Title: 17 mai
By: BflyW
Summary: Greg is being sentimental.
Characters: Nick, Greg
Genres: romance
Rating: NC17
Warnings: none

"What's the matter?" Nick sent his boyfriend a worried look. Greg had been silent all day, and that was never a good sign. He had done his job properly at work, but he hadn't come forward with any of his smart remarks or shown the well known Greg Sanders attitude. He had simply been quiet.

"Nothing." Greg didn't even look away from the TV as he answered, but merely continued to play piano on the remote control.

"Nothing?" It sure wasn't 'nothing' or he wouldn't have been sulking like this, Greg Sanders didn't sulk often. He searched his brain to find anything that could be wrong, things going on at work, stuff he might have done to hurt him, but he came up empty.

"Come on Greggo, I can see there's something, and you're starting to worry me here." Nick sat down beside him, taking the remote control out of his hand. The fact that Greg let him do that was even scarier.

"Sorry, it's just.... May 17th's coming up." Greg said, as if that meant something.

"Yeah, it's in 3 days, I know. So?" The date didn't ring any bells for him, and he started to fear that he had forgotten something important. It wasn't the date they started dating, it wasn't his parents wedding day or the day any of his grandparents died. Nope, nothing came up.

"It's Norway's national day." Greg said, clarifying, as he could obviously see the wheels turning in Nick's head.

"Oh, I didn't know that." Nick thought he should have known though. Greg was always telling him things about Norway, and he did try to pay attention, but he had to admit that not everything stuck. What he did remember about Norway's national day though, was that the children paraded through the streets. And.... well there wasn't really an 'and' because he didn't remember any more than that. He did know that it was a happy day though.

"So why the sad face, kjære?" He deliberately used the Norwegian nickname for 'dear', as he wanted to show him that he had at least picked up some Norwegian.

"Ah... just makes me a bit sentimental that's all. I used to celebrate 17 Mai with Nana and Papa Hojem you know. They would make all Norwegian food, and a cream sponge cake, you know bløtkake covered in Marzipan. Nana Hojem never whipped the cream really well though, so it was kind of runny and didn't taste all that good, but I actually miss that runny cream cake now."

"So you miss your Grandparents, is that's what you're telling me?" Nick wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, who now looked suddenly small and fragile.

"Yeah, and I miss doing all the Norwegian stuff too. My Mom hasn't been really good at following that up you know, growing up in the US and all. I guess having foreign parents made her more determined to show everyone that she was American, so she never cared much for the Norwegian. But I kinda liked the Norwegian stuff that Papa and Nana always did. And I have started to realize that so much of the stuff I did as a kid is depending on me to be carried on now, and that's a bit scary. It's not like I paid that much attention to why and how Nana Hojem made everything and it's too late now. And, well, you of all people should know that I am not particularly domestic, so that the traditions actually depend on me to be carried on...." Greg leaned into Nick's embrace, taking the comfort he could find there.

"So, what did you do?" Nick asked as he placed a light kiss on Greg's forehead.

"Huh?" Greg looked up at him with questioning eyes.

"On May 17th, how did you celebrate?"

"Well, we usually went to celebrate with other Norwegians at Sons of Norway, or some years we stayed home eating the food I was telling you about."

"Is it the gravlaks and lutefisk thing?" Nick had tried that once one Christmas in the Sanders home. On the third day of Christmas, they had served smelly Norwegian fish and Nick had pulled all his best acting skills together to pretend he liked it, not that he had fooled anyone.

"No, not at 17 Mai. It would mostly be cured and smoked pork leg, called spekeskinke, and that's eaten with scrambled eggs, a bread we call flatbrød and sour cream. And then the cake of course."

"And it tastes as weird as the gravlaks?"

"No," Greg laughed, "not at all, this is really good!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, it really is. There's nothing weird about this."

"So, it's impossible to get the speke-thingy somewhere here in Las Vegas, is it?"

"Huh? No, they sell some Norwegian food in a store here, I have bough spekeskinke here once. And if not, it's pretty close to Serrano ham so we can use that instead, that's easier to get our hands on."

"So, why don't you get the food, and we celebrate the Independence Day in three days. We might even invite the guys over."

"Constitution Day."

"What?"

"We celebrate the signing of the constitution; Norway wasn't really independent until 91 years later. They were just handed over from Denmark to Sweden."

"Oh, okay. But we'll still celebrate it, right?"

