Chapter 55

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Chapter 55: Still Lingering on my Lips

It felt strange pulling into the Sorrento without Jasper, and even stranger walking up to the registration desk to check in. I certainly was accustomed to the latter, having done it on numerous occasions in the past with various tricks by my side, but my last and by far most memorable time in this lobby was just a couple of months ago, when I wasn't checking in at all, but meeting Jasper instead. This time I had fully expected we would be walking up to the desk together, maybe even hand in hand, and his absence was palpable.

I went through the motions with the pleasant Asian woman behind the desk, explaining that I was early and thanking her for re-assigning me to a junior suite that would be ready at the very early hour. Despite the lack of sleep, I managed to think on my feet enough to upgrade Troy and Zack to a junior suite across the hall from mine, taking care of the payment and checking them in. It took that long for the woman at registration to notice that we had requested two suites with king beds for four men, but as was usual at the Sorrento, she didn't comment beyond confirming our needs and asking when Mr. Whitlock would be checking in. It was painful having to explain that Jasper would not be arriving after all. I absolutely understood why he had needed to go back to New York, but the constant reminders that he was always meant to be by my side throughout this wedding weekend were not helping my melancholy mood.

I followed the bellman to the suite and let him unload the luggage. Jasper and I had already prepared a bag to take with us to Seth's event, so I didn't have to do any unpacking yet, for which I was glad. We had intended to send Jasper's suit to be pressed as soon as we arrived so it would be ready for the wedding the following day, but that would no longer be necessary. Instead of unpacking, I took a few moments to settle in and check out the junior suite. My previous stays at the Sorrento had all been in their deluxe rooms. After all, I didn't need a junior suite to fuck a trick. Arguably, even a deluxe room here was too extravagant for such a menial occasion, but I had fond memories of the night I'd spent in this place with Simon, memories that many of the tricks who came after him benefited from, some adding to them as well. Now, however, I would have gladly erased all of those memories for a chance to make new ones right here in this suite with Jasper. I vowed that someday in the future we would book at least one night here, in this very suite, and enjoy it properly. It would be fun to be here by ourselves, without having to worry about the schedule and all the wedding events, though all in all I would much rather have him by my side this weekend, interruptions and all.

Well-appointed as it was, being in the suite alone was not helping to improve my mood. I thought about taking a nap, but getting into the big bed alone held no appeal. Frustrated, I decided to go downstairs and wait for the rest of the guys there. At least in the hotel lobby I'd have the distraction of people watching until my friends arrived. I found a seat in the Fireside Room that gave me a good view of the hotel entrance and ordered a cup of coffee both for something to do and the caffeine. As it turned out, I didn't have long to wait. Less than thirty minutes after my arrival I spotted the tell-tale pale green Kia Soul pulling up in front of the hotel, and not long after, Zack and Troy walked through the front door. His height and the backpack he wore made Troy look even younger than he was, and the way he ran towards me excitedly only reinforced the impression. Seeing him and Zack brought a huge smile to my face, and I gladly caught him in my arms to give him a tight hug. Pulling their large suitcase, Zack was a little slower getting to us, but when he did he received the very same tight hug.

"Gem, where is he?" Troy asked eagerly. "It's killing me!"

"Lee can't wait to meet Jasper," Zack explained as we stepped out of our hug. "It's all he's talked about this morning."

"And believe me when I tell you, no one wishes he was here for you to meet more than I do," I told them.

"What?" Troy became agitated.

"He's not here with you?" Zack queried with alarm.

"Gem," Troy placed his hands on my upper arms for emphasis, "what happened?"

I appreciated the boys' obvious concern, but at the same time I was reluctant to talk about what happened, knowing I'd just have to do it again when everyone else arrived. Fortunately, just then I saw Garrett's white Maybach pulling up to the hotel.

"Listen, I checked you guys in already and paid for a junior suite for you right across the hall from mine. Go get your room key," I tried to distract them.

"You didn't have to do that, Edward," Zack said.

"I wanted to. Here comes the rest of the squadron," I pointed with my chin towards the entrance. The boys turned to watch Emmett, Nasir, Seth and Garrett walk in. "I hope to only have to go over this once."

Zack nodded his understanding. ""I'll get our key, Lee," he said, squeezing Troy's shoulder, and made his way to the registration desk.

"It's okay, Leo," I assured him when he turned back to me, his eyes still filled with worry. "Do I look upset?" I tried to lighten the mood by pulling him under my arm.

"No," Troy agreed, albeit with obvious reluctance. He might have said more, but our four friends had spotted us and made their way over, and we all spent the next few minutes exchanging greetings and hugs. Seth, of course, noticed Jasper's absence almost immediately, but his initial questions were lost amidst the general exuberance of our group.

"Edward has something to tell us," Seth finally announced when we were all done.

"Hey, where's Jasper?" Emmett suddenly noticed my boyfriend's absence and looked around, much the same way Troy did upon his arrival.

"Will everyone shut up?! Edward, tell us," Seth commanded. It should have been annoying, were it not for the fact that I knew they were all curious and probably worried. I took a deep breath and began.

"Okay! First, this trip to the Cascades was the best trip of my entire life, bar none. I was with the man of my dreams and we are both very much in love," I thought it was best to start by reassuring them that everything was all right. I figured otherwise they would fear the absolute worst.

"But?" Seth looked at me with eyes narrowed into slits.

"Eddie, where is he?" Emmett asked quietly.

"Jasper is on a plane, headed back to New York. I just dropped him off at the airport," I told them. I could see everyone was shocked and they all wanted to know what happened, the thoughts voiced for the group by Seth first, and then Troy.

"My original plan was to get back to Covington last night. We were going to spend the night tonight and tomorrow here at the hotel, but I wanted to have at least one night with him in my house. I wanted it to feel like it was our house, and more importantly, our bed," I saw Emmett slip his hand into Nasir's and was reminded that they too no longer had the luxury of sharing their bed every night. Once again, Emmett and I could commiserate about the downsides of long distance romances. This time, however, it was different. This time we were with the right partners, and we wouldn't allow distance to pull us apart. I might have dwelt on this longer, had it not been for Seth's expectant gaze. Knowing how lethal he could be when anyone tested his patience, I quickly continued. "But then we were having such a good time on the trip that I didn't want to rush. We could have made it all the way to Covington last night, but we would have been exhausted, so instead we decided to take our time and spend the night in Langley on Whidbey Island, and then meet you all here today. Everything was great, better than great," I explained, remembering the amazing time Jasper and I shared not more than 12 hours before. Having him share his fantasy and making it come to life for him was so thrilling, especially since I got to see for myself just how much he enjoyed it.

"And then?" Seth pulled me out of my thoughts.

"And then he got a call from New York," I returned to the story. "A couple of his best friends got bashed on the way home from a bar. One's injuries are pretty life threatening," I explained and watched everyone's predictable horrified reaction. Emmett was especially agitated.

"Goddamn it!" He exclaimed, curling his hands into fists as if anticipating a fight. "They got gay bashed? That makes me so fucking mad!"

"Yeah. One made it out with cuts and a broken arm I guess, but the other one's assailant, or assailants, had at least one baseball bat," I explained. I watched and listened to everyone's reaction. Garrett remained calm, but I could see by the way he looked at Seth that the news struck a particular nerve with him. I recalled hearing about Jared's attack on the two of them when they were in South Dakota for Seth's father's funeral, and I knew that Garrett would step in front of any man or weapon threatening his husband, regardless of the reason. Having experienced something similar, however, I was sure he could easily put himself in place of Jasper's friends, and he clearly didn't like it, visibly shuddering at Nasir's expressed wish to have been there to ward off the attackers.

"We might all be in the hospital," he mused.

"Some, if not all of them, would be too," Emmett announced with vehemence.

"Or worse," Nasir words carried a deadly implication.

"So Jasper is on his way home," Seth put a stop to the theoretical discussion.

"The guy is at least stable this morning, but he's still in ICU," I relayed. "Jasper feels terrible that he's going to miss your wedding, guys," I said to Emmett and Nasir.

"I hate that too, but it's perfectly understandable. What fucking timing," Emmett replied, shaking his head.

"Poor Jasper. He must be very worried," Nasir added.

"He really is," I agreed, remembering how distraught my boyfriend had been. My boyfriend... I loved the sound of that and loved even more how natural it felt to think of Jasper that way!

"It's just as well he's flying back," Seth said thoughtfully. "He would have been too preoccupied to enjoy himself today and tomorrow."

"I thought that too. Though I sure as shit hated to see him get on that plane, for any reason. I even waited around until his jet took off. I felt a little pathetic doing that," I admitted.

"I would have done the same thing," Troy stated and I shot him a grateful look. My little brother looked so heartbroken for me. I made a note to assure him later that while I wasn't happy with the circumstances, overall I was okay.

"Okay, we'll all call him later, or better yet, text him our well wishes," Seth grabbed my arm as he spoke. "Edward, I'm so sorry this happened. You know we all wanted him with us nearly as much as you did."

"I know that, Seth," I acknowledged. "And you know he would have been here if he could."

"But now it's boys' day," Seth issued what amounted to a decree to close the subject and move on to other important matters. "It is very important for the grooms to have a day to relax with the rest of their men, and to that end, the limo will be here any minute," he looked up at Emmett. "And we're still missing one of your groomsmen. Where is your brother?"

Emmett called his brother's room while Troy and Zack went to put their luggage in their room while we waited for the other McCarty to join us. I snickered at the anxious way Nasir kept glancing towards the elevators and how his eyes widened when Carson stepped out of one. It was quite obvious that he found his future brother-in-law quite appealing. Emmett clearly was not threatened and even found humor in the situation. I needed to take pointers. This was precisely what Jasper and I had talked about before we went to the pool at the lodge. As long as we were secure in our love, other people were irrelevant. And after everything they'd been through, Emmett certainly had no reason to doubt Nasir's feelings.

After exchanging greetings with Carson we made our way outside where the super stretch Cadillac Escalade was waiting, barely fitting under the Sorrento porte cochere. Apparently Nasir's preferred chauffeur, Bobby, was as much in the dark about our destination as we were - all but Seth who gave a self-satisfied smile but revealed nothing. Everyone piled into the limo, including Zack and Troy, who came running out of the hotel. I got in behind them and settled in, again observing with amusement how this time Troy was taken with Emmett's brother. Fortunately, like Emmett, Zack didn't seem too concerned. In fact, he may have been quite taken with Carson as well. I glanced over at the only straight guy in the limo who, for the moment at least, seemed perfectly at ease with his seven gay companions. I was willing to bet he wouldn't be nearly as comfortable if he knew what many of them were thinking.

