Ah! Grad Grad Grad Grad Grad Grad! I'm bouncing off the walls already, and it's not even 9:00. Boom-pah! Weee!
fell4adeadguy: Hey, you're totally allowed to think that. I personally think that's a horrible way to start a marriage, but they both feel they have to do it.
panemonium: Not quite hitched yet, but yeah. I'm glad I surprised you. And, you're right, Jarrod isn't really an emotional guy. Fiona's going to have to beat his past out of him with a stick. Silly man.
livingdead2010: Yay:cD
PrincessofRain: Okay!
Dreamer at Heart: They're getting there. I'm almost done. (Whoo!) Math is killer, though.
Tiger Lily21: I'm sorry to hear that. I toyed around about having him invite her to be a seamstress in his castle so he could keep an eye on her, but I thought 'How much more fun could I have if they were married?' I decided, lots. So here we are.
Akwyn: Yeah. It really did have to happen sometime.Unfortunately, Jarrod isn't overly romantic, although he can be sweet in his own way. Fiona has her work cut out for her.
Areida Rivers: It was fast, as I'm sure Annabelle will tell you. Thank you on the congrads! Ours is supposed to be only two hours long, but we have about 300 of us, so I think it's going to be closer to three. Yay for kissing! ((giggles))
awaiting impatient person: Wee! He wants tohug her; he want to kiss her; he wants to ((censored out by pg-13 rating)) her. Rubgy is fun. It's a lot of running and being tackled. Basically, it's kind of like American Football, only there are no stops, only a couple set plays, and you're not allowed to touch the person if they don't have the ball. Thank you! You're so energetic, it makes me so happy!
Glaze: Yes, you were right, like always ((grins)) You could almost write my stories for me. I guess you'll have to wait and see about your next hunch.
wishingIcouldthinkofsomething: No problem. It's such a Jarrod move. He's one of those guys that thinks he needs to save the world single-handedly. Yeah, that log-in thing was happening to me too, only it was reviewing. I couldn't review anything for a while.
rootbeergirl19: Thanks! I love how you put that. They're together... sorta.
littlelambug: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy my stories. It's so fun to write them and see other people like them as well.
Okay guys, here's the scoop. I don't usually ask for reviews cause I figure I'll write and post this story whether I get reviews or not, but I'm gonna make you a deal. If you guys put me over 200 reviews, I'll not only update early (and still stay in the regular update schedual) but it'll be a double-long chapter! If I don't get 200, I'll post it next week like normal, but to give you an incentive hint, it's the wedding chapter.
Later!
Lulai
Chapter Nineteen: Family
"Ah, I was wondering when you two were getting back," Genevieve said to Fiona and Nia as they handed their shawls to Harding. She finished descending the stairs and walked over to them.
"Did you talk with the king?" she asked. "And where did that ring come from?"
"Yes," Fiona answered. "Where is Josephine? I'd rather tell everyone at once."
"I'm right behind you," she said. She brushed back her hair, showing off her earrings. "How do they look?"
"Beautiful," Nia said, walking over to examine them. "So they fixed the clasp?"
"Of course, although it cost me another copper." Josephine sighed. "I really shouldn't be spending too much money, given our present situation, but they're so pretty."
"Our situation might have changed," Genevieve said. She turned to Fiona. "What did the king tell you?"
"Can we sit down?" Fiona asked. The sisters shrugged and they walked into the solarium. It wasn't as sunny as the one at home, but it was decorated in a lovely shade of blue. She wondered what the solarium in Castle Fer Drewery was like.
"So?" Genevieve persisted, crossing her ankles as she sat down on a powder blue sofa. "Will the king give us the loan?"
"No," Fiona said. "But we've found a way to pay all our debts."
"How?" Josephine asked.
"I'm getting married."
Utter silence met her pronouncement. The sisters stared at her in absolute shock. Fiona looked from one to the other, waiting for someone to speak.
Genevieve recovered first. "I assume that it's to the king," she said, raising an eyebrow.
Fiona nodded. "Yes. We came to an arrangement this afternoon."
"And so you're just going to marry him?" Josephine asked her in disbelief.
