Disclaimer: I do not know, nor do I claim to know Jake Gyllenhaal, nor do I know or claim to know any other celebrities that may wander through these pages, and I do not know or therefore mean to imply any knowledge of their personal lives and/or their sexual preferences. This story is a work of fiction. The character of Michael is my own creation, and therefore any use of him outside of this story cannot be done without first gaining my permission. If you are under 18 years of age, or you are bothered by the prospect of a homo-erotic relationship between two men, or it is illegal for you to be reading this where you live, then I highly recommend that you go and find something else to read on another web-site. There, I think that that takes care of the C.Y.A. part of things.....
Michael's POV
The first thing we did on the day after Christmas, after hitting the sales of course, was to check out the high-end furniture stores. As we wandered through several different stores, we were informed at a couple different ones that they also did custom jobs, and that they also knew where to look for special order bedding and mattresses and foundations.
By the time we got home, much later in the day than we had planned, we had purchased two completely new beds, and several changes of bedding to go with them. The pillow-top mattress sets measured one hundred two inches wide by ninety inches deep, and on the beds, rather than go with the complete sleigh beds, we went with the modified style which had just the sleigh-style headboard, rails on the sides and at the foot, and the look was finished off with intricately carved feet.
One of them would be delivered here on Friday, the fourth, and the second one would be delivered to the house in New York the following Wednesday, the ninth. While we were at it, we bought some new bedside tables also....
We had a quiet dinner of Christmas leftovers, and then made an early night of it.....
The following morning, I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the my list of numbers until I found the one I had been looking for. It was a number I hadn't used in months, but considering all that had happened in my life in the past couple of weeks, I felt it was something I needed to do. So, I hit "dial."
"Hello, Cecily? It's Michael Orsini....Yes, I'm fine....Yeah, I know.....Actually, that's why I was calling. Would it be possible for me to get in to see the Dr. on Friday? That would be great! Okay then, I'll see you next Friday. You all have a safe and Happy New Year. Mmm-hmmm.....Bye-bye." I closed my phone and turned to see Paul and Jake standing next to the kitchen island, both of them looking at me with concern.
"I'm okay....I just think it would be a good idea to talk to Dr. Macnamara, and get it all out in the open.....Tell it to someone who wasn't here for it all....." I said.
"Good, I'm glad you thought to call her," Jake said. We went into the other room where the kids were having fun with the Wii that they had gotten for Christmas, and before long, we were all enjoying ourselves.
We spent the remainder of the Holidays with our families, and ushered in 2008 with an evening spent watching movies and having pizza and popcorn. Of course we spent New Year's Day watching football.....
The new year started off almost immediately with the news that the Golden Globes were being cancelled because of the writers strike. This was followed by word of the deaths of Brad Renfro and Heath. Heath's death hit us especially hard, since he and Jake had worked together on "Brokeback," and Jake was little Matilda's godfather.
I met with Dr. Macnamara and had a very good talk. Well, I talked and she listened, making a few pertinent observations. I told her everything, from finding out about Jake and Reese up through my feelings over Heath's passing.....
When we finished our session, we made a follow up appointment for the following Friday, and then I left to meet up with Maggie and Peter at the house.....
I was back at work on 'Another Life,' and was sitting in make-up. The T.V. was on in the corner of the counter, and I wasn't really paying any attention to it until I heard ".......Michael Orsini for 'Inferno', Paul Walker for 'Obsession', Shane West, also for 'Obsession', and Tom Wilkinson for 'Michael Clayton.' "
"What?" I asked, completely clueless. I looked at Chantal, who was looking at me with awe.
"The Oscars! You just got nominated for Best Supporting Actor!" she murmured.
We looked at each other and then back at the T.V.
