Phillip and Sue got through the rest of the week; going to classes, spending time with their friends at the house, making plans for how to decorate Sue's attic room, just cuddling together and talking quietly, or studying in Phil's room; whether or not they were working on the same class materials or not, so that the weekend would be free.
First thing Saturday morning, Phillip drove over to Sue's dorm room, for the first and last time and helped her finish packing. They carried her clothes, her books, plants and a few art-posters down to his car and drove to her new home.
The attic room was big enough for three people to live in, with its own miniscule bathroom. Everyone in the house helped move the third bed, the second and third desks, with their chairs down to the basement, where they would be stored. Phil used his powers to combine the two twin beds into one large bed; Dee made the same modifications to the bedding and Amy helped Sue "paint" the walls a warm, pale yellow and the wood furniture a glossy white.
"Of course we'll make changes after our wedding to make this room ours, rather than just mine, but for now I want a bright, cheery room." Sue explained to Phil.
"You've made this a cheery place to be, if only by the fact that you are in it." Phil replied, as he kissed her nose. "Maybe we could keep these colors but bring in some Southwest accents; golds, oranges, some browns or we could go with bright, primary colors...Well, we have lots of time to think about how we both want our first home together, to look."
"Mmm, I like the sound of that...'our home'." Sue sighed, leaning into his side and hugging him around the waist.
"Me too, Suzie, me too." Phil said with a contented smile.
After lunch, Phil took Sue shopping for an engagement ring. They went through quite a few shops, but Sue just couldn't decide, so they took a break and drove over to the Grinding Stop, for 'lattés and spice cake.
"Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt, we wanted to tell you that Sue and I are engaged to be married!" Phil told the old proprietors of their favorite coffee house.
"Congratulations! So, have you been out shopping for wedding rings?" Mr. Schmidt asked.
"Yes but we're not having a lot of luck. They're all so lovely, I just can't decide."
"Well, don't rush your decision. You will be wearing those rings for many, many years. Rest here for a while and get your thoughts together before heading out again." Mrs. Schmidt advised.
"And don't worry about the bill..." Mr. Schmidt crumpled it up in his hand. "There isn't one." And with that, the older couple walked off, before Phil and Sue could even thank them.
"You know, Phil..." Sue said a while later, after enjoying their cake and coffee in companionable silence. "...I've been wondering if I'm an engagement ring-wearing kind of woman."
"What?" Phil exclaimed.
"I just don't wear rings, or a lot of jewelry, for that matter. What would you think if we both just wore our wedding bands?"
"Well...I guess...that would be all right...but I still think that you should have some kind of token, which tells people that you're an engaged woman." Phil said.
"What about you? Shouldn't you also have a token, which tells women that you're an engaged man?" Sue asked.
"Uh, well, okay; in that case, I have an idea. Next week when we go home again, why don't we perform the robbing and ring ceremony? Once our wedding bands are marked with our special symbol, you could wear mine on a chain, around your neck and I could do likewise with your ring."
"I like it! Then if some cute little number starts coming onto you and you're all alone, you can whip out my ring and tell her that you're taken!" Sue said, grinning.
"Right and you can do the same thing if some stud starts coming onto you." Phil clarified and they chuckled together as they agreed.
So, after their snack, Sue and Phil drove over to the jewelry warehouse and bought two, inexpensive wedding bands. They changed their minds about the chains though and bought a braided leather choker for Sue and a masculine leather thong for Phillip, on which to hang their rings and then drove home.
"Well, now that you're wearing my ring, kind of, I guess we should call your parents and your Aunt Susan." Phil said.
"Let's call Aunt Susan first." Sue suggested, Phil happily agreed and they decided to use the vid-phone.
"Hi, Aunt Susan." Sue greeted her godmother, when she came online.
"Suzie, Phil, hello! Sam come here, it's Suzie and Phil." Susan called to Sam Jones, who was off screen.
"Sam?" They both exclaimed when the older gentleman came to stand by Susan.
"Hello you two; now don't look at me like that. I'm booked in at a nearby hotel. This is all perfectly proper. The two of us just wanted to spend more time together after we met last weekend." Sam explained.
"That is so great, you two; we hoped you would hit it off!" Phil exclaimed.
"How about you young folks; how're you two getting along?" Susan asked.
"Actually, Aunt Susan, you might say that we are getting along very well...So well that Phil asked me to marry him and I Said YES!" Sue exclaimed, grinning excitedly.
"Oh that is so great. I am so happy for both of you!" Susan grinned back.
"Congratulations, you two; that is wonderful news!" Sam exclaimed.
"Let me see your ring, have you picked one out yet?" Susan asked.
"Well, actually, I decided against an engagement ring. We're both just going to wear wedding bands and we are both wearing each other's right now as tokens of our engagement." Both Sue and Phil showed off their rings.
"Are you going to perform the robe ceremony?" Sam asked.
"Yes, next weekend, actually. Mom's already sewing Sue her robe." Phil answered.
"What's this?" Susan asked and Phil and Sam explained the process to her.
"Oh how wonderful, to have your own mark, which symbolizes your love for each other. I can hardly wait to see the ceremony!" Susan exclaimed.
They chatted for a bit longer and then disconnected.
"Now to call your folks." Phil said, nervously.
"Don't worry, Phil, everything will be just fine. I'll be right here the whole time." Sue reassured him, as she input their address.
"Hi, Mom, is Dad there?" Sue asked when Cheryl came online.
"Hi, Sweetie, sure he's right here; is everything all right?"
"Yes, everything is wonderful, Mom. We just have something we wanted to tell you both."
"Hi, Sue, what's up? Oh, hello, Phillip." Mason greeted his daughter and her boyfriend.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Blair." Phil started. "Sue and I wanted...I mean I wanted to tell you that...that I asked Sue to marry me and...and..."
"And I Said YES!" Sue finished for him and then launched herself into his arms.
"Um, Sue, um, Honey...a little control, please; remember your parents are watching." Phil said.
"I don't care who's watching; I want to shout it to the world. I LOVE PHILLIP EVANS AND I AM GOING TO BE HIS WIFE!" She twirled away from Phil, threw out her arms and yelled, until all of their friends came running into the room, clapping, laughing and grinning at the news, which they had already heard, of course, but did not mind hearing again.
"Oh well then, I guess there's no use in our asking if you're sure about your decision!" Mason and Cheryl were grinning at their daughter's utter happiness, as well as the look of adoration and love on the face of her intended.
"No, we are very sure, Mr. and Mrs. Blair. I love your daughter with all my heart and will do everything I can to keep her happy." Phil assured them.
"We know you will, Phillip. You're a good man, just like your father." Mason said.
"Will our Suzie be...your queen, then?" Cheryl asked and Phil looked lovingly into Sue's eyes as he answered.
"Yes, ma'am."
All of their friends broke out into cheers at hearing the affirmative again; they had been very happy when they had heard that Phil and Sue were getting married and that she would be their future queen. In the weeks they had known her, they had grown to love Sue as a sister and an old friend.
After the commotion calmed down, they explained about the robing ceremony, their Christmas wedding date and chatted for a few minutes more, before disconnecting.
"Oh well, that's done! Handling Niko is going to be a piece of cake, compared to making that call." Phil said, as he gathered Sue close.
That week after Sue moved into her attic room would go by quickly. All of the kids in the house would attend their classes and put an extra effort into their studies so that they could all fly back home to see Niko Giuliani's defeat. They all took his harassment of their royal family, as well as the way he had hurt Sue, personally.
That week started off though, when Sue came down from her room, Monday morning, to find that Phil had just come down too and was just setting up the coffee-maker.
"Good morning." Sue came up behind him and hugged him, while she buried her nose in his back, breathing in his clean, fresh scent.
"Good morning, Suzie." Phil stroked Sue's hands and arms, which encircled his waist and then managed to turn around within her embrace, lift her face up, which had buried itself into his chest, as he turned around and kissed her lingeringly.
"Mmm, what a wonderful way to start each day; seeing your sweet face and holding you in my arms." Phil said, happily, after they came up for air.
"Mmhm." Sue agreed. "Is the house always this quiet in the morning?" Sue asked, hopefully.
"We have fifteen to twenty minutes of quiet until the thundering hoard comes streaming down the stairs." Phil warned her.
"Rats! Maybe we should spend that quiet time having some coffee and eating a peaceful breakfast, then." Sue suggested.
"That's what I usually do...and we will...in just a minute." Phil said, before he moved in to kiss her again.
Several minutes later, they finally broke apart, breathless, but grinning at each other and then set about pouring out coffee, juice and cereal and sitting down to eat, one handed, as they were holding hands across the kitchen table, before their friends came down. Sue enjoyed the quiet time with Phillip as well as the boisterous, cheerful time with the others.
"Sue, do you think you could help me buy groceries, after classes this evening?" Phil asked.
"Sure." Sue said as they headed out the door to go to their separate classes.
"Great; I'll see you in class in a few hours." Phil said, as they shared an intense kiss goodbye.
That evening, as they each took a cart and worked their way down each aisle in the grocery store, Sue looked back over the day. Both she and Phil had put on their rings that morning, but Phil wore his tucked inside his shirt and she had hers, on her choker, but hidden by a turtleneck, until their special rings could be created that weekend. Sue had attended her morning classes as usual and then hurried to sit next to Phil in their shared lecture class. They had, had only a moment to give each other a kiss, before the professor had launched in on his speech. Then they had walked to their computer class, hand in hand and hip to hip, but they were kept busy, creating a computer program throughout all of that class. At the end, they had hugged briefly before going on to their afternoon classes. So now they were walking through the grocery store, steering their carts one handed, so that they could hold hands as they picked up the household's necessities and chatted about their day.
Sue remembered that this was how her parents found time to be together during their busy schedules; by doing all the chores and everyday activities, together. When you loved someone, you made time to be with him, even if it was while you made up beds with fresh sheets or weeded the garden. And Sue saw their future stretch out before her; a long, happy life, made up of many, small, contented moments like this, interspersed with the celebrations and special occasions...and all spent by Phillip's side. She turned her head, leaned over and kissed him and then wrapped her arm around his lean waist, as they happily rolled their grocery carts out to their car and prepared to take all of their groceries...home.
