Someday, p.12
Someday, page 12
“Now repeat after me….”
Lucas did. And he heard Dalton chorus the words with him and was filled with utter joy.
“I, Lucas, take you, Dalton, to be my lawfully wedded husband—”
(and there was much emphasis on the word “lawfully”)
“—my partner, my one true love. I will honor and trust you. Laugh and cry with you. I will be at your side at the best and worst of times, whatever may come. Today, tomorrow, and forever.”
Forever! Yes, forever. And a feeling swept over him that felt like the end and the beginning of the world at once—and in a way, it was. It was the end of one world…
…and the beginning of another.
“Do either of you have anything to add?”
Lucas froze. Add? Hadn’t they decided to go with classic vows? He hadn’t written anything—come up with anything. His mother had promised to take care of everything.
But then he looked up into Dalton’s beautiful eyes, and he knew he had to say something, and before he even realized it, the words came, easy as could be.
“Dalton, I have loved you nearly my entire life, and all I’ve ever wanted to do is marry you. But the world? The world said I couldn’t. That my love—the only love I’ve had or wanted—wasn’t good enough. I had faith, though, even if there were times when it was almost impossible. I held on. I knew. I knew that one day I would be your husband. And that you would be mine. Because you know what husband means? It means caretaker. And isn’t that what we do? Take care of each other?
“I knew one day we would be married. I would will it into being if I had to. And I have heard that ‘where attention goes, energy flows.’ That’s what Mama has been saying these last few years. And that ‘thoughts become things.’ And finally, it has happened. We can get married. We can take that piece of paper that I believe is so much more than just a piece of paper. It is a symbol of our love. And I love you, Dalton. Today, at long last, despite all the couldn’ts and shouldn’ts and can’ts, today I make you mine and give myself to you—forever….”
Was it good enough, he wondered. Had it sounded stupid?
There was a sigh through the room.
Dalton’s eyes were glassy with tears, and oh, oh, oh, the love shining there.
I said the right thing.
How have I been so lucky to have this man?
Lucas’s mother cleared her throat. “Dalton? Is there anything you want to say?”
“Yes,” Dalton replied in a voice that was so quiet Lucas could barely hear him. His eyes were full now. He too cleared his throat, and then he spoke…
“Lucas, I stand here today in front of all our friends and family of choice…”
His voice hitched, and Lucas could only guess it was because his parents were absent, even though they’d been invited. The two of them hadn’t even bothered to refuse to come. They had simply not replied at all.
“…and…. And I want to tell you I’m sorry.”
Lucas started. Sorry? What? Why was he sorry?
“I’m sorry this day took so long in coming. So long. You wanted a Holy Union, and I wouldn’t give it to you. You wanted to fly off to Massachusetts and get married, and I wouldn’t do it. I told you I wouldn’t marry you unless it was legal everywhere and not just in one state. I told you we didn’t need to get married anyway because a marriage license was just a piece of paper. And I was wrong and I was wrong and I was wrong. I should have given you that Holy Union. Because what we have truly is holy. The only holy thing I’ve ever really believed in. I should have married you in Massachusetts. And California. And Connecticut too. Any damned state you wanted. To show the world and our government and everyone we knew that I was very serious about our love.
“We moved to Oakland, California. I should have married you that day! We could have moved anywhere, and so what if our marriage was only legal in a few states? Because we would have already been spiritually married when we had our Holy Union! And now I know that our marriage is legal? Now that we have a license? You are so right, my love. It is more than a piece of paper. You’re right. It is a symbol. Like the American flag is more than pieces of red and white and blue fabric stitched together. And our license is more than a piece of paper. More than words on paper. It is a symbol that now—at last, after a thousand years and more of our love not being recognized as real—now it is real.
“As our president said, now we’ve made our union a little more perfect. And now that it is, why, I would marry you in any state you wanted. I’d marry you in all fifty of them if you wanted. So I could show the whole country that you’re mine.
“And baby? There is nothing that I can think of that is more perfect than being in a union with you.”
Another sigh went through the room. Someone sobbed.
Lucas could only stand there, stunned. It was taking everything out of him not to burst into tears. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard. Dalton—Dalton—who was rarely the most demonstrative person, and certainly not in front of people, saying such words?
Lucas’s eyes blurred again as they filled once more with tears. His throat seized up, and his tongue lay useless in his mouth. He found it was all he could do not to throw himself into his man’s arms.
“Can you forgive me?”
Forgive? Forgive what?
“Can you forgive me, my love?” Dalton asked again.
Lucas stood for what seemed like forever, trying to speak, knowing he had to respond.
“Forgive me for making you wait so long for this day?” A tear rolled down Dalton’s cheek.
Lucas’s heart swelled until he thought it might burst. “Oh, Dalton….” He swallowed hard. Oh God. He took a deep breath. “Forgiven…,” he managed. “And forgotten.”
Now someone really was crying, and he wanted to tell them to please stop because it was all he could do to hold himself together. There was still more to go!
Lucas’s mother took control then, saying those very important words.
