The Lockdown

40

Andrew and Cameron were standing in front of the door to a small chapel. They were alone and appreciated the few seconds they had to themselves, the first and most likely last such moments of the day. Andy brushed off a piece of lint stuck on the lapel of Cam's perfectly tailored suit and the youngster adjusted the slightly misaligned tie of his lover.

The chapel inside was filled to the brim. Even though they tried to restrict the wedding to immediate family and a few close friends, the chamber was completely full as they were patiently waiting for the couple's entrance. Andrew's mother, sister and her whole family was inside along with Uncle Joe and his family, even his father's sister came with a couple of cousins in tow. Almost everybody came from the O'Malleys' led by the proud grandparents, Abe's side was only represented by his elderly aunt and uncle who brought him to America. In the first pew, Abe was sitting alongside with his wife, who even bought a new dress for the occasion. Her relationship with her son slightly improved since Christmas, but it was a long road ahead full of bumps and obstacles.

A month before the wedding, Cam and Andy flew to The Philippines to meet his family there. Cam's grandmother was overjoyed and welcomed them with open arms. They were spoiled rotten during the week they spent there and she threw them a goodbye party far more lavish than the wedding reception they planned for later that day. They decided not to spend a lot of money on the wedding, even though both Andy's mother and Abe offered assistance. Uncle Joe volunteered his backyard for the reception and they decorated the place themselves with a little help from the bar's staff and a few friends. Tal even offered to cater the event but they refused, they wanted all the employees of the bar to have a little fun on the happiest day of their lives. So they asked a friend who had a barbecue restaurant in town to help out with the food, the booze came from the bar obviously.

The bar was doing great. After the students returned to school it was full almost every night, they quickly opened the backyard to provide more room. They fought occasionally, most recently Andy vetoed the purchase of a shiny new kitchen equipment Cam had his sights on but they always managed to find the common ground appreciating the other's opinion.

Their income far outperformed their expectations and they started to talk about possible expansions. The pet shop next door was closing and Andy was talking to the owner to take over the space and open a small café/bistro with a much wider food selection than the bar could offer. They thought that Sarah could manage the place easily with Cam though they had yet to ask her.

Sarah and Billy got married two months ago. They eloped to Las Vegas to the chagrin of her family. Billy didn't care, his relatives were not too happy either, but he just wanted Sarah any way possible. They did tell Andy and Cam in advance who wanted to go with them to celebrate their union. That would have undercut the idea of eloping though, and could have earned the enmity of both their families towards the boys, so they declined the offer. Sarah decided not to touch the trust fund money, but it was there, earning interest, waiting on a bank account for the day she may need it.

Billy got a similar treatment from her grandmother as Andy did, and they commiserated later in the bar over a drink. "She even made me sign an NDA over Cam's business," he complained. "I was slightly offended, I'd never do anything to hurt Cammie."

Billy desperately wanted children and Sarah finally consented on her own terms extracting a promise from him that she would be able to continue working in the bar if she wished to. That exchanged prompted a deep conversation between Cam and Andy about having children. Andy couldn't wait to have a few little Camerons run around the house and even the younger man admitted that the idea of offsprings did not distress him too much. But all that was in the future, they were not in a hurry at all.

Abe's pastor was officiating the ceremony, Sarah and Jennie stood in as best women, BB was the ring bearer. She took the responsibilities of the job very seriously carrying the small pillow around for days practicing her moves carefully. The chapel was decorated with white flowers curtesy of the O'Malley garden, the sweet scent of lilies, roses and hydrangeas mixed perfectly to add to the celebration of love.

A strand of white freesia on each man adorned the lapels of their wedding suits representing their love and trust in each other. Andy took Cam's hand, they opened the door to the chapel and took their first steps of the rest of their lives together.