Chapter 37
Kit liked the Brightons.
They had escorted him home in a company limousine, and he'd had a much better chance to talk to them than he'd had before. Their initial meeting was busy, and the wedding rehearsals didn't really give him a chance to talk to them because he and Jessie arrived literally right as they started, they practiced the ceremony two or three times, then they were immediately taken home so as to minimize their vulnerability. They hadn't had much of a chance to really talk, but when the two younger Brightons and Charlie Duke went home with him, they had a chance to talk in the limo, and he liked what he heard.
For one, all three of the Brighton boys had similar personality traits that Kit felt were admirable. All three were intelligent, a little playful, didn't panic, and what impressed him the most, they were tight-knit. Kendall, Harry, and Michael enjoyed a good joke, enjoyed a fine glass of wine, and enjoyed the company of friends and family. Their family wasn't that large, with just one uncle on their father's side and an uncle and an aunt on their mother's side, which was a strange concept to Kit. His mother had been an only child, and her parents had died before she did, her father of a heart attack and her mother of cancer. Kit had no family on the Stockton side that wasn't two or three places removed, a few distant cousins and a great uncle, but they had little to do with the Vulpans. The Stocktons were as distant with each other as the Vulpans were, so his great uncle and third cousins on the Stockton side really didn't care all that much about Vil and Kit. But it wasn't like that in the Brighton family. Their mother, Abigail Mallory, and her family were very involved in the Brighton family, many of the Mallorys employed by Brighton Industries. They had grown up in a tightly knit family, and that induced into them a powerful family loyalty that had nothing to do with money and everything to do with love.
Kit could be a little jealous of that.
The attack on Kit and Jessie had outraged the Brightons, who considered Vil and her family to be part of the Brighton clan, and their initial response was to fold around them, rally around them, and both reassure them that everything was going to be alright and also protect them. Their smiles were earnest, their pats on his shoulder were sincere, and they made him feel much better by the time they got home.
Thank God that Jessie felt better too. She met him in the courtyard and gave him a crushing hug, but she looked much more composed now. She also hugged the Brighton boys and Charlie. "Dad sent us to keep you company and make you feel better, Jessica," Harry told her.
"So, Mike will get the electric razor, I'll get the silk, and Harry will get the handcuffs," Charlie said with a roguish smile.
"He said make her feel better," Michael said calmly when Jessie gave him a surprised look.
"Oh. Oh, right then," he said lightly, which made Jessie giggle. "So, let's go inside and see the decorations for your baby shower, Jessie. By the by, where are those smashingly lovely bridesmaids?"
"Suzy's at home, Sonya's at her apartment, and Muffy's in the TV room," she answered.
"Oh, good, at least there's one girl here I can hit on without running from an angry husband," Charlie said brightly, which made Jessie erupt into glorious laughter.
Kit felt much better about the Brightons being there now.
They went to the TV room and joined Muffy, who crushed Kit in a fierce hug when he came in, as well as Rick, Martha, Allison, and Pat. "God was I worried!" she told him. "Nobody woke me up! I heard about it all just a few minutes ago!"
"So did we," Rick said, standing up.
"Guys, this is Rick, my boss at the magazine, his wife Martha, Terry's girlfriend Allison, and Pat, one of the researchers from the magazine," Kit introduced.
The Brightons and Charlie introduced themselves around, Charlie spending an inordinate amount of time trying to charm Allison, without much success, then Stanley and Dee brought them all tea, scones, and coffee for Rick and Martha. "Thanks, Stan. Is the staff okay?"
"A bit shaken, Master Kit, but otherwise alright," he answered. "We're just happy you and Mistress Jessie are safe."
"We're okay," Jessie told him.
"I've already called a contractor to come and look into sealing off that tunnel," Stanley informed him. "I was of a mind to seal it at the pipe side but leave the passage itself intact."
"It would be too hard to do it any other way," Kit agreed. "We can just seal the pipe and the little room beyond with a few tons of cement, and nothing else will need to be done. We can just leave the trap door as is, because it won't matter. I'm sure we'll notice someone with a jackhammer trying to get in."
"Truly," Stanley nodded.
"Well, son, you promised us excitement when we got here. I'm not sure this is the kind of excitement I had in mind," Rick said dryly.
"Us either," Jessie nodded.
"Vil said to warn you that the baby shower is still on schedule," Kit remembered. "She didn't mention the last wedding rehearsal, but I get the feeling we'll do that too."
"You sure you're up to it, Jessie dear?" Martha asked.
"If we change our plans, they win," she said with a raised chin. "I won't let them scare me away, Martha. We'll have the shower at four just like we planned, and I'm sure Vil still plans on getting married tomorrow."
"That she does, dove," Harry nodded. "One o'clock in that ungodly Catholic cathedral," he said with a shudder. "Why Kenny caved in on an Anglican wedding is beyond me."
"Vil pretty much well owns Kenny, I noticed," Charlie said with a wicked little smile. "I'm going to have so much fun rubbing his nose in it for the next ten years." He looked lightly at Allison. "I'm going to have plenty of reasons to come to America, I see."
"Down, boy," Michael chided.
"You can let him dream," Allison murmured, which made Kit splutter and Jessie giggle.
Though Kit and Jessie both were a little out of sorts, the gang and the Brightons calmed them down a great deal with friendly talk and stories traded between the Brightons and the Austin gang about daily life. The Brightons explained what they did in the company and Charlie told them about his years as a Royal Marine, then he winked at Allison and offered to show them all his scar. More and more of the gang joined them as the morning wore on, until every seat was taken and a few were standing around. Savid and Nawa were absent, with their kids at the pool. Kit could feel Jessie relax as she was surrounded by friends and family, until her smiles were sincere and her manner was again kind and gentle. He could feel the underlying tension in her shoulders when he touched her, but he could also tell that the Brightons had accomplished their mission and had made Jessie relax quite a bit.
Vil returned about two hours after they did, hobbling in with Winston Brighton, Kendall, and Brian and Ruth Vulpan. "Alright, everyone!" she boomed. "It's our last wedding rehearsal, then we come back and have Jessie's shower! So, wedding party, let's go!"
"Brusque, isn't she?" Charlie noted.
"Usually," Kit nodded. "Feel up to a trip to the Holy Cross, pretty kitty?"
"I'll be alright. I just hope Sam and Sheila get here before the shower," she fretted.
"They're in the air right now and on the way," Vil assured her. "So is the Party Pack."
Brian stopped them long enough to let Ruth give Jessie a reassuring hug. "We hope you're okay, honey," she said in a sincere voice. "When Brian told me what happened, I couldn't believe it!"
"I'm alright," she said. "I'm just a little shocked, that's all. I thought all this kind of stuff wasn't supposed to happen anymore."
"Well, it'll never happen to you again," Ruth declared. "You go do your rehearsal, and we'll talk when you get home, dear."
"Umm… alright," she said, a bit uncertainly.
After they got loaded up in the limos, Kit and Jessie were seated with Vil, Kendall, and Winston, while the other sons rode in the other limo with Muffy. That limo was going to detour to pick up Sonya, and their limo was going straight to the church. Two cars would escort them, holding Nick, Sylvia, Krichek, and Donny, who would make sure everyone was safe.
Vil was on her phone, and she had a strange look on her face. "You're sure?" she asked intently. "You're absolutely sure?" She frowned. "Alright. Find him. Right now." She took the phone and put it on the little armrest beside her, then sighed. "Steve didn't show up for work this morning."
"Steve? Who's Steve?" Jessie asked.
"Zach's eldest son," Vil replied. "He wasn't at work today, and if he's not at work, I want him found now. Either he's skipping work and has no idea what's going on or he knows what's going on and he doesn't want to come in."
"Have I met him?"
"No, sis, you haven't," she answered. "He's supporting his father."
"Could he…" Jessie trailed off.
"It's possible, I suppose," Vil shrugged. "He's as rabid a purist as his father, but he's a lemming. He works a black hole job just so he can claim he works in the shipyard without doing any real work, but he just does what he's told. He's never done a single thing I can remember."
"What do you mean?"
"He just drifts," she answered. "Doesn't take any initiative, doesn't do anything. He just sits behind a desk and plays World of Warcraft all day, then goes home and cheats on his wife on a daily basis. Then again, she cheats on him because he cheats on her," Vil mused. "He avoids his wife so completely that he still doesn't have any kids."
"That's almost sad," Jessie noted. "Who's he married to?"
"I understand why he does it," Vil said darkly. "His wife is a total bitch."
"God, is she," Kit affirmed.
"She's related to Alicia through marriage, so that's probably why," Vil chuckled humorlessly. "Gloria Morgan of the venerable Morgan family. As in JP Morgan and Morgan Chase. They got rich in banking and stocks. Her sister is married to Alicia's cousin."
"That was a real fur?"
Vil nodded. "JP was a real fox," she answered.
"Aye, he was a nasty brute," Winston chimed in. "I met him once, when I was but a tyke and he was already sliding into his dotage."
"Was that before or after you invented the wheel, old male?" Michael asked with aplomb.
"Just before we discovered fire, lad," he answered with a cheeky grin. "Back when dirt was new."
Understandably, the wedding rehearsal was a bit tense. The Archbishop had heard about the attack, and he looked honestly surprised when they arrived, and hurried out to the limos. "Are you sure you want to do this today, Miss Vulpan?" he asked her with honest concern. "I would completely understand if you wish to cancel today, maybe even postpone the wedding."
"Nothing changes," she said bluntly.
"Very well then. And Kit, Jessica, I thank God you are unhurt. When we heard about it on the news, we were shocked. Just shocked!"
"Thank you, Father," Kit said, shaking his paw.
"It's very kind of you, Father," Jessie said as he patted her on the arm.
"Now, for my own nerves' sake, let us go inside and get the rehearsal under way. I'm sure that you would much rather be tracking down the criminal who perpetrated this outrage."
"I have furs working on it right now, Father," Vil told him as she allowed him to help her towards the side door of the cathedral. "So if we're interrupted during the rehearsal, I'd like a little leeway."
"Of course, my child," he smiled. "I certainly understand. Where is the rest of the wedding party?"
"On the way, the other limo had to detour to pick up Sonya."
"What an interesting young femme," the Archbishop noted. "I've never seen a lady quite so tall as her."
"Don't get on the basketball court with her, Father," Vil warned. "Priest or no priest, she'll run you over if you try to block the lane."
The Archbishop laughed lightly. "I'm afraid my basketball days are over, Miss Vil. But I still play a mean game of backgammon."
"She'd probably run you over anyway."
Archbishop O'Malley laughed delightedly.
The rehearsal went smoothly, because after four days, everyone knew what to do. The ceremony would be a mixture of Catholic tradition and a few Protestant tweaks. They would greet the guests at the door as was proper, and follow the Archbishop down the aisle, but Vil would be on Winston's arm rather than with Kendall. Winston would give her away at the dais and then take his seat, and then it would be more or less completely Catholic up to the end. Instead of the wedding party proceeding in reverse order, since they didn't enter in Catholic tradition, Vil and Kendall would go first with the wedding party behind them in pairs. Kit and Suzy would be immediately behind Vil and Kendall, then Jessie with Michael, Sonya with Harry, and Muffy with Charlie would bring up the rear. They practiced it three times as the wedding workers worked in a frenzy to install the floral arrangements and other decorations for the wedding, but they were nearly done. The chapel too was decorated in Vil's favorite, white and yellow roses, with white and red buntings and ribbons decorating the walls and pews, and the workers only had the copious amounts of floral arrangements to put up before they were finished.
By the end of the rehearsal, the news was now completely out that there was an attempt on the life of a Vulpan, and the news crews were out in force and trying to hunt down any Vulpan they could find. One news van, probably working a hunch, showed up at the church and was turned away at the door while they were doing their second run through the ceremony. The church workers stalled the news crew while the Archbishop escorted them out to their limos after the rehearsal. "Remember, try to be here at least an hour before the ceremony," O'Malley called as he shook Vil's paw. "And try not to be too nervous," he added with a smile.
"Why would we be nervous?" Kendall asked airily, then he held up a paw that was shaking violently, which made most of them giggle and chortle.
"We're all going to the same place, so just follow us," Vil told the second limo driver and Suzy, who had come in her own car. "It's about time for Jessie's shower."
Nick and Sylvia led them out in their car, and they were on their way back. Kit saw the news crew rushing towards the side lot as the limos pulled out onto the street, and the cameramale swung his camera up and took a shot of the two limos and two escorting cars pass by.
"Well, Vil, you have less than a day to make your peace," Kendall told her with a smile. "Cause you're gonna be my property."
"Oh really," Vil said mildly.
"Yah. We'll have you pregnant and in the kitchen where a femme belongs in no time."
Jessie erupted into laughter when Winston gave Kendall a cool look. "You're not supposed to tell her that until after the ceremony, Kenny," he said with a straight face.
"Eh, she already said it's gonna happen no matter what, so why not give her the truth now?"
"Jessie, do you still have that frilly pink apron?" Vil asked.
"Umm, yeah, but it's at home. Why?"
"Send it up here. I'm going to educate Ken on a few things. We'll see who's wearing it after a month."
Jessie giggled, and Kit put an arm around her. He was so grateful to them all for making her feel better, helping her get over the trauma of the morning. Everyone was doing their damnedest to make Jessie feel comfortable, and he was very happy that she was getting back to normal.
"When you get him in that apron, snap a pic, Vil," Charlie said, "and send it to me. I know quite a few males who would love to see Kendall Brighton in an apron."
Sam, Kevin, and Sheila were indeed there when they got back to Stonebrook, since they met them in the courtyard. Sam crushed Jessie in a powerful hug, and blurted "we didn't know what happened until we got up here, it was on the news on the radio. Are you alright?"
"I'm okay. Feeling a lot better now than I did this morning," she answered. "Everyone's being so wonderful!"
"Well, don't worry too much, Jessie," Sheila said as she hugged her. "We're gonna find whoever did it and rip his tail off and stuff it down his throat."
"Too tame," Charlie said. "Besides, some of us don't have enough tail for that to be much of a threat."
"Sam, Sheila, this is the Brighton family and their family friend. Ken you know. This is his father Winston, his brothers Harry and Michael, and Charlie Duke."
"That's sir Charlie Duke," he grinned, sidling up to Sheila. "I must say, the Vulpan family has its share of lookers. You're Sheila, right?"
"That's right. And you're cute," she said in a light manner.
Charlie smiled brightly. "Well, why don't we go talk about that after the shower?"
"Sheila," Kit called warningly.
"What? It's not like he's a relative or anything," she protested. "I've never done an English bunny before," she said, fixing a predatory look at Charlie.
Charlie actually looked a little uncertain of himself as he stepped back to allow Harry and Michael to greet Sheila.
Kit took Charlie aside as they walked towards the house. "I'd be careful with Sheila."
"I'm just bantering."
"She's not," he said bluntly. "So tread lightly, and say nothing you won't back up."
"She's not, eh?" he said, glancing back at her.
"I warned you," Kit said simply, then went back to his wife.
Sheila didn't just bring Sam and Kevin and Jessie's family. Lupe came with her, and Janet came on a commercial flight scheduled to arrive at the same time, so she caught a ride with Sheila.
Rather quickly, the femmes swept Jessie up and spirited her away to the sun room, Kit's favorite room in the manor, for her shower, while the males gathered in the TV room and talked, mainly about the attack that morning. Mike, Barry, Pat, Rick, and Kevin looked a little uncomfortable being surrounded by powerful males like the Vulpans and the Brightons, so they were mostly silent and just listened. They discussed it seriously and at some length, then discussed what should be done to find out who did it. Brian was with them, and he pointed out the one glaring truth that made it plain what whoever did it was a Vulpan. "Whoever organized this knew about something that nobody else in this manor knew about," he said simply. "So that leaves just a pawful of furs who could have done this. That fur has an understanding of the manor far beyond even furs who have lived here their entire lives, like Stanley, Clancy, and Dee."
"That brings up a point," Winston said. "From what Vil told me, the Vulpans aren't the only ones who have lived in this manor for long periods. It's possible it could be a servant. Have you done anything to anger any of your staff, Kit?"
"Not that I know of," he answered. "But if there's anyone in the PPC on the staff, then me marrying Jessie was all it took."
"The servants would certainly have enough money to pay forty thousand dollars for a hit," Brian grunted. "We pay our servants handsomely for their work and for their silence. I think the most junior member of my staff makes thirty thousand a year. My chief butler makes a hundred thousand."
"As do we. They deserve it for putting up with us," Kendall chuckled.
"We've already thought of that," Nick said. "I've got some mates digging through both the Vulpan family and through anyone who either lived or worked here at Stonebrook for more than five weeks, looking for anything that might connect them to the attack. That's a lot of blokes, but I have a lot of mates."