Was It A Dream? Part 27
Niko Giuliani had been spying on the valley of Airatan, New Mexico, from a dilapidated old shack, at the top of a nearby peak, for two weeks. He had put up with the whining and crappy attitudes of the other two, so-called reporters; Mr. Marshall and Mr. Target, until he had become sick and tired of their complaints and told them to get out. Once they were gone, he had called the other three losers, who had stayed down in the valley; Mr. Hudson, Mrs. Penney and Ms. Sears and told them to come take their former associates' places.
He was on edge; bored and restless, after a fruitless two weeks of watching that stupid, little town from this broken down shack. Even after seeing those mysterious lights, which bobbed and whirled their way around the valley, soon after sunset, each night, he was about to give up. But it was like that clown, Hudson said; they had put this much time and effort into this story, he couldn't let Blair and Evans win, by giving up. Mrs. Penney had left that morning and good riddance to her, he thought. He didn't need any of these losers, anyway. This was his story and his alone.
"Hey, another small plane is coming in for a landing." Ms. Sears said, as she watched through her binoculars. "That is the second jet to land in less than half an hour."
"Hmmm, maybe something is finally going to happen. Keep a look-out." Niko told her as he went back to his musings.
"Something's happening down there!" Sears called out a short time later. I'm seeing lights moving down the sides of the valley, as if an awful lot of people are gathering down by the river." Niko, Hudson and McDonald jumped up off of their chairs and ran to the window.
"Oh ST!" Niko exclaimed loudly, when a flying saucer appeared out of nowhere, to hover over the valley, below. "Where did that come from?" He asked, as they all grabbed their cameras and started recording what they were seeing.
"I would guess that a ship like that would have to have some sort of stealth technology, so that Earth's detection systems wouldn't be able to pick it up, as well as keeping ordinary people from seeing it, as it came into our atmosphere." Mr. Hudson said, in the pompous, know-it-all way he had.
"Look, it's starting to circle the valley!" McDonald exclaimed.
"It's landing!" Sears yelled, not taking her eyes from the view-finder of her camera.
"It's disappeared from view; I can't see it anymore." Niko said, disappointed. "We're going to have to take turns, keeping watch, tonight." He instructed and they all agreed, before getting ready to settle down in their sleeping bags.
Niko was too wound up to sleep, so he took the first watch, but nothing else happened that night. When it came time for Ms. Sears to take her watch, he took great pleasure in shaking her roughly, to wake her up. If she weren't so easy on the eyes, he would have pitched her out of the shack with the old broad.
"Get up; you were supposed to relieve me ten minutes ago. Do I have to do everything; have all the ideas, make all the plans and keep watch all night?"
"I'm up, I'm up." Sears grumbled but Niko smirked when she didn't make any other complaints. They all knew who was in charge. Yes indeed, Niko Giuliani was the Man.
Niko was awoken, very early the next morning, by something loud being dropped on the floor, but he didn't bother to open his eyes right away.
"What, what was that?" McDonald mumbled.
"Sorry, dropped the binoculars." Mr.Hudson stage-whispered.
'Man, didn't that old fart have a volume control on that voice of his?' Niko asked himself and rolled over.
"Mmwwhat time is it?" Sears asked, waking up.
"I don't know, maybe four o'clock." Hudson answered.
"Oh #!" Sears yelled, making Niko sit up and bringing McDonald up out of his sleeping bag.
"What was that?" He asked.
"That was our dear Ms. Sears, reminding us that she is not a morning person." Mr. Hudson said, in that annoyingly cheerful voice of his.
"Hey, am I just sleep deprived, or is something glowing, down in the valley?" McDonald asked.
That got everyone up and looking out the window.
"I definitely see a green light...just like that ship gave off, last night." Niko said, and everyone grabbed their cameras, just in time to see the flying saucer rise up out of the valley and hover there.
"Oh crap, it's going to take off. We have to try and follow it!" Niko yelled, as they all grabbed their coats and ran for their car.
Niko could see the ship start to move slowly away from the valley, heading south, so as soon as the car doors slammed shut, he pressed his foot to the accelerator and streaked down the mountain at lightening speed. He heard the others yell or cry out, but only grinned and pressed down on the accelerator some more.
"Keep your eyes pealed." Niko yelled, as they followed the ship.
Niko cursed as they would lose sight of it but then they would get a glimpse of it through the trees or over the top of another hill. The hours passed, unnoticed, as he made sure that they all stayed on high alert, keeping an eye out for the space ship. The sun came up and still they drove south, winding through hills and passing by cities and subdivisions; always just barely keeping a visual on the green flying saucer.
"Hey, I think we're coming into Albuquerque." McDonald said, as he looked at a map.
"The traffic has certainly increased; cars and pedestrians." Hudson said. "Maybe the circus is in town. Could the ship be headed for the fairgrounds? Maybe we should try to get ahead of it and head there. If it were to attack, while all of these people are gathered there..."
"Yeah, you're right, I have to get ahead of that thing; gotta get set up, so I can catch it all on video and grab the exclusive rights for my story." Niko said, half to himself, but the others heard him.
"Your story, this is Our story." Sears yelled at him from the back seat, but he just grinned and ignored her.
"If the craft is headed there, we have to warn the people, get them to evacuate the fairgrounds." Hudson blathered on again.
"Evacuate, shmacuate." Niko yelled. "Who cares about all those idiots, I've got to get there and set up my camera." He put his foot down on the accelerator and almost hit some pedestrians who were crossing the street, ahead of him.
"Get out of my way!" He yelled at them, weaving his way through traffic, in a mad rush to get to the fairgrounds; nothing else mattered.
Cries of surprise and anger came from the crowd, as Niko smashed his SUV through the barricade, meant to keep vehicles off of the fairgrounds and came to a screeching halt. He jumped out of the car and yelled at the others to get the equipment out.
A bunch of reporters came running over to Niko, asking what was happening.
"This is my story, all mine!" Niko yelled at them. "Aliens landed up north of here and now they're headed this way. I followed them here and so this is My story; you can't take it away from me."
"Aliens, huh? What did they look like?" One of the reporters asked, chuckling in disbelief.
"I don't know, I only saw their ship, as it came in for a landing last night. Then this morning, it took off and headed this way. It's kind of a bilious-green color, with flashing lights on the side; looks just like your typical flying saucer." Niko answered, as he set up his own equipment.
"Hey you!" He yelled at another reporter, who was pointing his cam-corder at the sky. "I said this is my exclusive story. You're not taking this away from me!"
"Hey man, I don't know what you've been smokin', but I'm just taking pictures of all these lovely balloons, which are floating by; you know, covering the fiesta. I don't see any flying saucers." Niko looked around, not seeing anything, but an enormous crowd of people.
"Fiesta; what are you talking about? Aliens are coming and I'm here to cover it!" Niko yelled, motioning to the north.
"I see it, Niko, here they come." Ms. Sears said, from behind her binoculars.
"Where?" Niko demanded, grabbing the field glasses out of her hands.
"There." She yelled, angrily, as she pointed to the dish-shaped object, which was coming their way as Niko looked through the glasses.
"Hey, Niko, is that you, son?" Niko looked up from the binoculars, at the sound of his father's voice. 'What are you doing here, old man?' He asked himself, before his excitement came back and he pointed to the object, which was steadily coming closer.
"Dad; I've done it. I've finally found the story that's going to make me famous! Aliens, Dad; they've landed on Earth and now they're headed this way!"
"What are you babbling about, Niko? Aliens; what kind of crazy talk is that? There are no aliens coming to Earth." Mr. Giuliani said and the old resentments leapt up within Niko's chest.
"You've never believed in me; you've always been too busy, being the hot-shot photographer to ever care about anything I did, or felt was important." Niko yelled at his father and then spotted Mason and Cheryl Blair and Max and Liz Evans in the crowd and ran over to them.
"You want to see aliens, Dad? These two are aliens!" Niko pointed to one of the sets of identical twins. He could never figure out which couple was which, but he didn't care.
"Why don't you try to calm down, Niko." Blair suggested in an irritatingly soft and patient voice. "Mr. Evans and I went through all of this with you, two weeks ago. Remember, we had those blood tests run and took you on a tour of Airatan? The blood tests came back negative, didn't they?" Mason asked, reasonably. "And you didn't see any aliens down in those tunnels, did you?"
'Don't talk to me as if I'm some sort of stupid idiot, you can mollify.' Niko fumed inside.
"Niko, the ship is coming closer." Mr. McDonald called and Niko turned away from the dopes and the dupes, as he liked to call them.
"What do you say now, Dad?" Niko asked, sarcastically, pointing behind him.
"Son, it's a hot-air balloon. Granted it is shaped to look like a flying saucer; I understand it belongs to a club in Roswell, but it is still a hot-air balloon. Look, you can clearly see the gondola and the propane burners." John pointed out.
"Are you crazy, old man?" Niko all but spat at Mr. Giuliani. "What hot-air balloon? I'm telling you that that is a space ship; coming to do God-only-knows-what to us. The rest of you see the flying saucer don't you? He's just a crazy old man, right?" Niko was switching between anger, at his father's stubbornness and a small sliver of uneasiness. He looked at all of the people who were standing around him. They were shaking their heads; looking between him and the sky, with pity on their faces.
'Don't look at me like that; as if I'm some moron, who needs to be pitied.' His mind screamed before he pointed to Max.
"What are you doing to all of these people? How are you hiding the truth from them? What alien powers are you using on all of us?"
"Niko, I'm sorry, but there are just no aliens. We've done everything we can think of, to convince you. Why are you holding onto this delusion of yours, son?" Max asked, in a sorrowful voice, his eloquent eyes radiating pity.
