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Post by stampededtyphoon on Jul 12, 2005 16:26:26 GMT -5
Sometime afterwards, Vic realized that he was crying, tears streaming from his eyes as he lay with Cheza resting her head on his chest--she turned her face upward towards his and asked, "Sweet Vic, WHY do you CRY!? Did This One HURT You!!??"
Her concern was so GENUINE, that he found it difficult to answer her right away--
"No, My Cheza, you could NEVER hurt me, even if you TRIED, I think--I'm just so..............MOVED, so deeply TOUCHED......it's hard to explain....." He trailed off, not knowing how to SAY what he felt--She had been so......gentle with him, so tender and loving!--no one had EVER thought of treating him that way, as if HE were teh delicate flower, teh fragile "child"---teh Virgin.....[except maybe Stampers, at times, when she used to run her fingers thru' his hair 'til he fell asleep] For teh First time in Three Life-times, Vic TRULY understood WHY it was called, "Making wuv"!
Tentatively, afraid of her answer, he asked her, "Cheza......did I....hurt.....You....?"
She smiled, her face lighting up, "No, Sweet Vic, you could NEVER "hurt" This One! This One was READY! Ready for YOU!"
"Ready...?"
"Yes, Sweet Vic--This One Loves You, and This One CHOSE You--and Together, This One and Sweet Vic have made a CHILD, a beautiful Child........."
She snuggled closer to him, resting her head at teh base of his throat, teh scent of her hair filling his senses, teh warmth of her skin against his, her happy singing lulling him to sleep...............
"A child....." Vic murmured to himself, dropping off into sleep........................................................
And for teh SECOND TIME that night, Vic came WIDE AWAKE with a START!!!!!
To be Continued—
"Cheza......are you saying I.........gave you a CHILD, tonight!?"
"Yes, Sweet Vic....." she murmured, settling into sleep.
Trying to keep his voice steady, Vic asked, "HOW can you be so.....SURE, my Cheza Flower....!?"
"Because This One could sense that it was Time...." she anwered sleepily, "Lord Darcia said it would come, a time to make a Child, and that This One would KNOW..."
"Lord Darcia!?"
"Yes, Before, when This One.......Opened Paradise, and..............Lord Darcia SPOKE to This One, from teh other side, and said that if This One were to have a Child, like a Human Woman, which This One is also part of, then This One would LIVE as a Human Woman.............................." Then she was asleep.
Vic lay quietly for a moment, his mind whirling with his thoughts......and suddenly he KNEW just WHAT to do!
"Cheza Flower," he said in her ear, shaking her very gently, "Cheza, wake up, Please...."
"Yes, Sweet Vic?!" she asked, blinking at him....
"Cheza--listen to me--I want you to get up and get dressed--we hafta GO somewhere.....!"
"Yes?" she asked, looking slightly puzzled, but otherwise not questioning him, "Where must You and This One Go, Sweet Vic?"
"We're gonna find a Preacher--and You and I are gonna GET MARRIED--Right Now!"
To be Continued---
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Post by stampededtyphoon on Jul 12, 2005 21:19:26 GMT -5
A Midnight Wedding---
A rather rumpled and grumpy Nicholas Wolfwood answered Vic's pounding on his door, his hair looking as if someone had taken a weed-whacker to it while he slept--
"WHAT teh HELL do YOU WANT!? Don't you REALIZE what TIME it IS!!??"
His rather crabby tirade was brought to an abrupt halt when he realized that it wasn't just Vic standing there--Cheza was with him, smiling happily, as WELL as Rin, who was having a hard time NOT laughing at Wolfwood's funny "bed-head"--even that little mongrel Spot was standing outside teh Wolfwood door, all looking eagerly at him in "expectation"!
"I want you to MARRY Cheza and me!" said Vic, looking both determined and nervous at teh same time--"Right NOW, before anything happens!"
"WHAT!? In teh MIDDLE of teh NIGHT!!?? cried an incredulous Wolfwood, wondering just WHAT teh HECK had gotten INTO Vic--"CAN'T it WAIT until MORNING!?"
"NO! Cheza's PREGNANT, and to be honest, for all I know, she could have teh kid TOMORROW, so I DON'T wanna WAIT a moment LONGER, Wolfwood!"
Wolfwood glanced at Cheza, who didn't look teh LEAST bit pregnant, and answered, "WHY couldn't you have bothered Anderson, then? He at LEAST doesn't have a FAMILY to wake up in teh "WEE HOURS of teh MORN'"!"
"I'm NOT Catholic!"
"You aren't PROTESTANT, EITHER!" yelled Wolfwood, now convinced that Vic MUST have been drinking or something--"COME BACK LATER--I'm SURE it can WAIT!" He started to close teh door on Vic and his little entourage--
"Please, Wolfwood!" cried Vic, feeling desperate, "I DON'T want this Child to be born illegitimate--like I WAS!"
