The FOXX Den -- Sabrina Chapter 13

SABRINA

a story by

CHRIS YOST

(c) 1998 by Chris Yost. All rights to story content reserved. Characters Sabrina the Skunkette, Amy the Squirrel, and Tammy Vixen (c) Eric W. Schwartz. Character Roxikat (c) John Barrett. Character Thomas Woolfe (c) Michael Higgs. Characters Chris Foxx, Susan Felin, Cindy Lapine, Amy Squirrel, Clarence Skunk, Dexter Collie, and Wendy Vixxen (c) Chris Yost. All rights to additional characters reserved by their respective owners. Story based on characters and situations created by Eric W. Schwartz. Windows95 (TM) Microsoft Corp. Amiga (TM) Gateway Computers.

ACT 3 -- BEST LAID PLANS

Chapter 13

"Nervous?" Thomas asked.

"Noop!"

Chris wiped his palms together as unobtrusively as he could. Everything was absolutely beautiful; Eric Schwartz had spared no expense. He was being waved at; he had to go up to the front soon. The pews filled slowly but surely while the organ played quietly. He looked behind him, back to the front, then back to Thomas, fiddling with his white bow tie. "Amy still mad at you?" he asked.

"Yeah," Thomas looked down at the floor. "How we dated so long and you two beat us here, well ... "

"She's still with you, Thomas," Chris reminded him. "You've got a wonderful girl ... don't take any chances of her ever leaving you." He thought a moment. "I can't imagine living life without Sabrina, I'll tell you that."

The music made a transition. Chris walked around and down to the front just in time. Soon he and everyone were looking over their shoulders. Tabitha was walking, almost skipping, down the middle of the aisle in her white lace and satin dress, reaching into her little basket and throwing flower petals ahead of her, some of them landing on the carpet, most of them landing on the guests. At the end the pastor's wife guided Tabitha to her place to stand.

Debbye walked down the aisle with her college boyfriend; he in a white tuxedo, she in a pale green gown holding a small bouquet of fresh flowers.

Cindy followed with Dexter. Chris had to snicker; the differences in their ages showed really well. Angel had been invited to be in the party, but had politely declined and sat on the right side on the aisle, winking at her husband as he escorted Debbye to the front.

Susan was escorted by Chris' younger cousin, and yes, she'd already arranged a date for themselves before he returned to Pennsylvania.

Thomas looked at Amy nervously. She was beautiful to him. Pregnant, yes, but beautiful. And evidently not happy to be holding his arm. Thomas felt himself trapped in that position every man ends up in sooner or later - I should say something! But what?

Fair warning, guys, never say "Honey, what's wrong?"

Someone tapped their shoulders and they began walking toward the front of the church. Thomas reached for something, God, please let it be the right thing! "This'll be us, one day soon," he said in a low voice.

"Yeah, so I've heard." Amy just looked ahead.

Thomas opened his mouth, then closed it again quickly and wisely. Then he took a different angle. "Why not now?"

Amy looked quickly at him; the front was coming up fast. "Now?"

"Yeah," he said. "Today. Right now. Marry me."

"But how ... "

"Trust me," he whispered back before they separated and Thomas went to stand beside Chris.

Another music transition. Then it played. Wagner's Wedding March. Everyone rose to their feet, everyone looked at the door.

There was Sabrina's Dad.

There was Sabrina. Gorgeous Sabrina.

They took those step-stop-step steps down the aisle. Chris felt his eyes fill some. He smiled, warm, big, happy, you name it, he was it, everything good you can feel he was, watching Mr. Mustelidae escort his elder daughter to him. The black outer stripes on her tail contrasted boldly against her bright white bridal gown. The train wasn't too long, the veil didn't completely obscure her lovely face, the fit of the gown was tight -- boy, Eric draws good! Enough black fur showed that Chris could make out the outline of her cheeks as they came nearer.

"No backing out now," Thomas whispered, then turned toward Amy and winked.

"No way I'd ever want to," Chris whispered back, his eyes never shifting.

