Disclaimer: I do not own or benefit from the characters in this story. I just make up stuff. There is no need to sue me.

Authors Note: Would have taken place about 10 years into Matt and Kitty's relationship.

Dodge City

It was a glorious, spring morning in Dodge. The sky was a brilliant blue, the sun shinning brightly, and the air fragrant with butterfly weeds - the sight of the countless butterflies drawn to the nectar of those flowers adding to the festive atmosphere. It was truly a heavenly day for a wedding. The church bells rang out into the clear morning air as the happy marshal and his radiant bride, exited the church to greet the well-wishers who had gathered there to congratulate them.

They were leaving for their honeymoon right away, before anything could interfere with their plans. In fact absolutely no one in Dodge knew of their destination, an amazing concession on the part of the marshal. After shaking many hands and hearing numerous good wishes, Matt went to his office where their suitcases had been stacked, while the newly named Mrs. Dillon went to change into her traveling clothes. He gathered their bags and carried them to be loaded onto the stagecoach.

When the bags were securely tied onto the top of the stage, Matt turned towards the sidewalk and saw Kitty waiting there, looking lovelier than ever. She walked over to join him and looking up at him with the slightest of smiles said softly, "Well, Cowboy." She paused and tried to blink back tears before they had time to form, "I should stop calling you Cowboy. It doesn't seem right now that you are a married man. Congratulations Matt." He put his hand on her arm, "Kitty, you know I will always care about you." She swallowed hard trying not to cry, "Like I said - congratulations. You deserve every happiness. I mean that." Not trusting herself to keep her tears at bay any longer she turned and walked away.

As Kitty was hurrying into the Long Branch with tear filled eyes, an elegantly dressed, raven haired woman was walking towards Matt, her face beaming with happiness. Noticing her as she approached, Matt took his eyes off of Kitty, and turned his attention to the woman. He stepped towards her and took her hand, "Hello Mrs. Stella Dillon."

She smiled as Matt helped her into the stage, and the two of them settled into their seats. Across from them sat the other two passengers, middle-aged men wearing business suits. Matt knew very little about the men, but had a bad feeling about them. They had arrived in Dodge a few days before, and when asked if they had business in town said yes, but were very vague about the nature of that business. Matt had noticed them walking around Dodge, observing everything and talking to people. He had also seen them in church for his wedding ceremony. As far as Matt knew they had broken no laws or even asked unusual questions, but he had his suspicions about their intent. Suspicions, but nothing to go on.

As the stage pulled out Stella took Matt's arm and smiled up at him saying softly, "Here we go."

One of the men sitting across from them spoke, "Say, you two just got married didn't you?"

Stella smiled happily, "Yes, just a little while ago."

The man gave a short laugh, "Congratulations to you both." He pointed to his companion, "Me and my friend here won't bother you during the ride. You two probably have some private things to talk about. We'll just be looking out the windows, watching the scenery go by."

Matt nodded, "Mighty considerate of you."

Stella put her head on Matt's shoulder and whispered, "St. Louis is going to be such fun." She giggled, "Do you think we'll ever make it out of the hotel room, to see the sights?"

Matt looked at her and smiled, "You and I both know that we'll likely be seeing the inside of that room a lot more than anything else."

She snuggled in close as the men opposite them pointed ignored the couple and stared out the windows of the stage.

As the morning stage, carrying the newly weds was leaving town, Doc was walking into the Lady Gay Saloon to have a stiff drink. It wasn't even noon, but a stiff drink was certainly in order. He didn't want to go to the Long Branch at the moment – he couldn't face Kitty, at least not yet. He had known about the wedding plans since Matt introduced Stella to him earlier in the week, but part of him had held out hope that something would disrupt those plans. Now he was trying to sort the whole thing out, and was finding it impossible.

He loved Kitty like a daughter, and she was miserable. It was intensely painful for him to see her so unhappy. On the other hand he loved Matt like a son, and wanted to be happy for him, but couldn't help but feel the man had made a terrible mistake.

He thought about Matt. If there was ever a person who deserved happiness it was Matt Dillon. Day after day he put his life on the line to protect and help others, but Kitty deserved happiness too. She had stood by Matt through everything for almost 10 years now. She was the one Matt called for when he was injured and delirious with fever, she was the one who had spent days and nights nursing him back to health.

Doc wondered how the new Mrs. Dillon would handle the cancelled plans and bullet wounds that went along with Matt's job. As fine a man as Matt was, and there was no finer man, Doc knew that there were things about the job that most women wouldn't be able to deal with. Sure Kitty lost her temper about the whole thing now and again, but that was Kitty. Her temper was part of who she was, and she was the woman Matt understood and loved with all his heart. At least that was what Doc thought until just a short time ago.

The bartender brought a bottle of whisky over and set in on the bar. After tossing some coins down, Doc grabbed the bottle, picked up a glass and moved to a small table in the back of the saloon. He sat down and poured himself a drink as his mind traveled back to three weeks before – it had only been three weeks but it seemed like forever.

TBC

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