Epilogue
CONRAD COULD tell that Forrest was nervous the night before the build at the Lego show in Philadelphia. But excited as well. “Sweetheart, it’s all planned out.”
“I just don’t know if we can do it all,” Forrest said as they sat at the table in their hotel room. Lizzie was asleep in the next room with Mom.
“I get that. But remember, I’ve done this before and I know the rules… and I planned for this. The first rule is that we have to use the model we submitted and brought with us. Which is perfect. Because we will use all of it.”
“But this is so much,” he said, looking at the drawing that Conrad had prepared. He shook his head.
“Okay. Remember just after the first of the year when we finished Sobek?” He looked amazing and was a work of Lego art in and of himself.
Forrest had done an amazing job on all the accessories.
His torque shimmered in the right light, and his waistcloth was an intricate pattern of color that looked like cloth with the way it waved and how Forrest had thinned it at the waist so it actually looked like it was being worn.
The jewelry was also stunning and didn’t look like it was attached as much as being worn.
And the headdress with its disk and horns was flawless.
The entire piece had almost no visible studs.
“Yeah, I remember. We spent hours making the background piece with the pyramids.” Thankfully Lizzie loved her Lego and had been blown away when Conrad had shown her his collection.
As part of the competition, they were allowed to bring an assistant—someone who could get them things but wasn’t allowed to actually build.
Lizzie had asked if that could be her. So she was their gofer.
“How could I forget? We spent hours building it so it would curve and stand seven feet tall.” He rolled his eyes.
“And we’re going to make it two feet higher in the center and taper it down along the sides.
On the left side of the addition, we’re going to put in the sun.
” He showed Forrest the design. “Remember that piece I built where the outside went left and the inside went right? I’m going to rebuild it, and we can use that for the sun.
Right above the reinforcement that’s just below the cap. ”
“If you had all this planned, why didn’t you tell me?” Forrest asked.
“I didn’t… until I did. Remember we were going to build another figure, another god? I liked that idea, but I didn’t love it. This idea came to me while we drove over.”
Forrest shook his head. “I should have known better than to let you loose with a piece of paper and a pencil.” He chuckled. “What did you come up with?”
“Okay. We put the sun into the background. The rays in back need to be thin, with alternating gold and orange rays. In front, we make the yellow dish with yellow rays, and when we turn it on, the darker colors and lighter colors will alternate, and it will look like the sun is shining. We’ll put that in the expanded background.
The rest of the work there will be to just make it higher.
So basically, once the sun is in place, you lay as much brick in shades of blue, weaving in lighter shades the closer to the sun, until the background looks right.
Then you stop. I expect three hours for that. ”
“Jesus, you have this timed out as well, don’t you?” Forrest bumped his arm, and Conrad paused.
“Maybe it is too much,” he said, but Forrest slapped his shoulder.
“Okay. The new figure we have to add is the sphinx. What we’ll do is make it come straight out of the background, full-on frontal and slightly to the right, where the background curves.
I’ll need to build so it comes right up to the background and sits flush.
Then we’ll make cats coming out of the sphinx, getting bigger as they approach Sobek.
The first one will be a mummy on legs, and as they get closer, they look more like real cats.
I’ll even make one in midair like he’s jumping on an unsuspecting Sobek’s back, while our existing one goes for the tail, with the others following. ”
“Oh my God, we could build a thought bubble. The sphinx could be saying, ‘I’ll teach you to call me a pussy.’ Are we allowed to do that?”
“The only words we can use are in the title. We can’t make a thought bubble, but that’s what we can title the piece. The effect will be the same.” He smiled and set aside the drawings.
“Can we take those in with us?” Forrest asked.
“No. But it’s all up here, and I can tell you that the judges will throw a curve.
There will be a required element that we all have to use.
We’ll just have to work that in.” He stood and stretched his back.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.
” He got undressed and climbed into the bed.
Forrest used the bathroom and came out naked, headed to the bed, and slipped under the covers, immediately tugging Conrad to him.
