by Marie Force
"Hello, Warren," Lillian said. Her voice was weaker than it had been the day before, but her eyes were still bright with life and, for the moment, excitement.
"Lillian, you're as lovely as ever." He leaned over to kiss her. "I'm sorry you had to wait all day for me."
"You're here now, so let's get the show on the road."
They all laughed at Lillian's feistiness.
The judge arranged Ted and Caroline so his grandmother had the best view.
Mitzi stood in the doorway.
"Do we have witnesses?"
Parker and Tish stepped forward.
"Very good." The judge gestured to Ted and Caroline. "Now, if you two would face each other."
Ted reached for Caroline's hands and smiled at her reassuring squeeze.
"Ted, repeat after me: I, Edward Theodore Duffy, the third, take you Caroline Ann Stewart as my lawful wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, to love, honor and cherish, forsaking all others, until death do us part."
Ted heard weeping in the background but had eyes only for Caroline as he said his vows in a voice heavy with emotion.
Tears running down her face, she followed suit.
"Do we have rings?"
Parker produced them.
After they had exchanged rings, the judge said, "By the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Ted, you may kiss your bride."
Lillian clapped when Ted wrapped his arms around Caroline, kissed her, and then hugged her until he had gotten his emotions under control.
"I give you Dr. and Mrs. Ted Duffy," the judge said as the others applauded along with a group of doctors and nurses who were watching from the corridor.
"Theo, give them our gift," Lillian said.
Theo reached into his pocket and withdrew what looked like a credit card and handed it to Ted.
"What's this?" Ted asked.
"A key to the honeymoon suite at the Ritz," Lillian said with a gleam in her eye. "If you get going now, you'll still have most of the night. It's yours tomorrow night, too."
"I'm not going anywhere tonight, Grandy," Ted protested.
"You are not spending your wedding night in this hospital, Ted Duffy," she said, taking a deep wheezing breath.
Ed settled her back against the pillow. "Take it easy, Mother."
"I want you to go," she said to Ted. "I'll still be here tomorrow. I promise."
The others began to filter into the hallway, leaving Ted and Caroline alone with his grandparents.
"I don't want to leave you," Ted said.
"We've had thirty-eight wonderful years together, my love. Go be with your wife now. You've made me very happy today. Both of you."
Ted leaned over the bed to receive her hug.
In his ear, she whispered, "I've done my part. Now you do yours."
Ted pulled back to look at her and was taken aback by the calculating expression on her face.
Before he could ask her what she meant, Caroline nudged him aside so she could kiss and hug Lillian.
Theo hugged Ted. "I hope you'll be as happy with your wife as I've been with mine." He welled up when he looked over at Lillian, who was worn out from all the excitement.
After Caroline shared a tearful embrace with his grandfather, Ted took her hand and led her into a hallway, lined with people who wanted to wish them well, or who were at least pretending they did. Parker hugged them both, as did Ed, Judge Daugherty, Tish, and Steven.
Mitzi leaned against the wall on the other side of the hallway.
"Mom?" He could see the battle she waged on her face. She made no overture toward him. With a sinking feeling in his gut he reached for Caroline. "Ready to go?"
She nodded and took his hand.
They had made it to the ICU door when Mitzi called out to them. "Wait."
Ted kept his hold on Caroline's hand as he turned to his mother.
Mitzi reached up to frame her son's face. "I love you."
"I love you, too." He leaned down to kiss her. "Mom, I'd like you to meet my wife, Caroline."
Mitzi shook Caroline's hand. "Pleased to meet you."
"Likewise, Mrs. Duffy."
"Please call me Mitzi."
"I'd like that."
"Be good to my son," Mitzi said, her voice wavering. "I love him very much."
"I do, too. With all my heart."
Mitzi nodded.
* * *
Ed put his arm around Mitzi to watch their son and his wife walk hand-in-hand though the ICU door.
When they were out of sight, Mitzi collapsed against her husband and wept.
"Well done, honey," Ed whispered. "Very well done."
* * *
Ted and Caroline emerged from the hospital into the warm summer evening. When they got to his car, Ted stopped her.
"What is it?"
"I just need…"
"What, honey?"
He put his arms around her. "This." A deep sigh rattled through him. "Thank you for what you did with my mother. I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd told her to go to hell."
"I couldn't do that. She's my mother-in-law."
Ted smiled in amazement as the whirlwind finally slowed long enough for him to consider just how much had changed in the course of that day. "Yes, I guess she is." He held the car door for her.
After he got in, she said, "I'm glad I got to see her in a less stressful situation last weekend. Because of that I know there's another side to her than what I've seen in the last few days."
"She's usually so amazing."
"I was relieved for you that she took the first step just now."
"I was relieved for all of us. With my grandmother so sick, we don't need any more tension." He reached into his pocket and withdrew his cell phone. "What do you say we call my mother-in-law and fess up to what we've done?"
Caroline winced. "Do we have to?"
He smiled and nodded.
With great reluctance she took the phone and dialed the number.
"Hi, Dad." Caroline sent a fearful look Ted's way and tipped the phone so he could hear.
