Advent Calendar Day 11

 

Good morning! Today the wonderful Meg Perry has been generous enough to gift us with a little bit of fiction featuring Elliot Mills, Tucker Lance and a couple of guest stars I'm sure you will recognize from previous appearances on this channel (and elsewhere!). ;-D  

“Mawage: that bwessed awwaingement…”
--The Impressive Clergyman, The Princess Bride

 

Elliott Mills accepted the bottle of beer that Tucker Lance handed him with a sigh. He’d gotten the cast off his arm only a couple of days ago, and his hand was still too weak to perform a lot of stupidly simple activities. Like screwing the cap off a beer bottle.

He settled onto a barstool from which he could watch Tucker work in the kitchen. “Who are these people coming to stay at Tom and Jane’s?”

When Steven Roche, Elliott’s next-door neighbor, was killed by Andrew Corian, he died without a will or heirs. The bank that ended up owning his house was anxious to unload it. Tom Beach and Jane Devereaux, a sixty-something couple from Yakima, had snapped it up at a ridiculously low price. They’d eventually retire to the house; until then, they and their relatives were using it as a vacation home.

Tucker picked up the pad of paper on which he’d written the information. “Pete Ferguson and Jamie Brodie. From New Mexico. They’re in-laws of Tom and Jane’s daughter.”

“I suppose Jamie is a woman.”

“Jane didn’t say. But usually, yeah, that’s a female name.”

“New Mexico? I hope they like humidity.”

Tucker shrugged. “Maybe that’s why they’re coming.”

 

When the doorbell rang a half-hour later, Tucker was stirring spaghetti sauce. Elliott slid off his barstool. “I’ll get it.”

He opened the door and tried to keep his expression neutral. Whichever one of these two masked men was Jamie, he definitely was not a woman. One was tall, broad-shouldered, and blond; the other was even taller and dark-haired. Both were a few years older than Elliott and Tucker. The blond said, “Hey, I’m Jamie Brodie. We’re staying next door. Jane said y’all had the keys.”

Y’all? “We do. I’d invite you in, but…”

“Understood.”

“I’ll get the keys.” Elliott turned but left the door open. “Tucker? The neighbors are here.”

Tucker stepped out of the kitchen, failing to conceal the surprise on his face. “Oh. Hi. I’m Tucker Lance.”

Elliott added, “And I’m Elliott Mills.”

The dark-haired one said, “I’m Pete Ferguson. Glad to meet you.”

“You too.”

Jamie said, “Y’all are some brand of law enforcement, huh?”

Elliott stared at him. “Tom and Jane told you?”

“Nah. You both have the look.”

Elliott wasn’t sure what to think about that. Pete said, “I was a cop for ten years. LAPD.”

Tucker said, “We’re FBI.”

The corner of Jamie’s eyes crinkled. Under the mask, he was grinning. “Feds! Cool.”

Tucker gave Elliott a bemused look. Elliott took the keys from a hook by the door and handed them to Jamie. “We have a fire pit on the back deck. Once you’re settled, why don’t you join us for a socially distanced beer?”

Pete frowned. Jamie said, “We’re supposed to quarantine for fourteen days, coming from out of state.”

Tucker waved a hand. “We’ll be outside and sit on opposite sides of the fire. It’ll be fine.”

Pete said, “That sounds great. About an hour?”

“Perfect.”

“Okay, we’ll see you then.”

Jamie said, “Thanks for the keys.”

“No problem.” Elliott saw them out then returned to his beer. “Damn. They made us as cops in about thirty seconds.”

“They probably know lots of cops.”

“Do they say y’all in New Mexico?”

Tucker barked a laugh. “Apparently.” 

 

An hour later, Tucker had built a roaring fire in the pit. Elliott could hear the wind in the tops of the pine trees, but on the ground, there was just enough breeze to dispel their exhalations.

He heard Jamie and Pete coming, talking and laughing about something. Completely at ease with each other. After they were seated and the full introductions were over—turned out they were here to soak up the humidity—Elliott asked, “How long have you two been together?”

Jamie answered. “Friends for fourteen years, together for eight, married for five. What about you?”

Elliott glanced at Tucker, who didn’t hesitate. “Almost two years, but on and off. Now absolutely on. We’re talking about getting married next summer.”

Jamie lifted his bottle as if toasting them. Pete said, “Congratulations.”

Elliott said, “Thanks. I’m curious—how does it change...everything?”

Jamie and Pete exchanged a wordless glance. Jamie said, “There are stages, I think. At first, it’s getting used to merging your finances.”

Pete said, “Having to consult someone else before you make a major purchase.”

Jamie said, “Your relationships with each other’s families change.”

“Before, you were just the boyfriend. Now, you’re related to these people.”

“Gaining nieces and nephews overnight.”

“Negotiating holidays.”

Jamie said, “Then you get comfortable with ogling other guys together.”

Elliott and Tucker laughed. Pete said, “It’s true. It’s the security that comes with knowing you’re both just looking.”

Jamie drained his bottle. “Then you get a dog and learn to read each other’s minds.”

Pete added, “Although those two things are not necessarily related.”

Tucker asked, “What’s the downside? Of marriage, not reading each other’s minds. Although that might be a downside.”

Jamie nudged Pete. “You can tell ‘em about life with an obsessive neat freak.”

“There is that.” Pete opened another bottle. “The first year we lived together, I could never find anything because he’d already put it away.”

Jamie grinned. “I’ve got him trained to put stuff away himself now. For me, the downside is not being able to spend every holiday with my family. But you’ve just gotta compromise on that.”

Elliott looked at Tucker, who said, “Neither of us has much family. So that’s not a huge issue.”

Pete said, “For us, I think, the most difficult adjustment has been learning to deal with each other’s different moods and energy levels. But you can either see that as a stumbling block or as an opportunity to complement each other.”

Jamie added, “We were in couples counseling for over a year before we got married. I highly recommend it.”

Elliott couldn’t hide his skepticism. Pete noted it and said, “I know. It’s not a comfortable concept for law enforcement. I fought it for a long time. But we wouldn’t be here without it.”

 

They talked for another hour about a variety of topics—dogs, profiling, teaching, living in a pandemic. Finally, Jamie said, “I’m so cold I can’t feel my toes. Thanks for having us over.”

Elliott asked, “How long are you staying?”

“Just a week.”

Tucker said, “We’ll do it again in the daytime. If it doesn’t rain.”

Pete said, “Deal.”

They said goodnight and left. Tucker gathered bottles while Elliott doused the fire. Once they were inside and settled on the sofa, Tucker said, “What possessed you to ask about marriage?”

“I didn’t plan to. It sort of popped out. But we don’t have any married gay friends, so… It’s like I said. I was curious.”

“They seem to have it figured out.”

Elliott grimaced. “Partly thanks to counseling, though.”

“Yeah, I don’t know about that.”

“Me either.”

Tucker grinned and wrapped an arm around Elliott. “They didn’t talk you out of getting married, did they?”

Elliott grinned back. “Hell. no. I’m holding you to that, Lance.”

Tucker leaned in for a kiss. “You’d better, Mills.”