“And how do I do that?” James asked, his hands on his hips.
Daniel shook his head. “You’re doing it wrong. If you want to do the hip thing effectively, put your one foot forward, cock your hip slightly, and project attitude. It isn’t just the stance, but the whole picture.” James tried, bless his heart, but he couldn’t quite get there. “Maybe you have to picture your balls pushed up into your body, your dick taped back, multiple layers of underthings, layers of padding, and a gown worthy of Cher on Oscar night to be able to do it right.”
James quivered and put his hands up in surrender. “Fine, oh sage one. What do you suggest?”
“Have Holly there, to start with. It’s her wedding, and this is her and Howard’s choice. Lead off with the fact that you found a minister and that the service is going to go on as planned. Then ease into how Lala is going to officiate. Don’t start with ‘Mom, Holly is going to have a drag wedding.’ She’ll probably go running from the house looking for the men in their clean white coats to take all of us away.”
James hooted, laughing so hard he had tears running down his cheeks. “I suppose we need to wait for Holly’s answer.”
Daniel leaned closer. “Yes…and what do you want to do until we hear from her?” He leaned close enough that James’s heady scent filled his nose. Daniel closed his eyes, his nose riding the olfactory amazingness like a surfer rides a wave.
“I know I’d like to take you back to bed and spend a few hours reviewing what I learned last night. But we have a wedding to attend, so we’d better shower and be ready for whatever this afternoon will bring. Rain check?”
Daniel smiled. “You better believe it.”
* * *
“Are you sure you can do this?” Holly asked. Holly, Howard, Daniel, and James sat around the old picnic table under the tree in the backyard. Daniel hoped to hell he didn’t get ass splinters from the old wood and did his best not to actually move too much.
“If you are both in agreement, then we need to go over some things,” Daniel said, pulling out the order of service that he had helped Holly with earlier in the week. “Thankfully, we didn’t specify the readings in the program. So what we’ll do is chuck the Wedding in Cana stuff out and bring in some wonderful marriage poetry.” Daniel used his laptop to show them some of the texts he’d used in the past. “Glance through these files and see if there’s something you like. We can still use the music. That isn’t a problem, because the few hymns you chose will work and that way, we won’t piss off the organist.” Daniel let them take a look at the files, leaning a little closer to James. He really hadn’t been expecting to do this, and now at the last minute he was practically throwing a wedding ceremony together like it was improv night. He’d spent much of his life on the stage and for him this was just another performance.
Except it wasn’t. Mostly when Lala did weddings, it was at Pride Fest celebrations for sometimes dozens of couples at a time. That felt more like a performance. This was much more intimate because it was only for one couple, and he liked Howard and Holly. They were wonderful together.
“You okay?” James whispered while the other two talked softly.
Daniel nodded. He would have to be. “I always get nervous before I have to go onstage.” And this was going to be a performance, he had no illusions about it. Daniel was well aware that the invitees to the wedding were expecting a traditional church service, not a cabaret performance.
“You do?” Holly asked. “How long have you been performing?”
“Five years professionally. Doesn’t matter though; the nerves are always there. I think it’s just something that keeps you on your toes and stops you from getting cocky, because the first time you do anything onstage and think you have it nailed, everything will fall on its tits and you’ll look like a fool.” It was the first lesson his drag mother, Tulane Highway, had taught him.
Holly turned to Howard, and the two of them did this silent communication thing, which would have been kind of creepy if it didn’t demonstrate how much the two of them knew each other. “Is this what you really want to do?” Howard asked Holly, who nodded, then the both of them turned to Daniel. “If Lala is going to do this service, then we want you to go for it all the way.” Howard smirked. “I went to New York for two weeks between my junior and senior years at MU.”
Daniel gasped. “Did you see a drag show while you were there?”