From My Love to My Life (MXM) (sequel to From My Enemy to My Love)

Chapter 30

Vincent Kinsington

I parked at the tuxedo and suit shop across town. Chet and Nat were going to the one closer to our apartment. Nate was in the passenger seat. As we got out of the car, my phone dinged with a text message. I pulled out my phone and looked at it. It was from Nat.

Mom: Remember what we talked about. Find a suitable suit for Nate if you can.

Me: Will do.

"Is it Nat?" Nate asked me. "It's Nat isn't it."

"Yeah," I said. I put my phone back in my pocket.

As we walked through the parking lot to the store entrance he said, "She thinks I should look at a suit today too, but we're here for you. It's more important that we get you your wedding suit."

Nat did not trust Nate to pick out his own suit and I didn't either.

"It's alright," I said. "It'll be fun to shop for you. I kinda want to wait and see what Chet picks out anyway so I can coordinate a little. Let's shop for you first."

I opened the door and let him step in first. "I don't know why Nat is so incessant that you don't see each other in your tuxes until the wedding day," he said. "It would be easier if you could shop together."

"Tradition I guess," I said. We didn't discuss it anymore as a salesman came up to us.

"May I help you find something?" he asked.

"This young man," Nate said, indicating to me, "is marrying my son and we need to find something for him to wear for the big day."

I couldn't help but smile at that. Nate had no reservations letting people know his son was in a gay relationship. He always sounded proud of Chet. He always sounded proud of me for that matter.

"Excellent," the salesman said. "What are your colors going to be? Or were you thinking an all white tux or all black tux?"

"Our colors are black and forest green," I said, "but I'd like to find a suit for him to wear at the wedding before we look into something for me." I placed my hand on Nate's shoulder.

"Of course," the salesman said, "right this way." He led us to the right side of the store. I quickly scanned the suits and tuxes in the store just so I had an idea of what I might want to look at for myself later. There were a few that immediately caught my eye. Then I turned my attention fully to the salesman and Nate and potential suits for him. The salesman pulled out several for Nate to try on.

During this process, Nat sent me another text.

Mom: This is the picture of Kanni in her dress. If you get green, try to match the color to this as close as you can get it.

I showed the salesman the picture of Kanni just so he would have a better idea of what color green we were thinking of. They had an all green suit similar in color that Nate tried on. It didn't suit him. Whatever suit we ended up picking, it would have to be hemmed. Nate was slightly shorter than Chet was. In the end, we picked out a nice black suit with a green tie that matched Kanni's dress. They were measuring Nate to make tailoring adjustments to have the suit fit him better.

"Does Thailand have a tradition where they're not supposed to see the bride in her dress before the wedding day like we do?" I asked him.

"Not really," he said. "Well, kinda. Not really. I moved to the U.S. when I was a boy. I might not be remembering Thai wedding traditions correctly. There is something called the khan maak procession where the groom's family would carry offerings for the bride's family. They sing songs and musicians play instruments on the way. You usually walk to the bride's house or the place you're meeting the bride and her family. It's kinda like a little party on the way. When the groom gets to his destination, the way is blocked by a series of gates and a family member of the bride will be there. The bride's family wants to make sure the groom is worthy and can take care of the bride. Sometimes the groom needs to pay money to get through the gate. Sometimes he needs to answer a question to get through. Once the groom passes through all the gates, he can then find his bride in one of the rooms and present the offerings he and his family have brought for the bride's family. So that's when the groom sees his bride. I'm not sure though if he can go dress shopping with the bride and see her in the dress before then."