Seth leaned into the driver compartment of the limo and finally shared the mystery destination with Bobby. We kept talking and I was proven right when Carson finally realized he was the only straight man in the limo. He played it cool, but I could see a lot of that was bravado. It was amusing to see a big fireman squirm, even if he wasn't doing it very obviously. I decided when the opportune moment arose, I'd have a little fun with Emmett's kid brother. Nothing too forward or scary, but Seth wasn't the only one who enjoyed teasing a straight guy every now and then.

The limo pulled up in front of a building with a huge Russian sign.

"I think I read about this place," Nasir said. "It is a bathhouse. Are we going to bathe together?" he broke out into a wide smile, glancing in Carson's direction.

"What?" Carson didn't sound at all happy.

"We're going to do so much more than that," Seth promised, leading us inside.

"Um, what?" Carson repeated. Emmett tried to reassure him, but the attractive receptionist did a far better job of distracting the straight McCarty.

We were all directed into the locker room to change into our bathing suits and flip flops. I thought it would be funny to see Carson's reaction to this, but my initial interest disappeared as soon as I sat down on the center bench and reached into my bag to take out my trunks. Somehow I had forgotten that Jasper and I packed the bag in anticipation of being here together, and his swim suit and flip flops were still in the bag too. Oblivious to everyone around me, I pulled up Jasper's denim print low-rise briefs, remembering just how good they looked on him, hugging the curves of his ass and barely containing his ample cock, My own dick stirred at the memory, and I wished more than anything that Jasper could be in that locker room too, changing with the rest of us.

"I love you, Jas. I wish you were still here with me," I whispered, as though he could hear me across the miles. I glanced at my watch. He was about halfway through his transcontinental flight. Hopefully the weather was clear and he was able to get some sleep. I was so lost in thought I was surprised to feel Seth come up behind me and wrap his arms around my neck in a comforting hug.

"We love you," he whispered and kissed my temple. Nothing needed to be said in response, so I merely leaned into him a little, letting him know I appreciated the support. I put Jasper's swim suit back in the bag and pulled out my own as Seth returned to his husband. Carson provided an additional distraction as he tried to tease us by taking off his jeans, only to reveal the too loose boxers he wore beneath. I shook my head, anticipating Seth's reaction. Our little dynamo, completely at ease with his body and nudity, promptly showed Carson the proper way to strip, to the catcalls and applause of everyone gathered except Emmett's brother.

We all changed into our bathing suits, with only Carson being bashful. I smiled when I caught Troy and Zack in a tender moment, and nearly had a problem myself as, once again, I remembered fooling around in the resort pool with Jasper earlier in the week. Fortunately, it was time to meet the bathhouse staff in the lobby, which thankfully kept my thoughts from impacting my other head.

Back in the lobby, we were greeted by a Russian called Ivan, who gave us each ginger mint tea and went over the day's activities. I'd never been to a place like this nor had any desire to go, but the tea was good and the sauna and other treatments sounded interesting. I was a little skeptical about the full body honey massage, but what the hell? If Carson could go through it, so could I. Except, of course, once again I wished Jasper was here to go through it with me. Before I had time to let my thoughts wander down an erotic path involving me, Jasper and honey, we were ushered out of the lobby and into the interior of the bathhouse towards another Russian who stood by a cart full of something our host called chapkas, which we were to wear into the super-hot dry sauna.

Emmett voiced the question we were all thinking and was answered by Ivan pulling a gray, felt hood, adorned with a large red star, onto Emmett's head. The sight was pretty comical and Seth started laughing even as Emmett placed a hood over his head and Nasir's.

"Do we have to wear these?" Carson asked as he was handed his.

"I was just about to ask that," I agreed. The head coverings looked absolutely ridiculous and seemed better suited for Siberia than a 200 plus degree sauna.

"I think they're hot!" Troy commented as he put one on Zack.

"We strongly recommend you," Ivan urged.

"When in Russia," Garrett shrugged as Emmett slipped one onto his head.

Carson and I took a look at each other and I know we were both thinking the rest of our companions and the two Russians were all nuts, but in the end we shrugged too and, resigned to follow the crowd, pulled on the crazy soviet headgear. We all took off our robes and took a towel to sit on before filing into hell, for the heat in the sauna could not have been much lower than Satan's domain.

Seth immediately likened the sauna to a sweat lodge and I recalled learning at some point about sacred ceremonies held in sweat lodges.

"And what is that?" I asked curiously when Seth expressed a desire for his "chanunpa."

Seth explained about the ceremonies, which involved smoking a pipe, and suggested that we have one for Emmett and Nasir later before the start of dinner. I voiced my skepticism about smoking a pipe, which earned me one of Seth's lectures.

"The pipe is at the very heart of my people's culture. Nothing is more sacred. The smoke becomes our words. It goes out and touches everything. It becomes a part of all that is. It links the Earth and the sky. It links The People with the Grandfather Spirit."

"Yeah!" Troy joined in, hitting me on the arm and making everyone laugh. We moved on to other topics, with even Carson the fireman uncomfortable in the extreme heat. Of all of us, Nasir seemed to be suffering the least, but he was soaked with sweat just like the rest of us. Without the other guys, I don't think any of us would have lasted more than a couple of minutes. With everyone in there talking and especially teasing Carson, we all managed to hold out the entire allotted ten minutes, though I for one couldn't be more glad to get out of the hell pit and into the cool bathhouse air.

After we dropped off our hats and towels, we were taken to the pool area where two staff members stood ready to whip us with wet oak branches. I glanced at Carson, who by default seemed to be my partner for the day, and I could see that, like me, he could barely keep a straight face. Seth forced Emmett and Nasir to go first and the two of them were smacked with the branches while Ivan tried to explain the health benefits of this ridiculous practice. After about a minute of being smacked by the wet leaves, Emmett and Nasir were directed to jump into a large pool. I could tell by Emmett’s reaction that the pool water was really cold. Ivan confirmed my impression by telling us that he pool was kept at the same temperature as Puget Sound - a frosty 55 degrees. I shivered just thinking about it and wasn't looking forward to the temperature shock, but in the spirit of getting unpleasant things over with quickly, I decided it would be best to go next,

"Looks like we're paired up, Carson," I said, looking at the big fireman, "Let's show 'em we can take it."

"Yeah, this is how a real man does it!" Carson blustered.

The wet leaves stung a little as they hit my skin, but the experience wasn't entirely unpleasant and it was over quickly. Carson and I walked over to the pool and jumped into what turned out to be water that felt closer to freezing than the promised 55 degrees.

"Okay, wow," I exclaimed, wiping my eyes and face after I broke the surface.

"This ain't nothin'. The lake at home is about like this in the early part of the season. Pussy." Carson said dismissively.

"Breeder," I responded immediately, unwilling to back down from any guy talking smack, even a relative of the groom who was in town for a wedding and was just trying to be funny. Carson laughed and splashed water in my face. "Oh, you wanna play, straight boy?" I jumped on him and dunked him under again. He was bigger than me, but I had the element of surprise on my side so he went down pretty easily. I surfaced, smirking, and headed for the ladder leading out of the cold pool and into the warmer saline pool. I heard Carson come up behind me and braced myself, prepared for him trying to yank me back into the water, but the retaliation never came. Instead, we both made our way to the much more pleasant and smaller salt water pool.

I heard a splash behind us and looked over to see Troy and Zack surfacing in the other pool. Almost as soon as they surfaced Zack had his arms wrapped protectively around Troy in an attempt to share his body heat. Seconds later Troy led the way out of the cold pool and the two sunk gratefully into the warm water next to me.

"You okay?" I asked Troy, wrapping my arm around his shoulder.

"I'm good," Troy replied. I could see that he was squeezing Zack's thigh under water. "Zacky always takes care of me," he continued, leaning over to give his partner a kiss. I smiled as I always did when I saw them being affectionate with each other. Having been with Troy through the lowest point of their relationship, I never got tired of seeing how much things had changed and how well everything turned out. It was even more meaningful now that Jasper and I had reached the same place. Seeing Zack and Troy together strengthened my conviction that with time Jasper and I would overcome all obstacles and build a life together just as these two had.

We all could easily have stayed in the warm salt water for quite a while, but several minutes later we were herded out and instructed to pick up our robes in anticipation of our full body massages. I was looking forward to this, as the day had been filled with tension and even though I tried not to let it interfere with my groomsman duties, I knew a good rub down designed to bring relaxation would be helpful.

I listened with amusement as Carson eagerly proclaimed that he was not part of a couple when Ivan posed the inquiry, and then smirked when he requested that the younger and prettier female masseuse be the one to work on him. I wondered how his wife would feel about his selection, but didn't voice my thoughts. This was the equivalent of Emmett and Nasir's bachelor party, after all, and being massaged by a pretty girl was as close as Carson would get to any sort of traditional bachelor party activity.

"Who now are couples?" Ivan asked, noting the remaining odd number of people.

"All the rest of us, actually," Seth replied. "His partner just couldn't make it today," he said, gesturing in my direction. I couldn't help but smile at the thought. I had been ready to acknowledge that I was alone, but Seth beat me to it and I was so glad. He was right, after all. I was in the bathhouse by myself, but I was half of a couple. Jasper and I were linked now, heart, body and soul, and everyone around me knew it. It was the best feeling in the world and my only regret was that it would have been inappropriate for me to shout out the news for the rest of Seattle to know it too.

Fortunately, still aware of propriety, I managed to stay quiet and merely followed Keith, the masseur I'd been assigned, to the treatment room equipped with only one massage table. The lighting in the room was low and the warm air was scented but lavender aroma candles.

"Have you ever had clients fall asleep on the table?" I asked Keith, only partially joking. I was tired, and the atmosphere could easily be conducive to sleeping if he managed to relax me enough.

"Never for more than a few-minutes-long power nap," he said with a smile. "You'll need to flip over frequently enough that real sleep will not be possible. Please take off your robe and swimsuit and lay down on your back," he instructed, holding up a privacy towel. "Rough night last night?" he asked sympathetically as I took off my robe and hung it up, then took off my trunks. I lay down on the table as instructed and he placed the towel over my lap. I almost told him not to bother, that I wasn't uncomfortable in the nude, before I realized that this was probably some sort of a professional requirement and was likely more for his sake than mine.

"My boyfriend was supposed to be here with us today, but he found out in the middle of the night that one of his good friends was attacked in New York City and is in the intensive care unit. I took him to the airport early this morning. Needless to say, neither one of us got a lot of rest last night."

"I'm very sorry to hear that," Keith said. "I hope your friend recovers soon. Maybe when your boyfriend returns you can make an appointment for the two of you to come back here. It sounds like he will be more than ready for a day of relaxation."

