Hi All!

Thank you for your wonderful reviews!  I really do appreciate it.

All relative disclaimers apply…I don't own anyone you recognize from the series, I'm just having fun with them.

I know this story is getting a little long.  I seem to have that problem…my stories tend to take on lives of their own and start to run away from me.  But I have reined this story in and the end is near.

Enjoy,

Failte

***********************************************

Darcy punched in the code to open the door to their room.  Their room.  It felt a little strange, this was the first night they were staying in their room together, not his room, not her room, their room.  Tomorrow night she would see about staying with Becca.  It might seem silly since she and Lance had essentially been living together for several  months, but she thought it would be better if they didn't sleep together the night before the wedding.

She gasped when she saw what was lying on the bed.  Hilla had delivered her dress and it was lying across the bed in a clear, plastic bag. 

"It's a good thing Lance isn't with me," she muttered under her breath, setting her mug of tea on the bedside table.  Very carefully, she lifted the dress by the hanger and felt tears prick the back of her eyes.  It was really happening.  She and Lance really were getting married. Her heart pounded and she couldn't stop the tears that slid out of her eyes.

Reality hit when she realized that Lance could walk in at any moment and she didn't want him to see the dress before the ceremony.  She crossed quickly to the door and stuck her head out, making sure no one was there.  First, she thought of Allura, but it was late.  So Darcy decided to go to Becca's room.  She wanted to see the dress and Lance would never go in there.

Becca froze when she heard a knock on her door.  After what happened earlier in the evening with the strange box, she was a bit on edge.

"It's me, Becca!"  Darcy called in a stage whisper.

"Oh, sorry," Becca said as she opened the door.  "I wasn't expecting anyone, and, well…"

"I know," Darcy smiled.  "I understand."

"Is that you're dress?"  Becca gasped.

Darcy grinned, holding it up, "Yup.  What do you think?"

"Oh, oh, it's gorgeous!  It's like something out of 'Pride and Prejudice'!"

"Can I keep it here?  I don't want Lance to see it before the ceremony."

"Of course!"  Becca pointed to the closet door.

"Thanks, Bec, I really appreciate it.  I was also thinking I would stay in here with you tomorrow night."

"Why?"

Darcy shrugged, "I don't know, I guess it sounds silly, but I don't think Lance and I should be together the night before the ceremony."

"Ah, gotcha."  Becca sat cross legged on her bed.  "You nervous?"

"A little, well, more than a little.  But I'm also really excited."

"I can't believe you're getting married!   I mean you'll always be my big sister who helped me with my homework and told me stories about the monster in the basement so I was afraid to go down there until I was twelve.  I just can't picture you as an old married woman and a mother."

Darcy grinned, "Hey, I never thought I would be getting married and having a baby at twenty-two."

"Settling down so young."

"I don't think being with Lance Collier could ever be considered settling down."

"You're so lucky, he's a great guy," Becca said wistfully.

"Yeah, but Dad is making this difficult."

"He'll get over it.  He really does like Lance, sort of."

"I really am happy, Bec.  I just want Dad's blessing."

Becca reached over and laid her hand on her sister's arm, "It'll be alright.  We all like Lance and Dad will come around.  Your happiness is what's important."

Darcy felt her eyes moisten again, "Thank you, Becs."  She jumped when her communicator went off, sounding very loud in the large guest room.  "Barlow."

"Jesus Darcy!  Where are you?"  Lance snapped.

"I'm in Becca's room, what's wrong?"  She asked, confused at his behavior.

Lance ran a shaky hand through his hair, he spoke through gritted teeth, "Can you come back, please."

"Uh, yeah, I'll be right there."  She snapped the communicator shut and looked up at her sister.  "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Darc," Becca stood and hugged her sister.

As she made her way back to their room, Darcy began to think about Lance's behavior.  At first she was angry at the way he had yelled at her, what was his problem?  He didn't have a leash on her, she didn't have to tell him where she was all the time.  But what if there was something really wrong with him?  And she wasn't there to help him.  God, how thoughtless of her!  She could have hung the dress in the closet in the nursery and just told him not to go in there, she didn't have to go half way across the castle.

Darcy quickened her steps as she hurried back to their room.  The door was open and Lance was pacing the floor angrily.

"Lance?"

He whipped his head up and with three strides was clutching her to him, tightly.  She brought her arms up around him, stroking his back.

"Lance, what's wrong?  What did Dr. Gorma say?"

Sighing angrily, he stormed over and punched the code in to shut and lock the door.  He rested his forehead against the door a moment before turning to face her.  "You were supposed to be here, Darcy, in this room.  I come back, the door is wide open, the lights on, your mug of hot tea on the table, like you suddenly left, like you were taken."

