Chapter 21 - You Are My Sunshine

Tuesday, December 20th, 2005.
Ellie and JC waited for either Craig or Maurice to answer the door, Linus meowing in frustration from inside the blue cat carrier JC was holding.
Maurice answered the door and welcomed them in. "Craig's out seeing a friend he met after he came to New York in '82." Maurice went over to one of the bookshelves, taking a small frame down. "I don't know if I've showed you this, but this was Craig around that time." He presented to them a Polaroid of Craig in full new romantic regalia, black hair done up in a quiff, leather jacket and a single cross earring in his left ear. "I love how much he looks like Robert Downey, Jr. in Less Than Zero." He put the photo back, taking down another from a higher shelf. "This was me back then. It was when I interned at the Times. I look like Anthony Edwards in Revenge of the Nerds...if he had his Top Gun moustache."
"Maurice is quite the movie buff," Ellie interjected.
"Well, I did start at Clefnotes as a film critic."
"He's the only film critic on staff. Sure, he does some reporting here and there, but his main contribution besides editing is as a film critic."
"Hey"—Maurice went to put the photo back in place—"if you got to see every movie a week early for free, you would too."

JC lightly elbowed Ellie when Maurice's back was turned. "Ask him," he whispered.
"Ask me what?" Maurice asked as he took Linus out of the carrier. "Hello there, fluffbum, ready to spend Christmas with us?"
"Um...JC's going to spend a little time in January in Scotland." Ellie nervously pulled at her coat sleeves. "He's doing some business over there and he, we, were wondering if I could go over with him?"
"We need to know today so we can apply for her visa," JC explained.
"Sure. You need the vacation." Maurice chuckled. "If I didn't know any better, I would be suspicious that you were going over there to get married."
Ellie reeled her head back. "What!..No!..Why?"
"I don't know, since the UK brought in civil partnerships, we've just been having a lot of friends going over there to get married. The more romantic ones seem to be going to Scotland, strangely. I would think England and Scotland are equally romantic, but I guess it's that whole elopement feel, I guess."
"Didn't you and Craig basically elope?" Ellie asked as she took off her coat.
"I guess. We took a train up to Boston for the ceremony, but we had the reception here at home when we got back."
JC traced the edge of the table with his fingers. "Well, that is the way to do it...I mean, if you don't want to go the wedding route. Just have a little ceremony for the legality, but do the reception when you're ready."
Maurice shrugged. "I guess, each to his own. I better let you two get going."

Ellie and JC made their way down the stairwell, stopping halfway down. "You're not thinking that we should...are you?" asked Ellie.
"I mean...my dad is already convinced that we're going to elope and your dad said he was OK with it. We could ask them to join us, if that's what you want."
"How many people would that be?"
"Mom, Dad, Heather and Tyler, that's four. Your parents plus Claire and possibly Derek, that's eight. Lance would make nine. Carlos, Adam and Eric rounds it up to twelve. Plus us, fourteen."
Ellie stood for a moment in thought. "Do you want me to look into it?"
"There's no harm."
Ellie turned to him as she started her way back down the stairs. "How would Lance get there?"
"He would. He'd find a way to get the information out of me. He'd just invite himself."
"More like you'd tell him."
"He won't forgive me if I don't. The others would understand; Lance wouldn't."

Ellie sat in JC's writing room, scrolling through the British Registry web page, reading on the legal requirements to marry in Scotland. JC brought her in a mug of coffee. "Any news?"
"I'm not saying we should, but I don't see any reason why we couldn't. We're both free to marry and willing and able to consent." She picked up the phone and tapped in the number scrawled on a Post-it note. She took a sip of coffee as she waited for the phone to be answered.

"Hello, thank you for calling the New York British Consulate, my name is Emma. How may I help you?"
"Hi, Emma. My name is Elizabeth Argyle. I'm calling to inquire about getting a visa to marry in the U.K."
"The New York Consulate doesn't grant visas. You'll have to call the embassy in Washington. I can give you the number..."

Ellie huffed as she hung up the phone. "Let's just get married in Orlando over Christmas."
"Are you sure?"
"Everyone's going to be there. Claire will jump at the chance not to have to spend the holiday in South Carolina. We won't do it on Christmas, so Lance can fly in."
"OK, if that's what you want...We'll do it on December 31st, say it's a New Year’s party."
Ellie nodded her head. "OK."
"OK." JC leaned on the doorframe. "What do we do about the prenup?"
"Fuck it. Let's go to the City Clerk's office right now and apply for a marriage license. My lawyer has a draft of the prenup. Hector's also a notary. We can sign it tonight, get married tomorrow. Fucking surprise everyone."
He followed her into the kitchen. "We could still do the New Year’s party, ordain Tyler, say it's our wedding."
"Perfect. Let's do that." She put her coat on, grabbing her keys. "I'll buy a dress on the way home tonight."
He kissed her. "Are you sure you want this?"
"I am getting sick and fucking tired of waiting. I want this over and done with."
"We're getting married."
"Tomorrow...Fuck, my heart's racing."

