Chapter 17: Here Comes the Bride(s)

August came along right when it was supposed to. School was going to be starting up for the fall semester in about a month so the girls were all getting excited about getting to see old friends and making new friends. Kim was going to be a sophomore in high school and would be trying out for the varsity cheerleading squad. Cathy was proudly entering high school as a freshman and was also going to try for the varsity cheerleading squad. Brittany would be attending middle school while Vicky was to be in grade school. The three levels of schools, while in separate buildings, were all on the same campus so all of the girls could ride to school on the same bus.

After our vacation George packed up his belongings and moved in with Chris. I took them out to a furniture store so they could pick out a nice king-sized bed for their room. Cathy was thrilled that her aunt was in love, plus Vicky and Brittany were happy that they would soon have a new dad.

I called a meeting so Grace and I could coordinate with Chris and George about wedding plans. We tossed around several ideas and decided on a double wedding. That left two things to decide: when and where. We all agreed on a Saturday wedding, but, which one? After much discussion we came up with the last Saturday in August as the date. Where to hold the ceremony was a bit more difficult. Since none of the four of us were members of any particular church I made the suggestion that since we had plenty of room here at Camelot, why not hold the wedding and reception here. We all thought that was a splendid idea so we got the ball rolling.

Grace came up with a brainstorm idea to have the wedding be a medieval theme. I loved the idea as did everyone else. It stood to reason that since our house was virtually a castle, what better theme could there be? Everybody started envisioning who they would dress as. Chris and George came up with Lord and Lady Costumes. I quietly listened as they all fantasized what they would look like. I already had my mind made up and, after whispering with Grace, finally announced that Grace and I would be dressed as: (you guessed it, ) Guinevere and King Arthur.

As we were all discussing the possibilities, the gate bell rang. UPS was delivering several packages. I buzzed him in and he pulled up to the drawbridge and started to unload a virtual mountain of boxes. I signed the driver's pad and we started hauling the boxes into the house. It turned out that there were nine boxes all labeled with a person's name. I read the labels and found Grace, Arthur, Kimberly, Chris, George, Victoria, Brittany and Catherine. I was totally mystified as to where they had come from and who had sent them. The return address was a big store in Wales. The shipping agent was listed as someone named Merlin.

I looked at Grace and she looked at me as we both said "No, it can't be."

The box with my name on it was quite heavy and Grace had to help me move it. I opened the box and inside I found a suit of chainmail armor, a very ornate sword, velvet garments, riding boots and last of all, a gem-encrusted golden crown. I couldn't believe what I saw. It was identical to the garb I wore while we were in Camelot of England.

Grace opened her box and, sure enough, it contained the royal trappings of a queen, complete with a golden crown. What really blew my mind was that we had decided on the medieval wedding theme only minutes before. In the back Grace and my minds were the lingering questions: "Did Merlin have something to do with all this?" Just how far into the future did his influence reach? How much of my life had he already affected? Did he make me name my estate, Camelot?

Grace and I were walking around kind of in a daze and on unsteady legs. The coincidences were just stacking up too high and hard to fathom. Kim came downstairs asking what all the commotion was about. I handed her the box addressed to her. She opened the box and was shocked. Inside were the clothes of a royal page identical to what she had worn on our adventure in Camelot.

I opened the box addressed to simply Camelot. Inside I found a banner identical to the one carried by Lancelot with the royal crest and proclaiming "Arthur, King of England." There was also a large hand-painted tapestry of Arthur and Guinevere on horseback. I looked closely and my heart started to beat a mile a minute. The faces were an exact likeness of Grace and me. That was getting downright scary. I began to wonder what other surprises laid in store for us.

I had an old friend of mine who went to seminary school and became an ordained minister. I called him to see if he would like to officiate at the ceremony. His answer kind of surprised me. He mentioned that he had been thinking about me and wondered if I had gotten married yet. He, of course, told me that he would be happy to do it.

He also mentioned that a mysterious package had been delivered to his house that day from a store in England. It contained the costume of a medieval clergyman. He found it hard to believe when I told him our wedding was to be a medieval theme. He jokingly asked if we expected him to arrive on horseback.

Well, it turned out that there were even more surprises in store for us. When I went out to get the mail there was a bundle of cards addressed to Grace. When I looked at them I found that they were RSVP cards saying that the senders would be attending the wedding. When I got back to the house I told Grace, "You better sit down for this dear," as I handed her the cards. She sat on the couch and started going through the cards. Her eyes got as big as saucers and her mouth hung open, unable to believe what she was looking at.

Grace remarked to me that the cards were from all the people she had been thinking about inviting plus a few. All the ones I had been thinking of were also included. Grace grabbed my hand and dragged me up to the master suite and closed the door. "Art, what in hell is going on here?"

"I have no earthly idea."

"Who could have arranged all this so suddenly?"

I sat on the bed thinking. "You don't suppose... ? Do you?"

"Who?"

"Merlin?"

"Oh, my God. It must be. But how did he do it? And why?"

"I don't have the foggiest, but, there are some questions best left unasked."

As Grace was thumbing through the cards she came across one that shocked her even more. It was from the governor of the state saying that he would be attending. In his words: "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

That night we went to bed and went through our nighttime routine on autopilot. We were still stunned into numbness. We were jolted out of our trance-like state by Kim announcing that she was going to join us in bed for the night. I was getting ready to object when Grace told her to come on in. We three talked for a while discussing the events of the day. Kim asked me if I thought maybe Merlin had something to do with what had been happening. I told her I had no idea but wouldn't be a bit surprised if it were so.

We climbed into bed and limited our activities to goodnight kisses and some snuggling. We drifted slowly off to sleep. As I slept I had a dream that I was back in England at Camelot. I asked Merlin if he had anything to do with my wedding plans. He told me that he would neither confirm nor deny his involvement. He just said that my actions in Camelot would have far-reaching consequences for hundreds of years to come into the future. Then everything went dark and I slept a deep and restful sleep.

I awoke the next morning in my most favorite position. Warmed from both sides by the two girls I loved the most in the whole wide world. Kim and Grace were snuggled up to me caressing my body softly up and down as far as they could reach. I wiggled my arms out from between us and started returning the favor. I was rewarded by some soft moans from both sides of me. All I had to do was turn my head to either side and there was a ray of sunshine there ready for a good-morning kiss. I gave them both warm passionate kisses which were returned in kind. Being the instigator she is, Kim directed her caresses southward towards a swelling situation that deserved some manual attention.