"Weekends are too short," Elliot said as he and Amy took the last few steps towards the park entrance. They'd said their good byes some ways back; Amy was wearing a light silk dress – a gift from Grace, the Tenctonese woman she'd seen – and one of the few women Below who was as tall and lithe as she was. Her velvet gown was in a crocheted bag – along with a dozen bars of Mary's soap, in all different scents.
"They are," she agreed – Amy didn't even want to look at her watch. When they stepped out into the park, it was nearly dark – the sky was streaked with gold and crimson – crickets chirped… Elliot would arrange to have her driven home – but really, she couldn't stay much longer and they both knew it. "I feel like – I just got here," she glanced up at him. And then back at the ring. It was still there. It was still real.
"I know," he held her close for a long, long while, simply enjoying the warmth of her body next to his and the calm, warm summer night.
Then, "Are you going to be ok? I mean – the attack on Friday –?"
"I'll be fine. I promise," he kissed her forehead tenderly. "I have every reason in the world to be ok, now."
"Look, I know you've done this whole brush with death thing before – but I haven't – not really. It scares me."
"Don't be scared. Everything is going to be fine."
"Elliot – when Kate came to me yesterday – she showed me something. The night you were on a boat, with this Gabriel guy. When you got shot."
"See," he teased her, "I told you it was bullet wound."
Amy laughed, despite herself, then, "I'm serious, though – how did you do it?"
"What, get shot? That doesn't take any remarkable talent, Sweetheart."
"No!" she glared at him, grinning, "How were you able to be so brave – you had to know he was going to – at least try to, you know." It was hard to say the word.
"Kill me. I knew the minute I got into the car with Moreno and the blond man that I'd probably not live to see the morning."
"But you were so calm. How did you do it?"
Elliot gathered her into his arms. "There are things in this world worth dying for, Amy," he pulled her closer. "And things in this world worth living for. And I am thankful that someone was watching out for me that night – that I did live to see the sunrise – and a thousand sunrises thereafter. Because if I'd died that night, I never would have met you."
Looking into his eyes, all Amy could see there was love – no one, not Michael, not Stu, not David – not anyone – had ever looked at her quite that way before…it was as if he truly lived only for her… as if their whole lives had been spent coming to this moment…
"You're crying," he said softly, confused by her sudden tears.
"I've been doing a lot of that lately," Amy told him.
"Is something wrong?"
"For the first time – ever – everything is – perfect."
-
"Where on earth did you get that – what do you call that thing you're wearing anyway?"
"I don't know – but I learned to say thank you and you're welcome in Tenctonese," Amy told her mother – Maxine was sitting in the living room, drinking tea and reading a book.
"Well, I suppose the what on earth comment doesn't quite apply then," Maxine said in her dry, good natured sort of way.
"Is Lauren still up?"
"Amy, it is midnight. Even during summer vacation, Lauren doesn't stay up past eleven."
"Oh. Yeah. Right. Well – why are you up?"
"I couldn't sleep – no I wasn't waiting for you," Maxine assured her daughter. "It was just one of those weekends – Walt has a cold and Jillian is – being Jillian. Vincent has a new girlfriend it seems – and Kyle is in town."
"Kyle?"
"Yes – Heather is doing fine – but no longer wants to be a mother or have anything to do with him – so do be quiet when you go up to bed, we've just gotten Nicole down to sleep – she's teething – and I don't think Kyle has had a decent night's sleep in I don't know how long. They're both in Peter's old room." Maxine sounded tired.
"Oh, Ma – I'm sorry, I wish I'd been here."
"No you don't," she smiled, "But it was nice of you to say you did."
"I – we need to talk about something," Amy came to sit next to her mother.
"Oh?"
Amy had been surreptitiously hiding her left hand. She held it out.
Maxine's smile was genuine. "It's beautiful, Amy. I'm glad things are working out for you – I'm just not sure I have the energy to get much more excited than this."
"That's ok. But – there's something – else."
"Oh?"
"We – um – that is –"
"You haven't eloped have you?"
"No. But – we're planning on it."
"One does not plan on eloping – or tell people about it."
"You're the only one I'm planning on telling – well, maybe I'll tell Bruce – and of course I'm going to tell Lauren," Amy added. "But I don't want a big fuss –"
Maxine started chuckling, "You don't want Jillian to get a hold of it."
"Well – yeah."