"That is no delusion; that is an Alien Ship!" Niko yelled, as he turned back and pointed up towards...a saucer-shaped...green...hot-air-balloon, which was floating closely overhead. A boy and girl were smiling and waving down at the crowds, from inside the basket, as an older man threw a bean bag over the side, to land in the center of the giant X on the ground, before they continued on their way, over the field.
"It was a flying saucer, I'm sure of it and they Are Aliens!" Niko yelled and pointed at one of the couples. Then he picked out Sue Blair's face from among the laughing and jeering throng.
"Sue? Sue Blair; what are you doing here?"
"I'm here with my parents, of course, Niko." Sue said, as she and some stud walked up to him. "You're hurting them and I don't understand why. Daddy got you that job you wanted at the studio..." Sue put a soothing hand on his arm.
"And then he fired me." Niko said, angrily and brought his hand up to slap her away, but the guy, in a lightening move, caught Niko's arm in his hand, before he could hit Sue and all of a sudden, Niko felt as if all of his energy had drained out of him. Where had his adrenaline rush disappeared to? Niko wondered, as he dropped his hand.
"I don't think you want to bring up all the legal reasons you were fired, in front of all these reporters, Mr. Giuliani." Mason said, seriously and Niko shut up; he didn't seem to have the strength, to make a retort.
"Come on, Niko, I'm taking you home." His father said, firmly taking him by the arm.
Niko's father helped him into his SUV and then blathered on and on, to the Blairs and the Evans for several minutes. As he waited for the old man to say goodbye, Niko noticed that Sue Blair and her stud were standing several yards away and that the guy was staring at him. As Niko watched through the window shield, he bent down and picked up a trampled dandelion. After straightening up, the guy twirled the crushed flower in his fingers, grinned at Niko and then...turned the yellow dandelion...into a fresh, red rose...twirled it a few more times...and turned it back into its original form, before laughing silently and turning away from Niko, to walk away with Sue on is arm.
Niko looked franticly around the car for someone, anyone to tell what he'd just seen, someone who might also have seen what that guy with Sue had done, but all he saw were people walking away from him or just walking by, seemingly unaware of everything which had just happened.
"Dad, Dad!" Niko yelled, as Mr. Giuliani got into the car. "You are never going to believe what I saw. That guy...that guy with Sue...he...he picked up a dandelion and turned it into a rose! I saw it Dad! They are aliens, they are!"
"Niko, Shut Up!" His father yelled. "There are no aliens, there never were any aliens. This was all just your idea of a sick joke to try and grab attention; well, no more. When we get home, I will lay out all the new rules by which you will live your life...working for me...or I will commit you to a mental hospital; out of which you will never leave. Do I make myself clear?"
"But Dad..." Niko whined, then took one glance at the angry expression on his father's face and nodded. His head dropped back onto the head rest and his eyes closed as he lost what little energy he had left, while his father started the car and drove off.
Was It A Dream? Part 28 What REALLY Happened!
Up on a nearby peak, Friday evening, Niko and the other reporters were on edge, bored and restless, after a fruitless two weeks of watching the town from the shack or from down in the valley itself. Even after seeing the mysterious lights, which bobbed and whirled their way around the valley, soon after sunset, each night, Mrs. Marshall had given up and left that morning, totally fed up with all of them. Mr. Hudson, aka, Doug Maisels had actually needed to side with Niko, to keep the last two reporters from leaving as well. If they left, Niko might also give up and leave, but the plan was for Niko to receive the full treatment, so that in the end, he would be totally ruined and no one would ever believe him, or give him a job, ever again.
In Cambridge, earlier that evening, all of the friends carried their luggage and walked the two blocks to the neighborhood playground. It was a good thing that the park was a large one, because a few minutes after they arrived, a helicopter, large enough to carry all seven of them and their luggage, landed there. A quick flight over to the Boston airport and they were able to board the Community's Lear-jet. Once they had taken off and were at their cruising altitude, the kids all settled down to read or take naps. Phil and Sue snuggled into each other's arms and fell asleep for the rest of the flight. When they landed outside of Airatan, all of their parents were there to greet them, including those of Audra, Shaun and Ed.
"Mom, Dad, I don't know if you will remember meeting Shaun, before." Amy Guerin introduced her boyfriend to Michael and Maria.
"Sure we've met before, but it's been quite a while since we've seen you last, Shaun." Michael shook the hand, which Amy wasn't holding tightly.
"Nice to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Guerin." Shaun said, as they all moved to the convoy of vehicles, waiting to take the kids to their homes.
"Dee, come ride with us." Libby called out from where she stood by a car, holding hands with her boyfriend, Marcus Guerin. Dee smiled at her twin and went to join them.
"Come on Phil and Sue." Liz said. "Your parents and aunt just arrived half an hour ago and Sam should have brought them down to our house by now." She told Sue.
The four of them got into the car and were soon home.
"Mom, Dad, Aunt Susan...and Sam; hi." Sue greeted them all as they entered the house.
"Hello, Max, Liz." Mason and Cheryl greeted their friends after hugging their daughter and surprising Phil by hugging him, as well.
"What's this Sam is telling us about a space ship arriving here soon? I remember you mentioning something about one, two weeks ago, but I wasn't sure if you were serious. Won't Niko see it?"
"No, Niko is only going to see what we want him to see, don't worry." Max reassured them. "The ship comes in under a stealth technology, which keeps anyone from seeing it or any equipment from sensing it."
"As soon as these kids put their luggage in their rooms, it will be time to go see the ship land." Liz said.
"Why did the ship come today, of all days, Dad?" Phil asked, once they had all walked down to the valley floor, by the river, where the space craft would land.
"Well, as much as everyone here trusts in your plan and believes that it will work; word spread to our fellow Antarians, who live out in space and they are the ones who sent the ship." Max explained to his son. "You might call it a Noah's ark. In case something drastic happens, the mother-ship, which is remaining out in space, behind the moon, is large enough to take all of us on board and away from Earth in one trip." At Phil's pained expression, Max continued.
"As much as I trust in your plan and expect everything to go the way we want it to, I couldn't tell them not to come. I didn't ask the Alliance to send the ship, but as king, under these circumstances, I couldn't take the chance that we might need their help."
"Of course, Dad; I understand. Man, if anything really, really does go wrong, almost our entire civilization could be wiped out. I'm glad you allowed our people to send the ship."
"But we'll do our very best to make sure that we don't need it." Max told his son and heir, seriously and both men nodded in determination.
"Speaking of doing our best for the future of our people, maybe this would be a good time to introduce Sue as your fiancée and future queen." Max suggested, glancing at Liz, who also nodded her approval. "Everyone is down here, in one place."
"Alright, Dad." Phillip told his father, after glancing down at Sue and seeing her nod, agreeably.
"May I have your attention?" Max called out loudly, as well as sub-vocally, over the Connection. "I would like to make an announcement at this time, if I may." Everyone stopped talking, turned towards Max and moved closer; giving him their full attention.
"It is my pleasure to announce that our son and heir, Phillip has become engaged to the lovely young lady, standing next to him; Susan Blair, daughter of Mason and Cheryl Blair. And as Phillip's mate, she will become your new queen, when the time comes!" Max said smiling happily, as the entire crowd broke out into cheers, clapping and many wishes for their happy future.
"Thank you for welcoming Suzie, the love of my life, into our community so warmly!" Phil called out, after the crowd had calmed down a little. "She is a very special lady and I love her with all of my heart." Phil said, turning away from all the people and gazing lovingly into Sue's eyes.
The crowd started to chant: kiss her, kiss her, kiss her...
"Would you mind?" Phil asked Sue quietly and she turned her head to face the crowd.
"No, I wouldn't mind if you kissed me, in front of all these wonderful people, because I Love You TOO!" She said loudly, so that everyone could hear her and then she turned back to Phil, rose up on her tip-toes and welcomed his kiss.
Sue flung her arms around Phillip's neck, holding on tight and kissed him back passionately, as only new lovers can do. The cheering doubled as they happily watched their handsome prince kiss his lovely princess. A few moments later, Phil and Sue came up for air and turned towards the crowd; blushing and waved happily. Just then, the ship was sensed by the Connection.
"Here comes the ship, guys; everyone link hands." Isabel called.
With linked hands and using the Connection, they were able to look past the stealth technology and see the beautiful, graceful and almost fluid-looking ship come in for a landing.
"Oh man!" Mason exclaimed.
"That ain't no flying saucer, that is a work of art!" Susan exclaimed, excitedly, as she clung tightly to Sam's large hand.
"Wow!" Both Cheryl and Sue exclaimed in unison, as they clung to their respective lover's' hands, as well.
The bottom of the ship opened and was lowered to the ground. On the platform stood the dozen or so Antarians, who had come with the ship. The royal family, including Max, Liz, Isabel, Dee, Libby, Phillip and Sue; as his fiancé, moved forward to greet their visitors.
"Welcome, all of you." Max said, as the travelers bowed low before him. "May I introduce my family? My wife and queen; Liz, my sister; Isabel, my daughters, Dee and Libby; my son and heir, Phillip and his fiancé and future queen, Sue."
"Your Highnesses." The group bowed again, even lower, to include the entire royal family.
Sue was shocked and excited about being included in such a formal introduction. This was so different from the informal and boisterous one, which had taken place only a few minutes earlier and she squeezed Phil's hand and then felt his answering and reassuring squeeze back.
The visitors introduced themselves and Max thanked them sincerely and formally, for arranging to bring the ship to ensure an emergency evacuation, should such a measure prove necessary.
"We are about to perform our nightly entertainment for Mr. Giuliani and his associates. You have about thirty minutes, while we set things up, if you would like to take your luggage over to our hotel and freshen up first." Max signaled to the hotel-owner, his wife and several young people, who came forward; ready to help their guests with their belongings.
"Thank you, Your Highness. Actually we would greatly enjoy watching your preparations, here, if you would be so kind as to explain everything to us. We can see our rooms after the entertainments are over." The leader said and Max nodded and motioned everyone to move back to the group at large, so that Mason, Cheryl and all the newly arrived college kids could hear his tale.
