Published: 16 Apr 2026
Chapter 25 – A Very Special Celebration
I was really busy sorting the baseball cards by teams, and then organizing the player’s cards within those teams before adding them to the appropriate spreadsheet. After I did all of that, I took a photo of each side of the cards and noted them on the spreadsheet I’d created as well, and doing all of these steps was taking forever.
No matter how unbelievably busy I was, the days still seemed to drag on, since Devin wasn’t here with me. This sometimes caused me to become slightly depressed and I was starting to feel as if I didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning, but mom wouldn’t let me get away with doing that. She’d make sure to wake me each morning so I could have breakfast with her and Dad before they left for work, and she wouldn’t stop nagging me until I came downstairs. After I joined them at the table, we’d eat and talk, but sometimes we weren’t together for very long, because she and Dad had to get to their jobs.
Once in a while I’d go back to bed and sleep for a little longer, and then I’d get up and start working on the baseball cards. However, all of that changed on December 29th, because I realized Devin would be showing up the next day. It even caused me to break out of my doldrums and perk up, since I knew Devin and I would have some time alone before my parents arrived home from work. I was even looking forward to the New Year’s Eve celebration as well, because we’d be having a nice meal and bringing in the New Year celebrating with our families.
Devin called me when he stopped for gas on the way here, so I knew he’d left the cabin already and would soon be with me. I was on pins and needles as I waited by the window for him to show up, and as soon as I saw his SUV coming up the road, I bolted out of the house to greet him. Seeing I was desperate to wrap my arms around him and give him a kiss, I wasn’t as cautious as I should have been as I crossed the driveway in front of his SUV. Fortunately, he was paying more attention to what he was doing and reacted quickly enough so I only got nudged by the bumper.
When he finally came to a stop, turned off the engine, and climbed out of the driver’s seat, I threw my arms around his chest and gave him a huge hug as I planted my mouth over his. When we finally ended that lengthy greeting, he looked at me and spoke.
“Fuck, you’ve got to be more careful, because I nearly mowed you down.”
“I know, but I was just excited to see you again and it wasn’t like you were driving fast.”
“That’s true, but you still nearly ended up laying on the driveway under my SUV and I’d be calling 9-1-1 for help.”
After I gave him another quick kiss and hug, he grabbed his things out of the back and we made our way to the house. After he took off his coat, we raced up to my room so we could make love. It had been a while, seeing he’d been at the cabin since we’d arrived home from college, except for the time we’d celebrated Christmas together. We didn’t have an opportunity to make love then either, because Clint was also there and sleeping with us, so now we were going to make up for lost time.
Due to the lengthy dry spell since we last did this, we acted like two dogs rutting, which means it was purely physical, very hurried, and not totally satisfying. Our focus was merely on getting off and ending the lengthy drought we’d just endured, so it left much to be desired. After lunch we took our time and enjoyed a slow, sensual love making session that took a couple of hours. In fact, we barely had time to shower and return downstairs before we heard Dad’s SUV pulling into the driveway.
As soon as they walked through the front door, Dad told Devin to make sure he put his SUV in the garage before they arrived home the following day.
“Cindy and I will only be working half a day and we want Michael and you to be showered and dressed before we arrive home. We also expect each of you to pack a garment bag with your suit, dress shirt, and the tie you plan to wear on New Year’s Eve, along with the shirt and pants you plan on wearing for the ride back here.”
“And I suggest each of you also pack a small overnight bag,” Mom added, “and you can use that for your underwear, socks, and any toiletries you think you’ll need for an overnight stay. We’ll be leaving to pick up Lonny and Clint as soon as Mike and I have a chance to freshen up a bit.”
We both nodded in understanding, and as soon as they went upstairs to change, I turned to Devin and spoke.
“What they were getting at is that they want to make sure we don’t hold them up or get in their way after they arrive home, and they don’t want us to make them late when picking up Lonny and Clint. That’s because after we get to their house, we still have to travel from Colorado Springs to Denver to get to the Brown Palace Hotel, where the celebration is taking place.”
“Thanks for mansplaining that for me like I couldn’t figure it out for myself,” Devin spat out after I finished.
