RATED PG
Alliance legally owns these characters, and I make no claim to them by writing this story. The story is written for entertainment purposes only, and no profit will be made.
My Sap Sister Cheryl and I were chatting one day, and she suggested a lovely image, which I knew had to be turned into a story. With her very kind permission, I grabbed that image from her and ran with it. So thank you, Cheryl, and this one is for you.
EASTER EGGS
Two cars pulled into the Vecchio driveway and parked. The cars had barely come to a stop before the doors opened and the members of the Vecchio family, dressed in their Sunday best, exited the vehicles.
They headed into the house, the children ready to begin what was, for them, the best part of the day. Rosa was very adamant about the religious aspects of the holiday taking priority over the secular ones; so the family had gone to Mass before they had given out the Easter baskets and other treats.
The children had been very good during the Mass, but now that they were home, their patience was quickly wearing thin. "Can we have our Easter baskets now?" Tony Jr. asked, jumping up and down.
"No, son," Tony replied. "We have to eat dinner first."
He looked at the upset faces of his children and laughed. "Hah! Got ya!"
"Daddy, you're mean!" Theresa declared.
Tony laughed again, and Maria gave him a playful swat on the butt. "Come on, kids," she said. "Just get changed out of your church clothes and we can go hunt for your baskets."
She followed the children inside, and Tony, Ray, Benny and Frannie sprang into action, retrieving the Easter baskets from inside the house and hiding them in the pre-determined spots in the backyard. They had barely finished when the children came tearing outside, yelling and laughing and running all over the backyard in a frantic, happy hunt for their Easter goodies.
"Wow," Ray said, impressed. "Those kids sure can move fast when they want to."
In less than five minutes all the baskets had been found and the family headed inside to watch the children inspect their loot. Ray took Benny's arm and pulled him back from the others. "Hang on a second, Benny."
Benny looked at him in curiosity. "Is something wrong, Ray?"
"No, not wrong. It's just that there's still one Easter basket left to find."
Ben shook his head. "No, Ray, the children all found their Easter baskets."
"I know," Ray said, "but there's still one Easter basket left to find." He smiled at Benny and watched as understanding dawned on the other man's face.
"Oh," Benny said, a pleased smile crossing his face. "I'd better go find it then."
"Yeah, you'd better."
Ben started roaming around the backyard, looking for his basket, aided by Ray's calls of "You're getting colder, Benny. Warmer. Warmer. Oh, getting colder again."
Finally Ben found his Easter basket tucked behind the storage shed. He picked it up and looked wide-eyed at the chocolate rabbits, plastic eggs, marshmallow treats and jelly beans inside the basket. "Are you trying to fatten me up, Ray?"
"Yes, I want to make sure no other man will ever look at you."
Benny laughed and sat down on the bench beneath the maple tree, and Ray sat down next to him. "Thank you Ray," Benny said, giving him a kiss. "This is the first Easter-basket hunt I've ever had."
"Your parents or grandparents never hid your Easter basket?" Ray asked in disbelief.
Benny laughed. "There wouldn't have been much point in the Territories. Either it would have been buried overnight by blowing snow, or it would have stuck out like a sore thumb amidst all the white. And there's really not all that many hiding places in a three-room cabin."
"No, I guess not," Ray agreed. He gave Benny a quick kiss. "Come on, let's see what you got," he said, nudging one of the plastic eggs.
Benny opened a blue plastic egg and looked inside. "Oh, M&Ms, thank you, Ray."
"No problem."
A green egg contained jelly beans, a yellow one held foil wrapped chocolate eggs, and a white egg had Hershey's kisses inside. "Would you like a kiss, Ray?" Ben asked, holding out a piece of chocolate.
Ray rolled his eyes. "That's the oldest joke in the book, Benny," he said; but took a piece of candy nonetheless.
Benny opened a pink plastic egg, looked inside, and gasped. "Ray," he whispered. He tilted the egg, and a gold wedding band fell into his palm.
"Benny, will you marry me?"
Benny's mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came out. Finally he swallowed. "Yes Ray," he said softly. "Of course I'll marry you."
Ray took the Easter basket from Benny's lap and placed it on the grass, then pulled Benny into a kiss. "Oh, Benny, I love you so much."
"I love you, Ray." Benny turned the ring around and around in his fingers, admiring it. "So, what kind of ceremony do you have in mind?"
Ray heard the undertone of nervousness in Benny's voice and laughed. "Don't worry, nothing too big or elaborate. I want to keep it personal, you know? I figured a small ceremony right here in the backyard, with just our family and a few close friends. We'll just have a little ceremony to make things unofficially official."
"That sounds very nice, Ray."
"Yeah." Ray slipped his arm around Benny and the two sat quietly for a while, lost in their own thoughts.
"Ray?" Benny asked after a few minutes. "Do I have to wait until after the ceremony to wear my ring?"
Ray looked at him, a slow smile spreading over his face. "You want to wear the ring now?"
"Yes. Right now. Right away."
Ray took the ring from Ben, then slipped it on the ring finger of Ben's left hand.
"Thank you," Benny whispered, holding his hand up to examine the ring.
"How does it look, Benny?"
"Perfect. It looks as if it's always belonged there."
"It has," Ray said, taking Benny's hand and squeezing it. He then looked at the ring on Ben's finger and drew a quick breath. "Wow."
"Yes," Ben agreed with a smile. Suddenly, the smile left his face. "Ray, this doesn't feel exactly right. You don't have a ring yet. Do you?"
Ray shook his head. "No. Not yet."
"I think we need to remedy this situation right away. As in tomorrow. After you pick me up from work, I think we should go right to the jeweler's and get you a wedding band." He looked at Ray a little nervously. "If that's all right with you, of course."
"That is more than all right with me, Benny." He flexed the fingers of his left hand a few times. "I sort of feel naked without one."
"Well, I've never minded seeing you naked," Benny said.
Ray laughed and Benny kissed him.
"Would you like to see me naked now?" Ray asked.
"Yes please, the sooner the better."
"Boys!" Rosa's voice drifted over the backyard. "Dinner is ready."
Benny groaned and dropped his head onto Ray's shoulder. "I never thought I'd see the day when I wasn't in the mood for one of your mother's meals."
Ray laughed and kissed the golden band on Benny's finger. "Come on, love," he said, pulling Benny up from the bench. "Let's go tell the family and make this an Ester none of us will ever forget."
THE END
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