“Jason, can you drop into the office tomorrow morning? We need a bit of a staff meeting.”
“Sure thing, Boss. What time?”
“Around 10. Conf. room on Sarah’s floor.”
“OK, I’ll be there.”
Satisfied, I dropped my phone on the desk in my home office and wandered out of the room. I was done with any work concerns for the evening. I wandered back into the living room and joined Sarah on the couch.
“So, love, one thing that is your decision alone… Quiet or big or somewhere in between?”
“Dafydd… You can’t make me decide that on my own.”
“Sure I can. There is nobody from my family that will attend – my folks are dead, my ex and my daughters are so thoroughly out of the picture it makes no sense. You’ve got friends and family in the Midwest here, if we don’t do quiet you’re going to have to manage the guest list. Whatever you want, you get.”
She blushed, and her voice was very quiet as she responded.
“Umm... You’ve been there before, I haven’t. I want it all, Dafydd. The white dress and everything. Besides, my brother will insist on everything Mom would have wanted if she were still around.”
“Yeah, we’ll need to give him enough warning to get leave organized. Pick a date, my love…”
“Umm, early November? Enough time to get things organized and before everyone local is out of town for Thanksgiving?”
“Ok. Do you want to call Tanya or shall I?”
“Oh shit – she’s going to be so ‘I told you so’ whichever of us calls her. She did make us promise, didn’t she?”
“Yep. But honestly, I wouldn’t rather anyone else made it.”
“Nor me. You males have it easy, you just pull on a suit.”
“Ah but I won’t be wearing one. I may indeed need the services of a tailor, though. With the way we both love to cook my Dress #1 may not fit any more.”
She looked at me curiously.
“Even retired, my dear, we hold the Queen’s commission for life, and beyond. I’m still on the ‘Navy List’… It has several sections you see – the active list, the reserve list, the retired list and the obituary list for example. For those of us not on the active list it is still appropriate to wear the uniform on ceremonial occasions.”
“Alan will shit.”
“He’s a Marine. He’ll deal. Besides, who else is going to walk you down the aisle? He’s gonna be in his own dress uniform for sure. You know him better than I do, will he be wearing his awards or just the ribbons? I need to pick between 1B and 1C.”
“Ribbons. He hates wearing the medals.”
“OK”
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“OK, people. The reason for this staff meeting is that things are about to change around here. Effective immediately, we are dissolving the legal fiction that kept Sarah’s PI practice separate from mine. Sarah will be taking a less active role on the cases we take but do not be surprised if she jumps in on any we do take. Any questions?”
Liz looked at me with a funny expression on her muzzle.
“Something we need to know about, Mr. Owen?”
“I’ll let Sarah answer that.”
Sarah pulled her hands out of her lap and laid them on the table. Liz looked at her, then her eyes went wide and the vixen was bounding around the table to hug Sarah.
“Congratulations! Oh my god… You’re backing off from the PI biz a bit... does that mean you’re thinking about a family?”
“We’re planning to adopt cubs, Liz.”
“You got a date yet?”
“First week of November.” Then Sarah dropped the other shoe. “Liz, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have as my chief bridesmaid.”
Liz’s reaction was somewhat emphatic. I managed to keep the grin off my muzzle. If it had shown both ladies would have queued up to slap it off anyway. I just looked over at my fiancé and my secretary gushing all over each other and then the “bridesmaid” comment sank in. I had some arrangements of my own to make. I left the ladies talking over stuff I probably didn’t want to know about, that when I found out about would require a ‘yes dear’ response, and retired quietly to my office before pulling out my phone and dialing.
“Olson”
“Hey, Swede.”
“Admiral! Didn’t know you were back in town. Tough shit with that little girl, I know it don’t make it any easier but if you couldn’t pull it off nobody could… What’s up?”
“Mike, I got a favor to ask you. Not business, just as my friend.”
“I owe you a few. What do you need, my friend.”
“You doing anything the first week of November?”
“Not that I know about. What about what I don’t know about?”
“Would you do me the honor of being my best man?”
I listened to the stunned silence at the other end of the phone for a few seconds, then got the reply I was dreading.
