The Wedding

Three months later, Ama was fidgeting in her flowing white dress. The ceremony would start in a matter of minutes, the marriage ceremony that would bind them officially in the eyes of Starfleet. It had taken all of the combined persuasive powers of the Commander, his wife, and his daughter to convince Chief O'Brien to participate. The man was stubborn and hard-headed, convinced that he needed to protect his daughter from the only man she'd ever loved. He'd made her miserable for weeks, insisting that she was making the biggest mistake of her life by giving her heart to the first man to treat her well. It was finally Amara's threat that she would marry without his blessing so that her children would have a name that seemed to sway him. He'd stubbornly insisted on an engagement period. He'd argued for a year; Ama had promised him two months only. They would get married the day after the engagement period was over. She and her mother arranged everything under his disapproving glare. She'd gotten permission to have the ceremony on the Promenade from the Commander and Odo. She'd been tasting cakes and trying on dresses feverishly.

Tyr had faithfully attended every marriage formality, reassuring his woman every step of the way. He'd held her when she'd cried over her father's unreasonableness and the haste of the preparations. He'd finally had a word with his future father-in-law.

"What do you want, you bladed freak!" Miles had slurred at the Nietzschean. Just that afternoon his little girl had picked her wedding dress with his wife. The two had returned to his luxurious family suite full of plans and purpose. Miles had made sure to rain all over their parade, not stopping telling her all about wearing white when she was obviously soiled until the stubborn girl was in tears. Keiko had thrown him out of the suite altogether. He'd been drinking at Quark's ever since.

Tyr looked over the drunken man with disdain, then slammed his head into the table. Before the Operations Chief could retaliate, he was pinned to the table, his arms twisted painfully behind his back and laying in a pool of his latest shot.

"You seem to be taking a great deal of pleasure in making my woman suffer."

"She should have listened to me! You're nothing but a brute! Get off of me!"

"You're the brute, delighting in the misery of your own child."

"What do you know about having children?" the drunken man growled, resigned to laying in his alcohol for the duration of their chat. "Sometimes you have to break them to get them to see the truth. You're not worthy of her. You're certainly aren't worthy of such a beautiful dress."

"Yet, she'll be wearing it for me," Tyr said smugly. He released his hostage. "The wedding is going forward without you. Dr. Bashir, her trusted friend, will be walking her down the aisle and Commander Sisko will be officiating. You no longer need to trouble yourself about your daughter's wedding. Enjoy your liquor, Dad."

"Wait!" O'Brien slurred. "Can't have a wedding without me! I'm the father."

"You're a bully. Amara has made her choice and instead of accepting it, you seem determined to make her miserable. I went to check on her this afternoon and she was emotionally destroyed by the one man that she'd always thought she could trust. So I fixed it."

"What do you mean, 'you fixed it'?" he asked suspiciously, starting to sober up.

"I comforted my woman until she was glowing again and convinced her to bar you from our celebration. Your presence is no longer required for our wedding to go forward. No one will even mention our nuptials to you anymore. My Lady's world no longer revolves around you and your selfishness." The Nietzschean leaned in close to his ear. "We don't need you."

Miles swung at him and he dodged the sloppy move easily. "What? Does it bother you that she'll no longer be crying herself to sleep over what you think, old man?" He dodged another swing and pushed him into the table lightly. He crashed into the table like a mack truck, unable to coordinate his limbs enough to stop his forward motion. He threw up against the hard table and Tyr wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I've got news for you, Dad, she never did. I've refused to let your negativity rule her. She's gone to sleep every night worry-free. I won't allow her to suffer one minute. This was just the last straw. Relish your last victory over her. It is ultimately empty." He dusted himself off as if some vomit had gotten on him and walked away. Miles watched him leave before pulling himself to his feet.

The worst part was, Amara's infuriating suitor was right. The entire station avoided him like the plague. Their speech was clipped and direct, knowing that the Lady no longer held him in respect. And direct questions about the upcoming festivities yielded hostile looks and no answers. The most he got from his fellow Starfleet officers were entreaties like 'What, so you can figure out how to ruin things for the Lady?'. Even his wife couldn't seem to stand him. Molly and Kirayoshi were sad and withdrawn from him as well. He spent more and more of his free time at Quark's, drowning his sorrows in the bottom of a bottle. This only made his situation worse though. He wasn't failing in his official duties, at least not yet, but he was well and truly alone. And the knowing smirks from Tyr weren't helping his disposition. Ama wouldn't even talk to him. Hell, she wouldn't look at him, and the Nietzschean was never far from her, protecting her where he had failed so completely.

