"There... the last of the paperwork," Huck smiled as he finished the last of the signatures.
"Finally..." Betty agreed from behind him and resting an arm on his shoulder. She was glad to finally have his attention, and especially in the way that she'd always wanted. Granted, having Huck shot was not the way she wanted to reveal that she loved him, but now that he was recovered and the information was out, they were together. That was all Betty cared about, and she smiled to him as the secretaries took the last of the forms to be photocopied. She and Huck would hold onto the originals while the courts kept the copies for official records.
"Yes," Huck agreed with a warm smile.
The secretary was quick to return with the originals and handed them to Huck. He held them with some pride as he looked to Betty and smiled before turning to head out to the hallway where they found their two surprise wedding guests waiting. John was asking some questions on the building while Ginger tried to give the best answers that she had. Some of it likely had to do with the mosaic of St. Francis of Assisi in the entryway to the court half of the city hall building. Which would make sense given that many stories on weres tended to treat weres as "enemies of God" in some way. Thus it would seem odd that a religious figure would be used in a public building in a town largely run by weres, but it was something Moon Lake had long accepted worked with. John looked to be doing well to Huck, and he was glad for that, though he wondered if John was still wrestling with his questions on who he was in the course of the tour he was on.
Ginger looked up as Huck and Betty came out, which in turn made John look up and over to see the two newly weeds approach them in the hallway. John gave a small smile to Huck. As John turned, Betty thought she saw a soft and almost hopeful look on Ginger's face as she looked to John. It privately reminded Betty of how she looked to Huck over the years in trying to gain Huck's attention. It made for a rather cute couple, but Betty also knew that John was likely still adapting to Moon Lake and everything that went with it. Huck also noticed this, but said nothing. In some ways, he figured that John knew that Ginger liked him, but was also wrestling with the issue of who he was and that would likely be something that would take time, particularly with how the Harper family had been run in Alabama. Huck had some awareness on John's personal battles, but he hoped that Jenny and Harry would be able to give John and his sister the safe environment to grow and find those things out.
"Okay... all our paperwork is done, are you two ready?" Huck asked.
"Yeah... we're ready," John answered, "I'm sorry we intruded on you..."
"It's okay," Huck assured him, "It's probably a good thing you did come in. Moon Lake may not be a big city, but some of its layout can lead to a lot ground being covered on foot. People can do it... and some weres prefer it. But that doesn't mean that the distances get shorter."
"And if you two were headed out to the lake, Huck and I were headed that way anyway," Betty added, "So... it makes sense to car pool. And Jenny, Harry, and Janice should be there."
"Thank you," John commented and then let Huck and Betty take the lead.
They followed along quietly back through the City Hall building's central hallway and through the door that divided the judicial branch of the building from the rest of the building. As they went through the building they soon heard the sound of the host of calls and either messages being left on an answering machine or being answered by a secretary. Huck and Ginger could hear it earlier than John and Betty, but all of them were aware on what it was about. The report from the morning had been pretty clear on that and Huck knew that it all meant major change, but even with that, his heart had been with Betty, and regardless of anything else, he would be happy with her.
"Hopefully this all settles down," John commented as they made it out through the front door with Huck holding the door for all of them.
"It probably will... but not any time soon," Betty sighed, "even growing up as a Moon Lake Normal... it was well known that weres were generally pretty concerned on their protection of the were secret. In this, I'd probably bet that most of those who would support weres coming out would only do so because they have some idea that the were secret isn't quite the shield that it once was and do it while they still have control over the story. For had it been... that your sister or her professor got jumped in a bigger city and there was no way that that incident could be hidden... weres would be exposed anyway the reveal would more associate them with the crime rather than their existence. Those that might want to drop the secret so they can be in their were form all the time are likely more in the minority among those that support the decision."
"But they are there..." John asked, thinking that Ginger had said something to that affect before the two began their walking tour.
"Yes... but it won't be something easily solved," Huck answered, "hopefully... everyone can respect the decision made and look for honest information as to why the decision was made. Not simply look for things that reinforce what they want to believe..."
"I know what you mean, there," John commented, his mind drifting to thoughts of his father, who often disregarded anything he didn't already believe in.
The walk to Huck's car wasn't that far. They came along the sidewalk that was in front of the City Hall building and came into a parking lot that was along the building's south side. It was fairly narrow, but it was large enough for people to park there, and among the vehicles parked there was Huck's truck. Huck approached it quickly and unlocked it, though as he got closer he knew there would be some issue.
"There's no back seat..." John said slowly.
