See Part One for disclaimers, notes, warnings, etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, Nick, out with it," Starsky said, striding back into the living room.

"Blair told you?" Nick stood so they faced each other.

"No, Blair didn't tell me anything, except that he had to keep a confidence and I would be upset and betrayed when I found out about it from someone other than him. Blair's not a squealer. He kept quiet. What the hell were you thinking laying some kind of shit on him that put him in that position? Huh?" Starsky challenged.

"Is everything okay, guys?" Sophia entered the room, still drying her hands on a dish towel.

"Ask him!" Starsky said, pointing angrily in Nick's direction.

"Starsk--" Hutch tried to intervene, but was quickly cut off.

"What is it, Nick? You've been outta the joint a whole 48 hours. What'd you do, get yourself back in trouble again? So you lay it on Blair and swear him to secrecy? What kind of shit is that? You don't have the balls to tell me to my face, so you dump it on my son?"

"How do you know I told him anything if he didn't tell you?" Nick challenged, and Hutch rolled his eyes knowingly at Jim. It wouldn't matter if Starsky was irrationally irate and holding a loaded AK-47--Nick would still do his best to push the last few buttons he could manage.

"Because there's no one else in this house right now who would do such a goddamned rotten, selfish, asshole thing, that's why!" Starsky shot back.

"You guys, you'll wake Aunt Rachel if you don't keep it down," Sophia said, moving closer to the two arguing men.

"If you're going to tear into each other, we have a deck out back you can use," Dan said, coming up behind his wife. "You don't need to wake Davey or Aunt Rachel."

"I can solve this real fast, David," Nick said, pinning his brother with an angry glare. "I'm fucking dying, all right? I'm not involved in any scams, and I told Blair because we've been corresponding for three or four years now, and frankly, he's a better friend to me than you ever thought of being, because you're too fucking self-righteous to get down off your pedestal long enough to deal with the rest of us mere mortals." With that, Nick turned on his heel and stormed through the house toward the deck. Starsky stood deathly still, staring after him.

"Starsk--" Hutch tried again, only to be cut off a second time, but less angrily this time.

"Did he mean...? The part...about dying, or was it another one of his dramatic statements?" Starsky asked Hutch. Sophia stood with her hand over her mouth, looking horror-stricken, Dan looking very little less shocked, his hands on his wife's shoulders.

"He told us when you went upstairs after Blair," Hutch said, standing and approaching his partner.

"What...he looks fine! What's wrong with him?"

"Pancreatic cancer. The doctor told him about three months," Hutch said, resting his hand on Starsky's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, babe."

"And I suppose they moved the parole hearing earlier because of that prognosis, right?" Starsky asked.

"That's what he said," Jim responded.

"I wonder what rock that doctor crawled out from under? Oh, come on, you don't buy this, do you? He wanted out of the slammer, so he gets a fake diagnosis from some disreputable back street doctor."

"You know that wouldn't work to get him out of prison, Starsk," Hutch said calmly. "They verify things like that before they release people. Things aren't as fast and loose as they used to be. He's telling the truth. I wish he weren't."

"Oh, my God," Sophia muttered. "How do we tell Aunt Rachel?"

"We don't for now. I'll go talk to Nick," Starsky said quietly, patting Hutch's hand as he headed back toward the door where Nick had exited.

"I think I'll go check on Blair," Jim said, not sorry to extricate himself from the horribly tense moment as Sophia and Dan joined Hutch in the living room.

********

Nick was standing on the deck, staring out at the night. There was a bite in the air, and the faint scent of burned leaves. For a moment, he thought of all the autumns of his childhood, of the brief time when their father was alive and their mother would be busily sewing costumes for Halloween... And he smiled when he thought of how he always fought with David because as a little boy, he looked up to his big brother and always wanted to be whatever he was--a cowboy, a fireman, it didn't matter. He wanted to be just like his big brother.

Maybe that's why he was so angry with David all through their adulthood. He was nothing like his brother, and never would be. His brother was a reincarnation of their father, a cop, a straight arrow, a good guy. //Well...maybe not the "straight" part,// Nick thought to himself, smiling. His smile faded when he realized that he was more like the small-time hoods that David and Hutch had spent their careers tossing in the slammer.

"Nick."

Nick turned to see David closing the patio door behind him as he moved onto the deck.

"Now you know," he said, shrugging. "You're right. I shouldn't'a told Blair and then told him not to say anything. That was wrong. I just...had to tell somebody, and I know it's gonna kill Ma when she finds out, and I didn't know how you'd take it. I guess it just happened. Blair's pretty easy to talk to."

"Yeah, he is."

"He cried for me, you know? Outside'a Ma, I don't think anybody's gonna shed too many tears when they put me six feet under, so it was kinda nice. I mean, I was sorry I made him feel bad, but it was nice to know somebody felt that bad about me cashin' in my chips."

"Why didn't you just tell me, Nick? Why the games? Why do there always have to be games with you?"

"I already told you. I thought maybe we could reconcile things, bury the old hatchet...I wanted to see if we could do it without you doing it because you felt bad I was dying. Jim said some things that made sense, though."

"Jim? Jim Ellison?" Starsky asked, surprised.

"You act like you think it's impossible he could have said anything worthwhile."

"No, it's not that. I just wondered when you got to know him well enough to take advice from him."

"I don't need to know him. I just know that what he said made sense. I'm making this harder than it has to be." Nick paused. "God knows it's hard enough as it is."

"There's nothing they can do? Drugs, chemo, surgery, anything?"

"Chemo might have prolonged things a little, but the doctor was real straight with me that it wouldn't change the final outcome. So I figured I'd let nature take its course."

The two men were silent a few minutes, feeling the chill in the air and listening to the night wind rustle the leaves, bringing more of them down from the trees.

"A lot of stupid shit's gone down between us over the years. It started with me goin' out to California to live with Rose and Al. We were always close before that."

"That wasn't your doing. I blamed you for a lotta years because I was mad, and I was hurt, and it felt like you dumped us for somethin' better--a bigger house, better lifestyle. That wasn't your choice so there was no point blaming you for it."

"The way you reacted to Hutch and me cut pretty deep, Nicky. You knew how I felt about him, what he meant to me, and you still said things you knew I'd never get over. Why'd you do that?"

"I'd already been in jail a time or two when you two announced you were a couple. I didn't have a real nice attitude about guys with guys. Spending much time in jail or prison doesn't make you feel real good about that. Well, I guess you either end up likin' it and goin' along with it, or you spend your time fightin' it off. And you know damn well Pop would spin in his grave if he saw you with Hutch and not some nice Jewish girl like Ma."

"Pop must spend a lot of time doing that between the two of us," Starsky said, smiling a little at his brother, who chuckled softly.

"He would'a been real proud of you, being a cop all your life, all the bad guys you busted--"

"All the while married to my male partner. He'd'a been thrilled, Nick." Starsky smiled. "It's pretty ironic after all, isn't it? Neither one of us turned out the way he wanted us to."

"You came closer."

"I don't know if Pop would have thought it was better to be gay or doin' time. I really don't. I'd like to think he'd have handled it like Ma did, but I got a feeling he wouldn't."

"Maybe we're more like Pop than we think. You can't get past me living on the wrong side of the law most'a the time, and I had a real hard time with you bringing a boyfriend home."

"You did get past it, though." Starsky sighed. "Which is more than I can say for myself."

"Bein' gay isn't against the law anymore. And it's funny, but when you're this close to the end of the line, it doesn't seem to matter as much if the person you spend your life with is male or female, as long as you make the most outta that life. I never got around to doin' that with anybody special." Nick smiled. "Plus, I always knew you and Hutch were a package deal, even before you set up housekeeping together. If I couldn't deal with him, I wouldn't be seein' you. Maybe that made me madder than the whole gay thing. He meant more to you than I did."

"It's a different relationship, Nicky. When people get married, and choose their life partner, they make a commitment to that person. I made a commitment to Hutch, not just in so many words, but in my heart. That's how it oughtta be--you become a package deal, a matched set. Even if the people you love can't handle that, they can't just pick you out of the set and reject your partner. It's not about loving one person more than the other. It's about what committing to a life partnership with your heart and your soul means, and where your loyalties lie from then on."

"Dying isn't the worst part of this." Nick sat against the railing, crossing his arms. "I'm not that young anymore. What's a fifty-something ex-con gonna really do with this life that's worth a whole lot? What's worst is that I coulda been anything, done anything, gone anyplace, and I stayed here and did what I did with my life. I flushed it down the john. I wasted 56 years, David. That's a lot of screwin' around. I made Ma crazy and I never made peace with you."

"Well, that wasn't all your choice. I've been too busy being pissed off at you for landing in prison every time you turned around, and too busy being angry at you for how you reacted to Hutch and me twenty-some years ago. Blair had the wisdom to look past all that and find out if you were someone worth knowing, and he discovered that you were. I knew that. I always knew that, somewhere deep down, because I always loved you, Nicky. But I guess I thought I was provin' something to somebody by keeping you at arm's length."

"You thought you were being loyal to Hutch because I didn't respond well to you two, and you thought you were being loyal to Pop, and everything you fought against every day of your life, by shutting me out as long as I was getting in and outta scrapes with the law."

"This is it, Nicky. We've got one more shot at knowing each other. You wanna take it?" Starsky said, extending his hand.

"Yeah, I wanna take it." Nick smiled as he ignored the hand and embraced his brother. They held on for a long moment, and Starsky could feel a couple of tears escaping. He swallowed and stepped back.

"Too bad we had to get together when we were mushy old men, isn't it?"

"Hey, you're the old one. Another coupl'a years, you'll be gettin' Social Security."

"You always were an asshole, you know that?" Starsky said, chuckling and wiping at his eyes.

"At least you taught me one thing that carried me through life," Nick retorted, and the two men shared a watery laugh.

********

Blair was sleeping soundly when Jim slipped quietly into the room. Not wanting to disturb his lover, Jim withdrew just as quietly and went to the bathroom to take a shower and brush his teeth. Dan and Sophia were still downstairs with Hutch, most likely waiting for the two brothers to finish their talk.

Having been estranged from his own brother for a number of years, Jim found himself thankful he'd resolved those old grudges and started fresh with both Steven and his father. Seeing the tragic dilemma facing the Starsky brothers now, the battles of childhood and turbulent teenage years seemed foolish reasons to lose sixteen years of contact with Steven. He was grateful they were younger, and as far as he knew, healthier than Nick, and most likely able to look forward to a long stretch of years as a family. There were a lot of guys like Nick in jails and prisons all over the country--decent guys who got sidetracked in a bad direction and never had the stamina to change the course of their own lives. Jim had busted a few of those guys--young guys who were headed for a career as a prison inmate, but really could have been something more, something better, something worthwhile.

Shower finished, he slid into clean boxers and put on his robe before crossing the hall to the room he was sharing with Blair. The object of his affections was sitting up now, rubbing at his eyes and looking a bit confused.

"What time is it?"

"About midnight." Jim sat on the side of the bed next to Blair. "How do you feel, Chief?"

"I'm okay. My head's better. It was really pounding there for a while. Sorry I bolted out of the room like that. I guess I couldn't handle knowing Uncle Nick's secret as well as I thought I could."

"It's not a secret anymore. Nick told everybody. Well, not Rachel yet, but your Dad and Sophia, Dan and Hutch know."

"How'd my dad take it?"

"I'm not sure exactly. He and Nick went out back to talk."

"He told me not to tell him. Whatever it was that I said he would be angry with me for not telling him...he told me not to tell him, so I wouldn't have a dilemma anymore."

"Kind of like that old story about Solomon's advice to the two women fighting over the baby."

"Yeah, exactly. When he told them to cut it in half, the real mother backed off. That's exactly what my dad did. I was getting pulled two directions so he let go."

"Been a strange visit, with Nick showing up, and being ill. I was thinking the worst thing you'd have to deal with were a bunch of partying Starskys."

"Me, too," Blair said, shrugging. "But if this had to happen, I'm glad we were all here together. I know Dad's got Hutch, and just like with you and me, Hutch is his mainstay, but maybe having more family around'll make it easier."

"I'm sure it will." Jim leaned forward and kissed Blair, lingering there for a long moment before pulling back.

"What was that for?" Blair grinned. "Not that I'm complaining."

"I just felt like it. We should get some rest." Resting his hand on the back of Blair's head, Jim kissed his forehead. "Don't want your head to start hurting again."

"How's your arm?" Blair rested his hand on the cast.

"Doesn't bother me too much anymore. I just cant wait to get this stupid cast off."

"One nice thing about breaking my head--they couldn't make me wear a cast on it."

********

Starsky climbed the stairs, feeling about ten years older than he had the last time he'd climbed them. Despite the temperatures falling lower and lower, Nick and he had spent a long time out on the deck, reminiscing about old times and for once talking over the good shared memories and not the old resentments and mutual failings in their relationship. Ironic that now he could see his way clear to get over the way Nick had lived his life, or the narrow-minded way he'd responded to Starsky's choice of life partners all those years ago. Neither of them were the same men they'd been back then, and now that it was too late, they could have been friends. //Life has a sick sense of humor,// Starsky concluded as he entered the guest bedroom he was sharing with Hutch. His partner was sitting up in bed, reading.

"Now I can see why Blair was so upset," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I'm sorry, babe. I wish there was something I could do."

"You always do it." Starsky kicked his shoes off and moved over to lie next to his lover, his head on Hutch's shoulder. Hutch didn't say anything more, but just stroked the dark curls as he pulled Starsky close against him. "It's not supposed to work this way. Nick's younger than I am."

"I know." Hutch sighed. "People never expect to lose younger siblings, or children. It's just not the natural order of things. Not that losing the people older than you is any picnic, but you know it's coming, and in a way, you kind of prepare for it most of your life. It's a reality you live with. But something like this just blindsides you."

"He should have come to me first. Instead he told Blair."

"You're still angry at him for telling Blair?"

"Not exactly. I think it was selfish to dump that on Blair when he's my son, and Nick knew it would be hard on him to keep something like that from me, but that Blair would probably do it because he honors his word. I don't like that he put Blair in that kind of predicament, especially when he's still recovering from a serious head injury, but at the same time, I keep thinking that it's pretty pathetic that Blair was able to be friends with my brother and not judge him, and I couldn't do the same thing."

"Blair's younger, and he's not as close to the situation as you are. He has a whole different set of life experiences, and he was raised by Naomi, who was an extremely tolerant person with a very...*new age* set of values. You and Blair are a lot alike in a number of ways, but you're also different because of the different pasts you have, and the different influences in your lives. That doesn't make you bad, or intolerant, or even *wrong*. But you were raised by a cop for the first several years of your life, and the values we were taught were a lot more black-and-white than what the hippies believed in. And we might be a lot of things, Starsk, but we were never hippies." Hutch chortled softly.

"Things would've gone easier with me and Nicky if he just hadn't acted like such an asshole about you, when we got together."

"Nick is a product of his environment, Starsk. Your mother accepted it because she loved you too much to banish you out of the family for doing something that went against everything she'd been taught, and against the flow of society... Nick finally saw a chink in the armor--something you were doing that wasn't 'honorable' or 'right', and he jumped on it. For once, you were the son causing the trouble, and he could be the righteous representative of the family."

"Now that we can both get past all the *shit* we've spent the last thirty years screwing around with, what's the point? Maybe that's the punishment you get for wasting all that time--seeing what you could have had if you'd been able to get over all the petty bickering."

"Or maybe it's a last chance you've been given, that you're taking. If Nick had died suddenly--oh, let's say a car accident or some incident in prison--you'd have never had the chance to reconcile things with him. Early death sucks no matter how you look at it, but at least you have right now, this brief chance to capture some of that. To know your brother and to be friends with him. He could have been taken away with no warning at all, or you could have both lived to be healthy old men and still be shooting nasty one-liners across the family table at each other."

"I'm most worried about Ma. Something like this can kill an old person, giving them a bad shock."

"I know it can do that, but I would be surprised if something like that happened to your mother. She's extremely strong, and very strong-willed. I think it'll be a horrible shock, but I think she can handle it."

"At her age, she's probably less horrified by the concept of death than the rest of us."

"I think she'll see this as a temporary separation at this point in her life. She'll probably feel worse for Nick, and for what he'll miss, for what he already has missed," Hutch said.

"Makes you realize that we're all livin' on borrowed time in a way. Nick's younger than me and he's facing this now... Makes me afraid to think about the future, about you and me, getting old..."

"I like thinking about getting old. Not that I want it to happen faster, but I think it'll be a nice time of our lives. I think when people love each other the way we do, it's pretty normal to worry about the future, to be afraid when you start walking through the minefield years for health problems. We have to just enjoy every day we have together and not let ourselves be eaten up with fear about the future."

"Blair asked me not to die on him anytime soon," Starsky said. "Poor kid. Losing his mom that way, and then my *younger* brother getting sick...just spooked him, I guess."

"Blair's been through a rough few weeks, with the accident and Garrison... Maybe this whole trip was a little too much for him."

"I think it would have been fine without...what's happened."

"Yeah, that would have been better for all of us." Hutch rested his head against Starsky's.

********

The house was silent when Blair first stirred the next morning. Even Jim was still sleeping soundly next to him. It was a little before eight o'clock, and he blamed his early wake-up time on the fact he'd turned in so early the night before. Usually, given the chance to sleep in, and the rare moment when Jim was also sleeping late, Blair didn't rally until at least nine or ten. Giving in to the demands of his bladder, Blair slipped out of bed, pulled on his robe, and padded quietly across the hall to use the bathroom.

It was Saturday morning, and judging by the closed doors upstairs, everyone was still asleep. He was about to return to his room when he heard noises from the kitchen, as if someone was up and about making breakfast. Not in much of a mood to go back to bed, since he felt he'd been there too many hours already, he made his way downstairs. Nick wasn't on the couch in the living room, so Blair assumed he would be the one in the kitchen making breakfast. Instead, he found his grandmother putting bread in the toaster, alone in the kitchen. She wore a dark blue velour robe that seemed to match the striking blue that appeared to be the prevalent eye color on her side of the Starsky clan.

"Morning, Grandma," Blair said as he tapped lightly on the edge of the kitchen door, not wanting to startle her.

"Blair, I thought you were a late riser like your father," she said, smiling, though her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Blair wondered if she'd overheard something, or if Nick had told her.

"I went to bed pretty early last night."

"What would you like for breakfast, dear?" she asked, going to the refrigerator.

"Whatever you're having's fine."

"Toast and coffee? When your father was your age and he came home to visit, he used to eat quite a spread in the morning. Whatever I would fix him."

"Yeah, well, I didn't inherit Dad's eating habits. The toast and coffee's fine. I can help you."

"Sit down. I never had a chance to make breakfast for my grandson before."

"Is everything okay, Grandma?"

She paused at the counter, not turning to face Blair.

"Your Uncle Nick talked to me this morning. We were both up early."

"I'm really sorry," Blair said.

