We Are NOT Alone

Months of planning and hard work had finally led them to this big day. It had not however been without some extra drama along the way. First, there was an incident with Muriel’s health. They thought they had almost lost her. She called them in the late evening on a Tuesday complaining of chest pains. She was in her LA home, her local physician was away on vacation, and her husband was out of the country. So, they hopped in the car and headed over to her house. Neither of them was an expert in human health care, beyond the normal stuff, so Josh messaged his older brother who was a nurse in Seattle. Based on what Keefer surmised, she was probably not in danger, but he recommended an emergency room visit anyway to be on the safe side. After many hours of waiting and feeling that her symptoms did not grow worse, they finally got her in to see a physician. Reading her vitals and medical history, he surmised that it was probably just a case of over-active indigestion. She was very embarrassed, but Josh and Peter were grateful she was ok. The physician advised her to watch what she ate more carefully and avoid foods that she associated with making her feel bloated or uncomfortable. They laughed on the way back to her house and teased her to encourage her housekeeper who also did the dinner cooking for her most nights, to avoid those unmentionable food groups.

Meanwhile, Angelique had lost her job due to downsizing, so they had spent more than a few weeks rebuilding her résumé for her rebranding. While disappointed at first, she eventually looked at it as a chance to be reborn and do something that mattered more. This transformation helped her to land a well-deserved leadership position at a local shelter for battered women and children. The job suited her perfectly, and she had been eternally grateful to them for helping her and believing in her.

Then there was the week of dealing with Peter’s parents. Josh explained to Peter that he thought the best way to break up what he now perceived to be a thickening of the ice between them, not a thaw as he had envisioned earlier, was to ‘trick’ them into a big family get-together. Peter, however, believing he knew his parents a bit better, decided on an ambush dinner. There was a lot more to it, but Josh kept that to himself for the time being.

Peter set up a reservation at one of the nicest and ‘hardest to get into’ restaurants in so-Cal for a Saturday evening when he knew that neither of his parents had previous engagements. He knew this because he had their assistants place a clandestine charity fund-raiser brainstorming dinner on their calendars without specifying the location which was listed as ‘TBD’. Then at precisely 4:05 pm, they would each receive a text message with the address which meant they would not have time to confer with each other nor realize they would be going to the same place. Josh was pretty sure they would figure it out, but Peter’s plan worked perfectly. When they arrived, they saw each other and laughed out loud. Peter’s father, Hogan, had been golfing, and his mother, Teagan, had been volunteering at the food bank when they got their texts. As horrible as they had been over the years about Peter and his ‘lifestyle choices’, they really were as good a set of people as one could expect them to be living in the artificial, LA-socialite world in which they lived. They were seated together at the same table in the restaurant when Peter and Josh suddenly joined them.

“What’s this,” Hogan asked. “Boys, are you invited to this brainstorming meeting as well?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Peter replied.

“What manner?” Teagan asked with sincerity in her voice.

“Um, well, I arranged this meeting for us,” Peter finally confessed.

“Ah,” Hogan said.

“I see,” Teagan replied. “This is an ambush dinner.”

“Well,” said Hogan, “I’ve been ambushed in less nice places.” Peter and Josh were dressed to impress in extremely well-selected and expensive garments to fit in with the crowd. Josh, was a little uncomfortable, as he did not love putting on airs, but he had acquiesced for Peter’s sake and with he help of Angel who helped pick his attire. This was one of LA’s hottest spots these days. To be seen there was to be someone, to be someone you had to look the part and to look the part you had to be wearing the perfect ensemble.

“Truth be told, Peter, your father and I have been dying to try this place.”

“Well, Mom, great, because you’ve turned down every other normal dinner invitation I’ve given you for the past few years.” Peter could not help but say this without a certain stinging intonation in his voice. Josh squeezed his knee under the table trying to keep him calm.

“Nothing personal, Son, just bad timing,” Hogan said firmly holding his ground.

