Mina

2030 March 3
Test Year 3, Day 134
Tau, MIT

At MIT, they could have been married in the chapel, which had already hosted many weddings, of different forms. But the only official religious ministers who had been brought to Tau were one dully-registered Boiler of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and one minister of the Anglican Communion, who happened to be at Caltech. Mina would have preferred an Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic priest, but there was none in this world. Will dictated the rites of both forms, but was obviously not eligible to perform the service. In the end, Mina was sufficiently driven that the minister was persuaded to speak a rite involving the word ‘sacrament’ and they and four other couples made due with the Athenaeum.

Amy and the other children were not yet old enough to completely understand the ceremonies that they saw or decide if they followed any creed. But their parents were schooling them in tolerance, so they would eventually decide for themselves. For the moment, they simply enjoyed the novelty of the wedding ceremonies and the other celebrations. The weddings had coincided with a Ditch Day, and the kids were now able to participate. They had their own safe obstacle course to complete, with emphasis on ring carrying, even as the other Techers followed an intricate dance to stack rooms full of wedding presents for the couples.

Mina and Will both knew roughly what their present would be in advance: a place to live more amenable to family life than Will’s cot in the Screamer Lab or Mina’s room in the Catalinas. But they were surprised by the details. They were gifted with the old library in Robinson Hall. The adjacent departmental kitchen had been expanded and made fit for cooking, a bathroom had been outfitted, the two back offices made into bedrooms. The space was very convenient: Mina had stopped taking active survey work, and was in North Mudd next door most of the time.

They had been given more than the other couples: with all the books of the astronomy library long since moved into Cahill, the living space was very large by Techer standards, and the allotment of couches and tables and chairs was also liberal. But the name of the furnishing stack explained this: “Cheaper by the Dozen”. Will and Mina were already quite active in teaching the children of others. They might not be having many themselves, but it seemed they wouldn’t have a choice in the main use of their living room.