Chapter 59 - Wedding Reception (Part 1)

As it was such a beautiful day, and because it was local custom, the bridal party and guests walked through the small village to the country house, which was situated a short distance from the church. They crossed into the grounds via a small stone bridge, and walked up the curving south drive, where they were afforded pleasant views of Wick Burn, and some magnificent parkland trees.

Wenton Hall, which had been afforded preservation status after the Third World War, was the ancestral seat of the Earls Hume. The house was a large, handsome looking building, built using Portland stone, with a south entrance front of nine bays and a pedimented three-bay centre. The Entrance Hall on the north front was built in the Tuscan style. The west wing comprised the former kitchen wing, which was now a private residence, and service buildings. The east wing formed the stable yard buildings. The house was backed by a mature woodland.

On reaching the house, the wedding party were shown through the public rooms, which they were free to use for the duration of the wedding. The large reception area, which had a southern aspect, had large windows opening to the ground onto a large terrace. The rectangular terrace terminated at its east and west ends with flights of moulded steps and, on the south side of the terrace, a central flight of steps lead down to a middle terrace. The middle terrace widened out into a rectangular platform set with a circular fountain and photinia ('red robin') hedged enclosures. From the fountain a path descended to a lower terrace and then to the Wick Burn, which bound the lawns to the south. Parkland lay beyond.

Currently the majority of wedding guests were situated in the reception area, mingling with others and having a drink while awaiting their meal. Most of the children were outside exploring the gardens. Obviously the children had been warned not to dirty their wedding attire, the warning fell on some deaf ears.

*'*

Mimi was sipping on a drink of fresh orange and lemonade, she was still not at the stage where she could venture a cocktail, while mingling with and welcoming the wedding guests, working the room you would call it.

"Aunt Mimi!" Peter ran up to her in a slight panic.

Mimi smiled at him, "What's wrong?" she asked with a note of concern in her voice.

"It's Avarak! There is something wrong with him," he replied.

Mimi frowned, "What kind of wrong? Where is he?" she asked.

"He's just different," Peter replied, "we were happily playing in the gardens, then he just suddenly changed... He's on his own in the library. He doesn't want to talk and he doesn't want to play!" Peter had a look of confusion on his face.

"Ok," she replied, "I will go and check on him." Mimi moved to go to the library.

"I can come as well," Peter responded, genuinely concerned for Avarak's welfare.

Mimi turned to speak to him, "Can you go and find his dad first?" she asked, "I last saw him speaking to Dr Delix and Anari on the main terrace."

Peter nodded and went to look for Sordd.

*'*

Mimi opened the old wooden library door, which led into a rectangular shaped room with old wooden bookshelves from floor to ceiling. There were two large windows that had an outlook over the gardens. Row after row of neatly lined up books, all different colours, with their spines facing outwards filled the shelves. Some of them were very old original copies, some of them were much later editions. There were also a number of PADD's neatly lined up, which probably had thousands of books on each of them. There were a few single chairs in the room and one two seater couch.

Mimi's scanned around the room and her eyes fell on Avarak, who was hidden away in a corner, kneeling in a meditative stance. He had an extremely strained look on his face, no wonder he didn't want to play anymore Mimi thought to herself. She hesitated, unsure what to do. At that moment she became aware of Sordd standing at her back.

"What is it Ashayam?" he asked.

"It's Avarak," she whispered, while pointing at the corner of the room. Mimi moved out the way, which was no mean feat given the size of her dress, to allow Sordd into the room. He looked over at the corner and then began to slowly, and quietly walk towards his son.

Sordd began to whisper a Vulcan mantra, the one that Avarak usually used in his times of meditation. "Velek. Olozhika. Is-lof," Sordd said while continuing to walk towards his son. "Tash-tor…"

Peter, who was now standing behind Mimi spoke, "Is Avarak ok?" he asked loudly.

"He will be ok," Mimi replied. She turned around to look at Peter, "Can you let him alone just now?" she asked. "He just needs some space." Mimi smiled at Peter with kindness in her eyes. "Thank you for letting us know."

Peter nodded his head and went back to the reception area to see if he could find Adam.

Mimi stepped into the library and quietly closed the door behind her, guarding it to prevent anyone else coming in. By this point Sordd was now kneeling down in front of his son, continuing to repeat the Vulcan mantra, "Na velek kup-fam noshau rik' na kel-nen," he said gently, "Olozhika if-iy kel-nen is-lof." Sordd then requested to meld with his son, "Kash-naf?" he asked.

"Ha!" Avarak replied softly.

Sordd gently placed his hand on Avarak's psi points. "Let'theiri. Mol-kom. Tash-tor," he continued. As he was speaking the look of strain that was on Avarak's face began to recede a little until his face looked calmer and more serene. After some time, Sordd with drew his hand and they both opened their eyes.

