Stage Five: Acceptance
September 28, 1996
It had already been one of the happiest nights of my life, the night of my wedding to Goliath (or, as the others in the Clan called it, our “Mating Ceremony”). Everyone had worked so hard to make it right. Hudson had risked much and revealed our real identity to his human friend, the blind author, Jeffery Robbins and asked that we be able to hold the ceremony as his home. Broadway had baked and cooked up a storm, ably assisted by Angela. Brooklyn and Lexington had been drafted into service under Mom’s direction setting up the decorations and everything else. My father and sister had, with a little help from Maggie, convinced my brother to come, in spite of his objections. Matt called in a few favors and got flowers for the decorations.
The dress-which has fit perfectly-had been delivered to my parent’s home back in July, not long after the fight with Oberon. The card included with it had simply said, “For whenever Ms. Maza needs it. One small step toward repayment. -X” Damn the man’s ability to predict people. But it had been a missing piece, one I’d eventually reluctantly accepted. Besides… I looked damn good in it.
Though we’d gotten home in July (and even with as simple as our wedding would be to plan once we figured out what elements of each culture we wanted), I’d wanted to wait until September to hold it. September 28 marked exactly one year since I had become a Gargoyle. It was the day back in 1995 that had really changed everything. It was the end of one chapter, the start of another. And so I thought the date should mark the change yet again.
There, before Clan, family, and friends, Goliath and I declared our love for each other, promising that the two of us would be one, now and forever. Everything we had been through, from the first moment we met, through all our trials and tribulations, had brought us to that moment. And all of it, even the pain and heartbreak, had been worth it for that one perfect moment.
Plenty of pictures, little more than simple Polaroids and a little bit of videotape, were taken. More than enough to fill a wedding album that few people would ever be able to see. I didn’t mind the personal secrecy, not too much, but my poor parents, maybe never able to tell the world that their daughter was happily married….
It wasn’t exactly the way I had pictured my wedding when I’d been a little girl, but it was one I’d always remember. It was mine and I’d treasure the memories of it always. Goliath may not have been the guy I thought I’d fall for… but now I couldn’t see myself with anyone else.
After the ceremony and the “reception,” Goliath and I headed off. We hadn’t talked much about what would happen after… but needless to say, the clock tower wouldn’t have been an option. It was clear, however, as we glided over the city, that he had some kind of destination in mind.
“Where we going, Goliath?”
He grinned in a mysterious and pleased way and put a finger to his lips. “It is a surprise.”
This was a side of Goliath I hadn’t seen much of before, but I decided not to press the issue. Goliath seemed so nervous and pleased at the same time that I didn’t dare try to break the spell.
It wasn’t long before we landed on the roof of a fancy hotel. Goliath headed straight for the roof access door. Something here definitely wasn’t adding up, especially since it was unlocked. He beckoned for me to follow. I should have protested that we couldn’t, that we’d be seen, but something made me decide not to.
We didn’t encounter anyone as we made our way down the stairs and into the hotel proper. I followed Goliath, wondering if this was all some kind of crazy dream. He stopped before one of the suite doors and pulled a keycard from his belt pouch, using it to unlock the door. Then, before I even knew what was going on, he scooped me up into his arms and carried me into the room.
This was getting to be entirely too much. “Goliath,” I said when I could finally find my voice, “what is all this? How did you…?”
“Reynard,” Goliath explained. “Once we had settled upon today for our Mating Ceremony, I visited him and explained how I wished to make this day special and important for you, how I wished to do right by you. He arranged this all, and has promised me we will not be disturbed while we are here. After how we had defended his grandchild, he called it the least he could do.”
I smiled. “Oh, Big Guy…” He’d really gone all out. God, how I loved him.
I let him put me down, and looked to the bedroom. “Should we… are you ready too…?”
Goliath took my hand and nodded, gently leading the way. For the first time in what seemed like forever, I felt butterflies in my stomach, a giddy nervousness I couldn’t even begin to explain. There had been other men before Goliath, of course. Goliath was hardly a novice either, as Angela’s presence could well attest to. We’d even been a little bit frisky during the course of our budding relationship, though we’d stopped well short of sex or much resembling it.
