Perry Mason and Della Street get Married

by susan cousineau

This is my story of the marriage between Della Street and Perry Mason. They actually did marry in the 1930 s .

It had been nearly five years since Perry Mason had first set his eyes on Miss Della Street. She had been the

thirteenth applicant for the job as his personal secretary and had come in on a Friday the thirteenth. 'So

much for bad luck on the thirteenth' he thought to himself.

The two had worked side by side through thick and thin. They had at first became business partners. Now,

when he first had opened his office most women were the secretary, but Della had never been just a

secretary at his office. She had been more the office manager. Sometimes he thought that if she had not

come into his life that day he might not have made it as a lawyer. He knew now that he did not want to

ever go a day without her.

Not only did she now take up her half of the office, she took up her half of his life after work. They had

not fallen in love the moment they met. However, Perry knew that Della was just what he had always

searched for in a woman. He had never even considered looking for anyone else to take over her position

at the office. Della was the life and the strength of his office. She held everyone together through both

thick and thin and never asked for anything for herself.

As the time had gone by Perry had found himself falling deeply in love with the woman named Della Street.

She was there by his side working tirelessly on each and ever case that he handled. She had never wavered

in her confidence for him and stood by him no matter what. It was because of that he had fallen in love,

a deep love that cannot be explained. Now he had asked her to marry him and he was excited. He had

saved himself for the woman he married and she had saved herself for the man that she was going to

marry . He could hardly wait for the twenty-third of August to come, the day that he would take Miss

Della Street as his wife.

Perry sat in his study and looked at his phone. He wanted to call her but it was indeed very late. They had

been at Lori and Mike's wedding all day and both had been tired. Perry had taken Della home and gone straight

to his penthouse. But now as he sat there looking at his phone he wanted to call her. 'Perry Mason it is after

two o'clock in the morning. Call her after nine a reasonable time' he thought to himself.

Della was at home and had gotten out of her maid of honor gown and taken a long hot bath. She was very tired

and for the fist time in months found herself alone in the house. It was strangely quiet in the home without her

sister Lori there. She listened for any sound and heard nothing and lay down on the bed to go to sleep. It was

after one in the morning and she had been up since six that morning. But she could not sleep. It was now time

for her and Perry to get going on their own wedding. The invitations should be going out within the next two weeks

and they had not gone over their lists yet. Della was going to invite the same people mostly as her sister Lori had

to her wedding, at least as far as her family went. She would be adding the people who worked at the office and

a few of her own friends, but for the most part Lori's list would work for her. Della had asked Perry to start a list

of people that he would like to invited from his side and she had not heard from him.

She had so much to do and they still had to find a house. She had loved one of the homes, but they would have

to add a two car garage to the property, have someone build shelves for Perry's study and have a plumber come

and move the washer and dryer to the upstairs from the basement. The realtor did say that he had two more

houses for them to look at. Perhaps they should at least look at the other homes.

Della could not believe that her wedding was coming up in just three months. She remembered the day that she

had met Perry Mason. He had been young and eager to start his practice. She had worked with his mother and

set up the office together and at first they had no clients. Day after day they would sit there with little to nothing

to do and they were getting nervous. Then they had their first murder case and the office had been busy ever

since. There were now three other busy secretaries at the office and sometimes a young lawyer Ken Malansky

would come over and work on a case.

She had definitely noticed Perry the minute that she met him. However she would not have thought that she had

fallen in love at first sight. Her love had grown slowly . One day she just realized that she had fallen in love with

him and she had worried that he might not have felt the same way about her. But he had and they were now

engaged to be married On August 23. She could not wait. She looked over at her night stand and thought about

giving him a call But she looked at her clock it was two am and she was sure that Perry was asleep. She would

wait for his call in the morning.

Della woke up at eight the next morning and sat down to read the paper. It was strangely quiet in the house

and she thought about the homes that she and Perry had looked at. The homes were so large that they would

always be this quiet. Perry could be in his study and she could be in the kitchen and she wouldn't be able to

hear him or he hear her. The yards were large and someday she hoped their children would be out there playing

but she did not want a huge yard either. No she wanted a home not just a house.

At nine the phone rang and it was Perry. He said that he would come over at about ten and that they would

start to make some serious plans about their upcoming wedding. She did not look forward to everything that

had to be done, but she knew that for the next two weeks the home would be hers and then Lori and Mike would

be hack and she would have to go to Perry's penthouse to get anything done. She loved her sister, but the house

was always busy when Lori was home.

When Perry came in Della was glad to see him. He looked tired still and she knew that she looked tired also. It

had been a long and stressful day the day before, but Lori and Mike had gotten married and they had left very

happily for their honeymoon to San Francisco. They were going to be driving up the coastline and then back down

it. It was a long ride and Perry and Della had taken the trip many times. Della hoped that they were having a

great time.

Perry took a seat on the couch and Della brought them both in some coffee. She had laid down some information

that they needed to go over on the table. They had so many decisions to make. There was the cake. How big

what kind of frosting. what figures should be on the top? How many tiers? What kind of cake? She was going to

have to go with Perry to see the chef at the Queen Mary. The chef had sent photos for them to look over. The

chef would like the choice within six weeks of the wedding.

They needed to chose a photographer. The good ones would be busy if they did not make the decision on who

they wanted soon. There were many choices and Della and Perry needed to make their decision soon on that

also.

They were going to have to decide on a band also. Della knew what she wanted for her first dance, but she wanted

to talk to Perry about that. There were several different bands some with singers some without. They needed to

make a decision on who they wanted soon also.

Then there were the invitations. The lady from the card shop had sent Della several different designs for the

invitations that they were going to be sending out. That should be done today so that the cards can be ready in

time for them to be sent out on time for the wedding. Della had decided that should be their first decision.

Perry took a look at the pile on the table and moaned. It was more work getting married than getting a murder

solved. The invitations all looked all right to him. They gave an rsvp card and each one announced the

date and the time and place of the wedding. He thought that the black type with the special italics was the best

and told Della. Della was thrilled that he had chosen the same one that he had. So, that was settled and just

as they sat back to relax for a moment Perry's phone rang.

Perry looked at his phone and saw that it was the realtor. He needed to talk to Della about looking at the houses

today before he answered the phone, so he did not answer. "That is the realtor. He has a couple of houses all

set up for us to look at. Are you up to looking?"

Della was tired and she had this whole list of things that had to be done, but she knew that the house was the

next big decision that they needed to make. Most of the homes were not available for viewing during the

evening so the weekends were the only time that they could really look. So she smiled at him and said "Yes I am

ready to go house shopping. It will get us away from this mess for a while." and she kissed him on the cheek.

So it was decided that they would meet the realtor at one of the homes at one thirty. It was already after eleven

so Perry suggested that they freshen up and head out to get some lunch. There was a wonderful Sunday Brunch

just down the street and they would be done in plenty of time to look at the first house.

As the two of them left the restaurant and headed to the first house that they were to see she was very pleased

to see the home. It was just a couple of streets from the home that she now lived in. It was a quiet street with

many children and large homes. It was just minutes from the office and Della liked the location already. Perry

looked over at Della and smiled. He knew that she would be happy in this neighborhood and he was pleasantly

surprised by the way the neighborhood looked himself. The homes were large and the yards were very large, but

all of the houses on the street looked like homes not just houses.

As they pulled up to the large gabled home, Perry was pleased to see that there were two garages already there

with room for up to six cars. They would have to park one car in front of the other, but that would be all right. He

just wanted to make sure that each of their cars had a place to park. There was circular driveway that drove right

past the front and side door. The door that would be used the most was just a few steps from the large breezeway

that connected directly to the kitchen.

The kitchen was huge with a counter for your breakfast and a large island in the middle of the room. There was a

large gas stove with a professional hood on the center island itself. The kitchen sink was directly behind the island

with a large window above it so that you could watch what was going on in the yard. Just off of the small breakfast

nook was a sliding glass door that stepped out to the patio. As Della opened the door she was pleased to see the

large flat fenced in yard. It had the pool that Perry wanted to the right. The pool was fenced in and had a small pool

house next to it. She started to walk toward the pool and took a look inside the pool house. The pool house had a

small kitchen and living area and off to the side were two baths, both having showers.

Perry had come with her and was pleased with the large pool and the pool house. The pool house would be perfect

for Della and his parents when they came out for a visit and also for his brother Dave. It was small but they could

have their privacy during their visits and he liked it. The yard had a few Large trees that lined the high fence that

surrounded the entire yard. The pool had a separate fence, which was locked. So the only way into the pool was

either through the pool house or with the key to the locked gate of the fence that surrounded the pool. This would

be safe for young children. You could access the backyard from the garage also and that would make it nice for a

backyard barb-q. Della and Perry could have a party and the people would not have to go through the house. They

could bring everything out to the pool house. Behind the pool house was a large flower garden. This was something

that Della wanted. She had a garden at her house now and she found herself calming down as she worked at it.

The garden was great and a plus for the property.

As Perry and Della walked into the house once again to the left was a family room. It was large and bright and

you could watch everything from the kitchen. As they walked through the family room to the left was a half bath

and a pantry. In the pantry there was a folding door and behind the folding doors was a place for the washer

and dryer. As you walked through the family room you came across a large study with bookcases lining the wall

and a large desk over in the corner. The study was huge and both Della and Perry could easily work from there

when they were needed.

To the right of the study was a huge formal living room with a large chandelier for light in the center of the room.

The room had a large bay picture window overlooking the front yard. On this side of the home was a couple of

trees and the neighbor's property was just fifty feet away. But there were bushes along the property line allowing

for privacy of both properties.

When they went into the foyer Della loved the large room with the high ceilings. It had an attractive chandelier

in the center for light.

When you crossed the foyer straight ahead was a formal dining room. The room was large and right behind it

was the kitchen. In this home you could see what was going on in the dining room and the family room right

from the kitchen so the cook could join in the conversation from there. Della liked it. It had an extra large

dishwasher and a huge three door refrigerator for a family.

As Perry and Della went upstairs they found four bedrooms with two additional baths. Both baths bad double sinks,

but the bathroom in the master suite was larger than the room that Della had now. It was tastefully done with a

soaking tub and a separate shower for Perry. It had plenty of space for both of their things and it was the nicest

bathroom that they had seen. There were two walk in closets in the master bedroom each being about eight feet by

ten.

The three other bedrooms were almost exactly the same as each other and each room had ample closet space. The

second bathroom was convenient to all three bedrooms also. Perry could see his children living there and enjoying

their rooms.

The cellar had been done over and had a large bonus room with a small kitchen for guests or for the family as the

family grew. The other half had been saved for things that needed to be put away for the season. It was a much

needed storage space .

Perry looked the house over once more with his stamp of approval. Now he did not know which house he wanted

more the second house that they had seen last week or this one. "What was the price on this house?" Perry asked.

"The asking price is 1.1 million. It will be ready for occupancy July 1st." their realtor told him.

In the meantime Della had been thinking about this house. It had everything that she wanted and needed no work

at all. She would like the rooms to be painted her colors of course. But with the move in day being six weeks before

the wedding there should be plenty of time for them to be ready. But now she would need to go furniture shopping.

Between the two of them they did not have near enough furniture. Most of Della's furniture was going to stay with

Lori and Perry only had four rooms. This house had nine large rooms. At least the dining room would be perfect for

this formal dining room at the house. She liked this house.

Della and Perry made their way to the next house and talked about the house that they had just seen. Della was

in a dilemma. She now had no idea which house she wanted. The last one that she saw or the one that had grabbed

her heart just a week ago. She looked up at Perry and saw that he was watching her with a smile. She knew that

he was laughing on the inside because she knew that she looked like she did not know what to think or do "Perry

that house was wonderful and we could more right in. Everything is ready and I just loved the yard and the large

garden. We could live there for the rest of our lives." she told him.

"To tell you the truth Della, I think that we need to think long and hard about this one. I hope that we don't like

the next house or I will be in a real dilemma." he told her with a nervous laugh.

Della smiled at him and sat back thinking about the next house. The realtor was trying his best to show them the

house of their dream and she knew it. Each of the houses had what they had both wanted but she was going

to miss her little home that she and Lori had shared for the past few years.

As they pulled into the driveway of the next home Della smiled. There in front of her were two garages with bays

for up to six cars. Behind the large garage that was attached to the house was a large workshop and a place to put

all of their outside tools. As they went through the garage they walked right into the breezeway once again. The

room had been made into an all season room with large sliding doors going out to the patio and backyard. The yard was

large and there to the side was a large pool and another pool house. You could access the backyard from the garage

at this house also. There was a large outdoor kitchen with a rolling canopy top. Della like that, it would allow them

to have some shelter from the sun on very hot days and would protect them from some of the smaller rainstorms

that you were apt to see in LA. The patio was huge and had a large table all set up next to the outdoor kitchen.

As she and Perry walked around the large level fenced in yard Della noticed that this home also had a large floral

garden just a few feet from the garage.

