As receptions go, it was amazing. I think it had to be Tank's parent's Louisiana New Orleans roots that did it. The music was loud and vivacious. The food was beyond incredible. The flowers were beautiful and scented. And in the middle of it all were Tank and Lula and so much love and joy that it couldn't be contained. It awed me to think about how much joy I would be feeling if not for my own troubles, because the joy I felt then was extraordinary.

"Come on," my father grinned dragging me to the dance floor. "Ranger is doing the salsa with your mother I feel left out."

I laughed and let him pull me to him, "all right Daddy."

We did a couple of turns around the dance floor.

"Are you all right Pumpkin?"

"I am," I smiled.

"You just seem like…you just seem a little off."

"Oh I'm sure it's just relief to have everything over and behind us. This trip has been amazing."

"It's not over yet. We have to get through tonight and tomorrow and then we dock in Miami the next day. Your grandmother and Burt are going to stay with us and we're going to look at condos up and down the coast and see if we find anything we like."

"Are you sure about this Daddy?"

"You're practically settled Pumpkin. I've been amazed at how much you've changed in the last year. My little girl is finally growing up."

"A girl is never too old to need her daddy," I said seriously.

"And I'll always be just a phone call or a plane ride away. I promise you that."

I nodded and let him lead me around. After dancing with him I danced with Javier, Ram, Bobby, Lester and back to my father. It was full circle. Ranger, I noticed, danced only with my mother or with nobody.

Next up was Cal. He looked nervous.

"Just…I know she told you," I sighed.

He nodded.

"You can't say anything Cal."

"I won't," he frowned. "I just don't get the two of you. You love him. He loves you."

"Don't go there. There's a big difference. I'm IN love with him. He just loves me much as he'd love a pet or a good friend he occasionally has sex with. He's not IN love with me."

"Then he's an idiot because you are an amazing girl," he said seriously. "I keep thinking about how many of the relationships that exist now wouldn't be if not for you. I mean do you honestly believe any of the men of Rangeman would have pulled their heads out of their asses long enough to form committed relationships if you hadn't been there to show us that women could be interesting and fun and not just…"

"Sex," I smiled.

"Yea," he blushed. "Oh hell, a bunch of us wanted those things. Somehow knowing you made it all right."

"Thank you Cal, that's a very flattering thing to say."

"It's true," he sighed. "Here comes Ranger."

Ranger tapped Cal on the shoulder, "I'm sorry to cut in. They need Steph and me at the main table. It's time for the toasts."

"Ah," I nodded and put my hand in Ranger's outstretched one. "Thank you for the dance and the lovely words Cal."

"Anytime sweetheart," he winked and walked away to find Natalie.

"I can't leave you alone for a second," Ranger whispered with a smile.

"Me…you were doing the salsa with my mother," I raised a brow.

"I had permission."

"From whom," I asked.

"Your father," he grinned.

"Of course," I nodded. "I also had permission from my father."

"Touché," he laughed. We approached the table about the time the music stopped and Jean Luc got to his feet tapping a spoon carefully on his champagne glass.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for being here. We're lucky. We had the opportunity last night to rehearse our speeches. So bear with us if you've heard our words before, we're obviously going to regurgitate many of the same ones," he grinned and the crowd laughed. "Thank you for taking time from your busy lives to be part of Pierre…I mean Tank and Lula's wedding. It may take some time to get used to calling him that, but it fits, so I will work on it. I'll be honest with you, Felicia and I never thought this day would come. We decided that first Tank was married to the military and then to his job. It's been a blessing to find out that he wants more in life." He turned to the bridal couple, "our darling children. We know we haven't lost a son. We have gained a beautiful, sassy and saucy daughter-in-law who wants to share her life with our son and in the most traditional way." He paused and wiped away his tears, "Felicia and I couldn't be happier with your choice son. Lula is truly our daughter." He turned back to the guests, "I have got to thank two people who made this possible and I'm going to thank them again tonight even though I thanked them last night. It appears that we have our certified cupids on board the ship and onboard our lives. We have to thank Stephanie and Ranger for bringing these two together. I don't know what would have happened without them. I have a feeling that we wouldn't be here today. They are our very own cupids." There was some applause and laughter after that. He smiled, "and now…it's Ranger's turn to speak."

