Chapter 20 - A Wedding

'Hush, everyone! I'd like to say a few words about my future daughter-in-law!' Mum shouted.

Rebecca hadn't wanted too much attention, but my mum had insisted on throwing her a hen party. 'Have a nice time!' I had shouted to my worried-looking fiancée as Mum angrily ushered Dad and I out the door.

'Now, I just want to say how lucky we are to welcome you into our humble little family. I see the way Jasper looks at you and it fills me with happiness to know that he gets to spend his life with such a wonderful woman. No mother could wish for a better wife for their son. I know what it's like to be married to the one you love, and I can tell you you're in for years of happiness and laughter. Sure, there can be some tough times - but they only serve to make the good ones more sweet and deepen the special bond that exists between husband and wife. So, without further ado, a toast...!'

She reached behind her and brought out an expensive bottle of champagne. She began to shake it.
'To Rebecca and Jasper!' She said, and promptly emptied the contents over my fiancée's head.
Becca laughed, and proceeded to show my mum the same courtesy, grabbing a cream cake from the buffet and throwing it at her face. In a flash, Mum had her hands full of canapés and was just about to start a food fight when Celeste piped up.
'Ooh, look who's here!' She skipped over to Becca and gave her a nudge. 'You can thank me later!'

Rebecca spun round, trying to work out who Cescie was talking about. Then she saw them.

'DID ANYBODY HERE ORDER A GOOD TIME?'
Rebecca stood there, mouth agape, as two topless men came into the kitchen, set down their stereo, and began dancing wildly to blaring disco music. My mum took her hand.
'Come on, dear! Don't worry, I won't tell Jasper!'

Helena, upon coming home from school, seemed quite pleased to discover two half-naked men in the kitchen.

During the festivities, Rosie had made her way onto the back porch. She'd been acting weird for the past few months and that night we finally found out why!

A little while later she emerged with the most adorable little puppy in her mouth. We decided to call her Bella. We didn't know for sure who the father was, though Becca noted that Bella had one green eye and one amber eye - suspiciously like the dashing young collie that belonged to the old couple across the road.

Despite Mum promising not to tell me about the day's antics, Becca sat with me on the swing set when I got home and gave me a blow-by-blow description of her hen party.
'Haha! That's so Cescie. I wish I could have seen your face!' I said when I heard of the 'gift' my sister had arranged for her.
Becca pouted at me playfully. 'That's easy for you to say - you didn't have to endure your great aunt Adeline shimmying against some guy called 'Mr. Big.' all afternoon.'

This made me laugh even more. It was the night before the wedding and in a few minutes Dad was going to drive me, along with Colin, to stay with Uncle Brett, whilst Becca stayed at home with Mum, Aunt Katie, and my sisters. It was certainly an odd feeling looking at her; knowing the next time I saw her we would be moments away from becoming husband and wife.

'Well then, I should probably head inside. Get my beauty sleep and all that.' She said, rising from her seat and giving me a short, sweet kiss, her arms resting gently on my shoulders. She took a step back and looked down at me with those bottomless eyes. Her hand paused for a moment on my chest. 'See you tomorrow, Jasper Bird.' She whispered before sauntering away.
'See you tomorrow, beautiful.' I had said it so quietly that at first I thought she hadn't heard me, but she stopped at the front door, flashed me a winning smile over her shoulder, and strolled inside, closing the door softly behind her.

An odd feeling indeed, but a wonderful one.

                                   

'You look splendid, Ms. Rebecca.'
The compliment made Becca's cheeks flush pink. She was standing in front of Hazel's magic mirror in all her bridal glory. Her new, floor length gown was an elegant ivory and her late grandmother's necklace served as her something old. Her hair was twisted into a simple updo - secured with a sparkling headpiece that Celeste had leant her as her something borrowed. Becca's something blue - as I would later discover - was her lingerie...

She made her way downstairs to my parents' bedroom to show my mum the final, completed package. Since Rebecca had no close family left living in Moonlight Falls, Mum had been there for her from the moment we announced our engagement. She had helped choose the venue, the dress, the flowers, the invitations - she'd planned every little thing down to the very last detail.

Mum teared up when she saw her. 'Oh, you beautiful woman! What did I do to deserve you as a daughter-in-law?'
'Well, for starters you did a pretty good job with that son of yours!' Rebecca replied.
'I think so too! Now come on, we mustn't be too late.' Mum grabbed her hand and was about to lead her out the door when she remembered something. 'Oh, I almost forgot!' She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, silver envelope. 'Your wedding present.' She said, smiling knowingly as she pressed the gift into Becca's hand. 'From Dayvid and I. Open it at the end of the night.'

Becca and I had considered eloping at first, seeing as neither of us particularly like being the centre of attention, but we'd eventually decided on a small ceremony, surrounded only by close friends and family.

The venue we chose was Fae Ray Gardens - a popular hangout for fairies and butterflies alike. Our shared love of the outdoors prompted us to wed 'alfresco'.

Mum and Aunt Katie had taken care of all the décor and design. Since a number of vampires, myself included, would be attending, we chose to have an evening wedding. For Mum this meant rows of silvered chairs surrounding a candlelit arch adorned with lush pink peonies and draping amaranth.

