Chapter 11

In no time, Josh had them both cleaned up and ready to go. They sat side by side with their legs across the aisle and feet on the opposing bench. Together, like that, they were a vision of true male beauty worthy of the cover of any high-end fashion magazine. Not just because they were physically incredibly attractive, but because their mutual love and adoration for each other brought out the best in them both. Part of what makes a man look incredibly gorgeous is his stature, his confidence, and his poise when he’s not trying. When a guy feels so secure and so safe, his most attractive qualities surface.

Josh held up his cell phone and took a picture of them together. This was something they had not done for years, not since they used to make boy couple videos for a now-defunct video channel. Peter thought for Josh’s sake and job security they should take the whole channel down, but Josh would not hear of it. It was a record of their real life, and the comments still being posted proved that, even after all of these years, people were still watching, and it was helping teens learn to feel good about themselves, come out, and live their authentic lives without as much fear.

Peter rubbed his toes against Josh’s. He knew that Josh would like it as much as he liked Josh kissing his member. Josh took Peter’s hand into his own. They sat there for a while in silence playing footsie.

“So, what’s my prize?” Josh asked.

“That wasn’t prize enough?” Peter chided.

“It was pretty fucking awesome.”

“You swore, Josh, and this is not during sex.”

“I can’t help it, Pumpkin, fuck that was fucking the most amazing thing. I cannot explain it. Those were the most fucking amazing ‘ejax’ I’ve ever had, babe. We should have gotten life-partnered years ago.” Josh’s entire body quivered like a frightened baby deer. He squeezed Peter’s hand harder.

“Ok, so, first, never again do I want to be frowned at for swearing. You said, swearing during sex didn’t count against your angelic rep., but we are not, so….”

“This is a one-time exception to my rule. I won’t do it again, maybe. Unless that happens again.”

“So, how’d you do it? I mean you really did those last two all on your own. I had nothing left in my tank to help you, and those were your best two. The last one? We should have been recording that one. I would really like to be able to see that in slow motion. The hang time, the arc, the wave, it was practically surfable.”

Josh looked shy and then confident, “Easy, I just pictured you and then held the real you and told my mind it was 4D—you and that feeling of your hand caressing me and me holding you and feeling you and the emotions of today and loving you so much that there are no words to even describe it. Like we need a whole new word in the English language to explain how much I love you.”

“Ok, ok, I get it, I’m irresistible.”

“Yes, you are.”

Peter turned into Josh and started cuddling him from the side. He put one arm behind his waist and then snuggled his way up under Josh’s arm so he could cuddle against his chest. He rested his other arm across Josh’s stomach. It felt warm and nice and amazing. Josh ran his fingers through Peter’s hair and cuddled him back. “Thank you, Pumpkin.”

“You too, Mintaka,” Peter managed before he drifted off to sleep. Josh cuddled him for a while and then drifted off himself. They were asleep for a few minutes when the car stopped suddenly. The driver spoke to them over the intercom.

“Sorry gents, traffic’s getting thick and someone ahead just slammed on their brakes.”

Peter looked up at Josh who looked absolutely perfect. “You are perfect, Mintaka.” Josh giggled and grinned. Usually, he was the more sentimental of the two of them. “Forever partnering suits you.” Josh giggle and grinned. Peter folded up the bottom of Josh’s oversized golf shirt to reveal his normal washboard stomach. He rubbed it. His stomach was usually warm so he kissed it. Josh ran his fingers back and forth through Peter’s hair again as before. “Josh, I don’t mean this in any negative way, but, I really do think you are gaining some belly weight. I pride myself on knowing your body better than I know my own. Your stomach is round and fuller than I ever remember it. The lower pack of your six has no more definition.” Peter bolted up and then kissed Josh to ensure he knew that he was not cracking fat jokes at him which they never did, but just to be sure. He took Josh’s own hand and rubbed it across Josh’s belly. See.”

“Hmm. Yeah, I kind of had that feeling too when I was getting dressed this morning. Angel teased me about having the beginnings of a baby bump.”

“Well, you can join me in my morning workouts for a while, if you want? Running can only do so much.”