He reached for her free hand.
"Is Mom home? Can you ask her to pick up the other extension?" Caroline waited for her mother to come on the line and with a deep breath and another glance at Ted for reassurance she told them her news. After a long silence, she asked, "Are you guys still there?"
"We're here," her father said. "This is very surprising, Caroline."
"You did a nice thing for his grandmother, honey," her mother said. "I'm sorry we weren't there to see it, but you did a good thing."
"That's how it feels to us, too, Mom. I promise you we're going to do it again very soon and have all of you there. Ted wants to talk to you guys, okay?"
She handed the phone to him.
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart."
"Hello, Ted," she said.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions and a lot of worries, but I want you to know I love Caroline very much, and I'm going to take very good care of her."
"That's good to know," her mother said. "We're looking forward to meeting you."
"Depending on what happens with my grandmother, we'll be up next weekend, if that's all right with you."
"Of course it is. We'll keep your family in our prayers."
"Thank you. Well, I'll give you back to Caroline."
She talked to them for a few more minutes while Ted drove them home to get what they needed to spend two nights at the Ritz.
After she ended the call, Caroline turned in her seat so she could see him. "Were you born with that or did you acquire it along the way?"
"Born with what?"
"The ability to charm the mothers, even over the phone, and even after you've just basically eloped with their daughters."
He rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about. Since I've never eloped before I don't have a whole lot of experience with how to talk to mothers-in-law."
&nbs
p; "Well, you said exactly what she needed to hear."
"That's good. I was afraid we were going to be adding them to our list of problems by telling them after the fact."
"Why don't we put that list aside for tonight, okay?"
He squeezed her hand. "Absolutely."
* * *
On the way back into the city, Ted called the hospital and was relieved to learn there had been no change in his grandmother's condition.
"Your grandparents were so sweet to do this," Caroline said as they rode the elevator to their suite on the top floor of the Ritz Carlton.
"It's just like them to think of something like this. Their generosity has always been astounding and even overwhelming at times. I wanted to kill them when they bought me the Mercedes."
"Why?"
He shrugged. "It just seemed so excessive and embarrassing. But it's the giving that delights them, and because there was never a single string attached to any of it, I stopped saying no and learned to just say thank you."
"You're a good boy, Ted Duffy."
With the rakish lift of an eyebrow, he said, "I'm a good boy who's having some very naughty thoughts about his wife at the moment."
She smiled and stepped aside so he could open the door. "Oh," she sighed when she caught her first glimpse of the opulent suite.
"Wait." He lifted her into his arms and carried her across the threshold. "I don't want to forget anything I'm supposed to do tonight."
She looped her arms around his neck and kissed him senseless.
That's where the bellman found them when he arrived with their bags. Embarrassed to have been caught, Ted eased her down and went to tip the man.
"Will there be anything else, Dr. Duffy?"
"No, thank you."
"Have a nice evening."
Ted closed the door and leaned back against it to gaze at Caroline. "Oh, I plan to."
She giggled at his lascivious expression. "Shouldn't we eat at some point?"
"Probably." He crooked his finger at her.
She went to him.
Reaching for her hand, he said, "Let me see." He took a good first look at her two new rings. "I like the way they look on you." He sighed. "My wife."
"Let me see yours."
He gave her his left hand, and she kissed the ring on his finger. "My husband."
"It's still kind of hard to believe, isn't it?"
"Totally. A week ago tonight I couldn't imagine how we'd ever find a way to be together."
"And now we have the rest of our lives." Still leaning against the door, he buried his hands in her hair and fell into a deep, soulful kiss, the effects of which he felt everywhere. When he finally resurfaced, he peppered her face with kisses. "My grandmother said the strangest thing to me before we left."
"What was that?"
"'I've done my part,' she said. 'Now you do yours.' What do you suppose that means?"
"I don't know." She pressed against his erection. "But it seems to me you're doing your part at the moment."
Ted groaned and everything else was forgotten.
Chapter 34
"Then he asked me to stand up for him," Parker said.
"Damn, man, what did you do?" Chip asked, astounded.
Parker handed Chip another beer. "The way he asked me…" Parker shook his head. "You wouldn't have been able to say no, either."
"So then they just got married?" Elise asked, still stunned by the news. "Right there in the hospital?"
Parker nodded. "It was short, sweet, and legal."
"Do you think they're really in love?" Elise asked.
"Yeah," Parker said with amazement. "As crazy as it sounds, they really seem to be. This is exactly what he said—'I'm marrying the woman I love, and because I was going to anyway I'm doing it now because my grandmother asked me to do it before she dies.' I'll tell you one thing, though, Mitzi was steaming."
"When in the world did this happen?" Elise asked. "I mean she and Smitty just broke up on Sunday! I don't get it."
"I don't either," Parker said. "I was as surprised by it as you are."
"Did he say anything about Smitty?" Chip asked.
"Just that there was a lot he needed to tell me and he would eventually. It was pretty obvious he didn't want to get into it on his wedding day."
"Has anyone heard from Smitty?" Elise asked.