Wednesday, December 21st, 2005.
JC and Ellie stepped out of the cab in front of the New York City Clerk's office at 2:34pm. He kissed her as he lead her across the street. He wore a simple black suit with a white shirt and black tie. She wore a pink dress with a white lace overlay and white pumps underneath the navy blue overcoat he had worn their first night together in the city. Her hair was styled in loose curls falling down her back.

They greeted Maurice and Craig at the bottom of the steps, both in suits and overcoats. Craig snapped a quick photo.
"OK, here we are"—Maurice smiled—"at the City Clerk's office at 2:30pm in our best suits with a camera."
"Why are we here?" Craig asked as he winded the camera, refocusing the lens.
"We're getting married." Ellie tightly held on to JC's hand, smiling up at her soon-to-be husband.
"We know, when?" Craig snapped another photo.
"Now...right now. We're a bit late, but we were able to get married at 2:30."
Maurice nudged Craig. "Told you."
"Will you do the honour of being our witnesses?" JC asked.
"Why us?"
"Free photographer." Craig snapped a picture of Maurice.
"You're the only people I'm really close to in the city and all of JC's friends are away for the holidays."
"OK, well, let's go do it. Let's get you crazy kids married." Maurice watched as Ellie and JC quickly walked up the stairs, taking a look back as he waited for Craig to take a photo of them doing so.

The four of them sat in a hall across from a door to the chapel. JC and Ellie tightly gripped each other's hands, silently whispering sweet nothings to each other.
"Mrs. Elizabeth Chasez," Ellie whispered.
"Mr. and Mrs. Joshua and Elizabeth Chasez."
"Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Chasez." Ellie bit her lip as tears came to her eyes. "This is perfect."
"I'm so nervous I'm going to throw up," JC whispered as he kissed her cheek.
"My heart feels like a wind-up toy right now." She lightly kissed him. "What are we going to do for vows?"
"I don't think we say any vows. I think we just give consent."
"Do you want to say something now? Whilst we wait."
He thought for a moment, clearing his throat. He held his mouth to her ear, gently singing, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away." A flash went off as Craig snapped a photo of the two of them, having been signalled by Maurice that a moment was happening.
Ellie paused in thought. "I can't think of anything."
"Anything will do," JC reassured her.
"It's stupid."
"It doesn't matter." He held her as she got up the confidence.

"I've loved you forever, in lifetimes before. And I promise you never, will you hurt any more. I give you my word, I give you my heart, this is a battle we've won. And with this vow, forever has now begun." She smiled as he kissed her, joining in her song. "Just close your eyes, each loving day, and know this feeling won't go away. Till the day my life is through, this I promise you." They sat for a moment in silence, holding each other. "I'm happy it's you," she softly whispered.

At 3:42pm, the clerk opened the door to the chapel. "OK, last one for the day: 413."
Ellie checked their ticket. "That's us."
They followed the clerk in a cream-coloured room, a podium situated underneath a picture of the New York skyline. "Good afternoon, my name is Tom Berkley. I'll be marrying you today." He stood behind the podium. "Are you ready?"
Ellie burst into tears. "Oh...wow," she said as she fanned her face.
"It's OK, ma’am, I see a lot of tears in here." He motioned in front of the podium. "Just stand right here."

JC took Ellie's hand in his, kissing her when he saw the grin she smiled back up at him.
"It'll only take a minute. You can kiss then." Tom looked over the papers, preparing to speak. "I'm very happy today to welcome you here today on your wedding day, Elizabeth Rosemary Argyle and Joshua Scott Chases—"
"Chasez, Sha-zay," JC corrected him.
Tom nodded. "Chasez. Wouldn't want to get that wrong. You have come forward today with the intent to marry following the laws of the state of New York. You have declared yourselves free and willing to marry. Is this correct?"

"Yes..." They both nodded in agreement.

