Chapter 48: We Start on Our Honeymoon.

We spent the next half hour being congratulated by everyone. I met more people there, at one time, than since my first day of college, there was no way I was going to remember any of them. We excused ourselves and went in to change clothes and finish packing. When we were in our rooms, we kept the doors in the bath between the rooms open, so we could talk.

"Where'd that dress come from, Kay? When did you have the time to get it?"

"Don't you like it?" she said and there was some worry in her voice.

"I think it's beautiful and you are stunning in it, but where'd it come from?"

"It was a present from my mom and dad. They bought it for me and Mom made arrangements for me to try it on and get the fitting work and alterations done as a rush job, yesterday. It was a complete surprise to me but everyone who went into town with me yesterday knew about it before we left here. I was hustled into my room to get ready right after Leland was done with us this morning. I was sworn to secrecy and it was supposed to be a surprise for you. An even bigger surprise than it was for me. Was it?"

"I was surprised speechless. It took me completely by surprise. Are we taking it with us?"

"No, I don't have room for it and I don't want it damaged or crushed by packing. I'm going to leave it here and Mom has to have the alterations completed, they're only tacked in place. Then she's going to have it packed up and send it to us in California, after we get home."

"Who was the little flower girl?"

"She's Reyna's cousin. She's so cute and she did a good job, didn't she?"

"She really did."

"Her mother, Reyna's Aunt, rehearsed her on their farm so she'd be ready for today. That was her mother who was coaching her along at the start. Leland did a good job for us, didn't he?"

"I'll have to depend on you about that. I was in a fog. Once we were in front of him and he got started, I kinda' was overcome and the next thing I remember is him saying 'I now pronounce you husband and wife'. Everything in between is a blur. We're supposed to have everything packed now, right?"

"Yeah, Junior and Tommy will take it all to the SUV and then Junior and Reyna are going to take us to the airport. He knows what time our flight is, doesn't he?"

"I told him yesterday, but I'll remind him. I think we have to leave by three."

"That's not going to be a lot of time for us to socialize and enjoy our party."

"I'm sorry we're going to miss some of the party. Your mom really put together a bigger event than I thought we were going to have, but we have to catch that flight to Seward tonight."

"I know, I just want to thank everyone for coming."

"You do that and I'm going to have some of your mom's pies."

"You are not! You're going to be right at my side as I walk around and talk with everyone. It was your wedding too, and we can't be rude. All these people came to see us and to meet you. We can't stay long but the time we're here you have to be gracious and socialize, if not for you or me, then for my mother."

"You're right. Let me say something now, I'm sure it will be just the first of many, many times that I will say it." I was smiling.

"Long line of what?" Kay asked with a puzzled and suspicious look on her face.

"Yes, dear."

She came through the bath and popped me on the arm. "I'll 'yes dear' you."

"I'm sure you will." I kissed her and then turned her back towards her room. I sent her off with a swat on her bottom. "Now finish packing!"

As she went back through the bath she called over her shoulder, "Yes, dear." There was laughter in her voice.

We finished packing and put all of our luggage by each room's door and then returned to the party. I finally met the other members of my wedding party and I thanked them for standing up with me. Kay also introduced me to her bridesmaids. It came to mind that they were all good looking guys and gals, in a healthy, wholesome, farm fed manner. They cleaned up well but if you put them up beside the typical kids in San Diego, I thought they'd stand out like a sore thumb.

The party had separated into distinct groups. The adults, like Robert and Janice, or older. The young adults, in Kay's age range. The youth, who were teenagers, and finally, the kids who were younger than teenagers. Kay continued around with me in tow and I met a few of her teachers. They were with her counselor who I only vaguely remembered from Thanksgiving. We talked with them briefly and they all wanted to know how Kay was doing in school. I was proud of her and wasn't shy in telling everyone she was second in her class.

Janice latched onto us and directed us towards the adults. It was her chance to show off her newly married daughter and son-in-law. With all she did to put this wedding and party together, I was happy to cooperate with her efforts.

At some point I was able to break away for a few minutes and talk with Junior. "Our luggage is still in the rooms."

"No it's not. Tommy and I have already put it in the SUV, so it's ready to go. We have to leave by three or you're not going to make your flight. Have you checked on it yet today?"

"I did, before the ceremony, and everything is on time."

"Reyna and I will get you when it's time to go."

"Thanks, Junior."

Kay grabbed me and it was back onto the introductions merry-go-round. When we got to Reyna's Aunt and Uncle, they were younger than I thought they would be, at least ten years younger than me. After the introductions, Kay made a point of thanking them for allowing their daughter to be her flower girl. I commented on how cute she was and also thanked them.

When Robert joined us I spoke with him and Janice. "Robert, did you know how big a party this was going to be?"

"Of course I did. Janice brought me with her when we went to see each of these families and ask them to come."

"Well, this wedding has been a lot bigger of an affair than I was expecting. Janice, I didn't think you were this sneaky. You knew I thought this was going to be a small family type of thing."

