Gateway
Station, July
Daily Memo
Ø The supply master reminds everyone to limit non-drinking use of water to 1 liter per person per day.
Ø Due to incoming personnel, singles and childless couples standard apartments are downsized to efficiency quarters until further notice.
Ø Reminder: Elections for Board positions will be held one month from today.
Ø The video playback equipment is undergoing repairs. Movie showings this week are canceled.
Ø Ninth grade field trip to the old Tranquility Base Monument is back on for tomorrow at 1000.
Ø Everyone not on active duty is invited to attend the wedding of Harry Kane and Maeve Kane at 1500 hours in the dining hall on Friday. Music and regular dinner with cake included. Extra sweet ration courtesy of Rachel and Gervas Friedemann, Maeve’s parents.
Ø Secondary testing of the channel will resume as scheduled on Saturday.
Ø Next week’s menu is posted in the dining hall. Please take all suggestions for meals and classes to the Food staff, not admin.
** ***
Maeve Michels tugged off the rings on her left
hand and reluctantly placed them in Reggie’s palm where they joined Harry’s
wedding ring. If finally holding a formal ceremony meant that much to Harry,
she would try and be gracious about it. Besides, he’d soon be putting the rings
back on.
“Chin, up, girlfriend. Third time’s…”
“Fourth, Reg. This is the fourth time we’ve tried
this, and each and every time there’s been some major disaster.” She closed her
eyes. “Why are we doing this again?”
At Reggie’s silence, Maeve unlocked her lids.
“It’s a good time to celebrate something,” her
friend, aka Lieutenant Regina Coxson, aide to Program Defense Leader Frances
Helmund, said. “After the past few months, we all need something to cheer us
up.”
Maeve eyed the garment bag slung over the closet door, half-unzipped and spilling ivory organza like a gutted ice cream truck. “You’re right. I hope you’re right. We want this to go…right,” she whispered in a mantra invoking all the powers of positivity on the moon.
“’Sides, Stella has been waiting so long to be
your flower girl she’s outgrown her dress. Good thing Becky Collins and the
girls are good seamstresses.” Reggie winked and sauntered toward the door of
the snug apartment Maeve and Harry and Stella shared upon arriving at the
Gateway compound on Earth’s moon. “I’ll be right back,” she promised and then
left Maeve alone.
A small round window captured only stars on a
variable black silk screen. They were so close to testing the channel that
would move them to a new world. She hugged herself, never quite shutting out
the memory of screams the night they’d abandoned Colorado…the night of bombs
and shouting, of rage and despair. Earth had not been destroyed, but the
holocaust had done irreparable damage. A few groups held out in shelters,
waiting to hear that evacuation was possible. Possible at all…let alone for
them. Not everyone could survive Tarlig and Lorus’s travel stream.
In the middle of this trauma, Harry wanted to get married. Again.
Back then, since Harry already wore his wedding ring for safekeeping after surviving a kidnaping and beating, Maeve had simply held out her hand to him. With a deep sigh and wry grin, he’d encircled her finger with the wedding ring. They thanked Lois, affixed their signatures to the paperwork, and that was it. Living quarters on Gateway were limited. Stella, Maeve’s then five and now eight-year-old cousin whom she and Harry adopted, slept on a tuckaway bed in a corner of the all-purpose area of their two-room apartment.
Being a bit cramped and alive while the group
continued to work on enhancing the corridor to Tarlig’s world and hopeful
spacious new colony was preferable to the alternative.
And now, three years after the initial
evacuation, Maeve’s father was coming to Gateway.
Prince Harry, as he had introduced himself years
ago, was shaking in his rocket pilot’s boots.
Maeve scoffed. Like her old man could scare a
kitten.
Besides, they were legal.
She stared out the window again, and blinked when
her mother’s reflection appeared. Relief sagged every part of Maeve. She hugged
herself again before she’d be crying “Mommy!”
“Oh, Mom! You’re here. I didn’t think you’d
arrive for a few hours.” Maeve turned and reached her mother’s embrace,
returning it with a fierce one of her own.
“I see there’s going to be a little problem with
the dress,” Rachel Michels Friedemann announced and leaned back to pat Maeve’s
belly.
Maeve bit her lips. “Adjustments can be made. Come,
sit. Let me get you some tea. You must be exhausted. How’s Dad?”
“Huh, the international traveler who has no hint
of seasickness or air flight sickness has space travel sickness. He spent the
days moaning and retching.”
“Oh, poor guy. Did you find your room?”
“Yes, that nice friend of yours helped us.”
“Which one?” Maeve stirred a dash of honey into
her mother’s black tea but left her ginger tea plain and fragrant. “I should
lay in a supply of ginger tea until he gets his space legs.”
“Tall woman…said she’d come back soon after walking me here. Lieutenant Coxson.”
