5 Chapter Five

Back to the present, at least I don't have to plan the ceremony. The council does that. Even the reception part. Not that there is a reception like they used to have on Earth. It's more like they furnish the new chamber and provide food. They fill up the chamber full of food until you start your job. That's partly why you only get about half of your "allowance" a month. Which, I don't know if I said it or not, you get a card that has "money" on it to buy things and if you have a little extra, you can go to the movies, shopping, etc. Most of the people on here don't get that lucky to have money left over. Honestly, I don't think we live any differently than how they lived years ago. It's just now there are only so many people and we live out in space. Honestly, I would love to know what "weather" is like. You know, things like snow and ice, wind and rain. Things like that. The council tries to maifest something like that for us, but we all know that it's not the same thing as the real thing. They even do holograms of animals to let us know what they were and what they look like. I'm not sure, but I think they have a level where they have some of the actual animals in.

Back to the ceremony. More than likely it will be this weekend. Which means they will have my dress in the my old chamber by the end of the weekend with instructions for the makeup, hair, and nails. They do all of that. The only problem I see with that is if we are planning on trying to keep traditions, then shouldn't it be like how it was on Earth? Just my thought on things. I don't know what the rest of you think. I also understand that it would be difficult to keep traditions alive like that, but it shouldn't be too difficult. Oh well, this is what it is now. Can't really change it until we find a planet that is inhabitable anyway. Just hope that we don't forget that tradition by then. It it ever happens for that matter.

"Are you ready?" Isabella looked so excited looking at me through the mirror.

"Yes," I took a deep breath and smiled at her, "I'm ready to start my life."

"I don't blame you after everything that has happened to you," she looked sad, "I don't know what I would have done or would do if I were you in your shoes."

"You're a lot stronger than you think," I gave her a hug, "Now, my best friend has to walk me down the isle. It's only fitting."

She laughed as we walked out of the room and headed to the double doors leading to the altar. When the doors opened, my breath was taken away. I didn't notice all the council standing there or my best friends boyfriend. I only noticed Michael looking so handsome in his suit. The way he looked at me made me feel special and loved and wanted. I never want that look to fade, ever. He is so good to me. How did I get so lucky? Before I knew it, I was standing in front if him and he was just grinning from ear to ear. I swear that I saw a tear trail down his face. I was so lost in his eyes that I didn't even realize when the councilmen doing our ceremony got to the vows. I giggled in embarrassment. We said our vows and Michael didn't even given him time to say "you may kiss the bride", and he just planted his lips on him so longingly.Almost like we never kissed before.

That feeling of being unconditionally loved through the night by him and our loved oness made me wish this night would never end. Tonight, we didn't have a care in the world. It was our night. I did, however, have a slight pain in my heart when the thought of my parents couldn't be here. I know it wasn't my mom when she said those things last time, but it still hurts none the less. Everybody has adapted to the ways of living on Nora. I live the way I should to survive. Even my parents said that my way of thinking isn't for that of a person on a space station. That my heart was too big for such a small space. On the other hand, the night was amazing. Isabella looked so beautiful in her sick blue dress. Being her normal self on the dance floor with Jerald matching her personality. Made my heart sing knowing that she was matched with someone who matches her in every way. The evening, from how yuo would say it back then, was magical.

I didn't tell you about my wedding dress. It was lacey, full-sleeved, two-foot train, and it was an off-white color. My best friend was in a silk blue dress and Jerald was in a blue tux. My reception dress was red and silky. It was knee legnth. I absolutelly love this dress. It clings to my body and shows off my curves. Clearly Michael loves it too. Anyway, we can't exactly have what they used to call a honeymoon. So , we get a week to settle in to our new chamber and get situated. They don't really have vows anymore, but Michael and I chose to do them anyway. Here was our vows:

Time may change,

Life may change,

But our love for each other,

That will never change.

There is no galaxy,

Near or Far,

That can separatee us,

Not for long.

We are one,

In sickness and health,

Life and death,

Richer and poorer (not that we really have money status on Nora).

From today on,

I give everything I have,

Everything I feel and think,

Everything I am to you.

