Revolution (5 page)

             
It was then that I realized how much this could affect us. This could be
it
for us. It made me feel strange to be so calm about it. We’d been through so much, not just lately, but for months. We'd fought so many Lighters and been locked up and beaten down…but we always came out on top. Was that why I felt this way? Did I have some cocky notion that we were unbeatable?

             
But when Pastor called everyone's attention and asked
us
to listen to him for a minute, the shakes started. This was real. This was happening. The Lighters were coming for us and they were bringing a new enemy we'd never seen. I knelt on the
floor next to Merrick and decided not to hide how scared I'd all of a s
udden become. But I knew this: i
f we died, we
'd die
together, a family, an army of resistance.

             
We wouldn’t lie down. We wouldn't let them rule us and turn us against our kind. We would not be their puppets to our own demise.

             
This was a revolution, whether the enemy knew it or not.

Amen and Aman

Sherry

             
"Friends, acquaintances, family.
" Pastor looked at his daughter as i
f she were five years old again.
"I just wanted us t
o take a few minutes
to collect our thoughts
. I know the
se minutes are precious for planning our attack, but we need this. Whatever religion you are, whatever you believe in
or don't believe in
. Whether you believe there's a man who sits in the clouds and watches us like ants or a Heavenly Father, it doesn't matter. We're all the same. We're all human…" His brow lifted as he looked at Jeff, then Merrick. "Of sorts."

             
"Human works just fine, Pastor," Merrick said and smiled
, squeezing my arm
. "Go on."

             
"Ok, well, whatever we are
. Humans, angels, aliens,
we all have humanity. We all want what's best for this world. We all want to…survive." He looked around at us. "And we need all the help we can get. So I'm going to bow my head
and ask the big man to give us a little hand up
. You make your own decision as to closing your eye
s or not, but you be respectful," he said sternly. He knelt down on one knee and took his hat off. Everyone else followed suit and I wasn't surprised when everyone closed their eyes as we huddled there in the commons room.
             

             
"Lord," he started low, "we could sure use your help today. With every conflict comes an opportunity. We can show these devils that we won't be stomped under their feet, but the opposite. We can show them that the human spirit in us all that you created won't be taken so easily.
And the Lighters? Well,
I think that hell misses their
sorry
behinds and it's time they went home." I heard
a few 'Yeah's and 'Mmhmm's.
"Give us strength beyond our bodies, swift and cunning hands, and nimble minds, Father. Amen and Aman!"

             
"Amen."

             
And we all opened our eyes and stood.
The knot in my throat was smaller at his words
, but still lodged and causing my eyes to water a little bit. But then Cain's next words made everything else stop.

             
"Pastor, uh…" He looked back at Lillian
and grinned this smile that said
I hope you're ready for this
. "
Do you think…
you could marry us?"

             
Lillian gasped and
covered her mouth.
Her eyes instantly watered.
Billings grumbled something from the corner about being stuck with one woman forever, but everyone ignored him.

             
"Right now?" Pastor asked easily and looked at his watch as if the time piece could tell him when the Lighters were coming. "I sure can, lickety-split like."

             
"Me, too," Jeff called, a
nd took Marissa stunned hand. "Come on, sweetheart. You know you're no
t getting rid of me
. Marry me so Merrick will stop gloating."

             
Merrick
chuckled and squeezed me to him with
Lily smooshed between us. Marissa burst wide open, but Jeff just smiled a
nd hugged her to him gently. "Of
course I'll marry you, silly!" she said laughing as he palmed her
flat
belly.

             
"
All right, let's get to it," Pastor said. "We need to get into position
outside
before they get here."

             
"Agreed," Miguel said gruffly from the corner and looked at everyone like they were nuts.

             
Danny stepped up and laughed as he said, "Don't be a stick in the mud, Aussie." He took Celeste's hand and yanked her forward with him. "Marry us, too, Pastor." He looked over at Celeste with a grin. For once, Celeste was speechless except for the surprised smile. "If something were to happen to me, I want to know that I at least got to marry my girl."

             
Though morbid, his words were the sweetest I'd ever heard out of his mouth. I knew I was
beyond
shocked when Merrick reached over with a chuckle to close my dropped jaw with his finger.

             
"Bloody h-" Miguel looked at Lily and rolled his eyes at his inability to curse right then. "Get on with it then. We've got a war to fight, if you all remember?"

             
"Why don't you just shut it," Rylee barked at him. "This may be all they've got and if they want to be saps
,
then
just
let them!"

             
"Ginger, you almost sound like a sap yourself," he goaded.

             
She started to un
load on him
, but her father stopped them. "If we don't get on with it, n
o one will be getting married, so shut your yaps.
If anyone else wants to get hitched, come on up here," he said and laughed as he rubbed his hands together.

             
Jeff and Marissa, Cain and Lillian, and Danny and Celeste came forward. And Pastor
got right down to business. "These folks wanna get hitched. Any objections?" Everyone chuckled, but stayed silent. "All right, men do you wanna marry these gals?"

             
"Yes," they all answered.

             
"I do," the pastor prompted.

             
"I do," they repeated.

             
"Gals, d
o you wanna marry these men?"

             
"I do," they said, but Celeste said, "We do, uh, I mean, I do."

             
Everyone laughed again as Pastor went on, "By the power invested in me, yada, yada, yada, I now pronounce you men and wives. You may kiss your brides."

             
They did. Cain held Lillian's face gently, Jeff was still rubbing Marissa's belly and Danny bent Celeste down all
Fred Astaire
like
.

             
When we stopped clapping and laughing and whistling, reality crashed back down, but it was a lighter load. It seemed that we all had more than one reason to live now. We had more reasons to fight like hell.

             
I turned to my Keeper and kissed his chin. "Stake a Lighter or two for me."

             
He grinned. "Oh, I will." His grin melted into sweetness. "I love you
so much
."
             
"
I know," I answered and bit my lip. "Just go before I break down, ok? Love you."

             
He nodded and I could practically feel his resistance as he stepped away. He blew Lily a kiss instead of giving her some long goodbye. And I loved him all the more for it. She didn't need to know that our whole world as we knew it could be ending right then.

             
I squeezed my eyes shut tight to block that thought and then tried for a smile as I grabbed Lily's hand. "Let's go pack some snacks, bug."

             
"K!"

             
I fretted about the food.
We didn't have enough to feed everyone for very long. Thank you, Piper, and if I had been a cursing kind of person, I'd have been cursing up a hurricane.
We almost had two bags packed when Lana came in with a sulking Calvin. She tapped me on the shoulder and signed 'Make Calvin help you while I help them'.

             
'Ok,' I signed back, 'Are you making grenades?'

             
She nodded and gave him a stern look. Then she pointed to the ground and mouthed 'Stay'.

             
He signed and said, "Yes, ma'am." As soon as her back was turned he huffed and hoisted himself onto the counter. "I am not a baby anymore. You guys have got to stop treating me like I'm a
walking, talking
toddler."

             
"You guys?" I asked. "So I'm lumped into that broad analogy?"
             
"You know what I mean. And yes, you do still try to keep me from fighting," he said softly. "I've grown a lot in the last few months
, you know
."

             
"That's only because you had to, Calvin," I told him as I stuffed the last bag of cashews in the bag.

             
"Exactly!" he yelled, but immediately held his hands up. "Sorry. It's just really frustrating that the Lighters treat me more like an adult that anyone else does."
             
"Why are you so eager to fight?" I asked in exasperation. I was getting a little tired of this same conversation with Calvin.