Characters in This Chapter:

Trace – Ian's husband, father to Collin and Blake

Ian – Trace's husband, father to Collin and Blake

Blake – Ian's and Trace's son, Collin's brother

Michael – Trace's brother, Uncle to Collin and Blake

Blake's Saga

Book IV – Chapter 9

Dads' Meeting Up

Trace and Ian have been relaxing a bit in the living room when Collin and Blake come down the stairs. Collin ran down the stairs, and Blake just walked down till he reached the bottom. They sat in the available seats in the room. The brothers had been upstairs talking about the family, and Collin asked a question that Blake didn't have an answer for him, so they went downstairs to get the answer. Blake looks at his brother, urging him to speak up.

"How did you guys meet?"

Blake gives him a thumbs up, letting him know that he got the question right. Blake has never really thought to ask his dad's that question, and he wished that he had thought about it asking them.

"You guys want to hear this story?"

Ian asks as he looks at the boys. Blake nods his head at him.

"Yes, Ian...Daddy."

Collin is still trying to figure out what to call their dad's. Trace and Ian are trying to figure out what to tell their kids.   Ian and Trace talk things over together amongst themselves, but it's decided that Ian will tell at least the first part of the tale.

***  

Ian gets ready to start telling the tale. He stops to think things over in his head before he begins their story.

"Dad had just graduated from the Police Academy and was working. I was just getting off work and on my way to a doctor's appointment.  Guess, I wasn't going the exact speed limit."

Trace interrupts Ian to add to the story.

"Yeah, he had to be going at least ten over the speed limit; otherwise, I wouldn't have pulled him over."

Ian laughs and continues the story. Blake chuckles a bit at the idea that Ian was speeding. Ian never goes over the speed limit.

"Well anyway, I didn't see the police car right away, but by the time I did, it was too late, and the damage was done. I heard the sirens and saw the lights, so I pulled over, turned off the car, and got out my license and my registration. My anxiety kicked up a notch. Next thing, I know this officer was standing at my window. He asked if I knew why I had been pulled over and I told him that I was must have been speeding but that I wasn't sure how much over the speed limit, I had been going. I was then informed that I had been going around 40 miles an hour on streets where the speed limit was only 30 miles per hour. I don't know what came over me, but I told him that I was sorry and that I was on my way to the doctor's office for an appointment. At some point, we made eye contact, and I don't know about your dad, but felt sparks. For whatever reason, Dad didn't write me out a ticket and gave a very stern warning. Course, he also smiled at me and then sent me on my way. During my trip to the doctor's office, I kept thinking about the police officer. Even after my checkup, I couldn't get him off my mind. I didn't know how to contact him, but I wanted too. I wanted to have a chance at a date with him."

At least one of the kids was sitting on the edge of their seats. Blake was taking it in, but it was Collin who was interested. Trace feels like he needs to add his thoughts to the story.

"So, I only think it's fair that you hear my part of the story as well. I was planning on writing up the ticket. Your daddy had been very polite to me, so that gave him an automatic 3 points. When I saw his parking pass for the school that he works at, I gave him another couple of points. When I saw his face, and we made eye contact, I was starstruck; that was when I decided not to write up the ticket. I wasn't going to waste the paperwork on a teacher, a hot teacher at that. The one mistake that I made was not getting his phone number. I felt kind of stupid for the rest of the day, to be honest, but yeah, that is my end of that part of the story."

So, I guess it was pretty much interest at first sight. They wanted to start talking right away. Who knows what might have happened had they exchanged numbers quicker.

***  

Trace has to fill in some gaps that Ian wouldn't know for obvious reasons. The biggest of which is that Ian wasn't in the picture.

"Two days later, I went shopping at the grocery store, and who do you think that I saw at the store?"

Collin's eyes got big, and he pointed to Ian.

"Did you see Daddy?"

Trace smiles as he looks at his young son.

"You are correct, Collin. I did see Daddy. He was in the cereal aisle, and I wanted to buy some cereal. I was not about to pass by without getting his number, though. When I came up to him, I turned and looked right at him. He acted like he didn't know me. Which is possible, or he was nervous about speaking with me. I asked him if he remembered me, and I could see the wheels turning in his head. He finally answered me, and he said that I was the officer who stopped him on his way to his appointment. I told him that it was me, and then I asked him for his phone number."