Wolfwood stopped closing teh door, and opened it wide--he had heard teh desperation in Vic's voice, and he understood--Nicholas Wolfwood knew that HIS parents had loved each other, and had been married, but it was something he had learned after becoming an adult--as a child he had borne a lot of shame not knowing for sure, wondering if his Mother and Father had loved him....
"Come on IN, all of you," he *sighed" resignedly, "Let's get ON with it, so we can ALL get some REST!"
To be Continued---
It was a rather "odd' little Wedding---but in a sweet sorta' way.......
In teh Wolfwoods' Apartment Sitting Room, teh Bride and Groom stood before teh Preacher [who was STILL in his pajamas, tho' he HAD run a comb thru' his unruly hair!], Rin stood at their side, smiling happily and singing teh "Wedding Music" [something in Japanese about Cherry Blossoms blooming...], and Spot, after exchanging a friendly nose-touch of a greeting with Nicole's kitten, Kitty, sat by her side on teh sofa, watching teh ceremony proceed.
Soon after Wolfwood had let them in, Millie had come into teh room holding Nicole, and they watched from teh "sidelines" as Wolfwood said all teh right words.....[Nicole had given Cheza a paper flower made in PreSchool that day for her "bouquet"]
"Do you, Vic, take this Flower Maiden, Cheza, to be your Wife?"
Vic swallowed hard outta nervousness--he hadn't committed himself to ANYTHING THIS IMPORTANT since teh day he had joined teh Red Dragon Syndicate, but he knew he couldn't LIVE without Cheza as a part of him Now---
"I Do......very much..."
"Do you, Cheza, take Vic as your Husband?"
Cheza smiled, then laughed gently, "Yes, This One HAS Chosen Sweet Vic--ALWAYS!"
["SWEET Vic!?" thought Wolfwood--"Hoooo, BOY!"]
But when he saw teh wuv burning in their eyes as they looked at each other, Wolfwood glanced at Millie, who smiled sweetly back at him--even with her hair mussed, wearing a flannel nightgown and a rather ratty housecoat, his Millie was STILL teh most beautiful woman in teh WORLD to him!--and he UNDERSTOOD, Yes he DID!
There was a slight "Hitch" however, when it was time to do teh Exchange of Rings--"Oh, God!" cried Vic, looking rather ashamed, "I FORGOT about THAT!" Millie, seeing his distress, and knowing that Vic was NOT a man to give his heart lightly, stepped in then with a momentary "solution"--
"Here, Vic, use THIS!" she said, dropping a small gold ring in his open hand--
"MIL-LIE!!!" exclamed Wolfwood aghast! "That's YOUR Wedding ring!!!"
"Now, NICHOLAS! They're JUST "borrowing" it for teh Wedding--They'll give it BACK!" answered Millie with her Best "Practical" Logic--Knowing that there was NO POINT in arguing with his Wife when she was using THAT tone, Wolfwood subsided in his protests, and continued on with teh Ceremony............
"I NOW pronounce you Husband and Wife--you can KISS, now....!"
Wolfwood found himself mildly surprised at teh tender gentleness of teh Kiss that Vic and Cheza shared then--when he went over to return teh ring and hug HIS Wife, he commented quietly to Millie--
"Well, I'll BE! I never quite REALIZED that Vic had that IN him, DID you, Millie?"
Giving HER Husband a happy kiss, Millie replied, rather enigmatically [Nicholas would probably NEVER understand how Millie seemed to KNOW these things!], "Vic was MADE for her, Nicholas.....!"
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Millie INSISTED on "refreshments' for everyone--INCLUDING Spot and Kitty!--"It IS a Celebration, AFTER ALL!" she exclaimed happily, getting out cups and saucers for cocoa and cookies--Then, while Millie put Nicole back to bed [clutching her paper flower that now smelled of Moonflowers], Wolfwood did teh Official paperwork........
"Um.....What do you want put down for a Last Name, Vic?" he asked.
Vic looked away for a moment, an old sorrow crossing his face--"I don't HAVE a last name........I never knew it.........."
Wolfwood, realizing that teh subject was painful for Vic, and NOT wanting that to mar teh Joy of teh Occasion, rested a hand on Vic's shoulder--"Tell you What--You just get BACK to me on that LATER, when you feel up to it, Okay....!?"
Vic showed his gratitude with a fragile smile and a slight nod, "All right...........and Thank You, Wolfwood--I REALLY appreciate ALL of this--I KNOW it was an imposition....."
"Hey," replied Wolfwood with a *chuckle*--"Ain't NUTHIN' that a little SLEEP won't "cure", RIGHT!"