In Goliath, I had found the perfect partner and friend, and now I was worried about being a good enough lover. I wanted to be able to give myself to him fully, body and soul, but lingering doubt persisted.
In the bedroom, we looked at each other nervously, an awkwardness hanging in the air. I kissed him, then slipped from his arms. I turned around and looked over my shoulder. “Unzip me?”
He did, carefully, and I could swear his hand was trembling. I let the dress fall to the floor and heard a sharp intake of breath. Slowly, both because of my own nervousness and to prolong the moment, I removed my underwear. Hesitatingly, like some teenager with her boyfriend about to make love for the first time, I turned around.
Goliath’s second sharp intake of breath, combined with a slight change in scent that I remembered from other times but now recognized as arousal, told me everything I needed to know. And yet I asked anyway, “Do you… like what you see?”
His face was a mixture of love and lust and amazement. “You are beautiful,” he said, his voice little more than an awed whisper. He took a cautious, hesitant step toward me. I took his hand and guided it to my breast, shivering in pleasure as he ran his hand over my body. I moved closer and pressed my body against his. Our lips met and our passions stirred. I let m hands drift over, undoing his belt. His loincloth fell to the floor.
It was passionate. It was intense. It was amazing. It was noisy.
I’m not sure how long it lasted. We made it to the bed at one point. It either wasn’t build very well or we may have, ah, broken it in the throes of passion. We were at each other like a couple of newlyweds, which was what we were. All the passion that had been building up inside us was finally released.
It wasn’t Vegas or Niagara Falls or anything like that. Just the two of us in a fancy hotel suite for a couple of nights with room service left outside the door and the two of us getting to know every inch of each other.
It was only a couple of days. After, we’d go back to the clock tower and resume our duties with the Clan, protecting a city that didn’t know we existed and tended to react with fear when it did. Such was my life. Once human and alone, now a mated Gargoyle with a Clan and a purpose.
And on that night, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. I said good-bye to the past and greeted a brand new future.
It had already been one of the happiest nights of my life, the night of my wedding to Goliath (or, as the others in the Clan called it, our “Mating Ceremony”). Everyone had worked so hard to make it right. Hudson had risked much and revealed our real identity to his human friend, the blind author, Jeffery Robbins and asked that we be able to hold the ceremony as his home. Broadway had baked and cooked up a storm, ably assisted by Angela. Brooklyn and Lexington had been drafted into service under Mom’s direction setting up the decorations and everything else. My father and sister had, with a little help from Maggie, convinced my brother to come, in spite of his objections. Matt called in a few favors and got flowers for the decorations.
The dress-which has fit perfectly-had been delivered to my parent’s home back in July, not long after the fight with Oberon. The card included with it had simply said, “For whenever Ms. Maza needs it. One small step toward repayment. -X” Damn the man’s ability to predict people. But it had been a missing piece, one I’d eventually reluctantly accepted. Besides… I looked damn good in it.
Though we’d gotten home in July (and even with as simple as our wedding would be to plan once we figured out what elements of each culture we wanted), I’d wanted to wait until September to hold it. September 28 marked exactly one year since I had become a Gargoyle. It was the day back in 1995 that had really changed everything. It was the end of one chapter, the start of another. And so I thought the date should mark the change yet again.
There, before Clan, family, and friends, Goliath and I declared our love for each other, promising that the two of us would be one, now and forever. Everything we had been through, from the first moment we met, through all our trials and tribulations, had brought us to that moment. And all of it, even the pain and heartbreak, had been worth it for that one perfect moment.
Plenty of pictures, little more than simple Polaroids and a little bit of videotape, were taken. More than enough to fill a wedding album that few people would ever be able to see. I didn’t mind the personal secrecy, not too much, but my poor parents, maybe never able to tell the world that their daughter was happily married….
It wasn’t exactly the way I had pictured my wedding when I’d been a little girl, but it was one I’d always remember. It was mine and I’d treasure the memories of it always. Goliath may not have been the guy I thought I’d fall for… but now I couldn’t see myself with anyone else.
