As soon as the ceremony began, Bastian knew what his mother and mother-in-law meant that day he had first tried on his ceremonial costuming. The moment his eyes had met Atreyu's, nothing else in the world seemed to exist. He knew that he would probably feel guilty for having to be prompted by Grandfather a few times during the ceremony, but in his defense, Atreyu had to be jump-started a couple of times as well.
"Lindsay, dear, I'm going to need to do a lot of catching up," Granny was saying as Bastian and Atreyu sat down next to their family at a picnic table once the ceremony had ended and after a LOT of pictures were taken. "I had no idea that I would be included in the tribe. I mean I can understand Rosebud's parents, but there's no blood between me and them."
"Our tribe knows that blood comes from the heart," Grandfather explained. "If in your heart, you are Lesley's mom and Bastian's grandmother, then you are in the eyes of the tribe as well. I would be honored to teach you more, dear lady. May I also say that the rose wreaths for the boys' hair were a most beautiful and loving addition to the ceremony. You have a particularly beautiful bloom you wear as well. As I recall, the blue rose has quite a special meaning. It is symbolic of those who do not conform to society, who do not blend in, and are proud to be different."
"You know your roses, do you, sir?" Granny asked with a smile.
"I know only a little," he confessed. "The rose, particularly the blue rose, was my late wife's favorite flower. I would be glad to learn more about them."
"Well, I think a fair exchange of knowledge is a good thing, sir," Granny offered. "I can teach you about my roses, and you can teach me about your tribe."
"Ah, but it is our tribe now, dear lady," Grandfather smiled. "Perhaps you would also enlighten me as to the story behind the name Bastian suggested for you in the ceremony. Mother With A Mended Heart implies pain in your past. Pain is always lessened by sharing."
"I think it is time to speak more of that part of my life," Granny agreed. "That pain ruled my life for long enough. Bastian broke that spell when he snuck into my yard to steal my roses for his mother. That's why I still call him Rosebud."
"That I had wondered about as well," Grandfather confessed. "Perhaps we could take a walk and view the preparations for the Pow Wow tomorrow as we talk? It would give me the opportunity to teach you of some of the events to be witnessed tomorrow."
"That sounds quite nice," Grandma smiled again. She leaned in close to Bastian and whispered, "I was teasing about the handsome brave earlier, Rosebud, but I'm not complaining. You really do bring love and light to those around you, sweetie." She got up and took Grandfather's offered arm as they strolled away.
"I never thought my father would chase the skirts again," Chief Abe said softly. "I have no objections, though. If I can't find a woman to keep, maybe he can."
"You just had bad taste in women, big brother," Jack laughed. "I really thought this time would work out for you."
"I thought so too," Abe said sadly. "I know what my first two wives went through now, though. I never dreamed I would be the one cheated on, but I guess I did kind of deserve it." He shook his head and then looked over at Bastian's Dad. "I know you folks are celebrating, but Ed, I could really use your input at the council meeting tonight. There has been another approach from that so-called corporation wanting to build a casino on the reservation."
"Abe, you can't ask Ed to talk business tonight," Jack scolded. "Wait; is it that same group you told me about a couple of months ago? I thought the council voted them down."
"It is and they did, but the corporate raiders sweetened the deal," Abe admitted. "I'm no expert at legal mumbo jumbo, but I see a lot of extra clauses in this arrangement they sent. It looks too good to be true."
"A wise man once said if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is," Ed reasoned.
"Dad, go," Bastian told him. "The tribe needs you tonight. Just because I'm married doesn't mean you can't spend time with me anymore."
"Well if you're sure, son," Ed said hesitantly.
"I would clear it with Mom first, though," Bastian pointed out.
"Go. If you don't go, you'll be sitting here wishing you were there," Lesley told him as she made shooing gestures.
"Thank you so much, nephew, and ladies," Abe smiled. "Jack, you coming to fill in for Dad?"
"Yes he is," Lindsay announced. "I don't want him pouting around here."
"Is it ok if we go hug them now, Keith?" a young voice was heard.
"You had better come hug me, Harry," Bastian called out.
"No, hug me first, Harry. I can take you over to the other side of the bon fire where some kids are playing traditional games of our tribe," Atreyu begged.
"Oh cool," Harry blurted and ran to Atreyu.
"Is that how it's going to be?" Bastian asked. "We're officially married less than an hour and I'm already being dumped for a game."
"Have you heard of football season?" Lindsay and Lesley both asked with a laugh.