“Of course! Great idea. I guess you were right. Too many bacon and peanut butter sandwiches late at night.”

“It’s my fault. I didn’t have to go along with you.”

“How come they are not showing up on your stomach? It’s not fair.”

“ Fair? I do 60 extra crunches every morning just trying to keep up with you.”

“Well, now you’ll have to do 100 because I’m going to do 200.” Josh giggled and pulled his shirt down.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the airport, but what Josh did not know until he got out of the car, was Peter had another surprise for him — they were not flying commercially.

“WTF!” Josh exclaimed as he opened the door all the way and stepped out onto the tarmac right in front of a glimmering private jet. The first officer and attendant were standing ready.

“Gift from Hogan. He got the jet and Teagan got the resort.” Josh never imagined in a million years he would ever fly on a private jet let alone with his new forever partner to Hawai’i for their honeymoon. “Don’t get too excited, we’re flying back in business class on miles.” Peter poked Josh in the ribs causing him to giggle. Then he got serious like a supermodel. He pointed at the driver and the bags and then walked up the stairs and into the private aircraft pausing at the top to fake princess wave for the fans. Peter smiled at the limo driver and helped him load the bags under the plane. “I forever partnered with a diva, what can I say.” The limo driver chuckled and then headed to the car. The crew closed up the plane, and the captain came back to introduce himself. He mentioned there would be a bit of normal turbulence out of LA and on approach to Honolulu and then he returned to the flight deck and shut the door. Their flight attendant, Austin from Austin, would be taking care of their safety and inflight needs.

Josh dropped the diva act as soon as he was on board, and after Austin’s hilarious and jovial safety briefing, turned into a little kid in a candy shop rushing around checking in here and there and learning everything he could about the craft. Peter had flown on private jets for years as they were a perk of his father’s job and a necessity for his mother’s. The only thing they had not done was buy their own. Instead, they talked frequently about a yacht but never got around to that either.

“I cannot believe this,” Josh said sitting down in the big luxury recliner next to Peter and buckling his seat belt for take off.

“What?”

“This is too much. Your parents are too much.”

“Well, sweetheart, nothing needs to change at all. We can occasionally enjoy some of the finer things in life and spend the rest of our time like beach bums at Santa Monica Pier. The reality is that we are very financially well off, but like Teagan and Hogan, we do not have to let money control us and spoil us. We can live normally and give away as much as we want. You know, I wasn’t raised a spoiled rotten rich brat.”

“Promise,” Josh asked squeezing Peter’s hand as the aircraft started to lift off.

“I promise. You know me. I would never lie to you.”

“Me…nei…,” Josh could only partially make the statement as waves of guilt rushed over him. He had lied. He had participated in Teagan’s scheme. Even though he convinced himself that lying that one time was for a good cause, he never felt right about it. It was eating at him, he had to confess.

“You?” Peter said turning to look at Josh directly with his eyes practically popping out of his head.

“Peter, I know you are going to be mad, but there’s no time better than now, to admit something…”. Josh could not say it.

“What?”

“That I did lie to you.”

“Ok.”

Josh looked over at Austin, “Uh, Austin, we cannot turn around and go back now, right?” Austin nodded in the affirmative. “Then would you mind giving us a little privacy?”

“No problem, gents, we’ve reached cruising altitude, so you can unbuckle and move about the cabin. Please wear your seat belt when seated as turbulence can occur at any time. I’ll prepare you a light meal and return in thirty minutes. How does that sound?”

“Perfect! Thank you!” Josh said. Josh unbuckled and moved to the seat across from Peter so they could talk face-to-face.

“You’re scaring me Mintaka, what’s this about?”

Josh looked down at his feet trying not to be distracted by Peter’s. This was serious. Only minutes before he had been on cloud 9, and now he was buried under an avalanche of guilt. “Give me your feet.” Josh demanded. Peter looked at him and wrinkled his nose not wanting to. “Please!” Peter gave in and stretched his legs across putting his feet on Josh’s thighs. Josh took ahold of Peter’s feet one in each hand caressing them. Finally, he said without looking up, “The dinner was planned.”