They finally arrived. Sabrina's father lifted her veil enough to lean in and give her gentle kiss on her cheek, then backed away as Chris stepped in and took her arm. Hearing a sniffle he looked at Sabrina. She looked at him and smiled, slipping a white-gloved paw up to her eyes and dabbing a tear from each.

The Clique didn't show a dry eye at all. Cindy was on the verge of completely letting go. Debbye leaned toward her and whispered "don't you dare!", knowing if Cindy went, she would too.

Susan wasn't letting herself hold back. As Sabrina's oldest and closest friend, she was determined to enjoy her cry no matter what.

Chris and Sabrina each took two steps forward. Thomas took a step behind Chris and to one side. Amy's peripheral vision caught him lifting his hand at the wrist and waving toward himself. Not understanding she took a step behind and to Sabrina's left.

The pastor didn't look old enough to have performed too many weddings. He looked at Sabrina, then Chris, then the congregation, opened his book, and began ...

"My dear friends, ladies and gentlemen, we are together today, in God's care, not to mourn the passing of a friend, rather to celebrate the wondrous life of a good person. Ashes to ashes, dust to -- nuts!"

Without another word he flipped through several pages, closed them all to the table of contents, then flipped through again. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the presence of God and in the sight of these witnesses to join Christopher Foxx and Sabrina Mustelidae in the bonds of holy matrimony, which is an honorable estate."

Thomas was more fidgety than Chris. He watched Amy as the words went past him, feeling her questioning eyes on him.

Finally!

"Take each other's hand," the pastor continued, "and Christopher, repeat after me."

Chris and Sabrina faced each other. Thomas stayed out of the way, but turned to his left also. Amy, seeing Thomas, turned toward him.

"I, Christopher Foxx."

Chris gently squeezed Sabrina's paws with his. Her smile could've melted a rock. "I, Christopher Foxx."

And in a quiet voice behind him, he, Sabrina, and especially Amy heard:

"I, Thomas Woolfe."

Chris and Sabrina both glanced out from the corners of their eyes. Amy raised an eyebrow at Thomas.

The pastor never noticed, and went on. "Do take you, Sabrina Mustelidae."

"Do take you, Sabrina Mustelidae."

"Do take you, Amy Squirrel."

Now Amy's big blue eyes opened wide!

"As my lawfully wedded wife."

"As my lawfully wedded wife," in two-part male unison.

Chris shot a look at Thomas just as the vows began, Thomas smiled awkwardly and shrugged.

Amy paid attention and couldn't believe what she was experiencing or hearing, but she melted.

Sabrina tried to stay calm.

" ... 'till death do us part."

" ... 'till death do us part."

Chris edited Thomas out as best he could.

There was a moment's pause as the page turned. "And now Sabrina, repeat after me. I, Sabrina Mustelidae."

Sabrina ran her gloved hands over Chris'. "I, Sabrina Mustelidae."

And a soft voice behind her, "I, Amy Squirrel."

Sabrina spun her head and whispered "What are you two doing????"

Amy was too happy to be apologetic. She whispered back "I promise I'll never do this to you again." and went back to smiling at Thomas.

"Do take you, Christopher Foxx."

Sabrina blinked. "Uh, do take you, Christopher Foxx."

"Do take you, Thomas Woolfe."

Sabrina squeezed Chris' hands tighter.

"As my lawfully wedded husband."

Like Thomas, she said it together with Sabrina, except Sabrina emphasized the end with a glare at Amy. "As my lawfully wedded husband!"

Amy and Thomas were far too lost in each other. Spoiling Sabrina and Chris' day was the furthest thing from their minds, and so was the possibility of losing each other because of Thomas' inaction.

Finally, "May I have the rings?"

Chris looked at Thomas. He and Amy were locked together by their eyes until Chris nudged Thomas in the rib and whispered "Rings!"

Thomas snapped out of his trance and quickly fiddled in his pockets, and found the ring box. He took the two gold bands from it and handed them to Chris.

And as they exchanged rings Amy sniffled and mouthed to Thomas "I love you."