“I’m sorry. I guess I’m getting like my dad and trying to make sure that everyone knows exactly what’s expected.”
“Don’t worry, we’re good and I understand what you were trying to do, it’s just that you made me feel like a little kid.”
I was glad he wasn’t upset with me, because I didn’t want him to be in a bad mood and end up ruining the time I had to be with my honey. I didn’t want to spend the night arguing and being upset. I wanted tomorrow night to be fun, with a great meal, plenty of good music, and a chance to dance with my man. And the best part is that it will all happen in about 24 hours from now.
I’m also excited that Pops, Hope, Gramps, and Faith will also be joining us and riding there with Ma and Pa. Since that SUV will be full with six adults, Devin will be riding there with us, and he’ll also be riding back with us the next day and staying with me until we return to CSU. The only flaw in that plan is that Clint expects to sit by me both times, so Devin will have to sit next to Lonny. It isn’t the way I was hoping this would happen, but Devin and I will make the most of it once we get to my house.
Since Devin knew he’d be staying with me until we returned to campus, he packed his SUV with all of the things he was taking with him to Fort Collins. He’ll leave it in our garage while we’re away celebrating New Year’s Eve, and then we’ll have it to get around during the day, while my parents are at work. Even though it contains the things he’s taking back to college, the windows are tinted so no one will be able to see what’s inside and we won’t have to worry about those things being stolen.
As we were getting ready for bed later, something had been bugging me, so I decided to mention it to Devin. “I’m a little upset that I won’t be sitting next to you during the ride there tomorrow or on the ride home either.”
“I know, but we’ll be able to sit next to each other until we pick up Clint, and we’ll also be able to sit next to each other after we drop off Clint and Lonny on the way home. Don’t forget that you were the one who volunteered to let Clint sit next to you both times. And besides, we’ll be sitting next to each other during the meal and for the rest of the night, and we’ll also be dancing together.”
“I kinda hope that Clint won’t ask to dance with me too.”
“You can let him dance with you once in a while, but you’ll have to insist that he’ll have to ask to dance with our moms too, and maybe Hope and Faith as well, if he wants to dance more than that.”
“Yeah, like that’s going to work.”
“Just explain to him that you agreed to let him sit next to you in the SUV and share a room with us, and that you’ll also dance a FEW dances with him, but that’s all. Just let him know in no uncertain terms that you’ll be dancing most of the other dances with me.”
“I hope he doesn’t press the issue.”
“I’m sure Lonny has pointed this out to him as well, because he understands the situation Clint is putting you in. In fact, if you hadn’t already agreed to let Clint sit next to you in the SUV, I think Lonny was prepared to tell Clint that he HAD to sit next to him.”
“I hope you’re right about that. At first, I felt sorry for Clint, so I was willing to give him some of my attention, but he keeps demanding more and more. He also keeps pressing me to do sexual things with him in the shower.”
“Just explain that if he keeps it up, then you won’t be able to shower with him any longer.”
“Yeah, I’ve already done that, but he keeps pressing the issue just the same.”
“Then the next time he does it, get out of the shower and let him finish up alone. And if he continues to press the issue, then you’ll have to tell him that he can’t sleep with us either.”
“I just wish he’d find someone his own age.”
“Maybe we can help with that. Find out what school he goes to and then we can inquire if the school has a Gay-Straight Alliance or a Gender & Sexuality Alliance. If they do, then you can urge Clint to join it. We could even write a letter to the president of the club and explain about Clint, and then maybe he’ll be able to ask Clint to join. Or better yet, maybe he could have a cute guy that might be interested in the idea and ask Clint to join instead.”
“And out him publicly, because we don’t know if he’s out at school?”
“But those clubs are open to straights as well as gays, so it won’t be like they’ll be having him wear a sign saying “I am gay”. They’ll just be inviting him to join. You could also ask Clint if he’s out at school, and if he isn’t, then you could ask if he knows if the school has one of those clubs. If they do, then you can suggest that he join it and hopefully find someone his own age that way.”
“Ok, and I’ll also remind him that we’ll be leaving the area shortly after we graduate in May, so the next whitewater rafting trip might be the last time you’ll see each other for quite a while.”