As they walked into the home Della saw the formal dining room that overlooked the large backyard. From the

dining room you could easily access the sliding doors to the patio. Straight ahead from the dining room was a

hallway that led to the formal living room that overlooked the large side yard. Off to the side was another set of

sliding glass doors that walked out to a patio also. Here they had put up another canopy.

To the right of the hallway was a large study perfect for Perry. It had been all done over in mahogany and the

shelves lined all four walls. There was a big desk over in the corner next to a computer and a video camera.

There was a place for someone to sit next to the person at the desk and Perry thought of the many times that

Della had sat next to him in the office. They had worked well together when they were close. It had always been

as if they could communicate to each other without speaking. More than once he had gone to say something and

Della had said it first. It used to give him goosebumps sometimes. Della smiled as she looked into the room also.

As they walked around to the large foyer Della smiled as she noticed the large porch where she and Perry could

sit together and watch the world as it went by.

On the other side of the foyer was a family room with a place for a large screen television and a huge kitchen.

The kitchen had everything that she and Perry would ever need. Off of the kitchen she found her pantry and

her laundry room. To the left was a smaller full bath. The kitchen had a large center island with the professional

hood that stood atop the gas stove.

Upstairs was four bedrooms. There were three baths upstairs and four bedrooms. The master bedroom was huge

and had two walk in closets with a large master bath. The other three bedrooms were all about the same size and

the two rooms on the right would share a bathroom with double sinks. On the other side was a large bedroom with

a large closet and a bathroom that also had double sinks.

The house topped all of the houses they had seen and Della did not want to change a thing. The place had all of

the things that Perry wanted also. Perry verified that the price for the home was 1.2 million and told the realtor

that he and Della would get back to him sometime during the next week. "Oh and one more thing: When will

the home be ready for occupancy?" he asked.

"The home will be ready July 1st and the price is 1.2 million. I left this house for the last because I thought that

you might think that it has the wow feature that the two of you have been looking for." the realtor told them.

"Well thank you for your time. The homes that you have shown us are lovely and have been just what we wanted

now we have to decide which house we want." Della told him with a smile.

Della could not wait to get away from the home. It was everything plus with what she wanted and she was torn

between the three homes. She reached over and kissed Perry on the cheek. He smiled at her and told her "Now

what do we do."

"OMG Perry I don't know what to say. I guess that we will have to go over each one of them and make our decision

sometime this week as you told our realtor. No more houses, three to think about is enough." Della told him with a

smile.

As they pulled up to Della's house Della felt a little sadness. Her world was changing so fast and she was getting

nervous more and more everyday. She thought that perhaps the two of them should forget about everything for

a short time. It was good that tomorrow was work.

As they went into the kitchen Della offered Perry a lemonade. He took it with a smile and they went out to sit on

the patio. The weather had been wonderful that day and they both needed to wind down. As they took their seats

at the table Della sat back and relaxed. It was the first time in two days that she had actually had the time to just

sit down and she wanted to enjoy the time. Perry also sat back and watched a bird feeding it's babies. It was a

warm spring day and the days were going to be getting warmer. The two of them sat there in the kind of silence

that two people who were in love could enjoy. It was a comfortable quiet and they just sat there for about fifteen

minutes taking in the free time that they had for now. They knew that the time would once again be shattered and

that they needed to relish this time that they had together.

Della found herself falling into a daydream. She was tired and wanted her life to stop being so complicated, but

then she knew it would be too boring then. 'I had just better enjoy this time. We don't have this kind of peace

and quiet for long' she thought to herself.

Della had not seen Perry looking at her "A penny for your thoughts." he told her.

"I actually have nothing in my mind right now. This is a very short period in our life and I was enjoying the peace

and quiet for just a minute. Oh I would never want to have a quiet life for long, but I know that there is so much

that has to be done and I don't know if I have the energy. Those houses they are so nice. What house?"

Perry was thinking the same thing that Della was. Even though they were not touching their thoughts were the

same. "I don't know. All of the homes were wonderful. Let's talk."

Della nodded and said "I am going to get another lemonade first." and with that she took Perry's glass and headed

into the kitchen.

She did not hear Perry come in and jumped just a little when she felt his hand on her shoulder. "I know that there

is a lot for us to do, but we will get everything done. Why don't we just relax and watch some television tonight. We

can forget about our wedding for a couple of hours. I would like to sit on the couch with you and just enjoy the quiet

of the night." and with that he kissed her softly on the neck.

Perry always knew what to say, no matter what happened he could make her feel better. She turned towards him

and they held each other in a passionate kiss. After a few moments Della told him that it was time to make some

supper. Della had hoped that they would end up back at her house and she had taken out a couple of steaks. Perry

smiled and told her " I will start the grill."

As they cooked the dinner together, Della again knew that she had found the right man for her. They did not have

to speak to each other they just knew what to do. Within the hour they had steak baked potatoes and a fresh salad

all made. They had gone out to the patio to have their supper.

Dinner was done just in time for them to turn on one of their favorite shows. It was a comedy and sometimes they

felt that they needed something to laugh about. In their line of work there was so much sadness, it was nice to

think that people someplace were having a bunch of fun not a bunch of sorrow.

But as they cuddled on the couch Della thought of how soon they would be man and wife and that soon they would

be sitting in their own house. Whichever house it was and she longed for the day that Perry would not have to leave

for his own home. She wanted him to stay with her now, but they were not married. So she cuddled up even closer

to him.

Perry looked down at Della and could see a hint of sadness on her face. He did not want her to be sad this was

supposed to be the happiest time of her life. "Is everything all right?" he asked her.

Della had not realized that her face had been in a grimace "I am sorry I went back to thinking about everything that

is left for us to do." and with that she just put her head on his shoulder and went back to smiling.

The news was coming on and Della did not want the night to end. She reached over and took both of Perry's hands

and said "I love you. Whatever happens I know we will be happy with our new home and our new life. I am sorry

that I have been so preoccupied." and with that she reached to kiss him.

The kiss was very passionate and before much time had gone by they were making out extremely heavy. The

passion was in the highest of the high when it was broken by a knock on the door of all things.

Della and Perry did their best to act like they were doing nothing and somehow Della found her voice "Who is

it?" she called.

"It's Paul sorry to come so late but I need to talk to Perry right away."

Della and Perry straightened themselves out the best they could, but what a mess. The cushions on the couch

were almost off of the couch and Della could not find one of her earrings. Perry straightened out his shirt and

they turned on the lights. Perry opened the door and Paul knew that he should have waited until morning,

Perry was a mess and his shirt was buttoned wrong. When he looked over at Della she was a little bit of a

mess herself.

Paul knew that he needed to talk to both of them so he decided to ignore what they looked like. "Perry I am

in trouble real trouble. One of my men were following a man who was cheating on his wife. Well, it turned out

that he was doing more than that. He was selling stolen goods on one of the on line sites. At some point his

partner was murdered, I am not sure when but I would guess about an hour before my man found him. But

the man we were following found him first and he freaked out. He grabbed my man and managed to get his

gun away.

He knew that he was being followed and he turned around on my man. While he was arguing with my man

Someone called the police and instead of shooting my man he shot the police officer. I know my man did nothing

but by the time another officer got there the man had dropped the gun and was yelling "Help" this man killed

my friend and had a gun to me. When the cops came he shot the cop. The police are out for blood, Perry on

this one." he told him.

"My man's name is George Streeter and he is a good man. He would never murder anyone. I know that he

told me the truth He was following a man named Charlie Bowers and the policeman that was killed name is

Duane Carter. He is being held in jail right now and he needs a lawyer." Paul told them.

"All right let me freshen up a little and we will be on our way." Perry told him.

"Call me as soon as you know anything, Perry." Paul told him.

"I will and I will see you in the morning" and with that Perry and Paul left.

Della sat down on the couch and straightened one of the pillows. She was genuinely worried about Paul's man.

She had met George before and knew him and his wife Karen and knew that he had a couple of children . But

she was embarrassed by what Paul had seen. Perry and her were in the middle of something very private when

Paul had come in. She could not wait until they married.

Perry went right to the jail to help Paul's man out. He had been embarrassed by what Paul had seen but knew

that his friend would never be judgmental towards him. But he was sorry for Della. He loved her with all of

his heart and did not want her embarrassed like that. He could not wait until they had married. He might have

done something that night if it had not been for Paul's knock. He and Della needed to be careful about their

emotions.

As Perry walked the familiar halls of the police station he was met by Lt Tragg . "Perry, we have your client

with his fingerprints all over the gun and the man shot minutes before the other police officers arrived on

the scene. He was following a man named Charles Bowers who has no record at all in fact he is a very clean

person. His friend Gordon Tuttle was murdered of that we are sure. We are working on that crime but your

client could have murdered him also. He had plenty of time to commit that murder also. Charles claims that

is why your client killed him. He came upon the murder and he was afraid that your client was going to kill

him too. He managed to get the gun away from George but it was too late for poor Duane our officer. He was

dead when the other officers arrived on the scene.

Perry walked into the room where they were holding George and walked in as one of the officers was yelling at

his client. When he saw Perry he shut right up and glared at him but walked out of the door. Perry could see

that George was all right just worried. "You need to tell me exactly what happened once again." he told him.

George looked Perry right in the eye and told him "I had been following Charles Bowers for the last three days

when he had gotten a call from his friend Gordon Tuttle. When we arrived at the man's house we found the

door open and found Tuttle dead on the floor . He had been hit over the head by something. Perhaps I touched

it . I don't know."

"How did he get the gun away from you?" Perry asked him.

"He caught me by surprise. I did not know that he had seen me come up behind me and he grabbed me. He is

very strong and had the gun pointed at me when the police officer came. The cop told him to put the gun down

and he shot him. Then he laughed and said that I was going to go to jail for the rest of my life as the murderer

of a cop. He put the gun down and yelled to the police that arrived next." George told him.

"What you have said makes sense. But I need to find out who murdered Gordon Tuttle. From there I can show

that you did not shoot the police that it was Charlie Bowers. You are going to have to stay here for the night but

Della and I will get you out on bail tomorrow. I promise take it easy. " and with that Perry opened the door so

that Lt Tragg could question the man. He stayed through the interrogation and left the jail after two am. that

night.

Della arrived at the office early that morning and had gone through the mail and had made the morning coffee

when Perry arrived looking tired. He came in with Paul and the two of them took a seat. Della already had the

papers filled out that were necessary for the hearing with George Streeter. Perry looked over the paperwork

and as usual found the paperwork to be flawless and signed them. It was now set, he was going to need to go

over to the courthouse and file the motions for the bail hearing. He smiled at Paul and told him to "Come on

let's get Mr. Streeter out of jail. With that the three of them headed over to the courthouse to get their client

out on bail.

When the three of them arrived at the courthouse it was a media frenzy. There were television crews and

cameras all over the place. They tried to speak to the three of them but Perry steered them to the safety of

the inside of the courthouse. There they went right into the courtroom to see George Streeter. Behind them

was Karen Streeter who looked as though she had been crying and not had much sleep. Della took her hands

and smiled at her before taking her seat next to her two best friends Paul Drake and Perry Mason.

This was an accusation of the murdering of a police officer and the hearing went on for over two hours before

bail was ordered for the amount of three hundred thousand dollars. As of yet they had not charged George

with the murder of Gordon Tuttle and Perry thought that they might try to make two different bails out of the

charges if they could. He would cross the bridge when they came to it, and for now he was free on bail.

This was going to be a battle of wits and Paul was determined to free his man from the false charges. But

he needed to find out who the murder of Gordon Tuttle for starters. Paul was determined to find out what

had happened and now that court was over he was headed to do some investigation and solve the murder

mystery.

Perry came over to Della and took her by the arm. This was going to be a most difficult case and he knew

that he needed her by his side as she always would be. They walked out of the courthouse and made their

way through the reporters together once more.

When the two of them got back to the office Della went on line to read up about anything she could find out

about Gordon Tuttle and Charles Bowers. They had an on line site where they sold things so she decided to

start there. There were pages and pages for her to go through before she found the site where the two of

them worked from. They sold mostly old toys and glass she saw nothing that would have drawn her attention

to it. She noted any recent sales and decided to track some of the people who had bought from him on

line.

Perry came in to her and smiled "Della it is now seven o'clock and I have not eaten. How about some dinner

at Marios? I would like Italian. " he told her with a smile.

"That sounds good to me. I have spent the day looking up information on Gordon Tuttle and sales that he has

made recently on line and my eyes are very tired." she told him with a smile and with that the two were off

to dinner.

The two of them took a seat at their favorite booth and this time Della sat next to him. She wanted to talk

quietly to him and she wanted to hold his hand 'just kidding' while they ate. She had a busy day at the office

and had sent out the requests for the invitations. She also wanted to know what Perry thought about the

houses that they had looked at the day before. Della looked up at her handsome fiancée and smiled once

again. He looked so serious, she knew that he was worried about Paul's man and so was she. She took his

hand and gave it a quick squeeze.