"Being thorough means you don't have to go back and do it again," Winston nodded in appreciation.
"What did the attackers have to say?" Brian asked Nick.
"Typical chaff, Mister Vulpan," he answered. "They didn't know the name of the fur who hired them, got their money through a wire transfer and instructions emailed over the internet. We've already tracked that down," he noted, taking a paper out of his pocket. "The money was wired from a front bank in the Azores receiving an internet order to do so that originated from Denver, Colorado, and the instructions were emailed from an internet café in France. Nice and spread out, making it hard to track it down."
"Front bank?" Harry asked.
"A bank that only exists on the internet," Nick answered. "Like PayPal. They're used by quite a few criminal organizations. They have official licensing and such, but since they only operate over the internet, they're hard to track down business done through them. The Azores is famous for these things, since their licensing requirements and regulation is basically nil. Using internet front banks is the new way to launder money."
A light went on in Kit's head. "I wonder if that extra money that was in the Stonebrook accounts found its way to the Azores," he said suddenly.
"We already thought of that, Kit," Nick told him. "My mates are digging as we speak. It was more than forty thousand that was in the accounts, though. According to what Stan told me, there was excess of two million dollars extra in the Stonebrook accounts."
"Well, that could still have something to do with it," Winston noted. "I know a few furs in France. I think I'll have that café checked out and find out who sent that email."
"I have a few friends on the net in my line of work," Mike said tentatively. "A couple of them are hackers. They're fairly good at tracking things down online. I could ask them for a few favors."
"Go for it, mate," Nick chuckled. "This isn't about a turf war. The more we have looking for the answers, the better chance we have of finding them."
"Let me go jump online and send a few messages."
"Here, come with me, I'll give you the details they'll need to start lookin'," Nick said, and the two left the room.
They continued the discussion, but without much more progress, as they basically just rehashed the details over and over. About two hours after they started, the femmes returned, and they all looked quite happy. "It must have been a good shower," Winston noted as Jessie gave Kit a hug and a nuzzle.
"It was wonderful!" Jessie said. "And the girls didn't go crazy with presents!" she laughed.
All the girls were there, he saw. Bess, Mary, Lynn, Angela, and Joy had arrived and attended the shower, along with Lilly, Denise, Elly, Allison, Sam, Sheila, and Martha.
"Well, Jessie certainly won't need to buy anything for Laura," Vil chuckled as she hobbled in. "And she got the baby seat for the plane too, just like she wanted."
"We got four baby seats," Jessie laughed ruefully. "One for each car and one for the plane."
"And just about everything else she needs for Laura," Sheila added.
"Well, that's what baby showers are all about," Winston nodded.
"It was great!" Jessie said. "I even got a surprise!"
"What surprise?"
"I think she means us," a voice came behind them.
Kit looked and saw the Williams family, John, Hannah, Jenny, and Ben, standing there.
Kit laughed. "I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow!" he said, hugging Jenny.
"It was all cloak and dagger so Jessie didn't know we were coming," Jenny winked. "Vil was even lying to you to keep the secret from her."
"Mean sister!" Kit laughed, pointing at her.
"It worked, didn't it?" she smiled in reply.
"Do you really think I'd miss my daughter's first baby shower, Kit?" Hannah said archly as he hugged her in greeting. "Now that the shower is over, you can explain what happened this morning."
"You deserve that much," Vil told her as Kit shook paws with John and Ben. "But first, let's introduce everyone. Ken, Winston, guys, this is Jessie's family. John and Hannah Williams, and their children Jenny and Ben. Guys, these are the Brightons. Winston, my fiancée Kendall, Harry, Michael, and the shady-looking bunny over there is a friend of their family, Charlie Duke."
"I'm not shady, I'm dashing," Charlie said with an outrageous smile.
"He will be soon," Mike murmured to Pat, who nodded.
It was a bit cramped in the room after that, but they made due. Vil then explained what happened to Jessie's family in detail, and she was sure to mention that the four attackers were Paladins. Vil knew Hannah's history, and she knew that that would incite Hannah in a way few other things could. Hannah had fought purists her entire life, had been one of the Columbus Twenty, and her brothers had been killed by a purist mob. Hannah Williams did not shy away from a fight when it came to opposing the PPC. "Luckily, though, Jessie found the secret tunnel before the plan could be carried out, and Nick set a trap for the attackers. They're in jail now, and I'm turning Boston over and shaking it to find who set it up."
"We're fairly certain it has to be a Vulpan or someone very close to them, for few would know about that tunnel," Winston told them. "Not even Kit or the chief butler knew about that tunnel, so it has to be someone that knows the manor even better than them. There can't be more than one or two others with that kind of knowledge."
"And you're certain that Jessica will be safe?" John asked.
"That's why I'm here, Mister Williams," Nick said simply. "Miss Vil hired me to keep your daughter and her husband safe, and I take my job very seriously."
"I absolutely guarantee you, John, Hannah, this will never happen again," Vil said adamantly. "I'm going to make such an object lesson out of whoever did this that everyone else will wet themselves at the very thought of trying something like this." She looked to Kit and Jessie. "My brother and your daughter are two of the most important furs in my life, and I can't even begin to tell you how furious I am right now."
"She's not the only one," Brian said grimly. "If this came from someone in the family, then they have no business being in the family. Fighting Vil over her control of the family is one thing, but trying to murder a member of the family goes about fifty miles too far."
"Aye," Winston nodded. "We Brightons protect our own, and the Vulpans and the Williams are now part of us," he declared. "You need us? We're here."
"Here here," Harry agreed.
"But, we're only here for those who deserve it," Kendall added. "We'll find the rotten parts of the Vulpan family and excise them like cutting the bruise out of an apple."
"I hope I'm not in that bruise," Lynn giggled.
"But Ken makes an important point," Vil said. "If this is what this family has come to, then trying to keep the family united is pointless. So, since keeping the family together is no longer an option, we destroy those who oppose us. We find the undesirable Vulpans and we run them out of Boston. And that starts tomorrow," she said grimly. "Tomorrow, I put every Vulpan against us on probation at work, and by the time I'm back from my honeymoon, they'll be gone. We will sweep the company clean of everyone not loyal to me, then we get Zach and Jake off the board, then we drive them out of Boston. When this is over, only the true Vulpans will be left here."
"Isn't that a touch drastic, Vil?" Ruth asked.
"Wasn't what nearly happened here fairly drastic, Ruthie?" Vil asked immediately in reply. "This isn't about being careful and maintaining family unity when this is over, about using kid gloves to keep someone from getting too angry so I can herd everyone back under the tent once the dust settles. This is now war. They tried to kill my brother and sister!" she said hotly. "And I'm a firm believer that a destroyed enemy doesn't come back to bite you in the ass five years from now."
"Now I see why you love her, brother," Michael said with a slight smile. "She's cute when she's plotting mayhem."
Quite a few blurted out laughter at that unexpected remark, and Kit saw that Michael was quite prone to those out-of-the-blue zingers. They were funny, though.
Kit felt much better as they all sat around and talked as his friends from the magazine slowly got accustomed to being around rich furs and dignitaries. John and Hannah sat and talked with Kit, Jessie, Winston, and Vil. Jenny and Ben got into a lively chat with the other youngsters, Jessie's friends from Austin, Harry and Michael and the Party Pack, and Charlie spent a lot of time flirting, as well as having his advances bluntly accepted by the Vulpan girls, which startled him a bit. They weren't behaving the way they were supposed to, with playful flirting and remarks, but Charlie had never encountered the Party Pack before. There wasn't a single girl in the Party Pack that would blink even once over dragging Charlie into some unused room and taking tremendous advantage of him, and their bold forward behavior had put him off his usual game. He was used to chasing girls, not having girls basically chase him. Kit had the feeling that before the night was over, Charlie was going to be educated by one of his cousins about putting his money where his mouth was. Bess was going on and on about New Orleans and working, having a real job with real responsibility, and how Terry, who hadn't arrived yet, had been both very kind to her and also teaching her about being a boss, about how to run a division or an office or a section and be both efficient and fair to the employees. Jenny and Sam, who were both in pre-med, struck up an immediate friendship and were talking about things that made no sense to anyone else, and Ben found himself all but surrounded by both Brightons and the guys from work as he described being on the football team at Ohio State and their first game, which was on Saturday.
After a while, dinner was served. Stanley didn't want to use the formal dining room but had too many to fit in any other room, so what he did was have the staff place tables in the main parlor and move the furniture out. Despite being temporary tables, they were covered with satin tablecloths and were set with fine Vulpan china, and the chairs had been pulled from the main dining room, which were lustrously dark wood polished to a shine, and with cushioned seats. Jessie, for the first time, had no paw in the meal served to her and Kit, and the cooks had gone the distance to lay out a meal of veal and Portobello mushrooms in a truffle sauce, shrimp bisque, lobster tails, steamed artichoke hearts, steamed asparagus, baby potatoes in a butter and garlic sauce, and with cheesecake for desert. Stanley had even delved deeply into Stonebrook's wine cellar to serve some very good wine. He looked positively enraptured, Stanley did, for he lived for this kind of thing. He got to show off Stonebrook and prove that it was the best manor in New England, and the Brightons, the Williams, the visiting Vulpans, and the gang from Austin had nothing but praise for the staff for the wonderful dinner.
After dinner, things settled down… almost. The large group broke up somewhat. The elders, Kit, and Jessie returned to the TV room to talk and give Jessie's parents more time to get to know Brian and Ruth and the Brightons, while the youngsters and the Austin gang all scattered through the manor to do things. Sylvia took a few with her to the range to let them try target shooting, Savid and Nawa took their kids to the pool and were joined by a couple of Vulpans and Harry Brighton. Charlie and Ben went to the theatre to watch a movie with a couple of his cousins and Lilly. Sam, Jenny, Kevin, Janet and Lupe went out on a tour of the manor with Muffy. Everyone was just enjoying the evening, the day before the wedding, relaxing and trying to calm down after the anxiety of the morning.
They were also joined not long afterward. Kit had carried through on his intent to invite the Governor to stay at Stonebrook the night before the wedding, and the Governor accepted. The Governor's limo arrived at about 8:30pm, and Kit, Jessie, Vil, and Winston greeted him in the courtyard. Kit welcomed him to Stonebrook and gave him free run of the place, and not long afterward Stanley escorted the Governor to the garden cottage, a nice and roomy cottage where he and his two Texas Ranger escorts could relax and unwind before going to bed. Stanley dispatched Sally and Benson to serve the Governor, and the Governor left the cottage after changing into a pair of sweats and a tee shirt and joined them in the main house, joining the conversation, and also adding his concern to the others; he too had heard about the attack on Kit and Jessie.
"It's all over the news," he said, taking a glass of wine from Dee with a nod of thanks. "They're calling it the Foiled Wedding Massacre. Any leads yet, Vilenne?"
"I'm still working on it, or more to the point, my furs are," she answered. "It's not changing the fact that I'm getting married tomorrow."
"That did surprise me a little."
"We have very good reasons for going through with it," Winston said simply.
"We're not going on our honeymoon until Saturday afternoon, so I'll have tomorrow here in Boston. Saturday I'm going to Columbus to watch my brother-in-law play football, then we go on our honeymoon."
"Ah, yes, Ohio State?"
She nodded. "My brother Ben plays for them," Jessie told him.
"We have an extra ticket," Vil said enticingly.
Rick Perry laughed. "Attend a non-Texas football game? I'd be lynched! Besides, I really do need to be back in Austin tomorrow afternoon. I have a formal dinner Saturday." He turned to Jessie. "I'm very glad you're alright, you two. You're not just citizens of Texas, I like to think of you as friends. I did attend your wedding, after all," he smiled.
"Thanks, Governor," Kit said, accepting his pawshake.
"Please, call me Rick. When are you coming home?"
"I'll be here until I legally force my uncle out of Stonebrook," Kit answered. "We'll be back in early October."
"I do hope you're returning to Texas to have your baby, Jessie," he grinned. "That way she's a native Texan."
Jessie giggled. "Unless something serious happens, I hate to say that I'll be delivering right here in Stonebrook."
"Well, I'll tell you what. We'll keep the birth a secret until you get home, then we'll present the baby down there and we'll issue you a Texas birth certificate."
"Why would they want to do that? Laura is a Vulpan, and a Vulpan should be born in Massachusetts," Vil said lightly.
"But, she'll be a yankee if she's born up here," Rick Perry said seriously, which made Jessie laugh.
When the Brightons were about ready to return to Hart's Crossing, Charlie turned up missing. Kit knew almost immediately what was going on, but he just kept quiet and allowed the staff to hunt him down. All Kit really had to do was count his femme cousins and see who was missing. Much to his surprise, it wasn't Sheila that had lured Charlie into some deserted room for a little fun, it was Lynn. The two of them turned up about twenty minutes later, Lynn with a smug little smile and Charlie looking quite out of sorts, his shirt buttoned up wrong and his slacks only halfway zipped up. His other cousins immediately drew her off for all the juicy gossip while the Brighton boys couldn't look at him without laughing.
After the Brightons left, Vil, Kit, and Jessie all decided to go to bed. Vil had a big day ahead of her tomorrow, and Kit and Jessie were both tired, and Kit was a little drained. He was especially considerate to Jessie up in the bedroom, and when he had her snuggled in his arms in bed, he finally dared breach the subject. "I hope you're alright."
"I'm a lot better than I was this morning," she said ruefully. "I feel safe, my handsome fox. I feel protected and secure. I'm a little freaked out, but it'll pass. I told you, I will not let them drive me away from you, no matter what. You were afraid that they'd be capable of something horrible, and you were right. But that won't chase me away. I am your wife, Kit, and I will stand beside you through both the good and the bad.
"God, I love you, Jessie."
"You'd better, because there will be no divorce," she said impishly, which made him laugh. And then she started to purr, and everything was suddenly right with the world.
Kit figured that someone would wake them up in the morning, and he was proved entirely correct. He figured that it would be Stanley or one of the staff, but he was honestly surprised when it was Vil who woke them up at six in the morning, shaking Kit awake. "Mmph, what?" he asked blearily as Jessie burrowed a little deeper into his arms, or as far as her swollen belly would allow.
"Get up!" she told them in an almost hyper voice. "Get up, sleepyhead, it's my wedding day!"
He glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "In seven hours," he answered. "Go back to bed."
"Only seven hours? Oh my God, I'll never get ready in time!" she gasped. "Get up, we have a lot to do and no time!"
"Oh God, she's one of them," Jessie complained as Vil rushed towards the door as fast as her casted leg would allow.
"One of what?"
"ADHD bride," she grunted, which made Kit explode into laughter.
Luann, bless her heart, had woke up early enough to put tea and scones by the door for them. He brought them into the room as Jessie yawned and sat up as much as she could with Laura taking up most of her lap. At eight months pregnant, Jessie couldn't seem to get any bigger, yet she did indeed get a little bigger every week, it seemed. Already her belly was very, very round, and she had another month to go! She slid her feet out of bed and picked up her robe from the foot of the bed and slid it on as she stood up. "Well, we may as well get up, because odds are she'll be back," Jessie complained. "Pour me a cup of tea, handsome fox?"
"Certainly, love," he nodded as she padded across the large room and into the huge bathroom.
Just as Jessie predicted, Vil stormed back into their bedroom not three minutes after leaving. Kit gave her a cup of tea wordlessly and she walked right by him, then turned, laughed, and took it. "Sorry," she apologized. "But I'm really excited."
"I can't tell," he said blandly. "Go finish up all your paperwork before the wedding, I'm sure there's something you missed," he told her. "Work off some of that nervous energy. That's what I did on my wedding day."
"That's not a bad idea," she said.
Vil scurried out, and Kit carried Jessie's tea to her nightstand and set it down. She came out of the bathroom and picked up the cup with a smile and a nod, then sat down daintily on the bed and took a sip. "I'm going to need this to wake up," she said wearily. "I never pegged Vil to be the hyper type. She's always so calm."
"I guess everyone has the right to be giddy about something sometime," Kit chuckled as he took a sip of his tea. "She really does love Kendall. She doesn't show it, but she does."
"She has a good reason to like him. He's a wonderful male, and he has a great family. Speaking of family," she said, picking up the phone by her nightstand, which was a holdover from the old system. Though all the staff and the residents used the cell phones, the original landline phones were still there, and each room had its own phone with its own extension. Jessie dialed the extension for the bedroom where her parents were sleeping. "I know they're up," she smiled. "Hi Mom, is Dad up? Good. Want to come up to our bedroom and have a cup of tea, and talk a while? Okay, remember where it is? That's right. Okay, see you in a minute."
