14. Marry me

"Pick out a white dress and grab two golden bands" (Oh Gravity - Falling)

Kara

Frankie was more conscious now. He had pulled through the night. Their mission to find monkeys for Dr. Scott's research seemed to be first priority as the Nathan James would set sail the day after tomorrow. Now that they might be near a breakthrough in making a vaccine for the Red Flu. Thanks to Frankie.

She was standing with Captain Chandler outside the tent. "I heard that you have been here all night." He gave an assessing look at her. "Something I should know about?" He continued.

"Lieutenant Green and I are involved, sir." She met his gaze. "We started dating just before the outbreak." She added.

"I see." "He's a good operator and I spoke to him earlier today. He will join the crew for the mission to Nicaragua." "I hope that won't be an issue." He gave a glance towards Danny as he was sitting beside Frankie inside the tent.

"No, sir." She replied.

"Given the circumstances, I won't give the lecture on the rules, but I do expect professional behavior." She heard him say and she nodded to him. "Understood, sir."

As she was walking beside Danny towards the James, now that Frankie was feeling a little better and the immediate danger was over. She thought about how she had seen Danny cry last night and how she had went inside the tent. Not giving a damn if she would die with him. She had been staring at him as he was asleep, resting his head on her lap as she ever so gently caressed his hair. At that very moment she had made the discovery that she had fallen in love with him. Despite it being crazy that they had only known for a short time, she knew he was something to hold on to in this world. Who knew how long they would survive? If Dr. Scott would manage to create a vaccine?

As she glanced at him and stopped in her tracks. She had this feeling of clarity inside of her. He might have lost his family and Frankie was the only one left from the world he knew. But she felt he had become a part of her family and she didn't want him to think he had just Frankie.

"Marry me." She said suddenly staring at him as he stopped walking in front of her and turned to face her.

"What?" Seeing the stunned look on him.

"Marry me." She walked to stand in front of him.

"I love you." She smiled at him, hoping a positive outcome in this. Did he feel the same way or had she misread the man?

Noticing his breathing slowing down, him taking a deep breath. He met her eyes as she was waiting for his reply. What was he thinking?

"I love you too." She heard him say like a whisper and she kissed him placing her hands on his cheeks. She felt so happy in the moment.

"And yes, I will marry you." He chuckled as he took hold of her and twirled her around a few rounds.

Danny had changed his clothes and they had then decided to meet with Captain Chandler to talk about their wedding.

Stepping into his office, they had said they had something to announce.

"We are engaged, sir." She took Danny's hand in hers as they stood side by side in front of the Captain. She noticed that the Captain was smiling a bit. Perhaps he wasn't as steely as his exterior seemed to be.

"And we would like you to marry us." She continued, glancing at Danny and noticing him glance at her.

"Well congratulations are in order then, but you do realize I don't have the authority to perform a marriage." Chandler looked at them.

"We know it, sir. But for us it doesn't matter. We are making a promise to each other and we can always make it legal later, if there'll be chance for it." She met Danny's eyes as she spoke.

"Never thought I would say this in the light of things, but I feel like we could use a little happiness in the world for the moment." He got up and walked to stand in front of them.

"I'll accept." He shook hands with Danny and her.

"Is tomorrow good? We don't want to wait." She looked at Chandler.

"With the Nathan James leaving the following day, it sounds just perfect." He smiled.

She was sitting in front of the mirror in the Captain's quarters on the James. He had lended the space for her to get ready.

She was getting her hair tied up as both her mother and Andrea Garnett were fussing over her.

"Never thought I would see the day." She heard her mother say and she could hear from the sound of her voice that she was almost crying. Touching her mother's hand, she gave a small squeeze to it and smiled at her.

She was wearing Andrea Garnett's wedding dress which had fitted her perfectly. White lace dress with small pearls attached to the fabric. Something old, she thought. And she could see Andrea tearing up as well as she must have been thinking about her own wedding day.

"Thank you for having Lily as a flower girl. She is thrilled." She heard Andrea say and from the mirror she could see the little girl twirling behind them with Tom's daughter Ashley.

The day seemed to be quite perfect. They had managed to pull together a wedding in just 24 hours. And the entire Nathan James family that was left on the base was helping them. Slattery's wife and daughters had taken the responsibility of organizing the reception and cooking food. Not that they needed anything fancy. Chandler's wife Darien and their daughter was in charge of decorating the pier outside the James. Lucas and Sam were flower boys but instead of flowers they would be waving small Navy flags. Frankie was a best man, sitting in a wheel chair though, because he still wasn't entirely in shape. Still receiving treatment for his condition.

