Watch the Stars with Me

Chapter 23

As soon as the reception started Kyle snuck off to find Leon, and Iberis only encouraged him when she came along. The joys of new matrimony, the champagne that they had already downed, who knows exactly why, but when they saw him they instantly pulled him for a hug. "I can't believe you came." Kyle said as he squeezed him. Iberis pulled away from the hug before it could ruin her hair or wrinkle the dress and spoke with an impressed inflection. "You look so different... you have muscles... and oh my God! You're taller!"

Leon rolled is eyes as Kyle released him from the hug. "Congratulations you two. And Yes, I'm still not as tall as Kyle, but yes, I did get a couple last minute inches."

Kyle smiled big and then a sudden awkward look crossed his face. "Iberis, I know you worked really hard on the seating chart..."

"And I anticipated one or two floaters like your dear Leon. He is a wonderer after all." She cheekily smiled at her new husband as he pressed his nose to his bride and spoke in a loving tone. "You're so amazing."

They led him to the seat and as soon as he saw the other guests at the table his heart stopped for a moment. Violet sat there, engrossed in a conversation with an older man with long red hair on the other side of Gilbert who was sitting in his wheelchair watching the two of them with some humor in his eyes until he glanced up at Leon. "You're Leon Stephanotis, am I right?" His question had Hodgins turn to the man in question, but Violet paused in silence before turned her eyes to him.

As soon as the sky blue eyes met Leon's soft cerulean ones it felt like the world around him was on pause. She was just as, no she is more beautiful now than she had been the last time he saw her. She sat there in her navy blue dress with capped sleeves and matching gloves to hide her prosthetic arms, intricate embroidery of bright pink and yellow flowers with vines and leaves decorated the dress along with the green brooch attached to a piece of ribbon to be a necklace pendant.

Leon smiled as time returned to it's normal pacing and turned his attention to Gilbert. "Yes I am. You must be Gilbert Bougainvillea. I heard a lot about you from Violet when we worked together at the Observatory."

Gilbert's smile brightened. "I am. I've heard a lot about you from Kyle, and I am a big fan of your writings and photos."

Kyle leaned in to Leon's ear. "He's my employer." Leon nodded in response to the information.

Violet's eyes had been glued to Leon since she turned, and only Gilbert and Leon would be able to detect the faintest blush in her cheeks when Leon turned his attention back to her. "You look well Mrs. Bougainvillea."

"And so do you Mr. Stephanotis." She says after shifting a bit in her seat.

Gilbert's smile never falters as he invites Leon to sit across from them and begins to ask and listen to Leon talk about some of his adventures and pulls his wife's hand into his own prosthetic grip under the table.

After cake is served and coffees are brought around, conversation had never lightened up. Leon found himself eased by Gilbert and Hodgin's questions and comments, and the way they even joked with him here and there made him feel invited, somewhat like he did with the men in the village. Violet was silent for the meal. After a few bites of cake Gilbert took a sip of his coffee and asked his next question. "Do you have any adventures coming up Leon?" At some point, no one really knew when, the men had dropped the formal names and just started calling each other by their first names.

Leon's face lit up, and Violet's heart skipped a beat at the sight. "Yes. In just under a week I'll be heading out with a new team. We are going to go see a glimpse of the galaxy." Her heart sank, she knew what he was talking about even if the rest of the table was at a loss until he continued explaining. "I'm going to make my second attempt at climbing the tallest peak of Mount Liatris."

Violet took a deep inhale that drew everyone's attention to her. When she exhaled she rested her hand on Gilbert's wheel chair and spoke in a flustered manner. "I'm going to excuse myself for a moment."

As she struggled to get to her feet Leon's swallowed as he saw the swell of her belly. With every one of her waddling steps away from the table his heart pounded harder against his chest. It wasn't until Gilbert spoke with his eyes glued to his pregnant wife that Leon was able to refocus.

"I don't think I have ever seen someone so beautifully waddle in my entire life." Gilbert chuckles his words. "Actually, If you'll excuse us Leon, I could use a trip to the restroom right about now."

Leon sat there at the table by himself for a minute before Kyle came and sat down next to him, some frosting from the cake his bride smashed into his face earlier still in the crease of his nose. Before Kyle can even check on his guest Leon speaks. "How far along is she?"

"Who? Violet? I don't know... like eight months or something like that. It's kind of a miracle you know?" Kyle smiles as he leans back on the chair.

"What do you mean?" Leon asks as he also leans back and looks over at his friend.

"I probably wouldn't say anything if it wasn't you, and if I wasn't a little tipsy from the alcohol... they've been trying basically since they got married. They had gotten pregnant before, but something happened pretty early on and they lost it... So yeah... We're all calling this one their miracle child." Kyle's face went a little dark before he finished. "I'm just hoping he's still here when the baby is born."

Leon let his head fall back as he let everything sink in. The wheel chair, the sallow look of him, Gilbert is dying. The person who seemed to have the most life at his table tonight was dying. "But he seems so..."

"Happy?" Kyle's face life back up. "That's because he is. I've never met anyone more full of joy and gratitude. I think that's why I'm so committed to his care."