"I'll have them send up more tea, and some coffee for your dad," he said, picking up his cell phone and hitting push to talk. "Who's in the kitchen?"
"I am, Master Kit, what do you need?" Stanley answered.
"Could you please bring another pot of tea and some coffee up to our room? Jessie's parents are coming up."
"I'll have it sent up immediately."
"Thanks, Stan," Kit answered.
"You'd better put on some undies, love," Jessie winked at him. "As much as I love the chance your robe might untie, I don't think my mom will appreciate it as much as I do."
Kit laughed. "I'll bring yours too."
Jessie's parents arrived wearing what Kit felt was typical for them. John was wearing a Bengal's tee shirt and tiger-striped sweatpants, and Hannah was wearing a simple yet full length blue robe. Jessie hugged them in turn, and Kit shook John's paw and kissed Hannah on the cheek fondly as Luann scurried in carrying a large tray holding a second pot of tea and a smaller pot filled with coffee. She blushed furiously when Jessie introduced her to her parents as if she were one of her friends and not her maid, then she served them with quiet efficiency as they sat down on the couches over by the TV. "Did you like your room, Mom?" Jessie asked.
"It's… large," she said, then she laughed. "This place is so grand!"
"I think our entire house can fit into this wing," John said sagely. "And God, what would it be like to watch Bengal games on that home theatre screen?" he asked with a laugh. "I thought the Bengal Den had a good TV in it!"
"That's not a TV, it's a projector," Kit told him.
"I still get lost here," Jessie admitted with a slightly rueful smile.
"This is the dirty little secret," Kit chuckled. "This is where I grew up. Right here in this house."
"What's it like to live here, Jessica?" Hannah asked.
"Well, it's a little weird," she answered. "I'm still not used to the servants waiting on me. Thanks Luann," she said with a smile as Luann offered her a new cup of tea. Luann nodded and poured a cup of coffee. "I still cook our own meals and clean our room, so I can feel, well, normal. Luann hates that," Jessie giggled. "This room is her responsibility, and I always do all her work."
"It's not proper for you to clean, Mistress Jessie," Luann said demurely. "You're a Vulpan. Vulpans do not clean."
"Well, I'll be cleaning when I go home, so there's no reason for me to change things," Jessie said simply. "We're not really allowed to leave the manor's grounds because it's not safe, so I've been keeping busy. I've learned a few new knitting patterns, we have lunch with Clancy every day he feels up to it, the chefs here have been teaching me new recipes, Vil comes by about every other day to visit, Muffy's been here to keep us company, and the staff has been so wonderful keeping me busy. Things have been really crazy since everyone got here, there's been furs everywhere, I've been tripping over someone almost every time I turn around. Then there was yesterday," she sighed.
"Yes, let's discuss that," Hannah said seriously. "Tell us again, and don't leave anything out."
Kit was the only that mainly described what happened yesterday, with the discovery of the trap door and tunnel to the capture of the attackers. "Though you can't see it, Boston is in chaos right now," Kit told them. "Vil is utterly furious, and she's turning Boston inside out looking for whoever hired those PPC goons."
"PPC?" John gasped. "I didn't catch that!"
"They were Paladins," Jessie said in a slightly quavering voice.
"Paladins," Hannah said with a sudden growl.
"Whoever hired them had to be someone in the family," Kit said. "They both knew about that secret tunnel and they knew where to find four furs who were willing to kill us. They could have hired contract killers, but that would have left a trail that Vil could track down. They hired Paladins, so whoever it is has to be involved with the PPC. Given the history of my family, there's quite a few possibilities. Uncle Zach is the prime suspect, but something tells me that it wasn't him."
"What?"
"I dunno, just the way he acted when me and Vil went over and told him what happened. He seemed genuinely surprised. And no doubt right now he's tearing Boston apart looking for whoever did it."
"He's helping?"
"Not on purpose," Kit chuckled grimly. "Vil threatened to strip him of every penny and ruin him, saying that she was blaming him until proven otherwise, and the only way he can avoid being turned out of his house naked is to find out who did it. So right now, he's looking for the attacker to avoid losing everything."
"That girl is one of the most clever furs I've ever met," John said appreciatively.
"Why thank you, John," Vil said from the door. She was holding a small folder, which she put under her arm as she hobbled in on her walking cast and sat down beside Jessie, and Luann immediately served her a cup of tea. She nodded to the girl and took a sip. "I just got a courier," she said with a light smile. She held out the folder to Kit, reaching it past Jessie. "And it's for you."
"Me? What is it?" he asked, opening the folder. Inside was a stapled trio of pages, and after quickly perusing the front page, he realized that it was the contract which dealt with Zach's share of Stonebrook. "He signed it away," she said with a very satisfied little smile. "He gave up Stonebrook to you, brother."
"You're serious!" Kit gasped.
"Very," she answered, taking another sip. "Stonebrook is now yours."
"No, it's yours," Kit told her. "You're the primary owner."
"Not anymore," she told him with a sly smile. "Or I won't be at nine o'clock this morning. I'm taking this and that other little agreement you and me signed and I'm filing them. By noon, Stonebrook will be in your name. I'll still be on the deed, but as the co-owner. Now that Zach's part ownership of the house isn't mucking things up, I can put things the way they were meant to be."
"Vil!" Kit said, flabbergasted.
"Kit, this is, was, and always shall be your home," she told him intensely. "This was never my home. Never. I knew that as soon as I could comprehend things. I moved out and built Hart's Crossing, and I'm very happy there. That is my home, it's where I was meant to be. Stonebrook belongs to you, it was always meant to belong to you. You are the true master of this house, brother. Everyone before you was just a caretaker. You may have never been destined to sit in the big chair, but this house was always meant to be yours. And by God in heaven above, if there is any Vulpan who deserves to own Stonebrook, it's you."
"Vil, Texas is my home," he protested vociferously. "I still don't feel comfortable here. I don't want to live in Boston!"
"Who said you have to?" she asked with a smile. "Stanley and the staff will maintain the manor to its usual impeccable standards, and they'll be happy to host you when you come up to visit. The manor has more than enough money in its own accounts to literally be self sufficient. You never have to spend a dime for Stonebrook, Kit, the manor pays for itself, pays all the salaries and taxes, pays for everything. The interest the accounts earn on their investments pays for everything without ever touching the capital, just the way it was set up to make Stonebrook eternally self-sustaining. Consider this to be your vacation house. Or move someone in," she shrugged. "I think Brian and Ruthie could do well living in the west wing, Hunter would love living here, and Muffy's already all but moved in. Brian could keep an eye on things for you, I'll maintain my watch over the accounts to ensure Zach doesn't try to tamper with them again, the staff would have Vulpans to serve, and what's most important, you have control of the house. You don't have to live here to own Stonebrook, Kit. But now that you own Stonebrook, you have control over it. That means that you don't have to worry about what the past thinks about you anymore. This is your house, and right now I'm sure Dad just sat up in his grave. We're probably close enough to go outside and hear him scream."
Kit chuckled without much humor at that thought. Yes, his father was probably rolling in his grave at the idea of his hated son now having possession of the icon of the Vulpan dynasty, Stonebrook.
"Look at it this way, brother. Stonebrook will now pass to your first child, not mine. Doesn't Laura deserve to own this house?"
"That's a cheap shot," he complained, which made Jessie giggle. There was literally nothing he wouldn't do for his unborn daughter, and Vil knew it. "Wait a minute. If Zach's signed over his share of Stonebrook, that means we don't have to stay here anymore. We were only here to force Zach out. If he gave away his share, then we can go home. We can go home, pretty kitty!" he said with sudden excitement.
"Not quite yet," Vil said. "You're not leaving this house until I know who tried to kill you and punish them for it. You are much safer here than you are in Austin, because Stonebrook is closed and controlled. I may own Austin, but I can't stop another group from flying into Bergstrom and driving to your townhouse. And besides, you agreed to sit in the chair while I'm on my honeymoon. You have to be here to do that. But yes, after we get everything straightened out, you'll be free to go home."
"Did he resign too?"
"No, he didn't," she answered. "I think he caved on Stonebrook because he could see the inevitability of it, and it would mollify me somewhat. I think he realized that Stonebrook was gone, and he'd never outlive us. His only hope was to outlive you and me and both of us remain childless, but his problem was that once he died, the house would not go to Steve. The agreement specifically stated that my children and your children would have priority rights over his. With Laura's birth imminent and me getting married today," she said with an excited trill in her voice, "he could see that he'd never get it back. So he surrendered it to soothe me."
"I don't believe it, Uncle Zach did something that wasn't greedy," Kit breathed, almost in disbelief.
"He's saving his own ass, and don't think for a second that it's anything but," she said sternly.
"Any word on who attacked my daughter, Vil?" Hannah asked.
Vil shook her head. "Not yet. I've got about everyone I could get my paws on working on it, and so far we only have one hint."
"What's that?"
"Nobody can find Steve. Zach's oldest son," she said, looking at John and Hannah. "He's disappeared. He didn't show up for work, he's not in any of his houses or his dad's houses, hell, his wife's even looking for him. However, his bank accounts are still there, there haven't been any withdrawals we can't attribute to his wife, and it looks like he just fell off the face of the world. He vanished for only one of two possible reasons. Either he's involved in the attack, or he wrongfully thinks we're going to come after Zach's entire family for it and he went to ground. Either way, I've got furs hunting him down as we speak."
"Or he knows something," John said impulsively. "And he doesn't want to get involved."
"That's also a possibility," Vil agreed. "But, that's enough of that. How is your summer vacation going, John?"
Vil steered them to much tamer conversation, but Kit didn't listen for a little bit as he stewed over Vil's announcement. She was taking that agreement he signed to scare Zach into backing off and she was going to file it, along with Zach's giving up his share of the manor, to redraw the deed so Kit was the primary owner. He… didn't know how to feel about that. He didn't want this house, didn't want the deed, didn't want the responsibility of it. But, on the other paw, it was just a piece of paper. Stonebrook was not his home, but it would be his. He would return to Texas and let Stanley run things, use the manor when he came up to visit Vil, maybe allow Vil or friends to use the manor when they needed it, offer it as a permanent guest house for whenever any of the Brightons came to visit. He wasn't sure about moving Brian in here, because no matter what, Brian was still an elder, and Kit had not lost his hatred or distrust of his elders. There was no telling if Brian would pick up right where Zach left off after he got into the manor and got a taste of living in the big house, then wanted it for himself.
He couldn't stand the idea of Brian being in here. But Terry…
That was an idea. When Terry returned from New Orleans, he could live in Stonebrook. He and Allison, when they married, could live in the west wing. They were foxes he trusted, foxes that could care for Stonebrook when he wasn't there, and he'd be utterly confident that everything would be perfectly fine. But, the downside of that was that Terry may never return to Boston. He was absolutely furious with the family, and especially enraged with the elders for their attempt to attack Allison. Kit knew exactly how he felt, and that kind of fury may preclude him from ever returning to Boston to stay. Terry very well may stay in New Orleans and run Avondale, staying away from the family that dared attack him and his girlfriend.
If not Terry, who? Someone had to be here. Someone had to be in Stonebrook, because the house served no purpose if there was no Vulpan inside it.
Jessie elbowed him lightly in the ribs, and Kit started. "What?"
"I said, how much does it cost for this place to run?" Hannah repeated.
"Oh. I'm not sure," he answered, waving a paw.
"About three quarters of a million a year," Vil answered for him. "Adding up salaries, maintenance, supplies, taxes, and utilities, it's three quarters of a million. But, the manor's accounts earn about a million a year in interest and dividends, so the manor earns more money than it spends every year. Yesterday when I checked, there was about thirteen million dollars in the manor's accounts."
"And that's yours now?" John asked.
Kit shook his head. "It belongs to the manor, John. This house isn't just a house. It's what you might call a corporate entity. It has its own bank accounts and investments, and no Vulpan owns that money. It belongs to Stonebrook."
"Wait. This manor gets a return of ten percent?"
"About that," Vil nodded. "Closer to nine, but more than nine. I know that sounds high, but that's because of how it's set up. Some of the best financial planners in America planned out Stonebrook's investment strategy, and they did it in low or zero risk investments. Hell, John, if the money was just in bonds or something, it'd earn five percent. I could get four percent just out of a money market bank account. The more money you have to invest, the higher the return with less risk."
"I've never heard of anything like that."
"That's because you're not familiar with large value investments and options, John," she told him calmly. "There's a different set of rules and opportunities when you're looking to invest ten million instead of ten thousand."
"I would imagine so," John chuckled, sipping his coffee. "So, if worse comes to worst and Kit and Jessie lose their jobs or their house or something—"
"They could live here without owning a dime and never worry," Vil nodded. "The manor would provide." She glanced at Kit. "And now that Kit owns Stonebrook, Kit and Jessie never have to worry. They can always come home and be treated in a manner more proper for a Vulpan."
"The proper manner is to be home with our daughter," Kit declared. "Away from here. Back in our home."
"Hovel," Vil teased lightly.
"Call it what you want, I feel a million times more at home there than here."
"That can change, brother mine," she smiled. "Now that all this is yours, it might make you come home."
"Not unless I come back with bombs," Kit retorted, which made Jessie giggle.
The conversation drifted to a less momentous but no less important subject… the wedding. Vil described the upcoming ceremony, and then talked about her dress for ten solid minutes. "It's just perfect," she surmised. "It cost me forty thousand dollars, but it was worth every penny!"
"Why so expensive?" Hannah asked.
"Designer, maker, materials," she ticked off her fingers. "And don't you dare harp on my dress, Hannah! A bride has every right to wear her perfect dress! Mine was just a little expensive, that's all."
"I wouldn't do that, dear," she answered mildly. "I certainly hope it's as beautiful as you described."
"It's gorgeous!" Jessie beamed.
"She won't let me see it," Kit chuckled. "You'd think she was marrying me."
"I want it to be a surprise!" Vil barked at him. "The only ones who have seen my dress are my bridesmaids."
"Well, it's just too bad for you that Jessie took a couple of pictures of you in your dress," Kit mused lightly.
"Don't you dare," she hissed threateningly.
"Sometimes you act married," John chuckled.
"It's because we're close," Vil said primly. "After Dad died, all we had were Clancy and each other."
"And now, thank God, Ken is taking her off my paws," Kit said in relief, which caused the others to laugh.
Vil swatted him on the shoulder.
"It's just no fun to get henpecked on both sides, John," he added.
Jessie swatted him on the other shoulder, which made John explode into laughter.
"See what I have to put up with? An abusive wife and a nosy sister. And you wonder why I stay hidden in Austin?"
"Kit. Brother."
"Yes, sister dear?"
"Don't make me spank you."
"When you're all growed up enough to spank me, Vil, you can be my guest."
"Brave words, little brother."
"Naturally. That cast slows you down, I can be as annoying as I wanna be," he retorted. "And when you come home from your honeymoon you'll be too giddy to care what I said today."
"Brother dear," she said sweetly, "whoever said I would be the one spanking you? I have two big, strong males to take care of those dreadful chores for me."
"Curses, foiled again!" Kit declared.
Vil's phone rang, and her face lit up when she read the screen. She accepted the call and put it to her ear quickly. "Ken? Morning, love," she cooed.
"I think we just lost Vil, and I need to take a shower," Kit prompted, then he chuckled when she stuck her tongue out at him, stood up, and scurried from the room.
"Yes, so do we," Hannah agreed. "What time is breakfast?"
"Anytime you call the kitchen and tell them what you want, when you want it, and where you want it delivered," he answered. "This place is like a hotel, Hannah. They do room service."
"But they must be busy with the reception," Hannah protested.
"They're professionals, Hannah," Kit assured her. "They can do it. Besides, the last thing I want is for you to come here and have to do anything."
"Now if only I could get you to do the same thing, Master Kit, Mistress Jessie," Luann piped in from the side, where she was standing just behind and beside the couch where Kit and Jessie were sitting. "The only thing you let us do for you is put tea out for you in the morning!"
"We're different," he winked at her. "I don't want my guests to feel anything but pampered."
"Well, in that case, let's go down to the dining room, dear, and see if they can't whip us up some eggs."
"Just tell me what you want, sir, and I'll make sure it's there as soon as it's done," Luann announced.
"Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and some coffee," John said.
"Same. Oh, and half a grapefruit and some strawberry preserves," Hannah added.
"I'll see to it," she nodded, taking her phone. "Kitchen, Master and Mistress Williams would like scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, grapefruit halves, and strawberry preserves on the side," she called. "They are en route to the small dining room."
"It should be ready in a few minutes," came the reply.
"What about the coffee?" John asked.
"They already know you drink coffee, sir, and it will be waiting for you," Luann said simply.
"Those are rather useful devices," Hannah noted.