".....Laura Linney for 'Savages', and Ellen Page for 'Juno'. The nominees for Outstanding Lead Actor are, George Clooney for 'Michael Clayton', Daniel Day-Lewis for 'There Will Be Blood', Jake Gyllenhaal for 'Obsession', Johnny Depp for 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street', Michael Orsini for 'Obsession', Tommy Lee Jones for 'In the Valley of Elah', and Viggo Mortensen for 'Eastern Promises.' And finally, the nominees for Best Picture are, 'Atonement', 'Juno', 'Michael Clayton', 'No Country for Old Men', 'Obsession', and 'There Will Be Blood'......."
"Oh My God!!" I said, barely above a whisper, turning to look over at Chantal.
I knew that even if I didn't win anything come Oscar night, my life would never be the same again......I found out later in the day that I had received a third nomination, for Best Song for 'Songbird'.
The Academy, in its infinite wisdom, had, a couple years ago, instituted a new musical category. With the amount of music being used in soundtracks that wasn't written for that particular film, the Academy had started the category of 'Best Song', which was given to those songs which were used in the film, but not written specifically for that particular film. In this category, it was the artist, or group, who performed the song that received the award.....
Word spread quickly through the studio, so that when we took a break for lunch later in the afternoon, there was an impromptu 'Congratulations!' party, complete with a cake!
By the time we went to bed that night, we had heard from pretty much everyone that we knew, offering us congratulations on our nominations.....
January became February, and the Directors Guild and Union's managed to hammer out a new contract, without going on strike, which led to renewed talks with the writers, and the announcement of the end of the strike, shortly before my birthday, on Valentine's Day, which meant the Oscar's were now definitely going to go on as planned, on February
24th.....
I felt lips gently moving across the back of my shoulder, and another pair gently nibbling at my own lips before they both moved away, and I felt the bed shift as they moved and got out.
I decided to lay in bed and give myself a few minutes before getting up to join my family.....
I was just about to roll over and get out of bed when I heard the low murmur of my children's voices mixed with those of the two men I loved, and the clank of pots and pans coming from the kitchen. I smiled and closed my eyes, content to wait for whatever surprise the four of them had in store for me.
It was a short time later that I heard the sound of whispered voices and the clink of silverware coming down the hallway toward the bedroom. They stopped just inside the doorway and I heard Jake quietly counting to three before I heard all four of them shouting "Happy Birthday!!!"
I gave a yawn and stretched my arms before rolling over and sitting up in the bed. Ryan and Michelle were dressed for school, and Ryan was carrying a wicker tray with a plate that was heaped with scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and hash browns. There was also a tall glass of orange juice and a mug of coffee.
"Is all this for me?" I asked. "Gosh, what did I do to deserve this?"
"Daaaaad!! It's your Birthday!" Michelle said.
"Oh yeah! That's right! And here I thought it was Valentine's Day!"
"Stop teasing them," Jake said as he took the tray so I could hug the twins before they headed off to school.
"Do you guys have everything?" I asked as the got off the bed and headed out of the room. They assured me that they indeed did have everything, and then they were going with Paul to catch the bus. Jake set the tray across my lap and then sat on the bed, munching on a piece of bacon while we waited for Paul to get back.
"So, what's the plan for tonight?" Jake asked.
"Same as last year. Dinner with my family. Tomorrow night is bowling and pool."
"I missed that last year....." Jake said, brow furrowed as he looked down at the plate.
"Hey, all of that is in the past....Just concentrate on the here and now," I told him.
We were joined a minute later by Paul. The three of us shared a nice leisurely breakfast, followed by even more leisurely lovemaking. It was almost noon before we finally made it out of bed.....
I got to the bowling alley before anyone else and paid for three lanes, getting the twins set up on the lane nearest the wall with the gutter guards up. While they were getting used to things, I put my shoes on and got my ball out and set it in the ball return and sat down to wait.....
It was late when we finally got home. It had turned into quite a night..... In addition to my family, Maggie and Peter had shown up, along with Stephen and Naomi, as well as Wes and Shane, and several of my fellow cast-mates from 'Another Life.' Even Paul's mother came with Ashlie and Cody, his younger sister and brother!
We ended up having to get a fourth lane just to make sure everyone had an opportunity to join in the fun.