Perry had spent the day going over briefs and had found nothing to help their case. They had not heard from

Paul all day and he was wondering what was going on with Paul. They ate their dinner in relative silence both

worried about their friend and his family. The media had made a circus of the crime and Della thought that

she would listen to everything they said. Sometimes you could actually find out things by listening to the

news when it came to a murder mystery. There were a few honest reporters out there. There were the reporters

who would say anything to make a sale or a name for themselves but most did some real investigating on their

own and sometimes there was information in their newscast.

Perry took Della home and the two of them once more went to work on the murder mystery once again. They

had both been very busy for about two hours when Paul showed up once again. This time the two of them were

sitting there working and not doing anything that could be called embarrassing.

Both Della and Perry turned to listen to Paul and watched as he took a seat at the love seat. They walked over

to the couch and listened to what Paul had to tell them.

"I have not had much luck today. People are afraid to talk because of it being a cop killing and all. But I did

find out that Gordon has been seeing a woman on the side himself. Her name is Gretchen Horns and she hangs

out with some bad people. I am looking into some of them right now. But, it is going to be hard to prove

that it wasn't George that pulled the trigger. Neither one of them had any gun powder on them. You see

Charlie had gloves on." Paul told them.

"I have been looking for anything in the law and will find something." Perry promised him.

"I have been looking into the things that he and Gordon Tuttle sold on line and the clients that they sold the

different items to in the past few months. There have been a lot of sales but that is where I want to start." Della

told him.

"You guys are wonderful. Between the three of us we will find the murderer I know that. It is just that George has

had a rough life. His son has cancer and he is only three years old. They are giving him chemo right now." Paul

told them. "Well I have to go now. I will keep you posted." he told them and walked out the door.

Perry and Della looked at each other and shook their heads. But they had to discuss the purchase of their home.

They had only a short while to make a decision. Perry looked at the envelope on the table and opened it up.

In the folder were the photos of the three houses that they were drawn to and it was time for them to discuss

their choices.

House number one was the most reasonable. It was within walking distance to schools and shopping. But

it was not going to be ready for another month and it needed some work to make the home work for them. It

needed a two garage and shelves put down in the cellar. It also needed the washer and dryer put upstairs and

taken out of the cellar.

House number two did have everything that they could want and was set up so that you could walk from the garage

to the pool house with just a few steps. There was also the patio with the place for Perry and Della to have some

of their barb-q s. It was a wonderful home with everything ready and would be ready for purchase on the first

of July.

But the third and final house was also going to be available on the first of July and it had an extra bathroom upstairs.

It also had a place for the boat that Perry was not sure he would have room for in the other homes. It also was very

close to the schools and the office. It was the same price as the other place and it had a workshop.

The two of them looked at each other and smiled. It was going to be house number three for them. They knew that

they could raise a family there and be happy for years there. Della reached over and put her arms around Perry's

neck. "This is wonderful, now when Lori gets back we can go shopping. The house will be ready a few days after

she and Mike arrive back home. You and I need to start looking at furniture now, though." she gave him a happy

kiss and gave out a little laugh.

Perry gave out a small groan and began to kiss her . It was a great day for them and a sad one for their friend

Paul. They were both worried and had another murder mystery on their hands.

Now it was time for Paul to keep an eye on the home of Gordon Tuttle. He was married to a lady named Babette

and had a girl friend named Gretchen. He had been keeping an eye on the home since the murder and so far

had seen nothing. As the hours wore by Paul was getting bored when he saw a lady come to the front door of

the home. He looked through his binoculars and could not believe it. It was none other than Gretchen Horns. He

thought that there was going to be trouble but she was welcomed into the house by Gordon's wife Babette and

she stayed there about a half an hour before she left. Paul decided to follow the lady and followed her to her

home. There he sat outside her house until midnight with no action.

George Streeter was not a man to sit still especially when his whole life was on the line. He had two children and

a son who was very sick with cancer and he needed to find out what was going on. He had decided to follow the

lead of who had been selling the things to Gordon and Charlie. He knew that some of the items were stolen and

some came from estates. Most of the items were hard to trace as they were cheap simple items and there were

many of the same thing out there. The auction houses around the area did not help much either as they would

list the items simply as a vase or picture. It was going to be hard to prove what was bought legally and what

was not. But he was determined to find out who had murdered Gordon Tuttle. He knew that it was not Charlie

Bowers. He had only shot and killed the police officer, an offense punishable by death. He was going to have

enough trouble of his own when it was proved that he had done the shooting not him, George.

He went through every sale that had been made for the last ninety days and came across one problem. There

had been a clock that had been sold and the clock had been received broken. The buyer had filed a suit with

the site and had won a refund of the entire amount of the clock. This clock had sold for over eight hundred and

fifty dollars and the shipping company had been investigating the broken clock themselves. He contacted the

insurance company that was handling the case and left a message with one of the investigators a man named

Glen Stevens. He left his name and number and said that he was from the Drake Detective Agency. It was his

hopes that he would hear from the man soon.

It had been a long day and Perry said good night to Della at eleven . He felt as though things were going way

to slow and he was afraid that George was going to be charged with the murder of Gordon Tuttle also. He was

sure that Tragg and Burger were hard at work at that aspect of the investigation. They were under a lot of

pressure from the police department to get a guilty verdict of that he was sure. Whenever a police officer was

killed while on the job the police department would show no mercy to anyone.

That night Della went to bed a little more relaxed. She and Perry had decided on the house that they were to

purchase and live in once they were married. It was a lovely house with a large yard and garden and lots

of room for the children they both wanted to have. She was worried about the murder, but she knew that

Perry would get George off on the ridiculous charge of murder of a police officer. But, they needed to find

out who had murdered Gordon Tuttle. She knew as well as Perry and Paul knew that the district attorneys

office was trying to tie the two murders together.

Perry went to his home with happy thoughts about the house that he and Della had decided to buy. It was

a big house with plenty of room for his children and a home that he could come to feel at home in. of that he

was sure. He was worried about the murder, but needed some sleep so that he could continue on with the

case in the morning.

That night all went well, but when they got up in the morning the news was very bad. Someone had murdered

Charlie Bowers the night before. His body had been found floating in the river just outside of his neighborhood.

Once again George Streeter had been arrested. He was a suspect in this murder also. Unfortunately for him

he had no alibi for where he was during the time of the murder.

Perry went straight to the jail and sat down with George once again. "I have no idea what happened Perry. Last

night I got a call from Charlie telling me that he wanted to speak to me about the murder. I knew that it was

not a good idea but he told me to meet me at a bar near the pier. He never came and I waited there for over

two hours. They say that they found the body not far from the bar, but I never saw him I swear.

The police had nothing to hold George Streeter on this time and were forced to let him go home. "You stay home

and do not go anywhere unless I tell you that it is all right." Perry warned him.

Della had been busy on line working on her idea. Someone was after both of the men and she was sure that it

had something to do with the on line auctions. Every item would need to be checked and every sale would have

to be checked also. There had been over three hundred sales made on their site in the last ninety days and it

was going to take a lot of work.

Meanwhile Paul was wondering about what he had seen himself the night before. He had seen Gretchen Horns

go into the house of the widow of Gordon Tuttle., Babette. He was wondering about those two and decided to

try and work that angle of the mystery. He would see what the two women might have in common and if they

were friends or just talking because of the murder. When Gretchen had come to the house she had seemed to have

been welcomed by Babette. It was strange but he had seen stranger things in his years as a private eye.

Perry Mason was very busy that week. He had called the realtor and had made an offer on the house. He knew

that it would take a couple of days for him to hear anything. But the process had now started and with any luck

they would own the house soon. Once the offer was accepted he would have to have a home inspection done and

a title search done. It would be a couple of weeks before everything would be ready for the sale or even a little

longer possibly.

Ah and then the furnishing of the home. He had the lady who had designed his penthouse. He did not know

whether or not Della would want to have a designer, but he would approach the subject with her. Of course when

he had designed the penthouse he was not that close to Della and he had been a single man. Della might want

to design the house the way that she wanted and she was looking forward to shopping with Lori. He would talk

to her and see what she said. If Della thought that she had the time to do the design work then it was fine by

him she had impeccable taste.

Perry had some other things that he was working on and had to put aside the murder investigation for a couple

of days. He knew that Paul and Della were hard at work looking into different things and so he let them do their

jobs while he worked on some more affidavits. It was a long week and Perry was glad to see Friday roll around.

He wanted to go with Della someplace and get away but he knew that was impossible during an important

investigation as this one was. They would have to settle for some time together at her house or his. They would

be together that was all that mattered.

Della had spent the entire week looking into the sales that had been completed on the on line auction site between

Gordon and Charlie and so far had no luck. Most of the people were happy with their purchases and most of

them lived very far away. As a matter of fact some were from foreign countries. She too was glad to have

Friday come once again. She would work with Perry from the house and the murder would still be upmost on

their mind, but the hustle and bustle of the office was not going to be interfering with her concentration.

Together Perry and Della left the office once more arm in arm and headed over to Della's house for another

night of hard work. They stopped at a local drive thru and bought some hamburger and fries to hold them over

for the long night.

Paul had spoken to one of the neighbors Marlene Greene who had seen the two of them together several

times. He had stayed there to see if Gretchen would show up and she had.

Neither Perry or Della had heard from Paul Drake that day and they wondered what he had been up to. There

were now three murders out there and they were both sure that he was very busy. If he found something else

out they knew that he would let them know. So after they had eaten their terrible supper the two of them went

back to work on the case.

As Della went through some more of the sales she finally found something that caught her eye. There had been

a sale of a toy that had gone to someone in LA. They had said that the toy had belonged to them and the toy

had been stolen from their home some six months ago. There had been some heated discussions between the

two parties and finally the money had been returned to the buyer and he got to keep the merchandise. No charges

were ever filed.

Della made a note of the ladies name. Her name was Clara Majors and she lived in the city. It took her a while

but she finally got the address of the lady. She went over and showed Perry what she had found out. He smiled

at her and said "good work" Now let's not stop yet. When Paul calls I will give him the information so that his men

can look into it for us." he told her.

The two of them worked for the next two hours and when Perry saw the time he called it a night. It was now after

eleven and they both needed sleep. They were going to have another heavy day tomorrow. He kissed Della

good night and headed out to his penthouse once more. When he got home it was after midnight and he went

right to bed.

Della cleaned up the mess and looked at the photo of the house that they were going to be purchasing. It was

a wonderful home and she was starting to get very excited about the house. She and Lori would decorate it

the way that they wanted. Of course, she was going to ask Perry for his opinion but she knew that he would

like anything that she did with the house. But they would have to hurry because the wedding was getting closer

and closer with each passing week. Lori would be home on the following Monday and they would start thinking

about things as soon as she and Mike returned.

Della went to bed right away and got up early in the morning. Perry called at nine and came over at ten. He

had some more ideas that he wanted to work on and he still had not heard from Paul. He was starting to wonder

about what was going on with Paul and George but knew that both men knew what they were doing and that they

would come right over as soon as there was anything that they had to tell him.

The next day was Saturday and Perry and Della had plans to go out to a club that night. There was a band playing

there that they wanted to hear. It was one of the bands that they had been considering to use at their wedding

and they wanted to make sure that they played the kind of music that they liked.

The entire day was again spent working on the murder case and at four Perry headed back to his penthouse to get

ready for the night out he had planned with Della. It was a nice club where they were going to be going and he had

reservations so that they would be seated close to the dance floor and band. They took their seat at the table and

were served a delicious meal. The entire time that they were eating the band played. The band played all different

types of music and Della liked them very much. The lead singer a young man was very talented.

The night was spent with them dancing many times closely. Della could feel Perry's breath as they danced together

and she felt as though she was on cloud nine once again. He was such a good dancer and so handsome. By the

end of the night she knew that this was the band that she wanted to play at their wedding and she told Perry about

that. To her pleasure he agreed and so it was settled.

They danced each and every slow dance and held each other close. They did not arrive back at Della's house

until after one am and Perry came in to be with Della for a few minutes alone. Their time alone was so rare and

in just eight days Lori and Mike would come home. From then until their wedding the only place that they would

be able to go and get some privacy was at Perry's penthouse and that was for sale.

Della and Perry took a seat on the couch and Perry put his arms around her. He loved her with all of his heart

and just wanted some time together. They were in the middle of a passionate kiss when once again the spell

was broken by a knock on the door. Perry got up and walked to the door. He opened the door to Paul who once

again had interrupted them. At least this time they were decent and Paul was genuinely sorry that he had come

there again, but he had some news that he wanted to tell them.

He took a seat on the love seat and took out his trusted notebook. "I finally heard from Glen Stevens . He has

been looking into the clock that came broken in the mail. The man is an insurance fraud, but I don't think he

has anything to do with the murder. He will be charged with fraud and that is all" Paul told them.

