright, we'd better go before I chicken out. Be good while me and Papa are gone, kiddos."

Emmett drove himself and Drew to a small farm about two miles away from Lula's house. What was once a field full of cabbage was now nothing but cracked dirt and brown weeds. The three-bedroom house looked like it was about to collapse.

"Home sweet home," Emmett mumbled as he parked behind a rusted old Ford truck. "Fuck, I'm more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockin' chairs."

Drew chuckled. "Less than one hour here and you sound like you never left."

"You can take the boy out of the South..." Emmett said with a smile.

Hearing a car drive up, Emmett's parents came out on the rickety porch. When they saw who it was, they glared at their son and his beau.

"Whatcha think yer doin' here, boy?" Arlee Honeycutt drawled. "Ya ain't wanted here no more than ya was b'fore."

"Mama, Daddy, I just wanted to introduce you to someone," Emmett told his parents. "This is Drew Boyd, my fiance. You probably recognize him, since he used to play for the Pittsburgh Ironmen. Do you still watch football, Daddy?"

"Good Lord, will ya listen to the Yankee accent on you! Didja think bringin' anotha fudge packin' faggot down here was gunna impress us, boy? I don't give a shit dat he used to play football, he's nothin but a disgrace to the game. You ain't got the brains of a slug iffen you thought dat."

Sadie Honeycutt just stood beside her husband, shaking her head at her son for letting his father say whatever he wanted.

"Youse can just take your highfalutin asses and go back to wherever your kind goes. No one wants you or your kind hangin' round these parts, so don'cha even think we're gonna invite you in. We don't need no fag germs in ‘r home."

Emmett ignored his father and looked over at his mother. "Hey, Mama. You're looking well... glad you got over that pneumonia you had last winter. You ought to come over to Lula's house with us to meet your grandbabies."

"How the hell you got babies boy, you got one of dem sex operations?" Arlee questioned.

Still ignoring his father, Emmett addressed his mother. "Mama, we adopted a little girl from Pakistan and a little boy from South Korea. Lyla is six and Sawyer is three."

Arlee threw his hands in the air. "What the hell, boy? Bad enough you got kids, they ain't even ‘Mericans! Least ya coulda did was fake it and marry a woman, had some kids the old-fashioned way. Git yer ass off my land ‘fore I git the shotgun and git rid of ya like I shouda dun long ago!"

With that, Arlee turned and went inside, slamming the screen door.

Sadie just stood there, staring at her feet as Drew cautiously stepped off the porch, not knowing if the old man was serious.

"Mama?" Emmett asked, hoping that his timid mother had toughened up over the years. "I was hoping you would want to come to our wedding in Pittsburgh on Halloween. I'll buy you a plane ticket and put you up in a fancy hotel."

"I'm sorry, honey," she mumbled before turning her back on her son and following after her husband.

Emmett walked back to the car. Getting in the passenger seat, he bowed his head and let the tears flow.

Drew got in and started the car. He then drove down the road and pulled over. Turning to his fiance, he pulled him into his arms and let him cry on his chest.

"Emmett, I love you so much. You are the strongest person I've ever met. To overcome that and become the man you are today certainly took more strength than I could ever have."

Emmett gave Drew a kiss and sat back in his seat. "Let's get back to Lula's. It's hotter than the hinges on the door to Hell out here."

The kids were having a blast at Lula's house. They were running through the sprinkler and sliding around on the wet grass, giggling like crazy. Lula was trying to get them to run off some of the sugar from her tea and cookies so they would nap before dinner.

She hoped that things had gone well at her brother's house, but she doubted that it was possible. She loved her nephew with all her heart and hated for him to be hurt, especially by the two people who should love him most.  

Emmett and Drew got out of the car and walked onto the porch, where Lula stood up from the porch swing to greet them. Emmett shook his head at her sadly and Lula hugged him.

"I'm makin' beef stew and biscuits for supper tonight," she said, knowing how much he loved her stew. "Do you want to help me chop the vegetables, like ya used to?"

Emmett kissed his aunt on her forehead and led her into the house. Drew and Reba corralled the kids and carried them into the bathroom to dry off.

As they prepared the stew, Emmett told Lula what had happened when he went to see his parents. She shook her head in disgust.

"That man ain't got the sense God gave a tick, Bubbles. I'll never understand how he could hate ya for bein' the way God made ya. He nearly bit my head off before when I told him that he was the one who produced a gay son. Well, ya know that Reba and I love ya just the way ya are, and Drew and those babies are just the icin' on the cake. From the way ya tell it, it sounds like ya got lots of people back home who are on your side. Ya rose above everything ya were given and I couldn't be prouder if I had given birth to ya myself."

"I always wished that you had, you know," Emmett said, thinking about his yellow-bellied mother.

"Ya wouldn't know it now, but yer mama was the smartest, prettiest girl in high school. She coulda had any boy in town she wanted, but she chose my dumbass brother. I can't count the number of times I told Sadie to leave that man over the years, but she wouldn't listen. I swear, she exchanged her backbone and her brain for her marriage license. She'd just kept on makin' babies with ‘im, diggin' herself in even deeper. Those brothers and sisters of yours ain't hardly worth a damn, neither. Carolyn married an asshole just like your father, livin' out in West Texas, last I heard. Have no idea where Suzanne is, but Gracie married that Campbell boy she dated in high school and moved down to Florida. Billy and Johnny are both in prison for drugs and theft, the dumbasses. Rhett bought the Sterling farm down the road, if you want to go see ‘im."

"No thanks," Emmett said. "All the kin I care about are right here in this house."

Emmett and Lula were finishing prepping the stew when Drew and Reba came into the kitchen after getting the kids down for a short nap.

"You alright, Bubbles?" Reba asked.

"Yeah Sticks, I'm fine." Emmett said, giving his cousin a hug.

"I just have to know, why do you call her ‘Sticks?'" Drew dared to ask.

Emmett cackled as he replied, "Well, Reba was always outspoken and protective-"

Lula snorted. "Was?"

"Is outspoken and protective, but she's always been small. Whenever someone would bother or tease me, she would defend me. She wasn't strong enough to hurt anyone with her fists, but she had great aim and would throw sticks at the bullies like they were darts. Most of the kids were afraid of her, even the ones much older and bigger than her, and they would leave me alone if she was around."

