Same Day - Harrisburg – State Senate Building

“Shit!  Damn it!”

“Problem with your adoring public, dear?” Tony called over facetiously to his lover from his place on the private office’s leather couch.  He noticed a distinct frown on Fin’s face as he glanced over to observe his partner scanning the morning edition of the Harrisburg newspaper.

“They have that same picture in the paper this morning from the reception, along with an article describing how I was attending a gay wedding…..” 

“Well, that shouldn’t be too surprising, considering you’re gay yourself,” Tony pointed out.  “You already disclosed that at the press conference.”

Fin brushed his hand through his hair in irritation, his gray eyes flashing as he looked over at the blond.  “That’s not all, Tony,” he said gruffly, rising from his chair to walk over and stand in front of his partner to hand the paper to him.

Tony glanced down at the displayed page, immediately noticing the same exact photo that had been on the internet yesterday that some uncouth guest had taken with his cell phone.  He couldn’t help smiling a little at the photo, though, even now; it reminded him of what a wonderful time he had had with Fin at Brian and Justin’s wedding.  They seldom got a chance to be out in public together, let alone dance together, and he had enjoyed it immensely.  “I wonder if I could get a copy of this,” he murmured, only half-joking.

Fin shook his head in exasperation and huffed out an angry breath.  “Read the headline!  This isn’t funny, Tony,” he said sternly, promptly plopping himself down heavily on the couch next to the other man. 

Tony’s eyes widened as he finally had a chance to read the words directly above the photo:  Gubernatorial Candidate Causes Stir at Gay Son’s Wedding.  “Oh, shit,” Tony whispered.  “This isn’t good.”

“You noticed,” Fin told him dryly as he scowled.  “So much for providing security at Brian’s wedding.”  He sighed loudly.  “I knew this was going to happen; I mean, how naïve could I be, thinking in this day and age that the news wouldn’t get around?”  He stared over at his lover.  “I was just starting to feel like I was making some headway with my son, Tony; and now this.  I don’t think Brian’s going to be happy one bit when he finds out.  He sure as hell won’t be happy that one of his supposed guests saw fit to take a photo at the wedding, and apparently make big bucks with it, too.”  He shook his head.  “Damn fucker.”  He had been ecstatic when Brian had invited him, albeit somewhat grudgingly, to his and Justin’s wedding; it had signaled at least a slight thawing in their somewhat frosty relationship.  Now he wasn’t so sure Brian wouldn’t be regretting the decision he had made.

Tony quickly finished scanning the rest of the article, which was located prominently on the first page of the local section, before putting it down on the oval, glass coffee table in front of the couch.  “At least they didn’t continue the article on a later page – I hate it when they do that.”

Fin looked over at his partner like he had grown a second head.  “Are you out of your mind, Tony?  You’re making fucking jokes about this?”

Tony sighed.  “Fin......What would you have me do?  Gnash my teeth and rail at the unfairness of someone digging into your personal life?”  He stared into the darkened, angry eyes of his partner for a few seconds before he curled one side of his mouth upward in sympathy and his voice softened.  “Fin….you just made a very public announcement about being gay, having a life partner, and discovering you had a son you didn’t even know about.  Oh, and incidentally, you might have also mentioned somewhere in there that you were running for governor.  Come on, Fin!  What did you expect?  Seriously.  You know how the press is when it comes to political candidates; every little sordid detail – at least sordid to them – is bound to come out between now and November.  Are you going to sit there and tell me you didn’t see this coming?  Did you really expect none of this to get out?  You yourself just finished warning me yesterday that our lives were not going to be our own anymore, and I told you I could deal with that.  I guess the more important question, though, is – can you?” 

Fin huffed out a tense breath through his mouth and rubbed his hand over his face.  “I thought I could,” he admitted.  “Now I’m not so sure.  Tony, is it worth risking my new relationship with my son over some political ambitions?”

Tony reached over to idly massage his troubled partner’s shoulder comfortingly.  “Only you can answer that, my love,” he said softly.  “It’s your political life at stake here.  But I will say this; Brian’s got a lot of you in him, and I have a good feeling he’d just read all that garbage and say fuck ‘em all.  I don’t think he’s the type of person to get riled up over some crap like what a so-called, respectable newspaper has in their morning edition.  And I think he would be more impressed with you if YOU didn’t back down from this fight.”  He noticed just the hint of an appreciative smile appear on the handsome brunet face as he added, “You know I’ll support you no matter what you decide; even if I don’t get to live in some fancy governor’s mansion.”  He sighed melodramatically as he shrugged, saying, “I’ll just have to be content to live in our rickety little shack with the stables and pool instead.”

