Ptica cleared her throat to get her student's attention. Immediately thereafter she re-seated and adjusted the sound-dampening device that covered her mouthparts. It wouldn't do to have the furniture, and the students, vibrate across the floor every time she spoke.
It had been 143 years since she'd accidentally knocked a student unconscious when she coughed. The investigation that followed had resulted in her being required to wear a dampening device with a double setup in case the primary circuit failed.
Idiots! It had taken them a month to come to the same conclusion she arrived at within three minutes after inspecting the device. She'd begun wearing a new one with dual circuitry the following day. She had also so informed the investigative committee.
Their response? "You are not allowed to interfere with or influence an ongoing investigation. You are forbidden from contacting us again else you will be fired. Do you understand?"
She'd understood all right. Besides being total idiots, they needed to be gotten rid of, which she had managed, though it had taken her nearly 60 years to accomplish. She hoped that they never traced their "promotion" assignments back to her. Being stuck in a barely habitable 'verse studying semi-sentient lifeforms was important, but even so....
Bah, she needed to stop woolgathering and get back to reality.
"Sorry about that everyone, at least a little. We have a lot to cover today, so let's be about it."
She extracted the appropriate data chip and inserted it in the player.
"Even after over 1100 years of study, we still know few details about the organization that was created by Sara and Paolo Donetti in an effort to increase understanding of, and to help twins born in The City of The Bells.
"Every so often, we acquire a bit more data. Today we are going to review a recording recently recovered from one of the storage vaults that was being remodeled. It was made approximately 16 years after they began their efforts to aid twins. Even with this we still only have hints as to their true purpose. However, each piece of the puzzle we obtain gets us that much closer to a solution.
"As for the setting: It was only two years earlier, in AF 738 that Paolo was promoted to Coadjutor Bishop, thus finally achieving a rank equal to Sara's as Librarian In Charge of the new Central Library in The City."
She ruffled her feathers to settle them more comfortably. "Enough preamble, let's get on with the presentation."
--------------------
July 12 in The Year 740 After the Founding
Erin and Enrique Fukui, Marla Martinez, and Tomaso Scott were nearly out of breath and were no longer able to speak. The 6:55 p.m. bell that preceded the beginning of that month's Festa had sounded two, or maybe three minutes earlier and they were running at their top speed so as to reach the Church of the Placid Heart before it hit 7:00 p.m. and all hell broke lose. Fortunately, the streets were entirely empty and they didn't have to worry about running into anyone.
It was true that the bell ringing had never killed anyone, at least not directly. A few hundred years ago, when homes weren't built as sturdily as they were now, a number of people HAD died when their houses collapsed, but that was then.
Now, 529 years after Duke Giovanni formalized the dates of the Festas, natives of The City, were themselves mostly resistant, but, even so, being outdoors when the Festa bells went off was extremely painful.
Their aim wasn't to get inside the church itself. It would likely already be full of tourists taking refuge from the bells. Fortunately, one of the first things Paolo had done when he became a bishop was to have the shields on the church extended by 30 meters so as to cover most of the grounds. As a result, they were headed for the back of the church, specifically a side door that would let them into the quarters set aside for those bishops who had families. (Bishop Lundgren occupied the bachelor quarters on the other side of the church.)
If anyone asked later why they'd taken refuge from the Festa bell ringing at a church so far away from their homes, they'd agreed to say that due to the crowds, they were unable to make it home in time.
A church devoted to the benefits of silence was the perfect place for a rendezvous. One who practices contemplation has much time to think, which can result in one being quite skilled at organizing conspiracies, which was the true reason for their taking refuge there. Specifically, they were there to ask the bishop to help them contrive a way to escape from the binders that were about to be imposed on them by their parents some time in the next year or two. In Erin's case things were just a bit more urgent.
Erin and Enrique were 16 year old twins and members of an extended family that were the best patisseries in The City. Marla, who was Erin's best friend was 18 year old and the second daughter of one of the major fruit and vegetable merchants. Tomaso was the second son of what was widely considered to be the best bakery in town and was 19 years old. He was Enrique's best friend and, if you will, an enthusiastic co-conspirator.
