They were on one of the first flights out of Orlando that morning, which meant they were up and out of the hotel before 5 a.m. No one spoke much on the way to the airport. Susan had managed to rise in time to drink one cup of coffee but was wishing desperately for a second. That finally came at the airport. As they settled into first class aboard the airplane that would take them to Austin she breathed a sigh of relief. Her family was going home-intact, and in fact with two new, and most welcome additions.
She looked across the aisle to Helena and John. Helena was staring out the window while John went over some information on one of those little hand-held computers. She'd heard Melissa call it a pilot.
In front of John and Helena, Alan had the window seat. He and Melissa were stowing her carry-on bag under the seat in front of them and she was laughing at something he said. A succession of weary, sunburned tourists filed past and obscured her view of her babies, but her heart was still soaring. She was so happy to be taking them home.
A family with two small children passed by. The boy turned to an older woman in line behind him and called her 'grandma'. Susan felt a glimmer of hope that perhaps one day that might be her taking the grandchildren to Disney World.
The noise of the airplane, with the constant roar of the engines and the noisy air vents kept conversation at a minimum. Susan wondered if space flight was this noisy. She had never been particularly comfortable on airplanes, despite the fact that she never hesitated to fly anywhere.
Shortly after breakfast was served, including another small cup of coffee, Robert stood and slid past her, headed to the restroom. Alan and Melissa had both reclined their seats and fallen asleep. John, across the aisle from Susan, had also fallen asleep. Helena alternately leafed through a magazine she had bought at the newsstand and looked out the window as the gulf coast passed below them.
Robert returned, pausing briefly to scowl at his sleeping daughter before rejoining his wife in their seats. Susan wondered what he had found to disapprove of now, but she didn't ask, knowing he would tell her anyway. He sat with a sigh and immediately growled. "That skirt of hers rides all the way up to her hip when she sleeps like that. And she has her hand on his crotch!"
A smile played at Susan's lips. She remembered a night flight to Hawaii a few years back when she awoke in the middle of the night to find Robert's hand similarly placed on her body. He had sworn he was asleep and knew nothing about it. "Robert, you've interfered enough in their lives," she replied softly, thankful now for the noisy cabin. "If she wants to stand in the front of the cabin with Alan and join the Mile-High Club, you are to make nothing but positive comments," she added firmly.
The remark had the desired effect, and he chuckled. "How do you know about the Mile-High Club?"
"I'm well-read," she replied primly.
"Missy's probably already a member," Robert replied, shaking his head.
"Most likely," Susan said shortly, returning her attention to the latest issue of Southern Living. She didn't add that Melissa had probably become a member long ago, well before Alan. She didn't want to relive those years when she had constantly worried about her daughter's wild ways.
When the flight landed, the younger members of the family headed to retrieve bags while Robert and Susan reclaimed the Lincoln from long-term parking. Susan felt amazement that such a short time ago they had rushed here, not knowing how long they'd be gone, or what kind of red tape they might need to go through to find their daughters.
Robert growled at the amount of luggage accumulated, and Alan volunteered to rent another car, but Susan refused. They could manage, and Susan wasn't ready to let her girls out of her sight. Alan and Missy slid into the back seat together and she joined them. Helena sat up front between Robert and John.
Robert headed them out onto the MoPac and they headed south to the highway to take them out of town. They spoke of various things as they sped along. Susan could see the speedometer hovering just over eighty over Helena's shoulder. Robert always drove fast but Susan never felt uncomfortable with him at the wheel. She leaned forward to talk to Helena.
"You haven't told me anything about your wedding. I want all the details."
Helena turned toward her, a hand resting on John's shoulder. "It was lovely, mother. And Mel got there just in time to be my maid of honor."
Susan watched Robert, expecting him to make a comment about Missy's maiden status, but he behaved himself and kept silent.
"I've even got pictures, Mama," Melissa said. "They're in my suitcase."