"He went out for a walk. Nicky was never good at handling things like these." She went about making the toast.

"Are you okay?"

"For almost forty years, I've worried that one of my sons would end up dead before his time. First it was David with his police work, and then it was Nick and all his problems with the law. Prison is a horrible place. I know, I visited him there as much as I could, and I saw the kind of people he was living with in there. Some of them were good men underneath it all, I'm sure, but so many of them were career criminals... Maybe I was always expecting this day to come. Just not this way."

"I...I thought you'd be...I don't know...lying down or hysterical. I'm not sure what I thought."

"Some people take a great deal of comfort in little things, like making toast or brewing coffee. When your grandfather died, the hardest thing for me was to sit and mourn. If I could have just done the ten thousand little ordinary things, it would have helped." She approached the table and set the plate of toast there, then went back to get the coffee. Her eyes were red-rimmed, as if she'd done her share of crying that morning, but now she seemed to be clinging to the strength that had gotten her through the loss of her husband, the relocation of her eldest son, and the frequent incarceration of her younger son.

"When I found out my mother was dead, I lost it. I wasn't able to do anything. Jim had to do everything for me. Pack, make the flight arrangements...he practically had to dress me and push me out the door to go to the airport. I was like a zombie."

"We all face our grief in different ways." She sat at the table after setting two mugs there for them. "Plus, Nick told me at five o'clock this morning, so I've had a bit of time," she added, smiling sadly. "I was a little hysterical then, and I've been lying down until about twenty minutes ago."

"I'm really glad I'm getting a chance to meet you, to know you. I think you are a very remarkable lady."

"It's really very ironic, and probably part of God's plan, that I should find my only grandchild at the same time I learn that I will soon lose one of my children. God has always given me something to make the pain bearable, to make me see the good in life when it seems like all there is is bad. All my life, I wanted a grandchild. It's so strange, because I accepted it would never be from David, once I realized he was serious about staying with Ken, that it was the same as any other lifelong marriage. I always hoped Nick would find someone and settle down, but he never did." She smiled a little sadly. "I don't think I'm such a remarkable woman, Blair. I think I'm an ordinary woman who has had a life that was in some ways pretty remarkable. Both good and bad."

"Sometimes I really get to regretting all the years I could have had in this family. Everybody's been so nice to me, and it's such a close-knit bunch...I always envied people who had families like that. The giant gatherings at the holidays, a zillion birthdays to remember..."

"You didn't have much contact with your mother's family, then? David said she was estranged from her parents."

"I've been writing some letters back and forth with my grandmother on my mom's side. When she saw me at the funeral, she felt badly about the rift, but she didn't want to defy her husband, and he was dead set against even acknowledging I was alive. I have some cousins I've spent summers with, stuff like that. But they were scattered all over the country, and on a few occasions, I'm not too sure they were real blood cousins. You'd have had to know Naomi. She made friends, and...expanded her family in her own special way," Blair added, smiling sadly. "We were usually kind of on our own, unless she was with someone."

"I can see and hear so much of your great-grandfather in you," she said, smiling. "I told you about him the other night and showed you the photos, but besides just your hands, and a slight resemblance in your face, your voice is similar to his, too."

"I wish I could have met him. I wish I could have met my grandfather."

"He would have been so proud of you," she said, beaming. "Oh, he'd have given you trouble about all those long curls, but he would have bragged to everyone about his grandson the professor."

"Are you really okay? About Uncle Nick?"

"Of course not," she said, her expression changing. "But whether I'm okay or not, it won't change anything. And Nicky needs to know that I'm going to cope with this. It will make it easier for him if he feels that I'll be all right."

"Sorry to contradict you, Grandma, but you *are* a remarkable woman."

********

Nick returned from his solitary outing by mid-morning, and the rest of the family was up and about by then, on the third pot of coffee. Though they were talking about a variety of subjects, their reluctance to disperse and go their separate ways was largely the result of Nick's revelation. The shadow of death hung over the gathering, and despite their best efforts at animated conversation, the reality of his illness was the proverbial elephant in the room everyone did their best to ignore. Everyone but Rachel, who left the conviviality of the kitchen for the relative privacy of the living room to spend some time with her son, the two of them talking in hushed tones together.

"She's the most amazing woman," Blair said of his grandmother. "This has to be breaking her heart and she's...well, she's out there, being a mom." The summation made Starsky smile, though he hadn't been doing much of that since learning about Nick's illness.

"She's always been that way. When Pop died, she was our pillar of strength, when we should have been hers."

"We should talk about how this changes our plans, Starsk," Hutch said. "Maybe we should hang around New York longer than we originally planned."

"I'd like that," Starsky said. "I want to spend some time with Nick, and I should be here for Ma. If something happens to Nicky..." Starsky paused, taking in a deep breath, "If something happens to Nick before the doctor thinks, I think I should be around."

"Do you think Uncle Nick and Grandma could make the trip to Cascade for the wedding, if Bill can get the jet?"

"I don't know, Blair. I think Ma would crawl on her hands and knees to be there, and Nick would never admit it if he couldn't, but I'm worried about the upheaval for both of them."

"Why don't we fly everyone from Cascade here, then?" Jim suggested. "Nobody in our immediate circle of family or friends there have health issues to deal with, and it's actually less of a hassle to pick everyone up in Cascade, since that's where the plane is, and fly them out here."

"You could have your wedding over Thanksgiving," Sophia suggested, enthused. "Even more of our family will be around then, and we could celebrate with a huge Thanksgiving dinner, and a party--what do you think?"

"I think it sounds perfect. What do you think, Chief?"

"Is there anybody in our group who won't be able to go because it's a holiday?"

"We're inviting Daryl and Simon both, so unless Daryl's spending it with Joan and doesn't want to leave, I don't think we'll be missing anyone. Our guests can bring guests. We aren't inviting the whole Cascade PD or anything, so that shouldn't be a problem."

"The weather gets pretty unpredictable that time of the year," Dan said. "I don't think you want to risk doing it outdoors. It'd be too cold."

"We can't have it here, Dan," Sophia said. "There's not enough room. Your parents could have it at their house! Our wedding was perfect there. Oh, you have to see their house!" Sophia gushed, resting a hand on Blair's arm. "It's in the high-rent district," she said, feigning an air of confidentiality.

"We can't crash in on Dan's family to have our wedding there," Jim said, smiling. "But we appreciate the thought."

"Jim, they have an *estate*. We got married in the ballroom, and it was beautiful. They have plenty of room there for a wedding, a fabulous party, and a sit-down dinner for the guests," Sophia responded.

"Let me give Mom a call and see what she has to say," Dan said.

"I don't feel right about this. We don't even know your parents," Blair spoke up.

"My mother adores entertaining and throwing big parties. The only glitch is my dad. He's not too thrilled with my career choice."

"He wasn't too thrilled with your wife choice, either, but your mother put him in his place in a big hurry," Sophia said, chuckling. "Dan comes from money, but he decided to be a cop and marry a girl from a working class family. That's dandy with his mother, but his father's got a few objections."

"Seems to be a Starsky trait--corrupting rich guys who should be in high society," Starsky said, nudging his own life partner. Hutch just chortled.

"I wouldn't be in high society anyway, Starsk. That wasn't my scene."

"Mine, either," Dan agreed. "I love my folks, but I could never live like they did. I'm fine right here." He slid his arm along the back of Sophia's chair and leaned in for a kiss. "I'm the richest guy in the world, anyway."

Sophia gave him a shaky smile, moved, and then started to laugh when their guests gave them a full chorus of, "Awwwwww."

********

Bill Ellison sorted his mail as he strolled up the sidewalk to his front door. He'd just finished lunch with an old friend from the company, and planned to spend the afternoon with a cup of hot chocolate and the pile of newspapers that came every day. //Amazing how well-read you become when you've got nothing better to do,// he thought with a derisive little snort.

Retirement didn't set too well with him, even now. He still felt as if he should be doing something. He had a nimble brain and his body was still moving around pretty well for an old fart, so it seemed like sheer laziness to lie around the house all day trying to figure out which newspaper to read first. His friend had suggested he start a consulting business, and that thought was weighing heavily on his mind when he heard the phone ringing from inside the house.

Belatedly realizing Sally had the day off, he fumbled with the keys, cursing under his breath. He got inside and picked up the phone in the entry area before the caller could hang up.

"Hello."

"Dad? Greetings from the Big Apple."

"Jimmy! How's the vacation going?" He tossed the mail on the table near the phone.

"It's been an experience. Starsky's family are great. Nice people. But things haven't exactly gone smoothly. You've heard Starsky refer to his brother, Nick?"

"The convict?" Bill asked. Jim chuckled on the other end of the line.

"That's the one." Then he became serious. "He's ill. Cancer."

"Oh, no. Is it treatable?"

"Apparently not effectively. He's declined chemo, and the doctor was pretty straight with him that it wouldn't change the ultimate outcome. They think about three months."

"That's rough. Sad time for a visit out there."

"Yeah, it is, but the more we've been thinking and talking with everyone here, we'd like to have our ceremony out here in New York, and I need a favor."

"The jet?" Bill asked, a smile in his voice. "When you were a kid, you just wanted the car keys."

"Guess my tastes are getting more expensive, huh?" Jim replied, laughing a little.

"When were you thinking?"

"Near Thanksgiving. We were thinking of having it right on the holiday, and serving a big banquet-type Thanksgiving dinner for the guests. It was actually Starsky's cousin, Sophia's, idea. Her in-laws have an estate out here, and I guess that's where Sophia and her husband had their wedding."

"Sounds like a nice idea. I'll check with Stan and see about the jet's availability. Either way, Jimmy, don't sweat it. We'll get the Cascade contingent out there one way or another."

"I don't want you picking up the tab for all those airline tickets, Dad."

"Leave the travel arrangements to me, and that's the last I want to hear about it."

"Dad--"

"I mean it. Look, Jim, I wasn't even *at* your wedding to Carolyn. Let me do this."

"Okay," Jim responded, a smile in his voice. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Besides, it may all be academic anyway if I can get the jet. How's Blair doing?"

"Still has some trouble with headaches, but he's enjoying the family time. This thing with Nick is pretty rough, but he's having a good time."

"Good. How about you?"

"They're a nice family. You know I've never been big on the whole extended family scene, so I'm glad they don't have too many more onslaughts of relatives coming over for dinner in the next few days."

"This husband of Starsky's cousin--"

"I don't know his father's first name, or what he did to get all that money, just that his last name is 'Meyer' and he's loaded."

"Meyer, Meyer..." Bill pondered. "Don't recognize the name right off. I did some deals with suppliers out in New York a few times, so I was just curious."

"We are still talking plastics here, right?"

"More or less," Bill replied, chortling.

********

The Meyer estate was the kind of sprawling domain William Ellison's countless hours of hard work had never quite managed, but to which that effort always aspired. Men who had homes like these were always just another notch up the ladder from Jim's father, and were the kind of men his mother aspired to marry. After walking out on her husband and children, she'd landed one with a bigger house, better cars, and a more impressive portfolio.

Jim smiled a little sadly as it occurred to him that his mother would have never left his father if they'd been living in something like this. He wondered if that would have been a curse or a blessing.

"Mrs. Meyer will be with you in a moment," the uniformed maid told them as they took seats in the elegantly furnished living room. The rich blue color on the walls was accented by woodwork painted white, and obviously expensive furnishings in shades of blue, cream, and white. A few tastefully placed floral pieces accented the room. A family portrait hung above the fireplace, with a number of family photos in frames on the mantel.

Sophia, Dan, Jim, and Blair had made the trip to the estate to talk to Dan's parents in person about the possibility of hosting the commitment ceremony and dinner there. Valerie Meyer had received the idea with enthusiasm on the phone, and invited her son to bring his wife and her cousin and his partner to the house so they could meet face to face.

"Hi, Mom," Dan greeted, rising to give his mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek as she entered the room. Valerie and Sophia shared a similar greeting before the lady of the house moved on to Jim and Blair.

"Congratulations, you two," she said, shaking hands with both of them as Sophia introduced them.

"Thank you, Mrs. Meyer. We appreciate you considering having the ceremony here," Blair said, smiling.

"Please, sit down," she said, looking immediately ill at ease. When they were all seated, she took in a deep breath. Then, looking relieved, as if she'd thought of one more mundane subject to delay the one that had cast the pall over her features, she asked, "Did Margaret offer you coffee, or perhaps soft drinks?"

"We're fine, Mom," Dan said. "What's wrong? Hey, where's Dad?"

"I am *so* sorry to have to do this." She took in a deep breath. "Your father is opposed to hosting the ceremony here."

"But why?" Sophia asked, frowning. "We had our wedding here."

"Sophia, please, if they would rather not do this, we don't want to impose," Jim said.

"It has nothing to do with not wanting to host a social occasion here." She rose from her chair and paced, pausing near the fireplace. "I'm very embarrassed to say this, but when he found that Sophia's cousin was making a commitment to another man, he refused. He's very emphatic on the point. We argued all last night about it, but he's not going to budge."

"Why didn't you say something, Mom?" Dan asked. "We didn't need to come all the way out here to be told that. You could have told me that much on the phone."

"I never thought he'd react that way. It was fine with me and he always leaves the social activities to me. I told him Sophia's cousin was getting married and that you'd asked about having the wedding here. He was fine with that idea. By the time we really talked about the details and he reacted the way he did, you were already on your way here."

"Well, I guess we don't have much else to discuss. Thank you for your time, Mrs. Meyer," Jim said, rising.

"You have to believe that I feel positively horrible about this," she said, rising also and moving a bit closer to Jim.

"Please, Mrs. Meyer, you don't owe us any apologies. It's your home, and it was a mistake for us to ask to use it. Blair, let's go," Jim said, the muscle in his jaw twitching. Sensing the impending storm, Blair rose and moved toward the door, Dan and Sophia exchanging troubled looks and getting up now, too.

"I'm really horrified that Dad would do such a thing," Sophia said, referring to her father-in-law. "What possible damage would it do? Who would even know?"

"Our friends, the family," Valerie said. "With it being over Thanksgiving...we always entertain during that time..."

"We'll be in the car," Jim said to Sophia as he moved toward the front door.

"Nice meeting you," Blair said a bit awkwardly in Valerie's direction as he accompanied Jim outside. "It's not her fault, Jim."

"Oh, bullshit," Jim said, leaning against Dan's SUV, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head. "Wake up and smell the coffee, Chief. It would be fine with them as long as no one knew. God forbid they'd have a male couple in their house in front of their friends. She can hang it on her husband, but you know damn well she's not any better off with it. She's one of those people who like to appear broad-minded as long as it doesn't cost her anything."

"She said--"

"She was lying, Blair. Lying like the fucking five thousand dollar rug on her living room floor. I can tell when someone's lying, and that was a beauty. Hell, her husband probably doesn't even know about all this crap. She's been trying to think of a socially correct way out of it since Dan called her, and in the absence of one, she blamed it on her husband the bigot, who was conveniently not home."

"Sorry. I didn't think about you using radar on her," Blair retorted, his anger at the situation leeching into his reply to Jim.

"Would you rather I didn't? Is this marriage is going to be like a bad remake of 'Bewitched' where my mortal husband won't let me use my powers?"

"I know you're pissed off at her, but don't take it out on me, man. I'm in no fucking mood for it."

"You're the one who's upset because I figured her out for the fraud she was. I know life's probably a lot more fun when you don't know what people really mean, but unfortunately, I do."

"We're both pissed off at her but since we can't read her the riot act, we're out here tearing into each other instead," Blair said, sighing. "We're not gonna change the world, Jim. What's beautiful to us is still ugly to a lot of people out there."

"If anybody could see loving you as being ugly, they're blind and nuts." As Jim pulled him closer with his good arm, Blair opened his mouth to protest and found Jim's tongue in it, the unexpected kiss silencing any further conversation.

"Don't let us interrupt," Sophia teased, swatting Jim on the shoulder lightly as she passed them.

"I'm sorry about that," Dan said, jerking a thumb back toward the house. "She was fine on the phone last night."

"This is *not* going to get us down, troops," Sophia announced as they all piled back into the SUV. "This is just a setback. A change of venue. What about my folks' house?"

"What about a hotel or a banquet hall?" Blair said.

"Oh, no. This is a family event, and it will happen in a family setting. How many people are you guys going to want to bring out from Cascade?"

"Well," Blair pondered, "there's Bill, Steven and Sally, Simon and Daryl, Joel, Megan, Rafe... Henry won't come because he'll be going home," Blair said to Jim, who nodded. "Serena, if she can come, Rhonda, but I think she goes to her folks' over the holidays."

"There probably won't be more than twelve people at the most, then, right?" Sophia said.

"Right," Blair confirmed, nodding.

"Okay. I can do a sit-down dinner for forty people if we put the tables in the living room. We can move the furniture into the basement except for the tables and chairs. We have a piano for music, and we can play whatever CD's you want on the stereo."

"We wouldn't want to put you through all that, Sophia," Jim said.

"I love doing things like that. We can make this work, and it would be a real family event then, with everybody gathered around the table for Thanksgiving."

"Maybe they want something a little fancier than tables and chairs in our living room, Soph," Dan said, smiling.

"We just don't want to turn your lives upside down that way. That's a lot of upheaval for Grandma, too," Blair said.

"She thrives on family, Blair," Sophia replied. "Look, I'll completely understand if you want to have it at some kind of banquet hall or something. I didn't mean to just...*take over* like that. But we would love to host it for you at our place, and it would be a really incredible part of a perfect family holiday."

"Jim?" Blair looked at Jim, who knew right then what his answer would be. He'd never successfully resisted those eyes since he met Blair.

"Sounds great."

********

Sophia was again playing the role of hostess, putting on dinner not only for her house guests, but another group of Starsky cousins whose exact ties to Blair Jim really couldn't recall. Someone was someone's uncle or sister or cousin and married someone else's shirttail relative, and the three couples at dinner were the result. Two of the couples were Starskys, the others were Goldmans. All very warm and friendly people near Jim's and Blair's age range, the dinner was pleasant and the conversation was lively, but Jim was delighted to slip out for a while with the excuse that he'd promised to call his father. Blair didn't blow his cover that he'd already called Bill the previous day, but simply smiled knowingly as his lover fled up the stairs for a little solitude.

Stretched out on the sofa bed in the den, Jim let out a long yawn and did his best to block out the animated voices that carried upstairs. Ironically, he really did want to call his father, so he dialed the number on his cell phone and waited for a reply.

"Hello?" It struck Jim for a moment that the somewhat hopeful "hello" on the other end of the line was a far cry from the bark of "Ellison" that his father used to answer the phone with, when he answered it at all. Usually, Sally managed to answer all phones along with watching the boys, keeping a flawless house and cooking like a gourmet. "Hello? Jimmy?"

"Hi, Dad. Sorry. We've got another houseful here and I guess I got distracted. How'd you know it was me?"

"Steven got me the caller ID thing for my birthday, remember?"