In truth a substantial number of tourists came to The City, at least in part, to visit the shops belonging to the twin's and Tomaso's families, and that was the problem. Erin had recently been informed that her family intended to expand their business by marrying her to Albert Cortini, the eldest son of another patisserie located in a part of town where her family didn't have a shop yet. The other party's parents were most enthusiastic, both because of the increased business they'd have as a result of being able to change their name to that of the more famous stores, but also because they'd begun to despair of ever finding a match for their rather, ah, unique son.
It seems that, while he was truly a gifted patisserie, he spent essentially all of his spare time composing songs. There was of course no shame in that. Musicians and songcrafters were highly valued in this particular society. The problem was that he was completely tone deaf and insisted on "singing" his compositions to anyone he could trap into listening. Even the girls who were the most ardent fans of exquisite pastries, and who would otherwise consider marrying into his family a major coup, tended to run away, some screaming in pain, once they heard him performing one of his compositions.
To further complicate matters, Albert's family was planning to send him to "perfect his skills" at a relative's shop in a town over 30 kilometers away. Nobody believed that explanation, and it was common knowledge that his parents wanted to get him somewhere, anywhere, where he would no longer scare away customers with his performances. They figured that someone with Erin's almost godlike talents in the kitchen might outweigh even his caterwallings. Enrique had no such worries as his skills were adequate at best, something that had long disappointed his parents.
For Erin and Enrique this was something far worse than her marrying someone she didn't even like much less love. Like all twins born in the City of the Bells, they experienced physical pain when they were separated for more than a few days. Over the past 180 years, since medicine had become a true science rather than myth and folklore, there had been a number of carefully documented case reports of twins dying after being separated by either a distance of over 65 kilometers for as little as three weeks or for more than two months at 40 to 50 kilometers.
Despite that there was one unexpected benefit from such a dangerous linkage. Like many twins anywhere, each set often had a private language that others couldn't understand. However with twins born in The City, things went a bit beyond that. For reasons still unknown to science, all twins born in The City were able to communicate with each other at all times. It didn't matter how far apart they were, they could still talk to each other. Needless to say the military and businesses with offices spread across the country went to great lengths to recruit those born here.
Duchess Henrietta had at least three sets in her employ at all times. Having a lookout on one of the nearby mountains who could instantly report bandits, or smugglers, to the Guard was more than handy.
Let's see, where was I? Oh yes....
The situations for Marla and Tomaso, while not nearly as acute as Erin's, were also becoming difficult. A young woman was expected to be married at any time after the age of 17. Most children completed their secondary educations at 17 or 18 and it was deemed a reasonable time for marriage.
At 20 she would be considered to be almost a spinster. On the other hand, 20 wasn't all that old for a young man to still be single, as many were not yet truly competent journeymen in their crafts, or firmly settled into some other permanent employment. It was expected that one would at least have that rank when one married. This practice was common at least in the more prosperous families. It was unfortunate, in a sense, that Tomaso was so skilled that he had already officially become a journeyman by the age of 17, and he would be 20 in November. Remaining unmarried for three years after attaining that status was highly unusual, and his parents, like Marla's, were getting more aggressive about his getting on with things.
Thus the four had gathered today to seek counsel from Bishop Paolo Donetti. He was a bit young for his position, merely 36. However, he was widely considered to be a very wise man. This was probably because most of the time he sat quietly and listened while others did most of the talking. That was part of the reason why Bishop Lundgren, who planned to retire within a few years, had selected Paolo to serve as his Coadjutor.
Even given his position, he had much in common with the four young people in that he was quite a connoisseur and had almost an addiction when it came to excellent breads and pastries. As such the children had frequently found themselves in his presence while they were growing up when they made deliveries to the church. Over the years, he had become a special confidant for all four of them and, even more important, he and his wife Sara were their true friends.
As an extremely astute observer of the human condition, aided by the quiet counsel of his wife, and from watching his children grow along with his young friends, he was aware of a solution to their problems that they had not anticipated. As a matter of fact, he had expended a rather large amount of the church's charity funds as well as a large amount from the Twins Protective Fund in preparing for today's situation. Were his judgement proven to be faulty, he would be in a great deal of trouble. However, even as he once again considered the potential consequences to his career, he was quite certain that his assessment was indeed correct. The way that the four young people were looking at each other made their feelings as clear as if they were each wearing large signs on their chests.