The audience applauded as Ranger made his way to the stage.

"Cupid huh," he raised a brow at Jean Luc inciting more laughter from the audience and from Jean Luc and maybe especially from me. He turned to our friends. "I met Tank about fifteen years ago. He was someone who stood out in the first second, you know what I mean. He's not easy to ignore and not just because he's the size of a small building," he grinned and everyone laughed. "Tank is one of the best people I know. He's loyal, honest, faithful, and dependable, he's a good listener, and he will stay by your side even when he knows you're not making the right choice or…being stupid. Oh, he'll tell you," he laughed and the crowd laughed again with him, "but he'll be there for you sharing a beer while you're miserable. I once thought he'd never get married. I had a couple of reasons for believing that. The main one is that he didn't get close to women and he didn't allow them to be close to him. They wanted to be close to him, but he avoided it. I realize now that he was just waiting for the right woman to come along. She had to be exceptional. She had to be extraordinary. She had to be…Lula," he raised his glass to her. "To my friends Tank and Lula…I know you'll share a long and happy life together. I know…just as you know. Salute," he said and drank from his glass. "Stephanie," he said helping me to my feet.

"Yea, it's a good thing we got to practice this last night or I'd really be a mess today. The thing about it is that even through the rehearsal last night, this still wasn't real. It was pretty talk and pretty dresses and a long mostly pretty cruise," I smiled and they laughed. "But things changed so quickly today when I saw Lula waiting on Leroy's arm in her beautiful dress and I had to fight to keep from crying and ruining my makeup. Lula…you're a beautiful bride. Every bride that's ever been married wanted to be you today. You were radiant and it was so clear on your face and in your every gesture that you were in love and ready to commit to a man you will love for the rest of your life. It was awe inspiring. It was staggering. Then, as I listened to Reverend Burns and watched Tank and Lula's faces, I knew it was real. I knew they were forever." I paused as the titters of agreement circled the room. "Four years ago, my life changed. Four years ago a lot of truly amazing people came into my life. Among those people were Tank and Lula and I'll be honest with you, if you'd told me we'd be here today I'd have laughed myself silly." The new crowd laughed with me even louder than the crowd the night before, "but today my friends…my dear friends Lula and Tank promised their lives to each other. They're promising to love one another forever. They're promising to put their faith in God and in each other. The truth is they'd already made that promise. This wedding is only a formality. To Tank and to Lula, thank you for setting the example of love I'd like to emulate." I raised my glass to them and sat down amid the cheers. Natalie waited till I met her eyes and tipped her glass to me.

Tank got to his feet taking Lula with him, "Damn we have good friends," he said and kissed Lula's hand while he fought to control his emotions. He paused, "my life isn't normal. Lula's life isn't normal. When you live an abnormal life, you need friends who are…different. My friends…our friends are different. They live by their own rules and codes and they have such a strong sense of what is right and wrong and sometimes they get lost in it. But one thing they are eternally and intently sure of is their friends and their loyalties to those friends. They are there day or night. They are there when you're screaming with hysteria," he grinned at Lula and the crowd laughed, "or when you're terrified and sweating." He grinned at me. "They're there. They don't give us a hard time. They just listen and help. They don't accuse. They don't let it deter them from being there for us. They're just there. They save our lives in so many ways. And they don't always have to solve a murder to do it…but it usually works out that way," he raised his glass to Ranger and I.

"I knew the moment I met Lula that she was going to be an important part of my life. I knew it. I could feel it in my toes. It was a tingle on the back of my neck that was there when she first entered a room."

I blinked and my eyes filled with tears.

"Later it was the feeling of security and warmth I always felt when she was there. It's as though I found the other piece of me and in finding it I found that I wanted things I had no idea were even a possibility for me. She is my life." He smiled and bent to kiss her.

I had been fine up until then, and now I was struggling. Now it was hard. Because now I knew that Ranger was the other part of me. I suppose I'd always known it, but now I couldn't escape it. It was real.

"We would like to thank all of you for coming here and helping us to celebrate this traditional wedding. We're pledged to each other for eternity now, because what God has joined together…no man will put asunder." He raised his glass, "salute."

"Salute," I agreed and raised my glass with a shaky hand.