“Now do you both have the rings?”
Lucas grinned and reached into his pocket—remembering Dalton reaching into his such a short time ago and watching him do it even now—and he pulled out Dalton’s ring. Just the way Dalton wanted it. A solid gold band. Simple. No bling. But it told the world that the only thing it could be was a wedding band.
“Wedding rings represent an unbroken circle of love,” Lucas’s mother continued. “Love has no beginning and no ending. It is forever. May these rings forever remind you of the vows that you now give.
“Now, Lucas, place your ring upon Dalton’s finger. Lucas, do you take Dalton to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I….” This was it! He took Dalton’s big beautiful hand in his own and slipped the gold band upon his finger. “God, yes. I do.”
“Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect him, forsaking all others and holding on to only him?”
Yes. Oh, yes! “I do.” Now he couldn’t help but cry.
“And Dalton. Place your ring upon Lucas’s finger.”
Once more Lucas’s heart began to pound as Dalton took his hand and slipped that lovely ring on his finger. This was it. This was it!
“Dalton, do you take Lucas to be your lawfully wedded husband?” She smiled.
“I do,” Dalton said, his voice so strong and sure and deep.
Lucas trembled.
“Do you promise to love, honor, cherish, and protect him, forsaking all others and holding on to only him?”
Lucas and Dalton locked eyes.
“I do,” Dalton said.
God! Oh God!
Heart pounding!
Heart pounding so hard!
“And now—”
And now? And now? Lucas glanced at his mother. What was that twinkle in her eyes?
“—before my pronouncement—”
Wait. What? Before…? He narrowed his eyes.
“—there is one more thing.”
One more thing? Mom!
“Dalton, take Lucas’s left hand in your right.”
Lucas looked at Dalton, who gave a slight shrug, then did as he’d been asked.
“Now hold them up.”
They did as bid.
And then she pulled something from a pocket in her robe Lucas hadn’t noticed. What was it? String? Was it a piece of—
Then he knew.
God, he knew.
It was old and tattered and gray….
Quick as a wink, she tied it around their wrists. If it had been an inch shorter, it wouldn’t have fit.
“And now… with this Holy Shoelace… I pronounce you husbands.”
Husbands? This was it? This was it!
“Well, boys, you may now kiss.”
And they did.
God, they did.
3
THEY CHOSE Provincetown for their honeymoon. Dalton insisted, even though it could have been Boston. It surprised Lucas. Provincetown was so… gay. And Dalton wasn’t much for waving rainbow flags or holding hands in public.
P-town turned out to be gorgeous.
And they did walk down the streets hand in hand.
“I promised your mom, after all,” he said. “No. I promised you.”
Then they kissed. Right there on the street.
They stayed at Romeo’s Holiday, which was purported to be the gayest B&B in the country. They had breakfast at Joe Coffee & Espresso Bar and dinners at the Lobster Pot at Crowne Pointe, and of course they didn’t forget to eat at the Crown & Anchor’s patio café at the Central House Bar & Grille—all very gay. They shopped and went to art galleries. And they swam at Herring Cove Beach—it was Dalton who talked Lucas into getting naked, and Lucas was surprised at how freeing it was. Swimming naked in a pool years before was one thing. Swimming naked where people could see you was something else. Of course he was with the sexiest man on Earth, so that helped.
But the biggest surprise of all was when Dalton asked Lucas to go to the courthouse with him.
“But… but why?” Lucas asked.
“I want to marry you,” Dalton replied, staring into his face, eyes once more ashimmer.
What? “But we’re already married, Dalton.” At last. At long last.
“Did you think I was just blowing hot air when I said I’d marry you in all fifty states? That I wanted to show the whole country that you’re mine?”
Lucas’s eyes went wide, and as it was wont to do where Dalton was concerned, his heart started to race. “Y-you mean it?”
“I do.” Then he grinned and chuckled and said, “I do.”
“Oh my God, Dalton….” Lucas was all but speechless.
Dalton pulled something out from under the bed and had Lucas sit down. He placed it in his lap. It was a photo album. The picture on the cover was from their wedding (and how he’d gotten it already, Lucas didn’t know). A picture of their hands with their wedding rings.
“Open it, baby,” Dalton said.
So Lucas did. The first page had their names in a lovely script and the words Lucas Arrowood and Dalton Churchill’s Big Album of Wedding States.
What? Lucas wondered.
He turned the page, and across the top was written, Alabama. The second and third pages said Alaska and Arizona respectively. It was on page five that he found their portrait from their wedding. Above it was the word California, of course. Lucas’s heart began to race all the more. Did this really mean…?
“We’re already married in California. Now let’s get married in Massachusetts, like we should have a long time ago. What say you, tiger? Marry me?”
Lucas looked up from the album into Dalton—his husband’s—face.
Had he ever seen anything more beautiful in his entire life?
Then, before he could think—
(as he was wont to do)
—Lucas said, “Yes.”
And they did.
