My first shift out here set the tone for my time: the guys were all fantastic. The boss was great - I've had way worse over my time in the job. It was pretty easy. I was Firefighter level, so the grunt work - get to the jobs bowl out, hose and get into it, no management, simple firefighting. Well, that was for the first two shifts. Then a few of the officers noticed my skills and I was pushed into relieving shift, backfilling where there were staff shortages due to leave, illness, etc., even a few times already was in an acting Lieutenant role pretty similar to our leading firefighter job at home.
Over the past week the entire Spence family had flown in from Australia: mom and dad had been in the country for two weeks. Dad popped in to see me on on-shift at Tucson FD. Apparently, Tucson is on the way to GA - bit like flying from Melbourne to Sydney via Adelaide, not really on the way, but for good enough reason it can be, I guess. Anyway, it was nice to see them, spend a bit of quiet private time with the 'rents. The old man and the battalion chief hit it if off. The boss and his wife ended up going out to dinner with mom and dad before they flew out. I was completely fine - I had a few drinks with the guys. The next morning, I was off for sixteen days. Gotta say, though - I was lucky to be able to grab a pile of extra reliever shifts. Plus, the boss knew I was heading back for my cousin's wedding. I think in some ways they were going to be glad to see the back of Lucas and Hailey calling me so they all got a break too, haha.
And what an awesome break it was gonna be - get to hang out with Ben, plus the family was over. I was zooming with Jet and Daisy the other night - my god, how much those two have grown in a few months! I was so excited to see them, Step and Todd, Kate and Jake. A load of my friends were coming over too. Dad had been able to organize a group discount if they got more than 20 people on the booking. Once word got out at home, Gav, Dave, Ty, Sam, Julie, and Adam all jumped at it. Yes, Sam... Sam was coming too! Apparently, Ty and Sam were going to Canada afterward, via NYC. Yeah, I'm just gonna leave that one alone. When I told Ben, there was a moment's silence, then a strained 'Oh really. We'll have to show them around.' Yeah, as long as we don't show them anywhere near your mom or family, they'll be okay, I guess.
Mom and dad headed over to the airport about an hour before me. I wanted to call past the station house and thank the boss again for his help, the job, and time off.
When I finally found my parents, of course, Dad had 'come across' three passes to the American Airlines lounge. "Hey, thanks dad!" I lifted my JD and cola as we settled into our very comfy lounge chairs till our flights out. Mom and Dad were flying direct to Georgia. I was off to Texas, 'home' to Ben and our ever-increasing family and friends flying in.
"All good, son. Gotta say, Jamie - Brilliant timing for you and Ben to have your engagement party the week after Lucas' wedding while everyone is over here."
Mom wandered back with a small plate of food for us all to share. "Have you guys set a date yet?"
"Yeah... Mom, you and dad are coming to our engagement party." I shot mom a confused look.
Without even looking up, she placed the food down while waving her hand at dad and me to dig in. "I mean your wedding, Jamie."
I looked at dad for support. He just shrugged his shoulders. "We're thinking, fall over here next year, spring back home maybe."
"Did you hear that, Robert, next year?" Her face lit up like a 1000w floodlight.
"Mom, please, don't start planning yet... please! We're just thinking it through, ok."
"No worries, son ... fall next year."
"I'm getting another drink, Jamie? Kate?" Dad was making a break for it. "Thanks, Dad, please, a double for me." Mom shot me a
'I think not look'
. Dad just smiled and walked off, pretending he didn't see anything.
The rest of our time in the lounge was taken up with general chit chat, hearing how the grandkids had a fantastic flight, and both my parents were excited to see them, although they'd only seen them a few weeks ago.
Finally, my flight was called about 20 minutes before theirs, so we did the whole goodbye and hugs in the lounge. Then, I legged it to the gate - just wanted to get on board. Every moment, a moment closer to Ben.
..o0o..
Ben was waiting for me in the terminal. It had been a warm day out obviously- he was wearing the Gymshark drop arm tank top I'd bought online with a pair of 5" green men's shorts, and white and blue Havaianas -- flipflops. Wow, my clothes looked so goon on him. There was a slight sheen to him - it must be warm outside. It made his buff body look even hotter if that was possible.
