Disclaimer: Do you think if I wrote to Santa Claus he'd bring me the
ownership of 'Mutant X' and its characters? No? I didn't think so.
Words in / / = Thoughts.
Words in * * = Italics.
*
Chapter 6.
Two weeks later.
Shalimar and Brennan had both been adamant that they wanted a fall wedding and had chosen the first of August as the date of the ceremony.
Emma, who had taken the task of organizing the wedding upon herself had spent weeks worrying over whether or not it would rain. Despite her teammates' assurances that it was highly unlikely to rain so early in August and that, even if it did, it wouldn't be a big deal, she seemed to be convinced that it would and that it would be the greatest disaster that could ever befall them.
There would be only a few people in attendance; besides Brennan and Shalimar (obviously) and the rest of the Mutant X team, only Nicholas Fox, Alison and Michael Parker, a former colleague of Adam's who had worked in Sanctuary when Shalimar and Jesse were younger (Jesse had invited him to surprise Adam and Shalimar), would be present.
Brennan refused to invite his mother and stepfather and Margaret Fox, once she had found out that her daughter was marrying a mutant, refused to attend.
Despite Emma's pessimistic predictions, the day of the wedding dawned clear and bright and as the day progressed, the sun shone warm and golden through the changing trees outside the little chapel chosen for the reception.
* * *
". . .Flowers, check. Guests, check. Rings. . .Oh my God! Jesse, where are the rings?" Poor Emma was on the verge of a panic attack.
"Easy, Em, I've got them, see." He held out his hand to show her the two golden bands.
Emma exhaled in relief. "Thank goodness for that." She scanned her list. "Minister, check." She nodded towards the altar. "Seating arrangement. . ."
"Emma, including Brennan, Shal and the minister, there are only nine people coming! I don't think that we need a seating arrangement."
She silenced him with a frosty glare.
"Seating arrangement, check." She continued, as if he had not interrupted. "Best man, check. Maid of honour, check." She gestured towards Jesse and herself at the appropriate times. "Groom. . ."
"Jesse?" Brennan's voice, calling from within the small room behind the altar assigned to him to get ready, interrupted her yet again.
"Jesse, hurry!" Emma was frantic. "Go see that nothing's wrong!"
Jesse laughed. "Relax, Emma, he's probably having trouble tying his cravat." He made a move to tug at his own but,. Seeing the psionic scowl at him, thought better of it. "I'll go see what's wrong, shall I?" He amended hastily.
Emma nodded approvingly. "You do that. Tell him to be ready in fifteen minutes and" She fished another list out of the small handbag she carried. "Tell him to go over this, make sure that he didn't forget anything."
"Will do."
As Jesse turned to leave, Emma distinctly him mutter, "I wish that Brennan and Shal had just eloped!"
"I heard that!"
* * *
"You look beautiful." Adam murmured, his voice filled with awe as he watched his surrogate 'daughter' adjust her veil.
Despite Emma's alternate pleading and argument, Shalimar had stood firm in her refusal to wear what she called 'a frilly flouncey nightmare'. The white dress she wore was simply cut, with straight, elegant lines, adorned only with embroidery in gold thread on the hem and on the short train.
Emma, who walked into the antechamber assigned to the bride before Shalimar could answer, was wearing an ankle length silvery-blue gown cut in a similar style.
"Oh good!" She exhaled in relief when she saw her friend. "You're ready." She ignored the combined groans of Adam and Shalimar as she whipped out her list. "Okay, we can skip the parts about the dress, hair and make-up, etc. that just leaves us with something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Please, Shal, tell me that you have them!"
Her friend was stumped for a moment.
"Oh, she exclaimed, fingering the delicate gold locket around her neck. "Adam gave this to me when I first came to Sanctuary."
"And all I got was a crummy ring!" Emma grumbled under her breath before checking it off her list. "Okay, that's old covered - what about the other three?"
"Um. . ."
"The dress is new." Adam volunteered, seeing that she was at a loss.
Emma gave him a grateful smile. "Two down, two to go. What about something borrowed?"
The other two exchanged a blank look.
Emma sighed impatiently, rummaging in her bag for something. She produced a small bottle of perfume. "Put some of this on. What about something blue?"
Shalimar, smiling triumphantly, handed her friend the bouquet. "There are cornflowers in it." She explained.
Emma beamed approvingly. "Well, that's you sorted anyway. Adam," She turned to the older man. "There's someone outside who wants to talk to you."
"Excuse me." Adam stood, leaving the two female members of Mutant X alone.