"The size of the house requires them, madam," Luann smiled. "There's always the phones if these don't work or it's busy, but these are the fastest way to get in touch. Every room has a phone, and each room has a number. I could have dialed the kitchen using the phone," she added, pointing to the phones on the nightstands flanking the bed, across the cavernous room.
"Clever," John chuckled.
"Why don't you take them down to the dining room, Lou?" Kit asked. "We have to take a shower."
"Certainly, Master Kit," Luann nodded, coming around and picking up the tray. "Do you want me to call down breakfast for you?"
"Not for me, thank you."
"Me either," Jessie added. "I'm a little full after the tea and scones," she admitted. "I'll eat after I shower."
They broke up. Jessie's parents went down to eat, and Kit and Jessie took a shower. Their shower was huge, and more than large enough for both of them at once. It was an alcove with showerheads on three sides that sprayed the body while two showerheads overhead sprayed down their hair. It even had a soft rubber-topped bench where a fur could sit and have shower jets massage the back and legs, which was Jessie's favorite place in the shower. She partook of the massage jet bench while Kit washed his hair. "I'm glad your folks didn't freak out," he confided. "I was afraid that Hannah might grab you by the ear and drag you home after she found out someone tried to kill us."
"Mom hates the PPC, love," she answered. "They're the ones that whipped up that mob that lynched my uncles. And she understands that defiance is the only answer. She knows I'm standing my ground, and she'll respect me for it."
"Spoken like the daughter of one of the Columbus Twenty," Kit chuckled, stepping under the nozzle and rinsing his hair, his ears twitching constantly from the spray. "You think things will go smoothly today?"
"Nick has everything under control, and Vil has everything planned. Yeah, I think everything will be alright. Did you see some of those guys he brought in? Wow, are they serious looking!" she declared. "I wonder when they're going to start closing off the manor and bring in those Valiant furs."
"Around eight I believe," he answered. "That Jahal guy is still going to be here, they decided to leave him alone so he doesn't know they know about him. That's got me a little worried, but Nick told me that since the attack, they're going to search everyone who comes in for guns, even the guests. So that Jahal guy can't bring any weapons, and they're going to have a camera on him at all times. So I guess it'll be safe enough." When Jessie stood up and moved to stand under the other nozzle to wet down her hair, Kit wrapped his arms around her from behind and put his paws on her belly. "Four weeks, pretty kitty," he hummed as his paws caressed her belly. "Just four more weeks, and I'll be able to hold both my baby daughter and my pretty kitty."
"I can't wait to get my tummy back," Jessie laughed, then began to purr.
"You know, we've never used that massage bench before," he said huskily in her ear.
"Lead on, love," she breathed in reply.
The good part about making love in the shower was that they didn't have to go anywhere to clean up afterward. Jessie was purring in contentment as they dressed, then they went down to the dining room. John and Hannah were long gone, it was more than an hour since they ate breakfast, but the dining room wasn't empty. Ben, Jenny, Sheila, Janet, and Rick and Martha were there, each of them eating a different breakfast. John and Hannah were eating scrambled eggs, Jenny fried eggs, Ben french toast, Rick and Martha were enjoying pancakes, and Sheila and Janet were eating quiche. "You should see the banquet they have in the kitchen," Jenny said brightly. "They made all kinds of things for us, just go in and pick what you want!"
"Welcome to living, Vulpan style, cousin-in-law," Sheila grinned. "What you want, when you want it."
"I think I like being related to a Vulpan," Jenny laughed, taking a bite of her eggs.
"I thought you two would be up early," Sheila noted. "Vil woke me up," she complained.
"Us too, but we just got out of the shower," Jessie said.
"Well, we eventually took a shower," Kit said with a slight smile.
"Kit!" Jessie gasped, her cheeks ruffling, which made Jessie laugh.
"Jess, why are you complaining?" Sheila told her. "If Kit's still jumping your bones when you're that pregnant, then he certainly doesn't love you just for your body."
"I'd be thankful," Janet chuckled. "If I had a boyfriend, I'd be overjoyed if he still loved me when I was fat."
"Janet!" Jessie protested, which made her laugh.
"So, tomorrow's the big game," Kit told Ben. "Are you starting?"
He shook his head. Chris Wells is, but I'll be the reserve back that goes in and plays when he's resting," he answered. "I wish you guys could be there."
"I wish we could too, but with Vil out of Boston, she wants me here in case the uncles try something," Kit said regretfully. "But we're going to watch the game."
"It's showing up here?"
"It'll be on College Direct, and we have that," Jessie told him. "So we'll be with you in spirit, little brother. We're even going to be wearing your jersey!"
"I hope I do well. I'm nervous. I've never played in front of a big crowd before."
"There's nothing but the game, Ben," Sheila told him.
Vil hobbled in, wearing a dressing robe. "Hey guys," she called. "Why aren't you getting ready?"
"Because the wedding isn't for five hours?" Sheila returned. "All we do is sit there and wait for it to finish, cousin," she grinned. "You're the one that has to do all the work!"
"I should make you my flower girl, Sheila."
"Me? You need a virgin for that," she snorted, which made Janet almost spit out a mouthful of orange juice.
"Well, everyone needs to be ready to go at ten," Vil announced. "So you have two hours to get ready."
"Ten?" Sheila spluttered. "That's way too early!"
"With as many furs as there are here, it'll take us an hour to get organized and on the move," Vil barked in return. "So be ready at ten."
Governor Rick Perry entered the dining room with Stanley, who was carrying a tray holding a dish popular in Austin, called Texas Mash. It was scrambled eggs made with onions, peppers, potatoes, and ham stirred in while the eggs were cooking, which was served in many diners and restaurants around Austin. "So there you are," the Governor smiled. "I'm glad I found someone. I got lost this morning!"
"That's easy to do in this house, Governor," Kit chuckled. "Please, have a seat."
"I was just telling them, Rick, be ready to go at ten," Vil said. "There's like twenty-five furs here going to the wedding, and it'll take us a while to get everyone settled in and on the move."
"That's fine with me, Vil. I'll be going straight to the airport after the ceremony, they called me. I have to go back."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Rick," she said honestly. "I'll make sure a limo is available whenever you need to leave."
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
"Stanley, make sure everyone knows, be out in the courtyard and ready to go at ten."
"I'll make sure of it," he said with a nod, then hurried from the room after seating and serving the Governor.
"That's one overworked fox," Sheila laughed. "He hasn't slept at all."
"It doesn't show," Janet noted as she took another bite.
"He's a perfectionist, he wants everything to be absolutely perfect for the reception," Kit told her. "I'd almost bet that he went out and measured the grass this morning to make sure it was exactly one and a half inches tall, and uniform throughout the lawn."
"That's the kind of dedication you expect from a chief butler. Will's the same way," Vil said.
"So, you talk to Ken yet?" Sheila asked.
She nodded. "He called me as soon as he woke up."
"That sounds familiar," Martha said, looking at Jessie.
Jessie laughed. "I couldn't stand not hearing his voice," she protested.
The manor was jumping. There were guests absolutely everywhere, and Kit and Jessie stopped and chatted with someone almost every twenty feet. Barry was coming down to eat. Jeffrey was going to the pool to swim before getting ready. Elly and Lilly were taking a walk after breakfast. Marty was playing with one of the manor phones, singing like Mariah Carey. Savid and Nawa showed their kids off proudly, and their kids had been amazingly well behaved during their stay, having broken not even a single glass while here. Mike had invaded the server room for the manor, which was the computer that both served as the internet gateway and also controlled the telephone system. Mike, being who he was, had went through the house looking for a way to upgrade the wireless network present, but finding out that the network in the manor was both cutting edge technology and utterly secure. Lupe flirted with Allison, Allison ignored him, and then she lit up like a Christmas tree when Terry arrived at Stonebrook, already dressed for the wedding, and gave her a deep, passionate kiss out on the courtyard. Muffy was suspiciously absent, as was Pat, but both of them turned up about twenty minutes to ten already dressed for the wedding, Pat with a stupid grin on his face, and Muffy strutting around her most recent conquest like a victorious general. His friends and family were virtually everywhere, and in a way, Kit was very happy to see it. Their voices and laughter seemed to drown out the ghosts, replaced the foreboding feeling in the manor with a feeling of happiness and inclusion, which the ghosts of his father and ancestors couldn't stand. They didn't like happiness in Stonebrook. They wanted the house to be like a museum… cold, beautiful, inviolate, and the domain of proper British-descended foxes, not a pack of American species, mixed breeds, and others invading the sanctity of this bastion of fox superiority and the dynastic throne of the powerful Vulpan family.
Stanley and Luann did get in on the act. Somehow, Stanley found time to help Kit dress in his tuxedo while Luann helped Jessie dress on the far side of a blind that they'd brought in, so the two of them could talk and be near each other without Stanley violating Jessie's modesty. Kit was wearing an ultra-formal tux, complete with tails which were split by his tail, spats on actual shoes, and diamond-studded cufflinks. Jessie was wearing her bridesmaid's dress, which was cut perfectly for her pregnant figure yet still framed her loveliness and made her seem absolutely radiant. Stanley tied his bow tie as Jessie was fussed over by Luann, having come out from behind the blind now that she was dressed and the young vixen adjusting her dress until it was just so, when the door opened and Clancy ambled in, his cane leading the way. "Clancy!" Jessie gushed, "isn't my dress gorgeous?"
"I dare say it's the femme in it that makes it so lovely, my dear," he smiled. "I see my son beat me to the punch," he laughed.
"Old age can do that to a male, Dad," Stanley said with a chuckle. "You got to dress him for his wedding. It was my turn."
"Indeed, indeed," he agreed. "So, are you about ready to go see our Vil give herself to another male?"
"Maybe Ken will keep her nose out of my business," Kit grunted, which made Jessie giggle. "What did you think of Ken's family?"
"Quite a bunch of males, aren't they," Clancy chuckled. "I was enjoying a cup of tea in the parlor when Lynn barged in, dragging that hare with her. I do believe they were looking for some quiet place to be alone."
"You can stop being delicate," Kit laughed.
"It's certainly a good match, both for Vil and for the family," he continued. "Vil is honestly taken with Kendall, and the merging of the Vulpan and Brighton families forms an alliance that will strengthen both families, both socially and financially."
"Winston intends for Vil and Ken's child to own both companies."
"Yes, that did seem to be the ultimate result. That will be quite a dynasty. I believe that the Vulpans and the Brightons control a very large portion of shipbuilding facilities in the civilized world."
"About that."
Stanley appeared in the doorway again, and he looked a little out of sorts. "Master Kit, Miss–" he began, but he was pushed out of the way, and Kit started when he saw by whom.
It was Bridgette.
The eldest of all the Vulpan cousins, the first born of Zach and Alicia, Bridgette was still a very fine vixen. She was both handsome and pretty at the same time, not quite as beautiful as Mary, but definitely a very attractive young lady, with a mature bearing and an elegant demeanor. She was thirty now and had three kids of her own with her husband, Jeff Hart, and it was the first time he'd seen her in nearly ten years. Bridgette was very much a recluse, staying away from everyone and only appearing for important family functions, quietly living her life and not bothering anybody. After the family drew up on two sides, Bridgette had remained stoically silent and on the fence, declaring for no one yet not leaving Boston. Kit was honestly surprised to see her here, surprised she would dare to come to see him given how things were between her siblings and her father.
"Bridgette," Kit said in amazement. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving my family," she said bluntly. "Where's Vil?"
"I don't know, probably around here somewhere," he answered.
"Find her. She needs to hear me out."
"Stanley," Kit prompted.
"I'll call her and bring her here at once," he nodded, stepping out and closing the door.
"Bridgette, this is my wife Jessie. Jessie, this is my eldest cousin, Bridgette," Kit introduced as Jessie came over to them.
"I still can't believe you married a cat, cousin," Bridgette said testily, which made Jessie flare up and prepare to let her have it.
"That's my business, Bridgette," Kit said coolly, putting a calming paw over Jessie's. "And if wasn't for your father, I'd be in Austin right now instead of being stuck up here."
"My father," she said, then she laughed cynically. "God, did he screw the pooch this time."
Vil hobbled in quickly, wearing nothing but a robe that was hastily belted in the front. Clearly, she had been interrupted while putting on her wedding gown. "Sally said that–Bridge," Vil said with a nod to her. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving my father," she answered. "Even though he deserves what's coming to him for starting this mess in the first place."
"What's going on?"
"I know who attacked you, Luke," she declared. "It was Steve."
"Steve?" Kit said in surprise. "Steve?"
She nodded. "Steve is the Grand Knight Templar of the Paladins, Kit," she told him. "That's supposed to be a secret, but I don't think it would take you very long to dig it up. If the males that attacked you were Paladins, then Steve was the one that gave the order. Last night he called me and told me that he was leaving Boston for a while. I didn't have to ask why, and I didn't ask where. But if he's running, then it had to be him."
"You're sure it was Steve?" Vil pressed.
"I can't prove it, he didn't confess, but I can put two and two together, Vil," she said shortly. "Steve is the leader of the Paladins, four Paladins attacked Stonebrook, and now Steve's gone to ground since it failed. I was just going to ignore this like I ignore everything else, at least until Dad called me last night and told me you were going to come after him for the attack. It wasn't him, Vil. I can't say if he knew about it, but I'm positive that he wasn't the one that gave the order."
"But how could Steve know about that tunnel?" Jessie asked.
"Probably learned about it from my father," Bridgette said acidly.
"Does Zach know that Steve is involved with the PPC?" Vil asked.
"Vil, both my parents are involved with the PPC," she retorted. "Do they know Stevie is the Knight Templar? I can't tell you. But they both know he's in the PPC. They inducted him."
"So your parents may have been involved," Vil pressed.
"Please," Bridgette snorted. "You should have heard Dad sniveling on the phone, Vil. He wouldn't have raised a paw against Luke, he was too afraid of losing everything."
"And you're sure about that?"
"As sure as I need to be," she answered. "Go talk to Gloria. She knows Steve's in the PPC, and she hates it. That's why she's always screwing around and avoiding him. Gloria's a mongrel lover," she said harshly.
"Say that one more time, Bridgette," Kit said in a sudden dangerous voice, taking an aggressive step forward. "My wife is mixed, and if you use that word in this house one more time, I'll make sure you leave here with fewer teeth than you had when you came in."
"It's pretty clear you hate me and hate Kit, so why are you here?" Jessie demanded.
"I'm saving what I can," she answered flatly, glaring at Jessie. "When Vil rampages through my family in revenge for the attempt on you, I want to be left out of it. I'm here to save my husband and kids from it, Save Louis and Matty, and save my Dad. I'm positive he didn't have a paw in the attack. He may have found out about it after the fact, but he'd have never allowed it if he knew about it before it happened. If he knows about it now, can you blame him for keeping his mouth shut to save his son?"
"I'll find a way," Vil said harshly. "If he knows something and doesn't tell me, then that's called an accessory after the fact, and I'll strip him of every single penny! So you go back and tell him that if I find out he knows who tried to kill my brother and it doesn't come from him, then I'll bounce him out of Swan Cove so fast he won't know what happened."
Bridgette sighed deeply, then nodded. "Just… just don't tell them I said anything. Despite everything, I love my brother, and I don't want him to know where it came from. And I don't want Dad to know either. It's his fault all this happened. He's the one that talked Uncle Jake and Aunt Maxy into trying to take the company from Vil, and when you had your accident, Dad made the mistake of not aggressively declaring his innocence. He thought you'd blame him no matter what, so there was no reason for him to say he didn't do it and just let the facts come out and vindicate him, which they did. If they wouldn't have started all this, Luke wouldn't have come back up, Mom wouldn't be pissed off at being kicked out of Stonebrook and harping the fact at Dad every ten seconds since it happened, and Stevie would never have tried anything. All this mess is on his head, but I still love him. He's my father."
"Alright, I'll give you that much for being honest, Bridge," Vil said. "Consider your family immune from anything that happens after today, and I'll give Uncle Zach a chance to come clean before I lower the boom on him. If he doesn't take it, then it's not your fault. You bought your dad a chance, cousin. Go on home, or even better, go get dressed and come to my wedding."
"If you'll have me, I'll come," she said, giving Kit and Jessie a grudging look.
"Of course I will!" she said brightly. "You're still a Vulpan, Bridge. As long as you don't think coming to the wedding is taking sides, you're welcome."
"It probably will be, but that's alright. Maybe if Dad sees me at the wedding, he'll come to his senses. If he doesn't stop this, his pride is going to get him disowned."
"How will he know you're there?" Jessie asked.
"He's going to the wedding," Bridgette said tartly, glancing at Jessie with barely concealed scorn. "Everyone is, no matter who they're supporting. It would be a scandal if the family doesn't turn out for the wedding, and we're not going to have a scandal. I usually avoid things like this, but maybe if Dad sees me there, he'll realize I'm putting my paw in. Given what I just told you, it might scare him into being honest."
