CARTER

The wedding reception has reached an end. Most of our guests have left by now and the ones with younger children have gone to the fairgrounds to continue the fun. Our parents have made themselves at home on the steps of the gazebo where they drink a last cup of coffee and indulge in cupcakes before they head home as well. I'm not sure if they've become friends, but they have been friendly towards each other. Or maybe a few extra glasses of champagne had something to do with this new-found friendliness. At least it doesn't seem as if my parents have made any nasty comments and Dennis' mom has not tried to jump on them. I consider that a success. My parents have also been kind and respectful towards Dennis and that's all I wanted.

The evening is clear and beautiful and the gardens are illuminated by tiny lights. It was dreamy during the afternoon and now just looks magical.

"Carter?" Abigail places her hand on my arm. "Everything is ready. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your special day. I already said it to Dennis, but I wish you both so much happiness."

"Thanks, Abi. I hope you all will come by after our honeymoon for dinner. You are part of us now."

"We'll be there." She kisses my cheek.

Thomas joins us and Abigail excuses herself to continue with the break down.

"How are you feeling?" He asks.

"Somehow sad that this is all coming to an end, yet excited to see where life will take us. Soon you'll be a married man as well."

Thomas looks flustered, something I haven't seen in all these months. "Ah... Yeah... Marissa is an incredible woman. I just never thought I would tie the knot. Especially not with someone I've known in forever."

"What are you both talking about?" I feel an arm around my waist and look to my side to find my handsome husband next to me.

"Thomas' wedding to Marissa."

"I recommend marriage one hundred percent." He affirms. "Didier said you had to tell me something."

Thomas takes the moment to continue his tasks and I turn to Dennis. "I have something to show you."

Dennis and I hold hands and follow the garden paths until we reach a private area of the park. His eyes widen when he sees the area between the trees illuminated by lights. When we come closer, we find two tables. One set up with small sandwiches and sweets and the other with two chairs, dinnerware and cups. I pull a chair for Dennis who is mesmerized by the lanterns hanging from the trees.

"I thought they were candles, now I see lamps is what's inside," he says.

"Fire isn't allowed on the fairgrounds. I think the lamps do the trick quite well, don't you think?"

"They do. What is this?" He asks as I serve him a cup of tea.

"Your favorite, chamomile. I thought we could use a moment for ourselves after the busy day we had. I also had them make these." I pick a small plate and set it in the middle.

"Are those... No, you didn't!"

"Luke's cheesecake. I heard from Abigail they are your favorite thing right now." 

"I swear they help to keep me in one piece on difficult days. This is fantastic! Thank you so much for arranging this.

"It's the least I could do to say that I'm sorry after our argument."

"Nonsense. I forgave you a long time ago for that misunderstanding. Although if every fight is compensated with Luke's cheesecake then prepare for war." He gives me a cheeky grin before taking a sip of his tea.

"Or I can buy it often to avoid war." I hold his hand over the table.

"You know me well."

"Did you have anything to do with my parents being here? I asked around and no one seemed to have had a hand in it."

Dennis gives me a guilty smile. "Maybe."

"How?"

"After spending the day with my family and seeing them so excited about the wedding, I couldn't accept that your parents were not coming. I took a taxi and went to see them in the evening. You can imagine your father's shock and annoyance when he saw me standing at their porch. He was unfriendly and I said we had to talk. He almost threw the door at my face, but your mom intervened and invited me inside."

"Glad to know mom has manners."

"I told them they were hurting you with their rejection, not me, and that you don't deserve it. You've been a model son your whole life. I explained to them that I knew I was gay since I was a child. I fell in love with a male character in a soap opera my mom used to watch. When the character died, I thought my world was over because I wanted to marry him." He laughs. "I didn't thought I was different because then I didn't know that people saw being in love with someone of your same sex as an exception. My parents had an open and honest chat with me about my feelings and told me that what matters most is to be a decent human being. And that's how I lived my life, being a good son, a good friend, a good colleague."

"Completely different than how it was for me."

"I told them of your struggles in college and how you went on dates with girls and felt like there was never a connection. We all figured out why you were unhappy, but it was not up to us to tell you. I didn't change you or corrupted you. You eventually figured yourself that you liked men and none of us minded. Miles even was the first to give your number to a bartender, remember?"

"I do. He called and we had a nice date, but knew it was going nowhere."

"Then I told your parents that it hurt you they were not coming to the wedding. All my family would be here and the people you love most didn't even respond. We take marriage seriously and if we were not committed to a life together, you wouldn't even have started on this journey. We belong to each other and were ready to let the world know. I also told them how I was alive because of you. How I held on to your promise, love and care and that's why I'm still here. Your dad was still confused after everything I said, but I saw hope."

"What do you mean?"

"He said he had trouble understanding because all he was thought was that a man was supposed to marry a woman. I asked him if he loves your mom and wants to protect her, respect her and take care of her. He got impatient with me, but then said, of course. Then I said that is exactly how I feel about you. Whether gay or straight, the love I feel for you is the same. I begged them to attend the wedding for you, then I stood up. While heading to the door, I saw the RSVP card on a table by the entrance. They have filled it out, saying they would attend. They never mailed it." 

The revelation makes me emotional and Dennis stands up to give me a hug. He makes a plate with tiny blue cakes with our monogram and golden macarons and sets it before me. Then serves me a cup of tea. I'm about to say that I don't like that tea, but I'm so overwhelmed by this new information that I keep my mouth shut.

Dennis then starts reviewing his favorite parts of our wedding and I take a moment to calm down and enjoy the sweets. I take a piece of cheesecake and I realize why he loves it so much. 

"Did you bring your car here?" Dennis says as he cleans the cherry topping on the plate with his finger. "I got a ride with Daniel. How are we getting back to Greenwood?"

"I came with Thomas, but my car is at the hotel parking lot. We have transportation arranged to go back to the room."

"Room? Oh that's handy, not having the long drive back."

After finishing our drinks, we walk back towards the tent where we find our families and the Morgans. That's when I see a horse-pulled carriage waiting for us.

"Is that for us?" Dennis asks.

"I think it is." We hurry up and give a final hug to everyone before getting on the carriage.

The night has taken a turn and there's a cold breeze. Dennis covers us with the blankets we found on the opposite seat. We wave to our loved ones and are even more surprised when the carriage takes us through the fairgrounds instead of the back gate. People smile at us and the little kids wave. I've never felt so pampered and special. Our trip continues along the coast until we arrive to the Grand Hotel by the pier. We climb down the carriage and when I ask the driver how much I owe him he says it's all taken care of. A woman receives us in the lobby and hands us a key to the top floor where the lift opens in a living room area.

"You booked us a suite?" Dennis walks around and takes the place in.

"You deserve the moon, Dennis," I say. "Come here."

I open the curtain of the large window in the room that faces the pier with its colorful lights. Suddenly, the sky illuminates with the explosion of fireworks.

"Wow, that is a coincidence!" Dennis watched the colorful fireworks in awe.

"Yeah." It's all I say and he turns to look at me, while the color outside reflects on his face.

"No, it's not." He watches me with so much love in his eyes.

"We'll never know I guess."

Dennis and I cuddle while watching the spectacle in the evening sky and look forward to the rest of our lives together.

THE END

A/N: I invite you to continue reading "Adulting Requires Cheesecake" from the Lonstino and Greenwood Series to find out what happened to Michael, Oliver and Tristan (from book 1), Luke (from book 1 and 3) and Jordan (book 2). Let me know what you think!