by Sable Sylvan
Finally, it was time for the last couple to exchange their vows.
“Savina Scoville, you are by far the most challenging woman I’ve ever met,” said Mason. “From the moment I met you, I knew you were a firebrand. I knew that you were a firecracker who couldn’t be controlled, and never in a million years would I dream of controlling you. As a bad boy, as a daredevil, I know there are forces greater than me, bigger than me, stronger than me, and the moment I stop respecting those forces is the moment that I’ll lose control of myself. You’re like a great wave crashing against a beach, a river running through a canyon. You are unstoppable. You are a force to be reckoned with. All I can do is look at you, the way I’d look at a snowcapped mountain or a vast desert, and appreciate your power and your beauty, and consider myself lucky that I get to see you, get to be with you, get to experience you. You make the bear in me roar as it appreciates the sublimity of your nature, of your human nature. You make the man in me dance with joy from finding kinship with someone else who knows what the heck it’s like to have an unstoppable force inside of them. I can promise you this. I will never tame you. I will never control you. I will never even try. I will just appreciate you for the wild woman you are, for the heart you have inside of you. I will love you, treasure you, and worship you. That, I can promise.”
“Mason Scoville, I don’t have anything prepared,” said Savina. “I don’t have note cards that I memorized. I don’t have a file on my computer of bullet points of ideas of what to say to you. All I have is what’s in my heart. I love you, Mason. I know that it took me too long to say it, but I love you so much. Somehow, you managed to pull everything off, from the proposal to us being right here, right now. I always knew you were a daredevil, but I never realized you’d dare to do something this crazy, this high stakes, but if anyone could pull it off…it would be you. You not only pulled this off, but you also managed to protect my feelings. You know how much my family means to me, and you involved them in all of this, and you all made this a success, together. You proved that together, the Quincy-Scoville Clan can do frikkin’ anything, and you taught me that you truly understand the complexities of the feminine mystique….and the power of The Feminine Mesquite. I can promise you this. I will love you, Mason. It’s not much of a promise because I don’t know how I could ever stop loving you, but I promise that I will show it. I will say it. I will show it. I will do it. I will say I love you. I will show you I love you. I will do the act of loving you, every darn day, for the rest of our lives. All I’ve got is my love, and that’s all I can offer you.”
“I’ll take it,” said Mason with a wink and a smile.
“It is now time for the exchanging of the rings,” said the officiant.
“A ring?” asked Savina. “Oh, no…” Her siblings had already started their ring exchanges, and Mason was looking at her expectantly.
“It’s in your pocket,” whispered Kai, as Basil put a ring on her finger.
“My pocket?” asked Savina. She put her hands in her red hoodie and felt for the ring. There was a secret pocket in the righthand pocket. She poked in there and felt something cold and round. She pulled it out. There it was, a golden ring. Like the other rings, it was a simple gold ring, with an engraving on the inside. The engraving of this ring read simply, ‘Mason.’ Her sisters had thought of frikkin’ everything.
Savina held the ring in her right hand while Mason put the ring on her left hand. She then put the ring on his left hand.
“You may now kiss the brides,” said the officiant.
One by one, the grooms reached for their brides and the brides, for their grooms.
Alice took a step toward Herb and Herb pulled her close, leaning down so that her lips could brush against his before he leaned down some more, pressed his lips against hers, hard, and picked her up into his arms to give her a fairytale kiss worthy of a princess.
Abigail and Clove reached for each other and met in the middle. Their hands met their bodies as their lips rejoined and they shared a passionate embrace.
Sage held Addison’s waist gently in his as he kissed her, softly and slowly. They swayed to a melody only they could hear.
Basil couldn’t help but dip Cayenne before kissing her deeply and turning her the other way, before spinning her to be in his arms. Cayenne was smiling and laughing all the way.
