Fluff ahead. Lots and lots of fluff. I've written baby fic, so I guess wedding fic (x 2!) isn't that surprising. And I had no idea what Guz's first name is – so I called him Isaac, because I think I've seen someone else call him Isaac.
Note, this is set in the context of my other stories, but definitely not necessary to read those for this to make sense – just be aware that in my context now, Wash and Taylor are married and have a little girl named Gracie, and the Sixers have come back to Terra Nova.
My posting here is finally just about caught up with my posting at LiveJournal - the first few chapters are done, but then will be posting simultaneously here and on LJ.
Disclaimer is as usual – no profit, not mine (except Gracie, of course), just borrowing.
I always want to sit at the kids' table at weddings. They can eat chicken nuggets, complain about how boring it is and go and play outside – and nobody gets offended.
–Anonymous
For Alicia, the morning began like any other Monday. Dunham showed up for his turn at Gracie Watch, the totally volunteer duty performed by various members of the colony military, watching her and Nathaniel's two-and-a-half year old, Gracie, while Alicia and Nathaniel do perimeter patrol.
Then, they got home, cooked breakfast for themselves, Gracie and Dunham, and Dunham left for his regular duty. Nathaniel headed for command while Alicia took Gracie to pre-school and then headed to command herself. After she got there, she and Nathaniel went over construction requests from various colonists and discussed some supply issues while they waited for members of the science, medical and security staff to show up for their weekly Monday morning meeting.
That's when things got strange. Carter came in grinning like a cheshire cat. That made Alicia nervous on its own. Then, the last to arrive, after Elisabeth, Shannon and Malcolm, were Guz and Mira. Guz looked far happier than usual and Mira seemed downright…girly. And, they were holding hands when they entered; for the low-key pair, that should've raised an alarm all on its own.
When the meeting ended, Guz and Mira approached Nathaniel and Alicia. Guz asked Nathaniel if he had a moment, and when Nathaniel said yes, if he didn't mind walking and talking, that was fine, as Nathaniel had a training session with some of the guys lined up. After they left, Mira turned to her and asked her the same thing, if she had a moment.
Alicia had agreed. Another alarm should've gone off in her head when she noticed Carter loitering nearby and how his face fell a little when Alicia went out on the balcony with Mira.
But here she now stands, on the balcony with Mira, someone she has surprisingly come to consider a good friend. Mira seems nervous, fidgeting with the bracelet she's wearing, one Alicia hasn't seen before. It's made of several strands of varying colors of metal, braided together. She points at it. "That's pretty. Is it new?"
Mira gets a goofy smile on her face. "Yes. Isaac gave it to me this weekend."
"OK, Mira, you're being really weird today. What's going on?" Alicia gives her a bemused look.
"Isaac proposed yesterday. He gave me this instead of an engagement ring." Beaming, she indicates the bracelet. "It's made of some of the different alloys that Malcolm has been experimenting with. Isaac got some of the scraps and actually made it for me."
Alicia blinks in surprise. "Wow. That's even faster than I expected. It's only been two weeks since the quarantine." Alicia refers to a recent incident where Mira, Skye, Malcolm and Nathaniel all fell ill from exposure to a potentially deadly toxin that attacks the respiratory system, disaster being averted because Malcolm had already sorted out what the treatment was. "And it's awfully sweet that he made it for you."
"It's perfect. I'm not really a ring kind of woman. He has one, a simpler one, for himself, too, for after the wedding."
"What a great idea, and congratulations, Mira. Is this what Guz is talking to Nathaniel about?"
She nods. "Yes, this, and I think he's going to ask Taylor to be his best man."
"Really?" Alicia smiles. "He'll love that."
"Yes, and I have two favors to ask of you."
Alicia lifts an eyebrow. "OK, one?"
"We need to borrow Gracie, as Isaac insists that if we're going to do a wedding in front of the colony, which is what he wants to do, that we need a flower girl." Mira rolls her eyes a little.
"Of course, Mira. She'll get a new dress and get to be the center of attention for a bit. She'll be thrilled. But you said that he's the one who wants the big wedding. What do you want?" Alicia gives Mira a concerned look.
She sighs a little. "I'd prefer something smaller, but some people still have issues with us being here, the Sixers, I mean, and a big wedding involving Taylor and others will make it clear that we've been accepted by the people at the top."
"Understood." Alicia looks at her expectantly. "And two?"
"Right." Mira suddenly looks a little nervous. "The thing is, Isaac insists that I have to have a bridesmaid, a maid of honor, since he's having a best man."
