So lift your hands high and wave 'em proud
Take a deep breath and say it loud
Never can, never will
Can't hold us down

--"Can't Hold Us Down," Christina Aguilera

May 2005

"Theodore Schmidt and Blake Wyzecki, in as much as you have pledged yourselves, one to the other, by the exchanging of vows and rings, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Government of the Province of Ontario, I do hereby pronounce you to be married," the clerk said to the happy couple. "You may exchange a kiss as a token of your joy."

Ted embraced his new husband and gave him a big wet kiss, with Blake happily reciprocating.

"Gentleman, if you will now please sign your marriage license," the clerk requested.

Ted and Blake, along with the two deputy clerks who volunteered to be witnesses to the vows, signed the license.

The clerk smiled at the newly married couple. "Congratulations, gentleman. I wish you a long life together, filled with happiness and prosperity. May the vows you made to one another today sustain you forever."

"Thank you," Ted and Blake said to the nice woman before leaving the city clerk's office with their brand new marriage license.

"Holy shit!" Blake said once they were in the hallway. "Did we actually just do that?"

"Yep, we actually just got married," Ted confirmed with a goofy smile on his face. He felt like the luckiest guy in the world to have finally snagged the man he believed with all his heart was his soulmate.

Blake giggled, so happy to have made their relationship official, even if they had to travel to the neighboring country to the north to do it legally. "It feels so... surreal. It was only a month ago that we ran into each other at that ski lodge."

"Yes, it was," Ted said as he replayed the events of the past month in his head.

After they had reconnected at the ski lodge, Ted and Blake went back to Pittsburgh and spent many glorious nights together at Ted's condo. It had been a couple of years since the last time they'd been together, but it was as if they hadn't skipped a beat. Even with all the drama in their history, their relationship never lacked passion. They had found their perfect lover in one another. Ted knew they belonged together, and now that it finally seemed the stars were aligned just right and the universe would allow the two of them to be together, he wasn't going to ever let Blake go again.

They had been in the middle of another beautiful round of lovemaking on their one-month anniversary when Ted asked Blake to marry him. It wasn't the thoughtful proposal Ted had imagined, if he would ever be so lucky to ask or be asked the big question, but he just couldn't help himself. Blake had screamed "yes!" in the middle of his climax.

They drove straight to Toronto the next morning, neither of them wanting to wait another day. Once they were in town, they stopped at the first jewelry store they found and bought a pair of matching white gold rings, rather simple but still beautiful designs. They exchanged their vows in the Toronto Clerk's Office, which was far from the romantic wedding that Ted had always dreamed about but ended up being perfect for the two of them.

Out in the parking lot, the new husbands buckled up. Ted started the car but didn't know where they should go.

"So, my darling husband, should we go back home or find a hotel room somewhere?" he asked his blond. "I'm sure Mel and Linds would put us up for the night, but we probably wouldn't want to spend our wedding night with a couple of dykes and two kids, would we?"

Blake thought about it for a moment. "Actually, my darling husband, I've never been to Niagara Falls. It's not very far from here, is it?"

Ted turned on his GPS device and typed in their destination. "It looks like the Canadian side of the Falls is about two hours from here."

"Let's go!" Blake said with a big smile.

They were on Queen Elizabeth Way about an hour later, "Nessun Dorma" as sung by Pavarotti quietly playing out of the car's speakers. Ted reached over and ran his hand over Blake's left hand, his fingers trailing over his husband's wedding ring, which was shimmering in the sunlight.

Blake looked over at Ted. The older man was surprised to see that his younger husband didn't look too happy.

"What's wrong, Honey?" Ted asked.

"Are you sad that we didn't invite anyone?"

Ted immediately shook his head. "No... I can just hear Emmett telling me that we're rushing into this. Brian would make some kind of snide remark, leaving me feeling like shit. I don't know what Michael would say, but he may have been the only one who would've been supportive."

"Debbie would probably have been happy for us," Blake said.

"Yeah, but it would've reminded her how we can't legally do this back home. Same-sex marriage being illegal in the US is a very sore spot for her; she won't even marry Carl until every gay couple can get married."

"What about Melanie and Lindsay? They just moved up here, right?"

Ted wished that Melanie had been there to see him get married after having been friends with her since college, but he had no regrets. If he invited one person from the "family" he would have had to invite all of them. His mother would be heartbroken not to have been included. It wouldn't have been right to invite only his side, so they would have had to invite the whole Wyzecki bunch up there, too. Ted hadn't even met Blake's family yet, and the thought of meeting Blake's parents and his six younger siblings was very overwhelming.