Third Person POV
"Today, on The Oprah Winfrey Show....They are four of the hottest young actors in Hollywood right now....They are also the stars of the hottest and most talked about movie of the year, 'Obsession,' and between the four of them, they have seven, count 'em, seven, Oscar nominations! Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Orsini, Paul Walker, and Shane West!" Oprah said as she turned and clapped along with the audience when Jake, Michael, Paul, and Shane came out onto the stage and each walked up and gave Oprah a kiss on the cheek before taking a seat on the couch.
"Okay Michael," Oprah began, "I have to ask about 'The Scene'," she said, making air quotes. "The 'Did he or didn't he?' scene. Let's take a look...." The five of them turned to look at the screen behind them as the "scene" in question began.....
Michael and Jake's characters were both behind the bar, with Jake leaning back against the shelves with his arms crossed and Michael standing before him, facing him. They were talking about both the dangers and the pleasures of "giving in to temptation", when Michael had finally had enough and shortened the distance between them and brought Jake's mouth down to his for a brief kiss, and eyes never leaving Jake's, he dropped down on his knees in front of Jake, and there was an audible gasp from the audience at the sound of a zipper being un-zipped before Madonna's "Erotica" started playing.....
When the lights came back up several minutes later, Jake was blushing furiously and Michael, while not nearly as red, was grinning like The Cheshire Cat, which brought about numerous cat-calls from the audience.
"Okay, so?" Oprah wanted to know.
"Okay," Michael began, "after I drop from the view of the camera, all you hear are Jake's re-actions, and all you see are Jake's re-actions, and then Shane's re-actions, first, to what he 'sees'," Michael said, also making air quotes, "and then his re-actions to hearing Jake while I'm out of camera range, 'doing it' to Jake," he said, making air quotes once more. "You noticed that I wasn't seen again until I stood up and walked out from behind the bar....It was all Jake's and Shane's re-actions....."
"You sly dawg you.... You're not going to tell me, are you?" Oprah asked.
"It was a closed set, with only myself, Jake, Shane, the two cameramen, and the producer....Heck no, I'm not gonna tell you!! That's one of the main reasons that the film has been so popular! The whole 'did he or did he not give Jake Gyllenhaal a blow job behind the bar!' mystery...."
Of course they edited out the words "a blow job," and cut to Oprah's face so that you couldn't read Michael's lips, but it's not like all of America wasn't already thinking it..... The show went to commercial after that, and when it came back.....
"We're back with Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Orsini, Paul Walker and Shane West. Okay guys, career wise, what comes next?" Oprah asked.
"Well, I start work on 'Fast and Furious 4' next week," Paul said.
"I'm almost finished working on 'Brothers'," Jake added.
"And I start work on 'The Hobbit' next month," Michael said.
"What about you Shane?" Oprah asked.
"I've got one already in post-production, one starting p.p., and the third one wraps up principal photography next week. They should all be out in the fall or this winter," Shane replied.
"I also heard a rumor about a multi-picture deal....Any truth to it?" Oprah wanted to know.
"It's not a rumor, nor is it any big secret," Michael began, and Jake went on to elaborate.
"Paul, myself, and Michael are all set to star in the next 'Star Wars' trilogy-"
"Which Peter Jackson is directing?" Oprah asked, for clarification.
"Yes. And George Lucas is going to have a hand at the 'King Kong' franchise."
"Peter gave George his blessing, and vice-versa with George and Peter, so they're going to do it...." Paul said.
"'It' being the as yet untitled 'Star Wars' trilogy starring Mark Hamill, Nicole Kidman, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford, along with Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Jacen and Jaina Solo and Paul and Michael as Ben and Anakin Skywalker. George Lucas will do 'King Kong: The Island of The Skull' which is actually a prequel, of course, to 'King Kong', and he'll finish up with 'The Son of Kong', which Peter had talked about doing in two parts....." Oprah said, reading from her cards.
"Yes," Michael answered. "And the four of us are scheduled to work together again later this year on 'Ocean's Fourteen'. Shane's doing another cameo and the three of us are playing the younger brothers of George, Brad, and Julia. It's going to be a blast!"
