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Expressions of Love	By : sissouthernink1994 Category: Reality TV > The A-List: New York Views: 1145 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction based on a reality tv show. I don't own The A-List: New York. No profit gained. Full disclaimer below.

Chapter List
- 5
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- 7
Epilogue Part I
Baby Steps
“Desmond, can you please bring me that other camera?” Ryan called out from the floor of Michaela’s nursery.
“What’s wrong with the one you have?”
“Something’s wrong with the battery.” Desmond walked in with the other camera. Their little Michaela clapped and giggled. “I don’t think it charged.” Ryan handed the bad camera to him.
“Well, it’s possible that we have gotten our use out of it honey. They can only be charged so much.” Desmond replied. “I liked to think we could’ve gotten a little more than a year’s worth out of it though.”
“Me too. But it was a great year, wasn’t it sweetie?” Ryan said to their daughter. She smiled at him.
“What did you need it for anyway?”
“Watch this. Michaela, shall we show daddy what we’ve been working on?” She smiled and laughed again. “Daddy you stand over there and watch our little princess.”
“Ok.” Desmond stood in front of Michaela and turned on the camera. “Hi Michaela.”
“You remember what to do sweetie.” Ryan urged. “Give her a minute.”
“What is she gonna do?”
“Just watch.” Little Michaela, now fourteen months old, pulled herself in a crawling position. But instead of crawling, she began to slowly stand up, on her own. She lost her balance and fell backwards. She tried again, pushing herself up with her hands then sticking them out to balance herself.
“Wow Michaela!!” Desmond exclaimed. “Look at you pretty girl.” Ryan crawled next to her for encouragement.
“What’s next sweetie?” With the concentration of the world on her face, she took a tiny step with her right foot. Desmond gasped with surprise. Trying to maintain her balance, she moved her left foot forward. Another step right and one more left before she lost her balance and fell on her padded bottom.
“Ryan…I can’t believe it. Our baby girl is walking. She took three whole steps.”
“I know baby. Isn’t it exciting?” They watched as she pushed herself up again, and again taking one step at a time towards Desmond and the camera.
“Come this way to daddy.” Desmond encouraged. Ryan was crawling next to her, encouraging her as well. This attempt Michaela had taken eight steps before toddling over and laughing.
“Yay Michaela!” Ryan said, clapping and cheering which caused her to clap as well.

The Special Occasion
                Derek stretched in his sleep and wondered why he felt so warm. Then he remembered, he had the arms of his boyfriend Ashley surrounding him. He smiled and kissed the bare chest next to him.
“Sleep well?” Ashley asked. Derek nodded.
“I always sleep well next to you. Of course it helps when you love me to sleep too.” They laughed. The two lovers were on a vacation in the East side of Tennessee. Ashley had rented a cabin for them just on the outskirts of Gatlinburg. They were going to have a country boy vacation, even though they were now very adapted city slickers. Derek wanted to go fishing; it had been years since he had. Ashley just wanted some piece and quiet away from New York.
                That day, they had gone on a nature hike with a group, led by a park ranger. The weather was nice and breezy, not too cool. Ashley had packed items for a picnic. Once at the destination point, everyone spread out and ate, having the most incredible view of the mountains and forest one could ever hope to see. Neither one of them remembered who started the teasing, but by the time they reached their cabin, they were nearly tearing the other’s clothes off. An afternoon of lovemaking was just another remedy for relaxation.
                Ashley’s stomach growled near Derek’s ear. It was clear to them that the energy from their lunch was gone and it was time to refuel. Ashley found some clothes and headed towards the kitchen. Derek found his and stepped outside for a smoke. He ended up having a conversation with a couple a few cabins over who had seen him on television. They talked longer then he realized. Once dinner was done, Ashley went looking for him.
“There you are. I was thinking you had run off into the woods.” He said as he saw the three men standing at the gate to their cabin.
“Oh no, I could never do that.”
“We’re sorry, it’s entirely our fault.”
“Yeah, once we realized who he was we had to stop and talk to him.”
