The guests were beginning to leave now, saying their goodbyes in exhausted, yet delighted groups before disappearing off to their homes. It had been a long day, one filled with excitement for more or less the entire city. This, after all, had been the second wedding of the century. It wasn't every day that a superhero got married. However, despite all the trouble that they had gone to with choosing invitations that were classy but not tacky, and not-exorbitatantly priced, but not cheap either, as well as the additional ordeals of making sure that the guests would be able to make it, the couple only had eyes for each other. Of course, it was their wedding day, but they were more preoccupied with one another than they were with their family and friends. Occasionally, they would have to cease their dancing for a moment, whilst they said their goodbyes. Most of the leaving guests approached the couple on the dance floor, particularly the younger guests who had been demanding their sleepy last-minute cuddles before they left. Yet, as soon as the goodbyes were said and the guests on their way out the door, the couple were back in each others arms. Eventually, they were so absorbed in one another, that Reed and Ben became responsible for seeing off most of the guests. It was quite amusing for everyone to see the attention-loving Johnny Storm rejecting attention from other people.
The woman in his arms felt, for him, as if she were born to fit there. Even as children, when they were running away from angry neighbours at eight years old, hands clasped in an effort not to lose each other amongst the pedestrians, they'd felt connected in a way that they'd never felt with anyone else. It was just proof, for them, that sometimes the childhood sweetheart progressed further than childhood.
They'd first met at four years old, when progressing from kindergarten and their parents had moved in next door. At four years old, Johnny had fallen in love with little Emma Shore, the blonde-curly-haired girl who would peek through the hole in the fence that ran between their back yards, giggling with delight whilst she watched Johnny playing in the garden. Over that summer, they'd become the best of friends, always knocking on the front doors in the morning while their mothers were collecting the morning paper. Sometimes, Johnny would actually come over all shy and insist that his elder sister go over to visit Emma's older sister Sammy just so that he had an excuse to visit the younger sibling; his favourite sibling, if he had to pick. Whenever he had to pick between something and Emma, he picked Emma, and it didn't matter whether that 'something' was playing soccer in the garden with Gerry from down the road, or later going out paintballing for the afternoon.
And now, twenty-two years later, with both Johnny and Emma now much grown up from the days where skinned knees were a good reason for a tiny kiss on the cheek, they pair were getting married. Kindergarten Summer seemed so far away now that they were holding each other as if there were no tomorrow, just like they'd done at junior prom, and senior prom, and all those other dances. Dancing had always been a passion they'd shared, although in Johnny's case, his passion stemmed more from watching Emma dance than dancing himself. He'd been more content to sit by and watch, knowing that he'd only embarrass himself. It had only been in his later teen years that he'd developed the ability of dancing himself.
The previous song, which had been some upbeat new song that he vaguely remembered hearing on a radio station, had been much faster than the others that had filled the dance floor, but they still danced to it. Now, however, the tone had been brought down once more, and the tune was slower. One of his hands was lying on her waist, the other clutching her hand in his. Her own free hand was resting on the top of his suit-clad arm, holding it lightly. The gap between the dancing couple was so small that their bodies were skimming one another's playfully as they moved to the music. Not for the first time, Johnny found himself humming and singing along to the music that was playing, and Emma watched him with an amused expression on her face. They both knew the significance of this song; a memory that no one knew about. This was the song they had danced to on their first proper date, way back when they were nineteen.
Every time our eyes meet
This feeling inside me
Is almost more than I can take.
Baby when you touch me,
I can feel how much you love me,
And it just blows me away.
I've never been this close to anyone, or anything
I can hear your thoughts.
I can see your dreams
Seeing the look of remembrance on Emma's face, Johnny smiled and pulled her as close to him as he possibly could. He continued along with the song, finding that he hadn't realised until that moment that he knew most of the words. It was one that he'd never really listened to unless Emma was playing it in the kitchen, but it seemed to sum up their relationship perfectly.
I don't know how you do what you do
I'm so in love with you.
It just keeps getting better.
I wanna spend the rest of my life
With you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby I'm amazed by you.
They had both heard the song before their first date, but neither had heard it so well as they had done right at that moment, and it was no secret why. It was their wedding day. It was the day that they had joined together in the way they had been waiting now for so long. Here, in each others arms, neither had ever felt so wanted, so loved, and they owed it all to the younger years of playing in the backyards together and playing tricks on their older sisters.
The smell of your skin, the taste of your lips
The way you whisper in the dark
You hair all around me, baby you surround me
You touch every place in my heart
Oh, it feels like the first time, every time
I wanna spend a whole night, in your eyes
Johnny knew that every line in this song was true for him. There was nothing she could do that wouldn't grasp his full attention, leaving him breathless just by simply standing in the same room together, although he had to admit that he was pretty breathless after she'd try the same wild stunts that he did. Now, they were married, and he knew that nothing would ever take them away from each other. They were going to be happy, like they always had been together, and it made him happy just to see her with a smile on her face. He was more vulnerable to that smile than anything else in the world.
Every little thing that you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better
I wanna spend the rest of my life
With you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do,
Oh, every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you.
The song ended, and they kissed, for what seemed like the thousandth time that day, but also the first. She smiled up at him, and managed to bring herself even closer to him by wrapping her arms around his neck. "When did you get to be so unimaginably romantic?" She asked him.
He looked at her with his trademark cheeky grin before he answered, "Oh, it's nothing special." He brushed off. "I do this for all the girls that used to play in my backyard."
