Campus Corner (Open)

[celestialdragon]

I hear the wedding march, and I take a deep breath as the ushers open the doors, showing me the guests and everyone else. My eyes seek you out immediately. I begin walking solo down the aisle, but in my mind, my father was walking me down the aisle.

I grip my bouquet nervously, almost tearing the stems apart, and I could feel a tear come to my eyes.

No, I tell myself firmly. This is a happy day. Be happy.

As I get closer and closer to the altar, I relax more, keeping my eyes on you, knowing how nervous you were. I hear our son cooing and I smile. I felt the breeze in my strapless dress.

Finally I reach the altar and wait for the ceremony to begin.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

The march is a beautiful procession as it is so often. I notice first my brother walking arm and arm with a very beautiful and very sexy Riley. I grin at both of them and mouth the word, "Behave," and wink, deliberately leaving it vague as to which one of the two I was speaking to. Then came Don and Stacie behind them. Don had found their daughter and fully intended to place her next to little Reece, a touch I had not known was coming that made me laugh a little bit. A moment or two later, when the aisle had cleared, I saw the most beautiful vision I could imagine as you stepped forward in an appropriately short, beautiful cream colored slip dress, your hair perfect as ever, and an amazing smile that I knew was forcing back tears. We had made it. We had come a long, long way, already through thick and thin, hard times and good. You reached the altar, and I took your hand and took in the vision that was you.

"Hi," I whispered, smiling down at you, saying nothing more.

 

[celestialdragon]

"Hi," I whisper back, almost loosing it right then, allowing a small tear to trickle down my cheek, squeezing your hand.

I couldn't believe I was here. I had always envisioned of me being out of college and finding someone in the workforce, so I always thought I'd get married when I was thirty or so. But it wasn't so now. I was much younger than that, and I was the happiest I had ever been in my life. I hear the two babies vaguely in the background and I couldn't have been happier, hearing my son, feeling your hand, knowing that soon, I was going to be Mrs. Reece Grier. Another tear slipped past my defenses.

It had not been an easy journey, getting here with you. But it's a journey with you I was very happy to take, and I wanted the ceremony to hurry up and end, just so I could be with you and forget everyone else.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

"You look beautiful," I whisper, rubbing a tear from your cheek as the priest begins saying something to the crowd that I can't be bothered to pay an attention to. At some point he asks if you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, and you of course squeak out an I do.

"Do you Reece Grier, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded husband?" He asks.

"No other," I say. "I do."

"If anyone here would object to this union, let him speak now or forever..."

"Waaaaaaaaaaah!!" Baby Reece erupts before adjusting in his carrier and lolling his head to his chest and going back to sleep, making the crowd roar with laughter.

 

[celestialdragon]

I laugh happily, tears of mirth and happiness running down my face before shaking my head. "I think he's just a little tired," I say softly.

The ceremony continues without anymore interruptions from the baby until the priest turns to Don. "Do you have the rings?"

I sigh and wait, shifting from toe to toe.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

I laugh at your response to the little guy's impeccable timing. "Well, I don't think he's objecting to anything," I say. A few moments later, Don steps away from us and reaches down to grab the box from Baby Reece, who stubbornly grips it with all his tiny might. Don makes a show of forcibly prying it from the baby's hand and the crowd laughs again.

"Kid is stealing the show here!" I say, shaking my head.

 

[celestialdragon]

"I think he likes the box," I joke with you, smiling at our son before smiling up at you.

The priest hands you my ring and I gasp at how pretty it is. Caught up in my nerves and excitement, I accidentally give you my right hand instead of my left. I switch when I notice, blushing furiously at the tiny mistake.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

I put the ring on your hand. "With this ring, I thee wed." You proceed to do the same. The priest finishes a few more words for a few more moments, before the ceremony comes to a standard conclusion. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Ms. Reece and Lynn Grier. You may kiss your beautiful bride."

 

[celestialdragon]

I look up at you, a few more tears slipping past my defenses, and I give a small smile. "Come at me, bar boy," I whisper, standing on tiptoe, even in my heels, to receive our first kiss as a married couple. I can already hear Riley and Stacy squealing behind me.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Come at me bar boy. My heart smiled hearing the words that in many ways got all of this started.

"Come here, college girl," I whisper back, pulling you in for a deep, long kiss. The girls behind you squeal and begin to clap as the rest of the crowd starts to clap along with them. The wedding march bellows once more and I take your hand and motion with my free hand toward the aisle leading us to the limo out front.

"Shall we?" I ask, as we begin to walk among a spray of rice from the crowd shortly before the priest invites everyone to the reception to be held at the most natural of location.

"I would like all of you to be welcome as the bride and groom accept guests at the place where they met, the place they want all of you to join in, the place that has brought them so much joy for so long. They ask you all to join them on Campus Corner at Lannister's."

 

[celestialdragon]

I walk with you, smiling at the memory of the kiss, shaking rice out of my hair. I am the happiest little girl right now, and it's not long before we reach the limo.