When we woke up the next morning, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then made sure we had packed everything we planned to take with us. After that, we made love again, and then we took a shower and got dressed, so we’d be ready when my parents arrived.
Since Mom and Dad had told us they were getting out of work at noon, we felt they’d be home by 12:30, or 12:45 at the latest, so when they hadn’t arrived by 1:00 I was beginning to worry. However, I knew better than to call either Mom or Dad while he was driving, because anyone talking on the phone was considered just as annoying as loud music on the radio.
I was beginning to panic when my parents hadn’t arrived by 1:30, because I thought maybe they’d been in an accident. I was just about ready to call the police and hospitals to see if there had been any serious accidents when my parents pulled in the driveway shortly after 2:00. We rushed out to greet them and see why they were so late.
“I thought you said you were getting out of work at noon, so why are you just getting home?”
“There was an accident on the highway and we got stuck in traffic,” Dad answered.
“Then if you were stuck in traffic and not driving, why didn’t you call and let us know?”
“I guess it just slipped our minds that you were waiting for us to arrive home. We were hoping to learn how bad the accident was and if anyone was hurt or killed, as well as how long it was going to be before we’d be able to get moving again. I was just so upset about running late that your mother was spending her time trying to calm me down, so we didn’t think about anything else.”
“I’m glad to see you boys are ready,” Mom quickly added, “so just give us a few minutes to freshen up and we’ll leave.”
“What about your garment bags and suitcase.”
“We took care of those things last night,” Mom stated.
“Dad, give me the key to the SUV, and after you and Mom lay your things out on the bed, Devin and I will load them in the SUV, along with our stuff. I’ll also call Lonny to let him know that we’re running late.”
“Thanks, those are both great ideas,” he responded as he handed me the key to the SUV, and then we followed them upstairs to get their luggage.
By the time they came downstairs, Devin and I had loaded everything in the back of the SUV and I’d called Lonny so he wouldn’t worry.
“Dad, since you were already upset about getting stuck in traffic, maybe I should drive,” I said hopefully.
“No, I’m fine, so let’s get going.”
I was sitting next to Devin and we chatted the entire way to Lonny’s house, but then I had to get out and get in the backseat with Clint and let Lonny take the seat next to Devin.
As we were leaving Colorado Springs, Dad headed toward Denver and Clint started telling me about everything he’d done during the past week. When it looked as if he was done talking, I finally spoke.
“Look, I think we needed to get a few things straight about the next couple of days. First of all, I’m letting you sit next to me on the way to the Brown Palace Hotel, and also on the way back, but don’t plan on me dancing with you more than a few times. It’s because Devin’s my fiancé and I want to dance with him most of the time. He and I will also have to dance a couple of dances with each of our moms, and you should probably do that too.”
“Yeah, I know, cuz Dad already told me the same thing.”
“I’m glad to hear that, because I wanted to be certain it was perfectly clear to you.”
When we arrived at the Brown Palace Hotel, Dad pulled up in front of the building and we all got out and headed toward the back to take out our luggage. That’s when we learned about two services that we hadn’t counted on – a bell hop came out with a cart to take our luggage and then a valet came over to park the SUV.
“I’d rather do it myself,” Dad told the valet.
“I’m sorry, sir, but guests aren’t allowed to self-park their vehicles in the hotel’s private parking garage, so if you’ll give me your key, I’ll do it for you. If you’d prefer, you can take the chance of parking your vehicle on the street overnight or you can go to another garage.”
“No, that’s ok,” Dad said as he reluctantly handed over the key.
After the valet drove off, we all followed the bell hop inside so we could check in. As we entered the lobby, Ma and Pa jumped up from one of the sofas and greeted us. “We were beginning to worry about you,” Ma said.
“We’re sorry, but there was an accident that blocked the roadway as we were on our way home after work and it caused us to be running late ever since,” Dad explained.
“Wow, this place is amazing and the lobby is incredible,” Clint stated, his voice exuding his total amazement.
“Do the people who are staying in rooms on those floors have access to those balconies?” I asked.
“First of all, this area is called an atrium, not a lobby, although they’re basically the same thing,” Ma replied. “And the people with rooms on the first eight floors have access to the balcony on the floor their room is on. If you look closely, you’ll notice that each balcony has a lovely wrought iron railing extending along its length.”
