1 Cope
The Police Benevolent Association Ball had been billed as the social event of the winter.
In Copeland Forbes’ mind, it was boring as hell.
Dressing up in tuxedos had been fun, as had posing for the professional photos taken when they’d arrived.
Cope had attended his senior prom with a neighbor girl.
He felt vindicated, being able to walk into the ball on his gorgeous husband’s arm.
When it came to the dinner, the chicken had been lukewarm and rubbery.
He’d taken a few bites of the runny mashed potatoes before pushing his plate away.
He’d noticed Tennyson doing the same.
He’d rather eat tuna noodle casserole for an entire month straight instead of one more bite of that awful meal.
The ball benefited several Salem area charities, so Cope didn’t mind the cost of the meal so much, but a stop at the McDonald’s drive-thru was in order for the ride home.
“When do you think we can get out of here?”
Ten asked, speaking low enough not to be overheard.
“I don’t know.”
Cope shook his head. “Jude, Ronan, and Fitz are the belles of the ball.”
He pointed to where their husbands were standing with the Mayor of Salem and the Governor of Massachusetts.
When the group had come together, a professional photographer snapped a picture of them all smiling, with their arms wrapped around each other.
Cope had no doubt the picture would end up framed on their living room mantle.
“To be honest, I don’t like that we left the kids with a babysitter.”
Ten wore an uncharacteristically deep frown. “We’ve never left them with a neighbor girl before.”
The original plan had been for the kids to spend the night with Carson and Truman, but at the last minute, the velociraptors had come down with the stomach bug that had been going around the elementary school.
There was no way the kids could stay with them and Kaye had other plans for the night.
Cope had wanted to sacrifice himself to stay home with the kids, but Jude mentioned Courtney Wilcox, a young woman who babysat for other families on the block.
She was a junior at Salem State University, majoring in early childhood education.
The other parents had given the young woman sterling reviews.
Jude had argued it was only for one night.
Cope had given in. His reward had been a horrible meal and worse, nearly every woman and gay man in the place was openly flirting with Jude.
His asshole husband was taking it all in stride.
He pasted on his too-bright smile, shook hands and hugged people like he was running for office.
Cope had no doubt all the people who’d fallen for Jude’s charisma would vote for him in a heartbeat.
“Earth to Cope,”
Ten said, with a bemused grin.
“Oh, sorry.”
Cope turned his attention from Jude and back to Tennyson. “I haven’t seen this side of my husband in quite a while.”
When he and Jude first met, Cope’s future husband had been a dog.
He flirted with every man he met and fucked every guy he could charm into bed.
Cope thought Jude would never settle down enough to be boyfriend material, never mind husband material.
Jude had surprised everyone when he fell for Cope.
He gave up one-night stands, his friends with benefits, dating apps, and gay clubs.
He’d gone from being a walking billboard for Trojan condoms to being a responsible husband and father. The change had been nothing shy of miraculous.
“Neither have I.”
Ten sounded concerned. His eyes were on Ronan, who was glad handing with everyone who came up to him, but wasn’t remotely as flirty as Jude.
Not that Cope minded.
This was only one night.
Tomorrow, they’d be back to their usual life.
Dinner and bathtime for the kids, followed by story time.
They’d spend an hour or two watching television in bed before Jude would make his move.
It was a predictable life, but one Cope wouldn’t trade for the world.
“Oh lord, is that guy is kissing Jude?”
Ten whispered, the panic in his voice was obvious.
A short, blonde man Cope did not recognize was indeed kissing his husband.
Once on each cheek like they do in Europe.
The man settled his hands on Jude’s biceps and appeared to be squeezing them. What the actual fuck?
What was worse than his husband being publicly felt up like a heifer at auction, was the fact that Jude was lapping up the attention.
He didn’t seem the least bit concerned that this man, whoever he was, had completely invaded Jude’s space and seemed perfectly comfortable staying there.
Part of Cope wanted to turn away so he didn’t have to see what Blondie’s next move would be, while the other half, wanted to go over there and grab Jude by the ear and haul him away.
“I know what you’re thinking. Don’t do it,” Ten said.
“I don’t get people. Jude’s wearing his wedding ring.”
It was a big silver ring he’d picked out in Arizona. You couldn’t miss it. Although, Blondie appeared to be doing just that.
“For some people, the ring is a challenge. They love getting married men to pay attention to them. If you go over there and grab your husband, that guy wins. He might not get to take your husband home tonight, but he knows Jude will be thinking of him when he’s falling asleep alone on the sofa.”
Ten seemed more interested in keeping Cope calm than in being upset that Jude was preening like a peacock. Meanwhile, Ronan stood at the dessert buffet eyeing another custom made cupcake.
Fitzgibbon came back to their table and slumped into the seat Jude had used for dinner. “I’m exhausted. I’d forgotten how horrible socializing was. I just want to go home and go to bed.”
“Me too,”
Cope agreed. “Seems like our husbands are having the time of their lives though.”
Fitz laughed. “Jace lives for these events. He loves talking to other people about their needs and wants and how he can help other charitable organizations prosper. He can have it. I’d rather be home reading Aurora stories.”
Cope felt the same way.
Tonight was the first time he wouldn’t be home to give Lizbet her bath and put her to bed.
His heart hurt over the idea that a perfect stranger had tucked his daughter in.
Did she follow Cope’s instructions about turning on her nightlight? Did she read Lizbet’s favorite book about a taco loving dragon? Deep down, he knew that tonight wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of life.
