Quig and Grew-Ella walked to the dining room. Madd-Ox pushed the sliding door open, making the room twice the size. Grew-Ella's family members arranged velvet-covered chairs, reused from his last attempt at getting married.

A baker placed a six-foot pink castle cake on the table.

Karen and Paul removed toy figurines and wrapped fairy lights around the cake plate, illuminating the surrounding food.

Paul waved at Quig. "The bakery had a wedding that fell through, and it was either this cake or coffin-shaped donuts. I baked the groom's cake from a sugar-free mix. Nothing too fancy, but I prepared the lemon curd filling and frosting from scratch." He rushed to the kitchen and came back with a nine-tiered layer cake with yellow frosting and blue roses.

"Our wedding cakes look amazing." Quig walked past the table and tripped on a handwoven rug that covered the floor. Photos of Grew-Ella seemed to stare at him.

Garland woven from broken and discarded flowers decorated the room. He tore a sympathy card hidden among the purple carnations strung together with white and red roses and realized the arrangement was originally meant for a funeral.

He dropped the card, wheezed, and thought, 'maybe the coffin donuts would've been fitting.'

Quig's grandmother and a few guests arrived early and made their way to their seats.

"Baby Boy, I'm sad Ida couldn't be here, but she is alive. If I raised her, she wouldn't have gone to a drive-through plastic surgeon when she turned fourteen."

"Ida thought Grew-Ella loved me," Quig said.

Snake Boy climbed into his chair and read over a book titled Haunted Lizard Farms. He waved at Avery-Joy.

Avery-Joy hugged him and then Betsy and left to sit next to the bridal and groom party.

Quig played with Grew-Ella's hair and nuzzled his nose near her cheek to fool the guests.

"Marriages in the Ivy Kingdom take place in a yearly festival," Ruby said.

Dot winked. "Grew-Ella, you're lucky to be marrying a guy as sweet as my brother."

Grew-Ella nodded, 'yes,' but she didn't say she loved him. She couldn't say it.

Quig's grandmother hugged Ruby and showed Ruby Grew-Ella's nuptial bracelet. "Quig and I strung it together when he was thirteen."

"Your work is lovely," Nurse Ruby said.

Dot stood up. "Quig chose me to represent the female side of our family." She turned to Nan-Gran. "You're not upset that he didn't choose you, are you?"

"He asked me to co-represent, but when I'm a helper at someone's wedding, it never happens. Which is why I offered to stand for Ann," Nan-Gran said.

Dot hurried off and stood next to Grew-Ella's parents.

"I'm going to change." Grew-Ella bounced as she ascended upstairs.

Rodrick followed her, unseen.

Ten Minutes Later:

"Are you alright?" Rodrick asked.

Grew-Ella stared up at the tall and muscular man.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to sell you to the workhouse." He lowered his head for a moment. "They'll give Quig reject status if you run. The paperwork is already signed."

Grew-Ella trembled and narrowed her eyes. "Neither of us will run." She walked into her bedroom and slammed the door shut.

Rodrick walked downstairs and overheard Quig talking to the reverend.

"I traveled the multiverse, and I married best friends to save the groom. In certain cultures, women own their sons unless they marry. This situation is oddly similar. Do you also have a terrible relationship with your mom? I don't see her here."

"She is a meth addict, but my sister, Dot, is here. Our relationship with Father is complicated, but we love him."

"I'm sorry, he skipped your wedding."

"No, he is here, but he can't admit I'm his son. Dad has always been around. I wish he could burn the incense with Dot, but I'm thrilled he showed."

Rodrick stepped into Karen's empty guest bedroom and sat on a DIY four-poster bed. He found the camera hidden in the suit's lining and crushed it. "Stop following me. I'm making a private phone call."

Flint stood with Karen and two other people, a man with the features of a Husky and a short cat humanoid, barely standing four-foot-eleven. Blood-red hair with black stripes tumbled over her shoulders. She was taller than Karen by three inches without heels.

Flint adjusted his sunglasses. "This is my son and his wife."

"We're here for extra security, and we're the wedding singers. Yoleta hired us to prevent anyone from hurting Quig or Grew-Ella." She lifted her wedding dress, revealing four laser guns strapped to her leg.

Flint's son tightened his fist. "We're ready."

"I thought you and Flint hated each other," Rodrick said.

"Dad and I hugged it out." Flint's son hummed the Major General song from Pirates of Penzance and pointed to his laser gun.

Rodrick started to hum. "Are you threatening me? I'm over twice your size and six inches taller."

Flint's son laughed to himself. "No, I wouldn't harm a single hair on your head. Technically, I'm an alternate universe version of you. I'm not sure, but I think that goes against temporal law."

"He isn't joking," Flint said.

Rodrick narrowed his eyes at Flint's daughter-in-law. "How good at protection are you two?"