I hummed affirmatively, not bothering to correct his incorrect assumptions. It didn't matter that he thought the injured man was a mutual friend or that he believed Jasper lived in Seattle. In fact, his version of reality was preferable, so I let it rest.

"We have soundtracks to aid in your relaxation," Keith continued. "Would you prefer waves, rain, thunderstorm, wind chimes, or whale song?"

"Thunderstorm, please," I answered immediately. I'd always loved thunderstorms and found them very relaxing. Remmy didn't care for the noise of thunder, so when a storm was passing through while I was home I would often gather him up and pet him to relax him, often until we both fell asleep. I let my mind drift as Keith began the massage, remembering that Jasper shared Remmy's dislike of thunderstorms. When we were young, soon after we met, there was a night I slept over at Jasper's house when I woke up after a particularly loud thunder clap. A flash of lightening illuminated the room and I saw Jasper sitting up on his bad, rocking slightly back and forth. Concerned, I whispered his name to attract his attention, but he was too withdrawn to hear me. It wasn't until I crawled into bed next to him that I realized how much he was shaking. He didn't even notice me until I wrapped my arm around him. Then he looked at me, his eyes full of fear.

"Scared of the storm?" I asked. He blinked, but didn't answer. His body still swung forward and he rocked both of us a little until I squeezed his shoulder and used my strength to force him to stop.

"Are you gonna tell?" he asked fearfully.

"Who would I tell? It’s none of anyone's business," I quickly replied, wondering which he was more afraid of - the storm or everyone discovering his phobia?

"Thanks," he sounded relieved, but he was still very tense and nearly jumped when there was another round of lightening and a thunder clap sounded nearby.

"Jas, it's just a storm. There's nothing to be afraid of," I told him, trying to sound reassuring.

"I know," he nodded, and then hung his head. "That's what my mom says too. I don't want to be afraid, but..."

"But?" I prompted when he didn't complete his sentence.

"But I just am. I can't help it," he shook his head and turned to look at me, partially hiding his eyes behind his bangs. "You must think I'm a total wimp."

Truth was, I did think he was a little wimpy, but I didn't mind it. It was yet another thing I could protect him from, like those bullies I saved him from the day we met.

"I think you're my best friend. And I think you just need something to distract you?" I said confidently. We climbed under the covers so we couldn't see the lightening and I made him talk to me about anything and everything so he'd have no time to think about thunder until the storm passed. Neither one of us got a lot of sleep that night, but being his hero that night and getting to sleep next to him when we finally did sleep made it all worth it.

During our dinner in Winthrop we recalled that night and Jasper admitted that he still didn't like storms. I began to think how much I would enjoy being in bed with him now during a thunderstorm, and how many different ways I could think to distract him that would involve using our lips, but definitely not for talking. I was so lost in my fantasy that I completely forgot where I was, and before I knew it I was fully hard and Keith was forced to adjust the towel to keep me decent. I was mortified. I wanted to apologize, but that would only draw more attention to what happened so I just stayed quiet and tried to channel my thoughts to less arousing subjects. Thankfully, Keith remained the consummate professional and withheld his comments as well.

The massage continued and, as Keith said in the beginning, I was constantly turning over from my back to my stomach and back again as Keith massaged then applied some sort of scrub, then used honey, and finally hot stones. By the time Seth banged on the door to get me out of the room I was so relaxed I wasn't sure I had a solid bone in my body.

After the massage we were taken to a Turkish steam room which, to Seth and Nasir's delight, and Carson's horror, required us all to be nude. He was so hilariously uncomfortable at first, covering his dick with his hands like we'd all jump him if we got a glimpse of his family jewels. Eventually he relaxed and even started talking about getting hard during the massage. I was almost relieved to hear I wasn't alone in that condition, and even more so when other guys made it clear they, too, sprung wood at various points of their treatment. The conversation progressed, somehow turning to the benefits of shaving one's balls. I chuckled when Carson seemed puzzled at the concept, remembering my own introduction to manscaping and how terrified I'd been when Cliff first took a razor to my nuts.

"I didn't for a long time," I said to make Carson feel less like the odd man out, "but once I did, I'll never go back."

"Does Jasper shave his nuts?" Seth asked. I was more surprised at not having anticipated the question than at him asking.

"What do you think?" I hedged.

"I can't imagine that he wouldn't," Seth concluded.

"And my confirmation that he does is the last we shall ever speak of it," I spoke with what I hoped was sufficient finality. I couldn't believe I'd allowed him to get even that much out of me, but suddenly even sharing my intimate knowledge of my boyfriend's body became rather pleasurable and satisfying.

"C'mon, Edward. Tell us all about Jasper's balls," Seth taunted. "Are they big? Can you fit only one in your mouth at a time? We all want to know."

"Not all of us," Carson protested.

Much as I wanted to tell him every detail I remembered about Jasper's balls and how they had felt in my hands and in my mouth, that would have been going too far. "I don't kiss and tell, Seth, and you know that," I said flatly.

Carson saved me by turning the attention to why we shaved our balls in the first place and then the mechanics of it. Seth and Emmett were only too eager to fill him in on the details as the rest of us listened and snickered.

"Do all of you shave each other?" Carson asked, looking around in open wonderment.

"Yep," Troy confirmed.

"Of course we do," Seth concurred, rubbing Garret's sweaty thigh.

I chuckled. "Jasper and I prepared ourselves for this trip, but I would dearly love to shave his for him, and I can't wait for that day to come," I said, my smile turning downward a bit as I realized this was another pleasure we missed out on with Jasper having to go back home early. Had he stayed, it was likely that we would have shaved each other later in the day. As it was, I didn't know when we'd next spend enough time together for that to be necessary, unless we deliberately skipped shaving for a few days before we saw each other.

"Wait ‘till the guys at the station hear about this!" Carson laughed, distracting me from my regretful thoughts. "Just me and gay guys, naked in the steam room. We talked about the usual stuff, like shaving each other's nuts."

"Nasi is real good at it, Car, if you want some help," Emmett suggested slyly, giving Nasir a wink.

"Ah, no, thank you. I love my brother-in-law, but I don't want his help," Carson replied, again covering himself protectively.

"He's real gentle. It's pleasant, actually. I always get hard," Emmett teased.

"Oh my God, Em," as he spoke, Carson moved one of his hands to dramatically cover his eyes. "That sounds so nice. I'm really happy for you."

He was saved from having to say anything else by Ivan opening the big, heavy, solid wood door and announcing that our steam time was over. We all emerged from the sauna to find one of the staff members holding a tray filled with glasses of iced lemon water. Six of us reached for the water and drank as Carson grabbed and donned his robe.

"What?" Carson asked and we all stared at him with incredulity. "Ah, shit," he said as he understood. "Hold this," he requested as he gave his glass to Nasir, took off his robe and hung it back up. He came back and leaned on Nasir, who didn't seem to mind one bit, until we all finished drinking and were instructed to hit the showers.

"Okay if I shower with you, Edward?" Carson asked when we saw that the oval shower room was divided into four wide bays, each equipped with widely spaced dual rain shower heads.

"Be my guest," I replied easily.

"You're the only one not here with someone, but for some reason, other than my brother, I feel the least threatened by you," Carson explained. I had to look away to hide my smirk. It was amusing that Carson thought he'd get a break from the teasing by showering with me. Clearly, even after all these hours hanging out with us, he still didn't quite understand gay men's mentality.

"It's because I don't feel the need to tease you mercilessly," I baited, pulling the lever to release water from my shower head. I waited for Carson to do the same before I leaned over and ran my hand over his ass.

"Ho!" Carson jumped right out of reach and made a beeline for Emmett and Nasir's bay. "Em, Nasir, I'm gonna shower with you guys."

I tried to hold in my laughter. Looking around I saw Zack, Troy and Seth doing the same. Even Garrett was smiling, though his amusement was more subtle. Seth flashed me the OK sign and turned to Garrett, who poured shampoo into his hands and began washing his husband's long, lustrous hair.

After the shower we all went back to the locker room to dress. I was one of the last walking out of the showers and, noticing a tender moment between Garrett and Seth, announced to the rest of our group that we could be delayed. Fortunately, the two managed to restrain themselves, though they treated us all to a view of their rather impressive, nearly hard equipment on their way back to their lockers. Zack and Troy too were playing as they dried off using the same towel, a fact they tried to hide by quickly pulling on their shorts. One glance in Emmett and Nasir's direction told me they hadn't been quick enough. It seemed Carson and I were once again united as the only two men in the locker room who had absolutely no reason to get hard, neither one of our partners being present. After I stripped off my trunks and pulled on my street clothes I reached for my phone and was dismayed to see it blinking. I flipped it open and saw that I had missed a call from Jasper by about 20 minutes. My heart sank a little. I wanted more than anything to call him immediately, but I felt I should listen to the message first, in case he'd left some important information on there. I didn't, however, want to listen to the message in front of everyone, especially the ever inquisitive Seth. I looked around and saw that everyone was just about ready to leave, meaning this would not be a good time to slip away unnoticed. Cursing silently, I put the phone in my pocket, resolved to carve out a few minutes to myself as soon as was possible.

"Hey, Gem, how much should we tip?" Troy asked as Zack and I picked up our bags to leave the locker room.

"If your massages were anything like mine, a lot. Put your wallets away. I got this for you," I smiled and wrapped an arm around each of the boys I considered my younger siblings.

"You don't have to do that, Gem," Troy protested.

"You are college kids, both living on your salary, Leo. Save your money for stuff you guys need. If I can't help out my little brothers, who can I help?"

"Thanks, Edward," Zack said and leaned up to kiss my cheek. I gave him a kiss back on his temple and then did the same to Troy.

We tipped the bathhouse staff and exited the establishment. I was dismayed to see that Bobby was not waiting for us.

"Where's the limo?" I asked, anxious to return to the hotel where I would have the privacy I needed to listen to Jasper's message and maybe even call him back. It was all I could do not to groan at Seth's response.

"The limo won't be here for a while yet. Follow me. I know everyone must be hungry. We can grab a nibble and a cocktail over here at Venik," he set off on foot in the direction of the nearby lounge. "And I want all of you to be at the penthouse by five for my pipe ceremony," he instructed. "You too Carson, if you can manage it. You're one of us now."

Seth went on to explain something about the special drinks at the lounge he was leading us to, but I tuned him out. I lifted my arms and let Troy and Zack go ahead of me as I thought about Jasper. I couldn't wait to listen to his message and contemplated simply hanging back and calling my voice mail, but I knew Seth would notice and as soon as he did he'd be all over me with questions I either wouldn't have answers to or didn't want to share. They all had private time with their partners and I wanted some with mine without having to face everyone's scrutiny. Once inside the lounge I could easily excuse myself to go to the bathroom and steal a few precious minutes to catch up with my boyfriend's whereabouts, hopefully directly from him.

