Jane Hall sat in the airport, her short legs crossed at the ankles. She flipped through the book that lay open on her lap, but wasn’t absorbing anything she read. She continued to glance at her watch every few minutes, watching time pass slowly. When the announcement was made that the flight from Salt Lake City was landing, Jane got to her feet and walked over to the large windows covering the wall. She looked out at the runway and watched as the huge, black wheels touched down on the tarmac. They squealed as the plane slowly approached the huge, bright windows.

Once the long, white jet bridge connected, Jane turned away from the windows and moved toward their gate. She shifted from one foot to the other as she anxiously watched the flight attendants pull open the heavy door. When passengers began making their way down the tunnel, Jane looked for signs of a wheelchair. After what felt like hundreds of people walking through the door in floods, Jane saw the silver tip of a wheelchair roll through.

The man sitting in the wheelchair was tall and slender, with sandy blond hair. His legs were thin from disuse. His long arms lay stretched out on the black armrests, his fingers curled under his hands. Pushing the chair with a large blue carry-on strapped over her shoulder was a short, curvy young woman with long brown hair. Jane’s smile spread across her face at the sight of them, and she rushed forward.

“Mom!” Nedra rushed past the wheelchair and met her mother in an embrace. It wasn’t long ago that she had been home for her father’s funeral, but as she returned to her mother’s arms, it felt like forever.

“Hello, Bryan!” Jane reached for Bryan’s hand and held it between both of hers. “It’s about time we met!” She greeted him with a warm smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jane.” He returned the smile.

“Now you listen to me,” she said, looking straight into Bryan’s eyes, her tone firm and serious. “Don’t you let my daughter run this marriage. I know how bossy she can be. Marriage is a partnership, whether both partners can move on their own or not.”

Bryan chuckled. “You got it.”

“Gee, thanks, Mom.” Nedra feigned annoyance.

Jane turned to her daughter. “I mean it,” she said, staring her down.

“Yes, Mom, I know. Can we get going now, please?”

“All right,” Jane turned in the direction of the luggage carousels and led the way.

Once Nedra had gathered their things, the three of them moved swiftly through the airport and out into the parking lot. Jane took over wheelchair duty while Nedra walked behind them, a large bag in each hand.

“So when does your family arrive? Do they need to be picked up from the airport?” Jane asked.

“No,” Bryan responded. “They are all driving, along with my best man. I think they’re coming tomorrow.”

“Don’t you have some young sisters? That’s a long drive for little ones.”

“Jenny is the youngest and she’s seven, so not too small. Plus my family enjoys road trips. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

Once they all got settled into the car, Jane turned her focus to Nedra. “We need to stop by Nyla’s house first thing so she can take your measurements and get started on the dress.”

Nedra nodded her head.

“Remind me who Nyla is?” Bryan asked.

“She’s my best friend Marsha’s sister. You’ll get to meet them both today. Right now, it sounds like.”

“And she has enough time to make your wedding dress? I don’t know much about sewing, but the wedding is in two days.”

“Nyla is a sewing wiz. She assured me she could have it done in no time,” Nedra said.

“Wow. Okay then.”

When they pulled up to the brown brick rambler, Nedra was still getting Bryan out of the car and into his wheelchair when Marsha came dashing out of the house.

“Nedra!” she squealed.

Nedra was so startled and excited that she almost dropped Bryan.

“Whoa! Me first, then go hug your friend.”

“Sorry, Bry!” Nedra carefully removed the neck brace he still wore in the car. After she buckled him into his chair, she dashed for Marsha and the two friends embraced.

Bryan chuckled as he watched them, holding onto each other and bouncing in the driveway.

“Should we go inside?” he asked.

“So this is Bryan?” Marsha asked, looking at Nedra.

“This is him,” Nedra said, beaming.

“He’s cute!”

“I know, he is, isn’t he?”

“Still sitting here,” Bryan said.

Marsha laughed and bent down to give Bryan a hug. His right arm wrapped around her with relative ease, but his left felt heavy and uncooperative.

“We didn’t really forget about you,” Marsha said, straightening up. “So how was your flight?”

“Good.” Nedra nodded. “It’s only an hour from takeoff until landing, so not too bad. We spent more time trying to get through security, checking his wheelchair at the gate, and then waiting for our stuff at baggage claim than we did actually flying through the air.”

Marsha nodded. “Yeah, I bet.”

Bryan noticed another woman standing on the front porch watching them all. She finally cleared her throat loudly.

“You guys coming in or what?”

“Yes! We’re coming, we’re coming.” Nedra grabbed the wheelchair and pushed Bryan to the door. “Sorry, Nyla,” she said, giving her a quick hug. “I appreciate this more than you could ever know!”

“Oh, I know,” Nyla said with a smile. “So you told me fairly simple on the phone, right?”

“Absolutely. I’m not really picky. I just want long sleeves and white. The rest I’ll leave up to your creative genius.”

“Wow, I wish all my customers were as easy as you.”

Nedra shrugged. “I’m just excited to be his wife. I care more about the marriage than the wedding.”

Jane nodded her approval. She spoke up for the first time since arriving at their home. “That’s the way to have a marriage that will last.”

Nyla and Marsha both agreed.

“Is your family just so excited for your wedding?” Marsha asked Bryan while Nyla led Nedra into another room for measurements. Jane hunkered down on the couch and quickly fell asleep.

Bryan chuckled. “I’m not sure excited is the right word to describe how most of them are feeling.”

Marsha looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m only nineteen and Nedra is twenty-nine to start. Then I went from a brand new high school graduate, to paralyzed, to being engaged to a woman they barely know in just a matter of months. It’s just a lot to process.”

“I guess I can see that. They couldn’t ask for a better daughter-in-law in my book.”

