The Girl, The Gold Ring, And Everything
The Five Of Hearts Series
By Thomas Mc

Chapter 14

Byron had very little trouble getting Friday off so that he could go with Jennifer to New York for her new nephew's Naming Day ceremony. They had just arrived at the brownstone and, after pressing the doorbell a couple of times, Jennifer opened the door.

As they entered the empty parlor she called out. "Mom, Dad. Is anybody here?" She closed the front door and turned to Byron with a shrug. "Nobody seems to be home." She set her overnight bag on the floor beside the door. "Just put your suitcase there. We can go raid the fridge and watch a video while we wait for someone to get home."

A half hour later they were seated in front of the large screen TV in the parlor with a couple of cold cut sandwiches and sodas on the coffee table watching a DVD of 'Singing In The Rain'. When he had noticed it in the DVD rack and commented on it she had told him that that particular movie seemed to have some special meaning for her mom and dad.

The movie was close to the end when the large video screen and the wall behind it swung into the room startling Byron. In the new opening stood Catherine, Vincent and Charles. Jennifer and Byron both stood up as the trio stepped through the opening. Catherine was the first to speak. "Jennifer, Byron, you're here." She exclaimed.

Catherine and Vincent closed the distance to Byron and Jennifer while Charles pushed the hidden door closed. As Jennifer and Catherine embraced, Vincent and Byron shook hands. The movie continued to play unnoticed by everyone.

Catherine glanced from Byron to Jennifer and back. "How long have you two been here?"

Byron shrugged as he responded. "'bout an hour or so."

Catherine glanced over at the two suitcases by the door. "Charles, why don't you fetch their bags while I show Byron and Jennifer to their room."

Catherine and Vincent led Byron and Jennifer into one of the second floor bedrooms. Catherine faced Byron and Jennifer and remarked. "This will be your room.

Charles inquired. "Where should I put the bags?"

Byron looked from Catherine to Vincent in surprise. Catching his look Catherine responded. "You should know by now how hard it is to keep secrets in this family. We're all aware of the current state of your relationship." She chuckled at the look on Byron's face. "And it gives us one more room for guests this weekend.

Vincent jumped in. "Congratulations on your engagement, by the way." A grin exposed his fangs. "We were beginning to wonder when you would finally get around to it."

Byron felt both a hint of embarrassment and the release of uncertainty about Vincent and Catherine's reaction to the current nature of his relationship with Jennifer.

~ BnB ~

Byron looked around at the huge group of people that had shown up for the naming ceremony. He suspected that the size of the gathering might have something to do with the fact that this was Vincent and Catherine's first grandchild. Then he looked up at the huge chamber they were in. The one previous glimpse he had gotten of the unlit chamber had not prepared him for the true grandeur of the place when the chandeliers were all alight and it was full of people. His attention shifted to the front of the chamber where Vincent had just signaled for everyone's attention.

From his place on a raised dais at the front of the great chamber Vincent addressed the gathering. "It has been said that the child is the true meaning of this life." Vincent's eyes swept the hall, finally settling on Jacob and Linda standing at the edge of the small stage. "Today we celebrate the child, this new life that has been brought into our world." Vincent held out his hand to them and the young couple stepped to the center of the dais to stand next to him. Linda held the baby boy cuddled close to her chest. Vincent continued speaking. "We welcome this child with love, that he may be able to love. We welcome this child with gifts, that they may learn generosity. And last, but not least, we welcome this child with a name . . . Linda, Jacob?" Vincent stepped to the side leaving center stage to Jacob and Linda.

Jacob put his arm around Linda as they both faced the crowd. A look of loving pride shone from his eyes. Her eyes carried the softer look of a mother's love for her child.

Linda spoke first. "We name our son for a beloved uncle whose ready wit and tales of adventure in foreign lands entertained us both for many hours when we were young children."

Then Jacob spoke. "We've named our son Devin."

Byron remembered meeting the man in question just last evening. The three prominent scars on the side of his face had brought back a tiny hint of Byron's fear of lions but he had been able to push it aside relatively quickly as Devin and Vincent had embraced pounding each other's backs. By this morning Devin and Byron had ended up amusing each other by comparing scars. Devin had reluctantly admitted that Byron had him beat.

