With their engagement, Dion finally had to meet Liz’s parents. It was a surprisingly painless affair. Being as she was the first of their children to marry, they were excited to meet him. It was not a remarkable meeting. They asked him the same questions any parent would ask the man about to marry their daughter. Where he is from, what his plans are, what church he goes to. Background, interests, views, all the stuff one would use to gauge the fitness of a suitor. Less scary than he imagined. Liz’s sisters made him a little more nervous because he was never comfortable around teenagers or kids. They were too busy talking about wedding stuff in excruciating detail with Liz, so they let him be.

He was forthcoming with all his answers. Mostly. There were obvious things he had to omit. Her parents were extremely Catholic. They liked him and he did not want to jeopardize this by telling them he could fling spells around. It was possible they would be as understanding as Liz, but the risk was not worth it. He went in wearing his contact lenses and dyed his hair the morning before the visit. No sense linking himself to a historically problematic people either. When they asked him about his family, he gave the bare minimum facts and nothing more. Being nervous helped him here, as they were not willing to make it worse by pressing him.

Liz and her mother planned most of the wedding, so his role was minimal. Liz took him along to see her mother every weekend to plan things, but he was kept out of it. That suited him fine. He did not have an eye for such things and knew whatever she planned would be best. That she was happy was enough for him. Well, that she was happy and her parents insisted on paying for everything.

Not that Liz had extravagant tastes. She was very down to Earth and her choice of venue reflected this. The wedding was held at her church. Not the one on campus, but the one she grew up in, St. John’s Catholic Church in Fentonburg.

That came with its own set of challenges. Her parents asked Dion when he was going to convert to Roman Catholicism. Instructed that he should get started now in order to go through the entire process before the wedding. The question was not one Dion could answer honestly, but did anyway. He would go to church with Liz, but had no plans on joining it. The uncomfortable silence was thick enough to cut with a knife and Dion was sure they were going to disallow it and never let him see Liz again. Anger was expected, he might have lost track of time, worrying about it. Luckily, Liz came to his rescue. She talked to her parents, in private, about it. For this, Dion was thankful. He did not want to be involved in that war of words. When they all came back together, he was only uncomfortable around them for a little while. They acted like nothing ever happened. If anything, they were even friendlier than before.

What he did need to do was talk to the priest. The one involved in conducting the ceremony and running them through their marriage vows. That was even harder than the talk with Liz’s parents and she was even with him the entire time. Father Andrew was a surprisingly intense man for a priest. Or, maybe that was how they all were in private? Certainly had a harder stare than Father Steven at the church near school. The raccoon had an appraising stare that seemed to cut right through him.

He was grilled, but not without reason. Marriage was serious business. It turned out that there was an entire set of rules for a non-Catholic marrying a Catholic with a Catholic ceremony. His vows would be different. He basically had to promise to honor her and her faith and agree not to do anything to draw her away from it. While the gravity of the situation was intense, Dion planned to do that anyway. He may not believe in God, but knew faith was a big part of who Liz was. Trying to take it away from her would be like trying to take away part of herself. No, it was too important to her and he would lose too much. He did not see it as a problem, so he could pay lip service to her faith without issue. He pretended to believe in God around his parents before he moved; he could keep pretending now.

The wedding was beautiful. Beautiful and nerve wracking, but that did nothing to diminish its significance. If anything, it helped cement every detail in his head. Every movement and every person. Even the pattern of the carpet, stained glass windows, and tiles in the baptismal font.

He stood on the altar in his rented black tuxedo. Being a rental, it was a little too tight in the middle and too loose around the legs. Dion did not mind; he was not there to be comfortable and it was hardly noticeable amongst the cacophonous background of his nervousness. In the front pews of the church was a sea of unfamiliar faces. It seemed like Liz’s entire family was there, and most of them he never met before today. Numbers were bolstered by the friends Liz made throughout her life; those from high school she kept in contact with and those she met in college.

No one was there for Dion. Too much of an introvert to make many friends, even without factoring in his general fear of people. If he never had to open up about himself to anyone but Liz for the rest of his life, that would be perfectly acceptable.

He could have invited his parents or his brothers, but did not. Jason would refuse because he would have to leave his house and he was more fearful of people than Dion. Hector would be too busy. His parents? No. They probably would not approve of him getting married at all. Especially not to a non-Izorian. ‘Don’t drag anyone else into our cursed family.’ Their most likely refrain. They would see it as bringing misery down on someone else’s family or accuse him of hiding his evil nature from her. Loving someone would only bring them pain, they would say. All you will do is hurt her. How could he explain love to them? Growing up, he sometimes wondered if his parents even loved each other or were only together out of necessity. They were always cold. Distant. He never heard them say they loved each other, though he did see them hug once or twice. In fact, he had not spoken to them since he left. Never called, never wrote. He was independent now and did not want any extra guilt. They tried calling him. He never answered. His dad sent him a check every so often. He cashed it, but never wrote back. It was not like he did not love them, being his parents, but he was still scared they would not approve of his lifestyle. What if they asked him to come back home? He could not do that.

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Best not to invite them at all. Best to leave them be. He had not spoken to them since leaving and planned to keep it that way. However, that meant there was nobody from the groom’s side in the wedding party. No guests and no one to meet, Liz’s entire family thought this was a little odd. They were polite enough that most did not press him about it. Most of them.