"Oh, right," Jim said, smiling and nodding. Bill actually answered the phone quite frequently himself, now that he could see ahead of time who he'd be connecting with on the other end.

"Everything okay? I didn't expect to hear from you so soon."

"I just called to say thanks. For how you've treated Blair, and the way you accepted our relationship. It means a lot to me, in case I haven't said it before."

"You're welcome. Blair's like another son to me, you know that. Besides, I'd be the last man to hand out relationship advice to my children." He paused. "What made you think of that?"

"We had a fairly unpleasant contact with the Meyers. Apparently they didn't want an all-male couple getting married in their house, especially on a holiday when other friends might find out. I guess it just made me think of the times Blair and I have gone to the Club with you, or we've all gone somewhere together and run into someone you know. You haven't swept us under the rug like a dirty family secret."

"I'm very proud of you, Jimmy. You've always known that... Well, at least I hope you usually knew it, anyway. Blair's a born diplomat and socializer, so there's no reason for me not to be proud of him. God knows he's the only almost-Ph.D. in our family. Plus I'm very, very tired of living my life to advance my standing with the 'right people.' It really didn't gain me anything that matters--except being estranged from my sons for years--so why keep doing it?"

"I think I was just seeing the snooty, despicable side of being rich and socially correct, and I was glad I didn't have to deal with that."

"So where's the wedding going to be? At a hall of some sort?"

"Sophia and Dan's living room. She feels she can handle doing dinner for about forty people, and we won't have more than that out here in New York anyway, even with everyone who comes from Cascade." Jim heard his father move the phone away from his head a moment to say something, presumably to Sally. There was an audible female gasp.

"I just told Sally about the sit-down dinner for forty," he said, coming back to the phone. "I'm in the kitchen looking for samples of dinner," he added. Jim looked at his watch, realizing it was about dinner time back on the West Coast. "She keeps shooing me away from the pots, so I guess that means I'm not getting any."

"Doesn't sound hopeful, does it?"

"I can get the jet, by the way. I talked to a couple of people at the company, and no one's using it over the holiday weekend. I'm thinking we should all come out there Wednesday, early in the day, to get used to the time difference and get settled in a hotel."

"Good thinking. I have to check on reservations somewhere nice. We'll call the other guests from Cascade and then get you a final list of passengers as soon as we can."

"Jim...how offended do you think Sophia would be if you had the wedding somewhere else?"

"She said she'd understand if we wanted something different. I'm sure she would. She's getting plenty of chances to entertain people while we're here."

"I'd like to make some arrangements if you'd let me. I have an idea for someplace really special, but I'd need to check it out first, see if it was available."

"You're already arranging the jet, Dad. You don't have to do anything else."

"I know I don't have to. But this is probably the last time my oldest son is getting married, and I'd like to do something really special. This ought to be a once in a lifetime experience--not a few words said between passing the turkey and the squash over dinner at a card table in someone's living room."

"We really appreciated Sophia's offer to go through all that hassle for us."

"I'm not demeaning the thoughtfulness of the offer. And if that's what you and Blair would rather do, then I will be more than delighted to fly out there and join you all for dinner. But think about it, Jim. You know Blair wanted something more than that, and if you were honest with yourself, you'd like something more, too, as long as you didn't have to have any part in planning it."

"God, I guess you do know me."

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Jimmy. All my life I hated being involved in event planning. Whether it was something at the company or something at home. I hated it with a passion unrivaled by anything else in my life. It's one of the reasons--hell, one of the scores of reasons--your mother left me. Anytime we had a party, I'd tell her to just 'tell me what time it starts and if I have to be there.' You come by that naturally. You're better off marrying a man. Women don't handle those responses very well."

"So *you're* going to plan my wedding, even though you despise planning events?" The dual shock of his father planning a wedding, and actually telling him he was better off marrying a man, was a lot to absorb in one conversation. He made a mental note to check under his father's bed for the pod.

"Yeah, well, wait 'til you're my age and you'll find out quite a few things change. I would enjoy doing it now."

"If you really mean that, sure, that's fine with me. And thank you. But I need to get Blair's okay on it. Sophia's his cousin, so I don't want to pressure him into turning her down if he'd rather have it here."

"Of course not. But try to convince him. I think he'll be glad he went along with it."

"I'll do my best. I'll give you a call tomorrow and let you know."

"I have a breakfast at 7:30, but I should be home by about 10:00. It's the Cascade Arts Council, and you know what a bunch of old windbags they are. I'll have to sit through two hours of presentations on worthy art projects when they could do the same thing by just giving us a list of requests and a dollar amount we have to work with and let us divvy it up, have a croissant, and go home."

"You could quit the board if you're...well...*bored* with it." Jim smiled at the similar words. Bill chuckled.

"I've been on the Board for twenty-five years. I'll be damned if I quit now. It's one of the things I want in my obituary."

"Thanks, Dad. That's cheery."

"The older you get, your obituary turns into a perverted sort of resume. It's the last time anyone's going to read about your life, unless you're famous. Last chance to look like you did something worthwhile."

"You did plenty worthwhile, Dad."

"Looks good on paper, anyway," Bill responded, a smile in his voice.

"I wasn't talking about work or memberships." Jim paused. Gushing emotional declarations didn't come easily with anyone but Blair, and least of all with his father, given their long history of tension and relationship troubles. "You did a lot for Steven and me, even if we didn't figure it out until now. I never told you this..." Jim smiled. "I never wanted to give you credit. But every time I didn't back down from a challenge, or I didn't let some big-mouthed drill sergeant intimidate me or break my spirit, or I came out number one in some kind of competition...you gave me that taste for winning. And whether Steven ever admits it or not, you did the same thing for him, and it's why he's making money faster than he can spend it."

"But you said yourself...you and Steven didn't remember your childhood as having many good times... I appreciate what you're saying, but we both know I wasn't very good at being a father."

"You did your best, Dad. You gave your best to us. We can find all the things that were wrong with it and figure out all the things you should have done differently but in the end, you wanted the best for us. I didn't always agree with how you went about it--I still don't--but that was the bottom line. Our future and us being winners was the most important thing to you." Jim paused, shaking his head with a smile. "I remember one thing you used to say, and it always makes me laugh, because it's true. You told me that 'the only people who say money and success don't matter are the people who don't have any of either.'"

"I vaguely recall saying that," Bill said, laughing. "I just never thought you'd remember it."

"I still don't think winning is everything, and you can't buy the most important things in life with money or a big job, but that doesn't mean your life isn't a lot better for you and the people you love when you do your best and try to win in everything you do. You never taught us to be crooked or unethical--just excellent, goal-directed, and tenacious. Sometimes kids take those qualities in the wrong directions when they're still trying to figure out what's important, but it's a hell of a formula when you're an adult and you know what you're doing."

"I don't know what to say," Bill replied, his voice sounding a little strained.

"You don't have to say anything. But I just wanted to say thanks--for your high blood pressure and your tension headaches and the gallons of Alka-Seltzer you tossed back, and the sixteen hour days... There were things that weren't great, things we needed from you that sometimes we didn't have, but I don't think many fathers tried any harder than you did to give us what you thought we needed." There was a long silence before Bill responded.

"You should warn an old man before you get sentimental," he said, clearing his throat.

"I didn't expect to do it myself," Jim said, snorting a little laugh. "Not really the Ellison men's style, is it?"

"No, not really," Bill said, chuckling. "Call me tomorrow and let me know about the arrangements."

"I will. Thanks for doing this, Dad. Mostly...thanks for *wanting* to do it. For accepting the person I love and not keeping us in a closet someplace."

"I hate to break this to you, Jimmy, but I'd like to see someone keep Blair in a closet for more than thirty seconds."

"Good point," Jim responded, laughing. "Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, son. Talk to you tomorrow." With that, Bill hung up. As Jim broke the connection, he sighed, thinking back over his conversation with his father. There were a million things he could think of about his childhood that made him feel hurt, or angry, or scared, or confused. Still, despite a relentless schedule, which he was becoming more and more aware of how much his father hated, Bill Ellison was never more than a phone call away. He'd left instructions with his secretary that if one of his sons or Sally called and said it was urgent, any meeting could be interrupted without a second thought.

Jim yawned and leaned back on the couch, wondering how attentive and nurturing he'd have been as a parent, without a wife, without Blair, and with his own work schedule, which was less brutal than Bill's had been at Jim's age. The answer made him feel a bit more forgiving of his father's shortcomings. He snorted a little laugh at Bill's assessment that "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

********

The last of the guests finally out the door, Blair joined Jim upstairs, somehow fitting himself on the couch to stretch out in Jim's arms.

"How'd the rest of the evening go?"

"Fine. There's this strain there, because Nick isn't telling the extended family right now that he's sick, and I know it's hard for Grandma to keep up a front. She's pretty remarkable though. I don't think I'd be able to do that well. Sometimes I don't do as well as she does."

"She's had a hard life. If nothing else, it probably toughened her up a lot when it comes to tragedies and losses."

"You call your dad for real?" Blair asked, poking Jim, grinning.

"Actually I did." Jim paused. "Do you think Sophia would be really upset if we didn't get married here?"

"In New York?"

"In this house."

"She's pretty easy-going. I don't think so. I think she meant it when she said she'd understand if we wanted to do something else."

"My dad wants to give us a wedding. Orchestrate the whole thing--well, I have a feeling Sally will be doing a whole lot of phone calling and arrangement-making, but he wants to 'administrate' it," Jim added, chuckling. Then he became more serious and added, "He wants us to have something once-in-a-lifetime, not just...well, as he put it, saying a few words to each other between passing dishes at Thanksgiving dinner."

"I thought you didn't want all the hoopla."

"If someone else wants to do all the hoopla, I don't have a problem showing up for it."

"I guess that's a point," Blair said, snorting a little laugh.

"It's a major moment in our lives. Maybe he's right. Maybe we're wasting it by not making...something out of it. Some kind of special event."

"I'll talk to Sophia. If Bill really wants to do this, I think we should accept it."

"Just as a warning, it'll be fancy and upscale."

"You're the one who didn't want to bother with the Cascade Towers Hotel or the caterers, so if you're okay with it, don't worry about me, man. I dress up okay."

"You dress up great. You undress even better," Jim added, rolling over to pin Blair against the couch. Their lips met in a ravenous kiss as hands clumsily worked at opening clothing and exposing skin. Finally tired of the struggle, they got up long enough to shed their disheveled clothes and pull out the sofa bed, remembering at the last minute that they didn't want to leave any embarrassing stains on Sophia's upholstery.

With the bed available, and clothing cast aside, they fell together on the mattress, Jim cursing his awkward casted arm as he considered ravishing Blair to be a two-handed job. Kissing and caressing gave way to humping, and the simple friction of their bodies brought them to a somewhat hasty climax. Jim bumped noses with Blair, smiling.

"Guess we were both a little quick on the draw," he said, kissing Jim.

"I think I'm going to like being married to you," Jim teased, returning the kiss.

"Gee, I'm glad to hear that." Blair laughed, nestling into Jim's arms. "After being together all this time, it would be a real bummer if you didn't."

"Marriage always seemed like a confinement. A tie-down. I don't feel that way with you. I want to stake my claim so you're mine officially."

"Like I haven't been yours since about two seconds after I laid eyes on you," Blair responded, chortling. "I've always been yours, Jim. I always will be."

********

Jim and Blair flew back to Cascade, neither feeling they should be away from work for the remaining two weeks before the wedding. Starsky wanted to spend more time with his mother and Nick, and Hutch, as always, wanted to spend time with Starsky, so they opted to remain in New York longer than originally planned.

Meanwhile, Bill and Sally worked behind the scenes on their covert plans for the wedding, making accomplices of the Starsky clan in New York to make any arrangements better handled in person.

Jim was enormously relieved to have the cast removed from his arm, and went to a few physical therapy sessions before graduating to doing his own exercises in the gym. His arm had healed well, and as physically fit as he was before the accident, it took little time for him to progress to the point of working with small hand weights on his own to regain the strength in his arm. He spent most of his time cleaning up paperwork at the PD.

Blair spent some needed hours in the loft working on his dissertation. He'd altered his research topic enough to avoid naming "sentinels" in so many words, but instead was focusing on how many children were being misdiagnosed with autism, attention deficit disorder or other behavioral problems that really had one or more heightened senses that caused them to narrow their focus to those senses exclusively or to shy away from things like light and sound. To Blair, he was researching the misdiagnosis of little sentinels, but to the rest of the world, it would merely be hope for treating childhood behavioral problems more effectively, and hopefully nothing that would target any one child for undue scrutiny. The same foundation that had withdrawn its funding for Blair's sentinel research almost a year earlier had now made another grant to him that was supporting his research without the necessity of him maintaining a full teaching fellowship schedule at Rainier. Instead, he taught a couple courses as adjunct faculty. It freed him from being the flunky of tenured professors, and gave him the flexibility to work with Jim and on his research.

Blair was typing some of the notes from an interview he'd done with the parents of an autistic child when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Chief, you have time to ditch the research and go for a little joyride?" Jim asked.

"Joyride?" Blair felt a sense of dread, wondering what kind of vehicle Jim had finally found that inspired him to actually test-drive it, and think of it as a joyride. Jim seemed to like the big black Hummer they'd tried a few days earlier, but he'd been noncommittal about actually going through with the deal. They'd test-driven a new Ford Excursion, which was even bigger than the Expedition, and Jim had been uninspired by it, though he admitted it would be a good vehicle for their camping trips.

"I'm downstairs in front."

"In what?"

"Just come downstairs. You can't miss it."

"O-kay. I'll be down in a minute." Blair hung up and slid into his leather coat, grabbing his keys on the way out.

When he made it to the sidewalk in front of the apartment building, he had to admit the giant black vehicle suited Jim. It was the biggest, meanest-looking Dodge pick-up Blair had ever laid eyes on. An all black Dodge Ram Hemi Magnum, with a front end design that reminded Blair of a very large, angry bodybuilder--curved in places, straight in others, wide and powerful.

"Like it?" Jim's voice startled him a little as he stared at the vehicle that looked as if it might gobble up the first pedestrian who strayed too close to it.

"It definitely makes an entrance, that's for sure."

"You hate it."

"No, not at all," Blair said, starting to smile. "It's growing on me. That's one bad-ass truck, man."

"Drives great, too. Come on, let's go for a spin and check it out."

"Okay." Blair smiled as Jim opened the passenger door for him, wondering if his lover had any idea how *couplish* that looked, and deciding Jim probably did and didn't care. Blair found his foothold and hand-hold for swinging himself up into the big truck, and Jim closed the door behind him. In a flash, Jim was up in the driver's seat, gunning the engine.

"What do you think?" Jim had all the enthusiasm of a kid at Christmas, so Blair didn't figure there was much point in doing anything but making friends with the big truck that was about to be added to their family. It was sharp inside, he had to give it that. The gray leather seats, the contrasting white gauges, and the panoramic view of the world from atop Mount Ram weren't too hard to take. "Front and side airbags, and big enough to stomp anything that gets in our way."

"I reckon we could have taken on that Escalade a little better in this bad boy."

"Blair, I'm never going to put you at that kind of risk again. Ever. This truck drives like a dream, it flies when it has to, and it takes the curves like a champ. And it's big enough and safe enough that if we have another mishap, we'll be as protected as we can be."

"Let's go for a ride. I think I'm gonna like this thing once I get used to it."

Jim grinned happily at that and pulled out into traffic, moving very doggedly toward a less populated area so he could show Blair a few of the truck's more powerful amenities on the road. Blair, for his part, wasn't sure how he felt about that. They hadn't really driven too wildly in the Hummer, since the salesman had insisted on coming along for the ride and babbling about all the vehicle's amenities. The man's presence had not only annoyed Jim to no end, but had pretty much curbed his desire to really put the pedal to the metal and try the monster out on the open road.

Blair still found himself flinching at intersections, and just overall being jumpier than he wanted to be in a car. He had driven several times himself since returning home from New York, but they were short local runs, and he'd moved through traffic like a little old man on his first solo trip.

"You okay, Chief?" Jim asked, frowning.

"Yeah, fine," Blair said, smiling as he lied.

"Blair."

"I'm all right, Jim."

"Your heart's pounding."

"I'm excited."

"Bullshit. You were never this excited about a truck and you know it."

"I'm still a little jumpy from the accident, I guess."

"And I'm heading out for country roads with the most powerful V8 engine on the market." Jim shook his head. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I never thought about it."

"You should just go ahead, Jim. I've gotta get my nerve back. I trust you."

"I almost got you killed."

"The asshole who pulled out in front of us did that. It wasn't your fault, and I do trust you. I'm just skittish, I guess."

"We don't need to do 90 to test the truck. We can just take a normal ride."

"You want to really open it up, right?" Blair said, smiling.

"The thought had crossed my mind," Jim admitted, chuckling.

"Go for it. I mean it, Jim. I've gotta get over this and you want to try the truck, so let's do it."

"I guess it's my turn to be honest." Jim sighed. "I haven't really floored it since the accident. I'm not too sure how I feel about ripping up the back roads, either."

"You think you'll be able to do it if you have to?"

"I hope so." Jim shrugged. "I think I can, especially if I know you're okay, that we're both safer than we were before."

"Maybe we should just go out and...accelerate a little," Blair said, smiling.

"A little, huh? Okay, we'll give it a shot." Jim headed out toward the more rural areas of the county, accelerating "a little" as they went until they were traveling about 75 miles per hour.

"You look like you belong there," Blair said, watching Jim in the driver's seat. "This is *so* your truck, Jim."

"You want to try it out?" Jim offered, slowing down gradually. It was on the tip of Blair's tongue to refuse, since he didn't often drive Jim's truck anyway, and these skyscrapers-on-wheels would be his last choice in a vehicle for himself, but he didn't have the heart to dampen Jim's enthusiasm.

"Sure. I'll have to adjust the seat, though."

"I think we can swing that." Jim pulled onto the shoulder of the road and they switched sides. Once Blair was behind the wheel, he moved the seat forward until his feet comfortably reached the pedals.

"Kind of a rush, isn't it?" Blair said, looking down on the world from his spot in the driver's seat.

"Give it a try, Chief," Jim said, fastening his seat belt as Blair did the same. Though Blair didn't take it up quite as high for speed, he did make it to about 60, and found the big truck was smooth-riding and responsive. He could picture it taking on whatever chases they might have to be involved in, and as Jim said, it could stomp anything that crossed its path. That thought unnerved Blair a bit, hoping nothing innocent ever crossed their path.

"We would really annihilate anybody we hit in this thing. I mean, if they weren't a perp..."

"Chief, if we hit anybody in a truck or SUV in a high-speed chase, we're going to do some major damage. It just becomes degrees of damage."

"Maybe we should look at a car. I mean, if you hit somebody in a car, they might walk away from it."

