"Who will be the Maid of Honor?"
"Kattie Bestiary."
"And Dobin will give you away?"
Lana nodded.
"Who will be the Best Man?"
"I don't know yet. I'd like Chekof but I don't know if he will return to school or not."
"Bride's maids?"
"I'm thinking Rene and Marie, and maybe Tanisha?" she looked to Kyle. "Do you think she would agree?"
Kyle chuckled, "no one has married in our family for generations. She'll agree."
"For groomsmen, mom, I need to wait and see who my Best Man is. I know Almin Dester and Alto Funnel need to be in there and I want Karlen Carpenter in there as well. But I need to ask before giving names. Lana technically has only asked Kattie and Dobin."
Cere nodded, "I think the thing we need the most is numbers of the wedding party, so we know who to hire to handle the design of the formal wear."
"Mom, I hired a young lady to make my beast clothing. Is it possible to have her work on the team for our clothing so she can learn from high-end professionals?"
Cere smiled, "I'm sure we can arrange something."
"I need you two to understand there will be decisions that are out of your hands. Things like the cake, menu, these will be decided by Bianca and myself. Two very powerful families are joining together, which means we will have very high-end guests. You can invite your friends, but if they need proper dress accommodations, we need to know so we can take care of them. I need your guest list as soon as possible."
Kyle looked at her, "well, it's fairly simple. If our team members are not in the wedding party itself, they will be guests. Tabitha Rudy, Nis Rage, Barry Elder, Kai Tanaka, Richard Tall, and Cotidie Cogito all need special invites as teachers who have made a difference in our school year."
Lana nodded. "Though Bonol isn't on our teams, he's been integral to our gear, so if he can make it, I think that would be great a well. So, for the friends list, Duff Seek and Tobias. Also, if Chekof can't make the wedding, do you think Paul would be willing to be a stand-in?"
Cere nodded, "I was going to suggest him because I don't think Karlen will want to be in the wedding party. He seems to prefer to not be the center of attention."
Kyle smiled, "isn't that the truth!"
"Let's put Karlen down as a potential attendee and if Chekof can't be there, Paul will be the Best Man and your brother can be a groomsman? We'll need to know as soon as possible."
With names set in pencil, they remained in silence for the rest of the trip as Cere thought through some details and the couple thought about inviting their friends.
Soon they were parked and going through a teleporter. Kent slept the whole trip but going through the teleporter woke him up. Are we back home, mom?
Lana chuckled, yes, we are.
They were met by the general and taken to his office. Apparently, Cere had messaged him while they were talking and providing names to him as well.
As they walked into the general's office, the reception area was filled with all the names they had rattled off on enroute, including the teachers. Since his office wasn't big enough for all these people, they got the initial questions out of the way first. The invitees were honored to be and gave their names if they needed something to wear. Chekof wasn't there but Paul agreed to the position he would need to fill. He just wanted to be told soon which it would be.
Lana informed them Kent would be the ring bearer.
Cere chuckled, "Bianca won't like that."
Lana got defensive, "Kent is family and he needs to be part of this."
Cere nodded, "I'll discuss it with her."
Cere turned to the general, "shall we release all these people and step into your office?"
With a nod from the general, four people and a cat with tentacles disappeared behind the interior door.
"I'll cut to the chase, General. You already know bits of this so let me put it all together."
Cere went on to explain that Blaine is now the head of the family despite being a student and would need to handle things periodically. While someone would be appointed, he needed to be able to make corrections. Lana was also a family head as his wife, plus she had other surprises coming she didn't know about yet.
"The couple need to be given privilege as well as the ability to come and go based on the needs of the family."
Blaine had taken back control of the body, "my wife is bored in martial arts class. She asked to receive training from my family. As a member of the family, she is entitled to receive it. The issue is I'm too advanced for her, at this time. My sister Tanisha will be eligible to enroll in this academy next year. We would like accommodation in our new room, which we hope to be near our brother Paul, to have two bedrooms so Tanisha can join us. If that is impossible, we need her to have a room somewhere."
