Tigerland (37 page)

The music changed once more and kicked the party off into high gear with some doof-doof music that threatened to cave in my skull. Dec and I moved off the floor, and he joined me at my table, where Fran and Roger, taken away by the overwhelming emotion of the night, seemed intent on now discovering one another’s tonsils.

“What did Abe say to you just after Lisa did her little politicking?” I asked, leaning in close to Dec so he could hear me above the music.

“He said that he better be my best man when you and I drag each other up the aisle.”

“That’s going to be one crowded stage,” I said, now scratching at my eye like Dec had earlier. “I have to have Fran and Roger, and you know my mother would kill me if I didn’t have Tim up there as well.”

Dec laughed and took my hand. “We’ll work with that. When the time comes.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Roger asked, having finally come up for air.

“Nothing,” we shot back, and both began to laugh.

When our time came, it would be the day to end them all. We would have had to wait the longest, so I don’t think anyone would begrudge us if we went all out.

W
HEN
Abe and Lisa said their good-byes and headed off to the airport hotel for a night’s rest before flying to Tokyo, Fran and Roger came back to our apartment, where we could continue drinking in honour of the newlyweds—or at least have an excuse to continue drinking.

I was amazed at Fran’s willpower to remain a teetotaller. Roger was completely schnozzled under the influence of the demon drink, and was trying to make her capitulate. She remained steadfast. Despite their money having run out, she was still clinging to the hope that eventually they would conceive naturally. Nobody wanted to take that away from her, so I was telling Roger to leave her alone when I realised Dec was taking his time coming back from the loo.

I found him sitting on our bed, a slightly crumpled envelope in his hand.

“Are you okay?” I asked, and he nodded. “What’s that?”

“Something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” he said and stood up. He held out his hand, and I took it.

He led me back out into the lounge, where Fran and Roger were still bickering. They saw us standing there hand in hand, and immediately stopped.

“This looks serious,” Fran said.

“It is,” Dec replied. He handed the envelope to her. “I’ve been trying to think of a way to give this to you so that you couldn’t knock it back, or think we’re intruding, or just feeling awkward about it. But there’s never going to be a time like that, so you just have to have it now.”

Unsure of what she was handling, Fran ripped open the envelope with slightly trembling hands and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Roger peered over her shoulder when she opened it, and I saw both of their expressions change as they read what I could now see was a cheque.

“No,” Fran said immediately. “We can’t.”

Roger took the cheque off her and folded it up, as if the contents were too much to look upon.

“You have to,” Dec said, his voice steady, although I could tell he desperately wanted them to take it.

“It’s too much.”

“No. It’s just enough. Guys, I hate saying this, but Simon and I… well, we’re pretty much set up for life. And what’s the point of us having this money if we can’t help out the people we love when we want to?”

I remained silent, but squeezed his hand to show my support. I wanted to scream how much I loved him, and how much he could surprise me every day we were together, and how he made me proud to be with him, but I knew, and I knew he knew, that all that sentiment was contained in that one hand squeeze.

“And what if it doesn’t work?” Fran asked, and I could see she was ready to break. “What if it’s a waste of money?”

“It will
never
be a waste of money,” Dec said, so firm that she had to know he wouldn’t back down.

Roger put his arms around her, and when she buried her face in his chest, he looked out at us above her head. “Thank you.”

“That’s what families do. You’re our family.”

It was the smartest decision I ever made to keep my mouth shut. As usual, Dec was handling it expertly when I would have probably ruined it with some glib comment I didn’t mean or just some joke that could puncture the moment. Dec was wrenched away from me as Fran and Roger jumped up to pull him into a bear hug that I was scared he would never break away from alive.

We might not have marriage or kids, but we knew our love was just as valid and just as secure as any other couple we knew. And Dec was right, what we had was
family
, created out of the odds and ends of people in our lives.

Dec’s hand disentangled itself from the emotional group hold and reached out for mine. I took it, and Dec pulled me into that embrace.

Pulled me home.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

S
EAN
K
ENNEDY
lives in the second-most isolated city in the world, so it’s just as well he has his imagination for company when real-life friends are otherwise occupied. He has far too many ideas and wishes he had the power to feed them directly from his brain into the laptop so they won’t get lost in the ether.

Visit Sean’s web site at http://www.seankennedybooks.com/.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Also from
S
EAN
K
ENNEDY

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Also from
S
EAN
K
ENNEDY

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com