Time Warp: Kathy's Song (Josh)

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Since Sean had finished his sandwich, he moved on to his fruit, since he wanted to take advantage of the remaining lunch break. He had a late-afternoon session tonight that would take him through the early evening, and, in turn, would lead to him getting home late and enjoying a late supper. If he had known that Josh didn’t have a sandwich with him, he would end the call immediately, or he would have ended it earlier to allow his friend to eat.

If Josh ever told him about this, or thought about it in his presence when they next saw each other, he would make it up to the other man.

“I trust you,” the telepath reminded him. Josh was one of the few people whom he trusted implicitly, and so he knew that the attorney would do nothing to harm him and would use his best judgment in a task of this magnitude and significance.

“As long as you don’t tell any stories about the pot use, it should be fine.” Since his entire family would be at this wedding, in addition to his coworkers, he wanted to keep that type of illicit embarrassment off the table. “Otherwise, feel free to poke at me as much as you want.”

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh sighed heavily, "Now I have to rewrite my entire speech!" He complained, leaning down to scratch at one leg. He wouldn't actually tell embarrassing stories, because he was well aware that certain details needn't be shared among some people. But that didn't mean he wouldn't tease about it in private.

He supposed he should compose something heartfelt that expounded on all of Sean's many virtues; it would be much less strange if he cried during a heartfelt speech than if he cried while trying to be a comedian, anyway.

"You're lucky there are only good things to tell."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean sighed as well, although, as with Josh’s sigh, he did so teasingly. “I’m sorry to make you have to redo something you’ve spent at least two minutes writing,” the telepath told his friend. There was no chance that Josh had spent more time than that on the speech, given that he had only learned about Sean’s impending marriage at the beginning of this telephone call, and he had seemed surprised about the notion of giving a toast only a couple of minutes ago.

“You can always write a second one and read that to me and Sam privately, since I’m sure you’ll be up to stay the night before.” Not for a rehearsal supper, if Sean had his way, but simply because he had to travel from out of town, and how could the telepath not accommodate his best man prior to the wedding?

Then he smiled again at the compliment. It warmed his heart to know that his friend thought so highly of him. He thought the same of Josh, of course, but it always made him happy to hear.

Although it was slightly less than realistic.

“You could always tell one of the protest stories?” He suggested. That had potential for embarrassment while still shying away from drugs, drinking, or sexual intimacy.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Do you want me to tell protest stories in front of your sister?" Josh asked. He knew Sean wasn't ashamed of his protest stories, but he also wasn't sure whether or not that would cause unnecessary drama. Then again, Kathleen's mere presence was a drama bomb waiting to go off.

"Ah, yes, I remember when Reagan was re-elected and Sean called me up so we could grieve the continued gutting of what little safety net our country had. Good times. We keep hoping a liberal will get elected again, but it looks like that won't happen. Instead we got Clinton."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“It isn’t about wanting or not wanting; it’s about being fine with it,” Sean explained. He had given about as much thought to the specifics of this toast as Josh had, given that he had been so elated about the notion of settling and having a family, and he and Sam had only talked about it for the first time the night before. However, despite his conservative family, he knew they would tolerate protest stories, and his friends and Sam’s, and Sam’s family, would all approve. That made such topics far more appropriate at his wedding than it would have been at Kathleen’s.

Not that anyone had told stories about him at Kathleen’s wedding, apart from when he had toasted her to tell her about how happy he was, and how much he loved her, his baby sister.

The telepath let out a bark of laughter at Josh’s dry-run of his toast. “I think that’s a good start,” he said, “Although, you might want to lay off the Clinton bashing a bit. Not just for my family, but Sam’s whole family adore him, for the most part.”

They didn’t agree with everything that Clinton did or said, but they viewed him as the representative of the moderate Democrats, and thus he spoke for them.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"You're making this toast incredibly difficult!" Josh informed Sean with a pout that the other man couldn't see. "No pot stories, no Clinton bashing! It could be worse, we could have President Dole. Fortunately, the only Dole we have to worry about are Dole pineapples. I can't say that at your toast, can I?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“I’d be fine with that,” Sean replied. His family would be less fine with that, but, since the telepath remained in his euphoric state from the decision the night before, he was happy to indulge the fantasy. Personally, he would enjoy a bit of political talk during a wedding toast, because politics was an important topic in his life, even if he was forbidden by law and school policy from speaking to the students about his political beliefs (and he didn’t want to do it that explicitly, anyway).

