“They were fools,” Selena said. “They didn’t know what they had. You would have come home when it was time and you were ready. Meanwhile, you were learning things that were worth passing on. You’d have come home with wonderful things to teach the children. Well, their loss is our gain. I’m looking forward to having you as a co-wife.”
“And the Tendu?” Juna asked.
“Them too,” she said. “Mold’s taught Danan a lot, and Ukatonen— ” She paused and smiled. “He’s got a lot to teach all of us. I like him.”
“I used to be jealous of the Fortunati,” Juna said, “especially after my first marriage didn’t work out. I wanted to belong to a marriage as happy as yours. Now— ” She shrugged. “Suddenly I’ve gotten what I wished for, and I’m scared, a little bit. I’m afraid it won’t work out, or I’ll bring trouble to your house.” She blinked away the unshed tears pricking at the back of her eyelids. “I love you all so much, Selena. I don’t want that to happen.”
Selena hugged her, “Oh, Juna, trouble comes to everyone— we know that. We’re willing to share in your troubles every bit as much as we will share in your joys. That’s what family is all about. Besides,” she continued as Juna started to interrupt, “it’s not like we don’t know you. This marriage formalizes a relationship that’s been there for years. You’ve been family since Toivo married us. We know what we’re getting into, Juna.”
“You’re sure?” Juna asked.
Selena laughed. “We’re sure.” She picked up the reading slate and pressed the wake-up switch. “Now we’ve settled that, let’s get back to picking out a dress for the wedding.”
Moki waited with Danan and the other Fortunati children for the ceremony to begin. They were supposed to walk down the aisles, strewing fragrant flowers and herbs for their elders to walk on, in order to make their elders’ passage through life sweet. Today they were joining the Fortunati family. It was like becoming part of a village. The whole thing puzzled Moki. One did not become part of a village; one simply was part of a village. The village, through its elders, chose the bami. Tinka, when they came to a village, were merely looking for a place where they could be safe. One either fought for and won a place among the village tinka, or one stayed in the forest and was eaten. There was no choice there.
Humans had so many choices to make. What kind of marriage to have, who to marry, where to live, what kind of work to do, whether to have children, and how to marry. The list went on and on. He wondered how they managed with all those choices. On Tiangi, obligation and tradition replaced choice. It made life much simpler.
The music started, and Moki followed Danan down the aisle, strewing herbs. Quang, Abeo, and Yang Xaviera nodded at him as he passed their chairs. He nodded back, and they smiled at him as he passed. Dr. Engle caught his eye and winked at him.
Then they reached the center of the circle of chairs. Moki followed the other children* as they strewed herbs in the circle. The smell of the pungent herbs crushed underfoot made his eyes water, but it didn’t bother the humans at all. At last the music stopped and he sat down, quickly flicking his nictitating membranes across his eyes to clear them.
Then a new tune, slower, and more solemn began, and everyone stood as Niccolo Fortunati, the family Eldest, came out on the arm of the priest. They walked slowly to a small raised dais in the center of the circle and waited as the rest of the family strode down the four aisles leading to the center and stood in a semicircle behind Niccolo and the priest.
The music changed again, becoming louder and more triumphant. Toivo and Eerin walked down the aisle, followed by Selena and Teuvo, with Anetta bringing up the rear. Eerin looked beautiful in her dark green gown. She glanced at Moki nervously as she entered the central ring with Toivo, and Moki turned dark blue in reassurance. She smiled at him, and her nervousness seemed to vanish.
They stood before the Eldest and the priest. The music stopped and there was a moment of stillness.
“Welcome, friends and family, to this celebration of joining,” the priest said. “Today, we witness not just the joining of one person to a new family, but the merging of two families. Today we come to join the Saari family and the Fortunati family. You, their friends and their neighbors, are here to witness this joining. You have watched these two families strive and struggle to build new lives here on Berry Station. You’ve watched their triumphs and their tragedies as they have done so. You’ve welcomed their children into the world, and comforted them when a beloved one has died. Now you are here to see them begin a new stage in their lives together. Thank you for coming to support their joining.
“Juna Saari, do you come to this joining of your own free will, without coercion?” the priest asked.
“Yes, I do,” Eerin replied.
“Toivo Saari Fortunati and Selena Anderson Fortunati, do you represent your family in this joining?”
“Yes, we do,” Selena and Toivo said.
“And you and your family come to this joining of your own free will?”
“We do.”
“Juna Saari, do you join yourself to this family to give aid and comfort in times of trouble, to share your joys, and to strive for peace and harmony within your family and in the world at large?”
“I do,” Eerin replied.
“And will you raise your children in common with theirs?”
Eerin glanced over at Moki, eyebrows raised in a silent question. They had discussed this before the wedding. The other adults in the Fortunati family would be able to tell him what to do. It was like any Tendu village, and was what he had expected. He nodded.
Eerin looked back at the priest. “I do,” she said.
Juna watched as her father repeated the wedding vows, relieved that her part was over. She looked over at Moki and Ukatonen. Happiness and approval danced across their skins. The baby shifted gently within her, as though it approved too. Her father said the last of the vows. The priest touched Teuvo’s forehead with scented oil, and then she took both their hands and placed them in the hands of the Eldest.
“I now pronounce you joined,” the priest said.
Niccolo Fortunati kissed Teuvo formally on each cheek, and then kissed Juna on the forehead.
“Welcome to the family,” he said, beaming happily at them.
There was a ripple of applause from the wedding guests.
The priest held her hands up for silence. “This ceremony is more than the joining of two families. As you know, Dr. Saari Fortunati is the adviser to the two Tendu envoys, Ukatonen and Moki. Moki is her adopted son, and as such, will become a part of the Fortunati family. Would Moki and Ukatonen please come forward now?”
The Tendu got up and came tcrthe dais. Juna took Moki’s hand, enfolding it in both of hers.
“Moki, do you agree to accept the Fortunati as your family, to love and obey them as you do Juna?” the priest asked.
“Yes,” Moki said, aloud and in formal skin speech.
The priest turned to Toivo. “Does your family agree to accept Moki as their child?”
Toivo smiled at Moki, and took his other hand. “We do.”
The priest turned to Ukatonen. “Your position as enkar forbids you from entering into any ties that we would recognize as the ties of marriage, but you are one of Moki’s guardians. Do you accept Moki’s adoption into the Fortunati family?”
“I do.”
“Do you agree to work with them to raise Moki to understand both human and Tendu cultures, and to attempt to achieve harmony with them should any conflict between the needs of these two cultures arise?”
“I will,” Ukatonen said aloud and in formal skin speech. The elaborate black border around his words indicated that his words had the weight of a formal judgment. Juna raised her eyebrows in surprise.