The Boy [mxb]

39

Sergeant Romano is all the Department's been talking about lately. The ceremony is a regal affair complete with officers arrayed in uniform and standing to attention, and the NYPD ceremonial unit forming a marching band leading to the foot of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Meanwhile, Ciel is wearing all white just like when I first saw him. Unlike that momentous occasion, his face is now flushed with health and vigour. But the big, inquisitively-shining eyes peering below that unruly mop of curls are still as arresting as they were on the night I met him.

He will be getting married at 620 Loft and Garden in 30 Rockefeller Plaza, in an intimate, rooftop ceremony with a manicured, historic garden and sparkling, reflective pool.

The chairs slowly fill up with friends and loved ones. Ciel's father walks him down the aisle. That beautiful, beaming boy doesn't resent him one iota, so big and loving and accepting is his heart.

He smiles at his soon-to-be-husband as he approaches the altar, glowing with joy.

At the end of the aisle, I am waiting for him. He still reaches for my hand with the same endearing blend of bashful trepidation and assurance he had on that fateful night, and it affects me the same.

I couldn't have envisioned this outcome when I first met him. But he was so pretty; it was surely not out of the question that I would take his hand, and maybe one day his hand in marriage. Life has a crazy way of bringing people together.