Linda gestured to a blushing Devin whose look of surprise turned into a wide grin as he stepped up next to the young parents. Devin looked down at his namesake and his face softened into wistful smile. "I can't express how honored I feel right now." He then reached out to gently touch the baby's fuzzy cheek.

Then it was time for the gifts and the congratulations from all the well wishers in attendance. Food and drink was made available as everyone took their turn seeing the new infant and passing on their best wishes to the new parents.

When Byron's turn came he stared down in wonder at the unusual infant. He found himself unable to resist and gently reached out to touch the infant's fuzzy cheek. When the baby's small hand wrapped around his finger Byron's face broke out in a charmed smile. Next to him Jennifer had taken this all in and a contented smile spread across her face accompanied by the warm light of love that glowed in her eyes.

Satisfied smiles had also grown on the faces of Catherine and Vincent as they had observed this interlude from a few feet away. Vincent had been taking in the emotions radiating from Byron and Jennifer and passing them on to Catherine. Byron glanced over at them and caught the look on their faces. After a moment his ears turned pink at the realization that they were both privy to his emotions. Then he smiled back at the look of approval and acceptance that they both gave him.

As Byron and Jennifer, arm in arm, moved away from the new parents he felt a warm glow spreading through him knowing that her family had fully accepted him along with the realization that the acceptance was mutual.

~ BnB ~

It had been three weeks since the Naming Ceremony and The Senator was discussing the latest bill that he planned to introduce. They had been discussing the wording of certain parts of the bill when conversation had veered off to Byron's visit to New York.

The Senator chuckled at a humorous comment of Byron's then remarked. "Speaking of New York, you should have heard the wild tale my wife's second cousin was telling us last week." The Senator would often regale the office staff with his wife's cousin's outlandish conspiracy stories.

Byron looked up in curiosity about said cousin's latest wild tale. "What was it this time?" He inquired.

With another chuckle The Senator responded. "She claims to have met someone that swears that he was rescued from a buried subway car by a group of street people that were led by the real life lion-man of Central Park and a young girl." He looked Byron in the eye as he continued. "She said that the guy claims that both the lion-man and the girl had the most unusual blue eyes. She believes that it is proof that there are space aliens living in New York."

Byron pause a moment, trying not to give anything away, then responded. "I've heard of the Central Park Creature. Sounds like your standard issue urban myth to me."

The Senator shrugged. "Maybe so, but it's still an interesting story. It makes you wonder if there is an actual person behind the myth." He then looked at the papers in his hand. "Now about section 3 paragraph 2. I think we can find a way to word this better."

Byron took a few moments to work past his shock and belatedly return his concentration to the bill.

He knew that the account of the subway rescue was accurate because Jennifer had told him the whole story of those terrible days after the 9/11 attack. All that evening his mind kept returning to The Senator's comments and he wondered what exactly his mentor really thought about the subject. Just how seriously was he taking that second cousin's story?

~ BnB ~

August

Byron glanced over across the kitchen bar at Jennifer at the slight groan she had just made. He could see the look of frustration she was giving the sheet of paper before her. They had been filling out a wish list of the things each of them wanted in a wedding.

Jennifer threw her hands up in disgust. "This is so frustrating. You naturally want all of your family there and your oldest brother for Best Man. And your family is all about big fancy weddings. All three of your brothers' weddings were major social events and I've heard your mother talk about her dreams for when your time comes." She collapsed into the sofa with a loud huff sound. "I've always wanted my father to walk me down the aisle. It just isn't going to work. There's no way that Dad could come to Texas. The people at the airport would go nuts when he and my brother's showed up. Even if we could get all of my family to Texas, putting my family in the same room with your family would be a disaster of epic proportions." She shook her head. "Not to mention the reactions of everyone else."

Byron laughed. "I can see it now. Mother would scream and pass out in Father's arms as he stood there in total shock. Half of those present would be screaming and/or diving through the windows of the church and my brothers would head for their pick-ups looking for their guns."

"There would certainly be pandemonium but I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad." Jennifer laughed. "Though I can just imagine the look of stunned disbelief on your brothers' faces the first time they saw you and Dad standing next to each other. I'm not sure which would shock them more, Dad's appearance . . ."

". . . . or the fact that I was actually standing next to him." Byron finished for her. He shook his head. "As for the other reactions of my family, I think I'm dead on." He shrugged. "My description of everyone else's reactions may be a bit exaggerated."