"No, I'm glad we did it like this, just the two of us," Ted said. "What, do you have any regrets? You're supposed to have cold feet before the ceremony you know, not after."

Blake's smile returned. "No regrets."

As if he knew his mantra had been recited, Ted's cell phone rang. He almost wasn't surprised to see on his caller ID that it was Brian.

Ted answered the call. "Hello?"

"Where the fuck are you?" Brian snarled in his ear.

"It's always a pleasure to speak with you, Boss," Ted said sarcastically. "I took the day off, remember?"

"I need you to look at the papers for the Babylon contractor. You're not in your apartment."

"That's because Blake and I decided to take a little weekend trip. We should be back by oh, five o'clock Sunday evening."

"Fuck!" Brian yelled. "I was supposed to have these faxed by five o'clock today! We're going to lose this company's bid and we'll have to go with a more expensive one."

"How long has that paperwork been sitting on your desk? I'm sure it's been more than a day. This is what happens when you procrastinate, Brian," Ted said, using his dad voice.

"Fuck!" Brian yelled again.

Ted thought quickly. "When we get to our hotel, I'll call you back with a fax number, okay? We'll be cutting it close, but we'll get it taken care of."

"Drive fast, Theodore," Brian ordered before hanging up on him.

Ted sat his phone back in his center console. "Christ, Justin has only been gone for a month, but Brian is completely miserable without him. He's taking it out on the rest of us sorry bastards, especially those of us unfortunate enough to work for him."

"You know Brian, he just needs to get laid and he'll feel better," Blake said dismissively.

"Nah, it's more than that. I'm sure he's getting it regularly, but he's still a bear to be around. Cynthia has dubbed his office ‘The Temple of Doom.' He made Sarah in the art department cry last week. You didn't see how close they were before Justin left, they almost had a commitment ceremony. Brian even bought him a huge fucking mansion in the country, Justin's dream home. As soon as Brian admitted his feelings for his little Sunshine, he ran him off."

"They should have just gotten married, for real," Blake said.

Ted nodded in agreement. "That's what Justin really wanted, but Brian didn't think the boy could be happy unless he went to Manhattan and made it as an artist. They're both trying so hard to be selfless for once. Justin's only doing what he thinks Brian wants him to do, when we all know what Brian wants is Justin and what Justin wants is Brian."

Blake sighed sadly, feeling sorry for his husband's brooding boss and his wayward blond. "Maybe someday they'll both realize it."

Ted brought Blake's hand to his lips and kissed his ring. "Let's hope so, for everyone's sake."

Ted walked into the diner on Monday morning for his usual breakfast with Brian, Emmett, and Michael. He had been rehearsing all weekend how he was going to share his news with his friends, but his planned speech went out the window before he could even sit down.

"What the fuck is that?" Emmett said, pointing at Ted's left hand.

He quickly realized that he had forgotten to take his ring off. He reflexively put his hand in his jacket pocket. "Uh... what the fuck is what?"

Emmett reached over and yanked Ted's hand toward him. The southern queen gasped.

"What the... what?" Emmett sputtered. "You didn't! Please, tell me you didn't!"

All Ted could do was smile guiltily. "Uh..."

Both Brian and Michael were staring at his ring from across the booth.

"Holy shit," Michael said. "Is that a...?"

"Wedding ring?!" Emmett shrieked.

Ted stuck out his chin. "Yes, yes it is."

"Is it a real wedding ring or....?" Michael asked.

"As opposed to what, a fake wedding ring?" Ted offered.

Emmett looked at his best friend, tears welling up in his eyes. "You didn't actually get married, did you? Like, legally?"

"Married? Who got married?" Debbie's voice suddenly rang out.

Ted turned to find the rainbow-vested redhead standing beside him and looking down at his left hand, which Emmett was still holding. In fact, it appeared as if everyone in the diner was now looking in his direction.

"Yes, friends and Liberty Avenue Diner patrons, I went to Toronto and got married over the weekend," he proudly announced. "You can all go back to your meals now."

"Oh my God, Teddy!" Debbie said before wrapping her arms around the man, squeezing the air out of him. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks, Deb," Ted said in a strangled voice.

"I'm so happy for you and..." Debbie said before releasing Ted and taking a step back. "What's his name again?"

"Blake," Ted reminded her.

Debbie smacked herself on the forehead. "Of course, Blake! You two are so cute together."

"How could you fucking do this?" Emmett yelled. "You guys have been back together for like, five minutes, and now you're married? What the fuck were you thinking?"

Ted had expected Emmett to be upset that he hadn't been invited to the ceremony or asked to plan the event for them, but he never imagined his friend being angry with him for getting married.

