It had been, by any measure, a successful wedding. Joseph had made a dashing groom, her bridesmaids and the groomsmen were perfectly matching and matched, and the flutters and nerves that had eaten her alive for weeks before had vanished, leaving only sweet, happy calm.
The first night together had been their first together, a rare conceit these days, but it had made it both painful and intensely special. And what came after remained special, but with much more pleasure than pain.
Zoe had been her maid of honor; they'd grown so close over the years that nothing else would have made sense. Her sisters had understood -- they'd half-adopted Zoe as one of their own.
And so it was that Karyn Story, nee Black, now contemplated her new house, her new life, the problems carried over from the old, and whether to go off the pill.
She'd planned years ago to work for a while, live for a while, before she got saddled down with babies. But though it might be the rush of the honeymoon phase, even three and change months later, she suddenly found herself wanting to create a new life with her husband, something unique to the two of them and separate from what came before.
She idly ran her finger over the stone.
Jon lived four houses down, and thanks to a wish, she hadn't recognized Karyn when they'd met at the housewarming party. They had wonderful neighbors, but the McHenrys were practically out of a Norman Rockwell painting -- a beautiful couple, with beautiful children, a beautiful house, and some of the nicest and most clearly-in-love people ever. It had taken very careful wishes to get Joseph the job to afford the house they were in, the desire to look for a house just like it, and a realtor who showed them this house first -- right after its prior owners had won a small lottery and moved away.
Karyn was patient to a fault, and she had realized she would need to start working Kim McHenry down until she found the clue to restoring Jon, in mind at least. But the combination of seeing her so very happy, with such a good man, and her own newlywed bliss, was weakening her resolve.
She started when her phone rang. It was Victoria, who had moved into the neighborhood just days after she and Joseph had. They'd bonded quickly, both about the same age, both newlyweds; she felt almost like the sister she'd never had (and she had two!).
"Hey girl," Karyn said, picking up.
"Hey girl," Victoria replied, laughing at the game even though it was already months old. "I got the day off from Cheryl because I worked through the weekend -- wanna grab lunch?"
"Al's Pizza?" Karyn answered with a grin, grabbing her purse and keys.
"You're on."