The staff at the bar was obviously expecting our party. As soon as we walked in we were ushered to a large upholstered corner booth that easily accommodated all of us. Not long after waiters appeared with pre-selected appetizers. There was a large platter of seafood selections, including salmon, shrimp and crab meat salad to spread on an assortment of crackers. Another large platter held an array of grilled vegetables, thin slices of cold grilled beef, and more cracker spreads. There was also a large bowl of cold chick pea salad and another filled with pasta salad.

"I knew we wouldn't have time to eat a true lunch," Seth said, passing out plates and forks to everyone, "so I made arrangement to have these ready for us. I told them absolutely no pork, so you can sample everything," he told Nasir.

"Thank you Sethy," Nasir said. "That was very thoughtful. I hate to always be a bother."

"Look at all these choices, my friend," Garrett said, reaching to place some salmon and shrimp on his plate. "Does it look like there's something lacking?"

"This is great, Seth!" Troy enthused. "I'm starving! It's amazing how much energy it takes to get relaxed."

We laughed and all reached to select a variety of dishes to put on our plates. Before we could start eating, a waiter arrived to explain the specialty cocktails and take our drink orders. I had purposefully selected to sit on the edge of the booth so I could make my escape to the bathroom as quickly as possible, and was now nearly squirming in my seat as everyone contemplated what they wanted to drink. I gave the waiter my order and then decided to take advantage of my companions' indecision and made my excuse. Everybody, even Seth, were too absorbed in making their selections to pay any attention to me or what I was doing.

Due to the early hour on a weekday, we were basically the only people in the lounge, so there was no one in the bathroom when I got there. I quickly pulled up my phone and pressed the number for voice mail. Seconds later, I heard the sound of Jasper's voice.

"Hey, Edward. Just wanted to let you know we landed a little while ago. The flight was pretty uneventful, and first class was great. I actually managed to get some sleep, so thank you for that upgrade. I'm on my way to the hospital and I once I get there I may not be able to talk, so please don't worry if you don't get me. We'll catch up at some point.

"I hope you're having fun at whatever it is that Seth planned. Wish I could be there with you guys. I miss you already..." there was a brief pause. "I miss you a whole fucking lot," he said, his voice raw with emotion. "This week really showed me how good we can be, how good we are together, and this distance..." another pause. "I know people can and do make long distance relationships work, and I know that eventually we'll figure something out, but right now... I needed to be here, but being so far away from you is so damn hard..." another extended pause. "I'm rambling. I apologize. I'm just tired and emotional. I'll feel better once I get to the hospital and get the whole low-down and see Dimi and Ross. I'll call or text you. Take care of yourself and the grooms and have a great time. Love you!"

The recording ended and the voice mail prompter was asking what I wanted to do with the message. I quickly pressed save and ended the call, then pressed Jasper's speed dial. The phone rang a seemingly interminable two times before I heard him exclaim "Edward!"

"Jas!" I replied with equal enthusiasm and relief. Hearing his voice and knowing that he was on the other end of the line was a balm to my soul. "I'm so glad I caught you."

"Yeah, driving into Manhattan on Friday evening is not the easiest thing. We're moving, but traffic's a bitch. How are you? Is the big event over? What was it?" He sounded as excited as I was to be talking together.

"Seth arranged for a boys' day at a Russian bathhouse spa," I told him and heard his burst of laughter.

"Really? Come on!"

"Really, and as ridiculous as some of the stuff was, I think you'd have enjoyed it. I might make an appointment for us the next time you're in town. It's really refreshing and relaxing at the same time. All the other guys had side by side massages - everyone but me and Emmett's brother."

"You didn't want a side-by-side massage with Emmett's brother?" Jasper teased.

"I wouldn't have cared, but the straight boy was a little intimidated," I quipped. "As you can imagine, we teased him the entire time."

"I can imagine. Hopefully he took it well?"

"He actually did. He's not quite as cool as Garrett's brother, Justin, or my boss, Roger, but he didn't panic and run screaming, so that's good. Not even when we started talking about shaving our balls."

"Oh, Edward, you didn't!" Jasper giggled on the other end of the line.

"Of course we did. And he was a good sport. Talking about that made me think of you, though, and how much I'm looking forward to us doing that together."

He giggled again. "Really, Edward, of all the things we could be doing together, that's what you're looking forward to?"

I laughed. "Well, it's not the only thing. And it's probably not at the top of the list, but I look forward to it, yeah," I admitted, hoping he understood what I meant.

"Me too. So maybe don't shave before your October visit," he suggested. "What are you doing now?"

"We're at a bar, having munchies and cocktails. Then back to the hotel for a couple of hours before we have to be at Seth and Garrett's. Seth is going to perform some Native pipe ceremony in honor of Emmett and Nasir's marriage, and we have all been ordered to be there," I laughed.

"That sounds interesting. I so wish I could be there with you," Jasper said wistfully.

"How are things over there? Have you heard anything?"

"Dimi's surgery went well today. He's out and his condition is stable, though he's still in the ICU. If there are no problems, they'll move him to a regular room tomorrow. Ross was released, but he hasn't left the hospital yet. Levi is hoping I can convince him to go home and get a few hours’ sleep, but I doubt that will happen. Still, this is all good news. I'll be glad when I can finally see them, though."

"Of course you will. I wish I could be there with you."

"No, like I told you before, you need to be in Seattle this weekend. How are Nasir and Emmett doing?"

"They're fine. Completely relaxed. I think everyone is looking forward to the big day tomorrow."

Just then the door to the bathroom swung open and Seth walked in. He took one knowing look at me and smiled triumphantly. "I thought that's what you were doing!" he exclaimed triumphantly, "Is that Jasper? How is he?"

"Seth just walked in," I explained to Jasper. "Yes," I said to Seth, "it's Jasper. He just landed a little while ago and is on his way to the hospital."

"Well, I hate to cut your talk short, but the cocktails have arrived and we're on a schedule."

I groaned. I was just about to tell him to keep his damn schedule and that I'd find my own way back to the hotel when I was good and ready, when I heard Jasper say, "It's all right, Edward. I heard him and it's fine. We'll talk later. I'll need to go soon anyway, and I'd like to talk to Emmett and Nasir too before then, if that's okay?"

His voice instantly calmed me. "Of course, Jasper. That's fine," I turned and walked out of the bathroom, looking back to make sure Seth was following. "He wants to talk to Emmett and Nasir," I told him. Seth just nodded, as if he expected it, which he probably did.

"Okay, Jas, here's Emmett," I said, handing the phone to our friend.

"Oh, Jasper!" he exclaimed happily, taking the phone. "Hey, Jasper, how are you? Edward told us what happened. How are your friends?"

I tried not to eavesdrop, forcing myself to eat some of the food that had mysteriously been placed on the plate in front of me, but it was nearly impossible to concentrate on anything other than what various people were saying to Jasper and contemplating what he was probably saying on the other end. The phone passed from Emmett to Nasir, then to Garrett and Seth, before finally making its way back to me.

"Guess it's time to go," I told him. "I'll talk to you later?"

"I sure hope so, though I'm not sure what my schedule will be to be honest. Don't worry about me, though. Just have a good time tonight. I love you."

"Love you too, Jasper. Take care. Talk to you soon."

We ended the call and I slipped the phone into my pocket, though if I'd been alone I probably would have ended up holding it a good deal longer, trying to prolong the connection. I wasn't alone, though, so I forced my attention back to the boys, and obediently lifted my glass when instructed to do so. When I looked around, everyone was smiling in my direction, and I realized that they had heard what I said to Jasper and were sharing in my happiness.

"To perfect partners," Garrett offered a simple toast, holding his glass in one hand and Seth's hand with the other. I grinned wider and nodded my thanks.

"Perfect partners," we all echoed and drank.

Seth hadn't been kidding when he told me we were on a schedule. We barely had enough time to eat our fill and finish our drinks when he stood up and announced that it was time to get back. We murmured a politely regretful protest, but I could see we were all eager for a little downtime before the festivities continued in a couple of hours. Troy especially seemed affected by his cocktail and was leaning heavily on Zack, his lids nearly shuttering his eyes.

"Need a hand getting him back to the limo?" I teased Zack, pointing at his partner with my chin. Zack looked down at Troy affectionately and pulled him closer.

"Naw, I can handle it. He's just tired and we're not used to drinking much anymore, plus Lee didn't eat a lot for breakfast this morning, so this is hitting him a little more than the rest of us."

"Huh?" Troy opened his eyes and looked first at Zack then me. His eyes were confused, as if he'd just woken from a nap. "What did you say, Zacky?"

"Nothing important, Lee," Zack said and kissed Troy's forehead. "We have to get back to the limo and then maybe we can take a nap at the hotel before dinner."

"Oh," Troy sat up a little straighter. "Yeah, a nap would be good," he agreed, smiling sheepishly.

"Come on then, boys," Seth directed. "Time to go."

We followed him out of the bar and this time the limo was waiting right outside. We piled in and ten minutes later pulled up in front of the Sorrento, where we all exited.

"Five o'clock at our place. Don't forget," Seth directed as Garrett handed his ticket to the valet.

"We'll be there, Seth, don't worry," I assured him. "Carson, I'm giving Troy and Zack a ride. Want to come with us?"

Carson gave me a half smile. "I would, but I think I should wait for the rest of my family. Sonya won't appreciate me leaving her alone for the second time today."

Troy, Zack and I all nodded. None of us would want to be separated from each other either, if it could be helped. And while Seth's ceremony would undoubtedly be meaningful, it wasn't part of either Emmett's or Nasir's cultural traditions, so it wasn't vital for Carson to be there.

The boys and I made our way to our suites and unlocked our doors. "Make sure to call the front desk for a wake-up call if you intend to nap," I reminded them. "We don't want to be late or there'll be hell to pay."

"Okay, you too," Zack said. Troy was leaning on him again and looked halfway to his nap already.

Inside the room I dropped the bag with the swim suits and flip-flops and headed to the bathroom. I pissed and was just zipping my jeans back up when I heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I asked, puzzled.

"It's us," I heard Zack's voice in response to my question. I opened the door and found both boys wearing their hotel provided robes.

"What's wrong?" I queried, letting them in and locking the door behind them. They quickly threw off their robes, beneath which they were wearing only tighty whitey briefs. "I thought you were going to nap."

"We want to nap, but in here, with you," Troy explained, yawning.

"Leo felt we haven't had enough alone time with you on this trip," Zack supplied.