"And we might not. I'd do anything I could to avoid hitting a pedestrian or hitting innocent motorists. That jerk we hit blew a stop sign. Even if he didn't hear *us* coming, if he'd obeyed the traffic laws, I wouldn't have hit him. If people blow off the traffic laws, they're putting themselves and everyone else at risk, and frankly, I'd rather let them take their chances and make sure we're safe."

"This isn't about not trusting you, or thinking you're reckless. I want you to know that. It's just that after the accident, I got much more conscious about the kind of damage accidents do, and even in that old pick-up, we did a number on that Escalade. I mean, we came out worse, but if he'd had a passenger..."

"He'd have been responsible for getting that person killed, not us." Jim sighed. "If you don't feel good about this, we won't go ahead with it."

"No, I think we should. It's a great truck, Jim. I've gotta admit, even I like it, and I don't go for these monsters like you do."

"Then let's go back to town and sign some papers."

"Yeah, adopt the new baby and bring it home," Blair teased, laughing.

"When we get done at the dealership, I was thinking we could swing by a couple jewelry stores. Check out the rings."

"I'm for that," Blair said, grinning happily.

With the big truck safely off the car lot, away from any other prospective buyers and protected by Jim's deposit, they returned to the borrowed sedan Jim was using in the meantime and drove back toward the downtown business district. Jim pulled up in front of one of Cascade's best-known jewelers.

"Uh, Jim, I hate to tell you this, but you're probably not going to be able to afford the truck if we shop in there. We could go to a cheaper store, see what they've got in their jewelry department. And I know I can't shop in here."

"I can cover it, Chief."

"I don't want you to cover it. I want to be able to buy you a ring, too, and I can't do it in here. I know I can't."

"You might be surprised what kind of a deal we could get in here. Besides, we're not going for anything fancy with big diamonds and gemstones. We want real basic rings. At least, I think we do."

"Yeah, just something nice that we can leave on all the time."

"Let's just look. If we can't afford anything, we'll leave."

"Okay. I guess it wouldn't hurt."

The store was fairly simple in its decor, with dark burgundy carpeting and white walls adorned with a few tasteful pieces of art and a few wall-mounted showcases. A middle-aged man in a navy blue suit, white shirt, and tie was just finishing a transaction with an elderly woman whose elegant clothing and carefully chosen, expensive pieces of jewelry spoke of affluence.

"My dad got his last watch here," Jim said, checking out the watches in the counter closest to the door. "He got it when I was twelve, and I think he's still wearing it."

"May I help you?" The man approached them where they stood near the watch counter.

"Yes, we're looking for wedding rings." At the man's slight hesitation, Jim added, "Men's rings. We'd like them to match, but if not, we'll look at alternatives."

"Right this way," the man directed, never missing a beat. "I'm sure we have at least a couple of choices with two rings in stock."

"Wait a second. Blair, look at this one." Jim pointed at a man's ring in white gold, with a brushed finish, and a small, square sapphire in the middle. Though the stone was small, it had an amazing clarity and a brilliant blue color. It was substantial enough to be masculine, but small enough to be comfortable for a man who didn't wear a lot of traditional jewelry. "Can we see that one?" Jim asked.

"Of course. And may I say, it's a stunning choice. The sapphire is exceptional."

"It matches your eyes," Jim said, staring at the stone with a sentinel-intensity. "Clear and absolutely blue...color you could drown in..."

"Jim," Blair put a hand on Jim's arm, stunned that Jim was actually zoning on the small sapphire. To his non-sentinel eye, it was still exceptional, but it was obvious Jim was enraptured with it. "Is that the one you like best?"

"For you. I like it for you. If you like it," Jim seemed to snap out of his fixation on the stone and handed the ring to Blair.

"Sapphires are really expensive. This one has to be a killer price."

"Screw the price," Jim said, surprising the jeweler and Blair, both. "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful. I'd have to be blind and nuts not to like it."

"Let's try it on." Jim took it back from Blair and slipped it on Blair's ring finger. It was almost uncanny the way it slid on and fit perfectly, as if it had been waiting for him.

"Yours won't match."

"You pick mine out. Even if they don't match, there'll be a special reason for each one. A reason we chose them."

"Jim, whatever this is, I know I can't afford anything like it."

"We have layaway and installment plans," the jeweler offered hopefully. "I chose that stone myself at an estate sale. It was set in a very unimpressive, frankly somewhat unattractive setting, so I designed a new setting for it. I find my gemstones in all different places--gem shows, estate sales, direct from certain mines..." Seeing Blair's hesitation, but obvious admiration for the ring, and Jim's blatant rapture with the piece, he smiled. "This is probably one of my best finds. They had no idea what it was worth," he said, and Jim was visibly surprised by his candor. He'd expected a quote that would end the discussion--well up in the thousands--and the jeweler admitting he'd gotten a bargain on the stone wasn't the best way to lay the groundwork for it.

The jeweler pulled a small calculator out from beneath the counter and began punching in figures. He looked at the results and sighed. Then he ran a couple more calculations.

"I can let you have it for $1,000 even, with tax."

Jim gaped at him, not quite able to hide his surprise.

"The rings I design and create myself are works of art for me. Part of the reason for doing it is making a living, but part of it is seeing someone react to your work the way you've both reacted to that piece."

"You like that one, Chief?" Jim asked.

"It's great. I love it."

"Then it's a deal," he said to the jeweler, who took the ring back from Blair and set it behind the counter to ring up the sale when they were finished.

Blair began scanning the rings in the case, looking for that one piece that would scream "Jim" to him the way his ring had reminded Jim of Blair. It had to be strong but subtle, elegant but tailored, and above all, unique. And then, he saw it. A gold ring with a square of onyx with a small tiger eye stone set inside the onyx, at its lower right corner. It was the jeweled equivalent of the gold eye of the black panther.

"Jim, look," Blair said, knowing words were failing. It was too perfect.

"What does it make you think of?" the jeweler asked them both.

"A panther," Blair blurted. "A black panther with gold eyes."

"I suppose you wouldn't believe me if I told you that was the inspiration for it?"

"You've gotta be kidding," Jim said, staring at the ring as the man took it out of the display case and handed it to him.

"I was watching a nature program, and the idea came to me when I saw a large black panther on the screen. I worked on the design for it the next day."

"That's really sharp," Jim said, and Blair took it from him.

"Try it on?"

"Absolutely," Jim agreed, and Blair slipped the ring on Jim's finger.

"It's a little loose," Blair said, frowning.

"I can size it down a bit. How soon do you need it?"

"In about two weeks," Jim responded. "We're having a ceremony Thanksgiving weekend."

"You can pick it up in a few days. I do all my own work in-house, so you don't need to wait for it to be shipped out to another jeweler."

"How much is it?" Blair asked, almost cringing.

"I started out at $975, but since you guessed it was a panther's eye, that should be good for something," he said, smiling as he worked his magic on his calculator again. "How about $850?"

"You sure you can swing that, Blair?"

"Oh, yeah, I've been planning for this. I can handle that. Jim, it's perfect. We'll take it," Blair said, grinning.

"Wonderful. We're just going to check your ring size," he said to Jim. "Was the sapphire ring comfortable?" he asked Blair.

"Perfect."

"Okay, let's see what we have to do for sizing on the panther ring."

After completing their transactions, the jeweler added one more comment that sent a little chill up both their spines.

"You probably won't believe this, but the tiger eye stone and the sapphire came from the same estate sale. The sapphire was in a man's ring, and the tiger eye was in a woman's ring. They were liquidating the estate of a married couple, so I guess the stones have a history of being together."

********

"Was he telling the truth about the stones?" Blair asked as they headed for the car.

"I was a little skeptical myself, but he was on the level. Besides, he had no reason to lie when we'd already bought them. I still can't believe the price on that sapphire."

"I'm glad you made us stop here. I love the rings."

"So do I. They're perfect."

"They don't match but they're perfect for each other--just like us," Blair said, grinning and nudging Jim as they approached the car.

"Blair, get down!" Jim shouted, and before Blair could react, Jim was on top of him on the sidewalk, throwing them both to safety beside the car as several bullets shattered the glass. Scrambling to his feet, Jim caught sight of a red Camaro with dark tinted windows racing away from the scene. "Stay put." He rushed around the car to get in the driver's seat, but Blair got in the passenger seat anyway.

"Go!"

"Blair, stay here. I--"

"Damn it, Jim, go get him. *I'm* not going anywhere," Blair said emphatically as he fastened his seat belt. Without any further hesitation, Jim gunned the engine and hit the siren and visor flashers on the unmarked sedan.

Jim drove with his usual single-minded determination, managing to make a conservative police sedan keep pace with a sports car as they chased their assailant through many of the same streets they'd taken the day of their crash. Blair radioed in their location and the subject they were pursuing, calling for all units in the area to assist in apprehending a driver who had just attempted a drive-by shooting.

"You okay, Chief?" Jim asked, taking another sharp turn that caused the car to fishtail before regaining its course.

"I'm okay. Don't worry about me," Blair said a little tightly, his whole body braced back against the seat.

"I always do, sweetheart. If you say stop, we'll stop."

"That bastard killed just tried to kill us. Nail the son of a bitch to the wall! Let's get him!"

"You got it." Jim pressed the accelerator even further down, moving them along even faster, keeping the fleeing car in sight. Feeling his own heart thundering in his ears, he was glad Blair wasn't a Sentinel. It wouldn't do much to keep the passenger calm when the driver was wrestling major fears of his own. Still, he knew there was one way to conquer it--get back on the horse that threw him, figuratively speaking, only this time, do it right.

//Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing.//

//And I'm gonna win this one, you son of a bitch, so you might as well give it up now,// Jim mentally admonished the driver he was chasing. Another Camaro...

"What do you want to bet that's our hit-and-run driver with a paint job?" Jim asked.

"Can't you see inside the car?"

"Not if we don't want to crash. I can't concentrate on that and watch the road at the same time. I couldn't before. That's why I couldn't ID the jerk before."

Soon, additional sirens could be heard in the surrounding area. Jim pursued the fleeing driver around another corner, offering a silent prayer that these motorists knew enough to honor the stop signs and the sirens. Much to his relief, he saw two Cascade PD black-and-whites pull across the road well ahead of the speeding vehicles, setting up an instant road block. The driver of the Camaro slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop just inches from the two police cars, Jim pulling in tight behind the Camaro.

The police on the scene, including Jim, surrounded the bright red car, guns drawn, shouting orders to the driver to open the door slowly. Blair watched from inside their car, keeping out of the line of fire as directed.

Finally, the driver's door opened, and two upraised arms preceded the rest of the driver's body as she got out of the car. The driver who was pushed against the car, frisked, and cuffed, was a woman with long, very yellow blonde hair worn in a pony tail. Stunned, Blair got out of the car and moved a bit closer to the scene so he could hear what was transpiring.

"You have the right to--"

"You're Ellison," she spat angrily, interrupting Jim before he completed reading her the Miranda rights.

"...remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney--"

"What rights did you give Eldon? You shot him down like a dog!"

"What do you know about Garrison?"

"Plenty. I know he was a great man. I know that you were out to get him from the start. It was a witch hunt, just like he said! You didn't even bring him in alive!"

"Finish reading her rights and take her downtown. I want her Mirandized before I listen to any more of this crap," Jim said, handing her over to the uniformed officers.

"She's the missing blonde, huh?" Blair said as Jim rejoined him.

"What I want to know is why she hit and killed Marianne Phillips. We'll take the car back to the lab for tests, but I'm sure it's the same one. It's not exactly a spectacular paint job."

"She probably would have told you anything you wanted to know while she was having her little fit, but it wouldn't be admissible later."

"That's why I handed her over to the uniforms. When I question her, I want to nail her to the wall so no high-priced lawyer can talk her way out of it."

********

Andrea Danson sat at the table in the interrogation room, glaring at Jim as he sat on the other side of it to interrogate her. With Simon and Blair in the observation area on the other side of the glass, Jim was anxious to begin this session. She had waived her rights to a lawyer, provided she was interrogated by Jim.

"You were quite anxious to talk to me, Ms. Danson," Jim said, opening the newly created file in front of him and making a couple notes. "Would you like to tell me why you ran down Marianne Phillips and tried to kill my partner and me?"

"Hitting that woman was an accident. I never meant for that to happen," she said emphatically, but with little trace of emotion. "I was following you and Sandburg."

"We weren't moving," Jim objected. "We were parked by the curb."

"You're very literal, aren't you, Ellison? I mean I was tailing you and that's why I was even on that street. I saw someone I knew from work, and I was trying to get away before he spotted me and came over to the car. I pulled out and hit the accelerator, and I was looking back to see where he was. I didn't even see her until she was on my windshield. Guess her mother never taught her to look both ways."

"You came around a corner, speeding."

"Wasn't she jaywalking?"

"I don't think even Garrison would have sentenced her to death for that. Horsewhipping and the stocks, possibly. Why were you following us?" Jim asked, ignoring the flash of hostility in her features at his remark about Garrison.

"You were working the Nichols case. Eldon wanted to keep an eye on you. That's all."

"You realize you almost caused additional fatalities by leading us on that chase."

"You didn't have to chase me. I wouldn't have been going so fast, so long, if you'd backed off. You were as cavalier about the danger as I was. You just wanted to bust the bad guy."

"Vehicular homicides are pretty serious, and I think we all knew that woman wasn't going to survive that impact. Anyone who could just snuff out someone's life and keep driving is a menace to society. More of a menace than a single police chase."

"Eldon was upset about the hit and run," she said, sighing. "He really did have a strong conscience. He was a good man. You murdered a good man."

"He was about to torture my partner, and he'd been warned."

"Maybe your partner had it coming."

"You really bought everything Garrison was selling about torture, maiming, executions...all of it?"

"He was a brilliant man, and he was absolutely right. Back when society was brutal and bloody, those punishments didn't mean that much--they weren't shocking. But now, while our society is still brutal and bloody in its way, we are so bound by rules and correctness that there is no fear or shock value left to our criminal punishment system."

"So you'd rather be drawn and quartered than imprisoned for killing Marianne Phillips?"

"I told you that was an accident. I had no intention of killing anyone, and certainly not some innocent woman I didn't know. But my stopping wouldn't have changed anything for her. There was already a crowd gathering to help her, before I was even out of the area."

"I'm getting the feeling you people don't like to practice what you preach when you're the ones up for punishment."

"Anyone wants the best for themselves when they're the ones in the hot seat. That doesn't change how I felt about Eldon's theories."

"Why did you open fire on my partner and me today?"

"Because of what you did to Eldon. It was murder, and not only will you never be prosecuted for that, even if you were, you'd pay a very minimal price compared to the price Eldon paid."

"I see," Jim said, making a note. "How did you know we'd be in that particular spot at that particular time?"

"I followed you," she said, then looked as if she realized she'd said something she shouldn't. She'd just confirmed premeditation to Jim in an official interrogation, on tape. "And I just snapped," she added.

"Just snapped? You carry that revolver in your purse on regular basis?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

"Without a permit?"

"Eldon gave it to me for when I had to stay late to work on my research, or in one of the computer labs."

"You're a good shot, Andrea. You just about parted my hair with one of those bullets. You go to the shooting range and practice?"

"Eldon taught me to shoot. I used to do target practice at Wes' grandmother's farm."

"You had your car repainted. DMV says you have stolen plates on it."

"Was I supposed to drive around town in a car the police were looking for? Maybe you think I should have left the smashed windshield in it, as well."

"I think you should have turned yourself in at the scene."

"Maybe so," she said, shrugging. "But it seemed foolish to throw away my life when I couldn't save hers by stopping."

"What about Ethan Nichols?"

"I had nothing to do with that. I understood what Eldon was trying to accomplish, but I didn't have anything to with it...well, I made a couple of phone calls to get Nichols where Eldon wanted him, and helped tidy things up afterwards, but I didn't touch the guy."

"How about the professor in Seattle?"

"I don't know anything about that. I had nothing to do with it."

"What did you really think Garrison was going to do with Blair Sandburg?"

"Just what he said he was going to do. Keep him at the farm, treat him humanely, and enlist his help in gaining back some professional credibility. He felt Blair Sandburg could help him get the attention of the cops, and restore his reputation. Get people to listen to his theories seriously. He didn't plan to hurt him, certainly not to kill him."

"But he threatened him with torture with a hot iron."

"Then Sandburg must have done something to deserve it, because Eldon was not a violent man for no good reason."

"He tried to get away from where he was being held against his will."

"I'm sure Eldon warned him not to do that."

"And if he had, you condone permanently disfiguring someone for trying to escape a kidnaper?"

"I think I've answered enough questions for now, Detective. I'm sure you have what you want. You certainly see to it you get what you want, even if it means shooting someone down in cold blood."

********

Andrea Danson and Wesley DuPont were both charged with conspiracy to commit murder and kidnaping. Danson faced murder and attempted murder charges in connection with the death of Marianne Phillips and the attempted shooting of Jim and Blair. DuPont faced a host of other charges in connection with his role in disfiguring and abusing corpses. Both were attempting to strike deals with the D.A. to sell each other out, but the final outcome would be at least life behind bars for both of them, even if they managed to escape the death penalty--ironically, the type of penalty they'd been so in favor of during their relationship with Garrison.

Relieved to have the nightmarish case behind them, Jim and Blair prepared to make another trip out to New York, this time for their commitment ceremony, which Jim's father had kept shrouded in mystery. Both knew they had been waffling on what kind of event they wanted, and when it came down to it, as long as they were committing to each other with friends and family around, they would be content. The suspense of the impending "surprise party" that was bound to be fashioned in true Ellison elegance and style had done a lot to take their minds off what had been a miserable couple of months.

Jim and Blair each worked diligently on composing their vows, and planned to cover Thanksgiving Day at the PD so some of their colleagues could enjoy the holiday at home before leaving on the flight to New York on Friday afternoon. The ceremony and party was scheduled for Saturday night, so even those who had other plans for Thanksgiving were planning to join the group on the jet, bound for the big event.

Starsky and Hutch had remained with Starsky's family in New York, affording Starsky a chance to spend some precious days with his brother, enjoying a real camaraderie with him for the first time in their adult lives. Rachel was thoroughly enjoying, albeit with a strong sense of melancholy, this final chance to have both her boys together under one roof and getting along. Nick had his good days and his bad days, but thankfully, the good seemed to still outweigh the bad, giving him a chance to enjoy the time with family and friends. Deciding Starsky needed the time to enjoy with his family, Hutch agreed to be Bill's "New York contact," handling any facets of the arrangements that Bill couldn't manage by telephone from Cascade.

********

Early Friday afternoon, Jim, Blair, Steven, Bill, Sally, Joel, Megan, Simon, Daryl, Rafe, Brown, Rhonda, Serena, and Dan Wolf boarded the plane bound for New York City. All of Blair's attempts to wheedle information out of his father or Hutch had failed miserably, and the only hint the guests were given was to bring attire for a formal evening, and expect "nice" accommodations for their three-night stay in the Big Apple.