“How do you know so much about all of this stuff?” Clint followed.
“While we were waiting for you to show up, Aaron and I read a number of brochures about this hotel,” she answered.
“So, which floor are we going to be staying on?” Devin asked.
“I booked our rooms on what is called the “Top of the Brown”, or the top two floors of the hotel,” Pa responded. , “Our rooms are all located on the ninth floor, which incidentally doesn’t have a balcony. I selected a room with a king-size bed for you boys, and another for Doris and myself, but there is a slight difference between them. Your room has a shower, while ours has a spa-size tub. Your parents and my dad and uncle are all in a room with two queen-size beds, since your mom and dad are sharing a room with Lonny and my dad, uncle, and their wives are also sharing a room. Each of the rooms on the top two floors have all been renovated and are among the nicest rooms the hotel has to offer. And if you didn’t realize it, this is a four-star establishment.”
“Is that stained glass on the skylight?” Mom asked while craning her neck to look up at the ceiling.
“Yes, it is, and it’s very lovely, isn’t it?” Pa answered.
“Yes, it certainly is.”
“Now that you’ve had a chance to look around, follow us and Doris and I will take you over to the front desk so you can check in, and then the bell hop will take your luggage as he shows you up to your rooms.”
“Where are your things?” Mom asked.
“Doris and I, along with my dad, uncle, and their wives have already checked in.’
“Speaking of your dad and uncle,” Dad followed, “where are they?”
“They and their wives are all up in their room. Doris and I decided already took our things up to our room and then we decided to come down here and wait for you.”
“I hope we didn’t make you wait too long,” Mom quickly stated.
“No, it wasn’t too bad,” Ma stated, “because we sat down here in the lobby and read some brochures and chatted until you arrived.”
Ma and Pa then led us over to the Front Desk to check in. We wanted to be here with you to make certain the clerk that checked us in kept his word, because he’d assured us that we’d all have rooms near each other.”
“The rest of you can wait here and Lonny and I can check us in.”
We didn’t have a problem with that, and when they returned, Dad handed me a packet.
“Here is everything you’ll need, including your and Devin’s key cards which are inside. Just be careful when you open the packet, because it also contains your meal tickets that indicate what you ordered for dinner. The meal tickets also prove that you’ve paid to be part of tonight’s festivities, and there are other materials in there is well, but you can check those things over when you get to your room.”
“Don’t worry about us, Dad. We’ll take good care of everything,” I assured him
“Clint, I’ll give you your meal ticket when we’re ready to head down to the ballroom to eat,” Lonny explained.
“Ok,” Clint simply responded.
Once that had been settled, the bellhop pushed the cart with our luggage on it as he led us to the elevator. When we arrived at our floor, the bellhop led us to our rooms and helped to carry some of the items inside. When he finished helping us, Pa handed him a tip, and as he was walking away with the luggage cart, we all entered our rooms. Clint, Devin, and I were eager to check it out before we showered and got dressed for tonight’s big event.
Our room was quite large, with a luxurious king-size bed and a flat-screen HDTV hanging on the wall. As I opened the packet my dad had handed me, I found the password to connect to the Wi-Fi inside, but I doubt we’ll be using either of those items while we’re here, but it’s still nice that it’s available.
As we continued to look around, we discovered that we also had a marble bathroom that was much larger than any of the bathrooms in the motels or hotels that we’ve stayed in previously. There was also a spacious glass shower stall in the corner, and not merely a shower attachment in a bathtub. Devin and I were justifiably impressed.
“Wow, this room is incredible and the shower is big enough for all of us to shower at the same time,” Clint stated as he followed us around as we toured the bathroom. “I’ve never stayed in a place this nice before.”
“To be honest, neither have we,” I responded.
I was, however, disappointed that I wasn’t going to be able to shower with Devin, unless we took Clint up on his suggestion. Or maybe I’ll just take two showers, one with Clint and another with Devin. While I was thinking about this, Devin had already gone back into the main room and was checking out the contents in the packet that I had left on the bed.