"Are you for real?" Greg turned to face Nick.

"What?"

"You really wanna do this for me?" Greg looked at him as if he had offered him the moon, and all for free.

"Sure I will Greggo, you said it yourself, it's up to us now to continue the tradition."

"Yeah, but this is my thing you know, I mean, you don't have to be bothered with it."

"First of all, I'm not being bothered by doing this, second of all, we are a couple. Couples do continue each others traditions, so we are in this together, whether you like it or not! It's not going to be the same as your Grandparents' celebrations, but no celebration ever is. Each generation change some, mostly because there are different people doing it, and more family traditions are being mixed in. Or, as in this case, you are second generation Norwegian in the US, you aren't supposed to know all traditions from the old country. Most likely the celebration has changed in Norway as well – it's been a long time since your grandparents left and new generations have taken over there as well. But you have the most important thing though, your memories, and the feeling of what was important in the celebration you are used to and that is what you should carry on. And no one can do that better than you. So what if it is not exactly the same, it's gonna be our special celebration."

"Wow, thanks Nick. I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you!" Nick was rewarded with a deep kiss that lasted almost too long for his lungs to cope.

"Well, I love you too!" Nick stole one more kiss. "So...do you have any pictures from any of these celebrations?" He knew Greg had kept albums upon albums of pictures from his childhood.

"Yeah, I think I have." Greg managed to pull out nearly every album out of the overstuffed book shelf before picking out the one he wanted and left the rest of them lying on the floor. It didn't take him long to find a picture of himself at age 8, eating a huge half melted ice cream, standing next to his Grandfather who was dressed in a rather odd looking suit.

"What's papa Olaf wearing?" Nick asked, touching the picture.

"Oh, that, that's the national costume."

"National costumes, you have that?"

"Yeah, it is different costumes depending on which part of the country you are from. Papa Olaf's costume is from an area called Øst Telemark."

"And you, you didn't have one?"

"Nah, they cost a lot, they are handmade and hand embroidered, so she didn't make one for me when I was a kid."

"She?"

"Yeah, it's Nana that made it."

"Really, wow, that's impressive." Nick didn't know much about handcraft like this, but he could clearly see that this had been a lot of work.

"I guess. She always loved making those. She made a bundad, that's what the costumes are called, for my Mom and my Aunts. And I think she even made some for other Norwegians, she did it for money of course. But it was much more work than what she got paid for, I can tell you that. But she loved doing it. Come to think about it, I think it probably gave her a position"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I don't think she ever felt comfortable leaving Norway. Papa Olaf always loved it here in America, but he found a great job that he was good at. I think Nana always longed to return home to Norway, and she never learned the language that well, so she couldn't interact that much with anyone other than the other immigrants form Norway. Making bunads probably gave her a position amongst the Norwegians here, and they looked up to her for doing that. That was a link back home. It gave her value in some sort. Wow, that hasn't dawned on me before."

"And now, you still don't have one?"

"Well, Papa Olaf gave me the one he is wearing in this picture. He claimed it had shrunk in the closet, it has absolutely nothing to do with the thing that grew on his body called a belly. He never wanted to hear about that."

"So, this, eh... bundad...is yours?"

"It is now. National costumes are often handed down from one generation to the other. And they are usually worn in weddings and christenings and such, so you have no trouble finding anything to wear if you have one of those and are going in a Norwegian celebration. Some people even marry in it."

"I really didn't know that. How come I have never seen you wear it?"

"I'm... I have worn it, to my cousins wedding. Lemme find the picture." Greg found another album and flipped through the pages until he found the right one. "Promise you won't laugh," he said, giving Nick a stern gaze, clinging the album close to his chest.

"I promise," Nick said as he took the album out of Greg's hands. The picture showed a tall, handsome Greg dressed in black pants only reaching just below his knees. He had a black vest and white short jacket, all made out of wool.

"Wow."

"You're not laughing?"

"No. No way."

"I look stupid" Greg looked away, hiding his flushed face.

"No, no you don't. Greg, really, wow, you look so sexy!" Nick felt the proof of that pressing against the denim in his crotch.

"Really?" Greg looked at him with a suspicious look.

"Really." Nick said, leading Greg's hand to his groin. "Do you feel this? This isn't me reacting to you looking stupid."

"I guess not," Greg said smirking, taking a firmer grip, "now, what shall we do about that?"