A fifth paw covered the two Chris and Sabrina each held. "By the power vested in me by the state of Ohio, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Chris, you may kiss your bride."

They turned to face each other. Chris lifted Sabrina's veil. "I love you, Kitten."

Sabrina felt joy welling up inside her. "I love you, Handsome."

Chris lifted her chin and pressed his lips to hers, pressed, and they kissed as only two lovers could.

Thomas and Amy smiled and blew a kiss toward each other. Their kiss would come later.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Christopher and Sabrina Foxx."

Light applause filled the sanctuary as they turned to face their friends and family. Sabrina looked at Amy, who just smiled and grabbed her arm excitedly. Sabrina lowered her bouquet and they hugged quickly before Mendelssohn's Wedding March began. Chris hooked his arm, Sabrina slid her hand through it, and they started their trip up the aisle.

Then the music suddenly changed and took on a fast tempo and a disco version of Radetsky March started and led into Widor's Toccata ...

One third up the aisle they stopped. "Hooked on Classics?!" Sabrina said. "Eric Schwartz!"

" ... spared no expense." Chris turned to Sabrina, they shrugged, and Chris scooped Sabrina up in his arms and walked her the rest of the way up. Everyone else in the wedding party paired up and marched their ways up behind, the girls swinging their hips and tails in a pre-rehearsed lift-and-drop-and-spin motion.

"Chris?"

Tabitha took up the rear, behind Debbye and her boyfriend, skipping backwards as the credits started.

"Chris?" as his shoulder was nudged.

"YAA!" Chris jumped out of his chair and almost out of his skin.

Dexter just dodged the last of the coffee flying out of Chris' mug. Chris felt his bottom impact with his chair. His heart was thumping a mile a minute, he threw his head left and right, put his hands on his desk, looked at his monitor with Sabrina's picture prominently displayed as his background wallpaper.

"Jeez! Chris, are you alright?"

Chris worked at catching his breath. He looked at his left hand, at his bare ring finger. "Wow. Yeah, I'm okay." He ran his hand through his hair. "Oh Dexter, you wouldn't believe it!"

"Bet me." He hit Chris in the shoulder with his lunch bag. "Hey, your girlfriend's here."

Chris leapt! "Sabrina? Here?"

Dexter put his paw up. "Wendy."

Chris' head was still fuzzy, but not too fuzzy to move his hands toward Dexter. "Here, lemme fix your tie." He held the narrow part behind and pushed the knot up.

"Heyyyaaccccck!" Dexter pulled his tie free. "She already knows, remember? You're no longer eligible."

"I know. I even showed her Sabrina's picture. She kind of liked it more than I thought she would."

Dexter raised an eyebrow. "Y'never know, do you? But hey, it's lunchtime, and she's waiting for you. And it smells awfully good in there."

Dexter disappeared with his lunchbag. Chris turned around and rested his elbow on the desktop. He looked at the sketch Sabrina made of herself that he hung on his cubical wall, then at his PC monitor where her picture was tiled as wallpaper, and looked at his left hand again.

"Thanks, Dex," he mumbled.

He picked up his coffee mug again, forgetting the remainder of his coffee went over his shoulder. He also looked at his phone, thinking of calling Sabrina ...

"Hi, Chris!"

"YAA!" Chris jumped and shot the mug over his shoulder! Wendy caught it in mid-air.

Chris spun around and saw Wendy leaning forward on one foot. "Hey Johnny Bench, nice catch."

"Nice pitch," Wendy said, and handed him his mug back.

"Thanks." Chris put his cup back.

"I was waiting for you," Wendy told him. "You're still having lunch with me, aren't you?"

"Oh, absolutely." Chris looked at his phone again as he got up and grabbed his own lunch. He allowed Wendy to precede him to the door and to the Bistro.

"I didn't mean to startle you," Wendy said. I never knew my little electronic key would work on your department's lock."

"Nah, doesn't bother me." Chris opened the door to the lunchroom. "It works everywhere except Payroll. They get to stay in their own secure little world, bunch of elitists."

