Through the Front Door

Sera chose her wedding dress because she could dance in it.

Her mother cried when she saw it, then apologized for crying before the wedding had even begun.

"You needn't apologize," Sera said, turning before the mirror. "Provided you like it."

The dress was ivory, with a fitted bodice, soft sleeves, and a skirt that moved around her legs without requiring assistance from half the household. Tiny embroidered flowers ran along the hem.

"I like it very much," her mother said. Then, after a pause, "Do you?"

Sera met her eyes in the glass.

"I do."

That question had become easier for her mother to ask. The listening afterward still took practice, but Sera had begun to trust it.

They married six weeks after the proposal, on a morning warm enough for the ceremony to be held in the garden.

There were cornflowers and white roses, lemon cakes waiting beneath glass covers, and enough chairs for the people they truly wanted there. Queen Eleanor had managed the remaining invitations with diplomatic firmness.

The ambassador was invited, but the music was considerably livelier.

Sera sat at her dressing table while Rose fastened a blue ribbon around a small section of her hair. The emerald and sapphire ring lay on the table, waiting to be joined by its wedding band.

She had expected to feel trapped by preparations. Instead, each sound beyond the window made her eager to go downstairs.

Alex was somewhere in that garden.

Soon Sera could go to her.

"You're smiling," Rose said.

"Should I stop?"

"I should be very disappointed if you did."

Sera caught her hand before she could move away.

"Thank you for coming with me. At the beginning."

Rose's expression softened.

"I'm glad you found a reason to stay."

"So am I."

Her father knocked before entering.

The courtesy still surprised her sometimes.

He stood in the doorway, looking from the dress to the flowers, then to her face.

"The gardener asked whether you'd prefer the side path or the central walk. The side has more shade."

"The central walk," Sera said. "I want to see her as soon as I come outside."

He nodded.

"Of course."

For a moment he seemed to have more to say. Sera waited.

"You look happy."

"I am."

His smile was a little awkward, but it was real.

"Then shall we go?"

She took his arm because she wanted to.

At the garden doors she could hear the guests settling, a chair scraping, Julian laughing too loudly at something. Music began beneath the trees.

Her father's hand rested over hers.

"Ready?"

Sera looked through the opening doors.

Alex stood at the end of the central path in an ivory coat with gold embroidery, her dark hair brushed back, a small blue flower at her collar.

She looked beautiful.

Then she saw Sera, and her face changed.

The careful posture remained, but her mouth trembled before widening into a smile. She blinked hard once, then again.

Sera felt every step of the path in her chest.

At the end she released her father's arm and took Alex's hands.

They were trembling.

"Hello, sweetheart," Sera whispered.

Alex gave a small, helpless laugh.

"Hello."

"You must remember to breathe. I can't do all the talking."

"I'm beginning to think you might have to."

Sera squeezed her fingers, delighted and moved and so full of love that the guests blurred around them.

The officiant began.

Sera heard the words, answered when she should, and watched Alex's expression settle as they stood together. Her thumb moved once over the back of Sera's hand, the same gentle movement she had made on the balcony after their first chosen kiss.

When it was time for the vows, Alex drew a folded page from her pocket.

Sera smiled at the sight of the creases. She knew how many times the page must have been opened.

"Sera," Alex began, "you once told me you argue when you're frightened. I promise to listen long enough to hear what you need me to understand. I promise you a home where you may speak, and laugh, and sometimes be quiet without anyone asking you to become easier to love."

Sera swallowed.

Alex's voice warmed.

"I promise to make room for your life beside mine. And I promise to tell you, as often as you'll let me, how happy I am that you chose me."

Sera had written her own vows carefully. Suddenly they seemed too small for what she wanted to give.

She took a breath and began anyway.

"Alex, I promise to love you when you are brave and when you'd rather someone else went first. I promise to notice when you're tired, and to believe you when you say you need me. I promise to keep choosing the life we're making, even on the days when we haven't planned anything wonderful."

A tear ran down Alex's cheek.

Sera reached up and brushed it away.

"And I promise that if I decide to climb out of a window again, I'll at least tell you where I'm going."

Laughter moved through the garden. Alex laughed too, catching Sera's hand and kissing the palm before letting her finish.

They exchanged the gold bands.

When the officiant invited them to kiss, Sera stepped forward before the sentence had quite ended.

Alex met her halfway.

The kiss was warm and smiling, a little longer than Sera had intended. Alex's hand rested against her cheek, and Sera forgot for a moment that anyone else existed.

Applause brought them back.

Julian's whistle was immediately silenced by his mother.

Sera laughed into Alex's shoulder.

"My wife," Alex whispered, as though testing the sound.

Sera lifted her head.

"Say it again."

Alex kissed her once more before obliging.

They danced that afternoon until Sera's feet ached. They ate the lemon cakes. Her father asked Alex to show him the orchard, and Sera watched the two of them leave without feeling that anything was being decided behind her back.

Later, when the guests had begun to drift indoors, she found Alex by the terrace.

"There you are."

Alex opened her arms.

Sera went into them, resting against the familiar warmth beneath the formal coat.

"Tired?" Alex asked.

"Very. Happy. Hungry again, somehow."

"There's more cake."

"You married me with excellent information."

Alex kissed the top of her head.

For a while they stayed exactly where they were.

Three weeks later, Sera found her wife in the study on a perfectly fine afternoon.

The blue cup was beside the window. Her books had spread from their original shelf to two more, and the cedar box sat on Alex's desk with several familiar letters inside.

Alex looked up as soon as she entered.

"I've nearly finished."

Sera looked at the book in her hands.

"That isn't work."

"No. I was enjoying myself."

"You can enjoy yourself with me."

She took the book, marking the page with a ribbon before setting it down. Alex caught her hand and drew her close enough to stand between her knees.

"Do you have a particular activity in mind?"

"The garden. Eventually."

Alex's smile made Sera's heart do the same foolish thing it had done months ago in a stable yard.

She bent and kissed her wife.

Alex's hands settled at her waist. Sera put her arms around her neck and allowed herself to be drawn onto the wide chair, laughing as they arranged themselves without knocking over the tea.

"We won't get to the garden like this," Alex murmured.

"Whose fault is that?"

"I believe you confiscated my book."

Sera kissed her again, more slowly.

By the time she stood, Alex's hair needed smoothing and the tea had become entirely cold.

Sera offered her hand.

"Come along."

Alex rose, fingers closing around hers.

"Which window are we escaping through today?"

Sera opened the study door.

"The front door. And you're coming with me."