Chris and Andre

After I read the email Andre said, “If it’s the last thing I ever do, I’m going to stop those bastards getting even one cent of what Ollie is entitled to.” I hugged him in total support.

The first thing Andre did was to contact our solicitor friend, who pointed out that going to court was the fastest way of wasting whatever value the deceased estate had. He told us that the solicitor who sent the email was “not well respected” and advised us to double check everything starting with the “marriage certificate”.

That turned out to be excellent advice. Debbie did not know about Christine and Jeff being married and the marriage celebrant named on the certificate denied conducing the wedding. The final check with the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages took a week to receive a response. There was no record of a wedding between Christine and Jeff.

While we were waiting for the response from the Registry, Andre was working his financial magic and analyzing Christine’s financial records. We didn’t expect Christine to have a big bank account, but Andre was curious about how much had been spent.

Bob officially wrote to Ruby and the solicitor refuting that Christine and Jeff were married and added that he was referring the forged marriage certificate to the police and the Legal Services Commissioner. That left it open for Andre to finalize the estate and add to Ollie’s trust fund.

 

We met for a wedding planning meeting on a Saturday, at Michael and Jamie’s home. We sat around the table on their outdoor entertainment area. Michael was determined to have us reach some decisions. His first question was, “Who do each of you want as your best man?”  

Andre answered, “That’s easy for me. Jamie will you be my Best Man?”

Jamie responded by grabbing Andre in a hug and shouting, “Yes!”

“Beau, will you be my best man?” I asked.

“I would be honoured to be your best man Chris, but what about Michael? He’s been your BFF for much longer than I have.”

“Andre and I were thinking of another role for Michael, but you two can swap if you want. Michael will you be our Master of Ceremonies for the wedding ceremony and the reception?”

Michael was smiling when he looked at Beau, “Well do you want to swap roles?”

Beau shook his head, “No way, Michael, I don’t want that much responsibility. Yes Chris, it will be my pleasure to be your best man.”

“And Chris and Andre, I’m thrilled to be your MC.” There was a round of hugs.

“Are you going to have a ring bearer, or will your best men carry the rings?”

Andre answered, “We are planning to ask Ollie.” Everyone agreed.

Next was the important question of setting a date. Andre and I were thinking of December or January. We tossed around the pros and cons and ended up agreeing on the beginning of December. It was before the “festive Season” and avoided the holiday month of January.

Michael was sporting a grin that said he had something planned. “You could have difficulty booking a venue in December, but Jamie and I would love it, if you would have your wedding here.”

I looked at Andre, “You’re offering your place as a venue?”

“Yes. We’ve got plenty of space. Nearly five acres of it. Think about it. It’s easy to hire a marquee and tables and chairs. If the weather’s nice you have the wedding outside and the reception inside the marquee. If it’s raining you do everything inside the marquee.”

I looked at Andre who was smiling happily, “I love the idea of an outside wedding, and it really is a nice setting here. But wouldn’t catering be a problem?”

“Not if we hire a caterer to do buffet style. That will also help keep the reception casual.”

Michael added, “We know a celebrant. She’s a dyke who loves doing gay weddings. We’ll give you her details so you can check to see if she’s available.”

“We’ve been to a couple of gay weddings where she officiated. They were just so good, and she’s fun to have at the reception too.”

Michael and Jamie had sold us on the idea, so we agreed to using their extensive lawn area for our wedding. We then settled down to drawing up a list of tasks and allocating them to each of us. One of my tasks was to set up an electronic wedding invitation with online acceptance.

When we were finished all we could do, Beau looked wistfully at the pool. “How about a swim. The day’s warm enough. What’s the water like?”

“Perfect! I went for a swim this morning. We use solar collectors to make the pool usable for an extra three months each year.”

Jamie helpfully added, “And we have a collection of costumes and swim shorts in different sizes for guests.”

Beau laughed. “Nah. We’re all guys together. I’ll skinny dip.”

The look on Jamie’s face was priceless.

Andre looked around. “There’s only one person here I haven’t already been naked with and that’s Michael, so I’m happy to skinny dip.”

Jamie quickly added, “And count me in. I’ve been naked with everyone except Beau.”

