Their delicious dinners finished, the entire wedding party had joined many of the other diners on the dance floor and were vastly enjoying themselves whirling about to the extensive repertoire of the black suit clad quartet playing in the far corner.

Everyone, except Seth, that is.

All the fellows in the dad-blamed place want to dance with her, Seth half-grumbled to himself as he resignedly allowed another neighbor to cut in and traipse off with Jessica. I guess that's the price a man has to pay for marrying a famous and beautiful woman, he thought as he stepped back to their table. Oh well, I have a lifetime to get used to it, he mused as a smile stole across his face at that pleasant thought.

After the tune ended Jessica was heading in Seth's direction when yet another gentleman intercepted her and requested the honor of her hand, much to Seth's chagrin.

Seth finally got Jessica back into his arms on the dance floor just as the band struck up "It's Magic." Sighing along with the first line as they settled in close for a slow dance Seth murmured into Jessica's ear, "Well hello stranger, nice to see you again!"

"Seth!" Jessica giggled. "We've only been apart for a few dances."

"It just seems longer when all I want to do is hold you in my arms tonight."

"Oh my, is that all you want to do tonight?" whispered Jessica suggestively into Seth's ear as they swayed along.

Seth nearly stumbled. Regaining his step to the music he retorted, "Teasing me, are you? Hmmmm, yes, I'm sure I can think of a few other things for us to do tonight."

"Mmmm, I can't wait. Why don't you lead us over to Adele and Mort so we can say our farewells and then slip out of here," suggested Jessica. "We'll see everyone else tomorrow on the plane."

"Woman, I love the way you think. And I love you too," Seth replied as he gently kissed her.

"Dong!" clanged the old bell as a large portion of the patrons tipsily took another drink. Fortunately, it was the last of the night for the impromptu drinking game as Jessica and Seth said good-bye to Helene, who was on the dance floor with Jonathan, and then sidled over to the sheriff and his wife and gave their thanks and adieus to their good friends.

Even more fortuitously, most of the patrons were able to walk home and the few who were too well pickled to drive easily found a cab. Everyone got home safely that night.

After speaking with Adele and Mort for a few moments, Jessica and Seth slipped out to the parking lot and found the Cutless Cruiser backed neatly up against the restaurant's wall.

Which meant that neither of them could see the large "FINALLY MARRIED" sign written in reflective paint attached to the back of the station wagon as they prepared to drive home through the small streets of Cabot Cove in the dark evening.

Holding the door for Jessica to get in Seth noted, "It was right nice of Mort to drive my car to the restaurant and park it so we could leave whenever we wanted."

"They've been so sweet to help us make this happen, Seth. We should get them some token of our appreciation. Perhaps we can pick up something on our honeymoon?"

"Fishing for information without a hook on where we're going, Jess?"

"Well, at least I have good bait, not like you claimed that one time."

"Not quite good enough, Sherlock Hazlitt. You'll have to do better than that!" he chuckled.

Shortly, Seth pulled the Cruiser in front of the house and, opening Jessica's door, offered his hand to help her out. She smiled at him as she slipped her arm in his and they walked around the back. Once they reached the garden they stopping alongside the roses to look up in awe at the Milky Way, twinkling and glistening across the sky in the lovely, clear dark night.

After a few minutes Jessica unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the dampness of the cooling night air.

"My dear, are you cold? Would you like to go in?"

"Oh no, not just yet. The stars look so lovely just sparkling away up there in the heavens," Jessica said, transfixed. "Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?"

Draping his tuxedo jacket over her shoulders from behind and then slipping his arms around her midriff, Seth gazed lovingly at her and softly countered, "Oh yes, I certainly have. In fact, it's only the second most beautiful thing I've seen tonight."

"You're so sweet," Jessica turned and gave him a gentle kiss. "You know, we never did get to finish our last dance…"

"Your wish is my command, my lady," Seth responded as he bowed over Jessica's hand and took her into his arms.

"My, how gallant! It must be the tuxedo," kidded Jessica.

Seth stepped in closer to her and they began moving together in a slow dance. "I think it's all this magic in the air tonight," he claimed as he started to sing the old romantic ballad "It's Magic" quietly in his gravelly voice.

Seth's efforts to serenade her touched Jessica to her very heart and she joined him in the last verse; singing a duet about knowing that the magic was their love for each other.

They danced, arms encircling each other and bodies held closely together, with the stars shining gently down upon them and the sweet scent of the first roses of summer filling the air. All track of time was lost as Seth continued humming the song in his low, rough timbre. Eventually, that ended and they continued dancing to just the beat of their hearts.

A faint sound of ethereal crackling drew Jessica's attention and she opened her eyes and gasped, "Seth, look! It's the Northern Lights!" Seth turned and looked up. An "Ooooh!" escaped his lips in wonder.

To the north curtains of shimmering pale green, blue, and red hung high in the sky. When they wavered a bit an other-worldly crackle could be heard.

The newlyweds stood there, eyes to the heavens and arms around each other's waists for uncounted minutes until the call of a distant night bird brought them out of their rapture.

