"Best Friends Forever"
Nicole and Richard Watterson's Love Story
Chapter Three: The Wedding
After graduation Nicole and Richard both took separate paths. Nicole went to college to major in Entrepreneurship, her dream degree. Richard had failed his SAT's, despite all the effort he made and all the help he got from Nicole, so he stayed home all day. Although Nicole was always busy with her college work, they saw each other every time they could. They spent their weekends together and he would pick her up at the end of the day to drive her home. Even though they barely spent any time together, and when they did it wasn't much, they would make up for the lost time whenever they could, and their love never withered. In fact, it grew more intense with every day.
After three years and long hours of hard work and tiresome classes, Nicole graduated with honors as a fully licensed entrepreneur. To celebrate her graduation, Richard asked her out to dinner at the fanciest restaurant in Elmore: the Silver Spoon. They agreed to meet in the park across the street from the restaurant at eight. Nicole was so eager that she got there half-an-hour early.
Forty five minutes later Richard still hadn't arrive. Nicole was sitting on a park bench, examining the trees and other florae around her. She had put on a semi-formal black tube dress, especially bought for the occasion.
She checked her watch for what seemed the billionth time that evening: 8:20. She was starting to think he had forgotten. After checking her watch on more time, she sighed and got up, determined to leave, but instantly recognized the sound of hurried footsteps hitting the gravel floor of the park, accompanied by panting noises. She turned around and saw Richard racing towards her, panting loudly. He stopped right in front of her and bent over trying to catch his breath.
"Richard, what happened?" asked Nicole. "You're nearly thirty minutes late."
"I… I'm sorry…" he panted hardly. He took a final gasp for air and straightened his posture. "I meant to get here in time, but I had a hard time finding the ri- KEYS!" he giggled nervously after his unusual outburst. "I couldn't find my keys!"
"O… K." Nicole was a bit confused by how he was acting. Suddenly Richard's stomach let out a loud rumble. He smiled timidly and she giggled. "Shall we?"
Richard stuck out his left elbow at her and she wrapped her arm in his.
When they arrived at the Silver Spoon, Richard asked the maître d' to check the reservation book for his name. He found it easily and directed them to their table, which was right next to the window, with a clear view of the park under the lights of the street lamps. The maître d' handed them their menus and left so they could choose what they were going to have. Nicole looked around, basking in the beauty of the restaurant's decorations.
"This place is gorgeous!" she looked at Richard. "I had heard of this place before, but I never imagined it looked this good!" he didn't reply. He was staring at her with pure love in his eyes, resting his head on his right hand. Nicole giggled. "What?"
"You're so beautiful…" he replied in a deep sigh, making Nicole blush.
"Oh…" she was embarrassed by that remark, but she couldn't help but smile. "Thank you…" then she noticed what he was wearing, and it made her smile. "You're wearing the outfit I like!"
"Yeah, I thought it would be appropriate…" he silenced himself abruptly. A trickle of sweat went down his forehead, and Nicole noticed it.
"Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" he smiled nervously at her again. His sweat was starting to fall more abundantly. Nicole wondered why this was happening, since the room wasn't heated or anything. He rubbed his forehead, took a deep breath and held both her hands in his. "Nicole…"
"Yes, Richard?" she was starting to worry about him.
"This time we've spent together… in these last three years… these have been the happiest times of my life, and… well… I love you, Nicole."
"Aw… I love you too, Richard."
"I know, and… hum…" he tried to swallow the lump that was forming in his throat. "…you know… there comes a time in every couple's life when… I mean… you're a great gal, and… hum… I…" his sweat was now running down every pore of his body like water from a waterfall. Nicole's expression turned from joy to disbelief.
"Richard… are you… breaking up with me?" she felt the tears rise.
"What?! No! I would never!"
"Then what are you trying to say?"
"Please Nicole, don't pressure me…" he reached for his back pocket and took out a small purple velvet box, which he tried to hide from Nicole. "This is hard for me as it IIIIIIIIIISSSSSSS!" his hands were so sweaty that when he held the box tightly it flew up in air like a wet bar of soap. Richard tried his to grasp it, but it would escape from him with every try, until, in the process of catching the box in midair, he leaned back in his chair, which fell back with his weight and the box flew further away from his reach.
Nicole was about to get up to help him, when the box fell on the table right in front of her. Her heart skipped a beat as she picked it up and opened it. Inside was a gold ring with a diamond as big as one of her teeth.
