Page 34 of Return of the Nine

Tonos nodded and stepped in front of Tiera. “Lord Rothaway, may I have the hand of your charge in legal and moral bonding?”

Ziggy was grinning.

Rothaway inclined his head. “Provided that you honour her and keep her safe.”

Rothaway winced as Ziggy drove her elbow into his side. “And you will have to allow my mate unlimited access to your lady.”

“Of course. So, it is approved then?”

“It is.”

“You will act as my second?”

“My mate and I will witness and guard you.”

Tonos grinned. “Thank you for the honour.”

Tiera poked him. “What is going on?”

Ziggy snorted, “Tonos just proposed to you via Rothaway, and my darling husband accepted due to your confirmation through the initialization of the kiss with Tonos in front of witnesses. You said yes, so he has the right to wed you. It is backward from the Gaian standard, but everyone gets their say.”

Tiera blinked. “Just like that?”

Ziggy laughed. “Come along. We will get you dressed for your mating and by then Tonos should have finished the chemical flush at medical that will allow him a normal wedding night.”

The blush that fired her cheeks made her friend laugh. “Wait. What will I tell my mom?”

“Tell her that you are getting married to one of the Nine. She will be upset and probably want to cater a reception on Gaia, but she will get over it if you are happy.” Ziggy grinned. “Shall we go and make that call?”

It went surprisingly well until Tiera mentioned that she was marrying a Fairy.

“He’s gay, dear?”

“No, Mom. He has huge wings like a Terran dragonfly. I have never actually seen him fly, but I have seen others of his race zipping around the mother ship.”

“I don’t know what the hurry is.”

Tiera debated how to tell her mother and settled on, “It is a tradition of the Nine. We had dinner and a date and now we are getting married.”

“Why can’t you wait?”

“It isn’t the way they do things, Mom.” An image filled Tiera’s mind of her mother meeting Tonos for the first time with his wings deadly silver and his eyes red. Oh, that would go over well.

“Can we at least meet him?”

“After the wedding, Mom. I will have him make arrangements to come for a visit. Is that okay?”

Her mother sighed heavily. “If you are happy, then I am happy. I just wish I had made his acquaintance before you decided he was the one for you.”

“He is a good guy, Mom, and a medic, so he has a good job.” Tiera had no idea if that was true, but it sounded plausible.

To one side where Teva could not see her, Ziggy was chortlingsilently. Tiera looked around for something to throw at her friend and then got an idea. “I can stay up here with Ziggy. She is so lonely, Mom. It’s sad really.”

A cushion flipped and landed squarely in Tiera’s face. Teva grinned on the other end of the connection. “Well, if you girls are having fun up there and you are sure that this is the man for you, we will wait until you can make it down here to have a party, but we will have a reception for you, Tiera, make no mistake about that.”

The threat was in the air, and looking into her mother’s determined face, she knew that if she and Tonos did not make it down to Gaia in short order, Teva and Renault would make their way up to the mother ship, and they would bring the whole neighbourhood with them.

“I love you, Mom. Never doubt that. Thanks for wanting me to be happy.”

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