"And on that note, we have to take a break, but when we return, Michael tells us how he nearly lost his life in a freak accident on Christmas Eve....."
A few more minutes worth of commercials, and then.....
"Okay, so Michael, take us through what happened...."
"Okay, so, um....." Michael paused to take a couple of deep breaths. "It was Christmas Eve, and, of course, just like everyone else, we had to go do some last minute shopping, so we did our grocery shopping first, then we hit the mall....I had to park clear down on the lowest level of the underground parking garage. At least I got a spot close to the stairs and the elevator. Anyways, Jake and Paul took Ramona, that's Jake's niece, and went to a restaurant a couple blocks away to wait while I got my rig and then went to pick them up. I had the kids with me....."
"Your twins and Paul's daughter?" Oprah asked.
"Yes. Anyway, I got everything loaded into the back of my Excursion, and then got the kids in and made sure they were buckled up before I started the engine. While I was turned around checking to make sure nothing was coming, I hear this loud noise come from the front end of the Excursion and turn around, and there in the middle of the hood is a huge piece of concrete--"
"Oh my God!" Oprah murmured.
"Yeah, exactly..... Well anyway, I hear another one hit, this time on the roof, and it's about that time that I notice that the whole place is starting to come down, so I threw my rig into park and shut it off, all the while trying to get my seatbelt off and trying to make sure the kids got theirs off and then got down on the floor...."
"What was going through your mind while all of this was going on?" Oprah asked, a shocked look on her face.
"My first thought was the kids....Once the collapse was over, and I was sure we were all okay, I had to figure out a way to get out of my partially crushed vehicle. Once I did that and got the kids out, it became a waiting game, for all of us....."
"And you made it out, despite incredible odds...."
"Until I got the four of us safely out of the vehicle and called up to the surface, I still didn't know what was going on....I had no idea whether it had been an earthquake or what. Once I got ahold of someone to let them know we were okay, I was able to find out exactly what had happened. Don't ask me how I kept it together, but I think the kids had alot to do with it...." Michael said.
"How so?" Oprah asked.
"Any fears I might have had, I had to keep them bottled up in order to be there for the kids.... Not too many people know about this, but....." He paused and looked at Jake and Paul, almost as if he were gathering the strength to reveal some hidden truth.....
"I was almost killed last year...." There was a gasp, from both the audience and Oprah herself.
"Michael!"
"I won't go into too much detail except to say that I had a stalker who had developed feelings for me that I did not and could not return, and when they realized this, they....snapped, and when they finally made themselves known to me, there was a confrontation which led to a pool-house fire, and I almost....died...."
"Wow!" Oprah said in amazement.
"For a couple months after that, I was prone to nightmares and panic attacks. I think that had the kids not been trapped down there with me, I would have lost it completely. As it was, after being down there for eight hours, we, or more precisely, I, had had enough, and so we decided to try and dig our way out."
"Now, it was just you, the kids, and three other adults, correct?"
"Yes."
"Amazing! When we come back, Michael tells us about the dramatic rescue that occurred early on Christmas morning....."
Another couple minutes worth of commercials and.....
"We're back. Michael, tell us what happened next....."
"Well, it took about three, three and a half hours or so to get up to the next level from where we were. Once we got there, the stairwell was ok, at least as far as half way up to the third level, then the stairs were gone, so we went back down to the fourth level and tried the door leading to the parking deck, but no luck. It was stuck shut, so we went back up to the landing between three and four and waited."
"And that is where the rescue workers found you?" Oprah asked.
"Yes. They lowered a worker down and then we were all lifted up to three, where we were lifted out via the elevator shaft."
Periodically throughout Michael's explanation, there was news footage and still photo's shown on the big screen behind where they sat.
"I found out later that there were only about a dozen people who survived and were rescued from below the surface....." Michael said quietly.
"We'll be right back," Oprah said as the show went to commercial once again.
"Okay, we're back. Before we go, any news on the romantic front? Shane?"
