One Year Later - December 2018
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Mike stepped into the ballroom, searching for one familiar face in a sea of human bodies.
Not that tonight's party was particularly over-the-top. Not when compared to prior years, anyway. Mike was fairly certain that he had seen only two kegs and so far he hadn't been required to drag anyone off for a cold shower or dodge any vomit. But the number of people in the ballroom was triple that of five years ago. Although only half of the crew of the Nathan James that initially made the trek to St. Louis remained alive today to celebrate, they had picked up new friends along the way. Mike sometimes forgot that, three years ago, Jeremiah Utt and Maddie Rawlins were simply names on a piece of paper. Six years ago, he wouldn't have known Sasha Cooper and Cameron Burk from the Queen of England. Ten years ago, Andrea Garnett was no more than a work colleague.
And now she was the most important person in his life.
Locating his quarry, Mike began to move forward, quickly realizing that finding someone in this crowd was the easy part. Getting to him was going to be very different matters.
The first obstacle was Gator's conga line, which seemed to stretch from one side of the room to the other. Ducking past that, Mike found himself face-to-face with a drunken Ray Diaz, who was attempting to recreate the dance scene from Dirty Dancing with an equally drunken Kat Diaz, the two kids having tied the knot six months prior. After catching Maddie's attention and asking her to ensure that there were no aeronautical stunts performed for at least the next thirty minutes, Mike made it less than ten feet before he barely avoided being kicked in the face as a tipsy Eric Miller attempted to teach Wolf Taylor how to moonwalk. For the briefest moment Mike was distracted when a very pregnant Courtney Miller promptly put both men to shame but, seeing Azima crossing the room to take charge, he continued on his quest. Ten minutes later Mike was finally closing in on the table where Russ and Bacon sat, a chess board between them.
"Master Chief! A word, if you would," he said, turning his attention to Bacon as Russ stood. "My apologies for the interruption, Chief Cowley. I'll have him back to the game as soon as possible."
"No problem, sir," Bacon replied, lumbering to his feet with a smile. "I think I see the Venetian Table being rolled out anyway. I heard a rumor that they have a new lemon cake tonight."
As Bacon went to check out the competition, Mike turned back towards the patio, only then realizing that he was going to have to cross the entire room again. Even worse, this time he also needed to keep Russ in sight.
"Is there a problem, Mike?" Russ asked, his voice low.
"What?" Mike ducked around a table, barely avoiding a collision with Carl Nishioka, who was wearing a Santa hat and carrying a harmonica for no discernable reason. "Oh, no, not at all. Captain Garnett and I simply require your assistance."
A long seven minutes later, Mike opened the door and stepped outside into the dark, crisp night. This year it wasn't snowing and, while cool, the patio was rather pleasant. It was also rather crowded, with Tom, Sasha, Danny and Kara all standing in a semi-circle around Mike and Andrea. The latter holding a posy of mistletoe in her hands.
Crossing the space in three strides, Mike leaned down to press a light kiss on Andrea's lips, before tucking her arm into his and turning back to Russ. "Master Chief, we would be honored if you would officiate our wedding ceremony."
A smile broke across Russ's face. "It appears, sir, that I should have brought my Bible."
"I have one right here, Master Chief," Danny interrupted, moving forward to hand Russ the book before returning to his original position, looping his arm around Kara's very rounded waist.
"We also have the wedding certificate," Sasha said, holding up a thin white envelope.
"Witnesses," Tom added, gesturing at the group. Quickly adding, "Two of whom are sober."
"And last, but not least, plenty of mistletoe," Kara finished, pointing at the porch ceiling, which had been transformed into a sea of green.
"Well, then. It appears that there's only one thing to do," Russ said, moving until he stood before Mike and Andrea. "Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to join this man and this woman..."
As Russ spoke, Mike let the familiar words flow over him. He squeezed Andrea's hand, the one holding the mistletoe. She looked up, tears glittering in her eyes. "Thank you."
"For what?" Mike asked, uncaring that they were currently in the middle of their own wedding ceremony and probably should be paying attention. He was pretty sure he remembered all the vows anyway.
As a second and third tear rolled down Andrea's cheek, Mike raised a hand to wipe them away. Andrea cocked her head, her lips curling into a slight smile. "For giving me a reason to start over."
Mike bent his head to press a kiss to her temple. "I love you, Andrea Garnett Slattery."
Ignoring their audience, Andrea cupped his face in her hands, drawing him down for another kiss. "I love you too."
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The End.