"Can I please have the rings?"
JC took the rings out of his pocket, the diamond ring he had bought her a month ago and the simple platinum band she had purchased the night before.
"Oh, fancy. OK, does anyone here know of any legal reason why these two should not be married?" He paused.
"No." Maurice shook his head, wiping a tear from his cheek.
"Great. Do you, Joshua, take Elizabeth to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love, honour and cherish her as long as you both shall live?"
"I do." JC looked at Ellie as she made a joyful squeak.
Tom gave Ellie's ring to JC, advising him to put it on slowly so Craig could get a good picture. "Wonderful. Do you, Elizabeth, take Joshua to be your lawfully wedded husband—"
"YES!..I'm sorry."
"To love, honour and cherish him as long as you both shall live?"
"I do." She took the ring from Tom, whispering as she slipped the ring on JC's finger, "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."
JC lightly kissed her forehead as Tom continued the ceremony. "As both of you stand here today, declaring your intent to be married and have done so in front of everyone present, by the power invested in me by the state of New York: I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

JC took Ellie in his arms, looking down at the cornflower blue eyes he looked up at that night in his trailer. He wiped the tears trickling down her cheek. She was now his wife, his wife Elizabeth, as he was now her husband. "I love you," he whispered as his lips met hers, a flurry of excitement consuming his body.
"I love you, too," she whispered, "Mr. Joshua Chasez."
"Mrs. Joshua Chasez."

"Wonderful." Tom snapped them out of their moment. "This is your marriage certificate. I wish you all of the love and happiness in the world. Good luck and merry Christmas." He smiled as he gave them the thick piece of paper proclaiming that they were now married. He shook everyone's hand as he led them back into the hallway.
Maurice looked at his watch. "Wow...that only took six minutes."
"Is there anywhere in the city you want photos taken?" Craig said as he wiped his lens, clicking the cap on and placing the camera in the small leather case on his hip.

Once the concept of a rotunda was mentioned, Maurice recommended the Cop Cot gazebo in Central Park. The four of them took a taxi to the Sixth Avenue entrance of the park. "I don't know if it's in your taste, but I've always thought it was nice," Maurice said as the four of them walked through the park. "There's a more traditional one by the lake."
They stopped as they saw the wooden structure, an octagonal building covered in dormant vines, snow gathering in and around it. "It's perfect," JC said.
"Great." Maurice tapped him on his shoulder. "I'll go find you some wedding cake."

Maurice was coming back up the hill holding a small white box just as Craig instructed the two of them to stand on the path in front of the sprawling snow-covered lawn. "Just hold still for a moment. I don't have much film left."
"Just hurry up!" Ellie whined. "It's freezing!"
"I let you put your jacket back on. What more could you want?" He winded the camera. "Josh, can I get you to step aside a little bit? I want to get a portrait of Ellie."
JC stepped aside, bending down to make a snowball. Ellie screamed as it hit her square in the back.
"You asshat!" She retaliated, lobbing one back. She stood and watched as he ran onto the lawn. "I can't chase you. I'm wearing heels." JC ran back to her, grabbing and lifting her into his arms, kissing her.
"Did you get all that?" Maurice asked from behind Craig.
"Yep, one shot left, too."
"Can we come back up now?" Ellie asked.
"Sure."
"What were you talking about?" she asked when she made her way back to them.
"I've only got one shot left. I can pick up some Polaroid film on the way home."
"We do live above a camera shop," Maurice commented.
"Do you want me to take a photo of you two?" she asked.
"Yeah," Craig agreed, handing the camera over to her. She snapped the photo of them, Craig with his hands tucked into his pockets and Maurice holding the cake box.

JC and Ellie sat in Maurice and Craig's apartment, waiting for Craig to develop the photos downstairs and Maurice to buy a bottle of champagne. Ellie sat with Linus draped over her lap as JC shifted through Maurice's records. "I don't think you're going to find anything you like in there. It's all jazz."
"Please, I love jazz." JC found a copy of Abbey Road. "Ah! I swear that every person of a certain age has at least one Beatles record." He turned the record player on and placed the vinyl on the turntable, placing the stylus to the right spot. A drum fill sounded as the song started playing. He stepped over to her as he sung along to the lyrics, "Something in the way she moves..." He offered out his hand. "May I have this dance?"
She pushed Linus onto the ground and stood up, taking his hand. "Of course."

