“Helena! Andy!” Helena’s mother looked up in surprise as the two got out of the car, just as the sun was getting low in the west. The family was sitting around in lawn chairs in the back of the house, enjoying the nice spring Saturday evening. “What are you doing here? This is such a surprise!”

“Hi, Mom,” Helena grinned blushing a little bit; she thought that by now she was beyond that but proved herself wrong. They’d stopped an hour up the road for dinner, and Andy had exchanged her collar for a nice necklace. She’d worn it before, but it felt … different, now. It had a lot more meaning. “We thought we’d drive up and say ‘hi.’”

“Long drive for that,” her father grinned, getting to his feet. “Helena, you’re looking very healthy and happy.”

“I am healthy, and very happy, Daddy,” she grinned. “And I guess we did come up for more than to just say ‘hi.’”

Andy had hoped for a few minutes small talk before they got down to business, but it hadn’t worked out that way. Might as well get it over with, he thought. Standing before Helena’s father, he pulled himself up into a stance of ‘attention’ that any Marine drill sergeant would have been happy with – he’d learned how, by now. Helena’s father, former Marine to the core, recognized the move, just as much as Andy would have, and instinctively came to attention before him in response. “Sir,” Andy said formally. “Helena and I have made this trip so that I may ask your permission to take her as my wife.”

Helena’s father got a broad grin on his face. “Helena hasn’t told us a whole lot,” he said, “But I think it was pretty obvious this was coming sooner or later. I’m just glad you asked before you put it in the papers. Andy, Helena’s mother and I don’t know you very well, but we were very impressed with you and your concern for her and the courage you showed back last winter. I guess I have to tell you that I asked your friend Wade, as a former comrade in the Marines, to keep an eye on you, and we’ve talked a couple of times. He tells me that he can’t think of a better person for Helena to marry. That’s good enough for me, Andy. You most definitely have my permission.”

“Thank you, sir,” Andy grinned. “I promise to try to do the best I can to make your daughter happy.”

“I’m pretty sure you will, son,” her father grinned. “Now sit down, take a load off. Can I get you anything?”

“If you don’t mind, sir,” Andy said. “I’d just as soon stand up for a bit. I’ve been sitting in the car all days, and my hind end is getting a little sore.”

“Suit yourself,” he laughed. “Can I get you anything?”

“Well, sir, I think I could stand a beer or something.”

Helena’s father frowned a little. “Son, you say ‘sir’ like you were a Marine. I was under the impression that you were never in service.”

“I wasn’t sir,” Andy said. “But I believe in showing respect where it is due.”

“Then you are a rather unusual young man, Andy,” he grinned. “Which makes me all the more happy that you’ve asked Helena to marry her. But son, I have to say, I never was an officer, and having you say ‘sir’ all the time makes me just a little nervous.”

“Helena,” her mother broke in. “When did this happen?”

“Last night,” Helena beamed. “We were out to dinner with Wade and Acacia, and when we got back to his house, Andy proposed to me, right in front of them. They’re such good friends, it made it seem so special.”

“Well, I’m so happy for you,” her mother said. “Have you decided where and when you’re getting married yet?”

“That’s the main thing we wanted to discuss with you,” Helena said. “We have friends down where we’re at, but not a lot. Andy told me that the only proper thing to do is for the groom to go to the bride’s, to take her from her home.”

“Andy,” her mother said. “That’s a very sensitive way to look at it.”

“That’s how I read it from the Bible, ma’am,” he said. “‘For a man shall leave his family, and a woman leave her home.’”

“‘And they shall travel on to where the two shall be as one,’” Helena’s mother finished for him. “I take it you know what the inside of a church looks like?”

“Yes, Ma’am. I took Helena to church with me on our second date, and we’ve attended my family church several times since. Like you, I’m a Methodist, but the church is a couple hours away, and I’m afraid I don’t get there as often as I should. I hope to do better.”

“Any man who would take his girl to his church on a second date has got to be something pretty special,” Helena’s mother said. “Where do they hide guys like you, anyway?”

