December 29, 1994, 3:03 PMâHolly and Roger's Wedding Day
Roger looked at his watch, then tugged at his collar, knocking his silver bow tie askew as he did so. Luckily he had anticipated that he might be a bit keyed up and had gotten a clip-on tie instead of one that would need to be hand tied. "Holly!" he called. "Chrissy and Ross will be here any minute!" It was a few minutes after 3:00 PM, and they had a 4:00 PM appointment with the Justice of the Peace.
"I'm almost ready!" Holly called back. Roger checked his reflection in the mirror by the fireplace, straightened his tie, and then he began pacing.
It had been a very eventful three days, which was now culminating in Roger and Holly's wedding-or it would, as soon as Chrissy and Ross arrived and they drove to the Justice of the Peace. Roger stopped pacing mid-step and reached into his inside jacket pocket, removing the box containing his and Holly's wedding rings. He opened the box to make sure both white gold bands were inside it where they were supposed to be. He was startled when the doorbell rang, and he almost bobbled the ring box. He hurriedly closed the box and tucked it back into his jacket pocket, then called to Holly again. "Holly, they're here!"
"I'll be right out!" Holly called back.
Roger hurried to the front door and threw it open to reveal Blake and Ross standing there. Ross was in his tuxedo and black dress overcoat, and Blake's long black coat was open over a dress of navy blue satin. Ross was carrying two boxes, one large and one small.
"We ran into the florist in the driveway," Blake said. "You look very handsome, Dad. A little rumpled, but very handsome." Blake reached out, straightened Roger's tie, smoothed the matching vest, and said, "Where's Mom?"
Roger was buttoning his tuxedo jacket when he heard Holly say from behind him, "Right here."
He turned around, and Ross and Blake both followed his gaze to Holly. Roger swallowed hard at the sight of her. She had refused to let him see her dress until she was wearing it, and though Holly was always beautiful to him, Roger was struck speechless by how radiant and how becoming she looked right then. Her dress was satin, like Blake's, but that was where the similarities ended. Blake's dress was full length and in navy blue. Holly's dress was cocktail length and ivory with a v-neckline, an organza sash around her waist, and a matching jacket.
"Mom, you look so beautiful," Blake said softly.
Holly went to Roger as Ross juggled the flower boxes. Although Blake had just straightened Roger's tie, Holly reached out and straightened it again, though it no longer needed straightening. "You are the handsomest groom I've ever seen," she said.
Roger caught her hands as she took them from his tie. "You are a vision," he said reverently.
They just looked at each other, until Blake broke the mood and the moment by announcing, "Okay, we have the flowers here. Mom, can you pin on Dad's boutonniere, and I'll pin on Ross's?" Blake opened the box with the boutonnieres and held it out to Holly.
"Humor her," Holly said to Roger in an undertone.
As Blake made quick work of pinning on Ross's boutonniere, which matched Roger's, she explained, "All flowers have meanings. I knew all the different kinds of roses did, but I didn't know that all the other kinds of flowers did until we went to the florist. We had the same kinds of flowers put into the bouquets and the boutonnieres. The little blue flowers are forget-me-nots, which symbolize true love, and the white flowers are stephanotis, which symbolize happiness in marriage. And yes, I chose them for the obvious reasons. I admit, I liked the look of the amaryllis, until I found out they symbolize drama, because you guys have had way more than your share of that already, we can all agree. So forget-me-nots and stephanotis it is: true love and happiness in marriage, which is what I wish and hope for you." By the time she had finished her explanation, and Ross had once again buttoned his overcoat, Blake was already into the box with the small bouquets of flowers for herself and Holly.
Holly had just finished pinning on Roger's boutonniere when Blake dangled one of the bouquets at her. "Here's your bouquet, Mom," she said. She was grinning like the Cheshire cat. "Let's go get you guys married! The Justice of the Peace is waiting."
Roger held Holly's coat for her before she accepted her bouquet from Blake, then donned his own overcoat. "Whose car are we taking?" Holly asked as Roger and Ross stood back to let her and Blake exit the house first.
"I took care of the transportation," Blake said, gesturing to the black stretch limousine parked at the curb. "And a few other things for after the ceremony. I know," she said, holding up a hand to forestall any protests from either of her parents, "that this is technically an elopement, but this is still something for you, for all of us, to celebrate. Besides, Mom, I heard you telling Dad a minute ago to humor me about the flowers. Well, now I'm asking both of you to humor me about the limo and the rest. Ross has been humoring me for the last three days, because he's the best husband in the world." She paused to kiss Ross's cheek. "Now, shall we?" she asked.
On the ride to the Justice of the Peace, Blake asked, "So, where is this mysterious honeymoon destination?"