"Whoa!" Shalimar exclaimed softly, as soon as Adam had left.
"What is it?" Emma asked, alarmed.
"I felt something move."
"Isn't it a little early for that?"
"Feral genes." Shalimar explained briefly. "I think that someone wants to say 'hello'."
"May I?" Her friend nodded and Emma laid her hand on her stomach, she was barely showing. "I can sense the movement." Emma whispered in awe. She looked up at her friend, mischief in her eyes. "So, Shal, I never got a chance to ask you - what are you having?"
"Well, Shalimar smiled as she laid her hand on her flat stomach. "It's. . ."
* * *
"I just can't picture it."
"Picture what?" Jesse's chuckles were starting to get on Brennan's nerves.
"You. As a married man." He clarified, seeing that Brennan was bemused. "I have to say, man, you sure picked a hell of a way to propose!"
Brennan laughed wryly. "To be honest, I had intended to ask earlier but once I finally got her alone, Shal kind of beat me to it with her news. The party seemed like as good a time as any."
"And this time next year there'll be a baby crawling around Sanctuary." He grinned at his friend. "You do realise that it's going to be a troublemaker, don't you, just like Shal was."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Brennan assured him.
Jesse grinned in return before turning serious. "Bren, I hope you realise that if you ever hurt Shalimar in any way I will hunt you down and kill you."
"Gotcha." Brennan nodded hastily, finding his best man's intensity intimidating.
"Good." Jesse nodded grimly before smiling. "In that case I wish you the best of luck."
* * *
"Michael!" Adam's delight and surprise at the sight of his old friend, whom he hadn't seen in several years was genuine. "I didn't know that you were coming!"
"Jesse invited me. It's good to see you again, Adam." He hugged the older man warmly. "Although, I must admit, when he asked me to come to Shalimar's wedding I thought that I was hearing things. And I hear that she's three months pregnant! I must be getting old! It doesn't seem so long ago that we found her. It's hard to believe that she's the same child. I guess that your little girl is all grown up!"
"She's not *his* little girl!" An angry voice interrupted their conversation. "Shalimar is *my* daughter!"
"Mr Fox." For Shalimar's sake, Adam tried to keep his voice pleasant. "I'm glad that you could make it."
"Bullshit!" The other man exploded. "You'd like nothing more than to keep me away! Admit it!"
"This is Shalimar's father?" Michael's expression was filled with disgust as he asked the question.
Adam merely nodded.
"Nicholas Fox." He held out his hand.
Michael eyed the outstretched hand with distaste. "I can't say that it's a pleasure." He remarked, before turning on his heel and walking away.
"I'm sorry about that." Adam's regret was sincere. "Michael was working with me when I first found Shalimar. He saw the condition that she was in."
"And you made sure to blame me." Nicholas commented bitterly. "You turned your friend against me like you turned my daughter. As if you hadn't taken enough from me!"
"I didn't take anything from you!" It took a great effort for Adam not to punch the other man.
"You changed my daughter! You and your treatments! If you had left her as she was. . ."
"Shalimar wouldn't have lived to see her second birthday." Adam finished. "Would you have preferred that alternative?"
"You just want to steal my daughter from me!" Nicholas continued, as if he hadn't heard a word. "Even on today, of all days!"
"I want no such thing!" Adam snapped, losing his temper in turn.
"Stop this!" Emma's outraged voice cut them both off. Her eyes blazed with anger. "Both of you! Do either of you realise that Shalimar can hear every word you're saying? Feral hearing." She explained to the bewildered Nicholas. "Your stupid rivalry is not important - the woman you *claim* to care about is!" Both men had the grace to look embarrassed. "This is Shalimar and Brennan's day and if you two cannot be civil - for Shal's sake if nothing else - then I will personally throw you both out of this church! Am I making myself perfectly clear?"
Both men nodded sheepishly.
"Good." Emma turned around and walked away.
As she left, she pulled out her list and checked off the last item.
'Break apart feuding father-figures.'
"Check."
* * *
The afternoon sun streaming through the windows of the small church enveloped the couple in an ethereal golden aura as they exchanged their vows.
"I, Brennan Mulwray, take thee, Shalimar Fox, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to love, honour and cherish until death us do part."
"I, Shalimar Fox, take thee, Brennan Mulwray, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to love, honour and cherish until death us do part."
Emma brushed away tears as her friends exchanged rings.
"I now pronounce you man and wife." The warm, strong voice of the minister resonated through the small, almost empty church. He smiled at the couple before him. "You may now kiss the bride."