Michael smiled, “Well there are two brothers here I haven’t been naked with and I’m happy to change that.” He then looked at me.

“Hey. Don’t look at me.” I put my hands up in surrender, “I’ve been up close and naked with all of you. No need for me to wear anything. You all know what I’ve got.” They all burst out laughing at my comment as we started stripping.

Beau was first as he raced to the pool shouting, “Last one in’s a rotten egg.”

Jamie certainly wasn’t going to be a rotten anything and was second into the pool.

I nodded to Andre and Michael, and they nodded back. We stripped, ran to the pool and dived in together. When we surfaced, Jamie was futilely trying to dunk Beau. Beau turned and tossed a laughing Jamie across the pool. We swam over to join in the horsing around.

It was every man for himself as we continued to horse around trying to splash, dunk and wrestle each other, which did include some playful gentle genital grabbing. During that Jamie climbed on Beau’s back and wrapped arms and legs around him. Beau playfully tried to dislodge him. Andre moved up quietly behind them and started to gently tickle Jamie who squirmed and started giggling. “No. Stop it. Not fair.” Beau reached down and held Jamie’s foot and ran a finger across the naked sole. Jamie’s giggles became more high pitched. “Michael help me. Beau’s got family help. It’s not fair.”

“Do you give?” asked a laughing Andre.

“Yes. Yes, I give.”

The tickle attack stopped, and Jamie fell back into Andre’s arms. Beau turned and hugged Jamie who panted, “Thanks. That was fun.”

Not long after, Andre was on my shoulders and we were playing ‘shoulder wars’ against Jamie and Michael with Beau, umpiring. I was amused that Beau declared Michael and Jamie the winners every time, even when we pushed both of them over backwards into the water.

The high jinks continued with more shoulder fights, including another shoulder fight between Beau and Jamie and Michael and Andre. Of course, I had to declare Michael and Andre the winners. That was followed by more joyful horseplay, until we were all exhausted.

Michael found and tossed towels to each of us as we left the pool and we dried off. The sun warmed us as we sat around naked. Jamie brought out a bottle of white wine and we enjoyed a glass of wine and conversation.  

Michael grinned at Jamie, “Well, how’s your crush on Beau now?”

That caught Beau’s attention. He looked across at Jamie and I think, blushed.

Jamie responded playfully, “Oh I’ve still got a crush for Beau, but now it’s a brotherly crush.” And then directly to Beau, “Love you bro.”

Beau lent over and they fist bumped.

We each had our list of tasks and agreed to have another meeting to stay on track. That was directed at Andre and me because of our previous procrastination. Well, we did have the rings, and they fitted perfectly. We had chosen rings with interwoven bands of yellow and white gold. It symbolized the interweaving of ourselves as one.

 

We arrived home to be met by the awesome4some and their friends. Tyron reported that they had been well behaved and had made a couple of super epic videos. Tyron was keen to leave and meet up with Chloe. They were becoming a very serious couple. He said goodbye to everyone and departed.

Ollie then asked, “Dads can I sleep over with Riley tonight? Bradley’s sleeping over with Cooper and I’m invited if you agree.”

We all lived so close Ollie and Riley’s sleepovers were becoming a regular feature of our life with an adolescent son. Obviously, we agreed.

“Can I take some more games and another console over so we can all play against each other.”

“Yeah, and it may as well stay there. You lot are there often enough.”

It was obvious that they had planned what they wanted to take because it was already sitting in a box next to them.

Andre and I said goodnight to all of them and they scarpered off to next door.

Andre commented, “If we’d known this we could have stayed with Jamie and Michael.”

“But we would still have to be back here early tomorrow, and anyway now we have the apartment to ourselves for another night when we don’t have to worry about Ollie hearing us.”

“Somehow, Chris I think Ollie is expecting to hear us, like he heard his parents.”

“You are probably right. When do you think you should talk to him about it?”

“Me! I thought we were in this together.”

“Maybe I could offer some moral support. You know, like in the background.”

Unfortunately, Andre caught sight of the smile I was trying to conceal.

 “You agree that we do this together or you’re in the guest room tonight.”

“Ouch! You don’t negotiate fair. That price is too high. Yes, we’re in this together.” Not really a comprise when it’s what I wanted anyway, but relationships are meant to be fun.