“Look at it from my viewpoint, if you would, ma’am,” he grinned. “Any girl who would go to church with a man on their second date is definitely something special. I feel lucky to have turned your daughter up. She is very much something special, and, I’ve learned, not an easy lady to please. I only hope I can continue to please her adequately.”

“Can you stay very long on this trip?”

“I’m afraid not, ma’am. Helena tells me that your church meets fairly early. I would be proud to attend with you, but we must get on our way right afterwards. Although Helena knows my family better than I know you, we have yet to make this announcement to them. I would like to do it before we have to be back at work.”

“Then we’ve got a million details to work out on the wedding, Helena, Andy,” Helena’s mother said. “Andy, do you have any thoughts on that?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he grinned. “My answer is ‘Yes’.”

There was something about the way that he said those words that made Helena’s mother give a double take. “What do you mean by that?”

“Ma’am, I understand the details of a woman’s wedding to be the business of the woman. Whatever you and Helena wish to do is fine with me.”

Helena’s sister Sharon had been sitting back, watching the proceedings without saying much. Now, she could take it no longer. “Andy,” she said. “Are there any more guys like you running around?”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Helena laughed. “As far as I know, they only made the one, and I’m his.”

There were still two beds in the room Helena and Sharon had shared while they were growing up; she hadn’t slept in this one since Christmas, and Helena thought that she might never do it again. Well, possibly one more night, the night before the wedding; a lot of the details had been worked out in the evening, a date set, and much else, though much remained to be done. She had suspected that she would feel a little sorry to be away from her master’s arms this evening, and she was; she felt sorry for him, sleeping on the couch downstairs, and probably dreaming of her. But it had to be done that way, and she’d known it before they started.

Sleep didn’t come easily; she was lying awake, contemplating the future that lay ahead, both near-term and far. If she thought about it, she could still feel the marks that her master’s whip had left on her backside, just about twenty-four hours ago – how far they had come, how different this was!

Morning broke early the next day. It was a church morning, and fortunately, church was early. Helena took off for the bathroom, took a shower, came back to her room in a robe, and started to put on a dress. “You’re wearing a dress?” Sharon asked. “I don’t even own one, anymore.”

“Sharon, I wouldn’t feel right going to church not in a dress,” Helena smiled. “I realize even the Methodists have gotten informal, but there are lines of propriety I will not cross. Besides, Andy likes me to wear dresses and skirts, so I do.”

“You’re pretty straight, I know that,” Sharon said. “But wouldn’t you be more comfortable in slacks or jeans?”

“Sharon,” Helena said. “Andy has made a number of changes in his life, changed a lot of things he believed in, to be able to gain my respect. Dressing to please him is little enough that I can do in return, and I do it happily because I respect him as much as I do. We’ve had to learn an awful lot to get to this point. Love and happiness isn’t something that happens, it’s something that you have to work at, and very hard. Both sides have to give more than they take.”

“I don’t know,” Sharon said. “I sure hope someday I can be as grown up about it as you are.”

“It takes some growing,” Helena grinned. “I can’t believe how far I’ve come in a year. I know I would never have believed it if I saw myself today.”

A couple minutes later, they were ready. Helena took a small, conservative chain necklace with a small cross dangling from it and headed downstairs, with Sharon following, to find the family along with Andy in the kitchen, getting ready for breakfast. Helena walked right up to him and smiled, “Good morning, My Hero. And how are you today?”

“Oh, a little stiff from sleeping on the couch,” he smiled.

“My Hero,” she smiled, “I’m having a little trouble with the clasp on this necklace, and it’s not the one I want to wear to church. Could you help me, please?”

“Of course, My Love,” he smiled, “Whatever you like.”

“I knew you’d help,” Helena said, sinking gracefully to high kneel, and bending her head forward, holding the new necklace in her outstretched hands.

It was the work of a moment to make the change. He stepped back and smiled at her with an indescribable expression before she rose to her feet, with a smug expression of her own.

“Hey sis,” Sharon said. “I could have done that.”

“Oh that’s fine. I don’t mind.” Andy said, recovering from seeing Helena sneak the daily collaring ceremony off right in the middle of her family – the first time they’d actually done it on a daily basis – and getting away with it! “She is My Love, after all, and I do what I can to please her.”

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