But even Carter gave Owen a mulligan on that one, because Owen still handled it professionally, and it is likely no coincidence that Owen’s poll numbers gained another five points after the live interview aired.
Other networks replayed Owen’s on-air takedown of Kevin Markos for several days. Both Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper—as well as all the late-night talk show comedians—had a field day with it at Markos’ expense. Hell, even Fox News’ morning crew zinged Markos over it on Monday morning.
When Carter gently squeezes my left hand and doesn’t pull away, I know he’s not going to ding me for this, either. I also feel badly, because there are things I can get away with around Owen that Carter can’t. Like dancing together tonight.
I wish I could put Owen’s hand in Carter’s and send the two of them out to the middle of the dance floor together, because Carter has certainly earned that. He loves Owen beyond depth and reason, and I don’t begrudge it in the slightest.
Carter fell in love with Owen.
Owen fell in love with me.
I fell in love with Carter.
Somewhere, along the way, we all fell in love with each other, held on tightly, and didn’t let go.
But the world at large is incapable of understanding that, how that works.
Especially the world of politics. They’d eat us alive, looking down on Owen for choosing to kneel before us, and looking down on me for having two men. Carter would likely come out okay, except some would criticize him for “sharing” his wife.
Carter, however, would literally throw himself on a sword before exposing Owen to a scandal of our own making. He would, without hesitation, take any blame and direct all criticism onto himself to protect our boy.
It’s why he’s ruthlessly protected our administration from the day we filed primary paperwork, hiring an attorney dedicated to doing nothing but making sure we didn’t violate a single campaign finance law or break any election laws. It’s why, if in doubt, we paid from our own pockets and then the campaign reimbursed us later, if it was a valid and allowed expense. It nearly always was valid and allowed.
But we werecareful.
Nothinggot paid out of the campaign accounts unless there was a receipt.Period. Every donation was documented, and yes, we refused several large and questionable donations. It was better to err on the side of caution.
Now, here we are. We have allies on both sides of the aisle because we were courageous enough to take a stand and fight the good fight. It’s given good people in both parties the courage to take stands of their own to help us accomplish our agenda. It inspired several lawmakers to change their party affiliation from Dem or GOP to Independent.
Make no mistake, it’s also made us a few enemies. Though our three worst enemies, who we were most concerned about derailing our agenda, lost their re-election bids. Three state senators—two Republicans and a Democrat.
Turfed out by the voters. One of the Republicans actually got thoroughly trounced in his primary by a moderate first-time candidate who was only twenty-two and had just graduated college with a poli sci degree.
Granted, we have term limits in Florida, but it’s hard to get turfed out after one term once you win the general the first time. Especially in a primary.
Youreallyhave to be doing something wrong.
Or, you’ve really had to run afoul of the father of a candidate for lieutenant governor, said father who then anonymously drops some interesting documents about shady real estate dealings you’ve conducted in another state into the inbox of a reporter for theMiami Herald.
Thanks, Daddy. I owe you yet another one.
* * * *
Owen’s fingers stay curled around my right hand until a block before the hotel where the inaugural ball is being held. Then I give his hand another squeeze and pull mine away.
It’s showtime.
Owen is so much better at these events now than when we first started this journey. Carter and I had to deprogram a childhood’s worth of bullshit, courtesy of his narcissistic bitch of a mother. He was always nervous, sort of stiff, and terrified to talk too much.
Whereas Daddy always encouraged me at these events, even when I was literally a kid, to talk to people, to ask questions, taught me how to converse.
Owen’s mother used him as a prop for her own purposes.
Okay, in a completely unhealthy and nonconsensual way, compared to howI’madmittedly using him. As Carter himself said, we broke Owen down, with love, to first deprogram him and remove all the bullshit he’d been taught. Then we built him back up stronger, better, healthier. Owen is the man he is now because of the hard and unconventional choices we all made back then. The Owen we know and love was reborn over sixteen years ago, his second year of college, when he and Carter became roommates in the dorm and then they met me the first day of school.
We were all reborn.
We are all better people now.
