Friends, Sexcapades and Love Affairs Ch. 28

"Romantic? I mean, I know him now, and he's that, too, but before, I thought he was cold like a fish."

Mrs. Hastings laughed. "He takes that from his father. But don't be fooled by their coolness. Edward is like Charles, including the fact that he falls in love deeply. When he took me as his bride, his family was not happy at all. Fortunately, he didn't care. You see, I wasn't from a family deemed worthy of their pretentions. But, like you, I proved myself worthy, and I know you will, too. Now, tell me about your mother. I can barely wait to meet her, and your father, as well. They must be very handsome people."

Adrian fell into pace with the conversation without a problem. Not only his mom would like Edward's mother very much. The great news was that he was liked back just as much.

***

Jared gripped the wheel and looked straight ahead.

"Are you nervous, babe?" Shane placed one hand on his knee and squeezed.

"I'm just about to meet your family. Of course I'm nervous."

"You're cute when you're nervous."

"That's not helping much, I'm afraid. What will your mom and dad think of me?"

"They'll think the world of you. I'm bringing home a husband, as promised. They trust me."

Jared exhaled. They were getting closer to their destination, and after the road trip they had decided to take, he still felt just as strung as when they had left home.

"Easy for you, then. I'm a stranger."

"Not for long. I'm sure Coleman has already told them about you. And he likes you."

"That's a little encouraging," Jared admitted. During Shane's brother's short stay, they had gotten along just fine.

"Let the window down and breathe this air," Shane said.

Jared did that, and, indeed, the fresh air made him smile in an instant. The fields stretched to both sides, and they were close to Shane's family's ranch now. The smell of hay tickled his nostrils, and he sneezed.

"Bless you," Shane said and placed a hand on the back of his neck.

"This is so different from where we live now," Jared noticed. "Are you sure you're not going to get nostalgic?"

For a moment, Shane's eyes became unfocused. "Maybe a little. But we'll come here to visit every year. Who knows? Maybe I'll even manage to make a cowboy out of you."

"Right," Jared said dryly. "Me on a horse. Nope, that's not going to happen."

"You just say that."

It looked like Shane had already had his mind set on teaching Jared how to ride. Well, it looked like the list of challenges wasn't getting any smaller.

Shane got out to open the gates, and Jared moved in the car. He waited for Shane to get back in, but it looked like the cavalry was already there. Coleman rode to them on a horse the color of midnight.

"Your brother is something. Can I take pictures?" he asked as he got out of the car, too.

Shane shrugged. "You're gonna have to ask Coleman about that." And the sexy twang was back.

Jared smiled and waved. "Hey, Coleman!"

His future brother in law stopped the horse inches from them and dismounted. He shook Jared's hand energetically. "I'll be damned. He really fooled you, after all."

"I guess." Jared worked his fingers. Coleman had a firm grip. He wondered briefly if the entire family would give him mild hand sprains. "But that happened some time ago, so right now, I'm going with the flow."

"Everyone's dying to see you. Now follow me."

Jared looked at Shane.

"I guess that the time for nervous jitters is up," his future husband said with a shrug.

"I guess," he said with a sigh, but he felt like smiling again.

***

As rustic as the ranch looked on the outside, the interior surprised Jared with its modern yet comfortable furniture and open space arrangement of the living room. He didn't have time to dwell on examining the interior. As soon as they were inside, what struck him was the noise. The entire family was up and about in an instant, busy greeting them. Jared was first embraced and kissed on both cheeks by a blond woman in her early sixties with a megawatt smile.

"Welcome home, sugar," she said in the same attractive drawl and embraced him again. "Coleman told us you were a pretty one. John, what do you think?" She grabbed his hand and pushed him toward a man wearing a string tie and what looked like clothes he would only wear on Sundays by the slight discomfort he appeared to be feeling. "Isn't he a pretty one?"