By force of will, he barely avoided rubbing his hands together in anticipation and declared, "There is a solution to your problem. You would probably have realized it yourselves had you known all the facts, but of course you didn't."
They looked at each other and then at him, confusion written on their faces. He continued, "I'd like to give you the pieces of the puzzle that you don't have already and then see if you can put it all together for me. Consider it a test of judgement if you will."
He smiled at them placidly for a few moments, enjoying their rapt attention. He chided himself for not properly displaying the humility appropriate to one of the priestly persuasion, but, just this once, he felt that he deserved it. That was, of course, assuming that his plans didn't fall apart. In that sad case he expected that he'd be spending many nights on his knees in prayer before the altar as he sought forgiveness and the blessing of a clearer mind.
He cleared his throat, mostly to focus his own attention then proceeded, "As you know our church sits almost exactly on the border of a previously prosperous part of town and one which is still doing well. Many of our parishoners to the south live in what could best be called genteel poverty. There are a great many retired priests, and their spouses if they were of sects allowing marriage, who enjoy the relative quiet behind the shields on our church.
One of their greatest needs is affordable food. In addition, while many of those more affluent families living north of us can afford to shop at higher end stores," he nodded at Erin, Enrique, and Tomaso, "the time it takes to go there and back is substantial. Since priests are supposed to help people with their problems, worldly as well as spiritual, I have devised a solution. I'm sure that you've noticed the construction of a rather substantial building on the land we own just to the south of the church?"
The four nodded at him. They'd all been extremely curious but had not ever asked. They felt it was highly inappropriate for people of their ages to ask a lordly bishop about such a simple matter, even though seeing so many carpenters and stonemasons working on the project had them almost bursting with curiosity.
"Well, today I'm going to tell you exactly what has been going on before you collapse from frustration." Paolo grinned at their astonished faces. "Of course I know how curious you've all been. Bishops are supposed to know such things."
He waved his hands. "That's of no matter now though. What does matter is what happens next. I intend for the building to house a patisserie, a greengrocers, and a bakery. In order to save on space and expenses, the bakery and patisserie will share a rather large kitchen and storage space. There will be special prices on the more plain items, ones that the poor parishioners can easily afford, and higher prices for the specialty items, exactly what the more well-to-do members of the district desire but have trouble attaining at present.
"I expect no complaints from the few local merchants supplying such things. I've made discrete inquiries and they either don't like the idea of 'poor people' cluttering up their stores and buying practically nothing, or they dislike the 'rich folks' pestering them for more high quality items than they can afford to stock. All five of them are certain that they'll come out ahead if they can drop the high and low end items and concentrate on expanding their stock of items that their middle-class customers want. It's hardly very charitable, but I can't fault people who want to be sure that they can adequately feed and clothe their families."
Now he did rub his hands together in glee. "I've been wanting to do this for years but the time wasn't right." Then he nodded sagely and added, "Until today that is."
It was then that Marla raised her hand tentatively and asked, "Ah, Your Excellency, it sounds like a grand plan, but, uh, I mean...."
Paolo smiled at her and made an encouraging gesture. "Go ahead my child, you needn't worry about offending me. Our friendship is much too strong for me to be upset if you see something amiss."
Marla nodded and swallowed nervously. "Yes Your Excellency. What I mean is, ah, it sounds wonderful, but if you're going to have three stores, you need someone to run them, don't you. And it's never been done before...having a baker and patissier in the same building I mean. Even if you could find someone willing to chance opening new businesses there, they'd have to get along extremely well, or there could be all kinds of unpleasantness if the two were unable or unwilling to be flexible in coordinating their kitchen activities."
"Hmmm...." Paolo pretended to think about what was obviously a potentially serious problem by bending forward and cupping his chin in his palm. As he did so, he noticed Tomas' gaze flick over to Erin, followed by a pensive expression.