Blake's eyes got big this time. He didn't understand how his dad could know that Ian was gay. Up to now, there had been no way of knowing from the story if either guy knew that each other was gay or not.

"That was brave; how did you know that Dad was gay?"

Trace didn't smile; he just looked at Ian and then looked at Blake.

"Sometimes, you just know. I kind of think it was pretty well communicated at the traffic stop. Am I wrong?"

Trace asks as he looks at his husband. Ian nods his head in affirming his husband's question.

"Yeah, pretty much, I wasn't certain that your dad was gay, but I was pretty sure he was. Then at the grocery store, when he asked for my number, I knew in a heartbeat that he was gay because no straight guy would ask for it. I knew that I wanted his number, too, so we entered our passwords and exchanged phones. We typed our contact information into each other's phones. We handed back each other's phones and then Trace surprised the heck out of me."

Blake and Collin both look at Trace, making him feel like they were judging him.

"Look, I just asked him out on our first date. I didn't do anything to hurt him, so you can both knock off your weird looks."

Blake is surprised. He didn't think his dad would act that quick. He figured they would have talked first before jumping into a date.

"You didn't waste any time, did you?"

Again, Trace chuckles as he looks at his son.

"No, Blake, I didn't want someone else dating him before I had a chance to date him. Ian agreed to the date, and we made plans to have our first date just a few days later from that night."

The date was pretty typical as far as dates go. Ian didn't care as long as he got to spend it the night with the handsome and irresistible cop.

***

Three days later, from their meet up at the store, Trace and Ian finally had their dates. Ian picks up the tale of their date.

"Trace picked me after work on Friday from my house, and we went to see a movie that both of us wanted to see. We shared a bucket of popcorn and had our drinks, but I think we spent most of the movie in silence except for a couple of quick kisses. We agreed on a documentary. By the end of it, I was crying, and Trace was crying too. We pulled ourselves together and went on the second part of our date. Trace had arranged for us to eat at this nice steakhouse here in our great city. I guess we ate like pigs, but all I remember is talking about the movie and looking into his eyes. Is that what you remember?"

Ian asks his husband to make sure that his memory of the night is correct. The boys shift their eyes to Trace so they can hear his answer.

"Yeah, I have to admit that the meal was not the best part of the evening. I guess for me being there with you talking about the documentary was the amazing part. I don't know why we even went to that steak house."

He knows precisely why he went to the steak house. Trace wanted to impress his date. It wasn't so hard to figure out. The next date is all on Ian.

***  

Ian had the date set for the second date only to have Trace come back a day later and say that he couldn't make it on that chosen day. It had to be rescheduled. They had their second date precisely one week from their first date.

"Trace, you want to tell the story of our second date?"

Ian asks his husband.

"Sure, Ian called, and we arranged for a date and time. Sadly, I had to call him back a day later to say that I had a work meeting and couldn't make it, so he very quickly rescheduled. We ended up going to the beach. First, we walked down and collected beach glass, which I think is still upstairs in my keepsake box. I learned on that hike along the beach just how much your father was really into nature. He showed me so many things on that short hike, but I digress. We found a spot on the beach that was relatively empty, and we played frisbee. After that, we ended up having a little picnic on the beach. It also gave me a chance to see just how athletic your dad is, and I was not disappointed. He was in good form."

Ian and Trace both put on sunscreen and played frisbee for a couple of hours before stopping for lunch. Trace had to give a couple of guys some stink eye because they were eying Ian. They exchanged phones and took selfies of each other so that there would be photos for them to look at when apart from each other. What happens next is somewhat hard on the guys.

***

Over the next week, they hit a hard spot. Neither Ian nor Trace had a schedule that gave them a chance to schedule time together. Instead, there were many phone calls and texts. There were times at work that during breaks, they would text each other or send pictures to each other. Since this was sort of boring, they skipped over this part of their story. While they were apart, they did have some interesting things happen, which they will talk about with the kids.

