Bittersweet Irish Cream

This picks up exactly where chapter 10 ends

.

~~~

They stood side by side holding hands, June and Liam on Jack's side, Henrietta and Brayden on Ethan's side. Father O'Donnell did a short prayer about love and commitment.

June did the first reading from the Old Testament, Song of Solomon:

May the wine go straight to my beloved, flowing gently over lips and teeth. I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.....

She started crying halfway through it.

They sang Blessed Assurance. Then Henrietta did the second reading, in 1

st

John:

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything....

Her tears came after the reading.

Father O'Donnell said, "I'm going to skip the lecture on the importance and mysteries of marriage, and jump to the statement of intentions if that's ok with everyone." Ethan and Jack nodded.

He asked, "Ethan Thomas and Jack Nathan, have you come here to enter into this marriage without coercion, freely and wholeheartedly?"

Together they said, "We have."

"Are you prepared, as you follow the path of marriage, to love and honor each other for as long as you both shall live?"

Together again they said, "We are."

"Are you prepared to accept children lovingly from God and to bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?"

Together again, "We will."

"Since it is your intention to enter the covenant of Holy Matrimony, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church."

Jack and Ethan turned to each other and reached for the hand they weren't holding. Ethan realized he did not feel this way the first time he got married. Before he went through the motions, but this felt very real. He felt like his heart was going to come out of his chest with how full it was right now. Jack likewise was trembling, and Ethan felt it in his hand. They looked at each other, unsmiling, holding hands tightly, as if one were to let go, the other would fall.

The priest said, "Now both of you will say these simple words, I, Name, take you, Name, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. Do you think you could do that without fumbling or do you need me to spoon it to you?" They both laughed and looked at him.

"Ahhh there we are," he said. "You're so serious! Smile at each other, it's a good thing!" They turned back to each other, smiling this time. Father O'Donnell said, "Who will go first?"

"Well Jack looks like he's going to throw up a little, so I will," Ethan said and Jack grinned.

He started, "I, Ethan Thomas, take you, Jack Nathan, for my lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health..." He paused looking at Jack's wide green eyes that were taking his breath away. It was the most vulnerable he had ever seen him. Ethan looked up and swallowed a few times, then looked back at Jack whose eyes were welling up with tears.

"Wow. Okay. Sorry.... until death do us part. Sorry. I didn't think it was going to hit me like that...wow. We're really doing this... Ok. I'm good. Let's keep going." They all laughed and Jack smiled.

The priest said, "Your turn, Jack."

Jack tried to rush through it: "I, Jack Nathan, take you, Ethan Thomas, for my lawful husband.....to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health until death do us part....Shit," he cursed as the tears started falling, making them all laugh. Ethan used his hand to wipe Jack's tears away, ignoring his own that started leaking out.

Father O'Donnell asked, "Do you have the rings on you at all? If not we can skip that part."

Brayden said, "Use ours!" He and Henrietta took off their rings and held them out.

Jack hesitated. "So who gets the girl ring?"

Henrietta hit him. "You, with your girly fingers!" Everyone laughed.

They held their hands out and rings over one another and the priest said, "May the Lord bless these rings, which you will give to each other as the sign of your love and fidelity." Then he told them, "Bring your rings back to me when you get a chance so I can bless your actual rings as well." They slipped them on each other, Brayden's too big on Ethan, Henrietta's too small on Jack, making them all laugh again. They waited for the next step.

Father O'Donnell said, "This part is on you to solidify with a kiss." He smiled. They leaned in together and pressed their lips lightly against the other.

June said, "Oh c'mon, Nana Mary kisses better than that!"

Jack chuckled. Ethan said, "That's all you're getting tonight, wait until tomorrow."

The priest said, "Please kneel." Ethan and Jack did. He prayed over them and distributed communion, which made them both emotional again, tears threatening to come out their eyes that they quickly wiped away.

Then they were to stand and face him as he said, "May God the eternal Father keep you of one heart in love for one another, that the peace of Christ may dwell in you and abide always in your home. May you be blessed in your children, have solace in your friends and enjoy true peace with everyone. And may almighty God bless all of you, who are gathered here, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Let the Church say..."

And they all said, "Amen."

