I was nervous while I waited. I wanted everything to turn out okay…but more than anything, I wanted to make sure Vivian was happy. I knew she would be happy to be safe from her arranged marriage…but would it be possible for her to be happy with me? And would I be happy with her? I mean, we were about to do something that we couldn't take back.

Jim sat at the kitchen table, his foot jiggling up and down and his index finger tapping the rough wood. B.E.N. was back, cooking breakfast for the guests who had started waking up and coming down for food. Dr. Doppler was sitting across from him, little Albert in his lap. "Jim," the doctor started. Jim glanced up at his old family friend. "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

Jim stopped tapping the table and raised his hand to his face, rubbing his chin and dragging his fingers across his lips before letting his hand drop to the table again. "I'm sure," he said, starting up his nervous tapping."I want to make sure Vivian's safe…this was the only thing I could think of that would make it to where her father couldn't force her to get married to someone she hated."

Delbert nodded as Albert snuggled into his father's chest. "Well," the doctor sighed, taking his glasses off and wiping them with a cloth he pulled from his pocket. He maneuvered around his son who was starting to doze off in his arms. "I think this is very…I suppose brave of you; Taking on something as…difficult as marriage to help your friend."

"She's more than my friend," Jim said suddenly. Delbert raised an eyebrow at him as he placed his glasses back on his nose. Jim stopped tapping again and pulled his hand up to his neck, rubbing it as he sighed. "I…really care about her, Doc. Maybe it's more than I should, seeing as we've only known each other a month, but…" Jim groaned, dropping his hand to the table and tapping again.

Delbert smiled softly at the young man, tapping the table lightly with his own hand to get Jim's attention. "I understand…and don't worry. I'm sure everything will be okay. You'll see."

Jim sighed before giving the doctor a small smile as he continued to provide percussion background music for the kitchen.

Meanwhile, upstairs in Mrs. Hawkins' bedroom, Vivian was sitting on a short stool in front of a makeup table, her foot jiggling up and down uncontrollably. Amelia and her three daughters had come up, and the captain was currently trying to get her girls to stop jumping on Mrs. Hawkins' large bed. Sarah had vanished from the room several moments before, searching for the box that her wedding dress in it, which had been packed somewhere.

"Vivian, if you don't stop fidgeting, I'm going to tie you down," Amelia said, pushing Bertha's shoulder gently to make the small child sit down. She did, but she pouted at her mother, her arms crossed and her bottom lip sticking out.

Vivian huffed out a breath through her mouth as she unbraided her hair and began finger combing it. "I'm sorry, I'm just…"

"I understand," Amelia said, walking over to the young woman and resting a hand on her shoulder.

Amelia opened her mouth to speak again, but Sarah came bursting through the door, a large box in her hand. "Finally found it!" She said, exasperated but happy. "It got shoved into the corner of the attic after we moved back in-"

"Wait, Jim told me that the original Benbow burned to the ground when he was younger," Vivian said, turning in her seat to watch Sarah set the box on the bed, pushing Amelia's three daughters gently out of the way. The girls scurried to the head of the bed, sitting on the pillows and watching in awe as Sarah opened the box. "How did the dress survive the fire?"

"I had, luckily, asked Delbert to hold several boxes of mine and Jim's things," Sarah said, unfolding some tissue paper inside the large box. It was flat, almost like a large gift box one would use to wrap clothing in before presenting it to someone. "I had been going through the attic, getting rid some old things, and decided it was time to rearrange. Problem was, I didn't have room to put things so I could rearrange. Delbert offered some of his attic space."

Vivian nodded slightly. "Oh," she said, twisting her hair between her hands.

Sarah smiled to Vivian. "Nervous?" she asked as she began pulling the dress from the box.

"Yeah, I suppose, but…I'm worried. I mean, Jim…he doesn't have to do this. I mean…he's going to be stuck with me…I mean, I appreciate what he's doing, but I hate to think that-"

"Vivian, you're rambling," Amelia said, squeezing the young woman's shoulder gently.