“Good to see you, Josh, you’re looking positively glowing this evening. That ensemble suits you perfectly. If I didn’t know better, I’d wonder if you just came from a movie premiere.” Josh giggled coyly blushing a bit too and mentally sending thoughts of thanks to Angel hoping she would received them.

“Thank you, Mrs. Palisade.”

“Oh, Teagan, come on honey. You’ve been dating my son for long enough for us to be on a first-name basis.” She reached over and sort of held the side of his face for a moment. It was a simultaneously awkward yet endearing gesture. “I love this face. I see what my gorgeous son sees in you.”

“He’s more than a pretty face mom,” Peter piped up.

“Oh, I know. Didn’t he just get nominated for an award for being the best second-grade special ed teacher in the state?”

“You paid attention to my email?” Peter asked shocked.

“Of course, darling, I’m not a wicked stepmother or something,” Teagan chided her son.

“Sorry. I’ve just been confused why you never come to dinner or invite us to anything,” Peter confessed.

“Grow some, Peter, your mother and I are super busy. We been doing good work and our jobs for months building a lasting legacy. And for what? For you, Son! So, there will be something to leave for you and your family.”

“Thank you for saying that, Mr. Palisade,” Josh replied.

“Hogan, Josh, just like Teagan. We’re practically family by now.” The waiter delivered a wine menu and a basket of what was being reported and photographed on every imaginable social media site as the best mini-French baguettes on the continent.

“I’m Kyle, and I’ll be your server this evening. I’ll be back to take drink orders in a moment.” He then whisked away.

Hogan picked up the menu. “You two don’t mind if your mother and I have a glass of wine do you?”

“Of course not,” Josh said. “Be our guest.” Josh and Peter had agreed previously that they were going to spare no expense on this meal. If his father wanted to order a $65-dollar glass of wine, then so be it. If his mother wanted an $85-dollar appetizer, they could afford it. The truth was, actually, they could afford it as their combined monthly income was over $20 K a month — mostly from Peter’s salary and bonuses.

“Mom, dad, this is our treat,” Peter added.

“Thank you, Darlings,” Teagan replied breaking off and eating a bit of baguette she had removed gingerly from the basket. “My God, Hogan, you are going to get lucky tonight, I have just tasted heaven. You can thank your son.”

“Thank you, son,” Hogan smiled at Peter. Josh felt the ice was, at last, starting to melting. Josh was the second one to try the much-heralded bread, and he had a similar but less revealing response.

“Wow, you were not wrong, Teagan.” Josh felt strange calling her that after years of calling her and referring to her as Mrs. Palisade. She smiled at Josh and, this time took his chin into her hand.

“Hmm. You are so charming, ” she said. “Peter, it’s as if you’ve found a storybook Prince.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Peter said. “I often tease him that he sleeps like a prince too. You know like the Princess and the Pea who can feel the slightest discomfort through six layers of mattresses.” They all laughed which surprised Josh, who was half-expecting Hogan to say, “TMI”.

“I’m the same way, Josh.” Teagan defended. The waiter returned and took the drink orders. Peter felt that once each of his parents had imbibed a glass of wine, they would be sufficiently warmed up that he could not only share with them their intention to become forever partners soon but also, invite them officially to the forever partnering ceremony.

“So, Peter, how is work these days,” Hogan asked genuinely interested.

“Not so fast,” Peter said, “you were invited here to help brainstorm a charity fundraiser.” Kyle seized the subsequent moment to interrupt and pour the wine and take their entree orders.

“Oh, that part was not a ruse?” Teagan said surprised.

“Not at all,” Josh said. “My school needs to raise money for a new language lab for our kids.”

“Well, Josh, that’s just what we do,” Hogan said eagerly. “Teagan and I have put on all sorts of events in the past half dozen years or so to raise money for worthy causes like just like that, haven’t we Teags?”

“Of course, Hogan, that’s what we do! I had no idea this was real and not just an ambush.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Mom, it’s also an ambush, but if we can get you two involved in helping Josh’s school, it’s a win-win,” Peter said plainly.

“No problem, we’d love to help, Boys,” Teagan said. “How much are you trying to raise?”

