"Then, by the powers invested in me by the State of Washington and the City of Moon Lake," said Judge Thompkins, "I hereby pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."
The bride stared lovingly at her new husband.
He smiled, before moving closer.
"Hello Mrs. Harper," he said happily.
"Hello dearest," replied Ginger, as their lips came closer and...
"Ginger," said John Harper.
"What? Huh?" said the red haired girl, staring at her friend.
"The wedding's over. You okay?"
"Yeah. Guess I just spaced out there for a moment. You know how women get at weddings," Ginger said, feeling her cheeks blush. "Where are the happy couple?" she asked, looking around but not seeing them.
"Huck and Betty went to finish the paperwork, and then they can leave. They've offered us a ride to the lake if you're interested because Huck has borrowed a friend's cabin for the weekend for the newlywed's honeymoon."
"What? Oh. Sure, if you want to," Ginger said, still thinking about her daydream.
"Okay. Come on," said John, leading her to where he last saw the new couple headed.
Mrs. John Harper. Mrs. Ginger Harper, she thought, following John down a corridor of the Town Hall. Ain't the first time I've considered the possibility, but I do hope it comes true someday...
MEANWHILE...
"Well, here we are," announced Harry Jenkins, as he parked his car in the Visitors lot.
His wife Jenny Harper-Jenkins and her younger sister Janice got out.
Jenny, having already been there before, just walked over and hugged her husband.
Janice, new to everything Moon Lake had to offer, raced around to the front of the car to look around.
She was disappointed for two reasons.
The first was that, except for the crescent shape of the body of water before them in the distance, the area looked like any other park or natural campground.
The second was that, except for the three of them, there was nobody around.
"Where is everybody?" she asked, looking at the adults.
"It is the off season now," explained Harry. "There isn't much activity, if any, during the day and the only people allowed down here at night are property owners."
"Who?" wondered Janice, still looking around in hopes of seeing anyone, let alone possibly a were-mer swimming, even if they were in their normal human form at the moment.
"Some people own cabins around the residential areas of the lake. They either rent them out or stay there themselves, depending upon the weather and their were status," said Harry.
"Do any regular people have property here but don't know about the special people?" wondered Janice.
"Maybe. Truthfully, I'm not sure," admitted Harry, as the three of them started to walk down toward the shore.
"The town maintains appearances, because not everyone who's into natural things like hiking, camping, and swimming, are weres," added Jenny. "From what I've heard, it's all regulated based upon normal rules, but weres do have some... secret privileges, as long as no one finds out. Like being out in the woods after dark, or swimming if they can do so safely."
"Like the were-mers!" Janice added happily.
"Yeah," agreed Jenny, although she didn't add her uncertainty about how things would be once the Town Council's plan to expose were existence to the world was officially enacted.
As the three of them approached the shoreline, Jenny's cellphone acknowledged receipt of a text.
She stopped to look at it, then showed it to Harry.
Not knowing where his brother and wife were at the moment, the message said Huck and Betty were on their way to the lake with John and Ginger and wanted to know if they were available to pick the kids up there.
Harry nodded affirmatively, then got out his own cellphone to contact his brother.
But while all of this was going on, Janice spotted something.
More precisely, someone.
There was somebody swimming in the water, and Janice hurried off to get a closer look before the adults could stop her.
ELSEWHERE...
It had been a rather quiet morning after a rather eventful night.
Karen Yuletide and her fiance Peter Talbot had flown down to San Diego as soon as they could upon Karen being contacted that her mother Monica Yuletide (she insisted upon Karen taking her maiden name once the divorce from her worthless father was final) had been in a serious car accident.
As if that wasn't a major shock, Karen was quite surprised to discover that not only was her mother engaged to remarry, but that her fiance was a woman.
Joanne Howard seemed like a nice enough woman, and Peter's werelion senses confirmed that her scent was prevalent all over the apartment she shared with Monica.
Karen was happy that her mom was happy, although there was no hint of Joanne in her life before Karen left to attend college in Moon Lake.
Everyone had slept in that Saturday morning. Karen and Peter platonically on her mother's king size bed since Karen was still a normal human at the moment, while Joanne took the living room couch.
After a late breakfast, it was well into the afternoon as the three of them went back to the hospital to check on Monica.
But as they entered the Intensive Care Unit, Karen's eyes went directly to her destination, but what she saw shocked her even more than she already had been.
"Dad?"
TO BE CONTINUED...