“Wait a sec, which means I get to stand up and talk shit about you at the reception and you don’t get to rip my face off, right? It’s payback time, man… I am so in.”
“Just remember that there is a line, Mike, and thank you.”
Well, that call just dropped me right in it. Now for the other important one. I dialed a Michigan number.
“Saint Mary’s”
“Is Reverend Anderson available, please? Tell him it’s Dafydd Owen.”
“He’s not in his office, but I think I know where he is. Just a minute.”
“Dafydd, you filthy old sinner, How are they hanging?”
I grinned at my phone before making my usual response in the old joke we shared. “The one I still got hasn’t shriveled up yet, Barry. You up for a trip out this way first week of November?”
“Now why would I corrupt my soul with your demonic presence, old friend? Other than your excellent taste in scotch and swapping lies about stuff we can’t talk to anyone else about of course.”
“You’ve got a promise to keep, or a threat to make good on – whichever way you want to see it. Sarah and I decided to make it official.”
“November, huh? Sounds like a good time to scare the shit out of the pimply youth by leaving him in charge for a couple weeks. He’s got a little too used to me looking over his shoulder, time to push him out of the nest and see if he can fly. Keep in touch as you set up stuff like venue and other plans. You never could plan a mission without me holding your hand anyway.”
“Fuck you too, you planned the one got me shot up worse than any other. I always knew you couldn’t plan a piss-up in a brewery.”
“Yeah, yeah… but on that one I never got a scratch so I got it mostly right.”
We both laughed as we agreed to keep in touch as plans progressed.
I made one more call before heading back out of my office and rejoining the folks in the outer office. Sarah and Liz were deep in discussion
-------------------------------------
That evening I claimed the kitchen privileges and was putting together our dinner while Sarah called her brother. I could hear her half of the conversation from the next room.
“Hey, Alan … Yeah, pretty good, you? ... Aww, that must have sucked … Yeah, anyway, the reason I called, do you think you can get some leave the first week of November? … Oh, nothing special, there’s just a wedding happening up here and I thought you might like to give the bride away since Dad isn’t around to do it. … No, I didn’t. What’s up? … No, no idea. … Sure, I’ll do that. You too. … Ok, I’ll catch you later, bye.”
She stuck her head around the door and looked at me with an odd expression on her muzzle.
“You wouldn’t happen to know why Alan’s CO would have mentioned to him this afternoon that ‘Whenever your November plans are finalized, I’ll see any requests are expedited’, would you?”
“I guess the Admiral moved things a little faster than I thought. I called my old CO since I know he’s got a lot of contacts in the USMC brass, just to say he could pay back one of the favors he owed me by making sure there were no hitches with the leave request your brother was about to put in.”
“Ye gods, the old boy network in action… You know Alan is now real confused and a little nervous about why the brass are taking an interest in him, right?”
“He’s a Marine. They eat that shit with a spoon.”
-------------------------------------
Between one thing and another, October pretty much flew by. Sarah and Liz would vanish at odd times for dress fittings and things I was sure I didn’t want to know about. Neither of us had much in the way of other family to invite so we ended up with a pretty weird guest list – cops, lawyers, old friends from our times in the military, folks like that. Admiral Llewelyn, when he found out why I was calling him, had insisted on being invited too. There would be at least one other Welshman at the wedding.
Barry had filed all the necessary paperwork with the county for them to recognize him as a member of clergy here, I’d put him in touch with pastor Kamm and between us we’d got agreement to hold the wedding at pastor Kamm’s church a few blocks up the road, we’d booked the community hall by the lake for the reception and arranged catering and a live band. Liz had been her usual model of efficiency arranging for flowers and had recruited a bunch of friends, cousins and who-knows-where-they-came-from to decorate the church. I had pried a list of names out of her and had arranged a little “thank you” gift for ‘em, for once managing something like that without my secretary knowing about it – or at least I thought she didn’t. With Liz you never really knew but if she did know she was tactful enough not to let on.
