Choices and Consequences

Lady Christianna stood uncomfortably at the side of her future husband in the front of the Vigilant's bridge, listening to Taffer saying the words to "sanctify" a marriage she knew in her heart already existed. She was uncomfortable at the wedding for two reasons. First, she was used to being invisible to others, never noticed by people and liking it that way, so to be the center of attention as a bride was totally alien to her. Second, Lady didn't see the necessity of such pomp and circumstances for such a personal relationship as she and Atticus enjoyed. They loved each other, everybody knew they loved each other, and that was enough for her. 

Lady fully understood the irony of the situation, as it was her idea to have this sudden marriage ceremony, and given her beliefs on the subject, it was hard to reconcile the two, until you added in her soon-to-be-born children. Lady wanted to make sure the children had a normal home and family life; something she had never had as a refugee fleeing with her father from the Votan Collective. The first step in traditional society for that to happen was a marriage ceremony, declaring to the world their eternal love, or so Belle Starr, her maid of honor, had told her long ago. Lady had thought it foolishness at the time, and knew Belle was a hopeless romantic, but as Lady got older - well, at least a year older since then - she thought the idea had merit, especially since she was pregnant with twins.

That still begged the questions of why here and why now, and Lady was aware of that fact, and to her the answer was simple: Lady did not want her children born without their parents being formally married. For her, a marriage certificate was both a substantial and symbolic guarantee to her unborn children that Lady and Atticus were their parents, that they were a family, and they always would be. Lady knew that hadn't worked in her case, as her parents had been married, and their marriage had ended quite violently. Still like most new brides, she felt Atticus' and her marriage was different and special, and therefore would last forever. However, with their adventurous lifestyle that had them always dealing with one crisis after another, Lady felt that if they didn't get married now, at this very moment, their children would be grown and married themselves before Atticus and Lady were.

Lady was pondering these thoughts, as well as regretting that the children could not be here to see the ceremony as Sandy said it would put too big a strain on Lady at this point in her pregnancy, when Taffer asked Lady for the all-important vows. Lady blinked her large pink eyes several times, looking like a deer frozen in the headlights of an oncoming car. She hadn't thought about vows. Lady thought she would be asked the traditional question of whether she took Atticus as her husband, and she had planned a resounding "Yeppers" as her answer, but vows - she hadn't even thought about that! Sandy, her EGO psyche, who was standing at her side in holographic form in a simple green bridesmaid dress, repeated the request for Lady through the telepathic link they shared, saying, "Damn it Lady, they're all waiting for your vows!"



Lady gulped, her chalk white face becoming even more ashen if possible, and her throat grew dry, so that when she spoke she croaked, "Awesome. Feel the same." As all eyes in the room stared expectantly at her, especially after Atticus' long and eloquent vows, so she added without thinking but announced adamantly with more emotion than any of those assembled had ever seen from Lady, "Because I love Atticus more than anything - forever!"

Taffer waited before going on, just in case Lady had anything else to say, which she didn't having not really thought out that part of the ceremony, so Taffer then proceeded before the moment grew awkward. Lady glanced at Atticus for reassurance that he wasn't disappointed in her response, but couldn't see his face for his helmet, so then looked quickly to her bridesmaids. Her maid of honor, Belle, was smiling broadly, but then Belle was always - or almost always - smiling, so Lady didn't gain much insight there. Sandy was grinning adoringly at Volodja, Atticus' best man, so again no insight. But Lady's most austere bridesmaid, Erika Widowmaker smiled slightly as she raised one clay red thumb up so that only Lady would see it. Lady sighed in relief as the ceremony ended, having received the sign that she hadn't screwed it up which she desperately needed at that moment from Erika.



The rest of the ceremony was a blur, as was the celebration, except for a few memorable moments in time. When Atticus put the ring on Lady's finger and she winced as it was too tight, he immediately fixed it as she admired it's simple but elegant beauty. Their first dance as a married couple, where she felt Atticus and she were totally alone floating on air. Near the end of the celebration, when Stephanie slipped in the music Lady wanted through her cyber uplink, and to everybody's glee Lady lip-synched Meghan Trainor's "Dear Future Husband" song, with her bridesmaids Belle and Sandy lip-synching perfectly the chorus as they had arranged impromptu in Belle's cabin before the wedding ceremony. Finally, as the celebration ended, Atticus picking her up in his strong arms and carrying her away from the bridge to their cabin, where they made sweet love until their arrival at Fortress K'shaa.