“Reggie. She’s standing up with me. Mom, I’m so
glad you’re here.” She stroked her protruding stomach. “Does Dad know?”
“A little hard to tell from the shoulders up on
the video calls, yes? We only reestablished stable communication three months
ago.” Rachel raised the mug toward her lips. “You have been sadly lacking in
news. We don’t read minds.”
“Hmm…I don’t know about that.” A twinge of guilt
shimmied across her heart. “I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you. Just one
of those…obvious things? You know? Like everyone around here knows what’s going
on and it doesn’t occur to you that no one else does.” Besides, Harry had more
comm time and was supposed to have told them. But Mom had adored Harry and the
new and improved mature Maeve wouldn’t tarnish her prince’s image for anything.
It wasn’t worth the recriminations.
Rachel stayed silent, waves of woundedness
rolling from her around the room, as tangible as Tarlig and Verdun’s manner of
impressionistic communication.
Maeve gathered herself in subtle defense mode. “We
told you about the progress on the channel and rebuilding the ruined parts of
the station. There was a lot going on at your end, too. We only had so much
time at each call.”
“True.” Rachel set down the cup and straightened
her spine. “We’re here now. Your father and I are naturally excited about
what’s going on here. The data we were able to deal with on the journey, that
is.” She swiveled to look around the tiny room. “This is…this is…overwhelming.
I never thought…”
Maeve got up and went on her knees near her
mother to hold her close. “Believe me, I understand. If we don’t try, we lose
everything. If we stay, or go back, we might still lose everything, including
who we are. What we are accomplishing here is worth it.”
“We barely got away.” Rachel sniffed, quivering under Maeve’s embrace. “At least a dozen people were killed in the engine wash. What makes them do that? Who in their right mind would try to stop a rocket?”
“They’re not in their right minds. I don’t have
to tell you that. It seems like a dream that you came. How are the others?”
Maeve pulled away to ease herself back on her
knees. Inside Maeve’s womb, the infant girl protested with stretches and a good
kick to her mother’s gut. Maeve squirmed while she listened to the story of how
her Aunt Ann and Uncle Mark, and her cousin Ritchie and his family prepared for
and made the harrowing journey out of the maelstrom of lingering nuclear after-effects.
Two low-yield bombs had changed society and the landscape of large sections of
India and Pakistan. Damages had horrified nations briefly until the smoke
cleared and nearby major powers trampled each other while realigning their
allegiances.
Maeve and Harry were part of a long-sighted group
of international communities who had seen the future and planned for eventual
colonization elsewhere. Gateway was a risky stopgap. The elsewhere and the how
to get there had been an issue until recent developments with help from their
new friends.
In the middle of all this, Harry had neglected to
mention to her parents they were having a baby. No wonder he was so eager for
another try at a formal wedding. Like he had something to prove.
The baby tried to do a somersault as Maeve
hitched herself off the floor. Rachel was leaning down to lend an arm when the
door popped open.
“Maeve!” The whirlwind of Harry charged in. “You’ve
got to…ohhhh. Hi…Rachel. Um…you’re early.” Harry skidded to a halt before he
took a final two strides to reach them. One arm around the back of her hips was
all he needed to lift them to stand.
Maeve leaned against for a couple of seconds to
gain her equilibrium.
“Thanks, Coxson, you’re a riot,” Harry said over
his shoulder at Reggie, arms folded, and leaning against the door frame.
“I tried to tell you.” She straightened. “Looks a little crowded. I’ll come back later.” Reggie waved and sauntered away.
“Harry,” Rachel said, sotto voice.
Maeve detected the dry wryness in her mother’s
undertone, but judging by Harry’s flush, he did not. Let him squirm.
Harry closed the door and advanced on them while
straightening his shirt and smoothing his hair. “Welcome! I—we’re glad you’re
here and I’m sorry we didn’t come to greet you. I wasn’t expecting you until
oh-five-hundred. Tomorrow. But you found us, and…uh, that’s all that matters?”
He reached Maeve’s side and crouched, slipping an arm around her shoulders.
“How was the trip?”
Maeve watched while he tried to scan the room
from the corner of his eyes while maintaining minimal focus on her mother.
“A little bumpy,” Mom said. “Rushed, but I
suppose there’s no other way to do that. Unfortunately, Gervas did not take
kindly to space travel and he is resting in assigned quarters. I expect you
want to join him, as traditionally, a bride and groom don’t see each other
before a wedding.”
Rolling her eyes, Maeve had to work at not
laughing out loud. Mom was such a kidder.
When Harry lifted his arm away and stood, Maeve
looked up at him. Or rather, his hunky backside making its way toward their
sleeping area. “Hey, Mom was teasing…” Her eyes slid to her mother’s
contemplative expression and she sat up. “Weren’t you? C’mon. You just got
here. Harry and I have been married. Legally.” She held up her left hand without
the rings and lowered it slowly. “This wedding is really more of a family
reunion. And a celebration for the upcoming channel tests. Don’t make him
leave. We’re all grown up here. I need him. We need him.”
