Molly moved quicker then anyone in the room could, and in the blink of an eye, I was on my back with Molly laying on top of me.
"Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," Molly repeated happily as she nuzzled and hugged me while we were on the floor, "Oh, George, I'll love you forever!"
There wasn't much I could do to stop Molly's show of affection. I still didn't know how much she weighed exactly, but from what I had studied on the Bengal Tiger subspecies, I was pretty certain that she outweighed the average human easily. And to my knowledge, most of the humans that approached her weight were actually overweight. That wasn't Molly's case. Whatever her weight was, it mostly muscle, and most of what wasn't muscle was bone.
"So you will marry me?" I asked from the floor while my parents looked on with a slight smile.
"Oh yes, I will," Molly answered, "I've been waiting for this ever since we moved out here. You've made me so happy!"
I managed to get my hands around her back and I did my best to pull her into my own arms, though I knew that she wanted to be hugged... to be loved... to be respected. And I loved her, and I was determined to protect her as long as I lived. As we embraced I managed to raise my head to kiss her on the cheek. It got me a mouth full of fur, but that wasn't a problem for me.
"We're glad the two of you are so happy together," my mother spoke from she was standing, "Very glad."
"And a rather interesting proposal, son," my father added suspiciously, "are you sure you didn't plan it this way?"
Molly denied me the chance to answer.
"I don't care if he planned this or not," she declared and resumed nuzzling me, "I love him! I love him! I love him!"
That made both of my parents chuckle.
"You'd best let him up," my father said with a chuckle, "before you love him to death."
Molly slowly got up. Once she was on her feet, she helped me regain mine.
"I hope the two of you will be happy together for a very long time," my mother hugged me and then hugged Molly, "and if he misbehaves, let me know."
"I will, Mrs. Wayne."
"Call me Mom," my mother answered, "You're family now. It may not be official until you can have the ceremony, but you are family."
"Thanks, mom," Molly said slowly.
"Do you know if you and George can have a family of your own?" my mother asked curiously.
"MOM!" I blurted, blushing.
"What? It's a viable question," my mother defended herself.
"Not immediately after a marriage proposal, dear," my father told her, "my parents didn't ask you to produce babies immediately after I asked you to marry me, and I'm pretty sure your father tried to beat me about the head with a rake up until the day of the ceremony."
"I want to see them happy," my mother retorted, "after everything that's happened to them. That freak show... this Beauregard... the deserve to be happy... and nothing made us as happy as raising George... seeing him become the man he is today."
"Yes," my father nodded and hugged my mother as Molly and I watched the debate, "but that doesn't mean that raising children will make them happy."
"I don't know if George and I are genetically compatible anymore," Molly said, hoping to avoid any fight, "and I haven't planned that far ahead. All I want is George and his love... beyond that... I don't think we're ready."
"We'll adopt if it turns out that we can't have children of our own," I spoke, "but that will be something that will have to wait until we're ready."
"Of course, son," my father nodded.
++++++++++++++++++++++
"You made me very happy today," Molly said that night as we lay in bed together, "Very happy."
"You're the one that I love... I live to make you happy," I replied back.
"Then you've succeeded beyond your wildest dreams," Molly said with a smile.
I rolled onto my side to look at Molly.
"Wildest? Are you sure there isn't a pun in there somewhere?" I asked her.
"I don't think so," Molly answered and nuzzled me with her head.
I heard her give the low rumble that she made when she tried to purr... but still, her vocal cords couldn't make that vocalization, so all she made was a low growl. I reached over and placed a hand on her side, feeling her warm fur with my fingers. That elicited a passionate lick, and Molly began to scoot toward me. Her tongue was rough, and it felt like being rubbed by wet sandpaper.
"Molly, we..." I tried to speak as Molly continued to lick and scoot closer, "...we shouldn't..."
"Why? We're in love..."
"We promised each other we wouldn't go THAT far until after we had married," I told her.
"But that was when we started dating," Molly protested, "and it was mostly to insure that we didn't destroy our friendship if it turned out that we weren't right for each other... and we've found out that we ARE right for each other."
"We are," I nodded, "but I want to hold to that promise. If we do "it" now... you'll marry a liar."
Molly looked to me and then sighed and nodded.
"You're right," Molly spoke slowly, "you're right."
"I will always love you, Molly, never doubt that," I said, "but I want to do this right."
"So what's the plan?" Molly asked.
"I guess right now to begin going through the paperwork to get the marriage license and to find a preacher that would do it," I shrugged.
"When do you want to hold the ceremony?" Molly inquired, "outside of your folks, neither of us has much in the way of family to invite, and outside of Dave and his family, neither of us has friends that would want to attend... or can attend."
"I'd prefer as soon as possible," I replied, "but a lot of that will depend on the schedule of who will do the service."
+++++++++++++++++++
Getting the marriage license from City Hall was easy. The employee that provided the paperwork gave Molly a sour look, but handed us the paperwork anyway. If Beauregard had friends in the city government, they apparently weren't all that successful in blocking our attempt at happiness.