"Yeah, they were lucky I was small," Reba said. "Otherwise I'da beat the breaks off every one of them sumbitches for messin' with my Bubbles."

Drew laughed and shook his head at his fiancee's crazy cousin. He was glad that Emmett had her during his rough childhood.

Emmett, Drew, and the kids spent the next couple of days visiting with Lula and Reba and making plans for when the ladies would come to Pittsburgh in October. Reba happily accepted Emmett's request to stand up at the altar with him when he said his vows.

When they returned home, Emmett called Mae to tell her that his aunt and cousin would be coming to the wedding.

"They're the only blood I have, as far as I'm concerned," Emmett said. "Deb, Carl, and everyone else up here are my real family, along with all of the Boyds now."

"Well, blood may be thicker than water, but love is more important," Mae agreed.    

Plans for the wedding were really coming along. A week before Halloween, Lula and Reba arrived in Pittsburgh. Since there was so much room at Britin, Brian and Justin offered to have them stay there.

Emmett and Drew picked the ladies up at the airport, with Drew insisting that Lula sit in the front passenger seat. They had a lively conversation on the way to Britin.

"Damn Bubbles, this big ol' tank of yours is nicer than most of the homes in Hazlehurst, and bigger than a few of ‘em," Lula said about his brand-new Escalade, which he had recently gotten for a trade-in with the one that Brian and Justin bought him when they brought Lyla home.

"A few folks are gonna be coming to Britin tomorrow to meet you and Sticks," Emmett said. "They're really looking forward to meeting ya'll."

"I'm happier than a woodpecker in a lumber yard to be meetin' them, too, especially that Debbie character you always carry on about."

"Bubbles, why do ya keep saying ‘Britin?' Do your friends live in some kind of hotel?" Reba asked, confused about where they were going.

"No, Britin is Brian and Justin's house - it's a combination of their names," Emmett answered.

"Why would ya need to name yer house? Never did hear tell of that before," Lula commented, shaking her head. "I mean, I know there's Graceland, but Elvis was the King of Rock ‘n Roll, for Pete's sake."

"Rich-asses do that silly shit, Mama," Reba said.

When they arrived at Britin, Lula was shocked. "Oh my Lord, this is bigger than the Copiah County Courthouse. How many people live here, Bubbles?"

"Just Brian and Justin. They're usually only here on the weekends and holidays, since they both work in Pittsburgh."

"Not sure how they find each other with all this house, but to each his own," Lula said with a smile.  

"Like I said, rich-asses," Reba whispered to her.

"Probably takes a whole army of housekeepers and gardeners to keep the place up, and tour guides so nobody gets lost goin' to the commode," Lula added.

Emmett rang the doorbell, with Brian answering the door a few seconds later. He was dressed in a red button-up and a pair of dark jeans, looking impossibly sexy.

"Come on in, Honeycutts," Brian said to the group. "Welcome to Britin."

"I ain't been a Honeycutt since Jesus was in diapers," Lula said as she walked into the large foyer, marveling at a beautiful abstract painting on the wall.

"Aunt Lula, Cousin Reba, this is Brian Kinney," Emmett said after everyone was inside.

Reba shoved her cousin out of the way to get a better look at the man. "Well, ain't you a tall, fine drink of water?" she said as she pushed her cleavage towards him and extended her hand.

Brian raised an eyebrow and shook the lady's hand, refraining from looking down at her offerings. "Nice to meet you, too."

"He's a fag, Sticks," Emmett said out of the corner of his mouth.

"Duh, he's too beautiful to be straight, but a girl can flirt, right?" Reba replied, winking at Brian.

Speaking of beautiful, Justin came walking down the stairs a minute later.

Emmett had barely made the introductions before Lula began fawning over the blond. "Oh, ain't you just the cutest thang?" she said, smothering Justin in a hug.

"Cuter than a junebug in a jumpsuit," Reba agreed.

Drew shook his head. "I'm still getting used to ya'lls expressions."

Emmett gasped. "Oh, did you hear that? He just said ‘ya'll!' We're rubbing off on him."

"One of us, one of us. Gooba-gobble, gooba-gobble!" Reba said, laughing as she wrapped her arms around Drew.

Brian and Justin showed Lula and Reba out to the pool house, which was really a small two bedroom cottage and would give them more privacy than staying in the main house. It would also be quieter, since the main house's kitchen and dining room had recently been turned into Wedding Planning Central.

"I'll be damned, this adorable little house makes mine look like a porta-john at a state fair," Lula said about the pool house. "Good luck kickin' us outta here after the weddin'."

The following afternoon, several members of Emmett's and Drew's families came to Britin for a big cookout. The large gas grill in the outdoor kitchen was used to cook a whole hog for what Emmett, Lula, and Reba called a "pig pickin'", which most of the Pennsylvania folks had never heard of. After tasting the pig, everyone quickly became fans of the Southern cooking method.

Just as expected, Lula and Debbie hit it off immediately. Jennifer and Mae really liked Lula, too.

"I'm glad those fucking judges finally got their heads out of their asses long enough to let gay couples get married," Debbie said. "If any two people deserve to be married, it's Emmett and Drew."

Even while Debbie said this, she couldn't help but look a few feet away at Brian and Justin, who were sitting close together as they enjoyed some of the tasty pig and traditional Southern sides. She hoped that Brian would also get his head out of his ass long enough to finally make her Sunshine's dream of wedded bliss come true.

Lula reached over and touched the back of Debbie's left hand, which was sporting a gold band on her ring finger along with the engagement ring she had been wearing for a decade. "I hear you and your fella just made it legal, too."

Debbie proudly held out her hand. "Yep, me and Carl went down to the courthouse right after it was announced that gay marriage was legal nationwide, back at the end of June. I never thought it was fair that he and I could get married just because we were born with different types of genitalia when millions of gay couples across the country couldn't get married. I was pretty sure he would leave me before that happened, but luckily he respected my convictions and loved me enough to wait."

The man in question was playing Cornhole with the kids in the garden. He loved Lyla and Sawyer as if they were his own grandchildren, just as Debbie did.