Helena continued to describe the wedding, with John, Alan and Melissa all joining in to add details.
"Did you have many weddings on Alpha?" Robert asked.
"Not too many," John replied. "Our situation was not particularly stable enough to allow for long range plans. If we'd ever found a planet we could stay on, things would have been different."
"So who officiated?" Robert wanted to know.
Helena replied, "for all the other weddings, John did. There were nearly a dozen over the years. Of course, Tony Verdeschi, John's second in command, performed our ceremony."
The car slowed as Robert reacted to the information. "So you aren't really married."
"Of course we are, Dad," Helena said.
"But there's no marriage license. And no one official married you. Not like a religious leader or anything."
"Oh, Robert, when was the last time you even talked to a religious leader," Susan said. She could sense that Robert's mouth was about to get him in trouble again.
"As I recall, Susan, it was at our wedding. The one where we signed a marriage license in front of someone authorized by the government to perform marriages."
"We do intend to get a license, and 'make it legal', now that we're back on Earth," John said easily. He slid his arm around Helena and she settled against him. They exchanged a smile.
"I'm glad to hear that," Robert said. "Fredricksburg is right on our way, and the courthouse will be open today. We could stop there and still be home in time for dinner."
"Excellent suggestion," John agreed diplomatically. "Don't you think so, dear?"
Helena smiled at her husband. Susan could tell, legal paperwork or not, Helena and John belonged to each other heart and soul. "It's fine by me," she responded cheerily.
The car began to move faster again, indicating Robert's pleasure. They pulled into Fredricksburg shortly after noon. Missy pointed out a café on the town square and spoke of being hungry. Alan put his arm around her. "We can celebrate the wedding there with something to drink and some food afterwards. My treat."
"Spoken like a true 'best man'," John said with a grin. "You don't mind repeating your performance?"
"Not at all." Alan seemed to be looking forward to it.
Susan knew she was. She would have loved to be at their first ceremony, but would gladly enjoy Missy's pictures, and treasure today as well.
"So, John, does this mean you have to celebrate two anniversaries, and Cake gets two presents?" Missy teased.
"Whatever she wishes," John replied, kissing the top of Helena's head. "I'll marry her as many times as she wants, and we'll celebrate each anniversary."
"You're going to need that palm pilot to keep them all straight then, mate," Alan joined in the teasing.
"Well, calendars will mean a little more here," Helena said as her father rolled to a stop, parking in front of the courthouse.
"Oh, ho," Missy said, detecting a joke in her sister's tone. "Does that mean John doesn't always remember important dates?"
"He was pretty busy on Alpha," Helena said in John's defense.
"He did forget the occasional date," Alan said.
Melissa took Alan's hand as she stepped out of the car. She was wearing a short dress, red, with white trim, and matching pumps. Susan could see Alan appreciating the view and wondered what this pair had in mind for their own future. It was obvious that they belonged together.
"And did you remind him of these dates?" Melissa asked Alan.
"Of course! That's what a best man is for," Alan said conspiratorially. They all laughed.
The courthouse was an imposing brick structure in the small town, where all the buildings reflected the German origins of the original settlers. Much of the town square was now filled with antique shops and boutiques for weekenders from Austin. The place was quiet this early in the week, but lovely, with plenty of spring flowers in bloom. The weather had continued unpredictable and spring had come late this year.
They followed signs in the courthouse to a small office on the second floor with a high plastered ceiling and a slow-moving ceiling fan. A small woman sat at a much-scarred wooden desk.
"Can I help you?" The woman drawled slowly.
"We'd like to get married," John said, taking Helena's hand.
"Well, the Justice of the Peace just got back from lunch. I'll need y'all to fill out this paperwork." She handed over a thick legal-sized piece of paper. The blanks were simple enough, names, addresses, dates, witnesses, but it was a beautifully crafted document with gothic lettering, on heavy bond paper. "That'll be thirty-five dollars."