Then Jack drew in breath and said alarmingly, "Is...is that it!?" His eyes were wide again as Ethan smiled.

Father O'Donnell said, "Not quite, I need you to sign this." He pointed at the little table behind him. On it was their marriage certificate with the date of September 1st, and their names already embossed in silver and cursive: Ethan Thomas Starling and Jack Nathan Redmond Frazier. They were both shocked.

"How long have you been planning this, Father?" Jack asked.

Father O'Donnell answered, "Since Ethan asked about getting his marriage annulled. I didn't know when it would be finalized, hoping and praying it did before September 1st. Just in time I say. Please, come sign. Just do me a favor, don't hang it up until I'm dead, ok?" They both laughed.

Ethan said to Jack, "I went first with the vows, you sign first."

Jack, with trembling hands again, signed all four of his names. Then he handed the pen to Ethan who took Jack's whole hand, wrapped his arm around his waist with his other hand, pulled him close and kissed him fervently for a couple of seconds, licked and sucked his tongue and pulled his bottom lip a few times. Jack moaned in his mouth and melted, and Ethan felt his whole body go lax in his arms.

Henrietta called out, "Now that's a kiss!"

They laughed as Ethan pulled away first, then landed three more simple kisses on Jack's lips and face. "Thank you," Jack said. "I needed that."

"I know," Ethan said with a wink. He kissed him once more, before taking the pen and signing his name. He turned to Jack and said, "Now that's it." He pulled him in for a hug as their witnesses signed as well.

They stood there and held each other for a while, with Jack whispering "oh my God....oh my God..." and Ethan saying, "I know Jackie Bear...I know."

~~~

They found Mina in their bed with EJ. She said, "He refused to sleep in his room, said he was waiting here for his dads." Ethan and Jack smiled at each other.

Ethan told her, "Take the couch, go home in the morning to freshen up. We're leaving here at 10am to head to Halifax for our 12 o'clock appointment with the court." She agreed and left the room. They silently took off their clothes and found pajama bottoms to wear, and moved to lay on either side of EJ. They looked at each other over his head. Ethan put his hand on EJ's back, and Jack put his hand on top of Ethan's.

Jack mouthed, "I love you. So much." Ethan shrugged, then grinned, making Jack grin.

~~~~

By the time Ethan, Jack, EJ, June and Liam showed up at the courthouse the next day, there were almost 20 people waiting for them: Ethan's family, complete with Becky, AJ and their kids, Jack's family with Brayden and Brayden's dad Brian who Ethan had never met, three of Ethan's friends that drove up from New York- Monique, Sonia and Rasheed, and four of Jack's friends- BJ, Sam, Connor and Afia.

Jack wore a three piece cobalt blue Prada suit with a green, silver and blue tie and his father's cufflinks, while Ethan wore a light gray three piece Prada suit with the same tie as Jack. They all piled into the tiny courthouse and watched Ethan and Jack exchange vows humorously, as they laughed so hard tears were coming out of their eyes throughout the whole ceremony.

During Judge Robinson's introduction speech, Jack started it, giggling right from the beginning, then outright laughing. Ethan whispered, "What the fuck?" Which only made Jack laugh harder and made Ethan laugh, understanding why Jack was laughing.

"Ok Jackie Bear, get it together," Ethan said, pulling him into a hug.

They resumed their positions standing side by side holding hands and waited for the judge to continue. When she got to the vows and Jack repeated after her the, for better or worse, richer or poorer, till death do us part, part, Ethan busted out laughing loudly. Jack looked over at him with wide eyes, then and started laughing again. Then they were both laughing with tears coming down their eyes.

Then Jack said, "Ok, ok, c'mon we have to do this."

"Really Jack? Do we

really

have to do this?" Ethan asked. Then they looked at each other and laughed uncontrollably all over again.

AJ and Liam who were standing on the sides of them looked at each other bewildered but began laughing because their laughter was infectious, then everyone started laughing, clapping and cheering for them.

Judge Robinson was not amused. She said, "What is this? Is this a joke to you? I will cancel this whole thing right now!" That straightened them right up and quieted everyone down.