I smiled and shook my head. "We'll be sleeping, guys. It's not exactly quality time."

"Yeah," Troy said, "but it'll be time together. Maybe we'll wake up early enough to talk too."

Judging by how sleepy he looked I doubted it, but I couldn't think of a reason not to grant their request. I pulled off my jeans and looked through my bag for my sleeping boxers. I pulled them on when I found them and pulled down the bedding on the king size bed. Troy crawled in first, on the side closest to the window. I arranged for a wakeup call before crawling in next to him. Zack got in bed last on the other side of me. They both laid their heads on my chest and reached for each other, Troy slinging his leg over mine and Zack hitching his over the both of mine and Leo's. Both of them fell asleep almost instantly. I had just enough time to think that this wasn't all that different from sleeping with Liam and Owen before I was out as well.

Sleeping with two overgrown boys had all the detriments of sleeping with little boys, except amplified, chief of which was the inability to shift around and get really comfortable. As a result, I didn't sleep for long. I didn't mind waking first, though, because while I wouldn't have thought of it myself, having Zack and Troy there was pleasant. They were right - we hadn't had enough time alone this time around, or any time since my visit to California the previous October. And while it would have been better if they'd been awake, just having them physically close was good enough.

And the boys didn't actually sleep much longer than I had. Zack woke up first, shifting slightly and stretching before looking up at me.

"Hey," I said quietly. "Feeling more rested?"

"Much, though I didn't need it as much as Lee did," Zack whispered in response. "He stayed up a lot later than I did while we were in Spokane, talking with Bruce and Tyrone. And he's been putting in a lot of overtime hours at work. I don't like when he drives himself that hard, but it's almost impossible to get him to slow down. Maybe you could talk to him? He looks up to you more than anyone else, even more than his dads. And he should be getting more sleep. His immune system needs it, even if the rest of him doesn't."

"I'll talk to him," I promised. "He's lucky to have you to look out for stuff like that, Zack. Thank you."

Zack shrugged with his free shoulder. "I'm only partially doing it for him. Mostly I'm selfish. I love him and need him and never want to lose him again, especially not to this stupid disease. He's doing so well with everything else. We've cut way down on alcohol and caffeine and try to eat good stuff, more vegetables and less meat, you know? And now he's on this once a day pill, which thankfully hasn't caused any side effects. But there's no substitution for sleep..."

"How about you? How do you feel? You're getting tested regularly?" I asked. "You guys are always safe, right?"

Zack sighed. "We are and yes, I get tested regularly and I'm fine. I just... Sometimes I get to the point where I get so tired of always being safe. I want for us to be able to do all the things that all the other guys who are in exclusive committed relationships do, without having to worry about HIV. I get so angry at the man or men who were responsible for what happened to Lee. They didn't just mess up his life, they messed up mine too, the bastards. I know Lee would hate himself forever if I got it too, but I'll tell you, Edward, sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be worth it. Then we'd both be dealing with it together. And then we could just be together, like everyone else, you know?"

"Leo would never want that, Zack," I told him earnestly. "I know it's frustrating for you sometimes, but that's part of what being with him means. You have to be careful for him even more than for yourself. Leo needs you to stay strong and healthy. He'd fall apart if anything ever happened to you. I've seen what he was like without you in his life and believe me, you do not want that for him. He was only able to pull himself back together when he thought it would help him get you back. So you have to be there for him as his motivator, Okay?"

"Okay," Zack agreed without any additional prompting. "You know I only want what's best for him."

"I know, and he for you. Seeing the two of you together makes me so happy," I told him and pulled him in for a close one-armed hug.

"I like it when you're happy," we both heard Troy’s sleepy voice. Clearly he was reacting to my last statement without really having any idea what exactly it was. I couldn't help chuckling and heard Zack laugh as well. "What did I say?" Troy asked, sounding slightly more alert.

"Nothing, Leo. It's just your voice came out of nowhere. We thought you were still sleeping," I explained.

"Oh. How long have you guys been up? Is it time to go?"

I lifted my wrist to check my watch. "We have about fifteen minutes before we have to get up," I told him. "No need to rush."

"Good," he murmured, "Because Zacky and I wanted to hear more about your week with Jasper. What did you do? What did you say? What did he say?" he raised himself up a little and looked at me, his eyes now clear and filled with burning curiosity.

"Well," I began, "I was a little nervous picking him up at the airport Monday..."

I gave them an abbreviated version of what happened, stopping only when it was time for us to change and then picking the story back up in the car on the way to Seth's condo. Luckily, I finished just as I pulled the car up to the garage doors beneath the condo building. I might have impressed the boys a little by swiping in and pulling into my own parking space, and I smiled at how good of an investment this spot turned out to be.

We made our way to Seth & Garrett's penthouse and let ourselves in through the door that, as was typical on party nights, had been left open. We were greeted by Garrett and soon joined by Nasir and Emmett. Garrett had just gone into the kitchen to retrieve our beers of choice when Seth opened the doors to the terrace and suggested that we get started with the pipe ceremony. We followed him out to the tribal blanket that normally hung on the wall in Seth's office, but was now spread out on the terrace floor. Over to the side I saw a table loaded with pieces of mismatched china. Next to the table sat a broom, dustpan and large bucket.

"Oh, you guys are so screwed," I said to Emmett & Nasir. Maggie had filled me in on the purpose of all the china she and Seth picked up at various garage sales and re-sale shops throughout the summer. "There must be a hundred different plates and things there."

"The pieces of china number one hundred and four," Seth said with a wicked smile.

"Oh, yeah. We're screwed," Emmett nodded.

"Now, we're all gonna just sit in a circle, more or less," Seth directed us to his blanket. "Everyone can sit where they wish, except I need Emmy and Nasir to sit together."

We took off our shoes and arranged ourselves on the blanket, joined by Garrett, who brought out beers for me and the boys. Seth switched to his Native instructor mode and was actually very good at explaining the numerous parts of the two ceremonies he was performing and patiently answered all our questions. It was the first time since I met him that I've seen him immersed in the traditions of his culture, and it made me see him in a completely different light. Suddenly his mystical clairvoyant powers seemed completely natural, and I had no trouble understanding why native tribes put so much faith and power in the hands of their medicine men or, as Seth corrected me, Wicaša Wakan, which more closely translated to holy man.

The ceremonies began with Seth purifying us all with sage smoke, followed by sweetgrass smoke. Seth had Garrett, who sat as the chief, assemble the pipe for him. Only then did he put tobacco, also purified in the smoke, into the bowl of the ornately decorated ceremonial pipe he inherited from his grandfather. With pipe bowl in one hand and stem in the other, Seth stood in the center of the blanket and offered prayers in every direction of the compass, then sat to offer additional prayers to the spirits of the earth and sky. Once all the prayers were offered to the appropriate spirits, Seth asked Garrett to light it for him. He then puffed until he pulled smoke up the long stem. He exhaled the smoke and used his right hand to draw the smoke over his head as he spoke words in Lakota. When he was done he passed the pipe to Zack and instructed him, and the rest of us to do the same. While we all attempted to puff and speak Lakota, Seth tied leather cords to bind Emmett and Nasir's elbows and knees together. The pipe made it around the full circle, ending with Garrett, who handed it back to Seth.

"There," Seth said as he returned to his place. "Emmett and Nasir, you have smoked with us, your brothers and loved ones, the sacred pipe while joined together. You are united as one by the Grandfather Spirit. Hunka Até and Mihunka you are to each other for all time."

"Thank you, Sweetie," Emmett offered, clearly emotional. The look exchanged between him and Nasir made it clear that both men felt gratitude towards Seth.

"And that's it. We're done," Seth announced. "Milan should have the bar set up by now."

"Wow!" Troy exclaimed. "This has to be one of the coolest things we've ever done, Zacky."

"I know," Zack agreed.

"That was really special, Seth," I said, standing up. "Thank you for including all of us."

"You're all family," Seth shrugged, cleaning out his pipe. He acted nonchalant, but I could see he was pleased at how much we all enjoyed the ceremony and how much it meant to all of us to have been part of it.

We continued to talk as Seth finished cleaning his pipe and gathered up all his various pouches. Garrett went to the kitchen to dispose of the combined ashes while Emmett accompanied Seth to his office to help hang the blanket back up on the office wall. The rest of us went back inside where Nasir and I refreshed our beers while Zack and Troy continued to nurse the Spaten Garrett had given them when we first arrived.

"It's strange," Troy said after swishing some beer around in his mouth. "You'd think I'd be fine with the smoke, since I used to smoke when I was younger, but that stuff wasn't appealing at all."

Zack and I exchanged a relieved look. "I didn't care for it either," I said. "Smoking like we just did, one puff for ceremonial purposes and without inhaling is fine, but I'm glad none of us do it regularly."

Zack wrinkled his nose. "A couple of my school friends smoke. I don't get it. They're smart guys. They should know better. It's so bad for their health, not to mention expensive and inconvenient."

"Yeah," Troy echoed. "They're nice, though I don't like when they come over reeking of smoke. Then again, I prefer when they come over to our place for study group rather than Zacky having to go somewhere else."

"So how is school going, Zack?" I asked. "Last year, right?"

"Yeah, if everything goes well," Zack replied enthusiastically. "My advisor just approved my senior project. I'm going to..." he launched into a detailed explanation of his project. Most of it went over my head but it wasn't important. I simply listened and watched Zack's enthusiasm about the project, which involved the development of some sort of a new security system software protocol, and the way Troy looked at him adoringly and with complete support. "Lee even spoke with his boss and they might try to find us a client who would be willing to field test it," Zack exclaimed, leaning over and kissing Troy on the cheek without even thinking about it as he continued his explanation. "No one else will be able to do that with their project. It will give me a chance to work out the bugs and if I can make it work I could take the top place in the class!"

"Of course it will work," Troy scoffed at Zack's suggestion that any other result was even possible. "You're the smartest guy in that class and your project will be the best one! You'll see."

"You don't know that, Lee," Zack tucked his head down. I could see he was pleased but also a little embarrassed by his boyfriend's effusive support.

"So how was Spokane?" I decided to help Zack out by changing the subject. "Did you do anything special?"

"Not really," Troy answered. "Dads took us shopping again, even though they just got us a bunch of stuff when we were there for my birthday last month. We saw a couple of movies, but mostly we just hung around the house and talked. Dad B. took a few days off work and cooked all my favorites. Dad T. had to work, but he reduced his hours so it wasn't too bad. We talked about you a lot, wondering how your trip with Jasper was going. They miss you, Gem. You'll need to call them after the wedding and tell them what happened."