Chris sniffed. "Dexter was right, it does smell good in here."

Everyone else in The Bistro agreed out loud betwixt themselves. Chris took his seat and Wendy put a paper plate in front of him, and one across from him. "What th -- " Chris began.

Wendy took his bag from him. "I'm gonna break you of that braunschweiger fixation of yours." The microwave dinged, and Wendy took out a bowl and began spooning onto Chris' plate. "You remember dinner at my parents' house one time, and how much you liked these?"

Chris looked at his plate. "Homemade Perogies??"

"No, pero-hees. Mom's recipe."

Chris looked up. "You learned how to cook?"

Wendy spooned the rest onto her plate. "When I lived in Buffalo. It was either that or starve." She sat down across from Chris and waited, watching him as he cut one open and put it in his mouth.

Chris smacked the tabletop. "Oh wow!" he exclaimed. "You can cook."

Wendy smiled. "Thank you. The trick is not to over-stuff them."

"These bring back memories," Chris said with his mouth full, pointing to his plate. "You done good, Ki....do. Kiddo!" Chris swallowed his bite and hid a nervous sigh. "Your mom was always a good cook, and you inherited her talent."

Wendy swallowed. "In that case," she said, her head down, looking up at Chris, "maybe you should see how I can cook dinner."

Chris stopped chewing. He turned his head, pondering, one eye on Wendy.

" ... as friends, of course!" she added quickly. "I'd love to talk over old times with you, find out what you've been up to, tell you what I've been doing and where, y'know."

Chris slowly formed a smile. The way to a man's heart ...

A blue nylon lunchbag plopped onto the table. "All paws on the table, you two!" Dexter said. He pulled out the chair next to Wendy and sat down. "You two need a chaperone, I won't have you taking advantage of a young innocent lady!"

Chris and Wendy laughed with Dexter; Chris' laugh was more from relief than humor though. "Wendy, you remember Dexter?"

"Sure."

Chris speared a perogie just as Dexter unzipped his lunchbag. "Dex," he said, offering his fork, "you have got to try one of these!"

"Oooo." Dexter picked it with his fingers. "Perogie, eh?"

"Hees!" Wendy smacked her hand lightly on the tabletop "Perohi! Why don't you guys say it right??"

"We're lazy computer geeks," Chris said and ate another.

Dexter ate the one Chris gave him and rolled his eyes back in his head. "Oh my!" He chewed it up and swallowed, savoring the flavor. "Oh Wendy, will you marry me?"

Wendy laughed. "You're a married man!"

"Okay," Dexter said, "will you be my mistress?"

Chris laughed so hard he almost choked on his pero -- uhm -- his lunch. "It's either that," Dexter finished, "or we move to Utah."

Wendy had to wash her last bite down with her diet cola. "You two are so much alike," she laughed.

"Scary, huh?" Chris asked.

"Yes!"

The public address system interrupted -- "Chris Foxx, line one-oh-three."

"Who could that be?" Wendy asked.

Chris wiped his jowls. "Might be the guy I'm ordering a new smart router and hub from. Excuse me, I'll be right back." He got up and zipped out of the door to his cubicle, snagging the phone in his paw.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"Any time, handsome," the warm female voice on the other end said.

"Sabrina!" Chris sat in his chair and sank in. "Oh, Kitten, your timing couldn't have been more perfect."

"Really?" Sabrina asked. She shifted herself so she lay back on the couch with her head on a cushion on the arm, twitching her tail back and forth across the carpet.

"You've no idea!" Chris leaned back and sighed quietly. "What're you up to this fine day?"

"Oh, not much." Sabrina said. "Dexter called me a few minutes ago and suggested I give you a call. He didn't say why, just that he thought you needed to talk to me."

"That Dexter." Chris grinned. "No wonder he's my best friend."

"Why? Everything's okay, isn't it?"

Chris ran a hand through his hair. "Well, you remember back when we first met, you asked me why I never married?"

"Uh-huh."