Seeing that, he struggled mightily not to break out in a broad smile. Sara, who was just re-entering the room through the door behind the children, clapped her hand over her mouth to prevent her giggles from escaping. It wasn't, quite, time for Paolo to set the hook, and she didn't want to ruin the plan they'd spent so many weeks concocting.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Paolo looked up at her, slipped her a wink, then spoke solemnly, "That's true. That's true. It could indeed be a problem. However, I'm sure that if we all put our heads together we can come up with a workable solution."
All four of the younglings just sat and blinked at him. Their thoughts were suddenly very sluggish. The bishop had just said "we." There wasn't anyone else in the room but the six of them. It was, typically, Enrique who spoke first, "Your Excellency, you mean 'we' as in, well, us?" He gestured at his companions in astonishment.
"Exactly Enrique. You take my meaning quite well. You've always had a good head on your shoulders."
As he said that, Marla briefly glanced over at Enrique with a proud smile, and a faint blush colored her cheeks.
Almost there. Almost, but not quite. It was time for the final phase of his plan. He nodded at Sara, who turned and opened opened the door behind her a crack. It exploded the rest of the way as four children from ages four to nine charged into the room and ran over to Paolo's guests. The four and six year old girls made beelines for Tomaso's and Erin's laps, and the nine year old twins, with a bit more decorum, rushed over to Marla and Enrique. However, all four were babbling at the same time in a barely understandable barrage:
"You came, you came! Are you going to make us something today. I want Erin's cookies. No, no, you can't, I want one of Tomaso's baguettes. No, you can't have sweets all the time, I want mangos and apples from Marla. Did you bring us anything Enrique? Did you?"
The explosion looked about to continue, but Sara and Paolo walked over and each put their hands on two of the children's heads. The noise stopped instantly and the four of them lined up facing the guests and bowed. In unison they recited, "We're sorry." Anna, the most irrepressible twin added under her breath, "...at least a little bit...".
Her father gently chucked her on the head with his palm. "Reprobate." She grinned up at him and he ruffled her hair. Sara somehow managed to smile and frown slightly at the same time as she pointed at the door, and the children quietly filed out.
Paolo said, "My intent, before the herd charged in, was to introduce you to someone you haven't met yet. Luigi is back from Milan. He brought back a degree in accounting and also something much more important." He raised his voice somewhat and called, "Please come in."
Hearing the bishop's tone, all four visitors stood respectfully and looked at the door. Obviously something requiring some degree of formality was about to occur. However, what they saw first was the bishop's oldest son Luigi, who hurried over, all smiles, and embraced his childhood friends.
Phrases like, "So glad to see you again." "I've missed you terribly." and "Welcome home." swirled around him. They might have settled down into a good, long conversation, but immediately behind him someone else entered the room. She had long, blonde hair, almost to her waist, and moved with the natural grace of a gazelle. Luigi stepped back a pace as she moved further into the room and took possession of his left arm. Her pale skin and light hair made a striking contrast with his chocolate coloring and curly, black hair.
"Ahem... Let me introduce you to my wife Gabriella. We met at school and, well, as you can see we got along well, and ah...."
She laughed; a deep, throaty laugh that somehow didn't seem to mesh with her delicate appearance. Then she gently tugged on his arm and beamed up at him. "We fell in love and got married." Seeing the shocked look in the eyes of the visitors she added, "Yes we get that a lot. People don't understand how Luigi could have been married at only 16 years old without meeting the usual requirement that his parents be present at the ceremony to grant their approval, since he was under 18.
Fortunately," and here she turned to the bishop and curtsied deeply, "a certain personage informed us that the Church Law has a very unusual, old, and not very often used specification. It seems that if one prospective spouse is an adult of marriageable age," she pointed to herself, "then the parents of the younger person," she now pointed to Luigi, "need not be present, if a document confirming that they parents have consenting to the marriage is presented at the time of the ceremony. Said document must be signed by two priests or a bishop."
She smiled at Paolo and gave another small curtsy. "Seeing as there are a plenitude of priests and bishops in The City, we had no trouble at all in obtaining such a document.
"Apparently, in the not-so-distant past, manipulative persons would coerce, or bribe, a priest into signing such a document. By making the requirement a bishop, or two priests there was much more public scrutiny and far less corruption. The only other requirement is that the marriage be performed in front of a couple who are already married. They are allowed to stand as surrogates for the absent parents."