“What dinner?”

“THE dinner! Where you told your parents we were going to become forever partners, where we met for you to inform your parents of our plan to become forever partners.”

“What do you mean? Of course, it was planned. I planned it.” Peter tried to pull his feet back from Josh, but Josh held onto them for dear life.

“I feel terrible, Peter. This was not my idea. The reality is you only think you planned it because we made you think you planned it.”

“We?”

“Your mom and dad and I.”

“Sorry, I’m lost, Josh.” Peter’s head was spinning. Josh, as far as he knew, had never lied to him, and he had never lied to Josh. This was one of their things. One of their most sacred tenets and a bedrock part of their relationship. Peter, at this moment, dared not allow the most important thing in his life, their relationship, to be blown apart.

“Let me explain.” Josh stood up and push Peter’s feet down back on to the luxuriously carpeted cabin floor. He think knelt between Peter’s legs and looked up into his eyes. “I was worried that you were never going to tell them, and they wouldn’t be at our forever partnering ceremony, and you were going to be hurt. Maybe you would have justified it to yourself at the time, but years later it would gnaw at your soul. I couldn’t live with that. I had to try to do something about it.”

“No way, them, at the forever partnering ceremony or not, I wouldn’t care a bit. I love you and that’s all.”

Josh smiled. “I love you and that’s all too, but I’m not like you. I think that family is important too.”

“Of course you do because your family is perfect.”

“Peter, no family is perfect. Mine is not perfect. They just seem perfect to you. There were lots of times growing up when there was fighting and anger and some tiff about this or that.”

“I apologize, Josh, I didn’t mean it that way.”

“I know, it’s ok.”

“So what did you do?”

“I called your parents and asked to meet.”

“You didn’t!”

“Actually, I did.”

“So, what happened?”

“Long story short, I asked if I could get their blessing for me to ask you to become my forever partner.”

“How chivalrous! My knight in shining armor. I can guess what they said.”

“They said ‘no’!”

“I knew it! Assholes! What right do they have? You didn’t need their blessing! You got up the nerve to do that, to follow some ancient heterosexual ritual that’s as gender biased as they come, and they shot it back in your face. As if they had a say anyway. Fuck them!” Peter was angry, but not at Josh. He was angry at his parents, very angry. If he could have gotten off that plane at the moment he would have.

“Pumpkin, I know and I understand your feeling, but I was trying to play the game by their rules. Not mine and yours. I know, deep down in that stubborn exterior, you do know everything is not just about you and me all the time.”

“It’s not? For me it is. Just you and me. I don’t care what anyone else thinks or does.”

“Peter, there are other people we have to consider. Unless we don’t want any friends or any family.”

“Yes, I agree, but some are worth giving up. I’m prepared to give up on my parents. They don’t deserve us. Especially they don’t deserve you! Josh, you have the purest heart of anyone in the world. They should see like I do that our family is way better off with you a part of it. I’m not the same person I used to be. I’m way better now.”

“Thank you, sweetheart. You know I feel exactly the same about you.”

“You do?”

“Of course, I do. I guess you didn’t know that?”

“I mean, maybe I did, but it makes me feel incredibly happy to hear it from you like this.”

“I’m sorry, I guess I never put it that way before, but it’s absolutely true.”

“I couldn’t be more grateful.” Peter calmed down a lot. Josh, however, still did not feel better. He had not yet gotten everything off his chest and out into the open. “So? What happened? Somehow we got to a dinner I planned but didn’t.”

“Well, your father caved in.”

“What? I would have thought my mom would have caved first. I mean sometimes I really wonder if she does have an unhealthy crush on you physically.”

“Stop it, no! My mom also thinks you’re the bee’s knees.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind, it’s an expression she uses for something she really likes. We all have no idea what it means. So, Hogan invited me to a round of golf. I thought it could be great to build some common ground with him. Of course, I showed up dressed to play, and after talking a bit, he wanted to make a wager. If I beat him, he’d give me permission to ask you to become my forever partner, and he’d help me work on your mom. If he won, we could continue as is, but this ‘forever partnership thing’ talk needed to go away.”