"He called me with his flight info before he left Sydney, but not since then," Parker said. "I sure do hope he gets here in time to see Lillian. She really seemed to fade tonight after the wedding. I don't know how much time she has left."
"He'll be a mess if he doesn't get to see her," Elise agreed sadly.
"Did Smitty say anything about Duff and Caroline?" Chip asked.
"No, we haven't talked about it."
"Jesus," Chip muttered. "What a fucking mess. There's no way Duff and Smitty are ever going to be the same after this. Nothing will be."
"I've been thinking a lot about that since I first saw them together last night," Parker said as he opened a bottle of wine for Elise.
"That must've been so shocking," she said, her eyes full of empathy for Parker.
"I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach or something. I just can't figure out how it happened. The not knowing is driving me nuts."
"Me, too," Elise said. "You know, I walked in on them in the kitchen last weekend when you guys were in town. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but now it occurs to me they were having a pretty intense conversation."
Parker told them about finding Caroline on the stairs when he went home early on Friday night and the lies she and Ted had told him about it.
"This whole thing is so fucked up," Chip said in a burst of anger. "He acted all surprised on the phone with me this week when we were talking about Smitty going to Sydney, and he knew exactly why Smitty went."
"How do you suppose Smitty found out about them?" Elise asked. "And when?"
"I can't imagine," Parker said. "None of us knew, so how did he?"
"Maybe she told him," Elise said.
Chip shook his head. "I doubt it, but somehow he figured it out. I'll tell you what: I just can't get over Duff doing this to him of all people. We all know how tough he's had it."
"Duff said something to me tonight that really hit me right here," Parker said with his hand over his heart. "He asked me to remember what we've meant to each other for more than half our lives. I hadn't looked at it that way before—the half our lives part—and now that's all I can think about. I'm trying to keep that in mind and not judge him solely on what's happened in the last week."
Elise got up from the barstool in Parker's kitchen and went around the counter to hug him. "You're very sweet to look at it that way."
"You're forgetting about Smitty," Chip reminded him. "You've known him for half your life, too, and he sure as hell didn't deserve this—from either of them, but him especially."
"This is Ted, Chip," Elise pointed out. "He hasn't forgotten about Smitty. He must be so torn up about doing this to him."
Chip's eyes flashed with passion. "This is a black and white issue, Elise. There's no gray area here. She was his best friend's girlfriend. Hands off."
"They fell in love, babe. Come on. Don't be so unforgiving." She kept her arm around Parker. "What would you have done if I'd been going out with Parker when you met me?"
Playing along, Parker wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.
"Nothing!" Chip slapped his hand on the black granite countertop. "I would've done nothing! I wouldn't have done that to my best friend."
"You'd like to think so, but who knows what any of us would do," she said.
"You're being a romantic," Chip said. "We live in the real world where you don't do something like this to a friend. Am I right, Parker?"
Parker chewed on the inside of his cheek. "She does kind of have a point. We'd all like to think we know what we'd do in any given situation, but until you're in it…" He shrugged.
"Se
e?" Elise said with a victorious smile. "That's all I'm saying." She kissed Parker full on the lips. "I'm leaving him for you, you sexy beast."
"While that's a very tempting offer, honey, I'm afraid I have to decline," Parker said with a grin. "I'm taken."
Elise inhaled dramatically. "Do tell!"
Parker told them about Gina.
"Oh," Elise said with her hand over her mouth. "Oh, you're the romantic! I never knew you had it in you. What an amazing story! Isn't it, Chip?"
"All these secrets." Chip shook his head in disbelief. "I thought I knew you guys as well as I know myself."
"I didn't tell anyone for two years, Chip. I finally told Duff about it Sunday on the way home from Block Island. He was the first person I'd told. So don't be offended."
"I'm not," Chip said, clearly working hard not to be. "I'm happy for you. You know that."
"Thanks."
"While we're talking about all this touchy-feely bullshit and since you've now had some experience with the job, I wondered if you'd be my best man—that is, if you can get your filthy hands off my woman."
"I'd love to." Parker laughed as he reached across the counter to give Chip a high five.
"Good. Thank you."
"Have you set a date?"
"Thanksgiving weekend," Elise said.
The doorbell rang, and Parker went to answer it.
"Hey, this is a nice surprise," he said with a delighted smile when he found Gina on his doorstep. "Come in."
"I'm sorry I didn't call first, but you sounded so down on the phone that I wanted to come see you."
"You don't have to call first." He hugged her. "I'm so happy to see you." He hoped his kiss told her just how much.
She caressed his face. "Did you get to sleep at all?"
"Nope. I ended up at a wedding. How about you?"
"A couple of hours."
"I'm sorry I kept you up all night," he said with a grin.
"I'm not. It was the most wonderful night of my life."
"Mine, too."
"I had no idea it could be like that."
"It's never been like that for me, either," he confessed. "Where are the boys?"
"Staying with my sister tonight. She's so thrilled about us that she's offered to take them whenever she can to give us some time alone."
"Remind me to send her some flowers," Parker said with another kiss.