Again, she laughed. "The specifications are more than a bit odd, but it certainly worked for us, so I have nothing to complain about. Thus here we are, wedded these past three months and returned to my husband's home city seeking happiness....and employment."
At this point Sara walked up behind her son and his new bride and put gentle arms around their shoulders. "And they are well come. I'm sure that it won't be very difficult for two honors graduates to find work, especially as Gabriella's specialty is something new outside the military. The army calls the position a 'Quartermaster'. It basically means someone who can find anything, knows or quickly discovers what the right price should be, and makes sure that it gets where it's supposed to go on time. Obviously someone with those skills will be highly sought after."
Paolo also stood and embraced his son and daughter-in-law. Then he interjected, "That may well be true, but the rub will be finding two jobs close together. Given that sometimes their jobs will require them to keep late hours, I'm loathe to have such a lovely young lady walking home by herself at night even in a city as generally safe as this one. That may cause some difficulty."
He winked at Sara and smiled. "However, Luigi and Gabriella have been aware of my plans and have been instrumental in organizing the financial and supply line parts. So now we have two more minds to help us brainstorm on how to complete my project. Does anyone have any ideas?"
Enrique turned to Erin and gently took her hand, after which their eyes took on an unfocused look. Gabriella was obviously startled by this, but seeing the calm expressions on the faces of everyone else in the room, she, rightly, assumed that this had something to do with the odd rumors she'd heard about twins born in this city.
As the apparent silence stretched out into several minutes, what was at first a faint flush on the cheeks of the twins had escalated to a blush that ran from their shoulders to the top of their heads. While they waited first Marla, and soon afterwards Tomaso also began to blush. They looked at each other, nodded, then broke out in gigantic grins. While so smiling they stood and walked over to stand before Enrique and Erin respectively.
The twins also stood and let go of each other's hand. Then each shyly reached out to take the hand of the person in front of them. Next Erin and Tomaso, and then Enrique and Marla turned to face the bishop. For some reason though, they seemed unable to speak.
Paolo beamed down at them. It was time to set the hook. "Did I mention that I expect quite a bit of business in my new enterprise and that the building is therefore correspondingly large. I know it's hard to tell with all the scaffolding in place, but each shop is about 50% larger than the average."
Next he carefully drawled, "And it just so happens that above the shops are three lovely apartments, each suitable for a family with as many as three children, six if they get along well and double up, if such space should eventually be needed."
Now he was facing four, totally stunned faces. In almost no time Enrique broke the silence by pointing at the bishop with his free hand and almost shouting, "You...you...you're a CHARLATAN! You tricked us!"
Enrique instantly wilted as he beheld a fierce scowl on Paolo's face. "You insolent boy! You should know better than that. You should have said, 'You're a charlatan, Your Excellency! Don't ever forget to use my proper title in the future young man."
Everyone other than Enrique burst into laughter when they heard the bishop's remonstrance and saw Enrique gaping at him like someone who had been punched in the gut. Shortly Enrique gained control of himself and bowed deeply. Once he'd straightened back up he said softly, "I shall bear that in mind Your Charlatanous Excellency."
Everyone fell back into their chairs for another howl. Eventually silence reigned again, as was appropriate given the setting. The bishop, Sara, Gabriella, and Luigi gazed at the others with an air of anticipation but said nothing.
Eventually Erin and Enrique had another brief "twin" conversation. Then each stood and took the hands of the ones they loved, who stood to join them. Once again they faced the bishop. Enrique spoke first, "Your Excellency, will you grant me great honor of marrying myself and Marla?" Erin followed immediately requesting that she and Thomas be married.
Bishop Donetti smiled and winked at them. "What a surprise. Who would have guessed? Did you have any idea Sara?"
Then he added, seriously for a change, "There was one more stipulation in the law that neither Gabriella or anyone else, not even I, could tell you. The request for the marriage must be made by the younger of the two, and that stipulation has been a closely held secret by the church. Presumably this was another safeguard to prevent the exploitation of children by those older than themselves, especially if the prospective partner was a number of years older."
He grinned, "Fortunately, you've figured it out, so here we are."
"Sara will you bring in the documents please."
