Consultation

 Month 14 Day 22

1814 Hours

Drake MacGregor

Drake pressed the doorbell button and waited for a response. He's going to think I'm crazy, and I can't blame him. It's a crazy idea, on so many levels.

The door opened, and Bugalu looked out at him. The lieutenant wore a pair of slacks and held a fresh shirt in his hand. "I'm kind of busy, doc."

"We need to talk."

Bugalu frowned. "About what?"

"Mac."

The frown was replaced by a sigh, and Bugalu stepped aside. "Come in." As the door closed, he tossed the shirt over his head. "Make it fast. I have a date to get to."

"What's going on with you two?"

"Nothing," Bugalu smoothed out his shirt. "Haven't you heard? She getting married to Mr Smythe."

"I have heard. I've also heard a disturbing rumor about Mac."

"Not my concern. I've been relieved of my brotherly duties."

"I didn't know that was possible." He sounds angry. Wonder what they've argued about this time.

Bugalu had started for the bedroom, but now stopped and turned back to face him. "I didn't think it was, either. But these days, she won't even talk to me." He shrugged. "Which rumor have you heard?"

"There's more than one?" He held up a hand. "No, never mind. There always seems to be rumors about her. The one that concerns me is the rumor that she's pregnant."

Bugs didn't look surprised. "You listened to that one? It isn't supposed to be possible, and you've kept her shot up to date, right?"

"It's not supposed to be possible, and of course I have. But there was a saying we had, back in med school; If there's any way for Nature to do something, it'll do it, sooner or later."

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not. When you think about it, there's too many unknowns at play here."

"Like what?"

"Like, there's not a lot of Gaelunders in the Fleet. What if they don't react to that shot the way most humans do? And of the few Gaelunders that are in the Fleet, most of them are male. Maybe the males have a normal reaction to it, but the females don't."

"What are you coming to me for? If you think she might be pregnant, call her to sick bay for a physical."

"No, I don't think she is," Drake returned. "That's all part of the rumor."

"Seems like they really wanted to cover all the bases. But if you don't believe it, then why bring it up?"

"Because I wonder why that particular rumor got started. About her. And especially, who might have heard it. And possibly believed it."

Bugalu stared at him for a long moment. "Why would he believe it? He usually stomps on gossip."

Drake sighed in relief. He's a smart young man, I should have known he'd know at once why I was concerned. "Smitty said something when he asked me to be his best man that makes me think he might believe it. Despite his hatred of gossip."

Bugs' eyebrow rose in surprise. "He said something about her being pregnant?"

"Not exactly. He stated that starting next week—well, this week, now—he would be a devoted husband. And father. And everybody knows that Fleet marriages seldom include children."

"Yeah, I overheard him say something similar."

"So, it sounds like he has heard it. And believes it." But why get engaged to her, then? Being married and pregnant might keep her in the Fleet, but she'd be assigned someplace planetside. And I can't see Smitty giving up a spaceship's engine room.

Again, Bugalu stared at him. "I tried to tell her. Told her it was not a good reason to get married, if he believed it. But she wouldn't listen. And now she won't even talk to me."

"But why does she want to get married? Unless she really is—"

"She's not."

"You seem sure of that."

"I know her. As for why she wants to get married, I think she fell for him her first day aboard."

"Love at first sight?" There's people who swear by it, but I don't really believe in it.

Bugsy shrugged. "Maybe even before that. He is everything she ever wanted to know."

Smart young man, like I said. "Smitty is a well-known figure in his field. She wouldn't be the first person to come aboard with some hero-worship already in place when they arrived."

"Yeah, there might have been some awe involved, at first," Bugalu agreed. "But whether it's real or not, she now believes she loves him. Told me she'd marry him any way she could get him. So if he's heard the rumor and believes it, that's fine by her."

"That doesn't sound good."

"What's worse is, what's he going to do if he believes she's pregnant, and then finds out she isn't? If that's his only reason for marrying her, she'll be heart-broken."

"At least she'd still be here, and not shipped to some planetside desk job."

"Ugh, a desk job. She'd hate that.

That doesn't matter. If she's not pregnant. "Well, it wouldn't come to that. She'd still be aboard, still be in engineering, still be his protégé."

Bugalu grimaced. "To a man who only married her because he thought he was rescuing her."

Drake scowled. "Unless she gave up all that and went back to communications."

Bugalu glanced at the clock and swore under his breath, but didn't make any move to get ready for his date. "Maybe you should, doc."

"Should what?"

"Give her a physical. Call it a pre-nuptial physical. Give him one, too, if you think you need to. Then you can break the news to him that she isn't pregnant—"

"No, I can't. They aren't married yet. I can't just give him medical information that he doesn't have any right to have."

