The Glamorous Passenger

Author's note: We have reached the final chapter of the saga. I would like to thank my readers for over two years of patience with me while I have tried to make time for writing these chapters, and for the (mostly) constructive feedback. Writing a long story like this has been a learning process, and I don't regret it. But at the same time, I don't think I have any more multi-part stories left in me. So once this chapter is published, I will go back to writing one-off stories every few months, with no sequels intended.

To understand what is going on in this story, please read chapters 1-2 and 4-6. Chapter 3 is optional as it is a flashback, but there are references to the events of that chapter in this finale. There are also references to my other story "An Unexpected Friendship".

Standard disclaimer: All explicit sexual activity described in this story is between adults 18 and older.

Enjoy.

CHAPTER 7

JUNE 30 - JULY 1, 2022

The morning after Melissa proposed, we started making plans for our wedding. We had initially wanted to get married sometime in the fall of 2020, but I think we all remember what happened next.

Being locked up together for 27 straight months had its benefits. I got closer to Melissa's daughter Angie, while Melissa became closer with my sons William and Justin. And the enforced closeness confirmed that our decision to get married was the right one. We had even signed a prenup already. I had insisted on that because her salary was nearly five times what I made, her family was rich, and I didn't want her parents or anyone else to think I was latching onto her for her money, the way some of her exes had tried to.

On the other hand, the pandemic really messed up our lives outside of home. I had wanted to take Melissa to visit my parents before we got married, but we never got the chance. When they retired, Mom and Dad moved out to a remote island in the Salish Sea in Washington State near the Canadian border that required a ferry ride to and from either Seattle or Vancouver. As it was over 2500 miles away from where I lived, we rarely visited each other, and mostly kept in touch by e-mails or phone calls. When COVID hit, my folks refused to wear masks or get vaccinated, as they had become new-age hippies in their retirement. They distrusted conventional doctors as they said that Western medicine didn't know anything about the human body and was in the pockets of big pharma, and that every disease from the common cold to stage 4 cancer could be effectively treated with herbal remedies as this is what our pagan ancestors did. They wouldn't listen when I pointed out that our pagan ancestors typically didn't live past their thirties because they died of diseases that science found ready cures for, often through vaccines. (I'm so grateful that I got my shots when I was a kid.) Eventually, Dad got the virus and was forced to spend the last few weeks of his life on a ventilator in a plastic bubble to keep Mom from getting sick.

It also messed up work, as I couldn't teach my students as effectively by remote learning as I could by teaching them in person in a classroom setting. And Melissa's Honda dealership lost a ton of money because nobody wanted to buy a new car while they couldn't drive anywhere, and then there were supply shortages from the time when the car factories were retrofitted to make ventilators.

But eventually in the spring and summer of 2021, the vaccines came along, and things slowly started opening again. I would have been happy to get married in a simple ceremony at the courthouse, but that wasn't Melissa's style. She had already had her mother's idea of a small, tasteful wedding with her marriage to her ex-husband Craig, and she wanted something big that she controlled to show off our love for each other. And so, we called a planner for a wedding in our backyard. Unfortunately, she was so backed up that the earliest date she had available was June 30, 2022—Melissa's 40

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birthday. I wanted to find another date, but my Sunflower said the date was perfect and she couldn't ask for a better birthday present.

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On the day of the wedding, we had the house decorated with floral bunting all around the outside. Avon—our German Shepherd—was sent to the kennel, because with all the people coming to the house, he would have gone crazy, and somebody would have been hurt. We had made sure that all our guests were fully vaccinated against COVID with at least one booster shot before they were allowed to attend, but some of the guests still wore masks out of an abundance of caution.

Since we were having the wedding at our house and we didn't want to see each other's dresses before the wedding, Melissa was getting dressed in the master bedroom, while I was getting dressed in the house's 5

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bedroom, which we had used as a home office during the pandemic but had recently converted back into a guest room. The female portion of my bridal entourage were in there with me. There was Betsy, my best friend since college, now 7 months pregnant with my ex-husband Dave's baby. I have to say I was a bit jealous since we were both 47 years old and I was already going through menopause, while she was still fertile. Dave and Betsy had gotten married last year and now my boys were about to officially have two stepmoms. Also with me was Cameron McBain, who had been Melissa's sorority president when she was a freshman, and who was the mother of my son Justin's best friend Doug. Other than Melissa's "niece" (technically first cousin once removed) Ryan who used to attend the school where I taught at, she was the only person both of us knew before we got together.