The reception area was just as beautiful and, as the sun sank below the horizon, Becca and I made our separate ways to the venue from opposite sides of town.

Sitting in the car, my heart was pounding in my chest. I was staring out the window, watching the world pass by. All the planning was over. All the waiting was behind us. All that was left to do was to say our vows and I would be married to the most unbelievable person I had ever met. Holy crap.

A hand on my shoulder brought me back down to Earth. I looked up to see my Dad gazing happily into my eyes.
'We're here, son. Are you ready?'
I laughed. 'God, yes.'
'Then let's go.' He replied, and went off to join Mum.



I leapt out the car and made my way to the spot where Rebecca and I were to have our first look.

'Hey, loner.' A voice spoke from behind me whilst I was admiring a ladybird rambling across the path. I grinned and snapped my eyes shut.
'I... I don't want to look!' I said, without turning around. 'I mean I do... I just...'

'Oh come on, I'm not that bad!' I could hear the smile in her voice. 'Here.' She took my hands in hers' and lifted them to her waist. I felt her fingers play with my scraggly, unkempt hair. I felt her warm breath on my cheek. I felt her lips on mine. 

I opened my eyes. Then I opened them some more. Then some more. My eyes kept widening until they felt like they took up my whole face. Rebecca was breathtaking, and I told her so.
She wrinkled her nose. 'Thank you. Now come on, let's get married.'

Rebecca and I had decided to walk up the aisle together. Dad kind of lost it as we strolled past.

Becca cleared her throat and began. 

'Jasper. The moment I heard my first love story I began seeking you, not realising the search was useless. Lovers like us don't meet along the way. We're in one another's souls from the beginning. I want you to be able to look beside you and have me next to you, anywhere that life decides to take us. I have seen the best of you, and the worst of you, and I choose both. So, with this ring, my heart will be your shelter and my arms will be your home. As I have given you my hand to hold, I give you my life to keep.'

I had had some trouble with expressing how I felt in my vows so had scoured my mother's literature collection and discovered a book of sonnets by Pablo Neruda. I decided to incorporate one into my vows along with some lines that Lydia helped me write.

'Rebecca. I don’t love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz or arrow of carnations that propagate fire: I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul. I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom, and carries hidden within itself the light of those flowers, and thanks to your love, darkly in my body lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth. I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where, I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I know no other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you; so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close. My head is a complicated pile of thoughts, and fears, and cravings, and dreams, and this tangled up nostalgia for the past and, somehow, the future. I am flawed and I am broken and I am trying. And I am one person and I am two hands and I am one heart. And I love you. And I am so glad you are here.'

I slid the ring onto her finger and looked up from her hand. She was staring at me in pure delight. I scanned the crowd. My dad wasn't the only one who was tearful.

'KISS HER, YOU FOOL!' Aunt Katie yelled from the back, rolling her eyes as she did so.
'Oh, right!' I laughed, and, taking her in my arms as I did so, kissed Rebecca for the first time as her husband.

We turned, still in each other's arms, and faced our cheering family, who were showering us in confetti.
Becca whispered to me as we smiled at them. 'Way to make my vows look like a pile of poop.'
I kissed her again. 'You do know that's the first thing you've said to me as my wife?'
She giggled and leant on me as we made our way back up the aisle.

After heading off for our wedding photos, we went over to the buffet area to cut the wedding cake. Rebecca, Hazel, and I had made it together a couple of days before. It was red velvet with cream cheese frosting and, although it was a little lopsided, it meant a lot to me that we had made it as a team. As a family. Everyone thought it was delicious.

After everyone had eaten, they all took to the floor to dance the night away. Helena and Lydia had never really been close but today they set aside their differences and celebrated together.

Whilst everyone was dancing, Rebecca and I crept away and found ourselves a private spot to just be together.
'You look beautiful.' I told her for what must have been the thousandth time that day.
She smiled and looked down at her lap. 'Your mum gave me something earlier. Our wedding present.'
'Oh? What is it?'
'I don't know.' She laughed. 'She said not to open it until the end of the night.'
'Well, I think now's as good a time as any. Can I see it?'
She handed me the little envelope. I turned it over in my hands before carefully peeling back the seal and tipping the contents out. 

Inside was a note. I read it aloud.

'Dear son and, now, daughter.

Congratulations on your wedding day!

Follow the directions.
The car is waiting.

Love, Mum and Dad.'

'That's it?' Becca asked when I had finished.
'...Yeah.' I said. I was studying the directions written on the overleaf in my mother's neat, cursive handwriting. I glanced over at the gate to Fae Ray Gardens and noticed the black car, decorated with a cream ribbon, parked outside.
Rebecca had noticed it too. 'Should we go then?' She asked, clutching my arm and gazing at me, with excitement in her eyes.
I squeezed her hand. 'I guess so!'

So we sneaked past the dancers and made our way to the car. As we passed by, I caught Mum's eye. She smiled mischievously and gave me a double thumbs up and a wink.

I knew wherever we were going must be special.