1:19 P.M.
Saturday, December 29th, 2018
Bel Air Presbyterian Church
Bel Air, California
The previous five months had gone by in a blur of planning and finger-pointing.
The CIA had been furious at Sarah’s actions in allowing Serenity to be destroyed. She had been placed on a leave of absence while a lengthy investigation was conducted. The investigation culminated with Sarah personally briefing President Bloomberg on the events of August 1st, 2018.
Following Sarah’s personal brief to the President, the official punishment had come down – she would be strongly censured by the House Intelligence Committee. However, President Bloomberg issued an edict that any further punishment or persecution of Sarah Walker would be met with the harshest possible judgment, and that she would remain in the position of DD(I).
This had, of course, enraged a number of hardcore members of the CIA, including Bryce Larkin. However, Bryce had changed his state of mind when Chuck called him and informed him that he would either grow up or he would not be invited to the wedding.
Following the end of the investigation, Sarah had taken further leave, citing a need for time off to recover both mentally and physically from her ordeal in July. The truth in fact behind the time off was that she had gotten a bug up to plan Kaylee and Chuck’s wedding, and nothing was going to stop her. Said bug had led Kaylee to eventually ask Sarah to be her maid of honor, a request which had almost caused Sarah to pass out. In addition to Sarah, Kaylee had asked Ellie, Zoe, and River to be bridesmaids – “pretty much all the women I know here,” Kaylee had cracked.
For some reason, none of the women had trusted any of the men to plan one iota of the wedding. Sarah was the designated wedding planner, and Ellie, Zoe, and River were her “lackeys, with Kaylee reigning as Bride-on-High,” Mal had grumbled one afternoon, as he, Chuck, and Devin were forced to wait outside yet another bridal shop. Ironically, the only male entrusted to any part of the planning was Jayne, who had generously offered the Playboy Mansion for the reception.
Life had, for the most part, returned to normal otherwise. Chuck had gone back to overseeing day-to-day operations of the Nerd Herd and the Omaha Project. His diet had been significantly modified to be more friendly to his hypertension, but aside from that, all was well.
Casey had been spending a lot more time in Los Angeles than before, claiming that as the chair of Buy More’s board, he needed to be able to access the company’s largest retail market during the holiday season. He thought he was fooling everybody, but everybody really saw through the bullshit and knew that he just wanted to spend time with Zoe.
Once Sarah’s leave had ended, she had started shuttling back and forth between Los Angeles and Washington. She spent four days a week in Washington, the bulk of her time out at Langley, but an ever-increasing amount of time was also spent at the Pentagon and the White House. Friday through Sunday, she was back in L.A., to work on the wedding and see Mal. “Something’s going to have to change,” she had mentioned to Chuck one weekend. “This is the exhausting pace from hell.”
The crew of Serenity, having already been “put into the system” by the CIA, were now given new lives – and hefty bank accounts to go with them. Mal reluctantly became a consultant for Boeing, after figuring out that the bulk of their business was civilian, not military. Zoe had started a high profile security firm. Simon had become a private practice physician, working out of Cedars-Sinai. Jayne and River, of course, were lords of the Playboy Empire. And Kaylee decided she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom – albeit a stay-at-home mom who kept the car running in top condition.
After the major hiccup of Mal and Sarah’s argument over Serenity, they had found their way to make up with each other. Sarah’s choice to destroySerenity to keep her from falling into the hands of the Air Force had made her star rise even higher in Mal’s sky than it already had been – “Who knew it was possible for him to think more of her,” Chuck had remarked in amazement.
The only real blip in anybody’s life had come on the day after Thanksgiving. Trying to spend a relaxing day with friends and family, Chuck and Casey had instead had to fly to Seattle to straighten things out after a prank caller had convinced Nerd Herd members at six different Buy More stores to call out “pineapple” over the P.A. system, prompting the stores’ evacuation.