He brought her closer to him, wrapping his arm around her waist. They rocked back and forth to the beat. "We shouldn't have done this," she whispered. "I mean, I'm glad we did, but I don't think we should have done it this way."
"We were sick of waiting, sick of so many obstacles always coming up."
"What about our parents?"
"I'll ask a friend of mine to pretend to marry us. Hell, we could even ask Maurice to do it. We can just pretend that we're getting married on New Year’s. That way they can think they saw us get married. We can have our cake and eat it, too."
"I don't know."
"You can get that white dress you want. We'll just surprise them later by saying that we're already married."
She inched closer to him. "Can't we just hold a surprise reception and tell them then?"
"How about we hold a party, just a party, ask Maurice—"
"Ask me what?" Maurice interrupted them as he returned home.
"Would you be willing to fly down to Orlando to spend New Year’s with us?" JC asked.
"Sure...why?"
"An idea was that we hold a quick ceremony for our folks that night. Since you already know we're married, we don't have to explain to you why we want to do it."
"Sure. If Ellie's OK with it. I'm already ordained."
Ellie turned to Maurice, a look of bewilderment on her face. "Why?"
"I'm gay; most of my friends are gay." Maurice shrugged. "Just because the church won't marry us, doesn't mean they can stop us from marrying each other."
JC’s face lit up. "It's perfect."
"I don't know..."
"Baby...just five minutes in front of the lake. We just say some vows and Maurice says a few words."
"It'll be over as quickly as your actual wedding."
"What? The consummation?" Craig placed a brown envelope on the table. "Here are your wedding photos, and here is your wedding album courtesy of Andrea downstairs." He placed an old-fashioned cardboard album on the table next to the envelope.
"JC and I are scheming to hold a proper wedding at his house in Orlando on New Year’s," Maurice explained as he started gathering plates from the kitchen.
"I'm sorry, but he's taken," Craig teased. "I'll ask a friend to watch the cats. We could go to Disney World."
Maurice started setting four places at the table. "That'll be your Christmas present. Ellie has to agree, though."
"Oh, please, oh, please, oh, please!" Craig jokingly begged. "It's Disney World."
Craig put a roll of film into his Polaroid camera. "Can you two please get back into the slow dance position you were in a minute ago? I want to recreate your first dance."

Ellie sat on her and JC's bed, flipping through the wedding album the four of them had put together over angel food cupcakes, pizza, and champagne. She glanced over the black and white candids of the ceremony and the impromptu snowball fight at the park, the colour portraits in the gazebo and the polaroids of the little details, the rings, the cake and the photo she had quickly taken in Maurice and Craig's bathroom of her dress. Joy filled her as she repeatedly flipped through the pages.

JC walked out of the bathroom. "I was wondering, what am I going to do with that dog tag you gave me on my birthday? It lists our wedding date as the thirteenth of April next year." He started to dry himself off.
"I don't know. Maybe we'll do something special on that day." She stopped and thought for a moment. "The number on our ticket was 413. The dog tag says 41306. It's our ticket number."
"Yeah, but what would the '06' mean?"
"Didn't Maurice say the whole thing took only six minutes? 413 is our number and 06 is how long our ceremony was in minutes." She placed the album on the bedside table. "I'll get you another dog tag made with 122105 and give it to you for Christmas."
He got on the bed and kissed her, getting under the covers naked. "I guess you predicted something, just not our wedding date."

She looked at him as he lay on his side. "So...it's happening that way?" She took off the little white lace nightgown she was wearing, snuggling under the covers facing him.
"What way?"
"Why are you in bed naked?" she asked him.
"Why are you in bed naked?"
"I asked you first."
"I asked you more recently."

They lay there for a while just looking at each other. "I'm surprised we waited this long to 'officiate this union,' per se," she said.
"Are you OK with how we did this, I mean the wedding?"
"You know what, yeah. We couldn't wait and we got sick of everything just...I don't know."
"Trying to come between us?"
"I guess."
"So you agree with me? This was the best way to do it?" He placed his head on his hand.
"It feels right. It's not like we can go back on it now. Hector is going to send a copy of the prenup to Adam. Adam is going to know that we rushed it. They can't force us to annul the marriage or divorce. It's done; we're happy with it. You're my husband."
"And you're my wife."
"Not in a biblical sense."
"The religious way, or the sexy way?" He leaned over and kissed her.
"The sexy way. Remember, we need to get this perfect," she reminded him.

He slid off the bed, kneeling as he pulled her towards him. She got up on her elbows as she watched him start to lick her pussy. She looked into his piercing blue eyes as she knew he wanted to give her the best orgasm he could.

"Best wedding present ever," she whispered as she lay down, stroking his hair as he kissed and teased her. She moaned as a warm wave of pleasure coursed over her body, her skin prickling with goosebumps. She lifted her pelvis, digging her feet into the edge of the mattress. He steadied her legs as he devoured her. She let out a cry as she gripped the sheet, taking a handful of his hair as she came.

