The next morning, Chad and I donned our caps and gowns, and we got our diplomas. Our families were cheering us on, and our professors were congratulating us, though Chad and I were harboring a secret that no one else knew.
Chad's ass still held my load from the night before. And my own ass held a load of Chad's: he'd been kind enough to deposit it right before we left the house. It was really fucking sexy to feel my man's DNA in me, and to know my DNA was in him, while we marked this milestone in our lives.
Our families bonded a lot faster than we'd expected. It was the first time they'd been properly introduced, much less spent any time together. Yet Linda seemed to get along great with my mom, and Patrick even connected with Amy. Unfortunately Chad's father was nowhere to be seen, though we weren't exactly surprised.
That whole weekend was a blur, between the ceremony itself, our families taking us out for dinners and whatnot, saying goodbye to our friends, and all the other stuff that goes with graduation. But even that was just a taste of the whirlwind to come.
By that point, we were in the home stretch of wedding planning. We'd gotten all the RSVP's back, and once again, Chad's father was notably missing. That part definitely sucked-- there was no sugarcoating that-- but we'd already resigned ourselves to the fact that we might never talk to him again. Chad kept a stiff upper lip, and we both swore not to let it ruin our special day.
We also signed a lease on a place outside of D.C., though we had to do it sight-unseen, since didn't have time for travel. The city was crazy expensive, so we could only afford a crappy hole-in-the-wall with a long commute. Chad was supposed to start his job right after the wedding, which meant we'd need to take the redeye on our wedding night. Forget about any kind of honeymoon, at least for the time being.
Still, I wasn't about to complain. I did think it was cool how Chad and I were venturing into the real world hand-in-hand, side-by-side. It felt like all the different parts of our lives were finally coming together. As if everything had been leading up to this moment.
By that last week, basically all the planning was done, and our guests were starting to fly in from all directions. I'd originally hoped to spend real time with everyone, maybe show them around the city. But there were just too many people to keep track of: friends, co-workers, aunts, uncles, cousins, you name it. We ended up putting some info on our wedding website, like things to see and do in the area, and directions to the venue; then we left it at that.
The rehearsal did feel a little weird. I wasn't used to being the center of attention, at least among so many people for such a long time. It kind of felt like they were coming out of the woodwork, though it was also kind of cool, since they were all there to celebrate me and Chad. We'd been talking about the wedding for so long, trying to figure out every detail; now here we were, actually rehearsing the steps. Our moms were going to walk us down the aisle, while Amy and Patrick would give speeches at the reception.
I've gotta admit, the rehearsal dinner was a little bittersweet. Obviously I wished Bill would've been there. His absence was especially obvious since my own dad was front and center, even if he looked like a deer in the headlights. The reality of it all was definitely starting to sink in. As much as we'd tried to make this like any other wedding, there was no denying our marriage was going to be different, at least compared to most straight couples.
The thing that really got under my skin was our chance of having kids. We could obviously still hire a surrogate or adopt or whatever. But we wished we could get the job done just by fucking each other, like how straight couples could. By the same token, we wished we could have a kid with both of our genes, as if we were coming together into a single person: like with my eyes or body type, combined with Chad's nose or hair color or whatever. But none of that was ever going to happen, at least not in that way.
I thought I'd already come to terms with that stuff, back when I'd come out to myself. But back then it seemed theoretical, not to mention off in the distant future. Now it was a very real part of my life. Not that I regretted being gay or whatever, but there was no way to get around those emotions.
Overall, though, I knew I couldn't complain. After all, I was marrying the man I loved. The man who'd unleashed feelings in me that I never knew I could have. The man who still gave me butterflies whenever he looked in my eyes. And I knew how incredibly lucky I was to have him.
After the rehearsal dinner, Thaxter and Bruce asked us to swing by their house. We assumed they just wanted to touch base: since they were catering the wedding, we figured they might have some last-minute question. When we got there, the place was totally quiet, and all of the lights were off. At first we were confused, but then--
"SURPRISE!"
A bunch of lights came on, and a crowd leaped out of hiding. Chad and I jumped back, while the others cheered and blew their party horns.
"Holy shit," Chad said. "I mean...."
I had to take a second to look around. A huge cross-section of our friends were there. Some of them were obvious, like the guys we'd met through Thaxter: Mason, Madison, Kyle, and Jean-Jacques. A bunch of our college buddies were there too, all in town for the wedding. A lot of them were our fraternity brothers: Marcos, Ryan, Drew, Hunter, Travis, and Shane. Plus the guys from Wildcat Pride: O'Mac, Garrett, and Andre. Even Chad's old friend Brandon was there. Jean-Jacques had apparently pulled some strings and had brought his friends from Vitruvian Men: Flynn, Vince, Logan, Nate, Ray, and Ethan.
"Woah," I said. "You guys seriously didn't need to do this...."
"You said you didn't need any bachelor parties," Marcos said, "but you were cool with us doing something for the both of you. So here we are."
I'd completely forgotten about that. "Oh yeah," I said without thinking.
Marcos put his arm around Chad's shoulder. "Plus we wanted to show support. Considering your dad's bullshit--"
"If he doesn't stand by you," Ryan said, "we want you to know you've got others who do."
Chad clearly didn't know what to say, and to be honest, neither did I. I knew Ryan and Marcos had been a big help to Chad years before, especially when he was struggling to come out to his family. But Chad had kept the more recent stuff pretty private. The fact that Ryan and Marcos remembered-- and that they knew it was still going on, and that they still cared-- was pretty damn impressive.
Thaxter cleared his throat. "It's like I've always said... queers like us have got to stick together."
"Wow," Chad said, and he gave Marcos a big hug. Then he hugged Ryan, Thaxter, and a couple of others. Meanwhile, Kyle turned on the music, and Drew started passing out drinks.
I started to realize how much thought they'd put into this. The beers were the same ones I'd recommended to Thaxter years before. The snacks were all Chad's guilty pleasures like chips and guac, seasoned popcorn, and cheese puffs.
Bruce made a toast, and everybody drank to me and Chad. I have to say I was flattered, though I knew we couldn't drink too much; we couldn't risk being hung over the next day.
We definitely appreciated being able to catch up with our friends. We hadn't seen the twins, Mason and Madison, in ages. They'd been through a pretty tough time, since their family had completely cut them off, but they insisted they'd come out of it stronger.
"Here's what we learned," Mason said. "You know that cliche about the family you're born into, versus the family you choose? I mean, Thaxter's right. As long as someone's got your back... it doesn't really matter which category they fall into."
"Yeah," Chad said, "I guess when you put it that way--"
"In your case," Madison said, "no matter what happens... you'll always have your man."
I snorted. I was kind of flattered that they'd put it that way, but I felt the same way about Chad. As far as I was concerned, he was my rock, much more so than I could ever be his.
