FH: Just Found Heaven Ch. 05: Ben AND Sam

He grinned as he retrieved the microphone again. "But you kept up with him, persistent in your quest to make him slow down. Unlike the many morons who came before you, men who stupidly used Sam as a placeholder, or who just couldn't man up to be what he needed, you never viewed getting Sam to love you as a short sprint. You went all in for the long game marathon, speeding up whenever necessary until you wore him down. And when Sam finally stopped running, you were smart enough to grab on and refuse to let him go. You made sure he knew that he was worth every Sugar.Honey.Iced.Tea that there was to give. Well played, because other than myself, I'd never met any man willing to take that much time get Sam to just pause and breathe."

Max's smile remained in place, relaxed and easy, but he subtly shifted again. Only I seemed to notice the movement though, because my quick glance around the room registered only smiling faces.

"Sam's always been my best friend, Ben," Max said, bringing my attention back to him. "And he's the person I love most in this world. Next to my mama of course," he said, glancing over again at his mother who met the mischief in his eyes with a smile of her own and I finally saw the resemblance in the way their eyes both crinkled at the corners.

"The truth is, Ben," he said, getting my attention again, "that I've never really trusted Sam's heart with anyone because of his unfortunate tendency to give it to people who don't deserve it. But in the relatively short time that I've known you, I've seen you go to bat for Sam whenever he needed someone to have his back, and I've also witnessed how steadily you prop him up whenever he needs the stability. Most importantly though, you've always put him first. And I know that you'll continue to do so, returning Sam's love and his complete devotion to honoring the lifelong commitment the two of you made to each other even before you had those rings on your fingers. Not because you're a priest and it's sorta your job to do the saintly thing and help lost souls find their way, but because beneath that collar you're just a man; the man who unconditionally cares about the guy I've spent the better part of my life loving and protecting. So, as of this moment, I'm putting both my best friend and my trust into your safekeeping because I know that you'll always appreciate Sam's true worth and won't ever take him or it for granted. So.."

Max paused for a moment that seemed to linger for longer than the half a second it probably did, his gaze steadily on mine, deliberate and unflinching though he didn't address his last sentence to me when he said, "Sam, you made the right choice."

Max held my gaze for another long second and when I nodded slightly, he did the same, then switched the microphone to his left hand again so that he could grab his champagne glass with the right to raise it in the air.

"Alright then, let's hear it for Sam and Ben, may they live happily ever after, for ever and ever, AMEN and laissez les bons temps roule !"

Glasses clinked and a chorus of congratulations were called out as well as more than a few joyful amens. Sam smiled and gently tapped his water glass against my own. We'd both opted against champagne. Even though he was wearing a traditional suit and not his military dress blues and could've had a drink, we'd both agreed that we wanted to remember tonight with completely sober clarity. We both took perfunctory sips of water to acknowledge the toast before Sam leaned in for a kiss. My eyes closed as his mouth brushed mine with just enough heat to be appropriate for the festivities without being scandalous. I indulged in both the luxury of being able to kiss him this openly in front of all of the people who mattered to us, and the fact that he'd initiated the kiss first. But as I pulled back, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and saw Max setting down his now empty champagne glass beside his equally empty glass of bourbon from earlier in the night. Most people had just taken the appropriate polite sips of their champagne or whatever drink of their choice to toast Max's speech, and then set the still mostly full glasses back down on the table, but apparently when Sam and I had been happily distracted, Max had taken advantage of that moment to empty his glass.

He was smiling though as he hugged Tara when she got up, before turning to shake the hands of the people closest to our table when they complimented him on the speech as the music started up again to encourage mingling. He didn't look my way though and I gently goosed Sam in the ribs before angling my head slightly in Max's direction when he looked at me questioningly.

"Go talk to him. I'm going to make the rounds and try talking to my brother. He showed up."

"Yeah, I know. Catherine told me earlier. It's a good thing, Ben."

"It is, but between you and I, I'm a little terrified because there's so many things that I want to say to him and I don't know if any of them will be the right thing. We've been apart for so long and the last time we saw each other..."