Neither his son nor his daughter would remember the one night their fathers weren’t home to sing the goodnight song.
“How about you, Ten? You ready to hit the road?”
Fitz asked.
“More than ready,”
Ten agreed. “Everly had a little incident at school today and she was a bit anxious over it. I didn’t have much of a chance to talk to her about it. At least we’ve got the rest of the weekend to get to the bottom of it.”
Wolf had mentioned Everly getting into a bit of an argument with one of their classmates.
He’d mentioned the fight being over fashion, but didn’t elaborate beyond that.
Cope knew Everly loved to wear fashionable clothes, but wasn’t the type who’d get into an argument with another student over something so simple.
“Is she okay?”
Ten nodded. “Apparently, this little girl came at her for wearing a shirt with a rainbow on it, saying something about how the gays stole the rainbow from God.”
“Seriously?”
Cope shook his head.
He knew how religious the south could be.
Having grown up in New Orleans, his life revolved around witchcraft and Jesus, an odd pairing, but both of his parents were equally devoted to their side of the equation.
Living in Massachusetts had been an eye-opening experience, in that religion wasn’t the center of the universe. Cope was a big believer in separation of church and state, but knew that other people were not.
“Yeah, the kid was saying that Ronan and I were going to spend eternity burning in hell for our sins and that if Everly didn’t denounce us, she would too.”
Cope was appalled. “I can’t believe this kid said that. What six year old uses the word ‘denounce’?”
Ten shook his head. “This is the same kind of bullshit I grew up listening to at the Union Chapel Calvary Baptist Church. I’m guessing there’s a lot of denouncing going on in churches all over Salem, what with our history of witchcraft and the huge LGBTQ+ community.”
Cope knew it wasn’t just in churches in Salem. “How did Everly respond?”
“She told the kid they were wrong and started to walk away, but that’s when the little girl grabbed her and tried to pull her shirt off, screaming that she had no right to wear it.”
Cope’s eyes widened. “Wolf didn’t say anything about that.”
“It happened when they were going back inside from recess. This kid and Everly were two of the last students to go back into the building. She was pulled away from her by one of the teachers and they both ended up in the principal’s office.”
Ten raised his hand and waved when he caught Ronan’s attention.
“I’m so sorry, Ten. I had no idea. There wasn’t anything about this sent home in Wolf’s folder.”
What the hell was the world coming to? He’d seen the shirt Everly had been wearing and it featured just a rainbow, there were no pro-gay slogans or logos.
“The school hasn’t decided what to do about it yet. That little prick should be expelled.”
Ten wore an aggravated look.
“That little prick should be arrested for assault and battery!”
Ronan said, when he joined the group. “Ten told me I couldn’t show up at her house with my handcuffs.”
“The last thing we need is for you to get arrested yourself or for those parents to sue us. You know they’re just itching for people like us to trample on their rights.”
Ten rolled his eyes.
“It’s a fight when it’s for their rights, but when they’re doing the same thing to us, it’s a different matter.”
Ronan looked as if he had a lot more to say on the subject, but seemed to be using his self-control to keep it inside.
Cope stood up and scanned the crowd for his husband. It was half past ten and he wanted to go home to their kids and his own bed.
The problem was that he couldn’t see Jude. With his husband standing a few inches over six feet, he should have been easy to spot.
“Where the hell is Jude?”
Ronan turned toward the crowd. “He’s over there in the corner. I’ll go grab him.”
The corner Ronan headed toward was near the exit to the ballroom.
Three more steps and Blondie would have had Jude out the door.
He hadn’t been paying a lot of attention to how much Jude had to drink, there had been a cocktail before dinner and wine during the meal, but only God knew how many drinks other people had brought him over the course of the night.
Cope relaxed a bit when he saw Ronan leading Jude back to them.
“Can you believe it?”
Jude was saying to Ronan. He had and arm slung over Ronan’s shoulders, while Ronan was doing all he could to steady Jude, who was swaying from side to side as he spoke.
“Can you believe what?”
Cope asked, feeling annoyed.
Jude’s eyes were glassy and unfocused, he was definitely drunk.
He didn’t usually drink at all around Ronan and only had a glass or two of wine when they went out to dinner without the kids.
Staring at his happily sloppy husband, he barely recognized Jude at all.
“Jerry Dunkirk!”
Jude said, with a huge grin on his face. “I used to know him back in the day. Hung like a fucking horse.”
Jude held his arms out wide to demonstrate and nearly tipped over. Thankfully, Fitzgibbon grabbed him before he could hit the floor. “You wanna meet him? He doesn’t believe I’ve been tamed by one man.”
“No, thanks,”
Cope most definitely did not want to meet Jerry.
Knowing he was one of Jude’s former lovers just added insult to injury.
Cope knew his husband would never cheat on him, but his behavior tonight still rankled.
He looked around the room for the photographer who’d been shooting pictures of the attendees all night.
Cope didn’t see him around and hoped that meant there hadn’t been any pictures taken of his drunk husband with a man who was not Cope.
“Let’s just go home.”
Jude opened his mouth, looking like he had something to say on the matter, but Fitzgibbon whispered something and he stayed quiet.
As Cope left the ballroom he caught sight of Jerry. He waved to Jude and smirked at Cope, placing both hands over his heart in a gesture that said Jude was his for the taking.
Cope simply smiled. It would be a cold day in hell that Jude would choose that big-dicked freak over him and their family.
Cope could take that to the bank.