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December 23
Clint opened his eyes as a weight on the edge of the bed woke him; it was Neal. “Hey,” he smiled, then glanced to his immediate right as he caught sight of the gift lying on the pillow beside him.
“Happy sixth day of Hanukkah,” Neal said and kissed him.
“I told you that you don’t have to give me a gift for every day,” Clint reminded him.
“I know, but it’s fun. And I don’t get to see you that often anymore, so I like to spoil you.” It had been several weeks since Neal had returned to work at the White Collar division, after recuperating from the gunshot wounds he’d suffered at Matthew Keller’s hands, and Clint missed having him around every day too. Thanksgiving hadn’t been long ago, but Clint found any separation from Neal was too long.
“Open it,” Neal encouraged him, pushing the box into his hands.
Clint sat up and opened the box, pushing the waxed paper aside to reveal a pile of rugelach lying within. “Yum,” he said, grabbing one immediately – apricot, his favorite. “Did you make these?”
Neal nodded and smiled. “They’re Myra’s recipe. You like?”
Clint popped the tiny pastry into his mouth and made yummy sounds as he chewed. Neal got off the bed, and crossed over to the kitchenette to make them breakfast. Clint took another pastry and watched Neal move around the apartment, and realized suddenly how very happy he was. And in that moment, he realized he never wanted it to end.
----
“Hey, Clinton, what a nice surprise,” Peter said by way of greeting.
“Morning, Peter.”
“To what do we owe the pleasure – aren’t you supposed to be on vacation?”
“I thought I’d drive Neal in, plus it’s easier for me to check e-mails from inside the firewall.”
“Don’t I know it.” Peter rolled his eyes, and smiled at Jones expectantly.
Clint sneaked a glance over his shoulder – Neal was laughing over coffee with Blake – and took the seat across from Peter at his desk. “Mind if I ask you a question?” Peter shook his head and Clint continued. “When, um…huh, this is a hard subject to broach.”
“Take a deep breath.”
“Right. What I wanted to ask you was…when you asked Elizabeth to marry you – how did you do it?”
Peter beamed at him for several seconds before speaking. “You sly dog.”
Clint ducked his head, embarrassed.
“When are you gonna ask him?”
“I haven’t worked it out quite yet. I don’t know how.”
“If you want my advice, you just do it – get it over with. All the planning in the world won’t add up to much when it all comes down to it. Take El and me – I had a whole romantic dinner planned, carriage ride in the park, all of it. And you know what happened? She beat me to the punch.”
Clint's eyes widened. “Elizabeth popped the question?”
Peter nodded and laughed. “She said she got sick of waiting for me to plan the perfect occasion. She asked me in an elevator in a parking garage.”
“Wow, that’s anticlimactic.”
Peter, still laughing, wiped a tear out of his eye and shook his head. “But the sex afterwards – man...”
“Okaaay,” Clint said and fled his office.
----
“What am I, your LGBT fairy godmother?” Diana exclaimed over lunch later that day. “How am I supposed to know what people do?”
“Di, come on.”
“What? You know I don’t ever want to get married – it might be the last thing on my mind.”
“You don’t think Christie thinks about it?”
“Does Neal?”
Clint closed his mouth with an audible click.
“Haven’t you discussed it?”
“Well, no. He doesn’t like to talk about the future.”
“And why is that?”
“He doesn’t want to think about it until his sentence is up.”
“So what makes you think he’d say yes?”
Clint could feel the color rising in his cheeks.
Diana covered his hand with hers and squeezed. “I’m sorry, Clint, but have you given this serious thought yourself?”
“He loves me,” Clint said. "I love him.”
“Can it be that easy?”
“After all we’ve been through, I have to believe it is. I don’t see a future without him in it, Di.”
“Then I hope you’re willing to live with what might happen if he says no.”
December 28
RRRING
Clint looked down at the readout on his cell phone and sighed. “Hi, Ma.”
“Darling what’s wrong?” Myra asked, immediately tuned in to the dejected tone of his voice.
“Nothing.”
“Clinton.”
“Mmmmf!”
“Clinton.”
Clint sighed. “Promise me you won’t scream.”
“When has your mother ever screamed?”
“Weren’t you there when I grew up?”
“Fine. I promise.”
“I want to ask Neal to marry me, but –“
“OH, BABY! OH MY GOD THAT’S TERRIFIC!”
“Ma, I asked you not to scream.”
“I’m sorry, but oh, honey. This is so sudden.”
“We’ve been together for almost a year and a half.”
“Not that I would have known.”
“That’s not too soon, is it?” he continued, ignoring her.
“Clint, honey, your father and I got engaged after dating for six months. When the time is right, the time is right.”
“How did Pop ask you?”
“Oh, I’ve told you kids that story.”