"Almost two weeks ago, we met with Niko Giuliani and his associates. We performed blood tests, switching Alex, my brother-in-law's blood for mine, to prove that Mason Blair and I and Cheryl Blair and Liz are not related. We also gave them an extensive tour of the town. Apparently that was not enough for them, because two of the reporters and one of us; Doug Maisels, who took the place of a third reporter, stayed in town and snooped around for a week, while the other four reporters took positions on higher peaks and have tried to spy on us, ever since. The three reporters; Marshall, Sears and Hudson, aka Doug, gave up snooping around town last weekend and moved out to join Giuliani and McDonald, who were the only reporters who hadn't given up and left, up on the higher elevations. Mrs. Marshall has since given up and left, as well." Liz took up the tale for the next part.
"This last week, we have just been giving them something to watch, while we had some fun as a community. We've held barbeques and roasted marshmallows over bonfires and set up candy and prize-hunts for the children among the trees, just after sunset, so that they had to use flashlights and their powers to find the treats. Their cameras will have picked up the good, wholesome fun we have here in Airatan, but Doug has mind-warped them to see...other things! Mostly they have not even bothered to check the pictures they've taken, but Doug has mind-warped them the few times they have. Tonight, we start the major part of our son's plan." Liz said, indicating that Phil should continue.
"Tomorrow is the grand opening for this year's Albuquerque International Hot-Air Balloon Fiesta. Literally millions of people come to this famous event, which has been held outside of Albuquerque for sixty years, as of this year. I belong to the Roswell Hot-air Balloon Club and our balloon has always been in the shape of a flying saucer. We often perform a laser-show after sunset, to make it look as though the spaceship is attacking Earth. It has always been a big hit!" Everyone chuckled, remembering the fun they had, had at past fiestas.
"We plan to use this balloon and some mind-warping to lure Niko to the fiesta where I believe he will make everyone think that he is insane or where he will make a total and very public fool of himself, in front of the Press and everyone else there."
"If my helpers would start spreading the envelope, the balloon out..." Phillip called out instructions, as he walked to the mouth of the balloon.
"Sue would you and Dee hold the mouth open, while I blow air into the envelope with the fan?" Sue happily agreed and watched, as air was forced into the enormous, nylon bag. It rippled like a wave, as other helpers held up the cloth all around the edges of the balloon.
"Tonight, I'll use my powers to heat the air and make the balloon rise. I don't want to use the propane burners to heat the air, until we're aloft, because of the light they give off and the way they make the balloon glow. I only want the balloon to light up after we are aloft! Sue, would you like to go up in the gondola with me?" Phil asked, hopefully.
"Oh yes, I'd love to, Phillip!" Sue agreed, excitedly.
Phillip, Max, Dee and Libby all used their powers to heat the air inside the envelope and soon the balloon was floating above them all.
"How big is that thing, Phillip?" Mason asked, as he looked up and up.
"It's only about twenty five feet, or two and a half stories, high; but it is at least fifty feet wide; unlike your traditional balloon shapes, which run thirty, forty, or even fifty feet high."
"Ready, Sue?" Phil asked, extending his hand to her.
"Ready!" Sue said, as Phil helped her into the gondola and then got in himself. He used more of his power to heat the air more and then they were off. Their friends on the ground let out the long tether-rope as they rose higher and higher. The rope wasn't really necessary, even at night, since Phil could perfectly control the direction of the balloon, but it didn't hurt to be safe.
"Okay, Doug says that we're high enough for Niko to easily see us. Time to start the show!"
Phil reached up and started the propane burners, which let out an enormous and very bright flame, which lit up the balloon and made it glow an eerie green from within. Phil took Sue's hand, so that she could link into the Connection and see, not only what their friends were seeing from the ground, but what Niko was seeing from his lofty perch.
"Oh my gosh, this is so great!" Sue cried out, happily.
"Ready to circle the valley a little? We have to give a little show; make it look as though we are coming in for a landing." Phil explained and Sue nodded; her eyes huge.
Unlike a normal hot-air balloon, which can only control its direction by finding a stream of air, which is blowing in the general direction you want to go, Phillip was able to use his powers to make his balloon slowly circle part of the valley.
"Alright, time for the space ship to come in for a landing." Phillip said, as he indicated for Sue to slowly pull on the rip-cord, which in turn slowly opened the vent at the top of the balloon, letting the hot air out, as the ground crew pulled them down with the tether-rope. They landed with a soft thump and Phil helped Sue climb out, so that they could both help pull the deflating envelope down and expel the last of the hot air inside. They did this as many of the helpful children were doing too; they rolled together, over the trapped pillows of air.
"Mmm, that was wonderful!" Sue said, as she lay against Phil and kissed him, while they were hidden from view for a moment by the billowing nylon.
"Mmm, this is wonderful!" Phil corrected as he held her in his arms for a few moments until a couple little girls came bounding over the puffy, air pockets, towards them. Sue and Phil laughed along with their happy giggles, as they pushed the rest of the air out of the balloon, so it could be folded and packed away.
"All of the equipment should be safe here, under a tarp, until we take off before dawn." J.J. Valenti said, as he stood next to his sister, Nancy and his father, Kyle Valenti, current and long-time Roswell Sheriff, who were all fellow members of the Roswell Hot-air Balloon Club.
"Yeah, we'd all better go get some shut-eye." Kyle said, as he looked at his kids. "The three of us, because we are flying that balloon tomorrow and the rest of you, because you have to drive to Albuquerque and reach there before Niko does."
"And we want to see you take off and make sure that Niko follows you." Phil added.
Now that the entertainment was over for the night, everyone was heading towards their homes. They would all be up early to see the final phase of their plan take off and many of them would race to the fiesta-grounds, to see it end.
"Let's go home, Phil." Sue encouraged and the young couple started to walk across the valley floor and then to climb the steps up to the Evans' house. Sue took the opportunity, which convenient shadows gave her, to have a few minutes of privacy with her fiancé. When Sue pulled Phillip into the first group of shadows, created by some blue Spruce, they were both neat in their appearances. When they stepped back out into the moonlight, their hair and clothing were...no longer...neat. With each consecutive shadow into which Sue pulled Phillip, or Phil pulled Sue, their appearances only became more lovingly disheveled and mussed, until they reached their destination and they paused for one, last kiss, one more caress. Afterwards, Phil passed his glowing hands over both of them, to return their clothes and hair to normal. When they stepped inside, through the family room's French doors, Dee was there waiting to pick on her brother and good friend, as only a little sister can.
"Gee whiz you two, where have you been?" She asked, coyly...and loudly. I've been here for over thirty minutes. I was beginning to worry that you had fallen off the side of the mountain or something...is that a leaf in your hair, a few pine needles stuck to your sweaters?"
"With you to come home to, is it any wonder we took our time?" Phil replied and then grabbed his sister with a gentle arm around her neck and started to tickle her. "Brat!" Phil laughed, before he let her go.
"Did you two enjoy the stars and the moonlight?" Liz asked her son, understandingly.
"Mom and Dad only came in five minutes before you did!" Dee gleefully told everyone, as she stood a safe distance from her father.
"Um, moonlight, stars...yeah they were beautiful tonight." Phil said, as he gazed lovingly at Sue; his actions saying clearly that she was who he saw as beautiful that night. "Don't you agree...Dad?" He asked, looking over at his father, who was similarly enraptured with his view of Phil's mother.
"Absolutely lovely, tonight and every night." Max said and Liz rewarded him by actually blushing; something she still did, even after all these years, when her husband looked at her with that intense gaze of his.
Dee threw her hands up in the air at being unable to get the response she wanted out of any of the love-struck members of her family and walked off towards her room.
"We'd all better head for our rooms...to get some sleep." Sue specified, as she kissed Phil goodnight and headed towards the room she was sharing with Libby.
Soon everyone followed her and the house settled down for the night. Up in Sam's home, the Blairs were settling into their guest room, as well, but both Sam and Susan were looking out their bedroom windows, towards the moonlit valley, as they each thought about their feelings for that special person, who was in a bedroom on the other side of the house, from themselves.
Early the next morning, long before dawn, most of the Community was down on the valley floor, helping or watching as the balloon was spread out over the ground, ready to inflate, again.
"I thought you didn't fly hot-air balloons when it was dark." Cheryl asked Liz.
"Normally, you don't, but it will look better, more secretive, if the ship takes off in the dark and Kyle, Nancy and J.J. need to reach Albuquerque at the proper time to take part in the first competition of the fiesta, which starts at 6am, before the air heats up and the winds pick up. It's a long way to Albuquerque."
Sue and Phil held open the mouth of the balloon, as Kyle used the fan to force air into the envelope, then he turned on the propane burners, to heat the air and the balloon started to fill up and rise. Shortly after that, Nancy and J.J. got into the basket with their father.
Up on the mountain peak, Doug had pulled the early-morning watch and knew what was going to happen anyway, so he made a point of accidentally dropping the binoculars loudly to the floor, they all needed to be awake, so they would see what was going to happen any minute now.
"Doug says that Giuliani, McDonald and Sears are awake now." Max told Kyle. "It's time to take off; show them what they want to see.
"Right; let go of the tether rope." He called out.
The rope was released and the balloon took off, using the propane burners to heat the air and make the "flying saucer" glow from within.
"Doug says that they have all seen the ship and are headed for their car." Max told the others. "We should be doing the same. Kyle will take them out of their way, but we still have a long drive ahead of us."
Everyone ran for the battery-powered shuttle vehicles, which they had parked nearby and drove to the Community's parking garage, near the entrance, where they kept their gasoline powered cars. Soon, there was a convoy of Antarians streaming down the freeway, towards Albuquerque. They had made preparations beforehand and were able to eat breakfast rolls and muffins on the drive south, past Santa Fe, to the Albuquerque fair grounds.