During the rehearsal dinner, Jeremy took him aside. Jeremy was going to be his best man. They only just met few hours prior, during the rehearsal of the ceremony. He was one of Liz’s cousins. Dion stopped trying to keep track of them all and they had little to say to him. Jeremy seemed all right. He was a few years older than Liz. A tall, skinny pine marten with typical brown and yellow fur. No matter how all right he was, Dion was still uncomfortable with being separated from the group. Seemed important to him, so Dion could not say no. Even he was not so socially numb that he could not tell this was important.

“Why don’t you have anyone here?” He asked.

“What do you mean?” Dion’s reply, even though he knew what he was asking.

“No family or friends. Nothing?” The pine marten gave him the critical eye.

Now he was on the spot. Needed to come up with excuses. Something true, because Dion did not want to be caught in a lie. Not that he could come up with a plausible one anyway.

“Um…. I… study a lot. Making friends is, kind of hard.”

“None from high school either?”

“….I was homeschooled.” Dion decided not to mention he still got out often. It was not like he was sequestered at home.

“Well, from your neighborhood then? Church?”

Dion shook his head. “I’m…. very private.”

“Why?” Jeremy leaned in. Dion had nothing to say, but he must have looked really uncomfortable, so he backed off. “Nevermind, sorry. Lizzie said you’re shy.” Lizzie? Jeremy continued. “What about your folks? Brothers? Aunts? Something?”

“Um, I don’t think…. my parents would. Approve. Of me getting…. married.” Dion found himself unable to look the pine marten in the eyes. “And my brothers are kind of busy…. so I shouldn’t ask them.”

A sympathetic look washed over Jeremy’s face. His entire countenance softened. “Hey, man, it’s all right. Sounds like some rough shit.” He put a paw on Dion’s shoulder and the skunk had to fight to keep from jerking away. Reflex. “Sorry. Just making sure you’re not an axe murderer. You must be all right, or Lizzie wouldn’t want you.”

Dion smiled, that made him feel a little better. “Thanks…. I think.”

“Yeah. You look pretty harmless, not sure why I was worried.” No more smile on Dion’s part. Poor guy. If he only knew. “And if your folks don’t want you marrying cause she’s Catholic or something, fuck those faggots. You’re part of our family now.”

“Uh…. thanks… again?” Dion was not sure how to take that, but it sounded positive. Being part of their family was nice and Jeremy seemed decentish, but he still kind of hoped he would not have to see much of them after today. “…. I don’t think Liz would… um… like you cursing… that much, though.”

Jeremy laughed. “Yeah, you’ve been spending a lot of time around her, all right. Now come on, food’s getting cold.”

That was the only other member of Liz’s family that spoke to him before the wedding. Aside from her parents. An odd exchange, but interesting. Standing at the altar, it was nice having someone at his side, even someone as rough as Jeremy. His unofficial admission into their family helped make him more comfortable. Uncertainty of how he should act or feel characterized him well. Probably looked entertaining, standing up there and fighting the urge to fidget with his tie, buttons, or shoelaces. A mishmash of confused emotions. He barely even noticed when the music began to play.

Everything drew into focus when Liz made her way down the aisle. All eyes on her, being the blushing bride, but they might as well not have existed for all Dion’s focus on her. It was like comparing a candle to the sun. She strolled down the aisle with deliberate slowness, as if relishing the walk to her soon-to-be husband. Walking in that way all brides did to let everyone know this was her special day. After waiting to see her all day, he found it was worth the wait. With her beauty, he could have watched her all day.

A vision of loveliness coming down the aisle. The wedding dress was white as snow, with everything that entailed being true. Some might have called the dress modest. The sleeves and neckline were sheer, delicate lace. The dress full length with a train not too short and not too long. The skirts of lace and tulle billowed out slightly, so she had no trouble avoiding stepping on it with her large rabbit’s feet. A bouquet of white roses occupied her paws. They matched the dress as though they were made for each other, and the dress made for her. Her beautiful face shined above it all. She wore light makeup at the insistence of her mother. She rarely wore it, but with the dress it seemed to work. Her dark brown headfur done up with floral pins, clearly professionally coifed. It looked….well, probably a little uncomfortable, but that was not the purpose of it. The idea was to look dazzling for a once-in-a-lifetime event.

And dazzling she looked. From overhead, the sun streamed through the stained glass windows and seemed to focus entirely on her. The rest of the world faded. All he could see was her. Despite his nervous demeanor, he smiled. Seeing her like this made it all disappear.

She stood by him at the altar. They looked into each other’s eyes. Father Andrew read them their vows and Dion said his part, just like in rehearsal. Did not even have to think about them, as he could not dream of doing anything but loving, honoring, and cherishing Liz. Till death do us part. A grave promise, but gladly made. As he slipped the ring on her finger and they shared their first kiss as husband and wife, nothing else really mattered. Not for today.

Being a pariah his entire life made him very lonely, even if he did not want to admit it. Now, he never had to be lonely again. He wished that he had the words to express how he felt. Instead, he would have to settle for showing her how much she meant to him whenever possible. The best part was, despite how damaged he was, she would do the same. They complemented each other.