Emmett soon called for a toast, his fiance standing proudly by his side.

"I just wanted to thank everyone for coming today to meet Aunt Lula and Reba. I'm glad they were able to meet all of you before the wedding next Saturday, since I know there will be a lot more people here for that. Debbie, Aunt Lula, would you ladies come over here, please?"

Both ladies looked at each other curiously before joining Emmett.

"I would be honored if the two of you would walk me down the aisle when I marry the man of my dreams next week," Emmett said, tears in his eyes.

"Of course, Sweetheart," Debbie said, wrapping her arms around Emmett's shoulders, causing him to spill part of his red Solo cup of lemonade on her shirt.

Lula joined in on their hug. "Nothin' would make me happier, Bubbles."

"Bubbles," Brian repeated, looking at Justin with a smirk. "Remind me to ridicule him about that later."

"Cheers!" Emmett said, raising his cup.

***************

Throughout the week leading up to the wedding, Debbie, Mae, and Jennifer spent a lot of time with Lula and Reba. One afternoon while the ladies were all at Britin for lunch, Lula told them about how hard it was for Emmett growing up in Hazlehurst, especially with the homophobic and unsupportive family he was born into.

"I knew he was different when he was real little, probably about four or five," Lula explained. "I think the first person to ever call Bubbles a faggot was his own daddy, ain't that awful? He used to come over to my house all the time, just to get away from that man. His mama is so spineless, she never stood up to Arlee and told him to let the boy be. It broke my heart to see him have to grow up in such a hateful home, but there was only so much I could do for him."

Debbie knew that it had been hard for Emmett growing up in such a conservative part of the country, but he had never really told her too much about how he was treated in his own home. When Lula and Reba filled the women in a little more, their hearts broke for the kind and loving man they all loved as if he were their own son. None could fathom how someone who had had it so rough could have grown up with a heart so big.

"Why do you stay down there if it's so bad?" Debbie asked, curious why Lula would want to live somewhere that the attitudes were so different from hers. "Maybe it's time you move away from that place."

"Where the hell would I go? I've lived in that same house my whole life... shit, me and my siblings was all born there. I was the youngest in my family, and when both my folks was gone and everyone else moved out, I kept the house. I got married soon after my mama passed, and we lived there and raised our kids in that house. My husband Roy passed back in ninety-two. I'm all alone, ‘cept for when Reba stops by on her way ‘round the world. My son Edgar moved out when he got married a few years back, and now he lives in Memphis. Unfortunately, he's too much like most Southern men and don't like my Bubbles, so I really don't hear from him ‘cept maybe for a Christmas card."

"Well, you could come and live up here," Mae suggested. "There are lots of retirement communities in Pittsburgh. Lyla and Sawyer could always use another grandma, and you wouldn't be all alone and living around a bunch of narrow-minded bigots."

Debbie agreed and added, "It would be great if you lived here! Little ones grow up so fast. This way, you would be around to watch them grow up and could see what a wonderful father Emmett is to them."

"Luckily for you, I'm a realtor," Jennifer said. "I don't personally have any condos in retirement complexes on the market at the moment, but I could find some listings for you at my agency. They come up for sale all the time, as you could imagine."

"That really does sound like a wonderful idea," Reba told her stubborn mother, hoping that she would listen. "I hate that you are all alone down there where no one even talks you, just ‘cause you're not hateful and bigoted like them. I would feel so much better if you were up here with Bubbles. You have no idea how much I worry ‘bout you when I'm gone. You know that Bubbles would love it if you were closer. You've always been more of a mama to him than Aunt Sadie."

"Well, maybe I should talk to Bubbles and see if he thinks that would be good. I do feel a lot more relaxed up here and everyone has been real nice to us," Lula said, seriously considering moving to a place that was so accepting of "different" people. "I doubt my house and land are worth a damn, but I do have some money from Roy's life insurance to buy a new place."

The women continued to chat until Emmett, who had been outside helping his crew set up the reception tent, came in for a break. As soon as he had walked into the dining room to visit with his aunt and cousin, Debbie asked, "Hey Em, what do you think of your Aunt Lula moving up to Pittsburgh?"

"What? Aunt Lula, you want to move up here?" Emmett was shocked, as he never thought she would leave her home. He had invited her to come up a few times before but had always been shot down.

"Well Bubbles, these sweet ladies here reminded me that I really have no good reason to stay down in Hazlehurst no more. They said there's retirement communities where people like me can live. I won't move up here if you don't want me, though. I don't want you to feel like this old woman's intrudin' on your wonderful new life with your husband and kids. Now, don't say yes just ‘cause I asked. I only want to be here if it's good with you," Lula told her nephew seriously.

Emmett had started crying before Lula had finished her first sentence. He was so happy that she was willing to leave and be close to him. He had missed the woman that he wished had been his mother and couldn't wait until she was in Pittsburgh for good.

He took the old lady in his arms and rested his cheek on her head. "Aunt Lula, nothing would make me happier than having you here all the time. How many times have I told you that you needed to get away from Hazlehurst? We need to find you a place up here immediately. My babies need their Granny Lula... and I need you, too."

***************

"Ugh, I'm losing my voice," Daphne said as she took a sip from her water bottle.

"Just as long as you find it before the wedding tomorrow, you'll be fine," Justin said. "Can we do it one more time?"

His best friend groaned as she sat down on the loft's couch. "Nope, I'm done. I'm tired, I'm sweaty, and my back hurts. We're ready for tomorrow."

Justin looked at his friend and sighed. She was five months pregnant with what was technically his child, so he took pity on her. He then looked over at Brian, who was sitting at his computer desk.

"Did that last one sound okay?"

"Huh?" Brian said while staring at his laptop screen.

"I know you're pretending like you're not listening, but you're not fooling anyone," Justin said, his hands on his hips. "In fact, I think you're regretting saying no."

Emmett had asked Brian and Justin if they would sing a duet together at his wedding cermony after seeing the two of them give a drunken performance a few weeks before during Ted's birthday party at Woody's. In their inebriated state, they said they would do it. When Emmett brought it up again later, Brian said that he only did karaoke when he was drunk. Emmett wanted everyone to wait to start drinking the free booze after the ceremony, so he let him off the hook. Justin still thought it was a great idea and recruited Daphne to sing with him instead.