"Oh, Honey – you don't have to run off just because you don't want Jillian to turn your wedding into a three ring circus."
"Why not – that's what you almost ended up doing."
Maxine sighed, "True. But she has two children now – that should help. Ok, maybe not," she said to Amy's look. "I just don't want you to do something you're not going to be happy with in ten years."
"I'm perfectly happy with the place we've decided to run off to," Amy told her mother. "It is going to be perfect and wonderful and simple – and I just don't want you to be upset with me for running off."
"Amy, I went through one wedding with you already and it nearly killed me – and that was before I had two heart attacks. You are not going to hurt my feelings by deciding not to put us all through something like that again."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. As long as you don't run off without telling Lauren."
"I – was going to ask her to give me away."
Maxine smiled. "Well then, if you're looking for my blessing, you have it."
"How about your silence – at least on the we're running off and eloping part?"
"Mum's the word," she 'zipped' her lip and tossed the key over her shoulder.
Amy laughed and threw her arms around her mother, "I love you, Ma."
"One question, before you squeeze the life out of me – have we set a date for this clandestine event?"
"Almost. There's a couple of things Elliot is going to check on – with the place we're running off to – we'd like to get married on the anniversary of our first date," she explained, "Without throwing anything into chaos because that's the day before Thanksgiving."
"So soon?"
Amy nodded, "I don't want to wait to start the rest of my life with him."
"Good for you – have you decided what you are going to tell your brothers?"
"Are you kidding? I've spent the last two hours agonizing over it. But they'll see the ring – so I have to tell them he asked and I said yes – well, duh. I'm going to try to leave it at that."
"Good luck." Maxine stood up, "I'm off to bed – you should get some sleep too – even if you are on cloud nine."
"Is it that obvious?"
Maxine chuckled and took herself upstairs to bed…
Amy dialed Elliot's number – he picked up on the first ring. "I love you," she told him.
"I love you too. Get home ok?"
"Just fine," she practiced saying 'thank you' in Tenctonese.
Elliot corrected her, "Unless you meant to call me the Newcomer equivalent of a pencil necked geek."
"What?"
He laughed, "It's all where you put your clicks."
"My clicks, huh?" she managed to make it sound quite suggestive.
"Damn, I miss you. Is there any chance of seeing you during the week?"
"I cannot take more time from work."
Elliot sighed, "And sadly, neither can I. Friday?"
"Friday – I'll see if I can find a way to get out a little early."
"And I'll see if I can't do the same – maybe come out to pick you up."
"Really?"
"If I can be out at noon, I can be to Hartford by two – I can pick Lauren up from school – and then swing by and get you. If you haven't gotten things worked out – we'll go get a soda or something."
"You know next weekend she's with her father."
"I know. I figure we'll drive Lauren out to his place – he should hear it from us that we're getting married, rather than getting it from the rumour mill."
"Us, huh?"
"Us."
"I like the way that word sounds."
"Me too. Good night, Sweetheart."
"Good night." Amy hung up the phone, savouring the sweet feeling of being in love…
-
Amy was still floating three feet off the ground when she came downstairs – she'd gone to Lauren's room first, but it seemed that Lauren was already up…and in the kitchen, helping Kyle with the most adorable little girl. "Wow – who would have thought you'd make such a cute kid," Amy smiled at her cousin, Kyle McCarty.
"Who would have thought I'd make such a spectacular mess of my life," he accepted the kiss she placed on his cheek. "You're taking this a little better than I'd expected."
Amy shrugged.
"So?" Lauren looked up from feeding the not quite one year old girl.
"So?" Amy asked her daughter.
"SO?" Lauren glared.
"So?" Amy shrugged."
"A needle pulling thread?" Maxine came down the stair and headed towards the coffee pot, artfully stepping over children's toys…some habits it seemed, never quite died…
"You didn't screw it up, did you, Mom?" Lauren gave her mother an accusatory glare.
"Am I missing something?" Kyle wanted to know.
Amy laughed and held up the hand she'd kept tucked in the pocket of her bathrobe.
Lauren jumped up and hugged her.
"It's nice to know you had so much faith in me," Amy told her, kissing her daughter's forehead.
"Wait a minute – you're marrying Burch?" Kyle asked.
"How do you know about me and Elliot?"
"My mother still reads the society pages – and my sister still speaks to me. At least when it's something 'important'."
Amy made a face.
