Part 50

The courthouse was simple. Their big family squeezed into the court chairs and Johnny stood up by his dad with Porsha and Nooshy.

Suki wore a simple, knee-length white dress with a flattering scoop neckline and a princess-cut bodice enhanced with floral lace applique, a shiny brooch over the waist and a voluminous skirt lined with satin. In her hands, she held a small bouquet of yellow and white carnations.

Marcus wore a blue suit with a yellow carnation pinned at the lapel. He held Suki's small hands within his large ones. "I, Marcus Green, take you, Suki Lane, to be my lawfully wedded wife; to love and to cherish, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as we both shall live."

Suki smiled up at him. "I, Suki Lane, take you, Marcus Green to be my lawfully wedded husband; to love and to cherish, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for as long as we both shall live."

The ring was a simple one. Just a silver band that joined her simple engagement ring on her left ring finger. "With this ring, I, thee wed."

A matching silver ring went around his thick, sausage-like digit and she repeated, "With this ring, I, thee wed."

The presiding judge, an orange-and-white tomcat smiled at them. "In as much as Suki and Marcus have consented together in wedlock and have witnessed the same before this company and pledged their vows to each other, by the authority vested in me by the State of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife." He looked at Marcus. "You may kiss your wife."

Everyone clapped as Marcus and Suki shared their first kiss as husband and wife.

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At the theater, a small lunch was served with the cake Meena baked as the centerpiece. Suki admired the confection. "Meena, it's beautiful. Thank you."

"It was my pleasure. Alphie did the decorating," Meena smiled at her husband. She grabbed a hunk of the cheesy lasagna that her mother brought.

They all got a plate of food and sat around in a circle while Eddie dug out his notebook. "Gunter and I wrote up the script for our next season." He handed Rosita the notebook.

She read through it. "Oh this is good! Don't focus on the past or you'll miss the future. I love that line."

"Meena is still the lead, Mal. Alphonso, we thought you might play Prince Benjamin," Eddie explained as Rosita passed him the notebook. "He's very innocent and believes in seeing the best in everyone, even the kids of the kingdom's worst villains. Mal is the daughter of Maleficent, the evil fairy who cursed Sleeping Beauty."

They took turns reading the notebook. Porsha smiled. "Hey, I got one of the leading roles too! Cool. Evie?"

"Daughter of the Evil Queen who poisoned Snow White. She's very hooked on her appearance but she's a lot smarter than she let you think." he clarified. "Johnny, you're Jay, son of the evil sorcerer from Aladdin. He is handsome, punkish, and mischievous. Being athletic, Jay provides the "brawn" when he and his friends are invited to Auradon Prep. He is a thief, a con man, a handsome, quick-witted boy with charm to spare, whose lies are as beautiful and silvery as his eyes.. And Ryan, you're Carlos, son of Cruella DeVil. Clay, I thought you might like to be the King. And Mrs. Calloway, you could be Queen Belle."

Sitara cooed. "You want me to have a part? That's so sweet. I can certainly help out, but you don't want me to sing. My daughter got her voice from her father, not me." She laughed.

"Well, this does sound like a very exciting show," Linda said while she got some of the tossed salad. "I wish I could cover it."

"You should!" Suki told her. "You totally should."

Eddie looked up when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID. "It's them?" He looked at Rosita and Norman.

"If you want to ignore the call, you can. Or if you want, we can take the call for you," she offered.

He shook his head. "What if it's important?" He answered the phone. "Hello, Mr. Noodleman."

"Edmond, I'm still your father. You can call me 'dad.' Your mother and I have been doing some thinking," he said. "We were wrong and the way we treated you was wrong. We miss you, son."

Eddie kicked at the floor. "Really? I… I guess I miss you too, Dad…"

"Look, can we… We'd like to have you for dinner. Your mother misses you. And we have a friend for you to meet," he told him.

Eddie groaned. "Dad, please, I don't need you and Mom to set me up with any more girls."

"His name is Philip. He's a ram and the Duke of Canterbury in England," his father explained. " He enjoys video games and the theater. And he's very interested in you."

The sheep was shocked. "Um… well…" If his parents were actually thinking about their recommendations this time, maybe he should at least give them a chance. He saw Rosita standing nearby. "They miss me and want to have dinner… and introduce me to some duke."

Rosita nodded. "How about they come over tonight for dinner with us." If he wanted to mend their relationship, he had the right. "Tell them I've got a pot roast in the slowcooker.

"Thanks. Okay, Dad… Mama Rosita says you three can come to dinner tonight. She's making pot roast tonight," Eddie invited him. "We eat at 6."

His father sighed. "6pm, we'll be there. See you tonight, son."

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After disconnecting, he looked at his wife. "And you're sure about this? He's our son." He challenged her. "I hate our situation too but he's our son."

The black sheep nodded resolutely. "He's a disgrace. He's a traitor to our family and he's the reason we're in this disgusting apartment instead of in our beautiful home." She looked away from him. "We don't have a choice. But don't worry. No one will have any idea that we're behind it. That part is crucial."

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Eddie and Rosita returned to the party. "Sorry about that guys. That was my dad." He explained the phone call. "They want to introduce me to a duke."

Everyone rolled their eyes but Rosita saw Gunter's eyes become somewhat alarmed. "What? But what about the restraining order?" He asked.

"They apologized and if they're actually considering my tastes, I should at least give them a chance. Right?" He asked Rosita.

She nodded. "They're going to join us for dinner. We won't let them be alone with you for a moment." She promised. "Nana, you're welcome to join us."

Eddie looked at Nana. "Please?" If he was going to do this, he wanted all of his dragons there.

Nana nodded. "So, my son and daughter-in-law met a duke…. Yes, I think I can make it. Expect Jerry as well."