"I'll give them a call Sunday," I promised. "I heard you and your dads stayed up late talking a lot," I continued, following up on the promise I made Zack earlier.

"How did you...?" Troy asked, incredulous. Comprehension dawned when he looked at Zack. "Yeah, now that we live in California we don't get to do that as often. We talk on the phone, but it's different in person."

"It is," I admitted, thinking that it had been too long since I've had a chance to sit and talk with Tyrone. "And a few days of staying up late is no big deal, but if you're regularly shortchanging yourself on sleep, that can have repercussions. You need to get enough rest, so your body has time to recover from everything you do during the day. Especially if you're putting in extra hours at work."

"Oh, man, Zacky!" Troy turned to his boyfriend with a grimace. "What did you tell him?"

"Only the truth, Lee," Zack was unapologetic. "You're pushing yourself too hard. It's not good for you."

Troy looked away with a pout. "I don't need you all to coddle me," he complained.

"Hey," Zack rebuked, reaching for Troy's chin and pulling his head back to face him. "We're not coddling you. It's just that sometimes you feel so good you overdo things, and you forget that making sure you get enough rest is, in part, what keeps you feeling good. We're just reminding you so you can get back on track before you get too exhausted and maybe get sick. I love you, but you don't always listen to me, so if I have to ask Edward to get you to do the right thing, I will. You know how I worry. I want to do everything we can to keep you healthy," he finished earnestly. "I need you," Zack added in a small voice. As he spoke, I watched the pout disappear off Troy's face, replaced with understanding and love. He waited for Zack to stop talking before he leaned in and kissed him.

"You're right, Z. I'm sorry. I feel fine, but I don't want you to worry. I promise when we get home, I'll catch up on sleep."

Zack sent me a thankful look over Troy's shoulder and I replied with a smile and a wink. Like him, I would do anything to keep Troy healthy, and I wasn't above using the fact that he apparently was willing to listen to me above his boyfriend or his dads.

Troy and Zack stepped apart when they saw Emmett and Nasir head for the door.

"Where are they going?" Troy enquired.

"The rest of the McCartys have arrived," Seth announced, bouncing over to Garrett for a quick hug, and then bouncing to his front door. Garrett grinned and followed at a slower pace. Troy, Zack and I moved to the door as well. Eventually all the introductions were made and we all moved back to the living room.

It wasn't long after Emmett's family arrived that Seth decided we all needed a final fitting of our tuxes. Emmett & Carson went first, then it was my and Nasir's turn.

"I hope you guys are wearing underwear, 'cause you're gonna have to take your pants off," Carson was cute in his attempt to warn us. "Oh, who am I talking to?" he quickly realized his mistake as Nasir and I smirked at each other.

"Right in here, please," Seth let us into the spare bedroom. I went to the closet and took out first Nasir's tux, then my own.

"Oh, I have a white jacket too?" Nasir asked, surprised.

"I wanted this available to you as an option, just in case you want to change out of your bisht at any point," Seth informed. "Very nice," he commented after Nasir and I put on our jackets. "You guys are gonna break hearts. Now the pants."

Nasir and I took off our jeans and put on the tuxedo pants.

"Dress pants feel funny without underwear," I noted, happy that I remembered to pack some to wear the day of the wedding.

"I was just thinking that, Edward," Nasir concurred.

"Perfect," Seth decreed. "Now I need your little brothers, Edward," he said as he took our dress pants to hang while we put on our jeans. "Send them in next, please."

"Thank you so much for everything you are doing, Emira," Nasir said and wrapped his arms around our little dictator. "We could never have had a wedding without you."

"I know that. And quit calling me Emira!" Seth responded in his usual fashion, by elbowing Nasir in the stomach, though he seemed to be gentler than he would have been with one of the straight guys. Nasir chuckled and let Seth go, joining me in leaving the room.

"You know he secretly loves it when you call him Emira, right?" I asked him quietly.

"Not half as much as I love calling him that, my friend," Nasir replied, throwing his arm around my shoulder.

"Leo, Zack, Seth wants you guys now," I told the boys, who obediently joined Seth in the spare room. They seemed to take longer than the rest of us to try on their tuxes, but when Seth emerged and headed towards the bar he gave me an innocent look in response to my arched eyebrow. Instead of offering an explanation, he asked me to take responsibility for getting the tuxes to the Manor before the wedding. I was happy to assist, thinking that this was a relatively minor duty for one of the groomsmen. Carson may not have received any specific tasks, but Seth's teasing him about performing a fireman strip tease for us and Sonja's subsequent revelation that Carson was, in fact, posing for a charity calendar with one of his fireman buddies was, in my opinion, a much higher price to pay.

Probably without realizing it, Emmett's mother saved her younger son by asking about the china. Seth pointed her towards the terrace and the two of them walked out together. I sent an amused glance in Emmett's direction, noting that he had no idea what was about to happen. We all heard a clatter of china breaking on the terrace floor and heard Seth clapping before he appeared in the French doors shouting, "Emmy! Nasir! Somehow one of these dishes got broken!"

"Let me just take a guess," Emmett grimaced and walked out onto the terrace. "Oh, it was you, Mutti?" We heard him question. Everyone in the living room gravitated closer to the terrace to observe.

"Ja, I get to be the first," Emmett's mother said proudly. "Now you two must sweep it up."

"Did we have to start this already?" Emmett lamented. I glanced at Zack and Troy, who seemed to be a little lost.

"It's a German tradition," I explained to them quietly. "Something about cooperatively working together bringing good luck to the marriage. Seth and Maggie spent a ton of time all summer buying all this China - and it had to be real China - so Emmett and Nasir will probably be sweeping all night long."

The boys' eyes first widened, and then they both started to snicker. "I'm glad neither of us is German, Zacky," Troy managed to say through his quiet laughter.

"Me too," Zack agreed. I said nothing, but while I didn't necessarily envy the work that Emmett and Nasir would have to do the night before their wedding, I liked the symbolism of the act and I wouldn't have minded demonstrating that kind of cooperation with Jasper. Really, it didn't matter much to me what Jasper and I were doing, as long as we were doing it together.

"One of you has to sweep and the other hold the dustpan," Seth said, handing the broom to Nasir. "You have to do the dustpan 'cause you're the bottom," he told Emmett.

"Seth!" Emmett gave his best friend a murderous look and I chuckled. With all of Emmett's family in attendance, Seth picked a terrible time not to engage his verbal filter.

"What does that mean?" Auguste asked the question every gay man at the party expected.

"Nothing, Mutti," Emmett grumbled as he and Nasir worked together to sweep up and dispose of the china shards.

"There," Emmett said when they were all done. "Do you need any help getting your great, big mouth back in the house?" He asked Seth.

"I don't need any help with my great, big," Seth paused dramatically, "mouth." His statement made Nasir snicker and sent Zack and Troy into another fit of quiet giggles.

"Oh, ho, ho," Carson laughed as he went out onto the terrace. "Look at all that china! You guys are fucked!"

We watched and listened as the brothers bantered back and forth, Carson dropping dishes and Nasir and Emmett dutifully sweeping them up. In the process Carson revealed that he had good reason to make Emmett work hard, as payment for Emmett's dish breaking enthusiasm the night before Carson's wedding. Fortunately, Nasir was in good spirits and managed to smooth over Emmett's disgruntled disposition. Carson too decided to let the guys rest after only a couple of pieces, and everyone came back inside to refresh their drinks. Their timing was impeccable, because right then two little bodies resembling a whirlwind rushed into the living room.

"Uncle Edward!" Liam called as he nearly flew towards me.

"Hey Liam," I quickly handed my beer to Zack and bent down to catch him, hugging him tightly and then tickling him to make him giggle.

Owen, in the meantime, ran towards Seth in a similar manner, though he was greeted not with a hug but with a Native "Háu, kola," from his favorite chief.

"Hi, guys!" Troy knelt between me and Seth. I relaxed my hold and Liam immediately moved from my arms to Leo's.

"How cola," Owen was serious in his attempt to impress Seth with his knowledge of Lakota.

"Ah, here are my boys," Garrett squatted down and received a hug and kiss from both of the boys.

Seth introduced the boys to Carson as everyone else took turns hugging the little guys. I stood up and noticed that the boys' mothers had walked in as well.

"Hi, Mags," I walked towards them and hugged my sister.

"Edward, where is he?" Maggie asked with concern, reminding me that in all the excitement of boys' day I forgot to call and fill her in on what happened.

"He's in New York," I told her, trying to use a tone that would let her know I was fine. It didn't work.

"What?" she was instantly alarmed.

"What happened, little bro?" Undoubtedly it was her innate ability to read people that allowed Rosalie to remain calm as she leaned in to give me a kiss.

"One of his close friends got gay bashed, and really badly," I explained. "He's in the hospital and needed surgery. Jasper flew back this morning."

"Oh, no," Maggie exclaimed, though she was clearly less agitated than a moment before.

"I wish I had been there. MFing punks," she used the strongest words she could with the boys around and curled her hand into a fist.

"That's what I said," Emmett echoed and kissed Rosalie's cheek. Soon everyone was crowding a lot and either greeting the girls or getting introduced and re-introduced. Nearly everyone was done exchanging hellos and hugs when Connor came running into the room, with Sonja right behind him.

"Mom, looka the baby!" Owen ran to the younger boy, excited to see someone smaller than him. "Hi!" he bent down over Connor who stared up at him in awe, sucking on his finger.

"Ladies, my wife Sonja and my son Connor," Carson introduced the new arrivals proudly.

"Hello," Sonja gave a friendly wave.

"Nice to meet you, Sonja," Maggie greeted her with a smile.

"Sonja," Rosalie was pleasant, but not nearly as warm. I was probably the only one who noticed her arm slipping possessively around my sister. I tried to keep my knowing smile off my face, but I knew exactly what was going on. After all, I felt the same way when Jasper was in the vicinity of another attractive man. I knew it was something I'd have to work on and control, but the instinct to show everyone that Jasper was mine would probably never entirely go away.

"And what a cute little mister," oblivious to her wife's concerns, Maggie fawned over the youngest boy.

"Ladies, got something I need you to do. Come with me," Carson said and led the way to the terrace.

"Oh, shit," Emmett muttered. Rosalie and Maggie shared a brief look then followed Carson.

Many of the others moved back towards the terrace as well, but having seen the show and knowing what to expect made me less interested in what was going on out there. Personally I found it much more fascinating to watch the interaction between Owen and Connor. Sonya and I smiled at each other over the boys' heads as Owen took a step closer to the smaller boy who appeared completely enthralled with his counterpart.

"I don't think he's ever seen anyone with that hair coloring before," Sonja commented. "It's quite unusual. This is your sister's boy, right? He looks so much like you."