 

Top of our agenda was contacting the celebrant and handing her our Intention to Marry form. Michael was right. She had a great personality along with a sense of humour, so we instantly knew we wanted her as our celebrant.

It wasn’t long before the police visited Andre for a statement concerning the forged Marriage Certificate. He showed them the email and they asked him to forward it to their email account. He did that and then mentioned the issue of Christine’s credit and debit cards being used after her death and Ruby’s response to the bank freezing Christine’s bank account.

That’s when the police took more interest in Ruby and asked what else Andre had found out. Andre explained that about Ruby directly, not much, but he was suspicious about Christine’s spending. She was earning good money working full time on roster. That was confirmed by bank deposits and her tax return.

The concern was that in the less than two years since Dan’s death, she had spent all her earnings plus nearly one hundred and fifty thousand she had received from Dan’s estate. A lot were cash withdrawals. All Andre could locate in assets were a car, a mobile phone, clothes, some jewellery and some furniture. When he added that she died of a drug overdose the police interest escalated, and they asked if Andre had Christine’s phone.

Andre told them that he did not have the phone, but he could guess who did, because it was being used up until he cancelled the account. The police made their notes, thanked Andre and assured him that they would follow up along with the drug squad.

I wasn’t at the meeting and Andre relayed all this to me afterwards.

“So what are you going to do about the car and phone?”

“Haven’t got that far yet. I suspect that first, I’ll have to get them off Ruby.”

“Well we don’t need another car and Ollie won’t be able to drive for another three years. I suppose you will just sell it.”

“Yeah, but only after talking to Ollie, like we always do. I wouldn’t worry about the phone. After today I reckon the police will be holding it for evidence. Remember when she was stopped with those drugs in her car.”

 

We discussed what we should tell Ollie. There were things he needed to know, but we also felt that there were things he didn’t need to know, like the police investigation. We agreed to start with Andre asking, “Ollie do you know about your trust fund?”

“Sorta. At dad’s funeral some people mentioned it, but I don’t know what it is.”

“It’s some money that your dad left you to be looked after until you’re twenty one.”

“What do you mean looked after?”

“It means that some people will be responsible for investing it so when you’re twenty one, there will be more money in there for you.”

Ollie looked worried. “Who’s doing that?”

“Now, it’s your Aunt Margaret and me.”

“Cool, I trust you.”

“Good because now I’m looking after what your mum left. Ollie, it’s complicated because your mum didn’t have a will, so I’m responsible for working out what to do with what she owned.”

“Why are you telling me?”

“Because you should inherit everything, but you’re not an adult so I’ve been appointed to legally do that for you. The important things are some money in your mum’s bank account, her jewellery, some furniture and her car. Before I finalize things, I want us to talk about what you want.”

“You’re my Dads and everything you’ve done has been to help me. I trust you to do the right thing.”

I placed a hand on Ollie’s shoulder, “Thanks Ollie for saying that. We will always try to do the right thing for you, but there are times when we need to know what you think as well.”

“Does that mean you’re treating me like I’m grown up?”

“Absolutely.”

A huge smile spread across Ollie’s face. “Can you help me decide?”

It was easy to decide what to do with the money in the bank and we all agreed to add it to the trust fund. None of the furniture interested Ollie, especially now he had furniture he had selected himself. It could be given away. Ollie’s attitude to the car was interesting. Christine sold their previous car and Dan’s work Ute and bought the car about six months after Dan was killed, so it was fairly new. He suggested it was better than Nona’s car and he would like her to have it.

Andre asked Ollie what he wanted to do with Christine’s jewellery.

Ollie paused, thinking. “I don’t want it, but it was given to her by Dad and some of it was Grandma’s.” He stopped and looked down for a moment. “I think I should keep it. I might want to give some of it to my wife when I get married.”

Who could argue with that?

Andre and I thought we had finished but Ollie wasn’t. “Dads, you know you’re getting married.” We both chuckled. “Well, me and the guys want to video your wedding, and I thought we could also live cast it to people who can’t come to the wedding. You would also have a video record of your wedding. What do you think?”

