Chapter Seven
Fall had always been Jack's favorite season and the next day brought the most perfect Fall weather. The leaves had already begun to change color but the ground was still green from the summer sun. He stood underneath the bough that Jordan and Alana had decorated with red roses, his brother at his side. Jason was fiddling with the rosebud that Alana had slid into his buttonhole and Link came up to slap his hand away.
"It's fine," she said.
He and Jack snickered as Jack flicked at his own rosebud, already looking a little worse for wear from his own fiddling.
"Nervous?" Jason whispered.
Jack took a deep breath and considered the question. There was a kind of fluttering in his belly, but he would not have labelled it nervousness. His gray eyes kept going to the closed doorway where Bethie would emerge on the arm of her father and he found that he could not wait to see her.
"Not at all," he said honestly.
"Didn't think so. I think you were more nervous that time when you snuck out of the house to meet that redhead girl without Mom and Dad knowing."
"Yeah cause they would have grounded me. This...I'm not afraid of this."
Jason put a hand on his shoulder.
"I know."
The guests were settling down into their chairs when the strains of a melodic Arusian wedding march played by the string quartet sitting nearby began. The French doors opened and Allura emerged with Ethan in hand. He carried a small white pillow with the two silver bands tied to it and he grinned when Jack waved at him. He started to run to Jack, but Allura held him back, smiling ruefully. Then, Jordan came out, a small bouquet of red roses in her hands. Her dress was as simple as the one Bethie wore, a scoop-necked dusky rose color that matched the carpet beneath her feet and behind her, Olivia came out in the same dress. Alana was next, her blonde hair in a neat bun on the nape of her neck and she smiled sweetly at Jack, her dark eyes sparkling.
Finally, Jack saw Bethie framed in the doorway. Some of her long black hair was pulled away from her face and the rest fell down her back in a shining black cape. The diamond resting against her forehead caught the sun's rays and sparkled as she stepped into the light on her father's arm. Keith kept looking at her, a bemused smile on his face as if he could not believe he was giving his little girl to a Branegan. But then, he looked up and grinned at Jack. Jack returned the grin happily before turning his eyes back to his bride.
The bridal march seemed to take ages, but their eyes were fixed on each other. Dressed in a charcoal gray jacket, white dress shirt and dark pants that somehow managed to look a little untidy and his buttoniere looking a little wilted, Bethie could not help chuckling at the picture Jack made. His hair was tousled, though she was sure Link tried to keep it neat, but he never looked more handsome because he just looked like himself. She wanted to hurry her steps so that she could be at his side at last. When she reached the end of her walk, she turned to her father and hugged him tight.
"Thanks, Daddy," she whispered.
"I love you, Bethie," he replied.
He let her go and nodded at Jack when the younger man reached out to take Bethie's hand. When they touched, she looked up into his clear gray eyes and smiled. He drew her to his side and went went willingly, feeling as if she was floating on air.
The official had barely started when there was a bit of a scuffle behind them and they turned to see Allura trying to keep Ethan on her lap. Jack laughed and waved his hand at her.
"It's alright," he said. "Come on, kid."
Allura gave him a look as if to ask if he was sure, but she let Ethan go. Pillow still in hand, Ethan ran to them and Jack picked him up while holding on to Bethie's hand with the other.
"Don't worry," he said seriously to the official. "He'll be quiet."
Bethie grinned and looked sideways at him to find him looking back. Unable to help herself, she kissed him.
"Go on," she said to the official when she was done.
"Are you sure?" he asked dryly.
"I could not be more sure," she replied.
The reception was held in the castle's smaller ballroom and the tables groaned with food. A few more people were invited to the reception, but not too many. It was quite possibly the smallest Royal wedding in history, but that was what Jack and Bethie wanted. They wanted to be with their families and friends and they were all loud and boisterous as they celebrated a marriage they had all been waiting for. Glasses were clinked with knives so often that Bethie was sure her lips were chapped but Jack was certainly enjoying himself. He made a game of it, kissing her different ways each time and Bethie was beginning to wonder how early they could slip out for their honeymoon. Then, the music started and they took to the dance floor.
Allura stood on the edges of the dance floor, staring at Keith across the way and trying to communicate with her eyes that she wanted to dance. Even from where she stood, she could see that he was doing his best not to make eye contact to her and spoke to a high-ranking minister as if the man was saying the most important thing in the world. She made a mental note to keep him on the dance floor way longer than was necessary when she finally got him there. She was just about to find someone else to dance with when Lance sidled up to her. She eyed him warily as he grinned.
"This was my plan all along, you know," he said. "I've been dreaming of the day when my blood finally taints your bloodline and I can have my revenge on you."
Allura opened her mouth to give him a smart retort, but then she shook her head and laughed. Her reaction surprised him more than anything else.
"Actually, Lance," she said. "It's my blood tainting your bloodline. The Branegan name will now forever be linked with Arusa and Porterfield."
He frowned.
"I'm gonna end up with a bunch of do-gooding rebels for grandkids, aren't I?" he asked.