Perry watched his face and was sure that Paul had something else for him. "Is there anything else that you have

for us Paul?" he asked.

"Yes I have been watching the Tuttle home and it seems that Gretchen Horns and Babette Tuttle are quite chummy

they see each other everyday. I am working on how they know each other so well and hope that I have an answer

for you shortly." Paul told them.

"Well you let us know anything that you find out." Della told him.

"But when you are coming to Della's house and you see my car in the driveway call me and then give us a few

minutes please." Perry told him with a smile.

"I will call you and then ride around the block a few times. How's that?" Paul told him.

"Make it five or ten" Della told him with a devilish grin.

Paul went to leave and Perry followed him out the door "You don't have to come with me you know" Paul told

Perry.

"Oh I know but I have to leave. I am getting where I don't trust myself anymore." he told him with a shake of his

head.

Paul thought of Perry as his best friend and he knew that Perry had a lot of things on his mind. He had married

Sue the love of his life seven years ago . The wedding was probably the hardest thing that they had been through.

It was a very stressful time for all newlywed couples but he knew that his friends would survive the time and always

look back at the time as a good time just busy.

Perry was glad that it was Sunday. There was a baseball game on the television and he and Della could spend the

day watching it with a little work to go with it. They also had a long night the night before. He would come over

at around ten as he had for the last few days and they would have a good time together.

When he arrived at Della's house he could smell something cooking. It smelled like roast beef. Yes it was roast

beef and potatoes. Della was making a meal for the two of them. It was only ten in the morning and he was

getting hungry already. He had just eaten breakfast but the food smelled delicious.

Today was to be a day of rest unless Perry and Della heard nothing from Paul or the police. Perry wanted to

talk to Della about the decorating of the house. He had the ladies name that had designed his penthouse and

he would ask Della about it. They would watch the game on television and relax.

The morning went well with Della working on her laptop and Perry relaxing and reading the morning newspaper.

The dinner continued to smell up the whole house and Perry was starting to really get hungry. Della had known

that next to steak roast beef was his favorite meals and there was nothing like roast beef petite potatoes and

glazed carrots. He had indeed chosen a good woman to be his wife.

As they sat down to eat Perry smiled at Della from across the table. She was always a lady even in an apron. It

did not matter what she wore she looked like a lady. The meal was delicious and that is when Perry decided to

approach the subject of the designing of the rooms at the new house.

"Della I have been thinking. You have so much to do with this wedding and the work at my office. Now we are

also buying a house. There is a lot to do with the decorating of the house. Perhaps we could use a professional

decorator." Perry told her.

For a second he thought that Della was going to cry. He saw tears starting to well in her eyes. "You don't think

that I can do a good enough job?" she asked him.

'Wrong way to handle this' Perry thought to himself. "No of course not. I just thought that you have been so busy

I thought that we might be able to use a professional. But if you want to do your own decorating I am sure that

anything you chose will make me happy. Don't be upset. I thought that I was making you an offer that you would

gladly accept. Just the other day you were complaining about all the work that you were going to have to do and

I thought that this would lessen your load."

Della knew that he had best thoughts in mind so she smiled and told him "No all the other things are bothersome

but necessary. This was to be one of the fun things. Girls like to shop and as soon as Lori gets home we were

going to go shopping and buy the furniture. I wanted you to come along too if you wish." she told him.

"That is fine with me. Your taste is exquisite and the home will be a showplace of that I am sure. If you show

me some samples I will be happy to get involved in some of the choices for our house." with that he took Dellas

hands in his and he smiled broadly. "I love you and I always will."

As the afternoon turned into evening Perry and Della began working on the murder mystery once again. They

both were bothered by the fact that someone had killed both partners. They were sure if they found the killer

of one of the men they would find the killer of both men. So to work on the computer they went once again.

Della wanted to go to the home of the man who had argued about one of the purchases but Paul had taken on

that task and had not gotten back to them.

At least the wedding was going along as planned and Perry had talked to the band about doing their wedding.

The details were going to be worked out later that week, but they had agreed to do the wedding. One of the

ladies from the church Darleyne was going to sing solo while the guests were entering the ceremony. Every-

thing was working out so far. It was time for Perry to go home and as they said their good nights they each

smiled at each other another week closer to the big day.

Another Monday came and went with little news from Paul. Perry was worried and Della had continued looking

into the questions of the sales on the web with little success. The manager of the band had called and had

sent out a contract for Perry to look at and sign. The office was busy as always with different cases that Mr.

Mason was handling and the office closed up at six that evening.

The rest of the week was uneventful except that George Streeter had been somewhat successful in finding out

some information. It would seem that Gretchen Horns and Babette Tuttle had gone to school together and

that they had been best friends.

Perry and Della found the information interesting and asked for him and Paul to look into that information a

little further. They had gone to school together in northern California and Paul had left Thursday to do some

checking in that area.

As for Della she had already started looking at the types of furniture and decorations that her new house was

going to offer. She had some samples of the type of cloth that she wanted on her couch and chair and many

paint samples. She had wanted to freshen the paint in a few spots. There was really nothing large that

would need to be done in the entire house just a few minor touch ups. But, Della wanted everything perfect

for her and Perry when they got back from their honeymoon.

Perry had been very quiet about where they were going and had just told her to bring a bathing suit and

clothes for a hot location. She had no idea if they were going east west south or plane train or ship and

she had tried her best to find out but he was as closed mouth as he could be to her.

Perry had found that the fact that Della had tried several times to figure out where they were going to be going

on their honeymoon amusing. He wanted it to be a surprise and had sidestepped any questions. He knew that

if he gave her a hint she would want more and soon she would know everything. He hoped that he could keep

it a secret for a little longer.

On Friday the invitations came in and Perry looked at the stack of invitations and the list of names that he had

put together and groaned. Each one was to be done individually. That was the way that Della wanted it because

it made people feel really invited. So, tonight he would begin the long tedious process that he had promised

he would do himself.

Della went to go into Perry's office and smiled. He had the envelopes out for the invitations and was filling them

out one by one. He already had done about twenty of them. She started to turn around and go back to her desk

in the outer office when he caught her. "Yes mam I am filling these invitations out for all of our guests. I had

hoped that Paul would come over and help me, but so far he has been a no show.

Della smiled at him and went over and picked up a stack of them and began filling them out herself. The two

of them had been working on the invitations about an hour when the familiar knock on the back door came.

Della got up thinking that it would be Paul and she was surprised to see Hamilton Burger standing there. She

welcomed him in and Perry stood up. Perry had asked him to be an usher at his wedding. They were friends

outside of the courtroom but fierce competitors once they walked in to the courthouse.

Hamilton smiled as he looked at the clock and saw that it was almost seven o'clock in the evening and Perry like

him was still at the office. But he was surprised by what he saw. They were filling out wedding invitations and

there was a huge pile of them already finished.

Perry told him to take a seat and asked him "How can I help you?"

Hamilton looked at his friend and said "Perry we got the results back on the murder weapon that was used to

kill Charlie Bowers. The weapon was found at George Streeter's house yesterday. But something is very wrong

you see Lt Tragg and his men had been over to that house two days before and done a thorough search. When

Tragg does a search he leaves nothing untouched . Well, they had not found the gun on that day. Someone had

to have planted the gun in that house. It would have been found two days before. We got an anonymous tip

and went back there. Something is not setting right with me with this case. The district attorney's office is

under a lot of pressure to bring Duane Carter's murderer to trial but I think something else is going on."

Perry smiled at him as he was filling out more of the invitations. "That is exactly what I have been thinking,

something is wrong with the whole thing. Why would George Streeter murder the police officer or Gordon

Tuttle? I can find no proof that he even knew him. He was out following a husband who was supposed to be cheating

on his wife that is all. Something does not make any sense."

"I remember filling the invitations out to my wedding. It took us hours to write them out and then half of them

come back with nothing checked. Do they want the fish, the chicken or the beef? Oh and then you will have to

figure out the seating selection. It was a nightmare. Have a good weekend." Hamilton told them with a smile

as he left the room. He could have stayed and helped them but he hated filling out the invitations when he

had gotten married and besides that he enjoyed egging Perry on once in a while.

Perry and Della worked together until about seven and then decided that they had done enough invitations for

a while and headed out to get something to eat. Tonight they would go to one of their favorite spots and enjoy

a steak dinner. They were shown to their usual booth and were each served some of the best steaks either one

of them could want. The steak seemed to melt in Della's mouth. Besides that she was in the company of the

man that she would soon marry. This was going to be their last weekend without anyone else living in the house

because Lori and Mike would be home on Monday or Tuesday.

Della smiled at Perry. He was so handsome sitting there eating his dinner. They had so many things left to

do but for tonight she wanted to relax. The invitations could wait until tomorrow.

Paul had been in San Francisco for the past few days and had found some things out. Babette Tuttle Jones

had been in trouble with her friend Gretchen Horns when they were sixteen they had stolen a car and had

a hit and run accident. The accident had killed a young man by the name of David Lewis. Babette's father

and Gretchen's parents all had money and they had gotten away with punishment as juveniles. They had

walked away with a fine thirty days in juvenile and a felony free record and David had died.

When Paul had gone to the Lewis home the parents were still very upset about what had happened and were

almost glad to hear that Babette was now suffering as they had. He was looking into where the family members

had been on the days when the two men had been murdered but so far it looked as though they were in the

San Francisco area on those dates.

It had been a long weekend and Paul had one more thing to look into. The Lewis's had a daughter at the time,

he wondered where she was and if she had been in the area. He would look into that the next morning. Her

maiden name had been Marlene Lewis.

Paul had thought about the name Marlene Lewis. He thought of the neighbor Marlene. She would have been the

right age. He was going to go to the marriage bureau but it had closed for the night. He would look on line and

see if he could find out. No he was going to go back to the Lewis's he had to know.

As Paul pulled up to the Lewis's home, he saw another car in the driveway. He went up and knocked on the door

and had his answer the lady at the door was Marlene Greene. He smiled and said hello to her she welcomed him

in . As he turned to shut the door he saw the reflection of the gun. He knew what was going on but it was too

late. She had already killed two men and been the cause of the death of a police officer.

Meanwhile in LA Perry and Della were busy at Della's house working on the murder when Della ran into an address

that she knew. It was the house next door to the Tuttle's. Also, the name Marlene Greene came up on the site and

she ran over to Perry. Marlene Lewis was the sister of the young man who had died in the accident that Babette

Tuttle and Gretchen Horns had caused. Perry tried to immediately call Paul. He got no answer and so he hung

up and called George Streeter.

George called the San Francisco office that the Paul Drake office used and told them what was going on. They

would go right out to the Lewis home and take care of it.

Martin Hickey was one of the best private eyes in the business and when he got the call about Paul Drake he

headed directly out to the Lewis home. He saw Paul's car parked in the front so he went down the street and

snuck into the Lewis yard. From the window he could see a lady with a gun aimed at Paul. By some miracle

Paul spotted him and as he started edging toward the door the woman started getting itchy. With the nod of

his head Paul ducked and with the blink of an eye Martin lunged through the door and grabbed the gun from

her without it discharging.

After they had called the police she sang like a bird. She had found out where Gretchen had lived and

had bought the house next door. She had acted as though they were friends. But that was nowhere near

the truth. She hated him more than she could hate anyone. George Tuttle had found out who she really

was through his on line site and had confronted her. She had shot him and was glad of it. She knew that

Babette and him did have a good marriage and she knew the hell that Babette would go through when he

was killed and she had wanted her to suffer the way that she and her family had.

Charlie Bowers had been a little fun for her. She had dressed up to look like his wife and had watched as the

private eye had followed her around. She made sure that it looked as though she was having an affair and

was glad to see that she had been successful. But, Charlie had gotten suspicious and had found out what

was going on. He was just an extra piece of sadness that she could add to the women's lives. As she talked

Paul could tell that she was proud of what she had done.

Meanwhile back in LA Perry and Della were waiting to hear something from San Francisco and Perry breathed

a sigh of relief when his phone rang and Paul was on the other line. He was fine, and the double murder had

been solved. Now, it was Perry's job to get George Streeter freed from the charge of killing a police officer.

That was going to be tough without anyone else as a witness but he would do his best.

Della was so glad to hear the Paul was all right she fell into Perry's shoulder and just cried with relief. Paul

was her closest friend next to Perry and she just did not want to ever lose him. For now everyone was safe

and she could relax.

Tomorrow was going to be Saturday and Della felt like taking a ride. She thought about going up to the

Queen Mary and talking to the chef about the cake and to look at the cabins that their guests were going

to be staying at. "Perry, everything is good here. What about going to the Queen Mary and choosing out

our wedding cake. We can look at the cabins and have a nice dinner." she told him.