“It’s not as if he can go far, now, is it?”
Rachel replied. “Where is Stella bella? Ann and Mark have been jitterbugs
waiting to see her again.”
***
Pregnant women should not have to deal with such stress, Maeve thought after Bailey, one of the compound medics, finished reading her blood pressure the following morning in the clinic. Bailey just raised her brows. “Do you want to go through the meditative technique training again, or just take some meds? It’s important to keep this under control these last weeks.”
“I know, I know.” Maeve stood and rubbed her baby
belly. “How about some isolation time in Zero G? Like, until the baby is born?”
Bailey laughed. “Harry asked first.”
“Oh? When was he in?”
“At the Accommodations meeting this morning. You
know baby has to learn which way is down, so no more Zero G. If you do some
training, you’ll have to do it here so I can monitor you.”
Tempting…but Mom would be hurt. She expected to
have lunch with her daughter after the orientation session this morning. Thank
goodness she had been kidding about keeping Maeve and Harry apart. “It’s just
for a week or so, right, and it won’t hurt the baby?”
“What? The high bp? Yes, it will have adverse
effects on both you and the baby.”
“The meds.”
“No. It’s safer for you and the baby to have a
healthy bp when you deliver.”
“All right.” Maeve felt ganged-up and choked, as
if others were taking over her life. Which they were.
“Did you want to see Dr. Al?”
“No!” That would really be the last straw, having
to air everything again in front of Al Georgio, Colorado compound shrink, now
one of four practicing psychotherapists on Gateway. There weren’t enough
therapists for the two thousand people currently stuffed into the station’s
pods, and at least another thousand on the way. “It’s just that, you know, I
think under the circumstances, things are…well, going pretty well.”
Bailey sat at her little desk and tapped a few icons on her monitor. “If my mother showed up on the moon wanting to host a wedding for me when I was eight and a half months pregnant and nearing a break-through on transportation techniques to a new planet, I’d be a little out of sorts too.” Bailey reached into the locker that opened with her computer code and counted out two days of medication. “Here. Low dose. Start now, and take another in the morning. Then come back after lunch tomorrow for a check and we’ll see how it’s going. When’s the wedding again?” She consulted her personal screen. “Oh—Friday. Well, okay, that’s four days away. I bet things will be better then.”
They walked to the door of the little examining
room and into the hall of the clinic.
“Thanks, Bailey. I appreciate everything you’re
doing for us.”
The medic, who specialized in midwifery, smiled
and patted Maeve’s shoulder. “Exciting times for all of us. I’ve been waiting for
colonizing our new home world all my life.”
That’s what Maeve had to keep in mind as she
wandered back to her apartment to wait for her mom. Once there, she kicked off
her shoes and wiggled her toes. Dutifully she popped the pill in her mouth and
swallowed it down with iced tea from their mini fridge. The wedding was really
a symbol of the greater picture of starting a new life for the colonists. She
had to look at it that way. Strangely, after being the bridezilla for her Aunt
Ann and even her mother several years ago while planning their weddings, ennui
over her own ceremony had hit her hard.
Maeve touched the silk fabric of the dress layers
burgeoning out of the garment bag still hung over the closet door. If anyone
expected her to wear it, definite alterations were going to have to happen.
She stroked her stomach where the baby within her
shifted and stretched. Just like a lot of life had to change, adapt, and grow
in order to prepare for this monumental shift of humanity—the giant leap beyond
this place. Some people, like Bailey, had been born of people who dreamed of
this time, and spent their lives preparing. Others, like herself and Harry,
were newcomers joining the cause and had spent only a few years preparing.
Were their preparations enough? She’d been a member of the colony for over three years, been Harry’s wife for nearly that long. Being Stella’s mother had not prepared Maeve for bearing a child of her own. Stella, Ann and Mark’s late-in-life child, had come to Gateway with them and her and Harry’s adopted daughter. She’d been five then and never expected to see her birth parents again. They would all have to adapt to this new reality of sharing a daughter.
One thing they all deserved after the frightening
early trials of the channel with its losses and confusion, and the stray
terrorist who had managed to board a flight with weapons destroyed valuable
equipment, not to mention a dozen lives, was a chance to celebrate their
advances. Any normal party would have been fine. Harry and Lois, the community
administrator, had cooked up the great wedding scheme.
Maeve counted back in time to his first
suggestion of attempting another wedding ceremony…figured. He’d broached the
idea right about the time they learned Maeve’s family had found a flight to
bring them here. The channel trials next month were a dim second excuse.
Honestly. Exasperated, Maeve pulled the wedding
dress from its hanger and held it in front of herself.