Fin laughed softly and shook his head.  “Baby, what did I ever do without you?” he whispered as he reached over to tenderly brush some errant hair away from the blue eyes; his fingers lingered on the pale forehead for a few seconds before he reached around Tony’s neck and gently pulled him forward.  As their lips came together for a soft kiss, he heard a polite rapping on the door between his inner office and the outer lobby area and sighed in resignation as he dropped his hand to his side and stood up straight.  He smoothed down his suit jacket before saying, “Yes?”

The door slowly opened to reveal his long-time assistant.  “Sorry to bother you, Senator….Hi, Tony,” Regina said with a polite smile as she nodded over at the blond, who returned her acknowledgment with a smile of his own.  “But you wanted me to remind you about the vote for your bill down on the Senate floor at 10:00.”

“Shit, I almost forgot!” Fin exclaimed.  One of his pet projects, a bill to require larger use of green energy in public schools throughout the state, was due to be voted on in the Senate; in the course of fretting over the article in the morning’s paper, he had almost forgotten about it.  “I’ll be right down.  Thanks, Regina.”  The senator noticed his assistant hesitating.  “Was there something else?”

He watched as the elegantly-dressed woman softly closed the door behind her and stood facing him somewhat awkwardly.  “Fin…..I know this is really none of my business.  But I notice you’ve seen the morning paper.”

Fin snorted.  “You mean this rag paper? I used to think the Harrisburg Courier was a respectable publication.”  He eyed his no-nonsense assistant intently.  “What’s on your mind, Regina?  You normally don’t have a problem with speaking your mind.”

She smiled ruefully.  “No, I don’t,” she agreed readily, “and this won’t be an exception, either.  I think you need to address this issue before it gets blown up all out of proportion; you know how the conservative faction is going to view this little salacious tidbit.”

Fin raised one eyebrow.  “And just how would you recommend I do that?”

The petite, older woman stared back at him, her hands on her hips as she eyed him intently.  “You need to get your campaign infrastructure firmly in place.  Time’s a wasting. You need a PR person and a campaign manager asap.  Simply put, Senator, you’ve put the cart before the horse.”

“Excuse me?” Fin replied just a little defensively, turning his head to notice his partner holding his hand over his mouth as if he was trying to keep a chuckle from escaping. 

“What she means, Fin, is exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you.  You need to start getting your staff in place.  You need a PR person and a campaign manager in the worst way to defect these ridiculous attacks on your personal life that have nothing to do with the issues needing to be addressed.  You need someone who’s going to keep your campaign on track.  And I know of one person in particular who would be perfect for both jobs.”

Regina nodded in satisfaction at her co-conspirator.  “Good…..then at the risk of sounding impertinent, Fin, take your partner’s advice and go grab this person before he or she slips through your fingers!”  She smiled a little sheepishly at her boldness as she added a little more softly, “Uh, I mean….. Senator.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll let security know you’re ready to go down to chambers.”

As his assistant turned around to head toward the door and open it, Fin thought he heard the distinctive sound of soft snickering coming from nearby.  As his assistant closed the door behind her, Tony couldn’t keep quiet any longer; his actually giggled as soon as she was out of earshot.  “I like that woman,” Tony stated adamantly as Fin glared at him. 

“Why do I feel like I’m being conspired against here?” he growled softly as he stared at his partner.  “You two didn’t meet for an early breakfast today to caucus, did you?”

Tony laughed.  “No, sounds like we didn’t need to.” 

“Uh, huh….” Fin stood up.  “Well, I hate to leave the two of you alone to conspire further, but luckily for you, I’m due downstairs to vote.”  He stared down intently into the mischievous-looking blue eyes.  “I would tell you to behave while I’m gone, but I know it would just be pointless.”

Tony offered a broad smile.  “I thought you liked me when I misbehaved.” 

Fin couldn’t help the grin that spread across his own face as he reached down to pull the blond up to his feet.  “Thanks for reminding me,” he whispered huskily, sliding his hands around the slim waist and pulling the other man in for a deep kiss.  He reluctantly pulled back several seconds later to smack his partner lightly on the butt.  “Now stop distracting me – I have a bill to vote on.”  He smiled at his partner’s mock look of indignation before turning to hurry out of the room.

