Husband and Wife

It took us literally five seconds to reach the Plaza from the cathedral; most of the rest of the wedding party simply walked. It was quite a sight; all our friends and family dressed up and marching down 5th Avenue.

Upon arrival at the hotel, Erik and I were swept away by the photographer to another part of the hotel for pictures. This would give the rest of our guest's time to settle into the room where the reception was being held.

As we waited for the rest of the wedding party to arrive pictures were taken of just Erik and I. The photographer was posing and moving us to his liking and he kept changing where he wanted us to stand. Normally this sort of thing would have been extremely annoying to Erik; he still hated getting his picture taken.

However today was different. Today he would remember forever; the swell of joy in his heart, the feel of the cool circle of gold around his finger, the slight clink it made when he grabbed my hand and it hit my own ring…everything he wanted to remember.

And truth be told, Erik thought, this photographer was not so bad…

"Alright, put your arms around her," The photographer instructed Erik, "Lovely," He was snapping off picture after picture, "Now kiss her…" Erik happily obeyed.

In ten minutes time the entire wedding party had arrived. We took pictures with just me and my bride's maids; I was sitting in a chair in the middle of Andy, Susan, Jackie, Rebecca, and Lilly. My dress was fanned out all around me and I was holding my bouquet of white roses. There was also one with sweet little Donna. The poor little girl had been crying because Harry had made a scary face at her, but when I gave her my bouquet to hold she cheered up.

Erik was watching me as I comforted the little girl. He couldn't help but smile, picturing the day when we might have a daughter of our own.

Then a picture was taken with just my father, Erik, Leo, and James. Harry would have been in the picture to, had his older sister Andrea not spilled her drink all over his as punishment for scaring Donna.

My mother had to be taken to the bathroom and calmed down before a picture could be taken with her. She kept crying and saying, "All my babies are married!" Finally one was taken with my mother, Lily, Andy, and I. And then another one was taken of the four of us where we were all making a funny face.

The pictures out of the way, it was in to the main room. Once again, Erik and I were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Duval. Changing my name had been a point of contention. Erik had told me, in an only slightly put out voice, that if I did not want to share his name I didn't have to. After all, he had said, he had just made it up; it was not his real last name. I had debated it, but in the end I changed it. After a life of my last name being something that grew on a tree Duval was not so bad.

For the first half hour while hors d'oeuvres were served with cocktails to match, Erik and I were bombarded with well wishers, all congratulating us on a beautiful ceremony. As the dinner hour approached and people had had more of a chance to settle in, we got more and more complements on the open bar than anything else.

I enjoyed the attention, even when it was from people I didn't even really know and had invited out of nicety or on a whim. It was all starkly contrasted with my last wedding experience, where the wedding had never taken place and I had gotten "are you ok?" calls for a month.

However, when my Aunt Betsy from Massachusetts drunkenly exclaimed, "I'm so happy you found someone else; we all thought you would never get married after Mark!" I grew uncomfortable. At the first chance that presented itself I snuck off to the bathroom.

Mark; didn't past loves ever move off to uncharted islands and leave you alone? It was my wedding for God's sake! And I was in the bathroom in an amazing Vera Wang wedding gown still cursing the man who had once broken my heart.

I attributed this mostly to the fact that I seemed to be seeing Mark more and more. After the disaster with the roses, I had seen him several other times. They were all random incidents; going to my office, taking Sammy for a short walk…but still.

The door to the bathroom opened and I quickly replaced the worried, upset look with a happy smile. Then I saw who it was.

"Erik! You can't be in here! It's the girls bathroom!"

"I will risk it," He said with a sly smirk. He came to my side taking my chin gently between his forefinger and thumb, raising my face and whipping the moisture which had dripped from my eyes to my cheeks away with one simple stroke of his thumb.

"If it makes you feel any better no one ever thought I would marry either," He spoke gently, although not without a bit of humor in his voice, "Nadir hardly believed me, he thought I had tricked you or forced you into an engagement,"

I smiled, God I had been thorough a lot with this man! I slid my arms under his and laid my head against him. My head turned so I was looking at the pair of us in the mirror. We looked so happy, so content. Erik's hand stroked the small of my back and I let my eyes flutter shut, enjoying the moment alone with my husband.

