Karma Kameleon. Stephanie Haefner

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      Kevin stayed with me and pulled me to him again. “We’re gonna be brides together!” He quickly pulled away. “Or would I still be a groom? Marcus did the asking, so that makes me the bride, though, right? Oh, I don’t care. I’m getting married!” He hugged me again.

      I let go and moved on to Marcus–my best friend since forever–and hugged him close. When we pulled apart, his smile beamed across his face.

      “Were ya nervous?”

      “Almost as much as the day I told you I was gay.”

      I glanced back to Kevin, who was showing his engagement ring to Rich. “I don’t think you had anything to worry about.”

      “I barely got on my knee before he screamed ‘Yes.’”

      Kevin walked over to me and Marcus. “Let’s celebrate.”

      “I think we celebrated enough last night, don’t you think?” Marcus said with a wink.

      “Oh, yes.” Kevin smiled, eyes turning devilish. “I’m still a little sore.”

      “TMI,” I yelled and covered my ears.

      They laughed.

      “We did a family brunch to celebrate your engagement,” Kevin said, turning to me and Rich. “Let’s do something different. Everyone go get ready.”

      Marcus took Preston, and Rich and I headed to our room. Once the door was closed, I turned to Rich. “Let’s enjoy the day and finish our argument later.”

      “No,” he said and stepped to me. He took my hand and brought it to his lips. “I don’t want to argue with you later. Can you please let it go?”

      I didn’t want to fight anymore, either. “Okay.”

      As he leaned down and kissed me, my anger and frustration melted away.

      * * * *

      An hour later, we had picked up a picnic lunch from the deli and were in a carriage riding through Central Park. It was a tad on the cliche side, but seemed like the perfect way to celebrate an engagement. The sun shone down on us through leafy tree branches, warming our skin. And warming our insides was the champagne Marcus had popped once we were on our way.

      I snuggled against Rich, watching Kevin and Marcus. Preston sat on Kevin’s lap as he talked to him about the horse. He seemed very intrigued, for a one-year-old. Marcus beamed with overflowing pride, watching his son and his lover–his fiance. What might be a weird family unit to some, was perfect for us.

      “So, Lexi,” Kevin started. “Have you guys talked wedding dates yet? ’Cause you know yours and ours can’t be too close together.”

      “Um, no. But we want to keep it as simple as my mother will allow. I managed to talk her out of an engagement party, so that probably means the wedding won’t be quite as low key as we’d hoped. But soon…don’t want to wait real long.”

      “We want to get married soon, too. No point in putting it off. We were thinking October. Love the fall foliage.”

      “Oh, yeah. That will be beautiful.” I thought of a possible date for Rich and me and turned to him. “I don’t think we want a winter wedding, right?”

      He shook his head.

      “I guess that pushes us to spring. Wow. Almost a year away. I didn’t really want to wait that long.”

      Silence surrounded us, only the chirp of birds above and a dog barking in the distance.

      “I got it,” Kevin said, his eyes so full of cheer they might pop out. “A double wedding!”

      “What?” the rest of us questioned in unison.

      “It’s the perfect solution. We’ll be inviting virtually the same people to both weddings, right? Give or take a few family members and friends. And this way, we can all be married in the time frame we want without having two separate weddings so close together. It’s perfect.”

      He had some valid points. But we already shared everything–a home, a child, almost every meal. Did we want to share this too?

      “Um, I don’t know.”

      “Lexi, it would be fabulous. We have to do it.”

      I turned to Rich. “You wouldn’t want to do it, would you?”

      “I don’t care. I told you, City Hall is fine with me. As long as it’s not crazy and out of control, I’m in.”

      I hadn’t expected Rich to be so agreeable. But it would make the whole thing pretty convenient.

      “Come on. Say yes,” Kevin begged.

      “Marcus, what do you think?”

      “I agree with Kevin. Both weddings would have a lot of the same guests. Seems silly to make them come to two separate events.”

      “Well…okay then. I guess it’s unanimous. Double wedding it is.”

      Kevin clapped. “Yay!”

      “The only problem now…” I told him. “Is breaking the news to my mother.”

      “Oh, you let me handle her.”

      * * * *

      “Are you sure you’re okay with this double wedding thing?” I asked Rich as we climbed into bed.

      “Yeah. It solves a lot of problems. Plus, we can share the expenses too.”

      “Money isn’t an issue. My parents paid for Abby’s entire wedding. And since my mother will insist on planning a fancy shindig, they can pitch in for it, too.”

      “I wouldn’t feel right. And my salary isn’t good enough to give you the wedding you deserve.” He reached over and turned off the night-stand lamp. “This way we can do something really nice and only have to pay half the cost.”

      “You know I don’t care about the fluff. I just want to be your wife.” I crawled to him and kissed him. “Sure you don’t care about sharing the spotlight with a gay couple?”

      “Nope. Not at all.”

      I sat up and pulled my nightgown over my head, then pressed my naked body to his bare chest. I kissed him again and started to gyrate on him, an instant rush of moisture between my thighs.

      Rich held me tight and kissed me back, his mouth devouring me the way I needed. He hardened beneath me, only a pair of cotton boxer briefs blocking us from satisfaction. I reached my hand down and yanked at the elastic waist band, until he stopped me.

      “What are you doing?” I asked, moving my lips to his neck and earlobe.

      “We can’t.”

      Not this again. “Are you serious?

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