Ten weeks later.

Violet

An usher takes my arm and leads me down the long aisle of St. Gregory’s Catholic Church with Major and Malory in tow. It’s unbelievable, but Mattie and Belle’s wedding is even more elaborate than the original. As soon as Belle was cleared of her head injury and Mattie’s cast was sawed off, the plans were back on.

They decided on a two-day build up instead of a week this time. They didn’t want to chance another natural disaster cutting the celebration short again.

This time around, I don’t have to travel 45 minutes to Oceanside because I live here with Major in a new, bigger, warmer house. It’s still painfully organized and there are rules and lists all over the place, but we make it work, and Major is learning to relax … a little.

After some counseling, we decided not to bring the children home to Major’s old house. We had repairs done to Samantha’s kitchen and bathroom, and after some rocky weeks helping Malory conquer her fears, we lived there temporarily until Sam was well enough to come home.

Dr. Kumar says he never expected her to have the kind of recovery she’s had. He says it’s nothing short of a miracle, and we all agree. A miracle did happen that day in the ICU, and there are now six people in the world who will never doubt miracles or the power of prayer again. Samantha is home with a home health aide twenty-four seven. She’s still working on walking and more intricate daily living skills, but she’s expected to have a full recovery within the year.

Major took custody of Malory back and she lives with us now full time. She visits Davy and Summer one weekend a month. Major and I go with her so there is no added stress on Sam.

I decided to work for Facebook from home in Oceanside most of the time and travel to San Diego only when it’s necessary. I was really excited to find out that Marie was coming to visit and to the wedding.

It turns out that Marie knows Belle’s mother, Marjorie. When Marjorie joined the twenty-first century, she also joined Facebook where they connected again. I was going to ask her to stay with us at the house, but Major is still adjusting to living with someone other than himself, so she’s staying at a hotel nearby.

The usher leads Marie to the row behind us. She sits down, leans forward, and whispers in my ear, “This is some fancy wedding,”

“Yeah, Marjorie knows how to whip up a five-star wedding. Maybe she’ll plan mine?” I say.

“She never did anything small in college either, always the best of everything,” she says.

The music begins to play, preparing for the bride’s entrance. A huge organ on the left side of the alter plays Always by My Side. The bridesmaids walk down the aisle, each one arm in arm with a handsome Marine dressed in dress blues. I declined being a bridesmaid this time around as I wanted to enjoy the ceremony with my new family. And frankly, I wanted the next time I walked down the aisle to be at my own wedding.

The music amps up when Belle appears at the end of the aisle, and I feel a little tug on my skirt. It’s Malory, and she’s covering her ears. Major sees her too and hoists her up to watch Belle go by holding on tight to her father’s arm. I’ll miss having my dad walk me down the aisle when Major and I get married, but he will be there in spirit, of that I am positive.

When the service is over and the priest has pronounced Mattie and Belle husband and wife, eight Marines silently march up the aisle in two rows. They turn on cue to face one another and draw their swords, forming an arch. On a second cue, the Marines turn the cutting edge of the blades upward. Mattie and Belle walk under the arch until they reach the last two Marines. Two swords have been lowered to trap them under the arch. Mattie takes Bell in his arms and kisses his new bride with a little more passion than is probably allowed in the church. When he releases her, one Marine playfully swats Belle on the behind with his sword, welcoming her into the Marine Corps family.

After the earthquake, they decided to move the wedding to a church. They said it just felt right to be joined under God’s watchful eye after all He’d brought them through. The touch of Marine Corps support and sense of family was just enough to join both worlds.

At the reception, we have our own table up front near the wedding party’s table. Major and I sit next to each other with Malory on his right and Marie on my left. Mom brought the silver fox, a.k.a Dr. Rosewood, a.k.a Mark, as her date. They have been seeing each other since the earthquake. Every time we get together she teases him, saying it took a natural disaster for him to ask her to dance. He apologizes profusely for being so stupid, and they laugh.

Every.

Single.

Time.

Once I mumbled something about wishing another earthquake would swallow them up so I wouldn’t have to hear that story again. Major had to leave the room to laugh. I followed him into the bathroom of Mom’s house, and we proceeded to pretend we were getting revenge by christening her vanity. Now the story is a secret trigger. Whenever they tell it, we sneak away somewhere and make out like teenagers.

“So where are you from, Marie?” Major asks, raising a glass of champagne to his lips. I watch half of the bubbly alcohol slide down his throat past his Adam’s apple and find myself wishing mom or Mark would tell that stupid ass story.

Major can sense me watching. A sly smile spreads across his lips and he looks at me out of the corner of his eye. He winks, and I’m wet. That’s it, that’s all it takes. Just that damn wink.

“I’m from the Midwest originally,” Marie says.

