Page 24 of The Biker & the Baker

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“Coffee!” Brian exclaimed, his eyes shining at the sight of his childhood best friend heading to where he, Bart, Lawrence, Julien, and Edward were, a big pot of steamy, aromatic coffee in hand. “Albert not-yet-Barnes, you are the best!”

“Just on time,” Edward climbed down a ladder after hanging a few garlands made of ribbons, fir branches, and pine cones up the wall. “I need this break, I think I’ll have some nice cramps in my leg muscles tonight.”

“My dear husband is right, coffee really is the fuel of life.” Bart grinned as he sipped from his mug, making a sound of appreciation.

“Especially when it is prepared by my lovely husband-to-be.” Lawrence smiled radiantly as he wrapped an arm around his fiancé’s waist, pulling him closer. “It tastes like heaven,” he continued, the smile becoming brighter.

“Thank you, my beloved soon-to-be husband.” Albert lowered his gaze, blushing at the compliment, then he raised his head, worriedly examining Julien, who was staring straight ahead. “What’s wrong, don’t you like the coffee? Should I brew you some tea or something else?”

“No,” the blond young man smiled reassuringly, “nothing like that, on the contrary, the coffee is excellent.” A small, barely visible frown creased his forehead. “I was just thinking you and Digger could be this year’s couple having the wedding on Christmas day.”

“I don’t know about that,” Albert started hesitantly, casting a look in his fiancé’s direction. “I mean, you guys were awesome, and I’m eternally grateful to you for helping me and being there when I needed it the most, but there are still so manythings to do, to think about, to…” He stopped, reflecting for a moment. “I admit it sounds tempting, but it’s not only up to me.”

Lawrence locked his eyes with those of the one he came to love more than anything. “Love, I’d marry you on the spot, right here and now, if this is what you wish.”

“Yes, I do.” Albert wrapped his arms around the biker’s neck and kissed him passionately, then ran a hand over his face. “This is crazy, and you guys know it.”

“No.” Julien laughed softly. “You should’ve seen us ten years ago, when we had less than a day to organize Uncle Thaddeus’s and Uncle Rhett’s wedding, at the family’s mansion in Connecticut. That, my friend, wasn’t crazy, it was insane, but we did it.” He paused a bit, then continued in a mockingly pleading voice. “C’mon, man, you’ll have the coolest team of wedding planners ever.”

Albert didn’t say anything for a few good seconds, looking between his fiancé and the other four men. “if you say so…I’m in.”

CHAPTER 19

This is crazy, Albert smiled, shaking his head in disbelief as he looked in the mirror from Brian and Bart’s house guest bedroom on Christmas morning. Those were the same words he told Julien about two and a half weeks earlier, when the blond young man suggested that he have his wedding with Lawrence on Christmas day.

To convince Albert to agree, Edward’s husband promised he’d have the coolest team of wedding planners, and he lived up to that promise. The guy, who seemed the opposite of a social butterfly, used his personal charm and managed to gather together Brei-Ayn, Bianca, Martha, Miss Pat, Anna, Elaine, from boss Ardan’s family, and a few other lovely ladies, and gave them specific tasks.

For instance, the teachers from the arts and crafts classes, together with Brei-Ayn, were in charge of decorating the Remembrance Hall, where the wedding reception was going to be held. As expected, Miss Pat, Anna, Steve, Billy Bob, and Stacy, who also volunteered, made sure there would be enough sweets and bread specialties for all the guests.

Winter, the guy who prepared the meals for the children and guards at The Base, helped by Elaine and some of the other ladies who volunteered, put together the menu and cooked the dishes. Leon, the official errand boy, helped by Wheeler, Xavier, and a few other bikers, took buying everything the cooks needed,from meats and cheese assortments to spices, and bringing the supplies to The Base upon themselves.

At some point in making the tasks list, Julien was met with what he called a serious problem: the music. Ten years earlier, when Thaddeus Bloom married Rhett, the love of his life, the current boss, Elias, his now-husband, Tarrin, their best friend, Ira, and Elaine were in a band that performed at the wedding, earning the enthusiastic praises of the guests. Unfortunately, all of them gave up a few years earlier, when they got actively involved in running The Base.

At first, Julien called some bands he listened to when he was invited to the weddings of a few of his co-workers, but none of them performed on Christmas day, not even if the payment was two or three times bigger than what they usually charged. The blond didn’t give up; he searched for other phone numbers and sites, but he got the same answer from everywhere.

Discouraged and not knowing what to do, Julien was close to abandoning the wedding project, like everyone jokingly called planning the happiest event from Albert and Lawrence’s life, when Bianca offered the providential solution no one thought about. She suggested asking some of the older kids at The Base sanctuary, who played different instruments, to help with that.

Everyone acclaimed her idea, and the teens were more than happy to help, especially when they found out that one of the grooms was none other than the kind guard who greeted so many of them at The Base’s gates, Lawrence, or Digger, as the other bikers called him. It wasn’t hard for them to form a band,choose some of the most beautiful love songs and make them sound even better after adding some personal touches.

With the hassles of planning his own wedding involved out of the way, Albert finally had time for something he wanted to do since the day Lawrence asked for his hand in marriage: buy his husband-to-be an engagement ring. Helped by Brei-Ayn and all five children from their future, combined family, he found the perfect one.

It was a thick gold band with a simple diamond embedded and beveled details starting a few millimeters away from the diamond, circling around to the same spot on the other side. The piece of jewelry was very simple and masculine, in keeping with the taste of the man it was meant for, who was speechless for a few seconds when he saw it.

Taking one more look in the big mirror, brought by the lovely hosts to the guest bedroom specially for that happy occasion, Albert felt, for the thousandth time in the last two and a half weeks, grateful for the people in his life. For instance, Brian and Bart, who, besides being the ones who brought him and Lawrence together, offered their home as the bridegroom’s party’s headquarter, because it was much bigger than his.

A wide grin stretched Albert’s mouth from ear to ear when he thought about how he was free to roam around The Base on his wedding day, while his husband-to-be was confined at the guards’ headquarters. His fellow Steel Raiders MC members, instigated by Julien, expressly forbade him to leave the location,so he won’t run into his fiancé, who patrolled between the two bakeries all morning long.

Albert found it cute and heartwarming that Julien and the other wedding planners wanted to respect the tradition of straight to-be-married couples that said the groom should not see the bride until she walked down the aisle, because it brings bad luck. Lawrence, on the other hand, threatened to retaliate, without offering details, to the great amusement of those who knew his big heart.

“Hey, daydreamer, what are you thinking about?” Brei-Ayn asked in a cheerful voice as she walked into the room. “Sorry, I knocked, but you must’ve not heard me,” she smiled apologetically to her brother-in-law, who flinched imperceptibly at her sight.

“You’re going to laugh,” Albert turned around to face the woman, “but I was doing a recap of these past two and a half weeks, and, gods, were they insane!” He flashed her a cute grin. “I also tried to picture my hot fiancé in that dark-blue suit of his, with a tie to match and a white shirt.”

“Oh-wow, you sure have a vivid imagination.” Brei-Ayn playfully slapped her brother-in-law on the arm, then straightened the lapels of his coat, smoothening a few almost invisible wrinkles with her palms. “You don’t look bad yourself. Scratch that, you look hot and sexy in this pink suit.”

“Do you really think so?” Albert’s face brightened from the radiant smile that reached his chocolate eyes. A few seconds later, they went dull. “At first, I thought wearing this pale shadeof pink on my wedding day was a good idea, but now, I’m not so sure anymore.”

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