Marriage by Mistake

her cheek. "I may actually be able to say it now."
    "Hm?" Kelly blinked back to full awareness. "To say what?"
    Dean sighed and shifted her in his arms. "Yeah, I may be able to say it, since I'm trusting and taking chances here..." He slipped one hand into his inside jacket pocket. He watched Kelly closely as he pulled forth a red silk handkerchief. "You, uh, left this in my office a couple months ago."
    Kelly watched, frowning, as Dean unfolded the handkerchief. In the center was a simple gold band. From the look that then crossed Kelly's face Dean was pretty sure she remembered throwing it at him during their first meeting in his office.
    He cleared his throat. "You know me, always wanting to cross the t's and dot the i's. I brought it along thinking—" His heart took a long, deep dive. "Well, thinking, Kelly— Will you marry me?"
    She looked up from the ring to his face. "Oh, Dean."
    The expression on her face nearly blew him away, but Dean managed to remain standing. Feeling both elated and terrified, he shrugged. "I know we already are married, but I still don't remember the ceremony and I'd really like to remember marrying you, Kelly."
    "Oh, Dean."
    He cleared his throat again. "Is that a 'yes?'"
    She threw her arms around his neck. "Yes!" she cried. "Yes, yes, yes!"
    Dean struggled not to fall as she jumped onto him. Grinning madly, he decided he could get used to this taking chances business.
    ~~~
    They had the wedding at the Little Chapel of the Dawn again. This time, however, Kelly invited her friends. Dean had Troy fly out to be his best man. And there was a little family confab beforehand.
    Dean and Kelly gathered all involved parties in her apartment the night before the wedding. Even Felicia Thurgood attended, though her presence was a surprise, given that she'd always been the arch-enemy of the man who'd brought her along, Dean's cousin, Troy. But that evening Felicia and Troy, arm in arm, were beaming in the way that only a couple in the beginning stages of a love affair can beam.
    Dean took a look at the two of them, his expression somewhere between astonishment and comprehension. "I knew something more was behind that check," he muttered, and gave Troy a slap on the back that made him stagger.
    "Thought you did," Troy grumbled, and looked about to slap Dean back—amiably, of course—until Kelly stepped between the two of them.
    "It's so good to see you two actually talking to each other..."
    "As opposed to throwing punches," Felicia finished, with a pointed look toward Dean's colorful jaw.
    Dean massaged his jaw with a sheepish expression while Troy coughed into his fist, just as sheepishly.
    "Anyway," Kelly went on, linking an arm through Troy's. "We're glad you could come—both of you."
    "Uh, that's right," Dean agreed, though he gave Felicia one more baffled look.
    Kelly mentally shook her head, thinking Dean should be the last one to question a long-shot romance.
    Eventually, everyone who'd come to the meeting found places in Kelly's apartment to sit. Dean seated himself last, settling on the edge of Kelly's Lazy-Boy. He planted his elbows on the chair arms, steepled his fingers, and looked straight at his father. "I want responsibility for Robby," he announced.
    Kirk, who'd been lounging on Kelly's sofa with his arms along the top of it, shot up his eyebrows. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"
    "It means we're going to formalize what I already should have been doing. Robby is going to live with me. Permanently. And I'll be the one to make decisions concerning him." Dean paused. "Including when you can whisk him off to Greece with you."
    Kirk's eyes got narrow. Robby, meanwhile, looked stunned. "Why?" Kirk asked.
    Dean gave his father a direct stare. "Because, face it, you're not much of a parent."
    Kirk snorted. Dean ignored him and went on. "Unfortunately, I've been following your example, refusing to take full responsibility. Well, I'm through being like you, or even thinking I'm like you. I'm going to do what I want now." His gaze went up to Kelly, standing by his side. She smiled back down at him. Their fingers met and laced.
    Kirk's brows drew down. "And you want to take care of Robby?"
    Dean turned to Robby. White-faced, Robby stared back at him. To one side, Troy raised his eyebrows.
    "Yes," Dean said.
    Kirk tapped his fingers on top of the sofa. "Well, I don't know."
    "No more telegrams demanding you come home." Dean's attention switched back to Kirk. "You can do whatever