The girls thought it was great while the guys thought I’d lost my mind. Sarah only smiled and raised an eyebrow at me. I shrugged and asked, “So when are we doing this thing?”
“As soon as possible,” said Christina.
I thought for a second, “How about tomorrow night?”
“That’s perfect,” said Thomas.
“Well, looks like we have some work to do.”
I left the well alone for the moment, drawing up plans for the wedding. We decided to have it on the front lawn at night, we’d have torches and a huge bonfire to light up the ceremony. It would be relatively simple to accomplish. the larger project was brought up by Liz.
“I need an oven,” she said.
“A what?”
“An oven. I need an oven to make a cake.”
“Wow. Uh…ok. I’ll see what I can do.” I said making a note to draw up designs for an oven. “Matt.”
“Yeah?”
“Take Jason and Justin to get flowers.”
“Ok…where?”
“There’s a nursery here,” I pointed to the map, “I don’t know if they’ll have many plants but it should be relatively empty so get what you can.”
“You got it.”
“I’m going with,” said Sarah.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they won’t know what kinds to get, they’re boys.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
“Ok. You guys should leave right away,” They turned to leave. “Justin stay for a second.”
“’Sup?”
I waited until Sarah was out of earshot. “Watch out for her ok. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“You got it.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Ok. Um… Thomas, can you mow and rake the lawn?”
“Sure.”
“Good. I’m going to start on the oven, Liz is handling the food and the rest of the girls are handling the clothes and stuff. Hey, do you need a ring or anything?”
He smiled and pulled out a small wooden ring, “Got it covered.”
I took the ring from him, it was smooth and felt solid. It looked and felt like it was made of oak. “Wow, I didn’t know you knew how to carve.”
“Yeah, it’s something I picked up around the fire when I went camping with my family. It helped to pass the time. The ring’s not done but a day and a half should be enough time to finish it.”
“Where’d you get the wood for it?”
He looked a little embarrassed and said “Well, you remember that big oak desk we got rid of? You know, the one with no drawers and a broken leg?”
“Yeah?”
“I took the other three legs. I practiced on one before making this one. I hope that’s ok.”
“Yeah, I’m glad you got some use out of it. It’s really good.” I handed him back the ring and he put it in his pocket.
“Thanks”
“Has Christina seen it?”
“Nope. She doesn’t think she’s getting a ring. I’m going to surprise her.”
“Nice. Alright, I have an oven to build.”
“I’ll get started on the lawn.”
I gathered a bunch of cinderblocks and quick drying concrete and began building the oven in the back yard. I really got into the project and before I knew it Sarah and the guys were back with plenty of flowers. “So I guess they had a few flowers lying around.”
“Oh yeah,” she said smiling.
“Run into any trouble?”
“Nope, the place was dead.”
“Good, now leave me alone. I’ve still got work to do.”
“Fine, fine.”
It was almost dark by the time I was done with the oven and I decided to test it in the morning, just to make sure that the cement was completely dry. That night Sarah slept in my bed again and we talked about the wedding before falling asleep.
“The guys have got to be hating all this wedding stuff,” she told me.
“Why? It’s not that bad.”
“Well, it’s got all us girls thinking about marriage. I think it’s making the guys nervous.”
Raising my eyebrow I said, “All the girls?”
She smiled, “Maybe.”
“Oh, great,” I said grimly.
“Shut up. You’d be lucky to marry one of us.”
“I wonder which one I’d marry,” I asked.
“I think you’ve already made your choice.”
“I don’t know, it’s a pretty tough choice,” I teased.
She slapped my arm saying, “Whatever.”
She was right of course, I had already made my choice. The next morning I tested the oven by successfully melting a Snickers bar and burning it to a crisp. The oven was a success. We kept it running hot so we would have hot coals to cook with. I put Matt in charge of keeping the oven at whatever temperature Liz needed, something we measured using an electric meat thermometer, not perfect but good enough. We set up torches on the lawn using thick branches and gas soaked rags. The day was a flurry of activity, everyone had something to do. When it started to get dark all the girls disappeared to get ready. I checked to see if the fire was big enough and I lit the torches before going inside to clean up and change.
All the guys were dressed and ready in my room. I quickly shaved with my dull razor and changed into some slacks and a button up shirt. I pulled out a bottle of Jack and some shot glasses saying, “Ok, time for a tradition. A drink before the groom makes a huge mistake,” I grinned at Thomas. He returned it with a cool, calm smile. He’s confident, I thought, good. We took our shots and went back outside.