We were putting together the final touches of my wedding dress. I had opted for a cream lace dress with half-sleeves and a skirt that stopped just below my knees. For my veil I went for a medieval look with a mesh veil held up by a wreath of flowers around my head. Cameron had tried to convince me to wear something sleeveless to show off my tattoo of two intersecting rainbow-striped female symbols, but I resisted. Neither Melissa nor I wanted today to be about identity politics, so there were no rainbows anywhere in the house or backyard today. We both felt that two women marrying each other in front of all our friends and family was statement enough. It took a while for Cameron to accept this. With her six-foot height and intimidating demeanor, she wasn't used to hearing the word "no."

Eventually, we finished with the dress and were greeted by the non-female contingent of my entourage, which consisted of my ex-husband Dave, my two boys William and Justin—now 18 and 12 respectively—and Betsy's 22-year-old child Max, who used to be called Maria until they came out as nonbinary shortly after breaking up with their ex-girlfriend Christi. All of them were wearing matching white tuxedoes with black trousers, bow ties and cummerbunds.

Since my father couldn't be at the wedding, Dave had the duty of walking me down the aisle to give me away. We paused just outside the French doors leading to the backyard while a string quartet and piano played classical music while the members of our respective entourages accompanied each other down the aisle. Melissa's entourage included her cousin Kelly, Kelly's daughter Ryan, and various girlfriends that I haven't mentioned in previous chapters as they weren't important to our love story. As the piece came to an end, Melissa's daughter Angie—now seven—scattered red and white rose petals down the aisle with her hair done up in neat little braids and wearing a cute little white dress with puffy sleeves.

As Dave and I exited the house into the backyard and made our way down the aisle, the musicians were joined by an operatic baritone and soprano and they sang a duet that my Sunflower had picked out. It was from "The Magic Flute", which was her favorite opera, and the lyrics were about marriage being the greatest fulfillment of love between two people. The song was part of Melissa's dream wedding since she first heard it as a little girl and was told what the words meant. As I said in a previous chapter, I'm not much of a classical music fan, but I must admit it was pretty. Anyway, Melissa was the one paying for all this, so why not let her be a benevolent bridezilla? The song was in German, so I couldn't make out much of it until the end when they sang "

Mann und Weib, Weib und Mann

", which even I could tell meant "husband and wife, wife and husband." Unfortunately, I was told that the lyrics couldn't be retrofitted for a lesbian wedding without sacrificing the rhyme.

The operatic song ended, and the singers sat down. Then the piano played the opening chords and the string quartet played "Here Comes the Bride", which my Sunflower tells me is really the Bridal Chorus from the opera "Lohengrin", also with lyrics in German. While the quintet played, I saw the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life walking up the aisle wearing a strapless white satin dress with a five-foot train and a tulle veil, holding a bouquet of freshly cut sunflowers, accompanied by her father.

She got to the altar, and we faced each other. At that moment, the music stopped, and the Justice of the Peace said, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to witness these two women to be joined in marriage. This is not a decision to be made lightly, but after careful consideration, Melissa Carroll and Kay Reynolds have decided to formally consecrate their love and be bound to each other for the rest of their lives. The brides have written their own vows, so without further ado, I will let them speak."

The JP handed the microphone to Melissa, and she started reading from a sheet of paper. "On the night I first got into your car, I had just about given up on the idea of love. My first marriage had just ended, and the last person I could truly say I was in love with had died when we were both just nineteen." She nodded her head towards an elderly Asian couple who by now I knew as Ernie and Lucy Ramos, Layla's parents. She then turned back to me. "I certainly didn't believe in love at first sight. And I'm still not sure I do. It took almost an hour for me to fall in love with you." The audience chuckled at that one. "But you held me and gave me comfort when I was sad, scared and at my lowest point. You gave me a place to stay when I didn't have anywhere else to go. And when I saw how you interacted with your sons, I knew I wanted someone like you as the co-parent of my daughter.