"Baby..." She reached down for him, sitting up as she kissed him, gasping in between their mouths meeting in violent tenderness.
"Get on the bed," he growled as he climbed over her, lying on his side at the head of the bed. She paused for a moment just to look at him. Her eyes wandered over his body: his form rising and falling in laboured breaths, his lips wet with her sweetness and their kisses, his hand stroking his cock, waiting for her to receive him. She married this man. She was now in the holiest of unions with the sexual Adonis lying on her bed: their bed, their marital bed.

She crawled up to him, kissing him as she turned him over. She lay on top of him as she guided him into her. She mimicked his rhythm as she slowly rocked back and forth with her arms placed on each side on his head. She made love to him: kissing him, grunting as she took as much of him as she could. She glowed as she savoured his fingers digging into her back, her nipples grazing his chest with every movement she made. She sat up as he repositioned his knees, knowing he was going to start thrusting into her. She bit her lip as she grinded into him, placing her hands on his stomach as she threw her head back, gasping as he gripped her thighs and started to reciprocate her motions.

"Fuck, Mummy," he whispered as she ran her nails through his chest hair, reaching down to start pleasuring her. He sat up, taking her nipple into his mouth as she clenched him. She lifted her arm up and dug her fingers into his hair, gasping as she came. He wrapped his arms around her and lay back down, taking her with him. She licked the sweat pooling where his collarbones met, clinging to the sheet on each side of his head as she determined to finish, pushing through the haze starting to come over her. She shut her eyes and increased her rhythm, feeling his body tense up under her. She looked down at him as he groaned, enjoying that he was making the faces she knew she made when he made love to her.

Suddenly, he dug his nails into her back, crying out in ecstasy. She relaxed her body, trying not to have him slip out of her in case he wasn't done. Yet his breathing eased as they kissed, coming down off their high. She played with his hair as they gazed into each other's eyes.
"Well, fuck damn," he whispered.
She smiled as she kissed him. "Tell me that I am not the best lover you've ever had."
"Why do you think I married you?"
"For my money," she teased.
"Well, you only married me so you could parade me around your boss."
"Of course, I've always wanted a trophy husband."

She kissed his cheek as he placed his left hand above his head. She intertwined her left fingers with his, running her pinky along the side of his ring finger, where he now wore her ring.
"What is it?" he asked her, trying to see what she was looking at.
"Our rings." She showed him their hands. "It not just my ring now. You've got one, too."
"It's weird when you realise little things now that you’re married."
"Like what?"
"It's just weird, you know? Do you remember that night in the trailer when you kissed me? I had this moment during our wedding where I saw a flash of your eyes looking down at me. I think that's when I fell in love with you."
"No, it wasn't."
"No, it was. It was like you cared for me, like you could see how broken I was when no one else could...You saved me." A single tear fell down his cheek.
"We saved each other...or something." She turned onto her side. "I doubt anyone saw that you were depressed."
"I doubt it." He turned to face her. "You'll be amazed how self-centred a lot of my friends are."

They lay there for a moment, playing with each other's fingers. "You know what's really weird?" she asked.
"What?"
"We're married now, like actually married. We had a wedding and now you're my husband and I'm your wife." She swept her hair over her shoulder. "It just blows my mind, you know?"
"Yeah, like how my wife's name is Elizabeth."
"And my husband's name is Joshua. Like, seriously, Joshua. I get this weird...thing whenever I realise it." Her eyes widened. "My husband is a Mouseketeer; my husband used to be in *NSYNC. My husband has two Grammys."
"Try not to dwell too much on it, please."
"Why not?"
"I don't want you to get too caught up in that." He started running his fingers through her hair.
"That's why it's so amazing though. I never even think about those things, but it amazes me when I realise it...I'm very proud of you."
"I don't know."
"I'm part of that now, you know? The shitty side of your career. It's my life now, too."
"You don't want that."
"You're right, I don't. But I took it on when I started dating you, hell, even back when we were just casual. I decided to enter that world for you." She lifted her head onto her hand.
"I don't want to talk about it." He pulled the bedclothes over them, snuggling into the pillows. "It's my wedding day."
She smiled, leaning down to kiss him. "You know, it's been the twenty-second for around twenty minutes now."
He turned to look at the clock. "You're right."
"How do you want to start your first full day as a married man?"
"Knowing that I have to catch a plane at 3pm?"
"Well, yeah."
"I want to get to sleep."
"What else?"
"I want to tell you that I love you."
"Really?..I love you, too." She snuggled up into his chest. "My love, my husband, my beloved."
"My boo."
"You're fucking adorable."
"It's a talent."