CONQUERED

Chapter 20

"Where are we going, Dad?" They had completed what they had come here for and he wasn't headed to the Marina to go home.

"We're here, so I think we should get things while we can. Additionally we need to find more ATMs and get all the cash we're able to. We still have cash we can get today," Rick explained and kept driving to get into downtown. He didn't plan to go far.

"So what are we after?" Alexis could keep her eyes open for something.

"A wedding dress. Kate says she doesn't need one, but what woman doesn't want a wedding dress?"

Dean spoke up. "I know Laura and her mother spent days trying to find the right one."

"STOP!" Alexis yelled. Everyone was happy they had a seat belt since Rick really slammed on the brakes. "Back up." Alexis strained to look. She didn't question why he didn't know where to go. She just chalked it up to him being her dad.

"Stop." They were in the middle of an intersection. "Down there." Alexis pointed. "Does that say Bridal Designs By...Ian?"

"It does." Rick smiled wide as he turned, drove down that street, and parked right out front. Soon everyone was out of the truck and looking inside. "Those are wedding dresses."

"You're not supposed to see the dress before the wedding, Dad. It's bad luck," Alexis told him. "Tell me her size and I'll go find one for you. Don't screw this up, not now," Alexis begged.

Rick groaned because while he had suddenly thought this up, he did want to see. But his daughter had a point. "Fine." He told her Kate's size as he knew it.

Anderson cleared his throat and got her attention. "And find one in a size 6 while you're at it, please."

Alexis looked at him, kind of surprised. Was he asking what she thought he was? "Are you sure, Gramps?"

"I'm not CIA any more, and if it wasn't for that, I would have done this years ago. It's time to make it up to her. Not that I've actually proposed or she said yes. But we're here," Anderson said.

"Two wedding dresses it is." Alexis hurried toward the door and was relieved to find it wasn't locked. "Cash please?" Alexis held out her hand. She was pretty sure this was going to cost thousands.

So with cash in hand, Alexis went inside where she was surrounded by wedding dresses hanging everywhere. They also had jewelry and many items for hair including extensions, tiaras, jeweled hair combs, and other things.

Alexis started her search while repeating two different sizes. Each time she found one in that size she pulled it out, set aside it so she could find it again, and kept searching.

O~O~O

"Is she buying the entire store?" Rick asked and tried to look in through the glass.

"She's a woman. It has to be perfect." Dean knew what he was talking about.

"There's an ATM machine," Anderson said. He pointed at it and the three of them walked over to it.

Dean had already used his card, but he had his wife's card and PIN number, so it gave him 5k. Rick only got 3k since he had already gotten 2k.

Walking back they saw Alexis still wasn't out. Truth be told, Alexis thought maybe she was in over her head. What did she know that Kate would like? She had a vague idea what her grandmother might like.

"Don't get mad at me. This is harder than I thought." Then suddenly Alexis had an idea. She chose two dresses, laid them on the counter, then went back looking for a different size. Her size.

Alexis found these cream-colored bags she could hang each dress inside of, and the bag hid what the dress looked like.

She made it to the door. "A little help, please?" They were long and she didn't want to accidentally step on them.

Soon Dean and Anderson were sitting in the back with three wedding dresses laying across their laps.

"Three?" Dean queried. He was thinking maybe Alexis was giving Kate a choice.

"Hush." Michael hadn't proposed yet. But when he did she knew what her answer was going to be. And if he didn't ask her soon she was going to ask him.

"Alexis?" Rick turned his head to look at her.

"Drive, Dad, and don't crash us into something." She wasn't going to explain it to her dad. Not until it was actually going to happen.

They finally got to go back to the boat and go home. They had their answer and a surprise for Kate and Martha.

O~O~O

They had been spotted and everyone, including Martha and Libby, were at the boat house waiting for them.

"And?" Kate wanted to know and she wanted to know now. Except she saw the guys each carrying a long garment bag. "What are those?" Then an idea of what they might be hit her. Kate clapped both hands over her mouth and immediately began crying. If she was right, Rick was amazing, and she loved him twice as much now.

"Dad had this sudden idea, but he hasn't seen any of them, so you're safe," Alexis told her.

Each of the men was holding a dress and Alexis opened just enough to take a peek. "This one is yours." Alexis took it from him and handed it to Kate. She went back and peeked again. "This one is yours, Grams." Alexis handed it over and saw her stunned grandmother start to cry. Kate was already standing there holding her wedding dress and crying.

"And this one is mine." Alexis tried to hide her grin from Michael who was standing right there. "Kate, yours was $990, mine was $650, and Grams, yours was $400. I did the best I could."

Kate was madly wiping away tears. "I'm sure it's perfect." She had been willing to get married without a dress, but now that she had one, she knew that all along she had wanted one.

"Oh, my dear girl!" Martha was ready to hug Alexis tightly but she was holding her own dress. "Michael?" Martha turned her attention to the young man.