It was only seven o'clock in the morning, but there were thousands of people gathered together to watch the first competition of the fiesta; the bean-bag drop. Balloonists pick a spot at least five miles away; from a position they believe the winds will carry them over the fairgrounds, where a giant X has been placed on the ground. The balloonists hope that the winds they have chosen will carry them the closest to the X, onto which they throw a bean bag, with a colorful streamer attached to it, before they drift off to land somewhere else. The team, whose bean bag lands closest to the mark, wins.
Kyle and his kids were flying in from considerably further away than five miles; 120 miles at least and it was Nancy and J.J. who were keeping the balloon aloft and who were steering it where they wanted it to go, until they came into sight of other balloonists and their ground crews, driving below; then they used the propane tanks and allowed the winds to take them where they would. That was, happily, towards the fairgrounds.
"I can't believe Niko has stayed with us all this time." Nancy laughed, as she used her binoculars to pick out his red SUV, on the road below.
"Yeah, what a chase we've led them on. We flew straight, but they had to follow the roads, which snaked through the hills." J.J. added.
"It's a shame that we won't be able to be on the ground in time to see what happens, first hand, but at least we'll be able to see everything through the Connection." Kyle said.
They allowed Niko's SUV to get ahead of them, as Doug told them that the reporters in the car with him could see the fairgrounds from the road.
'Niko wants to rush ahead of you.' Doug told them over the Connection. 'Not to warn all the people that an alien ship is coming, possible to harm them, but to make sure that he gets the exclusive rights to the story. I haven't allowed them to see what all those people have really come to see, yet. He doesn't care about them anyway, as long as he gets his fame and fortune from telling the world that aliens have come to Earth.'
"Oh man!" J.J. exclaimed in disgust, as he and his sister slowed the balloon and allowed Niko's SUV to pass beneath them.
On the ground, at the fiesta, all of the Anterians had arrived and were trying to relax a little, by watching all of the lovely, multi-colored and differently shaped hot-air balloons floated by and dropped their bean bags, as they waited for Niko to arrive.
"Oooh, there's the Tony-the-Tiger balloon and over there is the balloon for the Fiesta's sixtieth anniversary; it's in the shape of a giant cake, with what looks to be sixty candles on top and a huge '60' written on the side!" Dee pointed out.
"Here comes the Coke can balloon and wow, look at that one, it looks like a giant Chili pepper!" Libby pointed out.
"Here comes my favorite; the Witch balloon. How they ever get her inflated, much less off the ground, is beyond me!" Tess said.
The balloon was actually in the shape of a witch on her broom; complete with a pointy hat, a wart on her nose, green skin and a spider hanging from the end of the broom handle.
"Doug says they're almost here." Max told everyone and then walked over to where Mason and Cheryl were speaking to John Giuliani. Max quirked his eyebrow, to indicate to his two friends, that the show was about to begin.
Cries of surprise and anger came through the crowd, as Niko smashed his SUV through the barricade, meant to keep vehicles off of the fairgrounds and came to a screeching halt, not far from where Max, Liz, Mason, Cheryl and Sneaky John were standing. He didn't even notice them, as he yelled for the others in the car to get their equipment out.
Several Antarians managed to stop and calm down the security guards who had come running out after Niko and kept them out of the way...the last act was about to play itself out.
A bunch of reporters came running over to Niko, asking what was happening.
"This is my story, all mine!" Niko yelled at them. "Aliens landed up north of here and now they are headed this way. I followed them here and so this is My story; you can't take it away from me."
"Aliens, huh? What did they look like?" One of the reporters asked, chuckling at this wild, young man.
"I don't know, I only saw their ship, as it came in for a landing last night. Then this morning, it took off and headed this way. It's kind of a bilious-green, with flashing lights on the side; looks just like your typical flying saucer." Niko answered, as he set up his equipment. "Hey you!" He yelled at another reporter, who was pointing his cam-corder at the sky. "I said this is my exclusive story. You're not taking this away from me!" Niko yelled.
"Hey man, I don't know what you've been smokin', but I'm just taking pictures of all these lovely balloons, which are floating by; you know, covering the fiesta. I don't see any flying saucers."
"Fiesta; what are you talking about? Aliens are coming and I'm here to cover that!" Niko yelled, motioning to the north.
"I see it, Niko, here they come." Ms. Sears said, from behind her binoculars.
"Where?" Niko demanded, grabbing the field glasses out of her hands.
"There." She yelled, angrily, as she pointed to the dish-shaped object, which was coming their way and Niko looked through the glasses.
"Hey, Niko, is that you, son?" John came over to where he was standing.
"Dad! I've done it. I've finally found the story that's going to make me famous! Aliens, Dad; they've landed on Earth and now they're headed this way!" Niko pointed to the object, which was steadily coming closer.
"What are you babbling about, Niko? Aliens; what kind of crazy talk is that? There are no aliens coming to Earth." John said.
"You've never believed in me; you've always been too busy, being the hot-shot photographer to ever care about anything I did, or felt was important." Niko yelled at his father and then spotted Mason, Cheryl, Max and Liz, who had attracted quite a bit of attention from other photojournalists, themselves. Videos were rolling and camera shutters were clicking, as Niko ran over to them.
"You want to see aliens, Dad? These two are aliens!" Niko pointed at Mason and Cheryl.
"Why don't you try to calm down, Niko." Mason suggested in a soft, patient voice. "Mr. Evans and I went through all of this with you, two weeks ago. Remember, we had those blood tests run and took you on a tour of Airatan? The blood tests came back negative, didn't they?" Mason asked, reasonably. "And you didn't see any aliens down in those tunnels, did you?"
"Niko, the ship is coming closer." Mr. McDonald called and Giuliani turned away from the foursome, as Doug dropped his mind-warp and went to stand anonymously behind his king and queen.
"What do you say now, Dad?" Niko asked, sarcastically, pointing at the hot-air balloon, which was coming closer.
"Son, it's a hot-air balloon. Granted it is shaped to look like a flying saucer; I understand it belongs to a club in Roswell, but it is still a hot-air balloon. Look, you can clearly see the gondola and the propane burners." John pointed out.
Niko looked up, but in his state of mind, he still could not see the truth, which was coming all the closer.
"Are you crazy, old man? What hot-air balloon? I'm telling you that that is a space ship; coming to do God-only-knows-what to us. The rest of you see the flying saucer don't you? He's just a crazy old man, right?"
Niko looked at all of the people who were standing around him. They were shaking their heads; looking between him and the sky, with pity on their faces.
"What are you doing to all of these people?" Niko yelled at Max. "How are you hiding the truth from them? What alien powers are you using on all of us?"
"Niko, I'm sorry, but there are just no aliens. We've done everything we can think of to convince you. Why are you holding onto this delusion of yours, son?" Max asked, in a sorrowful voice, his eloquent eyes radiating pity.
"That is no delusion; that is an Alien Ship!" Niko yelled as he turned back and pointed up towards...a saucer-shaped...green...hot-air-balloon, which was floating closely overhead. J.J. and Nancy were smiling and waving down at the crowds, as Kyle threw their bean bag over the side, to land in the center of the X, before they continued on their way, over the field.
"It was a flying saucer, I'm sure of it." Niko said again, as Mr. McDonald and Ms. Sears disappeared into the crowd.
All of the Antarians slipped back as well, allowing the Press to come in closer. Only Max, Liz, Mason, Cheryl, Phillip, Sue, Sneaky John, Susan and Sam remained within the circle, which had formed around Niko.
"It was a flying saucer and they Are Aliens!" Niko yelled and pointed at Max and Liz this time. Then he picked out Sue's face from among the laughing and jeering throng.
"Sue? Sue Blair; what are you doing here?" As discussed before, Sue, with Phil by her side, walked up to him.
"I'm here with my parents, of course, Niko. You're hurting them and I don't understand why. Daddy got you that job you wanted at the studio..." Sue put a soothing hand on his arm.
"And then he fired me." Niko said, angrily and brought his hand up to slap her away, but Phillip, in a lightening move, caught Niko's arm in his hand, before he could hit Sue.
'Now, Doug!' Phil yelled, sub-vocally, to an invisible Doug, who had come up with Sue and Phillip and casually moved around behind Niko, with a pneumatic drug injector in his hand...just in case. Doug quickly pressed the injector against the arm Phillip was holding. No one was able to see what he did and fellow Antarians were making sure that no camera caught the act on disc either.
"I don't think you want to bring up all the legal reasons you were fired, in front of all these reporters, Mr. Giuliani." Mason said, seriously, shutting Niko up.
"Come on, Niko, I'm taking you home." Sneaky John firmly took a suddenly passive and tired-looking Niko by the arm.
'I know I said that I wouldn't rock the boat, but this slime ball tried to hit Suzie.' Phil told his father and everyone else, sub-vocally.'
'Phil...' Max said.
'Dad...'
'Alright; get ready everyone, make sure that no one else sees.' Max said, silently.
As John apologized to Mason, Cheryl, Max and Liz, on his son's behalf and asked Mason to take care of his own rental car, the reporters drifted away. The mental break down of a tabloid reporter just wasn't big news. There was also the fact that they all knew that Niko was a slime ball and none of them particularly cared what happened to him. They turned their attention back to the reason they were all there; the hot-air balloon fiesta and quickly forgot all about Niko's wild ramblings.
As John put a quiet Niko into the passenger seat of the SUV, the group of Antarians was once again encircling their royal family and friends; to keep anyone else from seeing what was about to happen. John was saying a last goodbye to Mason and Cheryl while Sue and Phillip moved to stand several yards in front of the SUV. Phillip stared at Nko until Niko turned to him. Phillip then bent down and picked up a poor, trampled dandelion. He twirled the crushed flower in his fingers, grinned at Niko and then turned the yellow dandelion into a fresh, red rose...twirled it a few more times...and then turned it back into its original form again, before laughing silently and turning away from Niko, to walk away with Sue on is arm.
Niko looked franticly around the car for someone, anyone to tell what he'd just seen, someone who might also have seen what that guy with Sue had done, but all he saw were people walking away from him or just walking by, seemingly unaware of everything which had just happened.
