Good evening, everyone. I just wanted to let you know that in the next few days, chapter updates might be a bit less regular than usually. I'll try my hardest to stick to the normal schedule, but Easter is at the doorstep, I have to work and I'm also having visitors from overseas right now. I'm feeling like I've been through the wringer. So, please be patient, I will get them married, just maybe not quite as soon as I hoped.
Chapter 36: Valerian
The wedding day dawned with a bright sun shining down from dark blue skies and happy birds in the trees. Neither of these woke the Inspector. What did wake him, was Phryne's lips. And tongue. And other parts of her that he did not have enough space in his brain to identify at this point in time. He groaned, arching his back and Miss Fisher took her cue to intensify her attentions. The Inspector's fingers dug themselves into the sheets, while he tried to hold on and remember that they were surrounded by a house full of family members who given the current situation, might get the wrong idea if he was to scream.
"Phryne," he panted, hoping to calm her and almost lost his mind a second later when she responded with exactly the opposite reaction. Lust flooded his brain, drowning out any coherent thought. He gave in; let her do whatever she wished to him and Phryne took the opportunity to torture him with an ebb and flow of teasing, until every single one of his muscles trembled with unreleased tension. When with a last gentle nudge, she pushed him over the edge, Jack feared he would lose conciousness for the second time in less than 24 hours. He resurfaced breathlessly from the white explosion in front of his eyes, feeling her arms wrap around him, catching him. It took some time, till he felt able to utter words again.
"Thank you, that was quite a start into the day," he finally whispered, still giddy and light headed.
"I thought I might take some precautions against the common occurrence of cold feet by drawing your focus to other parts of your body," Miss Fisher responded with a self satisfied grin.
Jack managed to pry his eyes open to look at his lover – his bride, then reached out his thumb to draw a line along her cheekbone.
"My feet are decidedly warm, Miss Fisher."
"Glad to hear it, Inspector. But I do fear that we need to head down for breakfast or we will run late on Aunt P.'s precisely crafted schedule."
Grumbling, Jack peeled himself out of bed and managed to slip into pants and a shirt, before a knock on the door interrupted their morning ritual. Phryne flicked down her skirt from where she had been fastening a stocking and called out for the person to enter. Jack found himself rather relieved when it turned out to be Jane rather than someone who expected him to be fully dressed.
To his surprise, she stood near the door, looking rather shy and he was starting to worry if his state of half dress did bother her after all, when she pulled something from her pocket.
"I wanted to give you my wedding present first, before all the other ones start piling up," she said with glowing cheeks. Jack stepped beside his bride, who inspected the small piece of jewellery in her daughter's hand. Phryne's excitement turned into worry, when she looked at the golden band between Jane's fingers.
"Is that...?" she swallowed, "Jane... I don't know..."
Searching for help she looked at Jack, who to her astonishment appeared not only speechless but also close to tears.
"I do know," her daughter smiled, locking her eyes with the Inspector's.
Jack extended his hand, let his daughter lay the simple gold band onto his palm, staring at it in breathless silence.
"Hazel helped me make it," Jane said proudly. "And Uncle Walter gave me some gold for it; it's from the family mine."
The Inspector looked up at her with tears glittering in his eyes and she smiled in return.
"It's amazing," he managed to croak out. Phryne still stared at the scene gobsmacked.
"You really haven't told her, have you?" Jane finally laughed at the two decidedly quiet adults. "I thought you were lying when you said it was a secret."
She turned to Phryne.
"Jack told me that he really wanted a ring on his finger when you got married, but he felt silly to demand one after you had already gotten his mother's."
Miss Fisher smiled, then opened a drawer and pulled out the small box that held her own ring, laying it gently beside Jack's. They looked as if they had been made for each other.
"It's perfect, Jane," she finally said, teary-eyed herself. "It's the most wonderful gift."
She embraced her daughter tightly.
"Jack?" she whispered towards her groom.
The Inspector seemed to wake up from a dream, finally tearing his eyes from the two rings in his hand. He cleared his throat.
"You know, Jane, I am at a loss to say which one is more precious," he stated quietly, closing his fingers over the pair. "But I do know that you are an amazing girl and I am excessively proud to have a daughter like you."
Phryne spotted tears forming in the girl's eyes too now and decided that it was time to end the sentimentalities, before they incurred the wrath of Aunt P.
"We better get ready," she reminded them.
"True," Jack said, battling with himself. Was it too early? Too much? Then he threw caution to the wind and hugged his daughter tightly to himself, whispering a heartfelt "Thank you!" to her ear that even Phryne couldn't hear. Miss Fisher had to turn away lest she would ruin her freshly applied Make-up by crying.
"You're welcome," Jane whispered back. "And I am sorry that I spilled the beans. I'm usually better at keeping quiet."
"Don't worry, I'll just never tell you a secret again," Jack teased, winking at his daughter. His sweaty hand was still tightly wrapped around two golden bands that were tying three generations of his family together.