"He seemed rather grumpy," Molly commented as we began filling out the paperwork.
"R.A.M. member," I grumbled, "probably hoping the City Council votes a statue that limits marriage to a man and woman of the same species."
"Grump," Molly snorted, "I was turned INTO a tiger. I wasn't born like this."
"You don't have to tell me," I told her, "I was there."
Molly hugged me, "and you've stayed with me."
We then finished filling out the forms and handed them to the clerk. A few moments later he reluctantly handed me the license.
"That will be two hundred fifty dollars," the clerk spoke.
"That's practically twenty times the normal cost!" I blurted pointing to the price board for marriage licenses and other such things.
"R.A.M. failed to get the statue that prevent you from marrying, but we were successful in making it as costly as possible for you," the clerk smiled triumphantly.
My parents who had been silently watching this handed the clerk a check to pay for it.
"It needs to be in cash," the clerk spoke, "and it needs to be from Ms. Rhoer or Mr. Wayne."
"I AM Mr. Wayne," my father spoke, "and it is a gift for my son and future daughter in-law. And if it's in cash... what is to stop you from pocketing the money yourself and then claiming the license was never paid for?"
"You have to trust me."
"I don't trust people who have already plaid their hand," my father answered, "you'll take that check, and you'll like it... and you'll notice that the memo says is that it is for a marriage license. You can not cut corners with me."
"I'll call..."
"Son, I'm the Police Chief in Peoria," my father growled, "and what you're doing... what this organization rom?"
"R.A.M." the clerk answered.
"Whatever, it is the lowest form of corruption I've ever seen," my father answered, "and I'm sure any honest cop would agree with me on that."
And with that we left, marriage license in hand.
+++++++++++++++++
Finding a preacher was harder. Most were closed and locked up when we arrived and Molly and I didn't know the addresses of the preachers themselves so we moved on. Neither of us was really hooked on any specific denomination. From my point of view they were all selling the same message. Eventually we did find a church that was open. It was a small Catholic church on the north end of Columbia Falls.
"Um... hello..." I called into the church as I entered, wiping my feet on a welcome mat. Molly and my parents did the same when they entered behind me.
It was a small church, which surprised me as many of the other churches in town seemed to be much bigger then the Catholic Church was. We continued to nervously make our way in, hoping to find someone.
"Hello..." I called again.
"Yes," came a soft voice coming from an office area nearby.
I turned to see a calm middle aged man come out of a small office, that resembled a study more then anything else.
"Are you... uh... the... uh... bishop here?" I asked, knowing nothing about the Catholic Church's organization.
"Me? A Bishop?" the man gave a friendly laugh, "My son, I do not rank that high in the Church. I am Father Jose Lopez. What can I do for you?"
"I am George Wayne and this is my gi... fiance, Molly Rhoer," I told him, as I reached around Molly's waist.
"We want to get married," Molly spoke.
"Right now?" Father Lopez asked.
"We don't want to rush you," I told him, "and Molly and I have a mutual friend we'd like to have as a guest. We're mostly looking to see if anyone would do the job of marrying us."
"I see," Father Lopez asked, "I have not seen you at my sermons before... are you new?"
"Fairly," I answered, "Molly's been working as an aide at the school..."
"Ah... the "Tiger-Lady" as some of my parishioners have commented," Father Lopez answered, "and it would appear that they were very much correct in that regard. I trust you are happy together?"
"Very much so," Molly answered, "and to give you a brief explanation, I was turned into this."
"Yes I can see that," Father Lopez answered, "come into my study and we can set a date for this joyous event."
We slowly followed him into his office/study. In it were countless numbers of books. Many of them were histories... some on the Catholic Church, some on local history, and some were simply a general history. But there were also a large number of books on animals, their behavior, veterinary medicine, and other things. On his desk was a small stone statue of a medieval monk in a friar's robes with various animals, including a wolf at his feet.
"Saint Francis of Assisi," Father Lopez commented when he saw me looking at the statue, "the Patron Saint of Animals and the Environment."
"Amazing that the statue has him with a wolf," I commented.
"There is an interesting tale about him and a wolf," Father Lopez answered, "and besides, are we not ALL God's creatures..."
I only shrugged.
"Now, when do you wish to have this joyous occasion?" Father Lopez asked.
"Some time before the New Year," I answered, "my folks are only here for the holidays, and once they're over... our schedules will be rather busy."
"I see," Father Lopez looked at a calender, "I have some time on the 29th, shall I write you in for that day... at say... two PM?"
Molly and I shared a smile.
"That should be perfect," I told him, "And we can give Dave a call. See if he will attend."
Molly nodded while Father Lopez wrote something down on the calender in front of him.
"Thank you, Father," Molly said politely, "You have no idea what this means to George and I."
"I suppose, but then my vows forbid me from marrying someone, myself, so I will never know your joy," Father Lopez quipped, "My hope is that I may be able to all to happy together."
"Thank you," I told him.
"And God be with you, my son," Father Lopez replied.