Stephanie and I sat in the office of the attorney her and Emily had been researching. The time had come for me to sign over the Power of Attorney to her and make her Executor of my estate in the event that something happened to me. I trusted her to do the right thing and to take care of Emily and Anabel. These were exceptionally dangerous times…even considering the normal stuff I was up against.
The lawyer fumbled across the room as we sat in front of his desk. He was a feeble young man with glasses and early thinning hair. No older than Stephanie and I. As a reminder, he had incurred a substantial debt and we had dirt on him for bribing his way through law school. Stephanie contacted him and explained that I was a powerful man who may at times need ‘special’ work done to shield my business dealings. Of course, we didn’t explain anything about the well or the stones, but he got the idea that everything with my family's past was clandestine. So we offered to pay his debts, keep his secrets, and pay him well. It was a winning formula for all of us.
He was a nervous wreck. He couldn’t maintain eye contact with us and shook as passed the paperwork across the desk to us. “He-he-here you go Ms. Keaney. You need only to sign those three lines and have have have them co-signed by Mr. Noble. Then we’re all fffffff-finished here.”
Stephanie turned to me just before finishing up and asked, “Eric, are you absolutely sure you’re okay with this?”
“Of course, Steph. I know you’ll do the right thing,” I assured her.
She signed the documents and then slid them over to me. I quickly co-signed and handed the papers back to Arthur and said, “Mr. Edwards. Thanks for everything. Hopefully, your services will be needed few and far between.”
When we stepped out of the office we were greeted by Emily and Delilah who had been waiting in the lobby. We brought them along to get out of the house and do some shopping together at the mall. Emily had already gone with Anabel and Arduwan separately but decided to tag along with us while we finished up Stephanie’s bridal preparation.
“Uhh, finally!” stressed Delilah, “That took forever! I’m so bored!”
“You’re fine,” I teased, “come on. We can do whatever you want for the rest of the day.”
At the mall, we visited just about every store imaginable. Delilah rarely went out with us because she was usually off with her friends who were none the wiser about her being a goddess. But ever since she confessed to the others what she really was she had wanted to spend more time at home with all of us. To be honest, it was kinda nice having her around, even though she was bull headed.
Emily was just along for the ride so she was pretty quiet on this trip. I was certainly glad to see her getting along with these two though. Neither one of them got the best introduction to her when I brought them into the fold.
Then there was Stephanie. The bride to be. There was a time I thought she might’ve become my bride, but here we were, the oddest of friends after the demise of our romantic relationship. It’s funny how when I set out on my quest that I used Stephanie as my primary motivator. I never imagined we’d be in the situation we were in now.
“Hey, guys!” Delilah squeaked, as she ran up behind me and Emily who were walking together and threw her arms over our shoulders, “there’s a photo booth over there. Let’s go take pictures together. I want to remember this day forever. We can print stickers and scan the QR code to make them our phone backgrounds.”
“Alright, alright,” I begrudgingly agreed. Neither Stephanie or Emily objected either, so the four of us crammed into the little mall photo booth. Emily and I sat on the bench while Steph and Delilah leaned in behind us. Looking at that screen, one couldn’t help but notice how happy we all were.
* * *
Finally, the day of the wedding came. We’d spent the last few weeks just enjoying each other's company and making arrangements for Stephanie’s family to come in. She had a big family, mind you. So much so that it made no practical sense to split the aisle, since Anabel’s only guests were those of us who lived at the house. Instead, we decided to have white lawn chairs make rows leading up to the gazebo in my backyard. Arduwan, Wraith, and Delilah just sat in the front row while every other seat was taken by one of Steph’s family members. Several old friends from college came as well. They all recognized me and it was a tad bit odd considering they probably had thought at one time I’d be the groom and not the groomsmen at her wedding. The rest of the audience was filled with her brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and neighbors growing up. Steph’s mom couldn’t help herself to pull me aside before the ceremony began.
“Oh, Eric. You know I’ve just always loved you.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Keaney. It’s nice to see you again.”
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She leaned in and quietly whispered to me, “How long have you known this girl? Anabel?”
“Oh, a little bit longer than Steph has. A few months. That’s actually how they met. Both of them were working for me.”
“I see,” she continued, “well, how long have you known that Stephanie was…you know?”
Before I got a chance to answer that, we were interrupted by Stephanie who said, “Eric.
Can I see you for a minute? Sorry mom.” She grabbed me by the arm and started walking me over to the gazebo before whispering, “Sorry about that. I knew I’d end up having to pull you away. I don’t expect you to run defense for me.”