X
Loud laughter greeted the bride and groom when they entered the sunroom where breakfast was set. Nobody had bothered to wait on them today. Neither Jack nor Phryne were bothered by this. They would draw enough attention on themselves later in the day. While the lady detective headed to her chair with a cheerful morning greeting, Jack made a detour towards his cousins.
"Thank you," he whispered into Hazel's ear, pressing a kiss to her blushing cheek.
"You aren't turning into the next Casanova, are you, Jack?" Olivia exclaimed. "Now that Sam seems to have finally found some sense in that pretty head of his."
She reached out to ruffle the golden hair of her nephew and the young man looked for the millionths time like he wanted to run for the hills. Yet, there was also a silly grin glued to his face, that was more telling than anyone was willing to explain to him.
"I have no intentions of the kind, Aunt Olivia," Jack smiled, patting Iris's shoulder before he retreated. She had paid a visit yesterday to his sickbed, mostly scolding him for giving her another heart attack before hugging him so tight, that he had to remind her that he had been already suffocated once that day.
"In fact, I am quite determined to end any form of immoral behaviour once and for all," he quipped, slipping down in his chair. "At least outside of our bedrooms," he whispered into Phryne's ear for nobody else to hear.
"How about the dining table? Oh and the rooftop? I also did have some thoughts about the Hispano..." Phryne whispered back, trailing off smiling, when a faint blush started to spread over her Inspector's neckline. The Inspector grinned at her, tilting his head. He was not really opposed to immoral behaviour in the Hispano either. Even though they would probably get caught.
He didn't go further down this track of thought, when he looked up and spotted a new occupant in the chair across the table from him. Miss Rucci smiled shyly at her nephew.
"Welcome to the family, Aunt Sophie," Jack said. "I do apologize in advance for them."
His Aunt nodded.
"I'm very sorry, I lied to you. I didn't realise at first..." she trailed off.
"Oh don't worry yourself," Phryne exclaimed, toasting her with her orange juice. "Everybody fibs sometimes, don't they, Jack?"
The Inspector grinned, locking their eyes.
"You would know, Miss Fisher."
"And yet, you still want to marry me, Inspector?"
"Not even an insane killer could stop me."
"Speaking of which," Uncle Walter boomed from the head of the table, causing them to remember the rest of the table. "I would like to propose a toast to the people, who not only caught the murderers in Wombat Hall, but also made sure that we can celebrate a wedding today instead of a wake."
An elbow to the ribs told him that Esmeralda felt his little speech lacked a certain amount of tact. Her husband chose to ignore her, continuing grinning broadly.
"To Jane, Phryne and, I can't believe I say this, you John. I hope you gave Barton a good thrashing before Otterson locked him up."
John Robinson cleared his throat with glowing ears.
"I merely did what was necessary to overwhelm a dangerous criminal, Walter," he stated calmly locking his glittering eyes with Phryne.
"And then you gave him a good thrashing?" Rupert called in, causing laughter around the table.
"What is a thrashing?" Lizzy's voice sounded, before her mother threw Walter a menacing look the held no real sincerity and explained to her daughter the details of combat.
Neither Miss Fisher nor John said a word, but their eyes did a lot of talking. Jack watched the silent conversation between his father and his bride with some astonishment. He didn't know exactly what had happened while he had been out cold, but Phryne had insisted that John had saved him rather than herself, while John had tried to convince him of the opposite. It was of little consequence to the Inspector. The fact alone that his father had cared enough to abandon his freshly found sister and followed Phryne through the forest on a vague idea that he and Jane might be in danger, caused his stomach to flutter.
A sharp clearing of throat ripped him from his thoughts.
"The hair stylist is due to arrive in ten minutes Phryne, you had better finish your breakfast," Aunt P. explained in a firm voice.
"Aye, aye ma'am."
Her niece grinned and gave a mock salute, while she pressed her groom's hand under the table. She didn't have time to tell him that she was starting to feel giddy with excitement. Her hair stylist was due in 10 minutes after all.
X
It took the stylist an hour to give up trying to form Phryne's stubborn hair into anything but a bob. Miss Fisher felt almost sorry for her but was nevertheless glad, when she left to let Dot enter with the dress.
"Madame Fleuri is an artist," Phryne exclaimed, looking at the cream coloured folds of silk.
"It is wonderful, Miss," Dot blushed. "Even the cabbie's think so. I believe Cec was holding it on his lap the whole way up here, so it wouldn't crease or stain or get lost.
"Dear Cec," Phryne smiled, "I'm feeling a little guilty that I have had hardly time to welcome them yet."
"I don't believe anyone blames you, Miss. Your groom did almost get murdered the day before the wedding."
Dot slapped a hand in front of her mouth and blushed for good measure.
"Sorry."
Jane, who was draped over the bed and had been reading till a moment ago, laughed.
"There is no need to apologise for the truth, Dot," Phryne stated smiling, holding the dress in front of herself, while she was sized up by the curious eyes of her daughter. "Luckily it stayed at 'almost'."