"Did I hear right?" Vincent Gray came down the steps.
"Elliot asked Mom to marry him," Lauren announced. "I knew it was coming."
"And I suspected as much," Amy grinned at her daughter. Then, "But – I still have to get to work," she took her coffee mug and headed back upstairs to get ready.
"Work?" Vincent asked, "You're marrying one of the richest men on the planet!"
"Oh let's not start that kind of nonsense again," Maxine chided her son.
"You knew about this, Aunt Max?"
"I was up when Amy came in last night," she smiled smugly.
-
"You look awfully happy this morning," Bruce observed.
"I know. I am. I need to talk to you."
He gave her an appraising look.
"Shut the door," Amy hissed, grinning.
Bruce complied, "Yes?"
"Bruce – I oh gosh, this is the hard part!"
"What is?"
"Elliot asked me to marry him."
"Congratulations – right?" she was acting so squirrelly it was hard to tell.
Amy smiled and showed him the ring.
"Nice."
"Yeah," she looked down at it. It was still there…it was still real… "But – we're – you are one of the few people I really would like to invite, but we're running off – alone. Secretly."
"It isn't much of a secret if you're wearing a ring like that."
"I know – but – I want a simple, quiet wedding. The only way to have that is to just run off somewhere without telling anyone exactly when – or where we're going. You aren't mad at me, are you?"
"For – what?"
"For not being able to invite you."
"Judge Gray – I'm happy that you think enough of our friendship to want to invite me. And you can save me a piece of wedding cake." He smiled at her. Married. To Elliot Burch. Well – all things considered, she'd definitely come close to doing worse…Stu Collins – he had never seen what she saw in that guy… and then there was the memory of a single kiss… a moment of – confusion and blurred lines…a window of opportunity lost… but she was happy now, and really, that's what mattered.
"You ok?" Amy asked. He suddenly seemed a million miles away …
"Sorry," Bruce smiled. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
"I'm glad. Your friendship means a lot to me, Bruce. I hope you know that."
"I do. Thank you."
-
"I don't know – I would have thought that it would be bigger," Jillian said of the ring – she was tearing the lettuce for the salad, while Amy mashed the potatoes.
"It isn't size that matters," Maxine opined, off-handedly.
"Yeah, Amy," Kyle teased her with an impish grin.
Amy blushed – as much of a pain in the ass that Kyle could be, she realized how much she'd missed him and how good it was to have him around again.
"When it comes to some things, size matters," Jillian insisted.
The doorbell rang.
"I've got it," Peter called from the living room where he had Walt 'quarantined' so that neither Ned nor Nicole would catch his cold… he glanced out the window – and saw that a large, very imposing, black man was standing on his mother's front porch… with two women, carrying plates – a guy… And Burch, carrying a bottle of wine… Peter opened the door. "Uh – hi."
"Peter who – Elliot!" Amy's stomach fluttered. "What are you doing here – you said Friday! Fin – Diana – Cathy – Joe? What is going on?"
Joe laughed, "About three o'clock Cathy came into my office and suggested that we knock off a little early. No easy task," he added.
"It had occurred to me," Catherine said, "That you'd be giving your family the good news tonight, and as brides maids, Diana and I had an obligation to be here."
"Brides maids?" Jillian came in. "You have brides maids already?"
Amy hugged Cathy and Diana at the same time, "Thank you," she whispered, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Amy ushered them into the living room – she stole just a moment to give Elliot a very warm kiss hello. "Thank you, too," she said softly, while the butterflies in her stomach danced around.
"I missed you."
"Me too."
"Ok, you two," Fin said over his shoulder. "Sheesh, were we ever that bad?" he winked at Diana.
Amy blushed, and made the introductions around the room.
"We really weren't expecting dinner guests," Jillian began, awkwardly.
"Well, we brought wine," Elliot told her.
"And Mary sent strudel," Catherine handed over the large plate she'd been carrying to the more amicable of the brothers.
"Does she ever sleep?" Amy asked. "The children – quilting – strudel?"
Catherine laughed, "Sometimes I wonder that myself."
"And I," Diana announced, "Brought some of my favourite lasagna."
"That means she didn't cook it," said Fin.
"Hey, Louigi's is the best in town."
"Lasagna and roast beef – sounds good to me," Maxine said with a smile. "Kyle – why don't you and Vincent go out to the shed and see if you can find those extra chairs."
