Page 23 of Redondo (Mates of the Mylos #7)

CHAPTER 23

REDONDO

“I will be fine with wherever you’d like to be.” I needed him to understand that his happiness was one of the things that now gave me joy.

He ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know where would be good, either, if I’m honest. I kinda always thought if it happened, it’d be at the courthouse. No ceremony, just the two of us in front of a judge and a witness. Though I always thought it would be fun to do one of those tacky Vegas weddings. You know, so tacky that they’re kinda cool and a good laugh.”

“We can do Vegas then.” I beamed at him.

“Maybe we should ask your parents. They might have some suggestions.”

I nodded. “Since arriving here, they have gone down to the surface at least once a week and spent the day sightseeing.”

He pointed at me. “See! They’ll probably know some great places. Are they home?”

“They are in the living room, drinking chala tea. Come, we can ask them now.” The sooner we did this wedding, the sooner we could get to the honeymoon part.

He swallowed nervously, clutched his tablet to his chest, and followed me out as I led him by the hand.

“Papa, Father, may we speak with you?”

They stopped conversing and Papa patted the space next to him on the long sectional couch. “Come sit and tell us what’s on your mind.”

I led Tom over and expected him to sit down. Instead, he stood before my fathers.

“I’m so sorry for the last time we met. I was so caught up in everything that I didn’t stop to remember my manners. “I’m -”

“Thomas, Tom for short. Yes, we know,” Father said in amusement. “Just call me Father.”

“And I’m Papa,” Papa added. “It’s what Yllip and Ondo both call us and we are so pleased to include you as our son.”

Tom stared at them, tears welling in his eyes. “You think of me as your son? Already?”

“Yes. Surely that is normal?”

Tom shook his head. “It should be, but it isn’t always. My own pa-pa-parents w..wouldn’t like Ondo at all!” he sobbed. “Not because he…he’s Mylos. Just ‘cuz he’s a man!”

“Ah. Homophobia,” Papa said, his lips curled in distaste.

Tom sniffled. “Yeah. If my agent hadn’t found Playtime Fleet for me or I hadn’t gotten the job, I’d have had to move back home to live with them. They always try to get me to date some young woman or other they meet at their church.”

I pulled him tightly against my side. “You’re mine.”

He laughed weakly. “Yeah, I am, huh.” He looked at my fathers with watery eyes. “That’s what Ondo and I came to talk to you about. Ondo wants to decide where to have our human wedding ceremony. He said you guys have visited a lot of places and might have some ideas for a location for it or our honeymoon.”

Father smiled, turned to Papa and said, “Remember that day we were at the park and a couple were having their wedding photos taken by that lake?”

Papa clapped his hands together. “Yes!” He looked over at us and continued. “The female at the coffee cart said it was a popular spot for weddings and photoshoots.”

Tom grinned. “What if we got married at the park here?” He looked up at me. “It would be perfect! We wouldn’t have to go anywhere, just find someone who can say the words because it’s just a ceremony since we’re already Mylos married.”

“Would that be okay?”

He nodded. “We could have our photos taken by the fountain.”

Papa smiled. “That does sound nice.” His face clouded over. “Your parents won’t come and spoil it, will they?”

Tom shook his head. “I’m not inviting them, not that they’d come anyway. They’d get their invitation and just tell me how terrible I’m being and all, so I’m not bothering. Honestly, Mama blocked me on social media after I told her I was applying for the role. She knew it meant I’d be tested for a mate match and what that would mean. Anyway, we want to keep it small.”

“Six guests,” I confirmed. “His agent, Ralph, Terry, Yllip, and both of you.”

“That should be simple enough to arrange,” Father said. “What about the honeymoon?”

“I think it would be nice to split it. Maybe go two places. Also, I think after the ceremony, we should all go eat somewhere fun.”

“We could all go bowling and eat the pizza,” I suggested. “That’s supposed to be fun.”

“You know, that’s brilliant! It’s where we first met and we said we’d be back. Yeah, let’s say our vows in the park, wearing matching bowling shirts, and all go bowling.”

“Matching bowling shirts?” Papa asked.

“Yeah. Teams wear shirts with their team name on the back and their first names on the front.”

“And what would be our team name?” I asked.

“Redondo’s Clutch.”

“Oh, I like that,” Papa said.

“But Ralph and Terry are not members of our Clutch,” I reminded them.

“They’re your friends, though, and mine, so they are kinda clutch adjacent,” Tom insisted.

“It isn’t anything official,” Father added. “It’s just for fun, marking them as part of the wedding party. Like the females who all wore the same color dresses that day. The coffee lady said it was because they were something called bridesmaids.”

“Yeah, big weddings have those and best men and all that jazz,” Tom replied.

I decided they were right. It was just shirts after all. “Okay. We can all wear the shirts, but we’re only supposed to wear the shoes we got at the bowling alley.”

“Yeah. I forgot we had those. We ran out with them on and all sorta changed out of them in the elevator.”

“When would you like to do it?”

Tom shrugged. “As soon as possible, I think. That way we get more days to visit wherever we decide to go.”

“I would like to see Redondo Beach,” I said, causing Tom to giggle.

“They have a beach with your name?” Father asked, looking surprised.

“Well, it’s ruh-DON-do rather than red-ONDO, but yeah. It’s a small beach city close to Santa Monica.” He giggled again before looking up at me once more. “I should have guessed you’d say that. Anywhere else?”

“You should pick the second place.”

Well, Hawaii does sound fun, but how about Tahiti?”

“Xeranos,” I called out.

“Yes, Redondo?” the AI replied.

“We have some arrangements we need made.” I quickly explained our wishes.

“As soon as possible, truly?” he asked for clarification.

“Yeah, why?” Tom asked.

“First, may I ask if you have a preference for the type of officiant?”

“Just someone who can say the words. It’s not like it’s anything but ceremonial, right?” Tom answered.

“Correct. Okay, how about this evening, at four-thirty?”

“So soon?” Tom gasped.

“You did say as soon as possible. Commander Gundar has a free slot in his schedule and I can have him marry you. As he’s captain of this ship, it seems fitting. And I can have the shirts replicated as soon as I know the color you’d like them in and the sizes.”

“Purple,” I said immediately, thinking of Tom’s favorite flower.

“Yeah, that sounds good. Purple with white embroidery.”

“You won’t need a reservation for the bowling alley afterwards and after a good night’s sleep, you can catch the shuttle to Santa Monica and take a rental car to Redondo Beach. I’m arranging for you to go there first as there is a last minute booking available at the Shade Hotel’s penthouse suite.”

“Whoa! We don’t need anything that fancy!” Tom protested. “That sounds mega expensive.”

“It’s your honeymoon, and it’s done,” Xeranos told him. “Six days there, then you’ll shuttle to Tahiti. You’re booked into a bungalow at the Intercontinental.”

The front door opened and Yllip came in. Seeing us, he asked, “Did I miss something important?”

“Not yet,” I replied. “The wedding isn’t until this afternoon.”

He grinned. “Cool! Where?”

“At the park on the main promenade,” Xeranos replied. “Now, I’d like your shirt sizes please.”