Chuck’s bachelor party had finally rolled around, two nights before Christmas. All manner of suggestions had been brought up – most of them including Vegas. Interestingly, it was Morgan’s suggestion of a LAN party at the Playboy mansion that eventually won out. Unbeknownst to everybody else, Chuck had invited Bryce Larkin, who showed up and kicked everybody’s asses in Call of Duty X.
On the day of the wedding, Chuck had set his alarm clock to go off at 8:00, but was up and wandering around at 6:00. Kaylee, Sarah, Ellie, Zoe, and River were all staying at the Hotel Bel-Air, so he wasn’t concerned about running into any of them at the house. He was sitting in the kitchen of Devin and Ellie’s house, drinking decaf coffee – “Such crap,” he muttered – when Devin walked in.
“Morning, Chuckster,” Devin said. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“Well, yes and no,” Chuck replied. “I slept fine until 6:00, and then I woke up and just couldn’t fall asleep again.”
“Nerves getting to you?”
“You could say that,” Chuck admitted. “You know, you and Ellie’s wedding day – you just looked so calm and collected. How’d you do that?”
Devin shook his head and smiled. “It’s called a façade, Chuck. There I was, about to get married to this totally awesome woman. As long as we’d been together, I still had doubts about whether or not she’d take me as I was. I was a nervous wreck, but I put up my game face, because that’s what you’ve gotta do.”
Chuck looked at Devin in amazement. “I never had a clue.”
Devin laughed. “That’s why they call me Captain Awesome.”
At 10:00, the caravan departed for Bel-Air – Chuck and Morgan in Chuck’s DB7; Devin, Casey, Bryce, and the three kids in Devin’s Suburban; and Mal and Jayne in Mal’s giant Ford SuperDuty. “It’s a man thing,” Mal had offered lamely when Sarah asked him what the hell had possessed him to buy it. Simon was driving himself in his Corvette, since he had to go pick up Lou.
They arrived at Bel-Air Presbyterian Church at 11:00. Sarah met them in the parking lot, gave them a map of the church grounds with highlighted areas, and told them that under no circumstances were any of the men to go into the highlighted areas. “I have CIA snipers on the roofs to take down any man who does,” she said.
“Sure you do,” Casey replied sarcastically.
As the last two hours to the wedding counted down, Chuck found himself getting more and more nervous. He had been unable to tie his bowtie, and ended up asking Lou to do it when she arrived with Simon. He couldn’t sit still, finding himself bouncing out of every chair he sat down in within two minutes. Bryce had to stop him pacing more than once. “You’ll walk a new path in the carpet,” the DD(O) had said with a laugh.
Finally, at 12:55, the pastor had poked his head into the room the men were waiting in. “It’s time, gentlemen,” he said.
Chuck could hear Bach’sJesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring being played on the harpsichord as they entered from the side of the sanctuary – on the harpsichord? he thought in surprise. As he reached his place on the chancel, he looked to the side of the church, and not only was there a harpsichord, but there was a pianist, an organist, a string quartet, and an electric guitarist, bassist, and drummer. “Wow,” he breathed, as Morgan, Bryce, Casey, and Devin took their places next to him.
After a moment, the harpsichord fell silent as the string quartet began to play Pachelbel’s Canon in D. That was apparently a cue of some sort, as Chuck saw an usher in the back of the church walk out into the narthex and give somebody a thumbs up. The side doors began to close, leaving only the main doors standing open. Then, little Chuck appeared in the doorway.
He began to march up the aisle holding a tiny pillow with Chuck and Kaylee’s rings on it. They had been attached to the pillow using a very loose stitch, so that they wouldn’t fall off, but would still be easy enough to be removed. The rings themselves had an odd look to them – Chuck still had a fair amount of the titanium from Serenity’s hull that he had had Kaylee’s ring made from, so they had taken that to a jeweler, who managed to create bands that were twists of the titanium and fourteen karat gold. The exterior of each was etched with the words, “Peace, Love, Serenity,” and the interior of each said, “Kaylee & Chuck, 12/29/18.”