"So – Catherine, your husband didn't come?" Jillian inquired, glancing from Catherine to Joe – they were terribly cozy with one another…then again, Elliot and Catherine were terribly cozy too…they'd walked arm in arm into the kitchen…with his other arm around Amy's waist… how strange…
"Vincent – my Vincent, I can see that this is going to become confusing fast," she said with a warm smile, "Is at home with the children. Hello, Lauren," she said when Lauren came down the steps to see what the commotion was.
"Hi, Aunt Cathy – Elliot," she grinned at him.
Elliot laughed.
"What?" Amy wanted to know.
"Your daughter was sure that one of us would bungle it," Elliot said.
"Where'd she ever get that idea?" Fin just rolled his eyes.
"Aunt Cathy?" Peter queried.
"Lauren tells me you have quite a few children, Catherine," Maxine said, mostly as a way to try and keep some peace. Peter was looking quite prickly at the moment.
"Six in all. You can see why we left them at home," she smiled her usual, easy smile.
"That's quite a family," Kyle said as he and Vincent returned with the extra chairs –
Fin, being closest to the door, took them from the other man, "Joe – head's up," he passed on over, right over top of the counter.
"Got it – Elliot – "
"Right here," Elliot intercepted and took the chair to the dining room.
"You boys are quite organized at this sort of thing," Maxine approved.
"Years of practice Mrs. Gray," Joe told her with a wry grin.
"That's Maxine to you," she informed him.
Joe chuckled, "Maxine it is. Hands," he said, as Lauren went to grab a plate to take into the dining room.
"What?"
"Hands," Diana repeated, ducking and weaving in and out of the chair moving effort, to bring another serving plate into the dining room.
Lauren sighed and washed her hands. "There's too many adults in the room," she grumbled.
"No," Catherine corrected her gently, "There's too many aunts and uncles in the room."
"Last chair," Fin said, as he passed the last one over.
"I don't suppose you do windows?" Maxine asked him.
"Only for pretty ladies," he bowed, just slightly and winked at her.
"Oh fer," Peter began to grumble.
-
"So – I take it you're two of Amy's brides maids?" Jillian queried, as the mashed potatoes made their way around the table.
"Actually, they're the only two people I've asked," Amy said, quietly. Elliot was sitting across from her – Catherine and Diana had positioned themselves on either side.
"Two brides maids?"
"Mom asked me to give her away," Lauren added. She looked over to Elliot, "And it would be my pleasure."
"For which I thank you," he nodded, cordially.
"Lauren is giving you away?" Peter wanted to know.
"It seems appropriate," Maxine chimed in.
"But – shouldn't you or one of Amy's brothers do it?" asked Jillian.
"Not necessarily – Catherine," Amy turned to her, "Who gave you away? I know you said your father had passed away –?"
Catherine smiled, "Yes. I would have asked Vincent's father to do it, but he was officiating and we decided that that would be a little too awkward, even though he truly is a second father to me."
"Your father in law is a man of the cloth?" Jillian queried.
"No – he's something of an agnostic," Catherine told her. "We chose a non-religious ceremony."
"Oh."
Catherine returned her gaze to Amy, "So after much consideration – I asked Dr. Alcott, an old and dear family friend – who it turns out knew Vincent's family as well. He delivered five of our children."
"What about the sixth?" asked Vincent Gray, purly out of innocent curosity.
Elliot and Joe both paled.
Catherine never stopped smiling, "That would be Jake, our eldest. There were special circumstances."
Vincent looked at the two men, "I say something wrong?"
"They're over sensitive," Diana told him.
"Those were the worst six months of our lives," Joe replied, softly.
"The worst twelve hours," Elliot added.
"Are we missing something?" Peter inquired.
"It's a long story," Catherine told him. "All that really matters is that it had a happy ending."
"All the way around," Amy looked over at Elliot, smiled and raised her wine glass.
He smiled back at her and raised his.
"Happy endings, then," Fin joined in – as did Diana and Joe.
"And guardian angels," Elliot winked.
"Absent friends," Amy added, in Catherine's direction.
"He's always with me," she smiled back. "But it's good to know you think of him with fondness."
"I just hope he can think of me the same way," Amy replied.
Catherine laughed, "I believe the word my husband used to describe you was remarkable – although I'm not sure if he was referring to your courage or your aim. Which by the way, was better than mine. The only thing I managed to hit was the wall."