"Well, it was on key, so it was a lot better than the time we sang that song together," Brian cracked.

"You have a really nice voice, you know," Justin said as he walked over to his partner, his Sunshine Smile firmly in place. "You have a really nice... everything."

"Should I leave?" Daphne asked, so as not to prevent her friends from getting it on.

"No, you can stay, Little Mama," Brian said as he picked up his cell phone. "Flattery isn't going to get Sunshine anywhere this time. How about I order us some Thai for dinner?"

"Ooh, yes!" the hungry pregnant lady answered, clapping her hands.

Halloween finally arrived. It was an unseasonably warm Fall day, which was great considering they were having an outdoor ceremony and reception. For the ceremony itself, the men dressed traditionally in black tuxedos while the ladies in the wedding party wore formal dresses. The grooms chose rust and eggplant for their colors. The guests were asked to wear semi-formal clothing, and then everyone would be given time to change into their costumes for the reception in partitioned changing areas.

Emmett had asked Ted to be his best man while Reba, Justin, and Daphne would also be standing up for him. Drew asked his old teammate Jeff Campbell to be his best man. Also standing up for him would be Jeff's wife/Drew ex-wife Sierra, along with his brother Jason and sister Rachel.

Since this would hopefully be Emmett's only and Drew's last wedding, they invited all of their friends and family members to attend. Everyone on Emmett's side was thrilled that Lindsay, Melanie, Gus, and JR were able to come down from Toronto for the special day. Even Zack O'Toole, who was now the owner one of the most successful gay porn production companies in the country, had flown in from Los Angeles after Emmett had sent him an invitation after Ted dared him to; they didn't think he'd actually come.

When it was time for the ceremony to start, a string quartet began to play "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera. Lyla and Sawyer walked down the aisle together, Lyla dropping fall-colored rose petals along the way. Next came the members of the wedding party. Once everyone was in their places, Drew was walked down the aisle by his parents, Frank and Mae. Finally, Emmett was walked down the aisle by Lula and Debbie, all three crying buckets of tears.

Emmett had asked Reverend Brad from the Church of the Holy Showtune to officiate the ceremony. The flamboyant old queen was wearing a sequined black suit with an orange ascot.

"Welcome friends and family to the wedding of these two gorgeous men, Andrew Clarke Boyd and Emmett Morgan Honeycutt," Reverend Brad began, speaking in his usual animated style. "All of you look fabulous. We are here today to celebrate the love of Drew and Emmett and to finally join them in lawfully-wedded bliss. Separately, Drew and Emmett are strong, passionate, and generous men. Together, they are best friends, fathers to their two beautiful children, and they balance each other perfectly. I have spent some time with these two men over the last few months while they've prepared for this day, and I've gotta say that Drew and Emmett go together like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong."

The audience chuckled.

"Before I lose myself in song, I'm going to let two of the grooms' friends treat us to a good one," Reverend Brad said.

Justin and Daphne stepped forward to perform their song, but before they could begin, Brian walked up to the small elevated platform that had been placed in front of the gazebo and took the microphone out of Daphne's hand.

"May I cut in?" Brian asked the beautiful lady, who was dressed in a very nice eggplant-colored maternity dress.

Daphne smiled. "That's the way it should be."

"Wa-ooh, yeah!" Reverend Brad suddenly hollered before covering his mouth. "Sorry."

"Ready?" Brian asked his befuddled partner.

Justin would have to switch to the part that Daphne was planning to sing, but he knew the song well. He nodded and cued the man in charge of the music to start the track.

Justin began to sing slightly higher than his usual tone: "Live in my house, I'll be your shelter. Just pay me back with one thousand kisses. Be my lover and I'll cover you."

Brian took over in a masculine tone: "Open your door, I'll be your tenant. Don't got much baggage to lay at your feet, but sweet kisses I've got to spare. I'll be there and I'll cover you."

Justin and Brian then held hands and sang together: "I think they meant it when they said you can't buy love. Now I know you can rent it, a new lease, you are my love. On life, be my life."

They did a little swing dance move during a short vocal break.

They next both sang: "Just slip me on, I'll be your blanket. Wherever, whatever, I'll be your coat."

Justin: "You'll be my king and I'll be your castle."

Brian: "No, you'll be my queen and I'll be your moat."

They sang together again: "I think they meant it when they say you can't buy love. Now I know you can rent it, a new lease, you are my love. On life, all my life. I've longed to discover something as true as this is."

Brian then sang as he and Justin did a little tango move: "So with a thousand sweet kisses."

Justin: "When you're cold and you're lonely."

Brian: "I'll cover you with a thousand sweet kisses."

Justin: "You've got one nickel only. With a thousand sweet kisses."

Brian: "When you're worn out and tired."

Justin: "With a thousand sweet kisses."

Brian: "When your heart has expired."

They finished by belting out together: "Oh lover, I'll cover you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh lover, I'll cover you."

They ended the song with a kiss, which lasted for several seconds as the wedding party and audience cheered.

Lula looked over at Debbie and said, "They're so perfect together. I bet they're next. "

Debbie smiled at the two men she loved as sons. "From your lips to God's ears."

"Thank you," Justin whispered to Brian after finally breaking their kiss.

"I love you, Angel," Brian replied, giving him a quick peck on the lips before returning to his seat.

Reverend Brad dabbed his eyes with a pink handkerchief. "Oh, that was marvelous, thank you gentleman. That's one of my favorites. Emmett and Drew would now like to exchange a few words of love with each other."

"Drew, I love you. You have filled my heart like no one ever did before and made dreams that I didn't even know I had come true. You accept me and love me for the man that I am. You have given me yourself and helped bring two beautiful children into my life. Together we've built the family that I have wanted since I was a kid and nothing makes me happier than raising our babies with you. I am so proud to finally become your husband, and from this day forward I promise to give you my unconditional love and to be your biggest fan. You are my world," Emmett said, his eyes full of tears and a smile to rival Justin's on his face.