"After the second date, I was feeling very excited for more dates, and I wanted to share that excitement with some of my friends. I had half a dozen who wanted to see a picture of my new date. A couple of them told me that maybe he needed to pat me down and read me my rights."

Ian told the kids, which caused Trace to blush a bit. Collin didn't understand the comment, but Blake did, and he gave Ian a smirk. Trace smiles as well, and he blushed too.

"My mom heard me something in my voice and wanted to know what was going on in my life. I told her that I was seeing someone. She wanted to know more about Daddy, so I told her as much as I wanted her to know. I even showed her his photo, and she told me that he is a keeper. She asked what he did for a living, when she found out what he did, then she seemed to want to meet him."

Collin perked up then, and he looks at Trace.

"Grandma wanted to meet him?

The youngest one asked his dad.

"She did. She wanted to thank him for making me happy."

Trace tells Collin. Overall most people were thrilled with Ian and Trace finding each other. The next week would put an idea in Trace's mind.

***  

After time away from each other, the guys want to spend time together, and they aren't sure what they want to do, but they want to do something. Trace begins the tale of the third date.

"Dad and I had missed each other big time, and we needed some time together. I tried so hard to get Dad to tell me what he wanted to do on our date. He just couldn't decide, though, could you?"

Trace asked Ian.

"I just wanted to spend time with you, and I didn't care what we did."

Blake thought Ian's comment was lovely, but he kept the comment to himself.

"So what did you guys end up doing? You can't just stop the story there."

Blake is trying to get Trace to continue the story.

"Well, I decided that we should go bowling. Believe it or not, Dad had never gone bowling before, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to go, because he didn't want to lose. But he did good, he won the second game. After bowling, we had hot dogs at the little food stand in the bowling alley. It was different, but we enjoyed it, didn't we?"

Ian nodded his head, and then Trace decided to continue the story.

"Dad decided that we should spend more time together. I wasn't sure how that was going to work, and we were only a month into dating. I wasn't sure how we could spend more time together; we tried coming up with all kinds of ideas of how we could make it work. We just couldn't figure it out, so we kept doing what we were doing. I was secretly planning, though. I knew the only way we could spend more together would be to get this man right here into my life for good. I wasn't ready to get engaged, but maybe, just maybe, Dad might agree to move in with me. It just wasn't the right time to move in together. Still, I needed to do something, so I went shopping for some gifts. I wanted Dad to plan the next date, and then I had a surprise which, I'll let Dad tell you about it."

Ian had no idea any of this was going through his partner's mind. It's pretty amazing for him even to consider what was going on in Trace's mind.

***  

On the 4^th date, Ian planned a movie night at his parent's place. With a little help, he decked out the clothes' line with white lights, put up a sheet to act as a screen, and then he had a little bit more help setting up the laptop and the projector.

"Our 4^th date was amazing guys. I had help with from a good friend, and I set up a beautiful date night. We did a whole outdoor movie night. I even had a big bowl of butter popcorn made up for us. We spent the night watching the movie, and it was just a movie night. Something happened at the end of the night, though, Dad went to his car and came back with a big gift bag.   He told me to take everything out and read the note. I removed a white teddy bear and a piece of paper that was scented with Trace's favorite cologne. Written on the paper, Trace wrote, "Be my boyfriend?" and I didn't know what to say to Dad. I didn't want to lose him, so I agreed that night to be the boyfriend to the most handsome guys on the earth. Everything just fell right in the place that night. It was eye-opening."

Nothing would prepare them for what was coming eventually, and it would change their lives. It would provide insight into what the rest of their lives would be like together.

***  

The thing that Trace was trying to piece together is about to change everything. It's something that seems to happen to the guys a lot. Trace starts this tale.

"From that 4^th date, I waited a whole year before making a move. As soon as I could, I made a huge decision. I put a question to Dad, and I was scared he would decide to give me a negative answer. I had planned this for a very long time, even before we became boyfriends. So, I asked him to move in with me, and he agreed. Over a couple of weeks, we moved Ian in with me."

It's crazy how much this year together helped them develop into their relationship that it is today. Sure, other events shaped them, but it's fantastic to think about all of the history behind Trace and Ian.

***  

As a couple, they hit some hardpoints. They didn't always have great times. Ian starts the end of this conversation.

