Chapter Text
The kitchen at Blackwatch hummed with activity as they finished prep for a garden Hors D’Oeuvres party at the Alcaidesa. This gig would be the last major party the catering company had on their books before Gabriel Reyes would get a well-earned two weeks off for his wedding and a short honeymoon with his soon-to-be-husband, while Jesse and Hanzo would hopefully not burn the entire building down taking care of a couple of small breakfast and boxed lunch gigs.
Dressed in a white coat and black pants so he could deliver and manage plate up once they reached the country club, Gabriel carefully ran through the checklist attached to his clipboard, tapping each item with a pen as he went.
“Jesse – Duck empanadas?”
His sous looked up from where he’d been working with a grin. “Wrapped and loaded on the van. We have three 2-liter cambros of crab gazpacho loaded too, and the boxes of shooter glasses to serve it in.”
Gabriel made appropriate notes, then nodded. “OK, good. Where are we at on the stuffed grapes and caprese salad on a stick?”
Hanzo gestured to the walk in. “We have four hundred globe grapes stuffed with blue cheese and walnut mousse and the same amount of caprese skewers loaded on the cart in the walk in.”
“BLT sliders are loaded. Tuna ceviche?”
“On the cart,” Jesse confirmed, “Cheese and cracker plates, too.”
“Salmon skewers?”
“Finishing them now,” Hanzo confirmed, “give me five minutes.”
Gabriel nodded. “OK. Jesse, check everything we need for plating up at the country club and make sure it’s on the van. I want to have everything that isn’t ‘grab and go’ ready as quickly as we can.” He turned, looking over to where their summer intern was finishing helping Hanzo slip marinated salmon morsels onto pieces of bamboo. “Fareeha?”
The 16-year–old with braided hair tucked carefully under her ballcap turned and stiffened to something like attention, “Yes Chef!”
Gabriel smiled. She was really getting into the whole thing. “Go grab the cart from the walk in and get it loaded on the van, then give Jesse a hand. You’ll come with us to unload, and I want you to help Hanzo with plating.”
Fareeha nodded, excitement flashing in her dark eyes as she headed for the walk in. “Yes Chef!”
Aside from one of the country club’s banquet servers dropping an entire platter of gazpacho on an unfortunate guest, things had gone well. A hefty check went into the Blackwatch bank account, and Gabriel felt his shoulders finally relax as they unloaded the van and washed down the used containers, platters, and glassware.
“Y’know the best part about this, Gabe?” Jesse looked over, elbow-deep in the dish tank. “All those finger foods mean we barely have anything to clean up.”
Hanzo snorted from where he was keeping an eye on Fareeha as she mopped up the floors. “If one ignores the utter disgrace that is your prep station.”
“Aw, darlin’, why’d you have to go and do that?”
Gabriel smirked. “Go cry in the walk in, Jesse. And then go clean up your shit.”
The sous sighed, dropping the last of the platters he’d been cleaning on the drying rack. “I’m going, I promise. But speaking of going – shouldn’t you be getting out of here, Jefe? Don’t you have to be at the airport at Stupid O’Clock?”
Gabriel shook his head. “Plans changed. My cousin found a cheaper way to fly in – Miami to London, crash for the night at a hostel to sleep off the jet lag, and then an afternoon flight down here. Gets in at about four o’clock.”
“Huh. Not bad.” Then, Jesse’s smile turned sly. “Let me put that another way – since we have everything under control here, wouldn’t you rather be home when Jack gets in? Hanzo and I can wrap up and drop ’Reeha off at Ana’s on our way out.”
Fareeha snorted. “Or you could just let me drive myself home, the same way I got here.”
Jesse rolled his eyes. “Last I checked, people who just got their license three weeks ago ain’t supposed to drive around after 9pm.”
“Oh,” the teenager retorted, “I’m sure you were great about following that one.”
Gabriel chuckled as he undid the buttons of his coat. “OK, c’mon, mijo. Ease up. If you’re that worried, follow her out and then go do…whatever you guys are going to do.”
Jesse waved his hands in the general direction of the parking lot. “Alright, alright. But seriously, boss, get out of here. Go on home, we got this.”
Gabriel grinned. “I’m going, just…take care of the place, will you? I’m starting to like it here.”
Hanzo responded to that with a respectful bow, which was mildly unexpected. “I will make sure everything is still standing when you come back.” Then, with a sly smirk, he looked over at Jesse. “Him, I make no promises about.”
The sight of Jesse whipping a wet dishrag at his partner’s head for that remark had Gabriel smiling through his entire drive home.
To his surprise, Jack was sitting on their couch when he opened the door to their apartment, a bottle of beer in one hand, the blond’s head turning to look over as Gabriel came through the door.
“Hey,” Jack smiled as he stood, putting his beer down on the coffee table, “How was the party?”
