Page 68 of Tarek

Lucy stared at the trembling little animal in Caleb's arms, then looked over at Sarah with enormous hopeful eyes.

“Mommy? Can we keep him?”

Doran looked at Sarah. Sarah looked at the odd little creature and sighed.

“Daddy, can we?” Lucy pleaded, now looking at Doran, prompting more laughter.

Sarah shrugged as Doran looked for her answer, and he smiled down at Lucy.

“Yes.”

Lucy squealed in delight. “I gots a kangaroo rabbit!”

“I'll go get the hop-a-long from Caleb, so it can't get away again,” Doran said.

Sarah nodded. “Thank you.”

He ducked his head in acknowledgement, and I murmured to Tarek, "Wise choice. That durned thing has led us a merry chase for how many days now?"

Tarek grinned. "Not our problem now. The trader is off planet, having abandoned it, and now it's Sarah and Doran's problem."

“Don't you poop on my good suit,” Doran told the small critter as he pinned it tight against his chest and went inside.

"Unless it gets out again and they ask us for help catching it," I reminded him, and he looked alarmed at the prospect.

“Do we get cake now?” Matt asked, prompting more laughter.

“Now we get cake,” Sarah assured him, taking Doran's hand as they went to start the rest of their celebration.

Tarek leaned towards me as the guests began moving towards the house. “That went well, even considering the hop-a-long."

“It did.” I watched Sarah and Doran together. “They deserve this.”

“So do we.”

I looked at him, and he smiled. We hadn't set a date for our own wedding yet, but the thought had been sitting at the back of my mind for a while. We were already mates, and we'd made our commitment to each other, but I wanted a ceremony of our own, something that brought our family and friends together and celebrated the life we were building.

After the cake had been cut and the children were occupied, Tarek and I stepped away for a few minutes to talk, going out on the front porch.

“We need to decide what we're doing about our house,” I said, thinking house before wedding seemed a sensible order to discuss things.

“We do,” he agreed. “Have you given it more thought?”

“Actually, yes. What if we expand the sheriff's office building and turn it into a replica of Andy Griffith's house?”

Tarek stared at me for a moment.

“The sheriff's building. We don't really need a separate office, do we? The jail is nicer than most offices I've worked in, and it's already got a desk and everything. We could use that for the paperwork and expand the building into a house. Make it look like Andy Griffith's place from the outside, but with all the modern conveniences inside," I explained my idea further.

He considered the idea, then amusement spread across his face. “You want our home to look like the sheriff's house from your television show? The one he and Opie live in with Aunt Bee?"

“Exactly. It's a little ridiculous, I know, but it would be fun. And we'd have the office right there, so we'd be available if something happened. And I might have kinda looked it up on a TV and Movie floor plan website to see."

Tarek laughed softly. “I like it. It suits you, and it would make good use of the building. It is, as you say, redundant."

“Really?”

“Really. Let's ask Bob what it would take.”