We've Got a Big Mess On Our Hands

WILLIAM’S POV

“Come on, Gabey!” I yelled into the house. “We’re going to be late!”

“I’m coming! I just can’t get this tie tied right!” Gabe said, running down the stairs, trying to tie his tie correctly and, well…for lack of a better word, failing.

“Here,” I said, “let me.”

I adjusted his tie and fixed the mess he called a windsor knot.

“Thanks, honey.” Gabe said, pecking my lips.

“Eww, Dad, Pops!” Genny said, wakling into the kitchen and finding us with our lips still connected.

“Sorry, honey.” Gabe said. “But really, it could be much worse. We could have been-”

“I don’t think I want to hear the end of that sentence.” Genny said, screwing her eyes shut.

“Stop traumatizing the children, Gabey.” I said, slapping his chest.

“You’re making us late, let’s go!” she said, rushing us out of the kitchen and into the garage.

“Don’t forget your cap!” I said, grabbing the graduation cap from the island in the kitchen.

“Thanks, dad!” she said, pecking my cheek quickly.

We pulled out of the driveway and were, surprisingly, on time arriving at Genny’s high school.

“I’ve got to go line up with the others.” Genny said, giving us both quick hugs. “I’ll see you guys after the ceremony.”

“See you.” I said.

“Don’t trip!” Gabe yelled after her.

I laughed and linked arms with my husband of 13 years.

“I can’t believe she’s graduating.” I said. “It seems like yesterday that I was changing her diapers.”

“Ew, diapers.” Gabe said. “Glad I missed that phase.”

“Oh, shut up.” I said. “You know you’re as sad to see her go as I am.”

“That I am.” Gabe said. “I promise you, I’ll be crying like a baby when she walks across that stage, but there is one positive thing about her leaving.” He smirked down at me, eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Oh yeah?” I said. I knew that smirk; he was thinking about something sexual…again. “And what might that be?”

Gabe leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “Now she’s gone, you and I can be as loud as we want.”

I shivered, even though it was a hot summer day, and grinned up at Gabe. “You’re right.” I said. “That is a positive thing.”

“Gabe! William!”

Vicky came running over towards us, dragging a slightly flustered Sisky behind her. Their little girl was hanging around their ankles, as they’d only gotten married about 3 years ago. They had a long courtship…ahemSiskywastoomuchofapussytopopthequestionahem… what? Who said that?

“Vicky, Sisky! Great to see you again!” I said. “And how are you, my little Rose?”

The small girl smiled shyly up at me and hid her face behind her mother’s leg.

“She’s still incredibly shy.” Sisky said. “Don’t know where she got that from.”

“Me neither.” I said. “You two are some of the most outgoing people I know.”

“Where are the rest of the guys?” I asked. “And their significant others. The school threw a fit when Genny told them how many people she was having come see her.”

“They should be on their way!”

“Here we are!” Alex called out at the head of a huge mass of both what used to be The Academy Is… and Cobra Starship. We broke up about 3 years ago so that everyone could focus on their home lives, but we still kept in contact and met up as often as possible.

“Hey everyone!” We all exchanged greetings and hugs, the newcomers arranging themselves in the entire row of seats reserved for the family and friends of Genevieve.

“Amelie!” I called out across the sea of heads on the field outside Genny’s school. “Over here!”

Amelie smiled brightly and made her way over to where we were sitting, giving me a tight hug before hugging Gabe just as tightly.

“Can you believe it?” she said. “Our little girl, all grown up.”

“I know.” I said. “It seems like ages ago when we were teaching her to walk, and here she is, getting her diploma.”

“I can’t believe no one will make blanket forts with me anymore.” Gabe said. “She kind of grew out of that a while ago, but I could still convince her every once in a while.”

I leaned in to whisper into his ear, “We can make blanket forts together all you want… though they might be put to a different use than Genny’s ever were.”

“Shhh, it’s starting.” Gabe said, smirking over at me. We all took our seats and I leaned into Gabe’s shoulder.

We watched together as several kids made their way across the stage.

“Times like these are when I halfway regret taking your name.” I said. “If she’d just kept mine, we would have seen her walk by now.”

“Haha, you’re so funny.” Gabe said, elbowing me in the ribs.

“Genevieve Marie Beckett Saporta.” Yeah, Genny chose to keep Beckett as a second middle name. I can’t say I wasn’t slightly happy about that…

We stood up and cheered, tears glistening in both of our eyes as we watched our child walk one step closer to leaving home.

