The Course of True Love (2/14)
by Jayel
"Julia, that is so great!" Bess enthused, hugging the doctor as best she could considering her current condition.
"Thanks," Julia answered, slightly embarrassed but hugging back. She and Alonzo had discussed it the night before and decided it was time to let the rest of the Eden Project in on their engagement. So at breakfast, they had made a general announcement, heard by everyone but Danziger, who was propped and snoring loudly over his semolina. "We thought you all should know . . . "
"How long have you known?" Baines demanded of Alonzo.
"A few days now," Alonzo admitted. "I guess we needed some time to get used to the idea ourselves before we sprang it on everybody else."
"We know just what you mean, don't we, Morgan honey?" Bess said, positively glowing with good wishes. "When we got engaged, we didn't tell anyone for more than a month--I think Morgan was afraid my dad was going to kill him."
"I'm still surprised he didn't," Morgan agreed good-naturedly, shooting Alonzo a knowing but congratulatory look. "Good for you, fly-boy--I should have known you'd rather die of humiliation than take my advice."
"What about you, Tara?" Devon asked with a smile. She continued to make overtures to the newest member of their group whenever possible, in spite of Tara's continued resistance. "Did you and Val have a long engagement?"
"What?" Tara said, looking up from her plate as if she had heard none of the previous conversation. "Oh . . . yeah, we did, actually," she went on, smiling impishly at Julia and ignoring Devon entirely. "We'd only been together about two months when we decided to do it, and his parents threw us this huge wedding which took forever to prepare. By the time we actually got to the ceremony, we were wishing we had eloped."
"I think Morgan and Bess had the best wedding," True said. "The dancing was really cool."
"Thanks, sweetie," Bess said, pleased. "You know, there's no reason why we couldn't do that again--we could do it today if we wanted. Morgan still has that VR program, and I'm sure Yale would be happy to perform the ceremony."
"Of course," Yale agreed. "But I think that's up to Julia and Alonzo."
"Sure," Alonzo said, blushing a little. "Why wait?" He put his arm around Julia's shoulders. "What do you think, doc? Ready to be an honest woman?"
I knew we shouldn't just blurt it out this way, Julia was thinking to herself with an inward groan. "Actually . . . no," she said with an embarrassed smile. "I mean, maybe we should wait until we get settled again. Devon's right; we need to get to those mountains before the snow falls, and we can't really afford to waste a whole day on something that can wait."
Everyone looked shocked in varying degrees. "Oh," Bess said, forcing a smile. "Of course . . . listen, Julia, I'm sorry--I didn't mean to just jump in and take over that way--"
"No, please don't be sorry," Julia pleaded. "I'm really touched that everyone is so happy for us, and as soon as we've made a winter camp, I think your idea will be perfect. Maybe another wedding is exactly what we need."
At this, everyone except the happy couple got up to start breaking camp. "Everyone but you," Alonzo said when they were alone.
"What?" Julia asked.
"Everyone needs a wedding but you," he elaborated, and she could suddenly see how hurt he was.
"Alonzo, baby, no," she soothed, touching his face.
"Look, I know that standing in the middle of a field in our hiking boots with VR gear on our heads is not exactly what you would have liked--"
"No, it isn't," she admitted, shocking him into silence. "I'm sorry, Alonzo, I just--I never really thought I would get married, so I had these fantasies--I know how stupid it is, but . . . " She looked up at him and smiled. "My groom is exactly what I would have wished for," she said, running her fingertips over his mouth before kissing him. "Maybe I just want to feel like I match."
He kissed her back. "This is a woman thing, isn't it?" he grumbled warily.
"I don't know," she retorted. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a Julia Heller thing--the rest of the women in the universe are on their own."
"Hey, Solace!" Danziger yelled, standing swathed in fabric where a tent used to be, the framework twisted in a pitiful wreck at his feet. "You want to give me a hand with this?"
"Go on," Julia urged. "We better get moving, or they'll leave without us."
***
Once he got Alonzo started on the tent he had almost destroyed, Danziger decided to see what kind of damage he could do packing the hatch in the transrover.
Someone had apparently driven it halfway out of camp already, into a more secluded clearing in the trees. "Whose bright idea was this?" he called, going around the back. Where he discovered Magus and Baines, just coming out of a spine-tingling embrace. "Sorry . . . ," he mumbled, turning on his heel. "Just let me know when you finish up . . . ."
"John, wait!" Magus called, catching up as Baines sprang into the transrover's cab and started it up. "It's not what you--oh hell, of course it's what you think--"
"Marcia, what do I care?" Danziger interrupted. "If you and Baines want to make out like a couple of kids, be my guest. Although I would appreciate your picking a less essential piece of equipment to use as a windbreak if you're going to do it as we're packing up . . . "
"We didn't drive the transrover out here just to . . . It just happened, all right?" she said as Baines drove the truck past them and back into the camp proper. "We came out here to pick up that deadwood he and Walman chopped up last night, and one thing led to another--"
"Didn't I just say I didn't need an explanation?" John said.
"Yeah, but . . . I really need to talk to somebody about this," she admitted.
"Magus," he groaned.