"Oh, Richard…" her eyes were sparkling from the tears that filled them. "Do you really mean it?"
"Of course!" he had leaned onto the table to try and get up. "I've never been surer of anything in my life!" tears were now rolling down Nicole's cheeks. "So? Will you?"
"Oh, Richard… of course I'll marry you!"
"WHOOHOO! YEAH!" he jumped up and ran to his new fiancé, who he held in a tight hug. "Oh, Nicole, I promise I'll be the best husband ever!" he turned to everyone in the restaurant, never letting go of Nicole. "She said yes, everybody! WHOO!"
"Keep it down!" yelled a strange looking puppet-like creature with grey-blue fuzz covering his entire body, all except a large and protruding pink nose. "We're trying to have dinner here!" he gesture towards his wife, who had the same basic body structure as her husband, only with much larger hips and much skinnier.
"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy!" replied Richard, his smile now as wide as it could get. He and Nicole both hugged and laughed.
"Geez…" the puppet-like creature turned back to his table. "I tell you, Margaret, some people… I just hope we never have anyone like them as neighbors." His wife muttered under her breath.
The next couple of months were put aside for wedding planning and house searching. Nicole's parents were happy to pay for their daughter's wedding, and, as much as Richard's mom disliked her future daughter-in-law, she also contributed with the planning. She wanted her son to be happy, after all.
Nicole got a job at the rainbow factory, working long hours to earn some extra income so they could afford to buy a house. She was able to earn enough so they could buy a small house in the suburbs. They had looked at a lot of other houses, but they were all either too small or overpriced, until they found this one. As soon as the real estate agent showed them that small piece of blue and white suburban property, they fell head over heels for it. It wasn't very big, but it had three rooms and a bathroom, enough for them and their future children.
The wedding was booked early that September. It was the only time the church had an opening, since couples loved to get married in the summer. Nicole went wedding dress shopping with her mom, while Richard went tuxedo shopping with his only guy friend, Steve Small, a young hippie cloud-guy with long wavy white hair who Richard had asked to be his best man. He was the only person he knew from school who hadn't given him a hard time, besides Nicole, of course.
After months of arduous preparations and sending out an infinite number of invitations, they big day finally came. The church was flooding with family members and acquaintances from both the bride and the groom. The priest was ready and waiting in his place. In the groom's quarters, Richard was giving his bowtie a final stretch. He had bought a combination of a light-brown suit jacket and pants, a yellow shirt compressed by an orange cummerbund, and an orange bowtie. Any other person would have looked like a circus clown in those clothes, but Richard was actually able to look somewhat elegant.
He was just wiping off some dust from his sleeve when he heard a knock on the door. His friend Steve poked his head inside.
"Showtime!" he sang cheerfully.
"I'll be right out." Richard replied, smiling to his puffy friend. Steve gave him a thumbs-up and left. The groom turned to the mirror with a determined look on his face. He took a deep breath and breathed it out right afterwards. "Let's do this."
Moments later everyone's attention was turned to the altar, where Richard waited nervously for his bride to appear, with the priest behind him waiting impatiently and Steve on his right, where it was customary for the best man to be. Richard felt an enormous pressure fall over him as he saw everyone's gaze fixed on him. He had always been terrible when it came to facing an audience, and this was no exception.
Richard almost jumped when he heard the church organist start to play 'Here Comes the Bride'. Everybody got up from the pews and looked back to see Nicole slowly walk down the aisle with her father. Richard's eyes widened and he couldn't hold his smile as he saw how wonderfully beautiful Nicole looked: she wore a long frilly white wedding dress with short balloon sleeves and a white veil falling gracefully down her back, sown onto a delicate white tiara. Her bouquet mainly constituted of white roses and daisies. She was a storybook bride, and she couldn't feel happier about it.
As she finally reached the altar, her father gave her a tender kiss on the cheek before leaving, and she handed her flowers to one of her bridesmaids, a rainbow girl she had befriended in high school. She took Richard's hands and they both exchanged love-filled gazes.
"Dearly beloved…" the priest started, gaining everyone's attention. "…we are gathered here today, under the sight of our loving creator, and in the face of this company, to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony. Into this holy estate these two come now to be joined. If anyone knows a reason for why these two should not be wed, let him speak now, or forever hold his peace."
