The pitter patter and drip of the rain left Amelia more than a little bummed; she desperately wished that the rain would just vanish from her sight, just stop falling.
"It's raining." She muttered, eyes never leaving the window.
"It will pass, besides the rain won't hurt all that much." Arthur spoke up behind her, "He'll still probably be at the altar waiting for you."
"What did your wife say when you wanted to get married in rainy England?" Amelia knew that she shouldn't be that bitter since her father figure truly wasn't the reason that it was rainy.
"She hated it; we ended up getting married in France." Amelia wondered briefly if she'd somehow been the casue of his somber tone as if the memory still affected him though she knew as well as anyone else did that he and 'Franny' were made for each other.
"I can see why." Amelia grumbled, "It's just that I spent all these days, every year since I was a little girl, planning this day!" She'd agonized over where exactly to get married, how to make her country wedding a reality, and how to somehow combine her ideas of a wedding with her soon to be husband's though he just cared that they got married. Men made so little sense to her; it was a celebration, and she wanted it to feel like one more than anything.
"It will be fine, princess. He's probably still waiting for you." Arthur stood up like it wasn't really a big deal though Amelia noticed out of the corner of her eye that her father or rather originally uncle was removing the wrinkles with smooth fingers to the best of his ability.
"Mon petit, sweetheart!" Franny arrived from around the corner; her dress for the occasion looking absolutely pristine and gorgeous as if a seamstress had just finished all of the work on it moments ago even though Amelia knew when Françoise bought it since she'd been right there with her at the store.
"Maman." Amelia winced when she heard herself make an almost whine of her aunt's chosen nickname since she'd taken Amelia in years ago.
"Mon petit ange, why aren't you there already?" Franny took her niece into her arms with all of the love and affection that she could possibly muster, "Your husband is looking so nervous."
"Maman, it's raining." Amelia stared up at her aunt, eyes pooling with nervous tears.
"Just that?" Franny smiled one of the smiles that told you that she was about to let you in on a 'Franny-secret.' "I'll walk beside you, mon petit. The rain won't hurt us together, and I think I might have brought something to help you out."
Franny let go of her adopted daughter that she'd taken in when her brother-in-law had passed away and left the room, only to be back moments later with a beautiful black coat that was long, longer than Amelia'd ever expected one to be, and looked as if it was made to fit over a dress of some sort.
"Maman, what's that?" Amelia shifted, her white dress billowing behind her almost like smoke caught in the air.
"It's my lucky rain coat." Her eyes glistened, and Amelia suddenly knew that she was in for quite a story, "I bought it shortly after I met your uncle here, because England can be quite wet and despite whatever Arthur will tell you, I did fully intend to wear it on my wedding day if it ever did rain." Franny laughed, and Amelia felt a smile pull at her lips.
"How will I get there without looking soaked completely through?" Amelia stepped closer, trusting her aunt to have some sort of solution to the problem at hand.
Franny motioned her closer before she stepped in and placed the coat onto her adopted daughter and zipped it up for her. It hid Amelia's whole dress from sight perfectly, "Thank goodness that you wanted a dress about as long as I did." Françoise's smile always left a warm spark in Amelia's chest whenever her 'mother' gave it directly to her.
She held out a well gloved hand to her niece, "I promised you, didn't I? Arthur, mon chou, come over here."
"I'm not a cabbage." Arthur grumbled as he stood by Amelia's other side before Maddie darted around the corner in an attempt to find her cousin.
"This is not what I expected from today." Amelia told her as Maddie went to help her out.
"No one ever knows what to expect when Maman sets her mind to something." Maddie giggled, and though Amelia was curious, she didn't ask about the ring on her little cousin's finger that couldn't have been there the night before.
Sludging through the rain felt more like an army's job than the job of an engaged woman and her family.
