Conjugated - A Jonnor Tale

Chapter Sixty: Where You Belong

Chapter Sixty: Where You Belong

This day I will marry my best friend,

The one I laugh with, live for, dream with, love.

It was almost spring, and the weather was already feeling the season; it was pleasantly warm, with a sighing breeze that stirred trees that still only had leaf buds. The sun was bright and hazy above a thin layer of cloud wrapping the sky like gauze. "Such a perfect day for a wedding," Sophia said to Myranda, as the latter placed a candle fixture on a table and lit it with a wand lighter.

"I want my wedding day to be like this," Myranda replied, smiling broadly. "Not too hot, not too cold."

Sophia nodded over to Kyle, who was setting chairs up. He was wearing a sweater vest and a hoodie. "Except for Ky."

Myranda chuckled. "He's always cold. Warm heart though."

"Yeah, he seems to be doing better since Dad took him as a client," Sophia said.

"He's as good as I've ever seen him," Myranda agreed. "Hey!" she yelled at Jay and Snapback. "Quit sucking faces and get back to work!"

Jay gave her a middle-finger gesture, good natured of course, and reluctantly broke away from his beloved to help Kyle set up chairs.

Myranda grinned and watched as Corey precariously carried a very-full punchbowl over to a table and carefully sat it down; to his credit, there were no spills. Nicole was following him with a tray of glass cups, and Myranda's gaze swept up the stairway to where Taylor was standing in a dress suit, carrying a clipboard that she was studying intently, obviously leaving nothing to chance. On the other side of the courtyard, Daria was setting up flowers along the balustrade. Mariana and Brandon were practicing at the piano. "Where are the grooms?" she asked Sophia. "It looks like everything's ready except them."

"Ian's picking them and Judge Ringer up now." She looked up as Selfridge and another man came out of the house and started down the stairs. "Is that who I think it is?" she asked in surprise.

***

Ian was driving the new car his parents had just gotten, the Telsa SUV. Judge Ringer was in the passenger seat and Jude and Connor were in the back; to Jude's surprise it had been Ringer who asked Ian to demonstrate the "ludicrous" speed mode, which indeed, lived up to its billing.

Ian pulled into the gates of the Selfridge Manor and stopped by the bottom of the stairs. Jude got out, marveling at the gull-wing doors, and his mouth opened in surprise as he saw who was waiting for them. "Reverend Tolleson," he greeted, shaking the pastor's hand. He looked at the priest in puzzlement. "What are you doing here?"

"Watching you and Connor get married, of course," Tolleson said. "I can understand your confusion, and yes, I still think marriage should be between a man and a woman. However, I respect the laws of this land, even if I don't agree with them, unlike that woman in Kentucky."

"Wow," Jude said. "I would not have expected this."

"Well Jude-and this is very important-what unites us has always been more important than what divides us. A lot of people have lost sight of that. We're lucky to live in a country where we have the freedom to believe what we wish to, and to disagree with each other. But that doesn't mean that we should stop loving, supporting or caring for one another."

Another couple was coming down the stairs now, and Jude was even more shocked to recognize that it was Corey's mom and dad.

"Hello," he greeted. "To be honest I'm kind of surprised."