"Come on darling…you invited 300 people and they all expect to see a woman in a white dress," Erik said in a low voice, and I could tell that he didn't really want to end this little moment either.

With a sigh I let him lead me back to the party. Upon exiting the ladies room, we encountered my niece Andrea who gave us a wide eyed, shocked look as Erik emerged, which then turned into a knowing grin which almost made me blush.

By the time dinner was over I had completely forgotten about being upset earlier. Erik and I had our first dance together as a married couple. I had let Erik pick the song, as he had a better ear for music than I could ever hope to possess.

It was very sweet; Erik twirled me around the dance floor easily. Though we had no way of knowing, we were both thinking about the last time we had taken to a dance floor…in Paris.

At that very moment the song ended and everyone began to clap. And just then, a familiar song began to play. I gasped and looked up at Erik as the song he had taught Raoul de Chagny came out of the DJ's speakers.

"Erik did you plan this?" I gaped up at him, not noticing as everyone around began to come out onto the dance floor.

His smiled grew larger, "Well I couldn't let you have all the fun,"

The cake was brought in some time later; a giant vanilla and chocolate confection. As tradition merited, Erik and I cut the cake, both hands on the knife as we did so. Also in keeping with tradition, we ended up smearing it in each other's faces. I was sure it made for a wonderful picture; very VOGUE.

I danced with everyone; Erik, Leo, my father of course, James, my little nephew Harry…and closer to the end, when we had all had too much wine and cocktails, Rebecca, Jackie, Susan and I treated all the guests to a dancing extravaganza to the tune of I Would Walk 500 Miles.

Everyone was having a good time. Jackie had dumped the baby talk guy and had come to the wedding with Brent, but they were just friends. Rebecca, as bored as she said she was with him, brought Josh White. Susan and Greg and Donna looked like a happy little family.

My attitude toward Lily had changed since Christmas. I was not as annoyed with her and she seemed less condescending toward me. All and all she was truly happy for me.

It was over much too soon. The guests filled out, each congratulating us again wishing us luck. Finally it was just my family and friends left.

Andy and Leo embraced both of us in turn and promised to take good care of Sammy while we were gone.

My mother and father left us, my mother still in a mess of tears. Lily and James had to say a hurried goodbye; their children were chasing each other down 5th Avenue.

Each one of the girls; Jackie, Susan, and Rebecca had tears in their eyes as they said goodbye. Each one of them thinking; and then there were three. It was hard to watch them go. Those three had been their through all the bad, the Marks and the other toxic bachelors, and they had always picked me up when I fell off my three inch heels. And they had shared in the good times; the girls nights and the three AM meetings in deli's to discuss our lives. They were family to me, and I missed them already.

However when we reached our room, I was reminded that they would always be a part of my life. They had snuck up to our room and decorated the bed with rose petals and silly string and written on our mirror in bright red lipstick.

"Those girls," I laughed as I walked toward the bed.

"Looks as though they think some sort of party is going to go on in here to," Erik said amusedly. He pulled me tightly into his chest. The sensation of his lips as they met mine was amazing. He was tender but commanding as he opened my mouth to his and pressed my soft form against his hard one. I almost felt bad about what I was going to do.

As Erik's hand came to the buttons on my dress I stopped him, "Wait," I pulled back, "Erik darling I just too tired,"

It took all my strength not to laugh at the look which passed over his face. He looked like a child who had been told Christmas was not coming. A very pained and disappointed look came into his eyes and I watched as he struggled to control it.

"Oh," He took a deep breath and a tiny step away from me, "Are you sure?"

It was hard to kill the surge of hope which had come into his eyes but I did, "I'm sorry darling," I kissed him once lightly on the cheek. Erik had let me pack one bag for our wedding night and I picked it up and took it into the bathroom.

