A Very Merry Superhero Wedding (Adventures of Lewis and Clarke) (16 page)

“Your mother wants you to get an x-ray,” Owen said, hands on his hips.

Hannah cleared her throat.

“We both do,” his dad amended.

Joe took a deep breath. He normally believed in the wisdom of “pick your battles.” But there was quite literally no time to get an x-ray, get married, and get on a plane by three o’clock today.

It was possible his dad would let up on his “tell Tori” campaign if Joe gave in on this item. But then they’d be a day or two late for their honeymoon. He’d rather be relaxing with Tori than hanging out with his family, wishing he were alone with his new wife.

He thought of where in particular he’d like to be relaxing with her. Hey, right. Bed rest.

“If there were time, I would do it just to set your minds at ease,” he said. “But without saying too much to m
y
parent
s
”—he eyed them both sternly—“I’m going to spend much of the next week in bed. If the leg starts hurting again, I’ll get an x-ray right away. I promise.”

His mom and dad looked at each other and did that silent communication thing they did. He wondered when he and Tori would start doing that. No doubt it would irritate their children. That would be fun.

“All right,” Owen finally said. “We’re trusting you on this. But as Guild leader, I’m giving you a verbal warning about getting involved in hand-to-hand combat without proper equipment.”

Joe opened his mouth to object. A verbal warning would be passed on to his team leader, Mickey. Written warnings about a Paladin could affect his whole team, keeping them from coveted assignments. A verbal warning, on the other hand, wouldn’t be a mark against Joe in the same way, but he’d never done anything to warrant anything but praise from his father in the past. This seemed unfair.

And yet, there was the “pick your battles” bit of wisdom. The warning wouldn’t hurt him as he worked his way up the ranks. He just needed to nod and take it.

Nod and take it. He gritted his teeth.

Then he nodded. “Okay.”

Owen gave a slight nod, then lowered his eyes. Joe wondered if his dad didn’t want to give the warning. He could have easily let it go. But good leaders couldn’t let things slide, not even with — especially not with — their own family. Joe suspected this was a lesson he needed to learn as he worked his way into his father’s position. He gave his father a nod of respect.

“So what’s the update on Tori and her family?” Owen asked. “What do they know?”

Joe turned his face away for a moment, working on controlling his temper. Just hit all the soft spots at once, Dad. Geez. And on his wedding day.

“Dad, no matter what Tori knows or when, nothing is going to change with her family,” he said firmly. “
I
literall
y
saved her dad’s life on Saturday, and they still refuse to believe superheroes are real. We’re going to have to keep everyone from letting their powers show when her family is around. I’m sorry, but I don’t know what more I can do.”

Owen rubbed the back of his neck. Hannah sighed and folded her arms.

“Honey, we can’t make them believe,” she said gently.

“I know, but…” Owen shook his head. “Joe, I’ve counseled hundreds of people over the years who are head over heels in love, but have some difficult hurdles they’ll have to jump to make their marriages last. A secret like this is going to make every part of your marriage harder. Every. Part.”

“It’s going to be fine, Dad.” Joe said the words as sincerely as he could mange considering he wasn’t sure he believed them himself.

But what more could he say? He didn’t want to share his private conversations with his fiancée, but maybe it would help to tell his parents a little.

“We’ve talked about secrets, about finding out unexpected things about each other over time. She was wonderful last night, didn’t freak out, didn’t even let on she knew I was hurt.”

“You told her?” Hannah asked.

“Yeah, I told her almost everything, and she took it like a pro.” Joe felt himself feeling proud of her. She was going to make a great wife, period, but eventually she would be a fantastic Paladin’s wife.

“Well, that’s good, right?” Hannah asked his dad.

Owen shuffled his feet around and stared at the ceiling for a moment. “I just don’t know. I don’t know if I should marry you, knowing what I do.”

“Dad…” Joe tried to hide his frustration. “This is my wedding day.”

“It’s not you, son,” Owen said, but he couldn’t meet Joe’s eyes. “This is about me, abou
t
m
y
integrity.”

Joe sighed deeply. There was no argument for that. After a moment he said, “So I tell her, try to make her understand something she’s been led her whole life to believe is a lie, try to explain that I’m not nuts
,
the hour before we’re to get marrie
d
, and hope she still marries me, or you might decide in the next hour not to go through with this.”

Owen didn’t say anything, just stared at his shoes.

“Be fair, Joe,” his mom said quietly. “Your father has been asking this of you since the day you got engaged. The timing here is on you, son.”

Joe stared hard at her for a moment, arranging his argument in his head. Then he dropped his eyes, turned, and walked out of the room.

His mom was right.

TORI stood in front of the full-length mirror in the bride’s room at church. She smoothed down the folds of her wedding dress as Lexie zipped and buttoned. Hayley stood by the edge of the mirror putting on her makeup. Dixie stood to the side, directing.

Tori smiled at herself in the mirror.

Look at you
.
A bride
.
She almost couldn’t believe it.

And she looked so beautiful. Hayley had done her hair, swept up on the top of her head with lovely little curls trailing down. Her mother had added sprigs of real holly and baby’s breath as she attached the veil.

Joe had given her a pair of pale blue sapphire earrings last night before they left the church. They sparkled in the light when she moved her head. She loved them. She loved that Joe gave them to her and didn’t care if they were paste or real. But the way they sparkled, she wondered.