"Johnny?"
He turned his head unwillingly as his sister's voice called him over. "Yeah, Sue?"
"Are you going to give your niece a dance before we go home?" She teased him lightly.
Johnny laughed, remembering that he had promised six-month old Valeria a dance. He nodded, and Sue handed him the baby, who was surprisingly still awake at almost midnight, having taken the sensible option and had a long nap during dinner and all the speeches. Johnny accepted his young niece into his arms as Sue left them at the centre of the dance floor once again. Keeping one arm around Emma, and the other one firmly placed against his niece, he balanced Valeria so that she was leaning against his chest, her fragile little head resting on his shoulder, whilst she played with the collar of his shirt. Another song began playing in the background, one that the pair of them knew particularly well as an anthem of their youth, and this time they both sang along, whilst Valeria lay contently against him, looking up at her aunt and uncle with wide, observing eyes
From across the room Sue observed the dancing couple with Sammy, Emma's elder sister. For a long time, Sue and Sammy had been friends, watching their younger siblings grow more in love every day. In fact, they could remember several occasions when they'd executed perfectly prepared plans to get the two to notice each other in a more romantic way.
"He's a natural." Sue smiled, watching the way that Johnny handled her baby daughter.
"That's nothing." Sammy shook her head. "You should see Emma with kids. Now, that's natural."
"She is brilliant." Sue agreed, remembering all the times that she had been more than happy to accept help from Emma when Valeria had first been born. Truth been told, there were a lot of people willing to baby-sit for either of the Richards' children.
Sammy nudged her arm as they leaned back against two tables. "So, how long do you give it before they're parents too?" She asked him, motioning back to the couple who both looked very at home with Valeria between them.
"Not long." Sue predicted. "A few months, maybe."
"Who knows, maybe she's already pregnant and they just don't know yet." Sammy suggested.
Sue raised her eyebrows and laughed lightly. "Not that I don't love the idea of being an aunt, but can you imagine the look on Johnny's face?" She asked, contemplating the idea in his head to the point where it almost seemed she was plotting.
She shrugged. "Could happen."
When the song ended over on the dance floor, Emma laughed a little. "What?" Johnny asked. "I don't sound that bad, do I?"
"Not that." She assured him, and nodded downwards. "Valeria."
Johnny looked down, and saw that the rhythmic swaying to the music seemed to have sent Valeria into a deep sleep. Where they had stopped moving now, he could feel the tiny movements of her chest as she slowly breathed in and out against him. She looked like a little angel as she slept with the blonde hair she'd inherited from her mother, and Johnny pressed a light kiss to the top of her head.
"You're a natural with her." Emma said softly.
"That's because she's my little niece and I'm her favourite uncle." He said with a proud grin on his face.
"I think I've yet to meet a kid who doesn't love you, Mr. Storm." She teased him.
He shook his head. "The only ones I care about loving me are Franklin, Val, and the ones that we'll have one day." He said confidently.
She smiled challengingly. "And how many, exactly, do you plan on us having" She asked playfully, arching one eyebrow. "Bearing in mind I'm the one that has to carry them."
"Well, judging on my plans for tonight, Mrs. Storm..." He trailed off, causing her to laugh despite his intention to sound serious. They both laughed, and then quietened when they remembered the sleeping baby still between them. "Everyone's leaving." Johnny pointed out, noticing that some people were still helping to clear up the room around them.
"Maybe we should, too." Emma suggested, reading his mind.
He nodded. "We'd better get this little one back to her Mom then." They left the dance floor for the first time in hours, and went over to where Sue and Sammy were laughing together still. "Fast asleep." He told his sister as he handed back his niece.
"How do you do it?" She asked him. "I've been trying to get her to sleep for an hour!"
"Magic touch." He shrugged. "Anyway, we're heading back to the hotel, we've got a plane to catch in the morning."
"All set for the honeymoon?" Sammy asked.
Of course they were all set for the honeymoon; one weeks in Paris, a fortnight of peace and quiet, with no distractions or disturbances, no matter how important they were, followed by a week of snowboarding and skiing in Italy, just so that they reached the balance of having the relaxation with the adventurous. "All packed and ready to go." Emma confirmed.
"Ring me when you get there." Sue said, repeating the line that she usually told Johnny whenever he went away. "Then I know that the plane hasn't crashed or something."
Johnny shook his head. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, you guys."
He kissed his sister on the cheek, and then went with Emma to say goodbye to the rest of the guests. They soon found that none of these guests managed to say something that wasn't dirty, suggestive, or obscene about the pair of them going off to their reserved honeymoon suite. Then, they'd had to wait a further half an hour to leave because Franklin had spotted his uncle leaving and the six-year-old had attempted to get Johnny to chase him by stealing a twenty-dollar-bill out of his pocket with so much precision that it was rather worrying.
Emma sighed, and looked at her elder sister. "He really hasn't grown up, has he?" She half-laughed.
Sammy put her hand on her sister's shoulder, grinning. "Look at it this way: You're perfect for each other."
Shaking her head, the new bride went to save her husband from his young nephew. Clearly life as a Storm was going to live up to it's name.
This is dedicated to my greatest friend ever, Emma. You're my sister, and my best friend. Love you hun! I know that usually you're my Johnny Storm inspiration, so I thought you finally deserved your pay check for all you help me with...in the form of a husband :P No more keeping him in the basement!