Vivian gave an exasperated sigh; she had so many conflicting feeling about the situation she was in. She was happy – who wouldn't be happy about marrying Jim? He was a wonderful man: attractive, intelligent, with a wonderful sense of humor. Jim was her best friend, and she loved him; possibly more than one should love their best friend. Vivian also couldn't help but be happy about what her marriage to Jim would mean. She would be safe from her father and her arranged marriage to Lord Randall.

But she was also worried; she didn't want Jim to do something he might regret. She was a firm believer in 'til death do us part; like she had said earlier – there were no take backies in marriage. She believed you were in it for life. Vivian didn't want Jim to be forcibly tied to her till death did they part. What if he wasn't happy with her?

Vivian shook her head, watching Sarah pull the dress from the box; she cast her gaze to the ground. She wondered why they were going through all the ceremony of a wedding; all they really had to do was sign a paper in secret and then the deed would be done. Then again, she did like the idea of being able to wear a wedding dress.

Once she saw Sarah's wedding dress, Vivian was very glad to be able to wear a wedding dress. Sarah held the dress up in front of herself, and Vivian felt her jaw drop. The dress was a beautiful gown of white with a fitted bodice and a ball gown type skirt. It was embroidered with flowers along the hems and layers of the skirt; it also had a large 'W' neck line and white lace sleeves, which would hang lightly off of the shoulders when worn.

Sarah laughed a little at Vivian's awed expression. "Well, here it is," she said, holding the dress out at arm's length to the young woman. "Would you like to wear it?"

Vivian stood from the stool and Amelia dropped her hand from the young woman's shoulder. Vivian crossed the room and gently ran her fingers along a layer that wrapped around the left hip of the skirt and fell open onto more white fabric. "Oh, Sarah, could I please?" Vivian looked up at the older woman, barley able to breathe. "It's so beautiful."

Sarah laughed again. "Well, then let's get you in it and all dolled up."

XD XD XD

An hour had passed; Jim had waited nervously, tapping on the table the majority of the time. B.E.N. roped him into helping deliver food to the guests; once they all had their food, Jim took to pacing around in front of the window beside the front door. He had his hands clasped together behind his back as he walked to and fro, occasionally glancing out the front window. The fact that Vivian's father was on his way there weighted heavily on Jim's mind. How soon would he get there? Would he bring Vivian's arranged fiancé with him? Could the man fire a gun? Should Jim purchase life insurance?

Finally, much to Jim's relief, Captain Amelia came down the stairs, her three daughters in tow. The girls squealed happily when they saw Jim and they all ran to glomp his ankles. The three toddlers had enough force to make Jim sway as he looked toward their mother. "Are they coming down yet?"

The captain, wearing her standard uniform nodded to Jim. "They will be down in a few moments. Where's Delbert? He has the certificate."

Jim pointed toward the kitchen, where Delbert was still holding a sleeping Albert. Amelia headed that way, leaving Jim with three very hyper, very talkative young girls. "Uncie Jimmy! Uncie Jimmy!" Bertha, the brunette girl said, jumping up and down as she hugged Jim's left calf.

Jim looked to her to respond, but was interrupted by her blonde sister Clara. "Vivi looks real pretty!"

Jim smiled and tried to speak, but was interrupted once again, this time by Phoebe, the red head. "Is she gonna be our auntie?"

Jim shook his head as his smile widened; talk about the ultimate form of birth control. Being badgered by small children would make anyone not want to have them. But they were so cute, you couldn't help but grin at them. A thought just occurred to Jim: would he and Vivian have children? Would they be…intimate?

Jim shook his head again, this time to try and clear his thoughts. He would just have to worry about all that later, when he and Vivian could talk. As the girls continued to jabber away at Jim's feet, their mother came walking out of the kitchen, a piece of paper in her hand. "Now, I want you three to go into the kitchen with your father and brother; hop to it, please."