"It's a surprise for a reason, Christina Blake," Holly said, trying to sound stern but failing at it because she was too happy to be stern about anything.
"So you don't have any idea, Dad?" Blake asked.
"None," Roger said. He looked at Holly. "But wherever it is, it'll be perfect, because I'll be with your mother."
Blake grinned at Holly. "I've been waiting for this ever since you caught my bouquet last summer," she said. Then she grew serious. "Thank you for letting me be a part of this."
"Please, you would have killed us if we'd gotten married without you," Holly said. She and Blake traded knowing smirks then.
"We've come a long way," Blake replied. "All of us." She looked at Ross, then Roger, then Holly.
"Yes, we have," Ross agreed. He'd said very little because part of him felt this was all so surreal, but another part of him acknowledged that this was right for Roger and Holly. Even Ross had to admit that Roger had mellowed quite a bit since he and Holly had reconciled. Of course, Holly had also gotten more involved in Roger's various capers, but the bright side there was that while she now waded into the thick of things with him, she also managed to keep Roger on the right side of the law, for the most part. There was that incident with the Spauldings a few months earlier, though Alexandra and Alan had elected not to press charges in the end. The only person who truly could keep Roger in line was Holly. Ross mused to himself that Holly's job would either get a lot easier or a lot harder after today, but he remembered his conversation with her on his own wedding day, when she had asked him if he thought Roger was a lost cause or she wasn't up to the job of handling him. No matter what the challenge when it came to Roger, Ross knew, Holly was definitely up to it. The fact that Holly was finally marrying Roger proved that she didn't think he was a lost cause, and Ross had to admit that when it came to Holly and Blake, Roger might, and did, screw up sometimes, but his mistakes were considerably less catastrophic, and usually the opposite of illegal and criminal, as opposed to the things he did and the mistakes he made before reconciling with Holly. Besides, Ross loved seeing Blake so happy, and she was over the moon about her mother and father getting married to each other again at last. For her sake, Ross would do his best to accept this marriage.
When they arrived at the Justice of the Peace, Blake and Ross got out of the limo first. Holly held her bouquet in one hand and reached for Roger's hand with the other. "Are you ready?" she asked him as they stood outside the limousine for a moment.
"I've been waiting all my life for this moment," Roger replied seriously. He brought Holly's hand to his lips and kissed it. "I love you, Holly."
"I love you too," Holly replied, squeezing his hand and then leaning in for a kiss.
Before their lips touched, they heard Blake call out, "Hey, wedding first, then honeymoon!"
Roger reluctantly pulled back from Holly and gave her a wry smile. Holly replied, "Just remember, Ross is the one who gets to peel her off the ceiling at the end of the night."
"I'm glad she's so happy for us," Roger said as he and Holly, holding hands, followed Blake and Ross inside.
"I am too," Holly said.
When they got inside, the wife of the Justice of the Peace took their coats and scarves. Blake had her camera with her, and Ross snapped a couple of pictures of Blake and Holly together. Roger gave Ross the ring box while Holly moved her engagement ring back to her right hand for the duration of the ceremony. Blake and Holly went into the hall so they could walk in to the parlor, first Blake, then Holly, leaving Roger and Ross standing with the Justice of the Peace and his wife in the parlor, Ross still holding Blake's camera.
"Excuse me for a moment," Ross said to the others, and then he walked into the hall and went straight to Blake. Wordlessly he plucked the camera from her hand and then gave her the ring box.
"What's this for?" she asked.
Ross just smiled. "I know how much this means to you," he said. "That's why I think that you should have charge of these." He tapped the closed ring box with his index finger. "It would definitely mean more to Holly and Roger if you were the one who gave the rings to the Justice of the Peace when he asks for them. I'll still be a witness, but I'll just be a ceremonial best man."
Blake looked from the ring box in her hand to her husband, then leaned up and quickly kissed him.
"Shall I start the music?" the wife of the Justice of the Peace asked, sticking her head into the hall.
"As soon as I return to the front," Ross replied. He gave Blake and Holly one last smile, then hurried back to stand next to Roger. The wife of the Justice of the Peace put on a CD recording of Jeremiah Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary. (Holly had requested this as the processional because she liked it better than the traditional Lohengrin's Wedding March.) Blake quickly hugged her mother, then marched down the aisle and turned to watch, along with Roger and Ross, as Holly made her own walk down the aisle.
Once Holly and Roger locked eyes, all they could see was each other. When Holly reached Roger's side, she handed Blake her bouquet, linked her fingers with Roger's, and everyone and everything else, including Blake and Ross, faded away as they at last got married.
"Today we unite Roger Thorpe and Holly Lindsey as husband and wife," the Justice of the Peace began. "Roger and Holly, you have requested that I marry you. Do you both do this of your own desire and free will?"
"We do," Roger and Holly answered in unison.