"Um, no comment," Shane replied.
"Alright, Jake, how about you?"
"I think I'll follow Shane's lead on this and say 'no comment'," Jake said.
"Guys! Gimme something! Work with me here!" Oprah joked. "Paul?"
"I can safely say that I'm in a committed, monogamous relationship," Paul replied.
"Finally, a little cooperation! I'm one for two here. Are you going to help me out here Michael, or are you going to make it two for two?" Oprah wanted to know.
"Well, as of Christmas Day evening, I'm officially engaged," Michael said, and held up his right hand, displaying an impressive looking diamond ring set.
"Get out of here! Seriously?"
"As a heart attack!" Michael said.
Oprah leaned foreword to take one of his hands in hers and said, "Congratulations! Well, that's our show for today, but if you tune in to 'Oxygen' you can see what happens after we go off the air....."
Michael's POV
We went right from Oprah to the airport, and flew out to L.A. Oscar Awards weekend!! It was Saturday afternoon, and I was, as usual, in the kitchen. Jake and Paul had gone to pick up my family at the airport. The phone rang just as I was preparing to take some tomatoes out of the boiling water and put them into an ice bath.
"Hello?"
"Hello Michael, it's Jessica--"
"Jessica, can you hang on a second?"
"Um, sure....." the young woman on the other end of the phone said, sounding anything but.....
"Great, thanks," I said and set the phone down on the counter and quickly scooped the tomatoes out of the boiling water and put them into a bowl of ice water.
I picked up the phone. "Sorry about that. I'm blanching tomatoes for sauce tonight. Now, please tell me that everything is all set for the Twenty ninth?" I asked, practically begging.
Jessica Sue Strahl, soon to be Mrs. Alex Wright, or just plain Jessica, was my 'Personal Assistant', whom Andine had found for me to help me plan and organize the commitment ceremony after I had informed her that Paul and Jake had popped the question on Christmas night.
"Everything is going according to schedule. The tent and chairs will be set up in Topanga Park by six o'clock that morning. All you guys need to do is show up by seven-thirty. Are you making your own sauce?"
"Yeah....We've always done a huge spaghetti dinner on Oscar night, but since I'm nominated this year, we're doing it tonight instead. Why don't you and Alex join us." I asked.
"Are you sure? We wouldn't want to intrude....."
"Six-thirty," I told her. "And you're not intruding.... I truly couldn't have done this without you...."
"Aaawww, you're so sweet! Thank you, Michael!"
"Yeah, whatever! Six-thirty!" I told her. Her girlish giggle was the last thing I heard before she hung up.
Third Person POV
"Hi everyone, and welcome back to our Live Red Carpet Coverage here at The Kodak Theatre. It's Oscar night, and I'm Lisa Rinna...."
"And I'm Joey Fatone, and we're bringin' it to you live!! Aahh, and who do we have here? It looks like it's this year's 'IT' foursome, Jake, Michael, Paul, and Shane! Hey guys!"
"Oh! Sorry, hi!" Michael said. He was clearly having the time of his life that night on the biggest Red Carpet in the world.
"Okay, I have to see the ring!" Lisa exclaimed, right off the bat. Michael brought his right hand up obligingly.
"Damn!! Whoever he is, he must love you an awful lot!" Lisa said.
"Trust me, he does," Michael said.
"Okay, so, come on guys, the Tuxes?"
The four of them looked at one another before they said, in unison, "Armani!"....
"This is Ryan Seacrest, and we're here, overlooking the Red Carpet at The Kodak Theatre on Oscar night... It looks like things have really picked up now... Let's take a look at what's going on, shall we? Let's see, we have last year's Best Actress winner Helen Mirren, and is that Michael Orsini posing for pictures with the fans? I'd recognize that red hair anywhere..... Hmmm, if Paul Walker gets any closer to him, he's gonna have to get a marriage license, which might be kind of difficult, since Michael already claims to have a fiancée....."