Stephanie looked lovely. She wore a simple, sleeveless, knee high wedding dress. Her hair pulled up into large curls that stayed up off of her neck. I was in a classic black suit with a matching tie. We managed to get Wraith in something similar. But Arduwan stole the show. For the first time ever, we got her to wear a peach colored slinky dress. Of course the front was open and you could get a clear shot of 180 degrees of each of her breasts. All the wives in the crowd went to great lengths to keep their husbands' eyes off of her.
Then there was Delilah. She too wore a slinky dress, except hers was blue and only had a reasonable amount of cleavage visible. She sat in the front row bawling her eyes out before we even got started. “Waahhhh, I always cry at weddings!” She cried.
You dolt. You’ve never been to a wedding before.
Bet you’re wondering where Apollo is right? You probably think we left him back to guard the plasma rifles in Callist. Well, you’d be wrong. You see, he somehow convinced Anabel and Delilah that since he used to be clergy that it was on his authority to officiate a wedding. Of course, Delilah had to give him permission since he was no longer actively a clergyman. But who the hell cares anyway? The paperwork was all done by a Justice of the Peace, so he could have his fun. He was waiting up at the altar for me and Steph. We hooked him up with a cool white tuxedo. He looked like James Bond.
Without further delay and before Stephanie’s mom got a chance to dole out any more awkward questions, the ceremony began. ‘Here Comes the Bride’ began playing and everyone turned their attention down the aisle back towards my house. Two of the hired ushers opened the back patio door and out came Anabel. She wore a simple, but less skin showing dress than Stephanie’s. It was white and went down to her shins. The sleeves stopped at the elbow and her cleavage was modestly visible. In her hands was a colorful bouquet of flowers and atop her head was a thin white veil that didn’t cover her face, but trailed down her back and into the hands of her bridesmaid.
The bridesmaid of course was Emily. She slowly walked behind Anabel and held her veil. She wore a sleeveless black cocktail dress that stopped just above the knee. Her hair was clipped up in barrettes and she walked in black stilettos. She painted her nails black but had decided against lipstick. It was the most formal I’d seen her since we went to court together back in her world. And she was gorgeous.
Right behind them was Mischief. He was wearing a big white bow and had the rings tied to them. When the girls reached the gazebo, Anabel stood opposite of Stephanie and Emily opposite of me. She made eye contact with me right up until Apollo started speaking.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of the almighty Delilah…” Stephanie and I shot arrows with our eyes directly at this washed up priest.
“...almighty god.” he corrected, “to bring these two young ladies together in holy matrimony. Marriage is the union of two souls. And the commitments they make to one another are of their own. If anyone has any reason these two should not be joined together, speak now, or forever hold your peace.”
Well, thankfully no one said anything.
“Do you, Stephanie Nicole Keaney, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health?”
“I do,” Stephanie said, with gusto in her voice.
Apollo continued, “And do you, Anabel Marie Townsend, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health?”
Anabel choked back tears of joy and replied, “Yes, I do.”
“Then may you always share the gifts of love - be one in heart and in mind - may you always have a home together. I now pronounce you, partners for life.”
Stephanie and Anabel leaned in to kiss each other and the crowd began to clap and cheer. Emily and I followed suit.
Apollo stepped forward and took both of them by the hand and turned them towards the crowd as he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Stephanie and Anabel Keaney.”
The two of them walked hand in hand down the aisle back towards the porch as everyone threw confetti at them. Suddenly, Delilah sprang from her seat and said, “Out of the way Arduwan, I want that bouquet.”
Arduwan quickly jumped up as well and grabbed Emily by the arm as she was stepping off the gazebo and said, “Come on, Emily! We gotta get out there.”
As Emily was being pulled forward she struggled to say, “No, really, that’s alright, Arduwan.”
On the patio, Stephanie and Anabel turned around to face the crowd. They both put their hands on the bouquet together and leveraged it to toss amongst the violent horde of eager single women in Stephanie's family, as well as her unmarried friends from college. Amongst them was Delilah and Arduwan, who was still tugging Emily into the fray.
The bouquet went up and came down deep into the back of the crowd. Arduwan, the tower behemoth reached both arms up to catch it. The flowers ricochet off of her hands and fell straight into the chest of Emily. Who instinctively grabbed it like a football. She had a look of shock on her face as the crowd cheered once more. Stephanie and Anabel rushed to her side and soon after they were also flanked by Arduwan and Delilah.
“Aww, Emily. I wanted to get married next!” Delilah pouted and then smiled.
“Emily! This is great!” Arduwan congratulated.
Everyone kept cheering and the blushing Emily mumbled, “Oh, it’s quite alright. I’m really not cut out to be marriage material,” as she tried to hand the bouquet off to someone else. In that moment, Stephanie, Anabel, Arduwan, and Delilah rushed her at once and gave her a tremendous group hug. Not that she could see me through all that, but I’m sure she was doing her best to not look in my direction.