With uncanny perceptive timing, a fist banged on
the outer and it was thrust open before the echo faded. “Hey, you decent?”
Roarke, their friend and Harry’s perpetual best
man, pushed his head inside to look sidewise at her. As if from a ninety-degree
angle he could pretend not to see anything compromising. He grinned under black
plastic glasses and curly black wiry hair. Maeve had thought him obnoxious
beyond belief when they first met. They’d since become close friends—enough
that if he wasn’t standing with Harry, he’d be standing with her to witness the
vows.
“I always am, Roarke. What’s going on?”
“Just thought I’d pop over quick before your mom
got here. They’re about done with orientation. She did okay.”
“How do you have time to be everywhere at once? I
don’t know how you get any work done at all.”
“I’m the boss. I delegate.” Roarke straightened
and stepped inside, leaving the door open. He put his hands on his hips and
studied the dress. “That’s not gonna fit.”
“No kidding, captain obvious.”
“Yes.” Maeve lowered the dress. She tossed it
over the back of the chair and leaned over to check the seams at the waist.
Roarke came close. She wouldn’t be surprised if he declared himself an expert
at alterations. He could do pretty much everything else.
“I bet Becky knows what to do.”
“What? You’re not going to whip out your sewing
machine and fix it for me?” Maeve tilted her head and smirked.
“Advice only in this case.” Roarke continued to
study the tiers of fabric overlapping slightly around the body of the skirt.
“You’ll have to undo the tiers…and add…” His eyes, magnified slightly behind
his lenses, lost focus.
Maeve twitched her lips. The idea phantom had
struck Roarke and he’d be no good for anything else until he frantically worked
it out, whatever it was going on in that magnificent brain of his. She took his
forearm and led him to the door and pointed him in the direction of his lab.
“Just make sure you’re done by Friday.”
“Huh?” He frowned and pushed at the glasses.
“Today is Monday. You have to be at the wedding
on Friday. Now go.”
“Oh, yeah, yeah. Sure. Whatever you say.” His
lips were already moving as he walked away in a mostly straight line.
Rachel arrived from the opposite direction. “Was
that Mr. Roarke? He’s so helpful. I wanted to thank him.”
“You talked to him?” Maeve asked.
“He spoke about the basics of traveling through
the channel. Wow, my head is still spinning.”
“Yeah, he can do that to a person.” Maeve
beckoned. “C’mon in. You know it will be a while before we can use the channel.
We’re just starting trials. How were the other sessions?”
“Good. I’m a little less anxious after hearing
first hand and seeing what’s going on here. Your father was in good spirits.”
“He’s better then?” Maeve asked.
“The doctor gave him something to take. We’ll go
check in on him shortly.”
“Doctor? Did he needed medical treatment? Mom, we
should have just stayed together.”
“All of us?” She laughed and poked Maeve’s belly.
“All six of us? Here? I understand rooms are tight, but not that tight.”
“You still should have called me.” The petulance
in Maeve’s voice took her back fifteen years to her recalcitrant teens. The
merrier her mother grew, the more sour Maeve felt. Bailey would strap her down
and brainwash her with tranquility vids if she kept this up. “Sorry.”
Mom
scrunched her nose and turned to look at the dress. “Everything is fine. Your checkup
went well, yes? So…I assume you have taken care of all the details for your
wedding? You did such a wonderful job with Ann’s and mine there’s probably
nothing left to do by now. I’m sorry we couldn’t come sooner.”
The last thing Maeve wanted to do was spoil her mother’s pleasure of participating in a wedding for her only daughter, not counting her half-sister Katrine, but she had difficulty mustering excitement for an event that had so scattered a focus. Like a wedding had been shot through a prism and came out celebrating the arrival of her parents, a marriage that had taken place years ago without the traditional ceremony, a baby, hope of a new home. And Stella would finally get to be the flower girl. Stella…her darling girl who was now following Verdun like a yappy little eager hound, absorbing knowledge until Maeve feared she’d burst. Harry told her to calm down.
Maeve’s deepest worry was for Stella’s birth parents. What a strange situation. Ann and Mark were really here. Stella had spent hours with them after supper last night but slept here in her own bed. Stella was legally her and Harry’s daughter. Yet she belonged to her birth parents who loved her enough to give her up. Maeve adored her Aunt Ann and would never deliberately hurt her. Maeve felt the pokes of the baby she carried. She would do anything for her children. Even what her own mother had done in keeping her father’s identity a secret if she needed to. Anything. Oops… “I’m sorry, what were you saying, Mom?”
“I was just asking about your plans. Did you want
to do something about this dress? My dress? You certainly don’t have to try to
wear it now if you have something else in mind.”
“Mom. Of course I want to wear this one. I
already took it to the woman I know who teaches fabric crafts. Rebecca Collins.