As little Chuck came up the aisle, there was a subtle shift in the sound of the strings, as they changed from Canon in D to another song. Chuck knew the string part was familiar, but couldn’t actually figure out what the song was.
Chuck was still racking his brain trying to figure out what the song was as Jordan came through the doorway and came walking down the aisle, dropping rose petals as she went. As little Chuck took his place next to his father and River appeared in the doorway, the melody began to play on the piano, and the light went on in Chuck’s head.
“Of course,” he whispered. “It’s Across the Universe!”
Morgan overheard him. “That’s a pretty appropriate song, wouldn’t you say?”
Chuck smiled and shook his head, thinking back to that day, so long ago, when Kaylee had first heard the song on his iPhone. “You have no idea.”
The song continued to play as Zoe came down the aisle, and then Sarah, building as it did so. Finally, it reached the climax of the song, and the guitars and drums kicked in as Kaylee appeared in the doorway. The congregation rose as one as Mal escorted Kaylee down the aisle to the altar.
When Chuck saw Kaylee, his smile grew so big that he felt like his face was going to split in two. Looking back at her, he saw a smile matching his own on her face. Nothing’s gonna change my world, he thought as the Beatles song played. Yeah, right.
Kaylee and Mal stopped a few feet in front of the altar as the band finished the song. At that point, Devin looked over at Michael, sitting in the front row, and gave him a little nod. Michael stood, and climbed the steps of the chancel to the pulpit.
“A reading from the book of First Corinthians,” he said in his little seven year-old voice.
“Love is patient, love is kind. Love is not envious, or boastful, or arrogant, or rude. It does not insist on its own way, it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
“Love never ends.”
As Michael descended from the chancel, the pastor intoned, “The Word of the Lord.”
“Thanks be to God,” the congregation replied.
“Please be seated.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together in the house of God, and in the presence of this company, to join together this man and woman in holy matrimony, which is commended to be honorable among all men; and therefore, is not by any, to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, and solemnly. Into this holy estate, these two persons present now come to be judged. If any person can show just cause why they may not be joined together, let them speak now, or forever hold their peace.”
A smile spread on Simon’s face, and he started to creep his hand upward, but Lou smacked him in the back of the head. “Knock it off.”
“Marriage is the union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind. It is intended for their mutual joy, and for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity. But more importantly, it is a means through which a stable and loving environment may be attained.”
“He looks really uncomfortable,” Simon whispered to Jayne.
“Who does?” Jayne whispered back.
“Casey,” Simon replied. “He looks like he’s about to choke in that tuxedo.”
“Through marriage, Charles Irving Bartowski and Kaywinnit Lee Frye make a commitment together to face their disappointments, embrace their dreams, realize their hopes, and accept each other’s failures. Chuck and Kaylee will promise one another to aspire to these ideals throughout their lives together, through mutual understanding, openness, and sensitivity to each other.”
Casey did, in fact, look like he was about to choke. “Guess he’s just not real good with tuxedos,” Jayne whispered.
“We are here today, before God, because marriage is one of His most sacred wishes, to witness the joining in marriage of Chuck and Kaylee. This occasion marks the celebration of love and commitment with which this man and this woman begin their lives together. And now, He joins you together in one of the holiest bonds.
“Who gives this woman in marriage to this man?”
“I do,” said Mal, stepping forward. “Malcolm Reynolds. I give Kaylee on behalf of her family and friends.”
Turning to Kaylee, he hugged her, and then kissed her gently on the cheek. Mal turned back to the front pew to sit, while Kaylee slowly climbed the steps of the chancel to stand facing Chuck.
“This is a beginning and a continuation of their growth as individuals. With mutual care, respect, responsibility and knowledge comes the affirmation of each one’s own life happiness, growth and freedom. With respect for individual boundaries comes the freedom to love unconditionally. Within the emotional safety of a loving relationship – the knowledge self-offered one another becomes the fertile soil for continued growth. With care and responsibility towards self and one another comes the potential for full and happy lives.