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that."

"Well, I have. I couldn't say a thing without her approval. And if she thinks her being pregnant is Smitty's only reason for marrying her, chances are she wouldn't let me tell him the truth."

"You're right. She wouldn't."

"How did she get into this mess?"

Bugalu gave him a wry grin. "I often wonder how she manages to get into a mess. Guess I should have warned you about that before I drafted you into the family."

Drake shook his head. "Well, I've got the bachelor party in a couple days. I'll try to figure out how to convince Smitty that Mac isn't pregnant, without actually saying anything."

"Good luck," Bugsy told him. "If that fails, I could show up at the wedding and protest, on the basis that the reason for it is fraudulent."

"Can you do that and remain her brother?"

Bugsy rubbed his suddenly ashen face. "Probably not."

"Hmm. She's not only in a mess; we're in a mess as well."

"Very true."

"If I ever find out who started that particular rumor, I'll wring their neck," Drake stated, and turned for the door. "I'll let you get ready for your date."

The Interview

Month 14 Day 21

0813 Hours

Smythe

Smitty sat back in the chair before the captain's desk and tried to be patient as Jane studied him silently. Get on with it, Jane. Whatever you've called me here for, let's get it talked out so I can get back to engineering. Colleen isn't there today, but there's plenty of others who could use some guidance.

Jane pressed her lips together tightly and sat back a little further in her own chair. "I haven't received any notification from Headquarters regarding your request for marriage."

Isn't she the one who told me, just a couple days ago, that it might not get back in time? It's not like this is our scheduled wedding day. "No," he agreed evenly. "I haven't either. But there's still a few days left."

"True." Jane opened a drawer of her desk, glanced inside and closed it again. "I spoke to Lt MacDowell, this time yesterday."

Smitty raised his eyebrows at the news. "Was she in uniform?" Sincerely hope she was. Wouldn't do to have her arrive at the captain's office in her civvies. That wouldn't sit well with Jane.

"Of course. Why wouldn't she have been?"

"She wasn't on duty yesterday."

Jane seemed surprised. I suppose she can't keep track of everybody's days off, even if she did dictate what those days would be, in Colleen's case. "That must mean she didn't come to the bridge direct from engineering."

"She didn't report to engineering yesterday," Smitty pointed out. "She must have gotten the message you wanted to see her in her quarters."

"Well, I have to give her points for putting on a uniform before she came to see me."

Good. A few brownie points are always a good thing. "Does our visit today have anything to do with your visit with Colleen yesterday?"

"Yes and no. Mostly, I wanted to see if she was having any second thoughts about getting married."

Smitty felt his body stiffen, tried to pick an invisible bit of something off his slacks to show how unconcerned he was. "I haven't seen any nervousness in her. About that." What, exactly, did Colleen say? If she told Jane why she picked a date so soon... Surely she didn't. Jane would be angry, if she thought—

"No, I didn't either," Jane said, and his spine relaxed. "Only some uncertainty about what to expect from the ceremony itself. But as she said, she's not familiar with Fleet weddings. Such as what she should wear, as the bride."

"Oh." He pursed his lips for a second. "I didn't even think to discuss that with her."

"We discussed it. She seems comfortable with her choice."

"Good." No clue what her choice was. Is fabrication up to creating a wedding dress and veil? They can do it, but they seldom get called on to do it. How old are the patterns they have available? Guess we should go down and check into that, maybe at lunch today.

Jane's voice broke into his thoughts. "She's chosen to use her uniform. Please let me know what class of uniform you two plan to wear."

Her uniform? That means I can wear a uniform, too. Well, I could, no matter what she wears, but if I can talk her into Class Cs, then this will be a simple, uncomplicated ceremony after all. Suits me.

"Smitty?"

He lifted his gaze to the captain's face. "Yes, captain?"

"How upset is she going to be if this ceremony needs to be postponed?"

Again with postponing! And how do I answer that? Each extra day we aren't married will make it that much harder for her to explain her supposedly 'early' delivery. "I think she's very eager to get married, captain. As am I."

Jane gave him a lop-sided smile. "Glad to hear it. You know, for just a half a second, I considered the possibility that she might—somehow—be forcing you to marry her."

"Captain!"

She held up a hand to forestall his protest. "I just keep thinking of the... position you two were in when I found you in your office that morning. Could have been quite damning if she had declared you had forced your attentions on her." She paused to clear her throat. "I don't want to believe that of you, Smitty, but if you have, ever, done something like that, with this woman, perhaps you'd better admit it now, before she changes her mind and brings charges against you."