Bryan smiled. “I couldn’t agree with you more. They are still struggling with me dumping my last girlfriend for Nedra. They weren’t too thrilled about having to come all the way out to California, either.”

“What’s wrong with California?” Marsha asked.

“Nothing. It’s just far to come, with not a lot of notice, and all my sisters are still in school. It’s hard for everyone to miss school and work. At least these are the things my mom told me. I honestly wasn’t thinking about their schedules when we were planning our wedding. We figured out what worked the best for the two of us, and everyone else will come if they can. Like Nedra said, we aren’t big on all the wedding details. It’s the marriage we’re looking forward to. I don’t even know what food will be at the reception. Jane basically planned everything for here, and my mom planned everything for the reception back in Utah.”

“So Nedra didn’t plan either of her receptions? I mean, I know Nyla and her mom planned this one, but I didn’t realize she wasn’t planning the one for Utah, either.”

“I think she told my mom she liked the color blue, but that was about it.”

“Wow, that surprises me. Nedra usually likes to be in charge.”

Bryan couldn’t help laughing. “That she does! She also is trying to keep the peace with my family. Plus she may like to be in charge, but she doesn’t really love planning events. There’s a difference.”

“I guess that’s true.” Marsha nodded.

Nedra and Nyla came back into the room. Nedra bent down and gave Bryan a kiss on the lips. “All set,” she said. “You ready to go meet my brother now?”

“Absolutely,” Bryan said.

Nedra softly shook Jane awake. The three of them waved goodbye as they headed back down the driveway toward Jane’s car.

“Why don’t you drive to Randy’s house?” Jane asked, yawning. “I’m beat.”

Nedra grabbed the keys her mother offered and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“What should I expect from your brother?” Bryan asked. “Is he the protective big brother type, or will he be ready to accept me into the family?”

Nedra glanced at Bryan in the rearview mirror and had to smile. He actually looked more nervous to meet her brother than he had been to meet Jane. She couldn’t imagine how scared he would have been to meet her father if he were still alive. Then again, she knew exactly how that meeting would have gone. Her dad would have forbidden the marriage, telling Nedra she couldn’t marry a cripple. Nedra quickly pushed the negative thoughts from her mind. She was getting married in two days. Only happy thoughts were allowed.

“You don’t need to worry about Randy at all,” Nedra said. “He and his wife, Cynthia, are two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. He might not have been the nicest to me when we were kids, but he’s thankfully grown out of that. Randy’s never really been the protective brother type. They are both economists, so they are very intellectual. Randy will sit down and talk your ear off about the economy and he’ll share some amazing stories about their travels all over the world, but he’s definitely not the type to sit you down and discuss your intentions.”

Bryan breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t really feel especially protective of Becky or Brenda, probably because they were so close to his same age, but when the time came, if any guy ever touched his baby sister Jenny, he’d sock them right in the face.

“We’re here!” Nedra announced, pulling into the long driveway. Bryan didn’t realize how late it had gotten until Nedra pulled him out of the car and he could see the sun fading behind the trees. He suddenly felt very tired from their day of traveling. And very hungry!

Jane knocked loudly on the front door while Nedra grabbed their bags from the trunk. She caught up to her mom just as the front door opened. Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of her big brother standing in the open doorway. He was only a couple inches taller than Nedra, thin, with hair that was already turning white despite his young age. Nedra pretended to need to put the bags down for a minute to rest, so she could sniffle and cover the tears that threatened to escape her eyes. She had no idea why she suddenly felt like crying. Maybe she was just tired from all the traveling, or maybe she was feeling reminiscent from all the familiar faces today. Whatever the reason, she took a moment to compose herself.

Randy held the door open for Jane and Bryan as she pushed him through. Once they were inside, he stepped out and reached for one of Nedra’s big, bulky bags.

“Let me give you a hand with that,” he said.

“Thanks.” Nedra wiped her nose with the back of her hand and followed Randy into the house.

Randy set down the suitcase and extended his hand toward Bryan. “Nice to meet you,” he said. Bryan raised his hand as much as he could and Randy gripped it, shaking both hands up and down for them. “Make yourself at home.”

“Thank you,” Bryan said.

Cynthia stepped out from the kitchen, drying her hands on a small, white towel. “Food is almost ready if you’re hungry,” she said.

As if on cue, Bryan’s stomach growled loudly and everyone laughed.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Cynthia smiled as Bryan nodded.

“Can I help you with anything?” Nedra asked.

“No, it will just be about ten minutes. Arden, why don’t you show them to their rooms so they can get settled.”

“Right this way,” Randy said, picking up Nedra’s heavy bag once again and signaling them to follow. “Now you wanted separate rooms, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Nedra spoke up.

“Then this will be your room,” he said, pointing at the first door they came to.

Nedra stepped into the small room. After she hoisted her large bag up onto the bed, she followed Randy and Bryan while Jane helped Cynthia finish up in the kitchen.

“And your room is just right here,” Randy said, pointing to another door down the hall.

“Perfect. Thank you.”

Randy nodded and left them alone to unpack.

“You’re right. Your brother and sister-in-law are very, very nice.”

Nedra smiled. It had been a very good day, filled with all the people she loved. If she wasn’t careful, she might start tearing up all over again.

“You okay?” Bryan asked.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, sorry.” Nedra shook her head to clear it. “It’s just been a very full day.” She sat on the edge of Bryan’s bed and reached for his hand. She was so grateful to be back in California, and so happy that Bryan was finally able to meet her family. She leaned forward and gave him a long, sweet kiss.

“Wow, what was that for?”

Nedra shrugged as Randy called them for dinner. “We’re getting married. Do I need another reason?”

Bryan smiled back at her. “Nope,” he said. “Absolutely not.”