Salvation

Chapter 21: Planning

"What if we have a double wedding? I mean, I understand if you don't want to, but, I think it would be a great idea." After speaking her mind, Sharyn turns to Darci and waits for her input.

"I'd love to. I think that's a great idea. Hit two birds with one stone and make it an even more memorable day for all of us." Darci agrees. Excited, the girls hug each other and bounce in their spots catching the attention of their fiancees.

"What are you two planning now?" Derrick asks, completely worried as to why they seem so excited.

Looking at each other, the girls make a silent agreement. "Well," Darci starts, "We've sorta decided that since we are both engaged to you two and we have the same circle of friends and family, we were thinking of a double wedding."

Derrick and Marc exchange glances. "What do you mean by a double wedding?" Marc asks. "Do you mean getting married at the same time?"

Sharyn looks at Marc and laughs, "That's usually what a double wedding means. So what do you guys think?"

A slight pause follows the question before Derrick and Marc reply.

"Good idea." Marc replies.

"I like it." Derrick  says at the same time as Marc.

Squealing, the women quickly hug each other then each go to their fiancees and throw their arms around them. Darci throws her arms around Marc's neck and kisses him at the same time Sharyn wraps her arms around Derricks chest, burrowing her head into his chest then leans out and up to give him a quick kiss.

Separating quickly, the girls quickly pack the lunch up and start to talk about their plans for the wedding, leaving the men behind to collect the blanket. Once everything is packed away, the two guys shake hands and each go to their own vehicles while the women finish their talk. Realizing that the men are ready to leave, Darci and Sharyn give each other one last hug before getting in the vans with their fiancees.

As Marc pulls away from the cemetery, Darci leans over and gives him a sideways hug. "Thank you so much for this surprise. If this is what surprises with you are going to be like, then I can't wait for the next one."

"Well then, it's a good thing you said that, because this wasn't your only surprise. There's still one more to show you." Marc takes her hand in his and kisses her knuckles.

Squirming in excitement, Darci tightens her hold on Marc's hand slightly and leans forward in her seat. Straining against the seat belt, Darci watches out the window to see if she can see the next surprise.

"Relax Darci, we won't be there for a while yet. We're going into town to visit with Derrick and Sharyn more, hopefully give you girls some more time to plan." He smiles over at her and continues gazing out the windshield.

Soon Marc pulls the van up in front of a house that Darci can vaguely remember from 3 years ago; the house that Derrick and Sharyn bought together. The only difference Darci can see is a fence put up around the house and yard.

Getting out of the van, Darci and Marc walk up to the door and are greeted once again by Sharyn and Derrick, who then usher them into the house. Stepping into the living room Darci is tackled to the ground and pinned under a huge animal.  Groaning, she looks up and sees a dog hovering over her.

"Ace, down!" Derrick tells the dog.   Going over to them, Derrick pets the dog, Ace, then helps Darci up. "Sorry, we should have warned you about him. He's overprotective yet overly affectionate. If you don't watch him, he'll lick you to death." He laughs and brings Ace over in front of Darci.

Reaching her hand out, Darci lets Ace sniff it then rubs his head on her hand. Scratching behind his ears., Ace settles down next to her on the floor.

"I think he likes you Darci." Marc states as he enters the room with Sharyn. "Even I can't get him to do that with me yet."

Looking up at Marc, Darci lets out a small chuckle and continues to pet Ace. "I always was better with animals than you were." She states. "Remember that cat I found and brought home when we were kids? It absolutely hated you."

Laughing at the memory, Marc heads over to the couch and pulls Darci down beside him. "That he did, but thankfully I've been here often enough now that Ace can be in the same room as me."

"How about we go into the kitchen and plan away from the guys? Let them have some guy time without us distracting them." Sharyn suggests to Darci as Derrick sits down beside Marc on the couch with a bowl of chips.

Giving a quick kiss to Marc, Darci follows Sharyn into the kitchen. On the table, Sharyn had set down a huge container filled with the wedding ideas that they had made 3 years earlier.

"Woah Sharyn, you kept everything?!" Darci asks shocked, unloading the container at the same time.

"Ya well, we were hoping to use these soon, but now that it's a double wedding I thought it was time to throw it all out and start again." She explains as she pulls out a center piece; a beautiful silver vase with black ribbon around it. Putting it back in the container, Sharyn grabs the lid and secures it on.

"Wait, why throw it all out? I did help you plan this all the first time, we can just work off everything already here." Darci thinks aloud. Opening the container again, Darci pulls everything out onto the table. Once everything is laid out, Darci starts separating the items into groups. "Okay, so this group I love," she points at the largest pile on the table, "this one needs fixed." The next pile pointed at contains 3 items; table cloths, table arrangements and cake picture.

"What about this one?" Sharyn asks, picking up the only item in the third pile. Turning to Sharyn, Darci sees her holding a chair covering; a simple piece of cloth with a huge bow connected to the back of it.

"That," Darci states, "has to go. I am fine with the chair cover, but not the bow." As Sharyn starts to protest, Darci continues. "It is huge and drags in the ground, it will only cause trouble during the wedding if people keep tripping on them." Darci explains, leaving out the last comment about how ugly she thought it was.

"Okay, never thought of that, so there," She says as she throws it in the garbage. "Gone. Now let's do the rest of these."