"Five months into living together and, we hit a rough spot. We tried to work it out, but it just wasn't happening. I went home to my parent's house and stayed there for a few months. After two weeks, I couldn't stand being apart from Dad anymore, so I reached out to him for the first time since our little breakup. It ends up that Dad missed me too, and we wasted no time in getting back at it."

It was amazing to see the guys come back together. At least they didn't have kids at the time, that would have had broken-hearts over the breakup. Trace and Ian wasted no time in making up for lost time. Still, there was a lot of stuff going on in those two weeks, that the guys were separated.

***  

While they were apart, Trace and his mom had a long talk about the breakup. She is not going to let go of things that he needs her son to remember.

"Mom, I miss him. I can't believe we had that argument. It just seemed so petty."

Trace's mom has never heard the whole story. She asks Trace what set off the argument.

"I was tired after my shift. I came into the bedroom and set my gun down outside of the safe, and went to bed. Ian got angry over it and woke me. I told him it could sit there overnight, and he got even more upset. It's not like we have kids who would have found it. It was just the two of us inside the apartment. Our door was locked and dead-bolted. He was worried it would become a habit, and that one of his nieces or nephews or that one of my nieces and nephews might find it, and then what would happen. I tried telling him that it wouldn't become a habit, and he laughed. I guess that is when I decided to pick it up and put it away so that he would be quiet. I didn't want to be around him, so I went and slept on our couch. He followed me out and said that he could do this and packed his stuff and left."

For the sake of the kids, Trace didn't share this with them. As much as she loves her son, she can see Ian's point. The question is, can; she get him to see that he too loves Ian.

"Trace, do you think it's possible that Ian was right about the gun. What would happen if Michael or Ashley found that gun? Now, I know they wouldn't touch it, but still. It should have gone right into the safe."

Trace nods his head. He would never want anything to happen to either Michael or Ashley. It would have hurt way too much.

"Mom, I have never done that before. It's always gone into the safe. I had just gone with training and then my shift, and yeah, I made a mistake, but he could have waited till morning for me to put it away. Before you say it, the bedroom is always locked when the kids are over. I don't even want them having access to the safe."

His mom quietly sits while he talks. She wants to hear everything he says.

"I guess what you need to do is ask yourself, is do you love him?"

Trace doesn't need to ask himself that question. He has never stopped loving him. Yes, he was angry at him over the gun and mad over him for walking out. Through it all, the one thing that hasn't changed is his feelings for his boyfriend.

"Yes, I love him. I'm just waiting for him to call me."

Now, she raises her voice just a little.

"Son, if you love him, don't wait for him to call you. Call him"

This ends, the conversation between Trace and his mom know we move to the conversation between Ian and His mom.

***  

In Ian's parents' house, Ian and his mom sit down after lunch to talk about Trace, and the fight is about to take place.   She echoes the same hope that Trace's mom had. She wants him to wake up to the fact that he loves his boyfriend and his boyfriend loves him.

"Ian, I already know what happened between you and Trace. But I think that you were too hard on him. I agree that the gun should have been put into the safe, but you shouldn't have left the apartment. It's been too long. You need to call him and tell him that you love him. You can't fool me, Son, I know you love that guy. Gun or no gun, he is dying inside, and only you have the power to heal him."

Ian looks at her, and even with all the pain in his heart, he doesn't know if he can call Trace.

"What do you want me to do?"

She walks over to the phone and gives it to him. At first, he just stares at her, but then he surprises her.

"I'll call him, but I don't think he'll listen. He's freaking stubborn."

Ian may say it, but he hopes he's wrong. He's hoping that Trace has softened himself a little. He's hoping that he'll take him back because right now, his heart is melting. He gets up, walks outside.

***

The next phase in all of this is again hidden from the kids. It's the conversation between Ian and Trace that leads them to return to each other. Ian calls Trace from outside the house. It doesn't take long for Ian's guy to answer the phone.

"Hi Ian, I guess I need to apologize to you. I should have put the gun away, and I was so tired. More importantly, I love you. I want you back with me, babe. Please say that you'll come back?"

Ian wants Trace in his world.