"Und me!" Gunter announced. "I'll be there." A duke? Really? How could he compete with a duke? But he also didn't trust the Noodleheads as far as he could throw them. He wanted to help protect Eddie if it came down to it.

Rosita smiled. "Of course, Gunter. You are always welcome to join us." She sat back down.

Darius was reading the script. "Whoa! You got me playing a nerd!?" He asked.

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Later that evening, Rosita was dishing up twenty-five child-sized plates when the doorbell rang. Eddie sat in the living room with Nana, Jerry and Gunter. The piglets were taking turns competing with Eddie at the racing game.

Norman opened the door. "Please, come in." He gestured for their guests to enter.

"We brought a bottle of Merlot since you said you were serving pot roast," Mr. Frederick offered them the bottle of wine.

Norman read the label. "Chateau Bordeaux, 1921. My goodness!" He whispered. They couldn't afford a bottle like this no matter how long they saved. Not that he'd ever spend 10,000 on a bottle of wine.

He used the electric corkscrew to open the wine and poured a glass for all of the adults. Caspar looked with curiosity at the purple drink. "Is that grape juice?"

Rosita shook her head. "No dear, it's called wine. It's for adults only but it's kind of like grape juice but it's grape juice that has been fermented for a really long time."

Hannah tried out the new word. "Fermented? What is fermented?"

Rosita thought about the answer. "Do you remember helping Mommy bake bread?" She asked her daughter. "Remember the yeast and how it made the dough get really big?"

"Yeast is added to the grape juice," Eddie took over. "And the juice sits for a really long time and becomes wine."

"Well, someone knows his stuff," a handsome, black ram with huge horns announced himself, leaning back and smirking at Eddie. "You must be Edmond."

Eddie gulped as he took in the attractive sheep. "Please, it's just Eddie. And you are?"

"Oh Eddie, dear, this is Philip Pendergast, Duke of Canterbury," Adelaide greeted him. "And don't you have a kiss for your mother?"

Dutifully, Eddie got up and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek, before bowing to the duke. "It's nice to meet you. These are my friends, Gunter and Jerry. My Nana. And Mama Rosita and Papa Norman. And these are my brothers and sisters."

Philip gaped. "A lot of brothers and sisters. It's certainly a pleasure to meet you. Tell me more about yourself…."

While Philip and Eddie started talking amongst themselves, Rosita noticed Gunter watching them. She went over to him. "What's wrong, Gunter?"

He shook his head. "Nothing…" But he didn't look away from them.

"You know, if you like Eddie, you should tell him," she told him. He looked up at her. "Gunter, I can tell you like him." She whispered.

He blushed. "Well, ja, I like him. Eddie is our friend." He looked back down. "I mean, Buster would, like, want us to be protecting him, ja?"

Rosita giggled. "Yes, that is true but Gunter. I've been dancing with you too long. I know you. You used to give Buster those same looks. I don't think anyone else noticed but I did."

The hog blushed even deeper. "Rosita, please. I have no chance anyway. I just don't know if I trust him or the Noodleheads."

She turned back to watch Eddie and Philip. Gunter was a pretty good judge of character so she wondered what she was missing. "Well, it's time to wash up and get settled at the dining table for dinner. Come on kids."

Rosita carefully directed everyone to the appropriate seats, with Eddie next to Gunter and the Duke in between herself and her husband. "So, Philip, you're a duke. That must be exciting."

He waved his hand. "It's rather boring actually, mostly meaningless paperwork. I prefer playing video games, personally. My favorite is Diamonds of Greyfork."

Eddie's eyes lit up. "I love that game!"

"Ja! That game is like, so much fun," Gunter attempted to join in the conversation.

"What level are you at?" Philip asked Eddie, ignoring Gunter.

"Level 62! You?" The polled sheep replied.

Throughout the meal, Philip monopolized a lot of Eddie's time. Norman noticed that the ram seemed to have an awful lot in common with Eddie. And Gunter tried to participate but to no avail.

Finally, Norman spoke up. "So, Eddie, Gunter, tell us more about your ideas for the next show."

"Yes, your parents told me you're an aspiring playwright," Philip interjected.

Eddie nodded. "Well, I'm still just learning and practicing. Gunter and I wrote a musical script last night but… well he's a better writer than I am." He smiled at the hog.

Gunter shook his head. "Eddie, you are too modest. Most of the script was your idea." He reminded Eddie. "And it's your idea to make Rosita the Fairy Godmother."

While they talked, Nana fixed her son with a gaze. "So, do you want to tell me how you managed to meet a duke who just happens to seem like a perfect match?"

Adelaide laughed. "Oh, Mom, we have our ways. You know that."

"Yeah, which is why I'm asking," Nana replied. "Son?"

Frederick took a bite of potato and held up his finger. It was rude to talk with a mouthful of food.

At the end of the meal, Philip sat back. "My gosh, that was amazing. So much better than the meals my chef makes back home."

"Oh, well, I can send them a copy of the recipe, if you'd like," Rosita said. He did seem like a good match for Eddie but she just had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.

He stood up. "You know, I could use a breath of fresh air and a short walk. Eddie, would you like to give me a tour?" He asked.

Eddie nodded. "Sure. We won't be gone long, Mama." He got up and began leading Philip on a tour of the house followed by the grounds, unaware of Gunter following behind.

AN: Early day tomorrow so ending the chapter here. Isn't it serendipitous that Eddie's abusive, hateful parents just happened to find him the perfect match? Yeah, I can't see this going wrong at all. Upcoming: Eddie is seriously hurt again and Gunter comes to his rescue. Warning: non-explicit, implied sexual violence coming up.