"Sa-mekh, when can we go back to the cottage?" Avarak asked, there was strain in his voice.

"After end-meal, Mimi and I have to participate in the 'Grand March' and then we can go back to the cottage," Sordd replied. Sordd inclined his head, "Do you want to participate in the 'Grand March'?" he asked.

Avarak looked towards Mimi, his face still a little strained.

"You don't have to," Mimi said gently as she walked towards them both, "You could sit out with Spock and T'Kin." T'Kin was Healer Sakht's bondmate. "I think Saros is sitting out as well," Mimi said, trying to encourage him to sit out of what would be a highly emotional experience that would probably push him over the edge further.

"In light of these facts, do you want to participate in the 'Grand March'?" Sordd asked again.

"Rai," Avarak replied shaking his head.

"That is a logical decision," Sordd said kindly. "May we sit in here until end-meal starts?" Sordd asked Mimi.

"Of course we can," she replied, "Do you want something to drink Avarak?"

"Ha," he replied, "kassa juice please."

"I will go and get you some, Sordd do you want something?" Mimi asked.

"Ha," he replied, "kassa juice would be agreeable," he looked up at Mimi, thankful that she was so understanding.

Mimi turned to go and get the drinks. "Mimi!" Sordd spoke.

She turned round again, "Ha," she said, inwardly pleased at using even the simplest of Vulcan words, she was learning slowly but surely.

"Can you find T'Shahel and ask her to come here?" he replied. He wanted to ensure her emotional shields were at a sufficient level.

"Ha!" Mimi said with a smile on her face.

*'*

Amanda was currently sitting on a seat beside Julia. They were both sipping on glasses of sparkling elderflower juice, while watching their respective babies playing on their mats. Spock was not old enough to have a set of ceremonial robes, instead he was wearing a very smart petrol blue trip uniform, with silver piping, which was a nod to his clan colours. Poppy was wearing a white dress with a collar neckline and short sleeves adorned with sweet hand smocking detail across the top with embroidered flowers. Through adult eyes it looked like the babies were both very content in each other's company. However, Spock was wary of Poppy and Poppy was wary of Spock.

"So how old is Spock?" Julia asked Amanda in her soft British accent.

"He is nearly nine months old," Amanda replied with a smile. "How old is Poppy?" she asked.

"Poppy is ten months old," Julia answered. "She is going through a really bad phase of licking everything," she said.

Amanda laughed, "Spock sometimes does the same," she said. "He is also getting very clingy, it must be the stage he is at..."

Spock, while still wary of Poppy, was becoming more and more engrossed in building a structure with his coloured bricks, as we know this was one activity he found to be most 'agreeable.' Due to being so engrossed, he was unaware that Poppy was now sitting on HIS play mat.

Poppy was fascinated by the young Vulcan who was sitting before her, she was even more fascinated with his toy sehlat, which she grabbed and quickly crawled away with.

Her retreat was not as silent as her advance and Spock became aware of the misdemeanour. He turned around to see Poppy crawling away with HIS sehlat! Not sure what to do under the circumstances, he decided to do what any baby of a logical disposition would do and he immediately started to howl, the tears began to stream down his face. To make matters even worse, his father Sarek came into the room at this point. As Poppy had taken a little shine to Sarek she made a bee line for him. Immediately on reaching him she asked to be lifted up, in the childlike fashion of raising her hands in the air, the sehlat still securely held in her left hand. This caused Spock to have a total emotional meltdown, and he became almost inconsolable. The emotional events of the day were beginning to take their toll on Spock and on every Vulcan within a fifty kilometre radius. Come to think on it all the Vulcans within a fifty kilometre radius were currently at the wedding reception.

Sarek, unsure of what to do, did not lift Poppy up into his arms. This rebuff, along with him not waving at her earlier, caused Poppy to start to cry inconsolably as well. Sarek quickly assessed the whole situation and decided that the most logical course of action would be to leave the room, which he did as quickly as possible.

*'*

Mimi, who was carrying some drinks for Sordd and Avarak, was walking back to the library, with T'Shahel by her side. They had just closed a connecting door between the reception area and another room, when Mimi noticed that there was someone else there. She stopped dead! The glasses dropped from her hand and smashed on the floor...

*'*

Notes

Earls Hume - made up, as are Wenton Hall and Wick.

Velek - structure

Olozhika - logic

Is-lof - function

Tash-tor - control

Na velek kup-fam noshau rik' na kel-nen - A structure cannot stand without a foundation.

Olozhika if-iy kel-nen is-lof -Logic is the foundation of function.

kash-naf - mind-link

Let'theiri - peace

Mol-kom -serenity

Rai - no