"As I said earlier, I was married to a man I didn't love, and it soured me on the whole idea of love. But today, marrying a woman who I love very much, I'm ready to burst with it. I love everyone who came today, but I want to single out three people who mean the most to me of anyone outside of my family. First, I'd like to acknowledge Chad." She turned to face a handsome man with a blonde beard holding hands with another man with dark stubble who I knew to be his husband, Brandon. "Chad, we were each other's first love. If you had stayed, neither one of us would have had an incentive to come out as bisexual, and we wouldn't have wound up with the people we were supposed to be with. Next is Layla." She turned back to Ernie and Lucy. "Mr. and Mrs. Ramos, just because I'm marrying this wonderful woman today, don't think for a second that I've forgotten about Layla. I still think about her every day. During the darkest times, her memory served to remind me what real love feels like, which is how I know I have something special with Kay."

She turned back to face me again. "And that leads me to you, Kay. After Layla died, I pretty much ruled out anything serious with another woman again, and most—but not all—of my partners for the next seventeen years were men. Some were nice, some weren't. Craig was the worst, but he left behind the greatest daughter I could ever ask for. But nobody male or female measured up to the memory of Layla until you came along. But now, today, on my 40

th

birthday," -there were a few gasps in the crowd when she said that because she didn't even look 30 yet— "I'm getting the best present anyone could ask for. My second marriage, my first wife, my life partner, the last person I'll ever share a bed with, my forever."

She handed the mike to me. I hadn't had years of experience making ads for a car dealership, so I was nervous about speaking in front of all these people, even though I knew all of them and was quite close with a large percentage of them. "Um . . ., my vows aren't as eloquent as hers, so please bear with me. When I was younger, I rejected any kind of label on my sexuality, and I chose a partner based on what I told myself I should want, instead of what I really wanted." I turned to my ex-husband. "Dave, you checked all the boxes of what my logical brain said my ideal partner was supposed to be. We agreed on politics, music, books, movies, food and everything else. You are still my best friend and I love you as the father of my two wonderful boys. There was only one little thing wrong and that was you were the wrong sex for me, so I never could love you the way someone deserves to be loved by their spouse. The person I really wanted, the person my logical brain said was all wrong for me, was the girl in the club that one night when we first got together as a couple. She seemed too young, and nothing about her signaled that she was interested in anything long-term, so I chose you instead." I turned back to Melissa. "Now, exactly nineteen years later, I'm marrying that girl from the club. When we started out together, we ate different foods, read different books and watched different movies. And we still disagree about music and politics, but I can honestly say I love her in a way that I could never love anyone else, not even Dave. Sunflower, I love you forever. And I am so happy to be here with you now in front of all these people to become your wife."

It was the Justice's turn to speak again. "Melissa Jean Carroll, do you take Kay Anne Reynolds to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor and cherish for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"And do you, Kay Anne Reynolds, take Melissa Jean Carroll to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor and cherish for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"The rings, please."

Melissa put a gold band on my left ring finger and, repeating after the judge, said, "With this ring, I thee wed, to have, to hold, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, 'til death do us part." Then it was my turn to put an identical ring on Melissa's finger and repeat the same oath.

Once that was over, the judge said, "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you legally married. The brides may kiss each other." We lifted each other's veils and kissed for several seconds. By now I was used to PDA with my Sunflower and had learned to tune out whatever negative attention we got when we were lovey-dovey with each other in public.

When we finally broke the kiss, the judge said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you for the first time Kay and Melissa Carroll-Reynolds." Neither of us had taken our husbands' names when we married men—she for business reasons and I out of feminist idealism—but since we weren't just marrying each other, but blending two families, it seemed right to hyphenate our names so that our respective kids would see both of us as part of their family.

We made our way down the aisle hand in hand until we reached the house. Melissa threw her bouquet, which was caught by one of Angie's classmates, which I thought was cute, but I overheard someone say, "I guess that means no more weddings for anyone here for the next twenty years."