Jake's POV
Man, what a night!! We were currently at Elton John's Oscar Party, and Michael is sitting at a table in a dimly lit corner of the room, his two Oscars by his elbow, discussing the up-coming elections with Helen Mirren. Yes, I said "two" Oscars! I guess I should start from the beginning....
The night got off to a kick-ass start when Butterfly Boucher opened the show with her song, 'Another White Dash', from our film....
Another high point of the evening came when JC Chasez sang 'Father Figure'. During both songs, they showed a montage of different clips from the movie, and when JC got to the line, ".....that's all I wanted, just to see my baby's green eyes shine.....", the clip up on the screen behind JC and his group, which was in the shadows, showed a slow motion of Michael's face lit up by a brilliant smile, before he blinked and turned to say something to someone standing behind him. Then later, during the bridge, the whole theatre cheered and burst into applause when Michael stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight for the guitar solo, where he stayed for the remainder of the song.....
The next award to be given out was, of course, Best Supporting Actor. I think we were all a little surprised when Jennifer Hudson let out a tiny gasp and then a little giggle before saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen, it's a tie!" and then named Javier Bardem as the first winner. While he was making his acceptance speech, I began making my way backstage, as I was co-presenting the awards for Best Song, Best Original Song, and Best Original Score, in reverse order, with Paul and Shane.
I had just gotten backstage and was waiting in the wings when I hear Jennifer saying, ".....and the second Oscar goes to Paul Walker, for 'Obsession'!....." I was totally stunned! We had actually won an award! And for acting, no less! I only wished Michael could be here with me, but he was already on the opposite side of the stage waiting for this to be done so he could perform his own song.... I was snapped out of my reverie by Paul who attacked me in a huge hug as soon as he got back stage. I noticed that he hadn't yet headed backstage to the Press Room, and it was then that it dawned on me that they had brought out three of the shiny golden statues.....
I looked up at him. "No! Are you shitting me?"
He just smiled and shook his head, at the same time Jennifer was saying, ".....and the third Oscar goes to...Shane West, also for 'Obsession'!....."
While a part of me was insanely happy that we had just won two acting awards for our movie, another part of me was equally as sad that Michael didn't in this category also. So we waited while Shane made his acceptance speech and then stood in the wings and watched and listened as Michael, dressed in a simple black silk shirt, tight black Levi's, and black cowboy boots, sat on a stool at center-stage with Bonnie Raitt playing back-up guitar, JC on drums, four violinists, and Beyonce` and Christina Aguilera doing background vocals as he sang 'Songbird'. On the big screen behind them, Paul and Michael's love scene was shown, uncut, and in it's entirety.
I found out later that Aaron Eckhart was overheard saying, "Damn, I'd even fuck him!" Unfortunately for him, he happened to be sitting in front of Michael's mother, who leaned foreword in her seat and whispered in Aaron's ear, "Excuse me, but that's my son you're referring to. If I ever hear you say something like that again, I'll rip off your balls and shove them down your throat. Do I make myself clear?"
After Michael's performance, the show went to commercial, and when it came back on, Shane, Paul, and I strode out to the middle of the stage to present the Music awards.... Best Original Score was won by 'Atonement', Best Original Song went to one of the songs from 'Enchanted', and Best Song, ended up being another three-way tie, the second tie of the evening, between the three songs from 'Obsession'.
Somehow, Michael had managed to get back into his tux, and into the audience during the commercial break and while were presenting the first two awards, so that when his name was called, he came up from the audience, instead of from the wings offstage.
When you get nominated for an award, any kind of award, it's a huge honor.... When you win that award, it kind of changes your life. I tend to forget that this is really nothing new for Michael..... He has five Daytime Emmy's at home. In some ways though, it is kind of new.....
After tonight, and probably for the rest of his life, his name will be preceded by the phrase "Emmy and Academy Award winning Actor...."
The evening had wound down to the last four awards, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture, which is given to the film's Producer.
I sat, nervously bouncing my leg as Helen Mirren read the nominees. Beside me I heard Michael take a deep breath in through his nose, and then slowly exhale, blowing it out through his mouth. "Just relax....." he whispered.