Back to the present, the reception was beautiful and we went to the chamber, it felt like home. It was slightly bare. We'll definitely have to do some decorating. I love decorating, so that won't be an issue. Michael and i can make it ours officially, I just don't know how I'm going to decorate it yet. The fridge and cupboards were filled with delicious food. There was a beautiful and delicious looking cake that had "Congrats on your new jourey". Michael and I looked at each other and we just had to dig in. We cut a big enough piece for the both of us to chow down into. We sat down on our new couch and shared the piece of cake. He continued to sit and, what seemed like, enjoying his new life as I ran into the room to change out of this beautiful dress that I didn't want to get ruined. There was beautiful, black lingerie. Youn know, the silky, almost see through top and silky underwear. I slipped it on and laid on to the bed. I called his name and it seemed like he reluctantly got up from where he was sitting.

I could hear him walk to our room. He had an exhausted look on his face until he looked at me and his expression changed to excited. I giggled. The look on his face made me feel like a high-school school girl or at least that's how they put it anyway. He took the white, silk shirt he was wearing and crawled from the end of the bed to me. I can understand why people waited till marriage before they got truly intimate. The evening and the night was amazing. I leave everything up to your imagination with just that little detail. Waking up in his arms clarified that none of it was a dream. Everything that happened in just over 12 hours was real. You would have to experience this feeling to understand what I'm talking about. There is no other feeling like it. It's like walking through your whole life in a daze and just waking up one day.

"Mmmmm, good morning," he turned and kissed me on the forehead.

"Morning," I kissed the side of his neck before crawling out of bed.

"Where are you going?" He groaned.

"I'm hungry. I'm going to make breakfast," I strutted out of the room with a smile on my face.

I went through the cupboards and the fride and settled on French Toast with strawberry topping, sausage, and fruit. A cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice. Michael stumbled out of the room when I started cooking. He helped set the table before without me even asking. Don't know how long that will last. They call this the honeymoon stage. Where everything is bliss and it fades away over time. I want to enjoy it while it lasts. I just realized when I watched all these old movies, they all had this machine that just created anything you desired when they represented the future. I can say that that is not true. We still hand-make food. Heat up the water. Nothing that you push a button on and bam, there is the food or drink. We try to keep the old ways with that kind of stuff. Now, if it came to clothing or dishes, there was a machine for that. We buy those kind of things. I mean, we buy the food and everything too, but the clothes and stuff like that aren't as expensive. Mainly because with food, we are in short supply.

We try to be a stingy as possible when it comes to food. Well, not just because we are in short supply, but also for health reasons. Anyway, by the time he was done setting the table, dinner was done. I laid everything out on the table and we sat done to eat. One thing we don't do anymore is say prayer, but that hasn't been a thing for a couple of hundred years. I think most people lost faith in God after the Earth flooded. We both dished up our plates. Michael more than me. Honestly, I wasn't surprised. Actually, it made me smirk a little. Reminded me of my dad a little whenever we would all eat together. Astonishly he finished before I did. Now that shocked me. Then he dished up seconds. Boy, he must have been hungry. Well, they do say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That part hasn't changed. I guess it's kind of refreshing to know that not evrything has changed. I'm pretty sure I've said that before, but it's true.

"This is delicious, babe," he said with a mouthful.

"Thanks," I smiled at him.

"So, should we go shopping for things for here?" he finished chewing.

"If you would like too," I secretly wanted to.

"Yea, make this place a little more homey," he shrugged.

"Ok. Well, let me shower and get ready," I picked up the table.

"I'll finish the rest," he came up behind me.

I turned and gave him a kiss before rushing off to the bathroom to shower. We are going to have to go to the gym at some point of the day. Keep up our health. Don't want to slack on that just because we were given a week. Most people don't slack on it anyway, because if they do they end up like my mom. Most people here are afraid to end up like that. Your brain begins to deteriate slowly and your body begins to deteriate. Anyway, back to more happy thoughts. I kind of want a wildlife kind of theme and nature them. I wonder how he would feel about those. He probably won't care. Most men don't care about those kind of things. At least, that's what I've been told. I'll find out soon enough. I quickly showered and got dressed. Michael showered while I finnished getting ready. I got our gym bags together It is amazing how quick men are at showering and getting ready. They should keep record of it.