Tony smiled at his partner’s quickly-disappearing form as he turned to lean down and pick up the local section of the paper.  As he looked at the picture of him and Fin once more, he couldn’t help thinking of what would be greeting Brian and Justin when they get back.  I hope you have a great honeymoon, guys, because I have a feeling your idyllic time in paradise is definitely going to be over when you get back.

Galway, Ireland – Same Day

“This is incredible, Brian,” Justin murmured as the car deftly navigated a curve along the narrow gravel, two-lane road.  The path they were taking was slowly rising in elevation the farther they drove away from the main part of the city toward their destination – a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher which Justin had wanted to check out and was located about an hour and a half from their hotel. 

Brian was thankful he had arranged to have room service bring up a gourmet breakfast for his little Picasso this morning since it would be a while until they reached their destination, and he strongly suspected that the journey wouldn’t be dotted with a plethora of Justin’s favorite fast-food restaurants.  It had been the first full meal either of them had partook of since yesterday afternoon, but Justin had still managed to sneak in some appetizers early this morning – in between rounds of fucking, his husband naturally couldn’t help checking out exactly what was hidden underneath the two domed lids of food that had been left on their bed. He had been delighted to discover they had held two large containers of chilled jumbo shrimp and chocolate-covered strawberries.  Brian had rather grudgingly allowed Justin to serve a few pieces of them to him before he fed the rest to his husband.  Of course, he had to linger just a bit as he enjoyed a taste of Justin’s fingers, too, in between the combination of chocolate, sweet, and salty kisses; it was a mixture he had found quite intoxicating. 

Brian glanced over now at Justin, who was dividing his time between gazing in fascination at the rolling green meadows that surrounded every angle of the roadway and studying his Ireland guide book.  He smiled as he inhaled the fresh air of the open sky blowing at them through the top of the convertible and studied the beautiful face of his husband.  Justin was always beautiful to him, but here on their honeymoon, his face was almost, dare he think it – glowing with happiness.  His eyes were sparkling with fascination at the picturesque scenery that abounded, and the rays pouring down from the cloudless day above made Justin’s hair shine with almost blinding intensity.    Sunshine indeed…..

“What?” Justin asked him curiously as he noticed Brian staring over at him unblinkingly.

Brian smiled slightly and shook his head, almost as if he were embarrassed.  “Nothing,” he replied softly.  “Just….admiring the view.”  He was rewarded with a blush of pink that appeared on Justin’s cheeks in response. 

“Brian,” the blond murmured softly, realizing quickly that Brian wasn’t referring to the green, rolling hillside or the sea expanse spreading out to the horizon below them; he was admiring something much closer.  He smiled radiantly back at the brunet over the unexpected compliment as he reached over to squeeze Brian’s hand lying on the seat between them; Brian shrugged at him a little sheepishly over his uncharacteristically sentimental statement as he linked his fingers with his own. 

“So, Arthur Frommer…..what does the book say we should do after we visit the cliffs?”

“Well, we can’t come to Ireland without visiting a castle, can we?”

Brian smiled to himself.  If you only knew, Sunshine…..Little did Justin know that he had already arranged for that particular adventure……and in a grandiose way.  It was going to be a tightly-held secret for now, though….If Justin was ‘appreciative’ last night over their luxurious accommodations at the hotel, just wait until he saw what was in store next.

He was harshly jolted out of his daydreaming over last night’s marathon round of lovemaking sessions and what he had in store next for his husband by Justin’s sudden, high-pitched voice of worry.  “Brian, stop!” 

The brunet didn’t waste any precious time questioning Justin as his foot quickly mashed down on the brake pedal and he looked up from the dashboard to observe what had caused his husband’s urgent warning.  Directly in front of them, approximately fifty feet away, was a large sea of cotton balls on hoofs slowly meandering unconcerned across the road.  A grizzled older man with wrinkles on his brown, sun-baked face was holding a wooden cane as he slowly ambled down the roadway with four border collies crisscrossing excitedly in front of him as they expertly paraded the sheep slowly from one side of the road to the other. 

“Oh, my God!” Justin cried excitedly as he whipped out a small, rectangular digital camera from his lightweight jacket pocket and hurriedly turned it on.  “It’s just like you said, Brian!  Sheep!  Lots and lots of sheep!  Holy shit!  Just look at them!  There must be at least a hundred of them!” 

