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He was a little thrown by the question. “I have no Thanksgiving traditions to speak of, aside from watchin’ football.” He and I had set the DVR to record every game that was happening today, and we had a big football marathon planned when we got home.
She thought of something then, and said, “Christopher Robin, come talk to me for a moment.” And she took his hand and rolled off to a quiet corner of the kitchen, where he leaned close to talk to her.
Dante took the opportunity to pull me into his arms. “How bad is it so far?” he whispered against my ear.
“Not bad at all,” I told him, sliding my hands under his unbuttoned suit jacket and holding him to me. He felt warm and strong and solid in my arms.
“What the fuck, Dante?” a woman’s voice behind us exclaimed. “Did you think you two had to hide in the kitchen? That your family’s a bunch of fucking homophobic assholes and we’re all going to keel the fuck over if we see you and your lover hugging?”
He laughed at that, and turned to the big haired busty redhead that had just come into the kitchen. “Hardly. We were summoned by Nana. Charlie, this is my foul-mouthed cousin Melody. Melody, Charlie.”
“Foul-mouthed? Fuck you, Dante,” she said. She winked at me and took my hand. “Hiya Charlie. Welcome to the family. I apologize in advance for every crude, vulgar, politically incorrect, or flat-out insulting thing you hear over the course of this evening. Not from me, mind you, but from everyone else. I’m the well-behaved one of the bunch.” She smiled at me cheerfully, then snatched a couple olives out of a glass dish and told me, “Hurry up and get your ass out there. Everyone’s dying to meet you.” And then she disappeared through the kitchen door.
“What did I get myself into?” I asked with a grin as I took Dante in my arms again.
Christopher came up to us, pulling open a packet of his orange colored crackers. “Nana totally gets it,” he said with a pleased little smile. “She noticed my food thing and promised not to try to fix me. At least, not today.” He popped a cracker in his mouth.
Dinner was loud and raucous and absolutely hilarious. The more everyone drank, the louder and funnier it got. There were at least fifty family members seated at several long tables in what at one time had been a formal ballroom. Dante was the undisputed leader of this clan (well, after his grandmother), and his family obviously loved and respected him – but still felt free to tease him mercilessly at every opportunity.
Christopher and I were both accepted as part of the family without hesitation, which pretty much blew me away. This was so wildly, refreshingly different from my own family. And thank God for that. Christopher remained quiet throughout the meal, but he was smiling and watching the proceedings with a sparkle in his blue eyes, just taking it all in. We sat side-by-side, so close our arms were touching. And at one point he leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I’m having the best time. Thank you for inviting me.”
“Thank you for saying yes,” I whispered back.
Later on things quieted down a bit, everyone lulled by the mountains of rich food. The adults retired to the living room, and the kids were rounded up by the teenagers and taken to watch cartoons in the in-house theater.
I was happy and relaxed, holding Dante’s hand, Christopher at my side. And then Dante cleared his throat and stood up, saying, “Could I have everyone’s attention, please?”
All eyes were on him as he grinned at me and cleared his throat again. He was nervous about something. And Nana exclaimed, “Oh shit, you’re doing this now?” She shoved her glasses onto her face, grabbed a little camcorder that was on the seat beside her, and pushed the on button, pointing the camera at us. “Ok, go ahead.”
Dante laughed at that. And then he got down on one knee and took my hand. “Angel, I love you more than anything. I love you more than I ever knew it was possible to love someone. You’re my life, you’re everything to me.” He paused, his dark eyes locked with mine. And then he said softly, “Charlie Connolly, will you do me the honor of being my husband?”
I gasped and stammered, “Yes. God yes! Of course.”
Honestly, I have no idea what his family’s reaction was. They could have cheered, they could have gasped and fainted, I really don’t know. Because all my attention was on the beautiful man before me. Dante grabbed me in a hug and whispered, “Thank you, angel. You’ve made me so incredibly happy.” And then he kissed me, deeply, passionately, right in front of everyone.