Aghast, Smitty sat back again. Memories raced through his mind, of finding her in the observation deck when he'd left the New Year's dance, of the two times he'd followed an anonymous message to a certain junction of jeffrie tubes and wound up deep in the throes of lust when he found her there, waiting for him.

"Well?"

Jolted out of his thoughts, he struggled to find the right words. "I can't... make that admission."

"That morning was your first time being in that kind of position with her?" She gave him a knowing smile. "If it was, it's simply rotten luck that I walked in on you."

He sighed, tried to carefully construct an answer once again. "I've never had a reason to suspect she would have objected to my attention being given to her."

She tapped her fingers on her desktop. "Hmm. Well, if you both want to get married, then I suppose there's nothing for it but to get you married." She gave him a wave of dismissal towards the door.

"Thank you, captain." Smitty stood up and turned away.

"Just one last thing," Jane added. "Why won't you let her brother attend the wedding?"

He turned back, his mind racing in confusion. "I... Which one? I understand she has several. But they're all on Gaelund, and I don't know how one could get here in time, even if we were sure of the date."

"I meant her adopted brother, Lieutenant Bugalu."

Smitty went cold and unthinking. He shook his head. "Absolutely not."

Jane's gaze was almost as cold as he felt. "I asked, why not?"

"Because it's his fault that she's—" He stopped, realizing what his unthinking mind had been on the verge of disclosing. After a shuddering breath, he tried to correct his blunder; "I walked in on them arguing about her marrying me. He obviously doesn't want her to. What his reasons are, I don't know, but I don't want him starting to argue with her at the ceremony. We don't need that kind of drama on what's supposed to be the happiest day of her life."

Jane nodded slowly as she accepted his words. "Well, MacDowell said something to that effect. I just thought I'd better double-check. Love triangles can get very messy, but thankfully, I don't have to worry about that in this case."

"What do you mean?"

"Bugalu really is a brother to her. Certainly he bosses her around like a big brother, from what I've seen. He may be against the marriage now, but once he sees how happy she is as your wife, he'll come around. Like all brothers, he wants her to be happy."

Jane has a blind spot where Bugalu is concerned. I never noticed it before. I suppose there's a lot I've never noticed about him before Colleen arrived.

"Dismissed, Smitty. Thank you for coming."

He turned rather woodenly and walked out. I wonder where Colleen will be when I'm ready for lunch.

Counseling

 Month 14 Day 20

0803 Hours

Jane Burke

 Someone was waiting at Jane's elbow as she signed the duty roster for Yeoman Blossom. Handing the pad back to her aide, she glanced to see who was waiting. "Lt MacDowell."

"I was told you wanted to see me, captain."

That's quite a trick, to get from engineering to here in 3 minutes. At shift change. "Yes. You're very prompt. Come to my office." She led the way, all while keeping a close watch on Bugalu, who cast a quick, worried glance at the twosome as they crossed the bridge. "Give us 10, Blossom," Jane told the yeoman as she entered her office.

"Yes, captain." Blossom laid the pad on her desk as she went out the other door.

"Take a seat, lieutenant." The redhead perched on the edge of a chair. Probably too nervous to sit back in it. "How have you been?"

"Fine." Her voice quivered just a bit.

Definitely nervous. Well, when I was that age, I would have been nervous, too, getting called to the captain's office for no reason. "Any injuries I haven't heard about?"

MacDowell's brow furrowed in confusion. "No, captain."

No, I don't see any bruises, and as I remember, she bruises easily. Good, I didn't like to think Smitty might get physical with her. Come to think of it, she's Gaelund, and could have fought back. I only have to remember Winthrop to remember that. "I wanted to talk to you about your up-coming wedding."

"I've chosen my Maid of Honor, and invited 3 or 4 friends to the ceremony. Plus, as I said last night, I chose the type of cake I wanted." She caught her lower lip in her teeth in uncertainty. "I don't know of anything else I need to do."

"Not if you just want a simple ceremony, I don't suppose there's anything else that's absolutely necessary."

The new transfer to engineering relaxed. "Good. Small and simple sounds good."

Okay, I'm just going to ask. "I got the impression at supper last night, that you were... relying on Smythe to tell you what to do. In regards to the wedding."

MacDowell gave a slow nod. "Well, I know some of the traditions of a Gaelund wedding, from what I remember of my brothers getting married. But I have nothing to guide me on what's expected of a Fleet wedding. I'm hoping wearing my uniform is okay? Don't know if there's time for fabrication to make a dress. And it seems wasteful, since I'd only wear it for a couple hours."