Realization dawned on her and she brought her hands to her mouth, "Oh God, Lance, oh God, I am so sorry, I didn't think…"

"No, you didn't think!  After the delivery earlier, which we are certain came from Lotor, you should think before disappearing late at night!  What was going through your head?   What would make you do that?"  He stepped slowly and angrily towards her.

Darcy felt tears well up in her eyes, "Don't yell at me."

Lance stopped and rubbed his hands over his face.

"I'm sorry Lance, I came back to the room and my wedding dress was lying on the bed.  I didn't want you to see it before the ceremony so I took it to Becca's room."  She mumbled.

Lance closed his eyes, trying to gather his composure.  He was overreacting.  He was tired and short tempered.  He opened his eyes and saw her watching him, looking terrified.  That stopped him cold.  Never, never did he want to see terror in her eyes when she looked at him. 

"Darcy," he stepped forward, pulling her to him, gently.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you.  I came back and you weren't here."

Unable to hold it back any more, Darcy sobbed into his shoulder.  "I'm so sick of this, Lance.  I don't want to have to live in fear any more."

"I know, babe, I know.  Things can only get better.  We have Lotor where we want him, he has nothing."  He steered her toward the bed.  "Don't worry about it.  I totally overreacted.  It's alright.  I won't let anything happen to you."  Lance handed her the box of tissues before turning to get her nightgown from the dresser.  "You need to get some sleep, we have a busy day tomorrow, all the last minute preparations for the wedding and Sven and Romelle are coming."

Darcy sniffled and wiped her nose with a tissue.  "What did Dr. Gorma say?"

Lance smiled at her, "He said it's stress and he gave me something to take to help me sleep."

"Good," Darcy took her nightgown from him and headed toward the bathroom.  "I want you to get some sleep."

Lance sat on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands.  His heart was racing.  When he came to the room and she wasn't there, it was like every nightmare had come true.  He was terrified of taking the pills Dr. Gorma had given him.  What if he had another nightmare and couldn't wake up from it?  He couldn't take any more of the nightmares.

*********************************************

It was quarter to six in the morning.  Pidge was puttering around with Green.  Everything was working well, but he couldn't lie in bed any longer. Something was gnawing at his mind.  He was feeling better.  For some reason, he was feeling better.  He wasn't as down as he had been and while it made things better, he couldn't help but feel guilty.  Why should he be having fun, laughing with Hunk, looking forward to Lance's wedding, when Renata was dead? 

Swearing loudly and throwing a rag down on the ground, Pidge turned and walked over to the work bench.  He hung the wrench back up where he had found it and rubbed his dirty hands on his thighs.  The rest of the Force would be down in ten minutes to start practice.  He took a few deep breaths and gathered his thoughts.  Now was not the time to get upset.

"Hey, buddy, how ya doin'?"  Hunk yawned as he entered the work room.

The work room, as they called it, was a giagantic, cement building just off the side of the tarmac.   It held a large workbench with every tool needed to tend to the Lions and the other ships in their fleet.  Hunk had wandered into Castle Control and found the blinking light to signify that Green was not deep in the woods.  He flipped on the homing device and saw it in the work room.

"'Morning, Hunk."  Pidge mumbled.

"What's wrong with Green?"

"Nothing, really, I was just tightening some bolts and polishing the board."

"Keeping her in top condition, good."

Pidge grunted in response.

"You want to talk about it?"  Hunk asked, lightly.

Pidge shook his head, "No, thanks, Hunk, I'm fine."

Hunk was about to say something else when his communicator went off.  "Yeah?"

"Hey, Hunk, where are you?"  Keith asked.

"Pidge and I are out in the work room."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Cap.  Pidge was just going over Green, everything's fine."

"You guys ready for practice?"

Hunk looked at Pidge who nodded.  "Yeah, Cap, we'll meet you on the practice field."

********************************************

Practice was tight that morning.  They went through their formations and took part in target practice.  Whatever was going on within the castle or within themselves, the Force was ready to take on anyone who dared to attack them.

The Force made their way into the kitchen around 7:30 to find food.

"How'd it look from down here?"  Keith asked Caleb, who had been watching from Castle Control.

"Great.  You guys looked tight, but it did look like Blue's thruster struggled a bit in the beginning."

"Yeah, I mentioned that to Hunk, we're going to look at it after breakfast."  Dante said.

While the others talked, Lance dug in the refrigeration unit for food.  He set about making a cheese omelet and toast.  He set it on a tray with a glass of juice and some fruit.

"What did you do, Lance?"  Keith asked, pointing to the tray.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you're taking her breakfast in bed, you most likely did something wrong."

"That's a great way to apologize," Hunk said around a mouthful of cereal.

Lance spread peanut butter on the toast and ignored them.

"Peanut butter and an omelet?"  Dante made a face.

"Darcy likes it," Lance muttered.

