Page 33 of Snowbirds

“Yeah, me neither. That is, I never thoughtI’dwant to get married,” Chris clarified. “But here we are, and I find myself wanting to make it legal—you and me. Besides, it gives Mom a new passion.”

“Your parents know?” Ivan loved Susie and Lance, but he still had a smidgeon of doubt that they would want him as a son-in-law. “They approve?”

“Why don’t you ask them yourself?”

Chris shifted and Ivan looked down the bar to the end of the narrow room. Susie and Lance were sitting at a round table tucked into the corner. Their enormous smiles said everything, but that didn’t stop Susie from calling out over the ragtime that was playing overhead, “Welcome to the family, Ivan!”

With yet another smile, Chris brushed his lips across Ivan’s, “I love you. Let’s go have champagne with Mom and Dad before we bid on that trip to Iceland.”

Chris went to move, but Ivan grabbed his arm to stop him. “I love you, Christopher Anthony Hatch, and I’m never going to let you forget it.”

“Is that a promise or a threat?” Chris asked, his sly grin tempting Ivan.

“Oh, that’s a promiseanda threat.”