Andre looked at me, “Can we do that? Have people watch it live on internet. Does that mean anyone could watch?”

“Yes we can do it and limit viewing to people who have permission to log in. Ollie, I should have thought about doing that, but I didn’t. Thank you for thinking about doing it. I need to add that to the invitations. We have friends and relatives who live in other states and overseas and can’t come to the wedding but would like to see it.”

Andre pointed out, “Chris, we have problem. We were going to ask Ollie to be our ring bearer.”

“What’s a ring bearer. I’ve only been to a couple of weddings a long time ago and they were boring.”

“During the service we give each other a wedding ring and a ring bearer is the person who brings the rings to us.”

“Wow! That sounds like an honour. I’d like to do that. But I’ll have to work out who can work the cameras at that time.”

 

Andre and I were busy at work and with arrangements for the wedding, especially with Michael asking for updates on progress. To be fair Michael and Jamie were just as busy fitting wedding arrangements in with their work schedule. Beau was also doing his share. The important part was that the wedding planning was all coming together.

I prepared an online invitation with a design and format that could be mirrored on a printed invitation. The online invitation linked to an acceptance form. The printed invitations had both an acceptance contact address and a QR code to the online acceptance form.

Andre and I had agreed that we didn’t need wedding presents but also didn’t want to insult guests who felt they wanting to give us something. We thought that people could donate money instead of buying us a present, but what to?

We wanted to support a charity that would benefit kids like Ollie. Andre even investigated the possibility of us setting up a foundation, but instead we found a local charitable organization that provided emergency accommodation for homeless adolescents and those escaping abuse. 

We, including Ollie, agreed that it was perfect, so I included a link to this organization on the “acceptance” website. In the end we were pleased that our friends and families contributed very generously, including those who couldn’t attend or would watch the live feed.  

 

Saturday afternoon, a week later, Bradley arrived because the awesome4some were having a planning meeting. David knocked on the door to the apartment. We welcomed him in and offered him a coffee.

“Thanks. A coffee would be great. Bradley has his ‘L’s’ and drove on the way over here to build up his hours. I offered some suggestions. Big mistake. I think I’ll continue to leave the lessons to a driving instructor.”

Andre suggested, “Maybe you’d prefer a scotch.”

“I always enjoy a scotch but not by myself.”

Andre and I agreed to join David, and I poured three drinks.

“Andre, the drug guys are happy with you mentioning Ollie’s mum’s spending. They’ve been able to go through her phone and also some of the CCTV of her withdrawing cash. She wasn’t a dealer, but she was buying for herself, Jeff and a couple of others, including her sisters. Anyway, her phone and the video gave the drug guys some leads on a couple of local dealers and suppliers who have now been arrested.”

We were pleased that the information Andre gave the police had been followed up. We already knew that Ruby and the solicitor had been charged over their attempt to get their hands on Christine’s estate.

We were chatting and had just finished our drinks when I received a message asking me to go down to the studio because there was a problem. It also asked me to bring Andre down as well. We went down followed by David.

I looked around wondering what the problem was. I wondered about Cooper being there as well as three of the awesome4some.

“OK, we’re here. What’s the problem?”

Ollie looked around before answering, “We’ve been going over the logistics of videoing your wedding and I won’t be able to be your ring bearer. I’m sorry Dads. I know you wanted me to do it.”

I looked at Andre and it was clear that we were both wondering what was going on, but before either of us could say anything we heard, “Uncle Chris, Uncle Andre, could I be your ring bearer, please?” It was Bradley.

I looked at Bradley, “Well it looks like we need one, but why do you want to be our ring bearer?”

“I’d like to do it because you and Uncle Andre have shown me that it’s possible to be gay and have good lives, that you can be qualified and have good jobs, that you can be in a loving relationship, you can be good parents and you can be open about being gay and the world doesn’t have to come crashing down around you. And also because of you I met my boyfriend Cooper.” Cooper moved over and took Bradley’s hand. “Both of you are our role models. You have shown us that we don’t have to be worried about being gay, we just have to be good people. That’s why it would be my honour to be your ring bearer.”

I looked at Andre who was nodding. “Bradley we would be honoured to have you as our ring bearer.”

I looked at David who was smiling happily. “Bradley, Cooper do your families know about you?”