Josephine lifted her arm up and was about to say something, but Richard saw her and gave her a look that, if looks could kill, she would have been mutilated. She lowered her arm, feeling slightly afraid, and her son smiled pleased right before turning his attention back to the priest.
"Very well, let's continue." The priest turned to Richard. "Do you, Richard Watterson, take Nicole to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do." Richard couldn't hold his smile, neither could Nicole.
"And do you, Nicole, take Richard to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do!" she was so happy she couldn't herself from almost shouting that answer. Richard's smile grew bigger.
"May we have the rings, please?" the priest turned to Steve, who was holding a pillow with two gold rings on it. He moved the pillow towards the couple, and they each took out a ring, which they slipped into each other's finger. "And so, with the power invested in me, it is with great pride that I now pronounce you husband and wife." He turned to Richard. "You may kiss the bride."
Richard pulled Nicole into his arms and gave her a deep passionate kiss, which made the guests present cheer for the newlyweds. When they broke the kiss, Richard looked deeply into his wife's eyes.
"Hey there, Mrs. Watterson." he said in a seductive tone.
"Nicole Watterson… Doesn't sound too bad." Nicole replied, and was about to kiss Richard again, when she felt a tap on her left shoulder. She turned to the priest, who pointed behind her.
"I hate to rain on your parade, but a T-Rex just took a big bite out of the wedding cake." As Nicole turned around she saw Timmy Rex licking his lips, which were covered in cake frosting, and in front of him the wedding cake with had a big bite mark on one side. Nicole felt the rage grow inside her.
"Oh, no… not on my day!" she stomped towards Timmy and gave him the beating of a lifetime, making him run out of the church in fear. She returned to the altar patting her hands and smiled at her husband. "Shall we?"
Richard nodded and they walked down the aisle. As they did, Nicole, who now had her bouquet back, threw it into the air behind her, making every single woman in the church throw themselves into a dog pile to fight for the floral arrangement. As they reached the entrance they ignored the fact that, for some weird reason, Miss Simian drove by and made fun Nicole's husband, calling her a 'loser' again. Their close friends had gathered around, and the photographer was ready to take their wedding picture.
"Whoa whoa!" Richard halted the photographer. "I'll be right back!"
He dashed off to the room where he had been getting ready earlier, leaving Nicole and the others feeling confused. He returned five minutes later wearing an open black vest, which allowed him to show off his chest hair, he had somehow grown a black moustache that went all the way to the back of his head, and he had drawn a tattoo on his right arm of a unicorn with a winged skull for a head, a heart on its chest and a little banner underneath it saying 'Nicole'. Nicole's mouth was agape as he walked up to her with a look of determination that should only be reserved for the toughest of bikers.
"Richard…" Nicole didn't know what to say. "…what are you wearing? And how did you grow that moustache so quickly?"
"Will power, baby. All will power." He answered in what sounded like a forced hoarse tone. "I wanted to make this day unforgettable, with a wedding picture to prove it. What do you think?"
Nicole was silent for a few more moments and then burst into laughter. She laughed so hard she cried. After a few seconds of laughing she calmed herself down, wiped her eyes and took his hand.
"Let's just take the picture, honey." She was still giggling, and she kept giggling as she held her husband's hands while the photographer took their picture, so she was immortalized with a flawless smile.
After the reception they drove off to their new home, the cans tied to their car scrapping the concrete road and making noise to call attention to the 'Just Married' sign glued to the back of the vehicle. As they reached the house they exited the car and headed towards the house. Nicole was about to open the door when Richard swept her off her feet to hold her in his arms. He kicked-open the door with his foot and carried his wife inside. They had furnished the house days earlier, so it was ready to be inhabited.
He gently released his bride on the living room couch and gave her a loving kiss.
"We did it, baby." he was still using his made-up voice. "We're married."
"Yes we are…" Nicole replied in a deep seductive tone. "But could you please stop using that tone? And shave that moustache?"
"I don't need to." He compressed his face and the moustache disappeared. "There! All better!"
Nicole laughed and stared at her husband's now moustache-free face. He wasn't the most attractive of all the men she had seen, but her love for him made him look perfect in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked deep and lovingly into his eyes.
"I love you, Richard Watterson." She said, completely in love with the rabbit in front of her.
"And I love you, Nicole Watterson." He replied, feeling the exact same way about her.
They embraced each other in a deep love-filled kiss. It was truly the happiest day of their lives.