"Of course amore, it won't be but a moment."
Tomaso glared at the bishop nearly as intently as Enrique had moments ago, "Bring them in? You already had them prepared?"
Paolo had the grace to look mildly embarrassed. "Well, yes. You see, there is one little detail I didn't inform you of. An archbishop also has to sign the certification of marriage in cases like this, so Sara took care of that when she was consulting with Archbishop Comfort about the new library budget a month ago. It seemed like a good idea considering what you'd all been telling me about what might be coming. All I have to do now is put in today's date and sign them myself."
He rubbed his hands together again. All present would have sworn that the grin on his face now verged on a truly "evil" one but, since he was a bishop that wasn't possible, so they severally decided that they must have been mistaken.
Sara re-entered the room with three rather large documents. The bishop very briefly inspected them then signed and dated two of them and finally a duplicate"for the church registry". Then Sara, Luigi, and Gabriella signed as witnesses.
Sara then asked, "Luigi, Gabriella, if you would do the honors?"
He bowed, and she curtsied. They each took the tabard of a Servant of the Church from a hook on the back of the door leading to the church itself and shrugged into it. Then they each took one of the documents and exited the room through said door.
Marla looked at Enrique with a question in her gaze, and Tomoso looked at Erin likewise. After his performance thus far, Paolo decided to stop fooling around. He'd had enough fun and he truly didn't want to torment them any further. What he'd done so far had been necessary (well at least most of it) to get them to realize who they were really in love with and to do something about it. (And to get himself staff for his new project of course. Not only had he well and truly hooked them, but he hadn't yet had to say a word about how much he was going to pay them!)
"Ahem. Gabriella and Luigi will be placing the documents in the usual frames to the sides of the front doors of the church. Then they will ring the small bell that announces a marriage. Given how many tourists will be in the street, as well as city folk who are finishing up whatever business was interrupted when the Festa bells rang, I expect that word of your marriages will reach all of your respective parents within the hour."
Marla exclaimed, "Married? But...but we haven't had a ceremony yet. I thought that when I got married I'd...."
Her interruption was quelled by a look from the bishop. "Very few people seem to realize it, but the ceremony is not necessary. You were married the moment I put my signature on the vellum. You might also want to know young lady, that your parents had almost finalized an arrangement for you to marry the third son of the wagoneers who deliver most of your produce. They'd planned to tell you in the next week or so, a day before the ceremony."
Enrique caught her as she almost fainted, and gently lowered her back onto the settee. She whispered, "How did you find out?"
"Child, you're a bit young for it, but I want you to use your mind and consider what our order does. We cherish silence." He waved a hand again. "Of course we enjoy a boisterous celebration now and then. Balance is important, but silence has a great deal to teach. Especially if, when you are being silent, you overhear things that other people would rather you hadn't. Even more especially when they have no idea that you did."
He stole a glance at Tomaso who also had a pale face but was still on his feet. "Things weren't so bad in your case. Your family was just in the very first, tentative stages of finding you someone. You had at least a month, possibly six weeks before you were blindsided.
"Fortunately for all of you, I'd been working on MY plan for over three years, ever since Sara noticed how deeply you children were in love with each other. I must admit that I was more than a little amused by how you all tried so hard not to let yourselves believe it. Though, now that I think of it, considering that the twins were only 13 at the time, it was probably a good thing that you didn't.
"We've already had to deal with a similar situation once, and I prefer not to ever have to do so again."
The four looked at each other and then at Paolo with questions in their eyes but he chose not to enlighten them. He shook his hands twice, as if gently shaking water off his fingertips. "No matter. What needs to be done now is quite simple. The four of you need to go up to your apartments and do whatever you think appropriate. I'm sure that you'll eventually think of something."
Marla and Enrique turned to look at each other, and the temperature in the room seemed to rise several degrees. Then Tomaso and Erin did likewise. However Tomaso looked very much like a deer would when looking at a bright lantern. However, the smouldering look on Erin's face more than made up for it.
Erin raised her voice at that point, never taking her eyes off of Tomaso, "But, Your Excellency, the building isn't finished yet. All that scaffolding...."
"Oh that. That's just camouflage. Everything was finished, and all the furnishings put in place, two weeks ago."
