CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Tom and Rachel kept their wedding plans simple. He had wanted to be able to give her whatever kind of ceremony she'd always dreamed of, but she didn't want anything too big or fancy. As long as the kids, Jed, and a couple friends were there, Rachel was satisfied. However, that did not satisfy Ashley and Sam.
"You have to have everybody there," Ashley protested one evening as she and Rachel worked on dinner.
"We don't NEED many people at all. Mike will be your father's best man, and Bertrise and Kelly will be there for me." Keeping things small at the base chapel was all she really desired. What was the point in a big fuss?
"And us, right?" Sam asked from his spot sitting at the counter.
"Of course, luv."
"You have to get a big white dress," Ashley decided. "You'll look like a princess."
Rachel laughed. "Where am I going to find a big dress?"
"In town," Ashley replied, as if it was obvious.
"I haven't seen any bridal shops in Kittery, have you?"
"Oh… No. Well, we could go to Portsmouth. Or Boston." Some parts of the city had, amazingly, fared pretty well.
"I'm not going all the way to Massachusetts for a dress," Rachel told her with a laugh. "I'll find something here. It may not be terribly elaborate, but I'm sure it will still be lovely."
Ashley sighed. "Well, do we get new clothes, too? Please, please?"
Rachel smiled. "Sure. We'll get you something new. Sam, do you have dress clothes already?"
He shook his head. "My shirt is too small." The clothing his father had gotten for him from their house in Norfolk was nearly two years old.
"You need to stop growing, then," Rachel teased him.
Sam shook his head vehemently. "I'm gonna be as tall as Daddy."
"Are there gonna be flowers?" Ashley asked, getting them back on topic.
"I'm sure," Rachel replied. "And decorations for the party, too."
The children's eyes lit up. "There's going to be a party?!"
"Yes, after the ceremony, to celebrate."
Ashley thought about it. "You should make all the decorations silver and light blue," she decided.
Rachel laughed. "My little master planner. Maybe I'll let you organize everything. What colors do you think we should use, Sam?"
"Orange and green," he decided, sending them into fits of giggles.
"Those would be a bit… loud," Rachel told him.
Sam shrugged. "They're my favorites."
"I see."
"You should have a chocolate cake," Ashley decided, still planning away.
"I think we're making whatever cake we have ourselves," Rachel revealed. It wasn't like there was a bakery nearby. TJ's Grill made some good food, but ice cream was the extent of their dessert repertoire.
Ashley grinned. "Will you let us do it?" she asked, indicating herself and her brother.
Rachel returned her smile. She didn't much care who did what or how big the party was as long as they ended up saying 'I do'. "Sure, luvs. You can help out however you like."
While the Nathan James was staying in port, the crew kept busy with a myriad of activities. The engineering team finally had some time to make necessary repairs. The tactical teams helped with training base personnel and scouting the area. Their helicopter pilots joined in with making sorties to the other lab facilities and military bases that Portsmouth was partnered with. Tom still checked in with his department heads regularly to make sure they and their people had what they needed and were being productive. After a busy day going back and forth between the ship and different buildings around the base, he had a stop to make on the way home.
Jed smiled broadly when he opened his front door and found his son standing on his front stoop. "What are you doing over here?" he asked.
"Wanted to come see your new digs," Tom replied. His father had moved out and gotten a little place over in Kittery. It backed up against some woods where he could go hunt and wasn't too far of a walk from the base.
"It's still a work in progress," Jed warned him.
Tom chuckled. "Pop, your cabin was a 'work in progress' for twenty years."
"Longer!" the older man corrected him.
"You know that you'll still always be welcome with us, right?" Tom asked. He worried about his father and planned to check in regularly.
Jed waved a hand dismissively at him. "Yeah, yeah. So you've said."
"I was thinking that maybe we could start to have a meal together every week. You know, like the Sunday dinners Mom was always so big on when I was young." With three active kids and a husband in the military, there were many nights that they hadn't all eaten together. But once a week, his mother had insisted that they look presentable, remember what manners were, and sit down together for a meal.
Jed chuckled. "Sometimes I was late on purpose," he revealed to his son.
Tom scoffed. "You think we didn't know that? You think Mom didn't know that?"
He laughed. "Oh, she'd get so mad at me…"
A sad smile crossed Tom's face as he remembered. "I didn't really appreciate it at the time, but now… Those are good memories to look back on. I want my kids to be able to do the same someday."
Jed nodded in agreement. "Alright then. I'll see you on Sunday."
That night, long after the kids were in bed, Tom found Rachel still down in the living room, working on her laptop and making notes on documents.
"Hey, babe," he told her as he rubbed her shoulders. "Everything okay?"
She nodded, doing her best not to let herself get distracted by what his fingers were doing. "Just trying to get this report done."
Tom dropped a few kisses along the line of her neck. "Do you have to finish tonight?"
"Yes."
He continued silently attempting to convince her otherwise, one hand sliding over her stomach and then lower… "Are you sure?"
Rachel sighed heavily. "Yes."
Tom laughed. "Can't blame a guy for trying."
She softened. "I'll be up as soon as I can."
"Okay, I know when to throw in the towel," he told her before giving her a kiss, "And I'll just say goodnight to the soon-to-be Mrs. Chandler." He headed for the stairs, but Rachel's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"I'm not sure if I'm changing my name," she told him. It wasn't something they'd talked about before.
"What?" Tom asked, uncertain if he'd heard her right.
Rachel put down her pen. "I've been considering it, but I'm not sure if I'm going to change my last name after the wedding."
