“Who gives this man to be married to this man?” Jane asked aloud.“I do, as his wife,” Debbie declared.“And I do, as the other man’s wife,�...� Amy winked at her.“Do you, Jamie, take this man, Thomas, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, to love, cherish, and protect, for better or worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness and health, for as long as you both shall live?” Jane asked Jamie, who grinned from ear to ear.“I do!” Jamie smiled as he committed. "You haven't insulted me a single time in the 45 seconds since you came through that door."Brin's apprehension disappeared at her dad's words, and she hugged him tighter as she tilted her head up to look at him."I can be reeeeaaaally nice when I want to be," she said coyly, her regular playfulness returning. She stretched up on her tiptoes to kiss her dad on the cheek, and at the last possible second moved enough to plant her lips right on the edge of his mouth.Tom felt something almost, well,. I’d heard it all before, and while she was right in a lot of ways, I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of agreeing with her. So we’d end up fighting, and I’d go home angry and depressed. It was with all of this in mind that I pulled in the driveway of her house. As soon as I climbed out of my car, I got another big shock. There were toys in the front yard, kids’ toys, including a big-wheel tricycle. Huh? As I walked up to the porch, the front door opened and a young black woman stepped. Rowena did her best to bring her back up out of the doldrums of her despair but the damage done in the incident was compounded by the cavalier attitude of the Sheriff’s deputy that did his best to shift the blame to poor Lady Elaine in an attempt to give cover to King John’s highly valued mercenary forces. She sensed it might be too late to bring Lady Elaine back from the precipice of loss of sanity but she felt much better for having at least made the effort for her old friend.The acceleration.