She and her husband also work with Roarke in engineering. She suggested
reworking the skirt by removing the tiers. Then she thought she could cut
panels and sew them into the sides of the dress.” She pointed out the seams
that Becky had mulled over. “What do you think? We can drop this off on the
way.”
Rachel glanced at her watch. “I like the idea.
Who else but an engineer could make it work. Let’s go. I smelled chicken soup
and some kind of savory herb rolls in the dining hall as I passed. We can pick
some up for your father. So, what else is on your list? Stella still a flower
girl? What about flowers? Silk?”
Harry’s list, Maeve thought as she closed the
door behind her, the garment bag over her arm. Her mother waited for her, then
wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a brief hug. “Food? How about
invitations?”
“Oh, a system wide invitation was sent. I guess,
more of an announcement. Obviously not everyone can come.”
“And safe to say it’s an indoor wedding?”
“Har-har,” Maeve responded. “But you might be surprised what they can do with projectors. Anyway, there’s not much we can or want to do with food, but there is going to be cake for everyone who wants some.” Maeve pressed her lips together as her back twinged. Walking was supposed to be good for her, but the growing discomfort in her hips and the backs of her legs made her lazy. Bailey gave her no excuses and told her the cramps she had last week were just that, so keep moving. “Um…what else? Stella. Yes, she wants to be our flower girl, and there will be some real cut flowers in vases. Reggie has that covered. She’s a hobby botanist, so she’s been volunteering in the horticulture bays. Stella has a basket of pretend petals she made with some of her friends. Whoa, I have to slow down.”
“Honey, are you okay?”
They moved out of the light foot traffic. Maeve
waved on two people who stopped to check on them. “Yep, fine—just swallowed a
watermelon. No worries.” She reassured her mom she just needed to catch her
breath, and sure enough, five minutes later the baby shifted and she took a
deep breath. “There, all good. Let’s go. You’re right, the soup smells good.”
They dropped the dress off at Becky’s apartment
and then picked up a small tray of covered bowls and fragrant rolls to take to her
parents’ room. Outside the door, Maeve stopped her mother. “He knows, right?”
she whispered. “Now? About the…” She pointed at her protruding stomach.
“He does.”
Since Mom had insisted carrying the tray, Rachel
rapped on and then opened the door. The Accommodations Department people had
been rearranging the larger quarters to create one-bedroom hotel-room-sized
efficiencies. It was the best everyone could do, and helped to spur the
research and testing needed to move them off Earth’s single satellite.
Gervas Friedemann, one of the leading socio-economic
academics and advisors of the time, rose from a chair in front of a desk.
“There she is. Rachel, you have brought me our daughter and grandchild, I see,
hmm?”
His German accent had obviously relaxed the more time he had spent continuously in the US since he’d married Maeve’s mom. Maeve moved toward him with her arms out. “Dad!”
More than seeing her mother, having her
biological father, whom she’d only known for the past decade and nearly half of
that separated again, made Maeve emotional.
“There, there. We are together again. With one
more, now, eh?” He gently patted Maeve’s stomach. “Harry tells me you are doing
well, yes? Babies are born every week without troubles, thanks to the gravity
situation. And soon we will test ourselves on a new world.”
“Right.” Maeve sniffed. “So, how are you feeling?
Mom said it was rough for you.”
“Hmm.” He wrinkled his nose at the aroma of the
soup. His wire rim glasses scooted higher on his nose. Faded brown eyes under
his cropped grizzled hair were set into a deeper nest of wrinkles than she’d
remembered. “Air sickness I never had. Motion sickness—not in general, perhaps
in strongest of storms or when I haf been very tired. But this—rocket in space!
Bah. I regret I haf no stomach. But now, I am hungry. Let us eat.” He pointed
to the desk chair and the desk. “Sit you down there.” He hustled to push back a
screen separating the sleeping area pull up another arm chair for his wife. He
sat on the bed and leaned over the tray he bridged between them.
“Harry was worried you’d be upset,” Maeve said
eventually, pleased her parents were adapting to their new environment.
“About what?” Dad responded. “Ridiculous. He
obviously takes good care of his loved ones.” He pointed at with his spoon.
“Marriage…you are married, yes? A wedding is a party for afterward. Now we will
have the party.” He eyeballed her stomach. “Soon, though. That young man. He
worried too much.”
“He wanted to please you. He didn’t know his own father,
and he looks up to you, Dad.” Maeve leaned back, able to finish half the soup
which was thick with wide doughy noodles as if her father had ordered it that
way from his favorite delicatessen.
“I did not want him to take advantage of you. That’s all. When I learned first of his task, I told him in no uncertain terms he was to respect you fully.”
Maeve glanced at her mother who continued to pick
at the roll in her lap. “Mom? Everything all right?”
“Yes, yes. We don’t want to burden you, or cause
you any extra stress.”