"I told you I was kind of serious about someone back in college, but it never went any further."

"Yes."

Chris couldn't suppress a nervous laugh. "Well, she works here now."

Sabrina sat up. "Huh?"

Chris nodded. "Yep. Darndest thing, too. She started last Monday; came out of NO where." Add something quick! "We had lunch, I told her about you, showed her your picture ... "

" ... and you broke her heart!" Sabrina kidded.

"Maybe. Kinda hope so."

Sabrina sat up a bit and laughed. "You can be mean when you want to!"

Chris spun his chair to make sure Wendy hadn't snuck in behind him again. "Hey, she had her chance 7 years ago. I'll tell you what though, she liked your picture."

A tiny gulp came over the phone line. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, a little more than I thought was normal. She asked if she could meet you, too."

Chris was beginning to grin, teasing Sabrina; even though it was the truth. Hey, I couldn't have asked for better teasing material!

Sabrina felt butterflies of her own. "Uh ... What did you tell her?"

"I said 'yeah'." Then, "Don't worry, I'm teasing you for the most part." For the most part!

Sabrina heaved a sigh. "Oh, don't make jokes like that!"

"I'm sorry, Kitten." He lowered his voice. "Here, let me kiss you ... "

Sabrina felt her body flush. "Honey, you're at work ... "

" ... nuzzle your neck fur ... "

Sabrina jumped. "I felt that!"

" ... kissing your cheek, your mouth ... "

Sabrina leaned back, partly closing her eyes, sighing ...

#

Wendy looked over her shoulder. "I wonder what's keeping him," she said.

"Chris tends to get side-tracked," Dexter told her, finishing the first half of his sandwich. "But I'm sure you already knew that."

"Yeah, I did. It's so good to see him again." She looked at his abandoned plate. "I guess I can heat up his last few perohis again."

Dexter politely nodded as he ate into his sandwich.

Wendy took Chris' plate and walked it over to the microwave, her mind spinning to ask Chris' best friend about his girlfriend. "So, uh ... what about Chris and his girlfriend?"

Dexter looked up, his mouth fortunately full. "Hmf?" he chewed.

"I know it's none of my business," Wendy said as she set the timer, "I'm just curious." She started the oven and sat down again. "How long has he known her?"

Dexter swallowed his bite. "I'm not sure. Since February I think." He quickly tried to take another bite.

"She's a very pretty girl."

Dexter's open mouth hovered over his sandwich.

"Do you know anything about her? I mean, is he serious about her?"

Dexter pulled his lunch back a bit. "Oh yeah, he's serious about her. No doubt about it."

Wendy made herself smile. "I'm glad to hear it," she said, trying to decide whether or not she really meant it. "It's good to know he found someone."

Dexter held onto his sandwich. "Y'know Wendy," he said quietly, "it's none of my business, but Chris waited a long time before he decided to get serious about someone again. I think it's fair you know, for the first couple years I knew him, you were pretty much all he wanted."

Wendy's eyes grew. "Really? I thought he probably hated me."

"Chris? He doesn't hate anybody." He took a drink of his root beer. "I'm sure I can tell you he still cares about you a lot. But his heart's lost to Sabrina."

Wendy rested her head on her hand. "Gee, I envy her."

Dexter ate his sandwich.

#

Sabrina was completely relaxed. "I can't wait until Friday," she told Chris, smiling and readjusting her position on the couch.

"Oh, kitten, it's going to be a long two days!" Chris said, again glancing behind him and around his cubicle wall. "How will we manage?"

"Mmmmmmm, I don't know, but I bet I'll break speed records getting there!"

"Better not! I want you here in one piece!"

"I'll be careful, I promise. And be sure to thank Dexter for us."

Chris adjusted himself again. "Bet money on it, Kitten. I love you."

"Oh, I love YOU!"

And they made that embarrassing kissing noise to each other.

"Bye, Handsome."

"Bye, Kitten."

They hung up, and due to passions beyond his control, Chris ran to the restroom.

End of Chapter Thirteen

This Way to Chapter 14