The same vigorous handshake shook Jared's arm from its rotator cuff. That had to be Shane's dad, and he thought right away that his future husband was just a younger version of the man in front of him. "He sure is, Ellie, he sure is," he replied with the same broad smile.

Shane put a hand on his shoulder. "These are mom and pop if you didn't guess already."

Jared just nodded. His face was already stretched in a smile the same size as everyone in the family wore.

"These are Hanna and Dana," Shane said, introducing two girls in pigtails who were examining him from the sides of their mother.

"And I'm Charlene," the twins' mother said and offered her hand. "Don't let yourself fooled by these two. The moment they get to know you, they'll be all over you."

"We were only waiting for you to start eating. Let's get to the dining room," Ellie urged everyone, but without letting go of Jared for one second. "You two will sit by my side," she decided.

The commotion didn't die down as they sat at the table. Charlene hurried to help Ellie bring food to the table, and it took only minutes for Jared's plate to be filled to the brim with all kinds of delicious appetizers.

"You two are so skinny," Ellie commented as she continued to fill everyone's plates. "You're not eating right, are you?"

He had been warned by Shane beforehand, but he still didn't know what to say to that.

"They're city boys," John said. "They must care about their figure and that."

Ellie waved like she couldn't believe such people existed. "All the more reason for them to eat well."

Jared threw Shane a desperate look. If that were a three-course meal, he was doomed. The chances were that he couldn't live through the first.

***

He must have grown another stomach on their road trip because he somehow managed to get to dessert without too much of a problem. "Mrs. McKay, you're a wonderful cook," he told his future mother-in-law.

By how Ellie smiled at him, his compliment was well-received. "Call me Ellie."

"I hope it's not a family secret and you can tell me how come your potato salad tastes so amazing."

"It is a family secret, but you're soon to be family, so I guess I can tell you. When are we going to meet your parents?"

"Before the wedding, that's for sure."

"About the wedding, Shane tells us that you two and other two couples will celebrate together?"

"Yes. I know it's sort of a crazy idea, but we couldn't decide an order, so we ended up agreeing that we should all have our wedding day together. Two of the grooms are my childhood friends, and we've always been joined at the hip. Our parents weren't even a bit surprised when we told them."

"Are we going to the city and buy fancy dresses?" one of the twins asked. "How come your hair is so pretty?" she addressed the direct question at Jared.

"I'll take care of that," Shane promised. "I'm going to buy you all dresses and everything. And Jared's hair is so pretty because he uses three kinds of shampoos."

The girl's eyes grew wide. "Three?"

Jared kicked Shane in the shoulder. "Why do you have to make me look so shallow? And I'm not using all three at the same time."

The little girl didn't seem interested in his protests. She turned toward her mom. "Can I have three shampoos, like Jared?"

"But you're already pretty," Jared intervened. "You don't have to work hard, like me."

The girl's eyes grew wide, and then, she grinned.

"Jared complimented you. Say 'thank you', Dana." Her mother nudged her.

"Thank you, Jared," Dana said with a sweet smile.

"What kind of fancy are we talking about?" Ellie asked.

"Full-on fancy," Shane replied. "We're going to have royalty at the table."

"Royalty?" Charlene asked.

"My friend Adrian marries into a family that comes from old money. Apparently, his mother-in-law doesn't want any of us to struggle with the preparations. Adrian told us that what she says it's low-key is pretty much luxury for everyone else in the world."

"Damn," John intervened, "what are we, country folks, gonna do there? We'll stick out like sore thumbs."

"Don't worry about that," Jared hurried to say. "We'll have a pretty diverse list of attendees. While Adrian's husband is wealthy, all three of us, I'm talking about Mike, Adrian, and I, come from normal families. If Mrs. Hastings wants to take care of everything, we cannot stand in her way, but Adrian told me that she's a grounded, reasonable person. I promise you no one will feel out of place."

"What's a triple wedding?" Hanna asked.

"Shane will marry Jared," Ellie began, "Adrian will marry Edward, and Mike will marry --" she searched for Jared's help with her eyes.

