Joy and Tiers (37 page)

“Well, it turns out we have some friends that are well-versed in the law who know all about the exceptions and waivers. It seems that we have good cause for a waiver of the waiting period. The clerk of the county happens to be a guest at today’s wedding and has agreed to issue us both a marriage certificate and a waiver given our unique circumstances. So, Tyler Joseph Colton—I have one question for you: Would you like to marry me today?”

I expected many things to happen today, but this was
not
one of them. Then again, my time with Heather has taught me to expect the unexpected. I stand up and walk over to her. I leisurely kiss her and then reply, “Heather Lydia LaBianca I would be thrilled to marry you today or any other day. This is perfect.”

Heather slumps a little on the stool. “Oh, thank goodness. I thought you might be upset with me for being too pushy.”

I chuckle. “You should know me better than that by now. One of my favorite things about you is your ability to know your own mind and to get things done. This is a perfect example of why you’re going to make a perfect military wife. While I hemmed and hawed about the logistics of it all and worried myself stupid about how I was going to shelter you while I was gone, you definitively figured out how to solve the problem. I already know who’s gonna be the brains in this operation—and it’s not going to be me most of the time.”

A strange expression crosses Heather’s face as she admits, “I really wish I could take credit for this one. But, you can chalk this one up to the brilliance of Mindy Mouse. That girl is scary
bright
. She can give Tara a run for her money in the spooky department.”

 “Well, whoever came up with the idea, I’m extremely grateful. It takes a load off my mind and I’ll be able to focus on the mission now. In the end it will make it safer for everyone.”

Heather shakes her head in disbelief. “Wow!” She exclaims. “I don’t know how Mindy was able to understand that that’s exactly how you would feel, but she told me almost word for word that’s what you would say.”

“I don’t claim to understand that little girl. I just know that I’m blessed to know her. I’d like her to be part of our ceremony even if she’s not old enough to be one of the witnesses, okay?” 

 Heather places her arms around my waist and rests her cheek on my chest and nods. “I’m totally on board with that plan because we wouldn’t be here without her help,” she mumbles as she hugs me.

 “What do we do now, my bride? Do you have special clothes we need to change into or something?”

 She giggles. “Would you believe that I don’t? Me, ‘The Queen of Fashion’ does not have a backup outfit for this occasion. So, we’re going to collect your parents and Jeff, Kiera and Mindy and go meet Justice Gardner in the pool room. We’re going to go try to get married before I have to serve hors d’oeuvres and cake.”

“That sounds like a plan to me. So, does this mean that I don’t get to marry you in my dress uniform?” I tease. 

“Cowboy, you know me better than that. Do I look like I’m gonna let you off the hook quite that easily? I don’t think so. When you get back from wherever the hell you’re going, we’re going to throw the biggest party you’ve ever seen. There’ll be so much lace and tulle that you won’t even recognize me. It’ll look like a scene from Gone with the Wind. If you think there is a lot of food at this wedding, it’ll be nothing compared to ours.”

“Gidget, that sounds wonderful. I’ll paint pictures in my head of how you look in your gown and the many creative ways I’ll get you out of it. Those visions will help sustain my morale when I’m over in the hellhole. If you’re feeling generous, you can send me pictures of your gorgeous body to drool over.”

I watch with fascination as color travels over the tops of her breasts through her face to the roots of her hair. “I don’t know if I am the boudoir photo gallery kind of gal, Cowboy.”

“I’ve seen your delectable body, remember? I can say without hesitation you are definitely pinup material. In fact, I think pictures of you would be the perfect wedding gift.”

Heather’s bottom lip slides out in a perfect little pout, “Really? I was thinking more along the lines of some really cool kitchen gear.”

I snicker. “Wow! You and my mom really are two peas in a pod. That’s an answer my mom would have given in a heartbeat. Speaking of my parents, do they have any idea I’m getting married today?”

