"All right, all right. Sheesh, you don't have to go all crazy-eyed on me."
She stood upright and addressed the family. "I am going to marry Jackson in October. I hope you will all attend our wedding, but if you can't accept him as a member of this family, you can't accept me and I don't want you there."
Caleb sat with his hands folded, face expressionless. Miriam pulled her lips in to hide her grin, yet offered a slight nod of agreement, and Thomas shook his head, puffing out a breath. "I don't understand how you could fall in love with…"
"I don't expect you to understand, only to accept." Her voice softened, "It would break my heart to never see you again, but Jackson is my heart. I refuse to live without him." She returned to her seat, stuck her ear buds in, turned on the MP3 player and closed her eyes. There would be no more discussion.
Thomas had to wake Elisabeth when they landed. She held up the MP3 player, smiled and kissed it. He scowled at her. "I think you may have lost it."
"No, dear brother. Quite the contrary."
*****
They had landed at the south edge of Alaska's North Slope where they would spend the night in makeshift cabins and snow mobile the last twenty-five miles to the Festival in the morning.
Thomas built a fire to cook the meager rations Miriam had packed for dinner. Unease suffused the mood around the campfire. No one dared to voice their concerns, and Elisabeth retired soon after dinner.
Soon after sunrise, and a sound night's music-filled sleep, she found Thomas outside. "Morning. Looks like a perfect day for traveling." The sun had already begun to soften the crisp snow.
He looked up at the cloudless sky, "Yeah, I hope you brought sun block. Wouldn't want that pretty face of yours burnt and wrinkled for the festivities."
"Don't worry about my face, Lughead. Worry about yours turning into one giant freckle." She acknowledged his grimace with a wink. "Where are Mom and Dad?"
"Still sleeping. I'm guessing they were up pretty late."
"Why?"
He grabbed the back of his neck and avoided her gaze. "Um, Mom kinda read us the riot act last night."
"Really?"
"Yeah… said she will be supporting you and attending your wedding… and if we drive you away with our damn stupidity, she'll never forgive us."
"Wow. Did she actually say 'damn stupidity'?"
A tentative grin played at his lips. "She told Dad he needed to get his head out of his ass."
"No!"
He nodded, chuckling. "You should've seen the look on his face. That's when I went to bed."