"So it is for her," Keith smiled.  "What did you say?  How mad was she?"

"She must have been pretty angry if he's going to these lengths."  Hunk commented.

"Maybe," Lance's voice rose above their teasing.  "I just want to fix my fiancée breakfast in bed the day before our wedding."

"Or maybe he needs to suck up so there will still be a wedding," Pidge said.

Lance scowled at them all as he carried the tray out of the kitchen.  He hadn't slept much the night before, forgoing Dr. Gorma's pills.  He had had maybe three hours of sleep and woke to find his arms wrapped tightly around her as though he were holding onto her for dear life.

After he had calmed down and seen that she was alright, Lance felt guilty for having yelled at her.  She really hadn't done anything wrong, he just couldn't control himself when he saw she wasn't there and a million frightening scenarios raced through his mind.

Balancing the tray on one hand, Lance punched in the code to open their bedroom door with the other.  Darcy was still asleep, stretched out on her back, one arm across her stomach.  Her other hand was fisted lightly and resting on the pillow beside her face.  Lance set the tray on the desk while he went to open the blinds.  Early morning sunlight flooded in and across the bed.  She groaned and turned her head away from the light.

Smiling, Lance sat on the edge of the bed, "Good morning, Sunshine."

Darcy groaned again and tried to burrow deeper into her pillow.

"I have food," Lance whispered.

She opened one eye, "Wha'?"

"Food.  I have it.  You want it?"

Darcy yawned and stretched, "You brought me breakfast?"

"Yup."

"That's so sweet.  Why?"

Lance rolled his eyes, "Why does everyone think I have an ulterior motive for wanting to bring you breakfast in bed."

"Because we know you."

He took her hands in his, "I'm sorry for overreacting last night."

She smiled up at him, "It's alright.  You actually didn't overreact, I just didn't think.  I'm sorry."

"Okay," Lance set the tray across her lap.  "Let's just say we're both sorry and move on.  Just…promise me you'll be careful."

"I will, Lance.  I can still take care of myself."

"I know you can, I can't help but think…" He stopped himself before telling her about his dreams.

"Think what?"

"Think of everything Lotor has done to Allura," he finished quickly.

Darcy dug into the tray with relish, "I can't believe you did this."

"What are your plans for today?"  He asked, picking up a triangle of peanut butter coated toast.

"Well,   Allura and I are going to check out the site for the ceremony and make sure everything is set up.  By the way, I'm going to stay in Becca's room tonight."

"Why?"

"Because it's the night before our wedding, I just don't think it would be right for us to be sleeping together."

Lance raised his eyebrow and studied her, trying to figure out her reasoning.

"It's just one night and after that we'll sleep together every night.  Besides, I want you to sleep, the whole night.  Take the pills Dr. Gorma gave you and actually sleep."

"Alright, as long as it's just one night."  Lance stood, kissed her on the top of her head, and went to shower while Darcy finished her breakfast.

*********************************************

"Here, try this one."  Darcy held up a maroon dress for Becca to see.

It was late afternoon and she, Becca, Allura, and Romelle were in town at one of the boutiques looking for a dress for Becca to wear for the wedding.  Since she was there, Darcy decided she wanted Becca to stand with her during the ceremony.  To even out the bridal party, Lance asked Sven to stand with him as well.  Since they were the same size, Sven would borrow his tux while Lance wore his dress uniform.

"You're really sticking with reds, huh?"  Becca asked.

"It's Lance's favorite color," Darcy replied simply.

"This is close to the color of my dress," Allura pointed out.

"Alright, alright I'll try it on."  Becca took the dress and disappeared into the dressing room.

"Pidge seems to be doing better," Romelle commented as she ruffled through a rack of blouses.

"Lance told me Hunk has been slipping herbs into his coffee that lifts his spirits."  Darcy said.

Allura looked up sharply, "That's not right!  He's toying with Pidge's emotions."

"If it's helping him, is it really all that bad?"  Romelle asked.

"I don't know, I'm kind of uneasy with it.  Did he get the herbs from Gadara?"

"Yeah," Darcy told her.  "She also told him that we need to give him time, he will get better and he will be stronger."

"Is this what you're looking for?"  Becca stepped out of the dressing room and twirled.

The dress had a scoop neck and a fitted bodice, the full skirt fell to her ankles and spun out when she twirled.  It was simple and very pretty.

"It's perfect," Darcy told her.

After finding matching shoes, the four women filed into a car and were driven back to the castle.

"What are the plans for tonight?"  Allura asked.

"There aren't any," Darcy told her.  "I want to get to bed earlier."

"Yeah, like that will happen," Romelle smiled.

"Oh no, what are planning?"  Darcy asked.

"Something that is probably more tame than what Keith and the guys are planning for Lance."

