Ty

 

“Congratulations,” Brian said, once they’d ordered their entrees.

It was after seven in the evening before they were finally able to sit down and have a cold drink. Brian had driven him all over Atlanta while he put together his plans for Friday. Everything had to be perfect. Including presenting Kell with his next gift. Now he was sitting in the restaurant of his hotel having a long overdue conversation with his father’s best friend.

Ty watched Brian a few seconds before asking, “For?”

“The start of your very short engagement.” Brian took a long swig of his draft beer. “When is the day?”

“Friday.” Ty shook his head slightly, “How’d you know?”

“You think I won’t notice a man suddenly wearing a seven-thousand-dollar piece of jewelry around his neck. It’s obviously your proposal gift.” Brian took another drink.

Ty was stunned. Brian knew about their family’s beautifully unique tradition of marriage. He was even more stunned his father had told Brian about his inheritance. Their level of trust went far beyond what he’d thought.

Brian’s look was serious. “Are you sure he’s the one?”

Ty didn’t justify that with an answer.

“You two have only known each other a month,” Brian pressed.

Ty took a drink of his iced tea. “I know all about delayed proposals and dragged-out engagements, Brian. It appears to be the norm for some reason. Should I only tell Kell that I love him more than the world, but not show it?”

“Not show it?” Brian asked incredulously, “And how many more of your rare jewels will you place on him to make him believe it? What gifts did he give you?”

“I’ll give as many as I have.” Ty gave Brian his own firm look. “And still none of them are as valuable as what Kell truly wants. Me. Forever. You seem to know of my family’s traditions, but you don’t truly understand them. The gifts to my soulmate are not to buy his affection, his trust, his love, or even his hand. I already had those things before I chose to proposal. If I’ve chosen my partner wisely, then me marrying him is all he really wants. Kell is not a man who cares about material things. If I’d placed the jewelry around his neck without asking for his hand, then he would’ve wondered about the meaning behind it all. He adores the necklace because it’s special to me and I gave it to him. Kellam wearing my jewels is his gift to me.”

Brian slowly began to crack a smile. “I had to check. It was my duty. I apologize. I’m sure you chose Kell with your mind and soul. You chose wisely, Tyrell.”

“I did,” Ty said quietly, thinking that sounded like something his father would’ve said. He looked at Brian. “Besides my mother and me, you knew my father better than anyone. You knew his religion, you knew the kind of man he was and his love and devotion to the Nation of Islam.”

“Yes,” Brian rasped in that gritty voice of his.

Ty was almost afraid to ask this question but knew he had to hear the answer regardless. “Would he have approved of my soulmate—a white, gay male—or would he have shunned me like his father did him when he married a half-white, half-black Christian woman?”

The waitress came and put their plates down in front of them. Neither one of them dug into the steaming dishes. Brian waited for the server to leave before he began to speak. His eyes appeared to mist and glaze over as if he were thinking about something upsetting, but important. His voice sounded like he’d been chewing tobacco all his life. “In the seventeen years you had with your father, how many men came to his home?”

“One.” Ty answered. “You.”

“I knew your father’s beliefs well but so did you, Ty. He wanted you to learn lessons that taught you to be a good man and to treat everyone equally. Some of his lessons to you were Muslim principles, some were Christian, and some were probably other religions he’d picked up from all over the world. He wasn’t defined by his religion in the military. He was a man who always recognized what was good and right. Who also prayed a lot.” Brian laughed gruffly. “He told me some of the lessons his father taught him were foul. At the time I was invited to your home, your father already knew about my sexual orientation. We’d been at Annapolis together for four years when he caught me sneaking off to be with another officer. Back then, it was forbidden to have an open gay relationship in the Navy, and it was suicide to try to boast my orientation when I joined the Special Forces. Well, I didn’t join. Your father recruited me. The government wanted him to head up that joint forces collaboration so badly that they agreed to give him whomever he wanted on his team. He only requested me.

“Your mother made a special meal that evening, and your father invited me over to tell me the news. That I was in. That I was his brother for life. I thanked him. Brought and presented your mother with a gift. Then I sat opposite of him at the head of his dinner table with his young, impressionable son and his queen.” Brian glared. “A white. Gay. Male.”

Enough said.

“Your father was a strong man who lived righteously. He wasn’t a bigot. He never would’ve shunned you, Tyrell. You were his greatest creation. He said that up until his last breath.”

Ty let out a slow exhale, his heart twisting painfully, “Thank you, Brian.”

Brian nodded then started to cut into his thick porterhouse. “Any other questions?”

“Only one.”

“Speak.” Brian ordered.

“What the hell took you so long to find me?” Ty swallowed a bite of salmon.

Brian put his knife and fork down and started moving his hands in rapid organized movements. Ty realized after a second that he was signing.

“After your father died I went mute. For six years I didn’t make a sound. Even when I wanted to talk again… I couldn’t.” Brian’s eyes held a world of hurt, “a week after my voice returned, I started looking for you.”

Back in his room Ty went straight to his phone charger and plugged it in. As soon as it powered on he saw he had a missed message from Kell at seven thirty.

Kell: I just finished dinner. I didn’t like eating alone.

Damn, his man really knew how to touch his heart. He laid across his bed and returned the text.

Ty: If you’re saying you missed me. I missed you too. Just finished eating with Brian.

Kell: Are you okay? I can come to you if you need me.

Of course he would because he loves me. But his dinner with Brian hadn’t been as difficult as he’d thought it would, and Brian had graciously spared him the details about the last days of his father’s life.

Ty: Rest tonight, shorty. I’ll look for you first thing in the morning.

Kell: Sleep well.

Ty: Night heart.

Ty did his evening exercises, showered and went to sleep.