“We think around $150K will be enough to get us the basics of what we need,” Josh said.

“Oh, no no, Boys, we could write you a check of that tonight,” Teagan said. “You’re thinking too small. We generally put on events that raised a minimum of $3-4 million.”

Josh could not help himself, “Wow! I don’t think our entire campus cost that much. We wouldn’t know what to do with all of that money.”

Well, the first thing is we’ll get with your people and we’ll figure that out. Maybe you need a whole new campus or building or whatever you need. We’ll get behind you 100%.”

Josh could not help it. A tear rolled down his cheek. As much as he loved Peter, he loved his kids at school and his job nearly as much. He would do almost anything for them, and to see this side of Peter’s parents was just so lovely.

“Oh, darling Josh, you are so special. I’ve said it before, that I get why you are the apple of my son’s eye, but you’re so raw and vulnerable. So endearing.”

“That’s my babe,” Peter blurted out wiping off Josh’s tear. He raised his glass of sparking cider and everyone clinked glasses.

“Cheers,” they all said together and then took sips of their drinks. Peter was really happy. Not happier than he had been because he was very happy every day of his life with Josh. This was an extension of that though he had rarely felt from his parents. He wondered to himself if this was real. Was Josh right that there had been a thaw? Had he just had not seen or wanted to see? Maybe he had not given his parents enough chance nor believed that they could or would ever change. Or, maybe, it was all Josh. His mother was right. he was a very special and darling person — enchanting really.

Kyle delivered the entrees and they all started tasting and sharing each other’s choices hoping to determine which was the best. Peter was not used to seeing this side of his parents. It was more like eating at Josh’s house. Josh’s parents were exactly the opposite of his parents they were openly loving, devoted, understanding, and caring. After everyone had finished and Teagan started looking over the dessert menu as she always did, though, in as long as Peter could remember she never actually ordered anything, Peter decided the time was right to finish the ambush he had started no matter what and no matter the outcome. He was hoping things would turn out ok, but he remained unconvinced that his parents behavior was not an act for the restaurant crowd.

“So, Mom and Dad, Josh, and I have something else to share with you,” Peter finally got up the nerve to just say it.

“Son?” Hogan asked.

“What is it, Darling?” Teagan added.

“Well…Josh and I are engaged.” Peter was prepared to have them turn instantly sour and storm out, but that is not what happened. Much to his complete surprise and after months of worrying about it, they were perfect.

“Congratulations, love birds,” Hogan said.

“We’ve been wondering and wondering about this for ages,” Teagan said with genuine glee in her voice. “You’ll have it at our summer house in Malibu! I’ll arrange absolutely everything.”

“Well, thank you, Mom, that means so much, but, we’ve already done it. Everything’s planned right down to the luncheon seating chart and the forever partnering ceremony march music. We’re having it in Palm Springs at our friend Muriel’s home on the last Sunday in February! ”

“What? You’ve planned this all on your own? That’s amazing,” Teagan continued, biting her tongue and holding back and visible sign of obvious disappointment in their failure to include her. “Well, you must let us give you the honeymoon, then! It’s the least we can do.”

“We accept,” Josh said feeling he was following Peter’s lead. They all four rose and hugged but not to call too much attention to themselves in this restaurant for this occasion. That was until Peter’s father took his spoon and started clinking on the side of his wine glass to get the attention of the entire restaurant.

“Gentle persons, forgive my intrusion, but I cannot hold back on sharing with you all this auspicious announcement and one of the most memorable moments in my life.” Hogan was nothing if he were not a master of ceremonies. “My son, Peter, and his fiancé, Josh, are getting married, forgive me, forever partnered!” The entire restaurant cheered clinked glasses and applauded. “Dessert is on me for everyone.” For Josh, blushing was par for the course, however, even Peter was turning a shade darker. He had never been so surprised by his parents. This was just totally the opposite of what he had expected from them.

Peter drove home holding Josh’s hand more tightly than he had in ages. It was his way of making sure Josh knew he never wanted to let go. “You said your mom NEVER orders dessert.”

