One Year After Their First Date
Phineas
I’m going to be sick. This is supposed to be some kind of amazing day, but everything is going wrong. I woke up to a text from our make-up/hair person that she had been fired from the company we hired and that the owner had decided to dissolve the business last night in a fit of rage because her husband had moved to Seattle without her. That wasn’t so much a disaster except that I already paid for the work, and the stylist wouldn’t come unlessI paid again. Gael told me that he and Sin would get the refund from the owner/company later and to just pay the stylist.
Then, when we got to the community center where we’re having our mating ceremony, the decorations we put up last night had been taken down by one of the employees who hadn’t been told that they were meant to be there. It was not his fault, it was the community center’s management’s fault for not telling him because they literally employ him to take down the decorations from events.
So, we hastily put back up decorations with the help of friend-volunteers, but even before we were done with that, and already running an hour behind schedule, I got a call from the caterer telling me that the catering van was in a collision that destroyed all the food. It’s as if the universe is just absolutely against me getting a mating ceremony.
Sin, being the perfect mate he is, immediately called together the shifter-mare community from the new online community chat board, asking for help with the food situation, so now we have a potluck happening for the mating feast.
I let tears roll down my cheeks as I stare down at the ripped zipper on my tuxedo pants. This is the culmination of a shitty day full of disasters.
Anja places a hand on my belly, the fat thing that is the reason I ripped the zipper, and the cubs inside me immediately kick her hand, trying to connect with their species leader even before they’re born. “This is fixable, Phin,” she promises.
“This entire day has been a complete disaster. I can’t do it anymore. I just can’t,” I sob, throwing my pants off and flopping onto the sofa in this classroom-turned-dressing-room.
Anja immediately sits with me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “Shh. I know it feels like a lot, but this is your mating ceremony, Phineas. The important part is your mates, not the decor or the food or the pants.”
The door to the room slams open and my mates appear, Gael with a look of fury and Sin following carrying a baseball bat in go-mode like they’re ready to kill.
Anja snorts as they come to a stop seeing me in my button up and underwear being cuddled by my best friend. “His pants ripped because he got bigger since the last time they measured him,” she deadpans, shaking her head.
“They’ve gotten a little over-protective,” I explain, laughing at my silly mates. They were never very chill about me, but ever since they learned about the three cubs in me, they’ve gotten so much worse. I love it so much, and it reminds me that Anja’s right, this day is about the three of us, not the kind of pants I’m going to have to wear.
Gael brackets me on the side opposite Anja, and Sin kneels between my bare legs, rubbing them in soothing circles.
“Should I run home and get a different pair of pants?” Sin asks, studying me with a worried look.
Another tear rolls down my cheeks. “All I have are sweatpants now.” I’m a complete disaster, too, so maybe this day is just a reflection of me.
“No, you are not having your special day in sweatpants. Let me ask Shaylin if she has any of her maternity clothes still,” Anja suggests, pulling her phone from her pocket.
Gael kisses my temple. “You would look wonderful in anything you wear, love,” he assures me, letting his thrall sink into my mind to help calm down my churning emotions.
I sob at that, because I don’t want to look good in anything, I just want to look good. I want to dress up and be fancy and commit to my mates in front of our communities, and I’m really sick and tired of this day and its disasters!
“Shaylin is bringing clothes!” Anja announces, standing up. “Come on, Phin, let's refresh your make-up and get you ready.Mates, go greet your guests and leave this to me. Phin, trust me, the rest of this day is going to be perfect,” she promises.
None of the three of us want to separate, but Anja convinces us to part, and then she bustles me around for ten minutes before Shaylin, the only woman in the clan who matches me in size, arrives with an armful of clothes. The first thing she pulls out is a pair of black maternity slacks with a cotton band of expandable fabric instead of a button and zipper. They fit perfectly, and the cummerbund of my tuxedo hides the cotton.
The relief of having my tuxedo work is so great, I actually sob again and need another pat down of powder on my cheeks.
As soon as I’m ready, Anja kisses my cheek and leads me to the main room to present me to my mates.
As we walk to the front, the noise from the guests calms down. Sin and Gael, who have been talking to everyone as they come in, join us at the front of the room, where Gael’s sorcerer friend, Felix, is ready to officiate our ceremony for us. We thought about having Anja do it, but I wanted my best friend there, not my species leader, and she liked that better, too.
At the front, Anja stands with me and smiles at that community of people who’ve joined us to witness our mating. “Welcome friends, family, and loved ones. Thank you for coming to bear witness to the mating of my best friend, Phineas Mathan, to his mates, Gael Fuin and Caysin Ingan.”
Sin’s father steps up with him as Anja and I step back, and his father speaks on behalf of his son. “Hello. This is my first mating ceremony, and I want to thank you for coming to bear witness to my son, Caysin Ingan, taking his mate, Phineas Mathan, and being taken by his mate, Gael Fuin.” He turns to Sin, whispering, “Did I do it right?”
Sin gives his father a brief nod, and they step back and Gael steps forward with his mother, who speaks to the witnesses on behalf of her son. “Thank you for coming to bear witnessto my son, Gael Fuin, taking his mates, Phineas Mathan and Caysin Ingan. We are so proud of him for finding his mates and becoming the species leader for the mare.”
Gael grabs his mother’s wrist just as she’s getting wound up for a long speech and pulls her back so Felix can take his place at the front.
I stand in the middle between Sin and Gael, facing our witnesses with our concelebrants standing behind us, and Felix faces us, back to the witnesses. His voice comes through the speakers loud and clear for the guests to hear, but he’s here to speak to us, so he faces us.
“It has been rare for any of our species to find their fated mates since the Pact of Cádiz. We slowly lost our destinies because we denied ourselves community, but you boys have given that back to us. You found yourselves fated in a time when our separate communities had nearly forgotten that we all exist on the same planet, and your determination and persistence will bring us back from the brink of extinction.