"Oh, I don't know. It's your fault; you'll have to fix it." Nick mindlessly let the album fall to the floor.

"Oh, do I?" Greg's fingers were already working on his zipper. "So, what do you want? Do you want me to taste you?" Greg leaned in towards Nick, letting his mouth come close but not completely touch Nick's. Nick licked his lips, pretending it was Greg's moisture that had wet them.

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Yeah, taste me."

"Okay," Greg lowered himself down on his knees between Nick's legs, and he let his tongue lick the length of Nick's member, "like this?"

"Hh..."

"What?" Greg let go of Nicks cock, looking up at him.

"Yeah, just like that, please don't stop." Nick was using his hands to guide Greg's head back to the right place.

"So you like it?" Greg teased him even more.

"More than you know. Love it so much. Please baby." He could hardly breathe.

Greg kissed the top of his swollen penis before he let his lips fully encircle it and take in the full taste of Nick's lust. Nick could feel the soft, wet and warm touch of his tongue, followed by the firm grip of his lips. It was almost more than he could take, and he couldn't help himself from gliding a little bit lower down the couch so that he could lean his head back and just let himself drown in the feeling of Greg milking him. He heard himself moan, and even though Greg held his hips in place, he couldn't stop trying to trust into his mouth.

"I'm gonna.." Nick felt he was going to come all too soon, but Greg didn't calm down, instead he sucked even harder, drinking in the proof of Nick's joy. Licking up the last drop, Greg smiled up at a very blissful Nick.

"Oh my God, that was.... "

"Yeah." Greg was too busy taking his pants all the way off to look up at him. "Lay down," he said pushing Nick down in the couch. Then he climbed on after him, wrapping his legs around him, leaning his head on his chest.

"I haven't taken care of you yet, Greggo," Nick said, moving his hands down to caress Greg's butt cheeks.

"That's okay. I feel like just cuddling anyway."

"You sure?" It wasn't like Greg to pass up mind blowing sex.

"Yeah. I'm kind of empty. It's... I'm just so happy to be with you, and it's like all this tension has been building up for a while, and suddenly you come along and fix everything. So now I just, I don't know... I'm just content. I just want to be close to you without being all high, if you see what I mean."

"Yeah, I think I do." Nick continued to slowly caressing Greg as he closed his eyes.

He was about to fall asleep when he heard Greg whisper into his neck "I like this part of the new tradition."

-SLUTT-

* GRATULERER MED DAGEN!!!*

______________

A/N: The bløtkake with marzipan is really good. Having cake-decoration as a hobby though, I am always annoyed with all of those who never whip the cream well enough, so I had to mention that... And yeah – I'll eat it today! J
A/N2: The Food I describe is not a traditional 17 mai food, but I assume it would be if you celebrate in another country, because you would do that extra effort to make everything more Norwegian – and this is really traditional Norwegian food. Here though, we either go out on a fancy restaurant or barbeque (if the weather allows it – You never know in Norway in May...) (one is never more nationalistic than when you are out of the country).

LINKS:
GREG IN BUNAD
Recipe: The cake
Recipe: flatbrød
About 17 Mai
About the national costumes

SHORT STORY OF THE HISTORY BEHIND 17 mai:

In 1319 Norway was bounded to Sweden in a personal union after being independed for 400 years.

In 1380 Norway and Denmark was united under a common King, something that lead to a dano-norwegian state with Demark as the main land and Copenhagen as the Capital.

At the piece on Kiel January 14th 1814, the dano-norwegian monarchy was split.

The work for making Norway into a sovereign state was already started in 1813, and the prince Christian Fredric of the dano-Norwegian state intended to be the new independent Norway's king.

But when Napoleon was forced to retreat in the beginning of April 1814, Christian Fredric had fulfilled his obligations to his allies in England and he could return home, and Norway was again forced into union with Sweden, just a few months after the constitution was signed May 17th 1814.

The constitution stated Norway as an independent country - something that lasted only 5 months. But the new union was based on this constitution, and the union was so loose that it could be dissolved without violence June 7th 1905. And Norway had truly been a sovereign state since that day, except for the 5 years between 1940 - 45 when they were under German occupation.

The second world war ended just days before May 17th (May 8th) And again Norwegians were allowed to wave the Norwegian flag in the streets. And the meaning of the national day was again reinforced, and the celebration of the national day was given a rebirth.