I nodded in response. Her statement was, after all, technically correct in that Owen was Maggie's son, even if her conclusion about where he inherited his looks was erroneous.

"For better, for worse, Owen definitely got the Cullen hair," I confirmed.

"Oh, definitely for the better," Sonja laughed. "I bet he'll drive all the girls crazy someday."

"As will Connor, I'm sure," I said generously, repressing the urge to add "or boys" to her statement. Certainly at that moment the two future lady-killers only had eyes for each other. While Sonja and I were talking, Owen took Connor's hand and led him in a stroll around the living room, regaling him with explanations of all the objects they, by Rosalie's previous edicts, could look at, but not touch. Judging by the way Connor was focused on Owen, he wasn't getting much out of the tour, but the two of them were very cute to watch.

"Would you mind looking after them for just a minute?" Sonja asked. "They're so cute, I'd really like to take a picture."

"No problem," I said easily. "I babysit the boys all the time."

Sonja went to fetch her camera and Troy and Zack joined me on the sofa from which all three of us watched the kids.

"Owen's loving being the big guy, isn't he?" Zack observed, smiling.

"I think every kid is like that at his age," Troy said. "My little brothers and sisters sure were."

I noticed his voice was a bit wistful, and saw Zack reach for his knee and squeeze it lightly.

"You know, Leo," I said softly, "your brothers and sisters won't be kids forever. In a few years they'll be in college or living on their own, and there won't be any reason for you not to contact them then. They had nothing to do with your parents' decision and they may feel quite differently. It's possible they want nothing more than to see their big brother again."

"Yeah, I know," Troy said with a sigh. "It's just, if I saw them and they did feel the same as my parents..."

"It would be no different than it is today, when you're assuming that's how they feel. You owe it to yourself and them to give them a chance to prove you wrong. I knew a girl once whose parents tried to separate her from her brothers, thinking she was a bad influence. The three of them saw each other anyway, and the boys never said a word to their folks. Your siblings have minds of their own too."

Troy seemed unconvinced, but leaned over into Zack, who put a comforting arm around him. "You have a couple of years to think about it, Lee," he pointed out. "You don't need to make any decisions tonight. And whatever you decide, you know I'll be right there by your side. We all will."

"Zack's right," I confirmed. "You've got yourself a smart man, there, Leo."

This finally lifted his spirits. "I know, right?" he said with enthusiasm and a smile. "He's brilliant. I'm really lucky."

"I'm hardly brilliant, and I'm lucky too, Lee," Zack threw in and kissed Troy's forehead.

Sonja returned with a camera and took several candid pictures of Owen and Connor before posing them together. Only moments later her husband came in from the terrace calling "Guys! Guys!" Upon hearing the cute fireman's call, every gay men in the room gave him his undivided attention.

"Get over here and stand in line. Then one by one, you need to go out there and break some china. We have to keep those guys working all night long," he said with an almost gay, gleeful giggle.

Much as we loved Emmett, this was too fun of a game for us not to go along. Seth went out onto the terrace first, followed by Garrett. When it was my turn I walked out with my beer in my hand.

"Okay," Emmett, looking resigned, gestured to the table of china. Wordlessly I dropped my plate and went back in, with Emmett hot on my heels.

"What?" Carson asked innocently when he saw his brother eyeing Zack and Troy with narrowed eyes.

"Would everyone like to come outside and get this out of their system?" Emmett asked.

"Go ahead, Leo," Carson encouraged. Smiling ear to ear, Troy went out onto the terrace and dropped yet another piece of china. He was visibly restraining his laughter when he came back inside.

"Thanks, Leo," Emmett grumbled.

"Oh, you're very welcome," Troy snickered.

"Zack," Emmett invited.

"Hold up," Carson stopped Zack from following Emmett's missive. "You better keep that swept up, Em."

"Really?" Emmett said, clearly unamused.

"You know the rules," Carson reminded him.

"Come, Habibi. I need the dustpan," Nasir called. Seeing that his husband to be had swept all the pieces into a pile that only awaited his dustpan, Emmett gave up and returned to his task.

"Next," Emmett called, clearly admitting defeat. Zack took his turn as quietly as the rest of us. After Emmett and Nasir swept up Zack's casualty, we heard another piece breaking, and would have started laughing in earnest had it not been for Seth grabbing Garrett's forearm with an earnest expression.

"Our family's here, Honey," he said. He let go of Garrett, who moved to the door without bothering to question Seth's divination. Emmett's best man ran to the French door and announced, "Emmy, Nasir! The judge!"

Everyone's attention was, once again, diverted to the new arrivals. Introductions followed, though by the concerned look in Garrett's mother's eyes when she greeted me, I knew she, at least, remembered me, and that I probably did not make the best impression when she last saw me. I was especially thankful that I had limited my alcoholic intake to beer, and that this time around I was no longer the anxious and depressed guy she and the rest of the family met before their son's wedding.

As Emmett and Garrett's families bonded, I moved off to the side and pulled out my phone. I hadn't felt it vibrate all night with any calls or texts, and I didn't really expect there to be any, given how busy I knew Jasper would be, but I wanted to double check anyway. A quick look told me that I hadn't missed anything. I was tempted to call or text him, but I didn't want to interrupt his time with his friends and I was worried about being interrupted myself. I decided to wait until the party was over to contact him, and was just putting away the phone when I heard my sister's voice behind me.

"Is there any news?"

"No. I was just double checking I didn't miss anything," I told her, turning to face her. She searched my face with assessing eyes.

"Are you really as okay as you seem?" she asked, slightly incredulous. I couldn't help pulling her into a hug.

"Yeah, Mags, I really am. Make no mistake, I miss him already and I wish like hell he was here, and permanently, not just for the wedding, but I know that cannot happen overnight. He had a good reason to leave and I know he didn't want to, and that's good enough for now. The most important thing is he knows I love him and he loves me too."

Maggie held me for a moment, then pulled back and led me to a conversation area away from the other guests. We sat down on a comfortable love seat and turned to face each other.

"So tell me what happened last week. I mean, this is a huge change. You two went from not even having spoken in over five years to being completely in love so quickly."

I could tell she was skeptical and I didn't blame her. Logically and from an outsider's point of view, it probably did seem like a much too rapid turnaround, especially given our living on opposite coasts. Of course, the transformation wasn't really that drastic for me, since everyone knew I'd loved Jasper all along, so I knew even though she used the term "you two" she really meant Jasper.

"I know you're concerned, and I know this seems fast, but I think in a lot of ways he's been just like me. Somewhere deep inside the feelings he had for me never went away. He just repressed them, and did a good job of it until we saw each other and I showed him that I'd changed."

"And now everything is great and perfect?" She had a hard time keeping doubt out of her voice. If it was someone else, I might have been offended, but I knew she was just looking out for me.

"No, it's not perfect. He's still a little cautious and I'm still trying to be really careful around him," I admitted.

"Edward," she reached for my hand with concern, "It's no good if you're always walking on eggshells."

"You know I would do that if that's what it took to be with him," I told her honestly, "but I really don't think that'll be the case in the long run. Even in the week we spent together, we're already much more comfortable with each other. Especially in bed," I confessed and then looked away, wondering if I'd said too much.

"Really?" Even without looking at her I could hear the smile in her voice. "You don't say."

I turned back to her, wanting to correct any false impressions I might have given her. "I don't mean it like that. That wasn't all we did last week. But we weren't shy or restrained either. Well," I admitted, "I was restrained at first, because of what happened the last time, right before he left. But we've both changed since then. I know what I'm doing now, and he isn't afraid to tell me what he wants. So, yeah."

If she had been one of the guys, well, one of the guys except Seth, I might have gone into more details. But even though she probably wouldn't have minded, this was not the time or place to have a detailed discussion about my sex life with my sister.

"Okay," she nodded with understanding. "That's good. Since that was part of the whole misunderstanding and problem, it's important to get it right this time. But what about other stuff? Did you have enough time to really talk? Did you tell him about Carlisle and me and the boys? Did you tell him about Cliff? And how about him? Do you know what's happened in his life the last six years?"

"We talked about a lot of things. I did tell him about Cliff, and he told me about a guy he'd lived with," Maggie winced and it took me a split second to realize it was not in reaction to my words as much as my tighter hold on her hand. I let go and looked down. "See? I still have to work on the control a little. But this guy hurt Jas. Cheated on him with an ex. That's the reason for the reaction, not just me being jealous." I looked back up to see her arched eyebrow.

"Okay, some of it is jealousy, but I could tell he was jealous when I was talking about Cliff, too. It's natural to be jealous of exes, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is, to a point," she conceded. "I only dated a couple of girls before Rosalie, so there's no one for her to be jealous of, but I do get tense every time we run into Alexa, especially at times when she's single and on the prowl."

I remember a few years back a night when the girls got into a big fight and Maggie arrived on my doorstep at midnight, crying and distraught. I learned then about Alexa, a woman Rosalie had lived with for over two years. That relationship broke up over a year before Rosalie met Maggie, and Maggie admitted Rosalie had done nothing to make Maggie doubt her wife's commitment to her, but she lost it when they ran into Alexa at a fundraiser and the other woman decided to blatantly flirt and try to seduce my sister-in-law. Rosalie hadn't initiated the contact, but Maggie was upset with her wife for humoring her former girlfriend for too long. Even as we talked about it Maggie realized that Rosalie's reasoning about not wanting to make a scene at a social event with lots of potential clients in attendance made sense, and when she went back home Rosalie conceded that she may have been too cautious about appearances and not sensitive enough to her wife's feelings, and all turned out fine. But even though Alexa's name had not come up between us since that night, I could tell from the sound of Maggie's voice that it wasn't the last time the girls had run into her, and that her jealousy and insecurity was not entirely gone.

"Rosalie loves you and the kids," I reassured her earnestly. "If this Alexa thinks she can resurrect something that has long been dead, she's delusional."

"I know that, Edward," Maggie said with a smile, "but thanks for the reminder, anyway. And yes, back to the original point, I guess it is natural to be a little jealous of exes. So you're okay with knowing there was someone else?" she asked cautiously.

I grimaced a little, not quite liking the way that sounded when said out loud, the sighed. "I never really wanted to think about it, but six years is too long to expect anyone to be alone. And after all, I was with Cliff. We lived together. It was serious. And even though in the end it was the fact that I couldn't give up Jasper completely was what broke us up, it doesn't erase what happened between us or how we felt about each other. So it's not surprising that Jasper had someone important in his life too. And I have to deal with that. But obviously the guy was a moron. I mean, what man in his right mind would cheat on Jasper? And it helps that he's in England."