“No, you haven’t.”
“Yes, yes, yes. Remember, it was the summer between my junior and senior years in college, and he took me for a picnic in Fairmount Park.”
“This is not ringing a bell.”
“Sure it is! And he got down on one knee and proposed, but he didn’t have the money for a diamond ring, so he gave me his class ring from the Naval Academy.”
“I have never heard this story.”
“Of course you have! Remember - I was already pregnant with your older sister, and hadn’t had the chance to tell your father yet?”
“What?! Ma, you were pregnant with Leah before you were married? Does she know that?”
“Clinton, of course she does, everyone does.”
“Yeah, OK,” Clint said, making a mental note to call his sister immediately.
“So tell me what’s bothering you, darling. What is giving you second thoughts?”
“What if he says no?”
There was a pause at the other end of the phone.
“Ma, what if he says no?” Clint repeated, his voice breaking.
“He won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“How do I know? I know what a man in love looks like, that’s how I know.”
“But he’s still serving his sentence.”
“So you’ll have a long engagement. He’ll wait. You’ll wait. There will be waiting. But trust me on this Clinton, he’ll say yes.”
“I hope you’re right.” Clint said, but he felt cheered up by his mother’s words. After his conversation with Diana the week before, he had waffled on this decision almost daily. But through it all – all the doubts about what Neal‘s answer would be, one thing had not changed – his certainty that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him.
“You know I am.”
“Thanks, Ma.”
“No problem, son. Now I had better go - I’ve got to go and call your sister. I have to start shopping for my mother of the groom dress! I can’t wait,” Myra said excitedly.
“Oh, brother.”
December 31
Clint stood at the back of the room and nodded at June, who nodded to the band leader to play a specific song. It was June’s annual New Year’s Eve bash, and after Clint had probed her for details about how Byron had proposed to her (for the record: at the top of the Empire State Building), she’d helped him concoct the scenario he was about to play out in front of all their friends.
He stuck his hand into the pocket of his tuxedo jacket and fingered his Annapolis class ring; he wasn’t sure if a ring was strictly necessary, but he didn’t know what he ought to do with his hands at the moment he popped the question, so he figured he’d just go with it. Besides, he liked the synergy of keeping the tradition alive within his family. He headed over in Neal’s direction, where he was chatting with Elizabeth over drinks.
There was a blast of horns from the band, and then the singer started up,
“Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away
If you can use some exotic booze
There's a bar in far Bombay
Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away.”
“Care to dance?” Clint said into Neal’s ear.
Neal jumped slightly and turned to face Clint with a smile. As planned, Elizabeth had kept his glass full the entire evening, and now his face was flushed and his eyes bright. “Wih you? Always,” he replied, a surprised and happy expression on his face. Clint took his hand and led him to the dance floor while the band continued to play.
“Once I get you up there where the air is rarified
We'll just glide, starry-eyed
Once I get you up there I'll be holding you so near
You may hear angels cheer 'cause we're together”
“This is nice,” Neal said to Clint as they moved among the other guests. “We should go dancing more often.”
“I’d like that,” Clint said. Especially at our wedding, he thought.
The song cut out suddenly and the band leader made an announcement. “Fifteen seconds to midnight, folks,” he said, staring at the clock on the wall. The crowd stopped dancing, couples found each other, and there was a general air of excitement and expectation as everyone in the room began to chant,
“10, 9, 8, 7…”
Clint took the ring out of his pocket.
“…6, 5, 4…”
He cleared his throat, took Neal’s hand and got down on one knee.
“…3, 2, 1.”
There was no declaration of Happy New Year, no sound of brash noisemakers. Instead, one voice could be heard, ringing out among those assembled, “Neal Caffrey,” Clint said holding out his ring, “will you do me the honor of marrying me?”
Neal looked down at him, his smile wide and, taking the ring from Clint, he slipped it smoothly onto his left hand. “Of course,” he answered, so casually Clint might have asked him if he wanted milk in his coffee, then he pulled Clint to his feet, and kissed him.
“Mazel tov!” someone shouted, and the entire room erupted in applause, well-wishers approaching the happy couple with slaps on the back and handshakes.
A minute later, the band struck up the same song again, and half the crowd started dancing again, but Neal led Clint to a quiet corner, where he looked down at the ring, then up at Clint, a wry smile on his face. “So this is what you’ve been stewing over the last two weeks?”
Clint nodded sheepishly.
“I thought it was another transfer, and you didn’t have the heart to tell me.”
“So I got you?”
“You got me.” Neal kissed him. “This might be the happiest moment of my life.”
“Mine too.”
“But this is the song you choose? Because I’m not flying anywhere, you know – not for several months.”
Clint shrugged. “But when you can, you’ll be flying with me, and only me.”
----
Thank you for your time.