(aka the real reason Doug and Carol didn't show up for Elizabeth and Mark's wedding)
by Céindreadh
ceindreadh@eircom.net
Carol gave Tess a quick hug before putting her down on the floor. Tess immediately headed straight for the toy xylophone and started thumping it. Biting her lip, Carol took Kate from Doug's arms and put her down beside her sister. Crouching down between her daughters, she said, "Now you two are going to be good girls for Mrs. Wayne, aren't you?"
Kate held up a battered looking Barney toy. "Baw-ney," she said with a toothless grin.
"Yes dear, I know that's Barney...he's going to stay here with you." Carol stood up and looked at Doug. "Do you think they understand?"
Doug shook his head, "Probably not...but they'll be okay, right Mrs. Wayne?"
Mrs. Wayne, a motherly looking woman in her forties nodded and smiled. "Don't you two worry about a thing. I'll look after them. You just go and have a good time at your friends wedding."
Reluctantly Carol said goodbye to her daughters, both of whom seemed more interested in their respective toys than their parents. Doug gave them a quick hug and whispered a loving goodbye in their tiny ears before putting his arm around Carol and leading her out of the house. Once outside, Carol stopped and put her ear to the closed door.
"What are you doing?" asked Doug, puzzled.
"Shhh," hissed Carol. "The door's not that thick...I should be able to hear if they start crying..."
"Carol," said Doug patiently. "I know that you love our daughters...and so do I...but Nessa Wayne has been a registered foster parent for almost twenty years...we're only going to be away from them for forty-eight hours...I know it's hard...but it'll be good for them to spend some time in new surroundings...and it'll be good for us to get some time for ourselves."
"I know...I know," said Carol, moving away reluctantly. "But they're not even a year and a half old..."
"They'll be fine...we've given Nessa our cell phone numbers, pagers, the name of the hotel we'll be staying at, our flight numbers...I know you'd prefer to bring them with us, but weddings are no place for small children...I mean, Rachel's going to be the only non-adult there...they'd be bored stiff after half an hour."
"I know...I know," said Carol. She abruptly stopped walking and turned back towards the house. "Let me just check on them once more..."
"No, no, no," said Doug, firmly as he escorted her towards their car. "If you go back now, it'll only confuse them. Besides, if we don't go now, then we'll never have time to pick up our bags and make our flight."
Sitting in behind the wheel, he continued, "I don't know why we didn't bring the cases with us. We could have easily gone straight to the airport."
"I didn't want the girls to see the cases," said Carol as she strapped herself in. "They might have been disappointed that they weren't coming with us."
"Not to mention the fact that there wouldn't have been enough room with all the girls things that you insisted we bring."
"Well I wanted to make sure they had enough clothes and toys to last them while we're away," said Carol defensively.
Doug rolled his eyes. "Even Tess and Kate couldn't possibly go through over a dozen outfits...each...in forty-eight hours...and besides, that's why washers and driers were invented."
"Okay," said Doug, as they stood in their bedroom. "Airline tickets?" He patted his jacket pocket. "Wedding present for Mark and Elizabeth?"
Carol held up a brightly wrapped package before packing it into the suitcase.
"Wedding *night* present for Mark and Elizabeth?"
"I think it's a bit late for the luminous condoms," grinned Carol as she made space for the package. "But they should enjoy the chocolate body paint...although maybe we should have put in a second jar...I'd hate them to 'run-out' half way through."
Closing the case, she zipped it shut and tightened the straps around it. "All done," she said, standing up.
"Listen," said Doug.
Carol frowned, "I don't hear anything."
"That's what I mean...do you know when was the last time we were alone like this?" Doug put his arms around Carol and kissed her.
"What are you suggesting Doug?" asked Carol. Although by the twinkle in his eye, she had a pretty good idea.
In response, Doug picked her up and carried her to the bed. Carol giggled as he lowered her gently onto the mattress. "What if we miss our flight?" she asked.
Doug shrugged, "There's plenty of flights to Chicago...we'll just take the next one...unless you want to leave now..."
Carol's response was to pull him down on top of her. "Hell no," she whispered in his ear, biting gently on the lobe.
Some time later, Carol was busy repairing her make-up, while Doug phoned the airline to reschedule their flight. As she brushed her hair, she heard him come into the room.
"So what time's our flight?" she asked him idly.
"Sometime tomorrow," said Doug disgustedly.
Carol spun round in the chair to look at him. "What are you talking about? The wedding's this evening."
"I know...but there's heavy rain in Chicago...the airport's closed. Guess we'd better phone them and apologize."
"Yeah," said Doug into the phone. "I'm really sorry about it Elizabeth, but listen, once you're back from your honeymoon, we'll fly in and visit you...I promise."
He listened for a few minutes before saying. "Okay then. Give our best to Mark...bye."
Hanging up the phone, he turned to Carol who was sitting on the stairs watching him. "So...you want to pick up the girls?"
Carol shook her head, and patted the step beside her. Doug looked a little puzzled, but sat down beside her.
"I've been thinking," said Carol slowly. "This past year...we've been so caught up with being a family...that we haven't really been a couple."
Doug gently stroked Carol's hair. "Sweetheart, I don't think I've ever been as happy as I've been this past year with you and the girls."
"I know...but I know I've been so wrapped up with them...I know that I've been putting them first...and neglecting you...neglecting *us*."
Doug started to say something, but Carol silenced him with a finger on his lips.
"What I'm trying to say, is that we need to make time for ourselves...and maybe this is an ideal opportunity...I mean, I've already psyched myself for being away from them for two days...so maybe we should take advantage of it, you know, do something together as a couple..."
Doug smiled at Carol before leaning forward and kissing her.
"I take it that's a yes then?" smiled Carol.
A few hours later, Carol lay in Doug's arms smiling.
"Listen," she said softly.
"I don't hear anything."
"That's what I mean."
"So you don't mind missing out on the wedding?"
Carol sighed, "It would have been nice to watch Mark and Elizabeth get married...to meet up with all our friends from County...but you know what's bugging me the most? I spent hours searching for the perfect outfit...and now I'm not going to have the chance to wear it."
She pointed to the suit that was hanging on the door of the wardrobe.
Doug kissed Carol's bare shoulder. "Well, I know of one occasion where you could wear it..."
Carol rolled over on top of Doug and looked at him. "What occasion would this be?"
Doug took her hands in his and kissed them. "Oh, I don't know...maybe on the occasion of our wedding?"
Carol stared at him open-mouthed. "I...I...are you serious?"
Doug nodded. "I love you Carol...I love our daughters...I want us to be a real family...so what do you say, we set the date...and do what we should have done years ago?"
"Oh my God," said Carol in a small voice, before grabbing Doug's head and kissing him passionately.
When she finally came up for breath, Doug smiled at her, "I take it that's a yes then?"
And it was.
The End