This morning, her mother had surprised her by opening a very old velvet jewelry box and pulling out a dainty chain with a single pearl. As she attached the clasp around Tori’s neck, she said, “My father gave this to my mother when they got married. It was her ‘something new.’ Then she gave it to me when I married”—she cleared her throat—“your father. My ‘something old.’”

She stood back and adjusted the pearl against Tori’s throat. “Now I’m giving it to you as your ‘something old.’ I’d love it if you loaned it to your sisters when they get married as their ‘something borrowed.’” She smiled at Lexie. “If they’d like that.”

Tori hugged her mom tight. She didn’t want to let go. When she sniffled, Lexie and Hayley jumped in with tissues and washcloths dipped in cold water. The cloths were pressed against her face to keep her eyes from getting red and puffy. Tori laughed at the commotion and blew her nose.

“
Thi
s
,” Hayley said, “is why I said I’d do everyone’s makeup at the last minute. Come on, Lex, get in here and get the crying over with.”

Lexie pulled something from her pocket. Tori recognized it immediately.

“Your dress is ‘something new’ so I wanted to loan you my count-your-blessings bracelet for ‘something borrowed.’ It’s one of my most treasured possessions.”

Tori tried to saw, “Aw, thank you,” but it came out as “Aw, sob, sob.”

She remembered the day she bought it. Lexie’s boyfriend-about-to-be-fiancé had declared he wasn’t interested in being a father and had left the week before. Lexie was close to inconsolable.

Tori was at Target, the most expensive store she could afford, buying toilet paper and dish soap and wondering how to make her sister feel better. She walked by the jewelry counter and saw this pretty little charm bracelet for twenty dollars. The thought popped into her head that this could be a way for Lexie to count her blessings, focus on the positive things in her life — which seemed few and far between the last few years.

A few charms lay on a small tray. Two caught her eye — one of two little girls holding hands, one of a baby carriage. They were ten dollars each. Tori stood staring at them, unable to shake the feeling that this simple gift might bring Lexie back from the brink.

Though she hated to ask her parents for help, she didn’t have enough money for the gif
t
an
d
the toilet paper and soap. She put the other things back, told herself it would be better to let go of her pride if it might help her sister, and bought the jewelry.

Lexie had loved the gift. She heard Tori’s unspoken warning that she could lose herself in grief like she had as a teenager, and she forced herself to let go of her heartache and focus on the blessing of her unborn baby. And, Lexie had told her, the blessing of her sister.

With that memory between them, Tori and Lexie held on to each other for a long minute. Tori cried and Lexie tried to keep it in, as was her habit.

Then Lexie fastened the bracelet on Tori’s right wrist, and said, “We’ve both got more blessings than this bracelet can hold, but I’m glad you’re getting another one.”

Her sister couldn’t have said anything more eloquent. For all that they’d tried to protect each other from the havoc and heartache in the world, Lexie wasn’t upset that Tori had found love. Tori felt a few more tears slip out as she hugged her sister again. When she pulled back, she saw Hayley and her mom wiping their eyes, too.

“Okay, are we done now?” Hayley asked. “I’ve got to do our makeup soon.”

Tori laughed and wiped the cool cloth across her face. “Done.” Hayley was as good as Lexie at hiding her emotions. But an entire day of emotional displays was about going to kill them.

Standing in front of the mirror now, Tori could see all three of them fussing over her, trying to help make her day perfect. She felt a sudden sense of peace wash over her. Not just a feeling of being “okay.” But a supernatural strength of purpose that permeated every cell.

It was a feeling she always associated with God’s presence. She took a deep breath and smiled into the mirror. She knew the tears were behind her now, even the happy ones. The strength and peace in her heart were a sign that life was going exactly as it should.

Just like the rhyme, she now had something old and something new, something borrowed and something blue. If there was a “something holy” brides should have on their wedding day, it was this peace.

A knock sounded at the door. Her mom went to answer it.

“Must be a man,” Lexie said as she put finishing touches to Tori’s lip gloss.

All the women could come and go as they pleased, but no men were allowed in the bride’s room. Mostly because all the women dressed in there together, although Tori figured the original idea was to preserve the sense of mystery and surprise.

“Joe, you can’t see her now,” Tori heard her mom saying.

“What does he need?” Tori asked.

“I just need a minute,” Joe called from the hallway.

“Be right back,” she told the girls.

“Tori, he can’t see you before the wedding,” they complained.

As Tori approached the door, Dixie closed it to a crack and said, “Here she comes. Turn your back, at least.”

Tori waved her mother away and Dixie left reluctantly, shaking her head. Tori stood hidden behind the door and spoke into the crack. “Hey, Joe,” she said, keeping her voice quiet enough for his ears only. “How are you?”

Joe sighed. “It’s good to hear your voice.”

He didn’t say anything more. Tori closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of him. “You’re wearing my favorite cologne.”

“I bet you’ll think I look as good as I smell.”

Tori could hear the smile in his voice. “I can’t wait to see you,” she said softly. “But I always think you look good.”

They were both quiet for a moment. “You okay?” she asked.

There was a long pause. “Do you want to know all my secrets? Right now? I’ll tell you every detail about me right now so you can be sure you want to marry me.”