Tomaso turned back to the bishop and pointed a accusatory finger at him, "You, Your Excellency, are a VERY devious man." Then he smiled, rather sheepishly. "When things calm down, I'd like for you to give me some lessons. I think that, given Erin's personality and drive, I'm going to need them if I don't want to have to exhaust myself with keeping up with her."
At that point, Sara opened the outside door that led to the patio behind the bishop's residence. From there they followed a newly graveled path to the back stairs leading up to the wide, covered balcony behind the couple's new homes.
"The apartment on the right is over the bakery and that on the left is over the greengrocer's space. The one in the middle is for Luigi and Gabriella. Feel free to move or exchange furniture and whatever tomorrow morning...or whenever you all wake up. And don't worry about your parents. Paolo IS a bishop, and no matter how angry or surprised they may be, he'll be more than able to deal with them when they arrive.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot."
She pointed to a table at the side of the stairs. "Take those covered trays up with you. You haven't had your dinners yet. Also, since you're probably going to need some calories at some point during the night, there are snacks for when you get hungry again."
She smiled at them. "Sleep well darlings. We'll work out when the shops will open later. It's going to take at least two days to take down the scaffolding, so, if we add in the time needed for Gabriella to arrange the first deliveries, you can probably count on a four or five day honeymoon."
With that she returned to the family parlor and closed the door behind her.
As they walked carefully up the stairs to their new homes, Erin remarked, "Now I know what it feels like when a tornado sneaks up behind you and knocks you off your feet."
Marla laughed. "You got that one right sister mine. No wonder he became a bishop at such a young age."
As Erin looked at her in surprise, Marla correctly surmised the reason. "Of course I called you 'sister'. I'm married to your brother, so now we're sisters, and that makes me very happy!"
Both of them squealed happily and would have hugged each other had they not been carrying their dinner trays. Instead, they smiled at each other and continued on their way. Tomaso and Enrique just grinned and followed behind their ladies.
Once inside their apartments and after lighting the lanterns inside the doors, they explored their new domains. While certainly not fancy, the furniture of was good quality and was quite sturdy. It was more than satisfactory. Having ascertained that, and after each couple had inspected the other's apartment and found that each was essentially identical, they retired back to their own rooms and had their dinners.
Afterwards each couple, Enrique and Marla, with great enthusiasm, and Erin and Tomaso, more heistantly but no less intently, began their married lives.
As Paolo had expected, a crowd consisting of the children's parents, and a large number of onlookers, comprised of both locals and tourists, soon gathered outside the church. Also, as Sara had prophesied, once it was pointed out to the parents that not only the bishop but also Archbishop Comfort had approved the weddings, there was literally nothing at all that they could do but accept the situation no matter how much it had upset their plans.
Marlo and Tomaso's parents were the first to settle down as they realized that their primary concerns had been resolved nicely. Their friends had been teasing them about their children getting too old to make a good match. That was no longer a problem, and their primary reaction was, to their surprise, relief.
All four parents eventually also processed the idea that not only were their children married, but practically guaranteed success in their lives as they were employed by one of the major churches. They also realized that things might turn out rather well for them as well given that they could, when it might be to their advantage in a deal, to "accidentally" mention that their children were so highly regarded by the bishop that he was personally sponsoring them.
By the time Paolo had finished with them, they'd even agreed to the use of the family business names on the building. Thus it was the next morning that, as the scaffolding began to be taken down, so was the canvas covering the signboards above the doors. On the left it said:
Fukui and Martinez
Patisserie and Bakery
And on the other side of the building:
Scott and Martinez
Greengrocers
When the newlyweds surfaced, it was nearly noon. Once they'd dressed and eaten, they wandered around to where they could see the front of their new businesses. Seeing the signs already in place, they evinced only mild surprise. After everything that had happened the day before, this was literally nothing. What they DID do was shake their heads as each of them privately wondered what else the bishop might have planned for them that they, as of yet, had no inkling of.
Had he been able to read their minds, he would have smiled to himself and whispered, "Wait and see my young friends. Wait and see. We're already 700 years into this 'experiment,' but I strongly suspect that we've barely begun. I wonder where we'll be going next."