"In England?" Maggie's eyes widened. "Well, I guess Jasper's not a stranger to long distance relationships."

"It happened when he was there for an internship. Remember? We found out about it after Seth went to visit to reconcile Jasper and Emmett? Jasper said he actually considered staying in England for this guy, but then the jerk did what he did, and thank God, because now Jasper is here and Rick is far away and we're not likely to run into him at any social functions."

"And in that you are very lucky," Maggie nodded. "What about the other stuff? Did you tell him about Carlisle and your grandfather?"

"I told him my parents are divorced and that Carlisle is a homophobe, though he already knew that part from when we lived in Forks. I didn't tell him about you, though. It's just such a difficult thing to explain. I was hoping to do it in person, with you there. It would be different if he didn't know you, or if he only knew of you. But given what happened Senior year... I just think it would be better in person."

"You don't think it will be too much of a shock if he walks in and sees me and you tell him I'm your sister?" she queried.

"When you put it like that..." I said with a sigh. "I was really hoping he'd be here tonight and could meet you and the boys and Rosalie. I thought with everyone else here there would be other distractions and less pressure and it would be easier for him to get used to the idea. But now, I don't know what to do. I guess I'll wait until the next time he's in Seattle. Hopefully that'll be soon, though the next time we'll see each other will be in New York."

"That's just a few weeks away, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Beginning of October. I can't wait," I confessed. "It'll be the first glimpse I have of his life on his home turf. I've never even been to New York City."

"Me neither," she reminded me. "It looks really big, but it's not like we're country bumpkins here in Seattle."

I laughed. I didn't really want to admit that it wasn't so much the city as the idea of being in a place where I knew no one and would have to rely on Jasper to lead me around. Then again, I realized with a start, that's exactly what he did when he came out this time. Feeling a little calmer, I smiled at Maggie, earning her smile in return.

"I'm really happy for you, Edward," she said. "I'm thrilled at how things seem to be working out, thrilled to see that you've stopped beating yourself up about what happened. You seem so, at ease, relieved, I guess. Light."

I chuckled. "I guess that's because I am. Jasper and I are together and we put the past behind us. It's a new beginning for us, and obviously we still have stuff to figure out, but we vowed to put all the other stuff that would have weighed us down behind us. It's good, Maggie. It's really, really good!" Impulsively I grabbed her into a tight hug.

"So did you get him to spill all the details, Freckles," we heard Rosalie's mirthful voice behind us. I let Maggie go and we turned to see her standing behind the love seat.

"No details," Maggie gave an exaggerated sigh. "He was as closed lipped as usual."

"We'll have to get Seth to remedy that," Rosalie chuckled. "Just kidding, little bro," she said when I gave her a dirty look. "Just kidding. I wouldn't sic the pipsqueak on my worst enemy, much less my favorite brother-in-law."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm your only brother-in-law," I pointed out.

"All the more reason for you to be my favorite," Rosalie said, nonplussed. "So is the heart to heart done? Because I'd like to steal my wife for a bit," she added.

"We're done for now," Maggie said, standing up as Rosalie walked to the front of the love seat and pulled her in for a kiss. "We'll talk more later, okay?" she said over her shoulder and I nodded in response.

After Maggie was distracted by her wife, I gravitated back to Leo and Zack. I was giving them a few more details about the trip when a smiling waiter stepped up with a tray of escargot in puffed pastry. I remembered him as being here the day Emmett and Nasir came back from the Emirates, mostly because his tall, lanky build and mop of blond, shaggy hair reminded me of Jasper.

"Mr. Edward," he said suggestively, holding out the tray but making it clear that he had more to offer. I tried to recall his name, but I could barely remember the names of guys I fucked, and he'd come along after that was no longer an option. Back in July I was only hoping to be with Jasper, and I'd already made a decision not to sleep with anyone else. Now that we were together, this kid may as well have been a girl for all the temptation he offered. I had Jasper. Not more than 24 hours before he and I made amazing love and even though he was now thousands of miles away, I was willing to wait as long as it took to be with him and only him again. No trick would ever compare or satisfy, regardless of how pretty or talented he might be.

"Thank you," I said simply and grabbed one of the pastries. I ignored his seductive look and he moved on to Troy and Zack, both of whom passed on the escargot.

As soon as the blond was gone, I was approached by Juan. "Tart?"

Troy found this so amusing, he nearly spit his swallow of the now way too warm beer he and Zack were still nursing from the beginning of the night. I stared at him pointedly, knowing exactly what he found funny.

"Sorry," he patted his chest. "Swallowed wrong," he offered an excuse that we both knew was a lie.

"Thank you, Juan," I took a cheese and mint tart without any further encouragement. Juan and the blond kid, who had lingered, perhaps to see if his older counterpart would be more successful in seducing me, moved on to other guests, each looking back at me over his shoulder at least once.

"Another reason I wish Jasper was here," Troy said. "Then the waiters wouldn't look at Gem like he's on the menu."

"All these guys are super sweet, but I would take one minute with Jasper over a lifetime with the lot," I confessed in what might have been a slight exaggeration, though not by much. Jasper was certainly worth more than the whole staff of Seth & Garrett's waiters. He was worth more than every willing trick in Seattle. A minute with him, though, while valuable, would never be enough. I wanted and needed more - a whole lifetime of minutes. And thankfully we finally both seemed to want the very same thing.

"We really do wish he was here, Edward," Zack rested a hand on my back.

"I know you do, guys," I wrapped my arms around them both, holding Troy's head to my chest and Zack's to my shoulder. "I'm sure glad I have you two," I told them, leaning my head against Zack's. "I just wish he could have stayed to meet you and everyone else. He would love you guys, and you him."

The three of us stood there for a long moment holding each other. With everyone else distracted with their respective conversations, we were the first to see the last party arrivals.

"Oh, hey! Hi, Leah," I let the boys go and walked over to hug Seth's sister.

"Hi, Edward," Leah greeted and returned my embrace.

"Roberto," I shook the hand of the cop who'd become a good friend as we worked together to combat domestic violence in the gay community. "And before you guys ask, he's not here," I explained, knowing they, like everyone else, expected to see Jasper by my side. "Trouble in New York and he had to go back."

"Oh, it must have been pretty serious," Leah expressed with concern.

"One of his really close friends got bashed. He's in the hospital."

"Fuck," Roberto cursed quietly. In his line of work, he certainly wasn't a stranger to gay bashings, and easily could have become jaded. One of the things I appreciated the most about him is that he genuinely seemed to care about every victim.

"Well, I'm sorry for Emmett, I'm sorry for you, and I'm sorry for him," Leah summarized what everyone had been trying to tell me all night.

I thanked her even as she reached to pull Troy into a hug. Before she was done with the boys Seth bounced over along with the other party guests and I moved to the back to give everyone room for greetings and introductions.

With everyone finally in attendance, the party continued uneventfully. Nasir and Garrett's father discovered their mutual love of fine Scotch, Roberto and Carson compared public servant stories, and everyone generally mingled and had a good time. From time to time Carson remembered the point of the dinner and encouraged groups to go out onto the terrace until every single dish amassed by Maggie and Seth had been broken and swept up by Emmett and Nasir. We breathed easier knowing we were responsible for the future happiness and prosperity of the two grooms.

The Italian themed dinner was served buffet style and afterwards we talked and drank some more, though knowing that I was driving I switched to water. Eventually the hour grew late and as the kids faded away we all began to disperse. Zack and Troy helped me carry the tuxes down to the car, and Seth came along, remembering that he had something else he needed me to bring to the mansion the following day. By the time I pulled the Q5 up to his Mercedes, he had his trunk open and just pointed me and Zack to the two boxes inside. I picked one of them up. It was fairly heavy.

"What are these again?" I asked as I transferred the box to the back seat of my car.

"Wedding newspapers that I did," Seth explained. "It's another German thing, evidently. Someone close to the couple, like me for example, puts out a little paper with pictures and stories about them."

"I see," I commented, watching as Zack placed his box in the back seat as well and climbed in. "There aren't shots of us all in the hot tub in Telluride, are there?"

"I guess you'll just have to pull one out and see," Seth teased.

"Seth," I growled in warning.

"Oh, relax. Do you remember me having my camera or phone or anything in the hot tub with me?" Seth said dismissively.

"I seem to remember Garrett keeping you pretty busy," I said, smiling at the recollection of how quickly Justin, Melinda, Leah and I left the hot tub once we knew what the guys were intending..

"That was a fun time. Let's get Jasper to join us this year," Seth said as he pulled down the lid of the trunk and used his remote to lock the car.

"You think we all wanna watch Garrett go down on you again?" I chuckled.

"No, I think we all wanna watch you go down on Jasper. So let him know, I'm putting that on the agenda," Seth walked up behind me and put his hands on my back, pushing me towards my car.

"You actually think Jasper and I would put on a show like that for you?" I said, slightly incredulous, looking back at him over my shoulder.

"No arguing. It's settled. See you at the hotel," he said as he pushed me to the driver's side before turning on his heel and heading for the elevator with a small wave.

I got in the car, laughing at the sheer absurdity of Seth's suggestion.

"What's so funny?" Troy asked curiously. As he did on the way over, he sat in the front passenger seat. I'd told him it wasn't necessary before, but now that there were two boxes next to Zack, it was the only option.

"Seth thinks just because he's an exhibitionist, every other gay man is too. He apparently suffers from some sort of delusion that one of these days I'm going to blow Jasper for his viewing pleasure. So ridiculous," I shook my head as I turned on the ignition and pulled towards the parking garage exit.

"Yeah," Troy laugh, but it was far too half-hearted.

"What?" I looked over to see him blushing. A quick look in the rear view mirror told me Zack was doing the same. "Don't tell me. Is that why it took you guys so long to try on the tuxes?"

"No!" both boys answered at the same time.

"It was tempting, though," Troy continued. "See, Zack started teasing Seth and Seth pushed him on the bed and climbed on top of him and that was damn hot and I started getting hard and then Zack noticed and he started getting hard... Anyway, Seth offered to leave and let us have the room and that was hard to refuse, but with the party and all."

I pulled the car out of the garage and onto the street before I burst out laughing. "Zack, you tried to tease Seth? What were you thinking?"

"I know," Zack said sheepishly. "That wasn't very smart."

"Just remember," Troy said, turning in his seat to face Zack, "You promised I could have my wicked way with you all night long."

"Leo!" Zack protested, though I wasn't sure if he was objecting to their planned activities or Troy discussing the plans so openly in front of me.

"It's just Gem," Troy protested, making it clear which conclusion he drew.

"Just try to keep it down and get some sleep. We have a big day ahead tomorrow," I reminded them with a laugh.