The Happy Groom To Be Jasper Sitwell did not look particular happy as was anticipated. No, he looked a little wild eyed when Felix arrived at the church. The other lucky groomsmen were noticeably happy to see him, Felix Blake, arrive.

So not good.

"Where have you been?" the groom hissed.

"I had to run an errand for Jemma," was all the answer Jasper was getting, and would ever get. World without end. Amen and pass the parmesan cheese.

"Don't you check your phone?" Not waiting for an answer, the flustered bridegroom quickly continued. "We've got a problem, we lost the entire bridal party."

"Curiouser and curiouser!" thought Felix (He was so surprised, that for the moment he quite forgot proper English). Even Winston looked up at his pet, much perplexed as though he felt it necessary to remind his pet that he was a therapy dog, not a bloodhound and therefore would be unable to greatly assist in the search of the lost loved ones.

"I can call in some favors, where were they were last seen?" Felix asked as he reached for his phone.

"No, they're not physically lost. They can't be at the wedding because they were in the ED last night. Giovanni has the measles and may have infected that side of the family. She can't be near Nikki right now."

Giovanni being a six-year-old cousin drafted into being the flower girl. For a moment, Felix felt a slight flash of unease as the curly haired, apple cheeked Giovanni had been tentatively scheduled to the flower girl at HIS wedding.

To Nikki.

While his analytical mind pondered about the possibility of acquiring measles in this advanced day and age, his mouth, free of his iron restraint, engaged.

"Is Nikki pregnant?" blurted Felix.

Jasper grimaced, and whispered, "Five weeks. We weren't telling anyone because of her mom being really Catholic. We lost GianCarlo who was walking Nikki down the aisle."

Winston shook his head, as he knew where this was heading.

Right down the aisle.

Alas, Felix did not which just proved who was the smarter of the dangerous duo.

"Well, maybe her mother…" offered Felix,

"Can't. She's getting her knee replaced next week. Can you walk her down the aisle?" Jasper asked. "I've already called Jemma and asked for her permission. She said yes."

That was distinctively unfair that Jemma had bartered him off without his input. Felix took out his phone and began to text with a fierce stabbing motion.

"I can't believe she's renting out Agent Blake to his ex," Skye protested to her cohort in crime and all-around shenanigans, John Garrett.

"I'm just the dumb one of the boy band. I pick up heavy objects and work on the cars," was Garrett's copyrighted response.

"Does that baloney actually work with Jemma?" Skye's tone was pretty clear that she thought Jemma wasn't fooled at all by John's noble but flawed attempt to play the role of Village Idiot and Lifter of Heavy Objects.

Fortunately, Phil interrupted the dangerous duo with a loud snort. "I need to go rescue Felix, so this is for you. Be back in time for us to leave for the wedding together."

He handed Skye a small Tiffany blue box and gave her a cute and crooked smile.

"Consider it a down payment for future babysitting duties. And yes, it sparkles."

His smile broadened when Skye squealed and began unwrapping the box.

Phil found Felix and slipped him a small plastic envelope which Felix then opened. Phil passed over the water bottle and said not a word when Felix swallowed a pill. After Felix abruptly nodded his head, once, Phil spoke.

"You didn't tell me you were back on the anti-anxiety medication," Phil softly prompted. Not that Felix had ever regularly taken them, previously he had just had them just in case, life (Jemma and the assorted calamities that had followed her around like a bunch of unruly puppies) was about to overwhelm him.

"I asked Andy for enough to get me through this weekend and that I wouldn't take them unless I needed them. I'm getting shaky, so… this should get me through the wedding at least."

Phil knew enough not to suggest Felix bail on the wedding.

"Phil… on one hand, I know I escaped a fate worse than death by not marrying Nikki, but this is just dredging up everything." Felix slowly exhaled before continuing, "I mean… do think Jemma wants this?"

He gestured at his suit and Winston's snazzy bowtie.

"Are we denying this to her?" was Felix's next question.

"While you look pretty good cleaned up and wearing a tux, I don't think your usual suit classifies as a denial," Phil admitted. "And she's having your baby, so I would say that she isn't denying herself your considerable physical charms."

That comment earned Phil a Blake Eye Roll of Epic Proportions.

"A wedding, Phillip J. Coulson. Do you think Jemma desires a wedding? Audrey wanted a wedding, Nikki required a big one… what about Jemma? You, John and I had discussed that entire buy one silver fox get two free silver foxes, and how we were worried that Jemma would wake up one day and bitterly regret the experiences she never had because of our age, because of our multiplicity. The fact that we never had a wedding or a commitment ceremony be a regret for her five, ten years down the road?"

That rather astute observation stopped Phil cold. He remembered the times when Audrey had gotten a soft look in her eyes as though pondering their future. It had been at the occasional weddings, even a movie or three that had featured a wedding.

But Jemma had never really mentioned a wedding except in the beginning of their odd though functional relationship. Then it had been limited to a horrified "OMG I'm expected to MARRY one of you old geezers?"

Since then, nothing. Not even a peep, which could mean that Jemma had been obsessing about it but hadn't gotten the courage to voice it.

Or maybe not.

Sometimes, such as now, Phil bitterly regretted that the role of Village Idiot had been claimed by John, leaving him as the Level-Headed Adult in Jemma's Boy Band. Felix had overanalyzed the data, and determined that there was possibly an issue that the Level-Headed Adult needed to review.

"I don't know," Phil finally admitted.