Gabriel hung his knife roll up on a coat hook, then extracted a ‘welcome home’ kiss before answering. “Good, honestly. The only things that went wrong were completely outside of my control, Fareeha’s coming along, and I’m pretty certain that Hanzo isn’t going to let Jesse do anything too stupid while we’re gone.”
Settling back down on the couch, Gabriel stole a sip of Jack’s beer before relinquishing the bottle. “Not that I’m complaining, but I thought you were closing tonight?”
“Would you believe Chef came in? Told me to leave after finishing prep and he would take care of Expo. I think it was half an early wedding present, and half wanting to see how Lena handled things. I told him I’d like to give her a serious look as a new roundsman the other day.”
“Huh.” Like most of the Grand Old Men of their profession who had risen to become both Executive and Owner, Chef had reached the age and prestige where he generally showed up for lunch service to do some VIP tables, worked in his office a few hours a week, and spent more days practicing his golf swing than his knife cuts. For him to actually come in and close – on a weeknight – was practically a miracle. “I’ll be damned. Think Lena’s ready?”
Jack grinned. “No worse off than we were. She’s still a little wobbly on grill, but she has sauté and cold kitchen down flat, and she Expo’d brunch service for most of last month with no problems. Besides, bouncing between stations and filling in for trouble spots all night might be the only way to harness all of her energy.”
“Well,” Gabriel grinned darkly, “in the kitchen, anyway. I’m sure Ame could tell some stories…”
Jack dropped his face into his hand. “You’re terrible. How am I marrying someone this terrible?”
Leaning over, Gabriel gently kissed his fiancé’s temple. “I’m sure I can think of a few reasons you put up with me, mi sol.”
Gabriel made a point of heading to the airport a little early. He knew when his cousin’s flight would be arriving, but he preferred to be ready for the plane’s arrival than fighting through the headaches of getting parked and finding the right baggage claim.
He’d picked up a coffee on his way into the building, then found the Arrivals board and checked the flight number. Right on time, coming into baggage claim #3. Perfect.
Finding a good seat near the escalator that lead down from the terminal’s gates, he settled in with his coffee and a book on his phone for the short wait.
He hadn’t seen Lance in almost six years – his last visit home to LA for one of their big family Christmas gatherings – but he knew the moment he had accepted Jack’s ring that his cousin would be in the wedding.
His Tía had gotten married fairly late in life, despite being the older sister of her generation, so Lance had come along when Gabriel had already been twelve – putting him in the position of being more of an uncle than a peer as Lance had grown up. Despite that, they’d formed a close bond, and Gabriel had worked to keep it up even with the younger man growing up halfway across the country. They’d talked almost daily about anything and everything before he’d gone overseas in the pursuit of his culinary career, and now traded emails at least once a week, with the occasional phone call or skype as time allowed.
Lance had come out to Gabriel in one of those emails in his late teens. Gabriel called him as soon as he left the restaurant, phone charges and time changes be damned, to make sure Lance knew how proud he was, and how much he loved him. After all, Gabriel hadn’t been willing to risk coming out to anyone in his family until he was an adult who was literally living on another continent.
Now, a little over a decade later, he was getting married to a man who he was insane about, and his favorite cousin would be in his wedding. How crazy his life had gotten. His life was completely upside down from anything he’d expected when he’d nearly walked out the door from Overwatch three years ago, but he wasn’t complaining one bit.
He’d gotten lost in those thoughts until a younger man with short, shaggy hair and skin a few shades darker than his own came off the escalator and half power walked, half ran towards him. “GABI!”
Gabriel had just enough time to put his coffee down and stand up before Lance was grabbing him for a hug. “Hey, cachorro! How was your flight to London?”
“Pretty good,” Lance answered as he gently disengaged from the hug. “But c’mon, I’m just about full grown - not so much of a puppy anymore!”
Gabriel grinned, ruffling the younger man’s hair a little. (When did he get so fucking tall? Last time they’d seen each other, he’d still been a good foot shorter, and now they could almost see eye to eye.) “Well, we’ll see. Want to grab your bags and I’ll take you over to the hotel to check in before dinner?”
Lance suddenly looked away, putting a hand behind his head with a blush. “Yeah, about that…”
Gabriel suddenly realized that a third person, just a bit shorter than his cousin, had walked up to them. Lighter skinned, but with a slight almond shape to his dark blue eyes, with a mop of deep black hair and a sharply angular chin. “Lance? Is this him?”
“Yeah – Cousin Gabriel, this is…um…my boyfriend. Keith. Remember how I asked about a plus one?”
“Yes,” Gabriel frowned, “and then didn’t actually TELL us you were bringing one.”
“Ahh, hah. Yeah.” Lance coughed. “Wasn’t sure he was going to be able to make it until the last minute.”
Gabriel shook his head, then huffed a laugh. “OK. I should kick your ass for that, but I don’t want to make you look bad in front of tu novio blanco.” Turning, he offered a hand. “Gabriel Reyes.”
Keith visibly relaxed, then shook the offered hand firmly. “Keith Park. Lance talks about you a lot.”
