Page 84 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

Bobby shifted again, somehow got a little closer. “Honestly, Tom, I don’t care. We can go down to the courthouse and not tell anyone, or we can make it a huge thing.”

“I think your mother would turn us into eunuchs if we didn’t even tell her. Not to mention Colleen.”

“True.”

Tommy thought for a moment, trying to find what would feel right for them—for all of them. “What about just the family? And maybe see if Sanders and his wife wanna come?” Bobby’s partner was as good as family to Bobby and Judy; it was only right he should be there.

“Gene too.”

“Yeah, Gene too. We could put on some nice suits, go down to the courthouse, do a fancy dinner after…”

Bobby let out a contented hum before he answered, as if he were picturing it first. “Sounds nice. I like it. What about a honeymoon? Take a little trip somewhere, maybe go back to Mexico?”

“Sounds expensive.” He didn’t give Bobby a chance to argue, though. “But, yeah, we should do it. Whole family or just us?”

“We didn’t take them when we went down to Cancún. Might be cool to bring all the kids. We’ve never really done a family vacation before.”

Tommy turned onto his side, slipped his hand lower to wrap his arm around Bobby’s waist. “That sounds even more expensive.” He thought about it for the length of one heartbeat and said, “We’d be saving a lot of money by not doing a reception and all that shit, though.”

“I should always try to talk you into things right after you come,” Bobby said, obviously teasing. “You’re a pushover.”

“You and your mother have worn me down. I can’t say no to a goddamn thing anymore.”

“Good,” Bobby whispered before leaning in and pressing his lips to Tommy’s. “So if I said we should take two trips, one with all the kids and one just for us, you’d just agree and fall asleep?”

“Why not?” Tommy rolled over, pushing Bobby onto his back and using him like a pillow. “We’ll just live with your mother the rest of our lives. Who needs to buy a house or put kids through college?”

“Yeah, like Colleen has asked for a single dime for tuition—you do realize her dying words will be sorry for putting this on you guys.”

“That’s the god’s truth.” Tommy thought about it for a minute. Colleen needed a vacation from real life more than any of them. “Mike’ll probably get a scholarship.”

“We can put off buying a house for one more year…”

That was fine with Tommy. He had no interest in moving out, away from the kids. But that was a discussion for another day. “We’re not exactly responsible with money, you get that, right?”

“Well, you are. Enough for both of us.”

“Not if I’m agreeing to this.”

“You can start being responsible again in a few months. After we get back from a two-part honeymoon.”

Tommy would’ve rolled his eyes if Bobby had been looking at him. “Fine. But this is the last thing you get to talk me into for a year. No. Five years.”

“Split the difference? Two and a half?”

Even that was unlikely, and they both knew it.

Favorites

A short story featuring characters from The Last Thing He Needs

Timing: After the final chapter, but before the epilogue of The Last Thing He Needs.

Tommy has issues, but Bobby loves him anyway. And they get married.

Chapter One

Tommy

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