"I thought about one of the other women, but there's no one I really feel comfortable with any more," she said. "Bess is sweet, but she's all wrapped up in Morgan, and Julia has her own problems, and Tara's just weird, and Devon . . . " Her voice drifted off. "Devon's part of the problem."
"Magus, I'm a mechanic," he protested, more certain every moment that he did *not* want to hear any more of this. "What do I know about--"
"You have more capacity to love than anyone I've ever met," she interrupted. "And you're my friend, John, and I need you."
He stopped and looked at her, ready to refuse again, but something in her face made it impossible to do so. "So okay, Marcia," he agreed, sitting down and motioning for her to join him. "Let's hear how you became the Mata Hari of the Eden Project."
"Very funny," she retorted, but her smile showed her relief. "Believe me, this was not at all what I had in mind when things first started with Walman . . . to tell you the truth, I don't know what I had in mind. We were just both so . . . I don't know, we felt so bad after Eben died, and Devon was dying--it seemed like the last chance either of us had to be really close to someone, you know?"
"I guess so," John agreed.
"Then once we started, even after things changed, it just seemed impossible to stop, particularly after everyone found out," she went on. "Suddenly we were a couple, 'Walman and Magus,' just like Julia and Alonzo or Tara and Val." She gave him a sidelong look. "Or Devon and Danziger."
"Hey, just because you guys feel the need to travel in pairs, don't think you can lump us in together, too," he said.
"So you and Devon aren't officially together?" Magus asked. "I thought after you came back--"
"We're still in committee on that one, all right?" he cut her off. "Look, I thought we were talking about your problems, not mine."
"Fair enough," she agreed.
"So let's get on with the story here, kid, so we can get back to work," he went on, giddy with what he hoped was sleep deprivation and suspected was relief. "When did you decide you weren't in love with the ever-charming Walman?"
"I was never in love with Walman," she admitted. "And he was never in love with me. We're friends, and we needed one another, and it was . . . nice. Convenient and easy and nice."
"Only now it isn't."
"No," she said. "That's the problem with that kind of relationship. No matter how simple it seems at first, things always get complicated. Haven't you ever gotten into something thinking you could step back any time and then discovered that you were stuck?"
"All the time," he grumbled. "So you want out, and Walman doesn't."
"Something like that," she admitted.
"Because you've got the hots for Baines," he finished.
"It isn't like that!" she protested. "Maybe Baines really loves me. Maybe we're meant to be together." She looked up at him. "Or maybe I'm just sick and tired of being called the wrong name in bed."
"Magus," he groaned again, wanting to be a pal but brutally embarrassed. Other people's love lives had never been his favorite subject--he didn't even like talking about his own, even when he had one worth discussing. "I really don't need to hear--"
"Actually, I think you might," she interrupted, getting up. "Listen, Danziger, if you're not sure you love Devon, don't do anything rash, all right? Because I think maybe somebody else does."
***
In spite of everything, they managed to get started at only a little past the usual time, and soon the caravan had settled into its normal, quiet rhythm, with almost everyone concentrating first and foremost on making as much progress as possible. Only those suffering the agonies of the lovestruck managed to stay buried in their own thoughts, and even they kept moving.
"If I live to be five hundred, I'll never understand women," Alonzo said, making this morose declaration his opening remark to Tara as they walked behind the transrover where Julia was resting.
"Probably not," Tara admitted with a grin. "But if you mean Julia not wanting to get married today, even you should understand that."
"See, I knew you were going to say that," he said. "Can't we just skip the flogging and cut straight to the part where you forgive me my ignorance and enlighten me, O wise one?"
"If you insist," she giggled. "Alonzo, your sweetie is pregnant."
"Yes, I know," he said, giving her a confused look. "So what?"
"So, a wedding is a big thing," Tara went on. "It's the last remaining remnant of the old female gender role, the thing where we're supposed to be these ethereal creatures who walk in beauty like the night--the light through yonder window breaking--a red, red rose. No matter how pragmatic and capable a woman may be ordinarily, when she gets married, she wants to feel exquisite."
"But she is exquisite," Alonzo protested. "She's so beautiful right now, I can't stand it--"
"But it isn't the kind of beautiful she wants," Tara interrupted gently. "It's all very well for Bess to have a VR wedding to renew her vows--I'd be willing to bet in her first wedding, she looked good enough to eat."
"So would I," Alonzo admitted.
"But for Julia, this is the first and only chance she's going to have for this, and she wants it to be perfect," she finished.
"But what am I supposed to do?" he asked plaintively. "I can't conjure up a chapel in the pines here or manufacture a wedding gown out of semolina."
"No, but you can wait until she's not great with child," his friend said. "Look, 'Zo, just give her a little time--she's going to realize how silly this is soon, and then you'll have your wedding and live happily ever after."
"I just don't see why this has to be so complicated," he groused.
"Too bad," she retorted. "You do realize you took longer to work up the guts to propose marriage than you're giving the love of your life to do the deed."
This set him back for a long moment. "Okay," he agreed with a sigh. "So I'm waiting."
End of Part 2
Chapter End Notes:
All comments, suggestions, criticisms, etc. are welcome as always.