The day of their wedding dawned with a palpable anticipation in the air. Everyone was invited to the wedding; Ama had made it clear that anyone who wanted to see the small ceremony, could. People were pouring in from Bajor; although she had withdrawn her goodwill from the planet itself, it seemed that her edict did not apply to the people. Many would simply come to the station, walk around the station until their ailments resolved, and leave peacefully. Today, the Promenade was filled to capacity, everyone wanting to participate in her happy day. Odo and a full security detail were in evidence, but surprisingly, they weren't needed for much beyond a few pickpocketing incidents. The boy was even caught and put in the brig. The people wanted things to go off without a hitch.

Ama was in her room, trying her best not to freak out or burst into tears. This was her normal reaction to the absence of her protector though, so Keiko took her nerves in stride. She was fussing with her intricately braided hair and making sure she looked perfectly lovely in her gown.

"Mama, are you mad that-" The door chime went off just then. Keiko stopped her daughter with a gentle hand on her shoulder and answered the door herself. Amara sat down heavily, playing with a stray flexi on her dresser and contemplated the sheer amount of effort it would take to clean up her room when this was all over. The place looked like a true tornado had hit it. Trying to think of the best way to start such a monumental task, she was distracted by the low, angry argument at the front door.

"Mama, what's-" She froze when she saw her father standing in the doorway. He was wearing his dress uniform and looked slightly hungover, but he seemed to be contrite.

"You need to go," she said firmly. "This is a private affair that has nothing to do with you."

"Amara! Of course it does, I'm your father! I'm sorry things have gotten so far out of hand. But I'm your father. I should be the one to walk you down the aisle."

"It's too late to be changing things. We're not using Starfleet uniforms for this ceremony. We all spend too much time in them as it is. And Bashir is already walking me down the aisle. I'm afraid that your apology is too little too late. Goodbye."

"Amara, is this about the baby?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"What baby?" she asked in confusion.

"Your baby," he said vehemently. "The one that you two are having. The only reason this insanity is happening."

The bride-to-be gawked at him and the man suddenly understood his unfortunate choice of words. "I'm not pregnant, Chief O'Brien," she ground out furiously. "'This insanity' is happening because I want to be with Tyr Anasazi for the rest of my life. But you wouldn't understand that. I mean, you only married the love of your life for the same damn reason. If anyone gave you the impression that I was knocked up and this was a shotgun wedding, I apologize. Get out before I call security."

"Amara, I'm sorry-"

"So am I. Tyr was right, you really are determined to ruin my happiness every chance you get! You miraculously decide to have a change of heart minutes before the wedding, then accuse me of being pregnant and that being the only reason I want to get married. How dare you! And you're hungover to boot! You know, I was this close to forgiving you for all the stress that you have put me through. Now I just want you to leave! You're not worth my tears or my time. I have a wonderful man waiting for me at the end of the aisle today. I'm not losing him because of your issues."

"Please don't push me away! I'm trying to apologize. I've been wrong! You deserve every happiness today. Just not with that man. He's dangerous and he'll hurt you, Mars."

The girl stood perfectly still for a moment, gawking at him. Then her eyes narrowed and she glared at him. "Go get sober. Or crack open another bottle of whatever you're drinking. I don't care. Just get out of my sight. I'm late for my wedding."

"Don't you talk to me like that. I'm your father!"

"You're really not," she glared, beyond fury. He looked at her face as if he was seeing her for the first time. He nodded and stumbled away from her door. She drew a shaky breath once he was gone and called to Julian, whom she'd noticed about the time of her father's arrival. "Sorry you had to see that, Julian. Are you ready?"