“Is he dumb, you were a national collegiate golf pro? I told him that many times. See, proof he NEVER listens to me.”

“Well, either he faked it and let me win, or I beat him fair and square. Either way, he gave me an unnecessary 3-stroke handicap, and when I beat him, he gave me his blessing. Then we conceived a plan to appeal to your mother’s philanthropic side as a way for me to win her over. I pitched her on helping to raise money for my school, and she went for it. When it was clear that I got her and what she’s about in all of her philanthropic work, and I am not just some gold-digger trying to worm my way into her son’s life, she gave me her blessing.”

“Smart.”

“Then I worried you’d be upset that I had gone behind your back and talked to your parents. Which they were sure was true. So your parents agreed to have your mom make a plan to make you think you arranged the dinner. We, rehearsed absolutely every detail of the dinner several times so we wouldn’t make any mistakes, and then we launched her plan.”

“That’s it?”

“Where is the big lie?” Peter sighed with relief and squeezed Josh between his legs and pulling him him up. “It seems to me that you were doing the best you could to find a way to convince two royal pains in the ass to support me and our forever partnership. Why would that upset me? I’m glad you did that. I’m damn proud of you, Mintaka. You never cease to amaze me. You played my parents like a fiddle. They fell into your trap, and you did it for me. You stood up to them when I’ve never been able to.”

“But we tricked you, and I lied to you about it, and I am so, so sorry, Peter.”

“No way. Not at all. This is just like you though. You are such the most wonderful person in the world you thought I would be mad at you or upset at something like this or that what you did was bad or even really lying.”

“So, you’re not upset with me?”

“Of course not. That’s already in evidence by my last statement. No way! You are too cute. Let me explain lying. Lying is some kind of crime against someone, and I think it required malicious intent. This is neither. You did play a trick on me, but that was my parents’ doing. Their instincts about me are always wrong. I had a string of pre-arranged dates in middle school to prove that.”

“Peter, I’m so relieved. I’ve been worried about this non-stop that you’d be super mad at me for interfering.”

“Hey, look at us now, Mintaka, you and me, Mr. and Mr. Expalibour, on a private jet to Hawai’i. We’ve got no problems at all. If it makes you feel better, I forgive you for any of it. Though you have nothing for which to be forgiven. I hope you never have to go through something like that again.”

Josh moved back to the seat next to Peter’s. “I could kiss you right now.”

“You better,” Peter said smiling deeply. Josh took his hand in his and leaned over to kiss. They kissed a few times. “I really like kissing you, you know.”

“Do you?”

“Yes, I do. I always have.”

“Always?”

“Yep. I was very nervous the first time because I had never kissed a guy before, and I thought I might not do it right. But, kissing you is incredible.”

“I liked kissing you a lot too the first time even though you were an amateur.”

“Hey, I was an amateur kisser of dudes, not kisser in general. I kissed a lot of girls.”

“A lot? And kissing was it?”

“Ok, it was a few, and no, compared to kissing you, it wasn’t kissing, you’re right.”

Austin appeared from the galley with a basket. “How’s a light meal of smoked salmon on french bread with bacon cream cheese for newly forever partnered?”

“Austin, how charming,” Josh said.

“I believe this was courtesy of Mrs. Palisade,” Austin said placing the tray on the table across from them. “You might be more comfortable sitting over here for your meal,” he finished.

“Thank you, Austin.”

“My pleasure.”

After lunch, the captain made an announcement. “Gentlemen, we have been pre-cleared for landing at Honolulu International Airport with a time for the touch down around 7:30 pm local time. “You know, what I discovered is behind that door?” Josh said.

“I have no idea.”

“Our sleeping quarters.”

“Really?” Peter tried to sound surprised.

“Yes. I didn’t know they had such things on airplane.”

“Well, it’s not Air Force 1, but it’s not too bad, right.”

“Let’s go, Pumpkin, we can join the mile-high club and not get in trouble,” Josh said tugging on Peter’s hand.

“I could go for a nap about now,” Peter pretended to acquiesce; but, actually, he had planned this all along.