"Why don't you go to family functions?"
"That's none of your damn business, cat," she said stiffly, then she turned and stormed from the room without another word.
"Touchy subject there, sis," Vil said, then she chuckled. "Bridgette absolutely hates Aunt Sarah. And I mean she'd bury a lobster fork in her eye if she had the chance. Bridgette almost never comes anywhere near her. It is a statement if Bridgette is going to show up at the wedding and come within throwing distance of Sarah." She looked around. "But that was a fairly illuminating little chat, wasn't it? Let me go talk to Stav, Marcus, and Nick. They have some things to do before the wedding."
"Don't forget to get dressed, Vil," Kit teased.
Vil flicked her tail insultingly as she hobbled out of the room.
"I dare say, I think that Miss Bridgette was telling the truth," Clancy said mildly. "Master Zach's family has had certain sympathies in that direction, and Alicia is vindictive and shallow enough to risk the ruination of her family in order to settle a score. But then again, Alicia isn't broke. If I recall, she entered marriage with Zach with a sizable fortune of her own."
"Yes, and maybe Zach felt that Alicia could support Steve after the attack, so he said nothing," Kit grunted. "By separating things, Zach might just be able to sneak through the clauses in the agreement, if he has no knowledge of what's going on, makes no attempt to aid or stop Alicia, and his wife is the one doing all the dirty work. And like you said, Alicia does have her own money. It's entirely possible that he told Alicia to take care of it and not tell him a single thing, so he could maintain his plausible deniability."
"I think you're reading too much into it," Jessie said. "If your uncle is really that afraid, do you think he'd really try to hurt us? Zach is a bully, and like all bullies, as soon as someone cows him, he's too afraid to try anything else. I think your cousin's right, and your uncle really had no idea what his son did. If he did it."
"Actually, it does fit," Clancy mused. "Your father and Zach grew up in this house as well, and it's possible they stumbled across the passage. Maybe not the same way Jessica did, but it's entirely possible. Zach may have told his wife or son about the passage in idle talk, and they used that information. He might be keeping quiet now because he may suspect that someone from his family was responsible, and he's trying to save them from prison. If Vil can't prove he knows something, then he only needs to remain silent."
"Well, I think we can put this on the shelf for now," Jessie prompted, looking at herself in the mirror. "The last thing I want to do on Vil's special day is talk about this stuff. Vil's getting married. We need to celebrate!"
"I guess we can let Vil worry about it," Kit chuckled.
Kit didn't say any more, but he did think about it as they padded downstairs, where friends and family were gathering, all dressed in their best clothes. Clancy had something of a point. All Zach had to do was say nothing, insist on being told nothing, and not get curious, and he could convincingly state that he had no idea, he's just as shocked as everyone else, and Vil can't come after him because he had no part in it. Vil could go after Steven, but couldn't go after Zach. If Alicia was the one pulling the strings, well, there wasn't a whole lot that Vil could really do in that regard. Alicia had her own money, and if Zach and Alicia were smart, they would have kept their fortunes separate for their entire marriage. Some of their marital assets were Alicia's, and Vil couldn't really go after those through the agreement… though she could go after them the same way she crushed Cybil. Last he heard, Cybil was ostracized from British society, she was under criminal investigation, and her fortune had dwindled considerably from the multiple fines she'd had to pay, legal fees from the platoon of lawyers she had to hire to protect her from Vil, and back taxes when Vil had instigated the British government going after her. Any rich fur had a lot of things to hide, a lot of money hidden in both legal and illegal tax shelters, and once those secrets started coming out, there were a lot of questions to answer and a lot of fines to pay for skirting the law and hiding money from taxation. Vil could certainly strip Zach and Alicia of their money, but it would take her longer to drain Alicia's coffers than it would Zach's. Vil could threaten to put Zach in the projects and working minimum wage, but the simple truth of that matter was that she'd also have to contend with the ten or so million dollars that Alicia Guggenheim Vulpan had in her own trusts and accounts, money that was hers before the marriage and as such were not marital assets Vil could attack, as well as the fact that her family would probably bail her out if Vil crushed her. Unlike the Vulpans, the Guggenheims were a bit closer as a family. But the threat was still a viable one. Vil could strip Zach of every penny, and then go after Alicia and leech her using Zach's own former money against her, since Zach's money would go to Vil as per the agreement they all signed.
Alicia wasn't the only one that was like that, but she was one of the richer ones. The daughters of rich families tended to not inherit or be granted as much as males, because they married rich males who would then take care of them. Ruth Astor had come to Brian with only a million dollar trust, and the Astors were worth over a hundred million dollars. Then again, when Maxine married Graham Grant, the Grants all but cut him out of the will because he married a Vulpan, and that was just more money for the other Grants. Graham would be all but destitute if Maxine ever divorced him, because God did she have enough ammunition to use against him in divorce proceedings to ensure he got nothing. The other femme married into the family on the other side that had enough money to cause Vil problems would be Tessa Kennedy Vulpan, Jake's wife, who had her inheritance from the Kennedy fortune of about five million dollars. But the richest Vulpan wife of them all was Justine Leeks Vulpan, who was from a very rich British family and had a fortune of about thirty million pounds in banks in England and Scotland, as well as a share in their family business, which was oil. The Leeks were one of the families that had a major stake in British Petroleum, and Justine's brother and cousin were on the board of directors. However, Tom's family had shown no inkling of being against Vil. They hadn't sided openly with her, but they certainly weren't supporting Zach, Jake, and Maxine.
Most of the guys were already dressed and ready when Kit and Jessie joined them down in the TV room, which was where they'd agreed to meet. Lupe looked just as dashing as he did at their wedding in his zoot suit, and Elly looked absolutely smashing in a gorgeous cream colored dress that went well with her fur and eyes. The Vulpan girls had come to Stonebrook rather than go straight to the cathedral, and they were mingling with his friends from Austin and the Governor, who was chatting amiably with Rick and Martha. Muffy was down, and Sonya and Suzy had arrived, as they were all going together, and Sonya and Suzy looked a bit comical in identical dresses, but such a large differences in heights. Now that Kit thought of it, Sonya was taller than all the Brightons as well. She'd be the tallest one on the dais during the ceremony.
"Hey, guys!" Mike called, waving them into the standing throng. "Is Vil about ready to go?"
"I'd give her about a half an hour," Kit said. "She got interrupted putting on her dress, so she's running a tiny bit behind. We might want to help her a little by getting all the seating arrangements ironed out, so we can just get in the cars and go when she's ready."
"That sounds like a reasonable idea," John nodded.
"Stanley, get the limos lined up and ready," Kit called over push to talk. "We'll get ourselves sorted out so we're ready to go when Vil gets her gown on."
"They're already arrayed out in the courtyard, Master Kit," he answered. "The white limo in the garage is the bridal party's car, and there are ten more behind it lined up and ready to move. The police are already in position to escort you to the cathedral, Valiant is working to secure Stonebrook Drive to prepare it to park the cars of visitors, and some gentlemales from the government are on the grounds inspecting Nick's security precautions in preparation for us hosting several important politicians. The reception preparations are on schedule, and we'll be more than ready to receive the guests after the wedding."
"Sounds good, Stan, thanks," Kit answered.
Sylvia arrived quietly, and Kit had to admit, she did look quite good in a dress. She was wearing a demure dark blue dress with crossed bands at the neckline that went between and under her breasts and then wrapped around her slender waist to form a bow a the small of her back, just over her tail, and the skirts were ankle length and pleated. Her dress had no sleeves, just straps that attached at the sides and looped over her shoulders, which had blue lace frills on them, and she wore a very stylish beret that almost looked like it didn't belong with a dress, but somehow it just looked right on Sylvia. And somewhere in that form-fitting dress, he would bet, there was at least one concealed pistol. Nick had joked that men had died trying to figure out where she hid them, and seeing her in that dress, he could appreciate the joke. About the only place she could hide a gun in that dress was under the skirts, and any male that reached under those skirts was putting his life in his paws. Nick came in behind her, dressed in a very snazzy tuxedo. "We've got everything ready," he said. "The mates will seal off the house when we leave, and Valiant teams will take up their positions. I have an eight male team going to the wedding, and the rest of the mates will be here on the grounds and in the manor, keeping an eye on everything. I got two mates doing camera duty and Barnett's playing striker."
"Huh?" Jessie asked.
"Barnett will be in command until we get back," Sylvia explained. "Not everyone understands your football terms, Nick."
"Alright, well, let's move out into the courtyard," he called.
It was a beautiful warm late August morning, not a cloud in the sky, with just a faint breeze, and it was a wonderful morning to stand out near the line of limos and chat happily with friends and family as they waited for Vil to get her gown on. Kit and Jessie were surrounded by friends and family, and Kit almost wished that Vil would never get her dress on. He laughed with Muffy, who hung onto his shoulder as they talked with Ben and Jenny, then joked a while with Barry and Mike, both of whom were armed with cameras, and Janet had two hanging around her neck and a third mini-digital camera hanging from a thong around her wrist. Pat and Elly were talking with the Governor, and Marty had somehow submerged himself in with his cousins, and the pack of them were whispering and giggling. Savid and Nawa's kids were laughing and running around, and the two mongooses were both keeping a close eye on their brood and also talking happily with John and Hannah. Sheila and Allison were talking about planes with Jeffrey, who seemed to have no idea what they were talking about, and Lilly was snapping one of her bra straps under her dark dress with a rueful laugh as she complained about it to Suzy and Sonya, who had asked her about her earrings. Stanley appeared momentarily to check the limos and look around, then hurried off with his phone in his paw, overseeing the final preparations for the upcoming reception, and Clancy stood quietly near one of the limos, dressed perfectly, not looking very comfortable at the idea of being a guest rather than a member of the staff. Clancy wasn't the only one going. Sally, Oscar, Bartholomew, and Luann were also going to the wedding, but as servants instead of guests, each of them wearing either a black suit or a sober formal black dress, who would wait on the wedding party and run errands for them before the ceremony.
Then Vil made her triumphant appearance in her wedding gown, and it was gorgeous. It was made of silk and satin, white of course, smooth and shimmering in the morning sun. She had opted for long sleeves, even had pawwraps on the ends with a single silk loop that went over her middle finger to hold them in place, and the neckline of her gown was surprisingly daring for a wedding dress, showing off just a faint hint of white-furred cleavage. The skirts of the gown dragged the ground, but only just, so it could hide her cast, and he could tell that the gown was as is, that there was no detachable train. That only made sense, since she was in a cast. The weight and drag of a train might make her unsteady as she walked, and falling down in the chapel was the last thing Vil wanted to do. The hem was just long enough to hide her cast, but not so long that she could step on her hem. In other words, both beautiful and practical for the stylish bride with her leg in a cast. She had a dainty little tiara on just in front of her ears, with a poof of her lacy veil bunched up around it, ready to be pulled down over her face for the ceremony. Everyone applauded when she appeared, and she looked almost girlish and demure as she smiled shyly for them and let them admire her gown, but then the Ice Queen made her appearance. "What are we waiting around for?" she barked. "We're behind schedule! Bridal party in the garage, everyone else pick a limo and get in, we need to get to the Holy Cross!"
It took them about ten minutes to get everyone in a limo and settled in. Kit and Vil rode with Jessie, Muffy, Sonya, and Suzy, and the chatter in the limo was under stably girlish and focused on the upcoming ceremony. Vil was calm but happy, anxious to be married but also looking forward to both the honeymoon, and Vil being Vil, the slow but inevitable merging of Vulpan Shipyards with Brighton Industries. "The boys are already at the cathedral," Vil told them as they passed the fur Jahal, who was sitting under an umbrella with a partner out in the middle of the drive between the house and the gate, out where he was totally visible and couldn't possibly do anything, then pulled out onto Stonebrook Drive, where the road had been converted to a long parking strip with Valiant guards stationed about every tenth of a mile, two furs in a Stonebrook golf cart, to watch over the cars and also be available to give someone a ride in a cart if they needed it. There were three police cruisers and two motorcycle units waiting for them at the end of the drive, and a fourth unit with its doors open sat by the road, where one of the officers jumped out and into the road and stopped traffic. The cars and motorcycles took up a position in front, and then the bridal party was on the way, a procession of eleven stretch limos holding over 40 family, guests, servants, and guards.
The ride to the church was almost like the victory parade of a conquering army. The police guiding the limos kept them together and also allowed them to ignore all the traffic lights, as a cruiser would pull into an intersection and stop traffic while the limos went through, then race back to the front after they went by, usually passing one or to of the other units who had done the same thing, while the two motorcycle units formed the vanguard of the procession. Because of the police escort, they got into downtown Boston and to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross pretty quickly, with nearly 90 minutes until the ceremony was slated to begin. But Kit knew from his own wedding that getting here that early was almost necessary, to make sure everything was ready and also to take care of the little last minute details that tended to pop up. Besides, Vil needed to preen herself to be ready for the ceremony, and that was best done at the chapel.
Kendall, Winston, the Brighton boys, and Charlie were waiting for them at the side entrance, but they weren't the only ones here. There were five news vans out on the street, and the reporters were already set up and ready to go; two looked to be broadcasting live. There was even a CNN van out there, and more than one camera swung towards the limos as they reached the side parking lot and pulled in, one by one, until the entire parking lot was filled with limousines. This wasn't going to be a Protestant wedding like Kit and Jessie's, and Vil and Kendall wouldn't be staying out of each other's sight until the ceremony began. They'd be greeting guests at the door starting about 45 minutes before the ceremony, a Catholic tradition, so it was only proper that Kendall greet Vil as soon as she arrived. Kendall was the one that opened the door of the limo, and his eyes just lit up and his jaw dropped when he looked inside and saw Vil. She just grinned wolfishly and held her paw out, and he blinked and took it and helped her from the limo. "God, you're gorgeous, Vil," he breathed, looking at her with something approaching awe.
"I'd better be on my wedding day," she answered with a sly smile. "Well, old male, your dream is about to come true," she chuckled as she gave Winston a kiss on the cheek.
"It's about time," he answered. "Finally, the Vulpan family will be under the Brighton banner, where it belongs!"
Vil laughed. "Get your epee out, old male, you and me are gonna be fencing over that statement."
"Oi, no kissing just the lucky groom!" Charlie protested as Sonya was helped out of the limo by Harry, and Kit got out from the other side and then helped Jessie and Suzy out. Vil laughed and pushed Kendall towards Charlie, as if to kiss him, and Kendall played along, puckering and making exaggerated kissing sounds as he leaned towards Charlie. "Good God, Kenny, mouthwash, mouthwash!" he called, dancing back to a round of laughter.
"I'm glad to see you all," Winston said, kissing Jessie on the cheek as she reached them. "Are you well, Jessica?"
"I'm alright, Winston, thank you," she answered. "Did you sleep much last night?"
"Like a baby. A certain son of mine, on the other paw," he chuckled, looking at Kendall.
"It's the excitement! In just two hours, my dastardly plan will be complete, and I'll be able to begin my torment and torture of Villy!"
"If I have to tell you one more time not to call me that, Kendall, there really won't have to be a divorce," she threatened.
"You can't back out now! We're literally on the church steps!"
"Who said I had to back out? Marry you, take you back home, and they never see you again," she threatened with a slight smile, which made Kendall laugh.
"I reserve the right to call you Villy up to the beginning of the ceremony. Then it'll be Vilenne for the rest of our lives."
"You're only gonna call me Vilenne once, male," she warned, pointing at him. "At the altar. Kit doesn't call Jessie Jessica, you're not gonna call me Vilenne."
"Your name is Jessica? Who knew," Kit said, looking at Jessie, which made her giggle.
"It is when I'm in trouble," she answered with a wink.
To get a head start on the tradition, Vil and Kendall did greet all the guests from the manor at the side door, as kisses and pawshakes were happily exchanged. Priests and attendants escorted the guests into the main cathedral, which now had its floral arrangements and was fully decked out in roses and silk, which had to cost Vil quite a lot of money. Archbishop O'Malley was at the altar, talking with one of his monsignors and motioning towards the pews, where very soon the entire main cathedral would be packed with guests at one of the biggest social events of the decade in Boston, a marriage that had truly international implications. "Ah, so the entire wedding party is here now?" he asked as Kit and Jessie greeted him.
"All present and accounted for," he nodded.
"We're all dressed and ready, Father," Jessie agreed.
"Good, good," he smiled. "There's some refreshments for you in the anteroom back there," he told them, pointing to the side of the altar. "Where is Vilenne?"
"Outside teasing the Brightons and greeting the guests," Jessie giggled.
