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Amos

We landed back home and immediately went to visit Tommy’s grandma at the nursing home. Luckily, she was having a good day and even recognized me for a few minutes. I was happy for him. I knew he missed his grandma, the woman who’d raised him.

I had big plans, which I had yet to share with Tommy, plans I’d been secretly making with Owen and Josiah. Tonight, I was going to propose, once and for all.

As planned, Owen and Jason, Mom, and Josiah and Saram met us at the Austin bridge where people gathered to watch the bats.

I’d rented a boat and paid for a private trip so no one was on it but us.

Of course Tommy, being too damned smart for his own good, gave me a look the moment he realized the boat was empty.

“What? I’ve got millions, right? I never spend it on anything, so let me indulge for one night.”

Tommy shrugged, but I knew he was onto me.

The moment the bats began to fly around the boat, I knelt down behind Tommy. Mom winked at me and tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned, smiling at her, and when she pointed to me, he gasped, causing me to chuckle.

“Tommy, I’ve waited what feels like a lifetime to ask you this. I…”

I had to pause a moment to get myself under control. Then I drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Tommy, you are the key to the things that make my life work, and make my life worth living.”

Tears ran down my face, and I was happy I’d been trained to speak through emotions, or I’m not sure I’d have finished what I was trying to do.

“You are my everything, Tommy. Would you consider being my husband?”

Tommy fell to his knees in front of me and then, using his hands, pulled my face into his. Until that moment, it’d been too dark to see he, too, was crying. Our wet faces merged as happiness rolled through me.

“Of course, you big lug. Of course, I’ll marry you!”

I’d like to say we were able to marry right away, but that’s simply not how things happen.

We planned a spring wedding, which got postponed when Tommy’s grandmother got sick and almost died of pneumonia.

Then, after she recovered, we’d planned to marry in June, but then one of the cast broke his leg, and we ended up having to do back-to-back rehearsals to prepare his understudy for the part.

I’d worked pretty much full-time for a year and a half, which meant I had three full weeks of vacation coming to me.

When I went to speak to Anton about it, he didn’t even hesitate.

“Go, get married. I’m sorry about you having to postpone,”

he’d said.

So in October, we were finally able to tie the knot.

We ended up getting married at Hippy Hollow Park, mostly because it was irreverent enough to make the conservatives shake their heads. It was also beautiful there, which was another bonus.

The wedding planner had decorated the area beautifully, if not a bit ostentatiously. Oh well, if we were going over the top, this was when to do that.

I spent the night before our wedding telling Tommy how much I loved him. We’d decided not to write our vows, mostly because I sucked at writing, and I’d rather tell him how I felt when it was just the two of us.

“Tommy, I love you and want you forever. I’m, well, I don’t write like you, as poetic as you are, but my heart is true. You are the light of my life…”

I fumbled through a few more lines before Tommy took pity on me and kissed me, putting an end to my awkward vows.

“Listen, Amos,”

Tommy said, and I watched as he became emotional.

“I didn’t think I’d ever get to have you as my boyfriend, much less my spouse. I figured you’d never love me the way I’ve always loved you. The fact that you do, and have this past year and a half… well, all I can say is my heart is full of love and happiness. I promise you, all my life, I will be everything I can be for you.”

I leaned over, taking his beautiful lips with mine, and then we had an epic makeout session before I was able to ravage him in the bedroom.

The next morning, I was feeling good.

Owen and Jason had Tommy on one side while Josiah and Mom were with me on the other.

The wedding planner had put up little shelters to give us privacy, which I quickly became pleased about.

Otherwise, I’m sure my face would’ve been on some paparazzi mag showing me cussing out my father.

When he walked into the tent, both Mom and Josiah froze. “Dad, why are you here?”

I asked, having to stuff my anger down.

“I came… well, I came to talk to you.”

“Dad, this isn’t the time for you to tell me how disappointed you are in me,”

I said and began to walk out of the tent.

“Wait, son…”

“No, Dad, if you won’t leave, then I will.”

Mom put her hand on my arm. “Hear him out,”

she said. “I think you’re going to approve of what he has to say.”

She gave him what appeared to be a glare before exiting the tent.

Josiah shrugged apologetically, before turning and following Mom.

“Listen, son, I’ve screwed up. I… well, I’ve known it for a while. I just didn’t know how to fix it,”

he said, shaking his head. My father was a man of few words. To the best of my knowledge, none of those few words he’d given to me had ever been an apology, so I couldn’t help but hear him out.

“I got so caught up in what I thought was best for you, I forgot to see you as a man who could make his own choices. I know it was stupid, but I thought if I ignored you, if I didn’t condone your acting, you’d see what a mistake leaving football was…”

He looked me in the eye then and sighed. “I read that article, the one Tommy wrote about what you went through with the team. Son, I had no idea what you were dealing with. I feel like such an ass. I can’t believe they’d do that to you.”

“I’m glad you read it. I honestly never thought you would.”

“Son, I know what I’ve done isn’t much better, but I do want to make it up, to try to fix what I’ve done. I don’t want to spend another day without you in my life. I… I want to be a better father.”

Emotions warred inside me: anger for how he’d been, frustrated he was too stubborn to even let me have my own life, and sadness it’d taken this long to apologize. Finally, I sighed and replied as honestly as I could. “Dad, you know it’s not enough for you to just apologize. You… you messed up. Messed up big-time. But,”

I said, shaking my head, “I want you in my life. Truth is, I always have. I’ve really missed you and our family. Besides, you’ve missed out on some of the best days of my life.”

He nodded. “I know. Your mama has pointed out all the things I’ve missed that I’ll never get back. I’m really sorry, son.”

I sighed again and shook my head, “We have work to do, Dad. Mostly you do. But I want you back in my life more than I want to be mad at you. You’ve got some stuff to do, though, and the first thing I want you to do… well, I want you and mom to stand with me today. Walk with me down the aisle, Dad. I want Tommy to know you and Mom both support what we’ve created together.”

Dad smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that. I’d like that a lot,”

he said, and for the first time in my entire life, I watched a tear slip out of my father’s eye.

We walked out together and into the arms of my mom, who hugged us both, then slapped Dad on the arm. “Took you long enough,”

I heard her whisper to him.

The music started then, and Mom and Dad flanked me. I met Tommy and Owen and couldn’t resist my own tears upon seeing him. Finally, after all this time, Tommy Sanders was going to be my husband.

We turned and were walking up the aisle, just as Tommy’s grandmother said, “I don’t know who those boys are, but they are hot as fuck!”

Tommy’s face turned bright red, while the entire wedding party burst out laughing. I saw Tommy wink at her as we came up to the minister.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here…”

That’s all I really heard. My ears rang as the reality of my life hit me in that incredible moment. Here I stood, on a nudist beach in Austin, Texas, surrounded by my family and friends, marrying the only man I’d ever loved.

I’m not sure how I got so blessed, but damn, I really was one lucky, lucky man!

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