Aaron chose to focus on the positive things though, their mutual love of books and board games. The time Ben and he had spent flipping the spare room from sometimes office to Ben’s bedroom had been fun. They had chosen paint, furniture, and a few décor pieces. Fred and Finn sat back letting them go to town while they played video games on the Xbox in the living room.
Fred came down the hall as Aaron sipped at his coffee. He noticed the contemplative look on his fiancé’s face.
“What’s up baby?” Fred asked.
“Nothing, just thinking about the last few months,” Aaron said. He smiled up at Fred who walked over to him and planted a kiss on his lips.
“It’s been a wild ride,” Fred said sighing, thinking about how much had changed. He rested a hand on Aaron’s shoulder.
“Yeah,” Aaron agreed, squeezing Fred’s hand with his own. “Hey, did you hear back from that venue we contacted last week?” Aaron asked. Fred picked up Ben’s abandoned, half-drunk coffee and sipped at the warm liquid.
“Yeah, they asked what kind of event we were planning and as soon as they got wind of the word wedding the price drastically increased.”
The pair had been trying to plan their wedding for months now. It was a bit short notice, it being late October, and their date set in December, but everywhere they looked was either booked out for months or way too expensive. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t afford the prices, they simply didn’t want to drop tens of thousands of dollars for their wedding. It was important to them for sure, but not $10,000 for one evening important.
“Goddammit,” Aaron muttered. He finished off the coffee in his mug. “I liked that place.” Fred pulled a chair up close to Aaron and sat down.
“Hey, so I had this idea,” Fred started. Aaron raised an eyebrow. “Just hear me out. We got together in Vegas, right? What if we got married in Vegas? Like a full circle kind of thing. I’ve looked at a couple of places in Vegas that do weddings. Baby, we could get married at the hotel we hooked up in.” Aaron raised both eyebrows now and opened his mouth to reply.
“Wait, before you give me your knee jerk reaction, will you please just think about it? It could be fun. We could save some money too. I know it’s not the most important thing, but it would be nice to not have to drop so much cash on one night’s party, right? And this way we can keep the guest list exclusive too. We don’t have to invite every person your parents have ever known.” Aaron huffed out a laugh as Fred held his hands, squeezing them quickly. “Please just take the day and think about it before you say anything.” Aaron studied his face for a second.
“OK, I’ll think about it,” Aaron agreed.
“That’s all I ask,” Fred grinned.
“Oh, I should tell you. I offered to help Ben out with the boys today,” Aaron said. “I’ve noticed he’s really struggling to balance everything he’s got on his plate right now.” Fred’s grin faltered a bit.
“He is,” he said slowly. “I’ve noticed that too. What did Ben say?”
“That he would ask Jennifer,” Aaron said simply.
“You know how she’s been when we’ve offered in the past,” Fred said, his face darkening a bit.
“I think she’s embarrassed,” Aaron said. “She’s your sister, you probably know her better than me, but Fred, she couldn’t get a job on her own. Ben had to help her. You’re paying her rent. I don’t think it has anything to do with us as a couple and everything to do with her pride.” Fred sighed.
“It makes sense. I just… I can’t let go of how she reacted when we first told her. Even the way she still talks about Ben, like him being gay is a phase he’s going to grow out of…” he pushed a hand through his hair.
“I know Freddie,” Aaron said wincing.
“I do want to help Ben though, he’s been so… exhausted since school started,” Fred continued. Aaron nodded while Fred thought for a moment.
“Yeah, fine, it’s fine,” Fred finally said. Aaron grimaced again.
“Are you sure? I wish I had mentioned it to you before I offered to help,” Aaron said. “I don’t want to put you in a weird position with her.” Fred shook his head.
“No, it’s really fine. Ben is your responsibility too; I mean you’ll be his ‘official’ uncle soon enough anyway. You saw he was struggling today and stepped up. I should have offered, and I didn’t.” Fred’s face looked pained, and Aaron put a hand to it.
“Things are complicated Freddie. We’re not going to get everything perfect and that’s OK,” Aaron said. He kissed him. Fred glanced at his watch.
“Shit, we gotta go baby,” Fred stood quickly. “You’re going to be late.”
“Goddammit,” Aaron muttered noting the time. The two men quickly gathered their things and made their way down to the garage where Fred’s car was parked.
“Oh hey, you still want to do lunch today?” Aaron asked as he clicked his seat belt.
“Yeah, that would be nice,” Fred said smiling. “If you can make it work with your schedule.”
“I think I can. I’ll shoot you a message if anything changes. Is 1 o’clock OK?” Aaron asked scrolling through his daily schedule noting meetings and calls with clients.
“That should be fine,” Fred said. “I’ll run through my calendar when I get in and let you know if I need to shift it.”
“Perfect,” Aaron said.
~~~~
Aaron’s phone was ringing, and the caller ID said it was Jennifer. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for the call, bracing for the worst, hoping for the best.
“Hi Jennifer,” Aaron said when he answered the call. “What’s up?”
“I’m sorry to bug you at work,” Jennifer said. “But Ben said you offered to look after Jeffy and Chris today.”
“Yeah, I did,” Aaron confirmed. He still couldn’t tell if she was going to be decent or not.
“I don’t want to impose,” Jennifer said.
“I told Ben, it’s not imposing if I offer. He has this intense calc test coming up and a huge group project he’s working on. I think his group is a little less helpful than he’d like,” he paused wondering if he should tell Jennifer what he’d told Fred this morning.
“Listen, I think… I think Ben is struggling to balance things. Since school started, he’s been so rushed all the time, trying to get all his schoolwork done, get to his shifts on time and help out with his brothers. He’s so exhausted.”
“I know that, Aaron. You think I hadn’t noticed how tired he is every time I see him?” There was the sass, the sass he heard from Ben occasionally making it clear where he got it from. Aaron closed his eyes at the tone, bracing himself, but her voice shifted as she continued, going softer, as if resigned.
“I wish there was an alternative, but I really can’t leave the boys with Ma. You know she’s been talking to and seeing Russell?” Jennifer’s voice cracked.
Aaron sighed and rubbed a hand across his cheek. Wanda was truly the worst. It was beyond Aaron how that woman could actually spend time talking to Russell, the man who had roughed up her daughter for their entire relationship; the man who had thrown his first-born son against the wall in a drunken rage. Aaron shook his head, bringing himself back to the conversation.
“I’m offering you an alternative, Jennifer,” Aaron said gently. “Did you tell Lloyd about Russell seeing your mother?” Jennifer sighed.