the church to declare your love, and ask for God’s blessing on your marriage?”
“Yes,” responded both men.
“Pat and Dean, do you desire to spend the rest of your lives with one another?”
“We do,” they replied.
“Pat do you love Dean with all your heart and soul, and will you keep him in sickness and health, forsaking all others?”
“I do and I will,” Pat responded.
Father Mark asked the same questions of the other men and, after their consent and agreement, took the wedding bands, blessed them and gave them to the wedding party. Pat and Dean put rings on each other’s fingers as the other couple watched, and then Hank and Shawn followed suit.
When the rings were exchanged, Father Mark wrapped his clerical stole around the joined hands of each couple and said, “In as much as you have both declared your love and intentions before these witnesses and before God, and exchanged a symbol of that love, I declare you married in the eyes of the Church and the world. You may kiss your husband.”
As the two couples kissed, he and the witnesses applauded. Father Mark shook hands with all four men and gave them a final blessing.
“I pray that you will be together forever and be assured that I’ll say a prayer for all of you at midnight Mass tonight.”
After Pat slipped the priest an envelope, everyone hugged, said their goodbyes, and left the church. Four newly married men hit the streets of Boston filled with joy and love.
“What should we do now? Go somewhere for lunch?” Pat asked.
“Actually, honey, we don’t have time. We need to get back to the hotel to check out,” replied Dean. Shawn just smiled in the back seat.
“Check out? I thought we were here in Boston through Christmas?” Pat asked.
“Well, in fact, no. We have a plane to catch for New York and we need to hustle.”
“New York?” both Pat and Hank said at the same time.
“All will be revealed in due course,” Shawn added.
After getting back to the hotel and creating the same sort of buzz in the lobby as when they departed, they got to their rooms, changed and zipped up their bags.
“Now I know why you had practically everything packed!” Pat said.
“I’m just being my usual efficient self,” Dean said with a smile.
“Well, what time is the plane?” Pat asked.
“In one hour,” Dean replied after looking at his watch.
With that, the couples raced to the car, threw the luggage in and sped to the airport. If they were pulled over for speeding, they all knew they wouldn’t get a ticket.
They arrived just in time to check their luggage and get their boarding passes. They were flying into JFK and Dean prayed the plane would leave on time.
After a quick, smooth ride, they landed at JFK, retrieved their luggage and looked for a cab.
“I guess spending Christmas in New York is kind of cool when you think about it. We can go see the big tree and all the lights of the city,” Hank said.
“Yeah, but I just wish we didn’t have to rush so much leaving Boston. You’d have thought the cops were after us,” Pat replied.
They got a cab and Dean gave the destination to the driver.
“Can you get us to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal quickly?” Dean asked.
“No problem,” answered the cabbie and away they went.
“Cruise terminal?” Pat said and looked at Hank.
“Yeah, Shawn and I thought we would take a ride on a tugboat around the harbor,” replied Dean.
“Tugboat my ass! We’re going on a cruise,” replied Pat with a broad grin.
“Gotta hand it to you and Dean; you guys kept this well hidden,” Hank said to Shawn.
A short while later and the guys were staring up at the Queen Mary 2. “You’ve got to be kidding? This is our ship?” Hank asked with wonderment.
“Yep, let’s move it and get on board; she sails at six,” said Shawn.
* * *
The men proceeded to board and learned that they were headed to the Caribbean for ten wonderful nights before returning to New York. They would
“Yes,” responded both men.
“Pat and Dean, do you desire to spend the rest of your lives with one another?”
“We do,” they replied.
“Pat do you love Dean with all your heart and soul, and will you keep him in sickness and health, forsaking all others?”
“I do and I will,” Pat responded.
Father Mark asked the same questions of the other men and, after their consent and agreement, took the wedding bands, blessed them and gave them to the wedding party. Pat and Dean put rings on each other’s fingers as the other couple watched, and then Hank and Shawn followed suit.
When the rings were exchanged, Father Mark wrapped his clerical stole around the joined hands of each couple and said, “In as much as you have both declared your love and intentions before these witnesses and before God, and exchanged a symbol of that love, I declare you married in the eyes of the Church and the world. You may kiss your husband.”
As the two couples kissed, he and the witnesses applauded. Father Mark shook hands with all four men and gave them a final blessing.
“I pray that you will be together forever and be assured that I’ll say a prayer for all of you at midnight Mass tonight.”
After Pat slipped the priest an envelope, everyone hugged, said their goodbyes, and left the church. Four newly married men hit the streets of Boston filled with joy and love.
“What should we do now? Go somewhere for lunch?” Pat asked.
“Actually, honey, we don’t have time. We need to get back to the hotel to check out,” replied Dean. Shawn just smiled in the back seat.
“Check out? I thought we were here in Boston through Christmas?” Pat asked.
“Well, in fact, no. We have a plane to catch for New York and we need to hustle.”
“New York?” both Pat and Hank said at the same time.
“All will be revealed in due course,” Shawn added.
After getting back to the hotel and creating the same sort of buzz in the lobby as when they departed, they got to their rooms, changed and zipped up their bags.
“Now I know why you had practically everything packed!” Pat said.
“I’m just being my usual efficient self,” Dean said with a smile.
“Well, what time is the plane?” Pat asked.
“In one hour,” Dean replied after looking at his watch.
With that, the couples raced to the car, threw the luggage in and sped to the airport. If they were pulled over for speeding, they all knew they wouldn’t get a ticket.
They arrived just in time to check their luggage and get their boarding passes. They were flying into JFK and Dean prayed the plane would leave on time.
After a quick, smooth ride, they landed at JFK, retrieved their luggage and looked for a cab.
“I guess spending Christmas in New York is kind of cool when you think about it. We can go see the big tree and all the lights of the city,” Hank said.
“Yeah, but I just wish we didn’t have to rush so much leaving Boston. You’d have thought the cops were after us,” Pat replied.
They got a cab and Dean gave the destination to the driver.
“Can you get us to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal quickly?” Dean asked.
“No problem,” answered the cabbie and away they went.
“Cruise terminal?” Pat said and looked at Hank.
“Yeah, Shawn and I thought we would take a ride on a tugboat around the harbor,” replied Dean.
“Tugboat my ass! We’re going on a cruise,” replied Pat with a broad grin.
“Gotta hand it to you and Dean; you guys kept this well hidden,” Hank said to Shawn.
A short while later and the guys were staring up at the Queen Mary 2. “You’ve got to be kidding? This is our ship?” Hank asked with wonderment.
“Yep, let’s move it and get on board; she sails at six,” said Shawn.
* * *
The men proceeded to board and learned that they were headed to the Caribbean for ten wonderful nights before returning to New York. They would
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