"I did but the timing was perfect for a mid-summer party and we built it around your wedding. This will be the summer social for almost all of us."

"You could have given me a warning."

"That would have ruined the surprise, so I couldn't do that."

"You certainly surprised me and the dress you two bought for Kay is beautiful. I love it, the color, too. Thank you for all of this, the wedding, the dress, the party, putting up my parents and friends, everything."

"We like you, Rob, but she's my little girl and I only expect to do this once. Like I told you, I want you to take care of my little girl. I wanted you two to have a good start and this seemed like a good way to get you going in the right direction."

"I will, Robert. I'll take good care of her but she's a strong woman and does a good job taking good care of herself."

Junior and Reyna come up to us with Tommy and my parents. "It's time to go, Rob, Kay. We've got to leave to make your flight."

We made our goodbyes among hugs and kisses and tears from both her parents and mine. We were officially starting our lives together and it was time to go.

Junior hustled us out to the SUV. Tommy had it running and was standing by it with all the doors open. "Here, give me those," he said, reaching for our laptop and carry-on bags.

"Thanks, Tommy," Kay said.

"I'll put them back here with the rest of your bags." He put them in the back of the SUV and shut the back doors. He came up to me and shook my hand. "I still have to come out to visit you guys in California sometime. Everyone else has. I guess it'll have to be some other time."

"We'll have you out as fast as we can arrange everything. You'll like California."

"Have a good time, Kay, don't do anything I wouldn't."

"Be good, Tommy. I'll talk to you before school starts. I love you, little bro."

Junior and Reyna took us to the airport and we talked along the way.

Kay was talking with Reyna, "So, you like this big lug I call my brother?"

"He's nicer than any of the guys that I found around us at home. He impressed me with how light on his feet he was when I met him at that dance."

"He danced?" Kay asked, sounding shocked.

"When a slow dance came up he asked me to the floor, I was afraid he'd either crush me in his big arms or stomp my feet into pulp with those big clod hoppers of his. He surprised me; he was pretty light on his feet. After that first dance, I stayed with him for the rest of the evening."

"No one ever gives me any credit for my social graces," complained Junior.

"I didn't suspect you even knew what 'social graces' were."

"Ouch, Kay, that hurts."

"When you came out to California, Rob and I had to talk you out of the 'social graces' you wanted to show Todd. If we hadn't they would have locked you up."

That caught Reyna by surprise. "Oh?"

Kay kept the pressure on. "Oh, yeah, I told you how I met Rob. Junior came out to help deal with Todd and we had to work to keep Junior from getting into some big trouble."

They kept the conversation going back and forth. Between Kay and Reyna, Junior might as well have been a Ping-Pong ball. They batted him around all the way to the airport. I decided to be a coward and kept a low profile, letting him catch all the flack.

They brought us to the departure terminal. We barely got there in time and they helped us unload the luggage from the back but didn't come in with us. The curb porter took the big pieces and we went to the security check point before going to the gate. They were calling our flight as we got there, so we were able to go right onto the plane. The flight attendant seated us and offered us champagne. "Congratulations on your wedding."

"How'd you know?" asked Kay.

"We had a note on the flight manifest. Someone told the airline and it was marked on all our paperwork. Congratulations and I'm jealous." She looked me over and then turned back to Kay. "He looks like he's got some mileage on him but I bet he can run all day." There was laughter in her voice.

Once we got off the ground and things were settled we talked. "Kay, that was a lot more of a wedding than I thought we'd have, or that I was prepared for. Did you have any inkling that Janice was making that big a party?"

"Not before we got here. I had an idea something was up yesterday when we all went into town. It was confirmed when we went to the dressmaker and she brought out that wedding dress."

"Why didn't you give me some kind of warning last night?"

"I didn't know it was going to be as big as it was and I was sworn to secrecy about the dress."

"You looked absolutely stunning in that dress and I loved that bone white color. Since you were at the dressmaker I guess it was new."

"I don't know if it's a new dress or if she came up with it from someone else. I never saw it before they took me for the fitting. If it's new, I don't know where Mom came up with the design for the dress or if the dressmaker came up with it. In any case it's classic and beautiful and if we have a daughter I would love for her to wear it when she walks down the aisle."

"Are we going to have a daughter?"

"I hope so, and a son, too. Do you want to continue trying if we don't have one of each or are we going to accept whatever the fates give us?"

"We originally said two but I'm willing to continue beyond two, if you want to. I'd like them to be close in age, though, not spread out across many years."

"Once we start, do you want to do one every other year like my folks did?"

"I'm not looking to set a clock or anything. We can do them a little closer together or even a little further apart. We can even just let nature take its course. I still think we should wait until you've graduated and have some time working in your field."

"I'd like that. At least I know I can use the B.C. pills and based on what we've been doing these past few months, they work. Some girls can't take them and for some they don't work. I hadn't thought about it until now, but I've been taking them for more than seven years."