“I’m so glad you’re both—you’re all—here. It’s
both a sad and exciting time, and throwing a party in the midst of that won’t
change a thing. I guess I was feeling strange because Harry seems to want this
so badly for us, as if some public party will make a difference. And this party
isn’t really about us at all, so I’m not as enthusiastic about it as I could
be.” She leaned back further as the baby seemed determined to get her foot as
high as possible into her rib cage. “And there’s this.” She spread her hand
over her middle. “I mean, everyone knows we’ve been together for years, and no
one cares as much as they used to in history about…well, you know. Pregnant
brides. Even though I’m hardly a bride.”
Maeve couldn’t look at her mother, who, due to a
lot of complications, had borne her out of wedlock. When she did sneak a peek,
her parents sat clasping hands and staring fondly at each other. She wriggled
in one of those embarrassing catching-your-parents-being-intimate moments. Even
though a loving glance was pretty far from barging into the bedroom. Even
though they were in a bedroom.
“So!” A loud clap from her father made Maeve
jump. “What else can we do to help you? We will soon be put to work, as is
proper, so let us be as industrious as we are able on your behalf until then.”
He pulled his wallet from his pocket with a grin. “Traditionally I would pay
the bills.”
Chuckling, Maeve shook her head. “Oh, we’ll all
be paying, all right. I’m holding my breath waiting to see what’s going to
happen at this wedding. All the others have been monumental disasters. Just
remember, I told you so.”
***
Friday came sooner than Maeve wanted, but also not fast enough. Stella’s endless questions and perky observations had tried her thin patience. Even Harry had annoyed her by asking mundane questions until she ordered them to go play somewhere.
Reggie stood behind her, slowly zipping the
dress. Maeve inhaled, hoping and praying it wouldn’t be too tight, even though
the last fitting had been yesterday. The way she was carrying the baby made her
feel lopsided and unwieldy. Bailey had assured her on Tuesday things were
moving along normally.
Every movement felt like grinders were at work on
her hips and a peculiar ache had yet to ease up that started that at the base
of her back started when she rolled out of bed. She must have lain on a nerve.
“What do you think, Reg?” Maeve twisted to look at her profile and winced.
“Very modern bridely,” Reggie told her.
“At least no one will bother looking at me when
you’re so gorgeous.”
Reggie looked nonplussed, but sent a critical
glance at her reflection. Her dark blue dress with tiny pleats along the
bodice, a round neckline, and gold buttons reminded Maeve of her friend’s
former Air Force uniform.
“Can’t get too far away from dress blues, hmm?”
Reggie had wound ivy leaves and delicate tiny white flowers around combs which they poked in each other’s hair. “See?” Reggie said before she tucked Maeve’s above her ears to hold back the chestnut curls. “A blue bow. I’m nothing if not traditional.”
Maeve squeezed Reggie’s hand. “The dress is old
and borrowed; the flowers are new and the bow is blue. Hey, thanks. I’m really
grateful.”
“Yeah. Me too. How do you think the princess is
doing?”
“Stella? I’m glad my mother took her. She and…and
Ann are getting her ready.”
“Still have a lot to work out about that, don’t
you?”
“It is kind of odd—probably weirder for Stella,
though you know what Roarke told me yesterday? She’s running around telling her
teachers and friends she has an old dad and a new dad, an old mom and a new
mom.”
Reggie’s laughter made Maeve giggle breathlessly
and cross her legs. “Oh man, don’t get me doing that too often. I’m going to
wet my pants.”
After Maeve returned from the bathroom, Reggie
handed her a half cup of warmed tea. “It’s kind of true, though, isn’t it?
About Stella?” Reggie asked. “You said your aunt is the older sister, older
than your mom. And it’s not like your mom was a teenager when she had you. You
could have given birth to Stella after you graduated from college.”
“Everything about this new community is odder and
odder,” Maeve said. She grinned at her friend. “Well, let’s get me married.
Again. You don’t happen to be packing heat?” she asked in her moll voice. “You
know what happened the third time I tried this.”
“We have a guard on Harry, don’t worry.”
Reggie followed her toward the dining area, the largest room in the complex where their friends and family could gather. Maeve felt like a marshmallow heading for a cup of hot chocolate. Stella, Mark and Ann, and Maeve’s parents stood near the entry into the room where an obvious aisle between tables had been created. The tables were full of murmuring friends under dimmed lights, as if waiting for a theatrical production. Maeve prayed for a sincere lack of drama.
Stella wore a gown that had been remade from pieces of her former frothy flower girl dress she had gotten for that long-ago first wedding and wore since only for play time. She held a basket and hopped up and down. “Mommy Maeve!” Stella bounced along on long legs toward her.
Stella hugged her and kissed the baby belly.
“Hi, Stells. You look gorgeous,” Maeve told her.