Perry smiled "That sounds good to me. I will call in the morning and make sure that the chef will be there

and if he is we can go up there. Maybe we can spend the night too." he told her with a wink. "I will

call you and let you know, but pack a night bag." he told her and with that he gave her a kiss good night

and headed for his home.

The next morning Perry called the Queen Mary and talked to the chef himself. He would be glad to see Perry

and Della at two o'clock if that was convenient. It was and so he gave Della a call. He had reserved two

adjoining rooms for the night and got dressed into casual clothes.

Della had hoped that they could go to the Queen Mary and was happy when Perry called her. Everything would

work out fine and they left for the Queen Mary at ten that morning. It was just under an hour away and so it

was perfect for them to head out and enjoy the scenery. They could then eat their lunch and check in to their

cabin rooms. Then at two they would meet with the chef. It was going to be a good day and Perry had brought

the mustang.

The weather was perfect and there was not a cloud in the sky. When they arrived at the Queen Mary it

was eleven fifteen and Perry and Della walked around the pier for a while. There were several artists displaying

their art and Della found a picture of the sea and the harbor and bought it for the house. She was not sure

where it was going to hang but she find the best place in her new home. Perry smiled as he purchased the

painting for her and they headed over to the Queen Mary.

Perry and Della's cabins would not be ready for another hour and so they walked over to the restaurant. The

food had always been good there and this time was no different. They each had sandwiches with a salad and

enjoyed the meal together. They would be married here on the ship in just nine weeks and neither one of them

could wait.

They finished their meal at the perfect time and walked over to the desk. They checked in with the desk and the

porter went and got their bags. They were again on the side where they could watch the sunset and enjoy the

salt air out in one of the many restaurants on board the ship. Della walked into her suite and loved it once again.

It was everything that she would ever want and hoped that Perry and her would have one of the best weddings

that the Queen Mary had ever hosted.

Della took out her few items that she had taken for the night and freshened up. She had just put on some comfortable

shoes when Perry knocked on the door. He was standing there as handsome as ever and ready to go down and

see the chef.

As they walked into the restaurant they were met immediately by the chef, who brought them into the back room.

He had several cake pictures in a book and had one cake ready for a wedding that was going to be taking place that

afternoon. Perry and Della looked at each cake and listened intently to the chef as he explained each cake and

how many people it would feed. They chose a four tier cake with marble cake on the bottom chocolate on the second

tier and vanilla on the third tier. The fourth tier would be vanilla also. They chose a cream frosting with roses

surrounding the entire cake. It would serve two hundred and twenty people easily.

As Perry and Della walked the ship they saw the room where their wedding was going to be held. The room was

now all set up for another wedding. It was beautiful and elegant, something that could have been out of the 1930's.

Della wanted their song to be from the early years. It would go along with the room where they were to be married

and would fit well with their guests.

As Della and Perry took their seats on the deck they enjoyed the air and the quiet. It was a good place to relax

and both were pleased with the room where their wedding was going to be. It was not that far from many of

their friends homes and Della and Perry had rented rooms for the other guests who lived too far away. Everything

was going all right.

That night there was going to be an old fashioned dance with a 1930's theme. Della and Perry could not wait to

go dancing that night. They went tot he restaurant on the top deck of the ship and enjoyed the view of the Pacific

Ocean. Together they enjoyed one of the nicest meals that they had together in a long time. Promptly at

nine the dancing started and the two of them danced closely until past midnight. It was a wonderful warm

evening and they both hoped that they would have that kind of weather for their wedding.

Della had listened to the music that night and she really liked the song that was played. She had heard the song

before on old movies and things. The name of the tune was Always by Irving Berlin. She wanted to know whether

or not Perry would like that to be their first dance. She would talk about it in the morning. Because she was very

tired and ready for bed. They walked together and stood at the railing where they had first kissed and watched

the stars as they danced in the sky.

The night had been wonderful and once again they had a good night together. They now had the cake selected and

had seen the hall where their wedding was to take place. It was a beautiful place and they both slept soundly that

night.

The next morning they enjoyed the Sunday Brunch and headed back home a little after eleven. As Perry and Della

turned into their street the saw that Lori and Mike had come home. Della was glad to see that they had made it

home safe and walked quickly up the walkway to the house. Perry walked with his hand linked in her arm and was

surprised at how fast Della was walking. He knew that she was excited to see her sister and they were both greeted

with hugs and kisses as they walked into the house.

Perry and Della laughed as they took a seat on the couch. Mike and Lori took their customary seats on the love

seat and started to tell about their honeymoon. They had gone up the coastline and had indeed made it up to

San Francisco where they had stayed for the week. They saw everything that there was to see in San Francisco

and had headed back to LA three days ago. Last night they had been so impressed with what they heard about

the Queen Mary they had decided to spend the night there.

Della let out a laugh. "You were on the Queen Mary last night?"

"Yes and Mike and I walked by where they were going to hold a wedding and oh what a beautiful room. Your

wedding is going to be beautiful." Lori said with some excitement.

"The ship must be bigger than we thought Della" Perry told them with a laugh. "You see we were on the ship last

night too." Perry told them with a smile.

The four of them had a good laugh about that one. How they had missed each other none of them knew. Each

of them had their cars parked by the valet so they had not seen their cars. But, they had both eaten breakfast

at the Sunday Brunch. It was a big surprise.

Mike and Lori had bought both Perry and Della some trinkets and Perry and Della thanked them again. Neither

Lori or Mike knew about the murder and Della filled them in on it. Lori looked at her sister and saw that she

was still worried about the charges against George Streeter for the murder of the police officer, but she had the

greatest confidence that her sister and future brother in law would solve the mystery.

Della showed them the picture of their new home. The only thing left was the inspection and she was sure that

the inspection would go well. They had seen nothing that would indicate that there was a problem with the house.

The inspection was scheduled for that Tuesday. Della and Perry were both going to go there and follow the man

who did the inspection so that if there were any questions they could be asked then.

"Then it is off to our shopping. We need to find furniture for at least six rooms and many towels for the pool house

and the three bathrooms inside the home. They would need bedding, just about everything imaginable. We will

have some fun doing it I promise. " Della told her sister.

"Oh I can't wait. When will the house be available for you to move into it?" Lori asked.

"It will be ready for July 1st just two more weeks. I know that we need a completely new living room set and a

master bedroom set for both Perry and me. We will need a kitchen table and a lving room set for the pool house

and things for the kitchen that is in there also. It is a huge house with a pool house and a room for woodworking

and such right in the garage. I know that you will like it. The good thing is that it is just two blocks away from

here." Della told Mike and Lori.

That evening went by too quickly and Perry left at just a little past ten. It had been a long weekend and work would

come early in the morning. Della wanted to prove along with Perry and Paul that George Streeter had not shot the

officer. She thought that she would go and talk to Gretchen and Babette. They might know the truth and now that

they knew who had murdered the two men they might be willing to talk to her. She would talk to Perry about it in

the morning.

But fate had come to the Mason office once again. When Della arrived Gerty was already there and had let two

women in Babette Tuttle and Gretchen Horns. Della asked them to step into Perry's private office and had them

take a seat.

Della smiled at the two ladies and asked them "How can I help you?"

The two women fidgeted in their chairs and Babette spoke "I know that your friend Paul Drake was almost killed

because we were afraid to tell you the truth. I figured out that it was Marlene Lewis who had killed my husband

but I was afraid of her and she lived next door. We did not think that if we went to the police that they would

believe it. But, when we heard from the police about what had happened in San Francisco we were sick with worry.

We know that what happened so many years ago was terrible and neither one of us has ever forgiven ourselves,

but my husband was an innocent man and did not deserve to die. Either did Charlie Bowers. You might say

that because of us four people died ." she told her.

"Charlie went crazy and thought that it would be funny to have the man I hired follow him charged with the

murder of a police officer. He threatened to kill me if I told the police and I believed him." Gretchen told

him. "We would have come to you sooner but then he got murdered "

Just then Perry came in through the back door and smiled at the two ladies . He had been wondering if the two of

them would show up now that Marlene had been arrested.

" We need to go to the police with this information. Without it an innocent man could face the death penalty or

life in prison." Perry told them.

The two women shook their heads and said that they would talk to the police. "If we have to go to jail for not

telling the truth we are willing to go to jail." Babette told him.

"You won't face any charges. You were afraid for your life and you came right to my office with the honest answer

the Monday after you found out that Marlene had been arrested . Don't worry. We just need to set George Streeter

free from the charges." Perry told him.

Della looked up the number to Lt Tragg and asked him to come to the office. She told him that they had the mystery

of the murdered policeman solved and he said that he would be right there. Hamilton Burger was at the police station

and said that he would come over with him.

Neither Lt Tragg or Hamilton Burger had thought that they would be meeting the two women Babette and Gretchen.

They thought that someone else had done the murder. When the two women told them the truth both of them

knew that what they said was true. It was another win for Mason but they all shook hands and Hamilton Burger

agreed to meet them at the courthouse to get the charges dropped on George Streeter.

Just as Tragg and Burger were getting ready to leave Paul Drake and George Streeter showed up at Perry's office.

Della had called him and he had come right over. Hamilton and Lt Tragg smiled and told him "We need to go

to the courthouse you and your lawyer. The district attorney's office is dropping all charges against you Mr.

Streeter." they told him with a smile.

Paul and George smiled as they headed to the courthouse. Once more Perry Della and Paul had solved a murder

mystery and an innocent man was going to go free.

That evening Perry and Della had a celebration dinner. They had another successful murder case and it was time for

the two of them to get ready for their wedding. It was now the middle of June and there was just nine weeks until

the big day. Tomorrow morning at ten am they were going to meet the realtor and the house inspector for the

inspection of the house. They would not be going to work in the morning until they were done with home inspection.

The next morning Della got up an hour later than usual. She wanted to be refreshed for the inspection and they were

not due at the house until ten. Perry was going to pick her up a little after nine thirty and then they were going to be

on their way to the new house.

As they pulled up to the house they were met by the realtor and the inspector. As they went through each room once

again and waited while the inspector went up on the roof Della made notes of the colors and the size of each room.

Lori and her were going to go shopping as soon as everything went through. The inspection took over three hours,

but when it was done the inspector smiled and told them the home was in excellent condition.

Now they would have to go to the bank and fill out more papers. When they got to the office Perry called the bank and

set up an appointment for him and Della to meet with the mortgage man. He would want the inspection in his hand

and then he said it would make it faster. The inspection report should be arriving by Friday he told him. So the bank

made an appointment with Perry and Della for the following Monday. The mortgage manager said that there should

be no problem with the sale completing on the first.

The rest of the week was spent like any other busy week at a lawyers office. Della caught up on a lot of work that

she had not had the time to do over the past couple of weeks and Perry did some more studying of new cases that

had happened over the last few months. Each night they worked on the invitations.

Della approached him and he agreed that their song should be Always by the best Irving Berlin. They wanted to have

their first dance as man and wife to the song from the 1920 s. It was one of their favorites. So another decision

about the wedding had been decided. The invitations had finally been completed and Della had sent them out with

the morning mail also.

It was the end of another week at the Mason Law office and Della was tired . They had gotten the inspection report on

the house and everything was all right. Now they would be meeting with the bank on Monday. The closing was still

tentative on the 1st of July just fifty-four days before the wedding.

Lori and Della had been working with different designs and had many carpet and furniture samples that they had

looked at and studied. Perry had been a great help with the rooms that he would be mostly using and they had made

the decision to get a king size bed with matching night stands and two bureaus. Della already had a dressing table

that she wanted to keep so she wanted to find furniture that would match it.

The pool house would need a more durable fabric as they were both sure that the people who used the pool house

might sit on the furniture while they were still at least damp. Since the pool house did not have a bedroom, the

couch was going to need to be a sleeper. Both of the bathrooms would have to be furnished with towels a shower

curtain and toiletries. There were two baths with a place for changing in each of them.

Della and Perry both had bedroom sets that would work fine in two of the upstairs bedrooms, but Della wanted to leave

the room that was next to the master bedroom without furniture. She hoped that would be used as the nursery.

But it was the weekend and there were no active murder investigations at the time, so they had time to relax. Della

went to Perry's penthouse on Friday night to enjoy a night of peace and quiet. It was a very hot night so they went

out onto the terrace and enjoyed the night air. From there the noise of the streets were muffled but the lights in

the sky were mesmerizing. They were going to miss their times up there on the roof. It was a peaceful night and

Della was glad to have the time alone together.

Tomorrow was going to be a busy day for her once more. She had an appointment at the dressmakers for one more

fitting. Lori wanted to go with her and Perry knew that this was a ladies day and he was not invited. They would

go out to dinner that evening. Carrie was a very capable dressmaker who Perry had helped earlier when she had

been charged with a murder. She had been innocent and Perry and Della had proved that. As payment Carrie had

offered to do Della's dress for free but Della would not hear of it. The dress was way too expensive for her to charge

Carrie for the trial.