"Yeah... I'll admit that when I bought this truck... I was still a bachelor and didn't know how much a certain lady liked me, so I bought it on what I could afford running Jenkins Construction and what I needed for me," Huck admitted, "I may have to think on a trade in now... Betty and I may well have kids of our own eventually."
"There is time to wait on that," Betty assured him, "Let things settle out right now and go from there."
"Yeah," Huck agreed but looked at the narrow cab with no back seat. The bed mostly had his and Betty's luggage for their honeymoon and that was strapped down at the moment. In pure theory one could ride in the bed of the truck, and Huck had heard enough stories from Henry Jenkins to know that some did that in Texas, and privately, he'd done it a couple of times with friends before the Jenkins family moved to Moon Lake when he was in high school and Harry was in middle school. However, Moon Lake was a bit stricter than Texas on that sort of thing and as an adult, Huck could see the dangers and risks in it. It might mean they'd have to squeeze in, but the ride to the general guest area around the lake wasn't that far.
Huck paused and looked over to John and Ginger, "It may be a bit of a tight squeeze... but I think everyone will fit."
"Okay," John said as he looked to Ginger and felt himself blush and hoped Ginger wasn't looking.
Ginger, meanwhile had to remind herself that she wasn't to push anything with regard to John. While he was still wrestling with who he was, that would be wrong. A part of her really wanted John and to be the one to bring him into were-society, but she did recognize the right of people to make their own choices and she had to let John make his. She ignored John's blush and went over to the passenger side and climbed in before Betty did.
It ultimately did prove to be a tight squeeze, as Huck could feel John's elbow dig into his side and Betty was pressed against the passenger side door. John and Ginger also had to share some space was a bit difficult. Ginger ultimately took his arm in hers to hold him to her, which helped Huck a little bit, though as the truck moved, every bounce made it obvious how close they were. That stirred some of Ginger's hopes for things that related to what she found herself ultimately wanting with John, and there were a few instances that Ginger thought might indicate that John might want the same... But that was put aside as she knew that John didn't have all the answers yet, and she couldn't force herself on him.
They eventually drove up past the middle school and the buildings and grounds buildings and facilities before coming up on the lake itself. From what he could see, the water was a dark blue with the water reflecting the sunlight that hit it. Huck pulled into the parking lot that was on the eastern edge of the lake and soon parked next to Harry's car. It struck John as a fairly peaceful scene, even with a few small cabins on the eastern shore that were close enough that one could easily go out their back door and go swimming, even with some trees and bushes nearby. There were fewer cabins on the far side and there were significantly more trees around them, so far as John could see, which was probably where Huck and Betty were headed once he and Ginger were dropped off.
As they got out, they were soon joined by Jenny, Harry, and Janice as they came up from the docks. John noted that Janice actually waved back to the dock area as she came back onto the parking lot and the sounds of some splashes, like someone swimming could be heard in the background. Harry lead the way and was there to congratulate Huck as they came close.
"Congratulations, Huck," Harry spoke with a small smile, "I trust there were no problems?"
"No real problems," Huck answered and hugged his brother, "we might have needed legal witnesses, but there were some secretaries on hand who were more than willing... And no... I can say I have something I've been looking for a fair amount of time... and have something that I should have seen years ago."
"You have each other now," Jenny commented, "and I'm sure you'll have many happy years together."
"We hope so too," Betty smiled to her brother-in-law's wife, "and thank you."
Jenny nodded as Huck let John and Ginger came forward.
"Anyway... Betty and I have honeymoon to start," Huck commented, "So... we'll leave you with a pair of well wishers who happened to stumble onto us... A surprise, but a welcome one."
Harry and Jenny nodded as he and Huck shook hands before Huck and Betty returned to the truck. It wasn't too long before the engine came back to life and Huck and Betty were off. Janice waived to them as they drove off while Jenny turned to John.
"So... how did you're tour go?" Jenny asked.
"Pretty good," John answered, "I got to see the high school and we got a snack at a small store nearby. And we were already on our way here to see the lake when we ran into Huck and Betty. We didn't mean to intrude on anything."
"It's okay, John," Jenny spoke, "It's okay. What did you think of what you've seen?"
"I actually think I'll like school here," John answered, to which Jenny smiled.
"And I got to meet a wereotter," Janice added in, "he's out swimming in the lake."
"Transformed... while the sun is up?" Ginger asked.
"He said he was too young to transform," Janice answered thinking on his interaction with Moses Mittleburg, "he isn't a weremer, but he could swim pretty well and wasn't troubled by the water temperature."
"So... now you'll have a friend," John said to Janice.
"Or someone who can lead me to a weremer," Janice smiled, "but a friend would be good too."