Music played as I stood with Thomas and Michelle walked down the aisle, throwing flowers with a wide grin plastered on her face. The girls filled in, flanked by the guys, Sarah was at the back and I felt my breath catch in my throat. They had found and modified several dresses in my sister's stuff and they all looked great, but Sarah was breathtaking.
Christina came down the torched lined aisle and met me and Thomas at the front. They held hands and I began. “We are gathered here today to unite these two in matrimony. Throughout everything, the fighting, the death, and the struggle for survival, these two have remained together. They’ve never been shy about their love for each other and tonight they’ll be showing us just how much they mean to each other. Do you two have any vows?”
“Kind of,” said Christina.
“Then go ahead.” Their vows were simple, they pledged their loyalty and love to each other. “Rings?” I questioned, already knowing the answer.
“We don’t have…” Christina started to say but stopped when Thomas reached into his pocket. She started to cry and she covered her mouth to muffle a gasp.
“Thomas do you take Christina to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forth, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”
“I do,” he said putting the ring on her finger.
“Christina do you…”
“I do,” she said crying.
I smiled “Then by the power invested in me by my friends and family, I now pronounce you man and wife. Thomas, you may kiss the bride.” They came together and I said, “Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Scott.” They clapped. “Let’s eat.”
Liz did a wonderful job with the cake. I don’t know how she did it but using what we had she was able to make a three-tiered cake with cream cheese frosting. It looked and tasted amazing.
“Liz, this is the best cake I’ve ever eaten,” said Carrie.
“Thank you,” Liz said smiling.
There was drinking, eating, dancing, and everyone had a good time. I raised my glass and called for silence. “Hey everyone I want to say something.” Someone turned off the music “Thomas doesn’t have a best man so I guess I’ll offer up a quick speech. I want all of you to know that I was honored when they asked me to marry them and I am proud
of all of you for pulling together to make this happen so quickly. Thomas and Christina are a prime example of how even in the darkest of times there is always a glimmer of hope, there is always a dawn to follow the night. They are proof that in the end, love wins. So congratulations and I hope you two are forever happy.”
It was a couple more hours until the party was over and everyone went to bed. I was lying in bed with an already sleeping Sarah. Before I fell asleep I kissed the top of her head and whispered, “I love you, Sarah Johnson.” It was probably the alcohol or the exhaustion or both but I swear I saw her smile. “I love you,” I repeated as I finally fell asleep.
CHAPTER 15
The next morning I had one goal in mind, to fix the well pump and fill the tank. Unfortunately, like most men, it only took a woman to distract me.
Sarah and I got up and parted to get ready for the day. For me, that meant changing my clothes and snagging something for breakfast. I finished a granola bar and a warm energy drink and went to start work on the well. Walking outside I saw her waiting for me. “What are you doing out here?” I asked.
“My day to get the water.”
“I’m headed out that way, care to join me?” I said smiling and offering my elbow.
“I’d love to,” she said returning my smile and linking arms with me.
We walked arm in arm to the well house talking about little things, mostly yesterday’s wedding. “Do you think they’ll want to leave?” asked Sarah.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Christina and Thomas are together now. Do you think they might want to, I don’t know, find somewhere to start their own life together?”
“I hadn’t thought of that. I don’t really know. Hey! Maybe they could take the neighbors place. It’s pretty close so we can still offer them help if they need it but it’ll be their own.”
“That could work.”
“Yeah, we’d just have to do a little work.”
“Like?”
“Well, it’s pretty brutal inside. The mother tried to fend off the whole family when they turned. She didn’t do too well.”
“Meaning?”
“She’s in pieces in the living room.”
“Wow. Yeah, I would rule out that property. I wouldn’t want to live there.”
“Well, I don’t know where else they could go unless we want to clear out a house and probably the houses around it to be safe.”
“I don’t know if they actually want to leave, it’s just a possibility we might have to deal with.”
“I’ll think about it just in case they do want to leave. It would be difficult but I can’t expect everyone to want to stay here their whole life.”
We walked into the well house and I started work on the clogged filter. Before I got anything done I looked up to see Sarah struggling with the full buckets. I knew she was capable of doing it herself but I had to offer to help, it’s just how I was raised. “Do you need help?”
“Nope.”
“Can I help you?” I rephrased.
“Nope.”
“Please let me help you.”
“No.”
“Sarah, come on.”
“Fine,” she sighed.
“You are just so stubborn,” I said picking up the two buckets.