Is that all it is? Smitty's seen a few Fleet weddings over the years, so he would have somewhat more knowledge on the subject. But what about the tension over Bugalu? "You might be surprised how quickly fabrication can make a dress, if they need to. And it could always be sent back to be recycled. If you don't want to keep it."

"I suppose that's true. But it still seems like a lot of fuss, if my uniform will do."

"Your uniform will do," Jane assured her. "Or perhaps you have another outfit you could wear. I seem to recall a yellow outfit. Or a red one that you wore to the New Year's dance. Either one of those would serve for a wedding."

McDowell's cheeks grew pink. "I managed to ruin the red outfit," she confessed.

"Oh! Too bad. It was beautiful."

"And costly."

"Those are always the easiest to ruin."

"Yes, I certainly didn't have any difficulty doing it."

"I expect you'll want your brother to be at the ceremony. Adopted brother."

MacDowell frowned at the floor. "No."

"You don't? Weddings are usually a time when people want their family with them." Have the 2 of them argued? About what?

"I can't," she breathed.

"Smitty scheduled the wedding for 1700," Jane said. "Like you 2, Bugalu gets off duty at 1600."

"Actually, that's Bugsy's day off," the redhead returned.

"Then I don't see anything keeping him away, if you want him there."

The girl's forehead wrinkled, and her eyebrows lowered as she appeared to fight tears. "No, he'd never forgive me."

He wouldn't? Which 'he' is she talking about? "What do you mean? Bugalu doesn't want you to get married?"

MacDowell looked up in surprise. "No, apparently not," she admitted. "But actually, I was talking about Smit. Er, Smythe."

At this rate, it might take me all morning to figure out what's going on. "Why would Smythe object to Bugalu being there?"

"He doesn't believe that Bugs is my brother. He certainly wasn't happy to see me go to the movie with Bugs, and he's asked me not to see him anymore."

That's what I was afraid of. "He's jealous."

"Is that the problem? Well, it just seemed best to accede to his wishes. Maybe after we're married, he'll come to see that Bugalu really is a brother, not a boy friend."

Smitty suffering from rampant jealousy. Never thought I'd see it. But then, I never thought I'd see him get married. And how often does jealousy die down just because the people involved get married? This is not good. And it appears I may be counseling the wrong person. "Answer me one thing, lieutenant. Do you want to marry Smythe?"

Surprised, the girl gave a timid smile. "Of course I do. You were there when I accepted his proposal."

Which I skeptically thought he mentioned purely because of the position I found them in when I entered his office unannounced. "I can see that you get protégé status without having to marry him."

"You know, I'm not sure what all the fuss about that is. It means he's teaching me, and that's what Ivy told him that morning. That she had reached the end of what she could teach me, so he'd have to take over."

It's a little more complicated than that. He winds up teaching all his underlings, but with a protégé, the instruction is more... condensed. Continuous. "Why pick a wedding date so soon?"

McDowell shrugged. "Why wait?"

No, she doesn't know much about Fleet weddings. "You may have to. When 2 Fleet officers want to get married, they have to ask Headquarters for permission." That news has stunned her. "Smitty sent the paperwork in, but there's no telling if the response will get back in time for the wedding to take place on the date you selected."

MacDowell sighed in disappointment, then pushed her shoulders back. "Well, if we have to wait, we have to wait. At least it won't be me telling him we have to postpone."

She seems very accepting of whatever blocks get put in the path of this wedding. With the possible exception that she'd like Bugalu there. "Fine." Jane stood up, and MacDowell quickly did likewise. "I wanted to make sure there weren't any doubts or concerns on your mind. But I don't see anything major in your thoughts. If you start to have second thoughts or worries, feel free to come talk to me. Wedding day jitters can hit anyone as the big day approaches."

"Thank you, captain. I appreciate your taking the time. I wasn't sure I had handled all the details I needed to handle."

"You seem to be well on your way," Jane told her. "Dismissed."

First Choice & Best Man

 First Choice

Month 14 Day 19

1705 Hours

Smitty

 The door opened and Anna stood, looking at him with disbelief on her face. "No," she told him shortly.

"You don't even know why I'm here," he protested.

"You're engaged," she shot back, and turned away from the door, expecting it to close in his face.

He hurriedly stepped inside before it could, and followed her halfway to her couch. "This has nothing to do with that," he stated, then changed his mind. "Well, it has, but—"

"It's not my fault if she won't have sex with you until you're married! I don't have sex with engaged men!"

"I'm not here for sex!" he declared.

She crossed her arms, looked him up and down. "Then why are you here?"

"First, to thank you for reminding me there were things that needed to be made, no matter how small a wedding we have."