She bounced as she walked. "My grandmother and Yoleta taught us how to kill a man with a sock puppet and a bag of candy corn, but we haven't killed anyone yet. But I'll maim you a little if you interfere with the wedding." She smirked at Rodrick.

"No, I signed off on this, and it'll look bad if a marriage I approved collapses before it starts. I have an excellent track record," Rodrick said.

A man jimmied open the window and slid through. "You aren't the bride I'm looking for, but I'll take you anyway for a trade." He wrapped his arm around the decoy bride's waist.

She shot him three times.

Flint kicked the stunned man against the wall and removed a four-inch dagger and a cell phone from his pockets. He held the phone near the man's mouth. "Tell whoever hired you that Grew-Ella isn't here."

The man called him. "Zill honey, the decoy bride has weapons."

Flint turned on his temporal watch, grabbed the man, and they vanished, but Flint came back.

Flint's daughter-in-law headed to the door. "I'll change out of this puffball."

Everyone left Rodrick alone, and he called Trent.

"Rodrick, where are they? Grew-Ella and Quig were not at the university chapel, and a bruiser of a decoy bride punched me. I'm trying to save her from Zill. Junior is already furious about Quig and refusing to speak with me. If I let Grew-Ella die, I can never make amends."

"You attacked Junior's brother."

"Quig isn't blood!"

"I raised them together. How could you think Junior would be okay with that?" Rodrick turned on an app and recorded the conversation. "Why should I tell you where Quig is? You're lucky I didn't kill you for what you did to my son."

"Vex and my father gave me no choice," Trent said over the phone. "You tricked Chase into signing that agreement, but I didn't tell him Quig is your spawn because Junior begged me not to."

"My children are off-limits. No, you're afraid that the news blogs will report your cowardliness. Unlike you, I'll protect Junior. Everyone will know Zill attempted to sell a twelve-year-old to the workhouse, and you were a weak man and did nothing to stop it."

"Would you sign Junior's death warrant to save Quig? I respect that, but my family means everything to me. Give me a chance to make it right."

Rodrick sighed to himself before speaking. "Madd-Ox and I can protect Junior better than a vain idiot."

"If you think I murdered Cutter to win a beauty contest, you're a fool. His father was a workhouse leader, and he thought he could walk away from Vex. I can't walk away either."

"If I die, my lawyers will announce it to the news outlets. Mutual destruction is fun. Run to the islands with what money you have left." Rodrick shook the phone in his fist and gritted his teeth.

"I killed Yoleta's supervisor, Lana, for my father, and I'll kill you if you don't help me sneak Grew-Ella to The Ivy Kingdom. Zill is threatening me to hand her over."

"Vex killed Lana. I saw him stab her. And Trent, you should have thought of your safety before you stole Chase and Zill's money."

"They don't know I stole it, but I already made up for it. And I loved Ann as much as I loved Zill; Dad knows Karen is a traitor. Loving Ann was my way into the brownstone. Karen adored her. I played that idiot."

"Didn't you care for her at all?" Rodrick tightened his free hand into a fist.

"Ann was also a way into Lana's bank account, but the son poisoned her against us." Trent couldn't hide the wavering in his voice. "Vex killed Lana's mother and father, not me."

Rodrick stared down at his phone. He took a deep breath. "But I know the truth about your feelings for Ann."

"Yes, I adored her. Ann was my movie goddess, but she chose—"

Rodrick interrupted. "She didn't side with you because she is no longer deranged. No amount of money or fame gives you back what you lost."

Trent yelled loudly over the phone. "You think this was about Quig? No, it was about her hurting Junior. She helped my father exile Junior to the Ash Islands for a year. Zill and Vex used her to get to me."

"Don't pretend you care. For all the violence you commit, you're a coward." Rodrick turned off the recording of the conversation. "Stay out of my family's and Junior's life. If I find your access code was used to give reject status to my son, I might do to you what you did to him. I already fried your partner in the trafficking and murder scheme. Stanton is dead, and no one cares."

Trent screamed and grunted. "His death was a freak accident! Do you know how many people I've made disappear?"

"Maybe so." A grin spread across Rodrick's face. "But my status is elevated now that I'm head of the marriage board, and I choose which marriages are approved. If you ran when you discovered Quig and Grew-Ella were there, your mask wouldn't have been torn off, old man. But allowing Ann to see you was another act of your desperation." Rodrick recorded him again.

Trent screeched before speaking. "I'll send you to a Kill Home if you approve their marriage. Praise me for being better than you. I might not be king, but I'm still a Kill Home leader."

Rodrick laughed, and the phone shook in his hand. "You'll be dead if you try. The blood contract you signed bars you from doing anything to Quig without Yoleta's approval."

"I don't remember signing that," Trent said.

"Well, you did, and you're no longer a glorified prom king." After the call ended, Rodrick stormed out of the bedroom and made his way downstairs. He sat in his chair and chatted with Hempstead.