But she felt deeply that Alisha wasn't there. If she hadn't pushed her to go on the road trip or to chat with Danny.. This day wouldn't have come. Thinking of her best friend made her feel sad. She still hoped there might be a slight chance, but she might never find out.

She had a nice time at the wedding and she really needed to thank Alisha. She was glad she had come to this trip and gotten to know Danny better. But she never thought she would catch the bouquet the bride threw, before leaving the reception for the honeymoon. Danny's mother would be happy though, about the meaning of it, she had thought.

"Has your mother started the planning of your wedding now?" She smiled at him as they got back to the hotel room. "Probably." She heard him chuckle. "You were definitely a success." He sat himself on the edge of the bed as he began taking his dress shoes off and undressing from his bow tie and coat. She sighed. She did really like his family, his parents seemed so nice and lovely, his mother might be a little more to handle, but she thought she could take it. So as he had disappeared to the bathroom she had made a decision, hearing Alisha's voice inside of her head "What are you waiting for? Make your move!"

She noticed Ravit come into the room. She had asked her to be the Maid of Honor. She and Ravit had gotten pretty close since they met at the cabin.

Ravit looked stunning in the light blue dress she wore, although looking a little uncomfortable to her eyes. Perhaps she wasn't used to wearing dresses. Burk would definitely drop his jaw when he would see her, she thought. She saw Ravit come stand behind her and place something around her neck "Something blue, something borrowed." Glancing at the silver necklace, it had a blue stone in the shape of a teardrop. She smiled at Ravit and felt she was about to cry. Was the day really this emotional? She thought.

Danny

He was standing on the pier in his dress blues looking around him. He had been utterly stunned by her question when she had asked him to marry her. He knew he had loved her from the second he met her, but he wasn't sure whether she would love him back. He had been afraid to admit his deepest emotions to her, but when she had asked him and said she loved him..

"Marry me." He heard from behind him. What did she say? Feeling his heart beat racing upwards, he turned around and looked at her with a pretty stunned expression on his face.

"What?"

"Marry me." He watched her come stand in front of him. So he hadn't heard her wrong. She was asking him to marry her..

"I love you." He saw her smile softly at him. He thought about it, as he studied her face and met her gaze. What little time they would have left in this world, he wanted to spend it with her. He wanted to make the promise to love and to hold, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. All that would matter was their promise to each other.

And he loved her too. Feeling the strange feeling of joy go through him as he heard her say she felt the same.

"I love you too." He said like a whisper, and immediately after he felt her hands on his cheeks as she kissed him.

Then he realized how much he really had missed the woman in the past two weeks. Chuckling when he replied "And yes, I will marry you" and then he grabbed her as he twirled her around.

She was beautiful was the only thought in his mind when he saw her walk down from the Nathan James towards him. Walking beside her mother. He felt a sting of hurt and sadness inside of him that his own family wasn't there to witness the moment. Knowing how his own mother had wanted to see him happy one day.

After their dancing at his sisters wedding Kara had excused herself to go to the bathroom. He was still feeling the excitement go through him as he had hold her so close to him a moment before. Wondering if she felt the same way too. As he stood there he saw his mother appear and he asked if she would dance with him. During their dancing his mother told him that she thought Kara was exactly the kind of woman he needed in his life. Head strong and smart, she would be his equal partner in life. He smiled, it was nice to know that Kara had managed to win over his mother. He knew Kara liked him and however it played out, he was going to make his move soon.

He took her hand from her mother and they stood side by side in front of Captain Chandler.

"Dear family and friends, we are gathered here today.." He heard Chandler's words and glanced at her, seeing her smile as she met his eyes. He never thought that he would be marrying someone just after a few weeks of knowing, but everything he felt inside was telling him that it was just right.

He placed the ring on her finger and saw she was a bit overwhelmed by the ring. A golden band with a medium sized diamond fitted in the middle, a few small stones around it. Something new, he had thought as he had taken the trip to a Jewelry Store in town with Burk. Just because the world was ending, he didn't feel like just taking the rings would be suitable, so he had left all the money he had in his wallet and placed it in the cash register. But he knew the ring was worth far more than he was carrying in his wallet.

As he kissed her in front of their friends and the fellow sailors and their families from the Nathan James, he felt happy. She was now his wife.