Author's note: So I had planned a Christmas story for this universe, but flu and work and all sorts of other things conspired against me, so here we are at Valentine's Day instead! On the plus side, it gives me a good excuse to write another wedding…
This story is set in the Step universe, and there is a guide in my profile for any newcomers to this timeline.
Hope you enjoy, please consider reviewing if you do!
Chapter One - Nice Day for a White Wedding
At his home just outside of St Louis, Tom Chandler was wondering, not for the first time, if the open plan layout of the large farmhouse that his family called home might have been a mistake.
"Where are my shoes?" Ashley bellowed from the narrow balcony walkway that provided access to the kids' bedrooms on the second floor and gave a clear view down into the living space below. Her voice echoed up towards the roof and down into Tom's ears with impressive volume, "Sam! Did you take my shoes?"
"Why would I take your shoes?" Sam bellowed back from the kitchen area, and Tom turned his head to see his son rifling through the fridge. Sam shoved a handful of canapés into his mouth before adding, "They're ugly shoes!" Thankfully the pastry muffled the sound even as it sent crumbs floating down onto his already wrinkled suit.
"Sam!" Sasha was halfway down the stairs, her hair and makeup done, but still wearing pyjama pants and a tank top. "I saw that! That food is for the party, and clean up that mess!" She gave Tom an exasperated kind of smile as she scooped up the cell phone she'd come down to find, "Why did we think this was a good idea again?"
Tom opened his mouth to reply, assuming - or at least hoping - that she was talking about the house and not about their kids, but before he could, another bellow emerged from upstairs, followed by a higher pitched cry, and a wail of "Mamaaaaaaa!"
Sasha rolled her eyes, "Hold that thought." She bent and kissed him lightly, and he grabbed her hand.
"I'll take care of the twins, you get dressed. We have to leave in ten minutes."
She nodded, glanced at the clock and grimaced, before running up the stairs two at a time. As he appreciated her back view all the way, he realised that that at least was an advantage of the open plan.
As Sasha quickly finished dressing, trying to ignore the faint wails that were still audible from the floors below her and Tom's attic bedroom, she distracted herself by remembering their Christmas. At just the thought of it, her face split into a grin. The twins had been too young to really appreciate Christmas the year before, but now that they were eighteen months old, watching them open their stockings had been a lot of fun, even if they'd enjoyed the tearing off of paper more than the actual gifts.
She turned as she heard a knock at the bedroom door, smiling as Ashley slid into the room, perfectly made up and dressed in the deep blue bridesmaid's dress that Tom would probably think was too fitted and too short, but that Sasha had to admit looked great.
"You look beautiful." Sasha told her, smoothing down her own long red dress, which she'd worn at Mike and Rachel's wedding and had decided was therefore perfect for today.
"So do you." Ash replied, "But you should wear your hair down."
"You think?" Sasha turned her head slightly as she looked in the mirror, reaching round to pull the clip from her hair so that it cascaded down her back.
"Over one shoulder, like this," Ash stepped up behind her and swept the hair over her shoulder. "See?"
Sasha nodded, "I like it."
Ash smiled at her in the mirror. "Cool. Now we have to go before Dad has a fit about being late!"
A couple of miles down the road, Tex Nolan stood in the middle of his living room and bellowed, "Five minute warning!" His two year old son looked up from the sofa and covered his ears, and Tex gave him a conspiratorial grin, "Waiting around for the ladies, Jack, you should get used to it."
"Dad, can you please try not to indoctrinate him with gender stereotypes before he can even form a full sentence?" Kat said from behind him, and Tex turned to reply but found his jaw dropping instead.
Kat had never been a girly girl, and as a Lieutenant in the Marine Corps, she was usually in uniform. But now she stood in front of him in the bridesmaid's dress her best friend had insisted she wear, and she looked spectacular. He swallowed back the fulsome compliments he wanted to pay his daughter, as he knew she'd hate it, and instead just nodded. "I'll try my best."
"Not going to say anything about the dress?" Kat looked uncharacteristically insecure, and he backpedalled.
"You look absolutely beautiful." He said honestly, and she blushed.
"I look stupid."
"Not even a little bit." He replied.
Thankfully Nina choose that moment to appear, and Tex quickly turned his attention to his wife.
"Callaghan," He said firmly, "Hand me that baby and let me look at you."
Nina laughed, obediently handing over their eight week old daughter. Rosie had been born unexpectedly slightly prematurely on Christmas Eve, but had thrived beautifully, already sporting plenty of the same red hair that her brother had inherited from their mother.
"That is a very nice outfit." Tex told his wife, taking in the tight fitting trousers and tuxedo style jacket in midnight blue, accessorised in very Nina style with a plain t-shirt beneath and a pair of spike heeled boots that he was pretty sure she had borrowed from Sasha Chandler.
"Best way to disguise the gut that these two have left me with," But Nina was grinning as she hefted Jack into her arms. "Now, let's go Kansas, or Kat will miss walking down the aisle, and we'll miss dropping these two off at Kara's."