"If I 'just' marry him," Fiona said with a bit of a glare at her sister, "he is willing to pay off all our debts." She spread her hands in a gesture of understanding. "This whole thing is bigger than I am. It's about you all and the people back in the village who will starve without their money and crops."
"So, you've made up your mind then?" Genevieve asked softly.
Fiona nodded firmly. Then she gave a weak grin. "Besides, I get to be queen."
Nia made an appreciative noise. "And there are worse men to look at for the rest of your life than King Jarrod."
Fiona blushed.
"Will you be happy?" Genevieve asked her seriously. "You told me once that you thought another woman held his heart."
Fiona closed her eyes. She had almost forgotten about the infamous Belinda. Almost. She opened her eyes again, her jaw set determinedly. "I think she still does. He doesn't love her, exactly, but somehow, she's created a sort of shell around him. Hopefully, I can figure out how to break that, and even if he doesn't love me, he can be a whole person again."
Genevieve nodded sombrely, absorbing this. "You should write the others. I'm sure they would want to be in town for this."
Fiona nodded and stood. Nia surprised her by hugging her tightly.
"You tell me the moment you are unhappy," Nia said with tears in her eyes. "I will be there in an instant to take you back."
Fiona patted Nia's back comfortingly. "Don't worry, I will. But for some reason, I don't think I will be unhappy. I do like him, for all his faults."
"Nia, let her write those letters," Genevieve commanded her younger sibling. A grin crossed her face and she stood, brushing out her skirt. "Then we are going to get you a wedding dress."
…
"Fiona Fer Havara! Where are you?"
Fiona winced and nearly got stuck with a pin from Madam Lily, a slight stick of a woman with a hawk nose and a kind smile. She was an assistant to Madam Geraldine, the woman who had made the first dress. Madam Geraldine had been far too swamped with orders to make it out to the Turnbull residence, but, seeing as it was such a prestigious client (fiancée of the king, no less!) she sent her equally capable partner.
"Now, donna move, milady," Madam Lily said around the pins in her mouth. "I donna wanna poke ye."
"I am trying my best, my good lady," Fiona responded, "but that bellow from the hall came from my eldest sister, who has just arrived, I gather."
"Fiona, what do you think you're doing?" Annabelle charged into the room, still wearing her travelling clothes. Fiona's other six sisters were hot on her heels. "Getting married? Tomorrow? And only giving us two days to get here? Where is he? Did you not even think to consult me before you went about accepting proposals from anyone?"
"Fiona? Where are you?" another voice called out in the hallway. Cassie bounded into the room, holding hands with her husband Geoffrey.
"It's a good thing we were back from our honeymoon on schedule," she exclaimed, "or else we probably wouldn't have time to have made it."
"How was your honeymoon?" Daphne asked her.
"Beautiful!" Cassie gushed. "I love the sea. It's so calm and tranquil most of the time, and the sunsets are gorgeous! We're planning on going back there some day."
"Didn't the smell bother you?" Elizabeth asked.
"A little bit at first, but I soon got used to it," Cassie explained.
"You should tell her about the fish incident," Geoffrey urged his wife.
Cassie threw back her head and laughed. "Oh, that was so hilarious! You see, we were walking down the street when a man carting a wheelbarrow full of fish wheeled right past us at a breakneck pace…"
"Fiona Fer Havara! Are you in here?"
"Oh Lord," Fiona sighed. This was getting ridiculous. To her credit, Madame Lily barely batted an eyelash and continued on, pinning the last few pieces of fabric to her dress.
Bernadette waddled in at almost a dead run (for being so pregnant), her husband right behind her.
"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded of Fiona.
"What do you think you're doing?" Bernadette's husband, Phillip, demanded of her. "If I ever see you jump out of the carriage like that again, I will personally tie you to the bed for a week."
"Oh, pish-posh, Phillip," Bernadette said, whirling on her husband. "I won't suddenly burst into labour because I climbed out of a carriage a little fast. I've already given birth to three beautiful children, and I know what to expect."
"Where are your children?" Nia asked. "I'd love to see them."