"I've gotta say, Bill, you've certainly kept all the details for this party a secret," Simon said. "I've been working on Sandburg for a solid week now, and he really doesn't know anything about it. Jim would take the secret to the grave, but I was counting on being able to wear Blair down."

"Hey, what you don't know, you can't tell, even under torture," Blair responded, laughing.

"I, for one, am dying to know where we're going. I've never seen New York City, and I can't wait," Megan said, enthusiastic. "A friend of mine gave me a list of sites I should see while I'm there, so I'm counting on Blair's family to point me in the right direction."

"I'm sure my Dad and Hutch, or any of the family, would be happy to have a chance to show off the city to some visitors. I bet they'll be offering the full Starsky tourist package. Jim and I haven't really seen the sights ourselves, yet."

"And it's not likely you will this weekend, either," Megan quipped, drawing a laugh out of the crowd.

"So is this hotel we're gonna stay at anywhere near anything? Shows or stores or museums?" Daryl asked.

"I think you'll be pleased with the location, Daryl," Bill said, smiling. "It's very centrally located. And that's all I'm saying."

"You remember that trip we took to The Plaza when I was...oh, man..." Jim thought a moment. "I had to be about fifteen. I think we set a new record for seeing the sights in the most expedient manner possible," Jim concluded, chuckling.

"I remember it," Bill said, smiling. "That was the year you went with me to San Francisco for that conference, Steve."

"Yeah, that was a great trip. We had relatives in San Francisco, so I got to see just about everything worth seeing while we were there," Steven explained. "Dad was tied up most of the day, but I got to Fisherman's Wharf, rode a streetcar, saw the Golden Gate Bridge--it was fun. But I was still jealous of Jim for getting to see Fifth Avenue near Christmas."

"We didn't have relatives in New York, so I spent most of the day finding ways to bedevil The Plaza staff with room service orders. But we got to a Broadway play, and we did some shopping on Fifth Avenue in the evening, ate at a couple famous restaurants... Dad, you think The Plaza staff'll remember me?" Jim asked.

"Nice try, Jimmy. No comment."

"My Ma gave me a list of relatives I'm supposed to look up," Brown said, sighing. "I think I'll just tell her they all moved. I wanna have some fun on this trip."

"Well, I do have a surprise for everyone," Steven said. "We have a block of seats for a Broadway play tonight, and reservations at a restaurant that's a known hangout for the actors. I have a good friend who works in Manhattan, and is friends with one of the theater managers."

"Which one is it?" Rhonda asked anxiously.

"The Phantom of the Opera. I thought I'd try for one everybody would probably enjoy and had heard of. I've been to a couple plays in the last several months when I've been out here on business, and one was spectacular, but the other was a real turkey."

"Hard to go wrong with 'Phantom,'" Bill opined. "It's usually pretty enjoyable, though I'll be interested to see how this guy does in comparison to Michael Crawford. I saw it during the original Broadway run, when it was such a big sensation, and it was marvelous."

"Blair, how is your uncle doing?" Sally asked, concerned.

"Dad says he's doing okay. He has some rough spots, but he's still able to go out on the town if he doesn't overdo it, and they seem to be having a nice visit."

"I'm glad."

"I'm just glad we didn't waste anymore years than we did," Steven said, gesturing toward Jim, who nodded.

"You never know when you won't get another chance. I'm glad Starsky and his brother got theirs, even if it was at the zero hour."

*********

Two white stretch limousines were waiting to take the travelers on the next leg of their journey. As they left the airport and began their trip down the expressway, the excitement mounted about their upcoming destination. As the limos wound through the congested downtown streets, Jim suspected The Plaza, but found he was wrong soon enough. The two limos waited for their opportunity to pull up in front of the historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

"I've heard of this place," Rhonda said, craning her neck to look out the window of the limo at the impressive gray limestone artifice. The entrance canopy stretched over the sidewalk, beneath the gold lettering, which was flanked by two ornate gold carved figures.

"I've got to hand it to you, Dad, you went first class," Jim said, smiling.

"Nothing but the best," Bill responded, just as the limo driver opened the door for the passengers to begin disembarking.

As they entered the hotel, they climbed a broad flight of stairs that led to a breath-taking lobby area, with high ceilings, an elaborate and ornate chandelier in the center, above a large, circular Art Deco mosaic in the floor.

"I swore if I ever had the chance to come to one of these places, I wouldn't embarrass myself by gawking like a poor girl from the country," Megan said to Blair, as she did that very thing.

"We're tourists. It's our job to amuse the locals," Blair stated. "If we don't, we'll throw off the whole social balance of things," he added.

"I *am* a poor girl from the country. I'm going to gawk," Rhonda said. "And then I'm going to shop. They're supposed to have some wonderful shops in here."

"They do. I won't even mention what my wife did to my credit cards in one afternoon here," Bill said, leading the way through the lobby. In his expensive cashmere topcoat atop an equally sharp business suit, with his neatly styled gray hair and fine wire glasses, Bill Ellison strode through the lobby like he owned the place. In the labyrinth of lobby areas and elegant gathering spots, he made his way unerringly to the front desk and announced the arrival of the Ellison party.

The front desk staff efficiently checked in each of the guests, and the limo drivers and bell staff gathered the luggage onto gold carts for the prolonged process of escorting each guest to his or her room.

"Wow, I got my own room," Daryl said, gleeful as he clutched his room key.

"It adjoins your father's," Bill said, not looking up from the paper he was signing, presumably relevant to the billing process. There was an evil little chuckle from Simon. Though Daryl was in college now, his father still kept a close eye on his activities, determined his son was going to make it through college in one piece, despite the party traps that existed along the way for Daryl and his peers. "All of the rooms are on the same floor, so we'll all be in the same area," he added.

"Only problem is, the Ellison party has to share the same floor with the Starsky party, and they're kind of a rowdy group," Starsky said, tapping Blair on the shoulder from behind.

"Dad! When did you get here?" The two men hugged briefly before Starsky continued.

"We all got settled in this morning."

"All?" Blair asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Hutch and me, Sophia, Dan and little Davey, Ma, and Nick. The rest of the family will come to the party, but we're all staying here over the weekend."

The large group took one elevator up while two bellmen and their luggage took another. When they arrived on the tenth floor, the process began of showing each guest to his or her room. In all the excitement, Blair hadn't noticed that neither he nor Jim had keys of their own.

"Hutch and I have a two bedroom suite, and you're staying with us until tomorrow night," Starsky announced, grinning a little evilly.

"And you'll be sharing my two bedroom suite tonight, Jimmy," Bill said, dangling his own key. "The honeymoon suite isn't reserved until tomorrow night."

"Uh, Dad, I hate to bring this up, but don't you think it's a little late to be worrying about propriety?" Jim said, smiling with a bit of disbelief.

"We're just following tradition. Building the anticipation a little," Starsky said, flexing his eyebrows. "You stay away from my son until you're ready to make an honest man out of him," he teased Jim, who had to chuckle.

"No guarantees, but I'll try," Jim responded.

"Don't try too hard," Blair added.

"We have dinner reservations in the Bull and Bear at seven," Bill announced, referring to one of the hotel's restaurants. "Should we all meet in the central lobby about ten to?" he asked, checking his watch. It was 5:30. After a flurry of nods and affirmative answers, the group dispersed to their respective rooms.

"Dad, I don't know what to say. This has to be costing you a small fortune."

"Just a small one," Bill said, smiling as he served himself a scotch on the rocks from the suite's elegant wet bar. "Would you like something?"

"I don't suppose they have a water in there?"

"I suppose they do," he responded, reaching into a small refrigerator under the bar and tossing the plastic bottle to Jim.

"This whole thing...what you're doing. It's really incredible."

Jim wasn't sure exactly how to phrase the statement, or how to thank his father for giving him the same kind of wedding with Blair he would have given him with a hand-selected socialite. Once Bill had accepted their relationship, he had never swept them under the rug or shied away from introducing them to his friends as just what they were--his son and his partner--and he didn't attempt to hide the true meaning of that phrase. Jim also knew he and Blair were uncommonly blessed with not only having one set of "parents" who were a male couple themselves, but with having total acceptance from the people who mattered most in their lives.

"Well, I can't take it with me, so I might as well spend it on the people who matter now. Although, Starsky insisted on splitting the hotel bill. It was important to him to be part of making this happen. Actually, Hutch handled a lot of the arrangements. He came over here in person and picked out which room we'd be using for the big event, talked with the caterers, made the final room arrangements... You can do all that by telephone, but I don't trust that with a major event."

"So the big event's tomorrow night. Blair and I wrote vows, but we didn't have much of a clue about what was happening."

"I didn't try to engage any sort of minister to preside. I assumed you'd want to make your vows to each other, with the party to follow."

"That's what I'd like best. I know Blair feels the same way. The pledge is between us, and since having a third party involved won't make it any more legally binding, why bother? He's already my domestic partner for all my insurance and benefits, we're on each other's accounts any way we can be. Separating us now would probably be messier than a standard divorce," Jim added, smiling as he took another drink of his water.

********

"I never would've guessed you guys would put Jim and me in separate rooms," Blair said, still a bit amused at the traditional approach of keeping them separated before the actual ceremony.

"We were making the arrangements," Starsky explained, "and it seemed kind of anticlimactic for you to have the honeymoon suite the night *before*, so we were going to put you in another room for tonight, and then we decided to build the suspense a little."

"Or the frustration level," Hutch added. "I told him there was more danger you'd both skip out on the party early if we did this," he concluded, chuckling.

"This place is really elegant. We were looking at the Cascade Towers back home, but it doesn't have the historic charm. It was built in the last five years, so it's really nice and luxurious and everything, but there's no sense of history. This hotel...wow. It boggles the mind when you think about how many people have gotten married here, stayed here, had big events here... We were just going to go camping or something and exchange vows."

"Maybe that would have been more meaningful than all this," Starsky said, leaning back into the couch cushions and gesturing around the room.

"I'm glad we're doing something really special. It's not that we *need* it to make the commitment meaningful, but it's the biggest thing in our lives, and it seemed like short-changing it not to do something special. I know Jim got really burned out on the whole wedding hoopla with Carolyn and her family, and I guess he didn't want to associate our relationship in his mind with one that went belly-up. Or something."

"But you wanted something more from the start," Starsky replied.

"I did. I think ceremonies and rituals are important parts of life. They should be taken seriously. If you trivialize the major moments in your life too much, you don't have anything to look back on." Blair paused. "How's Uncle Nick doing?"

"Okay. He's having more rough spots than he was while you guys were out here. He's lost some weight," Starsky said, sighing. "It's hard watching him, seeing the changes. Knowing what's coming."

"It's so good you guys had this time to spend with each other. That you buried the hatchet in time," Blair said. "Not that it makes it easy to accept losing him."

"Worries me what it'll do to Ma at her age. She's a strong lady, and she's holding up better than Nick and me, but it's a lot for her to go through."

"I hope this isn't too much of an upheaval for her, staying here, the wedding--"

"Nah, she's in her glory. A big family shindig," Starsky added, grinning. "She and Nick have a two-bedroom suite, too, and I think they're both resting a little so they'll feel up to dinner and spending the evening with the group. Plus I think it's giving them a little quiet time to talk without all the family around all the time."

"You know, Blair, I hope this thing didn't mushroom into exactly what you and Jim *didn't* want for your ceremony," Hutch said, joining them in the sitting room. "When Bill called with all these big plans, I was a little worried about that."

"At first we thought we didn't want anything like this, but now I'm glad we're doing it. I think all the planning was bugging Jim, not the actual ceremony itself. He's never had a lot of patience with all those arrangements." Blair paused. "You guys never wanted to do the whole dress up and have a party routine?"

"For quite a few years, we weren't as 'out' as you and Jim are. Even after we got the house, we didn't openly flaunt our relationship. Police departments still don't receive gay cops all that well, but back then, it was a hanging offense," Hutch explained. "We would have loved it, but there wasn't much point to it when we were hiding from half the people who'd have been on the guest list."

"Anybody who knew us and had half a brain figured it out anyway, but there were quite a few years there where we didn't dare officially confirm their suspicions."

"That sucks. It doesn't surprise me. I know Jim and I still have to put up with some jerks now and then, and the whole fact that we can't get married legally...I know it was even worse before."

"By the time we could safely be 'out', it didn't seem like there was a lot of point to having a ceremony to say that we'd do what we'd been doing for twenty years," Starsky concluded, smiling.

********

After a hearty dinner in the Bull and Bear, followed by after dinner drinks and friendly conversation, the group took a limousine to the theater for "The Phantom of the Opera." Jim and Blair relished their last hours together before the official "separation" began once they returned to the hotel. It was amusing how just a period of hours could seem so long, and how it could heighten the anticipation of being together with no restrictions after the ceremony.

Beginning with bedtime Friday night, the two men wouldn't see each other until seven the following evening, when they would meet in the Starlight Roof to exchange vows, after which a specially-catered meal would be served to the guests, followed by music and dancing. Starsky had planned a little museum trip to keep Blair entertained and less likely to bump into Jim, and Steven was planning to take Jim to visit a few sights of the city as well, though not the same ones. Meanwhile, the other guests had a number of exclusive shops within the hotel, as well as the Park Avenue shopping district, to explore.

Back at the hotel, Bill, Hutch, and Sophia would supervise the final arrangements.

Blair tossed and turned for a while, but finally drowsiness began overtaking him, and he was almost asleep when the telephone rang.

"Hello?"

"Whose idea was this separation crap?" Jim's voice came over the line. Blair had to chuckle at that. Jim was impatient, and he was getting crabby.

"Your dad's and my dad's, I think. I'm not sure which one of them thought it up first."

"We could sneak out."

"And do what? Well, I know what we'd like to do, but I don't see how we can do it. Or where."

"There's gotta be an empty room we can get into somewhere in this place."

"Are you as horny as you sound?" Blair asked.

"This wasn't the romantic night I was expecting--sharing a suite with my dad."

"Tomorrow night this time, we'll be together."

"That's then. This is now. You wanna sneak out and meet me in the hall?"

"And go where?"

"Give me half an hour, and trust me, okay?"

"Always."

"Okay. Meet you in thirty minutes by the elevators. Don't go back to sleep and forget."

"Yeah, right," Blair responded laughing. "Not likely. I'll be there."

********

After dressing as quickly and silently as he could, Blair waited until it was almost thirty minutes after Jim's phone call before starting his stealthy walk to the front door of the suite. If his father or Hutch heard him, they made no move to stop him. He eased out the door, blinking to adjust from the shadowy room to the bright light of the hallway. Hurrying down the hall, he saw Jim waiting for him by the elevators, face breaking into a smile when Blair came into view.

Jim punched the button for the elevator and slid his arm around Blair's shoulders and Blair's arm came up around his waist.

"Where're we going?"

"Tomorrow night, there'll be a lot of hoopla and fanfare. I thought tonight, we could check out the view from the Starlight Roof."

"How're we getting in?"

"I bribed a housekeeping person to leave the door unlocked after she finished vacuuming. I showed her my police ID, and told her I needed to check out security for the wedding going on here tomorrow night, on the QT. She mostly bought the story, but when she hesitated for too long, I gave her $200."

"You never pay *Sneaks* that much," Blair teased as the elevator opened.

"Sneaks doesn't have the key to this view."

"Your dad would probably kill us if he knew we were up here tonight," Blair said, as Jim guided him through an unlocked door into a large, shadowed, but stunningly elegant room.

"Well, he doesn't know."

"Wow. Jim, this room is amazing," Blair said, craning his neck back to stare at the gilded ceiling and the ornate crystal chandeliers. Full length windows overlooked the lights of the city. Jim was moving with a single-minded determination, though, to one large window at the end of the room. He guided Blair to sit on the floor with him so the two of them could take in a spectacular view of the lights of New York City. Christmas lights twinkled below, and a light snow was falling.

"Isn't that the most amazing view of the city?"

"You must see so much more than I do," Blair said, settling into Jim's arms, head on his shoulder.

"Oh, I don't know. As much as I want to see, I suppose. If I focused, I could probably see what was going on in some of those lighted windows, but I don't really care. I want to see the same view you do. The lights, the skyscrapers, the cars zooming down the street below. Tomorrow night, when all the lights are on, and the festivities are underway, it just won't be the same. Tonight, it feels like we can see forever."

"I never have any problems seeing forever," Blair said, turning to look at Jim.

"Neither do I, sweetheart."

They shared a long kiss, before Jim stood and went over to one of the many chairs in the room that were, for now, simply lined up against the wall in preparation for the set-up that would take place the next day. He picked up a small boom box that was sitting there and brought it, along with a bottle of champagne and two glasses, back to where Blair sat.

"What good was the room with no music and no refreshments?"

"What if we get caught up here?"

"When we came in, I locked the door. As long as we stay quiet, and keep the volume low, no one'll know. I'll know if anyone's coming."

With soft music playing in the background, Jim carefully uncorked the champagne, keeping it from popping too wildly and spilling too much. When they each had a glass, Blair rested a hand on Jim's arm to keep him from drinking.

"To a long life, and never losing the romance we have now--to still doing nutty things like this when we're old."

"To us, and to everything that had to happen to bring us together. Sometimes I've really cursed these senses, and all the changes they brought into my life, but they brought you into my life, and when I think of it that way, I can't be anything but thankful."

"I love you."

"I love you, too," Jim responded, smiling. They toasted, and sipped the champagne, just enjoying each other's presence in the darkened room, watching the lively city below them. Jim stood, and held out a hand to Blair. They came together, swaying slowly to the music, the words expressing perfectly how they felt.

//There are moments

When I love you

Beyond the limits of my human heart

I want to hold you

And take care of you

The way the angels watch over the stars

Past the pull of Earth

Across the deep blue sky

Through the universe

Beyond the reach of time

You will always be mine...//

They moved to the music, kissing and holding each other close, occasionally sparing a glance at the remarkable view beyond the window.

"We should go," Jim said, reluctantly moving away from Blair. "It's getting late, and security's bound to make a sweep through here before much longer."

"This was amazing. No matter how incredible tomorrow night is, this'll be my favorite memory of our trip."

"Mine, too, Chief." Jim stole one more passionate kiss before turning off the little stereo. "This belongs to the maid. She told me to leave it under one of the chairs over here. You want to grab the champagne."

"I'm afraid to ask who that belongs to."

"It was chilling under the bar in our suite. I'll get another bottle from room service tomorrow, before my dad has a chance to miss it. For now, just bring it with us."

Once outside the room, they hurried to the elevator and made their way back down to their floor. With one last stolen kiss, they parted company and headed for their respective rooms. Blair slipped in the door of the suite, heaving a sigh of relief that all was still quiet there, and the sitting room was still in darkness. A voice made him gasp audibly.

"How's Jim?" It was Starsky's voice, and held no small trace of humor. Blair's father was sitting on the couch in his robe, stocking feet on the table.

"You scared the shit outta me," Blair said, half laughing, and half gasping.

