Chapter 10:
Amanda pulled the dress over her head, easing it over her still-sore shoulders. A quick tug at the zipper, a pull-down on the skirt (gently, of course, so as not to rip the delicate lace) and she stepped out of the fitting room.
Betsy, Jubilee, Jean, Ororo, and Rogue all examined her critically as she came out. The dress was a simple but pretty affair of satin and lace; a satin underdress, with a sheer beige lace overlay, embroidered with seed pearls and cream-colored iridescent sequins. It came to just below Amanda's knees.
"It's pretty," Jubilee said finally. "I like it."
"Kinda too simple for me," Rogue tilted her head. "I think maybe somethin' a bit more heavily ornamented."
Amanda shook her head stubbornly. "No," she said. "My first wedding dress was heavily ornamented. Look what happened to that marriage. And the one Bruce picked out for me was worse. I still have it, by the way; I'll show it to you when we get home." She fell silent, looking at herself in the mirror, then sighed. "Maybe you're right."
Betsy elbowed Rogue in the ribs. "It's your wedding, Amanda. You have to be happy with the dress. If you like it, don't let any of us talk you out of it."
Amanda turned, inspecting the dress critically, then said, "Will Hank like it, do you think?"
Jubilee snorted. "Amanda, if you shaved your head and painted it green and walked down the aisle naked he'd still like it. Hank doesn't care what you look like."
Amanda sighed and plopped down in a chair in front of the mirror, wrinkled her nose, and said, "Eww. Look how it kind of bunches up when I sit. I'll look fat." She got up and went back into the fitting room.
Jean sighed. "She's never going to find a dress at this rate."
Amanda came out of the fitting room moments later, holding an armful of beige cloth, and disappeared into the racks, putting the dresses back where she had gotten them. The other women followed her out of the bridal shop, and they all got back in the van.
"Where's the next stop?" Jubilee asked cheerfully.
"There's only one more shop," Amanda sighed. "'Formal Affairs', on Thirty-second."
"What about 'The Bridal Mall'? That's where I got my dress," Jean suggested.
Amanda looked wistful. "It's a little out of my price range, I'm afraid," she blushed. She was still self-conscious about the class difference between the others and herself.
The others all exchanged glances, then Jean sent out a mental thread to Ororo, who was driving. 'Ro, can we stop there?
Certainly, Ororo thought. As large as the place is, Amanda should be able to find something there.
I brought my credit cards, Jean said. And Charles told me—privately, of course—that if Amanda found something she liked, we were to feel free to use his if she couldn't afford it. He didn't want to see her wearing something she didn't like for the biggest day of her life.
Amanda looked stunned when they pulled into the parking lot of the Bridal Mall. "I can't--" she started to say.
Jean grinned. "Hey, sometimes they have nice dresses on sale here," she said as she picked up her purse and got out of the car. "Come on. At least take a look before we go anywhere else."
Amanda got reluctantly out of the car, and walked into the store. And stopped. The store was huge! Racks of dresses, all the way back to the store, as far as she could see, grouped by color. White was the predominant color, but there was a considerable section of cream, eggshell, and beige also. She froze, and Jean laughed gently and pushed her over to the racks. "Go ahead, look,' she said. "And Amanda; don't worry about price. Find something you like."
Amanda stuttered for a moment, suddenly realizing why they were here; but Jean just smiled and walked off with the other girls to look at the bridesmaids dresses.
Amanda saw the perfect dress almost immediately. An empire-waist beige satin dress, with a draped yoke and skirt of some sheer material in the same color; there was cream-colored pearls and embroidery on the bodice and around the hem. The only problem was that it was off-the shoulder, and she wasn't so sure that off-the-shoulder would be appropriate for this time of year. Still, it was so pretty she wanted to try it on.
She disappeared into the fitting room, slid the dress on, and came out. The hem of the dress was slightly longer in back than in front, and it trailed gracefully behind her as she walked. The skirt was a little on the long side; but if she got a decent pair of high heels it would be perfect.
"Wow! Amanda, you look great!" Jubilee gushed as the other women came up.
Amanda looked doubtful. "Really? I mean, it's a long dress, and it's off the shoulder, and I'm not sure that that's appropriate for an afternoon wedding…"
Jean walked around her, inspecting the dress critically. "It looks fine," she said. "And you've got nice smooth shoulders; it'll show off your figure well. Amanda, if you like it, get it."