Heather shakes her head and grins. “Nope! No one except you, me, Justice Gardner and the clerk know. Well, I guess that’s not technically true. Mindy knows. But, then again Mindy knew about this plan weeks ago when she tried to tell us that we were going to get married on the same day that Tara and Aidan got married. Remember that conversation? We were silly enough to argue with her. I’m not sure why I even bother to second-guess either one of them. I should know better by now. It’s like having my own paranormal team at my beck and call.”

 “Do you ever get used to it? Isn’t it really strange having people in your life that know what’s going to happen before it really does?” I ask, genuinely curious and a little creeped out.

“It’s a little weird. But I’m used to it by now. Tara is really careful about what she shares with me so it doesn’t become overwhelming. She is not obnoxious about it. She hates it when people ask her to use her abilities like it’s a party trick. We don’t even talk about her abilities all that much. Most of the time I completely forget about them until something strange or scary happens. The depth of Mindy’s abilities has come as a really big surprise though.”

“I wonder how my parents are going to react to all of this.” I ponder.

“I think your mom will be pretty cool with it. She seems pretty open-minded. If Mindy and Tara can provide any information that would help keep you safe, your dad would be all over that in a New York minute, so I think he’ll be fine with it too. I’m not so sure how they’ll feel about you getting married today. If I was your mom, I think I’d feel a little panicked. I think that moms want more time to prepare for this kind of stuff.”

“My mom thinks you’re the bees’ knees. She’s gonna be totally okay with the fact that you’re going to be my wife. My dad already thinks that I’m a blooming idiot for taking so long to ask you out, so I think he’ll be totally fine with us heading to the altar. He probably thinks if I wait around too long you’ll come to your senses and run away. He doesn’t have much faith in my ability to hold onto a woman on my own.”

“I think we should probably go tell everyone,” she suggests as she grabs my hand. She does a funny little skip and hop as she says, “I can’t believe I’m actually going to get married today!”

I stop dead in my tracks as a sobering thought occurs to me.

“What’s wrong?” Heather asks, alarmed.

“Are Tara and Aidan gonna be okay with this? Aren’t we going to be stealing a little bit of their thunder?”

Heather blows a raspberry with her lips and says, “Trust me. They’ve had enough of the limelight in the last few months to last a lifetime. They want nothing more than a quiet little gathering with a bunch of their friends. In fact, they would be thrilled if people thought that this was our wedding instead of theirs. It might even help with the paparazzi situation. It’s too bad that Tara and I aren’t even remotely the same size. That would’ve been handy for the dress situation.”

“Gidget, you look phenomenal. I think that that peachy-orangey color looks stunning on you. So, if you think that I would prefer you in something else, you’re just wrong. We are going to be lucky enough to have two wedding days. For this wedding day, that dress is perfect. You can surprise me with something else later, okay?”

Heather’s eyes cloud with tears as she replies, “I don’t know how you do it, Cowboy. But, you always know the perfect thing to say to me. Come on, let’s go shock the heck out of people. This will be more fun than announcing our engagement.”

Heather finds my parents first, so I let her collect them while I find Jeff, Kiera and Mindy. We shepherd them all into the pool room where Justice Gardner is waiting for us, still wearing his official robes. Mindy eyes them suspiciously. “Am I getting adopted again?” she asks abruptly.

Heather laughs out loud. “No, Mouse. I think you know why you’re here.” Heather pauses dramatically.

Mindy is quiet for a moment as she thinks about what Heather said. Suddenly, her eyes widen as she exclaims, “No way!”

Heather giggles at Mindy’s reaction. She nods and confirms, “Yes, way.”

Mindy starts jumping up and down. “I told you he would say yes!”

Sally and Harold look back and forth between us and Sally declares, “I’m sorry, but I’m still lost.”

“The Judge-man is going to marry Uncle Ty and Aunt Heather right now. But that’s okay because they’re not really my aunt and uncle. They are just pretend family because they’re best friends, so we just call them family. Sometimes, your friends are better than real family. It’s kind of like being adopted, but not really, right Judge-man?”

 Judge Gardner smiles at Mindy. “You’re absolutely right, young lady. I’ve always considered your mom to be like my daughter even though we’re not really family. But, her family has always been really good friends with mine.”