"I got up to go to the bathroom and I heard you slipping out on your little nocturnal run. I couldn't resist lurking out here until you came back."

"Are you mad?" Blair asked, half smiling in the darkness, almost enjoying the one and only time in his life he'd had the widely-bemoaned experience of "sneaking in late" and being caught by his father.

"You're not sixteen, kiddo. Why would I be mad? Besides, I'd'a wanted another paternity test done if you hadn't snuck out at least once tonight. I turned sneaking out after curfew into an art form."

"Jim called."

"For a detective, he's not too smooth. The phone call probably woke me up to go the john in the first place. But he probably was thinking with a different head at the time," Starsky joked.

"Nothing happened."

"I don't care if it did, Blair. You're grown men, and 'something's' been happening between you most nights for a few years now."

"I mean, nothing sexual." Blair sat on the other end of the couch. "It was really romantic. Jim snuck us into the Starlight Roof, and we looked out at the city, and then we danced."

"You danced?"

"With our clothes on, vertically," Blair clarified.

"Oh, that kind of dancing." Starsky grinned, nodding. "Hutch and I do that sometimes, when we have enough patience. That's the nice thing about living with a man. If you want to skip the preliminaries and go at it like dogs in heat on the living room floor, he doesn't get all tied up in knots wondering if you really love him or not. But it makes the romantic, sticky stuff, nicer when it happens. If that makes any sense."

"Perfect sense," Blair said, still chortling at Starsky's description. His father's candor and comfort level talking to him about anything and everything had gotten Blair through some difficult transitions, and that openness between them was something he was enormously grateful for. "Because then when the romantic stuff happens, it's because you both really feel it, not because you feel like you have to do it to get what you want."

"Don't get me wrong, all the romantic stuff is nice--the holding hands and dancing and sweet-talking. I just like to do that when I really mean it."

"There's feeling romantic and then there's feeling horny."

"Exactly. It's not that it's not all about love, but sometimes, you just want to get close in a different way. Sometimes it's nice to do all the mushy stuff even when the sex doesn't happen."

"Yeah, it's nice to just get close."

"Uh-huh. And the older you get, there're times the old hydraulics just aren't moving at the speed they used to, and the sweet-talk isn't the only thing that's mushy, if you get my drift."

"Oh, geez, thanks, Dad. I needed that mental image before bed."

"Well, I just figured I might as well tell you what to expect so when you're my age, you won't be surprised."

"I wish we'd known each other when I was younger. There's so much...stuff I wish we could have talked about."

"Me, too. Hey, we better get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day."

"I wish Mom was here."

"She is, Blair."

"How come I can't see her or hear her? I know it sounds insane, but I always thought that maybe she'd...contact me. She was so spiritual, so in touch with herself, and with the spiritual plane."

"There's a barrier there. Of all the people I've lost in my life, I've never had one literally show up or talk to me again. But sometimes I feel their presence. Times when I knew I was close to death myself, close calls...I could feel my father there as if he were standing right next to me. It's bizarre, but sometimes when I had to go down a dark alley, times when Hutch and I split up and one took the front and one took the back? There were times it felt like he went in with me. And I wasn't as afraid as I would have been." Starsky smiled. "I never told anyone that. Ever. It sounds crazy, and I can't really prove it wasn't just my imagination."

"I wish I could feel Naomi like that."

"Maybe you're expecting too much from her. Your mother was one of the most flamboyant, colorful people I ever met, and she just...*shone*...for lack of a better word. When she swirled into a room in one of her one-of-a-kind outfits, everyone noticed," Starsky added, smiling fondly. "I wish I'd had more time to be friends with her now. We had so little time together when we met, and I was just getting to know her again when..." He sighed. "What I'm trying to say is that the big splash she could make when she was here...it's probably different now. If she communicates with you now, it'll probably be subtle. Don't miss it because you're waiting for her to make a big entrance."

"I don't hear her. I meditate and I try to listen, but I don't hear her. I always thought I would." Blair wiped at his eyes.

"Stop trying, son. She'll let you know when she's here." Starsky moved over to sit closer to Blair, putting an arm around his shoulders. "And I know she'll be here tomorrow night. Wild horses and the great beyond wouldn't keep her away from that. She was so proud of you, of how you turned out. Whenever we got together, which unfortunately wasn't as often as we would have liked, we were always both a little awestruck that between the two of us, we came up with you. And we agreed it was the best thing either one of us ever did."

"Thanks, Dad," Blair said, hugging his father tightly.

"Your mom did all the work," Starsky said, his smile coming through in his voice as he returned the hug. "Come on, time for bed. You need your rest, and I'm getting too damned old to party all night on no sleep."

"Okay, okay," Blair conceded, laughing. "Do you know all the secret plans for tomorrow night?"

"A few of 'em. But don't try wheedling information outta me."

********

Jim was up at dawn, as usual, watching television with nearly no volume, trying not to wake his father. It wasn't long, though, before he heard movement in the other bedroom of the suite, and in record time, Bill emerged clean shaven, groomed, and dressed in an obviously expensive sweater than blended several dark jewel tones, with a burgundy turtleneck and dark pants. Jim was dressed in a similar style, remembering how uneasy hotel staff in these posh facilities were with jeans-clad customers. While the thought of bedeviling them by wandering around in his jeans and Jags cap appealed to him beyond measure, he decided his father didn't deserve the same headaches he had with Jim when he was a teenager.

"You want to order room service or go down for breakfast?" Bill asked.

"Let's go down."

"If you're expecting to bump into Blair, don't get excited. He's having breakfast in his grandmother's suite in a couple hours."

"You're going to an awful lot of trouble to keep us apart," Jim said, chuckling.

"You and Blair have been together a long time. There's not much other way to build a little suspense. Besides, I'm sure your visit last night will keep you going for a while," Bill said casually, smiling.

"You knew about that, huh?"

"I raised two boys, Jimmy. Do either one of you seriously think I wasn't attuned to what time one of you crawled in your bedroom window when you were late?"

"You never busted me."

"You were never that late and you were a good kid. You weren't in trouble all the time. If you were fifteen minutes late, you'd scale the trellis and crawl in your window rather than come in downstairs, so I figured I'd let you off the hook. Steven used to come up the stairs on all fours and then try to step around the creaks in the floor in the hall. Honestly, you two must have thought I was deaf or stupid." Bill paused, grinning. "You must still think that if you thought I wouldn't figure you were making a late-night rendezvous with Blair."

"Silly, isn't it? Not going a full 24 hours without seeing somebody..." Jim smiled, shaking his head. "I suppose we should be more mature than that."

"I don't know as it's immaturity, so much as intensity. I felt that intensely about your mother before I married her and figured out what really made her tick. I couldn't get enough of being around her."

"That's how I feel about Blair, but we've been together for years now."

"Then you're luckier than most."

"So what are all the secret plans for tonight?"

"All you have to do is be sure you and Steven are back here by 5:00. That's all you need to worry about. What time are you two starting out?"

"In a couple hours."

"Let's go have some breakfast then."

********

"Your grandfather and I stayed here on our wedding night," Rachel said, taking a sip of her orange juice. Blair, Starsky, Hutch, Sophia, Dan, Nick and Rachel were all seated around a table in Rachel's and Nick's suite, enjoying a tasty breakfast. "Some of the family chipped in and gave us a night here as a wedding present," she added, smiling.

"I didn't know that," Blair said, smiling. "Wow, this place is really getting a history with our family then."

"I'll never forget walking into that lobby for the first time, newly married...it was all so exciting."

"Your father probably never told you that we crashed a high society party in the Grand Ballroom that night," Rachel said, looking at Starsky and Nick, grinning slyly.

"You crashed a party?" Sophia repeated, eyes wide.

"I had an evening gown--he'd told me I should pack one--and he still had his tuxedo from the wedding. We got all dolled up and he had this brainstorm to crash the party in the ballroom. I thought it was insane until I saw how beautiful everything was, and how many people were there. No one even noticed us. We blended right in. All we really did was dance a few dances, but it was just the lark of it. The mischief of it. We didn't bother anyone or even eat any of the goodies off the buffet! We just danced, then slipped out again, but it was great fun."

"You didn't take any pictures while you were here, did you?" Starsky asked. "I've never seen any in your albums."

"No, we didn't. We'd had cameras flashing in our eyes all day, and we just wanted to be alone together and have a romantic evening. It was like a fairytale. I was so happy when Jim's father decided to make the arrangements here," Rachel added. "It's been wonderful to see this place again."

"I understand you two are going to hit some museums today," Nick said, looking at Starsky and Blair.

"You bet. Not too many, though, because I don't want to wear him out before the wedding. But we'll hit a few, get something to eat. I know where you can get the best pastrami sandwich in New York City."

"I bet that just made the whole trip worthwhile, didn't it, Blair?" Hutch asked, rolling his eyes.

"Cheer up, Blondie. I'll bring you one back."

"Gee, thanks."

"He always gripes about all the fat and cholesterol and whatever else he can think of, right before he gobbles one down."

"Too bad we're not sight-seeing with Jim and Steven. Jim'd kill for one of those sandwiches."

"Maybe we can make one more trip back there before we go home. It's not far from the old neighborhood. You remember the place, Ma. Giovanni's?"

"Oh, I remember it."

"You want to go with us, Grandma? We could come and get you for lunch, couldn't we, Dad?"

"Hey, that'd be great. How about it, Ma? You up to a little sight-seeing in the old neighborhood?"

"I suppose I could. But that's out of your way to come all the way back here and get me."

"Not at all. Besides, it'll be fun. I'd love to see some of the places where Dad and Uncle Nick grew up, places you remember," Blair said to Rachel.

"Then I'd love to," Rachel agreed.

********

Blair was a good kind of tired when they made it back to the hotel at 4:00, and he still had time to relax a while before the magic hour of 5:00, when the evening's plans were supposed to begin taking shape. He'd seen the house were his father and uncle were born and spent their early years, and had traveled some of the same sidewalks with his father, grandmother, and uncle. Nick had joined them for the latter part of their day, to see the old neighborhood and enjoy one of the famous Giovanni's pastrami sandwiches.

Blair tried not to think of the melancholy part of the day--the specter of old age and impending death that lurked around the corner. Rachel was 85 going on 60 in her attitude and her approach to life, but she was frail, and the many trials she'd been through in her life had taken their toll. And despite Nick's truly exceptional effort not to let his illness rob him of his last months or to dampen the festivities, there was no denying the fact he was already a different looking man than the one Blair had met just a month earlier.

All that notwithstanding, he'd had a wonderful day, and was thankful for the golden opportunity to hear first-hand family history from the matriarch. Even though he felt a strong connection to Naomi as his mother, he felt very much a Starsky, and the connection to such a congenial and welcoming extended family was something he'd missed all his life.

It was with a happy grin on his face that he dozed off to sleep, catching a quick nap before his alarm would ring at 5:00 sharp.

********

"We would have been on time if you hadn't decided to do half your Christmas shopping on the way back to the hotel," Jim groused, checking his watch. It was almost 5:15.

"I have to fly back in the morning, and I can't very well get together with Juliette without bringing her something back."

"Juliette? What, does that make you Romeo?" Jim needled.

"You never know. She's quite a girl. That dress is going to look sensational on her. I think you should meet her. You and Dad both."

"Why? Is she something special or are you just showing off?"

"I'm just showing off," Steven admitted, laughing. "Marriage is overrated. I'm the only guy at my club who isn't either paying child support or trying to figure a way out of his current marriage without losing his ass."

"That's a pretty cynical attitude, Bro," Jim responded. "Especially a couple hours before I exchange vows with Blair."

"Yeah, well, if I was interested in marrying a guy, I might give it a shot. At least Blair isn't going to get pregnant and then take you for half of everything you've got. Or leave you holding the bag the way our mother did to Dad."

"Is that why you're so down on the whole female gender? Because of Mom?"

"You didn't stay with Carolyn, either, so don't preach, Jim." Steven pushed the elevator button.

"What happened to Rosalyn? Or Jennifer?"

"I'm still seeing Rosalyn once in a while. Jennifer moved to Chicago for a new job. I'm just not interested in the marriage trap. Just because you're in love, you can't match everybody else up."

"I don't want to match everybody else up. I just hate to see you spend a lifetime on empty affairs and not end up with anybody."

"Well, I think I can probably still find someone to have an empty affair with when I'm Dad's age, so I'm not going to lose too much sleep over it."

"Just make sure you're not closing yourself off from something good. There might be a woman out there who'll change your mind."

"Sure. As soon as I meet her, you'll be the first one I call."

"I'll hold you to that," Jim responded, chuckling. "Hey, have you seen Sally since we've been here?" Jim asked.

"I think Megan and Rhonda took her shopping. Megan said something about a makeover. Poor Sally," Steven said, chortling. "She looked positively terrified."

"You ever think maybe Sally and Dad would..." Jim raised one eyebrow.

"If they haven't by now, I kind of doubt it."

"I wasn't talking about that. Well, not exactly. I was talking about marriage. Not screwing around."

"I never thought about it. Sally's just always been there. Dad's always counted on her being there." Steven shrugged. "I don't know. Anything's possible."

********

Blair's alarm went off at 5:00, and for a moment, before he remembered where he was and why he was there, he resented the intrusion. He'd fallen into a dead sleep after lying down, and it was taking him a few moments to swat the offending clock and regain consciousness. He hadn't figured stretching out fully dressed on top of the bedspread would amount to more than a fifteen minute snooze. Instead, he'd been zonked for the full hour he'd been there. There was a tap at the door, and Starsky poked his head in.

"You ready to get hitched?"

"More than ready. What do I do next?"

"Try this on." Starsky came into the room carrying a garment bag, which he laid on the bed and unzipped.

"Wow." Blair watched as he revealed a rich, deep blue jacket with a brocaded, satiny finish. Beneath it on the hanger was a white tuxedo shirt with a blue jeweled button at the neck in place of a tie. The outfit was finished off with a pair of black tuxedo pants.

"If you don't like it, the stores are still open, and we have enough time to make an emergency shopping trip. I won't be mad if you want to pick out something else."

"Dad, it's perfect. Did you pick this out?"

"With a little help," a voice came from the doorway. The two men turned to see Hutch leaning on the doorframe. "But once he found that jacket, I couldn't get it away from him."

"It's incredible."

"You forgot the shoes, Starsk," Hutch said, shaking his head, smiling as he disappeared into their bedroom to retrieve them.

"My ring has a sapphire in it," Blair said.

"Oh, really?" Starsky responded, smiling. He'd gotten the effusive phone call from Blair the night they'd picked up their rings in Cascade.

"I guess I told you about that already," Blair replied, looking a little sheepish.

"Once or twice. You better get a move on. You've got an hour."

"You think I should smooth my hair back--go for the formal look?"

"How does Jim like it?"

"Loose."

"Well?" Starsky shrugged.

"I guess that answers it," Blair said, chuckling.

"The only time I tried slicking my hair back for a formal event, Hutch told me I looked like a lizard and made me wash it out," Starsky recalled, laughing.

"See the honesty and openness you have to look forward to in marriage?" Hutch said, delivering a box containing Blair's shoes. "You did look like a lizard." Hutch gave him a quick kiss on the mouth, then ran his fingers lightly through the soft curls. "Greasing this down is a crime against nature, anyway."

"We'll get outta here and give you a chance to get dressed. Holler if you need anything."

"Thanks, you guys." Blair hugged his father, and then Hutch. "This is all just really incredible."

"Nothing's too good for our kid," Starsky said, with an arm around both Blair and Hutch.

********

"Nice of you two to show up," Bill said as his two sons burst into the suite, slightly out of breath.

"We got caught up in the din and merriment of Christmas shopping," Jim said, deadpan.

"One store, Jim. We stopped at *one store*."

"With lines longer than the traffic jam the cab was stuck in on the way back."

"Your suit's in the other room, Jimmy. You better try it on now in case it needs any last minute alterations."

"My suit? Blair and I brought clothes."

"You didn't bring tuxes, did you?"

"No, we didn't."

"Then go check it out. If you don't wear it, you'll be underdressed."

"I'm gonna dash back to my room and put this stuff away," Steven said, gesturing with his shopping bag.

"One time you had to be on time. That was too much to ask?" Bill challenged.

"We're a half hour late, Dad. It's not like he stood Blair up at the altar or something. But as usual, you're ready to have my head for the tiniest infraction."

"Do me a favor, Steven. When they bury me, don't be late for the damn funeral, all right?"

"Will you two give it a rest?" Jim interrupted. "Nobody died, we're all here, and I don't need two hours to get ready. If the suit needs altering and there's no time, I'll pin the damn thing up with safety pins."

"You're right. I'm sorry," Bill said, looking at Steven. "I'm a little stressed out with all this and I overreacted."

"Yeah, well, I shouldn't have dragged Jim into Bloomingdale's at the last minute, either. I'll be back in a few." Steven left the room, and Bill made himself a drink at the bar while Jim tried on his suit. Christmas music was playing on the radio, and Bill had to smile. Since he'd reconciled with his sons, he'd started looking forward to the holidays again.

********

Starsky knocked on the door of Rachel's and Nick's suite and waited for a response. Rachel came to the door, dressed in her bathrobe, her hair and makeup obviously done for the evening. Even in her eighties, Rachel had the knack of getting dolled up for a big evening as if she were forty years younger.

"Ma? Everything okay?" Starsky frowned immediately when he noticed the worried look on her face.

"Nicky's lying down. He's not feeling well."

"I'll go check on him."

"David, he's getting worse. You realize that, don't you?"

"He has his good days and his bad days--"

"He's dying. You have to start accepting that, honey. He's not just having good and bad days. The bad days are getting more frequent, and worse."

Starsky swallowed, and nodded. It was amazing how, even now, his mother seemed to be stronger than he was. He'd expected to have to support his frail, elderly mother through Nick's illness, and instead, she was characteristically strong--stronger than both her sons put together on their best day.

"I'll go see how he's doing. Why don't you go ahead and get dressed, Ma?"

"If he can't go, I'll stay with him. I don't want him to be alone."

"You can't not go to the wedding. Blair would be crushed. And so would I. If he can't go, we'll make sure somebody's here with him."

"You don't understand, David. I don't want to be downstairs in case..."

"Let me go in and check on him, okay?"

"Okay. I'll wait here."

Starsky tapped on Nick's door, then opened it slightly.

"Nicky? You awake?" In the shadowy room, slightly illuminated by the glow of light from the sitting room, Starsky could see his brother lying on the bed, a blanket over his clothed form.

"Yeah, I'm awake."

"Ma said you were under the weather."

"You could say that," Nick responded, chuckling. "Kind of an understatement."

"Think you'll be up to coming to the ceremony at least?"

"Oh, I'll make it. I didn't mean to spook Ma, but I guess I did. Lunch didn't set too well, and I've been sick to my stomach. I probably won't hang around for dinner."

"Okay. If you don't feel up to coming downstairs, we can make sure somebody's up here in the suite with you in case you need anything."