"Hi Mr. Bastian, thank you for letting my family come to your wedding," a younger voice called out just as Bastian was tackled by a tiny hug monster.
"I'm so glad you all came, Zane," Bastian told the little boy with a big smile. "It really means a lot to us, thank you," he said to the group of adults whom all took turns giving hugs and cheek kisses.
"Mr. Bastian, who is that big kid with Mr. Treyu?" Zane asked shyly.
"Hi, my name is Harry," said 'big kid' introduced himself proudly. "Treyu was just going to show me some cool Native games. Want to come with me so I'm not the only one that don't know them?"
"Mommy, a real live big kid wants me to go play! Is it ok?" Zane asked excitedly.
"As long as Atreyu keeps an eye on you, little britches," his mother answered.
"Don't bring my munchkin back until he's so exhausted that I'm guaranteed he will sleep all the way home tonight instead of asking me if we're there yet every five miles," Keith added.
"Oh, if that is the deal, I am definitely all for it," Zane's mother agreed.
"Two exhausted children, coming right up," Atreyu grinned, then kissed Bastian before running off holding one little boy hand in each of his own. "This is going to be awesome, guys," he was heard telling them.
"He'll make a fine father someday," Tobi said with a smile.
"No time soon, though," Bastian said quickly. "We want to finish our educations first. We both applied to a college for advanced placement, but we haven't heard back yet."
"It would seem that is my cue," a man in a polo shirt and dockers said as he stepped forward. "First, let me say that I am honored to have been allowed to be a witness to your ceremony, young man. I sort of snuck in as an invited guest's plus one, but I couldn't turn down such an opportunity. My bachelor's degree was in archaeology specializing in the North American First Nations peoples and their cultures. To witness a ceremony like this in person is quite literally a dream come true."
"Since my boss is too excited over the ceremony to introduce himself, I will do it for him," Denise said as she walked up with her daughter Synthya. "Everyone, this is Jensen Donaldson, the dean of students at the state college where I happened to come across applications for an advanced placement program with two very familiar names on them."
"Bastian, your applications were more than enough to qualify you for the program, but given what Denise here has told me about you, in the strictest confidence, mind you, well, all I can say is that I and my school are honored to have you and Atreyu as students. Although, you will have stiff competition for grades from my future step-daughter here."
"Step-daughter? Mom is there something you need to tell me?" Synthya demanded. Before her mom could answer, the teen girl hugged the man with them tightly. "I told you she'd give in if you kept at her long enough. She's a stubborn old broad, but she gets the idea eventually."
"Synthya! That is no way to talk about…. Wait a second, you knew he was…. And you were helping him?"
"See, I told you, she gets there if you give her long enough," Synthya grinned. She turned to Bastian and grinned, holding out two gift bags. "Ok, Basty, here's your custom ordered chest armor. This other bag has the one for Atreyu. Your Grandpa told me to go ahead and give it to you. He seemed a little preoccupied with a very nice lady."
"Synthya, this is FABULOUS," Bastian squealed. "Help me put it on?" A moment later, he was proudly modeling his chest armor that displayed a rainbow flag background with a bright yellow sun in the center, and a fire engine red heart in the middle of the sun. "This is so awesome."
"My son, the golden sun warrior," Lesley said with a smile. "You look so grown up and fierce, Bastian. I am so, so very proud of you."
"No more waterworks, Mom," Bastian scolded as he wiped his face. "I don't want to have red puffy eyes tonight when Atreyu gets back with the kids. Wow, I didn't think I would be saying that for a few years," he added with a laugh.
"You know we can all go over there and watch the games if you want," Lindsay suggested. Everyone agreed eagerly so they all moved over to the far side of the big bonfire where the youngsters of the tribe were teaching their pale face friends how to throw sticks through moving hoops. The older children were even making the hoops roll extra slowly for little Zane as the youngest one there.
Keith had to go back home that night to get to work, but Zane's parents offered to keep Harry for a couple of days so he could enjoy the Pow Wow. Keith wasn't sure at first, but he knew Zane's parents fairly well by now, plus several of the tribe kids offered to share clothes with him so that he could stay. The final clincher was Harry himself, though. On top of the puppy dog face that was mirrored on tiny little Zane, there was the comment Harry made.
"With me here for a couple of days and nights, maybe you could have a date with that guy you've been drooling over at your school," Harry suggested nice and loudly.
"I have not been drooling," Keith protested with a nuclear-powered blush which totally contradicted his denial.