After tearing her gaze from the now fading aurora Jessica released a languid sigh and, turning to Seth, whispered into her husband's ear, "Seth darling, let's go upstairs… and make love."

Seth smiled into Jessica's eyes, "What an absolutely wonderful idea."

Reluctantly releasing his embrace of her, Seth took Jessica's hand in his and they walked into the kitchen, through the living room, up the staircase, and into the bedroom.

Once inside Jessica draped the borrowed jacket over a chair and, stepping close to Seth, put her hands on the white pleats of his dress shirt. "As handsome as you look in that tuxedo, there's one thing I've just been dying to do all night." She smiled enigmatically as Seth tilted his head slight to the left and asked, "What's that, Jess?"

"This," she softly said as she moved in even closer, reached up, pinched the ends of Seth's bow tie, and began pulling them apart ever so slowly.

Seth inhaled sharply as Jessica continued to take her time disassembling the bow. The scent of her perfume and her nearness starting to shift his senses into overdrive. He brought his hands to her waist and held them there as his heart began to race.

The bow eventually became completely undone, (and Seth was well on his way, too), when Jessica released the ribbon's end in her left hand and began to, even more slowly, slip the silken black cloth from around Seth's collar just from the right side.

"Woman," Seth growled from somewhere deep inside, "you're going to drive me mad doing that!"

"Who, me?" Jessica giggled innocently, finally gathering all of the tie in her hands, folding it neatly and, leaning against Seth, slipping it into his pocket.

Two can play this game, Seth thought with a wicked smile that made Jessica's eyes open wide with a bit of merry apprehension.

"Thank you dearest, for helping me start to get undressed. Allow me to do the same for you," Seth offered as he slid his hands up Jessica's back in a tantalizing manner and released the clasp above the zipper on the back of her dress.

Seth leaned in to just below Jessica's right ear and began a concomitant line of insistent kisses as he incrementally lowered the zipper on Jessica's dress. When he got to the pulse point at the curve where the neck meets the shoulder he sucked gently on the tender flesh.

Jessica gasped and shivered in Seth's arms. Ahh, it really comes in handy being a doctor and knowing where all of these pulse points are on the body, pondered Seth through the gathering haze fogging his brain.

In a wonderfully merciless fashion he continued along the top of Jessica's shoulder as her dress loosened and he nosed it out of the way, all the while tickling his fingertips ever so lightly down her spine as he lowered the zipper all of the way down to her lower back.

"Sethhh!" Jessica half moaned as she squirmed to bring his face up to hers. Touching his left cheek with tender fingers and gazing insistently into his eyes, she breathed, "I love you so," as she drew him close and pressed her lips urgently against his.

Seth responded by exploring and teasing her mouth with his and deepening the passionate kiss while tightening his arms and pulling her even closer against his body.

When the kiss broke they remained in a loose embrace and Seth breathlessly chided Jessica, "See what playing with me gets you?"

"Mmmmm yes," she said with satisfaction, trying to control her ragged respirations. "I suppose love could be thought of as play."

"A-yuh, of the very best kind."

"And we do play very well together," Jessica responded, leaning in past Seth's right cheek. "Like chess," she said just before suckling on Seth's earlobe.

Seth groaned softly.

Moving to the other side Jessica brushed past his left cheek. "And fishing," she whispered, as she took the dangling lobe between her lips and gave it a gentle tug.

Seth moaned.

"Woman, as far as fishing being play, it's mostly the fish that play me," he chuckled; his hands caressing her sides as his heart galloped along in response to Jessica's continued teasing. "Besides, I'm not interested in our finned friends or playing with rooks and knights right now. I just want to play with you…"

"I'm all yours!" ardently exclaimed Jessica, as her nerve endings began to spark with anticipation and her mouth found Seth's again.

Eager hands quickly dispatched with their now unwanted garments and words were forsaken for soft moans, deep sighs, gasps of delight, and utterances of pleasure as they both joyfully gave in to love's desires and passion's needs.

Jessica felt long dormant sensations fire back to life and wondered at how right it felt to be held, kissed, touched, and loved by a man again.

By Seth, my husband! I just don't remember why I've denied myself such bliss until now, pondered Jessica to herself.

As he held Jessica snugly against his body, (My wife! he thought), Seth realized that he had everything he had wanted for years, literally in his hands.

Looking down, and gazing deeply into the blue windows of her soul he whispered, "I love you Jess, more than my very life," just before his mouth, and his body, claimed her as his own.

And so they continued love's play. Teasing, tasting, tickling, exploring, and caressing each other's skin. Giving and taking pleasure until each other's names were called out in the sweet ecstasy of uniting their souls and bodies.

The sacred joy of becoming one in love.

Later, after passion's demands had been met and air had been gulped into starved lungs, they lay spent, with legs entwined, slowing heartbeats felt through moist skin, and arms gathering possessively that which was most cherished - each other.

A sense of completeness overtook them. They kissed a murmured "good-night" and shortly afterward the new lovers gave in to slumber, only to continue the night in each other's dreams.