"Breathe, Ben," Sam murmured, his lips quirking slightly at the corners as he curled a hand around the nape of my neck to pull me closer till our foreheads touched. I felt the brightness of a flash at my peripheral vision. I didn't know if it was one of our photographers, or just a random guest trying to capture what probably looked like a romantic moment and not my sudden explosion of anxiety, with one of the disposable cameras that we'd placed at each guest's seat so they could document the evening. Sam didn't blink though, his breath warm on my face.

"It's going to be OK. Take it from someone who had to do the mea culpa thing after 3 years... it might suck in the beginning, but he was the one who pushed you away, yet he showed up so he's trying to own that mistake. That's the hard part. You just have to decide whether or not it's enough. And if it's enough, take it one step at a time. Maybe our next Thanksgiving will be a full house."

He smiled again and even though it was slightly distorted because our faces were so close together, the warmth in it was obvious. I nodded then tilted my head just enough to get a better angle for a gentle kiss across his mouth. Another camera flash went off and I grinned. At this rate we were going to have an entire reel of my anxiety captured for eternity, but so would this moment of Sam stepping up to comfort me, defining our vows of being there for each other through whatever hardships we ever had to face.

I could live with that.

"I love you," I said, Sam smiled immediately.

"I love you too. Go talk to your brother. I'll catch up with you after I talk to Max, then go say hello to his folks. They've always been like parents to me. Probably more so than my own parents, though our mom tried."

"Family is important, whether it's biological or made, so I'm glad that you have people. Hopefully things go well with Michael so we'll have extra babysitters in the future."

Sam chuckled and this time he was the one who stole a kiss before he pulled back and stood up. I watched him make his way around the table so that his next steps were a beelined path straight for Max. Max was holding Emma on his hip, but he turned when Sam placed a hand on his shoulder. They exchanged words I couldn't hear, then they both laughed before leaning in to buss twin raspberries on Emma's cheeks from either side. Her elated little girl laughter was audible even over the music before Adelyn swooped in to steal her away toward the dance floor. Left alone for a moment, I saw Sam's lips moving first and then I saw the way Max's expression softened though I still couldn't make out what they were. The conversation continued for another few moments before Sam reached over to drag Max into a hard hug.

A few months ago, heck, even a few hours ago I might've felt a flicker of jealousy, but after the speech Max have given, there wasn't even a hint of it. Instead, I felt an empathetic wave of compassion. Max may have done this to himself, but all human beings were multi-faceted and complex. I myself had gone through many stages of metamorphosis over the years, which was one of the reasons that I was anxious about talking to my brother after so much time apart. I wasn't even close to the same man whom I'd been the last time he'd seen me and it was unlikely he was either. The simple fact that he was even here right now was proof of how much he'd changed in how he saw me. People made mistakes, then they made things right as best they could before they moved on. Max had messed up, but he'd also tried to make it right tonight. The moving on part would come eventually.

I watched as Max's arms came up to hug Sam back for a moment, a full hug between two men who didn't have macho hangups strong enough to turn it into the awkward pat most guys exchanged. It was a display of pure affection between longtime friends and my lips curved into a slight smile even before they broke the embrace so that Sam could make his way toward Max's parents while Max retrieved Emma as she ran toward him from the dance floor. He scooped her up, swinging her around before he set her on the floor to spin her with one hand fast enough for her skirt to flare out. They were both laughing. Unfortunately, I doubted it would last till the end of the evening because we hadn't had dinner yet or cut the cake. The night was still young and we had an open bar. I also had a husband that I didn't want worrying about the state of his best friend's mind after the comment he'd made earlier.

After a moment of considering my choices, I got up and made my way over to the table that we'd put an assortment of our friends at. Roman had volunteered to sit there because seating arrangements were a pain in the butt when you were trying to keep together certain groups who knew one another like family members, or who were actually genetically related. Most of the other guests at the table were friends of Sam's from the auto shop, or from the support group. Two very different worlds, but being a club owner meant that Roman had the gift of conversation and the ability to bring people together. He demonstrated that daily with clubgoers, investors, and his staff of "Misfit Toys," as they referred to themselves, mostly to tease Roman about his protective instincts toward his people. I was counting on those instincts right now, because I was going to take advantage of them if I could....