AN: This chapter took me so long to write! What with life and writer's block getting in the way... but I did it! Enjoy and see you at the end of the chapter!
Chapter 9
Matthew sighed and pushed his laptop away. He had been searching for hours looking for the perfect song for his and Gilbert's first dance and so far he had come up with nothing. They were either to sappy or too overused.
"So did you find one Birdie?" Gilbert asked.
Matthew glared and sighed again. "No." Matthew looked back down at his laptop before whispering, "If only papa were here...he would know..."
Something sparked in Gilbert's memory. Before Francis had disappeared he had been scribbling in a notebook that he had forbidden Gilbert and Antonio to look in. Gilbert smiled a sly grin at Matthew.
"Well Francis isn't here to stop me..." he thought as he got up and ran down the basement stairs.
Gilbert rounded the corner into his room and looked on the small table by his bed. He picked up the old notebook and opened it to the first page. The notebook was filled with Francis's lists for the wedding. Gilbert was surprised to find a list for almost everything from different kinds of cakes to the wedding guests. He smiled when he found what he was looking for. Under the title of first dance was a link to a song. Gilbert bolted out the door with his laptop and up the stairs to show Matthew.
"What is it?" Matthew asked.
"I think I just found the answer to our problems!" Gilbert exclaimed proudly.
The link took them to a video of a song that Gilbert had never heard of. He turned over the laptop to Matthew.
"Do you know this song?" Gilbert asked.
Matthew's eyes widened, tears threatening to spill over as he whispered, "its Come What May from Moulin Rouge! It's perfect!"
Gilbert sat alone that night leafing through Francis's notebook. He laughed at some of the lists knowing that they were something only Francis would think of. He went to close the book when some writing caught his eye. It was another list with just a simple title.
Ring inscriptions.
Gilbert looked at the list puzzled. Francis never told him anything about the rings. He started reading the list and couldn't stop laughing in amazement that Francis had thought of these things.
Put it back on buster!
A deal's a deal
Non-refundable
Pookums loves Honey bear forever
One ring to rule them all
You're stuck with me
I call dibs
Gilbert stopped laughing when he saw the last one on the list that had been clearly marked as the winner. The inscription was made to go on both rings. Starting with Gilbert's then continuing on Matthew's.
Until my forever ends... Mon cur est a vous
Gilbert frowned, "Well what is that supposed to mean?"
He grabbed his laptop and brought up Google translate. A small smile spread across his face when he read the translation.
My heart is yours.
Gilbert looked up at his ceiling, "You better be at the wedding one way or another Francis."
Antonio sat on his front step looking up at the sky. He thought that it was weird that when he got the news about Francis he felt nothing. He simply hung up the phone and came outside where he sat on the step till it had grown cold and dark. Antonio didn't think about Francis and what might happen instead he watched the children who had passed and thought of how nice it would have been to go back to that black and white life. When something was either one way or another; the only major problem was if you had the smelly markers or not. If he made a mistake then he could just go and try again tomorrow. But life wasn't like that, at least not anymore.
Antonio tried to feel sad that one of his best friends was dying. He wished that he could feel something, anything, sitting in the pale moonlight, alone.
But all he felt was cold.
Antonio shivered, and walked into his house.
"Um bro, I think that you are wearing a groove in the floor." Alfred stated as he watched Matthew pace back and forth.
"But this is actually happening!" Matthew said as he continued to pace.
Alfred stood up and grabbed Matthew's shoulders. He had only seen Matthew like this when Francis first introduced him to Joan.
"What if it doesn't work? What if we fight all the time just like papa and Arthur did and then we get divorced?" Matthew asked frantically. "I don't think that I can handle that..."
"You don't have to worry about that. It's all going to work out." Alfred answered calmly.
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm your big brother and they know everything! That and I am also the hero!"
Matthew hugged Alfred and laughed, "You're such an idiot!"
Just like Francis had planned the ceremony went smoothly. Gilbert and Antonio watched Matthew dance with his older sister, Michelle. For the first time that day Gilbert finally felt calm but that only lasted until someone hit him in the back of the head. Antonio gave him a weird look when Gilbert turned to look behind him and found that nothing was there.
"Did you see what hit me?" Gilbert asked but then stopped and whispered, "Francis? Is that you?"
In answer Gilbert was hit in the back of the head again.
"Yep that's him alright!" Antonio laughed.
"But why did you hit me?!" Gilbert demanded.
Gilbert again found himself getting hit in the back of the head.
"Okay, I get it already! I'm SORRY for reading your notebook!" Gilbert yelled.
"What?! You got to read the notebook? Why didn't you let me read it too?" Antonio whined only for his questions to be answered with a blow to the back of the head.
The argument ended when Alfred took the microphone from the DJ and called Gilbert and Matthew to the floor for their first dance.
"This isn't over." Gilbert grumbled.
Francis watched his son and Gilbert dance thinking of how this was supposed to be his and Joan's wedding song. He shook the thoughts angrily out of his head, refusing to think about it. When the guests started clapping he looked up and realised that the dance was over. The thought occurred to Francis that if he had not been applauding a close friend and his son in a noisy room, he would have felt very lonely just then. He clapped harder.
"Would you care to dance?"
Francis jumped when he realized that the question was directed at him. A huge smile spread across his face when he looked up to find Joan.
"I thought you'd never ask!" He answered as he took her hand and led her to the dance floor.
The song ended but the neither Joan nor Francis noticed. The two lovers looked at each other and shared a deep passionate kiss making the air around then shimmer gold.
On the other side of the room Gilbert notice the shimmering and nudged Antonio's side when he saw that nobody else seemed to notice.
Antonio squinted and gasped, "It's Francis and...Joan!"
Gilbert and Antonio looked at each other then stood up and made their way over to them. They stopped a few feet away hiding behind a pillar. The sound of Francis singing softly reached their ears as they strained to hear.
Tell her that she is my rose,
Tell her that I love her,
Tell her that I've gone away,
And I'll love no other.
The air around the couple shimmered brighter, leaving Antonio and Gilbert to stare as Joan and Francis slowly faded and disappeared.
AN: Well that is the end of the chapter! To me this chapter has been a great learning experience! I learned that I hate writing weddings! Oh well, at least I know now. Please review!
