A Very Merry Superhero Wedding (Adventures of Lewis and Clarke) by Kitty Bucholtz Page A

Sammie safe,” she added.
    “I will, Mom. Don’t spoil Ben too much.” Tori wiped her eyes and turned to grab her bag and head for the ladies’ room with the other girls. For all that her mom had been trying to get her to reconsider her rush to the altar, except for the last two minutes, today she was the epitome of support. Tori closed her eyes for a moment and willed herself to commit this day to memory. Hard to say how long this truce would last.
     

Chapter 5
    JOE straightened his cuffs as he looked in the mirror. The alterations were perfect, no small feat for a man of his size. The last time he’d worn a tuxedo must’ve been the twins’ weddings about four years ago. He was pleasantly surprised. Tori would probably like this look.
    The tailor at the tuxedo shop made a few adjustments and stepped back again, eyeing Joe critically from every angle. He finally nodded his head. “Good.”
    Joe nodded back. “I’m sure my friends will be here any minute. Work must’ve kept them.”
    The man nodded and returned to his station behind the curtain.
    All of the Paladins in the various sectors of the city were taking shifts to patrol their own neighborhoods as well as to provide backup when one of them had a holiday event, or to give added protection to the worst areas of the city. Stretch’s team agreed to cover Joe’s team’s area during Joe’s wedding, and an older team offered to cover tonight when many of Joe’s friends would be at his bachelor party.
    That didn’t explain where his non-superhero brother Carl was, though. Joe looked at his watch. Right as someone punched him hard in the arm. Joe turned to see his big brother coming in for another swing. They traded a few punches and fell into a backslapping hug that would’ve felled smaller men.
    The sharp sound of a clearing throat cut short their greeting.
    The tailor stood nearly a foot shorter than Joe, and must be easily sixty pounds lighter. But he had the same commanding presence as Joe’s old high school principal, Mr. Granger. Carl must’ve sensed it as well because he, too, stood up straight, hands to himself.
    Joe whispered to his brother, “You’re late.”
    “Kids,” Carl whispered back. “You can’t make them listen and you can’t trade them in.”
    Joe snickered. When the tailor raised his eyebrow, Joe put on a more serious expression. Apparently, grooms were supposed to act more mature. He stood waiting for the tailor to tell him what to do.
    The tailor appeared to be waiting for Joe to do something. He finally swished his hand at Joe. “You may take that off now . Carefull y .”
    The rest of the men in the bridal party — Bull Kincaid, Mickey Valient, and Darian Johnson — all walked in together a few minutes later as the tailor adjusted Carl’s trousers.
    “Hey, guys!” Joe called. “Where ya been?” He pointed to his watch. “Another time zone?”
    Joe saw the tailor give Carl a menacing glare for waving. He stepped back. Safer to stand over here with his friends. “Hey, you guys better hurry,” he said quietly, shaking hands and doing fist bumps. “The little guy is getting perturbed.”
    The men started toward the back room to find their tuxedos. Another loud throat-clearing stopped them in their tracks. That tailor could say more without saying anything. Joe tried not to smile.
    While Carl’s tuxedo was tweaked—“What have you been eating?” Joe heard the tailor ask his brother—Joe asked the others about work.
    “Aw, man,” said Darian, “there wer e fiv e muggings in Memorial Park last night. And those are just the ones that got away.”
    “What happened?” Joe asked.
    “Christmas party,” said Mickey with a scowl.
    Joe frowned.
    “Sector Eight had a team Christmas party,” Bull explained, “and J-Mac forgot to tell his Sector One team that they were to cover for them.”
    “Irresponsible.” Mickey shook his head. “Someone could’ve been hurt.”
    “But they weren’t,” Darian said