Erik sat dejectedly on the bed, loosening his tie and taking off his shoes. Welcome to marriage, he thought almost bitterly. I'm too tired; my words rang tauntingly in his head.

In the bathroom I struggled out of my beautiful dress; I almost didn't want to. It had been a glorious day and I loved the way I felt in it. Sadly, I took it off and hung it up in its dress bag.

Opening the bag Erik had let me pack, I found the lingerie the girls and I had picked out. It was fairly tasteful; white lace bra and matching panties. I kept the white heels I had been wearing and pulled on a white silk robe.

Out on the bed Erik had resignedly lain down and closed his eyes. He tried to quell the desire which was racing through him and forget that it was our wedding night. He tried to think about non sexy things, but nothing worked very well.

Images came into his head of the two of us making love. He could almost feel the weight of my body on his, the sensation of my skin under his hands, my lips on his neck…

With a moan he realized he was not imagining things. He opened his eyes and I smiled at him. I had come out to find him with his eyes closed and carefully positioned my body over his.

He growled when he realized he had been tricked again. Excitement and joy surged into his eyes as he grabbed my shoulders and landed me on my back. I shrieked with pleasure as he ripped off the robe I was wearing.

"You have been very naughty my little wife," Erik scolded me in my ear, nipping at my earlobe as he did so, "Tricking your poor husband like that,"

Erik ran his tongue around the outer shell of my ear. The feel of it made my stomach clench with such pleasure it was almost painful. I gasped, "Be kind, your poor wife only waned to make you laugh,"

"Oh no," Erik gripped my shoulders tightly and moved to my other ear, "You are a tricky little wife and I need to teach you a lesson," His tongue flicked out to graze my ear and my whole lower body tensed in anticipation.

Erik wrapped an arm around my, lifting my slightly as his other arm moved under me. I felt the tight band of my bar loosen and I knew Erik had undone it. He let me fall back onto the bed and removed the delicate white lace, bringing my arms up over my head as he did so.

With one large hand he clamped my wrists together above my head. His lips claimed mine and moved hungrily. I wanted to hold him; to run my fingers through his hair and down his back. I struggled against his hold.

"No no my dear wife," he murmured, "I told you, you were mischievous and scheming," Momentarily letting go of me, he found my robe and yanked the tie out of the loops. Gently but firmly, he tied my wrists together above my head.

"Erik," his name escaped my lips in a sigh of pleasure. No man had ever done this to me before, but from what I had heard from Rebecca it was amazing.

"Erik, it's five in the morning!"

We had quite literally made love all night.

"We should sleep," I said to him. He lay on his back and I was curled next to him. We were both a mess; covered in the silly string and the sweat from our couplings.

Erik twirled a piece of my hair, which had come down out of the updo from the wedding long ago, between his fingers, "We can sleep tomorrow on the plane,"

"Oh! Where are we going?"

He laughed, "You know I am not going to tell you," He shifted underneath me and sat up, bringing me with him, "Now if you will come over here please," Erik stood, his figure silhouetted against the gray early morning light seeping in through the window curtains. He wrapped a terry cloth robe around himself, which I thought was a shame, and the handed me my silk robe.

I got off the bed as well, m legs a bit wobbly, and watched him in wonderment.

"Now, a long time ago, when I first came to New York," Erik began, pulling one of the large stuffed chairs over to the window and throwing open the curtains, "Some told me that to get over a heart break," Erik sat in the chair and motioned for me to come sit on his lap. I did, throwing my legs over the arm of the chair and leaning my head against his chest.

"Like I said," Erik continued, "This woman told me to eat some ice cream to make me feel better. So I did, and I watched the sunrise,"

"That is what you did on your first night in the city?" I asked him, remembering our meeting and my advice.

"Yes, it was," Erik remembered the desolate feeling in his heart on that morning; It was hard to believe that was only about a year ago.

"Hmm," I sighed against him, content to sit there and watch the dawn come over the city, spearing the gray light with shoots of red.

Erik and I sat there, his hand found mine, his ring finger resting over my own. Husband and Wife.