"Emmett, I love you. I never knew that something was missing from my life until I met you. With your love, strength, and encouragement, you helped me become the man that I always should have been. When you sent me away to ‘sow my gay oats', I tried to do what you expected of me, but I wasn't happy. My happiness comes from sharing my life with you, laughing with you, watching Lyla and Sawyer grow up, and being loved by you. I will never be able to thank our friends enough for helping us get here today. I promise to love and cherish you and our children from this day forward, and to be the husband and father that you all deserve. You are my world," Drew answered, now crying along with his sobbing partner.

"May I have the rings, please?" Reverend Brad asked.

"I got ‘em!" Sawyer said as he climbed off his Grandma Mae's lap and walked up to the gazebo. After handing the reverend the pillow, Sawyer asked Drew, "Did I do good, Papa? I did it just like you told me to."

"You did perfect, son," Drew answered his smiling little boy. He then looked at Emmett. "I, Drew, take thee, Emmett..."

"I, Emmett, take thee, Drew..."

"For richer, for poorer..."

"In sickness and in health..."

"To love and to honor..."

"To hold and to keep..."

"From each sun to each moon..."

"From tomorrow to tomorrow..."

"From now to forever..."

"Till death do us part," Emmett concluded, sniffling.

The men picked the rings up off of the pillow.

"With this ring I thee wed," Drew said as he slid the ring on Emmett's finger.

"With this ring I thee wed," Emmett echoed.

Ted and Blake then took the microphones to sing the rest of the exchange from West Side Story, the string quartet backing them.

Ted began: "Make of our hands one hand, make of our hearts one heart, make of our vows one last vow: only death will part us now."

Blake then sang: "Make of our lives one life, day after day, one life."

They finished together: "Now it begins, now we start. One hand, one heart. Even death won't part us now. Make of our lives, one life, day after day, one life. Now it begins, now we start. One hand, one heart. Even death won't part us now."

Reverend Tom then proudly announced, "With the exchange of their vows and rings, I now get to say the thing that these two gentlemen have been looking forward to hearing for many years: By the powers vested in me by the state of Pennsylvania and the showtune gods, I now pronounce Emmett and Drew as legally married. You may kiss your husband."

Drew grabbed Emmett and dipped him, planting his lips on his. Emmett returned the kiss with everything he had as he held onto Drew's broad shoulders. The crowd cheered for the new husbands.

Once the grooms finally came up for air, the reverend called out, "Ladies and gentleman, Mr. and Mr. Boyd!"

Justin and Daphne followed Emmett and Drew up the aisle as the orchestra played "Honey Honey" from Mamma Mia!

"They owe it all to us," Daphne said, recalling their grand plan to get their fabulous friend and the man of his dreams together.

The best friends high fived each other.

"Now we just have to get you married," she added.

Justin sighed. "That will take a miracle."

Once everyone got through the receiving line, the guests headed off to change into their costumes for the reception. The wedding party took some pictures in the garden in their formal clothes beforehand.

Brian and Justin chose to dress as Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, Justin well aware that the only way Brian would wear a costume was if it was something tough.

Lindsay and Melanie went as Cagney and Lacey from one of their favorite old TV shows. They liked to pretend that the girls had a more-than-professional relationship with each other. Gus and JR both dressed as a zombies.

Carl and Debbie had just seen Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and decided to dress as the two main characters, Sweeney Todd and Nellie Lovett.

Lula dressed as Granny and Reba as Elly May from The Beverly Hillbillies. They helped Lyla into her 80's rockstar costume and Sawyer into his pirate costume.

Ted and Blake chose to go as Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. They dressed up their one year-old son Phoenix like Yoda.

Pregnant Daphne dressed as a skeleton with a smiling baby's skeleton over her growing belly. Her husband Curtis had to work in the ER that night, Halloween being one of the hospital's busiest nights of the year, especially combined with it being a Saturday and a full moon.

Jayoung and her partner Carla were dressed as Xena and Gabrielle from Xena: Warrior Princess.

Beena and her fiance Mark went as a 1920's flapper and gangster.

Jeff, Sierra, and their three kids dressed as the Munster family.

Costumes for the other guests ranged from simple to extravagant. Many of the kids as well as a few of the adults were dressed as superheroes.

For their Halloween costumes, Drew and Emmett would be Ricky and Lucy from "The Diet" episode of I Love Lucy. Brian and Justin permitted the newlyweds to use their master suite to get ready, so long as the did not fuck in their bed. Drew was quickly finished changing into his fifties-style tuxedo and gelling his hair. He topped off his ensemble with a cock-eyed straw hat.

Emmett had gone into the bathroom to change, needing the mirror to apply his makeup. Drew settled into one of the two reading chairs with his Kindle, thinking that he would be able to read a few chapters of John Grisham's latest novel. Fifteen minutes later, Emmett came prancing out looking remarkably like Lucy Ricardo with his red wig, makeup, and green sequined dress. He was chomping gum and swinging around his matching sequined purse.

"Damn Emmett, you make one beautiful woman... but I sure do love your huge cock, especially when it's inside me," Drew whispered into his new husband's ear.

"Drewsie!" Emmett squealed, embarrassed.

"I thought you'd be at least an hour. You had to shave your legs and put on makeup, a dress, and nylons all by yourself. You walk in those heels like they're sneakers. How did you get done so fast?"

"Honey, you should know by now that a real queen never gives away her secrets," Emmett answered, smiling as he recalled his days of performing in a drag show with Godiva after he had arrived in Pittsburgh.

Drew smiled and softly kissed his husband's cheek, not wanting to smudge his makeup.

As the guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, Drew and Emmett walked out onto the dance floor and recreated the famous "Cuban Pete/Sally Sweet" performance. They had been practicing for weeks and did the dance perfectly, lip-syncing along to the lyrics. They received applause and whistles from the crowd.

Drew and Mae, who was dressed as Olive Oyl to her husband's Popeye, danced together to "Unforgettable" by Natalie and Nat King Cole.

Emmett and Lula were quite a sight in their costumes when they danced to "Through the Years" by Kenny Rogers. By the time the song had finished, they were crying all over each other.

A very fancy dinner was served before the toasts began. There were the traditional toasts given by members of the wedding party followed by Brian standing up to give one of his own.