As I got closer, Ben hadn't seen me as yet. Someone was taking all of his attention on his cell. Hmm... those extra-large armholes flashed the side of his pec muscles and defined ribs, whoa. Slipping around behind him, I snaked my arm around his waist, pulling him back a little against me. "Hey you're super cute. Can we go somewhere and make out?"
I heard his cell go click. "Hmm you smell nice, stranger." He tipped his head back a little onto my collarbone. "We're gonna have to be quick - my fiancée is due to arrive any moment," he said with a quiet laugh.
"Oh, you're so hot looking. It's gonna be quick, you can be sure of that," I purred while laying a kiss under his earlobe.
"Missed you, Jamie."
"Missed you, Ben." I turned him around and kissed him. "So glad to be back. Let's go."
With that, we headed to the parking garage, and out. We were headed to III Forks for dinner. Some of our families were going to be there, and a few of my friends too.
..o0o..
"Lucas! Chill out mate, it's gonna be ok, Hailey will be here. Hey, you can't even see the part of your eyebrow that got shaved off." Lucas shot me and I' ma gonna kill you look. "ok, my bad but it was funny right? it's what 4days to your wedding, plenty of time for shit to grow back," laughing into my hand over my mouth.
A huge smile spread over his face. "Yeah, you idiot, it was funny. Just lucky for you that Hailey got her friend to shape both too. Look, ok, I like them being thinner like this." Lucas turning his face side to side admiring his recently reshaped brows.
"Lucky for you, mate, that my hair was a long with those beestings you were doing with the clippers. I have chunks of hair missing. Thought Ben was gonna kill you." At that, we both started to laugh. "Jamie, unless we want trouble when we've got kids we'd ..."
"Need to be smarter, or better at it?"
"No, I was thinking more adult."
"The hell you say - more adult? Jesus, Lucas, I was thinking we're gonna need to dig deep, go full-on." He just shook his head, then a sneaky grin. "You're on."
To say that Lucas' buck's night was fun, that's an understatement. Hailey had only made a few requests - no permanent damage, visible markings, or piercings of any type and no leaving a radius of 45miles - break any of these and she was gonna hand us over to a collection of moms. Brrrr... the thought just frightens me! That's why I only snipped a little of his right eyebrow off - he didn't need to wake me the next morning sitting on my chest saying here comes a hornet, zzz, zzz, and getting me with the hair clippers.
..o0o..
The wedding venue looked amazing. Lucas and Hailey had decided on this modern-looking barn at Saddle Creek Dripping Springs. Lucas was shitting himself, which is not a common thing for him or me really - it takes a lot to get either of us that worried. But he just wanted it to be perfect for Hailey, and it was. The big day was finally upon us.
As the family and friends filed in and sat down, we boys were greeting everyone. A few of the aunts laid a few bright red lipsticks smears on us all. Luckily, Stephanie stopped and gave me a huge hug. "Hey Jim Jam, you look all grown up! Shit - so does Lucas!" She grabbed my hand and put a Ziploc bag. "There are a few unscented makeup wipes in there. Y'all gonna need them."
At that moment, Jet and Daisy had burst into the place, grabbing both my legs, almost toppling over. "Hey guys," I said, rubbing their hair. They hung out with us until it was time for us to head down the front.
Standing down the front, waiting for Hailey, I whispered into Lucas' ear, "Hey buddy, you got this. She's an amazing girl for an amazing guy. Love you, Lucas."
My cousin, best friend, closer-than-a-brother, smiled, pulling me into the biggest bear hug of my life. "Jamie, you have no idea what that means to me. Love you back buddy, and then some." There were a few quiet 'aww's' from the crowd, then a few claps too.
I started to feel super exposed, self-conscious. So, I did what I normally do - caused a distraction by doing something I hadn't done in years: landed a standing backflip into a crouching position. That cause a few laughs - and I hope Ben has the name of a good muscular-skeletal guy - think I'm gonna need one.
When Hailey made her entrance, the place went silent. I quickly eyed Lucas' face just in case I'd missed any granny lipstick smudges_ nope, we're all good. She looked amazing, against her bridesmaids that were wearing off the shoulder full-length dresses, light blue reverse fading to dark blue at the bottom - looked amazing. We were wearing mid-range light blue, slim-fitting suits, white shirts and black bow ties. Lucas was wearing a dark blue bow tie that matched the bottom of the bridesmaids' dresses.