"Dad, Dad!" Niko yelled, as John got into the car. "You are never going to believe what I saw. That guy...that guy with Sue...he...he picked up a dandelion and turned it into a rose! I saw it Dad! They are aliens, they are!"
"Niko, Shut Up!" John yelled, exhausted, angry and embarrassed by his own son. "There are no aliens, there never were any aliens. This was all just your idea of a sick joke to try and grab attention; well, no more. When we get home, I will lay out all the new rules by which you will live your life...working for me...or I will commit you to a mental hospital; out of which you will never leave. Do I make myself clear?"
"But Dad..." Niko whined, but after seeing the expression on his father's face, Niko nodded and the drug took effect again. John started the car and drove off.
"We did it, we did it, we did it!" Dee jumped up and down, happily, after the Giuliani men drove off.
"We did indeed!" Max grinned. "Thanks to all of your help." He raised his voice, so that the whole crowd of Antarians could hear him. "And a brilliant plan by your Prince!" Max laid a proud hand on Phillip's shoulder.
"Thanks, Dad; thank you, everyone for your help." Phillip called out to the crowd, as well. Then he looked down into the awe-filled eyes of his Suzie and leaned in to kiss her.
"Well, with that, I guess it's time to head home and celebrate!" Max said and everyone cheered and headed for their cars.
"What did Doug do to Niko? Did he administer some sort of drug?" Mason asked from where he sat next to Cheryl, in the back seat of Max's car.
"Yes, he injected a drug which calms the patient; makes them passive. It will leave no traces in his body and will slowly dissipate over the next twelve hours, without any side effects." Max explained.
Liz changed the subject to a happier topic of conversation and the four of them chatted companionably during their long drive back home.
Part 29
When the Antarian convoy arrived back home, from their trip to the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, most of them retired to their homes, to take a late morning nap, since they had all awoken so early that morning. Max, Liz, Mason and Cheryl had discussed the plans for having one, last community barbeque, as a celebration of their victory over Niko Giuliani and the Press, that afternoon; but first, they too retired to their rooms for a nap.
"This is a wonderful celebration, Your Highness." Sram, the spokesman for the visitors told Max, later on that afternoon. "A pleasant way for all of you to release all of the stress, everyone has been under, because of that unstable, young Human."
"Yes, it is one of our favorite customs; to celebrate our victories together, as well as to help one another in the face of adversity and console each other after our defeats...And please call me Max and my wife, Liz. We are not that formal here in Airatan."
"Thank you, Your...Max." Sram said. "Now that the emergency is over, I was wondering if we might stay a few more days, to take a look at your world."
"Of course, you are very welcome to stay as long as you wish. Actually, I was going to request that you do remain here for at least a week, as Mason Blair warned me that the four of us will probably have to make a statement about our identical looks and answer some questions from the Press, in the next day or two."
"We will be happy to stay, but hope for the best, for your encounter with the Press."
"Thank you." Max said, as Phillip and Sue came up to them and stood, waiting patiently to speak to him.
"I will go then and allow our young prince and princess to speak to their king." Sram fell back into his formal speech and manors, as he bowed to all three of them and walked away.
"Dad, Sue and I were wondering if we could perform the robe and ring ceremony, sometime today or tomorrow; Mom says that she has Sue's robe ready."
"Hey that would be a great thing to do; the ceremony would make a terrific ending for this pretty incredible day!" Max grinned. "How about in an hour, up at the house; this party is winding down already, as it is."
"Alright, we'll go tell everyone else." Phil said and the young couple walked off to do just that.
Several minutes later, they had told everyone but Susan and Sam.
"Mom, have you seen Aunt Susan?" Sue asked Cheryl.
"Um, no honey, I haven't. Could they have gone up to Sam's house to get something?"
"I don't know what they would need, but we'll try there anyway; we haven't been able to find either one of them down here, anywhere." Phil said.
"See you in a little while, you two." Cheryl smiled at her daughter and soon-to-be new son, as they walked away, hand in hand, in the direction of Sam Jones' house.
"Well the elevator is up there, so they must be up there too." Phil said when they reached the foot of the stairs, up to Sam's house. "I guess we have more stairs to climb."
When they reached the top of the stairs, Sue knocked on Sam's front door, but received no answer.
"We rarely lock our doors, here. Let's try the knob." Phil said, as he turned the door knob and it opened.
"Aunt Susan, Sam." Sue called out, but once again, received no response.
"I'll check this side of the house, you try that side." Phil suggested, before he walked over to the guest wing.
Sue walked over to the door to Sam's bedroom, which was slightly ajar. She thought that the older gentleman might be taking a nap, so she quietly and cautiously pushed his door open. What she saw made her grin and then run to tell Phillip.
"Phillip, I've found them, come here quickly." Sue exclaimed, grabbing his hand and running back into Sam's empty bedroom and pointed to an open window.
"Oh hey, that's great!" Phil chuckled as he grinned at the sight of the older couple, standing outside in Sam's side yard; arms wrapped around each other and kissing passionately.
"Hey look at that statue, next to them; it looks jut like the one Aunt Susan has in her back garden, only this statue has two horses, not one." Sue said.
"I bet your aunt brought hers' here to fit together with Sam's, as Michael meant them to be displayed, because Sam always had a single horse statue, as well."
"If that's the case, that statue might be what set off their kissing." Sue said. "They put their two individual statues together and it became an image of a stallion and a mare, rubbing their necks together; almost nuzzling each other, tenderly."
"Well, whatever brought them together, maybe we should leave before they catch us watching them. We can leave them a note, on the dining table." Phil suggested, as he took Sue's hand and they backed out of the bedroom, giggling.
"You don't think that they might just come back into Sam's bedroom and...and..."
"No, Sam isn't that kind of guy; especially if he cares as much as I think he does, about your aunt." Phil assured her, as he wrote them a note and propped it up on the table. "Let's go home and get ready."
"Did you find your aunt, Sue?" Liz asked when the two of them walked into the house.
"Um yes...they were...outside, so we left them a note on the dining table. I'm sure that they'll see it in time to make it here for the ceremony." Sue answered.
"Well if they don't see the note, we can always page Sam." Liz replied, as she brought Sue her robe. Why don't you go try that on? If it needs any adjustments, I, Dee or Libby can make them for you."
"Thank you so much for sewing this robe for me; it means a lot for me to wear this to our wedding."
"Of course it does and it will look gorgeous on you, when the time comes." Liz said.
Sue walked into Libby's room, to find her two friends already there.
"Ooh put it on; I want to see how it looks on you!" Dee exclaimed.
"How does it look?" Sue asked a few minutes later.
"It looks great on you! Mom made it fit perfectly." Libby said, as she turned Sue towards the full-length mirror, on the back of her bedroom door.
"Oh my gosh, did your mother have to make it look so..."
"Sexy?" Dee grinned.
"Yeah, I've never worn anything so low cut before. I wish that I could put one more fastening up here." Sue pointed to the middle of her chest.
"No way, that would ruin the look. You look lovely and yes a little sexy, as well, but that is a good thing in this case!" Libby assured her. "Wait till you see Phillip. He was wearing a shirt under his robe, during his birthright ceremony."
"Oh that's right. You mean he won't be wearing a shirt this time?" Sue asked eagerly. "I love to look at his chest...not that I've had that many chances to see his chest." Sue quickly reassured her friends.
"Just how many times have you seen my brother's chest?" Dee asked, curiously.
"Well actually only once, when he was playing basketball...and he didn't know I was watching." Sue answered.
"Well then, here's your chance to see it again! Come on, it's time to go." Libby grabbed Sue's hand and pulled her out of the bedroom and down the hall to the doorway to the kitchen/family room.
Sue stopped dead in her tracks when she saw everyone, including a flushed and mussed Susan and Sam, gathered in there and blushed; crossing her arms over her own chest.
"Come on, we'll face them together." Phillip's soft voice came from behind her.
"Phillip!" Sue whirled around to look at him, as Dee and Libby walked out to join their family and friends.
'Boy that robe does show off his incredible chest and arms, very well.' Sue thought to herself, but Phil heard her thoughts, as she had her hand on his arm and he blushed a little, as well.
'Thanks, your...chest...is...great to look at too!' Phil replied grinning.
"Oh my gosh, you weren't supposed to hear that." Sue blushed some more.
"Your words flatter me...and turn me on." Phil whispered into her ear. "But we can't do anything about that right now, so let's go and perform the ceremony, okay?"
"Alright." Sue agreed and they walked into the family room, hand in hand.
"Ready you two?" Max asked and they nodded; stepping to face each other.
"Hold each other's left hands and then place your right hands on your partner's upper left chest. Sue, don't cover the crest, which is already on Phil's robe." Max instructed and Sue moved her hand over a little.
"Alright now, just close your eyes and concentrate on your love for each other." Liz continued the instruction and watched as they did so.
A moment later, everyone could see a glow appear under each hand, as it lay on the other's chest. Then the glow built in intensity, until it encircled both of them, before fading away.
"Is it over?" Sue asked, as she opened her eyes and gazed up into Phil's.
"Yes, let's look at our design." He suggested and they looked to each other's robe.
"It looks like two hands, which are palm to palm and the fingers are intertwined." Sue said.
"Yes, one hand is larger than the other; they represent our hands." Phil said.
"What I can see of your larger hand, behind my smaller one, is embroidered in a deeper gold color, while mine is embroidered in a lighter shade of gold." Sue said.
"What're the lines, which are stitched across your hand, Sue?" Phillip asked.
"I think that they're the lines a palm-reader might look at; here's the heart-line, the fate-line, the head-line and the life-line." Sue traced the design on Phil's robe.
"But there seems to be two of each line, running closely together, sometimes even touching." Phil noted.
"I think they represent each of us; one of the lines is yours, one of the lines is mine."
"Well in that case, look at this line, you called the fate-line; it's really interesting." Phil said. "At the base, our lines are intertwined, then they split apart a little before coming back together again and are intertwined the rest of the way up each of our hands."