“Our meal tickets indicate that the ballroom doesn’t allow anyone inside until 6:30, so we should call our dads to see when they’re planning on going there.”
Devin and I used our cell phones to do this, while Clint used the phone in the room to call his dad. We felt it was important to see if they were planning to go to the ballroom when it first opened, or if they wanted to wait a while before we headed down there, since it’s going to be a late night. Once we knew what they planned to do, I asked the other two a question.
“Seeing our dads have all agreed that they want to go down to the ballroom when it first opens, do you think we should take our showers now or later?”
“Let’s take them now, and then we can watch something on TV until it’s time for us to get dressed,” Devin offered.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Clint concurred.
“Ok, then I’ll take a shower with Clint first, and then I’ll shower with you after that,” I added while looking at Devin.
“You’re doing that so you guys can have sex, aren’t you?” Clint challenged.
“Possibly,” I answered, “but we’re adults and we’re also engaged, so it’s our business if we decide to do that, not yours.”
Clint looked a little deflated after I said that to him, so maybe now he’s finally beginning to understand his place in this arrangement.
As soon as I’d showered with each of them, we laid on the bed in our underwear and watched TV until it was time for us to get dressed. I guess I was wrong when I thought we probably wouldn’t use the HDTV earlier.
I kept checking the time on my phone as we did this, and when it was a half hour before we were to meet the others in the hallway, we got up and started getting dressed. I had to help Clint with his tie, since he announced that his dad usually tied it for him, and then we went out in the hallway so we could meet up with everyone else. That’s why we were surprised to discover that only Pa was waiting to greet us.
“My dad, uncle, and their wives already left to go down to the ballroom, because they wanted to make sure that we are all assigned to the same table. I told them we’d meet them there in a few minutes, and now we’re just waiting for my wife to finish getting ready and for Mac’s parents and Clint’s father to come out of their room.”
Ma came out to join us a minute later, and my dad came out of his room thirty seconds after that, along with Lonny. “Cindy’s almost ready, but she had some last-minute touchups to do to her makeup.”
As soon as my mom joined us, we headed down to the ballroom. When we reached the entrance, we showed the man standing at the door our tickets, and then he assigned an escort to show us to our table. He’d handed our tickets to her so she’d know which table we’d been assigned, and after leading us there, she handed each of us our tickets.
As soon as we entered the ballroom, we could see that there were multiple round tables set for eight individuals. There were also two large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, with one near the entry of the room and the other near the opposite end.
“Hold onto your tickets until your server collects them when taking your drink orders,” she explained.
Pops came over to speak with us as soon as our escort left. “We discovered that we were split up between two tables that are close to each other, because as you see, there are no tables large enough for twelve people. Since the tables only accommodate eight diners each, the four of us decided to let the eight of you sit together. My brother, our wives, and I will sit at the other table with two other couples.”
“It’s really considerate of the four of you to do this, so thank you,” Dad told him.
“It’s fine, because we all like meeting new people.”
Prior to taking our seats, we decided to walk over to their table so we could say hello to Pops, Hope, and Faith and introduce anyone to those they didn’t already know. Once we finished chatting with them briefly, we returned to our table and sat down.
Of course, I was sitting between Clint and Devin, and the first thing I did was to check out my place setting. One of the first things that I noticed was the champagne flute, which was with the other items, so I quickly looked around to see if everyone else had one. They all did, including Clint, so I assumed the staff was probably going to bring the champagne out shortly before midnight.
While I’d been doing this, Lonny had obviously been looking around the ballroom and checking out the other guests, and then he turned in my direction and spoke. “After I noticed that many of the men are wearing tuxedos and the women are dressed in fancy gowns, it appears that we’re here with the crème de la crème of Denver’s elite. I’m beginning to feel more than a little out of place here.”
“And the jewelry that some of the women are wearing appears to contain precious gems, such as diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, so those items must be very expensive,” Mom added.
“It’s true that some people are dressed fancier than we are,” Pa firmly stated, “but none of us should feel out of place! We’ve all paid for our meals and tonight’s entertainment the same as they have, so each of us belongs here just as much as they do. Don’t let anyone tell you differently or try to intimidate you.”