"I would like to offer congratulations, not only to our newlyweds, but to several others that made this day possible for them. First, my partner Justin and his partners-in-crime, Daphne, Sierra and Jeff, who all got it into their heads way back in ‘08 to get these two back together. To Drew's mother Mae, who encouraged Emmett to go see his family down in Mississippi and invite them to the wedding. To Emmett's Aunt Lula and Cousin Reba, who are both very sweet and have offered much insight into our favorite flame. In closing, I must congratulate Drew Boyd for finally making an honest woman of our lovely Queen Bubbles."

There were several chuckles heard throughout the crowd. Emmett just looked down at the table and shook his head. He was really hoping that Brian had either not heard Lula or Reba call him by his childhood nickname or had forgotten, since he never mentioned it before. Oh well, he had his man now and that all that really mattered to him.

After the cake had been served, the kids were all off to enjoy the supervised games set up around the well-lit Britin grounds. Justin had organized different things to keep the kids busy. They could carve pumpkins, bob for apples, or play ring toss. There was a "pop goes the pumpkin" dart game for the older kids where there were balloons attached to a plywood wall filled with either candy or confetti. All the games had prizes for the kids to win. Brian had previously sent Justin shopping to get toys for prizes, telling him to get "nice prizes, not a bunch of shit from the dollar store that should be in the garbage." There would later be a pumpkin judging contest where the kid with the best carved pumpkin would be going home with a $100 gift card to Toys R Us.

Justin's face painting booth was a big hit. Most of the kids just wanted hearts, butterflies, or superhero masks while some of the older kids asked for zombie faces after seeing the work that Justin had done on Gus and JR, even if it didn't match their costume. Some adults wanted their faces painted, too. Lindsay volunteered to help when the line got too long and some kids started throwing fits.

Once it got darker, the kids were rounded up to watch movies projected on sheets draped on the outer walls of the house. There was Rocky Horror Picture Show for the older kids and Hocus Pocus for the younger kids. Everything was supervised by Emmett's staff, who were all dressed as characters from The Wizard of Oz, so the adult guests could enjoy the party and not worry about watching their little ones.

Brian had hired party busses for the guests that came in from Pittsburgh and planned on drinking. He and Justin wanted to make sure no one would have to worry about driving themselves home after enjoying the open bar. There would be early and late buses to take everyone home.

Brian and Justin booked Drew and Emmett into the Executive Suite at the Omni William Penn Hotel for the night, one of Kinnetik's clients. The newlyweds would be leaving in the morning for their honeymoon in Niagara Falls and Toronto, where they would be spending two weeks relaxing before Drew started his new job as Channel 4's new sports announcer.

Lula and Reba would take Lyla and Sawyer back to the Boyd house after the party finally ended and spend Sunday with them before returning to Hazelhurst on Monday. After that, the kids would spend a week with Mae and Frank, then another with Debbie and Carl until their dads came home.

At around 10 PM, the limo to take Emmett and Drew to their hotel arrived. There were still quite a few guests dancing the night away. Emmett grabbed a microphone and asked for everyone to come into the main tent.

"I just wanted to say a few things before my hubby and I take off," he said, smiling at Drew. "My ‘hubby'... God, I love that word. Anyway, on behalf of myself, my hubby, Lyla, and Sawyer, I thank all of you for coming and enjoying this wonderful day with us. Of course, many thanks to Brian and Justin for allowing us to use their gorgeous estate, as well as organizing the activities for the kids, renting the busses, and providing the candy and prizes. They have gone above and beyond to make this day possible for us, and we love them so much. A special thank you to our wedding party, Frank, Mae, Deb, and Aunt Lula. To all of the amazing people with Emmett's Fabulous Festivities, you'll be getting your ‘thanks' when you receive your checks next Friday... you're all getting paid double-time today."

Emmett's employees all whooped and clapped.

"Thank you to the DJ, the orchestra, the-"

Before Emmett could continue, Drew pulled the microphone out of his hand, eager to get their wedding night started at the hotel. He tossed Emmett over his shoulders in a fireman's carry and made a beeline to the driveway where the limo was waiting.    

The morning after their wedding, Emmett and Drew headed out to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon. Both men had been to the Falls before, but this was the first time they would be visiting together. They made it in three and a half hours in Drew’s new Porche 911 GT3 that he had bought himself earlier that year as a forty-fifth birthday present.

The newlyweds checked into the Embassy Suites Hotel on the Canadian side of the Falls and rode the elevator up to the Grand Suite where they would be staying for the first week of their trip.

A bellhop showed them around their room and made sure to point out the spectacular views of the Falls from their windows.

“Holy shit!” Emmett yelled out as he looked out one of the windows. “You wouldn’t want to look out there while you were tripping on acid, that’s for sure.”

From where he was standing, it looked as if you could fall straight down into the vast Horseshoe Falls.

Drew chuckled as he tipped the bellhop, signaling that it was time for the young man to leave. Once they were alone, Drew held his hand out towards the bedroom doorway.

“Shall we?” Drew asked his husband.

Once they were in the plush bedroom, Drew looked at his new husband and made a decision. Emmett had always been much more adventurous in bed than Drew during their seven and a half years together and he wanted to change that. Drew wanted Emmett to know how much he loved and cared for him, even though he made sure to show him every day.

Drew stepped in front of his husband and started undressing him, kissing his chest as he unbuttoned his shirt. When he got to his nipples, they were already hard. He licked and lightly bit them, causing Emmett to make the most beautiful sounds. Next, Drew knelt in front of him and opened his pants, exposing the huge cock that gave him so much pleasure. Holding it in his hand, he licked at the slit, coaxing out the delicious precum that he loved to taste.

“If you keep that up much longer, round one will be over, you sexy beast,” Emmett moaned.

“It can’t be over yet... I have more to do to you, my husband. Lay on your stomach, I’m just getting started.”

Emmett complied, wondering as he stripped the bed why Drew wanted it this way. He decided he didn’t care as long as it felt good. Once Emmett was settled, Drew knelt between his legs and put his hands on Emmett’s ass cheeks. He spread them as he blew lightly on his hole before licking lightly at his opening.

Emmett started moaning from the pleasure his man was giving him. Drew seemed to get really excited by what he was doing and soon was eating his husband’s ass like he was possessed. Drew couldn’t believe that it felt so amazing to do this and he wished he’d done it before.

