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.