Music, Laughter, and Conversation

Well, I lied in my little author's note.  I got it finished after all :)  If you didn't see my note about the future plans, make sure you scroll down to catch it.  The next post will either come tomorrow or Saturday.
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"You're freaking out," Lauren observed, once Brody was inside.

"Yep," I agreed.  "Completely.  So many people...and they're all going to be watching me."

Lauren slid her arm around my waist, a rare show of affection for her, and squeezed gently.  She left her arm there and said, "On the plus side, you're the bride, so you can do pretty much whatever you want to today, and no one is going to say a word to you about it!"

I laughed.  "True. Too bad the craziest thing I'll probably do is cry through my wedding ceremony."

"Where did that come from?" Lauren asked suddenly, pointing to my bracelet.

"Where do you think?" I asked, rolling my eyes.  But I couldn't fight the smile on my face as I lifted my wrist for Lauren to take a closer look.

Lauren narrowed her eyes in much the same expression I'd made when Brody had told me he had something for me.  "I thought you guys had agreed no gifts."

"Yeah, well, he doesn't always follow directions well," I said, laughing.  "But I love it."

"He's the worst," she replied, smirking.

Just then, Lauren's phone lit up.  She looked down at it, then looked up at me.  "Ready to go in?"  I took a deep breath, nodded, and we walked inside.  I drew more than a couple looks as she and I walked past the dining room towards the narrow stairs that led up.  Once we got to the top of the stairs, I saw Leigh, who appeared to be directing traffic.  She guided me over to the side where my dad was waiting.  Lauren walked over to Alex and handed him her phone, which he slipped into his pocket.  Alex flashed me a thumbs up, which made me roll my eyes and laugh a little.

My dad was watching me, and I felt tears prick the back of my eyes when he held out his arm to me.  I could faintly hear the music, and Lynn and Jack were now disappearing into the banquet room, which meant I was next.  "Holy shit," I breathed.

"Olivia Renee," my dad scolded me, and I burst out laughing, earning a disapproving look from Leigh.

"I'm getting married, and you're concerned about my language?" I asked him.

"You'll always be my little girl," he said stoically.  "But I guess at least you don't have a mouth like Lauren."

I laughed again, clapping my hand over my mouth to muffle it.  Leigh walked over and handed me my bouquet.  "When you hear the song change, it's all you," she said with a broad smile.  "You look absolutely stunning, but don't forget to smile."

Laughing immediately before I started to walk down the aisle proved to be a positive thing.  I smiled, I didn't cry, I didn't trip.  And as soon as I saw Brody waiting for me, I did forget about everyone else.

I had never questioned wanting to see Brody and take photos before the ceremony, but I did worry that walking down the aisle towards him wouldn't be nearly as special as it could have been if we wouldn't have seen each other.  I was wrong.  He was still looking at me as though it was his first time seeing me, and it was perfect.  Halfway down, I got a little emotional and a couple tears escaped, but I managed to mostly keep it together.  When my dad handed me off to Brody, Brody paused and brushed the tears off my cheeks before taking my hand.  The simple gesture made several people in the crowd say, "Awwww," which drew my attention back to the fact that there were indeed over 50 other people in the room.  But at this point, I didn't care as much.

Our ceremony was short and simple, with just two brief readings done by Jen and Kinsley and our vows.  When it came time to exchange the rings, I felt a brief moment of panic.  I had no idea if Lauren had Brody's ring or not.  Luckily, when I turned, she handed it to me.  When I watched Brody put my wedding band on my finger, I did a double take.  I looked up at him, and he was watching me and grinning.  I looked back down, because the ring he'd just slid onto my left hand was not the plain band I'd picked out and purchased.  In fact, it looked suspiciously like the drawing Don had made of the potential custom band.  I looked back up at Brody, and mouthed, "What is this?"  He just shrugged and mouthed back, "Your ring."

"Olivia?"  I looked up, realizing that the officiant was waiting for me to repeat her words and put Brody's ring on.  I blushed, and she repeated the words that went along with the ring ceremony.  I got them out without tangling them and slid the ring onto his finger.

I barely heard the officiant tell us we could kiss, because I was entranced by her saying we're now husband and wife.  I smiled shyly at Brody and he stepped forward, tugging me towards him by my hands.  Then he slid his hands around my waist and kissed me.  Everyone clapped, but I didn't care  about them anymore.  When our kiss ended, he leaned his forehead against mine and whispered, "I love you, Olivia."

"I love you too," I replied, and he kissed me again.


We met our officiant in a smaller room down the hall from the banquet room.  We all signed the marriage license, and she congratulated us both.  As she collected the document and stepped out, Brody looked at me with concern.  "Are you okay?" he asked, not for the first time today.

I thought I was keeping it together pretty well, but I should have known that I couldn't hide it from him.  "I am," I said, smiling at him.  "Just a little overwhelmed."

"Let's take a few minutes?" he suggested.  I nodded.  He kicked the door to the room shut, then walked back over to me and hugged me.  I leaned into him, breathing in his scent.  Soap, cologne, and mountains.  The familiar scent comforted me.

There was a plush, overstuffed couch in the room, and he sat and pulled me into his lap.  I leaned down to kiss him, and he smiled against my lips.  When we broke apart, he kept his hand on my face, lightly brushing his thumb across my cheekbone.  "You're easily the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he said softly and sincerely.

The look on his face made me melt, and I shifted so I could (carefully) lay my head on his shoulder.  "Thank you," I said.  "I love you."

"I love you too, Liv," he replied, stroking my back between my shoulder blades.  "I can't believe how wonderfully everything came together.  You did a great job."

"We did a great job," I corrected him.

He chuckled.  "Well, okay, but you did more than I did.  Especially the little details."