The Wednesday before the event we had a table booked at a place downtown. Nice place, run by another ex-RN guy. Frank called himself “the original navy seal” because that’s exactly what he was, a harbor seal with a proud and nasty history as a Royal Marines Commando. He’d done one tour in the SBS but we never overlapped until we both ended up in this city. He’d retired same year I had but he’d taken his discharge over here and immediately bought this place. He served excellent food and had a good selection of beer on tap, including some of my old favorites from the other side of the pond. So there we were, Sarah and I, Liz and Brad, Mike, Alan and Barry. We spent the first beer discussing plans for Saturday, making sure everything was covered, then settled down to the serious business of enjoying the food.
“Alan, you gotta try this one, I practically grew up on this beer – it was brewed just down the road from my home.”
“That’s some damn good beer, man. Gotta admit we do like visiting her majesties ships when they are in port, or when we are operating with ‘em.”
“History, son. Comes down to the old sail-navy days. Not having your crew coming down with scurvy was a real force multiplier. So the brits figured out that citrus juice prevented it, the only problem was how to make your sailors drink it. Practical solution, mix it with booze and give it to ‘em free. Lime juice and rum, aka ‘grog’ – and that’s why you bleedin’ septics call us limeys and why there’s booze available on the Queen’s ships to this day.”
“Really?”
“You never knew that?”
“Nope, and I never knew where ‘septics’ came from for us neither.”
“That’s London dialect, son. Cockney rhyming slang. You’ve heard of ‘thieves cant’ – a corruption of the language that made it possible to pass information in front of law enforcement without the fuzz catching on? This was the same kinda thing. A two or three word phrase that rhymed with what you really meant. During the war they started using ‘septic tank’ for ‘yank’ – you know how it goes, overpaid oversexed and over here…”
“So, anyone with a union jack tattooed on his ass gets to sic a fucking admiral on my CO just to make sure I get my leave approved? Just because I’m a dumb colonial and can’t handle it myself?”
“Take that up with him. You’ll meet him on Saturday. He wouldn’t take no for an answer for an invite when I called my old CO and asked him to do what he could to get any speed bumps out of your way. I wasn’t gonna take any chances when it came to giving Sarah the wedding she wants.”
“Hey, man, this is my sister, I’d fucking be here even if I had to go AWOL. You didn’t need to do it and it damn near made me shit myself but I’m glad you did all the same.”
“What you gonna be wearing?”
“Dress blues, man. What else?”
“Do I win my bet, Sarah?”
“Not yet.”
-------------------------------------
Saturday. I was fretting like you couldn’t believe. I had my #1C dress uniform laid out on my bed and I truly believed in my tailor that it would work out fine. I was fresh out of the shower and looking at my regular rig on the hanger by the bed. Sighing, I picked up the trousers of the dress uniform and pulled them on. Shirt, tie, jacket. I spent an inordinate amount of time making sure the salad bar was just so. I was already picking up my hat when Mike knocked on the door.
“Dafydd, car’s waiting, we need to go.”
He was right. We needed to get to the church. I tucked my hat under my arm and stepped through the door.
“Guess you clean up ok, for an officer.”
-------------------------------------
Our guests were already arriving, Brad was doing sterling work as an Usher, keeping the place from descending into chaos. I reflected for a moment that for most of these folks, they’d never seen me in uniform before. Admiral Llewelyn’s eyes locked on me like he was rangefinding for a broadside and over he came. He was a few months short of retirement himself and was probably going to find himself in politics before long. Some instincts you never lose. He may have been one of my oldest friends but he was still a fucking flag officer and we were both in uniform so we exchanged salutes without even thinking about it before he reached out and grabbed my hand.
“Relax, Dai bach, we’re not on deck here. It’s good to see you again. The years seem to have been fairly kind at least.”
“A little kinder than the navy was, at least, Admiral.”
“Do you think I’ll be able to persuade you to call me Ifor when the day comes that we’re both retired, Dafydd?”
“Not when we’re both dressed like this, Sir.”
“Old habits do die hard, don’t they?”
“Pretty much. Do I pass the flag inspection?”
“That remains to be seen, when your lovely lady gets here. You’d pass under Queen’s regulations but on this occasion there is a potentially more exacting standard to apply.”