Brian sat there in the passenger seat, his mouth open in amazement.  It was almost like Moses parting the Red Sea, except the ‘Red Sea’ was white.  Well, not exactly white.  It was more like the colors of the flag, actually – red, white, and blue.  “Is there such a thing as queer sheep?” he wondered aloud as he realized the two of them were undoubtedly going to be stuck in a holding pattern for some time; their invaders weren’t apparently in any hurry to cross the road. 

Justin quickly snapped a couple of photos before frowning as he realized what Brian had said.  “Huh?”

“I said – why are these sheep red, white and blue?  Are they Yankee imports?”

Justin laughed.  “Oh….I read about that in my trusty little tour book.  It’s kind of like how they brand cattle out West back home.  They do it to keep track of who the sheep belong to.”

“Mmmm….weirdest sort of sheep I’ve ever seen,” Brian observed, noticing that several of them were more red, white, blue, and black.  “Horny-looking devils…..just like someone else I know.”  

“Ha, ha….actually, I’m just a horny devil, not horny-looking,” Justin quickly advised him. 

“Oh…I stand corrected,” Brian said, curling his lips under in amusement. 

The two men watched as the older sheepherder looked their way nonchalantly and gave them a wave of his hand before he slowly crossed the road and began to walk alongside the first wave of sheep, the border collies trotting along obediently at his feet.  Unfortunately, the large majority of his flock on the other side weren’t in any hurry to join him.

Brian sighed.  “Well, I think our 90-minute trip has now turned into more like a 2-hour trip.”  He gazed over at his partner, who seemed utterly fascinated with this latest turn of events.  To look at Justin, you would have thought they had just happened upon a meeting of the greatest artists of the century congregating together, rather than a smelly flock of fleece-covered, flea-bitten sheep.  “Well….I for one don’t plan on just sitting here watching sheep crossing the road.  This is about as exciting as watching a leaky faucet dripping.”  He gazed over at his husband intently; Justin sensed his stare somehow and turned his head to look into the intense greenish-gold eyes.  They had that look he knew so well.  “Brian……”

“What?  We’re alone out here – it’s just you, me and a hundred sheep who have better things to do than worry about what we’re doing in our car.  They’re not the only ones that are horny around here, you know.”  He glanced meaningfully into the backseat.  “I say while we’re biding our time we do a little ramming of our own.  I AM on my honeymoon, you know.” 

Justin laughed at the brunet’s cheesy joke; he always treasured the few times when Brian was relaxed enough to be this light-hearted.  “Why, I didn’t know that!” he exclaimed in mock surprise.  “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”  He smiled back at his partner’s pitiful look of neglect.  He promptly turned his camera off and quietly placed it back in his pocket.  “Well, I’ll just have to rectify that oversight right now, won’t I?” he whispered as Brian grinned back at him.

“I was hoping you would say that,” he replied huskily.  “Time for me to do a little herding of my own,” he remarked.  Justin watched in amusement as he opened the driver’s door and walked around to the passenger side of the car.  “Out,” he commanded as he opened the other door and swung it wide. 

Justin grinned and did as he was told, only to be promptly swept into a pair of toned, bronze-colored arms as soon as he disembarked.  He squeaked softly, startled, as Brian pulled him tightly against him, their bodies pushed together, chest to chest. 

As Brian gazed down into the radiant face of his husband, he knew his heart was hopelessly and completely stolen by this beautiful man smiling up at him.  Yep….I’m definitely a lesbian now, he thought silently as he leaned down more gently than necessary to place a soft kiss on the warm, waiting lips.  He could hear the soft bleating of sheep nearby as he slowly ran his tongue out to sweep across the plush mouth, begging for entrance and willingly receiving it. 

Justin’s hands came up to wander around Brian’s back as his heart begin its typical fluttering over the emotions flowing through him at his husband’s touch.  He knew somehow that this feeling would never end – and his soul rejoiced at the thought.

Five minutes later, Brian had somehow managed to not only get Justin into the backseat of the convertible but also divest him of all his clothing as he draped his long, lean, bare form over him like a warm, sensual blanket.  Justin could feel Brian’s obvious desire for him as he lay beneath the longer man, their legs intertwined together and their hands linked above Justin’s head.  Brian’s tongue poked out to take a leisurely swipe across Justin’s chest on its way up to his mouth to suckle the full, pink lips. 

“Okay, you horny little devil,” Brian whispered down to him as they finally broke apart and Justin squirmed under him in exquisite anticipation.  “Time to break in our rental car the Brian Kinney way.”