"She could always room with Kattie since I'll be with you," Lana offered.
Blaine nodded, "I think I like that better. She'll be bored during the day, though."
"She can always either shadow one of us or spend her time in the gym or library. The difficult part would be she's here as something other than a student, military or faculty," Lana added.
General Hansen pointed out, "will she be coming next year? I know original families don't always sent their children."
Blaine shrugged, "I wasn't planning on it to be honest, though she would gladly come. We don't get out much. For me, the training here is very … lackluster. She will be just as bored as I am. The only reason to send her would be the portal expeditions so she can gain experience fighting beasts."
He nodded, "okay, we will enroll her as a student and have her shadow Lana. She will join your team, Blaine since Lana has a team of 6 already."
"Also, since we can put her in Kattie's room, we can go ahead and move the two of you into your new room once payment is received. I must also request payment for Tanisha."
The general wrote some numbers on a sheet of paper.
"I will handle Blaine's and Lana's status," Cere said as she swiped her watch against the general's watch.
Blaine then swiped his watch paying for the right to have Tanisha attend but not actually graduate.
General Hansen nodded once the credits changed hands. "Have Tanisha come today to start classes in the morning. She will need uniforms but won't be able to get them until tomorrow at lunch."
Blaine nodded and sent the message to Gerald to have her get ready and sent to the school.
"We can send a teleporting sergeant to her location and bring her here since it's just one person. She needs to bring only 1 bag."
Blaine nodded and sent that message as well.
"As for your new room," General Hansen was typing on this computer. "The room across from Paul is available if that's okay?"
Blaine and Lana smiled, "that's a much shorter distance to deliver his meals!"
General Hansen chuckled, "am I also to assume the people we had in my waiting area today will all need to miss class at some point over the next week a few times?"
Cere nodded, "they will need to be measured then fitted for their formal wear. Also, the student Dilly Threadbare. She will need to be added to the designer team per Lana's request. This means she will miss the week of school to work on wedding attire."
General Hansen wrote another number on a piece of paper though this one wasn't as large. Blaine paid this one and the general entered some things in the computer.
Somewhere on campus, a badge dinged. Dilly looked at it to see the change and discovered she was selected to be on the team to work on Lana's wedding attire. She squealed and jumped up and down.
In the general's office, details were still being hashed out. "I assume all those participating in the wedding are here in school?"
Lana nodded.
"Mrs. Techno, do you think the designer team would want to work here to expedite things?"
Cere stared off thinking, "let me just give her a call." She scrolled on her watch and hit a button. Within moments a glamourous face appeared hovering above the watch face.
"Cere, Darling, how are you?" came a voice that exaggerated her vowels.
"Gwin, dear! It's so good to see you. I'm well! How are you and your ship doing?"
"I'm on it right now, floating over the world! Elektra had a wardrobe malfunction. Someone gave her a dress with the most hideous mauve buttons! Can you believe it? I rushed over right away and fixed her right up!"
Cere smiled, "I'm glad we have you! I was wondering if you are available for an emergency wedding attire creation."
"When is the happy day?"
"Saturday."
Gwin gasped, "she isn't pregnant, is she?" she said in a conspiratorial tone.
Lana laughed uncomfortably at the thought.
"She better not be!" Cere glanced at her adopted daughter. "A truce has been declared between our two families and this is part of the agreement. She also requests that a seamstress student here in the military academy be included on the team so she can gain more experience."
"How many in the party?"
Cere filled her in on the details.
"Any ideas on the style of dress?"
Cere smiled, "we have colors and the jewels she will be wearing."
Gwin nodded. "We don't have much time. We will need to start as soon as I can land. Can you handle the clearance?"
Blaine was already offering his watch to the general to swipe. This was going to be expensive. A civilian ship…land on the grounds …and be guarded? He would look at the number later. Maybe.
Once the watch dinged and a secrecy vow was received, Gwin was given landing coordinates.
"I'll be there in two hours based on the ship's navigation. Have everyone gathered so we can get straight to work."
Cere smiled, "thank you! See you soon!"