“By gathering together all the wishes of happiness and our fondest hopes for Chuck and Kaylee from all present here, we assure them that our hearts are in tune with theirs. These moments are so meaningful to all of us, for ‘what greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined together – to strengthen each other in all labor – to minister to each other in all sorrow – to share with each other in all gladness’.”
“Daddy…” Little Chuck tugged on Chuck’s pants leg. Chuck looked down. “I have to pee,” his son whispered.
“Can it wait?” Chuck whispered back.
“Noooo…”
Chuck made eye contact with Mal, and pointed at little Chuck, then nodded his head slightly toward the back of the church. Mal nodded, gave little Chuck a “come here” signal, and escorted him to the narthex as a subdued giggle passed through the congregation.
“This relationship stands for love, loyalty, honesty and trust, but most of all for friendship. Before they knew love, they were friends, and it was from this seed of friendship that is their destiny. Do not think that you can direct the course of love – for love, if it finds you worthy, shall direct you.”
Bryce leaned over to Morgan. “When do we get to the part where Chuck and Kaylee go off and have sex and we all go get plastered?” he whispered.
Morgan started to giggle. He tried, somewhat successfully, to restrain it, but succeeded solely in earning himself a dirty look from Sarah on the other side.
“Marriage is an act of faith and a personal commitment as well as a moral and physical union between two people. Marriage has been described as the best and most important relationship that can exist between them. It is the construction of their love and trust into a single growing energy of spiritual life. It is a moral commitment that requires and deserves daily attention. Marriage should be a life long consecration of the ideal of loving kindness – backed with the will to make it last.”
Simon had started following along in one of Shepherd Book’s old books of liturgy. “Here comes the good part,” he whispered, elbowing a dozing Jayne in the side.
“Do you, Charles Irving Bartowski, take Kaywinnit Lee Frye to be your wife in holy matrimony? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and be devoted to, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?”
Chuck looked into Kaylee’s eyes. The smile on his face could’ve powered every house in Los Angeles just then.
“I do,” he said softly.
“Do you, Kaywinnit Lee Frye, take Charles Irving Bartowski to be your husband in holy matrimony? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sadness and in joy, to cherish and be devoted to, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?”
Kaylee looked back at Chuck. Her smile looked just about bright enough to outshine the sun.
“I most definitely do.”
“What token of love do you offer?”
Chuck looked down to take the rings from little Chuck. “Oh, crap,” he muttered.
A smile started to spread itself across Casey’s face. “This is why you give the rings to the best man,” he whispered to nobody in particular.
“They’re coming! They’re coming!” Mal’s voice rang out from the back of the church, as he ran forward, little Chuck, shaking with laughter, tucked under Mal’s right arm like a football. As Mal ran, little Chuck grasped the rings in his right hand and pulled them off the pillow.
“Here you go, Daddy,” little Chuck said, handing the rings to his father. A few people started to clap. Mal took a mock bow, and then returned to his seat.
Chuck turned and placed the rings in the pastor’s hand.
“May these rings be blessed as the symbol of this affectionate unity. These two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle. Wherever they go, may they always return to one another. May these two find in each other the love for which all men and women yearn. May they grow in understanding and in compassion. May the home which they establish together be such a place that many will find there a friend. May these rings on their fingers symbolize the touch of the spirit of love in their hearts.”
The pastor handed the smaller of the two rings back to Chuck.
“Chuck,” he said, “as you place this ring on Kaylee’s finger, please repeat these words: Kaylee, you are now consecrated to me as my wife from this day forward…”
“Kaylee, you are now consecrated to me as my wife from this day forward…”
“And I give you this ring as the pledge of my love and as the symbol of our unity…”
“And I give you this ring as the pledge of my love and as the symbol of our unity…”
“And with this ring, I thee wed.”
“And with this ring, I thee wed.” Chuck slipped the ring onto the ring finger of Kaylee’s left hand.