Amanda squeezed her eyes closed as she reached for the tag. She gingerly cracked one eye open and looked at the tag, then closed it again. The dress was going to take most of the rest of her savings.
She stopped. Wasn't Hank worth it? She was going to be married to him for the rest of her life; she could splurge a little and spend a lot on the first wedding dress she'd ever bought that she actually liked.
"Okay," she sighed.
They went over to the shoes, searching for something that would look good with the dress and be the right height. Amanda tried on what felt like a dozen pairs until she saw one, sitting in the sale bin, that caught her eye. They were beige satin sandals, open-toed, with a strap that wrapped around her ankle. She grinned happily as she tried it on. "I love these," she said happily.
The guys stared, openly curious, as the girls took the large garment bag and shoebox up to Amanda's room, but Jean scolded Warren when he tried to grab the dress bag. "Stop that, Warren! You're not allowed to see the bride until the wedding day!"
Amanda had decided to have an informal wedding, which meant that the others would be free to wear what they wanted. Jean had chosen to wear the mint-green dress she had worn for Jubilee's wedding, but Betsy, Ororo, and Jubilee had chosen different dresses; Ororo's in a soft gray chiffon, Betsy in a pale lavender that looked lovely against her dusky hair, and Jubilee in a light lemon yellow.
"I don't want anything really complicated," Amanda said. "Just a quiet pledging with our friends."
Jubilee sat back in her chair and laughed. "You know, that's what Logan and I thought we wanted," she said. "Unfortunately, when you're one of the X-Men, weddings are never simple. And Hank's wedding is going to be somewhat more complicated, since he has so many friends who are going to want to come."
"How many?"
Jubilee started to tick off names on her fingers. "Let's see, there's us; Jean, Scott, Logan, Ororo, Warren, Betsy, Remy, Rogue, me, and Charles--" she ran out of fingers.
Betsy took up the count. "All the Avengers, Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, and Moira--"
"And X-Factor; Alex, Lorna, Sam, and all of them, and then X-Force; Nate, Dom, Theresa, Rahne, Shatterstar, Boomer, and--"
Amanda held up a hand, looking dazed. "All thosepeople? I had no idea hank was so….well-connected."
Jubilee's eyes twinkled. "Professor Cohen and Claudia, from Columbia, want to come too. And your mother--" she sobered. "We got n Email back form your father. I'm sorry, Amanda, he…won't be coming…"
Amanda shrugged. "I expected as much," she said, but went quiet after that.
* * *
She lay a long time later, swirling the fur around on Hank's chest, watching the perspiration dry on his blue fur as they calmed down from their nightly activity. "Hank?" she said lazily.
"Yes, beloved?"
She smiled. "I love it when you call me that," she said. "It seems sort of melodramatic, but it seems right, somehow."
"It's not melodramatic, beloved," Hank said quietly, capturing her hand in his. "It is simply your name."
"Huh?" she twisted to look up at him.
"Amanda. In Latin, your name means 'beloved' or 'one worthy of great love'. You did not know?"
She shook her head as she laid her head down on his chest. "I didn't," she said. "Sheesh. No wonder you love me so much."
She felt a minor earthquake rumble through his chest. His laughter. She loved listening to it rumble around in his chest. "I do not love you for your name, beloved," he said, his voice rich with amusement. "I love you for who you are, name or not. If your name were, say, Cassandra, I would still love you." Another earthquake, this one about a five on the Richter scale. "Although I would have misgivings about the eventual fate of our marriage were you to say anything prophetic at the wedding."
Amanda laughed, having seen a commercial on TV that afternoon about the meaning of the name. "Prophet of doom, yes," she said, turning so she could look up at his face. "Hank? Speaking of weddings…do we really need all those people at the wedding? I mean, I know they're your friends, and Warren's been telling me everyone can't wait to meet us, but do we really need all those people?"
"You're right," Hank said with a soft chuckle. "Let's go to the courthouse tomorrow."
Amanda sat bolt upright in bed. "You're joking."
Hank sat up too. "I am being perfectly serious, Amanda," he said. "I dislike having such a fuss made over our impending nuptials; but I believed that was what you wanted, so I left it up to you. If you truly want to skip the ceremony, then we can go and 'get hitched' as Warren put it, tomorrow."