The next morning Della and Lori headed to Carrie's bridal shop happily. This was going to be a fun girls day out

the first one since Lori had gotten married. Mike was going to stay home and mow the lawn and do some work

on the car.

As they pulled into the shop they took a look at the shop. It was busy with all of the June weddings but Carrie

came right up to them as soon as they walked in. "You can go right this way Della." and she showed her the

way to the fitting room. The dress was still full of pins so Carrie and Lori had to help Della get into the gown

once more. Carrie had done a lot of work on the dress and Della stood still as Carrie pinned and measured more

for the dress. Carrie smiled at her and said "You are all set. I will see you again in two weeks." and with that

Lori and Della left happily.

The afternoon was spent with them getting their hair and nails done. It was after four when they finally returned

home and Della had to get ready for dinner. Perry would be there at six.

Lori and Mike had plans themselves and as Perry came to pick Della up for a dinner and dance at their favorite

spot the Kavanough Lori smiled at him. "You two have a great night. As usual we are going out to our favorite

night club. We will see you later."

Once again the weekend went well and when Monday came around Perry and Della headed to the bank to

set up the mortgage. The man was a friend of Perry's and promised him that everything would be ready for

the closing on the first of July. Everything was all set the house was theirs. As soon as the two of them

left the bank Della put her arms around Perry and gave him a kiss. She had not seen the man with the camera

and would not have noticed him if Perry hadn't tapped her on the shoulder. It was too late, they were the

evening news and she had to be more careful. But it was only a hug and kiss.

Wednesday was another day in court with a client who was settling a probate case. They ran into Hamilton Burger

and the three of them went to dinner. Burger was genuinely honored that Perry had asked him to be an usher at

his wedding. Perry had given him the name of the tailor who would be doing their tuxedoes so he let Perry know

that he was going for a fitting on the fifteenth of July.

Perry and Della were excited to let him know that they had purchased a house. The closing date was set for

July 1st. Hamilton smiled and told them "I was hoping that you would buy that house. It is my brother who lives

next door. I didn't know that you had looked at the house until my brother was told by a neighbor that you had

been there doing an inspection." he told them.

Perry laughed "I thought that address sounded familiar to me. Many years ago now I went over to Mark's house

for a barb-q. I had thought about it when we went there, but I did not pay much attention to the house next

door. He is a good man, and I will be happy to have him for a neighbor."

Della thought to herself, 'oh no more business that will be coming home with us' but she smiled and said "I am

glad that we are going to have some good neighbors. I loved the house and the neighborhood."

July first came quickly and the papers were all signed and they got the key to the property. Maybe it should

be noted that there were many keys a key to the garage a key to the pool house a key to the tool shed

a key to the pool and a key to the hot tub and then four keys to all of the doors at the house. Della marked

them right away. Some of the keys would stay on a ring near the back door. But some would stay at

the pool house and some in the garage. She would have Perry go to the hardware store and have some extra

keys made just in case they get lost.

Perry and Della went right over to their new home and walked around in it. It was very large now that there was

nothing in it. The halls echoed and everything looked bare. Della thought of their meager furniture and knew that

she would have to get going on the shopping.

Della called Lori and invited her and Mike over to see the new home. Lori had been waiting since Della had left

to get a chance to see the house. She had not seen the house yet. It had been an inner battle for her not

to go by the house, but she had not. She had seen pictures of it but had not seen it in person. As Mike and Lori

pulled onto the street they were very impressed. The homes on the street were very large and well kept. As

they pulled into the circular driveway Lori was hit by the wow factor.

The house was huge and had six bays to the garage. Della met them at the kitchen door and smiled as she

showed them to her new home. Perry came right up behind her to welcome them in and Lori and Mike had

their first look at the home that would soon be their friends and relatives. Mike liked Perry very much and was

happy for what he and Della had. 'Someday" he thought to himself

As Lori and Della walked through the house Della wrote down everything that they were going to need and the

list went on and on. The formal dining room would fit Perry's wonderful table and buffet easily so they were all

set there. But the living room and the family room would need to be completely done. There were twenty-two

windows and two sliding doors that would need curtains also. The two bedrooms that had been theirs when they

were single would work in the two bedrooms upstairs, but they needed everything for the master bedroom.

Lori opened the fourth bedroom door and started to say that they would need bedroom furniture for that room,

when Della put her hand on her arm. "That will be the nursery some day." she told her with a smile.

Lori gave her sister a big hug. "Oh can you see our children playing here and in the backyard? I hope that they

will be close like we were. Maybe we can have our children close to each other."

"Perhaps I would like that very much." Della told her with a smile.

Mike and Perry were walking around the garage looking at the work shop when Paul and Sue Drake showed up.

Paul gave out a whistle and said "This is some house. Are you planning on having several children or something?"

"Something like that." Perry told his friend with a smile. "Sue the girls are in the house going through it and

making plans for the decorating and the furniture. Della was hoping that you were coming over." Perry told her

with a smile.

As Sue walked into the house she fell in love with the kitchen. It had everything that her kitchen did not have

and things that she could not even imagine. There was a lazy Susan in two of the cupboards and some of the

cabinets had a glass face so that you could see the dishes. The countertops were granite and she had a professional

six burner stove. She was going to have to tell Paul that she wanted her kitchen done over.

She heard Della and Lori in the room across the hall and walked over. Della looked up and saw her friend Sue

and went right over to her. "I love your house. It is so large but friendly. I hope that you and Perry have a

long and happy life here.

The three women spent the next hour making notes of what was needed and the coloring in the rooms. Then

they headed to the backyard and the pool house. The pool house was small but perfect for people who would be

coming over for visits. The kitchen was small and the living room was a combination living and bedroom. It had

two bathrooms with a changing room that went with each bathroom. Della was going to need towels and more

towels. Sue knew that the pool would be used often in the hot LA weather and that Della and Perry would

need a minimum of ten towels per bath there at the pool house alone. At the house there was one more sliding

glass door and four more windows that would need curtains. There would also need to be everything that would

be used in the bathroom. Della noted all of that.

As the three of them came into the kitchen they found the three men there talking. Perry went over to Della

and put his arm around her waist. "We are going to need to bring some things over here before we move in

to the house. I was thinking about getting something to drink and we have no glasses or cups or anything

here." Perry told her.

"Well right not the three of us have a list of things that are going to be needed before we are married and so

far I have three pages of things and I am sure that as time goes by we will need more." and with that Della

gave him a quick hug.

But it was going to be back to work for Della and Perry and Paul. They were all busy and now Della and Perry

had a house to pay for. Della was a little sad to leave but she knew it was time for them to go back to work.

The three of them were going to meet Saturday and start their shopping together. Della couldn't wait.

The afternoon was spent once more in court on another case involving their client being accused of armed

robbery. As usual Perry Mason did not take guilty clients and it was his hope that he could prove that this

client was no different. The trial was continued to the next day and once again Perry had found himself on

opposite sides with his friend Hamilton Burger.

Della and Perry left the courthouse at just a little past five and went back to their new home. There was still

a couple of things that Della wanted to check. She had not made very many notes about the finished basement

and she and Perry went down there for another look. The room was huge about thirty-five feet by fifteen

with a wet bar. It would be a great place once they had children, but Perry thought that they could wait on

furnishing it if they were running out of time.

The painter met them there at six thirty and Perry and Della showed him where they wanted to have him paint.

There was little to be done, except one of the bathrooms upstairs had some hideous wallpaper that Della

wanted removed as soon as possible and replaced by a pale yellow. The pool house had a lot of humidity

exposure and would need to be painted soon, so they thought that it would be a good idea for the bathrooms

to be painted before the wedding.

He told them that he would begin painting in the morning and that he should have the job completed within

two days. He would do the bathroom in the house first and then complete the job at the pool house later.

The week went slow and finally it was time for the three girls to head to the mall. The three men were

headed out to look at the outside tools that they would need. There were many things that they would need

to purchase for the new home and they too would be busy. Since they were headed to a home and plant

hardware store and then would be going to the television store at the mall it was decided that they would

meet each other for lunch. Perry would call when they were done at the hardware store and they would all

meet at the restaurant at the mall.

The day was fun for the three girls. They started at one of the larger stores at the mall that specialized in kitchen

ware. Here they bought a large miser and a hand mixer, and tons of utensils and a cookbook. They had so many

things in their bags that they had to go out to the car and put them in the trunk. When they were done they

headed to one of the signature stores. But Perry was on the phone and the men were ready to meet them at

the mall. They had not noticed that it was already twelve thirty and they had only looked at a few pieces of

furniture and been to the kitchen store.

Della had found a couch and coffee tables that she liked for their living room. The couch was a wrap around

couch with recliners on either side. It came with a love seat also that could be used as a recliner. She thought

that Perry might like this because they could use it for when they wanted to cuddle and a recliner when they

wanted to relax. She also was thinking about the children. These were made of microfiber material and would

be easy to clean.

When the six of them met for lunch there was a lot for them to talk about. Perry had bought several tools

that they would need for the house and had also bought a riding lawnmower. They had bought little things

and the car was already pretty much full.

Della told them about what they had bought for the house. "Perry I want you to go with me to look at a couch

and end table set that I think you will like. It has four recliners and can be used as a couch. It is made of

a microfiber material and we can get it any color that we would like. The couch will be here in seven to ten

days.

"The living room is blue so I would like to get the blue couch if that is what you would like" Della offered him.

"Well once we eat we can go down and look at some of the furniture . Best buy is right next door and we have

plans to go and buy our big screen televisions." Perry told her.

Lunch was good and they all needed the rest. As they went out to look at the furniture Perry Paul and Mike were

polite and looked at each piece carefully. Perry liked the couch that Della had picked out for the family room

and they found a couch that they both agreed on to go into the formal living room also. By the time the men

left the room, Della had her three couches her breakfast table and chairs and their sleigh bed that they had both

decided they would want in their bedroom. The set came with a large mirrored dresser and two extra bureaus. It

also came with matching night stands. It was going to be a beautiful master bedroom when they were done .

The house was starting to come together and now that the painter had finished his job the house was ready for

the new furniture. There were so many different types of dishes for them to chose from that Della passed on

buying any at that time. She did pick up some everyday glasses so that they could at least have something to

drink while they were at the new house working on it.

It was after four when the three ladies left the mall. The next step was to chose what kind of floor coverings and

window curtains would go best in the house. Della was going to call a lady that did windows on Monday and the

next weekend the three of them made plans to go shopping once again.

As the days went by time seemed to stand still and then go like a racehorse for Perry and Della. The trial had

finally ended with Perry winning an acquittal for his client on Friday afternoon. It had been a long tiresome trial

and Della was glad when the verdict had come in not guilty. For a short while she was afraid that it was not going

toe be a not guilty call. But she knew that Perry had done his best to prove his clients innocence. There had been

an eye witness but many times eye witnesses were mistaken. The lady had been sure but their client could not

have been there during the time that she said he was. Their client had been at work.

On Tuesday evening the lady had come by to do the measurements on the windows and Della showed her what

she wanted for curtains. The three girls worked together well and had chosen each pattern carefully. The house

was going to be a home soon. Of that they were all sure.

But their time was now getting short and the wedding was just five weeks away. This was to be the girls last

chance to choose out the rugs. They headed to the rug store and picked out each and every rug and chose which

room the handmade rugs would be placed in. The furniture was due to be delivered on Wednesday so Della

set it up so that the rugs would be delivered on Monday. This would give her a chance to make sure everything

was perfect.

There was going to be a man coming over on Thursday to install the televisions. Three of the four televisions

that they had bought were to be wall mounted with the television in the formal living room was to be sitting on

a stand. The television that Perry and the guys had chosen for the downstairs was a seventy-two inch . Della

thought that it was too big but the other televisions were just fifty-two inches and in the rooms they would

be fine. Anything smaller than that would have been hard to see from across the room.

It seemed that everyday something else had to be done and the wedding was getting closer and closer. This

Thursday Della would be having her fitting at the bridal shop. But this time all five of her bridesmaids and

Lori were going to be there. It was their big fitting just before the wedding.

When Della arrived at the dress shop Carrie was already busy with Sue and Donna and Gerty. The three of

them were keeping Carrie very busy. They were all excited and were talking all at once. Della walked over

and calmed the three of them down. Della knew that they would be noisy when they were together and

laughed when Carrie was trying to get them to calm down. Della's best friend would be there for the wedding

and Carrie was going to do her best to have the dress that she was going to wear to the wedding. Carrie was

nervous though about doing a dress fitting long distance. Nancy would not be there until a week before the

wedding and she would have to hurry to make sure that the dress liked right.

The fitting was long and loud and the girls did not leave the dress shop for almost three hours. Della took

them out to dinner and then over to her new house. The house was starting to look nice and she had found a

place for the painting that she and Perry had bought that day on the pier next to the Queen Mary. It was

to hang in the family room above the couch. The rugs and the furniture looked great and although, there

were many items left to buy and move over to the house, you could now take a seat and have a drink while

you were there. Donna and Gerty had not seen the house and loved it right away. They laughed as they

looked into each and every room. The five of them had a great day together. It was after six when they left

the house and headed back home.