"We left them with Nanny," Phillip explained, Nanny being his widowed mother who also lived with them. "They simply adore her, and she, unfortunately, spoils them rotten."
"Did you see many boats?" Josephine asked of Geoffrey and Cassie.
"Huge ones," Geoffrey replied. "At least three masts! We even stepped foot aboard one, didn't we?"
"Yes, and wasn't that a thrill!" Cassie said. "The wind in your hair and the knowledge that there wasn't any land underneath your feet."
"We'll have to take a small boat ride for our anniversary," Geoffrey promised, rubbing his nose affectionately against Cassie's.
"Harmony!" Genevieve raced to embrace her twin. "I've missed you!"
Harmony's eyes twinkled. "While you've been here, gallivanting about the city," she teased softly, "I've been at home, working hard on the Oppag piece."
Genevieve laughed and flipped her hand in a 'doesn't matter' gesture. "That's good. I've had the Oppag piece down for months."
Madame Lily bit off the last string. After giving the dress a nod of satisfaction, she began to pack her belongings back up.
"Why are you even here?" Daphne asked Bernadette.
Bernadette snorted. "As if I'd miss my own sister's wedding. And to the king! Besides, all three of my children have been late, so I doubt that this one will suddenly surprise me and be early."
Phillip laughed and put his arms about his wife. "Although now that you've said that, it's going to happen."
Bernadette wrinkled her nose. "Yes, it always happens like that doesn't it?"
Fiona watched her madcap family in silence, standing in the middle of the room like a statue while conversation ebbed and flowed all around her. Suddenly, Fiona was glad she was marrying Jarrod. Although she always felt she belonged, Fiona very rarely felt like she fit into her family.
There were moments when she was with Jarrod that made her feel like they were meant for each other. Like a broken stick, where the two halves mesh perfectly. The man had his secrets, and so did she, but underneath his hard, sad shell, she realised there was a man who, with time and encouragement, might grow to, if not love her, at least cherish and value her.
"Can we please get back to the most important issue here?" Annabelle asked, tapping her toe.
Bernadette rolled her eyes. "And what is that?"
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps that Fiona is getting married tomorrow?"
"She's one and twenty, for gosh sakes, Annabelle," Genevieve piped up. "She's allowed to make her own decisions."
The room exploded into discussion and argument again.
Harding looked poked his head in, and without changing expression, carefully moved through the gaggle of girls to Fiona, still standing, pinned in the middle of the room. She admired his self-composure.
"Fer ye, milady," he said, handing her a box. Fiona carefully tore the paper off to find a velvet box of the deepest green. She opened the box and gasped.
Inside lay a delicate necklace and two earrings made of brilliant aquamarine. There was a note folded beside them. She managed to open it with one hand.
They are not quite the colour of your eyes, but they were my mother's. I sincerely hope you wear them tomorrow.
It was signed, J.
Tears stung behind her eyes. This was a priceless gift. To give her something of his mother's must have really cost him. She remembered how possessive she was of her parents' things when they first died.
This brought a fresh wave of tears. They began to roll down her cheeks, and she couldn't even mop them up because her hands were full.
"Fiona?" All conversation stopped as they looked at their weeping sister, standing in her wedding gown.
"Fiona, are you alright?" Bernadette asked.
"What's wrong?" Concern pinched Nia's face as she weaved her way through the crowded room.
"I'm so glad you're all here," Fiona said with a small laugh through her tears.
"But?" Genevieve interjected.
Fiona's voice dropped to a whisper. "I wish Mother and Father were here too."
The sisters' faces fell. They all looked at each other sadly.
"So do we all, Fiona," Annabelle said finally. She walked up to her sister, pulling a kerchief out of her pocket. She carefully mopped up Fiona's tears. "But I'm sure, where ever they are, they're looking out for you. They'll be at that wedding, in person or not."
"Thanks, Annabelle," Fiona whispered.
"These are beautiful!" Josephine said, coming up behind Fiona to admire the jewels. "And they match your dress perfectly. How did he know?"
Fiona, her eyes still feeling slightly puffy, smiled. "I'll have to ask him tomorrow."