Two Hours Later

As they approached their destination at last, the rolling hills slowly gave way to a higher elevation as the Mercedes imperceptibly kept climbing until they found themselves at over 700 feet above sea level. As they rounded a curve in the road, Justin had his first glance at the cliffs dominating the water far below. 

Brian smiled over at Justin as he heard him gasp at the sight.  Brian had to admit as he got his first, real glimpse of their destination that it was breathtaking; a sheer drop of several hundred feet led downward to the white-washed waves that crashed against the dark-colored, almost black rock.  The contrast of the bright, green meadowland and the almost royal blue water below, along with the blackness of the cliff rocks, was quite striking.  He glanced at Justin, whose hands were almost subconsciously opening and closing as if he had an imaginary pencil in them; he knew exactly what his husband was thinking.  As soon as they got out of the car, no doubt a sketchpad and charcoals would be accompanying them wherever they went, along with Justin’s trusty digital camera.

As they parked in one of the visitor spaces a few minutes later, Justin barely waited for the car to stop before he yanked open his door and pulled the lever back from his seat to gain access to the back where his art supplies were lying on the floor.  He quickly retrieved his sketchpad and pencils as he gazed over at Brian’s amused expression and sheepishly smiled.  Brian couldn’t help grinning back at him over his enthusiasm that was so typically Justin….his passion for his art and for life in general had always been one of the things he loved so much about him, and he knew that would never change. 

He walked around the car and smiled at Justin as he placed his hand on the small of his back.  “Okay, Mr. Artiste – let’s go check out your next painting subject,” he whispered in Justin’s ear as the blond beamed in response.

They spent most of the afternoon there, acting like the other visitors as they toured O’Brien’s Tower, built in 1835 at the top elevation of the cliffs as an observation for Victorian tourists.  It wasn’t quite the castle that Justin was looking for, Brian mused, but nonetheless his husband seemed quite taken with it just the same.  Again, he thought of just how enthralled Justin would be with his next choice of accommodation.  They would be leaving tomorrow morning for a different part of the country, and their ‘home away from home’ would prove to be radically different from the Q Hotel they had been staying at.  He couldn’t wait to see Justin’s expression when he saw it.  But for now, as they stood on the highest peak of the cliffs, just seeing the expression on his husband’s face as he marveled at the craggy expanse below them  was reward enough.

At mid-afternoon, they had walked back to the car for Brian to retrieve something out of the trunk.  Justin’s eyes had lit up in delight as Brian reached in and pulled out a tartan-style blanket and a black, hard-sided rolling tote containing supplies for their own, private makeshift picnic on top of the cliffs.

“One nourishing, high-protein meal deserves another, Sunshine,” Brian quipped as Justin looked at him in surprise and blushed at the look in Brian’s eyes. 

They had found a grassy, windswept spot in a fairly secluded corner away from the other tourists to place their soft blanket on the ground and enjoy a feast of fresh-baked bread, goat cheese, seedless grapes, jumbo-sized cashews and a bottle of wine, as well as share a few surreptitious kisses before stowing their leftover gear back in the car.  Justin even persuaded Brian to pose for him, standing with his back to the sea far below; the sun slowly setting in front of the brunet provided him with the perfect lighting for what he knew would be the basis for his next masterpiece; any work of art, though, was always a masterpiece to Justin as long as Brian was the main subject. 

As the sun inched farther toward its relentless, sure march to the horizon below, most of the day’s visitors had finally left, leaving them blissfully alone on one of the many cliff tops; the sun was awash in shades of gentle hues of pink and lavender as Brian walked up behind Justin and slid his arms around to cradle the lean body against his own.   He heard Justin sigh softly in contentment.

“The scenery here is just beautiful,” he whispered as he nuzzled Brian’s neck, his eyes awash in a rainbow of colors as they reflected the water below and the slowly-setting sun, signaling the end of their second day in Ireland.  So far, it had been absolutely glorious, Justin decided, but he would have felt the same no matter where they were – as long as they were together.

Brian smiled against the soft, blond hair.  “Yes, it is,” he whispered as leaned down and planted a soft kiss on the pale cheek.  “…….Just like you.” 

Justin breathed out a smile of his own, his heart threatening to explode with joy.  He turned in Brian’s arms, his blond hair shimmering in the fading sunlight, just like the water gently waving below them.  “God, I love you so fucking much,” Justin whispered. 

“Me, too, Justin.  Me too.”