“Yes, I did. I saw the whole damn thing. And I’ve been through therapy, as a kid and as an adult. I’m okay with talking about my mom. I’m glad I have the memories I do. Seriously.”
Holland took a breath. “Okay, good. I’m glad it was said. Now how can we embarrass Aaron?”
An enormous mountain of a human being leaned forward between me and Ora who let out a startled shriek.
Unphased by Ora, he asked, “Excuse me, did you say Aaron? As in Aaron Donner?”
“Yup,” I answered. He gave me a glaring look and I sighed. “Yeah, it’s us.” I waved my hand up and down the four of us.
“Mel Garvin, Aaron’s roommate.” He stuck his hand out.
I shook the mountainous man’s hand and introduced everyone. “Doxx. This is Ora, Rand, and Holland.”
“I’m going to attempt to introduce you to some other people, I’m hoping they don’t freak out.” He looked to his right and tapped the tiny man next to him. “Babe. Aaron has more people here.”
The tiny man, he couldn’t have been all of five foot three, whipped around to find us in front of them. Both of his hands slapped over his mouth to keep the scream from falling out. He, in turn, punched the person next to him in the arm, who turned and looked. With an “oh my God,” that man then whacked the man next to him in the stomach. He, finally and lastly, grabbed the top of the woman’s head next to him and turned it.
I grinned, and they all just stared.
“They’re not used to us,” Ora said.
“Not even close,” Holland agreed. “They’re going to have to. Because now they’re part of the Gaggle.”
“You’re straight, how are you part of the Gaggle?” I asked.
“You’re straight and you’re part of the Gaggle,” Holland said. “We’re honorary members.”
I tossed my head back and laughed. The truth was, the guys I called friends outside the band wouldn’t give a crap. They’d be just as accepting of us as they would of the crew sitting behind us.
“So, this is my boyfriend, David,” Mel said, pointing to the tiny man. “That’s Alexei, Drew, and Gertie. We thought we would be the only ones here for Aaron.”
“Well, we figured as a nice gesture of solidarity, we’d come up,” Ora said.
Meanwhile, I was staring at Drew. He saw me staring at him, and his eyes got a little wide and panicked, and he gave me the smallest shake of his head. We’d met before, and under radically different circumstances. But I caught the shake, and the pure fear in his face. I nodded ever so slightly to let him know I was going to say nothing. The relief was instant and complete.
Curious. I needed to talk to him alone.
I tuned back into the rest of the conversation, and Mel was going on enthusiastically. “…brought signs, but we didn’t think there would be people.”
“No family?” Rand asked.
The whole group exchanged glances, and finally David answered, “Let him tell you, but no. No family.”
“Let’s actually say,no blood relations,” Alexei said. “Because we are his family. He came to us first to tell us you’d hired him.”
Ora waved a finger at Alexei. “Don’t I know you?”
“You should,” Mel said. “He’s the center for the Suffolk Kings. Drafted by the Islanders and has been playing for the AHL ever since.”
The four of us started laughing. “Luis is going to flip his shit,” Rand said. “He has been dying to meet you.”
“Luis?” Alexei asked. “Cervantes! Yeah, we met already. Lead guitar in Up Down Left Right.”
David squealed and hit both Mel and Alexei with his fists. “Oh, my God, you know UDLR! I do one of my favorite routines toBound!”
“Routines?” I asked.
“He’s a drag queen,” Mel said.