"Ryan," he offered promptly. "So there will be three weddings at the same time."

Hanna appeared to ponder over something. "Will there be three cakes, too?"

"Yeah, why not?" Shane replied.

"Pretty ones, like on TV?"

Charlene caressed her daughter's hair. "She watches the cooking channel for some reason."

"Prettier than those on TV," Shane promised.

"So what's our role if we don't even have to buy our clothes?" Coleman asked.

"Just to bring yourself and have loads of fun," Jared replied.

Ellie seemed to be a little unhappy over that. "We hoped we could have a wedding party here."

Shane exchanged one look with Jared. "We already thought of asking you if you would host one, just for us and Jared's family."

Ellie's face lit up. "We will. And I'm going to make an even fancier cake."

Jared exhaled. That was the best course of action so that everyone would be happy. As friends, they were glad to have their weddings together, but now, they needed to think of their families, too, families much more numerous than before.

***

"What do you think? Maybe tomorrow, I'll let you ride by yourself." Shane was holding him in front, and they were both on the back of a large mare that didn't seem to mind the extra load.

Jared looked over the expanse stretching in front of them. "I can see why you grew up the way you did. It's so much freedom here." He took another mouthful of free air. "It's a given that we will come back, again and again."

Shane hugged him with one arm. "I'm glad you like it here. And you see? There was no reason for you to be so nervous. Everyone loves you."

"That's quite the family you have here, Shane. My folks will love it here, when they come."

"And they'll be welcome, as often as they care to visit. Now, since you saw you had no reason to be nervous about meeting my folks, let's talk about another thing you have no reason to be nervous about."

"What do you mean?" Jared reached back and turned his head to steal a kiss from Shane.

His future husband indulged him for a moment. "I know you're trying to get away, but tomorrow, you'll ride by yourself. Misty here knows you already. You'll be fine riding her."

Jared sighed. "You really want to see me ride."

"Yeah. I'll even take a picture."

"What do you know about taking pictures?" he teased.

"I don't. But Coleman does, and I already roped him in."

"Ah, so I'm going to make a complete fool of myself in front of your entire family."

"Hey, if you want to be one of the McKays, you better know how to mount a horse."

"Since it's for such a noble cause, I guess there's no other way for me than to agree."

"Glad I talked some sense into you."

Jared was about to protest to that, but Shane kissed him, and he forgot all about it. Everything important was around him, and nothing else mattered.

***

Ryan placed a kiss on his shoulder and then turned him so that they could face each other. Mike caressed his jawline slowly. "You know, you didn't have to ask your mother to apologize. I feel bad for her."

"Don't. She's a hardass, and trust me when I'm saying that she doesn't mind being called that. And you were so cute, trying to say that you would sign as many prenups as needed since you didn't know I was that rich. In the end, it all looked like a race between people trying to apologize more than the other."

"She really cares about you."

"I know. And dad thought I did the right thing, just for the record."

"It's true that he didn't seem so fond of the idea when I ... eavesdropped," Mike said after a moment of hesitation. "And I'll sign any prenup your family comes with, anyway."

"Yeah, in the weirdest way, my plan of having my mom apologize to you for judging you without knowing who you really are, backfired spectacularly. You'll sign whatever you want since it looks like there is no way for me to go against you. Also, my mom was more than satisfied with the outcome. I'd say that she was pleased that her apologies weren't for naught."

"I'm sorry if I put you in a bad position. It wasn't my intention. I didn't really have time to talk to you in detail, but are you okay with Adrian's mother-in-law planning our triple wedding? You seemed fine with it, but --"

Ryan stopped him with a short kiss. "Of course I'm fine with it. Also, my parents already planned another wedding party so it looks like we'll celebrate twice. I wouldn't have taken your pleasure of getting married along with your best friends. Just the fact that it's a bit unusual is enough to put a smile on my face, I'm telling you. Plus, it gave my mother a pretty good incentive to try to compensate for what she said. After all, the Hastings family is a name she knows well. She will try to outdo whatever they have in mind, so prepare to be spoiled."

