Baby, with the sweetest kiss
You came along and stole my breath.
Tore down my defenses with a whisper.
Oh you showed me how love can be.
You broke through to my heart
Softly, baby, softly.

Renee sang along to the song as she hung some clothes in the closet. She turned around and Gabriel was standing there. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lips. When she pulled away, there was a smile on her face. "Is that your way of shutting me up?" She asked, laughing.
"No, not at all," he replied, kissing her again.
"We're gonna be late if you don't let me finish."
"That's okay," he said with a grin.
She twisted out of his arms and picked up the last shirt off of her bed. Taking an empty hanger out of the closet, she hung it up. Renee turned around and walked over to the radio to turn it off. Then, she slipped her shoes and jacket on. "Let's get going. We're supposed to be there in five minutes."
"Yes, ma'am," he said with a grin. Opening the door, he followed her out.

They drove down the street, then got caught behind several cars stopped at a red light. Renee let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a growl. "Doesn't look like we'll make it on time," she muttered.
"I'm sure he'll wait."
"Yeah, but I still hate being late."
The traffic in front of them began to move forward slowly. Ten minutes later they pulled into a graveled parking lot in front of a large, brick church. They walked inside and looked around for the pastor.
Renee spotted him sitting in one of the front pews. He saw them standing there and stood up. "Hello, Renee."
"Sorry we're late. We got stuck in traffic."
"Not a problem. You must be Gabriel," he said, turning to him.
"Yes, sir."
They sat down beside him and Renee said, "It's going to be small. Probably no more than fifty guests."
"What about your vows? Are you saying your own? I remember you had mentioned you might."
She shook her head. "No, we decided to go with the traditional ones."
"Have you set a date yet?"
She nodded. "We're planning for August twenty-fourth."
"That's about seven months away. Gives you a lot of time to plan."
"Yes, it does." She glanced at her watch, then back up. "Which reminds me, we still need to get the invitations."
They said good-bye and Renee and Gabriel left. Fifteen minutes later she pulled into a driveway in front of a large, white house. A young woman stepped outside and smiled at them. "It's nice to see you again, Miss Mackenzie. I take it you're here for the invitations."
"Yeah, we are. Are they ready?"
"Yeah. Hold on a sec. I'll be right back with them."
She returned a moment later with a medium-sized white box. It was kept closed with packaging tape. Renee took it from her and said, "We'll send you the check soon."
She nodded and turned back to the house. They got back into the car and returned to Renee's apartment.
"Is there anything else we have to do today?" He asked.
"No, nothing we have to do," she replied with a grin.
His lips parted in a smile and he said, "So I guess you haven't gotten tired of me yet."
"No, not yet," she replied, then kissed him.

He wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss. Gabriel pulled her closer to him. Just as she was about to kiss him again, the phone rang. Renee rolled her eyes and pulled herself away from him. He pulled her back and asked, "Can't you just let it ring?"
She smiled at him, but said, "No. I have to answer it."
He sighed and let her go. She picked the phone up from the receiver and said, "Hello."
"Are you two coming?" Sara's voice asked from the other end of the line.
Renee thought for a moment, trying to remember where they were supposed to be. Then it hit her. "I'm sorry. We forgot. We'll be right there."
She hung up the phone and turned to Gabriel. "What did we forget?" He asked.
"Our appointment with Sara and Ian."
"Oh yeah. We did forget about that."
They put their coats back on and walked outside. Sara had offered, and pretty much forced them to accept, to give them some lessons in self defense. Thinking back over the past year, Renee concluded that it might be a good idea.

She drove to Sara's apartment and saw her standing outside waiting for them. She walked over to the car and Gabriel rolled down the window. "Let me get my bike, then you can follow me."
He nodded his head, then rolled the window back up. Sara pulled up in front of a large building. They climbed out of the car, and Ian stepped out of the door of the building. Renee thought she saw a brief smile flash across his face, but it was quickly gone so she couldn't be sure. They followed Sara inside and saw a small gym set up there. There was a punching bag, a boxing ring, and some mats were on the floor.
"Gabe, you go with Ian. I will work with you, Renee." Ian and Gabriel walked over to the mats while Sara and Renee went to the punching bag. Renee looked at her, waiting for Sara to tell her what to do. "Renee, I want you to hit this bag as hard as you can."