"You want to talk about little details?" I asked, looking at him.  "What is this?" I held up my left hand and waved it around a little.

He laughed.  "That's the ring that Don designed for you.  If you don't like it, we can't take it back, because it's a custom piece.  So you're stuck with it."

"I love it," I said, smiling while I looked at.  "But I would have been okay with the plain band.  It's not about the ring."

"I want you to have something that you love, not something that you're just okay with, even if it's not about the ring," he said, shaking his head.  Then he grinned.  "Don said he could tell you really liked the sketch, and he couldn't figure out why you didn't want it.  I knew exactly why you didn't want it, and I decided to disrespect your wishes and have him make it anyway.  Are you mad at me?"

"No," I said smiling.  "But don't make a habit out of disrespecting my wishes."

"I only did this time because it seemed like you really did like this one better," he assured me.  "I hoped it would be a nice surprise."

"It was," I said, turning my head to kiss him again.

We sat together in the small room, chatting for a couple minutes, then just silently enjoying each other's company for a few more.  Finally, I stood and said, "I'm ready when you are."

"Kiss me again, then I'm ready," he said, smiling.  I happily obliged him, hooking my arms around his neck and kissing him deeply.  "Mmm," he groaned, pulling away and then resting his forehead against mine.  "Can we just skip the reception and go back to the hotel?"

I laughed and stood, tugging on his hand.  "No way, I'm starving.  You need to feed me first."


I barely made it past dinner before I was irritated with my hair.  Even though it was cool outside, it was warm in the restaurant, and even lighter wedding dresses are heavy and hot.  The back of my neck was damp with sweat and my hair was sticking to it, leaving sticky hairspray remnants behind.  Kinsley saw me pulling at my hair and swatted at my hand.  "You're going to make all the curls fall," she scolded me.

"I want it off my neck," I said, frowning.  "Can you fix it?"

She pulled me into the bathroom and dumped the contents of her clutch on the counter.  She fished out a plastic bag full of bobby pins.  "In case of emergency," she said, grinning.  She started pinning pieces up, and within 10 minutes she had my curls all pinned loosely to my head in a cute, makeshift updo.  "Will that work?" she asked.  She held out a compact mirror and I looked at the back.

"I like it!" I said.  "Thank you."  I looked down and saw that what had been a half-full snack sized ziploc bag of bobby pins now only held a handful.  That was going to be fun to get out at the end of the night.

We left the bathroom and made it back to the banquet room, where I wandered around until I found a few people at a table that I hadn't gotten much of a chance to chat with yet.  I sat down and was there for about 15 minutes before Brody walked up.

"Dance with me?" he asked, holding his hand out to me.

I smiled and set my wine down on the table.  "Of course," I replied, standing and taking his hand.   We had split up for a little while to chat with our guests and I felt like it had been hours since I had seen him last.  He pulled me close to him on the dance floor and I sagged against him.  I was tired already; it had been a long day.  I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes as we danced, enjoying the couple minutes that I could shut everyone else out and be close to my new husband.

"Are you having fun?" he asked me.

I opened my eyes and nodded.  "Are you?"

"I am," he replied.  "I'm getting tired though."

"Me too," I agreed.  "What time is it?"

I felt one of Brody's hands move from my waist, and his head moved as he looked at his watch.  "11:40," he replied.

I laughed.  "It's not even late.  I feel so old."

"Well, you are an old married woman now, so I guess it makes sense," he joked.  I shook my head, then nestled it back against Brody's shoulder, closing my eyes again.

When the song was over, we made our way to the table where Lynn, Lauren, Alex, and Jen were sitting.  We were only there for one song before James approached the table.  When we'd been making the guest list, I hadn't even mentioned James.  I figured Brody would be firmly against it.  He was the one who brought him up and we decided to invite him.  He smiled as he walked up.  Looking between me and Brody, he asked, "May I dance with the bride?"

Brody laughed and said, "If you think I have any say at all in who my wife dances with, you don't know her very well."

I rolled my eyes and smacked him playfully in the arm.  "That's enough out of you," I said, laughing.

"See?" Brody asked pointedly.

James laughed as I stood.  He held a hand out to me and I took it.  "I'll be back," I said to Brody.

"This is the easiest way to talk to you," James said, as we made our way onto the dance floor.  "You're a popular woman tonight."

"Yeah," I said, smiling.  "I guess that's what happens when you wear a long white dress to a wedding!"

James chuckled.  "Well, congratulations.  I can't believe how happy you look.  Beautiful too, of course.  Can I say that?  Your husband isn't going to break my face for saying that, right?"

"Not unless I tell him to," I said, smiling sweetly at him.  He laughed and shook his head.

"Where are you guys going for your honeymoon?" he asked.

I shrugged.  "I actually have no idea," I said.  "All I know is we're leaving Monday and we're gone for 12 days.  And that it's tropical."

"Well, I'm sure it won't disappoint."

"I'd be shocked if it did," I answered.  "So, no Haley?"

James snorted.  "No.  No Haley," he confirmed.  "That was over before we even made it back into town after camping.  Some day I'll find someone who isn't crazy and won't leave me abruptly for their future husband.  Maybe."

I laughed.  "Maybe," I agreed.

When the song was over, James walked with me back to the table we'd left, and sat down next to Lynn.  I sat in the chair next to Brody, and he took his eyes off Jen to smile at me.  He slid his arm around my shoulders and I leaned into him, trying to figure out what he and Jen had been talking about.  She was telling a story and I had clearly missed the important information, so I just relaxed against Brody and listened quietly to the sounds around me.  Music, laughter, and conversation were coming from all directions, and it made me smile.  That was exactly what I had wanted our wedding day to be like.