"He doesn't know, Grams. He didn't…" Alexis was thinking screw this. So she walked right up to him while holding her wedding dress tight to her body. "Marry me? I do love you and I know you love me. So marry me?" Alexis had been willing to let him ask her. But she had the dress, and she didn't want him to feel pressured to ask her.

Alexis searched his face. He did look surprised, but she also saw the love for her she had seen several times already. "It's just an engagement. We don't have to get married for a year or more." Alexis tried to remove any stress he might be having.

"Yes," Michael managed to tell her and listened to her squeal. She couldn't hug him because she was holding her wedding dress, so she kissed him instead.

"I love you," Alexis told him so all could hear her.

"I love you, too, Alexis. So very much." Micheal might have been worried about what Rick would say, but he loved Alexis.

"Time to celebrate!" Laura yelled.

"Are you okay with this, Martha?" Anderson hadn't actually proposed to her even now.

"I wished you had asked me that first day we were together," Martha told him and kissed him.

"Kate and I had an idea about her wedding location, but now we need to talk again. A triple wedding somewhere, somehow. This is going to be EPIC!" Laura yelled again.

"Why is Miss Laura yelling, Mommy?" Libby was kind of following but not really getting it.

"I'm going to marry Rick and now I have a pretty dress to wear. Chris is going to marry Martha, and Alexis is going to marry Michael. It will be one big wedding. You want everyone to be happy, right?" Kate saw Libby smile and nod her head.

"Thank you, sweetie." Now since Rick was close and this was his idea, even if Alexis had clearly selected the dress, Kate kissed him soundly. "I love you." Kate wiped away tears again.

O~O~O

Alexis had her dress in her bedroom and Kate had her dress in her bedroom. Martha had her dress spread out still in its bag on a table in the dining room. Everyone was here to find out what they had learned and to talk about a wedding venue and when.

Dean told them all what they had learned from their short conversation.

"At least we know what that thing was doing for a fact." Laura liked that part.

"But they wouldn't tell you what they planned for us?" Kate watched the four of them shake their heads.

"We're still the ants." Alexis remained bummed about that.

Kate tried again. "But they do have a plan?"

Dean spoke up and told them what he thought. "It did sound like it. They know we have food issues and communication issues. Something about waiting for a supply ship. Best guess here: This ship showed up and took control. They brought just enough to start things like pollution removal but nothing more.

"Somewhere behind them is one or more supply ships carrying whatever else they have planned. It's anyone's guess when that is."

Then Alexis shared what she thought. "I think they'll pick us all up, take us to Africa and dump us, and then take over the rest of the planet for themselves. We are ants."

"Babe?" Michael put an arm around her and kissed the side of her head. She wasn't an ant to him. That had Alexis smiling since he was trying to cheer her up.

Kate broke it down. "So we learned something but gained nothing from them. And don't tell me knowledge is power. The ATMs are running out of cash. If it wasn't for the greenhouses we would be out of food. We haven't even dared to kill a chicken yet because we need the eggs."

"Mommy!" She had said some bad words. Libby liked watching the chickens and was trying to work up the courage to ask if she could pet a goat.

"Sorry, sweetie." Kate kissed her. It was a lesson Kate needed to learn: Be careful what you say when Libby was around.

Kate summed it all up. "They're admitting that our numbers are still falling. They are cleaning the planet and recognize that they're destroying our ability to communicate with each other. But they won't do anything about it till that supply ship shows up."

"Like I said, ants." Alexis was still bugged.

"So, tell us about these wedding plans you've been talking about." Dean was ready to get off this subject and on to something far more happy.

"Well." Laura lifted Rick's laptop that Kate had gotten to help them plan while these guys were gone. "We think we're stuck with Victoria or Vancouver. While Seattle might be close using Chris's boat, it's not really practical enough. To make the trip faster he would need to teach us all how to sail so we could deploy more sails and not just the one," Laura started off with.

"With that said, Butchart Gardens was number one on our list. Now that there will be three of you, we need to talk about that. And while we might have some locations, none of these are really useful until it warms up again which will be a few months from now.

"What we haven't yet determined is how to make it official or if we even need to do so. Based on what Chris told us about Bracken and the President, it sounds like the US Government has totally shut down. Everyone is in hiding."

"Maybe all we need is to go visit a few churches and find a minister that has the authority. Can you get the paperwork online? Scratch that, we don't have access." Anderson was trying to think of something.

"A church might not be such a bad idea." Rick could accept that.

Laura went through the list. "We have Hatley Castle, Butchart Gardens, we rejected various resorts. Didn't really think of looking at churches. Now for Vancouver, we have UBC Farm, Stanley Park Pavilion, and UBC Boathouse. All of these have pros and cons. Most are outdoors, that way we don't have to figure out how to get inside and risk breaking a law."

"Castle? There's a castle?" Rick perked up over that one.

"Told you," Kate said to Laura after Rick said something and listened to her laugh.

"We thought the Gardens would be best. We just need to find a space once we are there," Martha mentioned.