“How could she help it not to this one time, I guess,” Peter said still so happily confused by his parent’s reaction to their announcement. “I’m still in shock. I never dreamed this would go so well.”

“Pumpkin, you gotta start trusting people more. Especially your parents,” Josh squeezed Peter’s hand back tightly.

“I guess you’re right, Mintaka. I guess you are right.”

“Plus, they’re going to work with us on my fundraiser. So, everything seems perfect.”

“Yeah. It’s amazing.” They rode the rest of the way in virtual silence savoring the moments and the feelings. Sometimes there was no reason to talk, but rather it was important to just be in the moment. Then, all of the sudden, Josh’s ear lobe started glowing up. The light was so intense it almost blinded Peter from seeing the road ahead. He pulled the car over suddenly and put it into park. He turned and looked at Josh who was staring into the windshield seemingly oblivious. The light cycle and oscillation pattern began and put them both into an unwilling trance. Lasting no longer than thirty seconds, the light went out. The final sequence seemed to wipe the knowledge of this event from their minds, but Peter nearly instinctively reached over and felt Josh’s stomach. “Mintaka?” he said.

“Yes, Pumpkin,” Josh replied.

“Are you ok?”

“I think so, why?”

“I don’t know, your stomach feels a bit bigger, rounder?”

“Huh? Too many late-night peanut butter and bacon sandwiches are adding up?”

“Maybe. Why did you pull over?”

“I don’t know. I had some strange urge to keep us safe?” Josh leaned over and hugged Peter. “I love you, Peter Pumpkin.”

“I love you too, Mintaka, more than I can ever say.”

“I know because I feel it. Don’t worry.” Peter started up the car and pulled back onto the road. They were only a few minutes from home. He let Josh off at the front and then drove the car around to the carport a block away in the alley.

Up until that evening, he had never felt uneasy about doing so, but something now seemed a bit off on what was otherwise, one of the best nights of their lives. He walked quickly down the alley to the light pole. As he approached, it flickered and popped and burned out. Was it a coincidence? He was not interested in testing the fates, so he turned and started to jog back to their little house. The feeling in the air was electric but not in a good way. He started to panic a bit. He wished he had Josh with him. As he hurried he started to feel a blackness overwhelming him and enveloping him in deep darkness. He suddenly started to feel like he was made of lead and could only move in slow motion as the ground was pulling him downward. He fell to his knees. The darkness settled down and around him. He could no longer see the stars and then then, one by one, the lights in the houses around him disappeared. He fell into a state of utter despair and increasing fear and agony. Then, suddenly, he was freezing as if lying naked on a bed of ice in a meat locker in total darkness. He could feel the heat draining out of his body. First, all of the light was gone, and now all of the heat. What energy remained in him he could not feel. His heart and breathing rates slowed to barely a thousandth of that normally necessary to sustain life. Within the coldness, there was an emerging auditory signal.

At first, it sounded like a buzz like a hornets’ nest that has been disturbed. As the moments passed and the coldness and darkness took hold over everything, the buzz turned to whispers and the whispers to words. He could not make sense of it. His mind was being subsequently pierced as if by a long surgical probe designed to implant or extract a single memory from the human brain. The words, were what? “Give” something. “Chai” something? It was as maddening as it was horrifying. He could not move a muscle. The chill was overwhelming and all-consuming. The darkness blocked out all sensory stimuli. Only the auditory signal was reaching his brain. Finally, everything came together and a singled, simple phrase formed in his brain searing into his mind in a most unwelcome way. “Give us the child.”

In an instant, everything was restored. He was fine. The lights were back on. The stars returned to the sky. He could move, and move he did. He ran as fast as he could, as if an evil, blood-thirsty, horror story clown were chasing him back to the house. He got to the back gate of their small enclosed yard and hurtled himself over it in a pounce that would have made the cat king proud. He rushed up to the back door and keyed it open with one deft swipe of his hand. He burst into the house, shutting the door behind him as quickly as he had opened it. Josh heard him enter and called out to him. “Pumpkin, is that you?” Peter ran to the bedroom to find Josh changing into his bedclothes.