"Oh, that's right, he's the one that's been drooling," Harry corrected himself. "Especially when you walk away from him."
"He has?" Keith squeaked eagerly. "No. No, no, no, so not getting hopes up. Nobody is going to want to date me."
"Keith, are you sorry you got me to live with you?" Harry sniffled. "I didn't mean to ruin your life."
"Little bro, you put those thoughts right out of your head this minute," Keith ordered. "I will never, ever regret getting you to come live with me. I love you more than anything or anyone else in this world, bro. You come first. That means if I need to wait a while until I find a guy that can handle us as a package deal, then so be it."
"Oh, good," Harry said simply.
"Wait, that's it?" Keith asked suspiciously.
"Well, yeah, I would feel bad if I gave Jonas permission to date you and you still didn't give him a chance because of me," Harry told him. "He says he wants to introduce you and me to his parents Monday night when they come to visit him, so with me here at the Pow Wow, you have plenty of time to make your room look like a human lives in it instead of a wild animal."
"Harry! Private stuff is not for discussing in public," Keith scolded as he blushed intensely once again.
"But this ain't public. This is family," Harry told him as he gestured to all the people around them.
"Well said, my buddy," Atreyu smiled. "So cousin Kitty has a boyfriend, huh? When do we all get to meet him?"
"He's not my boyfriend," Keith insisted. "We've never even gone out together… well, except for meeting in the cafeteria at school every day for lunch and that time we went to the movie night at his fraternity house while Harry spent the night at his best friend's house. Oh, and the mixer his frat had on Tuesday afternoon, but still not a date because I was one of the food servers, helping out his friends to impress the old geezers that started the frat like thirty years ago."
"He comes with you to all my soccer games, too," Harry pointed out.
"Those aren't dates, either, that's just him being a friend to you," Keith denied.
"That's an awful lot of dates that aren't dates," Bastian pointed out with a snicker. "According to Harry, he's planning to introduce to his family. That's pretty serious sounding for a guy that isn't going out with you."
"Well, I guess I could bring him back the last day of the Pow Wow so we can pick up Harry," Keith mumbled still blushing.
"We can't trust just anyone with our Kitty and Harry. If you're meeting his family, he's got to get the seal of approval from your family," Atreyu told the young man.
"Oh my God, you guys, I'm not marrying him, I'm just helping him entertain his family while they're in town," Keith protested while blushing even more.
"I can have the guys at work do a full background check on this guy," Tobi offered. "Harry, what's his whole name?"
"You know Kevin is going to have to meet this guy, too," Chris announced. "Speaking of, where is Kevin?"
"He asked to speak to the tribal council about something after he heard me mention what they are discussing tonight," Lindsay said with a shrug. "No idea what's going on, but I'm sure we'll find out."
"My goodness, there's a lot more family here now than when I left," Granny Yancy called out as she walked up. "Rosebud, would you like to introduce me to everyone?"
"Rosebud?" Synthya snorted.
"I'll thank you not to tease my grandson, dear," Granny said sharply. "That name was chosen for a very personal reason. I don't call Bastian that to tease him. It is to let him know how very much that little boy who snuck into my yard six years ago has come to mean to me."
"I love you, too, Granny," Bastian sniffled as he hugged her tightly. "Did you have a nice date with Grandpa?"
"We were not on a date," she corrected with a halfhearted swat at his arm. "We were simply talking." She then grinned mischievously and said, "Our date is on Tuesday evening. He's coming to my house to see the roses and I'm going to cook him a nice homemade meal."
"Really?" Bastian asked excitedly. "Oh, Granny, I'm so happy for you both."
"Gracious me, Rosebud, it's just one dinner," Granny blushed.
"These guys have no concept of one date," Keith complained but he was grinning as he said it.
"Wait, how come you're alone?" Atreyu asked Granny. "I thought things went well if you set up a date already."
"We set up a dinner," Granny corrected again. "I'm alone because he was needed for a meeting with the tribal council to discuss something a man named Kevin had suggested."
"Now I'm really curious about what he's up to," Chris muttered.
"Time will tell," Granny said sagely. "Now, if it's not too much trouble, let's get back to the introductions."
Harry and Zane were both excited to discover they now had a new Granny. The fact that she had homemade butterscotch candies in her purse didn't hurt. As the night settled around them, Bastian and Atreyu's family, which had grown so much over the course of the one summer, had a wonderful time getting to know each other. When they went to their tent that night, Bastian could hardly believe that his life had changed so much and was so happy now all thanks to a flea market sausage.