Work Text:
Elizabeth opened the case holding the pearls that Mark’s father had given her last year and stared down at them. A rush of memories came flooding back. How David insisted that he wanted her to have them and told Mark to help Elizabeth put them on. She tried to refuse, although looking back now, she couldn’t remember why the gesture made her uncomfortable. Maybe it was because a year with Mark didn’t feel that long in the grand scheme of things to accept such a gift, and she didn’t know David that well either.
But now, almost a year later, she realized just how significant the pearls were. David knew how much she and Mark loved each other. It was sad that he wasn’t around to hear the news of their engagement or her pregnancy, but it was clear he didn’t want the necklace to go to just anybody. Mark even assured her as much when she tried to tell him maybe he should give them to Rachel instead. However, he felt she was too young to understand the significance of them. So, not wanting to make things awkward, she said she would keep them if it made it easier for him to get through his father’s death, and he supported her decision to store them in a safe place until she felt the time was right for her to wear them again.
Now was the time. Their wedding was only a couple of weeks away, and she was heavily pregnant with her first child. She started to wonder what it would be like to have a daughter who she could pass the pearls down to someday. Or maybe she and Mark would want Rachel to have them once she was older, and Rachel could tell the story to her younger sister.
Recently, she decided that wearing them for the wedding felt right. David would want to be there and support their marriage, and she smiled thinking about how proud he’d be to see her wearing them. She had to do this for Mark because after everything they had just been through with his brain tumor and her premature labor scare, the wedding meant so much more to her now.
The only thing was, he didn’t know of her plans to wear the necklace…yet. She was about to put it on and go show him, and she hoped he’d have a positive reaction.
She slowly took the pearls out of their case and clasped them behind her neck, and then stared at her reflection. A small smile came across her face as she pictured how they’d look with her wedding dress (which, of course, she was not going to put on so as to surprise him on the day of the ceremony), and she recalled David telling her how beautiful she looked when he gave them to her.
When she walked downstairs, she saw Mark lying on the couch watching TV, and she hoped she wasn’t catching him just as he was getting tired and considering going to bed. Her surprise wouldn’t have the same effect. But he seemed awake as he turned to look over at her.
“Hey, you were upstairs for a while,” he said. “Are you feeling OK?”
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “It didn’t have anything to do with the baby. I was just thinking and trying to get over some wedding jitters. Of course, having our daughter—if we want to believe we’re having a girl today—moving around and kicking me constantly is making me more nervous than usual.”
“I told you, I’ll leave the house entirely on the wedding day. I have a day room booked at a hotel. I know you’re feeling superstitious. And I’m feeling fine too. No sweat. Everything is planned. We have our outfits. We sent the head count to the caterer. I booked Rachel’s plane ticket today. Check, check, and check. Let’s enjoy these next couple of weeks, because God knows we’ve earned it.”
“I agree.” She smiled at him and wrapped her arm around him.
“Come sit down,” he said. “I’ll sit up.”
She tucked the pearls into her sweater quickly and sat down.
“I do have something I want to show you,” she told him. “And like you just said, it’s nothing to panic about.”
“You’re not holding anything, so I’m curious.”
“Yes, but I’m wearing it.” She reached into her collar and gently took out the pearls. “What do you think?” she asked. “I know I really haven’t worn them since your father died, but I was saving them for something truly special and…I think this is it. There’s nothing more significant in our relationship right now than our upcoming wedding, although if you think it’s the baby, then you can challenge me.”
“No, I understand.” Mark reached over and took the pearls in his hand, and he smiled as he looked at the chain. “I’ll never forget how much it meant to Dad to see me put them on you. I’m glad we could give him one more happy memory before he died.”
“The only thing is, it’s weird for me to think of them as something old. I mean, I get the spirit of the saying, but we both know how valuable they are to us. What about if we called them something treasured?”
“I like that. Sometimes I wonder what he would have thought of us getting married. I mean, I’m sure he would have supported the marriage, but he’d probably be curious about why we were doing it now when you’ve mentioned you feel like you’re going to explode.”
“Interesting. I think he’d want us to live in the moment. Remember how fearless he was when it came time for Valentine’s Day karaoke? And I hate to think back on it, but he was pretty eager to have some fun with my mother even when I believed it was inappropriate.”
Mark shook his head. “Out of all the things that you’ve mentioned as pet peeves since we’ve been together, I’m surprised you’re still clinging to that one. I get where you were coming from—Mom hadn’t even been gone for a year yet—but he was just having some fun, and if you think about it, it was one of his last adventures before everything changed. The way I see it, he went on his terms.”
“That’s a good way to look at it,” Elizabeth said. “You know, maybe I won’t complain about that anymore. I have always wondered if I could look back on it someday and laugh. My mother did have a good time herself. So many memories…I can’t wait to make them with our own child. And you.”
“And I can’t wait to see you walk down the aisle on our wedding day. The necklace will look great with your dress; I have no doubt.”
“Even if I look like a beached whale in it?”
“I’ll still think you’re beautiful.”
She drew closer to him and gave him a kiss, believing she didn’t have to say anything else. The fact that she was wearing an accessory close to hers and Mark’s heart would be the cherry on top of what she was expecting would be a beautiful wedding day.