Major stills, “Really? Where exactly?”

“Oh, around the Minneapolis area. Do you know someone there?”

“Yes, me,” he says.

He sets his glass on the table and turns toward Marie, giving her all of his attention. Most women can’t handle being the focus of Major’s undivided attention, but Marie has a membership card to both clubs and recently, she’s been using one more than the other.

“Really? I don’t miss the winters or the ice one bit,” Marie says, fussing with the red fabric napkin in her lap.

“Me either. I don’t miss anything about that place. Where did you live?”

“Oh, toward downtown—bad neighborhood, nothing to brag about.”

She’s being vague and trying to end the conversation. I look back and forth between the two of them and find Marie with a thin layer of perspiration covering her forehead. Major is screwing up his face in a twisted, unattractive frown, nothing like the sexy one I beg for.

“I grew up downtown, on Grand. We probably ran into each other at that crappy rundown grocery store on the corner.”

“Maybe so. That’s where I got my groceries when I could afford to eat.”

“Sounds like we lived the same life,” he says.

“How did you end up in California?”

“Chasing dreams, running away from nightmares, you know.” She waves her hand in the air, nervously dismissing her answer.

He leans back in his chair and looks at Marie hard. He’s thinking. I can see the wheels turning. Suddenly, he sits up, leaning his arms on the table in front of him.

“Do you have any children, Marie?”

“Major,” I gasp. What the hell?

“What? It’s not a difficult question to answer, is it?” he shrugs. “Yes or no, simple as that.” He spits his words at poor Marie, and she recoils in her chair. He’s pissed, like really angry.

“What’s the matter with you?” I ask.

He won’t take his eyes off Marie. He’s still waiting for her to answer.

“No, it’s all right, Violet. He’s right, it’s not a hard question. It’s not that easy for me, however, and I suspect Major already knows the answer.”

I am so lost. It’s like these two are having a fight in some secret code.

“What is going on with you two? Do you know one another or something? Is there some Minnesota neighborhood gang war or family feud I don’t know about?”

“Violet, I’m thirsty. When are we getting drinks?” Malory says, oblivious to the tension zipping in the air between Marie and Major. Up until now, she’s been watching the other guests seat themselves, probably scoping out some friends to dance with later.

“Come on, honey, let’s go get you a Shirley Temple at the bar,” my mom says, swooping in to save the day. She and Mark have been sitting across the table trying to pretend they aren’t hearing this weird exchange between my favorite co-worker and my favorite man.

“Thanks, Mom. Go ahead, sweetie, Lilly and Mark will get you something to drink.”

“What’s Shirley Temple?”

One thing I’ve learned about kids is that they’re always inquisitive.

“It’s not a what, it’s a who. She was a singer a long time ago . . .” Mom takes her hand and begins to tell her the story of Shirley Temple as they walk away.

“Okay you two, spill it.” I say.

“Your friend, Marie, is my mother, my biological mother. Samantha’s too.”

“Huh?” I blink, and my jaw hits the table. The song, All of You that’s been playing warps and stretches out like a piece of well-chewed gum being pulled out of a child’s mouth and wrapped around their finger.

“Your mom? How—what? I am beyond confused.”

“I didn’t think you recognized me. It’s been such a long time,” Marie says.

“Wait, I thought you said you gave up one child for adoption when you were a teenager,” I say to Marie. “And how could you possibly know Marie is your mom?” I ask Major.

“She gave us both away when we were three and five. I remember the day you dropped us off at the police station and said you couldn’t afford to feed us.”

Marie’s breath catches, and tears begin to streak down her face.

“I’m so sorry, Sawyer. I was a selfish junkie. I should have given you up for adoption when you were born so you would have always had good parents. But I loved you and I wouldn’t give you away. I was barely surviving when Sam came along, but I did it again. I thought I could get clean and take care of you, but I couldn’t. I was afraid someone was going to hurt you, so I took you to the only place I knew you would be safe.”

“Safe?” he says incredulously. “We would have been better off taking our chances with you. Do you have any idea what we went through? How many foster homes we bounced around in? The people who finally adopted us abused us for years until I left and took Sam with me.”

Major stands and shoves his chair back, cracking it against an elderly woman’s chair behind him.

“Major, wait, where are you going?” I say, grabbing his hand. For the first time since we met, Major is rude to me. He shakes his hand free and storms away, weaving in and out of tables until he’s out of the ballroom.

“What the hell just happened here?” My head is spinning. I can’t grasp the idea of Marie being Major’s mother, and Sam’s too!

“Did you know who he was? Have you been keeping tabs on him all these years? Are we even really friends?” My pulse is pounding, and my voice rises with every word I speak.