"They're a very nice family, for Anglicans," O'Malley noted dryly, which made Jessie laugh.
Kit was right that getting there so early didn't really mean anything. He found himself being quietly shadowed by a very dapperly dressed Nick while Sylvia stayed close to Jessie, and they found themselves chatting with guests who had arrived early, not long after the Stonebrook party. The first ones to arrive were Brian and Ruth, with their son Jonathon wearing a very nice suit and their daughter Misty, wearing a bronze-colored dress and her ever-present pawheld game system in her paws. Their oldest son, Daniel, was just behind them, wearing a black suit with a silver chain hanging between the pockets of his vest and a fedora; Daniel had a thing for the big band era and he dressed like a 40's swinger. He even played the saxophone. Kit felt that he and Lupe would probably look perfect together, Daniel in his 40's cut suit and fedora and Lupe in his zoot suit. Ruth hugged Jessie fondly, then over Kit's quiet objections, put her paw behind his neck and pulled him down to kiss him on the cheek. "We're happy to see you," Ruth told them. "Isn't Vil just stunning in her gown?"
"She's beautiful," Jessie agreed.
"Kit, we're going to need to talk with Vil at the reception," Brian told him in a serious voice. "But it can wait until then. Right now, the only thing that matters is this wedding."
"Amen," Kit agreed.
More of his family arrived, getting there earlier than the other guests, and to his surprise, Maxine was the next to get there. She was there with Graham Grant, her youngest son Leonard, and her daughters, Wendy and Kate, who were all still teenagers. Graham looked bored, and Kit's paw clenched into a fist at the sight of him. Kit's dislike of Graham was a fact that went long before his being disowned, for Graham had hit him when he was seven, and Kit had neither forgotten nor forgiven. It had also gotten Graham permanently banned from Stonebrook, for his mother had seen Graham do it. Graham was very liberal with his open palm, and how Maxine put up with him and his abusive behavior was far beyond him. Just as Bridgette couldn't stand Sarah, Kit hated Graham, a hate established long before his hatred of his family came to be.
Victor didn't fall far from Graham's family tree, for both of them were petulant, spoiled, and cruel.
Kit didn't exactly greet Maxine's family, but Maxine did pull him aside as Graham and their young children sat down on the bride's side of the chapel. "Luke, we did not do it," she said earnestly. "In fact, I'm starting to doubt what we're doing. Vil actually put Bess to work!" she said in a wondrous voice. "You were right, Luke, you were right. She really was trying to bring the youngers to heel. I just needed to be a bit more patient. I should have talked it out with her instead of letting Zach talk me into trying to unseat her. I've been trying to protect the family honor, and I may have helped damage it beyond repair," she sighed.
"I'm glad you feel that way," Kit said honestly. "And don't call me by his name."
Maxine chuckled. "I don't want to intrude on Vil's day, Lu-Kit. Could you tell her that when she gets back from her honeymoon, she and I are going to sit down and have a long, honest talk?"
"I can tell her."
"Good. Have you heard anything from Vil about who might have done it?"
"She has a couple of leads, but I'll let her reveal them," he answered.
"Alright. For what it's worth, I'm sorry," she said honestly. "I'm sorry we got into this mess, and I'm both shocked and furious that someone actually tried to kill you. You may have done something of which I do not approve, but you are still a Vulpan, and you deserved more than that. Despite Vil's paranoia, we would never have stooped to that level. Trying to take over the family by such brutish force would have just split the family apart."
"It wasn't aimed at her, Aunt Max, it was aimed at me," he told her. "The attackers were Paladins."
Maxine's eyes widened. "Is that so?" she asked, an edge to her voice.
"Didn't Zach tell you? We dropped their shields on his table the morning it happened."
"Oh, no, he didn't tell me," she said, her eyes narrowing. "And I do believe I have a good idea why he didn't tell me. Excuse me for a minute, nephew," she said, padding off and digging her phone from her purse.
It sounded like Aunt Maxine was waving the white flag and was ready to surrender. Score one more for Vil.
The next family to arrive was Tom's. To Kit's delight, Dahlia came in with her parents, looking very thin and vulnerable in her black dress, her eyes nervous and a little frightened as she stayed very close to her mother, Tessa. Hunter was with them, who immediately peeled off to go sit with Jonathon, Leonard, Misty, Kate, and Wendy, for they were all around his age, the youngest of the cousins. Kit had nothing against Dahlia at all, for she had been an object of wrath in the family as much as him, the insane Vulpan they wanted to bury in an institution and forget was ever born, but Tom's dogged protection of his daughter had kept her out of the insane asylum and safely with her parents, who loved her and took care of her. Kit greeted Tom and Tessa, and Jessie came up behind him. "Uncle Tom, Aunt Tessa," Kit said with a nod, his voice cool, voicing his underlying anger with his elders. "Jessie, this is Tom and Tessa, and this is Dahlia. Hello Dahlia," Kit said with an honest smile.
"Lucas," she said with a thin smile in return. "This is the cat you married?"
"Yes, I'm Jessie," she said, offering her paw.
Dahlia looked at it a little warily, and Jessie lowered it gracefully. "I can't touch you, I'm sorry," Dahlia said. "I don't want to get needles in my fingers."
Jessie gave her a fleeting look, then nodded quite seriously. "I understand," she said calmly. "Come walk with me a minute, we'll check your seat and make sure it's safe."
"Sure," Dahlia said with sudden energy, and the two padded down the aisle.
Tessa gave Jessie's back a profoundly grateful look. "I see you married a good girl, Kit," she said.
"I married a very smart girl who knows about Dahlia's condition," he answered soberly.
"Dahlia didn't want to take her medicine so she wouldn't be zonked out for the ceremony," Tom said, watching them. "So she's not very good today."
"I'm just glad to see her out and about," Kit said honestly.
"She's really been looking forward to this," Tessa said. "Are you alright, Luke?"
"We're alright. A little scared, but alright," he answered knowingly. "And don't call me that. My name is Kit."
Tessa gave him a wry smile. "You're asking a lot," she told him, putting her paw on his shoulder. "We just wanted you to know, Luke, we're with you. We know you hate us because of what happened in the past, but that's not going to stop us from standing with you now. Whoever it was tried to tear the family apart, but all they've managed to do is unify us behind you and Vil. Everyone's outraged at what happened. Even Zachary," she said in a slightly disbelieving tone, as if she could barely believe it.
"That might be true," Kit said ruefully. "Maxine pulled me aside and told me pretty much the same thing. She even hinted that she's willing to break from her brothers and make peace with Vil."
"As well she should," Tom declared. "What they did to you was way, way, way beyond the mast," he said indignantly. "I sure as hell don't approve of your marriage, despite the fact that I think Jessie is a wonderful girl, but that's no reason for what they tried to do," he bristled.
"We'll see what Jake and Zach have to say when they get here," Kit grunted.
Tessa kissed him on the muzzle fondly, and they went to go find their reserved seats.
Kit never got the chance to talk to Zach or Jake, for they slipped in quietly with their families and took their seats, and got quite a frosty reception from Tom and Maxine when they did so. Kit got waylaid by Sarah and her husband, Harland Vance, escorting their youngest daughter Christine into the church. Sarah put her paws on Kit's shoulders and almost seemed to want to hug him, then she coughed and just patted him gently. "I'm glad to see you, Kit," she told him. "When I heard what happened, I almost scorched some ears. There's just no room in this family for something so barbaric," she said flatly. "Are you and her alright?"
Sarah… had a few issues with Jessie, Kit realized. No doubt she remembered the blistering recriminations that Jessie had unleashed at her over how she treated Sheila and how Jessie had took his entire family over her knee and spanked them when they married in the very chapel in which they stood. Sarah was a very proud femme, and being lambasted by a little slip of a girl, not even out of college, had no doubt stung her pride. And if anything, Sarah was proud.
"We're alright. A little shaken, but alright," he answered.
"I think we need to sit down and talk as a family after the reception," she said seriously. "All of us, even the kids. This proves that things have gone far out of control, and we need to sit down and talk this out so something like this never happens again."
"You need to talk to Vil about that."
"I will. But you need to be there, too, Kit," she told him. "The youngers look up to you. They'll respect your decisions and obey you, probably more than they would Vil. Sheila all but thinks you walk on water," she chuckled ruefully.
"I don't know about that."
"I do. I'll talk to you later, Kit," she said, then she actually kissed him on the cheek, like what she and the others had done to him didn't even matter. Kit's eyes turned flat, but she didn't even notice, hurrying past to quickly sit with Maxine, who had moved over to sit with Tom and Brian, and the four Vulpan elders had their heads together, talking in hushed tones, with Zach and Jake nearby but clearly not invited into their little group.
"You should listen to her, Luke," Harland said calmly. If Tom was odd and Maxine was intense, Harland was mellow. He was very laid back, and basically allowed Sarah to manage everything. He was just along for the ride, more than happy to allow Sarah to wear the pants in their family. "She was very upset when she heard what happened. I don't think she ever dreamed something like that could happen, and the only reason she didn't call to make sure you were okay was because she was afraid you'd think she was up to something, or you'd yell at her. She didn't want to give you even more stress, so she just left it be, and saved it for today."
"Upset that it failed more than likely," Kit said acidly, crossing his arms.
"I know you have no reason to trust any of them after what they did to you, and you have every reason to be angry, son," Harland said quietly, "but remember one thing. Your father let his hate consume him, and you're more than aware of what was the result. Don't walk down Lucas' path, son. You've seen where it goes. You can forgive but not forget, but if you never forgive, some day we'll bury you beside your father and remark at how much like him you turned out to be," he said calmly. Before Kit could turn on him angrily, Harland just put his paws in his pockets and strolled down the aisle, like he didn't have a care in the world.
Harland's words were casual, but they were devastating. Kit leaned back against the pew's side and realized, in a moment of clear epiphany, that Harland was a lot smarter than he expected, and he was right up to a point. He could never turn into his father, have that much hate and let it ruin his life, but Harland did have a point. If he let his hatred of his elders poison the family, then he could very well see everything fly apart again, speaking in a moment of anger and turning the elders that did support Vil against her. He couldn't forget. He couldn't forgive. Not after what they did to him. They didn't know what it was like, they couldn't even fathom what it was like to lay in that hospital bed, his entire body feeling like it was on fire, and be so alone… so alone, then find out that his bastard father had tried to have the hospital literally wheel him out into the back alley and abandon him, leave him to die, it was like someone had reached inside him and ripped his heart out. That had been hell, absolute hell, the pain and the fear and the isolation and the horror of a terrified child finding out his father wanted him dead, and to feel so completely and utterly alone, was like a white-hot needle through his soul. Until they experienced pain like that, until they knew what it had been like for him, knew that what they did to him had scarred him both physically and emotionally, they could never understand, and he could never forgive them. But he could be civil… and keep his mouth shut. He just had to hold out until he could go back home, then he could live his life, they could live up here with their cursed money, and everyone would be happy.
Or at least convinced themselves they were.
His paws were shaking, and almost on cue, Jessie was there. She always seemed to sense when his emotions were getting away from him, and her paw on his side soothed him immediately, soothed him in ways he couldn't even understand. He let her burrow her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder, and he held her close and let her comfort him as raw wounds just under the surface of his soul were torn open again. She understood. She couldn't imagine what it was like for him, but at least she understood why he couldn't let it go, couldn't forgive them, she understood that the scars on his arm and back went all the way down into his soul. She understood that he had lost more than just a piece of his ear, he had lost his innocence, had lost his family, and had lost a part of himself that could never be recovered, and she loved him despite those wounds, wounds that made him both less than other males and more than them at the same time.
"It's alright, handsome fox," she whispered, her fingers tracing the scars on his back over his coat, and they never once wandered off those frosted pathways, she knew them so well. "Just a little longer."
"I love you, Jessie," he breathed, burying his muzzle in her hair.
"I love you too, Kit," she returned, kissing him on the cheek. "Better?"
"Good enough to get through this," he said wearily.
Fortunately, there were no more family confrontations. The only Vulpan that he greeted after that was Terry, who rushed into the church about twenty minutes before the ceremony was going to start. "Sorry, traffic was a nightmare," he said. "It took me an hour to get here from Logan. It's a zoo out there. The streets around the chapel are closed off to traffic, and there's gotta be ten thousand furs out there."
"That many?" Jessie gasped.
He nodded. "They all want to see Vil come out of the church after the ceremony. If she doesn't come out the front door and present herself to Boston as a married femme, there might be a riot," he said grimly.
"There wasn't anyone out there when we got here!" Jessie said incredulously.
"They probably had everything blocked off to keep them back while you two got in," Terry told her. "And after what happened to you two, the police weren't taking any chances that the Paladins might try again. There are police barricades at every intersection in a two block radius and snipers on every rooftop around the chapel," he told them. "I saw them when we came in."
"Woah," she breathed.
"Welcome to the royal family of New England, Jessie," he grinned. "This is the biggest social event to happen in Boston since Kit's father got married. It's not every day that the ruler of the Vulpan family gets married. This is a once in a generation event."
"I need to watch TV more I think," she fretted, which made both Kit and Terry explode into laughter.
It certainly looked like the event of the year, Kit mused as he looked out over the rapidly filling chapel. The main chapel of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross could easily hold a thousand, and it was almost filled to capacity with family, friends, in-laws, and notable furs from New England and beyond. Governor Perry wasn't the only high-ranking politician in those seats. Senator Ted Kennedy had taken time from his brain tumor treatment to attend the ceremony and was sitting with a large contingent of the Kennedy clan, who were also in-laws, as did the Governors of every state that made up New England, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. Governor Crist of Florida had even come, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California was sitting with the Kennedy clan, mainly since he was married to Maria Shriver. Every Congressfur representing New England was also in attendance, and a very large contingent of British aristocracy was sitting on Kendall's side of the aisle. The crown jewel had to be the wiry yet handsome Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, a slender meerkat sitting with a few other powerful Washington politicians near the front on Vil's side. Not only were current powerful politicians here, but hopefuls as well. Kit saw the Democratic nominee for President, Barack Obama, near the front row with his wife Michelle Obama and their two daughters, which surprised Kit since the Democratic convention was just this week, and he'd given his big speech just last night in that stadium in Denver. The tall, lanky cheetah-looking mixed breed was smiling and laughing lightly at something his daughter said, and Kit had to chuckle at the sight of him. If the PPC and the Paladins hated Kit and Jessie, they had to be absolutely going up in flames at the idea that a mixed breed actually had a viable chance to become President. They were surrounded by secret service agents, talking in hushed tones. A casual glance showed that every in-law family was in attendance as well, the Stocktons who were his own relatives through his mother, the Astors, the Guggenheims, the Vances, the Grants, and the Leeks.
Kit did meet one new face before the ceremony. Winston came up with a matronly looking, slightly plump older vixen whose long curly hair was held back by a hat, hair stranded through with gray. "Kit, Jessie, this is your new mother-in-law, Abby. Abby, this is Kit and Jessie."
"My, what a pretty young thing!" Abigail Brighton said fondly, touching Jessie on the cheek. "And when will you be delivering, love?"
"The end of September, Misses Brighton."
"Oh, please, call my Abby, dear!" she laughed. "Everyone does!"
"Did you just get here, Abby?" Kit asked.
She nodded. "My plane was a little late getting here, and traffic was a beast getting in from the airport," she answered. "I tried to get here yesterday, but things were so busy at the company."
"You work there?"
She nodded. "When Winston's away, I keep an eye on things for him," she answered. "He knows he'll get the truth when I'm watching the board," she chuckled. "I must say, I'm quite happy we're about to all be one big family," she said with a bright smile. "Such a strapping tall, handsome young male and such a pretty little femme! I'll certainly love looking at your pictures in the album. Much better than some of the Brightons," she said, elbowing Winston lightly. "Sometimes I think I'm looking at pictures of the Loch Ness monster's back end when paging through the Brighton albums."
Jessie giggled uncontrollably, and Kit only had to smile. Their kids certainly didn't get their sense of humor just from their father. It seemed that Abigail Brighton was just as playful and impish as her brood.
"Well, I don't think it'll be boring having you as in-laws," Kit laughed.
"Now, after the wedding, we'll have to sit down and chat," Abigail announced. "I need to learn all about you!"
An altar boy approached them. "The Archbishop wants you to come to the nave so you can be ready," he announced. "We'll be starting in about ten minutes."
"Alright," Kit nodded.
"Guess that's my cue to go sit down. Now don't trip Vil on the way down the aisle, Winston," she winked at him."
"I'll do my best, dovey," he drawled in reply.
