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"Amanda!? Amanda, is that you?!"
"Yes, Mum. Are you o-"
"Your Aunt Petra has to come, oh and your Uncle Nate!"
I felt the butterflies swim in the pit of my stomach as I placed a soft blue blanket over my legs. I adjusted myself on the sofa preparing for yet another two-hour long phone call.
"I haven't seen them since I was fifteen, Mum." I responded, too sheepishly for my liking.
"It doesn't matter, Amanda!"
I looked down, creasing the tassels on the blanket as I already began to tune in and out of her words. Something about family being family and blood being thicker than water. I always thought that analogy was strange, as there are many more liquids thicker than blood.
While I thought this wedding planning would take only a month or so, and after expressing my wishes for only a small and rather secretive wedding (not only for Sarek and myself but to throw the paparazzi off guard), my mother had other plans.
"And we need to talk about the Vulcan part of the ceremony."
My heart rate started to elevate, as this was the one part of the ceremony so far which I loved.
"What about it?" I said through slightly clenched teeth.
"You need to change it." She stated bluntly.
Her words hit me like a ton of bricks, I found myself defensive, "What? Why?"
"Well," she scoffed, "No one will understand it except the Vulcans attending and you – though you're not Vulcan."
I felt my blood begin to boil, she always liked to remind me. "I am well aware of my species, mother. I do not mind writing the translation on the draft of the wedding programme you sent."
"No," she insisted, "I think it needs to be changed to the traditional reading of blessings. More guests will understand Hebrew more than Vulcan after all. It will be more inclusive."
"How is that fair?" I snap, my anger boiling over. "The vast majority of the people attending, and myself, the bride, speak and understand Vulcan. Again, I can translate for everyone else. This is Sarek's wedding too, Mother, and his traditions must be upheld. I already told you we will have a small blessing at the end of the wedding to honour my Jewish heritage."
Even though I never practiced it.
"You don't sound like you know exactly what you want with the wedding, Amanda. Do I need to remind you that the wedding is scheduled for two months' time? People are already talking about why the wedding is happening so quickly, are you sure you're not pregnant?"
I drew in a sharp breath and sighed, "I am not pregnant, Mother, and I do not need reminding of how soon the wedding is."
There was silence down the line that thankfully gave me enough time to slip into some breathing techniques Sarek taught me for stress relief.
I shouldn't blame it all on the woman for wanting all of this in the wedding. Sarek's family also had some traditions they have expressed they wanted to see. While I agreed to their requests, much preferring the traditional Vulcan weddings I also express my desire for something small, intimate, and special.
However, with our families – or, in this instant, my mother's ever-growing requests - this small wedding I had in mind had turned into a five-hour long wedding with a quickly growing guest list. No doubt the paparazzi will catch on and something will surely be leaked to them. That's the last thing I wanted during the wedding is a multitude of cameras in our faces.
It was my mother's question that brought me back into reality.
"Have you invited your father to the wedding?"
"Of course, I did." my tone reflecting her audacity for asking such a silly question.
"You need to also invite your cousin Jenny and her husband."
I felt the heat of anger overwhelm my chest, quickly it began to crawl into my throat. I drew in a breath as she got out the words, "You know they recently had their seventh kid and all of them need to be-"
"No!" the harsh toned word slipped from my mouth.
There was stunned silence and then a sharp "What?" from my mother.
"I said, no."
God that felt good to say "no". I continued, already feeling the relief hit me like a truck:
"If their progeny comes as well, the wedding guests will be pushed up to four hundred and twenty – that's far too many. It's already too much with your friends from the country club that I haven't even met and not to mention all of my cousins that I equally haven't seen in just as long. Sarek and I want something small and intimate and this is quickly turning into a big affair that we have no control over. No, Mother, the answer is no."
"Jenny and Martin are your family, Amanda!"
Her tone made me jump slightly from my seat on the sofa - I hated it when she yelled. She continued with the hateful, judgmental tone,
"So are their 'progeny' as you call them! So, you're not going to invite your family now? You're just going to give all the seats to God-knows-who- Sarek's embassy friends? They aren't family -who do you think funded your education? Clothed you? Gave you food? I knew your sister was ungrateful for everything we have done but YOU?-"
"That's not what I am saying, Mum."
"Maybe you need to call me back when you and Sarek talk about prioritizing your family over his friends. Ungrateful, that's what you are, an ungrateful little bitch!"
"Mu-"
The line dropped.
I drew in a breath and threw my communicator across the room. I buried my face in my hands and let out an exasperated groan. I felt could break something at that point. This was the fifth call I had had with her regarding the wedding and now after this one I had had enough.
