June 2, 1979 had turned out to be a wonderful day for the outdoor wedding and reception for Brad and Barbie Seldon on the grounds of Robert and Lisa Clark's Bel Air mansion. Everyone was having a wonderful time under the big tent, listening to the band, munching on heavy hors d'oeuvres and sipping champagne or other drinks from the open bar.
Charlie Richards and Lily Wilson had been celebrating heartily, downing champagne like it was going out of style! Not only were they happy for their good friends Brad and Barbie, but they had also recently graduated with honors from UCLA's pre-med program and would be starting medical school soon... and they were secretly engaged. Charlie had formally proposed to Lily and she had accepted. They figured it was time to finally tell their parents...
They separated briefly to go find their parents and get them together so they could tell them the happy news. When they started looking around, they were surprised at first when they found Larry and Maria Wilson and Charles and Diana Richards already at the same table... along with all their other friends. Charlie and Lily looked at each other and snorted with laughter as they realized they should've known they'd already find them together!
Larry and Maria and Charles and Diana all glanced at each other and smirked... they knew what was coming. But they didn't want to spoil what their children thought would be a surprise to them, so they waited until Charlie and Lily stopped their tipsy laughter and sobered for their announcement.
Charlie cleared his throat and took Lily's hand as he faced their parents. "Mom, Dad... Uncle Larry, Aunt Maria... you know Lily and I have been best friends for years, but... we've also been in love. I've asked Lily to marry me and she's said yes! So I hope this isn't a problem for any of you..."
Larry Wilson stood up and walked over to Charlie and put his hand on his shoulder as he said, "Son, the only problem I'd have is if you didn't marry my daughter since you've been bedding her for over four years now!"
Lily gasped and her face flushed as she stared wide-eyed at her father. Charlie glanced nervously back and forth between his fiancée and his future father-in-law, noticing how their eyes were the same sparkling ocean blue color, though Larry's held a twinkle of amusement at the moment. But Lily's eyes had always struck him as so beautiful because her olive toned skin and dark hair from her mother made the blue of her eyes seem even deeper than Larry's with his fair skin and blonde hair.
Charlie chuckled sheepishly as he looked Larry in the eyes and replied, "Well... it's not like we've been doing it every day or every week! Sometimes we go a month or two before we can find time to spend together! You know, our class loads have been pretty stressful and it's only going to get worse once we get into med school! If we didn't have each other to relieve our stress in some way, we'd go crazy!!!" he ended emphatically as he realized just how much he and Lily needed each other.
Larry chuckled as he heard the other adults behind him snickering at how serious Charlie had grown while trying to explain why he needed his daughter so badly. Then he grew serious as he stared into the young man's wary gray blue eyes. "Son, I don't doubt that you and Lily are perfect for each other. Just promise me that you'll love her and support her in whatever way she needs and you and I will never have a problem."
Charlie nodded solemnly, so Larry looked over at his beautiful daughter and said, "My lovely spring Lily... if you truly love this young man, then marry him soon so you two can start spending more time together relieving each other's stress!" he said jokingly with a huge smile.
Lily chuckled and threw her arms around her father's neck and shared a hug with him for a moment. All the other adults got up and came over to congratulate the youngsters. Charles and Diana both hugged Lily tightly and told her how happy they were to be getting such a wonderful daughter-in-law. And Maria Wilson hugged Charlie and told him that she'd always known they were perfect for each other and was glad they were finally going to make it permanent.
Word soon spread among all their friends and siblings so that Charlie and Lily spent another half hour or so being sidelined by people wanting to congratulate them. Megan North was especially happy for her twin half-brother... Charlie had always looked after Megan when they were little until Brad had taken over that job when they turned thirteen.
Megan had always known Charlie loved her and she'd found it so strange that he seemed to know when she was starting to get sick. Even before she would feel any symptoms, Charlie would know when she was about to come down with a cold or the flu. Even when she contracted chicken pox and the mumps, he'd known she'd been exposed... and he'd always taken such good care of her while she was sick.
That's why it was no surprise to Megan when Charlie had said he wanted to become a doctor... it seemed as though it was what he was born to be. And Lily Wilson seemed to have been born to be his soul mate... Who could better understand the dedication it takes to become a doctor than someone whose life was also dedicated to the same purpose? Yes... they were perfect for each other...