"And the Oscar goes to...." Helen said as she broke the seal on the envelope. "Oh! It's another tie!" Everyone watched as the young woman brought out two Oscars.... "The first Oscar goes to.....Jake Gyllenhaal, for 'Obsession'!"
I was so busy clapping and looking around the crowded theatre for the this Gyllenhaal character, that it took a couple seconds to dawn on me that it was ME!! I finally got my ass out of my seat and headed up to collect my award!
I can't remember anything that I said.....I just wanted to know who my co-winner was going to be, so I stood back and off to the side as Helen said, "And the second Oscar goes to....Michael Orsini, also for 'Obsession'!"
I watched as shock gave way to dawning realization, and Michael slowly made his way to his feet and headed for the stage....
I'm not going to bore you with a bunch of long speeches. Suffice it to say, we were both in one of the many press rooms backstage when they announced 'Obsession' as Best Picture, and we both quickly made our way back to the stage where I accepted my second award of the night.....
After the four of us had gotten our pictures taken for what seemed like the millionth time that night, we headed off to the after parties..... Needless to say, it was the wee hours of the morning before we finally managed to make it home and crawl into our bed.....
Paul's POV
Our commitment ceremony took place at seven o'clock on a foggy Saturday morning at the end of March in Topanga Park, with only our immediate families and a few close friends in attendance. Annie Leibovitz was there and captured it all on film for the three of us....
After the ceremony, we all came home to have an enormous brunch, after which everyone left, taking our kids with them, and we then had three weeks all to ourselves.
We spent an entire two weeks in a rustic, thatch-roofed cottage in the English countryside, and when we returned, Michael gave the numerous rolls of film and memory cards we had taken on our "honeymoon" to Annie to process.... What we received in return was a large, white, leather-bound album, full of pictures, some in full color, some in sepia tones, some in black-and-white, and all beautiful, showing the three of us, and our families, exactly what pure, true love was.....
Christmas, 2012--Joint POV
Well, here we are, just about four years later....We're spending Christmas this year in the house in New York....It's a White Christmas.....Speaking of the house in New York....By 2010, everyone else had gotten other places to live, and moved out, so the next year was spent re-modeling the place, yet again, to turn it into a place for just the six of us. Somehow, everything was done in time for us to move back in by Halloween, which we did and celebrated with a kick-ass Halloween costume party!
I completed work on 'FF4-More Fast, More Furious' around the time Michael began work on 'The Hobbit', and Jake was at the same time, finishing up work on a political comedy, and so that allowed me to be there for our kids....
I think we had, maybe, at the most, two months, between the time Michael finished working on 'The Hobbit', and when we started working on 'Ocean's 14'. Well, Paul and I actually had more time, so we did what we liked to do in our down time now: We sailed.
Michael, Paul, and I were now the proud owners of a fifty-foot sailing yacht which the three of us, and our kids, fit into quite comfortably....
Okay, now that those two dorks have finished bending your ears, it's my turn! After 'Ocean's 14' wrapped production, we took the kids and spent a month over in England in "our cottage", which incidentally, we now own, before production began on the 'Star Wars' and 'Kong' series'.
For all our sakes, we decided it would be best to just pull the kids out of the schools they were in here in the States, and get them some private tutors for the three plus years that we were overseas....
Which brings us up to the present.... The first films in both series' are scheduled to open tomorrow, Christmas Day.... The kids want to go see them both, but we told them they were going to have to wait a few days....
D'oh! It looks like it's time to do "rip & shred" with the family and my two guys!
Later!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Okay, that's it, that's the end. Please write and let me know
what you thought, good or bad. Email is dnsphelps@mcsi.net and I can also be found on several IM's. Yahoo is twains_fan_03@yahoo.com MSN is twains_fan_03@hotmail.com AIM is guyoregon8 and Myspace is www.myspace.com/dnsphelps Please be sure to include the story title so that you're not deleted, blocked, or ignored!
Thanks,
Stephen