“Sam would probably approve too,” he added. She was distraught by the prospect of President Dole. Her entire family agreed with her. And if they believed in Clinton more than Sean did, and, as a result, also more than Josh did given the attorney’s radical leanings, then that was the price the telepath had to pay for his future in-laws.

Sam’s family was so much easier to get along with than Colin’s family, primarily because they saw eye-to-eye on a number of topics. He was willing to quibble slightly over who made the best Democratic candidate, as long as they had a Democrat in the White House. That was easier to do with other Democrats than with his Republican family, who rooted for the opposite outcome every election.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Well if I have the approval of the groom and the bride then there's no question. I'm obligated to make awful jokes about Dole now."

He wouldn't have to live with the aftermath of his terrible jokes because the only people whose opinions he cared about agreed with him. He had wanted Sean's family approval once upon a time but since he and Sean weren't romantically linked he felt less of an interest in their opinion of him.

They hadn't even known at the time and he had still wanted them to accept him. But that was the last time he was going to seek out approval from other people's families. He hadn't even met Simon's, although that was more to do with the fact that they hadn't taken having a gay son well. But he didn't think he would have met them anyway, because they hadn't been serious.

"What other topics are off safe? Can I talk about how great you are with kids?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“I look forward to hearing them,” Sean told him, and he smiled at the thought. He enjoyed Josh’s sense of humor. He’d enjoyed the other man’s sense of humor since they had first met, when Josh had made awkward jokes in an attempt to disguise his attraction to the telepath. He had enjoyed all of their friendly banter, and then playful humor when they had lived together. And then he had continued to enjoy Josh’s jokes in the decade since their Break Up. While the attorney could never become a professional comedian, Sean knew that he would do a great job with the toast. Whenever the wedding took place.

His smile softened, becoming less about humor and more about how touched he felt upon hearing that. “You could say that if you wanted. That might mollify my family.” Any talk about children from him would go a long way in pacifying his parents after listening to a couple of Dole jokes.

“You could talk about our friendship. That’s always a standard topic.” He had been to enough weddings where the Best Man and the groom were longstanding friends that there were often shared stories. He’d always enjoyed listening to those, and he and Josh had more than enough in their shared history.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Ah yes. I knew from the moment I laid eyes on the groom that we would be best friends. He's taught me all the important things in life."

For instance, the importance of condom use.

"We used to stay up all night studying and talking and if we lived closer I would keep him up all night still. But he's going to need all the sleep he can get before he and Sam get started on their Catholic brood. Hey at least I helped you practice staying up late so it won't be a total shock when you have babies."

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean continued to smile as he listened to Josh adlib this toast. Of course, this was unpolished, and he expected that Josh knew better than to say “Catholic brood” to describe children to a reception hall full of practicing Catholics, but the sentiment warmed his heart.

“I hope you’re writing this down,” he told his friend sincerely. Josh might want to keep part of this for when he sat down to write the rest of the toast.

“Do you-”

His question was interrupted by a knock at his door. “Doctor Neville?” A familiar teenage voice called out. Followed by a thought projected to him. I-I ate too much at lunch.

Typically, that would result in a stomachache, which was a matter for the on-call doctor or the nurse, not for the psychiatrist. However, Ashley suffered from an eating disorder, with a history of binging and purging. They were working on that together.

Come in, Ashley, he projected back to her. I’ll be with you in a minute.

Then, aloud, to Josh, he said, “I have an emergency session I have to take care of. Will you call me tonight?”

That way, they could continue their conversation, not only about the wedding, but about the rest of Josh’s day, with whatever happened this afternoon.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"I should get back to work myself, " Josh admitted, silently relieved that he wasn't the one to suggest hanging up. This wouldn't salvage his lunch, but at least he hadn't hung up on a friend bearing happy news.


"I'll call you after dinner."

That way he wouldn't get too distracted to eat yet another meal.

"I hope the rest of your day is better than food fights. Congratulations again!"

He hung up and placed his head in his hands. His best friend was getting married!

Then he reached for his keyboard so that he could start putting in for time off to go celebrate in s few weeks time.

The rest of the day people kept asking him what was wrong, but he said nothing.

The only thing wrong was him.