Mike closed his eyes, then opened them, and closed them again. "I can't believe this is really happening. Sometimes, I wake up in the morning and, for one second, I don't know where I am, and I'm wondering if I'm not still dreaming. But it's real, right? We're doing this."

Ryan nodded. "Yes, we are. We totally are. And boy, am I glad. I had no idea things would turn out so well for me when I came here to follow in my uncle's footsteps. For sure, it didn't cross my mind that I would land myself a husband. You're not the only one feeling like walking in a dream."

Mike opened just one eye. "In my case, it's more like floating. It's pretty awesome, to be honest. You even have a dog!"

"I'm glad that I live up to your fantasy," Ryan said and winked. "And I'm not talking about the dog."

Mike groaned and covered his eyes. "For how long are you going to tease me? I knew I shouldn't have told you just every little detail about my fantasy from a while ago."

"Hey, I might not be exactly a bear, but just you wait until I put on a couple more extra pounds --"

Mike placed one hand over Ryan's mouth. "No, you're perfect this way. Don't get fat or anything."

Ryan moved his head away so that he could get rid of Mike's hand. "Now look who's teasing me. Are you going to put it in the prenup that I'm not supposed to gain weight?"

"Can I do that?"

"Such a teaser," Ryan replied and shut him up for good with another kiss.

***

"Your mom is really something. She convinced all the other moms that she should be in charge. I wouldn't go against her in court even if someone paid me millions. I guess she's pretty scary when she wants. But charming. In a scary way."

Edward laughed and swatted his shoulder playfully. He placed a plate of food in front of him.

Adrian looked at the food. "You're cooking again."

"Why not?" Edward sat across from him and grabbed his fork.

"We could always go to restaurants, or order in ... and even I can cook."

Edward waved. "No. That's my job. I decided."

"Is it because you don't want other things to be your job?" Adrian asked and examined his future husband through his eyelashes. So, Edward's mom had been right, after all. The administrative duties would fall on his shoulders.

"Nonsense," Edward said. "Cooking is something I enjoy."

"And taking care of the vast estate that will come to you after the wedding isn't," Adrian said matter-of-factly, fighting a smile.

"To us. It will come to us," Edward said promptly and appeared focused on his food.

Adrian grinned and leaned over the table. "Sweetheart, you can confide in me. If you don't like taking care of the wealth your parents --"

"It's not that I don't like it," Edward interrupted him. "I loathe it."

The frankness of that phrase took Adrian by surprise. "Now you're scaring me. Is it that complicated?"

"You'll have plenty of people to help you. Accountants, lawyers. I just find it so boring that I'm glad I won't be bothered with it."

"Ah, so that was why you weren't particularly concerned about your father disowning you."

Edward shrugged. "Even if he said that, I knew, deep down, that he wouldn't allow a stranger to be in charge."

"But I'm a stranger," Adrian pointed out.

"Not anymore, Mr. Rossi-Hastings. I mean, not for long."

Edward grabbed his glass of wine and raised it. "To you never getting bored looking after our shared wealth. After all, we will have to take care of it for our children."

Adrian raised his glass, too. "I'll do my best, Mr. Rossi-Hastings. And wait until my mother hears that her grandchildren will be born with silver spoons in their mouths. She'll talk about it for weeks with all the relatives."

"I am happy if she's happy," Edward said politely.

They clinked their glasses and then started laughing at the same time.

"I hope we won't get one of those long tables and sit at opposite ends."

"Where have you seen such a table in our home?"

"Ah, we're moving to your mansion, then?"

"Of course. Your oven burns a little the food."

"That's a good reason, I guess."

Adrian was happy to live with Edward anywhere he wanted. What mattered was that they were happy. They were all happy, and that included his best friends. He couldn't have imagined a better happy-end for the three of them, in his wildest dreams.

TBC