“Five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!” shouted the house full of partygoers.
All packed together in a New York City high-rise, noisemakers went off as champagne corks went flying, and partygoers filled their cups with Cremasse, the Haitian’s version of Egg Nogg, Champagne, and other alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
Amongst the packed crowd, Jean Pierre gripped the face of his boyfriend, Jordan, kissing Jordan like he was attempting to suck all the air from Jordan’s lungs. Holding Jordan flush against his body, Jean dipped him as their friends and family around them began to cheer.
“Bon Ane, my love.” Said Jean, as he put Jordan upright again.
Jordan smiled that same goofy grin he’d been giving Jean since high school, as he gripped onto the other man’s shirt.
“And happy Haitian Independence Day to you mon amour.” Jordan said back.
The men laughed as Jean’s hands found his boyfriend’s hips and pulled Jordan flush against him.
All around them, Jordan and Jean’s loved ones were laughing, eating, and mingling with one another.
With their glasses in hand, and their fingers laced together, the boyfriends floated around the party, stopping every now and again so that Jean could explain a food item to one of their friends.
“Oh, I know what those are! Those are Haitian patties!” Jordan said excitedly, as he and a few of his and Jordan’s Italian friends stood in the food line.
Joseph, Jean’s dad, stood on the other side of the table, holding his phone horizontally as he snapped photos of the food.
“What’s with Haitians and having photos of the food?” Zac, Jordan’s cousin, asked.
Pierre shook his head and slapped a hand on Zac’s shoulder.
“That’s just one of the many Haitian mysteries my friend.” He said.
Finally, after an entire Vogue photoshoot was done for the food, Joseph pocketed his phone and slid out of the way, giving everyone else access to the table.
Making their way around the living room, Jordan, Pierre, and the rest of their friend each found a child and ushered them over to the buffet. After fixing each child a plate, the friends headed over to the older folks, who were playing Dominos in the living room and got their requests. It was only then, after the children and the elders had gotten their food, that everyone else made their plates.
Sitting in the living room, Pierre and Jordan’s friends crowded around Pierre and his cousins and began pointing out foods on their plates, asking about them.
Wanting to impress his boyfriend and his family, Jordan couldn’t help but pipe up whenever a question he knew the answer to was asked.
“Pierre, vini!” Shirlene, Pierre’s aunt said, waving him over.
Handing his plate off to his best friend Sarah, Pierre and Jordan made their way over to Shirlene.
After handing her phone over to Pierre, Shirlene hurried over to the couch and sat between her sister and Pierre’s father, Marc.
“Ahh, you might as well eat his food, cause he ain’t coming back.” Jackie, Pierre’s cousin said, as Jordan, Pierre’s cousins, and their friends watched.
With each flash of the camera, Shirlene and the rest of the people on the couch moved this way and that way.
Between each photo, Shirlene, and Pierre’s mother, Jasmine popped up from the couch, demanding to see the photos, before going back to the couch and requesting that Pierre snap more.
“Rete la, kite m’ kouvri vant mwen.” She said, placing her hands over her stomach.
Then, after Jasmine assured Shirlene that her stomach was well covered, Pierre snapped about a million more photos, stopping every so often, so that the women could confirm that they looked good.
By the time they were done, Pierre was sure they had enough photos to fill at least four or five photo albums.
Despite having an iPhone with more than enough iCloud storage to hold them all, Jasmine loved having physical copies of the photos as well. All throughout the year, she would collect the physical photos, and then at the end of the year, she’d organize them into photo albums and send them back home, to Haiti, for their family to look at.
“Mèsi pitit mwen.” Jasmine said as he handed Sherline back her phone.
After promising to snap more photos later, Pierre turned around and was about to make his way over to Jordan and his cousin’s, when Grace, Zac’s mother, grabbed Pierre’s arm.
“Vini non! Dance with me!” She shouted over the music.
Jordan turned to Pierre and their friends and shrugged as he allowed Grace to pull him onto the dance floor.
After three and a half years together, Jordan had been to enough Haitian parties, so dancing Kompa, and cutting up a rug was second nature.
As the music changed, Jordan and Grace slid out onto the dance floor, and got into position, and as the music began, the pair went flying around the dance floor.
Off to the side, Pierre and the rest of the family cheered them on.
Round and round the pair went as one song turned into two, and two became three. The pair moved liked they’d been dancing together their entire lives.
Off to the side, Pierre couldn’t help but smile; he loved how much his family loved Jordan.
As the fourth song began, Grace tapped out.
“That’s it, I can’t dance anymore!” She laughed, hugging Jordan tightly.
The pair laughed as Jordan squeezed her and released her.
“I never should have given you those Kon pa lessons. You’re gonna be cutting up at every party now!” Pierre said as Jordan fell into him.
Jordan laughed as he hugged his boyfriend and pressed his lips to Pierre’s.
“Happy New Year my love.” Jordan said between kisses.
For the rest of the night, Jordan and Pierre drank, chatted with Pierre’s family, and ate until they felt like their bellies were going to explode.
When Jordan had come out to his family, they pushed him out, and for a long time, he thought he’d lost everything. But when he met Pierre and Pierre’s family, Jordan was gifted a whole new family; and for that, he’d forever be grateful to his boyfriend.
Well, Happy New Year folks! Anyone got any resolutions this year? Leave a comment and let me know! While you’re commenting, don’t forget to tell me your thoughts on this story! I know we’re a couple of weeks into the year, but it’s still January, so I thought, might as well. Like I always say, if you liked this story, hit that star, and if you wanna contribute financially to The Royal Blue Network, you can do so by buying a cup of coffee! A single cup is 4$, and does wonders with helping out the site! You can also help out by following RBN here on WordPress as well as on Instagram and Twitter. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this- Cephinise.
Buy Me A Coffee Please 
Follow RBN on Twitter 
Follow RBN on Instagram