Once we're in, I kiss you fiercely. "Mwah! I love you so much, Reece," I say.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

"Mmm, I love you too, baby." I say, sliding my hand up your thigh and under your dress as I kiss you deeply again.

 

[celestialdragon]

I kiss you back, just as deeply, moaning softly, wrapping myself around you.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

I push the divider up between us and the driver. "We only have about 20 minutes," I say, kissing you. "What do you think?"

 

[celestialdragon]

I laugh and kiss you back. "Why not wait? I have a garter to be removed later, you know," I tease. I look up at you, beaming, before feeling tears come to my eyes again. "I'm going to bloody loose it," I grumble a bit, wiping my tears away.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

I smile and sit back in the seat. "Don't lose it, baby. Today was a great day. Still is." I say, kissing you once more. "Can you believe that brat son of ours?"

 

[celestialdragon]

I kiss you back and laugh. I mimic our son keeping the ring box from Don. "No! These are my rings! My precious!" I say in a baby voice, giggling. "Mommy and Daddy don't need these!"

 

[CarnivalBarker]

"Yeah, no kidding," I say. "Little miscreant." I watch the world roll by outside the window as we draw closer to campus. I grab your hand and squeeze it. "You happy, babe?"

 

[celestialdragon]

I squeeze your hand back, smiling hugely. "The happiest, baby," I say.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

"Me too." I tell you. A while later we arrive at the bar, where we are reunited with our wedding party. We spend the first twenty minutes taking a series of photos around the bar with Stacie and Don, Riley and Jason, my brother, and the two kids. People file in and several guys you do not recognize in tuxes serve drinks to our guests. Riley goes behind the bar and one of the guys there stops her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, nobody can be back here," he tells her. I look at you and raise my eyebrows as if to say, "Oh really?"

 

[celestialdragon]

I give a chuckle and lightly tap the man's shoulder. "It's alright, she works here," I say sweetly. "She has my permission." I wink at Riley and mouths that she owes me big time on that.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Riley rolls her eyes. "Like I wasn't getting back here," she says, pouring a series of fireball shots and handing them out to everybody, even placing one each in front of each of the infants, sitting quietly in their carriers. She lifts hers. "Here are to the two best lovers in the greatest love story," she says, coming dangerously close to revealing a secret that nobody knows.

 

[celestialdragon]

I shoot Riley a warning glance, but blush all the same and down my shot. I kiss you after I do, a small bit of the whiskey lingering on my lips.

 

[CarnivalBarker]

Riley grins back at you, being ornery, and I kiss you back. We mingle with people and take photographs for a while, while the DJ plays music and people dance, eat, and drink, compliments of the bar. After around thirty minutes, Don goes to the dance floor and quiets the crowd.

"I want to take a moment and tell you a little story," Don begins. "I'm going to apologize to Lynn in advance about the first part of this story, but I hope that when I am done, you'll understand why it's important." I look at you, unaware of what he is about to say, or why he is apologizing. He continues on. "I met Reece our freshman year in college. I, uh....well I met him when we got in a fight over the same girl IN her dorm room." The crowd gave a nervous laugh. "The girl ended up ignoring both of us, but we started hanging out some after we discovered we had several classes together the next semester. And Reece.....well Reece LOVED girls. Loved them. And he dated a lot of them. I thought he was obsessed when he began talking about," he motioned around the room, "opening a bar." I suddenly knew where he was going.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. Don't listen to him baby," I say, with a smile.

"Reece told me one day he was going to drop out of school and open this bar. I asked him why he wouldn't wait until after college. And, uh.......uh....well he told me that if he owned the bar, he would save money, and he could hook up with all of the college girls he wanted and never have to grow up." I blushed and shook my head.

"Thanks, Don," I say.

"You....you said that!" He defended himself, as I just nod and grab your hand. "From that day on, you built this place, this place that we all call home and you made it the place that so many around here know it to be. Reece and I have watched many functions, parties, fights, crimes, and life happen at this bar. And then something changed." He smiled. "One day, Reece disappeared...just vanished, for three days. When I saw him next, he came to the bar, he was cleaning it, top to bottom, making repairs, being as diligent as I have ever seen. He wasn't himself. I asked him what he was doing and he just says, 'I met this girl.'" He points at you. "I thought, yeah....so.....what's new? And Reece said, after three days, 'I love her.'" He paused. "I saw in his eyes that he meant it. I saw in his eyes, that day, that very day, the same look that all of you saw in the chapel today. I have since come to know Lynn, and she is everything Reece knew she always was. I have never seen the devotion between two people that I see between you both." He raises his glass. "I love you both. May forever be yours, and may you be together long enough to receive it." The crowd began to cheer again, raising their glasses as well.

 

[celestialdragon]

I began crying at the end of Don's speech. "I'm going to bloody loose it when Riley gives hers," I whisper to you, smiling at Don and kissing his cheek chastely before resting on your shoulder. "Absolutely fucking loose it. How much mascara have I lost?" I ask, smiling.