"I should be asking you that question. Amara, I-"

"No matter," the girl said with only a slight tremble in her arms as he held her. "You look nice," she said in a distracting fashion. 'Nice' was an understatement. Bashir had taken the old Earth theme to heart. He was dressed in a black-on-black three piece tuxedo that accented his muscles and begged him to speak in that utterly sexy British accent. "Ezri is a lucky lady."

Julian blushed, not having told anyone that the Trill was the target of his charms this evening. It was a little freaky how she seemed to pick up on random details lately. "Thank you. Amara… I think that you should maybe-"

"No. He's had weeks to come and talk to me about this. He chooses to spew his venom minutes before the ceremony starts! I'm sick of being disappointed by a man that's quick to name himself my father but refuses to act like one. If he's going to let Tyr come between us, then let him! I'm not giving up my soulmate for him. That ain't happening."

"That's a good girl," he said, wiping a tear away from her face with a handkerchief before her minimal makeup could be smudged. Keiko had used a sparring hand on her cosmetics. The first reason was that she was likely to smudge it crying throughout the day. The second reason was that it wasn't needed. The girl was a vision today, glowing brightly in her pure-white gown. It flowed to the ground in layers. The design of the dress itself was dependent on her mood, changing from a heavy forbidding gown with her temper or depression to a light fairy princess dress with her pleasure. Right now the gown was halfway between the two designs. "We really should go. Your young man is waiting to make you his." That had the desired effect and her gown glowed regally as she lit up. The ceremony proceeded without a hitch. The only thing Tyr had insisted on for the ceremony was the use of special armbands he called the double helix in addition to the regular rings.

No one was left out of the love she felt for her new husband, not even Miles, who decided to watch his daughter's greatest mistake from the crowd. He was almost completely sober thanks to Marsha's power.

"But it's not Marsha anymore, is it?" he muttered darkly to himself as he left the festivities. That slick bastard was removing his little girl's garter belt to throw into the crowd. What right did he have to touch her? Some nobody shows up out of nowhere and suddenly his good, sound advice and wisdom counts for nothing! God, he missed the days of just him and his little girl! They'd been two peas in a pod for years before that bastard had showed up and ruined everything.

"Women. Am I right?" a fellow drunk said in disgust a few weeks later. "Can't trust them for anything! Always plotting, always scheming to make us miserable. I say that we just get rid of the lot of them!"

"That's not exactly-"

"Hey! Hey barkeep! How about a round for me and my friend here? We're swearing off women for good!" He whoop drunkenly, slinging a companionable arm around his new 'brother'.

"Now wait just a minute," Miles slurred, trying his best to shrug the man off. "I just… I have a wife and children. Can't just go around-"

"So what?" the man chuckled merrily. "I do too. That'll show 'em… I've been free of them for years now. Lousy, no good-"

"You haven't seen your wife and kids in years?"

"Darn tootin'," the man said proudly. "Don't need that no good bitch and her brats stifling me. I'm my own man!"

"But… Don't you miss it?" he asked quietly, horrified by the prospect of never seeing Molly again, of never seeing her grow up, of missing Kirayoshi's first steps or first words. He was already missing those things living away from his family, wasn't he?

"I… I used to," the man admitted with a shrug. "Used to worry about how that no good bitch was raising my boy. But hey, I'm a free agent now. Whad do I care? When I miss the sex, I go and fuck a prostitute. That's what they're there for! Ah, life free of da old 'ball and chain' is bliss. You're gonna love it."

"I'm not givin up my family!" the Chief growled, standing up as Quark put down two drinks in front of the drunks and accepted the latium from the drunker of the two. "Just because I'm having a disagreement with my daughter doesn't mean-"

"If you love ya family so much, why don't you marry them?" the man chortled into his ale. "You might want to consider-"

"I have considered. I'll never leave my family. I have a 'sponsibility." He left the bar completely, resolved to get sober and apologize to his woman before he lost his family forever.

As soon as he was gone, the drunk man he'd been conversing with morphed into Odo. Quark looked up with a raised eyebrow.

"I didn't know that you were so sentimental," the bartender smiled.

"Humans are so predictable," the Security officer huffed in disgust.

Well, that escalated quickly. I'm just glad that O'Brien came to his senses before he lost everything. Also, Amara is married! YAY! Now that things are settled (or on their way to being settled), let's see what happens next, eh? See ya next time!