Ranger caught my hand with a sigh and kissed my fingers. I know he was trying to reassure me, but it didn't reassure me. It made me feel like I needed to run screaming from the party and in some ways from my life. Brian's trip to Australia made even more sense to me than ever before. I wondered if he'd like a travel companion. I wondered how long it would take to get a ticket. I wondered if I could fly out of Grand Cayman.

"Girl…will you come help me change," Lula waved at me till she caught my attention.

"Excuse me," I said with a slight smile and followed Lula to the room they had reserved at the hotel.

"You gonna tell me what's going on," she asked turning her back so I could remove the pins from her veil.

"What do you mean?"

"Something happened between you and Ranger," she said seriously. "I can see it. You look even more wistful than usual."

"Nothing Lula," I said softly. "You know…it's your wedding. We're happy for you. We're just…I'm just feeling it."

She turned as soon as I lifted the veil from her head. "There's something else. Why won't you tell me?"

"Because," I took her face in my hands with a smile. "This is your happy day and nothing and I do mean nothing is going to mar it. I love you. This is going to be the day you remember for the rest of your life. So…just put it down to my sad and lovesick heart. Can you do that?"

She sighed, "Yes, I can do that. But we're going to have a long talk when I get back from my honeymoon in Paris," she sang the last word with glee.

"Well Mrs. Thibodaux, are you happy," I grinned at her.

"I'm beyond happy," she turned her back again so I could unzip her. "When I was working on Stark Street and thinking that my life would never be any better because that was just the way women in my family had to be, I couldn't have imagined even in my wildest dreams that I could find someone like Tank who would love me no matter what. I'm the luckiest girl on the planet."

"You are very fortunate," I agreed. "But Lula…you deserve this happiness."

"Yea…I do," she grinned and hugged me. "Thank you for always being there to remind me."

"You've changed your life. You've changed my life. I honestly believe that you're capable of anything you set your mind to. You're amazing."

"Thanks baby," she laughed. "Now let me get changed so I can get on with my honeymoon."

"You got it," I agreed.

Thirty minutes later I was standing in the drive watching the limousine drive away. Just Married blinked from the neon lights in the back window and Tank's massive hand was up out of the sunroof waving us goodbye. And just that quickly, it was over. Months of hysterical planning, crying, complaining and intense (right?!) dieting were finally over.

I went to help Felicia and Odetta gather Lula's wedding dress and other things from the preparation room. Felicia was taking her dress back to New Orleans with her to be professionally cleaned and preserved. The two women were chattering like magpies when I arrived and insisted that they could handle it themselves. I had, they said kissing me one on each cheek, done more than my share already.

I wandered downstairs to see that almost everyone was gone. The shuttles were heading back to the airport. The hotel's cleaning people were busy clearing the mess we'd made. I stood staring at the remnants of the wedding and thought about how much less there had probably been of my own wedding. There probably hadn't been anything to clean up. At least there hadn't been anything more than any other night at the bar.

I wandered down to the beach and stood there listening to the ocean and watching the white crested waves shatter over the beach and I heard my vows in my head. I remembered that I'd promised to love him forever. I remembered he'd promised me the same. I remembered laughter and being surprised by the ring. I reached into my bra and pulled out the gold band and sighed. This was my life? This was how much I'd matured and changed. I had news for my father. I hadn't grown up that much. I didn't even get a cake. I like cake. No, I love cake.

That was really the last straw. I dropped down on the sand on my butt and put my arms around my legs and put my head down and just bawled. I didn't get a happy ever after. I didn't even get cake. And my new Cabin Steward probably didn't know enough to make sure I had pie. This just renewed my tears.

I felt him in the tingle on the back of my neck first and shoved the ring into my bra again. He sank down beside me and stared straight ahead. "Steph…we…there's no hurry to do anything about this."

"About this," I sniffed.

"You know…you and me," he swallowed. "Our marriage…there isn't any hurry to dissolve it."

I sighed, "Whatever you want Ranger."

"Yea…whatever I want," he said and tugged me against him. We sat there for a long time just listening to the surf and the birds. There were distant sounds of a party and laughter and occasionally music. We stayed there for a long time. Then he got up and pulled me to my feet and we walked back to the hotel and our waiting limousine. There were no more words. I suppose there was no more need for words. Or maybe there was a need, but it wasn't the time or the place. There was always tomorrow.

My parents should have named me Scarlett.