"I don't think I'm going to slip away into the great beyond or anything, David. I'm just feeling a little lousy. I'll start getting dressed." Nick smiled faintly as he sat up. "You're lookin' pretty spiffy for such an old guy," he needled.

"Had to outdo myself so I could play one-up with my little brother. You need some help?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Look, David, if I don't get a chance to tell Blair before...I want you tell him how much it meant to me to be here, to be included in this. I know that Ma's age was a factor in them having the wedding here, but I know it was mostly because everybody was worried I'd be too sick to travel."

Starsky swallowed the lump in his throat, blinking to get rid of the moisture in his eyes. It didn't work.

"It's a real downer to talk about death on somebody's wedding night, so sometime, when the time is right, will you tell him for me?"

"Yeah, Nicky, I'll tell him."

"Hey, don't get all misty-eyed on me here. You gotta go out and be the father of the...what? Which one is Blair?"

"I think they were still arguing about that, last time I heard," Starsky said, chuckling, glad for the comic relief. "All I know is that Blair insisted on having seven red roses to carry in with him."

"Why seven?"

"That's how long they've known each other--seven years. Plus, they had some sort of deal that involved flowers and a garter."

"Sounds like they're both brides, then," Nick joked, heading to his closet to take out his tux.

"At least they're not trying to get away with wearing white," Starsky added.

********

Sophia and Dan played host and hostess, greeting guests in the lobby and directing them to the elevators to the Starlight Roof. Most of the guests not already staying at the hotel were part of the extended Starsky clan, so they had happily volunteered for the job of identifying and directing all the arriving guests. When all the aunts, uncles, and cousins had been accounted for, and the Cascade guests were mingling with them upstairs, nearly fifty people were in attendance.

In their suite, Starsky and Hutch were putting the final touches on their attire for the evening.

"Hold still, damn it," Hutch groused, adjusting Starsky's bow tie. "I still don't know why you undid this. It was fine the first time."

"It was crooked," Starsky insisted.

"Well, it's straight now."

"Then it's one of the few things around here," Starsky retorted, kissing Hutch's mouth quickly. "You look gorgeous, babe."

"I look like a fat penguin," Hutch said, sighing and looking in the mirror.

"You look like a distinguished intellectual with that little goatee thing you've got goin' on there. Besides, we've both got a little more tucked under our cummerbunds than we used to."

"How's Nick doing?" Hutch smoothed his hair down a final time and decided he was satisfied with the finished product.

"He had a rough day. Got sick to his stomach. Ma was kind of freaked out. I think she was worried he was gonna...that he was gonna die in there while he was takin' a nap."

"She knows it could happen that way."

"Yeah, I know that, too. If he's gotta go, I hope it's real peaceful like that." Starsky bit his lip. "Damn it."

"Come here, buddy." Hutch pulled Starsky into his arms, holding him close.

"I don't want to think about this tonight."

"I know. But nobody will understand that better than Blair."

"I should go check on Ma, make sure they're all set," Starsky said, pulling back and wiping at his eyes.

"I wish I could do something to fix this, sweetheart," Hutch said softly, caressing Starsky's cheek. "I hate watching you hurt like this and not being able to fix it."

"You do fix it. Just being here. Just bein' mine." Starsky moved in for a long kiss.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Starsky answered it, and smiled broadly when he saw his mother and Nick on the other side. Dressed in a sequined red evening dress, with matching red shoes, red nail polish, and red lipstick, her gray hair elegantly upswept with delicate, sparkly earrings dangling from her ears, Rachel looked as alive and vibrant as she ever had in her life. Nick's earlier malaise seemed to have lifted a bit, and though he was still pale and a bit thinner than he'd been a few weeks earlier, he looked very dashing in his tuxedo, and his smile was genuine.

"You don't want to be late for your own son's wedding, do you?" Rachel challenged.

"Rachel, you look beautiful," Hutch said, since Starsky seemed to have been stricken speechless.

"You two are quite a sight yourselves. I love having three good-looking men to escort me around. I always wanted a male harem of my own."

"Ma!" Starsky and Nick said in unison, and Rachel winked at Hutch.

"Let's head upstairs. I think quite a few of the other guests have arrived," Nick said. "Sophia called from downstairs a few minutes ago."

"Let's head up there, then. Won't be long before the happy couple makes their entrance," Hutch agreed. "We sent Blair upstairs with Simon. We know he'll keep him where he's supposed to wait until Bill gets Jim up there."

********

Jim tugged at his tie another time. It was straight to the point of microscopic, sentinel-scan perfection. The black tuxedo with the rich, royal blue tie and cummerbund was elegant, and the suit fit perfectly, no tailoring needed.

"Okay, Jimmy, ready to go up and tie the knot?" Bill asked, walking into Jim's room.

"Yeah, ready as I'll ever be."

"Will you quit fussing with that tie? I could check with Maintenance and see if they have a level you can use to check it if you want."

"Okay, okay, point taken," Jim responded, laughing. "So I finally get to see Blair, huh?" Jim appreciated all his father was doing, but he found forced separation from Blair made him even more irritable than he would have predicted.

"The wait's over. Let's head upstairs."

********

"Sandburg, is there any chance you might *sit down*?"

"How much longer do we have to wait here?" Blair asked, still pacing.

"About five minutes. Geez, you'd think you hadn't seen Jim in a couple of years," Simon added, chuckling.

"Feels like it." Blair finally accommodated Simon and lit on the edge of the couch in the sitting area where they'd been told to wait. Then, unable to remain still, he stood up again and fussed with his jacket.

"You're tiring me out," Simon said, shaking his head.

"Didn't you get all jittery before your wedding? I never did this before. I was just wondering."

"I guess I was jittery. I think everyone is. But I hadn't lived with Joan for several years first, so we had a lot of adjusting to do."

"Blair?" Sophia hurried toward him, carrying seven red roses tied with a white ribbon. "Are you sure about this?" she asked, handing him the flowers.

"Jim and I had a deal. Now he better keep his end of it."

"A deal?" Simon asked.

"If he kept his part of the bargain, you'll know it shortly after the ceremony."

********

Starsky and Hutch followed Nick and Rachel as they all entered the Starlight Roof. It was a large room, long and rectangular in shape. At the very end was a tall window overlooking the city. Snow fell just beyond the glass, blending with the lights to create a magical view. Just before the large window were six rows of seats, enough to seat the guests in attendance. An aisle was left on either side of the seating area. There was a raised platform just in front of the window, and it was dusted with artificial snow, surrounded by a tiered display of red and white poinsettias.

The other half of the large space had been set up for the reception. Impressive centerpieces of blue and silver silk flowers held tall blue and silver candles. The table settings were coordinated with dark blue napkins in silver rings on white tablecloths. Pine boughs threaded with multicolored lights adorned all the window frames. The decor reflected a blend of the upcoming Hanukkah and Christmas seasons almost seamlessly.

There was a small stage to the side of the area cleared for dancing, with a piano, drum set, and guitars on stands, waiting for someone to play them. A karaoke machine sat stage right. Near that was additional equipment that appeared to be waiting for a DJ. At the moment, the piano was being played by a young man in a tuxedo, keeping the room filled with a blend of festive holiday music and romantic standards.

"This room is absolutely beautiful!" Rachel said. "Nicky, you have the camera, don't you?"

"Right here, Ma," Nick said, pulling out a small digital camera to take pictures of the room before the festivities began.

Slowly, the guests began filing in, taking seats to wait for the ceremony. When Bill and Steven Ellison finally hurried to their respective seats, the group knew the big moment was near.

The young man playing the piano paused, and then began playing another song, and singing. As he did, Blair started up one of the aisles, and Jim, the other.

//Here, in this silent night

Now all the world is right

As if we've suddenly been given

A gift of love, a gift of love

Warm as the fire glow

Soft as the falling snow

A precious miracle we live in

This wonder of, a gift of love//

Midway up their respective aisles, they looked across the room at one another, and struggled almost visibly not to run the rest of the way to the raised platform where they were to meet.

//Night falls at this coldest time of the year

Love calls, and it's summer in here//

Finally approaching the spot where they were to meet, they took the two steps slowly to come together in the middle. Unable to resist touching his lover, Jim reached out and lightly caressed Blair's hair, letting his fingers linger among the silky curls for a moment before withdrawing with a soft smile.

//Here where I love you so

Now, as our blessings grow

We share the greatest gift we'll ever know

A gift of love.//

The musician stopped, and they were facing one another in a silent room, their family and friends watching. Blair handed Jim the roses, and Jim chuckled softly.

"Now you better have kept your part of the deal," Blair said, drawing a little laughter from their guests. "The roses are more than part of our little arrangement. There are seven of them, and each one stands for one of the years we've known each other. We didn't really know all that time that we'd end up together, like this, but it seemed from the start like we were going to be together. The first time I saw you, it was like something magical happened, and it had nothing to do with why we were meeting, either," Blair said, referring to the Sentinel subject without revealing too much to the people there who didn't know. "I saw something in your eyes, in the way you looked at me. I knew you were someone I wanted to know for the rest of my life." Blair paused. "I noticed you were incredibly good-looking, but at the time, you weren't exactly my type, so I'm not sure why you...*enchanted* me the way you did right from the start. We had a long, rocky ride to figuring out what we meant to each other, what we would have together, but most things worth having don't come easily, but they're so worth it. You're my best friend, my partner in everything, my lover, my favorite person in the world, and I keep thinking that I can't love you any more than I do, and then...you say something or do something, or just touch me, and the impossible happens. I love you more. You're my constant..." Blair swallowed, finding this next very simple phrase hard to say because it meant so much to him. "You're my home, Jim. You're everything that matters. I can't promise the rest of our lives will be easy or there won't ever be any obstacles we have to overcome, but I'll love you with everything I am until I take my last breath, and even after, I'll never stop loving you, or staying by your side. I won't leave you, I won't betray you, and I'll do all I can to make you even a little bit as happy as you make me." He paused again. "The reason it meant so much to me to say this in front of our friends and family was because I love you so much, I just want to run up and down the streets, grabbing people and telling them how I feel and how happy I am and to show them that you're mine, and I'm yours. It just seems like I can't feel something this...*huge* and not share it. I want to shout it from the rooftops, but sharing it with the people who mean the most to us is even better."

Blair smiled then, the silence letting Jim know it was his turn. He looked at the roses he held now, and then back at Blair.

"It's never been easy for me to come up with a lot of nice words, and I've never been big on what your dad calls 'soapy scenes'," he said, drawing an audible chuckle from Starsky. "But when it comes to you, the words come easily, because I don't have to 'come up' with them. They're right there...no, they're right here," he said, laying a hand over his heart.

"There was absolutely no reason for us to be friends. We came from totally different worlds, and God knows we don't agree on everything, and never did. But I felt that same spark you did, that very first day. I've never laid eyes on anyone and felt that before. It was the closest thing to Cupid nailing me right in the ticker with his arrow. Oh, you annoyed me a little, but that didn't change what I was feeling. And what I felt every day from then on. I wanted you by my side, in my life, and when you were there, my life was better. Everything was okay in my world, and I don't just mean because you helped me with some things or you turned out to be a good partner on the job. You were the other half of my soul. You were the part that was light and joyful and warm and excited to be alive. You made me feel things I never thought I'd feel. It didn't matter that you were a man or that I wasn't supposed to feel those things. I just did, and I still do, and I always will. Nobody ever made me feel like you do. Nobody," Jim stressed again, and Blair just closed his eyes and nodded, knowing Jim still carried a trace of guilt from the whole incident with Alex Barnes, which seemed a lifetime ago at that moment.

"One of the reasons I hesitated about us doing this in front of our family and friends is that there are so many things I want to say to you that... Some of them, I'll save for later, but I just want to tell you that you're the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me, and every time you're close to me I feel like I need to touch you," he said, laying his hand gently on Blair's cheek. "With you, the earth doesn't move. It just doesn't exist. Nothing does. I love you, Blair, and I'll love you, and be by your side, and want you forever. In this life, and whatever comes after it."

Jim pulled the small ring box out of his breast pocket and Blair did the same. Jim carefully laid the roses aside amidst the "snow" that dusted their little stage. Opening the box, he took out Blair's ring, tucking the box back in his pocket.

"When I first saw this ring, I thought it matched your eyes." Jim smiled a little regretfully as he looked at it, then looked into Blair's eyes. "But nothing could ever do that. I hope when you look at this, you'll remember how completely in love with you I am, and that chances are, if I'm not with you, I'm thinking about you." Blair held up his hand and Jim slipped the ring on his left ring finger.

"This ring was one of a kind. I'd never seen anything quite like it. And that's why it was the right ring for you. You're one of a kind, Jim. Not for what you can do, or even for being Cop of the Year a while back," Blair added, and Jim laughed, as did their guests. "You're one of a kind because you're you. There's no one else on earth I'd rather be with, and I know that I'm the luckiest man alive to be the one you love. Wear this ring, and know that you're everything in the world to me, and that if I'm not with you, I'd rather be, no matter what I'm doing."

Blair slipped the ring on Jim's finger.

"Is it okay if I kiss him now?" Jim asked the front row, where both Starsky and Bill were seated. Both men laughed out loud, nodding.

"You've suffered enough," Starsky quipped.

With that, they embraced, their lips meeting as if they'd never met before, clinging and moving against each other. Finally remembering, a bit regretfully, that they had an audience, they separated. Blair laughed as Jim pulled up his pant leg, and from around a very hairy male leg, removed a ruffled pink garter, waving it in the air. Blair picked up the roses.

"You go first, Chief," Jim said, watching as Blair tossed the bouquet, both men starting a round of applause as Rachel caught it, looking more than a little shocked, before she laughed a bit self consciously.

"You go, Grandma!" Blair called to her, and she laughed harder, making a dismissive gesture at him with her hand.

"Okay, guys, look alive--or duck, whichever," Jim said, before tossing the garter into the crowd. Daryl caught it.

"Can I throw this back?" Simon bellowed, and the group laughed.

"No way, man. I caught it fair and square!" Daryl said, twirling it around on his finger.

Following Starsky's and Bill's lead, the guests rose to their feet and gave the happy couple a standing ovation, complete with a few bawdy cheers from the guys in the crowd.

Dinner was served shortly after the ceremony, and the guests dined on filet mignon and lobster tails, the seating at dinner intentionally mixed to give people who didn't know each other a chance to visit and get acquainted. Despite the bit of mixing, Sally wound up at the table with Jim and Blair, though neither would have recognized her on the street. Megan and Rhonda had made her their personal project, and she truly wasn't the same plain, somewhat matronly looking woman who had flown out to New York with them.

Her dark hair was swept up on top of her head, any sign of gray having been eradicated by the visit to the beauty salon. Sparkling earrings dangled from her ears, and she wore a dark blue evening dress with threads of silver through it. She wore eyeshadow, blush, lipstick and mascara, none of which Jim could ever remember seeing her wear before. Sally had been naturally pretty in her younger days, and with a little accenting and primping, she was still a very attractive older woman.

"You look sensational, Sally," Blair commented, as Jim seemed doomed to simply stare at her in a state of shock. Blair figured that seeing Naomi in a business suit probably would have had the same effect on him. You have an image of your mother, or the mother-figure in your life, and when that gets set on its ear, it takes a bit of getting used to.

"Thank you. I owe it all to Megan and Rhonda," she said, smiling. The two women in question were at a table of Starskys, and Jim had to smile as he saw that one of Starsky's younger cousins, a dashing, dark-haired man of about thirty, was putting the moves on Rhonda. And she was enjoying every minute of it. Megan was at yet another table, talking animatedly with Rachel, probably telling her more about the two of them than either of them wanted Blair's grandmother to know.

"Looks like we're set up for quite a party after dinner," Jim said, inclining his head toward the stage.

"You know Hutch and Dad are gonna end up there before too much longer," Blair said. "I suppose it wouldn't take too much arm-twisting to get you on the drums and Brown on the bass."

"The Cascade PD Rhythm Section is at your service," Brown said, laughing. He, too, had been seated at their table, and was eyeing the musical possibilities for th evening.

Before long, the predictable tapping of a glass signaled the toasts. Starsky and Bill were both standing at their respective tables.

"Bill and I are sharing the official toasting duties. We flipped a coin right before the ceremony," Starsky joked, drawing a laugh from the guests, "so I'm going first. Like most fathers, I've had the notion that there was nobody out there who would be good enough for my kid. I didn't have all of Blair's childhood to spend with him, and get all the overprotective stuff out of my system, so he has to put up with me doing all of that now," Starsky admitted, making Jim, Blair, and Hutch laugh the hardest. "And it's no secret I put Ellison through a lot of scrutiny before I decided I approved. Not that Blair was waiting for me to approve, but I still wasn't rushing into anything. Blair's all grown up, but again, like most parents, he'll always be my child, so I want to know the person he's with is going to do right by him, and take care of him, even if he can take care of himself, and does. I can see how much Jim loves Blair, and that he'd do anything for him, just to make him happy. I never see those two look as happy as they do when they're together, and it's as if they're somehow physically weakened when they're not functioning as a matched set. I've never seen Blair so miserable in a museum as he was today, when we were keeping him away from Jim," Starsky added, chuckling. "I wish you both long life, good friends and family who accept you and love you, and a romance that never ends. And Jim, in case you're still wondering, yes, I finally do approve of you." With that, Starsky raised his glass, and there was a symphony of clinking sounds. After the ensuing silence, Bill began his toast.

"If someone had told me twenty years ago that my son would marry a man, and I'd be happy about it, I would have thought they were insane. I wasn't always the most enlightened person in the world, but I have to say that Blair changed that. I've never seen anyone as devoted to another human being as Blair is to Jim, and if my son searched the Earth for the rest of his life, he wouldn't find anyone, man or woman, who would love him the way Blair does--nor would he find anyone who made him smile the way he does when he looks at Blair. If any of us have even a fleeting chance at a love like that, we should embrace it and live it to the fullest, despite all the odds, like these two have. I salute you both, and wish that your relationship will always be as strong and as wonderful as it is tonight."

After another round of clinking glasses, Jim and Blair headed over to thank their fathers for the toasts. It was then that Starsky looked around at the devastated dinner plates, and the guests all sitting around talking, and nudged his partner.

"Do you think everybody's had enough background music and are ready to do a little partying?"

"I'd say so. Somebody has to go up there and be the first to do something with those instruments," Hutch said. "You up for a little duet?"

"I'm always up for a duet with you, darlin'," Starsky said, flexing his eyebrows lecherously at Hutch.

"I was talking about one we could do on stage," Hutch amended as they both headed in that direction.

"Oh. I guess I could do one of those, too."

The young musician who had been providing the piano music during dinner concluded his final selection, and left the stage, nodding to the guests who were giving him a brief round of applause.

Hutch sat at the piano, and Starsky sat on the bench next to him.