Lance grinned slyly. “Like the fact that you’re marrying a freaking blond-haired, blue eyed gringo from Indiana. So you have absolutely no room to give me shit. Besides, Keith’s half-Korean. Totally different thing.”
Gabriel shook his head as he turned them towards the baggage claim so they could collect the younger men’s suitcases. “Oh, no, Lancito. That’s not how this works. Let me show you how this works.” He turned to Keith with an almost-feral grin. “Would you like to hear about how Lance demanded to go trick or treating as Elsa for Halloween when he was in fifth grade?”
Lance bodily launched himself towards a pair of blue and red suitcases that were slowly making their way down the carousel, his voice rising with increasing panic. “NO, no, no he does NOT! You mentioned the hotel? I like the hotel! Let’s just GRAB THESE and go to the hotel RIGHT NOW.”
Even though Gabriel had only known Keith for about two minutes, he could see the laughter dancing in his eyes as he strained to keep from laughing.
Gabriel locked eyes with the shorter man, his voice dropping to a stage whisper. “I think I still have a few of the pictures his mama sent me on my computer.”
Lance hung his head, defeated, as his boyfriend and cousin began to laugh. “Aw, noooo.”
Dinner that night had gone well – Jack had heard plenty of stories about Lance over the years they’d worked together, even before they started dating – and even though Keith had been quiet through most of the evening, he seemed to genuinely be enjoying himself by the time Gabriel and Jack had driven the younger couple back to the hotel.
“Tailor opens at nine,” Gabriel reminded Lance before he left the car, “We can do some breakfast after.”
“Just please tell me the tailor will have coffee? I’m mostly OK with the jet lag, but it’s still early.”
Gabriel snorted. “It must be so nice to go to college and have classes that let you sleep in.”
“Says the guy who wakes up at, what, eleven and works until three?”
Gabe rolled his eyes. “I have a respectable position now. I get to go in at eight like a normal person and do paperwork for half of my day.”
“God, how terrible.” Lance reached across the center console to deliver an awkward hug. “I’ll see you in the morning, Gabi. Thanks for…well, thanks for not kicking my ass, and stuff.”
“No hay pedo. Go get some sleep.”
The fitting went smoothly enough. The measurements Lance’s father had taken were as excellent as Gabriel had expected, and the tailor was happy to provide them both with coffee, claiming he’d need a cup himself before he tried sticking pins in anything.
Once Lance had his tuxedo finished, they went to a little café Gabriel had found that did a surprisingly passable version of chilaquiles, munching on orders and sipping some orange juice for a few minutes before Gabriel decided to broach the elephant back at the hotel.
“So. Keith…”
Lance looked up, eyebrows raising. “What about him?”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “How serious is this? You told me you had a boyfriend at one point, but not that you were at the point of asking him to come with.”
Lance coughed. “At first…I kinda thought I hated him. He was in a bunch of my Aeronautics and Engineering classes. Didn’t get along at all.”
“He seemed pretty quiet last night. Nice, I mean, but quiet.”
“He was tired, and he doesn’t know you guys. Outside of a classroom he tends to be kinda reserved around people he doesn’t know…but he warms up quick. He likes you. Juancito, too. He appreciated you guys opening up for him so easily.”
Gabriel shrugged. “Jack’s a sucker for the lost puppy cases.”
Lance smirked. “Says the guy who pretty much adopted Jesse. Jack told me some of those stories. Does he really wear those boots all the time?”
Gabriel snorted, shaking his head. “So maybe I can have a soft spot sometimes, too. But we’re not talking about me right now.” He raised his fork, pointing it over the table. “We’re talking about you.”
Lance’s face softened. “Yeah, I know. After we figured out we actually liked each other, well…it’s been getting more serious.” He paused, a blush rising on his face. “I like him a lot, honestly. I liked him enough to ask him to come with me. His parents split up before he was born – he hasn’t spoken to his dad in years. He’s not really used to a big family. I didn’t want to just drop him into everything at Christmas or something. I wanted him here so he could meet you, and get used to it, I guess…Tía Mari and Tío Enrique are gonna be here, so I figured it’s a start.”
Gabriel reached out, ruffling his cousin’s hair. “Good.” Leaning back, he took a sip of his coffee before considering what to say next. “I know you came out to tus padres after you talked to me. Does your abeula know? Because she will be getting pictures from us.”
Lance nodded. “Yeah, I told her last Christmas. And I told her about Keith before I left.”
“…and?”
Lance sighed. “Well, first she asked if he was Catholic.”
Gabriel huffed a laugh. “Of course she did.”
Lance smiled. “But then she said that if I’d found someone that made me happy, that was the most important thing.”
“Bacán. Jack’s sister is flying in today, so he’ll be pretty busy, and mama y papi get here tomorrow, so this is probably my last free afternoon until after the wedding. You want to pick up your boy and take him around town for a bit after we finish up?”
“That’d be great.”