"The same pills the whole time?"

"I went through three or four until everything was working right, it took me about six months until I and the doctor were satisfied. That's a long time for a fourteen year old."

"It is, I guess. It's been a long time since I was fourteen; things have changed a lot since then. I can't even say what all the changes were or when they took place. Can you?"

Kay thought about it for a moment and said, "I can't and I only have seven years to remember, not the ancient history you do." She laughed.

"We haven't been married six hours and you're picking on me already?"

"Oh, I've been thinking about it for a long time, and it's one of your choice attributes." She laughed again.

"Gee, thanks."

We'd been in the air long enough for the flight crew to have things settled for a while. Meals had been given out, eaten and trays picked up. Almost all the people were still awake when the Captain came on the P.A., "Good evening everyone, once again and I hope you're all enjoying the flight. We should have a smooth flight all the way to Seward. We try to acknowledge the passengers we know have something to commemorate and on today's flight we have a newly married couple starting on their honeymoon. Please join me in wishing Mister and Missus Lister a long and happy marriage." There was a round of applause from the other passengers.

Our flight attendant came back to us with a big smile on her face and more champagne. "Now everyone has congratulated you."

The rest of the flight went about the same; we talked more about the wedding and the people that were there. "I'll be honest with you, Kay. I probably won't remember anyone that I met during the party."

"That's okay, Rob. I wanted to introduce you around because they all wanted to see who you were. You're an outsider to the community; you're not any sort of farmer, or a merchant from town. They were curious and by going around with me, even if you didn't satisfy it, you've blunted that curiosity. You and I will be the major topic of discussion until Halloween, at least. Mom will be in gossip heaven."

It was a long flight; Kay leaned over and settled on my shoulder to talk. After a while we both took a nap. They woke us so we could get the sleep out of our eyes before we touched down. Getting off the plane, we thanked the flight crew, including the Captain and the rest of the people on the flight deck.

After getting our luggage, we took a cab to the hotel where we were staying for the night. The hotel was expecting us but there was some confusion about the room and I was not happy. They had a standard room for us, not the suite I'd expected or reserved. Kay convinced me to let things go; we were tired and it had been a long, long day. We were due to go aboard the cruise ship after lunch the next day. We went out to have a late dinner.

We went to bed but we only cuddled before we went to sleep because we were so tired. We slept in and had a long luxurious shower before we dressed in comfortable clothes and went to brunch. We left our luggage at the desk rather than carry it all with us. We took our time over our meal and talked.

"Rob, what sort of room are we going to have on the ship?"

"I want it to be a surprise for you, just like the party was for me."

"That's not fair, I didn't plan the party, Mom did, and you know that. It was a surprise to me, too. Please tell me."

"I won't tell you any more than it's a cabin and I think you'll like it."

She pestered me and pestered me. She asked me every way she could think of but I wouldn't give in. I kept her guessing. I kept changing the subject and she kept coming back to it. When we were finished with breakfast and coffee we went back to the hotel. The desk got us some help and we moved the luggage to the curb where we loaded it into a cab and then went on to the ship.

It was after one and we were able to check in at the dockside purser's office. He put wrist bands on us and explained that we used them to access or purchase anything and everything on board. We left our major luggage there to be taken up for us and then a steward led the way, up the brow and to our cabin.

We went up in an elevator and then changed to another elevator, a smaller one, to go up even higher. When we got to the cabin, the steward told us the ship would be getting under way at four but before the dining rooms opened, the ship would hold the required abandon ship drill. Dinner would be late but the food bars would be open as soon as we were under way. He showed us a ship's floor plan; it was mounted to the desk. Before he left us he pointed out the food bars that would be open before the drill and where we had to go for the drill.

"Rob, this is wonderful," Kay said as she looked around. "We have our own balcony?"

"Yes, the panoramic view from the balcony is why I reserved this cabin." There was a fruit basket on the desk and a bottle of champagne in a top hat on a tripod.

"Does everyone get fruit and champagne in their cabin?"

"No, it's part of the amenities that go along with this cabin and all the cabins on the upper decks."

"So you paid extra for this cabin."

"I wouldn't say that. I paid what the cabin was worth to me. It's much better than an inside cabin and being on a higher deck means there will be less traffic by our door. This isn't the top of the line, if that's what you're thinking. It's actually four or five levels down the list of accommodations. It's the top deck of regular cabins and they call this a mini-suite. We have gyms, lounges, a pool, a running track and all sorts of different things above us. I thought this cabin would give us what we would appreciate without going crazy."

Kay and I had been looking around the suite as I was talking. Kay said, "I can't think of anything more than what's here that we might need. The bath is a decent size, the bed is a queen, we have a sitting area and our own balcony. What about internet service?"

"That too, and we can use wireless or connect to the hard wire service, there are jacks by the desk and at the night stands. There might even be one on the balcony, I don't know. I think the wireless won't be up to what we're used to at home and I'm planning on using the hard wire."