John passed the paper to Helena to fill out and pulled out his wallet. Susan stood just inside the door and looked around the plain bureaucratic nest. Melissa had not seemed to pay attention to the proceedings at all. She wandered over to the window and looked out at the flowers. Alan stood next to John as he handed over the money, and Helena took the paper to a tall table on the inside wall and began to fill it out.
"We'll take one of those too, Miss," Alan said, his Australian accent sounding completely out of place in the Texas courthouse. He pulled out his wallet as the woman handed him a form too.
Susan simply stood and stared. Helena turned and looked at Alan, pencil poised in mid-air. John froze, wallet in hand. Robert, standing by Helena, turned and said, "Have you talked to Missy about that?"
Melissa turned and walked over to stand by Alan. She took the form from him and removed a pen from her purse. "Of course he did, Daddy." She took the form over to the table by Helena and began filling it out.
Alan moved to join her, placing an arm around her waist and watching over her shoulder as she filled out the form.
"You're getting married?" Helena asked them, amazed.
"Yes. We are," Melissa answered simply.
Alan was grinning. Susan felt a glow in the pit of her stomach.
"You planned this?" Helena asked her father.
"I'm as surprised as you are," Robert said.
"We planned this," Alan said. "We intended to get a marriage license the first chance we got. This happened to be it." He put his hand over Melissa's free hand.
Melissa stopped writing. "You don't mind, do you, Cake? We're not trying to steal your thunder or anything." She looked back at Alan with a smile.
"Of-of course not, Mel." Helena turned and pulled her sister into a hug. "Oh, no, of course not."
John joined them, and slapped Alan on the back. "You took us by surprise."
"So you won't mind returning the favor of being best man?"
"Not at all," John said with a grin.
Melissa finished the form with a flourish and the woman called to them, "The Justice of the Peace will see you now."
The six of them filed in to a small courtroom with wood paneling and polished wood furniture. A tiny wizened man peered through reading glasses at the two papers. Then he peered over the top of the lenses as they lined up in front of him. He examined them in silence.
"Sisters?" he finally said.
"Twins," Alan explained. "They like to do things together," he joked.
The old man harrumphed and asked for John and Helena to stand together in front of him. Alan and Melissa flanked them with Robert and Susan behind them. The words were brief. John and Helena kissed softly at the end, and they were legally married. They signed the certificate and traded places with Alan and Melissa. Susan watched both her children and the men they were marrying carefully. All four appeared absolutely delighted with this occupation, despite the fact that it was Robert who had insisted on it.
Susan clutched Robert's hand, remembering her own wedding, a large church affair the summer after she graduated. She would have been perfectly happy with this same civil ceremony that seemed to be all her daughters wanted as well, but her parents had insisted on a grand gala that was much more about them than about her and Robert. They should have eloped, but her parents would have been furious. She had been a nervous wreck, and had almost called off the wedding until Robert had pointed out that her father might have hoped that would be Susan's reaction. She had loved her parents dearly, but they had been so very hard on Robert. At least it seemed that her daughters had found young men who would be up to Robert's overprotectiveness.
Alan and Melissa grinned at each other before he pulled her into his arms and delivered a long, slow, passionate kiss. They appeared to settle into each other's arms as if they planned to stay there forever. John finally broke them up with a clap on Alan's back and hearty congratulations. Both Alan and Melissa appeared a bit surprised that the rest of them still existed.
They retreated to the café for drinks and a light, if late, lunch. Susan knew that Maggie would have a dinner all ready to welcome the girls home. Robert designated himself as the driver and ordered nothing stronger than iced tea. He was obviously as elated as she was. He also hugged both his daughters and repeated over and over how proud he was of them. Susan smiled and absorbed the atmosphere of elation around her. Knowing she would never forget the day that John and Helena, and Alan and Missy made it legal.
Maureen J. Long
May, 2000