Mason reached forward and took Savina close. He couldn’t hold back his desire for her. His bear roared. This was what Mason had been working toward, and now, the plan the man had come up with, that even the bear had admitted was going to be one heck of a challenge to pull off, had come to fruition. Their fated mate had finally accepted them as her true love, as her forever love, as her husband.
Mason pulled Savina close and kissed her, gently at first, but then Savina crashed into him like a wave, pressing and begging for him to kiss her back, hard. They shared a quick, passionate kiss before pulling away. They were the last couple to have exchanged kisses, but there was still something to do before the real festivities started. They had to kick the party off with their first dances.
The string quartet stopped playing, and the DJ didn’t put on a track. Savina looked at Mason, confused, but then saw that Sage was moving toward a piano that had been rolled out to the dance floor by some of the groomsmen (Scoville cousins and friends from out of town, shifters, strong ones, who could move a piano with no trouble).
Sage gave Addison a kiss on the forehead and then walked away, toward the piano.
Sage started to play a song that Savina had never heard before. His shared room with Addison was soundproofed, so Savina had never heard him play piano in his room. She had only ever heard him play in the living room. The song he was playing was not a jaunty jingle to sing along to. It was classical inspired, but there was a modern twist to it. It was a mix of contemporary classical, and New Age inspired wedding music.
Then, suddenly, Sage got up from the piano…but the piano kept playing itself. It was an electric player piano hooked up to the electrical sockets found in the backyard. He walked up to Addison and took her by the waist, and they started to dance.
All the couples paired up and started their slow dances, five gentle, warm spotlights cast on the five couples as they glided over the floor to the special song Sage had composed just for the occasion.
Alice was swept over the floor by Herb as Clove spun Abigail. Addison and Sage were in their own world as Cayenne and Basil twirled and giggled like schoolchildren. Finally, there was Savina and Mace, who were not dancing as much as they were embracing while moving. The piano played its song over twice more before the song faded out on its own, as the piano had been specially programmed to do that. It was time for the first mother-son and father-daughter dance.
Mama Scoville danced with Herb while Papa Quincy danced with Alice. The time for the others to share dances with their parents would come later. After all, they had to give mom and pop some time to rest between dances and nab some of their delicious wedding fare. This may have been a fancy wedding of the kind en vogue among Europe’s shifter elite, but this wedding was still held in Texas, and that meant that this wedding had barbecue and lots of it. Each of the sisters’ sauces was featured in the wedding buffet.
Alice and Herb’s jalapeño ‘Secret Sauce’ was served with the traditional Quincy-Scoville jalapeño poppers. Each jalapeño popper was filled with a mix of their green hot sauce and a medley of soft white cheese, before being battered in bread crumbs and deep fried. They were the perfect starter item for the buffet. However, poppers didn’t have much meat on their bones, which is why they served steak, cooked in the Argentinian style, with their version of Argentinian chimichurri, an Argentinian sauce made for grilled meat. The Secret Sauce was used as a base for the chimichurri, which required the addition of parsley, oregano, and garlic.
Next up was Abigail and Clove’s ‘Awesome Sauce.’ While they hadn’t come up with this sauce, they did select the dishes it was served with. Abigail’s favorite cut of me
at, tri-tip steak, was served with their crimson red roasted habanero sauce. It truly was, as many mouths (when not stuffed with steak) said, ‘awesome.’ They also served habanero poppers for people that wanted more of a kick from their poppers than the jalapeño poppers could offer.
Right next to their sauce’s section was Addison and Sage’s ‘No Bullshizz Sauce’ section. The pair hadn’t even had a chance to try their sauce with meat back when they were at Bonimolean, but they’d had the summer to experiment with the sauce (and with each other). The chocolate brown adobo chipotle sauce looked like it’d be rather quiet and muted compared to the other sauces, but it was one of the sleeper hits of the wedding buffet. Naturally, as they were in Texas, Addison and Sage had pulled pork made with their sauce. Their sauce was best used as an ingredient in cooking. The complex flavors of the sauce simmered with the soda pop used to tenderize the meat and their pulled pork sliders were tender but flavorful. As their sauce had a Spanish origin, they also served pork loin marinated in the sauce, adobo style, however, because this was a Scoville wedding, the pork loins were from black Iberian pigs, some of the most expensive pigs in the world.