Emmett was moaning and keening loudly. He hoped that no one could hear them in the large hotel, because there was no way he could be quiet while his husband worked his magic. Finally Emmett couldn’t take it anymore and he came all over the sheets, neither having touched his cock.

Drew kissed each cheek and reached under his husband to get some natural lube to spread on his cock. He then rolled Emmett onto his back and entered the tight hole of the man that he loved. Drew was so turned on that their first coupling didn’t last very long, but they both enjoyed it.

Lying together afterwards while their hearts calmed down, Emmett couldn’t stop the tears.

“Hey, are you okay? Did I hurt you?” Drew asked, concerned.

“Oh my God no, it was perfect,” Emmett answered. “That was just so unexpected. You’ve never done… that before.”

“I wish I had done it long before now,” Drew announced, smiling. “I love it when you do it to me. I didn’t think I’d enjoy rimming you as much as I did. I almost came just listening to you and tasting you. I hope you like having that done, because I think I’m going to need a lot more practice.”

“Honey, you can practice on me anytime. Even though you did an amazing job, there is no sense wasting all that talent by not properly practicing.”

Rolling on top of Emmett, Drew kissed his husband hard before pulling back and looking into the cornflower blue eyes. He then grabbed Emmett’s hand to pull him up.

“I’ve got an idea,” Drew said as he pulled him to the window.

Putting his hands on the window sill, Drew looked over his shoulder at Emmett. “I want you to fuck me while we watch the Falls.”

“Are you sure?” Emmett asked as he looked out at the rushing water below.

“Yes. If we stare at the Falls, it will be like we’re doing it right there.”

“Good thing neither of us gets seasick...”

Emmett grabbed the lube from his suitcase and worked on loosening Drew up as he kissed and licked his muscular back. Once Drew was pushing back on the four fingers that were stretching him, Emmett knew he was ready for him. Emmett lubed his cock before he slowly entered the hot, tight hole of the man he was so proud to claim as his husband. Once he was all the way inside, he paused to let Drew adjust to the fullness. When Drew was ready he pushed back and Emmett started slowly making love to his man.

Once they had a good rhythm going, they both stared at the Falls, imagining that they fucking just above the water as if they were floating. Since this was their second round, they were able to keep things going for a while, enjoying each other and the scenery. Finally, they knew that this coupling was going to come to an end.

Emmett grabbed Drew’s cock and jerked him in time with his thrusts, running his thumb over his slit. Drew exploded all over the window, causing his muscles to clamp down on the enormous cock in his ass. Emmett slammed all the way into his husband and sprayed a huge load of cum into him. Wrapping his long arms around Drew before his knees gave out, Emmett led them both to the bed, where they dozed in each other’s arms for a while.

Once they were conscious again, Emmett got a wet towel and cleaned off the glass, not wanting to leave a mess for the housekeeping staff to find.

On their second day in Niagara Falls, the boys took a boat trip on the famous Maid of the Mist. Despite being covered in blue ponchos, they were soaked from head to toe as they stood on the deck of the boat and enjoyed the magnificent views of the three waterfalls. Since they couldn’t spend every second of their trip in bed that week, they also went on the Cave of the Winds tour on Goat Island, hit a couple of casinos, had dinner in the Revolving Dining Room in the Skylon Tower, and visited the Jackson-Triggs Winery.

The second half of their honeymoon included a week in Toronto, where they stayed in the Drake Hotel located on Queen Street West in the city’s art district. Brian and Justin had stayed at the boutique hotel a few times before and recommended it to them. The XL Suite was very nice and eclectic with a comfortable bed and funky artwork. There was also a restaurant, cafe, rooftop patio bar, and a nightclub in the basement with live performances.

Emmett and Drew spent their Sunday in Toronto by first having brunch at Lindsay and Melanie’s house and later being shown around the Royal Ontario Museum by Gus and JR, who loved spending time with their uncles. Throughout the week, the newlyweds took a few trips over to Church Street, Toronto’s gay village. They went dancing at Fly 2.0, saw a drag show at the Tangos and Crews bar, and perused the Stag Shop sex store where Drew chose a couple new toys for their collection. They spend their last evening at the “Andy Warhol: Stars of the Silver Screen” exhibit at the TIFF headquarters, recommended to them by Justin who had helped set it up a few weeks before.  

While the couple enjoyed their two weeks celebrating their legally-recognized commitment and love together, Emmett and Drew were ready to get back to Pittsburgh and their children.

***************

After taking another short photo assignment overseas, Reba was back in Hazelhurst. It was a week before Thanksgiving and Lula would be moving to Pittsburgh that weekend, having found a condo in a retirement complex a short drive from Emmett and Drew’s house. Lula and Reba were thrilled they would be able to spend Thanksgiving with the newlyweds and their kids.

There wasn’t much left to do at Lula’s house, as far as packing up and cleaning. The movers would be there the next day and everything was ready for them to load. Lula had sold her small farm to a couple of gorgeous bears from up north who wanted to live where it was warm. She had gotten more money than she expected for the farm and house, because the land was in great shape for growing sweet potatoes and the house had been well maintained.

Once the movers finished loading the truck full of Lula’s entire life, Reba drove the two of them to the Jackson airport in a rental car. Lula had sold her truck to the couple that bought her farm, not needing it anymore herself.

Brian had booked the ladies on Liberty Air. When they got on the plane, Lula argued with the flight attendant about their seats.

“Ma’am, there must be a mistake,” Lula insisted. “We really shouldn’t be in first class. I mean, I ain’t exactly a world traveler like my daughter here, but I’ve never ridden in first class before.”

The flight attendant assured Lula that their seat numbers were correct before handing her an envelope.

In it was a handwritten note that said: Dear Lula and Reba, you are family. In case you were wondering, our family does not ride in coach. Can’t wait to see you. Much love, Brian and Justin.

Lula looked at the flight attendant with tears in her eyes and smiled, sitting down in the big soft seat.

“Do ya’ll have some of that free champagne?” Lula asked, wanting to take advantage of her new status.

Thanksgiving dinner was held at Debbie’s house that Thursday. Debbie and Lula did most of the cooking, despite everyone insisting that Lula relax in the living room because she was a guest.

