"Oh my God, Elaine!" scolded Sophia, "We're not getting married for ages! At least a year! You're such a micromanager." She and Mark laughed at the expression on her face.

Clearly, Elaine Kohn had figured that a New Year's Eve party was the perfect time and place to approach them about wedding plans, a mere one week after their engagement.

"A year is hardly any time at all, you two. It'll be here before you know it." Elaine persisted.

"Don't worry about it, we'll just go to Vegas." Mark joked, just to see the horrified look on her face.

Elaine didn't disappoint. She looked like someone had drop-kicked a puppy. The woman loved to plan an event, it couldn't be denied.

"You going to make it 'til midnight this time, champ?" Martinez and his wife had joined their group, as Elaine wandered off to mingle. Rick smirked at him, referencing the state dinner when exhaustion and an unexpectedly low tolerance for alcohol had ended Mark's evening in embarrassingly early fashion.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Hey. I'm not the one who smells like a gin and tonic, here." He took an exaggerated sniff of Rick's new cologne.

"Totally putting this stuff in my PPK!" Rick laughed. "At least people won't be lighting my personal items on fire, this time." He mock-glared at Mark, and then dramatically made the sign of the cross and glanced upwards, as though seeking absolution, as Marissa shook her head at him, laughing.

Mark gave him a dubious look, "I don't know, Rick. That stuff smells pretty flammable. It'd be awfully tempting."

"Let's not forget that the bottle looks exactly like a Zippo lighter," chimed in Sophia, "NASA is never going to let you off the ground with that!" They laughed.

x x x

Sophia nudged Marissa and gestured to the dance floor, where an uncomfortable-looking Mark was getting a dance lesson from her mother.

"Oh my," giggled Marissa, "Maybe you'd better go rescue him."

"Maybe I'd better start filming, you mean?" Sophia joked.

"I like the way you think, girlfriend." Marissa shook her head, amused.

"He might as well get used to it," Sophia smiled, "Mom loves ballroom dancing."

"Is that what that's supposed to be?" Marissa giggled, "I really couldn't tell."

They watched, fascinated, as Madison attempted to show Mark how to feather-step.

"Oh, that's not going to end well," Marissa chuckled. It was an excellent prediction; Madison had to pull back hard on Mark's arms to stop him from losing his balance and falling. Mark was laughing, though. He appeared to be enjoying himself. Sophia couldn't help smiling. He'd warmed up to her parents surprisingly well, against all odds.

"What did Mark think of his jacket?" Marissa changed the subject.

"Oh, you know he loved it." Sophia grinned. "He said it was 'botanist cool'."

Rick returned to the table, balancing an armload of drinks.

"Marissa was just saying that she wants my mom to teach you, next." Sophia teased, as Marissa shook her head in denial, laughing. Rick glanced over his shoulder.

"And what makes you think I don't already know?" He grinned. "Catholic school girls and quinceañeras. That's all I'm saying." He gave them a rather unholy satisfied smirk, as they both burst into laughter.

x x x

Mark thought that he had not felt this painfully conspicuous since the morning after the state dinner, as his future mother-in-law coached him through the basic sequence, in full view of at least a hundred people. Slow, slow, quick, quick, was on auto-loop through his mind, as Madison happily chattered away at him about carriage and rhythm and he tried not to look down at his feet. It wasn't as awful as he'd originally thought; actually, it was kind of fun.

At least it wasn't disco music, he mused. At any rate, the music was over, and he made his way back over to Sophia and the Martinezes.

"Don't even start," he warned Rick, who had clearly been having some laughs at his expense. He grinned at them. "Walk with me?" he held out a hand to Sophia, who pushed back her chair.

"Needed some fresh air?" she asked him, once they were out of the room.

"I'm fine," he answered. "A little fresh air never hurt anyone, though. Except for that time in Airlock One."

She rolled her eyes at him, as she followed him out into the Rose Garden, where the air was indeed, fresh. And chilly.

Mark shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket and offered it to her, as they sat on one of the wrought-iron benches.

"Sorry about my mother," she smiled, "She can be a little overbearing."

"It was kind of fun, actually."

"I guess you might as well get some practice," she smiled. "I guess you'll be glad you did, in a year or so."

"The thought had occurred to me," he said, dryly. He checked the time. "It's ten minutes 'til midnight. Let's send Oaiea a message together." With the time-drag, she would see it right at midnight, if they hurried.

"Okay," Sophia smiled, as Mark pulled up the menu to record a message. "Tell me when to start."

"Go." Mark grinned at her.

"Um, okay. Hi! Happy New Years, Oaiea, way out there in space. We miss you. We're here at the White House, Mark and I, and um, did Mark tell you we're going to get married? Next year. We wish you could be here for the wedding! You're going to be my long-distance bridesmaid, okay? Okay, Mark, you go."

"Hey, Traveler. Hope the ship and you are doing okay. Don't pick up any hitchhikers alright? That's just dangerous. And yes, we're getting married. Right here in this Rose Garden. We'll take lots of pictures for you, okay? But right now? I get to start a new year, Oaiea, thanks to you. I get to have a future. And it's amazing. Happy New Years." He and Sophia waved, as he double-tapped to send.

The End