Felix Blake knocked on the door and the door was quickly opened by a glowing Nicolette. She was wearing a champagne colored dress, which was a different color than the one she had selected for their much postponed and then cancelled wedding. That had been… ivory… Yet there were similarities, the sunflower bridal bouquet, the sunflower bridal crown; she had insisted on sunflowers because her father had always grown them.

"I owe you," Nikki softly informed Felix.

He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, "You don't owe me anything. Ever."

They carefully embraced so not to crush her dress. Winston decided not to join the hug so to keep Nikki's dress hair free, though he never ever shed. Never. Ever.

"You look beautiful," Blake mumbled. She did, as she was absolutely positively glowing. While he was damn glad he and Nikki had never married, it still… hurt. "You doing ok?"

"Wish my father was here," she admitted. She blinked her eyes as they were looking suspiciously moist, and he shook his finger at her.

"No crying," he gently chastised her.

"Can't help it. I'm sure Jemma has moments of overwhelming emotion," she teased. Then with a coy look that he remembered all too well, she asked "When is she due?"

He shook his head as his mama hadn't raised no fool, though she had skipped town when he was all of six, so he had pretty much raised himself. Jemma wasn't announcing it yet, though today's couture catastrophe meant that it was pretty noticeable that her womb was no longer vacant.

"Ok, I'll pretend to be completely surprised when she shows up with a tummy. One thing, is it you, right?"

Blake said nothing. Nikki, who knew him far too well, tilted her head and beamed as she was genuinely delighted. "You'll be a great dad," she assured him.

He bit his lip and she looked up at him. "You will be." Her soft assurance buoyed his anxiety so it was no longer at the forefront of his brain and he could focus on worrying about surviving the wedding ceremony. No, his doubts about fatherhood were now hanging out in the back of his brain, with the rest of the various odd issues that woke him at night, eg Was Skye seriously crushing on Jemma's harem?

"You'll be a great mom," Felix assured her.

"Jasper blabbed?" Nikki then shook her head and laughed. "Well, time to Veil Me up, and do the walk. Winston, are you coming?"

Winston nodded his head once.

"Felix, if you ever need me, I'll be there, I swear," she whispered.


Jemma felt extremely self-conscious when she was escorted down the aisle as this was her first public outing with her harem. Plus, the obvious cleavage she was rocking. Phil, as he was her 'date' for the festivities, placed his hand on her back, and shook his head.

"You look beautiful. Just relax," he murmured.

"Everyone's staring," she whispered.

"Because Garrett brought Skye," Phil explained. He nodded his head towards a few agents that apparently knew him quite well and Jemma knew in a vague 'senior agent to avoid' type way. She did notice that Maria Hill looked at Phil, looked at Jemma and her jaw dropped to the floor. "Ignore Hill, she filled out my application so she'll probably be smirky all evening."

"I must remember to thank her," murmured Jemma. "Though she seemed to know you quite well."

"Lucky guesses," he insisted.

John snorted, which didn't help Phil's defense. And really did he have to stage whisper "MELINDA"?

"Melinda?" Jemma cooed at Phil.

They filled an aisle close to the altar, near enough so Felix could escape to safety after the bride had been delivered to the altar, and then they ensured that there was enough room for Winston and his pet to sit. That done, Jemma sat between her boys, and to her surprise both Phil and John put their arms around her.

"How's our boy doing?" John asked as he leaned towards Phil and away from Skye.

"Medicating," Phil whispered as they were having a Serious Family Conference ™ which meant it was just the three of them while Skye miserably failed at not noticing that she was excluded. "We'll have to keep an eye on him, just in case it hits him hard."

"New meds then?" asked John. He shook his head when Phil nodded his head. "What ones?"

"Lorazepam, I ID'd the pills."

"He didn't eat lunch, he only had a cup of coffee. It may hit him hard in twenty minutes," Jemma protested. She was quiet for far too long so John leaned closer to her.

"He's not medicating because of you. Us. Baby. He's medicating because of the wedding. Even, I, Mr. Insensitivity, can agree that I'd be very surprised that this isn't bringing up a great deal of baggage from the lost and found section of his psyche."

Phil snorted. "Please, where ever you found that metaphor, please don't go back there, ok?"

"Shhh…" hissed Jemma, as Jasper Sitwell and the officiant appeared.

For a moment, Jemma had to admit that she was envious, especially when the music began playing and everyone turned to face the entrance where the bride was making her appearance. The familiar sounds of Wedding March by Mendelssohn played on a pipe organ filled the church. And yes, she was green eyed as Felix and Nikki was a very striking couple as he walked her down the aisle. Felix did fill out a suit rather well, Jemma admitted.

Winston was taking his job very seriously to get Nikki to the altar as he didn't even so much as give her look in her direction or wag his tail.

The payload delivered, Felix kissed Niki on both cheeks and then he turned toward Jasper. He pointed at his eyes and then at Jasper in the universal, 'I'll be watching you, bro, don't fuck this up', before both he and Winston nodded their heads in unison.

Warning received and acknowledged by Jasper, Felix slid in next to Phil even while the priest began to speak about the sanctity of marriage. Winston, being a fairly large service dog, sat next to Felix and placed his head on Felix's knee. Jemma noticed with some unease that Felix was compulsively stroking Winston which meant trouble. She was about to jab Phil when Phil placed his hand on Felix's left and squeezed it.

That physical contact seemed to startle Felix out of his reverie and then he turned slightly to face Jemma. His eyes were glassy and red-rimmed but he mouthed, "I'm OK."