The small congregation burst into spontaneous applause as Shalimar and Brennan exchanged their first kiss as husband and wife.
TBC.
Words in / / = Thoughts.
Words in * * = Italics.
*
Chapter 6.
Two weeks later.
Shalimar and Brennan had both been adamant that they wanted a fall wedding and had chosen the first of August as the date of the ceremony.
Emma, who had taken the task of organizing the wedding upon herself had spent weeks worrying over whether or not it would rain. Despite her teammates' assurances that it was highly unlikely to rain so early in August and that, even if it did, it wouldn't be a big deal, she seemed to be convinced that it would and that it would be the greatest disaster that could ever befall them.
There would be only a few people in attendance; besides Brennan and Shalimar (obviously) and the rest of the Mutant X team, only Nicholas Fox, Alison and Michael Parker, a former colleague of Adam's who had worked in Sanctuary when Shalimar and Jesse were younger (Jesse had invited him to surprise Adam and Shalimar), would be present.
Brennan refused to invite his mother and stepfather and Margaret Fox, once she had found out that her daughter was marrying a mutant, refused to attend.
Despite Emma's pessimistic predictions, the day of the wedding dawned clear and bright and as the day progressed, the sun shone warm and golden through the changing trees outside the little chapel chosen for the reception.
* * *
". . .Flowers, check. Guests, check. Rings. . .Oh my God! Jesse, where are the rings?" Poor Emma was on the verge of a panic attack.
"Easy, Em, I've got them, see." He held out his hand to show her the two golden bands.
Emma exhaled in relief. "Thank goodness for that." She scanned her list. "Minister, check." She nodded towards the altar. "Seating arrangement. . ."
"Emma, including Brennan, Shal and the minister, there are only nine people coming! I don't think that we need a seating arrangement."
She silenced him with a frosty glare.
"Seating arrangement, check." She continued, as if he had not interrupted. "Best man, check. Maid of honour, check." She gestured towards Jesse and herself at the appropriate times. "Groom. . ."
"Jesse?" Brennan's voice, calling from within the small room behind the altar assigned to him to get ready, interrupted her yet again.
"Jesse, hurry!" Emma was frantic. "Go see that nothing's wrong!"
Jesse laughed. "Relax, Emma, he's probably having trouble tying his cravat." He made a move to tug at his own but,. Seeing the psionic scowl at him, thought better of it. "I'll go see what's wrong, shall I?" He amended hastily.
Emma nodded approvingly. "You do that. Tell him to be ready in fifteen minutes and" She fished another list out of the small handbag she carried. "Tell him to go over this, make sure that he didn't forget anything."
"Will do."
As Jesse turned to leave, Emma distinctly him mutter, "I wish that Brennan and Shal had just eloped!"
"I heard that!"
* * *
"You look beautiful." Adam murmured, his voice filled with awe as he watched his surrogate 'daughter' adjust her veil.
Despite Emma's alternate pleading and argument, Shalimar had stood firm in her refusal to wear what she called 'a frilly flouncey nightmare'. The white dress she wore was simply cut, with straight, elegant lines, adorned only with embroidery in gold thread on the hem and on the short train.
Emma, who walked into the antechamber assigned to the bride before Shalimar could answer, was wearing an ankle length silvery-blue gown cut in a similar style.
"Oh good!" She exhaled in relief when she saw her friend. "You're ready." She ignored the combined groans of Adam and Shalimar as she whipped out her list. "Okay, we can skip the parts about the dress, hair and make-up, etc. that just leaves us with something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Please, Shal, tell me that you have them!"
Her friend was stumped for a moment.
"Oh, she exclaimed, fingering the delicate gold locket around her neck. "Adam gave this to me when I first came to Sanctuary."
"And all I got was a crummy ring!" Emma grumbled under her breath before checking it off her list. "Okay, that's old covered - what about the other three?"
"Um. . ."
"The dress is new." Adam volunteered, seeing that she was at a loss.
Emma gave him a grateful smile. "Two down, two to go. What about something borrowed?"
The other two exchanged a blank look.
Emma sighed impatiently, rummaging in her bag for something. She produced a small bottle of perfume. "Put some of this on. What about something blue?"
Shalimar, smiling triumphantly, handed her friend the bouquet. "There are cornflowers in it." She explained.
Emma beamed approvingly. "Well, that's you sorted anyway. Adam," She turned to the older man. "There's someone outside who wants to talk to you."
"Excuse me." Adam stood, leaving the two female members of Mutant X alone.
"Whoa!" Shalimar exclaimed softly, as soon as Adam had left.
