22
Ben is sitting at his desk in the living room trying to finish some work when he hears Alex come in. Bart bounds across the room to roll on his back, paws in the air.
“Hello, Dork Dog,” Ben says scratching the dog’s offered up belly, “good walk?”
“Daisy stole his ball again.” Alex bends down to be kissed.
“Dude,” Ben says taking Bart’s muzzle in his hands, “she’s a little, wiry something or other. You’re a big, strong Labrador. What’s going on here?”
“She’s a schnauzer and he’s a wimp,” Alex says. He drops down on the couch with a sigh. “God how is it only Tuesday? Please tell me you’re happy with pizza tonight because I’m fucked.”
Ben raises an eyebrow; Alex doesn’t often curse and never asks for pizza this early in the week so he really must be tired.
“Does that mean the chances of my being so later, are diminished?” he asks.
When Alex suggests Ben’s chances of getting lucky will increase exponentially for every caper he finds on his half of the pizza, Ben lunges for his phone and dials the pizza company. Order placed he sits next to Alex. Tells him to lean forward and starts massaging his shoulders, digging his thumbs into the knots he can feel across the taller man’s shoulders.
“Hard day?”
“You remember the kid I told you about, Logan? I had him through about two years back after surgery to remove a tumor?”
“Yeah sort of.”
“He’s back. Tumor’s back and this time it’s inoperable. He can’t get out of his wheelchair now and he’s in to give his folks a bit of a break. Told him he would have Marcy for the next week and why. He got excited about the wedding then said he hopes he’ll still be around to hear about the honeymoon when I get back.”
“Oh jeez, baby, that really sucks.” Ben leans forward and kisses him between his shoulder blades.
“Yeah, it does,” Alex says, “he’s only twelve.”
Ben keeps kneading the tight muscles.
“Will he be around?” he asks, not really wanting to pursue the conversation or hear the answer. It’s too familiar.
“Probably,” Alex says, “but how much longer he has is anybody’s guess.”
They sit in silence, Ben rubbing Alex’s back, until the door buzzes. Ben goes to get the pizza, bringing two bottles of Corona back with him.
“Thanks,” Alex says when he takes his. He leans back and closes his eyes. “Oh, and Matt called to ask if we want a chocolate raspberry cheesecake as well next Saturday, so I said no, we’ve got enough with two wedding cakes.”
Ben stops mid swallow and narrows his eyes, trying to ascertain if he’s being teased or not. Alex lifts an eyelid and grins.
“Of course I told him we wanted one, you idiot.”
“Grounds for divorce,” Ben says opening the pizza box. He counts the capers.
“You have to be married to get divorced, didn’t they teach you that in law school? Dude, stop counting capers.”
“This time next Saturday we’ll be married,” Ben says handing him a slice of pizza and looking pleased with himself.
“And you will have had some chocolate raspberry cheesecake, so I’m safe.”
Ben grins and bites of a piece of pizza. He hands Alex another slice then leans back in the corner of the couch, rests his feet in Alex’s lap, talking about his day and the phone call he’s had from Polly. She wants to know if either of them is interested in wearing her blue satin garter from her wedding day. If they want to be traditional, it could count for something blue, borrowed, and old.
“She even offered to have it made smaller and turned into a – and I quote - cock garter,” he says laughing over his beer bottle.
When he realizes Alex isn’t laughing, he frowns, then goes to the kitchen for more beer. Holds one out for Alex and sits down.
“My mother phoned today,” Alex says as he opens the bottle.
Hand half way to the pizza box, Ben freezes and glances at him. He seems calm but Ben knows better than to trust that and the knots in Alex’s back suggest otherwise.
“What did she want?” He thinks he can guess. Alex insisted on sending his parents a wedding invitation, refusing to give them the opportunity to condemn him for ignoring them, and Ben’s argument that their opinion should be of no concern to anyone has fallen on deaf ears.
“To cite the bible at me and tell me we’d burn in hell,” Alex says.
Twisting the cap off his beer with more force than is required Ben wriggles his feet back on to Alex’s knees and smiles at him in the hopes it will encourage him to keep talking.
“Not like she hasn’t sung that song before, baby,” he says, picking up the pizza box. He flips the lid up and surveys it while Alex continues.
“Yeah, I know and it’s not like I expected them to come or anything,” Alex says, “or even wanted them to. She just sort of took me by surprise, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ben says, “but you know sooner or later you are going to have stop beating your head on this particular brick wall.”
Alex nods, accepts another piece of pizza and closes his eyes, head lolling on the back of the couch. Sighs.
“So I guess we can take them off the seating plan,” Ben says hoping for a smile and pleased when he gets one. Alex chews on the end of his pizza, then frowns.
“Wait, what did you say? Polly wants to make a what?”
Ben laughs and repeats the conversation.
“Oh dear God,” Alex says, “how in the hell am I going to be able to look her in the eyes again?”
“Why? Are you planning on wearing it?”
“No!”
Ben shrugs and digs his toes into Alex’s thigh.
“Well maybe I will then.”
#