Ramona and Patricia Plan a Wedding!

It’s a point well remarked upon, that large well oiled families find it easy to induct and disseminate rather large amounts of information and apply it rapidly.

Maybe, that was just the Aunts and Uncles in large families. 

Though, considering the fractal nature of family ties, that made just about everyone that happened to be even tangentially related a potential vector for such information.

Even when that information happened to be a lie.

It wasn’t as if Ramona had been planning to lie about something like that, it was really just a small fib at first.

Very teeny tiny.

Maybe even a little dumb.

But out of all the things out there to explain the natural condition of her partner's family, she'd only really had one. 

“They’re normal types.”

It wasn’t even a good lie, it was technically accurate. But magic doesn’t wait for proof, so the assumption was made, “Patricia’s family has no great wizards.”

Still very accurate, but only as a description of her families' distinct lack of magicians. Not in the manner of the assumptions meaning, which was, “They aren’t of distinction.”

Which was close, but only in the way of interpersonal insults that ought to be acceptable between the families of life partners.

In any case Patricia hadn’t done much better, as an accountant trying to explain anything to various kinds of undereducated petty millionaires and the poor relations of petty millionaires, it was a similar story.

Though in her case it came with the added awkwardness of privileged social assumptions, and a vintage shade of satanic panic in response to their choice of venue that she should’ve expected, but for some reason didn’t.

Patricia was mostly smart, but she didn’t do well on that kind of social algebra.

Which is how she ended up convincing her family she was some kind of extremely alternative chick, rather than everyones confused math geek, cousin Patty. 

It wouldn’t matter much when all was said and done, Ramona was sharing her families’ Icons with her, the bindings of which would certainly be more secure then the ones that bound her father to his first, second or third wife. 

After that she’d have little to worry about in regards to family connection.

“Are you ready to get married?” Ramona whispered in her ear, pulling her from her foibles. Ramona had always managed a soft hold and a warmth that bordered on the majestic, it was always hard to look away when she wanted to be seen.

“Of course.”

“Good, we only have a few days to catch Ashika for the ceremony.” it took a lot of power to call on a patron, and it was always easier when the beings' corresponding planetary bodies were in line with the wants of the casters.

Patricia wasn’t proficient in such things, so they were to rely on Ramona’s coven for the actual event.

“Yeah, I know. It’s a bit maddening though.” She traced her thoughts. She really didn’t trust her family.

“Maddening?” 

“Yeah, somehow most of my family has decided to forgo their prejudices to bother me for the wedding.” She’d tried to be open, “this is how I’m doing” and they wanted invitations.

“That’s good though, isn’t it? I mean my family has accepted you, maybe yours is trying too.”

“Trust me, they're not.” Patricia explained, “I know that they aren’t equipped to do anything about it, but it worries me.”

“It’s alright, pastor piss can’t do shit to familiars.”

Patricia ended up laughing to the point of choking on her own mirth, that misattribution of holy water was always gonna split her sides. The seemingly snail's march to the day was filled with planning on the part of the coven; there were to be four parts to the ceremony, over the two days in the interim before the equinox.

She’d wanted to get the majority of her family's expectations over and placated before that all important time.

The first few days were all about dragging the poorer members of her family, aunt Margie and all hers out to the venue and preparing the hotel suite for the lot of them.

They were lucky that one of Ramona’s friends ran a place like that so close to the venue.

It was important in a marriage to look at everything your partner offers with their presents in your life, and really Patricia was a raw deal when compared to Ramona’s family.

And that was in spite of her family's variety on the economic spectrum. They really weren’t fixtures in Patricia’s life and it meant that while Ramona’s family had dynamics that were well understood Patricia’s simply weren’t.

So the wedding and planning it were really her first taste of Patricia’s family.

And she really couldn’t be proud of that. She’d left her dearest friend, and only lover without a clear picture of her. And it made her anxious with every step.

Asking for money, like you do for things like this, was necessary, but also very weird. 

Ramona’s family was willing to help, they knew what was needed, and they really didn’t bother with the truly unnecessary. That was for everything, but for a wedding it was thankless when the other half wanted the wheel.

The peculiar trouble in Patricia’s case was that her rich relations were all too willing to throw weight on things that didn’t matter.

Like, how close to home a particular venue was.

Uncle Markus had been giving her hell over the ‘fact’ that she wasn’t using the church she’d been baptized in, forgetting that he and her mother were going to different denominations by the time she was born, or that it was possible to convert to anything other than christianity.

It was maddening, and Ramona could do nothing but praise her premonition.

So they spent all of that year working out the best path for everything and everyone, and while Ramona wasn’t worried even with everything, Patricia felt strange the entire way.

The venue was much less auspicious than her family had worried about, a land preserve kept by Ramona’s parents and their familiars. Frequented by a whole caravan of temporary guests from all over, the entire coven plus some stragulars essentially living right on their venue the week before.

Since they were done worrying about money, they got back to worrying about living expenses, and catering, though such things had been covered by Ramona’s family. Their concern was all together tenuous and half-assed.

It hurt, but that couldn’t stop her. Patricia was marrying Ramona no matter how weird it was to see any of her family in the pews.

With all the pressure, she could bolt and run, and leave it all without a care to this party for strangers.

But as Patricia looked down the aisle, and saw the peace in her dearest love, she knew who she was with her.

The most beautiful woman in this world, draped in her own mothers dress.

She was glad to be wearing something so well-pieced and concordant. It was a gift from Ramona’s aunt Lilia, drafted off an antique in her collection and remade in thirteen pieces. It was excessive, but loving, and it made her feel like a new person.

She wondered absently if she would be a new person after this. If letting go, just this little bit more would remake her in this fierce way she was praying for.

She looked down at how badly she wanted that, so sullen with her birth families’ presence.

Patricia would walk down that fast beaten path, to her favorite person, and she’d let go that little bit more. 

When she was finally there, holding Ramona's hand, she felt it slip, the real lie. Half of these people are her's, and the other were her wife's.