That thought made me laugh as we walked out of the chamber. He just looked at me curiously, putting his arm around me as we walked down the hall and headed to the market area. I asked him about what he thought about my idea and he actually loved it. Which took me by surprise. He is always surprising me. That's one of the things I love about him. He is hard to read so he is so full of surprises. Getting to know him through the years is going to be so much fun. I wonder if I am an open book to him? Hmm, that's got me curious now. I guess we will find out when we get to the market. Whether he will be good at picking something out that I like or not. This marriage, our life together, is going to be one grand adventure. Well, as much of a grand adventure as it can be on a space station anyway.

We made our way to the market. Ok, so the market is a bunch of machine that we can choose the items we like for a price. Then is manifests that item and puts it into the buyers chambers. Each machine had it's own category. The first one we came across was furniture. All the furniture we had in our chamber was new, so we didn't have to worry about any of that. Second machine was bathroom items. We actually need some of that so we came up with a game. The other person gets to try and find out what the other would get. It took both of us a couple of tries, but we finally picked what the other would choose. Next machine we came across was kitchen items. I wanted to get our own style of pots and pans. So, we picked out this elegant style of them. Along with plates, bowls, cups, silverware, etc. We decided to donate the other stuff to future newly weds.

We were finishing up and heading to the cafeteria area to get something to eat. As we were heading there, I ran into an old friend before my dad was exiled. Her name is Maria Loriana Cortez. Her and her family are in the Hispanic wing. She stopped being my friend the minute word got out that my father was a traitor. It honestly broke my heart when she stopped being my friend. My father was the traitor, not me. I understand though. Still hurt regardless. Maria and Isabella were my bestfriends growing up. Isabella stayed by myside, but Maria's parents made her stop being friends with me. I guess I wouldn't expect them to act any differently, considering we don't know how to act on situations like that because they don't normally happen here. So…. I definitely wasn't expecting to run into her.

"Hey, Aurora…." Maria looked so sad.

"Hey, Maria. How are you?" I smiled at her.

"I'm ok," she wouldn't look me in the eye.

"Maria? Hey, if there is anything going on, you can tell me," I put my hand on her forearm.

"Thanks, but really, I'm ok," she shrugged.

"My husband and I were just about to eat, would you like to join us?" I never had anything against Maria and would like us to be friends again.

"I just ate, but thank you," she gave a slight smile.

"Ok. Well, come by and visit sometime," I gave her a hug.

Michael and I walked off to the venue that did mixed cultural food. It was our favorite. He would choose German food and I would choose Hispanic food. It's the only time people ate different foods that what they were raised on based on their culture. I like the little spice that Hispanics put on their food. It's so much more flavorful compared to the bland food that American food is. Well, that's besides the other cultural food we learn to cook. This venue is actually very popular with everyone on the station. After the earth flooded, there is a lot of culture without being any culture. It's all starting to blend with each other with the marriage system they have set up.

With Michael and I, our children are going to have to be taught both the American and the Italian culture. FYI, I know nothing about the Italian culture besides the light bit of food wise I was taught growing up. The American culture is like a mixture of all cultures, but one of it's own all the same. Most of the American culture is based around food. Another tid bit, We don't do Hispanic food as well as the actual Hispanics and Asian food too. Honestly, I always felt like I should've been born into the Hispanic culture, but hey, I'm happy with my culture too. There is a lot of history behind it. Not as much history as the Italian culture, but it has been a country longer than the American country. We ordered our food and choose a table to sit down at. He went and waited for the food while I sat down. I watched Maria and she seemed like she was just in an awful funk. I really do hope she is ok.

Michael returned with our food and I told him the story behind Maria and I. He sat there listening while eating his food. That's one of the things I love about him. He always acts truly interested with what I had to say. Most of the time people just look at me and try to act interested, but you can tell that they aren't interested at all. Even with Isabella, I could tell I just talk to much. I know half of the stuff I talk about, I can't talk about at home with my mom. Wow, I hadn't thought about her in awhile. Michael does a really good job on keeping me distracted from her. One thing I realized though, I lost my mom way before I actually lost her. I miss the woman she was when my dad was still around. She changed so much after that and you can tell how much she was giving up everyday. I just wished I tried harder.