The girls pouted, but knew better than to disobey their mother; they quickly released Jim and bid him goodbye before disappearing into the kitchen. Amelia walked over to a table to Jim's right, which happened to be empty. "Mr. Hawkins, I need you to come look this over please."

The captain laid the paper out flat for Jim to examine; it was a marriage certificate. Across the top, written in the captain's beautiful script were the words 'Certificate of Marriage'. Below that were the words 'Let it be known by all present that', followed by an open space, which Jim assumed was for his and Vivian's names. Next were the words 'Were united in holy matrimony/In the sight of God and according to the laws of the Etherium/Officiated this day by'; Amelia had already filled out her full name, as well as the date. There were two signature lines at the bottom, one labeled 'bride' the other one labeled 'groom'.

The captain had gotten a pen somewhere and handed it to Jim. "If you could fill out your name and Vivian's please," she said. As Jim took the pen she said, "I'll bring them down in a moment."

As Amelia disappeared, Jim stared down at the page, pen in hand. He quickly printed his full name and then attempted to try and spell out Vivian's full name. He grimaced at his poor attempt, but was pulled from his spelling pity party when he heard the guests suddenly fall silent.

Jim turned to look up the stairs, and dropped the pen he was holding. His mother was leading Vivian down the stairs by her arm; Vivian was wearing a very beautiful dress. Had it really been his mother's? His thoughts became as jumbled up as his words would have, had he been speaking.

Amelia led the way down the stairs, walking to stand in front of the window beside the front door. She cleared her throat, getting the attention of the inn guests. "Ladies and gentleman, it is my great honor to announce that you all are about to be witness to the wedding of Mr. Hawkins and Miss Alders."

There was an excited murmur that passed through the dining room. Amelia cleared her throat again, this time at Jim, motioning him to come over. Sarah had managed to pull Vivian all the way down the stairs; the young woman's hair was pulled up on top of her head in a pony tail, the end of it curled slightly. Her bangs were swooped across her forehead; Jim saw that she had light makeup on her face. She was…

"Wow," he breathed as Vivian came to stand before him, Sarah standing just behind her. Vivian gave a breathy giggle and cast her eyes to the ground before slowly bringing them back up to Jim's.

Amelia officiated the ceremony; Jim and Vivian repeated what needed to be repeated, 'I do'-ed when they needed to. Luckily, Amelia noticed that there were no rings for the couple to exchange, so she discreetly omitted any lines pertaining to it. At last, Amelia led the couple to the table where their marriage certificate lay. They signed their names, first Vivian, and then Jim.

The couple looked into each other's eyes as Amelia closed the ceremony. "By the power vested in me by the Interstellar Militia, I now pronounce you man and wife. Mr. Hawkins, you may kiss the bride."

The guests who watched the entire ceremony clapped; some whistled, others cheered. Jim put his left hand on Vivian's cheek and gently kissed her lips. Vivian let her eyes drift closed as she kissed her husband; her heart went into over drive. What she didn't know what that Jim's did too.

O…M…G…I didn't think I was going to make it. I really wanted to get this up before I kind of fell off the face of the planet for the next two and a half weeks. I'm taking a summer class, which wraps up pretty quick, so don't worry! I just ask for understanding concerning my absence. This class is a major requirement for my degree, so I have to take it.

I also figured you all would want to see Jim and Vivian's wedding…and I've got a surprise for you: there will be a better, bigger, awesome-r ceremony later in the story! Yay ness! I can't wait to write it.

Also (and I'm ashamed to say this) but there is a major possibility that there might me a lemon involved eventually. There doesn't have to be (trust me, I'm a wiz at editing), but I just wanted to let you guys know that that was a possibility. If I do put in the lemon scene, could I get someone to proof read it and check for awkward turtles? It would be greatly appreciated and I would make sure you give you a kitty (or some other small fuzzy creature that is really cute).

So yeah, R&R and I will see you as soon as I can!

Until next time!~BBTM