A little ripple of discomfort swam along her lower pelvic area. Bailey had told
her at her appointment she was “ripening” but was still on track for delivery
next week. Too soon. She winced. And too far.
Ann stepped close and took her arm. She said
quietly in Maeve’s ear, “Sweetheart, how are you doing?”
“I think I’m okay.”
Ann looked over Maeve’s shoulder and back. She
touched the shoulder of Maeve’s dress. “This is lovely.”
Maeve accepted a kiss from her mother and father.
“I’m so glad you could all be here.”
Harry had done his part well, Maeve observed.
Lights flickered softly on the tables along the aisle. Their friend Todd, a
music teacher, had two of his buddies playing along with him. Two keyboards and
a trumpet were unusual, but the sounds they coaxed out were soothing.
Mark squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek. “You
look sweet. Make us proud. Time to sit.” He knelt in front of Stella to say
something serious. Stella glanced at Maeve and back to Mark. She nodded. He
took Ann’s hand and led her away.
A shrill but tame whistle sounded behind Maeve.
No one but Roarke would do that to a ready–to-pop bride right before heading up
the aisle.
“You are so hot, I’d marry you myself.”
Reggie smacked him on the arm. “Thanks, ’cause I
know you did not just say to anyone else. We can talk about that later. Go on
with you now. And you be nice to Miz Friedemann on the way to her seat, you
hear?”
Dad lowered his eyebrows and closed his mouth. He
took a deep breath. “I have not seen him about since our orientation, your
Roarke.”
“He had an idea and went to live it out in the lab. That’s kind of
how he works. You look so handsome, Dad. I’m glad
we waited. Oohh.”
“Maeve?” Reggie put her hands on Maeve’s
shoulders. “Do you want to postpone?”
“Are you kidding?” Maeve hissed. “We’re doing
this.”
Dad put his hand on his chin. “You are certain?”
“Yes.” Maeve waved Reggie to move along. “Just
get to it. Get the show on the road. Probably false labor. Bailey said it would
be a while before the baby would come.”
Reggie looked uncertain, exchanging frowns with
Gervas.
“Just go already!” Maeve said. She signaled Todd.
Todd nodded and beckoned to his left. Roarke deposited Maeve’s mom at a table
on the aisle near the makeshift altar. He then joined Lois and Harry. Lois was
lovely and serene in the same outfit she wore when she officiated special
events. Harry cleaned up mighty fine. Dressed in a jacket of blue woven threads
Maeve didn’t recognize, she realized it was fabric made at the colony from
start to finish. Native ingenuity and a bold statement of self-sufficiency heightened
her pride in this man and the dream slowly coming true. Harry rocked on his
heels as he watched Roarke. Then he saw Stella stepping gingerly down the
makeshift aisle tossing her petals and winked. He rubbed his hands and looked
past her. Past Reggie marching up to join them. His expression changed. First
he went still, then his whole being lit up in a slow smile that curled Maeve’s
toes even as another cramp hit her.
Todd stood when Reggie reached the others. The room went silent but for the generators. Maeve had never heard their bass thrum without all the background noise to mask their music. Todd started Trumpet
Voluntary,
a beautiful if overstated statement that reverberated around the corners of the
ceiling. He wasn’t going to get very far judging by the length of time it would
take Maeve and her father to reach them, and Maeve decided they needed to make
haste. Maeve winced but smiled at her father and took his arm.
He pressed his lips tightly, then covered her hand with his free one.
Walking suddenly felt as though slogging through
a marsh. Maeve deepened her breathing, trying to calm the grip around her
belly. She prayed to keep smiling naturally, to be truly excited about the
ceremony, to make it through. First babies usually took a long time, she
reminded herself. Even if she was truly in labor, it would be hours before
anything serious happened. Plenty of time…oooh. She bit the inside of her
cheek.
Her prince, Harry…at last. Maeve took another
calming breath and turned to her father. Dad patted her cheek and kissed her.
“I love you so,” he whispered. “We are so proud
of you. He reached to shake Harry’s hand, then joined their hands. He went to
sit next to Mom and took her hand in his like he needed something to anchor
him.
Wow, this was real.
“You are so gorgeous,” Harry whispered as he put
his arm around her and took the final two steps toward Lois, who would
pronounce the blessing. Stella walked to Maeve’s other side and solemnly took
her hand.
“Tell her to hurry,” Maeve muttered to Harry out
of the corner of her mouth as a real pain crossed her belly and she squeezed
his hand.
“What?” Harry looked at her with his brows pulled
together.
“Your other daughter wants to join us,” she said
through gritted teeth. “Lois…get on with it.”
Lois, standing regally before them in a
cream-colored pantsuit shook her head. She held an open book and a certificate
before her. Covering her collar microphone, she groaned. “You two are
unbelievable. How bad is it?”