Epilogue
2022
SIX YEARS married. When Lucas thought about it, it was hard for him to grasp. Six years. How could that be? All those years waiting to get married had seemed like a thousand at least, and those that they had been married had flown by so fast.
“That’s life,” his mother said. “Get used to it!”
A lot had changed in six years.
Dalton still worked a lot of hours, but not the insane number he had in the beginning. Lucas still wasn’t exactly sure what the hell it was he did. He’d sure had a lot to say about COVID, and Lucas tried to pay attention, but it was also scary and very complicated and technical, and it was easier just to nod and smile.
At least he wasn’t making zombies. It was a joke Lucas never tired of.
Lucas had three bakeries now. The newest in San Francisco was thriving, even in tough times. He had been afraid the pandemic would kill the chain, but proper precautions took care of things. It had been hard, but On the Rise had more than survived. They had done well.
“Karma,” his mother said. “You help so many people and ask for nothing. It comes around. You reap what you sow. You sowed good.”
At the end of every day, near anything that had not sold went to people on the streets, homeless shelters, and especially LGBT+ youth centers, instead of being sold the next day as “day-old.” Why shouldn’t he help the community? Look at all that it had done for him.
Opening that last store had made him worry that he’d have to cancel their trip. But he’d planned it for so long, worked hard to keep Dalton in the dark. But his mom and Marcus saved the day once more, and the trip only had to be delayed until the second week of September. His mother, to his surprise, had never stopped working at the Oakland location, and her husband told Lucas he could be rest assured everything would be fine for the two weeks they were gone—yes, Mom and Marcus had married, and Lucas had performed the ceremony due to the power invested in him by MakeThemLegal.com. Hey, his mother had married him; he figured it was the least he could do for her.
It was like magic that he got Dalton to the very dock where the cruise ship Halcyon was waiting before Dalton figured out what was up.
“My God, Lucas, what have you done?”
At first it almost sounded like there was an air of panic to his voice, but once Dalton’s shock dropped a notch or two, Lucas saw the unbridled excitement on his face.
“We’re going on a cruise?”
“Yes, my love,” Lucas answered. “We are. You made so many of my dreams come true. It was time I fulfilled one of yours.”
“Oh, Tiger,” Dalton sighed. “You are all my dreams come true.” Dalton always knew just what to say.
The Halcyon was not one of those ships that looked like it had a skyscraper sitting on top of it, and for that Lucas was grateful. Mere photos of ships like that made him queasy. He’d seen The Poseidon Adventure too many times, and those things looked like they could easily flip over.
No, this ship had ten decks, was 120 feet long, and could accommodate twelve hundred guests. From a distance it looked small, and only up close did it look like it should be impossible for the massive metal structure to float. The liner had germ-control sanitation systems at the gangways, at the dining facilities, and seemingly elsewhere else. Lucas figured their hands were the cleanest hands on planet Earth, they had to use it so many times a day. It was supposed to be thirty to fifty times more powerful than common antibacterial soaps. And nothing bad could be said about that!
Their cabin wasn’t that big. Lucas had his heart set on a room with at least a window, if not a balcony, but his mother talked him out of it. From her experiences on a couple of cruises, she told him you were never in the cabin all that much. Between meals, sightseeing, and excursions, you woke up early and went back to your bed at night and collapsed.
“Besides,” she said, “you’re far less likely to get seasick. I don’t know why.”
Thank God neither he nor Dalton got seasick. They quickly found that some of their traveling companions, including a gay couple they spotted almost immediately after boarding and befriended, were not so lucky.
It was an amazing trip. They did so much and saw so many places, but what was most important was that Dalton finally got to see humpback whales. It was the real reason for the trip, after all. That was what Lucas wanted to give the love of his life. Whales.
Dalton cried.
Which made Lucas cry.
But it was hard not to.
The great animals were magnificent, and anyone who saw one knew that they were intelligent. They had to be. They couldn’t be anything else. How could anyone have hunted these animals down and killed them? Surely, they had felt the same thing!
That first spout took their breath away. That first time a whale breached the water was so glorious they were stunned into silence, and the first time a tail lifted and slid beneath the waves was almost more than the soul could take.
He and Dalton—Dalton especially—had been unbelievably lucky (although later Lucas’s mother would again say it was karma).
They took an excursion boat out to see the whales. It was a smaller boat than a lot of them, with only about fifteen people aboard, including crew. Many of the boats were considerably larger. At first Lucas could see that Dalton was disappointed with the excursion. They could see whales. Oh yes, they could. Much better than aboard the Halcyon, when one was lucky enough simply to be looking in the right direction and see a spout. Yes, it was much better than that. They saw the behemoth rise up out of the water, the great splash when it landed back down, the rising of flippers.
But they were so far away. Perhaps as far as a football field.
“I thought we’d be a lot closer,” Dalton said to the guide.
“What? You thought it would be like those YouTube videos?” the man asked. “That hardly ever happens. It happens rarely to me. Once a year? Twice if I am lucky.”
Dalton squeezed Lucas’s hand and realized his husband didn’t even know he was doing it.