"Still planning to go through with it, are you?"

"Yes, I am. In earnest. My second reason for being here is to ask you to be part of the wedding party."

Her brow furrowed in confusion. "The bride picks the bridesmaids, Smitty."

"Not as a bridesmaid. As Best Man. Or, well, Best Friend of the groom. Until Michael got between us, you were my best friend, Anna."

"That was a long time ago."

"I still remember it. I still miss it."

Her arms loosened and then fell to her sides. "Well. It was a good friendship. Until Michael. I never should have—"

"It wasn't your fault." Michael was a slimy weasel—No, I'd best not say anything like that. If she's still got any feelings for him at all, it'll just make her mad. "So, will you, Anna?"

"I'm not sure I'd be any good at planning a bachelor party."

"I don't want one. There's no time for it, anyway."

"Why are in such a hurry to get married?"

He shrugged. "She drives me crazy."

"You know marriage requests don't come back from headquarters that quickly. Even if you got it sent in last night."

He shook his head. "Hope springs eternal. I can't think of anything else but having her as my wife. My head says I won't get approval that quickly, but my body won't let me act on that knowledge. We have to be married as quickly as possible."

"Brides don't usually like to be hurried into getting married."

"She's the one who set the date."

"She is?" That seemed to take her by surprise. "Why so soon?"

Smitty hesitated, not sure he wanted to tell anyone his suspicions about why Colleen had agreed to marry him. "She has her reasons." Reasons other than the captain caught us in a delicate moment.

"Well, you are charming, in your own fashion," Anna said. "Perhaps it's a matter of her morals doing battle with her urges."

Morals? Ha! She hasn't been any more circumspect than she had to be, only she finds herself in the same position so many women have been in before. So now she has morals, now that she's found someone who agreed to marry her. I wonder how she plans to explain an 'early' delivery that is obviously full term?

"Smitty?"

He looked up from staring at the floor. "What?"

"What's wrong? You looked... angry."

He shook his head. "No. She has her reasons for wanting a quick wedding, and so do I. We both know about the other's reasons, and aren't bothered by them."

Uncertainty rolled over Anna's face. "That hardly sounds like you're in love. In lust, maybe."

Why does everybody have to question our decisions? "Anna, please. Will you be the groom's best friend, or won't you?"

She stood up straight and stared him in the eyes. "No. I'm sorry, but I can't. I won't."

"What? Why not?"

"You had your doubts about Michael, when I started dating him. Let's just say I have my doubts about this marriage between you and Mac." She stepped around him and started back for the door. "Now, please leave. I'm sure you'd rather be with your... fiancée, anyway."

 

 Best Man

Month 14 Day 19

1748 Hours

Drake MacGregor

 Drake was mildly surprised to find Smitty outside his door when it opened. "Haven't you gone to the arboretum yet?"

"No, obviously, not yet," Smitty growled and walked in. He stopped when the door closed and turned to face his host. "I wonder if you'd do me the favor of being my Best Man next week?"

"Me?" I wasn't sure who he'd ask, but this seems rather last minute. "Kind of short notice, but I suppose I could get a poker game and some booze organized for a bachelor party."

"Fine, but I wasn't looking for a bachelor party. I just need someone to stand up with me at the ceremony."

A ceremony that probably isn't going to happen next week. And then what? Another bachelor party when and if the approval does come through and the ceremony is scheduled again? "You seem out of sorts. If getting ready so quickly is producing this much strain, maybe you should postpone for a couple weeks or months, give yourself time to get things sorted out."

Smitty ground his teeth for a moment, his face red. "Why is everybody determined to have us postpone? We aren't postponing! Colleen picked the date, and it suits me fine! We're getting married at the absolutely earliest opportunity!"

Drake raised his hands, tried to calm the other man down. "Sorry, Smitty, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm also sorry if you feel others are trying to get you to postpone. I suspect they're just surprised it's happening at all. You've been a dedicated bachelor for so long."

"Well, that ends next week! From now on, I'll be a dedicated husband and father! So will you be there or not?"

Wow. There doesn't seem to be any calming him down at all. "Sure! I'll be there. Glad to do it."

"Thank you," Smitty bit out, and walked out.

Drake stared at the door for several minutes after the engineer had left. So, who has been trying to get him to postpone the wedding? It certainly had him riled. And why did he mention fatherhood? Fleet marriages rarely involve children; it removes the woman from active duty for so long. And come to think of it, does Mac know he expects to have children? Seems like that's the entirety of her father's ambitions for her. Although it seemed to happen all at once, I really hoped everything would work out for those two. And if I stick my nose in where it isn't wanted, whose side am I on?