“Ok, I’ll try not to, but there’s another thing that I’ve noticed,” Lonny continued. “It appears that all of the men are here with their wives.”
“Not all of them are with their wives,” Devin piped up, “and I don’t mean just me and Mac. I’ve spotted at least two other gay couples, along with a couple of lesbian couples.”
“And some of the men you’ve referred to might not be here with their wives,” Dad added. “The woman they are with may merely be an escort or a female other than his wife.”
“That may be true, but it appears that I’m the only one who’s here with his son.”
“Big deal,” Pa stated annoyed. “You’re here with him because you’re a good father who’s attempting to give his son a stable life and a night out to celebrate, hoping it will lessen the sting of his mother’s death. Don’t worry, because I’ll fight anyone who tries to give you grief tonight.”
“We all will,” I chimed in.
“I appreciate your support, but I don’t want to be the cause of any trouble tonight,” he responded, but he seemed to relax slightly, since he now realized that we all had his back.
Something else happened while we were trying to reassure Lonny that we wouldn’t let anyone hassle him tonight, because when I glanced over at Clint, he had a huge Cheshire Cat grin plastered across his face.
“What are you smiling at?” I teased.
“I’m just happy that you’ve offered to stick up for my dad.”
“We all did, not just me,” I retorted, but the grin on his face never dimmed.
At that moment I also noticed that two other couples had been seated at the table with Gramps, Pops, and their wives, so I hope they get along with them. That’s when a server came over to our table and asked for our tickets, and after we gave them to him, he inquired as to what we wanted to drink. Each of us, except for Clint, said that we would have coffee with our meal, and then Clint said he’d have a soda. Before the server left, he told us he’d be right back with our drinks and the food would be delivered shortly after that.
This delay gave me a chance to look around the ballroom. In addition to the two huge chandeliers that I mentioned earlier, there were also the multiple round tables, identical to the one we were sitting at. They covered about two-thirds of the floor space, and after doing a quick count of how many tables there were and multiplying it by eight, it appeared the room was set up for over 300 guests.
At the far end of the ballroom was a small raised stage I immediately surmised was where the band would be located, so the floor space in front of the stage was obviously the dance floor. There was also a row of huge windows covered by heavy drapes along the wall on one side of the stage. The opposite wall had heavy draperies hanging from it as well, but I wasn’t convinced there were any windows behind them. There were also doors leading into what I assumed was the kitchen area, along with large openings where items, such as meals or orders, could be passed back and forth. Also at the right of the stage was a temporary bar that appeared to be about twenty feet (approx. 6 m) in length.
I’d been looking at these various areas for a few minutes when the server returned with a tray containing Clint’s soda and four insulated carafes of coffee for our table. There were already cups placed upside down on the saucers at each place settings, so it meant there was a carafe of coffee for each couple, although Lonny would have the carafe to himself.
Approximately fifteen minutes after our server had dropped off our drinks, two other servers came to our table. One of them carried a tray with bowls of salads on it, while the second server carried a tray with baskets filled with fresh rolls and packets of butter, along with creamers for our coffee. About twenty minutes after that, all three servers returned carrying trays with our entrees and side dishes.
As soon as they’d given us our meals, they asked if we wanted anything else to drink, and that’s when I overheard Pops speaking to one of the servers. “Bring us three bottles of your finest Cabernet Sauvignon and fifteen wine glasses for these two tables, since I believe our new friends are willing to join us with a glass. Oh, and please bring another soda for the young man.”
The servers nodded his understanding and walked away, and several minutes later he returned with two other servers and each one was carrying a silver wine bucket attached to a stand with a bottle of wine on ice. Behind them was a young woman with a tray containing fifteen wine glasses upside down on napkins and another soda for Clint.
After the servers allowed Pops to inspect the label from each bottle to see if he approved, they waited for him to give them his ok. As soon as they had it, they popped the corks and offered him a sample of each for his approval. Pops quickly advised them that he’d taste one of the samples and pointed out Gramps and Aaron to check the other two bottles. They each swirled the wine around in their glass to release the wine’s fragrance, and then they lifted the glass to their nose to inhale the aroma before tasting it. As soon as each of them had signaled that the bottle was acceptable, the servers went around the table and poured each of us a half glass of wine.