Kat gave an elaborate shudder, "Commander Green must be crazy. Volunteering to look after four toddlers and baby, when she has two of her own and another on the way."
Tex laughed, "Oh, she's not doing it alone. Danny and Carlton are both playing uncle, and Miller only got out of it because his girlfriend's invited to the wedding. Besides, it's only for a few hours." He kissed Rosie's head, "We can't leave this one too long."
"Speak for yourself," Nina grinned, "This mama needs a break!"
An hour later, in a small anteroom off of the beautiful chapel where the wedding was being held, Rachel Slattery ran a critical eye over her husband.
"No growling, no glaring, and remember to smile!" She instructed him as she adjusted the decorations that adorned the chest of his dress whites, before looking up at him with a stern expression, "And no unsavoury jokes in the speech!"
Mike shook his head and gently grabbed his wife's chin, planting a soft kiss on her mouth before replying. "I think you might be confusing me, a grown man and Naval officer who knows how to behave, with our son, the three year old."
Rachel pretended to think for a moment, "No, I'm definitely instructing the right person."
He growled and pulled her close, and she squealed in protest.
"Careful! Dress!"
"Take it off then," He suggested, not loosening his grip, "We have time."
"We do not." Rachel countered, but she leaned into him for a moment, "Besides, you're the father of the bride, you need to set a good example."
She stepped back and he let her, admiring once again the way her dark pink dress hugged her figure. "Well then I'd better not muss you up before the wedding, but I make no promises about tonight."
She shot him a wicked smile, "Oh, there had better be a promise about tonight, Admiral Slattery. It's not often we get a night away from that three year old you were just talking about."
Mike's face turned serious for a moment, and he caught her hand again. "Are you really okay with not having Jamie at the wedding?"
"Of course." Rachel replied honestly. "It's Lissy's big day, we need to focus on her. Jamie would much rather be tearing it up with Frankie and Jack anyway."
There was a knock at the door, and the familiar form of Ray Diaz appeared as it opened, neatly dressed in his whites.
"It's time, sir."
"Thanks, Diaz." Mike leaned down and kissed his wife once more. "You'd better get to your seat."
Sasha looked up as Rachel slid into the empty place beside her, her smile wide.
"I just saw Lissy," She stage whispered, "She looks so beautiful."
Sasha glanced along the row at Tex, Nina, Sam and Tom, just as the music started and they all got to their feet. As they turned towards the door, she couldn't help sweeping the rest of the chapel with her gaze, a habit she'd never be able to break, even if she wanted to.
The small chapel sat in the grounds of the hospital where Lissy Slattery was training to become a doctor, and many of the guests were from the hospital itself, some even in scrubs as they'd escaped their shifts for a half hour to make it to the wedding. The rest of the congregation were mainly in military dress uniforms, being friends of the groom, Aaron, who was in the Army, or the Slattery family.
Catching the eye of Hope Taylor in the row behind theirs, Sasha smiled. Hope stood next to her husband Wolf, his arm firmly around her back helping to support the weight of her huge pregnant belly. The blonde doctor had already started her maternity leave, but as one of Lissy's mentors had been loath to miss the wedding. Next to them were Eric Miller and his girlfriend Caroline, herself a nurse and now one of Lissy's closest friends at the hospital.
The doors opened at the back of the room, and Sasha saw Ashley standing there next to one of Aaron's Army buddies, her fingers resting lightly on his arm as they started to walk down the aisle. Tom's fingers tightened on Sasha's waist at the sight, and she supressed a smile. Having a sixteen year old daughter - a very attractive sixteen year old daughter - wasn't something Admiral Chandler was finding very easy to deal with.
Behind Ashley came Kat, arm in arm with Ray Diaz. Sasha couldn't resist a quick glance at Tex, who looked proud, and Nina, who had a strange look of satisfaction on her face. The journalist had been very tight lipped about what may or may not be going on between Kat and Ray, but Sasha had observed enough of their interactions to have formed a theory of her own.
And then finally, there was the bride, her hand resting on her father's arm, Mike's large hand on top of hers, his height and the breadth of his shoulders only serving to make her look more delicate. Inwardly, Lissy Slattery was tough as nails, but her petite form in her white lace wedding dress looked almost fragile as she progressed down the aisle.
Sasha turned to look at the groom, and saw that his eyes were gleaming with unshed tears. Aaron had rescued Lissy from the Immunes during the worst of the red flu, and had been by her side ever since. Lissy may have been only nineteen, but the couple were rock solid, and had already been through more than many couples had in a lifetime together. The tall blonde Corporal was looking at his bride as though he'd never be able to look away, and Sasha felt her own eyes prickle just as she heard a discreet sob from Rachel. As Lissy reached the altar and her groom, however, Sasha was distracted by a muffled curse from behind her, and a whisper in a Southern accent.
"Holy hell, I think my water just broke!"