"May we take a look?" Liz asked, as she and Cheryl came over to take a closer look. As their mothers looked at their robes, Sue's mind raced ahead.
"Since that's our fate-line, do you think it means that we're meant to be together for the rest of our lives?" Sue asked, hopefully.
"No matter what some lines say, that's how our lives are going to be." Phil reassured Sue. "But what do you think the short gap between our two lines mean?...Wait a minute, I think I know. Our intertwined lines, at the bottom could signify that day we met and played together; that short moment in our lives has remained in our memories all these years, because it meant so much to each of us, even though we didn't understand it at the time."
"It might also signify the four of us meeting and how much we look like each other." Cheryl suggested and Phil nodded, before he said thoughtfully.
"That could be, because the gap between our lines most probably relates to the years we were kept apart from each other, while the four of you were trying to keep us all safe from the curious Press." Phil agreed.
"And now that we're together again, the lines mean that we'll be together for the rest of our lives." Sue finished, happily.
"Absolutely." Phil agreed, wholeheartedly, before he leaned over and kissed her.
"Uh-hem." Someone cleared their throat, nearby and Phil and Sue parted reluctantly.
"Look, Sue, you also received the Anterian Royal Seal on your robe." Cheryl pointed out.
"Yes, she did, but the markings are just a little different. I think they indicated that Sue is the heir's mate; his queen!" Phil grinned at Sue, intently.
"Now you can make the border, using your symbol, repeating it down the front of your robes and around the hems." Liz told them, so Phillip ran his hand down the front of Sue's robe and around her hem and did the same for his own robe; creating a lovely, golden border.
"Oh that looks lovely, Phillip!" Sue exclaimed on a quiet sigh, as she looked down at her own robe and then over to his.
"Now we can put the symbol onto our rings." Phil told her and they both took their rings from around their necks.
Sue gave him his ring, which she had been wearing and he closed his hands around both of them and concentrated. When he opened them again, two wide bands lay on his palm.
"Oh Phillip, how beautiful they are!" Sue exclaimed, as she gently touched the two rings in Phillip's hands, turning them over as she did.
Their symbol of the two clasped hands, had been intricately duplicated, with every line and marking clearly imprinted and they ran around each band, in pairs; fingertips to fingertips and then wrist to wrist. The last pair of clasped hands were placed on either side of the Antarian Royal Crest, almost as if they were holding it.
"I've noticed that the crest on our parents' robes and on their wedding bands have colors in them, like the stained glass crest set into their front door; our crests are only set in gold..." Sue asked hesitantly, but then answered herself before Phil could. "...Oh, is it because they're the king and queen, Now?...Will, will our crests...change...when you...when we...take their places?"
"I would think so; since our crests indicate that we're the heirs to the Antarian throne." Phil answered and Sue smiled her understanding.
"Wow what an incredible ceremony!" Susan exclaimed, as Phillip and Sue hung each other's rings around their necks again.
'I wonder if two humans would be able to somehow do that alien magic...to create robes like that...' Susan wondered to herself. 'Sam and I have become so close even though we've known each other for only two weeks; I've fallen in love with him! I know Sam cares for me, but I don't know if he will ever fall in love with me too; I'm not what you'd call a prime catch; certainly no other men have thought I was worth much of their time...What makes me think I'd ever be worthy to be the wife of such a fine, handsome man as Sam?'
'Hmmm, I wonder what made Susan look so sad all of a sudden.' Sam thought to himself. 'She was so happy and excited a moment ago, when she was talking to the kids; then such a melancholy expression replaced her lovely smile and dampened the sparkle in her eyes. I love her so much, I can't stand to see her sad or unhappy. We've only known each other for two weeks, but I know my love for her is real. I can't believe that some other lucky guy hasn't snatched her up already; are all other males blind and stupid; not to have noticed Susan's beauty; her intelligence and sweetness; everything else about her, which makes her so special? I just wish our two weeks together could instantly be two months, so that it would be more seemly for me to tell her how much I love her. I've tried to show her how I feel about her, but I'm afraid that if I tell her now, she won't believe that I want more than...a roll in the hay; that I want a lifetime with her...as my wife; my best friend; yes and my lover.' Sam shook his head, sadly.
Across the room; Liz was watching Susan and Max was watching Sam.
"Those two are so in love with each other, but their not declaring their love for each other is making them miserable." Liz whispered to Max who nodded his agreement.
"It has to be their decision, but maybe we could scope out their feelings; help them act on them." Max whispered back.
"I bet they think that two weeks is too early to declare their feelings, no matter how strong those feelings are." Liz theorized.
"Why don't we each take one of them and spend some time with them tomorrow?" Max suggested.
"Sounds good, but for now, let's go back to the party." Liz smiled as she nodded towards Susan and Sam; who had gravitated towards each other again and were holding hands and laughing at something Alex and Isabel were telling them.
Author's note: Just a reminder: Phillip and Sue are 21. Max, Liz, Mason and Cheryl are 49. Aunt Susan is 53 and Sam Jones is 63 years old. (All are in great shape and ready for some lovin' !)
Was It A Dream? Part 30
Sunday turned out to be cold and rainy, so after church services, the Blairs, the Guerins and Susan and Sam all came over to the Evans house to enjoy a huge pot of stew and join in playing some old family games throughout the afternoon.
"Right hand on a purple spot; I might be limber, but I'm not double-jointed!" Amy Guerin complained as she tried to reach over her brother, Marc and around Dee to touch the properly colored spot on the plastic mat, while keeping her left foot on the green circle. "Whose idea was it for us to play Twister?"
"It was Uncle Michael's idea." Dee grunted as she tried to hold her position; a backward arch over Sue. "And I'll get him back for it if it's the last thing I do before I become Permanently PARALIZED!"
"Hey just think of it as great practice for the limbo contest I'm gong to start up after you kids are finished playing this." Michael said from his comfortable seat on the couch.
"Arrrgh!" All of the kids groaned as they collapsed in a heap on top of each other.
'Maybe this would be a good time for me to ask Mom and Mrs. Evans about which of their wedding dresses I should wear.' Sue thought to herself, as Phil pulled her up from her sprawled position on the floor.
"Why don't you guys levitate Mr. Guerin and use him as the pole?" Sue suggested to Phil loudly. "I'm going to talk to my mom for a minute."
"Ooh, what a great idea, Sue. I can tell you're going to fit right into our little community after we're married!" Phil said, with an evil grin on his face. "Hey Marcus, come over here and help me for a minute!"
Sue didn't even pause to look back, when she heard Michael give a yelp of fear and her other friends laughing.
"Uh Mom, may I speak to you for a moment?" Sue asked Cheryl, who had been leaning against the kitchen counter, idly talking to Liz.
"Sure honey."
"Um, well, I've been thinking about what my wedding dress should look like and I was wondering if you still had yours...and could I see it?"
"Well, actually, sweetheart, I don't still have my dress, because I never had what you would call a proper wedding dress." Cheryl said.
"What?" Sue asked. "But I've seen your wedding pictures many times and you were wearing a long, white dress."
"It was a long, white dress, yes, but as nice as it was, it was jut a simple cotton dress, which I already had in my closet, because long dresses were in style at the time. Don't misunderstand me, our wedding was one of the happiest days of my life, especially with all your Aunt Susan did to make it special for us, but everything happened at the last minute and I didn't have time to buy a special dress, or have one made."
"Oh, I'm sorry Mom." Sue said sadly.
"No need to be sad, honey; as I said, the day I married your father was one of the happiest days of my life and it didn't have anything to do with what I wore."
"I think Sue is more worried than sad, because she doesn't want you to be upset with her...or me...for offering to show her...my wedding dress." Liz explained, gently.
"Oh Liz, that is so nice of you!" Cheryl told her friend and smiled as she turned to Sue. "I am a little upset that I can't give you my dress to wear, but if Liz is willing to let you wear hers'...and you like it...I think that would be just great."
"Thanks Mom, I didn't want you to be upset that Mrs. Evans had made the offer..." Sue said, relieved.
"Liz do you think we could go see your dress now?" Cheryl asked.
"Sure, I took it out of storage, last week and it's in our room; come on." Liz gestured mother and daughter back into the bedroom wing.
"Here it is." Liz said, as she hung the dress up from the top of the closet door.
"Oh Mrs. Evans, it's beautiful!" Sue exclaimed.
"Would you like to try it on?" Liz asked and Sue nodded her eyes huge. "Let us help you then..."
"Oh sweetheart, what a picture you make!" Cheryl smiled through glistening eyes, at her beautiful daughter, a few minutes later.
"It fits like it was made for me!" Sue exclaimed, as she twirled around.
"You know who should be in here with us, is your Aunt Susan. Would you like for her and Maria to come in here?" Liz asked.
"Yes please." Sue answered and Liz called Maria, sub-vocally. A moment later, Maria and Susan were knocking on the door.
"You wanted to see us, Liz?" Maria asked, as both women came into the room and then saw Sue. "Oh honey, you look gorgeous, just like Liz did!" Maria exclaimed.
Suzie, oh you look lovely!" Susan added her praise as she clapped her hands, excitedly.
Sue turned and looked at herself in the full length mirror. She saw a pretty, young woman and had a hard time realizing that it was her own reflection. The dress had a sweetheart cut to the tight bodice and a tight waist as well, before it flared out over her slim hips and fell to the floor in gentle folds.
"I'm a little worried about it being a sleeveless dress, since we will be married at Christmas." Sue mentioned.
"I was thinking about that." Liz agreed. "What if I added tight, lace sleeves, with a pattern which will work with the border of your robe?"
"Oh that sounds pretty and the lace will help keep my arms warm too." Sue agreed.
"What sort of veil did you wear, Liz?" Cheryl asked.
"I didn't wear one, actually." Liz answered. "I had my hair piled up on top of my head and then we put some ribbons at the back of my head and they streamed down my back."
"Oh that sounds pretty, Sue." Cheryl said, thinking that her daughter might like to do the same thing.