"OK." Alicia is feeling a little confused.
"Would you do it?"
Alicia blinks again. "I'm sorry?"
Mira laughs softly. "Wash, would you be my matron of honor?"
Alicia says the first thing that comes to mind. "Do I have to wear a dress?"
Mira's laugh this time is loud and unrestrained, making Alicia huff in irritation. "I'm sorry, Wash, but you should've seen your face. It was pure horror. And yes, a dress would likely be slightly more appropriate than fatigues or cargoes."
Alicia gives her a hard look, her mind weighing her dislike of wearing skirts against feeling flattered that Mira would ask her. "Does it have to be all…froufy? And can it be a dark color?"
Mira chuckles some more. "Wash, do you really see me anywhere near something all light and, what did you call it? Froufy?"
"Good point." Alicia finally smiles a little.
"I've already talked to Claire in the market. She's going to make my dress. It's going to be dark brown, because that's what I like. Anything complimentary to that is fine by me – dark green, dark red. Just no black, Wash. And Claire will know what my dress will be like. Anything that works with that design is good." She looks thoughtful for a moment. "I actually like the dark green idea, if you don't object. It would be pretty on the Gracie Bug too, and Claire could make her dress and yours from the same fabric."
Alicia thinks about it for a moment. "Fine, I can live with that. But I guarantee you that the Bug will want froufy."
"Is that a yes?"
"OK, it's a yes. When will this be?" Alicia begrudgingly agrees.
Mira grins and says, "In six weeks, and thanks, Wash. You should know, too, that I'm not going to hug you. And I really don't want you to hug me. But I welcome Bug Hugs, anytime, anyplace."
Alicia grins in reply. "Thank God. And I'm sure the Bug will be happy to oblige."
A few hours later, Alicia is headed to the market to meet Nathaniel for lunch when she is waylaid by Carter. "Wash!"
She turns towards his voice and sees him hurrying towards her, wearing a look that's a strange combination of giddiness and anxiety. "Hey, Carter, what's up?"
He clearly can't hold in what must be causing the giddiness in his expression. "I asked Skye to marry me, and she said yes."
For what is now the third time today, Alicia blinks in surprise. "Damn, Carter. Did you ask Nathaniel first?"
He pales slightly. "No. I figured it would be safer to let Skye tell him when she asks him to give her away. He actually likes her, so if he sees her all happy, he'll be less likely to kill me."
Alicia smirks. "Chicken."
"Yes, but a live chicken." He hesitates. "I want to ask you a couple of favors."
She lifts an eyebrow. "Let me guess, the first is that you want to borrow my kid for flower girl duty?"
"How did you know that?" He looks confused.
"She's already been requested for Mira and Guz's wedding next month. She likes froufy dresses, and any color but dark green, because that's what she'll be wearing for the other wedding."
He snorts at that. "Froufy and no dark green. Check."
Knowing she needs to get going to meet Nathaniel, she prompts him, "You said a 'couple' of favors?"
"Right." If possible, he looks even more hesitant, highly unusual for Carter. "I need a best man."
"OK. What, do you need me to talk to someone for you?" It's her turn to look confused.
"Not exactly. I want it to be you."
She blinks in surprise for the fourth time in as many hours, and once again, the same words come out before she can stop them. "Do I have to wear a dress?"
A while later, Nathaniel finds a shell-shocked Alicia sitting at a small round table in the plaza of the market. He has a bag with him and a couple of bottles of water, she assumes their lunch, but she's just sitting there trying to wrap her head around the events of the last several hours.
He drops into the chair next to hers. "Alicia? Are you all right?"
She jumps a little at the sound of his voice. Yet again, Alicia speaks before her brain engages. "I have to wear a dress. Twice."
He'd been putting their lunch out on the table, the fruit salad she prefers from one vendor, his sandwich of some sort of dinosaur meat from another, and he pauses to look at her, an amused look on his face. "Come again?"
She rolls her eyes. "I just managed to agree to be Mira's matron of honor. I have to wear a dress for that. And, I can understand that. But then Carter asked me to be his best man, and they're going to make me wear a dress again. To be the best man. That doesn't even make sense!"
She takes a deep breath. "Seriously. A best man in a dress? I think Carter's just being a jerk because I once teased him that he's my older brother. He's been pissy about that forever, and now he's getting back at me."
Hearing a snort of laughter, she looks at Nathaniel, glaring at him. "What?"