The pastor turned to Kaylee and handed the other ring to her.
“Kaylee, as you place this ring on Chuck’s finger –“
Kaylee cut him off. “Chuck Bartowski, you are now consecrated to me as my husband from this day forward, and I give you this ring as the pledge of my love and the symbol of our unity, and with this ring, I thee wed.”
As she slipped the ring onto Chuck’s finger, he mouthed, “Show-off.” Kaylee nodded and giggled a little.
With an amused look, the pastor moved on to the last part. “May you always share with each other the gifts of love, be one in heart in mind, may you always create a home together that puts in your hearts love, generosity and kindness.
“In as much as Chuck and Kaylee have consented together in marriage before this company of friends and family and have pledged their faith, and declared their unity by giving and receiving a ring, they are now joined.
“You have pronounced yourselves husband and wife, but remember to always be each other’s best friend.
“What, therefore, God has joined together, let no man put asunder.
“It is by the power vested in me by the State of California and by Almighty God that I now pronounce you husband and wife.
“Mr. Bartowski, you may kiss your bride!”
Chuck pulled Kaylee to him and kissed her, eliciting a round of applause, which quickly changed to laughter when little Chuck spouted off with an, “Ewwww!”
With a smile, the pastor looked out at the congregation and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Chuck and Kaylee Bartowski.”
3:15 P.M. The Playboy Mansion
Bel Air, California
When Jayne had offered the Playboy Mansion for the reception, Chuck had tried to offer him something in return. Jayne had outright refused. “Y’all are family,” he had grumbled. “I ain’t the type of person to be takin’ money from family.”
Now, as the reception was in full swing, Chuck looked around the back lawn of the Mansion to see the truly strange events that had come to pass. Mal and Sarah – he never would’ve expected that one. Less still, though, had he expected Casey and Zoe. He shook his head in astonishment.
“Oh wow,” Morgan said as Casey planted a kiss on an unexpecting Zoe Washburne.
“She isn’t putting up too much of a fight,” said Bryce, planting himself in his seat at the front table.
Mal casually strolled up to the table. “So, you folks aren’t gonna believe this,” he muttered, just loud enough for Bryce to hear.
“Oh, gossip?” Bryce asked. “Always fun.”
“Not gossip… fact, actually,” Mal replied.
He stopped for a moment. “Sarah’s pregnant.”
Chuck, Morgan, and Bryce just stared back at him in stunned silence, Chuck’s fork falling out of his hand and clattering to the table. “What?” Morgan finally said.
“Two months,” Mal said, “and I think she just told Kaylee.”
“I think you’re right,” Chuck said, as he watched Kaylee jump up and down and throw her arms around Sarah.
Then Chuck stood up and tapped his champagne flute with a spoon. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make.”
The back lawn fell silent. “What the hell are you doing?” Mal muttered.
“I have just been told some quite joyous news,” Chuck said. “Seven months from now –“
“Give or take a few days,” Simon called out, knowing immediately what Chuck was talking about, having been the one to tell Sarah.
“This ridiculous multi-century family will welcome another member. Sarah Walker and Mal Reynolds are expecting a kid of their own.”
A round of applause broke out, as Sarah stood and smiled – and shot Chuck a “you’re gonna pay for that one” look.
Chuck looked out over the lawn. His family, his friends, all gathered together. Four days after Christmas. “This is the real meaning of Christmas,” he said softly, taking it all in.
“What do you mean?” asked Morgan, having heard him.
“Look around you,” Chuck said. “Friends, family, all here. People are happy – which might be because the booze is flowing, but they’re still happy. Pretty soon, we can probably expect Jayne and Awesome to start singing karaoke. You know, Casey and Zoe seem to have really clicked, Sarah’s in love and having a kid with Mal – which is incredible – and I’m married to the most wonderful woman in the world.”
“You’re right, buddy, this is pretty incredible,” Morgan replied. He clapped his hand on Chuck’s shoulder.
“Yes, indeed, Morgan. All is right with the world.”