Amanda sighed and sat back. "It is tempting, but no. I would like to meet your friends. Let's go on as planned."
* * *
Hank looked down at the lovely young woman clinging to his arm, and patted her hand gently. "It is almost over, Amanda," he said gently as another camera went off in front of them. "The guests will be leaving, soon, and we can retire--"
"To celebrate?" Amanda raised a lascivious eyebrow. "I can't wait to get you in the bedroom, Mr. Henry McCoy…"
"Nor I you, Mrs. Henry McCoy." They kissed for what seemed to be the millionth time that day, disregarding the flashing of camera flashes all around them. They broke it off at the sound of a small, discreet cough behind them.
"I have not yet presented you with your wedding gift," Xavier said, pushing his wheelchair over the lawn. In deference to Professor Cohen and some of the other human guests, he was in the regular chair.
He held out a fat envelope. Hank took it, looking mystified, and opened it. Amanda saw what it was first, and gasped.
"Two airline tickets to Hawaii," Xavier said, pleased, "And some spending money. Reservations are already made for you at one of the honeymoon resorts at Waikiki Beach. Enjoy your honeymoon."
Hank clutched at the envelope. "Thank you," he said finally, unable to think of anything else to say.
Amanda was a bit more effusive. She flung her arms around Xavier, squeezing him tightly. "Oh, wow," she said happily. 'That's got to be the best gift I've ever gotten from anyone."
"If you check your tickets, I believe your flight leaves in an hour, so you might want to get going," Xavier said, his eyes twinkling.
"Oh my gosh! I have to--"
"Pack?" Jubilee put down two suitcases on the lawn before her, and a second later, Warren did the same. "We did it for you. Don't worry, everything you need is there. If I left anything out, you can buy what you need. Now scoot on up and get out of the dress; you can't walk through the airport in a wedding dress!"
Amanda laughed in delight and ran up to the mansion to change, Hank following.
* * *
Author's Notes:
Okay, that's it for this book. I will start on the third book as soon as I finish 'Secrets and Shadows'.
Well, come on, you didn't think I was going to leave you all hanging there, right? Amanda has to get her wings back, because I hate sad endings (okay, so this is kind of a happy-sad one), the tepui is being destroyed, so guess how Magneto's going to get more samples of the virus to infect the rest of the normal humans on earth? And what will Frank and the rest of the FOH (and Bruce, too) do when Magneto unleashes the virus on the world? And most important, are Amanda and Hank going to live 'happily ever after'?
Have an apology to make. I was just beginning to write this book when I had a really weird dream one night, and from that came the idea for 'Secrets and Shadows'. The idea was bugging me; I had to get it out of my head and onto paper, (or in this case, computer) so I just started to write. It must have come as a surprise to the regular readers of my stuff, because I didn't write any teasers for it in the end of my last book. I actually didn't expect it to get as many reviews as it did; I expected that the story was going to go largely unnoticed, and that what I did get for it was going to be largely critical.
Boy, was I ever wrong! So I continued writing. I would write a chapter for 'Forced Mutations 2' in the morning, break for lunch, write a chapter for 'Secrets and Shadows' in the afternoon, then toss all the day's work up around five in the afternoon right before dinner. Well, I thought I could finish both books at once. I was wrong about that too. I simply can't write two chapters a day for two different books; there's not enough time in the day to do that with the holidays, two boys (my youngest just learned to sit up and my oldest just learned how to climb into and fall out of his crib) and my husband working holiday hours at his job and coming home at one in the morning (and having to make dinner for him at one in the morning, too!) The long and short of this is that I would go to bed around three, wake up at seven, make breakfast, sit down at nine, type whatever came into my head until noon, then make lunch, see my hubby off to work, type till four, download everything, fix dinner for the kids at five, get them bathed and dressed for bed, read their nightly story, then sit down and write again from ten until twelve thirty. Then get up and fix hubby's dinner at one, do dishes after that, and go to bed around three. There's simply not enough time to do all that and not skimp on something.
I apologize to everyone who was starting to expect a new chapter each day for each book; I promise I'll never try to do this again. Sorry!
Thanks for all the reviews, and I hope I'll see you all for the next book!
Sincerely,
Jaenelle Angelline
See you all for the next book!