“You earned this, Colin,” Merritt told him, clasping his arm. “I’ll file your registration tomorrow so you can get your certificate as soon as possible.” He gave Colin a long, searching look. “You’re an attorney-at-law now,” Merritt said. “That means you’re as married to the law as you are to Joshua.”
Colin scoffed out a laugh. “Professor, I’mcommittedto the law. Irespectthe law. And I hope to spend my life serving justice. But I’m not as married toanythingas I am to that guy over there.” He tilted his head toward Joshua who was handing out cans of stout and sandwiches to their guests. “And what’s more, I never want to be.Heis my first priority. And he always will be.”
Merritt shook his head, looking at Colin with a kind of bemused wonder. “I never felt that way aboutanyone,” the professor said. “In a way, I envy you.”
Colin wandered back to the dining room where their friends were waiting. He dangled an arm around Joshua’s neck and blew out a long, noisy sigh. “Well, that’s it,” he said, reaching with his other hand to grab a stout. “I’m an attorney-at-law.”
“Colin Michael Campbell-Abrams,” Nate said, his voice more solemn than usual for him. “Esquire.”
“When do you report to city hall?” David asked. “And have you met your boss yet?”
“I go in for orientation next week,” Colin said. “And no, I haven’t met her yet. She was out of town on the day I toured the office, so I met her deputy.”
David snorted out a laugh. “Well, when you do meet her, my advice would be to keep it strictly business.”
Colin shot him an inquiring look, and David shrugged. “She won’t be impressed by your Irish charm, only by your win-loss record.”
“She’s a hard case?” Joshua asked moving to sit on Colin’s lap.
“She’s a strong, capable black woman who had to fight her way through a lot of bigotry and prejudice to gain the position she now holds in this city,” David informed them. “And she’s famous for taking no shit.” He grinned at Colin. “Especially from newly minted baby lawyers.”
“This baby lawyer doesn’t plan to give her any,” Colin replied.
“Go in there and let her know you take your job as an attorney seriously no matter what kind of cases are on your docket, and you’ll win her respect.”
“What kind of caseswillyou be working on, Colin?” Jeff asked him.
“Amurdertrial, maybe?” Nate offered, rubbing his hands together in glee. “Or the unsolved kidnapping on campus?”
Colin laughed out loud. “I’m a lot more likely to be prosecuting indecent exposure or impaired driving cases. I’m low man on the judicial scale over there. I imagine I’ll be doing scut work for months.”
“Well, that won’t be much fun,” Trent said. “Waste of your talent, if you ask me.”
Colin eyed him for a moment, then shook his head. “I have a shit-ton of knowledge,” he told the group. “But no practical experience. I’m like a guy who’s read fifty books about parachuting but never once stepped out of a plane.” His brow furrowed as he stared out their dining room window and Joshua’s arms tightened around him.
“You have to feel your way,” Joshua told him. “You’ve developed your mind. Now you have to develop your instincts.”
“I would imagine the first time Idostep out of that plane I’m going to be scared shitless.”
“Maybe,” Trent said. “But as long as you remember to pull the damned cord before you hit the ground, you should still land on your feet.”
Colin nodded, still frowning. He reached to grab a sandwich. “I want to go slow,” he said to no one in particular. “I don’t want to blast through the door and start popping off like some kind of Ben Stone wannabe.”
“Who the hell is Ben Stone?” Nate asked.
“Assistant district attorney in the originalLaw and Order,” Joshua informed him, laughing. “One of Colin’s favorite shows.”
“Duh-duh-duh duh duhhhhhh,” Jeff hummed out the show’s distinctive theme. “One of the coolest shows ever.”
“Definitely one of the coolest theme songs ever,” Trent said, then gestured to Colin. “Fascinating though all this may be,” he said, “cut the damned cake, would you? We have to leave soon, and I want cake before we go.”
* * *
After their friends left,Colin and Josh sat at the dining room table, picking at the cake and discussing the day’s events. “It was wonderful, Colin,” Joshua said, reaching to take his hand. “I know I’ve said this seventy-five times already, but let me say it once more: I am so proud of you.” He tightened his fingers on Colin’s. “I could see how affected you were when you took the oath.”
“More than I would have believed possible,” Colin replied. “After sitting here last January watching those bastard terrorists commit sedition against our Capitol…” he shot Joshua a sheepish glance. “Hearing myself swear to uphold the Constitution today moved me to tears.”
“I noticed,” Joshua replied, smiling his shy, sweet smile. “That’s the moment when I felt proudest. When I saw how deeply moved you were.” He lifted Colin’s hand and kissed his palm, then gazed into his husband’s eyes. “It was a crystal-clear window into the kind of man you are, and the kind of attorney you’ll become. That one moment said it all.”