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When Wolfwood was finally, GRATEFULLY, able to snuggle back under teh covers of his own bed with Millie waiting for him, holding him close to her heart, he thought again about teh Pure Happiness he had seen on Vic and Cheza's faces earlier--"Ah, Yes! This is what I LIKE about being a Man of God, Millie--Helping people be HAPPY in their Lives!"
Millie's only answer however, was to *giggle* and nibble on his ear.........
"Nich-o-lasss.....Time to make ME "happy"....!"
"MILLIE! I'm not gonna get ANY sleep, tonight, AM I?......................Oh, WHO CARES!!!!"
And Mr. and Mrs. Wolfwood had their OWN lil' "Celebration".......................................!
Epilogue--
Rin was falling asleep on her feet before they got back to their Suite, so Vic carried her teh rest of teh short walk there, then put her to bed as soon as they were home, Spot jumping up on her bed to stay teh remainder of teh night........
Cheza was sitting on teh sofa, softly humming to herself, a small smile on her face, when Vic came outta Rin's room and closed teh door--"What are you holding, Cheza Flower?" he asked, as he came around to sit down beside her, wrapping her in his arms.
"This One has made you a Wedding Ring, Sweet Vic," she replied, holding it up for him to see--and, Indeed, it WAS a ring, a ring made of tiny LIVING yellow and white flowers!
"Cheza...!" Vic said in awe, "It's........it's more BEAUTIFUL than ANYTHING I've EVER owned! And it's ALIVE, too!"
"Yes, This One's Sweet Husband, Vic," she laughed, "If you put it in water every night, it will STAY Alive, for as long as you wear it--as long as This One and Sweet Vic wuv each other!"
Vic, feeling tears start in his eyes at her wuv and Caring for him, hugged his Wife--his WIFE!--close to himself, feeling more ALIVE and--and.......HAPPY..than he could EVER REMEMBER, in THREE Lifetimes!
"Cheza--I don't have anything to give YOU but my Heart, my Life, my SOUL.....FOREVER, I Promise!!! Cheza, my Wonderful Flower--Call me your HUSBAND, again--I wuv teh way it SOUNDS when YOU say it......!"
Her laugh was musical and beautiful....
"Silly HUSBAND Vic.....!"
And she kissed her Sweet Husband again......................
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Post by stampededtyphoon on Jul 13, 2005 21:17:44 GMT -5
Afterward.......
Vic was STILL a trifle surprised to wake up with a Wedding Ring on his finger and Cheza in his bed teh next day--and then remembering that he would SOON be a FATHER! Well, it takes some getting USED TO, noda!
But, after Rin went off to School, he was taking a shower and well, Cheza JOINED him..........
"Sweet Husband! Why is there a funny picture of a sailor girl on your.......!?" [MUCH *giggling* and laughter......!!!]
.......*ahem* Well, he had to take ANOTHER shower, afterwards.....*A-heh!*
And, as it happens, Vic "adjusted" QUITE well, Thank You!........
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Being how everyone here seems to know everyone ELSE'S business, Vic never REALLY had to "announce" his Marriage OR impending Fatherhood--in fact, Stampers and Daniel invited Vic, Cheza and Rin [AND Spot, too, of course] over to their House for an informal "Open House" gathering in Celebration of BOTH events!
As soon as teh New Couple and Family walked in teh door, Stampers ran and gave Vic a HUGE HUG--and even a kiss on teh cheek!
"Oh, VIC! I'm so HAPPY FOR YOU! And Cheza, too!"
Vic, both a bit surprised AND touched, just looked a trifle "sheepish" about it all--"Thanks.....it seemed teh Right thing to do....."
Something about teh way he said it, and teh sad look that flickered across his face for a moment told Stampers teh REAL reason for his decision....
"I understand, Vic.....and I'm ALSO very PROUD of You--you've proven to be a MUCH better person than even I MIGHT have originally thought of you--Cheza is a very fortunate woman to have found you!"
"Really," he asked, only half-joking--"And here I thought that I WAS teh "Lucky" one!" He didn't realize it, of course, but teh slightly crooked smile that went along with that remark made him VERY Endearing, indeed!
Later, when Stampers was with Daniel, teh two of them watching Vic and Cheza receiving other "Good Luck Wishes" from those there, Daniel remarked, "You know, Pun'kin--Vic and Cheza remind me a bit of You and Me...."
"Oh...? You mean 'cuz he WAS a murderous "Bad Guy" and SHE is all "Sweetness and Life"...? Hmmmmm.......NOPE, I DON'T see any "resemblance", Honey-Buns....!"
"STAM-persss....! You KNOW what I MEAN, don't you!?"