"We figured somebody had to be the first to get up here and use these instruments," Hutch said into the microphone that was positioned perfectly for the person at the piano. "There's plenty of champagne, so hopefully by the time we're through, somebody else'll be loosened up enough to try their luck up here or with the karaoke machine," he quipped.

"With this song, we figured we'd let the happy couple know what they have to look forward to," Starsky said, nudging Hutch a little.

Hutch played an instrumental introduction on the piano, and then started singing:

//Here we are after all these years

Face to face, heart to heart,

And I've loved you from the start

But I never thought that we'd be standing here

After all these years//

Hutch continued playing until it was time for the next verse, which Starsky sang, looking directly at him with all the love in the world.

//Here we are with another song to sing

All these days pass us by

As we watched our childhood fly

And I'm still the one to share your hopes and fears

After all these years.//

They sang the refrain together, smiling as they caught sight of the couples in the room holding hands, or sitting just a little closer.

//After all these years

We still have each other

One to another

After all these years

You're still the one

And I'm still here

After all these years//

As Hutch began singing the next verse, Bill stole a glance at Sally, sitting at the next table. He'd never really seen her dressed up this way. He couldn't even remember how many times she'd moved almost invisibly around the house and served hors d'oeuvres for a business cocktail gathering at the house, or how many coats she'd taken from guests at the door as they came in dressed up the way these guests were tonight. But in all those years, he'd never seen her as one of the guests.

//Here we are with another bridge to cross

Face to face, heart to heart

And I loved you from the start

But I never thought that we'd be standing here

After all these years//

//After all these years

We still have each other

One to another

After all these years

You're still the one

And I'm still here

After all these years//

Rachel watched her son and his partner, and smiled to herself as she remembered her initial reaction to their revelation that they were together "like that." She'd been shocked, and less than thrilled initially, but she'd never had the heart to outright reject the idea. As the years passed, she'd seen a love between them that was rivaled only by the too short romance she'd had with Starsky's father before his untimely death. It was ironic that her grandson was now traveling the same path, which she sadly admitted to herself was not easy, even now. In all her years, she'd seen a lot of prejudices break down and attitudes improve, but this one never seemed to quite achieve that level of acceptance. Two men could kill each other, but kiss each other? Sadly, she thought that the world had a lot left to learn.

As the two men sang the next lines together, Jim and Blair indulged in the luxury of sharing a kiss. It was amazing what a forced separation of one day had done to make them appreciate being together again.

//And I've loved these days

All we've been through

And I'd just like to say

I'm so glad it's been you

Here's one more song from the heart

For the laughter and the tears

After all these years//

When the song was over, the guests applauded. Starsky leaned over toward the microphone.

"There's a karaoke machine up here that's real lonely," he said teasingly.

For the next hour, the guests goaded and coaxed one another up to the stage, and various renditions of songs, from comically horrible to surprisingly good, echoed through the room. The instruments were soon put to good use by Hutch, Starsky, Jim, Blair, and Henry as they led the guests in some spirited holiday sing-alongs.

Just as they tired of providing their own music, the DJ arrived to take over the musical end of the party for the remainder of the evening, leaving the guests free to dance, visit, or simply sit back and enjoy the sounds. He was playing a mixture of music from various eras, as well as some holiday favorites. One by one, the couples in the group took advantage of the dance floor. Starsky danced with Rachel to one of her old favorite songs, and she was delighted when Nick managed to take a few turns around the dance floor with her as well.

Jim and Blair danced mostly with each other, which surprised no one.

"You look amazing, in case I didn't tell you that before," Jim said, smiling as he tucked a few curls behind Blair's ear.

"So do you. I love the party, but at the same time, I just want it to all go away so it's just us."

"We'll hang around a little longer, and then we'll head upstairs. I don't think anybody expects us to be here until the party's over."

"The whole thing is really beautiful. Your dad went all out."

"According to him, your dad insisted on going in on it with him. So all this is from both dads."

"Who'd've thought we'd ever end up at a party thrown by both our dads."

"I wasn't speaking to mine and you hadn't found yours yet. We've come a long way since then."

"In a lot of ways," Blair said, resting his head on Jim's shoulder. "Sometimes I wish we could freeze time. I see my grandmother, and how sad she looks sometimes thinking about my grandfather...knowing Uncle Nick won't be here much longer. I'm getting to not like time too much."

"Your grandmother has a wonderful life with her family. She's absolutely adored by that whole clan."

"But that doesn't replace the one person she misses. I could be adored by everyone in the world, and it wouldn't even ease it a little if you weren't here."

"I feel the same way, sweetheart. But if she had to be alone, and lose her husband, at least she's had a rich family life."

"I hope we live to be as old as she is, maybe older...but that we're together. I wish we would only live as long as we were together."

"Me, too, Chief. Me, too," Jim repeated, holding Blair closer. "But we've got a long span of years ahead of us."

"Thank you for agreeing to this. I know you weren't crazy about the idea at first."

"I think it was all the planning and the details. Now that we're here, I'm glad we did it. We should have this night to remember. It was too important not to."

"I think we should sit this one out," Blair said, laughing as a tango started playing.

"No arguments there," Jim agreed, smiling as they returned to their seats. On the way, they passed Starsky, who had snagged Megan from her table the moment she said she knew how to tango. It wasn't long before the two of them had the floor to themselves, the other amused guests watching them expertly move in time with the music.

"David does love to dance," Sophia said, chuckling. "He taught me how to do the Hustle when I was eight," she added.

"Something for which we were all grateful," Sophia's mother said sarcastically.

"I got a whole bunch of kids doing the Hustle at Mark Epstein's bar mitzvah. Mom was furious," Sophia said. "Here I was with all these older kids, and I was the only one who knew how to do it right."

"Blair?" Nick tapped Blair on the shoulder. "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure. Excuse me," Blair said to the others at the table, following Nick away from the din and merriment of the reception to the area just outside the Starlight Roof. The two men sat on a sofa there, and Nick pulled a small, wrapped package out of his breast pocket.

"I want you to have this."

"Thanks, Uncle Nick, but you didn't have to get a wedding gift."

"It's not exactly a wedding gift, but this seems like a good occasion to give it to you. It's something I think you should have."

"Now you've got me curious." Blair unwrapped the package, and opened a small, square white box. Sitting on a bed of cotton was a man's watch. It looked like it was good quality, but it showed signs of obvious wear.

"That was your grandfather's. He wore it almost every day of his life. Ma gave it to me when I graduated from high school." He paused with a little laugh. "I think she was so shocked I made it that she couldn't help herself."

"I can't take this from you. It's so...it has to mean everything to you."

"It means a lot to me, which is why I want you to have it. You've been a good friend to me, and you never judged me. I don't have a lot that's all that important to me. Where it goes doesn't matter--to one of the cousins, the Salvation Army, a dumpster, whatever. But this...this I wanted to leave with someone special. There's not much left of Pop's stuff all these years later. David has one or two things, Ma has a few things, and I have this. I want you to have it."

"I don't know what to say," Blair swallowed, blinking back tears.

"It meant a lot to me to be here tonight. I enjoyed it, and it was great seeing so many of the relatives, and Ma all dolled up like I remember her from when I was a little kid. Just...hang onto that, and think about your old Uncle Nick every now and then, okay?"

"I wouldn't have needed the watch to do that, but I'll treasure it always."

"I know you will. Listen, I'm a little worn out, so I'm gonna go downstairs and hit the sack. Tell Ma not to worry about me. I'm not feeling worse or anything. Just tired."

"You'll be at brunch tomorrow?" Blair asked hopefully.

"I'll try. Question is, will you two be at brunch tomorrow?" Nick teased, getting up with a trace of difficulty. Blair hugged him.

"Thank you again. I'm so glad you were able to be here tonight, and the watch is really special. Thank you for entrusting it to me."

"I think your grandfather would like the idea of it being passed down to the next generation. You go enjoy the rest of the party. Good night, Blair."

"'Night, Uncle Nick. Sleep well." Blair watched him push the button for the elevator, and waited until the doors had closed and he was on his way downstairs before returning to the party.

When he re-entered the room, he smiled when he saw Bill dancing with Sally, the two of them laughing and talking. They were dancing to a slightly jazzed-up version of "Home for the Holidays," and Bill even managed to unexpectedly dip her once during their dance.

"Now there's something I never thought I'd see," Jim said as Blair sat beside him again.

"They make a nice looking couple," Megan enthused, nudging Rhonda, who had joined them at the table where they were sitting.

"That was the plan," she replied, sharing a high-five with Megan.

"You two are dangerous," Blair said, chuckling.

"Look at them. They're perfect together. They already have a life together. We just needed to drag Sally out of her shell. Screaming and kicking, I might add," Megan concluded, smiling.

"I don't think I ever saw her all dressed up and wearing makeup before," Jim said.

"We're going to give her another training session before we all go home. We want to be sure she doesn't just let it all go when the party's over. She's such a pretty lady, and your father obviously likes the new look," Rhonda said.

"I think I'm gonna go dance with my grandma," Blair said, rising.

"To 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree'?"

"She'll love it," Blair said, heading over to where Rachel sat, tapping her fingers on the table to the music. "Can I have this dance, or is your card all full?" Blair asked.

"I'd love to," she said, getting up and taking his arm.

"Ma, it's a fast one," Starsky said.

"I know," she said, patting Blair's arm as they went to the dance floor and started dancing. Blair led, setting a very moderate pace to their movements, but still keeping some time with the music. "I haven't danced to a fun song since your grandfather died," she said, smiling brightly.

"Let me know if you get tired, Grandma."

"I'm just fine," she said, squeezing Blair a little. "Mike was a wonderful dancer. He loved the fast numbers, and he liked to do wild things like lifting me off the floor or sliding me down between his feet. We used to have a ball going out dancing."

"You're a good dancer," Blair said.

"Why, thank you."

After the song drew to a close, they returned to Rachel's table.

"Uncle Nick went downstairs to turn in. He told me to tell you not to worry, that he was fine, just tired."

"I should check on him," she said.

"Ma, he just went downstairs," Starsky spoke up. "He'll be okay for a little while."

"I suppose you're right. I never could sit still when one of you were sick," she said, shrugging.

"Probably because you're the best mom in the world," Starsky said, sliding an arm around her. "Still the prettiest one, too."

"They're playing our song," Jim said, rather unceremoniously yanking Blair by the hand toward the dance floor. Blair had to laugh when he recognized the song that was starting: "All I Want for Christmas Is You."

He'd never danced to an up tempo song with Jim before, and it was fun. Most of their guests joined them on the dance floor, and by the end of the song, it was hard to tell which couples started out together, as they were all mingling and dancing as a group. Starsky ended up dancing with Rhonda, Blair danced with Sophia, and divested of their partners, Jim, Hutch, and Simon formed a sort of stag chorus line, much to their friends' amusement. The older guests who weren't quite up to the wild tempo of the song clapped in time with it from the sidelines.

The somewhat breathless dancers all applauded themselves, cheering boisterously. None of them were sorry when a slower number followed, and after sorting themselves out to be back with their original partners, they danced to "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"

"That's a good question," Bill said, as he danced one more dance with Sally.

"What is?" she asked, smiling.

"That one," he said, as the refrain kicked in again. "Any chance you'd like to go to the New Year's Eve party at the Club with me this year?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you," he said, chuckling a little at her stunned response.

"Why, yes, I would enjoy that very much," she responded, pleased.

"Good, then it's settled."

"I don't know if I'll be able to do all this as well as Megan and Rhonda did it."

"I'm sure you'll look lovely," Bill said, and Sally blushed, averting her eyes from his.

"Won't your friends think it's odd that you...well, that you bring your housekeeper?"

"I stopped worrying about what they thought shortly after I retired, and it was the most liberating experience of my life. Besides, you don't plan on wearing an apron over your evening gown, do you?"

"No, I should hope not!" she replied, laughing.

"Then it's irrelevant."

As the crowd seemed to be visibly tiring and a few of the guests had said their goodbyes, the DJ played a song that was the perfect conclusion to the evening for the happy couple. The song the musician at the piano had played and sung as they processed in began playing over the speakers, sung this time by Barry Manilow's gentle voice. Quite a few of the guests opted for another dance to the slow song, but Jim and Blair didn't really notice them. Wrapped in each other's arms, they swayed to the soft music, listening to the words that expressed so well how they felt for each other, and the joy of this special moment in their lives.

As the song ended, Jim and Blair reluctantly separated, and agreed it was time to say their goodnights. Mingling among the guests, they shook hands and shared hugs, thanking everyone for coming.

"This was an incredible night, Dad," Jim said to his father, who just smiled.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"It was more than we ever hoped for," Blair said. "Thank you so much."

"No thanks necessary. I had a pretty good time myself."

"Yeah, we noticed," Jim teased.

"Well, it was an eye-opener, that's for sure," Bill said, grinning. "You two go on downstairs now. You might need this." He handed Jim a room key. "Honeymoon suite. We had all your things moved in there. That's why we asked you to pack before you came upstairs."

"I'm going to go talk with my Dad for a minute," Blair said. "Thanks again, Dad. This was amazing."

"You're welcome, Blair."

Leaving Jim to visit with his father for a few minutes, Blair approached Starsky's table.

"I bet you're calling it quits for tonight," Starsky said, rising.

"Yeah, we're heading downstairs. I just wanted to say thanks for everything."

"This was mostly Bill's party, but you're welcome," Starsky said, accepting the bear hug from Blair, who then moved to give Hutch one as well.

"I know you guys went in with him, and you worked really hard on all the arrangements, too. It was the most incredible night of my life."

"Then our work is done here," Hutch joked, taking another drink of his champagne.

********

"Alone at last," Jim said, leaning against the doors of the honeymoon suite. "It was a great party, but all I really wanted to do was get up here and be with you."

"Me, too. It's so weird how one day seemed like a *lifetime*."

"In case you haven't noticed, it's just you and me here now." Jim crossed the room, pulling Blair into his arms. They kissed hungrily, mouths exploring each other, hands roaming, alone together for the first time in too many hours. Soon, clothing was falling, and they backed unsteadily toward the bedroom, finally running into the bed and falling on it, down to nothing more than underwear and open shirts now.

The sound of paper crunching froze Jim in his tracks, though Blair didn't really care if the noise they heard was the roof collapsing. Rolling them a bit to the side, Jim pulled out a piece of hotel stationery.

"Don't get too comfortable. Look in the bathroom." Jim frowned at the note. It was cryptic, and after so many years as a cop, he tended to view such advice as a potential threat. Blair took it from him.

"This is Uncle Nick's handwriting." Blair snorted. "So that's why he had to leave the party early--he wasn't resting, he was an accomplice."

"Think we ought to take a look in the bathroom?" Jim suggested.

"Absolutely!"

With rumpled shirts and boxers their only remaining garments, they went hand in hand to the bathroom, and pushed the door open. It was an elaborate room with marble fixtures and gold hardware, a huge jacuzzi tub bubbling invitingly, the entire room lit with multiple fat white candles. Champagne chilled in an ice bucket next to the jacuzzi, two glasses waiting patiently. Both their shaving kits were also sitting near the champagne.

"Now you know my dad told him to put those there," Blair said, chuckling, thinking of the lube that was stashed in both their shaving kits.

He barely got the last words out before Jim was capturing his mouth in a kiss, sliding the shirt off his shoulders. Blair ran his hands over the muscled planes of Jim's chest, impatiently pushing Jim's open shirt to the floor. When they broke the kiss, they both slipped out of their boxers and left them in a pile with the discarded shirts.

The water in the jacuzzi was warm and inviting, and they enjoyed the slide of wet skin on skin as they came together again, kissing and caressing, hoping they would have the self control to at least share one toast before passion carried them away.

Blair popped the champagne cork, releasing a small cascade of foam from the bottle as Jim held up the glasses for him to fill.

"Seems like there's too much to toast to pick just one thing," Jim said, handing a glass to Blair.

"How about, to moments like these, and many more of them for the rest of our lives?"

"Perfect." Jim tapped his glass against Blair's. "How about, to families who were pushy enough to make us do this up right?"

"Here, here," Blair agreed, tapping his glass against Jim's. "How about, to setting the glasses aside so we can do more fun things with our hands?" That made Jim laugh out loud, and after one last tap of glasses and sip of champagne, they set the glasses out of harm's way.

Blair straddled Jim's lap, bringing their hardening cocks together with a delicious wet, slippery friction that wasn't really friction at all, but more of a wet rubbing of flesh on flesh. Jim licked and sucked Blair's nipples until they were hard peaks. Only the water level kept him from moving lower. Blair backed away a little and leaned in for a long kiss.

"We've never done it under water before." Jim wrapped his arms around Blair and hugged him close, thrusting up, making their cocks slide together tantalizingly.

"No time like the present," Blair said, pulling free long enough to wipe his hands on a nearby towel and reach for his shaving kit to get the lube. He handed it to Jim, his upper body resting on the marble surface outside the jacuzzi, bending over so his water-slick ass jutted out at a provocative angle.

"You expect me to wait to get you under water?" Jim uncapped the lube and soon slid a slick finger into the tight opening, rubbing and stretching as Blair moved in time with his finger, purposely giving him a show that was making his cock throb insistently. He added a second finger, curving them until he found Blair's prostate, eliciting a wild shout of pleasure from his lover.

"I'm gonna come right now if you do that again," Blair gasped. He knew he was close to the edge, ready to be finished with the waiting. He'd wanted Jim for what seemed like an eternity, even though it was only a day and a night that they hadn't been free to sate their desires.

Jim guided him back down into the water so Blair straddled his lap again.

"I put some on me, but it probably won't do much good in the water."

"The water and what's in me'll do the job. I'm *so* ready for this," Blair added, reaching back to guide Jim's cock until it pressed against the entrance to his body. As Blair lowered himself onto the large shaft, it entered him smoothly, but the water was reducing a little of the greasiness of the lube. The sensation was incredible, and Blair groaned low in his throat, holding onto Jim's shoulders, his expression a combination of ecstasy and strain as he adjusted to the stretching.

A moment later, he was riding Jim's lap, moving up and down rapidly. Jim's hands moved up and down Blair's back, sliding into his hair and holding him in place to completely claim his mouth, their tongues battling for dominance. Blair broke the kiss to let out a shout as his climax rippled through him, and Jim wasn't sure what was pushing him faster toward his own finish line--the tight sheath around his cock or the sight and sound of Blair, head thrown back, shuddering and moaning.

When it was over, Blair slumped into Jim's arms, and they sat there quietly, hearts pounding, catching their breath and coming back to reality again. Jim was still inside Blair, and they were wrapped around each other, the warm, bubbling water swirling around them.

"I love you," Blair muttered, nuzzling Jim's neck.

"I love you , too, sweetheart." Jim could feel a laxness in Blair's body that spoke not only of satisfaction, but of fatigue. It had been a long day for both of them. "How about a nap? We've got all night."

Blair pulled back a bit and smiled, kissing Jim before responding, "We've got a whole lifetime."

********

THE END