Chapter 39

By the time Jennifer and I were married the press had thoroughly humiliated us and been tragically humiliated in the process. There was so much utter nonsense out there that we spent a good hour each night laughing at those pathetic idiots. Eventually our day came and we stood before one of North Carolina’s favorite sons, Franklin Graham.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join in Holy Matrimony these two loving individuals. Jennifer and Thomas have consented to be forever known as Mr. and Mrs. Jennifer and Thomas Morrison. If anyone sees fit to tell why these two should not be thusly joined, speak now, or forever hold your peace...”

Jennifer looked exquisite in her white wedding gown. Polly had spent the last three weeks camped out with Jennifer, up in Knoxville, getting ready for this thirty minute moment. Polly was gorgeous in lavender and pink. Her gown offset Jennifer’s just perfectly.

They both looked radiant. I loved them both, for very different reasons.

Next to me stood my Best Man, Sam Brownbock. Beside Sam stood Hawk as coequal-Best Man.

Beside Jennifer, Summer Steele stood in as Maid of Honor. Beside Summer was Jennifer’s best friend from college, Henrietta Fremont. She and Polly were softly crying as Jennifer and I exchanged our vows and rings, then kissed passionately much to the amusement of our guests.

As we walked through the reception line, our guests celebrated with us. It was so much fun that we invited all the servers and agents to join us for dinner. The head of the Secret Service was present and gave his approval for the details to be exchanged until everyone got to share in our wedding feast. The servers joined us with faces bathed in shock and awe. It was marvelous to bring them a little joy, since they’d worked so hard to insure ours.

The guest list was ridiculously small. It needed to be. When you have the President and the Former President, standing up for the Vice President, you need a lot of Secret Service Agents. The hardest thing was keeping them from leaking our plans to the press and ruining our wedding by them crashing in and refusing to leave. Sam’s Cabinet and my staff were all invited and flown on a chartered plane to the wedding. That way no one knew where the wedding was to take place, and they couldn’t accidentally leak it - on purpose.

Our one concession to the no press rule was Summer Steele. She asked, very politely, to do an interview with Jennifer, for broadcast after our wedding and by the time they were through talking, Jennifer asked her to be co-maid of honor. It was a big bone, but they still thought our wedding was a big deal, so there you go. Summer was thrilled and we’d managed to throw the press a bone. She was forced to ride with everyone else, in the charter, but she sucked it up and behaved like an adult.

The reception was almost magical, because Polly inherently knew how to make it so. Her creativity and imagination put on the most wonderful evening I could have dreamed up. The hall was decorated to look like we’d entered paradise, with swishing curtains, flowing drapes and soft thick carpets. The servers were decked out in costumes that should have been used in Aladdin. They were that outstanding. The food was fit for a king, or a President – two Presidents, actually – and it was a wonderful feast.