"Yes it certainly does...but if you don't mind, I'd really like to wear a veil of some sort, with my hair down, underneath it."
"No of course we don't mind, Sue." Liz replied, smiling. "What would you think of a lace veil, to match your sleeves? The lace would show up beautifully with your lovely, long hair left down, beneath it. "
"Oh I like that idea very much!" Sue exclaimed.
"Hey in there, may I come in for a minute?" Mason called through the bedroom door and Cheryl went to open it.
"What do you think, Mase, doesn't our daughter look beautiful?" Cheryl asked.
"Oh...my...yes..." Mason sighed as he looked over at his little girl, forgetting the wireless phone he held in his hand until Cheryl heard a voice yelling from the headset.
"Dad, hey Dad; you still there?"
"Honey, is that Matt on the phone?" Cheryl asked her husband.
"Huh, what? Matt? Okay, yeah. Sue, your brother called and now he just wants to say hi to you." He held out the handset and Sue came over to take it from her father.
"Hey, Matt."
Hey, Sue, what happened to Dad just now?" Matt Blair asked his older sister.
"Nothing happened, it's just that he came in and saw me trying on my wedding dress."
"Wedding!...Dress?...What?" Matt exclaimed.
"Matt, I called and told you, two weeks ago that Phillip Evans and I are getting married at Christmas; you can't have forgotten already!"
"Oh yeah, yeah, sorry. It's been really hectic here; between acting classes, college classes, dance classes and rehearsals for the new musical I'm in, I guess I have insufficient memory in my brain!" Matt chuckled.
"The life of a budding, young actor!" Sue giggled at her younger brother, who was attending college in New York, while pursuing a career in stage acting.
"Hey with two actors for parents, what else could I do?" He asked.
"Become a molecular biologist, like your big sister, rather than continuing to be the 'ham' you've always been!" Sue bantered back.
At least I'm a talented ham!" Matt rejoined.
"But ham is still the key word in that sentence." Sue laughed and then changed subjects. "So, how are your Academic courses going?"
"Pretty well, how about your classes...never mind that, I know you're acing them...is this Phillip of yours treating you right?"
"Of course he is, you dunce and so are his parents, his aunts and uncles, his cousins and all of his friends; can't you feel the love oozing through the phone lines?"
"Is that why my hands feel so sticky?" Matt asked, deadpan.
"You will be able to get away from the theatre over Christmas, won't you, so you can be at my wedding; Phil will be calling you soon, he wants you to be one of his groomsmen."
"Of course I'm coming to your wedding; it's all been arranged. I was just teasing you earlier about not remembering. It's so strange, thinking of you all grown up and getting married."
"Just you wait, your time will come." Sue warned him.
"You don't know how right you are; that was just my cue, I've gotta run. See you at Thanksgiving." And Matt hung up and ran to take his place on stage.
"Matt's coming for Thanksgiving?" Sue asked her parents after she put the handset down.
"Yes, I though we'd told you." Cheryl said.
"Where are we going to celebrate this year?" Sue asked.
Actually we were thinking of asking Max, Liz and their kids to come join us at our home in California for a change." Cheryl turned to Liz. "I know that would mean you leaving the rest of your extended family and friends, here, but Mason and I thought it would be nice to return a small portion of your hospitality and it would be a chance for our two families to get together in a more intimate atmosphere, as a small group."
"I'm sure that we'd all love to spend Thanksgiving at your house, Cheryl." Liz said. "Let me talk to Max and the kids and I'll give you an answer in the next few days; if not before you have to leave us this evening." Liz turned to Sue.
"But I'm afraid all of you kids will have to be leaving in about half an hour, Sue. Let me help you take your dress off." She said with a significant wink to her future daughter-in-law. "I'll sew the sleeves and your veil and maybe bring the dress with me at Thanksgiving."
"Oh thank you so much for everything!" Sue said as the two women hugged.
"Now then, no reason for tears...unless you miss your flight; Mason, would you excuse us please?"
Mason left, the dress was carefully taken off and a half hour later, the kids were boarding their plane and headed back to Cambridge.
"Well now we adults can have a chance for some peaceful conversation." Liz smiled happily at Susan, after they all returned to the house; after seeing the kids off.
As discussed with Mason and Cheryl beforehand, Liz threaded her arm through Susan's and guided her over to one sofa, while Max lead Sam over to sit on another, on the other side of the room; this was the first chance they had, had to speak privately with Susan and Sam. Each of them acted instinctively, asking the same questions.
"It seems like you and Sam/Sue have become pretty close." Max and Liz asked their respective friend.
"Yes." Susan smiled, blushing a little and looking down at her hands. "It's incredible how much we have in common, I feel as though I've known him for years."
"Yes." Sam said, smiling as he looked over at Sue. "No matter what we do together, I feel so comfortable with her; as if I've known her for years."
"Am I wrong or have I noticed something more than friendship arc between the two of you when your eyes lock?" Max and Liz teased, gently.
"Um yes, I...yes there's more than friendship between us, at least I hope there is." Susan glanced over at Sam.
"Are you playing Dutch uncle, here?" Sam asked, keeping eye contact with Max. "Wouldn't that be Mason's job, if it's anyone's? Susan is a mature, self-sufficient lady; she can take care of herself. But to answer your question, yes I feel more than friendship for Susan, I'll even go as far as to say that I would like to become the man in her life with the right to care and protect her."
"After an answer like that, I have to ask; do you love him/her?"
"Yes, yes I think I do!" Susan answered, but with tears swimming in her eyes.
"Of course I do, isn't that just what I said?" Sam demanded. "I can't believe she's still single; are all other men blind and stupid?"
"Have you...told him/her?" Max and Liz asked cautiously, already knowing the answer.
"Oh no, I couldn't." Susan said. "I mean, I know he cares for me, but we've only known each other for two weeks; I'm afraid I'd look like a desperate old maid if I told him that I'm in love with him now."
"No...I haven't told her how deeply my feelings for her, run. Man, I'm ten years older than she is and retired. Two weeks is too soon; I don't want to look like some dirty old man."
"I don't think two weeks is too soon for you to be honest about your feelings for each other. As you said, you two aren't exactly hormone riddled teenagers, who don't know the difference between love and...lust. You're both mature adults, who know a little something about what you want in a man/woman. Think about the quality of time, rather than the quantity of time you've spent together. I've seen you in many a long conversation, over the last two weeks. I mean, it certainly is your decision, whether to tell him/her how you feel, but I think being honest could only help your relationship."
"Do you...really think so?" Susan and Sam both asked. "Oh but he's/she's busy talking to Max/Liz."
"He's/she's talking to Max/Liz about the same thing we have been. I'm sorry, but we couldn't see the two of you so miserable without trying to help. Why don't you go into the living room and talk to him/her?"
Susan and Sam looked over at the other and got caught in each other's gazes. As one, they rose from their seats and walked towards the living room. Sam extended his hand and Susan took it, as they walked through the dining room, into the living room, shutting the door behind them.
"It's been over an hour and we haven't heard a peep from in there." Cheryl noted.
"You're right, I can't stand it anymore, let's go peek through the keyhole." Liz said and all four of them tip-toed through the front hall, to the door leading into the living room.
"Still don't hear anything." Mason said, after he had put his ear up to the door.
He then slowly and silently turned the door knob and opened the door about half an inch. The ladies crouched down low and the men peered over each other's shoulders. What they saw brought quiet sighs of pleasure from Cheryl and Liz and silly grins to Max and Mason's lips.
Sitting on the sofa, with his stocking feet perched on the coffee-table; his knees drawn up a little, was Sam, with Susan laying across his lap; her back supported by his legs, his left arm wrapped around her shoulder. They were both smiling, lovingly at each other and talking softly; while Susan was running her fingers through his hair and Sam was stroking her cheekbones and lips. Mason shut the door as the older couple pulled each other close for a passionate kiss.
They started to cheer and the ladies were jumping up and down; clapping their hands, but Max shushed them and they all tip-toed back into the family room again. The four of them had another half hour to wait until Sam and Susan came out of the living room. Their arms were around each other and they were hardly watching where they were going, because they had eyes only for one another. Finally they faced their friends, who were not doing a very good job of hiding their grins.
"We have announcement." Sam said. "Susan has made me a very happy man, by agreeing to become my wife!"
"No, love, you have that backwards; Sam has made me a very happy woman, by agreeing to become my husband!" Susan countered and both of them leaned into the other for an intense kiss, while their friends clapped and cheered. Finally they broke apart and came to sit by their friends.
"We know that this is very sudden, even after your encouragement and we still have some things to figure out; Susan still has her career in California and her home there as well."
"And Sam has his gorgeous home, here." Susan added. "So maybe I'll retire early, but whatever we decide, we don't want to wait forever to get married..."
"We'd like to be married at Thanksgiving and Susan really wants the ceremony to be held at her parish church, near her home."
"That would work out perfectly, you two." Cheryl enthused. "We've told Susan, but haven't had a chance to tell you, Sam; Mason and I were planning on having our two families and you and Susan, of course, to Thanksgiving dinner at our home, in California. Of course you may want to invite others from Airatan or from the military, to your wedding, but at least our family can get together on Thanksgiving."
"Hey, that sounds great!" Sam agreed.
"We have just one thing...and maybe all of you can help us decide." Susan said. "I think Sam would look so handsome and...scrumptious...wearing his Air Force uniform, with all of his medals..."
"...but I'm retired from the military and besides, I know that we both like the idea of wearing Antarian robes...but would that be appropriate, since neither of us is Antarian and we wouldn't be getting married here in Airatan; could two humans even do that alien trick to create our special design?"
"I'm sure we could help you create your special design and we can probably come up with a compromise between a military uniform and an Antarian robe for you Sam, while Susan could still wear her robe over whatever dress she picks out. But in the end, these are things the two of you will have to decide." Max said.
"Yeah, we do still have some important things to think about." Susan said, before she leaned in to kiss Sam again.
"We'll work everything out together." Sam agreed, after they both came up for air.
TBC