"I was thinking that I love Blake and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I thought you approved of us being together. Hell, you were the one who told me to go be with Blake when we saw him at the ski resort last month."

"Yeah, but I didn't think you would get married a month later! I thought that... oh, nevermind."

Emmett pushed past Ted and Debbie and started heading toward the door.

"No... Finish your sentence!" Ted yelled at him.

Emmett stopped in his tracks, paused for a couple of breaths, and turned around. "I thought you and Blake would have a little fun, and then crash and burn just like you always did. Maybe once and for all, you'd see that you and him shouldn't be together."

"And why shouldn't he and I be together?" Ted asked as his own tears started flowing, heartbroken to hear those words come out of his best friend and ex-lover's mouth. "We're both clean and happy in our own lives, so why shouldn't it work out for us this time? What has Blake ever done to make you not like him, apart from his addiction? You forgave me for the shitty things I did when I was high, so why can't you look past his mistakes?"

Emmett stood there with his mouth open, searching for something to say.

Ted spoke before he could answer. "Or are you just jealous because I'm with the man I'm going to spend the rest of my life with while you are all alone? Are you pissed that I didn't marry you?"

"Ooh, shit," Brian said, surprised Ted had the guts to go there.

"Shush," Michael said to him, looking at Emmett for an answer.

Emmett covered a sob with his hand before turning back around and running out the door. Ted thought about following him but decided to take his seat at the table.

"Well, that went way worse than I thought it would," he said to no one in particular as he wiped his eyes with a napkin. "Can I get some coffee, Deb?"

Debbie pulled her eyes away from the door. "Um, sure, Honey."

The three remaining men sat in uncomfortable silence for a minute. Debbie brought Ted's coffee and refilled Michael and Brian's cups before walking away.

"So... do either of you have anything to say?" Ted finally asked the other men.

Brian thought about it for a bit. "When I called you and we were faxing that Babylon contract back and forth, was that before or after you tied the knot?"

"About two hours after," Ted answered.

"Oh..." Brian said, surprised at how guilty he suddenly felt. Even on his wedding day, Ted was still acting as a loyal employee. "If I had known you were like, on your honeymoon or whatever, I wouldn't have-"

"Don't worry about it," Ted interrupted. "Blake and I had two very nice nights together before we came home yesterday."

"Where did you stay?" Michael asked.

"At the Embassy Suites on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. We got a room on the fortieth floor and had a great view."

"Did you ever leave the room?" Brian asked with a wolfish smile.

Ted chucked. "Yeah, a couple times, briefly."

Michael finally asked the question Ted was hoping he wouldn't have to address. "So, why didn't you invite any of us to your wedding? I mean, you guys went to mine, and Brian invited all of us to-"

Brian loudly cleared his throat before taking a sip of coffee.

"Well, it's not like I didn't want you guys to be there," Ted explained, "but it's a long trip and it was kind of a spur of the moment decision we made. Hell, we biked home from Toronto, you know how fucking far away it is. We didn't want to inconvenience anyone by expecting you to haul ass up there for us on a Friday. Also, Blake has a really big family, so we thought what the hell? Let's just elope and celebrate with our families here at home later."

"I would have driven up there for you, plus we could have visited the kids," Michael mumbled.

Brian smiled at Ted, saluting him with his cup of coffee. "Well, I for one thank you for not inviting me. You know I hate witnessing those heterosexual suicide pacts."

"You stood up for me at my wedding and almost had one of your own," Michael so kindly reminded his friend.

Brian glared at Michael before dropping a twenty on the table. "Move your ass, I've got to get to the office."

Michael did as Brian asked and allowed him to get out of the booth.

"See you later, Boss," Ted said to the retreating man. "Jesus, Michael, why do you have to constantly throw that in his face?"

"What, that he was the best man at my wedding?" Michael dumbly asked.

"No, that he almost married Justin. Even though it was only going to be symbolic, it was still a huge step for him in his life. The fact that he was willing to make any kind of commitment to someone shows how much Brian has grown up. Shit, he bought Justin a huge house to show him he was serious, even toyed with the idea of selling the loft! He showed me pictures of the house online, it's really fucking nice... expensive, too."

Michael waved his hand. "Whatever. Justin's gone now, so Brian's free to move on. If Brian really wanted to be with him, he wouldn't have urged him to leave. He barely had to push him to go. It was like that little blond asshole was looking for an out. I say ‘good riddance' to him."

Ted downed the rest of his coffee and got out of the booth, needing to get away from Michael just as Brian had.

"Hey, you and Blake should come over for dinner sometime this week," Michael said as Ted was leaving.

"Yeah, sure," Ted said before he walked out.