"I still don't understand, how Miss Spencer could shoot her own sister," Dot said, chewing on her lip. "I couldn't even raise a weapon at Nell, and she drives me mad more often than not."
Miss Fisher stayed quiet for a while, thinking of Janey. She was at a loss as to how Madelyn Spencer could so callously throw away such a precious gift that had been taken from herself way too early.
"I don't know, Dot. Maybe sibling rivalry, mixed with misguided love and greed."
"I think she was just being incredibly stupid," Jane cut into their conversation. Both women turned to watch her slam her book shut. "If you have family and they love you, it is pretty daft to kill them," the girl smiled, climbing off the bed. "And that is a beautiful dress. You should put it on if you intend to get married today."
Phryne glanced at the clock and realised that her daughter was right. They were running behind Aunt P's schedule yet again. While her maid helped her to get out of her blouse, she listened to her racing heartbeat. Suddenly she felt she had an inkling as to how Dot had felt, when she had almost cancelled the wedding in the pure rush of adrenaline. Luckily, there was still no doubt on Miss Fisher's mind that she did want to marry her Inspector. Hopefully, his feet would stay 'decidedly warm' as well.
X
Jack's feet were warm. Almost hot in fact. But his fingers were shaking, when he tried to fasten his cuff links. His brother sighed, reaching out to give him a hand.
"You haven't changed at all," he laughed, ignoring the fact that it was probably inappropriate to remind a groom of his last wedding. Jack smiled at him.
"Actually, I have. Quite a lot, I believe."
Will looked at him, raising his eyebrows. Then nodded.
"You wouldn't have dared take on a woman like Phryne Fisher twenty years ago," he smirked and barely escaped a harsh slap against his shoulder.
"But honestly Jack," he said casually, while straightening his brother's collar, glancing curiously at the bruises showing on his skin, before buttoning it up. "I think you have made a good choice this time. Rosie was nice enough, but I somehow can not see her chase through a forest on heels."
"Probably not."
The brother's grinned, then Jack looked into the mirror, going serious, before he grasped for his bowtie. He hesitated a moment too long for Will not to notice, before slipping it over his collar. The realisation that his brother was not made of stone, somewhat relieved Will Robinson.
"Phryne is quite something," Jack finally smiled, finishing to tie the black piece around his neck.
"Does it hurt?" Will asked, when he watched his brother flinch.
"No, it's fine," Jack lied.
Will grinned, helping him into his waistcoat.
"Does Miss Fisher know what a terrible liar you are?" he asked nonchalantly.
"She reminds me frequently. I believe it might be one of the things that attracted her to me."
Jack looked into the mirror once more. He looked presentable, even though the collar couldn't completely hide his nasty bruises. A knock sounded. Mr. Butler entered smiling.
"Your dinner jacket, Sir."
"Thank you, Mr. Butler."
Jack tried to draw some calming breaths into his lungs, moving his shoulders to get the shirt into a comfortable position. It was getting serious! In two hours he would be a married man again. In the eyes of the whole world, not just some misguided parts of the church. He felt adrenaline rush through his body, causing his stomach to leap.
Will and Mr. Butler shared a knowing look behind his back.
"You will be perfectly fine, Sir," the servant smiled, helping his Master into the jacket.
"Just keep breathing, Jack," Will grinned while he slipped the rings into his pocket.
Jack Robinson wanted to protest. Wanted to tell them, that he was fine and also breathing, thank you very much. But when he opened his mouth, nothing would come out. His heart was pounding too hard and too fast. So instead he took their advice and hoped to God that his voice would return in time to utter his vows in front of the world.
X
"You look amazing," Hazel said, without turning around, as she applied her lipstick. Mac found herself somewhat relieved. She had been pondering long and hard if a special occasion like Miss Fisher getting married, called for a dress even in the most masculine of female friends, but had in the end come to the conclusion that she didn't want to deny her personality, even for that.
Hazel's eyes, now staring at her reflection in the mirror, gleamed in approval and the Doctor released a breath she had forgotten, she had been holding. Her lover smiled, as if she had read her thoughts, and turned, causing the soft layers of her dress to twirl around her.
"We will make for a handsome couple today," she beamed, grasping Mac by the lapels of her dinner jacket. The Doctor swallowed.
"You are aware that your whole family is going to be around to judge us?" she reminded her enthusiastic lover. Hazel smiled, without leaning up for a kiss.
"Maybe Jane is right. Why are we hiding?"
Mac was going to point out a whole bunch of reasons, but was rendered speechless by her lover stretching up to kiss her. Instead of protesting, her arms pulled the other woman closer. God, she really wished, she could tell the world about this feeling that had her heart flutter in her chest like a trapped butterfly. The sharp clearing of a throat ripped the lovers from their own world. Mac turned to look at Olivia Morgan – staring at her like she had just caught her with a dirty hand stuck in the cookie jar. There seemed to be icicles growing on the older woman's voice, when she asked: "I assume there is a perfectly sensible explanation for this?"