After the ceremony and the “reception,” Goliath and I headed off. We hadn’t talked much about what would happen after… but needless to say, the clock tower wouldn’t have been an option. It was clear, however, as we glided over the city, that he had some kind of destination in mind.
“Where we going, Goliath?”
He grinned in a mysterious and pleased way and put a finger to his lips. “It is a surprise.”
This was a side of Goliath I hadn’t seen much of before, but I decided not to press the issue. Goliath seemed so nervous and pleased at the same time that I didn’t dare try to break the spell.
It wasn’t long before we landed on the roof of a fancy hotel. Goliath headed straight for the roof access door. Something here definitely wasn’t adding up, especially since it was unlocked. He beckoned for me to follow. I should have protested that we couldn’t, that we’d be seen, but something made me decide not to.
We didn’t encounter anyone as we made our way down the stairs and into the hotel proper. I followed Goliath, wondering if this was all some kind of crazy dream. He stopped before one of the suite doors and pulled a keycard from his belt pouch, using it to unlock the door. Then, before I even knew what was going on, he scooped me up into his arms and carried me into the room.
This was getting to be entirely too much. “Goliath,” I said when I could finally find my voice, “what is all this? How did you…?”
“Reynard,” Goliath explained. “Once we had settled upon today for our Mating Ceremony, I visited him and explained how I wished to make this day special and important for you, how I wished to do right by you. He arranged this all, and has promised me we will not be disturbed while we are here. After how we had defended his grandchild, he called it the least he could do.”
I smiled. “Oh, Big Guy…” He’d really gone all out. God, how I loved him.
I let him put me down, and looked to the bedroom. “Should we… are you ready too…?”
Goliath took my hand and nodded, gently leading the way. For the first time in what seemed like forever, I felt butterflies in my stomach, a giddy nervousness I couldn’t even begin to explain. There had been other men before Goliath, of course. Goliath was hardly a novice either, as Angela’s presence could well attest to. We’d even been a little bit frisky during the course of our budding relationship, though we’d stopped well short of sex or much resembling it.
In Goliath, I had found the perfect partner and friend, and now I was worried about being a good enough lover. I wanted to be able to give myself to him fully, body and soul, but lingering doubt persisted.
In the bedroom, we looked at each other nervously, an awkwardness hanging in the air. I kissed him, then slipped from his arms. I turned around and looked over my shoulder. “Unzip me?”
He did, carefully, and I could swear his hand was trembling. I let the dress fall to the floor and heard a sharp intake of breath. Slowly, both because of my own nervousness and to prolong the moment, I removed my underwear. Hesitatingly, like some teenager with her boyfriend about to make love for the first time, I turned around.
Goliath’s second sharp intake of breath, combined with a slight change in scent that I remembered from other times but now recognized as arousal, told me everything I needed to know. And yet I asked anyway, “Do you… like what you see?”
His face was a mixture of love and lust and amazement. “You are beautiful,” he said, his voice little more than an awed whisper. He took a cautious, hesitant step toward me. I took his hand and guided it to my breast, shivering in pleasure as he ran his hand over my body. I moved closer and pressed my body against his. Our lips met and our passions stirred. I let m hands drift over, undoing his belt. His loincloth fell to the floor.
It was passionate. It was intense. It was amazing. It was noisy.
I’m not sure how long it lasted. We made it to the bed at one point. It either wasn’t build very well or we may have, ah, broken it in the throes of passion. We were at each other like a couple of newlyweds, which was what we were. All the passion that had been building up inside us was finally released.
It wasn’t Vegas or Niagara Falls or anything like that. Just the two of us in a fancy hotel suite for a couple of nights with room service left outside the door and the two of us getting to know every inch of each other.
It was only a couple of days. After, we’d go back to the clock tower and resume our duties with the Clan, protecting a city that didn’t know we existed and tended to react with fear when it did. Such was my life. Once human and alone, now a mated Gargoyle with a Clan and a purpose.
And on that night, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. I said good-bye to the past and greeted a brand new future.