Page 34 of Beyond the Rainbow (Pride Camp 2025 #11)

Now, they saw him and Trent approaching, Trent’s pace slower than usual as he walked beside Colin’s knee scooter.

They moved onto the field, and Trent waved them forward.

“Warmup and stretches!” he yelled. “Let’s go!

And remember the camp rules: No phones, no whining, and no kissing on the baseball field.

” The players all laughed, and Trent led them through their workout while Colin laid out a box of gloves and balls.

He picked up a bat, testing its weight in his hands.

Bracing himself, he shifted carefully on his knee scooter, mindful of the sharp ache in his ribs.

When he finally swung, it was slower, more controlled, less forceful than usual, but still steady.

Even that sent a dull warning pain radiating through his side, forcing him to grit his teeth.

“Hey!” Trent yelled from where he stood with the team. “Goddammit, Colin, are you nuts? Put that bat down! You’ll pop that cracked rib loose and puncture a lung!”

Colin sighed and pressed his lips together, then shook his head and tossed the bat to the ground, surrendering to the inevitable.

When the warmup was completed, the team gathered around the two coaches. Colin pointed to the pile of equipment. “Grab a glove. We’re working on pop flies.” Then, as Trent whacked a ball, sending it hurtling into the air, both he and Trent shouted instructions to their players.

“Call for it!” Colin yelled. “I want to hear you yell ‘I got it’ the second you decide to catch the ball. Collisions cause injuries!”

“Always step back first—don’t get burned by a ball over your head!” Trent added.

“Trent’s right,” Colin called out. “It’s easier to run forward than to frantically backpedal.”

Trent hit a perfect pop fly into the air, then watched as the players scrambled to catch it. “No, no, Andy!” Colin hollered. “No one-handed catches. No hotdogging! Two hands save you from looking silly.”

“And a dressing down from your coach!” Trent added, snickering.

After breakfast, David gathered his cooking class in the campground kitchen. “OK, gang. We have a huge assignment.” He smiled at them, appreciating the wide-eyed looks. “We’re making Trent and Jeff’s wedding cake!”

“Oh man, David,” one of the older boys groaned. “We can barely make scrambled eggs!”

“Making a cake isn’t all that hard,” David told them. “We’re using a box cake … well, we’re using three box cakes so that we’ll have enough for everyone.” He leaned toward his group. “It’s the decorations that are going to be the biggest challenge.”

A collective groan rose from the group. “Relax,” David told them.

“You won’t have to create elaborate, fancy flowers.

We’ll keep it simple.” He nodded toward the door.

“Everyone, gather at Trent’s van. We’ve already got the ingredients.

Now, the design phase will begin.” He glanced around, gauging their nervousness.

“Once we’ve figured out our design, we’ll go to town and get our decorations.

Beauty in a cake doesn’t have to involve intricate, detailed design.

It can be as simple as two hearts entwined or two flowers planted side by side.

” The boys nodded, seeming more relaxed as David shepherded the group out the door, headed for Trent’s van.

After his afternoon counseling session, Joshua wandered to the baseball diamond to check on Colin.

He found him standing in the outfield, directing his players as Trent swung a bat, hitting fly balls to the players, one after the other.

As Joshua approached, he saw his husband wince as if in pain.

His shoulders slumped, and Joshua could see his hands tightening on the scooter’s grips.

“Hey!” he yelled, trotting to Colin’s side.

“Hi, bud,” Colin said, then wheeled towards left field to yell, “Trevor! The first rule of catching a fly ball is to get to the spot before the ball does! Don’t run towards it with your glove up like you’re chasing a butterfly. Read the ball, move fast, and then get set.”

He turned back to Joshua, his face twitching in another quick wince before speaking. “How’s it going?”

Joshua held out his hand, clutching something in his fist, and extended a bottle of water with his other hand. “Time for your meds.”

Colin stared down at the ground, refusing to meet his eyes.

“C’mon, babe,” Joshua encouraged. “You took one pill this morning. It’s nearly two in the afternoon.”

“I’ll take a Tylenol,” Colin muttered.

“Colin! You have a broken ankle and a cracked rib!”

Colin’s upper lip tightened over his teeth, and he called out to Trent.

“Let’s take a break!” He took Joshua’s arm and moved him off the field, then stopped and stared into his eyes.

For a long time, there was silence, and then Colin spoke.

“I’m about to tell you something that I don’t want to tell you.