“Her brother is a Marine. Can’t let the side down.”
The old goat laughed. “Maybe I’d better take a quick break and polish up a little myself then.”
“I know you better than that, Sir.”
I stole a quick glance at my watch. Five minutes. I wandered over to the front and took my seat, Mike next to me. Everybody behind me was drifting into their seats too. It wasn’t long before Brad was leaning down and whispering in my ear.
“Showtime, buddy.” I pulled myself to my hindpaws and took my place. The music started and I stole a glance over my shoulder, catching Barry’s grin out of the corner of my eye as he stood there ready to officiate.
My God, she was beautiful.
The dress Tanya had designed for Sarah was exquisitely simple, classic white silk, a strapless design that showed off her figure beautifully. She had flowers in her hair, something she always loves, and a light veil hid what I was sure was a radiant smile as she walked slowly down the aisle on her brother’s arm. Alan stood a little taller than she did and was a lot bulkier, impressive in his USMC dress blues. They came to a stop beside us and she reached up and lifted the veil, revealing the smile I expected. I was so focused on her that I almost didn’t notice Barry starting to speak.
“We have come together to witness the marriage… “
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The next little while passed almost in a blur for me. It’s the little things you remember, the bright look in her eyes as if she was almost crying with happiness when she said “I do”, the look of the ring on her finger, that first kiss as husband and wife. Barry was grinning like a Cheshire cat by the time he was done and speaking the dismissal blessing, and trust me that just looks wrong on a canine. I don’t think anyone cared – I sure didn’t.
I should have guessed that the Admiral would zero in on Alan right after the ceremony. He was right there by the lynx’s side as we walked out of the church.
“I do hope I didn’t mess with your head too much by calling your CO.”
“When Major Collins tapped me on the shoulder and told me that my plans were going to be expedited, before I even had plans, I pretty much shit myself, Sir. If you don’t mind me asking, how do you know Major Collins?”
“I don’t son, but I served with General Forbes a few times.”
Alan’s eyes went as wide as soup plates for an instant.
“Sir, please don’t tell me you called the commandant of the corps to expedite a leave request.”
“Ok, I won’t tell you any such thing.”
I took pity on him… but not too much.
“Chill, Alan. The admiral is messing with your head… But I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that he did call General Forbes. Tony Forbes, the Admiral and I were in a few rather shitty places together, you know?”
“That’s a story I wouldn’t mind hearing some time when we have a lot more beer available than we do right now.”
I was drawing breath to reply when the Admiral pre-empted me.
“It’s all lies son, but they are good lies.” Sarah immediately returned the favor.
“Admiral, I believe the naval expression is ‘stow it’ – we’ve plenty of time to swap war stories after dinner.”
“Of course, dear lady. Maybe at the same time I can tell you just how crazy you are to have married this idiot.”
“Hey, the one mission I came closest to getting my tail shot off... was planned by the fucking vicar!”
“Yep, and we were all idiots to trust that intel, not just Barry. Give him a break, Dafydd.”
“Not in a million years, Sir! I’ll be giving him shit about that mission until one or the other of us takes a dirt nap!”
“I think we should, actually, Dafydd, ‘stow it’ as your wife requested. Aside from everything else, if we get Barry involved we’ll be arguing for hours and I believe you have a reception to attend...”
-------------------------------------
If I ever hear spoons rattling on glasses again it will be exactly twenty minutes too soon. They nailed us good style. I didn’t mind the kisses they were demanding we demonstrate, but that noise really fucked up my ears. The high frequencies were ones I was really sensitive to and I really didn’t want to be the one claiming “Honey, I have a headache” on my wedding night.
If you want salacious details of that night you’ll go begging. All I’ll tell you is that Sarah and I finally fell asleep around 3am, both tired and happy, and we kinda repeated something similar for the entirety of the following week we spent at a resort in Hawaii. Well, technically at a resort. I hired a 42-foot catamaran and to be honest we spent the entire week sailing around the islands, with a preference for where we were out of cellphone coverage so no, there aint no chance of you or anyone else but us finding out anything about that week and that’s just the way we want it.