“I’m here,” Peter said.

“Are you okay, sweetheart? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Peter did not want to worry Josh. Could he have imagined the whole thing induced by the excitement of the evening? “I’m, fine now, Mintaka, just fine. Missed you is all.” Josh came to him and held him close. They hugged for a while.

Josh shivered. Peter felt a bit cold against his bare chest. “Why are you so cold, Pumpkin?”

“I guess it’s cold out tonight.”

“Yeah, it seemed so when we were walking to the car at the restaurant.”

“Yeah. Can you help me just prepare for bed? I’m feeling really out of it.”

“Sure, babe,” Josh reassured him. He helped Peter get out of his clothes and get into bed. “Are you sure you want to sleep in the buff even though you feel a bit cold?”

“Of course, Mintaka, I’ll warm up next to you fast.” He was starting to calm down now and feel better. Josh covered up him with the covers, turned out the light on his end table, and then climbed into bed with him. He pulled out his journal and wrote for a while balancing the book on his knee as he wrote with one hand while caressing Peter’s head and neck with the other hand. “That feels good, but I need your warmth now.” Peter rarely made any kind of requests of him, so he closed up the sentence and the journal, turned out his lamp, and wrapped himself around his birthday suit-wearing fiancé. The warmth of Josh’s entire body spread into Peter’s quickly as did the matching senses of safety and security. As he started to fall asleep, one strange and non-sensical notion repeated in Peter’s mind, “Protect the child.” “What child?” he wondered.

He suddenly turned and rolled making himself the big spoon in this arrangement. Josh loved it when Peter was the big spoon. He did not do it often enough. So, Josh cherished each time very much. As Peter cuddled him, he felt Josh’s stomach. As he ran his palm and fingers over the area around Josh’s belly button, he could feel something different. He knew every single cubic centimeter of Josh’s body. He had made it his life’s mission to meet every mole, explore every dimple, examine every nook and cranny, and know Josh’s body like the back of his hand. His stomach felt different. He suddenly remembered feeling it in the car. “Peanut butter and bacon sandwiches.” He wondered. He just continued to rub Josh’s stomach and hold him tightly.

The morning of 29 February began like every other Sunday in their lives, except for some very big exceptions. This was not going to be like every other day in their lives. The rehearsal dinner had been a huge success, and this was the morning for which they had been planning. Today, they were going to become forever partners. Josh had insisted that they not see each other on that day until Peter’s mother and father started to walk him down the aisle. It was a very odd tradition especially in this day and age and for a couple that had been living together for years. Still, it made Josh happy, so Peter planned to comply. Therefore, they had separate bedrooms at Muriel’s house.

There was a knock on Peter’s door.

“Peter, darling, it’s M. Are you awake? I’ve made you and Josh breakfast in bed.” Peter sat up and rubbed seem sleep from his eyes. He could barely contain his excitement. In some ways, it was kind of silly. Literally, nothing was going to change once they were forever partners. They were going to have the same jobs, the same home, and the same parents. Still, he was excited.

“Come in M.” Peter said at last. Muriel brought in a tray with lots of Peter’s favorite things.

“I hope your mother doesn’t feel left out of this?”

“She’ll be fine,” Peter said without pausing.

“Ok, so, I’ll leave you here. Do you need anything? You’ve got about an hour to get ready. I’ll come to check on you later.”

While chewing on a piece of bagel that was a bit bigger than he bargained for, Peter managed to say, “No, this is lovely, thank you! I’ll be ready.” She shut the door and left him to his thoughts and to eat and get ready. Peter and Josh had set their forever partnering ceremony time and date to coincide with the unexpected arrival of a rare green comet. This one was thought not to have visited nearby earth in more than 200,000 years. Its nearest approach was supposed to happen on 29 February at 10:00 am. While it would be daylight in southern California, the grooms would know the significance. Plus, they liked the novelty that their actual anniversary would only occur every four years on leap day — a factor they both believed would make their marriage last forever as every four years would only equal one.