So, shut up and listen.” He drew in a long, deep breath.

“I don’t want to take the narcotics. I will take them, but only sparingly. ”

Joshua opened his mouth to protest, but Colin stopped him with an upheld palm. “ Wait , Josh!”

He stared down at the ground, then blew out a breath through his nostrils before meeting Joshua’s eyes.

“I’m not trying to be a tough guy.” He dragged in another slow breath, his gaze locked on the ground as if bracing himself for a blow.

When he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.

“I discovered when I was a lot younger that I like the damned narcotics, Josh. I like them way too fucking much.”

Joshua inhaled a startled gasp and took an involuntary step backwards, his eyes wide with shock.

“There’s a history in my family of alcohol and drug abuse.” He leaned closer to his husband and half-snarled. “I’ve got the fucking gene !” For a long, long time, there was silence. “So, don’t push me to take those goddamn things! I’ll take what I absolutely have to. But other than that … no !”

“I—I didn’t know,” Joshua stammered out.

“I didn’t want you to know!”

Joshua sucked in a long breath, then nodded, searching his husband’s face.

He placed a firm hand on Colin’s shoulder.

“Understood. I swear … I won’t ever again push you to take them.

You use them as you feel is best.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pill bottle.

“Here’s your Tylenol.” He leaned close, his arm winding around Colin’s neck.

“And I’m so sorry, my darling love. I’m so sorry for pushing you. I didn’t know.”

Colin’s arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him close. “Well, you know how easy it is for me to admit weakness. And this one’s a doozy!”

“It’s no more of a weakness than your green eyes or sandy hair,” Joshua insisted. “It’s a genetic predisposition. It’s part of your DNA.” He drew back just enough to cup Colin’s face in his palm. “I’m so fucking proud of the strength you’ve shown, though I’m certainly not surprised.”

Colin huffed out a dry laugh, shaking his head. “Yeah, well. That’s me. Stubborn as fuck, allergic to admitting weakness, and apparently, now the camp legend for being well-endowed. What a week .”

Joshua let out a breathless laugh, pressing his forehead against Colin’s. His hand slid down, fingers tracing the length of Colin’s arm before gripping his hand. “You are so much more than that, and you damned well know it.”

Later that morning, Nate’s writing class gathered in the shaded pavilion, the warm scent of pine needles and distant campfire smoke hanging in the air.

The campers sat cross-legged on benches, their notebooks open, pens poised.

Excitement buzzed between them, but an air of seriousness settled in as Nate leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.

“So,” he said, “when we think about weddings, what do we think about?”

“Love,” Jasper offered immediately.

“Commitment,” another added.

“A really big cake,” someone muttered, earning a ripple of laughter.

Nate grinned. “All true. But a wedding isn’t just about two people saying ‘I love you’.

It’s about a promise—one they make to each other in front of the people who love them.

” He let that sink in before continuing.

“And we get to help put that promise into words. So, let’s talk about love.

What have you learned about love while being here at camp? ”

Silence fell, but it wasn’t empty. It was the kind of silence where thoughts were forming, where ideas were just waiting to be spoken.

Jasper, still clutching his notebook, was the first to speak. “That love isn’t just big, romantic stuff. It’s … little things, too.”

Nate tilted his head, encouraging him. “Like what?”

Jasper hesitated, then said, “Like when Josh makes Colin take his pills, even when Colin gets grumpy about it.” A few snickers followed, and Jasper ducked his head.

“Or when Jeff helped Trent put that brace on his wrist after baseball practice. He didn’t make a big deal about it, he just … did it.”

Rowan nodded. “Or when Trent brought Jeff that cup of coffee after our hike because he could see that Jeff was really tired.”

Caleb lifted his hand. “I think love is choosing someone every day. Even when they’re being a dick.”

Nate felt something tighten in his throat. He glanced down at his own notebook. He’d jotted down a few ideas but it was clear now that he wouldn’t need them.

“Those are beautiful thoughts,” he said. “And I think that’s exactly what Trent and Jeff would want to hear at their wedding. So, let’s take those ideas and shape them into something special.”

For the next hour, they worked together, refining words and rearranging sentences, finding just the right way to grab the heart of what they’d learned and form it into words.

Nate did not add or suggest content; he merely corrected word usage when needed and suggested changes that altered the pacing.

And when they finally read it back, he knew: They had written something real.

Something beautiful. Something unforgettable.