The servers then emptied what little remained in each bottle into either Pops, Gramps, or Pa’s glass, and then they got ready to leave. Before they walked away, however, Pops told one of them to bring three more bottles of the same wine to his table, while also handing him his credit card. The server nodded his understanding, and then the three servers took the empty bottles with them as they left. Two of them returned a short time later, and one was carrying two bottles of wine, while the other one held a single bottle, along with Pops’ credit card, the receipt, and a pen.
“You can Just open the bottles and leave them in the ice buckets, because we don’t need to taste them this time,” Pops advised them. “We’ll fill everyone’s glass when they’re ready for more, but rest assured that I will let you know if these bottles don’t meet our standards.”
The server nodded his understanding and handed Pops the receipt to sign. Pops also added a tip, was given his copy, and then he placed his credit card back in his wallet. Before the servers left, however, they asked if everything was satisfactory and if there was anything else that we needed. Gramps and Pa asked them to deliver more rolls to their tables, which the servers seemed happy to do, and then we all chatted as we ate.
Almost immediately, the discussion around our table revolved around the hotel and the ballroom. “This place is very elegant and has an early 20th century aura about it,” Mom observed.
“Well, it opened in 1892,” Ma replied, “and I know this because I read it in one of the brochures.”
“Although our rooms are on one of the upper two floors that have been renovated,” Pa added, ” the older areas of the hotel have been maintained to reflect their original beauty. In fact, many of the interior areas are still pretty much the same as when they were built, although some newer features, such as updated modern bathrooms and electrical connections have been added for convenience or comfort. With that in mind, the owners have opened up some of the original rooms on the lower levels to form the conference areas that are used as large meeting spaces. However, much of the charm of the exterior has been maintained as it originally appeared, except for some minor updates that were added for various reasons. For the most part, though, the majority of this structure is nearly the same as it was back when it was first constructed.”
“I’ll admit that I feel as if I’m one of the Vanderbilts or Astors tonight,” Mom followed.
“So do I,” Ma concurred.
“Me too,” Lonny hesitantly added, “although I’m not sure that I would have fit in their elevated social status.”
“Who are those people you’re talking about?” Clint asked, which caused Lonny to explain about who the Vanderbilts and Astors were, as our other conversation continued.
“And you ladies look as lovely as any of the Vanderbilts or Astors ever did,” Dad stated.
“Yes, you do,” the rest of us agreed, and then we continued eating and chatting.
Our meals were as delicious as the setting was gorgeous, and after we finished eating the main course and the dishes had been removed from the table, another girl showed up pushing a dessert cart. “You have a choice of German chocolate cake or cheesecake, either plain or topped with cherries,” she stated.
After we’d each made our selection, we quickly polished them off, and they were just as delicious as the meals. When we finished, Clint turned to me and spoke.
“I’m glad you guys told us that you were gonna come to this place, cuz I’ve never been anyplace this nice before, and my meal and the dessert were both great. Dad even let me take a sip of his wine.”
“We don’t normally attend events that are this nice, but since it was New Year’s Eve and Devin’s and my last year of college, we decided to splurge. That was before Pa won the lottery and offered to pay for all of us to attend.”
“Yeah, and he paid for me and my dad too. That was really nice of him.”
“Yes, it was.”
I hadn’t realized it before, but now that fewer people were talking and the room was quieter than before, I suddenly became aware of music playing softly in the background. It was obviously being piped over the speakers in the ballroom, but it had obviously been drowned out previously by the various conversations, as well as the other sounds in the room. Some of it was the noise caused by the servers as they brought the meals to the tables and performed other duties, as well as the clamor of the bussers removing the dirty dishes.
I then became aware of some other movement in the distance and realized the band was beginning to set up their equipment on the small stage at the front of the ballroom. I quickly glanced at my phone and saw that it was currently 8:45, and when I looked up again, there were now four other men hanging around the stage area, and they were each carrying what appeared to be AR-15s. I quickly nudged Devin and nodded toward the front of the ballroom.
“It appears there are some uninvited guests,” I commented, and we both quickly glanced over at Gramps and Pops’ table to see if they noticed the same thing we did.
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