For the reception, we had put all our living room furniture in storage so there would be room for an open bar and a buffet table, where we had the cake cutting. As the guests lined up for food and drinks, the planners were taking down the seats in the backyard and replacing them with dining tables and chairs, as well as setting up a DJ booth.

Once everything was ready, the guests were directed outside to their assigned tables and had their dinner and libations for about thirty minutes before the DJ was ready for the dance. The first song he played was for the father-daughter dance between Melissa and her dad, and he chose "My Girl" by The Temptations. Then it was time for our first dance together as a married couple. We chose "In My Life" by The Beatles as the lyrics perfectly summed up our feelings for each other. After that, it was up-tempo numbers for the next hour or so until 8:00, when it was time for everyone who didn't live with us to leave, and she had the DJ play "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Garth Brooks as our guests exited. Neither one of us was much of a fan of country music, but Melissa said after Layla died, she heard this song from a friend's stereo and the lyrics became her philosophy of life. We then re-entered the house. We had a busy day tomorrow, so we had to go to bed early, with no wedding-night consummation. And I slept in the guest room just so that neither one of us would be tempted.

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The alarm woke me up at 3:30 and I woke up bleary-eyed but elated to start my first full day as Melissa's wife. Due to the hot weather down here, I threw on a thin t-shirt, but our plane was heading to Canada for our honeymoon, so I decided to wear jeans instead of just a skirt or shorts and tied a hoodie around my waist. When I left the bedroom, Melissa was already in the kitchen. Our usual morning beverage of English breakfast tea wasn't going to do it after yesterday's to-do and today's early rising, so we both had to have extra-strong espresso this morning.

Since my now eight-year-old Honda Odyssey was more spacious and had a much lesser chance of being stolen than her brand-new Acura MDX, we packed our bags into the minivan so we could get to the airport in time for our 5:45 a.m. flight.

We napped a bit on the flight, only to be woken up to fill out customs forms once we crossed the Canadian border. Due to crossing the time zone, it was only a little after 11:00 a.m. by the time we touched down in Calgary, despite it being a 6-hour flight. Based on the advice of friends who had come here before, we wanted to try coffee and doughnuts at a chain called Tim Horton's, and we found a franchise inside the airport, so that was our brunch before we went to pick up our bags.

Just in case anyone from home was there and recognized her from TV ads, Melissa still didn't want to be seen in anything other than an Acura or a Honda. Unfortunately, the major car rental companies don't carry them, but we were able to reserve an Acura RDX through a car-sharing app. We picked up the car at the airport and headed west for the next 90 minutes on the Trans-Canada highway, away from Calgary and into the Rocky Mountains.

Eventually, we made it into the town of Banff, which is in the middle of a national park which shares the same name. It's a very pretty town, surrounded by mountains on all sides and densely filled with blue spruce and pine trees, like a village in the German Alps. The first thing we did was to visit the Cave and Basin at the foot of Sulphur Mountain. It was a bathhouse at one time until the discovery of endangered species living in the water, so now it's just a tunnel leading to a very pretty—but stinky—hot spring sitting in the middle of a small cave. We then drove upwards along the mountain until we reached the Upper Hot Springs swimming pool. Along the drive, we had to stop to let some elk pass through, which was fascinating for me as I don't think I'd ever seen any before.

We got our swimsuits and towels out of the car, walked up to the ticket booth, paid our admission and headed to the locker room, where we changed into our swimwear, mine with a pair of trunks to hide the pubes sticking out of my swimsuit as my Sunflower liked me hairy down there. After a brisk, cold shower, we made our way to the pool, which was on a mountain ledge. The water was naturally heated by the sulfur inside the mountain, so there was still the rotten-eggs smell that we had experienced in the cave, but since we were outdoors, it was much less pungent. There were kids around, so we tried to behave, but between the steamy water, the mountain view and the vision of my Sunflower in her sexy black bikini, it was hard for me to keep my impulses in check. Due to the hot temperature of the water, patrons were only allowed ten minutes in the pool, and during all those ten minutes, we were always physically close, facing each other, holding hands and giving each other lots of little chaste kisses.