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Denise hugged me, then raced out to share the problem solve. Jeff’s sister Maria
The florist arrived, Reader in tow, and more bedlam ensued. The flowers were gorgeous—my bouquet was all red roses with two white roses in the center. The girls were each carrying smaller versions, and Kimmie had a basket with red and white rose petals to scatter. The men’s bouto
It was simple, but because we had so much black and white going on, the red roses looked dramatic and beautiful. Reader seemed pleased, which, by now, was all that I was looking for. If he was happy, things were going as pla
Reader had to go change, and my father came in, apparently to ensure that no one let me see Martini or vice versa. Dad was in the same tuxedo as the groomsmen, so I got to finally see something from the male side.
Tuxes were black, of course, double-breasted with a notch lapel. The main part of the lapel was wide and black satin. White shirts with the black things whose name I could never remember over the buttons, black bowties, no vests. It looked great on my dad, so I figured it would look great on everyone else, including Martini, and I said as much.
“Oh, Jeff’s in something different,” Dad said with a twinkle.
“What would that be?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” He was clearly enjoying being in on the big secret.
“Sol, stop torturing Kitty.” Mom sounded mildly a
Dad gave her a peck. “Only chance I’ll have to do it. I only get room duty until James comes back. Most of the men are ready. It was nice—this is the only group of young men whom I didn’t have to teach how to tie their ties, not even the bowties.”
“They tied their own bowties?”
“Yes. It’s a lost art.” Dad sounded impressed. I looked closely at his tie. Darned if he wasn’t telling the truth.
Reader came back, and I got a better idea of how the tuxes were going to look on the guys in the wedding party. Droolworthy about covered it. He grabbed Jareen for some instructions, and Dad went off with them.
Mom put her necklace on me. I’d seen it before, of course, but she only wore it for special occasions, so not that often. A thin band of tiny diamonds curved down to a diamondencrusted Star of David. The pendant hung just at the start of my cleavage. The bracelet was another thin band of diamonds. Mom had me wear it on my right wrist.
Jareen was back, and it was time for me to get into my dress. Managed to score some privacy but not a lot, since I couldn’t button the dress myself. Jareen, as matron of honor, got the thrill of being alone with me while I put on my lingerie.
“Naked Apes really go through a lot of ritual.”
“This Naked Ape was fine with just racing off to some sleazy chapel in town and doing the quickie wedding.”
“Everyone is happy you didn’t.”
“I know. Do I look totally slutty?” I was still in my lingerie.
“Yes. Jeff will love it.” She handed me the blue garter. “James says to wear this and not lose it.”
I put it on my right leg, ensured it was secure, then shimmied into the dress. “This is really a great dress.”
“Yes, but it’s the one because of how it makes you look in it.”
“Geez, James is rubbing off on you.”
“Perhaps. Hmmm . . . I think we need human fingers.” She called Serene in. “Need help with the buttons.”
“Okay.” Serene sounded nervous.
“Serene, they’re buttons. You button them.”
“I know . . . but I don’t want to ruin your dress.”
“Button them slowly.”
“James said to hurry up.”
“Button them slowly, and we’ll lie to James.”
She did as requested. “You look so beautiful.”
“Thanks.”
“Richard’s really happy you and Jeff met the deadline.”
I heard the words. I reran them in my mind. They made no sense to me. “Uh, what deadline?”
“The one for you and Jeff to get married.”
“I thought we had six weeks more, minimum. I mean, that’s when we were telling everyone we were going to get married.”
“Oh, yes, for you two, it wouldn’t have mattered.” She was buttoning carefully and concentrating on doing it well, I could tell. So I didn’t want to throw her, but I did want to find out what in the world she was talking about.
“Then who was the deadline for?”
“The rest of us. You know, in order for Richard to approve any other marriages this year, he had to agree that you two would marry by May first. Some of the older A-Cs forced him into that.”
Jareen and I exchanged a look. “So, since I’m not from around here, what would the ramifications have been if Kitty and Jeff had, say, gotten married as they’d pla
“No one else could be married for a year after, because it would mean the process was too complex. Also, they wanted to see how Jeff and Kitty did for a year before allowing any others to marry. Richard got the deadline as a compromise.”
And he’d never mentioned it once, to either me or Martini.
“Huh. That seems odd to me, as a Giant Lizard. They gave a deadline of May first, and if Jeff and Kitty met that, then everyone can get married?”
“Yes,” Serene said, still concentrating on the buttons.
“But if they got married on, say, May second, then everyone else would have to wait until May of the next year before they could consider marriage? And it would be dependent upon how Jeff and Kitty were doing?”
“Yes. There, all done. Jareen, can you check and make sure it looks right?”
Jareen moved around behind me. “Perfect.” Serene beamed.
“Thanks, Serene. So, pretty much, we have until midnight to get married or else no one else gets hitched to a human?”
She nodded. “But we’re fine. I think the ceremony’s scheduled for six.” She left the room.
Jareen and I looked at each other. “Twenty of your dollars says someone tries to stop this wedding.”
“Unlike my Nona Maria, I don’t take sucker bets. This is why James is so frantic. He knows about it—but I don’t think anyone else we’re close to does. I mean, why would Christopher have let us dawdle along if there was this kind of restriction on us?”
Jareen shook her head. “No idea.”
“James must have discovered this when he was in the hospital wing. He would have told me if he’d known before all the invasion stuff started. I mean, he was going to help me get a dress before Moira attacked him, but there wasn’t any urgency, not like he’s had since he made his miraculous recovery.”
“Then why hasn’t he told you?”
“Maybe he can’t. Or else he’s protecting someone.” Neither answer seemed totally right. I had no idea what was going on. Conveniently, I knew someone who could always figure out what was going on. “No one’s going to like this, James and Jeff least of all, but I need to talk to Chuckie, right now and in person.”
CHAPTER 69
JAREEN NODDED. “I KNOW HOW to get him in here. Just sit, well, stand tight.”
She hypersped out of the room and was back in a flash with Chuckie. “Oooh, dude, nice tux.” It was nice. Of course, I’d seen it before, at our ten-year reunion. When he’d proposed. Worked very hard on being emotionally cool and calm.
“What’s up? Jareen said ‘emergency,’ grabbed me, and I’m here.” I brought him up to speed. He looked thoughtful. “Get Serene, Lorraine, and Claudia, only, in here.”
Jareen went off and got them. “What’s up?” Lorraine looked perfectly calm.
“Serene, could you tell everyone in the room what you told me and Jareen? About the deadline, I mean?”