Della had been wondering if she was going to see Perry at all that day. She knew that he Mike and Paul had

been out all day getting things ready for the wedding and the house. She was glad to hear her phone ring

and see Perry's name come up on caller id.

As she picked up the phone she saw Mike coming into the driveway. "Hi Perry. How was your day?" she

asked.

"It has been a very busy day, but I have finished buying what we will need to keep the outside of the house

clean. I don't think that I have forgotten anything. But at least the house is ready on the outside. I am

pleasantly surprised by the way the house is starting to come together on the inside also. I got a call from

a lady that said she needed to do one more measurement on a window. She said that she could come over

this evening if we could meet her at the house." Perry told her.

"All right I will call her and tell her to meet us in an hour. Is that all right with you?" Della asked.

"That is fine an hour it is." Perry told her with a smile.

When Della got to her new home Perry was sitting on the couch in the front living room watching television. He

looked like he belonged there. When Della came in he stood up and gave her a kiss. "I just wanted to see

what it felt like to sit in my new home and watch some television. It is lonely in here without you. The halls

seem to echo."

Within a few minutes the doorbell rang and Della answered the door. The lady was there to measure one of the

windows once again. She thought that she might have written down the wrong number. "I am sorry I just need

a few minutes to take a measurement and I will be gone." she told them as she went upstairs to the master

bedroom.

It had been a long day and Della let the lady who had come to do the measurements out "I will be back in about

ten days with your curtains and shades all done and ready for your windows. It will take me about a day to hang

them all up. I should be done by the fifth."

Della was very happy with the news. By everything being done by the fifth it meant that when she and Perry got

back from their honeymoon the house would be all ready. She took a seat in front of the television and Perry put

his arm around her. This is a nice room Della. I knew that you would have good taste." he told her and kissed

the top of her head.

But it was now almost eight in the evening and they were both getting hungry. "I am getting very hungry Della,

how about you?" Perry asked her.

"I am starved. It has been a long day. Why don't we have them deliver a pizza? That way we can have our first

meal in our new house and we can try out the new dishes. " she asked him.

"That sounds good to me. Perry opened his cell phone and placed an order for a pizza and a couple of sodas. They

were told that the pizza would be there within the half an hour." With that Della and Perry sat back and watched

some more of the television show. It was great sitting in their own home.

When the pizza came Della was excited to try out the stools that she had bought for the breakfast nook and use

the new dishes that she had just purchased. The pizza was a little cold so she put it in her brand new microwave

for a couple of minutes. It was then that she realized she had no dish soap. She would have to wash the dishes

as good as she could and then in the morning come back and do the dishes in the morning.

When they had finished their supper they went back to have a seat on the couch. Perry smiled at her and he

pointed to the family room. "Here we will have some privacy. The living room still has no curtains and if we

have company I don't want anyone looking in when I am with you." Perry told him.

Della smiled at him and took a seat next to him on the new couch. She sat right next to him and he put his

arm around her one more time. Some of their favorite shows were on that night. They were comedies and

Della and Perry enjoyed the shows. From the couch they could watch the backyard and the pool. It was going

to be a nice home Della knew it.

Going home was difficult for both of them. They now had their home and for the most part it was furnished,

but it was eleven and it was time for them to go home. There was a lot of work for them to do left on the

house. Della still needed some shopping as they had nothing to eat in the home and the refrigerator was

huge and empty. For the most part other than the curtains the house was ready for them to move in. They

still had many nick knacks to put away still and they needed to hang some more paintings. Perry needed

to work in his workshop and then things needed to be straightened.

The wedding was coming soon and as Hamilton Burger had been right. Nearly everyday they received answers

to their wedding invitations and many had no number listed and the meal choice had not been marked. Della

spent time everyday calling people and verifying their information. Some had not returned her call and she

was getting nervous. The final list had to be done by the following Friday and she still had fifty or so invitations

out there that had not been answered.

The next day was Sunday and Perry and Della attended church together. It had been a good week and they

were a month from their wedding. They left church for a Sunday Brunch at the Kavanough and sat back to

relax once more.

When Perry and Della had arrived back at their new home Perry got a phone call. He was surprised to see that

it was his parents on the other line. He picked up the phone and was relived to find out that she was just confirming

everything and letting him know that they would be coming up a week before the wedding. He had offered to

pay for their hotel but his parents would not hear of it. In fact he had opened a letter from them the other day

and he had found a check for ten thousand dollars in it. "Mom I don't need the money." Perry told her.

"Nonsense, you and Della are getting married and it is your job to pay for the honeymoon. You have not told us

where you are going, but I hope that this check will pay for the trip." his mother told him with a voice of

determination.

"Well thank you and it will be put to good use. Where will you be staying?" Perry asked her.

"Oh we are going to be staying at the Queen Mary. Why move if we don't have to? They had the rooms available

and we took them." his mother told him.

"Well I am looking forward to seeing you. I love you." and with that Perry hung up the phone.

Della smiled she had seen the check from his mother. Perry's parents were proper and felt that it was their duty

to pay for the honeymoon no matter how much money their son had. She liked his mother she was kind and

reminded her of Perry. His father was a good man who had been good to them .

Since they had no groceries at the new home they had stopped at the grocery store on their way to the house. As

they carried the many bags into the house, Della was glad that they had chosen the house that they only had to

take a few steps to reach the kitchen from the garage. Now with groceries in the house they could make a meal

together and begin to make a home for themselves. The wedding was in just three weeks and Perry could not

wait.

That evening Della worked on the inside of the home and Perry went out to work on his new workshop and hang

up the many tools that he had bought. The pool man had been there that morning and the pool looked great.

Della thought that she should bring her bathing suit over. She would invite Lori and Mike to bring their suits

over to the house also. After all the pool was there to use. She knew that Perry had wanted the pool as he

was a great swimmer. Paul was a good swimmer too and had won a couple of championships during his much

younger days.

She looked outside at the pool and noticed the lights that could light it up for night swims. The house had

everything that she could ever want but most of all would have her man. She could hear Perry in the work

shop as she went outside to check on him and decided to leave him alone. He needed his time to himself

as she did. When he came in they would spend the time together. Della opened box after box and put the

items out. The house was so large though it still looked empty.

Perry had been standing in the doorway watching Della work. She had such good taste . How could he have even

considered hiring someone to design the home. She was busy hanging and arranging so many items and yet

the house was still empty. The house was so large, but they would have more of their things sent to the house

while they were on vacation.

His penthouse had a possible sale effective the fifteenth of August. If everything worked right he would be

moving his things from the penthouse to his new home on the tenth. He had arranged for the moving truck

and had been busy packing for the past two weeks. He had a professional coming in the next day to finish

most of the packing and he would have nothing at the penthouse but the most basic of needs until he and

Della got married. He would stay at the office for a week. He had spent many nights there and it was not

that bad. The Friday before they were to be married he had a room on the Queen Mary, so it was going to

work.

Everything looked good on his end. The only thing left on the sale was the inspection and Perry was sure

that his penthouse would pass with flying colors. He had kept the house up and had been proud of the way

it looked. The young couple who were moving in seem to be very nice. They seemed to be very excited

about the purchase of the penthouse. He had told them that he had been very happy there, but he was now

getting married and they wanted to purchase a home. That was the only reason why the penthouse was up for

sale at all.

The couple had seemed pleased with his answer and had spent a long time out on the terrace. He knew that

was what had been the place where he had felt most comfortable. It had been the place where he and Della

had looked out and watched the lights of the city and the stars in the sky. He was going to miss the rooftop

but his new home was wonderful.

That evening had been the first meal that they enjoyed at the new house. Della made a roast with potatoes

and her famous candied carrots. The stove worked fine and as they sat down to a glass of champagne along

with their dinner with candlelight they clinked their glasses together and smiled. "To a wonderful life in our

new home" Perry said with a smile and clinked his glass with Della's

"To a long life in our new home" Della told him.

Lori and the other girls had been planning the shower for Della. They would be having it at the Kavanough

the Saturday night before the wedding. She had wanted to wait to have the shower until her parents and

Perry's parents would be in town. Most of the family would be there that Saturday and she knew that

Dave and Paul and had plans for a bachelor party for the same night. It was going to be great and she

had found the most beautiful monogramed towels for them. She had never seen a house with so many

bathrooms. Including the two baths in the pool house they had five bathrooms. The five of them had

just put everything away when they saw Della coming into the yard.

Della was not surprised to see her bridesmaids together this late. She knew that they must have been

planning her shower. She was sure that it was going to have to be soon. The wedding was in just four

weeks from yesterday. Della had heard from her parents and they had told her that they would be out

there for a week before the wedding. They were coming out with her best friend who was going to have

to go to Carrie's as soon as she got there so that Carrie could finish fitting her in her gown. Nancy was

excited about the wedding and could not wait to see her and Della could not wait to see her again. They

had not seen each other in almost two years.

The five friends sat together in the living room and laughed and joked together. They left the house at

ten as they all had to go to work in the morning. Even Lori had to go to work the next day. Her honeymoon

was over as far as having the time off.

Della worked everyday and was glad that the office was busy. It kept her mind off of her personal life.

The time was getting short and finally all of the invitations had been taken care of. Her windows would

be decorated on Friday and the house would be ready with a week to spare.

Perry was glad to hear from the realtor that everything was set with the sale of the penthouse and that

he would need to be out of there no later than the fifteenth. He had it all set up to be completely emptied

on the fifteenth. So he would have someone come in and clean the house from top to bottom and he would

be all set for the biggest day of his life.

Paul knocked on the back door of Perry's office and smiled. He knew that his best friends were getting married

in less than three weeks. He took a seat in his favorite chair and asked his friend "So how did the sale go on

the penthouse? Are you going to be homeless for long?"

"No I will be fine. There is only going to be four nights that I need to find a place to stay. I could stay at the

pool house if I wanted to but I think that I will stay right here in the office. The first night that I stay at my

house I want to be married and stay with my wife." Perry told him.

"You can stay at my home. We have the room." Paul offered.

"Thank you again, but Dave is coming too and I might room with him. It depends on the work load here in my

office too." Perry told him with a smile.

"Everything looks as though it is set though. The man called about the tuxedo and said that mine was ready

to be worn. I can pick it up on the Thursday before your wedding. Have you done everything? Is there anything

else that you need help with?" he asked him.

"No it looks as if everything is ready. He looked around the corner to make sure that Della was not coming into

the room and showed Paul the tickets to the cruise of a lifetime. They would be gone for six weeks and would

stop in Hawaii and a few other islands. It was going to be a wonderful trip and they were going first class all

of the way.

"Once we have moved in and are back from our honeymoon Della and I would like to have you and Sue over

for dinner. The house is so large and there will be plenty of times for us to enjoy time together. You should

bring your bathing trunks with you too." Della told him.

"I will hold you to the invitation." Paul told him with a smile.

Della had shown up at the door and smiled at her two friends. She had heard Perry invite Paul over and she

concurred. It was going to be great once they moved into their home. " We do want to have you over

for sure Paul. You and Sue are like family to us." she told him with a smile.

The next day would be the last day of work for Perry Mason and Della Street for the next seven weeks. They

were going to get married in a week and there was a lot to do that week. The moving company was coming

out on Tuesday and they wanted to get everything unpacked if they could before they were married. Perry had

packed as carefully as he could but there were boxes and boxes for him to put away. In his study he knew just

how he wanted his books to be placed on the shelves. He could not have anyone help him unless he was there

with them. He had so many books and he did not want to have to search for one of the books when he was

busy on a case. The study was going to take him days he was sure. Many of his things were crystal and

his best dishes and things like that. He could put them in the dining room and have the professionals put them

away if Della did not have the time. But he would let Della ask him. He knew that she wanted to do the house

the way that she wanted.

Friday was the rehearsal dinner and he was sure that his bachelor party was going to be tomorrow night and

Della's bridal shower was to be the same night. His mother and father were due to come that evening. Della's

parents had already arrived in town and Lori and Mike had gone to get them. They would be staying at

Della and Lori's house once more. So far everything was going well and he was almost ready for the big

move. That night Della and Perry worked until ten and finished the packing of his penthouse completely.

They had just sat down to take a small rest when the bell rang. Perry looked and saw that Dave was at the

elevator. He was glad to see his brother and welcomed him into the home for one last time.

Dave smiled at his brother and gave Della a big hug. The house was in utter chaos with boxes all over the

room, but he could tell that Perry was ready for the big move. "I am going to miss the old place Perry. I

have been coming up here for over five years. Are you sure that you have a place for me to sleep?" he asked

his brother with a smile.