I shuffled through the multitude of papers on the coffee table in front of me - covering different aspects of the wedding, staring at me with their hefty price tags. The cost of venues, food, and clothing for my side of the family. My mother's family had a stupid tradition in which the groom's side buys their wedding clothes for the wedding AND reception. That tradition made me want to punch the goddamn wall.
After rubbing my eyes, I ran my fingers through my loose curls and stood up from the sofa. My head shot up as I made out something black in my far peripheral vision.
Sarek stood against the banister staring at me with his arms clasped in front of him.
"How much of that did you hear?" I asked, already sure I knew the answer.
"You are not an ungrateful female dog." he stated flatly.
I rose a brow, "What?"
"Your mother called you an ungrateful female dog. You are not."
I managed a small smile as I grazed my temple from the forming headache. The lights in this estate were torture at times.
"Computer," I heard Sarek's travelling voice, "dim the lights."
I made my way down the corner where I met him as he was walking down the stairs. He walked beside me as I made my way to the kitchen, desperate for a cup of tea.
I felt him observe me as I poured the hot water and placed the ball of loose black tea in the green mug. I stood in front of the counter and stared at several seconds at the green mug in front of me. He stood in front of me just on the other side of the counter his hands still clasped behind his back, I looked at him and asked in an almost whisper and asked,
"Why are we doing this?"
"Clarify?"
"This big wedding. It's stupid, it's overwhelming, it's-"
"Not what you want." he finished.
"And not what you want."
He was silent.
"What do you want?" I asked, "Do you want this big wedding? With your embassy staff, the paparazzi in our faces, all those people we hardly know?"
He was silent, it was times like this it really frustrated me having a Vulcan partner. I felt myself snap. Why couldn't he just communicate?
"Sarek, if you do just say so! I know how much tradition means to you and your family. The last thing I want to do is make you do something you don't want to do! This is your wedding to – please just tell me what you want!"
"No." He finally said.
"No?"
"No." he said once more.
"'No' what? 'No' to the three hundred and forty guests, 'no' to the paying for my family's clothing for the wedding and reception, 'no' to the big venue, or 'no' to the five-hour reception?"
"No… to seeing you like this." His voice was both firm and soft.
I felt the relief hit me like a ton my of bricks. I relaxed my head, closed my eyes and breathed a huge sigh of relief. I felt him walk closer to me; his hand rested gently on my lower back
"In the current context," he added, "tradition is immaterial."
"What do you want?" I asked, feeling the hard lump in the bit of my throat. Why was I so emotional? "Please tell me."
"I want you to be happy." He stated, moving his arm around my waist he pulled me close to him wrapping his other arm around my front and held me close to him.
We lingered there for a moment in silence as I wiped the silent tears from my eyes.
"What do you want, Ashayam?" he asked softly.
"I want a traditional Vulcan wedding- I think they are beautiful. And I want it to be small with only a few people and short."
He embraced me tighter. I could melt in his arms; they were the only place I felt safe. I placed my hand on top of his and turned around to face him. As I looked at him, I could feel through our bond that he wasn't as calm as he usually is.
I simply stared at him and asked once again,
"What are we doing?"
Silence. I was about to suggest that we find a compromise when he drew in a breath and said calmly,
"We should marry tonight."
His words caused my heart to momentarily drop into my butt. I felt my knees almost give out but somehow, they stayed put. I looked at him for about a minute before I finally managed to respond,
"What?"
"It is my understanding that Ambassador T'Lynn is at the embassy for another hour and Felix and Linnea are attending a class in the west wing for another forty-six minutes."
"Sarek, are you suggesting that we just wing it?"
"I believe your species describes what I am suggesting as 'elopement'."
My brain momentarily stopped working before a whole bunch of questions filled it. What do I wear, how will I do my hair, what shoes will I wear, and the most pressing question of what the hell will we tell our families?
"Tonight?" I clarified.
"Yes, tonight." He confirmed.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him towards me. We lingered in silence just staring at each other for more than a minute. I knew he was simply looking for my response.
The more we lingered in silence the more the concerns were replaced with the words: 'It will all work out. You have a dress, you have shoes, and who cares what anyone thinks – just go for it!'
"Okay." I finally managed.
The side of his mouth twitched slightly, "Are you certain?"
"I am. Let's get married, tonight."
Before I knew it his arms wrapped around me and I was sweptoff the floor. Once my feet were on the ground.
The excitement, the happiness, the anticipation filled me. I caressed the sides of his face in complete disbelief at what we were about to do.
