Melia-Irrevocable Journey (Sequel to Irrevocable Quest)

036:

036:

Tom looked debonair and excited; Matthew looked nervous and stern as they sat on the front pew of the local chapel in Lakeside where Richard was going to baptize them. Polly was there; her entire large Mormon family was also there. Tom's children were there, too young to understand, but Tracy was taking pictures of them so they would remember the choices their father had made someday when they'd have to make similar choices.

Melia sat next to Megan and Maille. Megan held Hannah rocking her gently as she slept. Melia wondered about the directions their lives were taking. She was in the middle of production, or finishing production of her film with Tom, then she could do the pre-production on her film with Stevie and Kell Stevak that would be filmed a few months hence.

The band was falling apart. Megan wanted to go to Los Angeles, to get away, she had confided. She needed some space. And Maille was hanging out with Kell Stevak.

Kell Stevak.

Wasn't he like--- old? Too old for Maille.

Her thoughts dragged randomly on to a memory. She recalled the night after they'd finished production on one of the films--- and then gone to that fateful meeting. The stupid meeting. The one where Kell had been a jerk to her. Had he been seeing Maille then? Was she the one who had filled his head with nonsense about her baby?

How could that be? No. It couldn't have been Maille.

That same night Melia and Matthew had had a fight in Park City. She'd gone there after the meeting and Ryan had gone to his home in Los Angeles. He had business, and she'd had an overload. People had been there--- members of the cast and crew of the wrapped film. They'd come at her mother's request, for a small party to celebrate. They'd called Ryan and he'd flown to Park City to diffuse her, but when he was unable to do it, they'd had to call Matthew, and he'd come, but oh, was he mad! And to top it off, she felt out of control. As if she was on a fast train to nowhere, blindly running away from everything in her life.

This was not where she'd pictured herself. She looked around. Her mother was standing serenely, had made a scrapbook for each of the men being baptized, and was dutifully taking pictures when she could, of them with several of their guests. Her mother had also arranged for a meal to be served in the cultural hall directly afterward, she was good at that, making arrangements.

Melia watched Ryan, he seemed confident, assured. Her mother said he was cute, "in missionary mode". He certainly seemed prepared to officiate at this ceremony and ordinance. But Melia wondered how he could after having left his mission so recently. Didn't it bother him? She cocked her face and bit her lip. He had taken off the signs of his temple covenants and replaced them for the most part with less modest clothing, but right now he looked fine. Ryan was a chameleon in that respect, wasn't he?

Was he completely over Jared's death and her betrayal? He seemed to be. He seemed to have adapted to non-missionary life quite easily. He seemed able to give her the right cues for a happy life together.

"Mommy asked me to help her with a project this afternoon." Megan leaned over and whispered to Melia, her long auburn ponytail brushing her sister's shoulder.

Melia kept her eyes straight ahead. "I'm marrying Ryan today." She whispered back.

"In the temple?" Megan gasped.

Melia shook her head sadly. "Not yet, someday. But we are doing it so soon so that this baby will have a daddy." She molded her hand to her slightly protruding stomach.

"Oh, I see." Megan whispered back. "Am I invited?"

Melia gave her sister a look. "You're my twin. You're my maid of honor. Of course, you're invited."