"I'll come back. I want to be there too. Safe in your sweet arms.

Maybe, they find they will be stronger because of this time away. You better believe that when Trace and Ian reconnected that there was some time doing stuff behind a closed door.

***

As that door closes, we jump forward six months to the day that Trace does something that throws Ian for a loop. Trace looks at his husband and then at the boys.

"Okay, guys, so after the, we came back together from our breakup, we made our relationship stronger. Six months later, I took Ian out to Lake Michigan. I had bought the ring three months ago, and I kept chickening out, but today is the day. It was a cooler day on the lake, so I put a sweater on so that I could put the ring in my pocket. At the lake, we walked for what seemed like miles.   The beach was pretty empty at this spot, so I picked it this spot for the engagement. I wanted a day with friends and family, but this was perfect; this is beautiful. This spot had a bunch of good rocks for skipping, so we started skipping rocks, and then I got behind him and took the ring out of my pocket. I called his name, and he turned out to see me kneeling on one knee. He turned around, and I could hear him joyfully crying."

A very concerned Collin looked at Trace with big eyes.

"Daddy was crying?"

"Yeah, dad, was crying, but he was happy about, so it was good."

The little guy still was not convinced that everything was okay with Ian, so he taps him on the shoulder and then looks at him.

"You were crying happy tears?

Ian looks at Collin and smiles.

"Yeah, Dad made me happy, and I got really happy, and tears started coming out."

The little guy accepts that answer and quiets down so he can continue listening to Trace's tale of the proposal.

"Dad smiled down at me and asked me what the heck I was doing. I told him that I was going to make him super happy. He just smiles the most beautiful smile. That is when I asked him if he would marry me and make me the happiest guy on the earth. There was a bit of silence; I think Dad was trying to scare me. Then, he laughs through his happy tears, and says, "Yes!". I stood up and gave him the biggest hug that anyone could ever give him."

Blake smiles as he listens to his dad tell the story of their proposal. Trace didn't add much more into this part of the tale.

***

Blake doesn't understand why this story hasn't been shared before with him. He simply looks at the guys and frowns a little bit.   His little brother sees the hint of sadness on his brother's face and is a little upset by it.

"Why are you sad, Blake?"

He looks at his brother and then looks at Trace.

"Is there a reason why you haven't told me this story before?"

Ian answers instead of Trace.

"You have never asked kiddo."

His dad is right. Blake has never asked about their past. At least he is finding out now, though. He's okay with that fact. Collin's stomach rumbles a bit

***  

Blake looks at his little brother as his stomach rumbles.

"You hungry, buddy?"

He asks his little brother, who nods his head. Ian decides to take the kids out to eat since they are reliving such big moments in the family's lives.

"How about going out to eat guys?"

Trace says as Ian grabs the keys. The kids are all about it too. They decide to head out for seafood, believe it or not. There isn't a whole lot of excitement other than the food itself. It's not a fast-food joint, but the wait is worth it. Trace and Ian got Northern Pike fried in beer batter. Blake got deep-fried calamari and clams. Collin got deep-fried popcorn shrimp.   No one walked away hungry from this place. When they got back home, Ian started up with the story.

***  

Just as they were getting ready to sit down and listen to Ian continuing the story, there is a knock on the door. Blake gets up to answer it, and it' ends up being Uncle Michael. Michael follows Blake into the living room.

"What's up, Michael?"

His brother says as Michael sits down in one of the other chairs in the living room.

"We were talking about how we met and things leading up to the wedding. I think Ian is getting ready to discuss the wedding planning process. Why don't you talk about that, Michael? You witnessed a lot of that."

Trace tells his brother, knowing that Michael had a unique position since he could basically watch and not pay that much attention until the day of the wedding practice.