Winston, Kit and Jessie ghosted up to the entrance nave and saw Vil and Kendall greeting the last attendees at the door, with the Archbishop beside them, and across the street was the crowd that Terry had described. The police were keeping them on the far side of the street, with what was now ten news crews being allowed on this side of the street but not allowed to leave the sidewalk, and all the cameras were pointed at the front steps, where Vilenne Vulpan and her groom, Kendall Brighton, were resplendent in their wedding clothes, following the Catholic tradition of greeting the guests at the door. Kit found himself shaking a few paws himself as guests greeted him and Jessie after they came into the door, at least until the last few hurried in.
"Five minutes," O'Malley said quietly as the last guests were greeted and ushered inside by altar boys. "Let's go ahead and close up the doors," he told his monsignor aides. "Everyone get into position in the nave, and let's do it just as we rehearsed!" he said with growing excitement. "Father Abbot, if you'd kindly go warn the organ player to begin at exactly one o'clock on the dot?"
"Of course, Archbishop," he nodded, then he herded a flock of altar boys to get in position along the aisle, which would be the overt warning to the congregation that the ceremony was about to begin.
"Well, here we go," Suzy giggled as they fell into place at the very beginning of the line. As best male and maid of honor, they had the honor to lead the procession. They would enter in order in relation to where they would stand at the altar. Jessie and Michael would go in first after Kit and Suzy, since they'd be standing on the inside, then Sonya and Harry, which was a slight change from the way Vil had originally planned it. Harry was the tallest Brighton, so it was decided he'd be best paired with Sonya, so as not to make it look too silly. Muffy and Michael would be the last of the wedding party to enter before the bride and groom, who would wait with O'Malley at the end of the aisle until the wedding party was in place. The honor of coming down the aisle without anyone else stealing their thunder would be reserved for them alone, without anyone in the way. Usually Vil and Kendall would come down arm in arm, but Winston would be filling that role, and Kendall would be walking by himself just behind the Archbishop and off to the side, as if Vil was with him. Winston would give Vil away to him at the base of the dais, and then they would ascend to the altar as a couple. They would leave the altar in reverse order after the ceremony, with the newlyweds leaving first and Kit and Suzy bringing up the rear. "You know, I sometimes thought we'd be arm in arm going to the altar under different circumstances," she winked.
"Yeah, when I was fourteen," Kit replied lightly.
"Too bad we're not Mormons," she grinned.
"Back off, vixen," Jessie trilled behind them. "Don't make me show you the business end of my claws."
Suzy laughed, and Archbishop O'Malley gave them a cool look behind them. "Be serious, children, or Vil will spank you right in front of half the civilized world."
"Damn right I will," Vil warned from the back of the procession. "Sorry, Father."
At exactly one, the organ's deep, sonorous tones reverberated through the chapel, and that was the sign to begin. Kit and Suzy led the wedding party towards the altar, Suzy with her paw on Kit's forearm, and every face in the packed cathedral was on them, as well as three cameras being held by the video production team that Vil had hired to record the ceremony. They walked at a steady and measured pace down the long, red-carpeted aisle in front of an altar boy who was carrying a cross on a pole, the ceremonial cross-bearer. Kit and Suzy reached the altar and took their places, then looked back to see the rest of the party arrive and take their places as well, then all eyes turned to the back as the organ broke into a joyful hymn; the wedding march was not played at a Catholic wedding.
Vil acquitted herself in spectacular fashion, mainly with Winston's help. By leaning on Winston, she was able to make the stately march down the aisle without a limp, almost looking like she wasn't wearing a cast on her leg. She walked behind Kendall and the Archbishop, and Winston looked so proud Kit thought he could die right there in the aisle and die a happy male. Kendall looked equal measures of excited and terrified at having to perform the long and complicated ceremony in front of a huge audience, but Vil was as serene as a summer hammock swaying in the breeze. Only at the base of the dais did Vil's leg become apparent. Her genuflection to the altar was a bit stiff because of her cast, and after Winston kissed her on the cheek and gave her to Kendall, her movements were slightly awkward as she navigated the step using a leg whose ankle was in a cast. Kendall helped her mount the dais as best he could, having her lean on his arm as they got into position as Archbishop O'Malley stepped to his place behind the altar and raised his paws.
The ceremony was long, and it was in the Catholic tradition. There was a homily, there was liturgy, there were periods when they would stand or kneel as the congregation stood or sat, and then, after hymns, the recitation from the Bible, and the sermon, did the meat of the ceremony begin. Kit as the ring bearer moved into action, producing the ancestral wedding rings of the Brighton family and had them at the ready as Vil and Kendall prepared to take their vows. Instead of reciting their own vows, they had elected to use the standard vows, which weren't too different from the ones Kit and Jessie had taken during their marriage. O'Malley recited the vows first to Kendall, who looked deeply into Vil's eyes, paused for a melodramatic second that was not in the rehearsals, then smiled and said "I do." Vil gave him a slightly stern look, but that melted into a glorious smile as O'Malley recited her vows, and she wasted not an instant saying "I do," barely waiting for him to finish. After that came the exchange of the rings. Kit offered Vil's ring to Kendall, and he slipped it onto her slender finger with a gentle smile as he recited the phrase "with this ring, I thee wed." Kit then passed Kendall's ring across him and to Vil, who repeated the rite. Then they kissed, and it was pretty boring as kisses went, since Kendall was too self-conscious to really put much into it.
After that, it would have been over in a Protestant ceremony, but there was still the Benediction to go. Fortunately, though, O'Malley made his benediction short and to the point with only the Lord's Prayer, which echoed through the chapel for a few seconds after it was chanted back by the congregation. O'Malley then raised his paws again, out wide, and smiled. "I have the matchless honor to present to you, faithful parishioners and welcome guests, Kendall William Brighton and Vilenne Amelia Brighton Vulpan. May God bless their union."
Flashbulbs exploded from the chapel as a roar of applause probably audible to those waiting across the street thundered through the cathedral. Vil and Kendall stood with Vil's paw on Kendall's arm there at the altar and gave everyone their photo op, standing for nearly a minute as the applause continued, and then, at Vil's gentle signal, they started down the dais. Vil moved carefully on her casted leg, but managed it with a certain amount of dignity. Kit watched them go, and he could only smile both outside and inside. His sister was now married, wasn't entirely his and his alone anymore, and he could only feel happy for her. She had truly found her match in Kendall, and he was certain that this was the beginning of a long, satisfying, and loving marriage. Vil would understand the unique joy and contentment that came with having a spouse, of being part of a family rather than single, of sharing her life with a male she loved, cherished, and respected. He was sure there were going to be some barnburners between them, because Vil was headstrong and Kendall wasn't afraid of her, but those arguments would only bring them closer together. Where it counted, in their hearts, they loved each other, and that could overcome the wrinkles that would pop up due to Vil's stubborn streak. Vil and Kendall marched as gracefully down the aisle as a femme could in a cast, leading the procession to a cacophony of applause and a blinding array of flashbulbs, and Kit was sure that from this day forward, life both for him and the Vulpan family would never be the same again.
It would be better.
As they led the procession, now Kit and Suzy brought up the end, walking behind Jessie and Michael. They all gathered in the nave for pictures of the entire bridal party, and they all lined up as they'd stood at the altar, with Kit between Kendall and Michael. Then there were pictures of each couple starting with the bride and groom, then pictures of Kit and Suzy, and so on and so on, then pictures of Kit and Vil, then pictures of them and Jessie, then Muffy was added. While the production crew were fussing with pictures of Winston and the Brighton boys, Vil gave Kit a crushing hug. He literally picked her up of the ground and swung her from side to side, which made her laugh. "We did it, bro," she told him. "We're both married, and now they can't touch me. We won, brother. We won!"
"I'll believe that when we're back home in Austin," he told her, then he kissed her on the cheek. "But I think we're almost there."
Vil gave Jessie a fond hug. "Now we can gossip about our husbands, sis," she said with an uncharacteristic giggle. Vil was not a giggler.
"You need to have a baby, Vil," Jessie told her. "Then we can gossip."
"Already working on it, sister dear, already working on it," Vil chuckled.
"I think it's about time for you two to go," Winston said. "Nobody else will leave before you, and we've held them up in there for nearly a half hour. Besides, I'm hungry, and it's hard to plot world domination on an empty stomach."
"Always thinking with your stomach, old male," Harry laughed.
Kit and Harry did the honors. They opened the doors of the cathedral with Vil and Kendall standing behind them, literally unveiling the new couple to the city of Boston. The white limo was sitting out on the street waiting for them, with Bartholomew standing by the door waiting and Oscar driving, but it was hard to see them in the swarm of flashbulbs that exploded from across the street and the almost deafening roar of the crowd. Vil and Kendall stood there for a moment, unmoving, giving the Bostonians their chance to get a picture, then Kendall carefully helped Vil down the stairs. The rest of them watched from the front doors as Vil and Kendall strolled down the carpet as if they owned the world, and then when they reached the limo, both Kendall and Bartholomew helped Vil into the limo. It started off as police cruisers moved to escort it, and then it was out of sight.
"Well, we'd better go if we want a spot in a limo, given our ride just left without us," Muffy said lightly, which made Sonya splutter.
Fortunately, Nick was thinking ahead. As soon as Vil and Kendall were on their way, he collected up Kit and Jessie and the rest of the wedding party and hustled them through the side door ahead of everyone else and got them into a waiting limo, which had Donny behind the wheel. "The armored tank special," Nick winked as he closed the door behind Muffy, who was last in, and then the huge wolf and Sylvia got in the front seat with Donny. Other limos were now pulling into the side lot to pick up guests, and there was certainly now going to be a large and constant stream of limos and cars going from the cathedral to Stonebrook, for the wedding was over and now the reception awaited them. Kit was fairly sure the police probably just made it easy on everyone and blocked off the route to give them easy movement, which would clear them all out of the city much faster and let them get things back to normal. And when they got going, he saw that his hunch was right. Every intersection through Boston was blocked off, allowing the limos and cars to proceed quickly and effortlessly from the cathedral to Stonebrook.
Odds were, he realized, the precaution might have less to do with Vil and more to do with the fact that there were a good couple dozen very high-ranking politicians behind them, from Congressfurs to Senators to Governors to cabinet-level Secretaries to candidates for President. It was easier from a security standpoint just to block off the route and allow them to pass through Boston. Sure, it would snarl traffic, but that was going to happen no matter what with a constant stream of limos running from downtown out to I-90. The county sheriffs and the Massachusetts State Police had made similar moves on the other end of the trip down Interstate, clearing a path for them all the way to Stonebrook Drive, where a platoon of police and federal agents were stationed. But the police presence ended at the gates of the manor, though Kit did see several FBI agents roaming the grounds, their FBI emblazoned vests glaringly out of place on the grounds.
"You didn't say anything about the feds being on the grounds, Nick," Kit called.
"Didn't really seem important to tell you, Kit," he answered. "I think you had enough on your mind. Besides, Stanley did tell you there were government males on the grounds this morning, inspecting the security, I think you just missed it."
"Yeah, he did," Kit realized.
"They called early yesterday morning and said that some politician had requested the feds check the security at the reception all the sudden, so they had to rush in here and establish security. They got here and realized they didn't have to do much," he grinned back at them. "I got everything under control, and the site commander liked my security plan, so they just slid into our plan nice and easy. They got feds and a few Secret Service guys on the grounds to reinforce my own mates and Valiant, which just makes it easier for me, and I'm still in command of the security with Commander Blake backing me up. The only concession we had to make is only the feds are carrying pistols. My mates are all patrolling naked, and they don't like it one bit," he noted with a smile. "I had to have everyone stow their guns in the command post, and there's an FBI agent there guarding them. The PWDs are hidden in one of the secret rooms, cause they'd arrest the lot of us if they saw what we're carrying," he laughed. "That Obama bloke wanted to come to the reception, but the Secret Service guys here wouldn't let him."
"Why not?" Muffy asked.
"Cause they needed more time to sweep the house, and there's too much outside security for them to have control," Nick answered. "They don't like us mercs too much, dove. They know we have assault weapons hidden somewhere on the grounds, and they wouldn't let Obama anywhere near us," he winked. "After what happened with the Paladins, they'd want this place completely under their control before they let Obama in here."
"Then it's just as good he's not coming," Kit said. "I wouldn't tolerate the feds coming in here and taking over Stonebrook."
Vil and Kendall were already inside when they piled out of the limo, and they found them in the ballroom, Vil showing Kendall the decorations anew as they walked paw in paw around, and as Stanley barked frenzied commands to the staff as they rushed about, making last minute preparations and setting out the first of the food, which were trays of bread placed on each table. The musicians were in the corner, warming up, and Kit saw ten Valiant guards and four of Nick's merc friends already in the room, the guards standing at the doors leading out of the ballroom that led to out of bounds areas and the mercs patrolling. Vil folded Kit into a hug when they reached the pair, and she grinned up at him brightly. "Anything to say before there's a few hundred furs in here?" she asked.
"I've changed my mind, you can't have the reception here," he said dryly.
Vil exploded into laughter. "I think Stan would kill you if you did that," she winked. "I've never seen him so happy," she added, looking the side, where Stanley had stopped in his journey to the kitchen to dress down one of the servants from Brian's manor about the angle of the folded napkins being laid out over the plates.
"That's happy?" Kendall asked.
"Yes," Kit and Vil said in unison.
Kit and Jessie sat at the main table with Kendall as Vil went over to talk to Brian, who had just arrived. Vil and Kendall wouldn't be greeting guests at the door as Kit and Jessie had for their reception, because they'd already done so at the church. Stav and Marcus came over and whispered to Vil, and Kit saw her visibly start. Bartholomew brought a pot of tea out for them, but Kit almost spilled it when he saw Zach come in on the far side of the ballroom. The very sight of Zach standing in the halls of Stonebrook after Kit vowed he would never so much as come inside the gates again sent him into an almost instant fury. He very nearly jumped over the table and charged down there to beat the everliving stuffing out of him, but Jessie's paw on his forearm stalled him. "Don't cause a scene, handsome fox," she said calmly. "Go over and ask nicely, and if he doesn't leave, then you can have Nick tie him in a knot and toss him into the river."
Vil came to the rescue. She swooped in on Zach, with Brian in tow, and a hasty and fierce conversation ensued, done in harsh whispers from the look of it. As Kit, Jessie, Kendall, and Bartholomew watched on, Zach seemed to tense up, his eyes wide, then he turned and rushed from the ballroom. She hobbled back over to them as Brian went out after him, and seeing all of them staring, she gave a dark, sober look. "Maxine invited him," she grunted. "It seems Maxine's decided to call a family-wide conference without discussing the matter with us first, and feels that holding it here after the reception is the best way to go about it. That's going to be on hold, though," she said with a frown. "They found Stevie."
"Did they arrest him?" Jessie asked.
"If he survives they might," she said grimly. "He's in the hospital."
Kit gasped.
"They just found him at the bottom of a hill in Pennsylvania, in what was left of his car. From what Marcus told me, he was speeding up a mountain road leading to a some compound down in the Poconos, probably a Paladin training compound. Either he tried to kill himself, or he was in so much of a hurry to get there that he lost control of his car and went right over the hillside. And on those kinds of roads, you don't get a second chance if you lose control. Marcus said his car flipped right over the guardrail and went down a sixty foot hill, bouncing off trees like a pinball, and he was down there for almost four hours before anyone found him. Marcus said he's in bad shape, and they're airlifting him to a hospital right now. Zach's on his way to Pennsylvania to see him."
"Holy God," Kit breathed, not sure how to feel. Steven had tried to kill him, but to hear that, that he'd spent a few hours laying in the twisted wreckage of a car, waiting to die… God. Kit could sympathize with how that felt, to be in so much pain, and to be so alone… he wouldn't even wish that on Steven. That was a hell no fur deserved, no matter what they'd done. But it didn't make him too compassionate. If Bridgette was right, then Steven was the one that tried to kill them, tried to murder his wife and unborn daughter, and for no reason other than the fact that Jessie wasn't a fox. Jessie had managed to charm so many of his relatives, even ones that hated the fact that she was a cat, like Tom and Travis. Steven refused to see her for the beautiful and special femme she was, all he could see was the shape of her muzzle and the color of her fur. Kit almost felt sorry for him, to be so blinded by unreasonable hate, but his pity ended at the thought that Steven had tried to murder him and his wife.
"Is he going to be alright, love?" Kendall asked.
"Marcus didn't say, but from the sound of it, he might not make it," she said grimly. "Which is a pity. I wanted to strangle him myself, not him take the easy way out and die before I get my paws on him."
"Vil!" Jessie gasped.
"I told you, sis, I'm not nice," she said in a dark manner, flexing her fingers ominously. "I hold little pity for a cousin who tried to murder the most important male in my life."
"Well, so much for the marriage," Kendall said flippantly, which made Vil chuckle.