I look over at my mom and it’s clear that she’s still processing what Mindy said. I can tell when she fully unscrambles all the words because she shakes her head as if to reorder the words and try again. “Wait! You’re getting married! Today? As in right now? You’re not going to invite any other family members or people from town? I’m so confused. Is somebody sick or dying?”

The look of panic on my mom’s face breaks my heart. I didn’t expect her to take the news in a negative light.

“No Mom, it’s nothing like that.” I hasten to reassure her. “Heather and I always planned to get married as quickly as we could. Uncle Sam just decided to move up our timetable more quickly than we had anticipated.”

“What do you mean?” my dad interrupts sharply. “What’s happened now?” he asks with a narrowed glare. “Don’t even think about sugarcoating it. I watch the news and I know all about ISIS.”

My shoulders slump a little in defeat. I wanted to avoid talking about this as long as possible. The more I talk about it, the more I run the risk of saying something I absolutely should not disclose. I sigh as I say, “Yes, there will be an operation underway; but as usual, I cannot disclose anything about it. Heather is aware that I’m going but is also in the dark about the details. She sensed my unease about the uncertainty of being able to protect her if I was shipped out of the country. So, she made arrangements for Justice Gardener to do a small civil ceremony until I can get back and we can have a large wedding for the family to attend. So, for today it’s just us.”

“But, what about Heather’s family?” my mom asks.

“Mrs. Colton I understand your concern but my sister was not able to make it today because she’s on assignment with her job and my brother had to work today as well. I was not able to give them advance notice of the wedding. But, they’ll be at the next one. As far as my parents go, I doubt that they would care enough about my life to even bother attending my wedding. But, even if they were interested, after the way they treated Tyler and I, I’m not sure that they would be invited.”

“That’s too bad. You strike me as a lovely young woman. I suppose that’s their loss. Please promise me you’ll take care of Tyler. He seems to think he doesn’t deserve to be taken care of. You and I both know that’s not true. Can you try to convince him that he’s worth saving?”

Heather’s eyes fill with instant empathy. She instantly leaves my side and runs over to hug my mom. “Of course I will. Your son is everything to me. He taught me how to love and respect myself, so the very least I can do is return the favor. With all that he does for me and everyone around him, it’s beyond me how he doesn’t see himself as heroic. Perhaps one day he’ll understand that none of what happened was his fault. But, you can be sure I will spend a lifetime trying to convince him of that fact. Your son is hands-down the finest human being I know— both inside and out.”

Harold slaps Ty on the back and comments, “Son, I don’t know how you lucked out and found this one, but she’s absolutely perfect. Hurry up and marry her before she gets away.”

Everyone in the room chuckles at his sentiment. “Don’t worry about it, Dad I plan on it,” I reply.

“On that note, shall I begin?” Judge Gardner asks.

Heather and I nod eagerly in unison.

Judge Gardner meets my parent’s eyes at the side of the room and teasingly asks, “Aren’t they just too cute for words?” 

My parents nod eagerly and snap a couple pictures with their cell phones.

“Do you have anything specific you’d like me to use?”

 Much to my surprise, Heather nods. “These are the ones that my grandparents used. Can you use them? I hope our marriage last as long as theirs did.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll just have you read the vows instead of repeating after me. I think it sounds more natural that way. Would you like to go first Heather?”

“Yes please,” she answers softly clearing her throat and unfolding a piece of paper she had cupped in her hand.

“I, Heather Lydia LaBianca take you Tyler Joseph Colton to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live.”

All of my teasing words are coming back to haunt me right now. When my friends got married, I openly teased them about becoming emotional wrecks at what was essentially a walking, talking advertisement for Hallmark cards. I really didn’t understand what makes this day different from any other time a woman dresses up and makes herself presentable. But, now that I’m looking down at the woman who will be my wife in mere minutes, I totally get the feeling of being able to move heaven and earth and all the planets between to make her happy. My eyes mist over at the emotions contained in the simple words passed from generation to generation.