“Oh, you guys are fine. I just have to realize that I have a famous TV boyfriend.” Ashley replied.
“This is my boyfriend, J. Ashley Jareau. This is Timothy and Antonio Barber from Chicago.” They all shook hands.
“Great to meet you gentleman.”
“Jareau? Of J & B Associates?” Ashley nodded. “Well, you both are famous to me. I profiled your company in several projects and papers for my MBA.” Tim said.
“I’m glad I could be of help.”
“Well we don’t want to keep you guys long, I know it’s close to dinner. We’re going fishing tomorrow would you like to join us?” Antonio asked.
“That’s actually on our agenda tomorrow. We’d love to have some company.” Derek said. The new friends made plans to meet the next day.
                Back inside, Derek was surprised by what he saw. Ashley had decorated the table with candles and flowers, which Derek was trying to figure out when Ashley would have had time to pick them. Dinner smelled wonderful from the kitchen. Ashley served dinner and the two talked excited about their upcoming events. Derek was clearing the table when Ashley asked if he wanted dessert.
“Of course. I still have room.” Derek sat down at the table.
“Good.” A few minutes later Ashley brought two bowls to the table. The peak from the dollop of cinnamon flavored whipped cream peaked over the top of the bowl. Underneath it, a warm slice of deep dish apple pie. It smelled heavenly. Ashley fed Derek the first spoonful. The sweet warm apples mixed with the spices and cranberries tingled in Derek’s mouth.
“This is so awesome. I thought you only made this for special occasions.”
“I do. And I did.” Derek had confused look on his face. “Don’t tell me you forgot this vacation is all about our first anniversary.”
“Oh no! I didn’t forget that. It’s still a few days away though. Why not wait to serve the pie then?”
“Because I couldn’t wait for that special occasion to see the smile on your face when you tasted it. So I created one of my own.”
The Survivors
                Mike Ruiz smiled as he looked around at the friends and family that filled the room. They were all there to help him and Raymond celebrate their anniversary. And surviving the evil horrors of rape and everything that followed. There were several components to their survival. Their counselor for one. Being able to express their feelings, especially for Ray was important. After all, his rapists were friends and people he trusted. Mike never realized how much his feelings would play into things. Of course, he was angry with these men; they had physically hurt someone that he dearly loved. The wounds and bruises had healed about three weeks later. The emotional scars were harder to get rid of. Love mixing with patience was a huge lesson for Mike to learn.
                For a while, intimacy between the husbands was non-existent. Ray knew that Mike wasn’t one of his attackers and what they did was nowhere near romantic, but Ray couldn’t help but cringe and shy away from his husband’s gentle touch. He could manage a small hug or kiss on the cheek or forehead maybe, but nothing more. It reminded Mike of when they first started dating. Raymond wanted to take things slow, just to be sure that this relationship was what he wanted. But now they were husbands and it hurt. Mike cried himself to hiccups in front of their counselor at the horrific thought that their marriage might be over if Ray couldn’t heal. He wanted his husband back. Raymond had even gone back home to Tennessee for a few weeks, leaving Mike the loneliest he’d ever been. Seeing other friends and family members helped Ray to put things in perspective.
                Music was another strong component. For a while, Ray couldn’t even write music, much less listen to it. His felt that his first love was betraying him. Every note seemed to match up to a meaningless grunt, a harsh hand slap, angry words and crazy feelings. He would sit in front of his piano, staring at it like a zombie. Sheet music would be spread out on the worktable, pencil in hand, nothing flowing to paper. One day he remembered something that Detective Tutuola’s husband Enrique said. After the follow-up interview that closed SVU’s investigation, Fin invited them to dinner hoping that he and Enrique could help.
“Since you chose to survive, you need to live like you survived. My friend, your life is waiting on you to return. It misses you and so does everyone else. When I was raped, I didn’t have any inspiration for photography anymore. It all seemed so dirty and meaningless. Then one day I came across a photo that I had taken when I was first learning photography. I was so proud of that picture; I felt it was my best work. I’ve done leaps and bounds beyond that since then. But it made me realize that photography was something I loved to do and I was good at it. Your music will come back to you because you love it and you’re good at it. Come back to your life, live like you survived.”
