Allyn and Ransom – 50

 

"I'm scared, Mandi," Allyn said as she adjusted his bow tie.

 

"You're scared? How do you think I feel? You don't have to get all decked out in a fancy dress and hope you don't trip walking down the aisle."

 

At the moment, it was three months after Henri had come to live at the estate. So far, Ransom and the others were no farther along in finding Xavier than they had been the first day. But they weren't giving up hope that someday, somewhere, they would track him down and deal with him.

 

In the meantime, there was a double wedding to contend with….

* * * *

One month earlier

 

"You really should ask him," Miranda said, early one evening when Ransom and Allyn had come to the estate for a barbecue.

 

"Ask him what?" Ransom replied, still not sure why she'd dragged him off to "talk privately" with him.

 

"Ask Allyn to marry you. Then we can have a double wedding. Think of the money we could… No, no, that's not really a selling point, I suspect. Think how neat it would be, the four of us getting married on the same day. You love him. He loves you, so there's no reason not to. Right?"

 

Ransom nodded. "No, I suppose there isn't."

 

She tapped his chest. "So go out there and ask him."

 

Ransom gulped. "Now?"

 

"Yes now, silly. John and I have our wedding planned for next month. That doesn't give you much time to get ready—shopping for tuxes, letting your friends know, all that stuff."

 

"Not sure those are selling points," Ransom muttered.

 

She laughed. "Probably not, from your standpoint. Still—" she swatted his butt, "—get out there and do the deed."

 

Ransom did. Walking over to where Allyn was talking to John and Henri, Ransom dropped to one knee, took Allyn's hands in his and said, "This is sudden, I know. So sudden I don't have a ring or anything but, Allyn Warwick, would you marry me?"

 

Allyn looked at him in stunned surprise for a moment, then nodded. "I would love to."

* * * *

Present day

 

Now, a month to the day after the proposal, Allyn was still trying to believe the wedding was going to go off without a hitch.

 

"What if Ransom changes his mind and doesn't show up, Mandi?"

 

"Then he's going to have to deal with a lot of pissed off friends, starting with me." She patted his cheek. "Do you really think that will happen?"

 

"No. I guess I'm having pre-wedding nerves. How can you be so calm?"

 

"I'm a woman. We take things like this is stride." She didn't look as if she was totally certain though, as she checked the mirror again, smoothing down the satin skirt of her gown.

 

It was going to be a simple wedding, just a few of Ransom's coworkers, a couple of Miranda and Allyn's close friends, and their parents, as well as John's.

 

Ransom had no family to speak of, and what was left of it was not on speaking terms with him anyway, due, he said, to his "sexual proclivities". "Meaning shifters are supposed to be straight so they can sire more of us," he had said blisteringly when Miranda had asked.