"Should I ask?" Kyle wondered aloud.
"My husband has a special knack for getting heavy objects flung in his direction," Catherine grinned over at Amy's cousin.
"If I were him, I think I'd look into a new hobby," Kyle replied.
Maxine listened to them and smiled, pleased that her daughter had found not only a group of friends – but a pair of girlfriends who were by far more appealing than the band of twittering ninnies she'd hung out with when she and Michael were married.
The conversation drifted towards other topics – politics – the whether – sports – music – there was some discussion on what to do after the wedding – but mostly that was still up in the air. Maxine listened to the way they talked to Lauren – the entire group seemed keenly interested in her well-being and listened to what she had to say in the way that not too many adults did… interesting.
-
"Well," Jillian began as they adjourned to the living room after dinner, "Really Amy, you have to have more than just two brides maids. A wedding party that small will look silly in a church of any respectable size. Have you decided on a church?" she directed the question to Elliot.
"We're sorting out some of the details yet," Elliot told her. "Although I believe we'd been leaning towards having Father perform the ceremony. "
Amy nodded.
"Father?" Peter asked.
"Vincent's Father," Catherine told him.
"He's even more of a second father to me than he is to Cathy - my own and I stopped speaking long before he died." Elliot told them. "Father decided to be my father too."
"But if he's not a priest – what church will you use?"
"We're still working out the details," Amy used Elliot's line.
"What about your side – who are your grooms men?" Jillian asked Elliot.
"Right there," he nodded towards Fin and Joe, who grinned broadly back at her…Jillian's expression was delightful to watch…
"He cleans up better than you'd expect," Diana grinned up at Fin, playfully.
"And we're going more casual anyway," Amy added.
"For which we're both grateful," said Joe.
"Casual?" asked Jillian, in an incredulous tone. "What about the press – your wedding pictures are going to be all over the papers."
Elliot shook his head, "We have that covered. Amy wants simple and I am more than happy to oblige," he reached out and took her hand – Amy slid closer into him and Elliot smiled. Nope, nothing else in the world mattered, as long as she was next to him…
"So which of you is the best man?" Maxine inquired, thinking it an innocent question.
"Vincent is," said Elliot.
"But – that means you have lop sided sides," Jillian gawked.
Sorry, Maxine mouthed to her daughter, when Jillian wasn't looking; Amy just rolled her eyes.
"Yes," said Elliot.
"So – why don't you have Lauren as a brides maid and one of your brothers walk you up?"
"Because I'm giving Mom away," Lauren told her. "I want to do it."
"Don't worry," Catherine said to the blond, "It'll work out. We're good at organizing these things."
Diana nodded in agreement.
"So – you're getting married in New York?"Peter asked.
"We're working out the details," said Amy.
Jillian looked to Elliot, "You must know how difficult it is to book a hall – of good caliber, of course. You'll have to decide soon if you're going to get the date you want."
"The date's all set," Catherine said.
"Are you sure?" asked Amy.
"Elliot is Vincent's brother – in the way that matters," Catherine touched her heart, to silence the questions that she knew the Grays would have. "Do you honestly think there is anything that we would not do for you, Amy?"
"So – when?" Peter asked.
"Soon," Amy told him.
"Soon?"
"Soon."
"You're not being very forthcoming," Peter said.
"We're trying to keep things as simple as possible," Elliot told him. "Part of that means making sure the press doesn't get wind of things until it's too late for them to swarm all over us."
"But you're a public figure," Jillian insisted.
"Not by choice."
"I think we've had enough publicity in our lives," said Catherine, she was sitting on the floor by Elliot's feet.
"Far too much," he agreed, reaching down with his free hand to take hers.
-
"Gentleman, Mr. Burch," Kyle joined them out on the back porch. Elliot, Fin and Joe were enjoying cigars and the warm summer night – the girls had shooed them out of them living room
"So formal?" Elliot smiled, anyway and offered the other a cigar.
"Why not?" Kyle accepted it. He smelled it – expensive. "So you're really the infamous Elliot Burch," he said, as Elliot offered him a light.
"Himself," Elliot borrowed Brigit's line.
"Wow – and you're marrying my cousin. My insane cousin."
Elliot laughed, "Yep."
"And you do realize that she's nuts, right?"
"I think I picked up on that the first time we met," Elliot smiled.
"You're a brave man, I'll give you that," Kyle told him.