Kissing her Husband, whom she Loves VERY much, she replied, "Yes.....I DO.......It's as if they were "made" for each other, as if ALL that Vic and Cheza Lived thru'--and DIED thru'--was to "prepare" them somehow for that time when they would come together and find wuv in each other's Heart and Soul--like You and Me, Daniel K. Saverem......."
Returning her kiss, he replied--"Yes, Like You and Me....Mrs. Stampers Saverem......."
More to Come—
Spotting Daniel alone for a moment, Vic came up and started some small talk, asking about teh "newcomers" to Stampers' household....
"How do you HANDLE it, Daniel, having someone like that so-called "Emperor", Hotohori, hanging around as a "temptation" for Stampers.....?"
"Wellllll......You KNOW Stampers....!" replied Daniel with a smile and a faint *blush*--"She TALKS like a DRUNKEN SAILOR at times, but it's JUST TALK, for teh MOST part! When it comes to....."ACTION", I'M teh one who "BENEFITS", if you understand my meaning......"
By now, Daniel was REALLY *BLUSHING*, and Vic started to laugh--"Oh, you mean she........!?"
"Yes, I DO!" answered Daniel, ALSO laughing now, "Until I can't SEE STRAIGHT! And I wuv IT, even if it DOES get a mite "embarrassing" at times!"
teh two of them laughed pretty heartily for a moment, sharing in their knowledge of teh woman they had both come to care for, in different ways.......Then Daniel asked, "So....What did you REALLY wanna ask me about, Vic?"
"Was it THAT "obvious"?" Vic asked ruefully--
"You're just kind of LOUSY at "Small Talk", is all..." answered Daniel--
Vic thought a minute about what he wanted to say, then just decided to "blurt" it out--"What's it LIKE to be a FATHER, Daniel!? I NEVER imagined that I WOULD be one--didn't figure any Woman would WANT me for one--and I.......I never KNEW my OWN Father.........."
"And your "Step-Father" wasn't MUCH of an "example", WAS he.....?"
"NO," answered Vic, teh bitterness and hurt showing in his voice.........
"I'm NOT SURE I can ANSWER that, really...." started Daniel, "All I can REALLY offer is THIS--If you TRULY wuv Cheza, and you REALLY WANT this Child she is carrying, then it's teh MOST WONDERFUL FEELING in teh WORLD--AND teh MOST TERRIFYING......! I know that when I first saw my kids after they were born, then saw teh look of JOY and AWE on Stampers' face when she looked at them, too, then at me.........I felt.......I felt as if teh TWO of us had created a MIRACLE, together, and that this not only made up somehow for most of teh Evil things I had done in teh Past, but that it was at least PART of teh reason I had been BORN in teh FIRST PLACE--If I had NO OTHER purpose, then THIS was GOOD ENOUGH, Vic--MORE than "Good Enough"!"
Vic was silent for a moment......."For NOT having "much" to say, THAT was a mouthful!"
"You DID ask...."
"I know.....and I WAS kidding!" replied Vic with a smile...."Daniel....does it....."bother" you that you DON'T KNOW who your "real" parents were....?"
"Sometimes......I'm NOT even sure if Vash and I have two parents, or FOUR, when it comes to THAT! But, in teh long run, it seems to have made little "difference" in my ability to be a reasonably "decent" sort of Father to my children--Stampers says teh MOST IMPORTANT thing ANY Parent can do for their children is wuv THEM, wuv them ENOUGH to do your UTMOST BEST to be teh BEST Parent you can MANAGE to be, WHATEVER teh circumstances.......!"
"That seems to be "Good Advice"...." said Vic, "And THANKS, Daniel......"
"You're Welcome, Vic--but it's REALLY Stampers you SHOULD thank--AND Cheza!"
"Yes, I know...........Women who wuv men like You and Me, Daniel, are something of a "MIRACLE", themselves, AREN'T they?"
"Yes," answered Daniel, watching Stampers help Angela and James bring out more food from teh kitchen, "They ARE, Indeed.........."
There's only one more thing I wanted to mention in relation to this lil' gathering—
I wanna' THANK Snap and Amon for their VERY thoughtful gifts for teh New Couple, as WELL as their coming baby--I KNOW they were appreciated, and I think that it was obvious that Vic, especially, was very touched by teh gesture [he told me later that what surprised him MOST about teh gifts was, "Stampers, I don't really KNOW either of them that WELL....WHY would they do that for us?" I just smiled and answered, "Because they CARE, Vic..."] It was ALSO a sign of teh kindly thoughtfulness that I've come to expect from Her Majesty and her Consort that they ALSO brought a lil' something for Rin AND Spot, so they wouldn't feel "left out" with all teh attention Cheza and Vic were getting--Thanks again, EVERYONE!
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