Of course, Cayenne and Basil’s station was a slam dunk. They served churrasco style barbecue, just like they did at The Matchstick Grill, complete with hot, sexy shifter waiters who were only wearing slightly more clothing than usual. At a shifter wedding, things could get a little spicy, so this was not a faux pas. They served many cuts of freshly grilled meat right off of the skewers, custom made, designed to look like old Norse swords from the Viking Age. This station was especially popular with the bachelorettes at the wedding. The meat was the perfect way for them to showcase their cayenne garlic ‘Fated Mate Sauce,’ and that night, there may have been one set of fated mates that met because of that very sauce…
Finally, Savina and Mace’s ‘Alpha Sauce’ was featured as part of some killer buffalo wings. The recipe was simple: wings, hot sauce, heat. The flavor was intense, and there was no question as to how Savina and Mason had won first place in the hot sauce competition. Their little red hot sauce had gone all the way, as had their love. Of course, for desert, there were mangos, cubed, served with little spoons of their hot sauce.
All that hot sauce needed to be washed down with something, so all five of the Quincy Sisters’ favorite iced sweet teas were featured at the wedding. There was Alice’s herbal watermelon sweet tea, Abigail’s mint chocolate ‘mint julep’ sweet tea, Addison’s raspberry sweet tea, Cayenne’s classic peach sweet tea, and of course, they’d made Savina’s lemon tea just the way they wanted, sprinkles included.
“Is it time for the toasts?” asked Savina, sitting next to Mason.
“It will be soon,” said Basil, from Savina’s other side.
Herb took the mic and announced that it was time for toasts. The mic went around, and people spoke praises of the Quincy Sisters and the Scoville Brothers, from both sides of the wedding aisle. The siblings enjoyed receiving compliments while they ate the delicious food. The wedding had gone off without a hitch. Just as the mic was about to start being passed back to Herb, somebody grabbed it.
Chapter Sixteen
“Ahem,” came a voice. It was coming from one of the Scoville family tables.
A man stood up. Tall. Broad shoulders. His hair was icy white with only a whisper of blond. He was wearing a custom designer suit. Even in old age, he looked every bit as regal as his grandsons. It was Morten Scoville.
“I’d like to make a toast,” said Morten. “To my grandsons and their brides. May they have relationships as strong and as spicy as their sauces.”
Everyone cheered to that.
“However, I’m not just here to make a toast,” said Morten. “I’m here to make…an announcement. Effective today, I am retiring, as is my son. The Scoville companies will be passed on to my grandsons.”
Everyone gasped.
“However, I’m not just here to announce my retirement,” said Morten. “It has come time to reveal something to you all, through a video. VJ?”
The video jockey pressed play on a video that had been set up. It was projected onto one of the white sides of the wedding tent.
What everyone saw shocked them.
On the screen was a man in a leather armchair, an oxygen tank hooked up next to him. He was in a worn flannel shirt and jeans, his hairline receding and his breathing heavy. This man was nothing like Morten. It was Elijah ‘Pop-Pop’ Quincy, the patriarch of the clan, at least, before his passing.
“Is this thing on?” asked the old man.
“Yes,” said another voice, a voice everyone had just heard. The other party moved to sit in a leather armchair next to Elijah. It was Morten.
“If you are watching this, it means that our plan has come to fruition,” said Elijah. “I know my time on this earth is short, so, I’ve entrusted my dearest friend, Morten, with a task.”
“Elijah and I met at a POW camp in Nazi Germany,” said Morten. “The place was swarming with fascist wolf shifters, so there was a snowball’s chance in Hell that we’d make our way out. When we were finally rescued, Elijah and I kept in contact with the rest of our fellow prisoners, but as they passed on one by one, finally, we were the only two left.”