"I admit it, the outrage on your face right now is pretty great."
Her glare goes just an iota icier, and he clearly sees that he's very close to getting into deep trouble. He holds his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry. You know I love you, Alicia, but your ability to make things like hugs and dresses sound like crimes against humanity is pretty entertaining."
She shoots him another dirty look and pulls her salad closer to her, spearing a piece of melon. "Since you're not surprised that I mentioned being Carter's best man, I assume that Skye talked to you?"
"She did."
"And you're giving her away, then?"
"Begrudgingly, but yes."
She laughs at that. "I asked Carter if he asked your permission before proposing, and he admitted that he didn't because he thought you might kill him. He said he wanted Skye to tell you because you'd restrain yourself because of how happy she is. He also copped to being a chicken."
Nathaniel snorts. "He can't possibly think I'm going to make things that easy for him."
"That's Carter. Our little slightly-psychotic cock-eyed optimist." She can't help but smile at him. "When's the torture going to happen? Because you know I want to be there. Shannon will too."
"I'll keep you two posted. Wouldn't want you to miss it."
She grins. "OK. In exchange, I'll actually forgive you for laughing at me."
"Deal." He leans over and gives her a quick kiss.
They both work on their lunch, and after a few moments of companionable silence, Alicia says, "I take it Guz talked to you too."
"Yes. It's awfully flattering that he thinks that much of me. We need to be better about including them on the nights we cook with the Shannons."
"Good idea." She pauses to take another bite of her salad. "And did they tell you about the Bug?"
"What do you mean?" He looks puzzled.
"Let's just say we should start a business: Rent a Flower Girl. We'll clean up."
He laughs. "Ah. I take it her services have been requested by both couples?"
"They have. I've informed them that while my dresses must be simple, hers should be froufy."
"Good call. By the way, how exactly do you spell 'froufy?'" he smirks at her. She throws a piece of apple at him, but he just laughs. "So, Carter's best man?"
She smiles. "It was actually kind of nice, I admit it. He said that he really does think of me like his sister, and that nobody else made sense as his best man, that there just wasn't anyone he'd rather have stand up for him."
"That's how he convinced you about the dress, right?" He gives her a sly grin.
She's back to glaring at him. "Shut up."
He laughs, leaning over, putting a hand into her hair and kissing her before she can pull away. She settles for swatting at his arm when he releases her, making him laugh even more. She rolls her eyes and pushes her chair back, intending to head back to command. Instead, he grabs her hand and pulls her towards him, making her gasp as she lands unceremoniously in his lap.
"Nathaniel!" Still glaring, she swats at his arm again, now wrapped tight around her. "We're in the middle of the market!"
"That we are." He gives her another smile, this one slightly unsure, and hugs her to him. "I'm just kidding with you. You know that, right? Carter kind of worships you. It doesn't surprise me at all that you're the person he wants there for him."
Her eyes soften, and she leans forward to press her forehead to his. "I know, and that's why I said yes. He did say that I can go sexy with my dress, though. And that it can be black. So, right now, I like him a little better than Mira, who's making me wear green and says my dress has to compliment hers."
"Sexy and black? I have to agree. I'm liking Carter more right now too, which is kind of a new thing for me." He pauses. "I'm sure he'll do something stupid again soon, and Mira will retake the lead."
She laughs and drops a quick kiss to his lips. "Now let me up. I actually have work to do."
"Yes, ma'am." He gives her a mock salute. She considers returning it with one finger in particular, but given the public location, she just sticks her tongue out at him instead. As she walks away, she can hear him laughing again, and she can't help but smile.
Her smile is short-lived, though, as Elisabeth and Maddy descend on her. They grab her hands and drag her towards the infirmary. "Elisabeth, Maddy, what the hell is going on?"
Maddy looks gleeful. "We have to help you start planning the shower!"
"Shower?" This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
Elisabeth grins knowingly, and Alicia decides that people are just enjoying this all way too much. "Yes, Alicia. The shower. You're Mira's matron of honor, and since she has no family here, I'd say that the responsibility of throwing her shower falls to you."
"But…" Alicia tries to protest, but she has no idea what to say.
"But nothing," Elisabeth says emphatically, "Now come on. We have planning to do. How do you feel about petit fours?"
Wilting in defeat, Alicia lets Elisabeth and Maddy drag her along. She thinks to herself that she just needs a plan, like any good military woman. Surgical strikes. Get things done and move on. She's sure that will work. Definitely. No question.
She sighs. She's so damned screwed.