                A few weeks later, he came across the first piece he had written after grad school. He remembered how proud of it he was, and how it made him feel. It was nothing compared to what he had added to his resume for the last few years, but it reminded him of him. At that point in his life, Ray was a very young man, determined to live life on his own terms. He was completely out to his friends and family, and was going to make a living writing music. Nothing was going to stop him. Ray made this his new mantra. He repeated it everyday, sometimes several times a day until he began to believe it again.
                Praying family and friends were another strong component. Ray’s father was a pastor and his mother a fervent intercessor. Even though the majority of people in their congregation didn’t approve of the gay lifestyle (it was Tennessee and the Bible Belt after all), Pastor and First Lady Covington weren’t about to leave their son without a support system during this turbulent time. The parents wouldn’t be able to forgive themselves if they didn’t take care of the still precious gift God had given them, their son. Some people left the church after learning of their support of their son. They could do nothing but wish them well and pray God’s Blessings for them.
Mike and Ray attended a church with a large GLBT membership. Pastor Calvin had been to see them as well as many other members and everyone was praying for them. They all kept Mike company when Ray was in Tennessee, reassuring him the whole time that he would be back. They loved each other too much for him not to come back.
                That leads to the last and maybe the most important component to their survival, their love for each other. The first few days were tough, but Mike had to go back to work. Everyone understood when he rescheduled his planner. He’d left Ray a small love note on the nightstand so he would see it when he woke up. He would call in the middle of the day to check on him. Mike accompanied him to doctor’s visits, praying each time that he was safe from HIV. They went to counseling together.
                Ray knew Mike loved him because he was there for him. In Mike’s mind, there was no place else to be but by his husband’s side. Mike left encouraging notes and letters for Ray all the time. Even when he was away, Mike mailed letters and sent emails. But there was a time that Ray couldn’t read them. So he collected them in order and read them when he was able to. Ray tried to leave some notes for Mike. It wasn’t easy for him with his feelings still all over the place. The feelings that were communicated, were greatly cherished by Mike. Nothing was taken for granted.
The DJ handed Mike a microphone. “Can I have everybody’s attention please?” He asked. The partiers paused and turned their attention towards the stage. “I just want to thank all of you for being here tonight to celebrate with us. Ray, where are you baby?” The crowd cheered as he walked towards the stage and joined his husband.
“It’s been a tough six months and we didn’t think we would make it to this day,” Ray said “but because of you and your prayers, we did. Words really aren’t enough to thank you for all the encouragement. We really do love you.” This statement was followed by “we love you too” s and “you’re welcome” s.
“Tonight we are celebrating so much more than just five years of marriage. Two days ago, justice was served by the sentencing of Ray’s attackers and we didn’t have to wait long for it. Twenty-five years to life, no parole!!” The crowd cheered even louder.
“We can’t even tell you how satisfied and pleased we are. I feel so much safer knowing that they won’t do this to anyone else.” Ray said and people started dancing. Once everyone calmed down Mike addressed them again.
“Have you guys been loving the music the DJ has been playing?” Everyone clapped their appreciation. “Well, here’s one more thing we are celebrating tonight. The music you’ve been hearing is from my husband’s brand spanking new double-cd called ‘My Muse and I’. And it will be available for digital download from iTunes tomorrow!!” Their party guests went wild. Ray could do nothing but smile and blush at the adoration of his friends/family turned instant fans. When people realized that musicians were making their way to the stage, they began chanting Ray’s name.
“Raymond, Raymond!!”
“Would you guys like to hear some live music?” Ray asked. A unanimous “yes” followed that question.
“Let me introduce to you the sexiest and most gifted musician/songwriter I know. Here’s my husband Raymond Covington-Ruiz and his band. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Cup Of Tea.” Ray kissed Mike before he headed back to the piano. Mike got off stage and took his place front and center to support his husband.
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Expressions of Love