The speakers in the studio burst into life with people shouting that they knew and were happy.

Tyron smiled, “We are testing the live feed. Both families have been watching.”

“Did you set this up, Ollie?”

“Not just me. It was all of us.”

“Including me.” Added Jackson on live feed.

Logan’s voice came over the speakers, “We’re all set up for a barbecue, so get yourselves over here. David, is your family coming?”

Chelsea responded through the speakers, “We’re about to leave now and will see you all soon.”

Andre and I hugged Bradley and Cooper and walked with them towards the barbecue.   

“I won’t ask you when you knew you are gay.”

“Thanks. We’ve answered that question more than enough.” They exchanged knowing smiles.

“Instead, I’ll ask when did you decide to tell your families?”

 Bradley answered, “That was when you told our parents you are getting married and sent their invitations. They were so positive about you getting married and attending the wedding, we decided they would accept us being gay.”

“And it worked. Then Ollie suggested Bradley being your ring bearer.”

We all chuckled as we arrived at the barbecue. These two young gay guys had caught their parents at the right time to come out. But at the same time neither set of parents were anything but happily accepting.

 

The wedding acceptances flowed in. The live feed proved to be more popular than we expected. We even received requests to watch the live feed from people we knew but hadn’t considered formally inviting. On the other hand, people we expected to opt for live feed didn’t. That included all our elderly grandparents, who all traveled to be at the wedding. Probably to make sure we were actually getting married!

Both of our parents were initially peeved that they were not involved in organizing the wedding. We made sure that we kept them informed and it wasn’t long before they became fully supportive.

 

Finally, the day arrived. The day all our planning and organizing was about. Our wedding.

The weather was perfect for us to hold the ceremony outside. An early December day with a clear blue cloudless sky, even if bit warmer than we would have liked. The chairs had been set up on the recently mown green lawn next to the white marquee. On either side of a centre aisle which led to a vine and flower covered white lattice where the ceremony would take place, rows of seats had been set up.    

All the guests had been told there was no fixed seating and certainly no specified side for each of our families. Michael was being an excellent Master of Ceremonies as, with the help of Jackson, he directed our guests to sit wherever they felt comfortable. I could tell that this approach was mixing our families and friends as they sat together and talked.

Bradley was down the front wearing a very smart looking suit that matched ours but also announced “very smart and classy 17 year old”. Cooper was with him making final adjustments, straightening his tie and taking photos. The awesome4some had already set up cameras and Ollie and Tyron were busy controlling the live feed.  

 

I was standing next to Beau waiting for the last of the guests to find their seats and settle down. We had taken up our position beyond the last row of seats on the left hand side. I looked across at Andre and Jamie standing behind the seats on the right hand side.

We had agreed to wearing dark suits, but the heat was getting to me. I looked at Andre who playfully flapped his jacket indicating he felt the same as me. The jackets were discarded immediately after the formal photos.

 

I looked at Beau and took a deep breath, “Well this is it I suppose. Within half an hour I’ll be married with a husband.”

Beau laughed, “Oh come on Chris, it’s not the end of the world, and you love each other. So much.”

“Yeah Beau, you’re right. I want to spend my life with Andre.”

“Chis, we met because you bumped Skye’s car in the Imperial carpark. At that time when we met, did you think that it would lead to you becoming an amazing Dad to Ollie and Uncle to William and be here marrying my brother?’

‘No Beau, none of that, but I’m overwhelmingly happy with the way it turned out. By the way I told Andre what we did.”

“And how did he react?”

“He was OK because it was before he met me, and we’re not to do it again.

Beau grinned. That cute grin I always loved. “Fair enough. I told Skye.”

“Really! How did that go?”

That cute smile broadened, “We’re pregnant again.”

As I said, “Congratulations”, Michael asked everyone to stand, and the music started.

Beau and I moved towards Andre and Jamie. When we reached the aisle, Andre and I held hands and walked down the aisle towards Michael and our celebrant.

I looked at a camera and smiled happily. We were getting married. We were about to tell everyone that we are together. Committed forever as lovers, husbands and fathers.

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That is where we leave Chris and Andre and Ollie. I hope you have enjoyed this story.