Tom leaned against the wall, his arms folded defensively over his chest. "Why not?"
"For one thing, I'm known by my name." She'd been an expert in her field for years, but with everything that had happened in the last year, Rachel had definitely become more well known.
"I think a few people have heard of mine, too," Tom sniped.
Rachel stopped and stared. She had genuinely still been thinking about it, and disliked that he saw it as a foregone conclusion. "This isn't even a topic to discuss to you, is it?" she realized. "You never even considered giving me a choice."
Tom huffed a sigh. "I didn't know I needed to." He hadn't considered this scenario. It was just what women did when they married… wasn't it?
Rachel rolled her eyes. "Of course not. Why would you ever think that people could have their own opinions when you can order them to have yours?"
He frowned; that was unfair. "I don't do that."
"No? So you're about to tell me that this is my decision and you'll respect whatever I choose, even if you don't agree?"
"And what I want doesn't matter to you at all?"
Rachel glared. "You know, I think I've adjusted to an awful lot of things already. What exactly are you giving up?"
Tom's mouth opened and closed twice before any sound made it out. "I wouldn't want you to be suffering to be with me," he told her. "You know, nobody's forcing you to marry me!"
Rachel froze. "N-no," she finally said, her voice quiet. "Nobody would be."
The silence that followed allowed Tom to replay the last few moments in his head. He wasn't sure how this conversation had gotten out of control so fast. What were they saying to each other? "What does that mean?" he asked. Was she reconsidering his proposal?!
Rachel turned back to her laptop. "I have work to do."
"Rach…" But she didn't answer and she didn't look up. He just stood there, staring, for a long moment, before eventually turning and storming up the steps.
Rachel stayed up working half the night and then ended up sleeping on the couch instead of going upstairs. She didn't have the energy to get into another discussion at that point.
She awakened early in the morning to the sound of drawers opening and closing and silverware jingling in the kitchen. When she got up and padded into the room, she found Tom at the counter pouring out a cup of coffee. He slid a second mug across the surface toward her; he'd made her tea.
"Thank you," Rachel quietly told him. "Straight black today?" she wondered after looking into his cup.
He nodded once without looking at her. "Mmm. Didn't really sleep well last night."
Rachel took a sip of her tea. "Me either…"
"You never came to bed," Tom pointed out.
She shook her head. "No."
"We broke one of my mother's rules. She used to tell me and my siblings all the time - never go to bed angry."
Rachel sighed. "I don't think that's the first time - or will be the last… Can I propose a compromise?"
Tom raised an eyebrow. "To what?"
"I'll be Dr. Scott at work, but Mrs. Chandler everywhere else."
He exhaled slowly, leaning against the counter. "You don't have to do that. Not if it's not what you really want."
"It is," she replied, stepping forward and taking his hand in hers. "I want to be your wife, Tom. I want to be a recognized part of your family. I know it's important to you, and I'd be proud of it. It's just going to be one more change to get used to." She shrugged lightly, glancing away. "I'll manage."
Tom set down his coffee and cupped her face in his hands, ensuring they were looking each other in the eye. "I don't want you to be unhappy, Rachel. I love you so much, and I know the life you'd have to live with me won't be easy." It took a special person with a lot of strength to be a military spouse. He was honestly concerned that she wouldn't be happy with him. "If I could protect you from that - if I could be different for you - I would."
"I know. I don't want you to be anyone else. We just have to be patient with each other, keep trying to do our best for each other."
Tom nodded. "Okay. But if you have any doubts - "
Rachel stood on her toes and kissed him. "I love you. And I can't wait to be your wife."
Their lips met again, the kiss deep and slow. Tom grabbed Rachel by the waist and lifted her up on the counter. Her legs wrapped around his hips, and he was beginning to consider whether she'd let him take her right there in the kitchen when they heard footsteps on the stairs.
"Eeeew, mushy stuff!" Sam cried as he and Ashley came in the room. Rachel slipped back down to stand on the floor, her face bright red.
"What are you monsters doing awake so early?" Tom asked them.
"We're hungry," Ashley told him.
"Well, we can work on that. Go get washed and dressed and we'll have cereal and stuff out before you get back."
"No more mushy stuff," Sam sternly warned the couple as he turned away.
"Hey, mushy stuff is what happens when you're in love with a woman," Tom told his son with a laugh. "What would you want us to do?"
Sam looked straight at his father and repeated three words he'd heard his grandfather say: "Get a room."
Rachel and Tom's jaws dropped. Ashley clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. "Oh, that does it!" Tom told his son. Before Sam could run, he'd been scooped up and got tickled mercilessly. The boy screamed with laughter as he squirmed around in his father's arms. "Get a room, huh? Do you even know what that means?" Tom asked.
"No!" Sam yelled between giggles.
"Good! Keep it that way. Do you take it back?"
"No!"
Tom flipped him upside down over his shoulder, and Sam continued to laugh hysterically. Ashley tried to come to her brother's rescue, but Tom held her off by sticking out a foot. Rachel just shook her head as she watched.
"You are all completely mad," she told them.
Tom looked conspiratorially at his kids as he set Sam back down on his feet. "Should we get her?" he wondered. They both nodded.
Rachel started to back away out of the kitchen. "Don't you dare," she told her fiancé. But he and the kids kept advancing on her.
In the end, they all ended up on the floor together, laughing until they could barely breathe. Even as she begged them to stop, all Rachel could think was that she hoped there would be many more mornings like this one.
TBC...