"Alright, one of the most important males in my life," she corrected, touching Kendall on the arm fondly.
The news of Steven swept through the family quickly after Vil's declaration. They too had their ways of getting information, though they weren't as effective and efficient as the panthers. Most of them knew by the time they got to Stonebrook, and as more and more guests arrived, it was the hot topic of the moment, even over the wedding. Winston Brighton seemed nonplussed when he was told when he arrived, more satisfied than angry that they had a suspect and that suspect had been found. More and more arrived, until the entire ballroom was filled with furs who were sitting, standing, talking, and Kit saw that except for Zach, Alicia, and their youngest, all the Vulpans were present, from Misty to Bridgette and from Brian to Jake. Kit lost track of things for a bit, and even forgot about Steven, when Vil returned and they had a good time talking, pointedly ignoring the news as Vil engaged Kit and Jessie in happier topics, like Laura's impending birth, their honeymoon plans, and a light curiosity about what gifts the guests were bringing, which were being quietly collected out in the main entry and stored in a side room. Kit had wanted to get Vil and wedding present, but she'd squashed that idea, telling him that him being home was all the present she needed, and besides, rather cheekily informed him that he couldn't afford to get her what she deserved for her wedding anyway.
When the last of the guests arrived, they sat down to dinner. Franny and the cooks, some from other manors, had done a spectacular job, for the busy staff rolled out a five course meal that left everyone's mouth watering from the smells and gave them a meal worth remembering. Kit saw his own staff interspersed with servants from other manors, rushing about, placing plates, filling wine glasses from bottles pulled from deep inside the Stonebrook wine cellar, and the chatter in the room muted as everyone enjoyed the wonderful meal that Stonebrook had provided the guests.
Kit had the traditional honor to present the first toast in his role as the best male, so when the desserts were almost gone, he decided to get it over with. He stood up and rapped his fork on his wine glass, and the murmuring in the ballroom quieted.
"I'm not very good at toasts," he said in a clear voice, looking down at his sister. "But I'm supposed to make the first one, so here goes. Vil. You've been more than a sister to me. After Mom died, you were like my mom, and now that you're finally married, I'm feeling like I'm being cut from your apron strings," he said with a slight smile. "So, here's to hoping that you're so happy with Kendall that you stop meddling in my life."
Vil and most at the table laughed, and she pointed at him. "Guess again, boy," she taunted, then she took a sip of her wine.
Winston stood up next, and he smiled down at Vil and Kendall. "Here's to two years of plotting coming to fruition," he chuckled. "I knew if I threw enough of my sons at you, you'd find one you could love, Vil."
"Well, I have two others to try out before I make a final decision," she murmured, which made Jessie explode into laughter and made Harry and Michael grin.
And so it went. The toasts went on for nearly half an hour, as Vil was toasted by virtually the entire Brighton family, the elder Vulpans, and a couple of Governors. After the toasts, the two near tables were removed and seats placed along the walls behind the columns, and Vil and Kendall had the first dance. It wasn't entirely graceful because of Vil's cast, but Kendall made up for that by putting Vil's feet on top of his own and dancing for them, which made her laugh and hold him close. Kit and Jessie watched on with gentle smiles, and Jessie leaned her head against his shoulder. Both couples were feeling quite close and affectionate at that moment, because it gave Kit the most curious sense of peace and happiness to see his sister so happy.
They had reason to be happy. Vil was right about one thing, and that was with her now solidly married to Kendall Brighton, the elders would not dare try to usurp her from the company. Winston Brighton was a powerful fox, and if they angered him, he could reach all the way across the Atlantic and put a paw in that Kit's family would not like, not at all. The merger of the two families made sense politically, financially, and the fact that Vil and Kendall loved each other was just that much more icing on the cake. Jake couldn't deny that Vulpan Shipyards would reap tremendous profit from the deal, Maxine couldn't deny that the merger made the two families, now one, created one of the most powerful, prominent, respected, and feared families on the entire planet, and Zach couldn't deny that now one family controlled nearly half of all large-scale ship production in the Western world. From the Vulpan warships and tankers to the Brighton warships, freighters, and ferries, the Vulpan-Brighton family now literally controlled the seas, just as Winston had envisaged. And when Vil and Kendall had their first child, that child would eventually inherit both companies, and probably be one of the most powerful single furs on the planet. There was so much in it for the Vulpans that they they'd be insane to try to screw it up, and that made Vil absolutely untouchable.
But there was hope in that regard. From the way Maxine talked, she was ready to switch sides. Maxine had been all about the respect of the family, and Vil's single act of reining in Bess had done more to soothe Maxine than anything possibly could. From Maxine's point of view, Vil had pulled off a miracle, and that was get Bess out of the nightclubs and into a business suit, made her respectable and responsible. Maxine would have preferred that Bess marry instead of enter the company, but the results were more or less the same, and that was that Bess would vanish off the tabloids and make something out of herself. With the alliance on the other side broken, Jake would probably concede, which would leave only Zach. Zach might be arrogant or angry enough to continue to fight, but Vil had him dead to rights, with him alone and his son doing the unthinkable, trying to murder a fellow family member. Vil could swat him like a fly now, because she was ruthless enough to use Zach's son against him in the mother of all blackmails. She would force Zach to give in to her every demand, or she would reveal the fact that Kitstrom Zachary Vulpan was heavily involved in the PPC, and that his son was the leader of the Paladins, which were considered a terrorist group. That wouldn't do much to hamstring him in the Boston social circles, since so many of them were purists anyway, but it would be devastating to him if he ever tried to do anything outside of Boston… and if he was the CEO of Vulpan Shipyards, that would destroy any chance that he'd be an effective CEO. Vil dealt with all kinds in her job, including the leaders of nations, and many of them would take an exceptionally dim view of dealing with a PPC member, given that the PPC was banned in almost every European country. Vil could destroy any chance Zach could maintain the chair if he was ever CEO, and that more or less defeated him. Kicked out of Stonebrook and unable to take control of the company, Zach was now effectively neutralized. To continue to fight would be pointless, but Zach was a very arrogant and stubborn male. He might continue to fight just for the sake of fighting.
After the first dance, others joined. Kit danced with Jessie, who laughed when her stomach got in the way, and they glided across the dance floor with eyes only for each other. The orchestra was exceptional, and they played classical to swing to country to more modern music. After that, Kit danced with Vil, whom he made dance by not carrying her, then Suzy, then Sheila, but he was a bit startled when Ruth pulled him out onto the floor during a waltz. "Now that I have you where you can't run away," she said with a smile, "I wanted to thank you for being such a good friend to Muffy. She adores you, Kit."
"That's alright, Ruthie," he answered. "I kinda like her."
"Now, I'd like for you to talk to Brian," she told him. "And I don't mean just glare at him and make snide comments. Talk to him, Kit. I think you'll find that he's not what you think."
"I can't do that," he said seriously. "I will never forgive them for what they did to me. Never, Ruthie. Never."
"Never is a long time, Kit."
"I'm a very patient fox," he said simply. "No matter what he might feel about me or might have felt when it happened, nothing changes the fact that he chose his money over helping me in my greatest hour of need, and I can't ever forgive them for that."
"Oh, Kit," she sighed as they turned, "I think if you looked into it, used that marvelous mind of yours, you'd see that Brian was just as trapped as you were. They all were. You remember your father as a tyrant, Kit, and that's exactly what he was. Everyone was so afraid of him, Kit, so afraid that they were even afraid to go against him after he was dead. He drove your mother's family away to the point where they completely divorced themselves of you and Vil, and he terrorized all of us in ways I don't think you know about. I don't think you understand."
"I was too busy laying in a hospital bed, alone, trying not to die," he said flatly.
"You're not being fair, Kit," she said gently.
"No, Aunt Ruthie, I'm not,"' he admitted bluntly. "There's no way you can understand what it was like. And if you could, then you wouldn't be saying these things to me now. Luke Vulpan the child who desperately needed his family, needed anyone when he laid in that hospital bed and nobody came, that Vulpan died that night, Ruthie. The family killed him with their neglect. Kit Vulpan the adult walked out of that hospital six months later. I'm not the same fox, and I have no reason to ever forgive those who killed the boy I used to be. I have every reason to never forgive my family for abandoning me."
"But you're not being fair, Kit. Vil didn't come to see you either."
"Vil had the only good excuse, because she used Suzy to send her messages, and she took care of me both before and after the accident. Brian had his chance, Ruthie. They all did. They'll never get another one. I don't blame Muffy and the youngers because they had no voice or were too young to understand what was going on, but anyone older than me knew what was going on, and they made their choice. They didn't want me then, and I don't want them now. I'll tolerate them being in my house for the reception, I'll be civil because Vil doesn't need me disrupting things right now, but when this is all over, I'll return to Austin and hope that I never see any of them ever again. There is nothing any of them can ever say or anything that they can ever do to change my mind, Ruthie. Even if Brian pulled me out of a burning car, I still wouldn't forgive him."
"And that means you won't forgive me either?" she asked.
"No," he said in a steely tone. "I like you, Ruthie, but I can't do it. You abandoned me too. I'll give you a great deal of leeway because Jessie seems to like you and you seem very sincere, but I can't forgive you."
She sighed sadly, looking up at him. "Well, can I at least give you a hug, nephew?"
"If it makes you feel better," he answered. She slid her arms around him and held him gently as they danced, but Kit didn't feel too much emotion over the act.
"I know it won't mean anything, but I am very sorry about what happened to you, Kit,"' she said with her head against his chest. "You may not accept my apology, but I feel you deserve one nevertheless. We were very cruel to you, and you showed how strong you are by making it, and how kind you are not to do to us what we did to you. Even Zach respects you because of that, Kit. They may not like you for the choices you've made, but they can't deny that you are probably the strongest of us all."
"It's appreciated, but you're right, I won't accept it," he said gently yet adamantly.
"Well, you may not like it, but I love you, nephew," she told him, patting on the back gently. "And I'm glad you're here."
He couldn't say anything to that without sounding like a total ass, so he finished the dance with Ruth in silence. She pulled him down and kissed him on the muzzle fondly, then she returned to the table where the other Vulpan elders and their spouses were sitting. And all of them had been watching Kit and Ruth. Kit returned to the main table and sat down between Jessie and Vil, who was resting her leg after dancing with Winston. The main table was reserved for the select family of the bride and groom, and was populated by the newlyweds, the wedding party, Abigail Brighton, and John and Hannah Williams. "Well, what was that all about?" Vil asked him.
"Same old same old," Kit answered. "Ruthie trying to sweet talk me back into the family."
"Did she get anywhere?"
Kit gave her a flat look.
"Question answered," she said impishly, then laughed suddenly when Kendall tickled her side.
"Wot, pay attention to me, you silly femme! I'm your husband!" Kendall protested.
"Back in your corner, slave," she said, giving him a wolfish smile.
"Oi, don't treat him like that in public!" Charlie called. "But when you do do it, have a video camera handy."
"Aye, we wanna watch our big brother being henpecked," Harry grinned.
"When you get married, God will there be revenge," Kendall threatened with a smile.
"It's not being henpecked, you silly boys, it's Kendall acceding to the proper order of the universe," Abigail put in.
"I believe we're going to get along, Abby," Hannah said in an unruffled manner, which made the entire table explode into laughter.
"The world knows that a male is only as good as the femme that tells him what to do," Vil said lightly.
"I can see some interesting discussions in your bedroom," Charlie laughed.
Abigail looked to John and Hannah. "I must say, you two certainly did a wonderful job raising Jessica," she complemented. "Jessica is just a little angel. I do hope you boys are paying attention," she said sharply to her sons. "When you have daughters, they'd better turn out just like this," she finished, pointing at Jessie.
Jessie's cheeks ruffled appealingly.
"Thank you. We're very proud of all our kids."
"Oh yes, I need to meet the other Williams. Where are they?"
"Over there with the Vulpans," Hannah said, motioning. Ben was literally surrounded by Vulpan femmes, who seemed to be just as attracted to him as Sheila was, and Jenny was laughing and chatting with Randolph and Duncan with Sam and Kevin beside her. Ben looked a trifle uncomfortable with Lynn hanging onto his shoulder and Joy trying to all but sit in his lap, while Angela was playing with Ben's tail.
"They certainly seem to like your kids," Winston chuckled.
"Perhaps a little too much," Hannah said frostily. "Sheila is, ah, infatuated with Ben, and it seems that the other Vulpan girls share her taste."
"Those girls? The only taste they require is a pulse," Kit noted, which made Charlie squirt wine out of his nose.
"Well, time to go mingle," Abigail said with a smile, then she got up and went over to the table holding the youngers.
Charlie put his fingers to his wrist. "Pulse, check. Excuse me, gents, I have some conquering to do," he said roguishly, then he got up and followed after Abigail.
Kit chuckled. "That boy just does not learn his lesson," he said to Kendall, who nodded in agreement. "By the end of the night, he certainly won't be the one conquering."
Things came to a stop when Stanley, Bartholomew, and Dee rolled out the cake. It was a five tier monstrosity that would easily feed the entire reception and not even touch the top tier, with two little fox figures on top under a trestle made of gingerbread and frosted with sugar. "Alright, it's time to smear icing all over Vil's face," Kendall said, clapping his paws together expectantly.
"Try it, male," Vil teased.
Despite his threat, Kendall actually behaved himself. After they cut the first pieces of the cake, he fed Vil a piece of cake daintily, to a tidal wave of flashing cameras. Vil returned the favor, having to hold the fork up since Kendall was nearly half a foot taller than she was, and then they turned over the cutting to Bartholomew while the guests lined up for cake. Vil sat down beside Kit, giving him and Jessie slices of cake, and Kit took her paw and held it beside his own, their wedding rings visible there on their paws. "My, that looks weird," he said with a smile.
"It feels weird, but I'll love getting used to it," she smiled in reply. "I'm so happy, brother. Now I know how you feel."
"I'm glad," he told her with a gentle smile. "Who'd have thunk it, both the Vulpan kids married. Isn't this the first sign of the apocalypse?"
She laughed. "I hope not, we haven't taken over the world yet," she winked.
Because of the length of the ceremony, Vil had opted for a much shorter reception. Almost immediately after the cutting of the cake, they had the last set of dance music, and then the ceremonial bouquet and garter throwing would take place out on the front steps. Vil and Kendall would normally then get in a limo and drive off, but they were instead staying at Stonebrook so Vil could talk to Maxine and the others. The large reception crowd moved through the entry foyer and out onto the lawn facing the large columns and tan granite stairs leading to the almost never-used front door, and Vil made quite a show out of throwing the bouquet. She turned around and faked throwing it over her head several times, until the femmes started to protest, then she hurled it suddenly, catching many of them off guard. There was a scramble for the bouquet, and eventually one of the young Kennedy girls came out of the scrum, jumping up and down with it held high over her head, squealing in delight. Because Vil's casted leg would make it very hard for her to stay stable and allow Kendall to take off her garter, he had carried it out. He apologized to the males for not taking it off in front of them and showing off Vil's sexy legs, which got him bopped, then he hurled the garter like he was shooting a hook shot. Kit had to laugh when Mike came up with the garter, which was something of a streak for him. Mike had caught Jessie's garter as well.
With the throwing of the bouquet and garter, that was officially the end of the reception. Vil and Kendall said goodbye to everyone and posed for several pictures, and then the guests began to file out of Stonebrook under the careful eyes of the guards and Nick's mercenaries. Instead of going to a limo, Vil gathered up Kit, Jessie, Jessie's family, and the Brightons in the entry foyer. "Alright, most of the Vulpans are here, and Maxine has told them all that we're going to have some kind of conference," she explained. "We may as well take advantage of it. So I hope that all of you excuse me and Kit, and Ken and Jessie while we go talk to the family and straighten some things out."
"I think the time for a talk is long overdue, Vil," Winston told her.
"Probably. I'm sorry to cut you guys out, but this is a Vulpan matter, and the others will get really snippy if we aire our dirty laundry to in-laws. Ken and Jessie have every right to be there because they're spouses, but my elders will have a cow if I bring anyone else, I know they will."
"That's alright, dear," Hannah assured her. "I think we can spend our time getting to know your new in-laws."
"I think that's a smashing idea, Hannah," Abigail smiled.
Vil took Kit's phone and pressed the push to talk. "Stan, collect up every Vulpan you can find and send them to the sun room," she ordered. "It's time for a little family conference."
"At once, Mistress Vil," he answered. "I will have extra chairs sent into the room, and tea sent up for you."
"Good enough," she said, then she gave Kit the phone back. "Well, let's go, Vulpans," she said, her voice hardening as she prepared to face down the family. "Let's go put our family in its place."
"That sounds good to me," Kit agreed, taking Jessie's paw and leading her towards the stairs.