Jennifer shook her head smiling. "Regardless I still don't know what to do about our problem." She shrugged. "I know that Jake and Charles and even Dad would be more than willing to bow out so that your family could all be there but I've always dreamed of being walked down the aisle by my father. I sorta always assumed that I would end up with someone from the tunnels and it wouldn't be an issue." She shook her head and looked down at her list, a trace of disappointment in her deep blue eyes.

Byron was watching her and caught that hint of disappointment. Somehow he needed to erase it from her eyes. He paused, deep in thought, as his brows furrowed. His mind raced with all sorts of bizarre impractical ideas.

Aware of the silence, Jennifer looked up at Byron. She wondered if her moment of melancholy had ruined the mood when she could swear she saw a light bulb go on over his head as he looked up at her.

Byron's face broke out in a big grin. "How about this? Why don't we have two weddings; one in Austin and one in New York." Jennifer looked back at him in surprise then dawning comprehension as he continued. "We can have the big public wedding like my folks would like here in Austin. I'm sure your mother and sisters wouldn't mind a short vacation here in Texas." Another light bulb look flashed across his face. "I bet if you asked, my dad would be extremely honored to walk you down the aisle. I bet your mother might get a kick out of working with my mother on the planning." His grin got wider. "We could fly up to New York for our Honeymoon and while we are there we could have a second small private wedding for your family and friends where Vincent can walk you down the aisle and maybe I could ask Jacob to be my best man."

As Byron had laid out his idea Jennifer's eyes had begun to glow with anticipation. She knew that, deep inside, her mother had always harbored the secret wish to be able to give one of her children the big fancy wedding even though she knew it could never be. Her mother had so many high society friends that know nothing of Dad and her brothers and could never be at a wedding involving them. Here was a chance to give her mother a little gift as a side benefit. "That sounds perfect. My three sisters would perfectly balance your three brothers in the wedding party here in Austin. You know I've always been torn between Linda and Naomi as my choice for Maid of Honor. I can have Naomi as my maid of honor here in Austin and Linda as my made of honor opposite Jacob as your Best Man back home."

"That sounds like a plan." Byron remarked. "Now, for the next question. When do we want to have the weddings?"

Jennifer thought a moment. "Well, The small ceremony in New York won't take much time at all to put together. I would like to hold it in our roof top garden." She chuckled. "We will want to give our mothers plenty of time to plan out the Austin wedding and we will want good weather for a roof top wedding. Probably this spring would be best."

Byron thought for a few seconds. "Rodney & Anna will be starting a major construction project in California the second week of April and The Senator usually takes his family vacation starting the first weekend of April so it would be best to plan at least the Austin wedding before then."

Now it was Jennifer's turn to consider. "Naomi will be in training for the FBI until the last week in March."

Byron frowned. "That leaves us a very narrow time window to have both weddings."

Jennifer pulled out her cell phone and studied it for about a minute. Then a grin with a hint of mischief blossomed on her face. "We could hold the big Austin wedding on Tuesday April first, then hold the New York wedding on Saturday April fifth." She looked up at him and her grin widened.

Byron looked back at her in surprise. "You want to hold the big wedding on April Fool's Day?"

"Why not?" She laughed. "A man who is planning a career in politics would have to be a bit of a fool to saddle himself with a crazy family like mine and, in a way, the first wedding will be a bit of a trick to hide the true nature of the bride's family from the groom's family."

Byron shook his head. "First off, I do not consider myself to be saddled with your family. On the contrary, I think of being part of your family and having access to Vincent's advice to be an asset."

She looked him straight in the eye this time. "You may not be so sure when our children are born."

Byron took hold of both her hands, his face just as serious as hers. "No way! Any children we have will be a blessing . . ." He cocked his head, gave her hands a squeeze and smiled. ". . . regardless of which side of your family they take after."

Byron stood, rounded the table and pulled Jennifer into a big hug. "It's settled then. We have two weddings. Now we need to tell your family." His smile softened a bit. "You know my mother has always admired your mother and I think that she would love having an excuse to spend time planning this wedding with her." Byron glanced at his watch. "It's not too late yet in New York. Let's call your parents now and tell them."

Continued in Part 15

'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.