GUNS OF WAR - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

         Alaina stood near the window in her wedding gown in the room Mary had given her and Lynneayia just hours before.  She also heard Braddock come up the stairs with Daniel and ensconce themselves in a room across the hall to get ready for the joining.

         Mary entered the room.  “Minister Lindwood just arrived we will have the joining as soon as everything is ready in the chapel.  It will be just as you wanted it, family.  Only my Sherman won’t be able to see his son joined.”

         Mary wiped her tears that were ever present as she rushed about seeing to the joining.  “You are such a beautiful bride.”  Mary straightened the veil, and smoothed the dress around her shoulders and skirt.

         “I’m so nervous.  It’s only been a week since we decided to get joined.”

         “It’s going to be just fine.  I remember the day I joined.”  Mary choked and brushed aside a tear.  “I was so nervous I thought Sherman heard my heart beating to the rhythm of the music.”  She put a hand on her breast.  “Oh the music!”

         With that, Mary was gone as she rushed from the room.  Alaina looked at Lynneayia also ready in her gown and almost laughed.  She’s more nervous than I am, and I’m the one getting joined.”

         “I agree.  At least she has something to take her mind away from her husband’s death, even if it is just under the surface.”

         Adreanna and Lindsey entered the room.  They were both beautifully dressed for the wedding.  “Mother sent us.  Everything is ready.  I’m to walk you down the aisle seeing that father – ”  Adreanna choked before she got her bearing.  “Isn’t able to be here.”

         “I thought Daniel,” Alaina started.

         “He’s standing with Brad.  There was no one else on short notice.  Brad had a friend in mind, had asked him, but he’s still back on Calypso,” said Adreanna.

         “Here is your bridal bouquet.  Mother clipped them from the garden greenhouse at the last moment so they would hold up through the joining,” Lindsey said.

         Alaina took the bouquet of calla lilies from Lindsey and admired their fragile beauty.

         She felt more nervous than she had been since they arrived.  Everything seemed to move at the speed of light.  So much had happened in the short time since she and Braddock had arrived back on Vega.  What was supposed to take place next week was happening now, and the butterflies in her stomach were almost out of control.  She should be asleep, not getting joined.  Yes, the sun was up in all its radiant glory, still, the last time she slept had been on the transport.  She knew it would be a long time before she would see her bed, and then it would be as a bride.  She blushed at her thoughts as she followed Adreanna, Lindsey, and Lynneayia from the room, and headed towards the fallout shelter.

         “You didn’t see it yesterday, but there’s a chapel just before you go into the fallout shelter,” Adreanna said.

         They stopped at the top of the stairs and Lindsey went down ahead of Lynneayia to let everyone know they were on their way.

         Alaina could hear the music a short time later.  Lynneayia continued down the stairs with Alaina right behind through the house to the entrance to the fallout shelter, counting to three between each step.  When she stood at the entrance to the chapel Lindsey opened the double doors.  Three marble pillars graced each side of the room spaced about five feet apart.  Three sets of seven candle candelabrums at each pew, lent a soft golden glow to the room as she looked towards the front and saw Braddock resplendent in a dove gray tuxedo a calla lily in his lapel.  Daniel stood beside him also in a dove gray tuxedo.  Adreanna started with Alaina.  She walked down the aisle counting six between each step.  She almost tripped when Adreanna tapped her arm to keep moving.  Braddock’s eyes were on her, and the look he gave her was unmistakable as her blush deepened to scarlet.  Minister Lindwood stood in front of the small lectern.  Four pews stood on each side of the room with a space of about four feet in the middle.

         Mary turned the music off and Minister Lindwood began the ceremony that would join Alaina and Braddock together for eternity.  There would be no turning back.

         “Do you Alaina Cathleen Magarain take Braddock James Sheffield as your husband?  Do you promise to be faithful to him, love him and stand by him in sickness and health, and the decisions he makes as long as you both shall live?”

         Alaina looked at Braddock then at Minister Lindwood.  “I do.”

         A moment later Braddock answered the same question, affirming to love and protect her as long as he lived.

         “By the authority vested in me by the government of Vega and Adonai, I now pronounce you joined.  You are man and wife.  You may now kiss.”

         It was a lot more than a simple kiss Braddock gave Alaina, which she responded to in kind.

         Alaina and Braddock looked up at the clapping, shouting, and whistles heard from the small family group with Daniel emitting a sheer whistle between fingers and teeth.  Braddock had a huge grin on his face while Alaina blushed profusely at his side.

         “There now, welcome to the family,” said Mary.

         Alaina turned to see the shimmer of tears in her eyes, not the same as the ones she had cried for her husband, but the tears of joy for her son.  “Thank you, Mary.”

         “I know this seems a bit rushed, but I need to get the banquet room set up for your father’s memorial service.”  Mary turned to Minister Lindwood.  “When do you think would be good to get it taken care of?”

         “I was going to ask you when you wanted to see to the service.  You could all get some sleep, which Mary, I highly recommend.  You look exhausted by all that’s happened and we could have the service in eight hours.  That’s well within the time limit,” said Minister Lindwood.

         “Yes, that gives me time to contact the caterers and Sherman’s business associates.”

         “And sleep, mother,” said Braddock.

         Mary shook her head.  “I can’t.  I have too many thoughts, too much happening right now.”  She turned to Minister Lindwood.  “Come back in eight hours then and we’ll have the service.”

         “Very good, Mary, and my best to you, Brad and Alaina.  May Adonai smile graciously upon your new life.”

         “Thank you,” said Braddock.

         Mary walked with Minister Lindwood from the chapel while Braddock led Alaina to his room when he was home.  “We’ll stay here tonight.  It was a shock to hear father’s gone.  You would have liked him, he was a really great man, father, husband, but that is my opinion, shared of course by the other members of my family.”

         “I’m so sorry about your father.  I know what it was like when Colonel Latimer told your mother.  I thought she would collapse at the news.  How she held together until now is beyond my comprehension.”

         “Mother always was a strong person, she also loved father very much.  You could feel it whenever they were together.  This will be very hard on her.”

         “A joining and a memorial service all at once, I’m surprised your mother doesn’t feel inundated by it all.  I know I feel like I’m caught in a whirlpool with everything that’s happened.”

         “You and mother are very much alike.  I have no fears where either of you are concerned, though mother will need to step back and let this all sink in.  Keeping busy is what mother does best.  It’s her way of coping.”

         “I don’t know if I’m anything remotely like your mother.  She hasn’t stopped to take a breath since I talked to her on Calypso, when she arranged our joining, only to have it stepped up the moment we got back because of this awful war.          I hope she gets some sleep before the service.  She really should.”

         “You heard her, this has been a shock.  All the thoughts of hers and father’s lives together are washing over her right now.  She wouldn’t be able to sleep, even if she wanted to, and that is one thing that does worry me.  She does need to relax for a few moments, and I know she will, in her time, but for now it’s time we got some sleep.”

         Alaina looked up at him and knew sleep was not what he had in mind as Braddock took her in his arms, and looked her in the eyes before he gave her a very passionate kiss.  She heard the faint swish of her dress land on the floor as he picked her up and carried her to the four-poster canopied king-sized bed in the center of the room, and then pulled the side curtains around the bed to block out the sun, putting them in complete darkness.