"Yes the beds are still ready for use but we will be living in a hotel as of tomorrow. I have reserved us a room

on the Queen Mary until we are married." Perry told his brother with a smile.

"You could stay at my house you know or at the new house." Della told him.

"No I told you not until we are married. I want my first night at the house to be with you Della. I want everything

to be done right. We can manage for a week and then we will be off for a long needed honeymoon." Perry told

her and put his arm around her waist.

Dave was excited also. Perry had always been his big brother and he was happy that he had found such a wonderful

lady. Della was a sweetheart and when she and Della were together you could feel the electricity in the air.

Saturday night would be the bachelor party and the shower for Della. He hoped that everything was going to work

out but he and Lori had been planning the day for weeks. He just had not thought that Perry's house would be

in such a mess. He hoped that things would be in his new home as he thought tomorrow night. If not Dave

didn't know how he was going to get Perry off of the ship. He knew that if he was at the new house busy with Perry

that he could convince him to go out with Paul and Mike. They would be meeting at the lodge once again for a

long night of fun.

Lori was glad when Della told her that she was going to go over to the new house and put away some more things.

The wedding was just a week away and all of Perry's things were now all around the house and needed to be

unpacked. Perry had said that he would take care of the study. Della went in and saw box after box piled up

in the study and was glad to get going on the unpacking of the other things.

Della was upstairs working on the master bedroom when Sue and Donna showed up to help with the unpacking.

They were great friends and Della was glad for the help. There was so much stuff to put away and between the

three of them they had the room all set up by one o'clock that afternoon. Sue and Donna had to keep an eye on

the clock because they wanted to make sure that Della was ready for the Kavanough that evening where they

were going to have the bridal shower. Lori had let Gerty go to the airport to pick up Nancy. Della had no idea

that Nancy was coming in earlier. Gerty was going to take Nancy over to Carrie's bridal salon and get her fitting

three days earlier also. Carrie had been thrilled to get her early. She had been worried that the dress might not

be done in time. But now she was sure that everything would work out.

The three women came down the stairs and found Perry Paul and Hamilton Burger sitting at the kitchen counter

enjoying a glass of lemonade. It was hot in the garage as the garage did not have the central air that the house

did and they were all tired. They smiled at the ladies and asked them about lunch. Della had been shopping and

so she got out some sandwich meet and proceeded to make them some sandwiches and chips. They all took a

seat at the kitchen table and ate their fill of lunch.

Both groups worked until four that afternoon and then Lori and Dave managed to get Della and Perry apart

long enough to get them ready for their surprise shower and bachelor party. It had been a long day and Della

was tired, but she knew that the shower was tonight. She could tell by the chatter that her friends were having

between themselves. Every time she came into the room the chatter would stop.

Her mother and father were coming in the morning for the week and she could not wait. Della and Lori did not

to get to see her family as much as she would like to and she hadn't seen them since Lori's wedding. Perry's

parents were supposed to arrive sometime today but neither Perry or her had heard from them yet. She thought

that Perry's mother might be there for the shower. She hoped she would his mother was nice and Della was

determined to have them get along. She wanted her marriage to be a pleasant one to everyone involved if she

could.

When Lori convinced Della to come with her and the girls to the Kavanough she knew what was going on. She

acted surprised by nearly went into tears when she saw her mom and her friend Nancy standing there. It had

been too long and she made a mental note that she would make sure that she saw her mom and her friend more

often. But they lived in Indiana and had their own lives. At least she could keep in touch with them on the

internet. It was not the same as seeing them in person but it was better than telephone alone.

The party was wonderful and Della got so many things. She got nearly everything that she had listed at the

store on her want list. There were some beautifully hand done items also. Everyone at the shower had a good

time and it did not end until well after midnight.

Perry was taken again to the lodge as he had done for Mike and acted surprised. The party was much like the

one that he had thrown for Mike. But this time he was going to be careful of what he ate and drank. He still

remembered how he had felt the day after Mike's party and that was not going to happen again if he had any

control of the situation. But the party went well and he had a good time. Most of the guys that belonged to

the lodge were invited to the wedding and he considered them all to be friends of his. The party did not end

until two again and this time he could drive himself home. But, his friends had arranged for a limo to take

them home this time and he got back to the hotel with Dave at a little past two that morning.

The next morning Della got up and thought to herself how this was the beginning of the last week of her life when

she would be single. It was a wonderful feeling knowing that she would be with the man she loved forever in a

wonderful home with many children she hoped.

As she walked down the hall she could smell breakfast cooking and saw her mother standing at the stove. Her

father was seated at the table looking at the newspaper. He smiled up at her as she came into the kitchen and

poured herself a cup of coffee. "How was your night Della? I heard that you had a shower while we were enjoying

the bachelor party." he smiled.

"I did and thanks to Lori and my good friends I had a fantastic time. We were given so many gifts I just don't know

how to thank everyone. People have been so generous to us." Della told him as she leaned over to give him a

sweet kiss.

After breakfast Della took her family to the new house. They had never seen the house and she was excited to

show them the home. It was starting to look like a real home and she wanted them to see it. As they pulled

into the driveway Della was pleased to see that Perry and his parents were there. He was showing them the

home and she could tell that they were both impressed.

Both families worked together and by the end of the day the house was almost completely unpacked. There

were just a few things left to do and Perry and Della assured them that they could finish up. Perry offered

everyone a chance to go out and get something to eat. It was decided that they would go out for spagetti

and after they had all freshened up they headed out.

Mario was thrilled to have his favorite couple and their parents at his restaurant. He had never met their

parents and found them just as charming as Perry and Della. He served them personally that night and

made sure that they were all treated as special guests.

Both the Streets and the Mason's were impressed with the food that was served and at a little after nine they

headed back to their temporary homes. Della and Perry knew that they should spend some time with their

parents so they said their good nights and each family left for their temporary locations.

Perry invited everyone to the Queen Mary for their Sunday brunch and everyone gladly accepted. Mr. and

Mrs. Street and Mr. and Mrs. Mason and Della's best friend all came together with Lori and Mike and Della

and Perry. They had a great meal together and enjoyed the ship. Della's parents were very impressed

with the ship and were glad that their daughter was going to be married on board her.

For Perry and Della the week seemed to be a blur. Everything was ready and as the day got closer Della

got more nervous. But Perry he was her strength. He held her tight as she stood there and swayed when

everyone kept calling and verifying everything. The house was done and she had gone to the dressmakers

to pick up her dress with all the other bridesmaids.

Perry and his crew had gone and picked up their suits without incident. Then came Friday and it was time

for the rehearsal dinner. Both Perry and Della were nervous but the pastor had married many couples and

he guided them through the rehearsal with ease.

The dinner was delicious and the caterer went over everything once more with Perry and Della and it was

time for the big day.

Della got up early and took a shower. The girl that usually did her hair and nails was coming over to do her

make up and things special for today. Della trusted her and was nervously waiting for the lady to come.

Her mother tried to get her to eat something but Della's stomach was in knots and she was sure that it was

not a good idea for her to eat right now.

The photographer and the hairdresser came at the same time and took many pictures as Della got ready for

the wedding. By ten all of the bridesmaids had arrived at the house and they were all getting ready for the

wedding themselves. Della smiled as her mother came out of her room. She looked stunning with a light

blue dress with a beautiful pin and her hair was done perfectly. Her father looked great also all dressed up

in a tuxedo.

The wedding was to start at one and it was now eleven thirty and time for them to head out to the Queen

Mary one more time. The limo was waiting outside and the wedding party got in ready for the wedding

that everyone had waited so long for. Mike had left earlier to be with the other men and they would meet

at the ship. The ride was lively with Della being very careful not to do anything to her gown. She did

not have the train attached at this time. That would be attached before she walked down the aisle. There

was a lot of giggling and light chatter as they made the thirty minute ride to the ship.

The organ was playing and the soloist was singing as they arrived in the back room far from where the men

were now waiting for the ceremony.

Perry had not slept well the night before. He had been worried that something would go wrong. He was

afraid that he might say the wrong thing or something silly. He must have checked to make sure the

rings were there a dozen times. Mike and Dave had both tried to get him to go down to the restaurant and

get something to eat but he could not. He was a nervous wreck. Perry Mason the man that could keep his

cool anywhere anytime was nervous. Never did it cross his mind that it was a mistake marrying Della

he was just worried that everything would go off without a hitch.

As Perry was getting ready the photographer came in and took pictures of the men as they got ready for

the big day. He took several pictures and then left for the main event..

Paul and Mike had come into Perry's room and helped everyone get their tuxedos on right. Their ties were

tied and retried more than once. But everyone looked good and Perry looked great. Perry's father came

in and told him "Just love her Perry. Listen to what she says and honor what she thinks and you will be

happy. That is what my father told me on my wedding day and I have never forgotten it. Now let's go

and get you married."

Perry and his father hugged for a second and the two of them walked down the hallway to the place where

the wedding was to be held. He looked at the crowd and smiled. Within a few minutes he and Della would

be husband and wife.

Della was now at the back of the room waiting for the music. The bridesmaids and Lori and all of the flower

girl and ring bearer went ahead of her and then the music started. She held on to her father's elbow tight

as she walked down the aisle slowly. She could see that everyone had stood up and that everyone had

their eyes on her. She looked and saw Perry standing there. She came up and her father handed her arm

to Perry. It was time for the ceremony. They had chosen a small ceremony and traditional vows. When

they exchanged their vows it was all that Della could do to make sure that she said them right. She even

vowed to obey Perry. When he placed the ring on her finger her heart melted. Then the minister said you may

kiss the bride and Perry leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss. They were married. As they turned to walk

back down the aisle everyone was smiling even her mother and father.

They went over to their parents and spoke to them first thanking each one of them for the ceremony and the

lives that they had given them. Perry and Della hugged both of the sets of parents. Each of them smiled

and knew that their families were now one.

There were the hugs and photos and then it was time to go on the top of the ship. Everyone went upstairs

while Della and her new husband took more pictures with the party with her parents with his parents and then

with the wedding party. The photos took almost an hour and when they were done they were led to the room

where the reception was to be held. The weather was crystal clear and not even that hot for an August day

in Long Beach.

As they waited for the announcement of the newlyweds Perry kissed Della once more. The photographer took

a picture, but this time they were not embarrassed they were married. This was the day that they had waited

so long for. Then the announcement came "We would like to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Perry Mason. Everyone

cheered and clapped as they took their seats at the front of the room.

The waiters were right there and they poured the champagne. The dinner was delicious and Perry and Della

ate a good meal. They were both hungry as it was now three in the afternoon and neither of them had eaten

that morning. Every time someone hit their glass with a spoon it was a signal that they were supposed to kiss.

It was embarrassing and Perry swore that they kissed at least ten times during their dinner.

But dinner was over and it was time for their first dance. They had chosen the song by Irving Berlin I will

love you always. The band had an excellent male singer and he had been told that was going to be the song

for the first dance.

Della thought about the words to the song. It was such a romantic song. Irving Berlin had written the song

for his wife on his wedding day. The song went like this

Everything went wrong,

And the whole day long

I'd feel so blue.

For the longest while

I'd forget to smile,

Then I met you.

Now that my blue days have passed,

Now that I've found you at last -

I'll be loving you always

With a love that's true always.

When the things you've planned

Need a helping hand,

I will understand always.

Always.

Days may not be fair always,

That's when Ill be there always.

Not for just an hour,

Not for just a day,

Not for just a year,

But always.

Ill be loving you, oh always

With a love that's true always.

When the things you've planned

Need a helping hand,

I will understand always.

Always.

Days may not be fair always,

That's when Ill be there always.

Not for just an hour,

Not for just a day,

Not for just a year,

But always.

Not for just an hour,

Not for just a day,

Not for just a year,

But always.

When Perry and Della had seen the room where they would hold the reception they both thought that the song

was perfect for their first dance. It was a lovely waltz and they both liked the 1930's music. They each danced

to the song and many others. Perry made it a point to dance with Della's mother and his mother. Della danced with

her father and Perry's father too. She danced with Dave.

The wedding cake was beautiful. The chef had done a wonderful job and they cut the cake for more pictures and

managed to smash the cake into each others faces. It was a dirty tradition but it was part of the fun and Perry

was a good sport about it. The cake melted in their mouths and everyone there complimented them on their

choice of flavor.

It was time for Della to throw the bouquet and all of the single girls got excited. She wanted to throw the bouquet

to her friend Nancy so she checked where she was standing and tried to throw it to her. But unfortunately Eva

a friend of hers caught it first. She was very excited.

It was now late and it was time for the newlyweds to go to their suite to be together for the first time. Everyone

waved to them as they headed to their suite. Perry smiled at Della as she stood in the room nervously and picked

up the do not disturb sign and hung it on the door.

The next morning Perry and Della got up and headed to get some breakfast. Perry told her that they were going

to be leaving in the limo at nine. He still did not tell her where they were going but she didn't care. Wherever they

were going she would follow him.