Ch 27

Richard's chuckle died down as he saw the expression on Sarah's face. She slowly raised her left hand out to him so he could see what he hadn't noticed earlier, a sparkling diamond engagement ring.

"I love him Dad, and he loves me. We're happy, and we're going to get married. I truly hope you will support us. But I have to say that with or without your blessing, I'm going to become his wife."

Karen jumped up and hugged Sarah. "Oh, sweetie, I'm so happy for you! I always prayed that you'd find someone to make you truly happy." It seemed nothing could faze her now, and she felt only joy for Sarah.

Karen looked over at her husband, a little worried about him. His face had turned an interesting shade of red, and he was just staring at them.

"Richard? Honey? Your little girl's getting married! Say something," she coaxed.

He felt his head swimming. He was too darn old to keep getting surprised like this. He thought about his options. He could yell and curse, maybe throw Jareth a punch or two, quite possibly making his only daughter hate him. Or he could just accept it, knowing Sarah wasn't prone to making bad, impulsive decisions and that for this to happen, she must truly care for that...man. "My daughter is going to marry the Goblin King, so she will be becoming the Goblin Queen," he said softly, thinking for a moment. Then he grinned. "Well, that's a sentence I sure as hell never expected to come out of my mouth!" He then wrapped Sarah in a bear hug. "I love you honey, and I promise that no matter how hard all of this is for me to understand, I will support you. I'm not a fool; I can see how much you love him, and I just want you to be happy."

Sarah was crying by now, she was so relieved at what her father was saying. She hugged him back. "Thank you so much Daddy, I know I'll be happy with him."

Richard looked at Jareth as he pulled away from his daughter. "I don't care what kind of magical king you are, if you ever, ever hurt my daughter, I swear on everything holy that I will hunt you down and kill you." Jareth took the lecture well, knowing how protective fathers can be of their daughters. Plus, he couldn't get mad at Richard; seeing his tempermight break the poor man.

Jareth reached out his hand for Richard to shake. "I love her," he said simply. He didn't need to say anything more, because Richard could see in his eyes that he truly meant it.

They shook hands, and Richard went so far as to give Jareth a friendly pat on the shoulder.

Karen was asking Sarah what her wedding plans were, but Sarah couldn't pay attention. Her head was swimming; so many thoughts and feelings were floating through her mind. Even in her best-case scenario, she had never dreamed that tonight would turn out like this. She could scarcely believe it. Her father and Karen were being so wonderful, and they were taking this so much better than she'd hoped. She abruptly moved away from Karen and sat down heavily on the couch.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" Karen asked, alarmed at how pale Sarah looked. Jareth was instantly at her side, putting an arm around her. "Are you okay, my love?" he asked softly.

Sarah struggled to clear her spinning head. "I'm okay, you guys. I'm fine. I just…I was feeling a little overwhelmed, you guys are being so great and I wasn't expecting that, and it all just kind of got to me for a second." She leaned into Jareth, and he pulled her close to him. She took a deep breath. "I'm fine, really. Just-thank you guys, for being so great." She smiled tearfully at her parents, and they smiled back.

"If you're sure you're okay, I'd really like it if we could talk now," her father said. "If this is really happening, then I need to know all the details." Karen looked like she wanted some answers, too, so Sarah settled back onto the couch. Before she could say anything, Toby spoke up. He'd been so quiet, she'd almost forgotten he was there. "Wait Sarah, I don't care about all the mushy love and wedding stuff, just please tell me-does this mean I get to visit the Labyrinth?"

"Well Tobes," she said, glancing at her parents, "Yes, you'll be able to visit once Jareth and I are married. But it's up to mom and dad to tell you if you're allowed to come." She hated to put that on her parents, but it really was their decision to make, not hers.

"Oh God Toby," her father groaned. "I can't think about that right now. I'll tell you what, if you go on up to your room while we're talking, then I promise I will consider it. Deal?"

Toby knew he wouldn't get a better answer out of his dad right now, so he smiled and said, "Deal." He ran up to his room, already thinking of ways to convince his parents to let him go.

Richard put Toby's request on the back burner for now. "So," he said to Sarah and Jareth, "When exactly are you planning to get married?" Sarah looked at Jareth, giving him a barely perceptible shake of her head, hoping he'd realize she was telling him not to say anything about Merelinda. Her parents didn't need to deal with that problem right now, if ever. Luckily, Jareth understood.

"In a month," he replied. "It'll take at least that long to make all the preparations. We've already discussed it at length. We'll be married in the gardens of my castle; they're beautiful at this time of year. I'm having my seamstress create a gown for Sarah, and of course, you are both welcome to stay with us as long as you wish."

"Thanks, that's very generous of you," Karen told him, wondering what exactly a goblin king's castle would look like.

"But Jareth," Richard said, "there are a lot-and I mean a lot- of things I still want to know, and not just about the wedding. Like, how is it that you're here now, after ten years? Did you two keep in touch that whole time?"

Before Jareth or Sarah could respond, Jareth gasped loudly. Sarah clutched his arm, alarmed. "Jareth, what is it?"

He shook his head, saying, "I'm not sure. But Bayron's calling me. Something's wrong, we have to get to Julie's, now." He got to his feet, pulling Sarah up with him. He turned to Sarah's parents. "I'm sorry, but we must go, it's an emergency. Thank you for having us, and I promise you we will answer all your questions later."

Sarah barely had time to say good bye to her parents before Jareth snapped them away to Julie's apartment, where the first thing they saw was Julie lying deathly still on the kitchen floor.