“I watched you in your panel. You were in command of that room, and they all hung on every word,” Forrest said. “It was so hot.” He kissed him, and Conrad moaned softly, instantly awake everywhere.
THE BUILD had gone well, or at least Forrest thought so.
A lot of the other builders seemed to be flying by the seat of their pants, but Conrad was calm, even when the judges said that each design had to include a clock about halfway through their time.
He thought they could possibly alter their sun to be one, but it wouldn’t have the same effect, and by then it was in place and all the background work had been finished.
Conrad had just grinned. “We’ll make a sundial,” he said, and Forrest got to work on it, using desert colors to delineate the times.
Conrad’s sphinx was a sight to behold. It wasn’t the color of sand, the way it looks today, but brightly colored, the way it would have been plastered and painted many thousands of years ago.
And he gave the character a saucy look that was incredible.
Thay had a little over an hour to create the cats.
Lizzie got the bricks they needed for them, hurrying back and forth between the brick pit and their model.
Conrad created the larger cats, including a yellow tiger cat and a Maine coon in shades of blue.
The mummy cat on legs was so funny as it emerged from the sphinx.
Finally, their time was up. They hugged, and Lizzie got into the act as well.
“You were awesome,” Forrest told her. During the middle hours, Conrad’s mom had taken her to the room to nap, but she had been back for the end, and a huge hit with everyone, including the people watching the entire spectacle from behind the red ropes.
“Did we do enough?” Forrest asked. He had been so busy, he hadn’t had time to look at the others.
“It doesn’t matter. What we did is amazing. And I love the way you titled it.” He grinned and beamed with pride. They had made something spectacular… together.
He and Forrest took Lizzie’s hand and stepped back.
The scene was amazing: it told a story and it was funny.
The sun moved and shone the way he hoped it would, and the sphinx’s mouth opened and closed, showing off the next mummified cat ready to emerge and come to life. “What now, Daddy?” Lizzie asked.
“Everyone gets an hour to vote, the formal judges will get their say, and then they’ll make an announcement,” Conrad said, stepping back to where the other contestants waited.
He greeted the ones he knew, talked to others, introduced Forrest and Lizzie, and tried not to climb out of his skin as the group looked over each entry.
They varied from space-themed to dinosaurs.
In his opinion, their biggest competition was the robot model.
It was impressive, with a great deal of detail, but their model had it in sheer size, and Conrad thought their details were just as good.
It all came down to the judges and the conference-goers’ thoughts.
Finally, the head judge came to the front, and the entire conference center main floor grew quiet as everyone made their way forward.
“I want to say this this has not been an easy task.” He didn’t elaborate that each team was allowed to take their models back with them if they chose.
But it wasn’t necessary. They would be on display for the rest of the exhibition.
Conrad had every intention of taking theirs back with them after they dismantled it into sections.
“The various ribbons are being placed on the models, but I get the real pleasure of announcing that the winning model is ‘Ancient Egypt’ by Conrad Langdon and Forrest Scoville, assisted by Miss Elizabeth Langdon.”
“We won!” Lizzie cried, jumping up and down as Conred was engulfed in a breath-stealing hug from Forrest.
“You still got it,” Forrest whispered.
“This was all of us,” Conrad told him, tearing up as he held Forrest tightly. “We’re a team.” He stepped back when Forrest released him and held both Lizzie and Forrest’s hands as they went up on the dais.
“This was very much a team effort.” He grinned.
“I appreciate that everyone got our sense of humor, but there’s something hidden in the model.
” He went over and carefully raised one of the flowers he’d added to the pool around Sobek.
He lifted off the top of the flower, set it aside, and went down on one knee.
The gasp from the audience reached his ears, just barely, as his entire attention focused on the man who filled his heart.
“Forrest, I’ve been waiting for just the right moment.
When I did this, I wanted to give you flowers, so I hope a Lego one will suffice.
Will you marry me?” he asked and handed Forrest the ring he’d fashioned into the piece.
“I promise there’s a real one waiting at home. ”
Forrest lifted him to his feet. “Yes… definitely yes.” Then Forrest kissed him, and Conrad truly had all he could ever hope for.