“Pretty constant,” Maeve gritted out. “Go. Read.
Harry, act like you’re having a good time.”
“Mommy…” Stella gripped Maeve’s hand.
“Shh, sweetheart, I’m fine.”
“Friends,” Lois intoned. “We gather today in
celebration of the union of two of our fellow citizens, Harry Antonio Robert
Kane and Maeve Ann Michels. Soon to be joined by another, so I’ll just move
along. In our society, we have chosen to maintain certain traditions…”
“You okay?” Harry whispered.
Maeve nodded, but now there was another problem.
She lifted her foot. “Oh.”
“What?”
Lois frowned while she read, speeding up a bit.
Roarke started to move away and reached for his phone.
“Uhh…water broke. Hurry, Lois.”
Reggie turned around and held her hand to shield
her eyes, searching the room.
Maeve grimaced and tried to ignore them all and
concentrate on the next wave of pain. Harry had both arms around her as she
went to her knees.
“I give up,” Lois said to the collective gasp of
their well-wishers. “Harry and Maeve, congratulations. You are husband and
wife. Please don’t try this again. Medic!”
“Reggie!” Maeve called.
“What? Anything.” Reggie gripped Maeve’s hand
under the blanket the other med team placed around her while lifting her onto
the gurney.
“Save me a piece of cake.”
“Ha! You got it. We’re all praying for you.”
***
Four hours later Maeve’s parents joined Harry and
Stella to greet their granddaughter. Harry and Stella sat together on an
oversized chair, each with an arm around the baby, Gwendolyn Alice, while Maeve
looked on from a hospital bed.
“Hi, Grandma, Grandpa,” Stella said, keeping her
perky voice hushed. “Isn’t she the prettiest baby on the moon? She’s going to
grow up to do great things.”
Maeve watched sleepily as her father kissed her
mother’s teary face. “We believe you, Stella,” Rachel said.
Gervas came over to kiss Maeve’s forehead. “Great
things will happen from now on, and we’ll all be part of it.”
***
© by Lisa J Lickel December 1, 2018, 2025
Fox Ridge Publications
Inspirational short fiction collection
The Michels Girls, Ann Michels Roth, Rachel Michels Friedemann, and Maeve Michels Kane, are characters from the Forces of Nature series and are entirely fictional, as are the character and settings of the series. They are not meant to represent any persons and are the exclusive rights of the author, Lisa J. Lickel. Excerpt from Meander Scar, courtesy of Black Lyon Publishing. Centrifugal Force and Parhelion excerpts, courtesy of Fox Ridge Publications. All rights reserved. Please enjoy!
All pictures are courtesy Pixabay
or Morguefile and are in the public domain.
Scripture quoted is from THE HOLY
BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by
Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The hymn, “By Vows of Love Together
Bound” Words by Eleazor T. Fitch, music by Ira Heinrich C. Zuener, 1845, is in the
Public Domain
The quote on Rachel and Gervas’s wedding
invitation is from The Irrational Season by Madeleine L'Engle,
Published January 1st 1984 by HarperOne (first published 1976) “Appalachia
Waltz” by Mark O’Connor, 1993 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vguZmqHJ6OA Artists: Yo-Yo Ma, Mark O’Connor,
Edgar Meyer Licensed to YouTube by SME (on behalf of Masterworks); Audiam (Publishing),
CMRRA, & 2 Music Rights Societies
“A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri,
David Hodges, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgaTQ5-XfMM
Published on Youtube on May 9,
2012 by the Piano Guys Artists: The Piano Guys
Published by SUMMIT BASE CAMP FILM
MUSIC, EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC, CHRISTINA PERRI D/B/A MISS PERRI LANE PUBLISHING
Arrangement produced by Jon Schmidt Arrangement written by Al van der Beek, Jon
Schmidt, & Steven Sharp Nelson Performed by Jon Schmidt: piano Steven Sharp
Nelson: acoustic cello, & cello-percussion Music recorded, mixed & mastered
by Al van der Beek at TPG Studio Piano was
recorded and edited at big idea studios by Jake Bowen Video produced by Paul Anderson
& Tel Stewart Licensed to YouTube by SME (on behalf of Masterworks); Warner
Chappell, UMPI, EMI Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing, UBEM, CMRRA, SOLAR
Music Rights Management, AMRA, and 17 Music Rights Societies “Trumpet Voluntary”
by Jeremiah Clarke, circa 1700 Published on Youtube on January 12, 2008 by Hui
Bernard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lTTWraugCI
Artist: Stuttgarter Kammerorchester
Album: Festliche Hochzeitsmusik Licensed to YouTube by NaxosofAmerica, AdRev
for 3rd Party; UMPG Publishing, AdRev Publishing
Forces of Nature series, newly updated and published by Sisyphus Triumphant Publishing, print copies available individually, available in electronic boxed set only.