“When Morten and I went back to our respective lands, we both married our sweethearts, and each had a single son,” said Elijah. “We were considering arranging for our sons to go into business together.”
“However, when our sons each had five children, we knew that Fate must have another plan,” said Morten. “I had five grandcubs, my dear boys Herb, Clove, Sage, Basil, and Mason.”
“And I had five beautiful granddaughters. That’s right. I’m talking about you, Alice, Abigail, Addison, Cayenne, and of course, Savina. I’m sure you all look beautiful on your wedding day,” said Elijah. “And, if everything has gone to plan…”
“…Then it’ll be my boys’ wedding day, too,” said Morten. “You see, we knew that for you ten to meet and pair off, you’d actually have to meet.”
“I knew you five gals were going to be busy running my store when I passed,” said Elijah. “You’d be far too busy to date.”
“And my five strapping lads, I knew that getting you to go to America to meet five ladies you’d never met would be like pulling teeth,” said Morten. “After all you five are so serious about your jobs and your studies.”
“That’s when we hatched a plan,” said Elijah. “I know you five gals are stubborn and care more about family than anything.”
“I knew that you five boys care about our legacy and are pig-headed,” said Morten. “That’s why we decided to trick you.”
“That’s right, we’ve tricked you,” said Elijah. “When I pass on, Morten is going to tell his grandsons that I stole five of his recipes, and he’ll ask his grandsons to come to America to get them back.”
“And of course, Elijah’s firebrands aren’t about to give the recipes up that easily,” said Morten. “When they meet, they’re sure to spit fire, but soon, the sparks will fly…”
“…And that thing Morten and his lot called Fate will intervene,” said Elijah. “Consider this my final gift to you five beautiful gals. I wish I could be at your weddings, but because I can’t be, well, I might as well find you five husbands that I know will treat you right.”
“And it will be my privilege to carry out my best and dearest friend’s last wish,” said Morten. “No matter what, I promise that I will ensure each of my grandsons ends up with one of your granddaughters, and I swear, I will make it to their weddings, even if I have to cross the Atlantic ten times over.”
“Morten, you will play this video at the last wedding, right?” said Elijah. “They need to know…it was never about hot sauce. It was about finding true love and making a new family out of two families.”
“They’ll know,” said Morten. “I promise, Elijah, I’ll tell them. Do you have any belated last words?’
“Yes,” said Elijah, standing up carefull
y so he could look straight into the camera. “No matter what, don’t forget the following. Spend less time fighting than you do working. Spend less time working than you do loving each other. And finally…spend as much time loving each other as you possibly can! And of course, you better make me some great-grandbabies!”
“Cubs!” corrected Morten.
“That’s right, I guess they will be cubs,” said Elijah. “Imagine that, cubs in the family tree. Well, remember, I’ll always be watching over you, and Pop-Pop loves you.”
The video ended there.
Everybody was shocked. The rivalry that they thought existed between the Scovilles and the Quincy clan was all a big practical joke played on them by the patriarchs, just to bring them together?
It was frikkin’ genius, because it had worked. There wasn’t a dry eye in the audience.
“You see why I did what I had to do,” said Morten. “I hope one day, the ten of you can forgive me for my meddling. I fulfilled the final wish of my best and dearest friend, and ensured the mutual survival of our families, through a bond as strong as iron.”
Alice looked to Herb. Herb looked to Clove. Clove looked to Abigail. Abigail looked to Addison. Addison looked to Sage. Sage looked to Basil. Basil looked to Cayenne. Cayenne looked to Savina, and finally, Savina looked to Mason. It was obvious what they had to do.
All ten of the Quincy girls and Scoville boys got up. They walked over to Morten and one by one, gave him a hug, eldest to youngest.
“I had a feeling that this was all one of my grandpa’s pranks,” said Alice.
“I didn’t know you had a funny bone in you,” said Herb.
