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.