"Well, as I remember it, the guys wanted a small wedding, but the moms kept trying to make it bigger. Eventually, the mom's won, but I can't honestly say that by the time the wedding was over, it had a minimal feeling to it. The hardest part wasn't coming up with the invite list; it was figuring out the roles that each family would be taking up. Neither parent had ever attended a gay wedding, so it made planning hard, but I can promise you that your dads knew exactly what they wanted. The hardest part was picking the flowers and the colors. I think your dads spent two months working on just the flowers and another two weeks trying to figure out the colors. If I remember right, you guys choose some kind of blue and white flowers. It matched up exactly with what they picked for their colors. They did have a couple of issues with businesses not wanting to work with Trace and Ian because they are a "homosexual couple" but believe me, they didn't let them stop the wedding. If they couldn't find someone, they did it themselves. The cake was banana; a guy did the pictures went to school with Ian. He heard about the wedding and that the original photographer pulled out once they found out about the wedding. He swooped in and saved the day. Things happened like that all the time during the planning process. I think that is pretty much all I can think of at the moment."

The next part of the tale comes from Trace, and it's the guys reading their vows. For the sake of the boys, Trace and Ian head upstairs to get copies of the words that they shared on the day of the wedding.

***  

While Trace and Ian are walking away, Collin doesn't want them to walk away, but Michael quickly steps in and occupies his little nephew until they come back. Upstairs, the dads are flipping through an album until they find what they are looking for in it. What they found were their vows. They walk downstairs and take their seats.

"Do you guys want to hear what daddy and I read to each other at the wedding?"

Collin shakes his head, yes, and so Trace decides to start reading his vows.

"Okay, so this is what I read to Daddy when at our wedding. Our relationship started purely by chance. Your countenance stuck with me until our first date. I couldn't believe how things just fell into place for us. I know, we had arguments and split-ups, but we always find our way back to each other. It sometimes required us to be pointed in the right direction, but we always followed that compass, and once we found each other again, there was the only way to go, and that is into each other's arms. I promise to make you someday a dad, and to work on my flaws, my many flaws. You are my everything, and you will always be my everything. You bring me so much happiness, and I'm so glad that we're here at this moment with our friends and family. I love that I'm here standing across from you, waiting for the moment, when we can kiss as husbands for the first time, and I can call you; my husband."

Memories flood his husband's mind.   Ian gets ready to start reading his vows, that he read at the wedding.

"I was lost in your eyes when I first laid eyes on you. You haunted my life until our first date. Without you, I felt lost and alone, but we are stronger than anything in the world. Everything we've been through makes tonight simply beautiful. I was seeing you standing here before I make my soul happy. I will be your everything and your light when things are dark.   Trace, I have been in love with you for a long time. Thank you for bringing me here, for loving me, and for caring about me. I know you'll stand by me, and I promise to stand beside now and into our future. I love you, Trace!"

With those words spoken, Blake has tears in his eyes, as do Trace and Ian. Michael is smiling. Collin looks at his dads and smiles. He's hearing that his dad's love for each other feels great. Hearing words from their wedding to him feels somehow unique and even Blake is happy about it. Michael, though much a little younger at the time, remembers hearing those words live.

***  

Inside of Trace and Ian, the vows stir up memories of their wedding day. Ian wants to share with his kids memories that stand out for him.

"So our parents refused to let us see each other on our wedding day. They wanted to keep things as close to a regular wedding as they could. My dad gave me away to Trace, and it was incredible. Grandpa presented me to Daddy, who was crying as he saw me approaching him. I have to admit that seeing him cry was making me cry."

Collin stops Ian from speaking.

"Were you happy crying?"

"We were a little man. We were happy crying."

Trace tells Collin as he ruffled his hair. Blake wonders if Trace had any special memories.

"So, Dad, do you have any special memories of the wedding?"

Trace stops and thinks about it. Then it hit him

"I have an extraordinary memory. I had kissed your dad many times before, but there was something extraordinary about kissing Daddy for the first time as his husband. Another special memory took place after the wedding itself when I got the chance to dance with Daddy during the reception. We were able to block out somehow everyone, including the people tapping their silverware on their glasses, and just focus on dancing and looking into each other's eyes. It was amazing. I will never forget that night."

Then, something comes out of Blake's mouth that surprises both of them.

"I'm sorry that I missed it."

Blake would have loved to have been at the wedding and the reception. It would have been nice to have had the chance to just share in a big moment like that; oh well, what can you do. Blake's words cause Ian to stop and think about that, and how awesome it would have been to have had the kids at the wedding. Maybe that is something for them to talk about at a later time.