The judge gave them the lecture Father O'Donnell did not on the seriousness and importance of marriage, which made them smile widely but respectfully. Then she made them do their vows over again. This time they faced each other and did it giggling a bit but not outright laughing. They exchanged their Claddagh wedding rings and then at first went for a simple peck kiss.

Then Jack grabbed the back of Ethan's neck and pulled him in for a more passionate kiss and Ethan happily gave him one, dipping him down as Jack lifted up a leg. This led to more cheering and hooting, and some had tears in their eyes. Most people thought they were deliriously happy, but June, Liam, Henrietta and Brayden knew the truth: that this wedding seemed redundant and comical compared to the emotional one they had in jeans and t-shirts just 12 hours before.

Afterwards, they had EJ ride with his grandparents so Liam could drive the BMW x5 back -which he happily agreed to with June by his side- so they could sit in the far back row to make out like teenagers.

"I fucking love you Jackie Bear," Ethan said in between kisses. He removed Jack's tie and opened up his top button so he could kiss his neck and suck on his collar bone.

"Hmmmm.... Fucking love you too," Jack said as he pulled Ethan up by his hair roughly and kissed him again. Jack pulled Ethan's shirt out of his pants and ran his hands over his body, squeezing his nipples in between. He slid down so that he was positioned flat on his back with one leg against the side back window and the other and the other on the car floor. Ethan leaned up and took off his suit jacket, then attacked Jack with kisses all over again.

Liam looked out the rearview mirror at them and yelled, "Seriously? Y'all can't wait an hour or so?"

"No!" they both yelled simultaneously.

Ethan unbuttoned more buttons and found Jack's chest, kissed him all the way down to his belly button and Jack began moaning. Liam looked up again and shook his head. He turned on the player loud to drown out the moaning, and Ethan snorted a laugh. He looked up at Jack and they stared at each other for a moment. Then Ethan moved his body back up to Jack's face, positioning his thick penis right next to Jack's long one. He held himself up and over him, and began to move.

Ethan moved slowly at first, running his dick all the way up the length of Jack's, then back down again. He held eye contact with his new husband and moved with more speed, back and forth right over their pants. Jack reached down and grabbed Ethan by his butt cheeks and held him tighter against his groin. Ethan moved faster and Jack's eyes fluttered. I love you, he mouthed to Ethan. Ethan's response was to move against him harder and faster.

Jack let out a loud moan and Liam turned the music up louder. They held each other's gaze and moved against each other, creating friction and feeling the heat rise between them. Ethan leaned down and adjusted his arm in between Jack's arm so that he could slide it under his back, and he laid his whole torso down with his face in Jack's neck.

"Come for me," he whispered.

Their bodies moved together like waves against the sand, back and forth they moved and held each other, as spots of pre-cum now seeping through their clothes. They were uncomfortable in the tight space, and yet it was the most comforting place they could be, in each other's arms. They moved faster, held each other tighter, moaned louder together.

Jack came first, felt the tightening of his balls as they released his Irish cream right up through his slit and created a warm puddle between them. Ethan felt the wet and warmness of Jack's cum and immediately came, creating a damp spot of his own. They held onto each other for a moment, then Jack began to laugh and Ethan laughed with him.

"How are we getting out the car looking like this?" Jack asked.

"I don't give a fuck," Ethan replied, and they laughed again. He began to kiss Jack's neck again, suck it harder leaving red hickies on his white skin. "Hey, Jackie Bear. Thanks for marrying me. I promise I will make you so happy."

Jack closed his eyes and rubbed on Ethan's back. "You already make me so happy. I love you so much, babe, my heart never gave me a choice."

Liam dropped them off at the Marriott where they had a honeymoon suite for the weekend. "You kids have four hours, I'm picking you up at 7pm."

Ethan and Jack walked into their suite and there were His & His complimentary fluffy white robes waiting for them, which they stripped and put on immediately. Ethan then called room service to take their pants and get it laundered and ironed, and to be brought back by 6:30pm. He took Jack's hand and led them to the living room where they had champagne and a fresh batch of strawberries with a chocolate fondue station. He took a strawberry while Jack dipped his fingers in the chocolate and sucked it seductively.

Ethan laughed. "I'm going to get you to do that to something else too."

"Is it weird that I don't want to have sex right now?" Jack asked.