We finished our food and started walking back to the chamber. We took our time. After all, we are newlyweds and just wanted to enjoy each others company outside of the chamber. The wedding was also rushed for the both of us and we were prepared, but not at the same time. I just love walking around with him though. It's so peaceful. My hand in his hand, walking by the windows and looking out in the vast space around us. Just like anybody else I'm sure, I know I wonder what all is out there besides what we are taught in class. We just stopped and stared out the window for awhile in silence. I love standing here and imagining what is out there, what I'll be able to find when I begin my traveling and research. My mind would just go buck wild thinking about that stuff.

"Do you ever think about what's out there?" He just stared out the window.

"Did you forget what career was chosen for me?" I joked, putting my elbow lightly in his side.

"No. I just wonder what your opinion is out there," he looked at me seriously, "without everything you were taught."

"Well, I do believe there is another planet habitable like Earth was out there," the question made me truly think about it.

"What do you mean?" he was pushing for more of an explanation.

"We'll talk about it later," I nudged him along.

He reluctantly followed me. I could tell he wasn't ready to go back to the chamber, so I made us take the long way back. As we walked, I looked up at him and he had this somber look on his face. He was so deep in thought. It couldn't possibly be what is out in the vast galaxies of planets and stars. I wonder what is really on his mind. Just like how he was wondering what I meant about my answer. Hmm, I should really think about that too because he is going to want my answer when we get back. All that stuff is going to be there too and we're going to have to put it away. Maybe tomorrow because I don't feel like it today. I'm worn out from all the shopping, even though it doesn't consist of pushing a cart anymore and having to carry stuff around the store. Why hasn't it always been so tiring to go shopping? Ugh, I'm just exhausted.

We finally made it back to the chamber and I decided to put everything away. We had all the kitchen and bathroom stuff we had to put away, so why not put everything anyway? Get it all done in one sitting instead of putting it off. Ugh, I did it as quick as I could. I just wanted to sit down on the new sofa we choose and relax for a minute. After we did, Michael went off to the gym. I stayed home and relaxed for awhile before I got up to make dinner. When I got up to make dinner, I heard a knock on the chamber door. When I opened the door, Maria was standing there just absolutely balling her eyes out. I urged her in and sat her down at the kitchen table. I grabbed a couple of paper towels so she could blow her nose.

"What's going on Maria?" I grabbed her a cup of tea.

"So, you know how my parents made me stop talking to you because of your dad?" she took a deep breath.

"Yea," I let her continue.

"Well, I just found out that my parents were in it with your dad and they turned on him," she took another deep breath.

"Hey, it's ok. It's not your fault," I assured her.

"I know, but I still let them make me stop talking to my best friend," she seems so hurt.

"Hey girl, that was the past," I got her another cup of tea, "I have always kept that door open for you and I'm glad you took it now."

"Thank you," she laughed, "where's your mom?"

"Found out she was part of it too," I shrugged.

"What?!" she jumped up.

"Yea girl, sit down," I laughed, "it's good though. She died a few days ago."

"What?!" she was so surprised.

"Yea, she wasn't taking care of herself like I thought she was and it finally took its tool. That's the reason why Michael and I got married earlier that usual," I shrugged again while taking a sip of my tea.

"Wow! We have a lot to catch up on," her eyes were just huge with surprised.

"Yea we do," I laughed, " I better get dinner started, you're welcome to stay."

"Sure, sounds good," she smiled at me and looked so relieved.

She helped me cook dinner and got caught up with the time we spent apart. It was really good to catch up with her and would be nice to have her back in the group. Honestly, it was good to have someone else around to talk to. I told her everything, catching her up as she set up the table up for us. We laughed and laughed. It felt like no time has passed at all and it was really good feeling. When it got to her discussing about what has been going on with her family, it was like she was trying to find the words to say it. I had her let it go and we got back to talking about fun times before Michael walked back in for dinner. We needed to spend a couple hours away from each other. We haven't spent anytime from each other since my mom lost it.

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