"I swear, if he's hungover tomorrow I will hold each of them personally responsible."  Darcy said.

*********************************************

"Are they closed?"

"Yes, Allura.  Is this really necessary?"

"Quit whining Darc," Becca said.  "Just enjoy the attention we're lavishing upon you."

"I know we're going to the Observation Deck," Darcy said.

"How do you know that?"  Becca asked.

"I know this Castle inside and out.  Security."

"Could you just play along?"  Allura pleaded.

Darcy heard the swoosh of the door sliding open.

"Okay, open your eyes," Allura whispered.

"Surprise!"

Romelle, Lucy Barlow, Molly Collier,  Allura, and Becca sat in the overstuffed chairs that had been arranged in a semi-circle.  Candles were lit and vases of flowers sat around the room.  Coffee, tea, and wine sat on a table with tiered dishes of cookies and little cakes.  Presents were piled on the floor in front of the chairs.

"Oh, wow, this is great, thanks."  Darcy stammered.

Lucy stood and hugged her daughter, "We're so happy for you Darcy.  Lance is such a great boy and I know you two will be happy together."

"Go ahead, open your presents," Becca said, excitedly.

From her mother, Darcy received a long, silk hand embroidered nightgown and matching robe.  "It's gorgeous," she whispered.  Also in the box she found a book.  It was full of questions for her and Lance to answer, when it was filled in, it would tell the story of their meeting, dating, marriage, and life together.

"It'll be a great keepsake for your children," Lucy told her.

She opened the box from Lance's mother and found a red, flannel nightgown that covered her from throat to foot.  Also in the box was a self-help book called 'Dealing With Difficult Men'.

"I thought it might help," Molly whispered.

Laughing, Darcy thanked her and placed nightgown and book back in the box.  From Becca, Allura, and Romelle, she received racier night clothes.  A couple of which she was too embarrassed to show her mother.

"I take it there's a theme here."  Darcy said.

"Well, we figure we'll get you guys stuff for your home when you move into it.  But for now we decided to get you stuff you could actually use."  Allura told her.

"Well, there is more," Lucy grinned.

Allura nodded to Becca who stood and left the room.

"What is it?"  Darcy asked.

"A little, impromptu baby shower."  Becca announced, entering the room pushing a baby carriage filled with presents.

"Oh my God," Darcy breathed, feeling tears fill her eyes.  "You guys are amazing."

The carriage was filled with everything they would need from diapers and bottles to onesies and stuffed animals.

"Just a few things to get you started."  Lucy told her.  "As well as starting baby's first library."  She pushed a box out from behind her chair.

"Mom!  What is this?"  Darcy asked, tearing into the cardboard.

"Half the children's department of her store," Becca muttered.

"Oh!  I remember this book!"  Darcy held it up for everyone to see.  "Remember Becs?  Mom used to read it to us at night.  And this one!"  Feeling tears slide from her eyes, she hugged a couple of books to her chest.  "Thank you all so much!"

The rest of the evening was spent talking, laughing, sharing embarrassing stories about Darcy, and teasing her about what life married to Lance will be like.

"In all honesty, Darcy," Allura said.  "Lance has been one of my best friends for years.  I love him and I am so happy he found you.  I have never seen him this much in love, this contented with life, and this happy.  I think he has finally found the right person.  You two are perfect for each other and I wish you years of happiness and health."

"Hear hear," Romelle said raising her glass.

A couple hours later Darcy and Becca made their way to her room. 

"You ready for tomorrow?"  Becca asked.

"I hope so."

"Second thoughts?"

"No, not at all.  Just a little nervous."

"I never understood that," Becca said.  "You two are madly in love, you're not having second thoughts.  Why are you so nervous?  I would think you'd be excited."

"I am excited, I just…I don't know how to explain it.  I know I'm doing the right thing, but nerves are making me a little nauseous."

"Nerves or pregnancy?"

Darcy smiled, "A little of both, I guess."

"You think Lance is in bed yet?"

"I hope so.  Maybe he's so drunk he'll pass out."

"Darcy!"

"He hasn't been sleeping well, if he's passed out at least he's resting."

Becca shook her head, "You guys are nuts."

"But at least we're nuts together."

"Yeah, it's a beautiful thing when two nuts find each other."

Darcy took her nightgown and walked into the bathroom.  "Good night, Becs."  She had just closed the door behind her when her communicator beeped.  "Barlow."

"Just think, that's the last time you'll answer that way," Lance's voice was low and slightly slurred.  "After tomorrow you'll say Collier."

She smiled down at his little image, "What's up, Lance?"

"I just…I just wanted to check and make sure you were okay and that you got to bed alright."

"Well, I'm fine and I'm getting ready for bed now."

"Okay, goodnight then."

"Goodnight, Lance."

"I love you," he slurred.

"I love you too."