"I will call Ambassador T'Lynn while you get ready. Is fifteen minutes an adequate amount of time for you to prepare for the ceremony? "
I felt my body begin to shake from excitement, I managed to give him another quick peck of the lips before I bolted out of the kitchen and down the corridor,
"Fifteen minutes is perfect."
~*~
Side by side, not quite hand-in-hand with my oldest friend to my far left, and her husband to Sarek's right we stood in the embassy chapel in front of Ambassador T'Lynn. The serenity of the chapel calmed my fast heart rate as I gripped the half-finished bouquet of fake flowers with my sweaty left hand and momentarily thanked myself for opting for the short-sleeved version of the traditional Vulcan wedding dress made from breathable material.
I glanced at Linnea, who stood in traditional brown Vulcan ceremonial robes – thankfully Sarek thought ahead and packed her a spare pair of mine and gave her a smile. Her husband, and another one of my childhood friends Felix stood in a similar style with a smile that seemed unable to leave his face.
T'Lynn was already halfway through the ceremony before I had a chance to fully concentrate on the situation in front of me. She gestured for us to face each other and kneel on the cushions. Linnea helped me onto the cushion and adjusted the train of my light purple dress while Felix adjusted the cushion for Sarek. Sarek presented me his fingers which I graciously accepted.
"What ye' are about to witness comes down from the time of the beginning without change, this is the Vulcan heart, this is the Vulcan soul, this is our way."
Before I knew it, I held the pen in my right hand and glided it softly along the piece of beautiful brown and black boarded paper that would forever solidify the bond that Sarek and I had.
I wanted to run as soon as I saw the ink hit the paper. My feet were ready, but my hand so flawlessly continued to glide and continue to sign my full name. I handed the pen to Sarek and watched as the love of my life signed his name on the same piece of paper beside mine and became my husband.
I watched Linnea and Felix sign their names and just like that it was over. After a tight hug from Linnea, followed by wiping a few of her happy tears I heard from behind me Ambassador T'Lynn.
"May I be the first to express my congratulations."
"Thank you, Ambassador." I managed, hiding my smile.
"It will not be easy, Amanda."
Her words hit my chest like a punch, but I drew in a breath and nodded.
"I know," I said hearing the nervousness in my voice. I looked to my right seeing Sarek whose eyes seems glued to me, "but we have each other." I smiled.
He presented his forefingers, "Wife."
The words fell so naturally off his tongue. It was the first time he had called me his wife and it surprised me just how right it felt. I must have been looking far too long at his fingers because it took Linnea's hand on my back and her voice in my ear saying:
"You know that Orz'hesta is for you, right?"
I quickly accepted no longer able to suppress my smile.
"I shall take my leave now." Ambassador T'Lynn said as she took the signed wedding certificate in her hand.
I, once again, expressed my thanks as I watched Sarek walked T'Lynn to the door. Felix stepped forward and together both friends wrapped me in my hug.
"Congratulations!" Felix beamed hugging me so tightly my back cracked, "I'm so happy for you both!"
"Thank you, friend!" I beamed.
"Oh," Felix pulled me away, "you forgot to kiss! Remember it's not official in the eyes of humans until he kisses you."
I rose a brow and asked, "What do you mean?"
Linnea scoffed, "Tell me you haven't forgotten the tradition?"
"You know" Felix continued "that sealing the vows with a kiss makes the marriage official, right?"
To be honest, I had completely forgotten. I laughed at my own mistake and Felix patted my shoulder.
"Shall we make our way back to our estate now, Amanda?"
I turned to Linnea and Felix, saying that we would meet them at home; I watched them leave, thanking Sarek for inviting them to share and just like that it was Sarek and I.
It was the first time that I had a moment to look at the chapel in front of me, it was small and had the most beautiful artwork along the walls.
"Amanda?"
I turned around and before I could even realize it, his lips crushed against mine. His arms wrapped around my shoulders and I felt myself almost fall before he gently pulled me back up to an upright position.
"Now in both worlds, it is official" he stated, his voice soft and gentle. The side of his mouth twitched again, and I could have sworn I saw the smallest smile form on my Vulcan's husband's lips.
The sight was beautiful and caused me to smile, embracing both sides of his face I placed a gentle kiss on his lips. After a lingering moment, I pulled away
"If you want to get technical, husband. Our marriage still is not legal yet in the eyes of human customs."
He rose a brow, "Clarify."
I took his hand into mine, wrapped my arm around his waist and slowly guided us out of the chapel as I rested my head on his chest just below his shoulder.
"Later." I whispered, just wanting to relish in this most calm and peaceful moment.
The End.