“Yeah but that’s one of the reasons you love me,” she said teasingly.
“That’s what you think.”
“Whatever,” she said hitting my arm.
“Hey, my arms are kind of full right now. You think you could hold off on the whole hitting thing for a second?”
“Fine, big baby.”
All I could do is sigh and finish carrying the water. I helped her carry another four buckets inside and when I say help I mean carried them for her.
“Thank you,” she said grinning.
“Anytime,” I said rubbing my shoulder after she left. It was a dumb idea to have carried all those buckets because I knew my shoulder would hurt for the rest of the day but it was worth it. Back out at the well house I picked up the filter and stared at it. It was made of a wire mesh and some layered material I was unfamiliar with. I could clip through the mesh and clean out the dried silt, keeping the layered material intact. The trouble would be putting it back together. I didn’t think I could use Duct Tape for this job, it would take more finesse. I took the filter back to the garage and took a look around at the tools I had at my disposal. My eyes finally fell on the perfect tool, a soldering iron. I could clip through the wire and after I cleaned it I could solder it together. It would take a while to do correctly but when I was done it would be just like new. I got started right away so I could fill the tank as soon as possible. Using a small set of wire clippers I started in on the filter. After some time I had the filter apart and ready to be cleaned.
The door to the garage opened and Michelle poked her head out, “Hi, James.”
“Hi Michelle,” I said without looking up.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to fix a filter.”
“What’s the filter for?”
“The well.”
“What does it do?”
“It takes really small bits of dirt out of our water.”
“So if you can’t fix it then we’ll have dirty water?”
“Yes, but I’m sure I can fix it.”
“Oh… Is it fixed?”
I laughed and set the filter down, “Come here.” She walked over to the workbench I was leaning against. “Here is a toothbrush. Can you do me a favor and wipe away the dirt from inside here,” I said pointing at one-half of the filter.
“Ok,” she said happily.
I knew she wouldn’t be distracted for long so I tried to clean my half of the filter as quickly as I could before she lost interest. It wasn’t long before she was bored with the task I assigned her and looking for something else to do. I finished cleaning my part of the filter and Michelle was looking through drawers and opening boxes. “Michelle,” I said giving up on my task, “how would you like to learn to fight?”
“Fighting’s for boys,” she said pulling out an old paintbrush and looking at it.
“It’s not just for boys.”
“Yeah huh.”
“Are Liz and Sarah boys?”
“No,” she giggled.
“Well, what would you say if I told you that I was teaching them how to fight?” I saw her eyes widen at this news. “Come on,” I said taking her hand, “I’ll show you.” We walked inside and I looked around for Sarah and Liz. “Hey Sarah, put on some gym clothes and meet me in the front yard.” She looked at me and Michelle and frowned a little but nodded and went to change. “Tell Liz the same.” I saw a puzzled look develop on her face but she knew me well enough to know that I was planning something at that she would find out soon. “Michelle, do me a favor and sit right here while I go and change into some different clothes,” I said directing her to the couch in the living room. Changing into a pair of basketball shorts and a cutoff shirt I walked back out to the living room. “Come on, let’s go,” I said to Michelle and headed outside. Out on the lawn, I sat on the ground and waited. Michelle sat next to me and I started to explain that fighting wasn’t just for boys. “So Michelle, why do you think fighting is just for boys?”
“Cause they’re better at it than girls,” she said simply.
“Well not always,” I told her, “It’s always different with each person. A lot of the time girls can be faster than boys but boys can be stronger.” I looked up and saw Liz and Sarah walking out the front door. “Just watch ok.” She nodded. “Sorry if I interrupted you two but I needed to use you girls as examples.”
“For what?” Sarah asked putting her hands on her hips.
I grinned, “Michelle thinks that fighting is just for girls. You two are going to show her differently.” They both smiled and nodded, “Good, so first things first, let’s stretch.” I had Sarah and Liz face off against each other and, speaking quietly so Michelle couldn’t hear
, told them “Ok, I know we haven’t sparred very much and I know Sarah’s been working with me longer but I want you two to do your best and give Michelle a show. Just use what I’ve shown you, even if you just mirror each other. Ok?” They nodded again, “Good, don’t hurt each other,” I finished laughing quietly. They glared at me. Backing away I went and sat with Michelle. “Whenever you’re ready,” I called out to them. “Just watch what they’ve learned so far,” I told Michelle.
Survivors Series (Book 1): Heroes Aren't Born Page 21