“I’ve recently been informed that I am a member of this big ‘ol family, and I cook for my family,” Lula proclaimed, putting an end to it.

While prepping the meal, the women decided they would alternate cooking family dinners every Sunday since they both loved to cook. Lula showed Debbie how to make biscuits and country gravy the Southern way, meaning that a lot of lard was used. Debbie offered to show Lula how to make her famous lasagna some day.

***************

Lula went with Debbie to the AIDS Hospice the following week. After helping Debbie out in the kitchen for a while, Lula sat in the Common Room with some of the residents. She started talking to some of them and proudly introduced herself.

“You don’t mean Emmett’s Aunt Lula, do you?” one of the men asked.

The residents were all very familiar with Emmett from his frequent visits.

“One and the same, Darlin’,” Lula confirmed.

Soon she was telling the long version of some of Emmett’s stories, making the residents laugh. When Debbie came in to announce that lunch was being served, the men ask Lula to join them so that they can hear more. Lula ended up spending a few more hours telling stories before it was time for Debbie to get home to Carl.

“Well, I reckon we’re fixin’ to go,” Lula said. “It’s been a pleasure to talk at y’all.”

After several requests, Lula promised that she would come back again to tell them more stories and bring some of her famous snickerdoodles.   

***************

On Christmas morning, Emmett and Drew loaded up Emmett’s catering van with all the food they had bought to take out to Britin. The whole family would be there with their kids and significant others. Brian and Justin had returned the previous night from visiting Lindsay, Melanie, Gus, and JR up in Toronto. Britin was decorated and ready for the party, so all they had to do was get the food there and get cooking.

By 2:30, the first of the guests started arriving. Daphne wanted to help in the kitchen, but Emmett and Justin wanted the “little mother” to just relax and finish letting the baby cook. Her baby boy, who she planned to name Keegan, was due to arrive in a couple of months.

“You look so beautiful,” Emmett said to Daphne as he rubbed her swollen belly.

Daphne waved her hand dismissively. “Oh please, I’m a whale.”

“Stop it,” Emmett instructed. “You’re still a skinny little thing, only a little rounder where you’re supposed to be.”

“Yeah, her tits are huge,” Brian cracked as he walked by sipping a winter ale on his way to the kitchen, where Justin was decorating the platters with fancy cut vegetables.

“What is it with gay men and tits?” Daphne asked, laughing.

“Sweetie, it’s just that they’re something that we don’t get to play with, so we’re fascinated,” Emmett answered.

After eating the big Christmas feast, Emmett was sitting next to Daphne again on the very comfortable sofa and rubbing her belly, trying to get the baby to kick.

“He doesn’t move as much after I’ve eaten,” Daphne said. “I guess there isn’t much room for him to move around when I’m full.”

Lyla had come over to join them on the couch, and as she reached out and touched Daphne’s belly, Keegan seemingly did a full cartwheel at the little girl’s touch. It even surprised his mother.

“Keegan likes you, Princess,” Daphne said, smiling.

Lyla squealed, thrilled that her future cousin had responded to her. “Daddy, can I get a baby in my belly so it can do that?” she asked innocently.

Emmett’s eyes bugged out. He opened and closed his mouth several times, and he looked like he would faint at his daughter’s question. Reba and Lula, who were sitting nearby and had overheard her, laughed hysterically at Emmett’s reaction, along with Daphne who was wiping away tears.

“Six years old and already askin’ ‘bout the birds and the bees,” Lula said. “You’re gonna have your hands full with that one, Bubbles.”

“You’d better read a few books, Daddy,” Reba added.

Lyla stared at her father, patiently waiting for him to answer.

Finally, Emmett got his voice to work. “Uh, everyone! I think it’s time to open presents!”

He figured he would later ask Justin how to answer that question, since that’s who Brian always went to when Gus asked the hard questions. For a gay boy, Justin seemed to know a lot about straight sex and procreation, most likely due to his WASPy, private school upbringing.

Lyla luckily forgot about her baby inquiry at the mention of presents, having patiently waited all day to get her “big presents” after opening a few small ones and emptying her stocking that morning before leaving their house.

All the adults relaxed and watched the kids, wondering how their lives had changed so much in just the last few years. Brian and Justin sat together in the big armchair, the one Justin referred to as the “cuddle chair,” though not in front of his partner. They missed being with Gus and JR but were enjoying their niece and nephews as they opened their gifts.

Lyla and Sawyer helped Phoenix open his gifts, then tried to wrap him in the paper because they liked when he giggled as he rolled to get out of it.

About a half hour later, the carpet was blanketed by wrapping paper. All three of the kids had several toys, some clothes, and a few gift cards to toy stores, but Lyla and Sawyer really wanted one more thing.

“Is that all, Papa?” Sawyer asked Drew, hoping that there was another unwrapped box somewhere.

He and Lyla had both asked Santa for a puppy when Debbie and Lula had taken them to the mall for a visit at Santa’s Village. Elves behind the chair would write down the child’s wish and hand it to the adult with the picture. The kids had been asking their fathers for months but their campaign so far hadn’t worked, so they figured Santa might be better to ask.

Drew looked at his husband and back to his son. “There may be just one more thing, for both you and Sissy…”

“Yeah,” Emmett agreed. “Hey Sticks, will you help me get that last present out of the garage?”

The Boyd children both clapped and cheered, bouncing excitedly as they waited for them to return with their present.

Emmett and Reba walked back into the living room a couple minutes later carrying a rather large box with a removable lid. Once they sat the box on the floor, it began moving. The unmistakable sound of a high-pitched bark emanated from the box.

Lyla and Sawyer looked at each other with twin smiles before yanking the lid off of the box together. A light-blond Golden Retriever puppy sprang out of the box.

After screaming and petting their new puppy for a couple of minutes, the Boyd children ran over to their fathers to thank them for their dream present.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” Lyla said, kissing Emmett and Drew’s cheeks.

“You’re welcome, Princess,” both men answered before looking around the room at their family from their spot on the floor beside the giant Christmas tree.

Emmett and Drew turned to each other and smiled, leaning in for a light kiss.

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Boyd. I love you,” Drew said.

Emmett beamed, loving the sound of that and loving the life he thought he would never have.