“Violet, don’t get so worked up. It’s not good for the baby.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” I snap and slap my hand over my mouth, surprised by my own knee jerk reaction.

“I’m sorry—”

“No, don’t be. I deserve it. I was a horrible mother, but I really did think I was doing the right thing by giving them to someone else. I didn’t know they would suffer. God, what happened to them?” She is sobbing into her red napkin now, drawing everyone’s attention to us, making a scene.

“Marie, let’s step out and talk.”

She nods and we stand to leave just as I see my mother coming back from the bar with Malory. I point at Marie’s back and make a gesture toward the door and she nods.

In the lobby, we sit on a couch tucked out of view. She sits on the very edge of the cushion like she’s going to bolt at any second.

“It was bad, Marie, really bad. Think of the worst thing an adult can do to a child, and most likely it happened to Sam and Sawyer.”

“Oh … no, I always envisioned them with beautiful, successful parents who loved them and gave them everything I couldn’t. Violet, what do I do? How do I make this right?”

I shake my head back and forth. “Marie, I’m afraid there is no making this right. what’s done is done. The only thing I can suggest is to ask them for their forgiveness and try to build on that. When did you know he was your son?”

“The second I laid eyes on him on the sidewalk with you that day.”

“Why didn’t you say anything then?”

“I was nervous, and then you fell in love with him and I saw what a successful, wonderful man he had become. I wanted to be part of that. I was hoping he wouldn’t recognize me and we could just be friends. I would get to know the man he grew up to be and he wouldn’t have to do the whole tell-your-adoptive-mother-you-found-your-biological-mom thing.”

“Sorta backfired on you.”

“Yeah, I’ll say. I’m going to go. I’m sorry I ruined this day for your family.”

“Wait.” I put my hand on Marie’s to stop her when she starts to get up.

“How did you get clean? How did you end up in California?”

There are so many things I want to ask her so I can tell Major. I know he won’t want to talk to her again any time soon, but if I can explain what happened from her point of view, he might someday.

“I was shipped out here in a prostitution ring, sold, so to say. A woman walked in on a customer and me at a swanky party and blackmailed the guy into giving me to her. She runs an organization that works to stop human trafficking. HATH, Humans Against Trafficking Humans. They got me clean and helped me go to college. I owe them my life.”

This family has been through hell and back and I’m not sure Major will be able to put it behind him. His head is a mess because of his abusive foster parents, but who’s to say he wouldn’t have been just as bad off if he’d stayed with his mother?

“I’ll try to talk to him, but I’m not making any guarantees.”

“Thank you, it’s more than I expected. I loved them, you know? I didn’t want that life for them. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

She sniffles and takes a tissue from her purse before she leaves. I watch her walk out the front doors and slouch back on the couch. What now? This is a king sized mess and I have no idea how to clean it up.

I inhale and blow out a long breath, rubbing my belly with one hand.

“Are you okay?” Major’s voice comes from behind me. He’s standing with his hands in his pockets. He takes one out and points at my hand rubbing my bump and rounds the couch to stand over me. God, he’s handsome in his dress blues. All the Marines at the wedding wore their uniforms. I should be thinking about strategies to reunite him with his mother, but his buttons and those stripes are very distracting.

“I’m fine, we’re fine, how are you?”

He sits down close to me and places his hand over mine on my belly.

“I don’t know. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize her that day on the street when you introduced us. I was so wrapped up in you, I wasn’t paying much attention I guess. She looks different now, better actually, older but better. I remember her as a skinny, greasy haired waif with droopy, drugged out eyes.”

“She’s come a long way since then. She went through a lot too. I’m not saying what she did was right. But she was a kid and she was alone and scared. She did the only thing she could do.”

“And we all paid for her addiction with years of abuse.”

“True, but it’s done and you can’t change it. You’re a good man and she just wanted to be close to you without disturbing the life you’ve built for yourself.”

“I thought she was dead, you know? I tried to dig up information on her when I was seventeen. We were so desperate to get away I was trying to find her and see if she could take us back. I must have been looking at the wrong junkie’s paperwork. I can’t believe I have a living biological relative other than Sam.”

“I’m sorry, this is so unbelievable. I don’t even know what to say to make you feel better.”

“Nothing.” He kisses my cheek and stands pulling me up with him. “Let’s go back in there and try to forget all of this for a couple of hours and celebrate your friends wedding. And then I’ll take you home and we can practice for our honeymoon all night.”

“Sure?” I ask.

“Positive.”

“I like the honeymoon thing, and you’re killing me in that uniform, you know.”

He looks down at himself.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I say, nodding my head up and down.

He scowls.

And winks.

Dressed in his uniform.

My heart skips a beat. “That’s a triple threat, Major Steele.”

“I know.”

“You’re so bad.”

“I know.”