Amelia wondered if her flats would make it through the night without being just muddy slush; she just hoped that Toris would just forgive her for how long this is taking and for the fact that her flats will probably squeak when she makes it inside. Amelia was just glad that her aunt had prepared for rain just in case and had even hid Amelia's hair and veil from the onslaught of rain above them.
When Amelia made it into the church before her, Amelia's stomach sank like a rock as she heard her flats squeak on the floor and as she looked up and saw some of the disdain on the face of some of Franny's family that had been more than ticked off when the woman had married Arthur.
She wiggled out of her coat with her aunt's gracious help, and she sent a smile her way.
"Thank you so much." Amelia whispered.
"I'd do anything for you, sweetheart." Franny murmured in her ear, "You're like another daughter to me."
Amelia took a deep, steadying breath and locked eyes with her fiancee, whose face had slowly melted from worry into something so incredibly stunned by her presence that she didn't know quite what to do with herself.
She clung to her aunt for dear life though it slowly melted into a paper thin pressure on her aunt's arm. Amelia's mind floated far and far away from her aunt and her uncle, far away from her cousin behind her, as if she had a single focus that she couldn't ever depart from.
Amelia ignored the squeak of her flats that contrasted harshly with the sound of the soft piano music that her aunt's mother was playing as no sound got past her ears when all that she could take in was the black suit that hugged the still taller than her frame of Toris, the green tie that brought his eyes into serious focus, and the way that his hair was neatly tied back.
She couldn't wait to pull out that ponytail later on and run her fingers through his whisper soft hair and feel it dissolve into a mess with just a few strokes of her fingers.
His hair to her always looked better down though seeing it up and away now sent a warm flame upon her heart, and she couldn't wait to make it to him even though her legs half trembled as she made that walk. Her skin prickled from the eyes that never left her, that suddenly left her at least a little nervous even though it shouldn't even affect her. Amelia was used to catching the attention, the eyes of all around her, and yet her legs felt weak under the stares of the people in the room; she had no idea if part of it was the fact that her flats squeaked from the wet mud that had clung to them or something else all together.
Amelia finally found herself at the altar in a span of time that both felt far too short, almost as if three seconds had only passed, and as if it took far too long to make it this far, like three hours had passed.
"Amelia," Toris breathed, and she wasn't sure if that was reverence or love or something mixture of both and a little more on his tongue; it seemed like much more than her name, more than he'd ever said it.
Amelia had no idea how she'd stumbled through the 'I do's that were demanded of her or why she laughed when she made the vows to Toris, "I'll always love you and be whatever you may need." She didn't find them funny or a joke even when she ended rambling on so much more than those memorized lines. Amelia was half positive that she made no sense at all when she just wouldn't shut up and let a moment fade away into the quiet before he'd speak.
She also had no idea why his vows both made her cry and laugh; they felt perfect in comparison, "I love you more than anything, and even on the hard days, I promise to never stop loving you."
Neither of them were poets or writers, and yet her heart felt unbelievably touched when he'd spoken those words though she wondered if he'd struggled to say so much, to mean nearly as much as their whole relationship so far had meant, when he'd written them. Amelia knew that she certainly hadn't said as much as she'd meant, but she had no idea how to really put words to her feelings, words to everything.
When they were finally allowed to kiss, Amelia almost wanted to grumble, 'Finally,' but she knew better; this would be the moment when they became husband and wife, would be the moment when formality faded to affection, and all that she'd ever wanted today.
She stood up on her tiptoes and yet he pulled her closer and leaned down to meet her, letting her know silently that he'd be there for her, and those fireworks lit up her mouth like they did every time they kissed.
Finally, she became Amelia Laurinaitis; the name that both felt like a destination and not nearly enough to convey exactly what he meant to her.
"I love you," She breathed before they were pulled away to celebrate their wedding and formality and the fact that she could feel Franny's side of the family eyeing her, kept her back from trying to pour all of her heart into a million or so many more kisses upon her sweet husband's lips.