“It’s going to be so boring when she’s away.” I said. “No drama rehearsals, no parties, no proms.”

“And what do you think we’ll be filling that time up with?” Gabe said. “I promise you, it’ll be anything but boring.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” I said, kissing his lips lovingly. “Now shh. There are still kids walking.”

I sat with my head on his shoulder, watching as the rest of the senior class walked by, each smiling for a photo and switching their tassel from one side to the other.

It was strange, but it really felt like it was only yesterday that Genny had come into my life, that Gabe had come into my life. The last 13 years have gone by so quickly. But one thing that will never change is how much love Gabe and I share. Those stories of old married couples used to scare me. I realize, though, that that’ll never be Gabe and I. We’ll be the ones rocking on the front porch, holding hands and telling stories, reminiscing on good times, and making more wonderful memories.

So to speak.

The ceremony was finally over, so we went to meet Genny at her best friend, Lydia’s car.

“Now, I know we said it was okay for you and Lydia and you to go on this road trip, but don’t go too crazy, all right?” I smiled over at Genny and her best friend.

“Yeah.” Gabe said. “And if you meet any boys while you’re on your trip, I want you to walk away. Seriously. I don't want any boys within a 10 foot radius of my daughter. I don’t care if he’s in seminary school and about to become a priest, I don’t want him near you. Got it?”

“We’ve got it, Mr. Saporta.” Lydia said.

“Yeah, pops.” Genny said. “Calm down. We’ll be fine.” She leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Gabe pulled her into a tight hug and held her close. “I’ll miss you, baby girl.”

“I’ll miss you, too, Papa.” she said, smiling, even though her eyes were shining with tears.

I wrapped my arms around both of them and squeezed. “We’ll see you soon, okay? You’ve got to come back for every break. And you have your laptop, so you can skype us whenever, okay?”

“Well… not whenever.” Gabe said, grinning that famous, pervy grin of his. “Refrain from skyping any time after dark, really.”

“Pops, that’s just gross.” Genny said, pulling back slightly and grimacing at what Gabe was implying.

“GROUP HUG!” Alex yelled from the outskirts of our goodbye.

We were suddenly squashed into a huge group of people, each hugging with all their might.

“Guys, as much as I appreciate the love,” Genny said, slightly muffled, “I’d prefer it if you didn’t kill me.”

We all separated and stood back from the car, watching as Genny and Lydia got in and started to pull away.

We must have looked like the group on the docks as the Titanic left harbor, there were so many of us. There were at least 20 people, and all of them were wishing Genny goodbye.

“We did good.” Gabe whispered into my ear.

“We did, didn’t we?” I said. “She’s grown up so well.”

“Well, it wasn’t all our influence.” Gabe said. “Or else she would never have ended up this calm.”

“You’re right.” I said. “She always was an angel though, even when she was tiny.”

“It’s going to be hard living without her in the house.” Gabe said.

“You’re right.” I said. “But like you said- we have loads of time to ourselves now. Just think of what we could do with all that free time…”

“Yeah…” Gabe said. “We should probably invest in a Netflix subscription.”

“Haha, you’re right.” I said. “Though that wasn’t exactly what I was inferring.”

“Oh, I know.” Gabe said. “I was just messing with you.”

He leaned in and kissed me and I still felt that spark after all this time. I’ll never get over the feeling in my stomach when he kisses me. He’s perfect in all the right ways.

We pulled apart and smiled at each other, silently communicating the need to be alone with just the other.

I wrapped an arm around his waist, leaning into his shoulder.

“We’ll see you guys soon, okay?” Gabe said. “We’ve got some catching up to do.”

“Bye, lovebirds!” Vicky said. “We’ll see you son!”

“See you!” I said, waving goodbye to everyone and walking off in the direction of our car.

So much had happened since I first met Gabe. We’ve both grown in more ways than one. We’ve watched our daughter grow from a toddler into a young lady. We’ve seen our fans rally behind us and show the world that it doesn’t matter what gender you are; the only thing that matters is the love you share.

So many things had happened, but I wouldn’t want to spend that time with anyone but my Gabey.

I sighed and leaned into his shoulder. “I love you, Gabey. So much. I wouldn’t trade you for the world.”

“I love you, too, Willy.” Gabe said. “I’m never going to leave you, so long as I may live.”

“Let’s go home, Gabey.” I said, as we got into the car.

“We’re already there, Willy.” Gabe said, smiling and holding my hand in his between the seats.

He was right. We were always home. We were always surrounded by people who loved us; and that meant more than any physical place could ever mean.