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Cadet Karen Moss was grateful when Lt. Hanson and the other Air Force Academy graduates allowed her to sit at the table with them. She was doing her best to avoid the bride's brother, Rickie Estevez, and she was hoping he'd be too intimidated to approach a table full of men in uniform just to talk to her. It seemed to work... every time she glanced his way he was ignoring her.
Rickie finally gave up hoping that Karen Moss had changed her initial opinion of him just because she'd smiled at him when he laughed at Barbie getting swatted on the ass by Jay Hanson's sword. She was seated with a table full of young, good-looking Air Force officers in uniform and he never could catch her eye. Why would she be interested him any way?!! He was just a lowly L.A.P.D. cop... the only reason he caught most girl's eyes was because he rode a motorcycle. He just wished he could forget how excited he'd felt the moment he'd touched her hand...
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Lt. Jay Hanson was watching a beautiful young woman who looked to be a younger version of the groom's mother. He guessed correctly that she was his good friend Brad's younger sister Didi... and he frowned slightly as he remembered Brad had always complained what a brat she was!
She didn't look anything like a brat to him... but he knew Brad had always used the term endearingly. Jay couldn't take his eyes off of her... she was so tall and shapely with gorgeous wavy brown hair and the most naturally lovely face he'd ever seen. He kept trying to work up the nerve to approach her, but every time he tried to catch her eye, she'd look away from him...
Didi Seldon swallowed nervously when she saw one her brother's friends from The Academy staring at her again. She'd noticed him from the moment she'd spotted him at the graduation ceremony at The Academy just over a week earlier... he was the most striking man she'd ever seen in a uniform. She'd always admired how good Brad looked in uniform, but this man... Lt. Jay Hanson...
From afar, she'd noticed right away that he was an imposing figure... so tall and broad... anyone would be crazy to question his authority because he looked as though he could squash someone like a bug. She'd always had a thing for big men... like her father and brothers, because they'd always given her a sense of feeling protected... and Jay was even bigger than them!
She never got to meet him after the graduation ceremony because he'd had to leave with his parents to go home for several days before he could come to Los Angeles for Brad and Barbie's wedding. He'd only arrived the previous day for the rehearsal and Didi had been unable to attend the rehearsal dinner that evening because she had to work. She hadn't gotten to see him up close until she'd arrived for the wedding earlier that day...
As soon as she'd gotten a good closer view of him, her nerves had tingled in ways she'd never felt before... he was the first man who'd ever made her feel so nervous... and yet safe at the same time. He wasn't the most handsome man she'd ever seen, but his face was very masculine and stern with a heavy brow line and deep-set eyes, and a strong, square chin.
Didi tried not to visibly tremble as she snuck another look at him when she noticed him stand up and move away from the table he'd been sitting at. He had to be at least six and half feet tall, and he appeared every inch... a man. His mess dress uniform showed off the fact that he was well built... broad shoulders, a huge chest, flat stomach and lean hips. She nearly moaned when she saw how his uniform trousers molded to his shapely ass.
She quickly looked away when she saw his head start to turn in her direction, hoping he hadn't caught her staring at his backside. Then she jumped when she heard a deep male voice beside her and jerked her head around to find her eyes level with Jay Hanson's strong chin. Her gaze flew up to his and she was startled to be staring into the most piercing set of golden brown eyes she'd ever seen...
Jay's breath caught in his chest when she lifted her eyes to his. He was mesmerized by her wide-eyed gaze... her eyes seemed to shine line newly minted silver coins with a few flecks of hazel adding just a hint of color. He noticed her blink nervously a few times and realized that he had startled her.
"Pardon me, Miss Seldon... I didn't mean to scare you, but I've been hoping for the opportunity to meet you. And since I didn't want to take your brother away from his bride to do the honors, I decided I would be bold and introduce myself. I'm Lt. Jay Alan Hanson at your service. Would you care to dance with me or could I get us drinks and we could sit and talk for a while?"
He paused for a moment to see how she was going to respond and he noticed that she appeared to grow more nervous, so he thought she was just afraid to say that she wasn't interested in him. He knew he tended to intimidate some women because he was so huge, but he had really hoped Didi wouldn't be afraid of him because she wasn't exactly a small woman.
Smaller than him, yes... but not so small that he was afraid of crushing her as she lay beneath him... Jay almost growled when the image of her staring up at him with desire as he lay over top of her popped into his head.