"Our primary problem with either city is how to get there. For anything in Vancouver all I have is my unmarked police car. It's not going to hold all of us. Rick's truck isn't going to hold all of us, either, unless some of us are in the bed of the truck. Or he drives some of us and comes back to get the rest of us and the reverse to get home," Kate said.

Then Laura summed up the Gardens. "With the Gardens we'll need to pay to get in. If we don't, will we be breaking any laws? It's hard to say, but we're thinking why risk it," Laura offered. "Spring, we found, can be rainy around here. Summer, which is June to September, looks like our best bet. Fall, which we are in now, lasts till November, and the colors can be nice. Winter without Christmas lights sounds like a bad time."

"Christmas!" Rick was ready to kill himself.

"What are we going to do, Dad? We have to celebrate Christmas." Alexis was right behind him. That was a problem they needed to solve. "Who would have Christmas stuff for us to buy now? This is going to suck." Alexis had made herself depressed.

"Homemade, maybe?" Rick didn't know. He had no idea how they were going to get Christmas lights or Christmas anything. He hadn't planned for it to be like this.

"It's not going to be the same." Alexis allowed herself to sink into Michael who was holding her. He didn't see the problem, but if she was concerned about it so was he.

"What are the pros and cons with the Castle?" Rick tried to move on since he had a lot of planning to do if Christmas was going to happen at all.

"Okay, pros. If we can't get in, they have a Rose Garden, Italian Garden, and Japanese Garden. It really is a Castle if we can get inside and it's not looted. Cons, it's over twice the distance from Sidney where the truck is located. Over an hour one way. It's located far west of downtown Victoria. It won't be easy to reach from here." Laura summed up both places in Victoria that they had selected.

"My vote, if I even get one, is the Gardens," Dean said, knowing full well that it was up to the brides to choose the location.

"It's your wedding, ladies. Our options are limited, but at least with the Gardens it has built in flowers. We can take our own music. Use our phones for cameras and videos. Download them onto everyone's laptop," Laura offered since Alexis hadn't been here for this and suddenly she was part of it.

"I need a drink," Kate declared. She got Libby to stay with Rick then got up and went to the kitchen. It might be early even for her but this was cause for one.

Kate saw Martha and even Alexis right behind her. "Water for me, please." Alexis hadn't changed her mind about alcohol.

O~O~O

"Martha was here for this, so what are you thinking, Alexis?" Then suddenly Kate put her drink down and hugged Alexis. "Congratulations! It looked like a surprise to Michael, but he took it well."

"It was a surprise to me, too," Alexis said and smiled. "I was in a bridal shop shopping for dresses and I thought, 'What the hell!' I hope you both like them. Options in your sizes were limited."

"I was willing to do without, so any dress you selected will be great." Kate hugged her again and picked her drink back up.

"Chris surprised me as well. I'm sure it's perfect, dear." Now Martha hugged her.

"I'm not sure we have a choice here. We go out to the Gardens. The only big question is when?" Alexis looked at these two.

"Winter is out, so we either go immediately, or we wait," Kate said.

"If we wait we can work at solving the other problems: Who marries us and how to make it official, if we even can. Do we even try to get rings?" Alexis changed the subject to money. "Keep in mind we only have just so much cash and the area ATMs appear to be running out."

Kate reached into her shirt and pulled out her mother's ring; even today it was on a chain around her neck. Maybe she could use it if it fit the correct finger. Then she put it back under her shirt. That ring stayed right where it was.

"Does it need to be a diamond? Does it even need to be a real gem? I know I said that I didn't need a dress, but now that I have one…" Kate abruptly realized that she wanted more. She wanted a real ring with a real diamond.

"Grams, I don't know about you, but for me, yes, it needs to be a real diamond." Alexis looked at her and Kate. "Can we afford three wedding rings? The most Dad can get is 5k at a time if the ATM still has that much cash in it. I'm not including Dean's money even if he does have it. As nice a guy as he is, he's not family."

"Chris has money." Martha even knew how much. Not like her son, or maybe Dean, but he did. "I think we should go look and get our men to buy what we can afford," Martha told them. "Katherine?"

"Like I said, suddenly I want a ring, so I say our men go shopping. Though we need to go shopping, too. Our men need rings just as much," Kate told them. "I can take my card and get what cash I can to buy mine for Rick."

"Sounds like it's decided. We wait for better weather, so say June at the Gardens?" Alexis saw two nodding heads. "Now comes the first problem. How to get into a jewelry store that doesn't involve breaking in or stealing anything. One that hasn't been looted."

Kate wasn't concerned just yet. "Congratulations, Alexis." Kate hugged her again. She liked Michael and Alexis obviously loved him. "I'll do my best with your father." Kate was betting Rick would do something or say something stupid.

"Thanks, Kate. Knowing, Dad, I'll need all the help I can get." That got Kate to start laughing followed by Alexis, however, Martha only shook her head. All three loved him dearly, but he could be a real handful on occasion.