"What is it?" Emma asked, alarmed.
"I felt something move."
"Isn't it a little early for that?"
"Feral genes." Shalimar explained briefly. "I think that someone wants to say 'hello'."
"May I?" Her friend nodded and Emma laid her hand on her stomach, she was barely showing. "I can sense the movement." Emma whispered in awe. She looked up at her friend, mischief in her eyes. "So, Shal, I never got a chance to ask you - what are you having?"
"Well, Shalimar smiled as she laid her hand on her flat stomach. "It's. . ."
* * *
"I just can't picture it."
"Picture what?" Jesse's chuckles were starting to get on Brennan's nerves.
"You. As a married man." He clarified, seeing that Brennan was bemused. "I have to say, man, you sure picked a hell of a way to propose!"
Brennan laughed wryly. "To be honest, I had intended to ask earlier but once I finally got her alone, Shal kind of beat me to it with her news. The party seemed like as good a time as any."
"And this time next year there'll be a baby crawling around Sanctuary." He grinned at his friend. "You do realise that it's going to be a troublemaker, don't you, just like Shal was."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Brennan assured him.
Jesse grinned in return before turning serious. "Bren, I hope you realise that if you ever hurt Shalimar in any way I will hunt you down and kill you."
"Gotcha." Brennan nodded hastily, finding his best man's intensity intimidating.
"Good." Jesse nodded grimly before smiling. "In that case I wish you the best of luck."
* * *
"Michael!" Adam's delight and surprise at the sight of his old friend, whom he hadn't seen in several years was genuine. "I didn't know that you were coming!"
"Jesse invited me. It's good to see you again, Adam." He hugged the older man warmly. "Although, I must admit, when he asked me to come to Shalimar's wedding I thought that I was hearing things. And I hear that she's three months pregnant! I must be getting old! It doesn't seem so long ago that we found her. It's hard to believe that she's the same child. I guess that your little girl is all grown up!"
"She's not *his* little girl!" An angry voice interrupted their conversation. "Shalimar is *my* daughter!"
"Mr Fox." For Shalimar's sake, Adam tried to keep his voice pleasant. "I'm glad that you could make it."
"Bullshit!" The other man exploded. "You'd like nothing more than to keep me away! Admit it!"
"This is Shalimar's father?" Michael's expression was filled with disgust as he asked the question.
Adam merely nodded.
"Nicholas Fox." He held out his hand.
Michael eyed the outstretched hand with distaste. "I can't say that it's a pleasure." He remarked, before turning on his heel and walking away.
"I'm sorry about that." Adam's regret was sincere. "Michael was working with me when I first found Shalimar. He saw the condition that she was in."
"And you made sure to blame me." Nicholas commented bitterly. "You turned your friend against me like you turned my daughter. As if you hadn't taken enough from me!"
"I didn't take anything from you!" It took a great effort for Adam not to punch the other man.
"You changed my daughter! You and your treatments! If you had left her as she was. . ."
"Shalimar wouldn't have lived to see her second birthday." Adam finished. "Would you have preferred that alternative?"
"You just want to steal my daughter from me!" Nicholas continued, as if he hadn't heard a word. "Even on today, of all days!"
"I want no such thing!" Adam snapped, losing his temper in turn.
"Stop this!" Emma's outraged voice cut them both off. Her eyes blazed with anger. "Both of you! Do either of you realise that Shalimar can hear every word you're saying? Feral hearing." She explained to the bewildered Nicholas. "Your stupid rivalry is not important - the woman you *claim* to care about is!" Both men had the grace to look embarrassed. "This is Shalimar and Brennan's day and if you two cannot be civil - for Shal's sake if nothing else - then I will personally throw you both out of this church! Am I making myself perfectly clear?"
Both men nodded sheepishly.
"Good." Emma turned around and walked away.
As she left, she pulled out her list and checked off the last item.
'Break apart feuding father-figures.'
"Check."
* * *
The afternoon sun streaming through the windows of the small church enveloped the couple in an ethereal golden aura as they exchanged their vows.
"I, Brennan Mulwray, take thee, Shalimar Fox, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to love, honour and cherish until death us do part."
"I, Shalimar Fox, take thee, Brennan Mulwray, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, to love, honour and cherish until death us do part."
Emma brushed away tears as her friends exchanged rings.
"I now pronounce you man and wife." The warm, strong voice of the minister resonated through the small, almost empty church. He smiled at the couple before him. "You may now kiss the bride."
The small congregation burst into spontaneous applause as Shalimar and Brennan exchanged their first kiss as husband and wife.
TBC.