"Witnesses, do you know of any reason why we may not legally continue with this wedding?"
"We do not," Blake and Ross answered in unison.
"Roger, will you have this woman to be your lawful wedded wife, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto her, for so long as you both shall live?"
"I will," Roger replied, looking into Holly's eyes.
"Holly, will you have this man to be your lawful wedded husband, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto him, for so long as you both shall live?"
"I will," Holly replied, smiling at Roger.
"Take hands and recite your wedding vows," the Justice of the Peace directed them.
Roger and Holly took hold of each other's hands and stood facing each other. Roger looked deeply into Holly's eyes as he recited his vows to her, imbuing each word with the solemn earnestness he was feeling in this moment, and with all the love he felt for her bursting through his veins.
"I, Roger, take you, Holly, to be my wife. I promise to love and care for you all of our days. I accept you with your faults and your strengths, even as I offer myself with my faults and my strengths. I promise to support you when you need support and to turn to you when I need support. I choose you as the one with whom I will spend my life."
Then it was Holly's turn. She held tightly to Roger's hands, and when she saw the sheen of moisture in his eyes, she felt her own eyes well up with tears, but her voice never wavered as she spoke her vows in a strong, clear voice. "I, Holly, take you, Roger, to be my husband. I promise to love and care for you all of our days. I accept you with your faults and your strengths, even as I offer myself with my faults and my strengths. I promise to support you when you need support and to turn to you when I need support. I choose you as the one with whom I will spend my life."
"Do you have rings that you wish to exchange?" the Justice of the Peace asked.
Roger started to turn to Ross for the rings, but Blake extended her arm and held up the open ring box in her parents' line of sight with a watery smile. Her tears had begun as soon as Roger had said "I will," and had continued on through her parents' vows. Roger and Holly looked at their daughter-until this moment, the one good thing they had ever done together-and as Roger smiled proudly at Blake, and a few tears glistened in Holly's eyes, the Justice of the Peace reached out and plucked the rings from the box with a nod of acknowledgment to Blake.
The Justice of the Peace held up Holly's ring and said, "Roger, will you give your ring to Holly and repeat these words: With this ring, I thee wed."
Now Roger's fingers trembled slightly as he took the ring, then took Holly's left hand in his and slid the ring onto her finger as he said, "With this ring, I thee wed."
The Justice of the Peace gave Holly Roger's ring and said, "Holly, will you give your ring to Roger and repeat these words: With this ring, I thee wed."
Holly placed the ring on Roger's finger and said, "With this ring, I thee wed."
"For as much as you have made your vows, each to the other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving your rings, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce that you are husband and wife," the Justice of the Peace said. "You may kiss the bride."
Holly beamed as she framed Roger's face in her hands. Roger looked at Holly in amazement for a long moment, his arms around her waist, as it fully registered in his brain that she was indeed his bride, and then they leaned in toward each other and kissed soundly. Blake looked from her parents to Ross, grinning and crying at the same time. Ross just smiled back at Blake. Finally Roger and Holly stopped kissing and drew back to look at each other. "Hello, husband," Holly said softly, reaching up to catch a tear at the corner of his eye.
Roger touched his forehead to Holly's as he said, "Hello, wife."
They spent the next few minutes signing the marriage license, which Blake and Ross then signed as the witnesses. Then Blake insisted on pictures, and snapped several shots of Roger and Holly together before asking the wife of the Justice of the Peace to take a few pictures of her and her parents together, and then Ross walked into the frame. At Roger's look of surprise, Ross said, "It's a family photo, right?"
"Right," Blake said. She and Ross even posed for a couple of pictures, just the two of them.
When at last they headed out into the cold December night, Roger was holding tightly to Holly's hand. Before they stepped outside, he looked down at his new wedding ring, flexing his fingers and feeling the weight of the ring. Holly, holding his right hand, squeezed it, and he felt the cool metal of her rings against his palm. "It isn't a dream, I promise," she told him.
"But it is," Roger replied. "It's my longest held dream come true."
"Our day has come," Holly said.
Roger grinned, remembering when he had told Holly about the song that had served as his incantation about her, about them. "It has," Roger replied. "And now that I, now that we, finally have everything, I'm holding on with both hands."
"How about holding onto me with both hands?" Holly asked, sliding her arms around his neck. He bent his head and kissed her.
Blake leaned out of the limo and called, "I really do hate to interrupt, but we have someplace to be." Roger and Holly stopped kissing and looked at her. "You're humoring me, remember?" she asked with a smile before disappearing into the limo again.
Roger and Holly looked at each other and said in unison, "That's your daughter." Then, laughing happily, they hurried to the limo, got in, and, when they settled themselves across from Blake and Ross, Blake told the driver to head to The Towers Club.