"That's cool, you don't have to do anything, but I'm going to fuck you. I'm going to fuck you right on this couch, then again against that glass shower wall, then by that time you might feel like having sex, and I might let you fuck me." Jack laughed heartily. "But first," Ethan said, "Let's talk finances."

Jack groaned. "Ok Dad. Let's see, you have money and I don't. Next topic."

"I just think it's weird that you never, ever asked me," Ethan said.

"Because I never cared about it. Obviously you have enough to buy a business and keep it afloat while it's still in the red, so I know it's a lot." Ethan did not respond, just raised an eyebrow. Jack rolled his eyes. "What, you want me to sign a prenup or a post-nup now that we're having this conversation after the fact?"

Ethan said seriously, "No, but my dad asked me to ask you before we got married."

Jack's mouth dropped. "Seriously!? I thought Alan liked me."

"He does like you," Ethan said. "My dad loves you. But he's still a finance guy. Plus I was married before without a prenup, and I had to give Trish 2 million to close it out."

Jack's eyes went wide. "You gave Trish the addict 2 million dollars!?"

"I had to. I'm the one that cheated, so I broke the vows. She had no job and I was the sole provider. I had to pay, literally. And I was not paying her alimony for a year and half of marriage, so I gave it in one lump sum, with the condo in the Bronx. But I think she sold it so that was another 600k."

Jack blew out air. "Jeeeeezus."

"I'm pretty sure her dad put it up for her, anyway," Ethan said.

Jack said seriously, "If we break up I don't want your money. Not one cent."

Ethan smiled. "Don't you want to know how much it is first?"

Jack laughed. "Ok. Tell me."

"All together it's probably a net worth of 8." Ethan said.

Jack blinked twice, then said slowly, "8.....mil....lion?"

Ethan said, "Yes."

Jack paused and looked at him for a moment, then said, "You have 8 million dollars and you're living in a fucking 1000 square foot basement apartment, what the fuck, Ethan?"

Ethan laughed. "So here's the breakdown: 3 mil is tied up in an IRA, stocks, bonds, CD's and securities, things like that. My lawyer told me to do that right away so Trish couldn't touch it. That's going to keep growing. 500K in a trust for EJ when he turns 18, to be used for college and whatever else he wants to do. That's collecting interest too.

"3 mil is in a separate account for B&B related stuff, property taxes, salaries, utilities, repairs, you know. Business is doing ok, especially since we have some contracts with local businesses that send their out of town clients to us. But we need to do more because we aren't quite making enough to sustain it, so it's still coming out of my pocket. The rest is mostly in savings, but I transfer $4000 into my checking every month, that's basically my salary and I don't take it out of the B&B account.

"Actually I didn't pay you out of that money either, I paid you from mine, which is why I had to fire you, or you would have basically been my hooker."

"Really!?" Jack laughed. "Ok, you're forgiven for that one."

Ethan continued, "So it's about 1.6 give or take of disposable income right now in my personal account. And that's the account I'm putting your name on, the checking and savings. And the B&B, I've already started the process to put your name on the deed. It's ours now."

Jack was stunned. "You don't have to do that, at all."

"I know I don't have to. I want to," Ethan said simply.

"Well I got about 60k to add it," Jack said and smiled triumphantly.

Ethan laughed. "Ok, I'm sure we can use it."

Jack feigned being offended. "Don't laugh at my hard earned money. It was close to 100k at one point, but then I bought my Chevy outright, and I gave Liam a down payment for his car. And then I took about 20k with me to Ireland, liquidated most of it because I needed to do things in cash, obviously."

"I'm not knocking your hustle at all," Ethan said. "If you want to add money anywhere, put it in the B&B. That's where it's needed right now." He paused then said, "Also I should let you know I have my eye on a small motel on the south side, called Hoppin Inn." Jack was surprised, Ethan had never mentioned it.

"I've already talked with the owner a couple of times and we've been negotiating. He wants 2.8 and technically I have it, but I need to get him closer to 2 mil. It would help because they are already in the black and I wouldn't be starting out at a deficit like I did with the Inn. It's bigger than the B&B too, 20 rooms instead of 8, and it's near the highway so more foot traction, and more up to date so things won't be breaking down so often.