"Are you afraid?" he asked. She tried to stop the tears before she answered but could not. Instead she shook her head, and said that she was not.
"Good," the man said. "Joe, are you holding up too?" he directed his kindly gaze towards Joe as he spoke. To Joe he was still the pope and probably always would be.
"I'm fine, and I'm glad to see you again," Joe managed. His own eyes were filled with tears.
"Okay then, let's begin," the man said as he stepped back.
To Joe it was, "Let us proceed then." Joe looked up puzzled as he spoke the words, and as he looked over at Arlene he saw the same puzzlement in her eyes.
"Becky?" the man asked, looking into Arlene's eyes, "do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold? As long as you both shall live?"
She was too shocked at first to even think about answering. No one had called her Becky in years, and fresh tears spilled down her cheeks as she answered, "I Do, or will, which is it?"
"Doesn't matter in the slightest, Becky," he said, "only that you want to. That's the only real important thing," he smiled at her as he spoke, and then shifted his gaze to Joe.
Arlene listened as he asked the same question of Joe.
To Joe it was. "Joseph, do you take this woman to be your wife, in my eyes? To cleave only unto her for as long as you both shall live?" Joe was openly weeping himself, but managed a short, "I do."
"Becky," the man said. "You will no longer be Arlene. That part of you is dead to me. It's gone forever. Do you understand?"
She nodded her head. It was all she could manage.
"Then by my word, I now pronounce you man and wife," the man said. "Joseph, you may now kiss the bride."
Joe reached across the short space and took Becky in his arms. Her arms found their way around his shoulders, and she kissed him back as they both wept. They pulled apart, and Joe turned back to the man who still stood before them.
"You don't have to go," the man said. He looked down at them as he spoke, and although his face bore a smile, his own tears cut tracks across his cheeks. "You have the choice. I want you to know that I did not give you to one another simply so that you would do as I asked."
Becky had regained her composure, and now replied in a calm, but firm, voice. "I know that. I knew that there would be no strings attached. I want to go. I need to."
"Me as well," Joe replied. "I guess I may have tried to fool myself, but I knew that I needed to go."
The man nodded his head as he listened, and then spoke. "I will walk with you. Keep me always in your heart, and I will always walk with you. I love you both, you know." He paused for a second and just looked at them, then turned and walked back into the dark forest of trees that surrounded them.
Joe held Becky. They did not speak, but instead stared into the leaping flames lost in thought. After a few minutes Becky rose and added more fuel to the fire.
"How about some tea?" she asked.
"Tea?" he looked puzzled. "Where did you get tea from?"
She held up a small package, and said, "It was in the camping gear, a free sample package. Want some?"
"Sure," he said, as he smiled at her, "it sounds good, actually."
While Becky made the tea, Joe took the small tin cups, along with the plastic bowls that had also been in the camping kit, and walked down to the water to wash them. The moon had begun to rise and a silver trail spread across the lake, seemingly alive as it rode the small ripples of the water. When he finished, he stared off across the shimmering surface. It was calm and peaceful, and he listened as somewhere in the distance an owl hooted its greeting into the night. He was just about to return to the fire when he felt Becky's arm encircle his waist.
"Do you want to go for another swim while the tea's brewing?" she whispered in his ear. He could feel the soft press of her body against him and he turned, his arms finding their way around her, and pulled her to him. She kissed him, pulled away and quickly slipped out of her clothes. His eyes were filled with the beauty they beheld, and she could see the longing in his eyes, as he also slipped out of his clothes and followed her into the water. Joe hardly noticed the cold lake water as he reached out with strong strokes towards the raft. She reached it first, pulled herself out of the water, and watched as he swam the last few feet and joined her on the raft. He took her in his arms and kissed her, and she responded passionately. They made love slowly, with feeling, and to both of them, in a way, it seemed as though it was their first time. Nothing else either of them had ever experienced compared.
When they had finished they held each other closely, staring out across the water to the dark woods that surrounded the lake. She spoke. "Joe, where do you want to be when this is over? I mean to live?" Joe thought for a second and considered before he responded.
"I guess it would depend upon you," he said. "It would