"The odds are against you."
The two erstwhile foes exchanged wry smiles.
"Ah, family," Lance said, giving her a brief hug lest she try to strangle him.
"Now we have a legitimate reason to bicker," Allura said. "We're in-laws."
"Well," he said, holding out a hand. "How about we make that husband of yours jealous enough to cut into this dance?"
She smiled, slid her hand into his.
"Alright, but I want at least an arm's length between us. We don't want to go overboard here," she warned.
"Believe me, you'll be able to fly a Lion between us," he assured her somberly.
Bethie watched as Lance led her mother out onto the dance floor and she wondered how if they could keep the peace long enough to finish the song. Her eyes wandered over to Jack as he spun his mother around on the dance floor, making her laugh with something he was saying. Ethan was in Jordan's arms and she swung him around as he giggled. She passed him over to Alana and he immediately undid her bun but she only laughed and kissed his cheek. Jason and Gwen were dancing but Jason seemed to be having some trouble with his feet and Gwen winced as he continuously stepped on them. Pidge and Link just watched them amusedly, the older man smoothly leading the mayor. Olivia and Ian were laughing, their heads close together in a way that made Bethie's eyebrows arch curiously. Hunk and Matt were at the food table, still eating, as usual. Bandor had arrived that morning with his wife and his young daughter, and Hunk was trying to get the little girl to try a little bit of everything.
As Bethie watched, her father came to sit next to her, his eyes on his wife. All Bethie saw there was amusement as it was clear that her mother's truce with Lance was on its way to being over as her mother's mouth seemed to be moving faster and faster. She leaned over and rested her head against his shoulder, her smile wistful.
"Daddy, we never had our father-daughter dance," she said sweetly.
"I thought we talked about that?" he said.
"I don't know why you hate dancing so much. You're not bad at it, you know."
"Of course I'm not bad at it," he said. "I just don't like it."
"Can't you at least do it for me? It's my wedding day?"
He threw her a dry look.
"So you want to play that card, do you?" he said.
"You bet, I do," she said, grinning and she knew she won.
Sighing, Keith offered her a hand and she took it. She and her mother exchanged wide grins as Keith paused to ready them. Then, smoothly, he began to lead her to the music and Bethie looked up at him, found his dark eyes fixed on her face with such a tender expression that her eyes began to water.
"Thank you, Daddy," she said, smiling up at him.
"I suppose I should enjoy myself because this is the one and only father-daughter dance I'm going to get if Alana is serious about taking a vow of chastity," he said gruffly. "Not that I'm complaining about that."
Bethie laughed.
"Yes, you should enjoy yourself," she said. "And since this is the only wedding you're going to throw for one of your children, you should probably dance at least once with Mom."
"Or?"
"She'll break your legs and drop you in the middle of the desert with the closest water canteen three kilometers away."
Keith was startled for a moment then he began to laugh as Bethie chuckled.
"You and Jack don't keep many secrets, do you?" he asked.
"Not anymore."
He kissed her forehead.
"If you need anything, ever...at anytime..."
Bethie thought back to all the times when she needed him and there was never a time when he wasn't there. As busy as he was with his duties and his projects, he'd stayed up to help her with a book report that her tutor wanted turned in the next day. When she needed an ear, no matter what he was doing, he would stop and listen--her earliest memory of him was of him sitting behind his desk and putting his datapad down so that he could pick her up and settle her down on his lap. She went to him with everything, from finding her tutor to be too serious to her mother being unfair and he listened, advised her, and usually found the solution to the problem. She loved him for it and she smiled up at him, letting him know that.
"I know, Dad. You're always there."
"May I cut in?" Jack said.
"Just this once," Keith said and he moved off to take Allura into his arms.
Bethie went into Jack's embrace and they moved gracefully, like two people who were always meant to dance together.
"That was easy," he said conversationally. "I thought that I might have to fight a couple duels to get you to marry me, but all in all, I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out."
"Me, too."
"I don't think I would do it again though."
She laughed.
"That's good to hear," she said, giving him a light kiss. "Thank you for bringing Ethan up with us."
He looked confused.
"Why wouldn't I?"
She looked up at him and she put a hand against his cheek.
"What?" he asked.
"I love you."
He smiled.
"Good because if you didn't, then this would all been for nothing."
She threw him a look.
"I thought we'd be at the lovey-stage at least until the end of our honeymoon," she said.
He kissed the tip of her nose and though his smile was playful, the look in his eyes made her blush. She was suddenly aware that the hand he'd rested on her back was drifting lower than was proper.
"Only when no one's watching," he murmured, his breath warm against her skin and his lips brushing the curve of her ear, making her shiver. "I have a reputation to uphold, you know."
"As long as we agree that behind closed doors, you turn into Romeo," she said breathlessly.
That made him straighten and he pinned her with a look.
"Don't push it, Bethie."
She laughed and he grinned down at her.
"This is a good way to start the rest of my life," he said.
And they danced.