She looked at Sara, then turned to the punching bag. Renee pulled her arm back and threw it forward, but the bag hardly moved. She shook her hand and sucked on her knuckles.
Sara smiles encouragingly. "Try it again. This time don't bring your arm back so far. Throw the punch right from your shoulder."
Renee hit it again, this time making it swing a little. "That's good. Just keep hitting it."
*******
"Hit me."
"What?" Gabriel asked, not sure if Ian was serious.
"Hit me," Ian repeated.
Gabriel was still looking at him like he was crazy.
"Just do it."
He shrugged and swung his fist at him. Ian grabbed his arm and pushed it away.
"You're too reckless," he told Gabriel. "Don't just swing. Now, try it again."
Gabriel threw his fist again, and Ian caught it in his hand. "You're still not thinking. Let me show you."
He stepped in front of Gabriel and threw a punch at him but stopped before it reached him. "Don't throw a wild punch or you might miss your target and he'll get you. Now, try to hit me again."

Gabriel threw another punch at him, and Ian blocked it with his arm. "Better. But don't swing so wide. It takes too much time and by the time you hit him, he could have hit you several times. Throw it straight from your shoulder."
He tried again and Ian smiled. "That's much better."
*******
Renee and Sara were sitting against the wall when the two men walked over. The younger girl had a small bag of ice on the knuckles of her right hand. She smiles at Gabriel as he sat down beside her. "That thing is tough."
She took the ice away from her hand. Her knuckles were bright red. Partly from hitting the punching bag and partly from the ice. "How'd you do?" She asked him.
"I'm reckless," he told her with a wide grin.
She laughed. "Yeah. Well, we already knew that."
Sara looked at Ian and he nodded. Then, she looked at them and said, "That's good for today. You're not gonna forget again next week, are you?"
"We'll try not to," they both said with a laugh.

Sara just shook her head at them as they walked out to the car arm in arm. When they got home, the light on her answering machine was blinking. Renee pressed the button and heard her father's voice coming from the machine. "Renee, I need to know when the wedding is, so I can see if I can get it off from work. Please call me back as soon as you can."
She heard the click of his phone hanging up and turned to Gabriel with a look of sadness in her eyes. "I'd better call him," she said softly.
Renee turned back to the phone and picked it up from the receiver. Gabriel could hear the tension in her voice when she greeted her father. By the time she said good-bye, he could tell that she was extremely upset.
"What did he say?" He asked her.
She turned to him, and he saw tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. "He's not sure if he'll be able to make it. He said the end of August is a busy time for him at work."

He wasn't sure of what to say to comfort her. Instead he stepped forward and started to wrap his arms around her, but she pulled away from him. He was shocked. She had never acted this way before.
"What's wrong?" He asked her, concerned.
She shook her head, then walked over to the bed and sank down on it. He walked over to her and sat down beside her. "Will you please tell me what's wrong?" he asked, taking one of her hands in his.
She tried to pull it away, but he just tightened his grip. Finally she let out a sigh and looked at him. "My dad's always been too busy, so I should have known nothing would've changed. But I was hoping this time it would be different. I should know by now not to get my hopes up when it comes to him." She closed her eyes, then opened them and looked at him again before continuing. "I don't want to be disappointed again. I'm afraid you'll get tired of me and let me down like everyone else has. I've never been important enough to others. Why should I believe that anything has changed?" She lowered her eyes as the tears began to fall.

It broke his heart to see the sadness in her eyes. He took her face in his hands and looked directly in her eyes. "Renee, I love you. I promise you that I will never get tired of you or be too busy to love you. No one has ever made me feel the way you do." He used his sleeve to dry her face, his hand lingering on her cheek.
She forced herself to smile, then broke down into tears again. Gabriel put his hands behind her head and pulled her closer to him, stroking her hair. When she had stopped crying, she lifted her head and looked at him. He smiled at her, then leaned toward her and they kissed. They pulled apart and there was a smile on her face. She leaned toward him again and they fell across the bed.
*******

"Ian, why do you work for him?"
"Where else would I work, lady Sara?'
She thought about this for a moment, then realized that he had a point. "But the way he treats you."
"It is nothing, Lady Sara. The pain doesn't last for long and the bruises fade. It is all I have ever known. I am used to it."
When they reached her apartment, Ian nodded farewell, then went on down the street. Sara watched him for a second, then walked inside.